snail lena mo any person same household ; and no person owing forfeiture shall receive books from th until the same is paid. 5. All Inhabitants of the Cltv of Riddefovd H THREE THOUSAND MILES THROI r GH T1IK MOUNTAIN'S McCLURE. ! ' PHILADELPHIA: J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO. 1 8 0. . \ Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1869, by J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO., In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Library PREFACE. IN presenting these letters to the public in book form, I do not claim for them any measure of literary merit. They were written hastily, during a journey of three thousand miles through the Rocky Mountains, and often in the midst of annoyances not favorable to epistolary perfection. The letters embrace two distinct series: one published in the New York " Tribune," and the other published in the " Franklin Repository," which will account for the treat- ment of the same topics in different letters, although always substantially varied. I need hardly say that they were not written with the design to collect them in book form ; and now, when the wide-spread interest felt in the rapidly- growing Great West seems to demand reliable information of the people, resources, progress, and destiny of the Rocky Mountain Territories, I find it impossible to revise the let- ters so as to conform them to the exactions of the critical without depriving them of much of their freshness, and, probably, some of their usefulness. Fully conscious of their many imperfections, I have consented to their publication only because I hope thereby to afford, in some humble de- gree, the long-delayed justice to the pioneers of the West, and, at the same time, give some little additional strength to the growing disposition to make the boundless mineral and agricultural wealth of the Territories available to benefit our common country. He who aids, in any measure, in advan- (3) 4 PREFACE. cing our people and our government to a just appreciation of the limitless riches which the Great West has so long offered to the nation, will not have lived without benefit to his people ; and it is to contribute my mite to that great end that these pages are presented to the public. I am fully sensible that, in another decade, scores of new records of the West will be written by abler pens than mine ; and each new advocate will have brighter fields to explore and more dazzling pictures to present, as the nation is made to grasp its matchless prize of wealth toward the setting sun. Before that brief time shall elapse, these crude pages will be forgotten, unless by the few who preserve the erratic foot- prints of Western progress. Three through-lines of railroad will span the continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific, dot- ting their lines with new cities, new settlements, new churches, new schools, new communities, and new and mighty States ; and the freshly-inspired commerce of the ancient empire will be turned from its westward course toward the Great Republic in the East, and mingle with the newly-created millions of products of our new-born Commonwealths, as united they sweep across our conti- nent to our commercial centres, and thence to the Old World. To hasten the events that will cause these letters to be forgotten, is now their mission ; and their faults may be freely condemned, if they shall render the humblest aid to enlarge the stature of our Western empire. A. K. M. PHILADELPHIA, April, 1869. CONTENTS. LETTER I. PAGE From Chambersburg to Pittsburg. Parting with Old Friends. The Juniata Valley. Crossing the Alleghanies. The Progress of a Quarter of a Century. A Day in Pittsburg. . . .17 LETTER II. Pittsburg to Chicago. Farewell to the Pennsylvania Mountains. The Progress of the West. Western Boys. A Delightful Sleeping- Car. The Conventionalities of Society on Sleeping-Cars. An Early Breakfast. A Locomotive-Race. Excitement of the Pas- sengers. Westward Travel stopped by the Floods. . . 22 LETTER III. Chicago to Omaha. Chicago a Fast City. Getting News in the West. The Chicago and Northwestern Railroad. Its Hasty and Imperfect Construction. The Missouri Flood. Western Iowa. "Square Meals." Western Luxuries. A Wreck. Delay and Scarcity of Provisions. Lunch-baskets. A Foraging Party. Indifferent Success. "All Right again." Another Stop at Honey- brook. Another Hunt for Rations. Dealing with a Western Dame for Milk and Bread. Swindled by Biddy. Council Bluffs. An Unpleasant Night in the Cars. Trouble in crossing the Missouri River. The People of Omaha. . . . . .27 LETTER IV. Council Bluffs. The Enterprise and Thrift of Omaha. A Specimen Western City. How Houses are built in a Day. The Indian War. General Augur's projected Campaign in the Hostile Coun- try. Position and Numbers of many of the Indian Tribes un- known. Our Military Force inadequate for War. Embarrass- ments of the Indian Problem. The Inevitable Fate of the Red Man. Sympathy of the Military with the Indians. The Opinions of the Western People. . . . . . .37 LETTER V. Starting from Omaha for the Plains. The Union Pacific Railroad. The Flood in the Platte Valley. The Platte River. Scarcity of Shrubbery and Trees. The Adobe Shanties. Antelopes and Buffa- (6J 6 CONTENTS. PAGE loes. The Indian War again. It grows more serious. General Hancock's Expedition South. His Enemy raids North. The Cost of killing Indians. The Military embarrassed by the Civil Au- thorities. Transfer of the Indians to the War Department a Neces- sity. Off again Westward. . . . . . .45 LETTEK VI. From North Platte to Denver. The Barrenness of the Platte Valley. The "Lone Tree" and "Plum Creek" not visible. Sources of the Platte River. First Experiment in Overland Staging. The First Indian Alarm. Troops protecting a Whisky-Mill. Alarm of the Station-Men. A Cowardly Driver induced to change his Strategy. A Canadian Frenchman uses a Revolver as a Persuader. The First "Square Meal" on the Plains. Fort Sedgwick. Plenty of Troops, but ineffective. Indians drive in the Cavalry. The Stage goes on and passes in Safety. Quicksand and Sand- Gnats. A Burnt Station. Supper with "Old Wicked." The Din- ner at Living Spring. Arrival at Denver. . . .53 LETTER VII. Efforts to understand the Indian Question. The Western Demand for Chivington or Conner. Western Contempt for the Regular Army. Why Regulars do not fight Indians successfully. Advan- tages of the Indians in a Summer Campaign. The Monuments of Indian Warfare. The Platto Valley Raid of 1865. Horrible Cruel- ties of the Savages. Hollen Godfrey, or "Old Wicked." His De- fense of his Ranch. A Supper with him, and his Story of his Fight. His Solution of the Indian Problem. He regards Indians as Peaceable when they are Dead. How Indians conduct Cam- paigns. Their Signals and Spies. There must be Peace. It will be the Peace of Death to the Indian. The Harney and Chivington Wars. * . . . . . . .65 LETTER VIII. A Prolific Subject for the Letter-writer. An Afternoon at the Denver Races. An Interesting Race. The Value of a Sporting Watch discovered. Denver and its People. Its Experience with Despera- does. The Fate of the Steels. The Attack upon Mr. Byers. Mr. Hepworth Dixon's Blunders. His Hero Bob Wilson. The Order, Morality, and Advantages of Denver. Character of Western Set- tlers. What Sacrifices they make, and how poorly requited. The Lark. The Prairie-dog and Owl. The Rattlesnake. The Indian Troubles again. The Overland Route closed by Savages East and West. Indian Atrocities. Western Volunteers the Remedy. . 77 LETTER IX. Colorado and her Progress. The Substantial Progress of Denver. Its Depression and Prospects. The Evils of Selfish Politicians. Colorado a Gigantic Suicide in the Management of her Rich Mines. The Rage of Speculation, and consequent Bankruptcy. The City of Abandoned Quartz-Mills. Twenty Millions of Capital wasted in CONTENTS. f PAGE Feverish Speculation. Legitimate Development retarded. The Prospect of Restoration to Prosperous Business. The Trip through the Mountains. Their Matchless Grandeur. The Storm-King in Conflict with the Snow-capped Peaks. . . . .88 LETTER X. Indian-bound in Denver. The Savages controlling the Overland Route East and West. General Augur's Use of Troops. Interest- ing Telegraphic Correspondence with him. His "Upper Country" Campaign. No Earnest Effort to protect the Great Overland Routes. A Pleasant Time with the Coloradans. New Treatment of Strangers. Why Dixon was fooled. The Variety of Character in the West. The Stage-Driver. His Skill, Intelligence, and Courtesy. Staging about Denver. The "Square Meals" of the West. High Prices of Labor. House-Servants and Wives wanted. Judge Eyster. Colonel Wash. Lee. . . . .98 LETTER XI. Still Indian-bound in Colorado. End of Hancock's Expedition. Another Peace-talk to be had with the Savages. The Indians raid the Overland Routes, while the Troops are ordered to hunt Indians where they are not to be found. General Sherman's Policy. Great Injustice to the West. The Tide of Emigration arrested. The Necessity of protecting One Route. Contractors said to be en- couraging War. The Sad Failure of Mining-Companies in Colo- rado. Their Hopeless Future. Legitimate Enterprise the only Way to Success in the Mines. The Variations of Colorado Cli- mate. The Crops. . . . . . . .107 LETTER XII. A Journey to Colorado City. Crossing the Divide. Thunder- and Snow-Storms. The Pines. Bierstadt and the Colorado Rocks. Storm-staid at " The Dirty Woman's Ranch." A Western Cabin. A Pleasant and Hospitable Hostess. A Bright Fire and Excellent Supper. The Guests chat away the Evening. The " Garden of the Gods." Grandeur of the Monuments. Natural Pillars from Three to Five Hundred Feet High. They appear- like Ruins of Colossal Statuary. The Mineral Springs. Camp Creek Canon. A Severe Snow-Storm. Vain Attempt to procure Shelter from a Fugitive Mormoness. Petrifactions on the Platte. . . 114 LETTER XIII. Storm-bound in Denver. An Old-fashioned Eastern Settled Rain. The "Oldest Inhabitant" cannot explain it. Rapid Rise of the Mountain-Streams. The Stage stopped by the Flood. Peril of Pas- sengers in crossing a Little Stream. Prospects of Indian Raids. No "Friendlies" visible but the Utes. The First Settlers of Colorado. Legislation to defeat Foreign Creditors. Summary Execution of Part of Quantrell's Band. Agricultural Productions of Colorado. 122 CONTENT*. LETTER XIV. Off from Denver. The Party. Our Arms. Indians in Front and Rear. Swollen Streams. Crossing Boulder. Virginia Dale. The Savages uncomfortably Close. Prospect of a Brush. Passing the Black Hills. Tactics of the Indians. When they attack. Arrival at Cooper's Creek. The Stage-Horses stolen by the Indians. The Policy of the Military. An Escort of Three Troopers. Fort Hal- leek. Elk Mountain. Running the Gauntlet of an Indian Camp. The Driver and his Strategy. A Hasty Drive. North Platte. The Indians on the War-Path ahead. A Council of War. A For- ward Movement decided on. A Bright but Deceptive Morning. The First Station abandoned, and the Second Burning. A Sober Dinner-Party at Pine Grove. A Pitiless Snow-Storm. The Sta- tion burning on the Summit of the Rocky Range. Our Situation most critical. " Big Dick." Fresh Tracks, and a Line of Battle necessary. Dick's Disposal of the Lady. The "Cusses" over- taken. A Mutual Retreat. Firing forbidden by Dick. Arrival at Sulphur Spring. The Horses captured there the same Day. The Battle the Day before. A Melancholy Stage-Drive. Captain Wil- son's Apology to General Sherman. The Accommodations. The Alarm. Westward again. ...... 127 LETTER XV. Departure from Sulphur Spring. The Savages witness our Depart- ure. Military Strategy of the Old Station-Man. The Pets of the Stations. Cats, Dogs, and Chickens. Vengeance of the Indians in killing the Station Pets. Indians attack a Train. Bitter Creek reached. The Alkali Water and Dust. Green River. Fresh Water again. A Dispute for the Team. The Driver convinced in our Favor. A Belligerent Official. The Church Buttes. A Team of Bronchos. FortBridger. Hospitality of Judge Carter. The Mor- mon War. Indians. Contempt of the Males for Women. The Quaking Asp Summit. A Night at Bear River. Echo Canon. Hank Conner and his Gay Team. Among the Mormons at Weber. Crossing the Wasatch Range. Five Feet of Snow. A Harmless Upset. Arrival at Salt Lake. . . . . .143 LETTER XVI. Hospitality of the Mormons. Despotism of the Mormon Leaders. The Theory of Mormon Power. Character of the Mormon Emi- grants. Their Greatly Improved Temporal Condition. The Serfs of the Old World become Thrifty Farmers in Utah. Brigham Young. His Abilities as an Adminstrator generally underrated. His Appearance, Culture, and Manners. His Wives. The Last and Favorite an Apple of Discord in the Prophet's Home. Poly- gamy as a Source of Power. Plural Wives. The Terrors of Poly- gamy to Mormon Women. Preaching in the Tabernacle. Brigham Young's Sermon. His Blasphemy and Profanity. His Temporal Power. His Financial Management. Distracting Issues in the Church. The Causes combining to the Overthrow of Mormonism. 154 CONTENTS. LETTER XVII. The Pleasant City of the Saints. Their Industry and Thrift. Their Enjoyments. The Great Basin. Salt Lake. Its Tributaries. Why Utah was chosen by the Mormons. Character of the Valley when they found it. Success of Mormon Industry. The Mormon Religion. Brigham Young Spiritual and Temporal Head of the Church. His Wives. The Religious Feature of Polygamy. Mor- mon Wives again. Mormon Service in the Tabernacle. The Blot of Polygamy. . . . . . . .165 LETTER XVIII. Continued Interruption of Travel. The Indian Campaigns. The In- justice done the Western People. Desire of the West for Peace. The Inefficiency of the Military. Wells, Fargo & Co. Their Horses exposed to Indians for Want of Feed. No Valuable Horses on the Mountain Divisions. Passengers exposed to Danger for Want of Stock. The Stables undefended. No Horses stolen from Defended Stables. Mr. Holliday. He deranges the Line, and then falls back. Kindness of the Employe's of the Company. . . 175 LETTER XIX. A Delightful Journey through Mormondom. How Brigham " dic- tates" to the Faithful. The Bishops and their Revenues. How they assist the Poor. The Mormon Industrial System a Success. Ogden City. Bishop West and his Eight Wives. How a Mormon Bishop luxuriates. The Prairie-Flowers. Bear River. Countless Mosquitoes and Gnats. Passengers and Driver veiled. Idaho. Appropriate Names of Stations. Climbing the Rocky Range again. 184 LETTER XX. A Night-Ride on the Summit of the Rocky Range. The Mosquitoes again. Pleasant Valley Station a Fraud. Parting of the Waters on the Summit to the Eastern and Western Seas. The Source of the Missouri and Columbia Rivers. The Snake River. Its Tortu- ous Course through the Mountains. The Stinking-Water River. Virginia City. Its First Settlers. Alder Gulch. Its Wonderful Yield of Gold. Belt of Rich Mines. The Precious Metals of Mon- tana. Agricultural Resources of the Territory. Irregularity of the Mails. Wells, Fargo the 24 A DELIGHTFUL SLEEPING-CAR. traveler. A sleeping-car always makes a jolly, family-like company, and there is nothing that destroys the convention- alities of society so speedily and so thoroughly, in the mat- ter of getting acquainted, as "turning in" on board of one of these wandering lodging-houses. When we start out, all or most of the company strangers to each other, all, of course, observe due dignity, and allow acquaintance to win its way by gradual approaches. Now and then a rollick- ing baby will force a smile from some sympathetic mother distant from her loved ones, and the mothers at once be- come friends, relate their travels, discuss their homes, husbands, babies, houses, pullets, and poodles, and share their lunch-baskets. A wayward boy, or a lovely girl with sunbeams dancing on her face as if playing upon a rippling stream, will insensibly break the reticence of the bachelor, gather the spare candies, nuts, and cakes from the pockets of the fathers, and end the campaign by a friendly chat between the old folks. One little, blue-eyed, taffy-curled girl emptied my pockets of the debris of my last campaign among the children of Alleghany, and made me a willing purchaser of all the jim-cracks the train vender had to tickle the fancy or palate of these miniature editions of ourselves. Of course the mother was appre- ciative, and a pleasant acquisition was added to our party, to last till we reached the Plains. Thus do the genial and the obdurate alike surrender to railroad acquaintances in a sleeping-car, and, when night comes, we all seem much as one family, mutually sympathetic and generous. A woman may even crimp her hair before the bachelor without pro- voking a surly remark, and prodigious waterfalls, and hoops, and ribbons, and the thousand other things which pertain to female adornment may be scattered in wild profusion around the car, swinging from hooks, and impeding loco- motion by side blockades; but all is taken in good part, and there is peace and good will in tho great family thus im- AN EARLY BREAKFAST. 25 provised upon a few hours' acquaintance. Occasionally a coy damsel or a veteran spinster seems to rebel against the free-and-easy manners of the sleeping-car ; but they merely make themselves uncomfortable, and are sure to provoke just that notice and comment they least want. I pity a fastidious old maid in a sleeping-car. She always keeps watching everybody else with such palpable suspicion that she compels everybody else to watch her, and her most studied efforts to protect herself from profane eyes and speech make a score of eyes peer in upon her from behind curtains and by side glances, while the lady who accepts the situation goes free. If a mishap falls to the lot of any in a sleeping-car, it invariably falls to the one who tries most spasmodically to avert it, and there are few who do not enjoy it when the moment of confusion comes. When people do their best, they cannot secure the privacy that most persons would prefer ; but when all agree to do the best they can, the great mantle of charity hides what the more tangible fabrics fail to protect from the gaze of the curious or rude. We were waked at half-past four, with notice that we must be ready for breakfast at five precisely; and I need not say that at that unromantic hour the Greek Slave might have been personated in any of the berths without arresting the heavy yawns which mingled with the hurried preparations for breakfast. When within about twenty miles of Chicago, the mo- notony of the low, marshy, ill-improved prairie of this section was broken by a regular locomotive race. The Pittsburg, Fort Wayne and Chicago, and the Michigan Southern, come together on the same time, and for twelve miles the two roads are rarely over one hundred feet apart. The country is perfectly level, the roads straight, and there is every incentive to a trial of speed. It seems that they have _a daily race, and it is neck and neck between them. Whichever train happens to have the best locomotive or 26 A LOCOMOTIVE RACE. the lightest train, usually wins. We had ten cars and the Michigan Southern but seven, so the odds were against us ; but our engineer, brakesmen, firemen, porters, news- venders, baggage-masters, conductors, all entered into the spirit of the race with boundless enthusiasm, and I need not say that most of the passengers watched with intense interest the issue of the struggle. The baggage-master of the Michigan Southern was first seen standing on the low- est step of his car, with a roll of bank-notes in his hand, trying to make himself understood by pantomime, in the midst of the thunder of two large trains flying at their utmost speed, that he would bet either his cash or drinks on his train. I could not see whether his banter was ac- cepted or not, but, if it was, he must have been winner, for we were distanced the length of our train in the race. Both trains stopped at several stations during the run, but both always stopped at the same place, and it was ludicrous to see how old women, and their bundles and baskets, were hustled in and out of both trains to prevent unnecessary delay. One old man on our train wanted to get off, but he had one question too many to ask the conductor, and he was sent whirling along to the next station, in spite of his violent gesticulations. At last the iron horses divided in their course as they entered Chicago, and both seemed to forget the friendly strife, as their shrill song told us that our journey was ended. I would like to write about Chicago, but I cannot. It seems to be a second New York. Although it has but two hundred and fifty thousand population, its main streets rival Broadway in magnificence and life, while its beautiful Wabash and Michigan Avenues tell the story of its wealth in social life. The train leaves at 8.15 this morning for Omaha, and I must hasten away. I hope to be there by Saturday noon, as the road, recently torn up by the floods, is again in running order. LETTER III. Chicago to Omaha. Chicago a Fast City. Getting News in the West. The Chicago and Northwestern Kailroad. Its Hasty and Imperfect Construction. The Missouri Flood. Western Iowa. "Square Meals." Western Luxuries. A Wreck. Delay and Scarcity of Provisions. Lunch-baskets. A Forag- ing Party. Indifferent Success. "All Eight again." An- other Stop at Honey brook. Another Hunt for Eations. Dealing with a Western Dame for Milk and Bread. Swindled by Biddy. Council Bluffs. An Unpleasant Night in the Cars. Trouble in crossing the Missouri Eiver. The People of Omaha. OMAHA, May 6, 1867. I HAD a pretty fair inside view of Chicago. I got there in the midst of the great riot on Thursday last, and left it the next morning in the midst of a grand fire. It is a fast place fast in a fight, fast in a fire, fast in business, and fast generally. They do up a riot in the most improved style, and can make more noise at a fire twice over than Philadelphia. -The laboring-men got up a flurry over the inauguration of the eight-hour law on the 1st instant, and had, as was appropriate and commendable, speeches from politicians and dignitaries, and processions with banners, etc. But they committed the fatal error of supposing that, because no man could compel them to work more than eight hours per day, they could compel every fellow-laborer to work just that number and no more. It was on this dif- ference that they threw Chicago into disorder and did themselves the dishonor of attempting anarchy. As I left Chicago, I left all news behind. By making (27) 28 GETTING NEWS IN THE WEST. several efforts along the railroad at the telegraph-stations, I managed to learn the result of the fire that was raging when I took the train; but as for keeping posted in the events of the day, beyond this single fact, I might as well have been in China ever since. As yet there are no papers here later than New York of the 29th ultimo, and Chicago of the 1st. There are daily papers published in most of the Western towns of any size; but they afford but a meagre outline of the events of the world which we are used to enjoy so fully in the East with our breakfast or tea. I judge that as I go westward I shall learn to dis- pense pretty much with general news; but the force of habit will make me break in upon far-western rules on this point as often as a newspaper or a telegraphic operator can be captured. We had rather a variable time from Chicago to this place, and, upon the whole, quite a jolly trip. As varia- tions are the spice of travel, I do not regret that we took the widest latitude in reaching and crossing the Missouri. At Chicago we were assured that the train would go through on time to the Missouri ; but, if the princes of old, against whom the world was cautioned, were less to be trusted than railroad managers out West, those who had to deal with the princes should not have needed the Divine injunction. From Chicago to this point it is four hundred and ninety-four miles by rail, and the line runs almost directly west, thus bringing trade and travel to the plains hy the shortest route. Until last winter, the emigrant and sojourner for the mountains reached the Missouri at some point hclo\v this, and generally left Omaha out of their, programme ; Ikit the construction of the Union Pacific l\ail- road for two hundred and ninety miles west of this place, last fall, necessitated the hasty construction of the connect- ing link between this and the Mississippi at Fulton, so as CHICAGO AND NORTHWESTERN RAILROAD. 29 to open an unbroken and direct railroad line from the Atlantic to Platte City, the point to which the Pacific Rail- road is now run. The result was that the Chicago and Northwestern road was forced through last fall in the most imperfect manner. It was flung down on the prairie at the rate of two miles per day, and, while the bed re- mained frozen, it did tolerably well; but, when the thaw and spring floods came, it imitated the Dutchman's milk in lying around loose generally. The flood of the Missouri this spring was more extensive than usual, requiring, it is said, the oldest inhabitant to remember its counterpart. It put a score or more miles of the Chicago and Northwest- ern road completely under water, and floated it about, with its occasional rude embankments and improvised culverts, as if it was but a plaything for the Western elements. As the tide of spring travel had set in for the plains ten times greater than ever before the management could not afford to wait to repair the road and have trade seek a southern line to St. Joseph or St. Louis. Accordingly, it was an- nounced officially, a week ago, that the road was repaired, while miles of the track were still frolicking with the frogs and other occupants of the ponds and lakes of the prairies. Although still doubting, I ventured to try the road on Friday, just four days after it was pronounced to be thor- oughly repaired, hoping that we might do rather better over it than to strike St. Joseph and have to stem the boisterous tide of the Missouri to this point. It is well that I had some doubts, sufficient at least to distrust the regular railroad eating-stations to satisfy the demands of hunger. 1 had a bountiful lu#ch put up in Chicago, to guard against accidents in the way of "square meals;" and but for that precaution we must have had a pro- tracted fast. All went well until we got to Dennison on Saturday morning, where we hud our last regular meal 4 30 "SQUARE MEALS." during the journey, leaving us a period of thirty-six hours without any food but what we had with us and what we foraged from the scant larders of the pioneers. Be it re- membered that Western Iowa at least along the line of the railroad has scores of miles at times without the sign of an inhabitant. Often during the tedious journey over the monotonous prairies, broken occasionally only by bleak sandhills, I looked in vain in every direction for a house or a field. It has no timber, is but poorly watered, and until now has presented no inducement to the husband- man to break up its fertile soil. The transition from the luxurious tables of the East to the "square meal3" of the West is, fortunately, gradual, and by the time the traveler reaches Omaha he is prepared for "hog and hominy," or whatever may be presented. The last cooking I found fit for a table was in Chicago. As w T e got out into Iowa, the Western style grew more and more original, until a break in the road brought us right into genuine pioneer living. Our last meal was at Dennison, Iowa, where we had the inevitable bacon and eggs, with hot, heavy, greasy biscuits, made apparently with flour, corn-meal, hog's fat, saleratus and water, and served up smoking hot. JThis is the favorite bread of the Far West. They usually have it at every meal always hot, and their children begin on it before they have teeth to masticate it. But it seems that travelers in the West, however fastidious about their diet at home, are able to accommodate themselves to a diet here that would require the force of medical attendants to be doubled if used in the East. The active life, pure air, and the magic effect of change of scenery, habits, exercise, association, etc. fit most persons for living in Western style with comparative comfort. When within fifty miles of Council Bluffs, we were stopped by the wreck of a mixed burden and passenger A WESTERN RAILROAD. 31 train, that was piled up on and all about the track. But two miserable shanties were in sight in a circle of twenty miles, and scarcely a shrub was visible. It was eight miles to the nearest station, and fifty miles to the nearest point from which the necessary machinery could be had to clear the wreck. It was about ten o'clock in the morning, and the cold, sharp wind was sweeping a hurricane over the prairie. The passengers got out, and, in spite of the repeated assurances of the conductor that we should "get right along shortly," it was clear to all that we were in for the most of the day. I walked along the track for half a mile, to take a look at a Western railroad, and I think it well that my inspection of the road did not occur until I was over most of it. I think I would have walked in preference to spending two nights on such a road. The bed was made by throwing up an embankment some three or six feet above the level of the prairie, of the soft loam dug up alongside of the track. Light, indifferent ties were then thrown upon it, the rails spiked down, and the space between the ties was not even filled up with dirt. The hard freeze of the winter kept the road in fair order until recently ; but now the track seems as if laid on a bed of hard dough. In walking over it the ties would sink down in the earth from my weight, and a glance along the rails showed that it had settled irregularly, crooked, and dis- jointed, and in places seemed to have slid bodily to one side or the other. There was no help, however, then but to go over it, and as it was just as bad to go back as to go forward, and the shortest part of the road was ahead, I had no choice but to wait ratiently and philosophically for the end of the journey. In the mean time, the question of provisions became a serious one. Our party had a clever-sized lunch-bn>kr( filled; but there were thirty others in the car, some of 32 A FORAGING PARTY. them women and children, who had no supplies. Misfor- tune soon breaks down all reserve, and the provisions on hand were divided around as if we were all of one family. How quickly a lunch-basket in a hungry crowd makes every- body sociable ! First, all the children of the car will gather around it, in spite of the threats and frowns of tender mammas, and through them the way is easy to an inti- mate acquaintance with all. But our supplies were insuf- ficent for the party, and we improvised a foraging corps. There were but two shanties within sight, and they were most unpromising for a successful foray in the provision line; but they were the only possible points of attack, and we charged on them. One of them was entirely out. They had no eggs, no meat, no bread, no milk, no butter in fact, nothing. The other had a few hard fat biscuits and some cold bacon, which were purchased at a price that would have made the Continental cashier blush. It was but little we got, but that little was somewhat like the widow's cruse it went a great way and lasted well. I made a satisfactory dinner on half a biscuit and a small cut of bacon. After nearly ten hours' delay, the welcome sound of the locomotive whistle was heard, and " all right" was called by the conductor. As most of the road had been submerged between that point and the river, and part of it swept away and but temporarily repaired, I felt but little confidence that we could get through that night, if we could get the train through at all. I amused myself, as we passed along, watching the soft sides of the road and calculating the probable loss of life and limbs that would follow a run-off. Our conductor and engineer seemed, however, to value their own lives, and the train proceeded with great caution at no time running at the rate of over ten miles per hour, and generally not exceeding six. We were not interrupted in our course for some thirty miles, ANOTHER HUNT FOR RATIONS. 33 when at the village of Honeybrook we came upon another wreck, and had to stop for repairs. It was now getting dark, and, as we had dined very sparingly, and had no prospect whatever of supper, I renewed my foraging efforts. There were half a dozen shanties scattered about the place, including an Irish railroad boarding shanty, so I hoped to be able to gather some eggs and potatoes the only things they could cook without rendering them unfit to eat by dirt and grease. An ex-member of Congress went with me, while the others divided off in squads to raid upon the different houses. The Congressman had a child in his party, and milk was requisite to its comfort, and we drove the cows with us up to the door of the house we assailed. We went in to negotiate, and found the lady of the house, with a blooming daughter just doing up her hair in the last weekly paper, preparatory to frizzing it for Sunday. We asked in turn for eggs, meat, potatoes, bread, and milk, but they had none of most of the articles, and none to spare of any of them. " But my child must have milk," said the grave national legislator. " So must my calves," said the Western matron, with a dignity and independence that showed her to be master of the situation and de- termined to keep it. The Congressman became patron- izing, and proposed that he would milk the cow, and that I would nurse her baby, if she would consent to sell enough to give the young Congressman his supper. Finally the lady came in ; but she would not trust either of us with the cows, and she milked a quart, which she gave for half a dollar. While the milking was going on, I negotiated with the daughter for a loaf of bread by a tempting offer ; and was glad to get it, notwithstanding the untidiness of the bakery, and the general air of filth about them. We next got two dozen of eggs, boiled by a man who had a sort of a boarding-car to feed the hands making repairs, at 4* 34 SWINDLED BY BIDDY. the modest price of one dollar and a half; and the same generous gentleman made us a gallon of what he called tea, for another half a dollar. We called it tea, because he said it was tea, and we could not prove the contrary. We then tried the Irish Biddy of the shanty to get some potatoes roasted, and finally got her to agree to roast us two dozen for half a dollar, in advance. She put them in the stove so much I saw of the potatoes ; but I do not know that they ever came out. There were cakes the in- evitable fat biscuit in the oven, the fire was bad, the cook was mad, and I saw that if there was any chance for the train to get off within an hour or two, the potatoes would not be done until just after the train started. An hour afterward, the whistle sounded, and we left the potatoes and the half-dollar with Biddy. She had a supper to her liking, if we did go hungry for want of them. From the romantic village of Honeybrook, we got along slowly but safely to the river. We arrived within a mile of Council Bluffs a little before ten o'clock at night, and there our conductor, engineer, and everybody but the car- boy left us to take care of ourselves. We were ticketed to Omaha, on the western side of the river ; but the only answer we could get from any one was that we had better stay where we were, as we could not get rooms in Coun- cil Bluffs, and would not cross the river before the next morning. We had all become patient by this time, and made as merry as we could over our helpless position. We concluded to stay where we were, and, as we had a sleep- ing-car, we went to bed on the track, like a family of gen- uine Micawbers, waiting for something to turn up. Morn- ing came, but no .one called to claim the car or to tell us where to go. The flats were wet and muddy from the late overflow, the omnibuses would not run between the cars and the town, so we disposed of the remnant of our last TROUBLE IN CROSSING THE MISSOURI. 35 evening's lunch, and patiently waited for somebody to come and put us and our baggage across the river. Once I thought I had cut the Gordian knot. I found the agent of the Transfer Company, and was about negotiating to get us across ; but the treaty was suddenly terminated by the information that the Transfer Company had not break- fasted, and that nothing could be done until after that important event. I kindly proposed to breakfast with the Transfer Company ; but the Transfer Company preferred to breakfast alone, so I did not breakfast at all. In the mean time, impatience was gaining supremacy in our se- verely-tested circle. The children were crying for want of proper food, and matrons and men were not by any means jocular, nor yet devoutly disposed, although it was Sunday. To add to the discomfort, the wind was sweep- ing across the river most furiously, and it was keenly cold. A muskrat enlivened the party by swimming up along- side of our car, and sailing around us as if he wanted to be sociable. Soon after bang went a rifle from the front car; but the muskrat sailed on leisurely as the bullet struck the water two rods ahead of him. The ice once broken, rifles gleamed from every car, and half a score of balls were sent after the now retreating rat ; but I was glad to notice that all were harmless. It was to me an unusual Sunday service ; but, under the circumstances, no one complained of the irreverent break of the monotony of starvation and vexatious delay. At last the Transfer Company managed to get break- fast, and by eleven o'clock there were coaches brought up to take us to the river, and thence across on the boat. We put the ladies inside, and fourteen gentlemen got on out- side, filling the boot, the top, the driver's seat ; and hang- ing on all around. We had four miles of staging before reaching the river, and when we did get there, the wind 36 THE PEOPLE. OF OMAHA. ^ was so high that the boat could not be forced from the shore for nearly half an hour, notwithstanding the puffing of her engines and the splashing of her wheels. But patience and perseverance overcame all, and by noon yes- terday we were safe at the Herndon House ; a house equal to a first-class city hotel in size and charges, further deponent saith not. Such was our trip across the two great rivers of the West to the eastern terminus of what is called the Plains. Upon the whole, it was as pleasant as we could expect, and we have all enjoyed it, notwithstanding its privations and delays. I have not been here over twenty-four hours, and everybody knows me, and I know pretty much every- body. People don't wait for introductions. Your name is read on the register, and you are at once addressed by name, your journey and business inquired into, and infor- mation freely given you. The man is to be pitied who cannot at once like the Western business people ; they are generous, frank, kind, and clever, and make you feel at honn3 at once. I had not been an hour at the hotel, before the landlord, to whom I had never spoken, came up to me where I was standing on the porch, threw his arm over my shoulder, helped himself to my tobacco, named me, and told me where I was going, how long I expected to be away, and gave me all the good advice about the plains he had to spare. He is but a type of the enterprise and go-ahead-ativeness of the Great West- the people who w^ill, in a quarter of a century more, change our great com- mercial centres, and make the seat of Empire west of the Father of Waters. LETTER IY. Council Bluffs. The Enterprise and Thrift of Omaha. A Speci- men "Western City. How Houses are built in a Day. The Indian War. General Augur's projected Campaign in the Hostile Country. Position and Numbers of many of the In- dian Tribes unknown. Our Military Force inadequate for War. Embarrassments of the Indian Problem. The Inevita- ble Fate of the Ked Man. Sympathy of the Military with the Indians. The Opinions of the Western People. OMAHA, May 7, 1867. COUNCIL BLUFFS was once the City of Promise on this line, and is still a most active and growing place, with two daily papers, many fine buildings, and a most enter- prising people. But the perfection of Western enterprise and thrift, of Western styles and manners, of Western hazard and progress, is to be found on this side of the Missouri, in Omaha. It has over ten thousand of a popu- lation, and more carriages than any town of the same size east of the Alleghanies; sells more goods and at higher prices; deals out town lots by the foot at more fabulous rates; has more hotels, which are better patronized, dirtier, and dearer ; builds more houses in a day, and rents them for more money; plays poker with a higher ante, faro and keno with a more liberal limit ; runs horses oftener and for higher stakes, than any other city of ten thousand people I have ever read of. It expects to surpass Chicago and St. Louis in a few years, and talks of being the national capital by the time our sons go to Congress. The poor Pawnee Indian wanders through the streets bewildered at (37) 38 THE INDIAN WAR. this high carnival of progress ; for a week's absence trans- forms streets and rears structures where was vacancy be- fore. One gentleman told me that while at supper a house was reared and greeted him on his return to his office. The houses are framed in Chicago and sent here ready to put up, and it is done with marvelous speed. A new and much-needed hotel is just under contract. It is to be one hundred and three by ninety-five feet, three stories high, and is to be completed in sixty-six days from the date of the articles. More than that, it will be done ; on the sixty- seventh day it will be full of guests, and likely the sixty- eighth will witness a grand ball. Fractions of a hundred dollars seem to be unknown as rents. An ordinary store- room, such as would rent for two hundred dollars or thereabouts in a good location in one of our Eastern towns, has scores of applicants for it here at from $1800 to $2000 per annum. They are generally one and a half or two stories high, built in the cheapest manner of wood, and in any New York village would not cost more than one-fourth of one year's rent in Omaha. Everybody be- lieves that the already fabulous prices will advance steadily. I think differently, but have not ventured to set the whole city into commotion by saying so. I doubt whether any one would be excused for expressing the opinion that there might possibly be a returning tide of sweeping disaster in the headlong business and feverish speculation of this city. I found the " Tribune" of the 1st instant to-day, and was not a little annoyed at the startling dispatches from St. Louis about the so-called Indian war. I see that the "Herald "has had dispatches from Leavenworth stating that General Augur was about to move west from Fort Phil. Kearney with six thousand troops, and that eleven thousand hostile Indians were encamped on the line of his THE INDIAN WAR. 39 march between Forts Phil. Kearney and C. F. Smith. I had just returned from a protracted interview with General Augur when I saw a dispatch in the " Tribune". correcting the " Herald's" sensation dispatch. The truth is that there are not five thousand troops in all, and there are not the half of eleven thousand Indian warriors who are hostile or doubtful in the whole of General Augur's department; and so far from being about to march from Fort Phil. Kearney west, he will not get his troops to Fort Laramie before the 1st of June, will not start from there on his expedition before the 10th or 15th of the same month, and cannot reach Fort Phil. Kearney before the middle of July. When he does start from Fort Laramie, his force will consist, as I am officially informed, of the Second Cavalry, the Thirtieth Infantry, a battalion of the Eigh- teenth Infantry, and a battalion of Pawnee scouts num- bering about two hundred giving him an effective force of about tw r o thousand men, nearly one-half of them mounted. It seems to be a small force to move against the Indians, according to the general conceptions of Eastern people about the Indian war. The impression prevails generally that the campaigns of General Hancock south of the Platte, of General Augur north of the Platte to the Yellowstone, and of General Terry up the Missouri, are intended as a w r ar of extermination against the Indians. Such is not the expectation of the commanders. If this were their pur- pose, the general criticism of the Eastern press on the folly of hunting Indians with infantry and artillery would be just. If the Indians were now engaged in a general war, as is persistently represented by speculators and other in- terested parties, they could drive all the troops east of the Missouri in sixty days, or scalp two-thirds of them if tliry preferred. IS'ot a coach or train could pass across the mountains; and yet the overland coach runs dailv, and 40 GENERAL AUGUR'S PROJECTED CAMPAIGN. trains pass over all but the Powder River route with com- parative safety. Occasionally a weak train is captured on the Smoky Hill route, through Kansas, and north of Fort Laramie travel is not allowed, while the massacre of Fort Phil. Kearney indicates a savage, implacable hostility in the Powder River region ; but as yet the Indians have made no hostile demonstrations looking like general war, such as is anticipated in the East. General Augur is an old Indian-fighter, and understands the Indian character well. He spent some ten years be- fore the rebellion in fighting steadily with the Indians on the Pacific slopes a race equally as valorous as our Sioux and Cheyennes. He is an accomplished officer, will com- mand his expedition in person with Brevet Major-Gen- eral Gibbon second in command and understands well that he is neither expected nor prepared to wage a suc- cessful offensive war against the red men. He will go upon the Powder River route, garrison it, fight when neces- sary, either on the offensive or the defensive, and punish with relentless severity all cruelties committed by his foes. When it is considered that to us, even at the head- quarters of the department, the actual position of half the tribes of Nebraska and Dakotaois unknown, save by con- jecture, the Eastern public can judge how wild are their calculations as to the results of the Indian expeditions. There are in General Augur's department but four or five tribes which are known to be hostile, and some of them are what might be termed semi-hostile ; for, while they are dissatisfied and unfriendly, they have not marshaled their warriors, as yet, for the war-path. In {this list may be classed the Arrapahocs, the Lower Brules, the Yancton- nais, and the Sans Arcs. The tribes in this Military Depart- ment either wholly or partially hostile, or whose position is not definitely known, are as follows, viz., the Ogalallas POSITION AND NUMBERS OF THE INDIANS. 41 and Brules of the Platte, numbering seven thousand eight hundred, mostly friendly, living on the Republican River; the Cheyennes, north of the Platte, numbering eighteen hundred, all hostile ; the Arrapahoes, seven hundred and fifty strong; the Lower Brules, twelve hundred strong, accepted as hostile, but not certainly known to be so; the Blackfeet Sioux (a roving offshoot of the regular Black- feet), thirteen hundred strong, thriving and hostile ; the Min- neconjous, numbering two thousand two hundred, mostly hostile, but divided ; the TJncopapas, eighteen hundred strong, and the Ogalallas of the north, two thousand four hundred strong, known as hostile ; and the Yanctonnais, two thousand four hundred strong, and the Sans Arcs, six- teen hundred strong, inclined to be hostile, but divided. The Two Kettles are friendly on their reservation; and the Crows, four thousand strong, have always been friends, and are the deadly enemies of the Sioux. The Pawnees, the Utes, and other lesser tribes in this Department (Iowa, Nebraska, Dakota, and Utah) are all friendly. The num- bers given above are the entire population of the several tribes, and it is a safe estimate that if all not known to be friendly should unite on the war-path they could not mar- shal five thousand warriors, while it is reasonably certain that, by treaties now in process, fully half of the w r arriors regarded as hostile or unfriendly will be made neutral or effective allies against the Indians persisting in warfare. Already two hundred Pawnees are enlisted as scouts by General Augur, and fifteen hundred Crows have formally proposed to him, through the Indian Commission, to join his forces against the Sioux, on the condition that the Yellow- stone country (from which the Crows were driven by the Sioux) shall be restored to them. Just what Gem-nil Augur will do when he moves west from Laramic, a month hence, cannot now be even calculated. General Sully 's commission, 5 42 INEVITABLE FATE OF THE RED MAN. now well on to Fort Phil. Kearney, will have exhausted its powers to make peace, and to combine the friendly In- dians against the unfriendly, if the shock of savage war- fare must come ; and his letters quite recently received by General Augur are very hopeful of peace, or rather that a general war can be averted. If war must come, then we are entirely unprepared for it, for there are not one-fifth the number of troops here necessary even to keep open the overland route and the Missouri River the two great thoroughfares much less to exterminate the Indians. That the red man must fade away, and that during the present century, I do not doubt; but his contact with civili- zation will do the fatal work more rapidly than a hun- dred thousand soldiers. He accepts all the vices and a few of the virtues of the pale-faces, and disease and dissi- pation are fast diminishing the numbers and degrading still lower in the scale of creation the once proud inhabit- ant of the wilderness. That he has little sympathy, and that nine-tenths of the people look to his extermination either approvingly or anxiously, is not to be questioned ; but it is remarkable that most military officers and govern- ment agents who have maintained an unsullied reputation in dealing with the Indians, cling to the conviction that the red men are deeply wronged, and that if fairly treated they would, as a rule, maintain faith and friendship with the whites. General Augur informed me that he has not been able to learn of a single chief who signed the treaty at Savanne last spring engaging in hostilities. Red Cloud, the leader of the present difficulties, refused to sign the treaty, as did some others who were present and are now at war. This is directly at variance with the generally received opinion among the Avhitos, who believe that the treaties were made to get ammunition to capture trains and emigrants. Ninety-nine out of every hundred Western OPINIONS OF THE WESTERN PEOPLE. 43 men believe that the sooner the Indians are killed off the better, and they insist that it is a humane work to kill them off whenever and wherever found. How much the pre- vailing- sentiment, and its logical results displayed in the actions of Western people and traders and miners, have had to do with our present Indian difficulties, I leave others to judge. When I shall have passed through the Indian country, I may have more decided convictions on the subject than now. But for the white tents which dot the bluffs near this place, the crowd of officers that throng the streets, and the hurried moving of military stores, with an occasional hearty curse you hear hurled at the Indian, no one here would suppose that there were any troubles on the Plains. The trains and coaches run regularly. Passengers come through on their way East, and laugh when interrogated as to the danger of Indians. They had not heard or thought of them, is the usual reply. Crowds go west- ward daily, and all things seem to be considered but the danger of assault or capture by the Indians. All are well armed, and the men going westward, especially those who have been there, all consider themselves able to whip any number of Indians single-handed if they should cross their path. Families, embracing mothers and daughters, start out by every train, and the Far-Western ladies make the trip unattended without any fear as to their safety. Gen- eral Potter will leave his head-quarters at Fort Sedgwick (Julesburg), with ten companies of troops, to protect the stage route and the construction of the railroads, and no apprehensions are felt about the interruption of travel on the Plains. True, a roving band of Indians may attack a small party at any time, but it is evident that no consider- able body of hostile Indians can endanger the overland route for any length of time. Yesterday a band of them 44 THE "FIRE-WAGONS." struck one of the stage-stations between Julesburg and Denver, capturing the horses and burning the station, but did not attempt to kill or capture any of the men. They are just now in search of horses, and -will be likely to trouble the overland stations much more likely to raid upon the stations than upon the stages, for they have no love for uncertain warfare, and they can never calculate the armed force in a stage until they draw its fire. They have met with several severe defeats by attacking stages, and they call them the "fire-wagons." LETTER V. Starting from Omaha for the Plains. The Union Pacific Railroad. The Flood in the Platte Valley. The Plattc River. Scarcity of Shrubbery and Trees. The Adobe Shanties. Antelopes and Buffaloes. The Indian War again. It grows more serious. General Hancock's Expedition South. His Enemy raids North. The Cost of Killing Indians. The Military embarrassed by the Civil Authorities. Transfer of the Indians to the War De- partment a Necessity. Off again Westward. NORTH PLATTE, May 8, 1807. I LEFT Omaha last evening at six o'clock, by the Union Pacific Railroad, and must confess that I did not leave re- gretfully. There are few persons, not actually bound there by the tide of business that is sweeping in and about the place, who will spend any time needlessly in what the Omahaians regard as the coming city of the West. They boast greatly of the rare variety of climate having had snow-storms, thunder-storms, hurricanes, impassable mud, choking dust, earthquakes, floods, hard freezes, and burn- ing suns all in the space of three weeks. I must concede all they claim in the way of variety, but I found most of them differed with me when I told them that nothing but a first- class earthquake or a general fire to batter or burn down these miserable buildings will ever make Omaha what I doubt not it must yet be a substantial, thrifty, growing town, The Union Pacific Railroad is now completed to this point, a distance of two hundred and ninety-five miles, and 5* ( 45 ) 46 THE PLATTE RIVER. the trains run with comparative regularity. It is a good Western road, tenfold better than the Iowa part of the Chicago and Northwestern, and makes the two hundred and ninety-five miles in fifteen hours. It suffered consider- ably by the late flood, but is now completely repaired. The inundation of the Platte Valley must have been fear- ful. I saw as much as half a mile of railroad-track, the ties and rails still connected, swept away from the bed, and strong, new rails bent nearly double by the violence of the water. But such floods are not frequent, and I pre- sume that it is safe to calculate that this road wiH not be more subject to interruption by floods than are first-class Eastern roads. After passing out through Nebraska for a few miles, the evidence of progress is not marked. There are but few settlers on the line of the road, and after we enter what is called the Platte Plains, about Fort Kearney, there seems to be little that can ever invite the husband- man. The valley, or vast plain, is bounded on every side by vast bluffs, ranging from twenty to thirty miles apart, and the bluffs seem to be terribly sterile and repulsive. The Platte River rolls lazily along south of the railroad, hug- ging the southern bluffs at times, and again striking out near the centre of the valley ; but it tires the eye to look at it and its surroundings. It is a murky, shallow, treacher- ous stream, with shifting sands for its bed, and naked banks skirting it all the way. I have looked for miles along its course without seeing so much as a shrub, much less a tree; but at times, when it nears the bluffs, it puts out along its banks a stunted, miserable growth of cotton- wood. I have not seen a tree off the stream in the great Platte V alley thus far, and not one even on the stream that would make a good rail or a telegraph-pole. The valley is a miserable waste, and I fear ever must be. I have not found a single stream in it but the Platte River the whole THE INDIAN WAR AGAIN. 47 plain thus far, north of the river, not furnishing a single tributary. In addition to this, there are but few rains during the summer, and no possible means of irrigation. The grass is now covered with a white coat of alkali, and all the water, even from the wells, is strongly impregnated with it. The ox-trains going west by this route keep south of the Platte, between the river and the bluffs, and I learn that there is better grass there, and an occasional stream running to the river. There is not a habitation on the route for nearly two hundred miles but such as are neces- sary to accommodate the railroad and travel. Here and there are miserable adobe shanties, with signs out, offering whisky and other luxuries to the weary sojourner; but I have not seen so much as the sign of a farm, or a fold, or even a patch, for fully one hundred miles. The antelopes would come up close to the train and gaze at it with bound- less curiosity, until some ambitious sport would send a bullet after them. They would look for a moment at the dust raised by the bullet, and then fly off with bewitching grace. The buffalo grazed quietly eight miles north of us at one place on the Plains, and the prairie-dog and owl oc- casionally peeped out at us as we passed along. We are beginning to realize that there is something of an Indian war going on. We are advised here that a band of Cheyenncs (pronounced Shi-en') had made a raid on our stage line sixty miles in advance of us, captured all the hor.es at the American Ranch, and burned the Fair- view Station beyond. I had an inkling of it from General Augur yesterday, before I left Omaha, but his advices were indefinite, and he did not fully credit them. He therefore withheld the information from the public press, but com- municated it to me just as he had received it, inasmuch as I was about to travel the route. He had been advised of a probable raid on the overland line, between Julesburg 48 GENERAL HANCOCK'S EXPEDITION SOUTH. and Denver, by Spotted Tail and Swift Bear, two chiefs of the Ogalallas and Brules, who have been temporarily quar- tered on the Republican Fork by General Sully. About fifteen hundred from those tribes are, for the present, al- lowed to occupy the region from the Smoky Hill to the Platte, where there are good hunting grounds. They have interpreters and scouts with them, employed by General Augur, and are under pledge to keep the peace themselves, arid not to allow hostile tribes to move across their grounds without sending messages to the nearest military post. A few days ago Spotted Tail sent a messenger to General Augur with word that two hundred and fifty lodges of Cheyennes and sixty lodges of Sioux, all hostile, had moved up to the Republican Fork from the Smoky Hill, and that they were offering every inducement to get Spotted Tail's young warriors to join them in a war upon the whites. He was offered one hundred horses if he would join the hostile tribes. He refused, and asked to be removed from that region, with his lodges, to some place where the hostile tribes would not harass his people and seduce his young warriors from him. The lodges of the Indians aver- age about five persons to each, so that there are about fifteen hundred hostile Indians on the Republican Fork, within sixty miles of the Union Pacific Railroad, and near enough to both stage and railroad lines to raid upon either or both. With these hostile tribes are their families, so that, all told, there are not over three hundred and fifty warriors ; but that number, near enough to strike a great thoroughfare any place in a stretch of one hundred miles, may prove a seri- ous impediment to travel. These are represented by Spotted Tail to be the same Indians that General Hancock met in the Smoky Hill region, and which General Ouster was supposed to be driving far south. One thing is cer- tain, that General Custcr has found no hostile Indians THE COST OF KILLING INDIANS. 49 south of Smoky Hill as far as he has been heard from, and it is equally certain that a hostile party turns up several hundred miles in his rear, that did not cross the Platte from the north. So much for the results of the expedition south. The troops sweep down toward the Arkansas, while the Indians make the plains resound with their war- whoop upon the Republican, and the belligerents are each pursuing their hostile purposes at the unusual range of three hundred miles. In this we have but a foretaste of our offensive Indian campaigns. It will be no fault of the commanders that these expeditions, generally regarded East as offensive movements, will prove ludicrous fail- ures. They are doing the best they can. They are obey- ing orders, and will do much good in their way ; but the practical results will not be palpable to the masses of the people who are patiently waiting for General Hancock or General Augur or General Terry to carve the epitaph of the last Red Man with his sword. It has been ascer- tained by calculation that every Indian warrior of the Plains killed by the military has cost the government about $115,000. Rather expensive first-class funerals, it must be confessed, to lavish on barbarians ; but I do not look for the Indian funeral market to decline materially in price during any of the present campaigns. The defeat of the bill, proposed recently in Congress, to transfer the Indian Bureau to the War Department, was a gigantic mistake, and it will cost the government hun- dreds of thousands of dollars, worse than wasted, this summer. General Augur commands a large Indian de- partment, controls its armies, projects its campaigns, and fights its battles ; but he can do nothing more. Some In- dian agent, but too often an unscrupulous speculator or a downright thief, is supreme in all matters but actual hos- tilities. The Ogalallas and Brules, now temporarily on 50 TRANSFER TO THE WAR DEPARTMENT. the Republican, ask to be transferred from the perils and the influence of the hostile Cheyennes and Sioux, who have broken into their hunting grounds. One reason given by the friendly chiefs is that their young warriors cannot be controlled when appealed to and offered tempting bribes to join in hostilities. The young brave has but one hope of distinction. He can become great only by warfare. He can be honored only by wearing the rude wreath of vic- tory known to the barbarian ; and his dusky bride or sweet- heart ever prompts him to deeds of blood. With good reason, therefore, do Spotted Tail and Swift Bear, two vet- eran and faithful chiefs, advise that their followers be re- moved from the baleful influences of the hostile tribes. But who is to remove them ? General Augur dare not, and there is no Indian agent nearer than Fort Laramie who has any power over the question. The Pawnees have their agent here, but his jurisdiction ends with the Paw- nees. When Indians are to be removed, they must be fed ; and red tape demands, even in the midst of war, that they eat none but rations properly issued and labeled by the Indian Department. If the whole management of Indian affairs had been transferred to the War Department, we should have started in this war with half the battle gained, by at once sweeping from position the swarms of civil agents who are the authors of so much of our Indian troubles, and our military commanders would now be em- powered to treat, transfer, feed, or fight them, as circum- stances might require. It is just possible that, at the rate the government has been learning the management of In- dians, in the course of forty years or so we may attain something approaching common sense in this business, and it is about equally probable that by that time there will be no Indians left to experiment on in a sensible way. If the government does not solve this problem at an early OFF AGAIN WESTWARD. 51 day, the settlers and miners will solve it themselves, and some new Cooper may write " The Last of the Chey- ennes," or " The Last of the Sioux," with the truth of its bloody history making all Indian romance pale before it. How the settlers and miners will end Indian depredations, the Chivington massacre at Sand Creek correctly fore- shadows. Colonel Chivington's command was composed of Colorado volunteers men who had felt or seen the cruel savagery of the Red Man in resenting his real or imaginary wrongs ; and, although a dispassionate examina- tion of the whole case must force the conviction that White Antelope and his followers were peaceable, with perhaps rare exceptions, he and his whole band, squaws and pa- pooses, were put to death not one received as a prisoner ; and yet nine out of ten of the Western people either com- mend or excuse the act. They feel that the Indian is in their way, that they cannot fraternize; that he will not work, and must rob, and to rob must often kill ; and they look hopefully to the day when he shall have offered the last of his race as a sacrifice to the progress of civilization. But the stage is loaded. We have had a dinner of boiled antelope and vegetables all excellent but the water, and start in a few minutes for Denver, distant two hundred and ninety miles, and will have an opportunity of crossing the path of the hostile Indians who struck the stations sixty miles west. We will have three stages, all well filled and passengers well armed, and an attack is not probable unless a powerful party of warriors should happen to strike us. They want horses more than scalps or trunks and bonnets, and they may attack twenty stations and allow the stage to pass safely. The people here, passengers and proprietors, seem to take no account of the Indians beyond a careful examination of their repeating 1 rifles; and if one stage-load should be murdered to-day, another would start out to- 52 THE MOVEMENT TOWARD THE SETTING SUN. morrow, just as usual. Passengers would not wait merely because half a dozen persons had been butchered, and the proprietors would not think of stopping their line for even a day while there were horses enough to take the coach through. The movement toward the setting sun is ac- cepted as inevitable, and, although many may find name- less and forgotten graves, still the restless, swelling, ir- resistible tide will move on, until the savage lives only in history, and his once favorite hunting grounds shall be known only as the beautiful and bountiful fields of the mighty West. LETTER VI. From North Platte to Denver. The Barrenness of the Platte Valley. The "Lone Tree" and "Plum Creek" not visible. Sources of the Platte Kiver. First Experiment in Overland Staging. The First Indian Alarm. Troops protecting a "Whisky-Mill. Alarm of the Station-Men. A Cowardly Driver induced to change his Strategy. A Canadian Frenchman uses a Revolver as a Persuader. The First "Square Meal" on the Plains. Fort Sedgwick. Plentj 7 of Troops, but ineffective. Indians drive in the Cavalry. The Stage goes on and passes in Safety. Quicksand and Sand Gnats. A Burnt Station. Supper with "Old Wicked." The Dinner at Living Spring. Arrival at Denver. DENVER, COLORADO, May 11, 1867. WE reached the city last night about nine o'clock, just three days and three hours from Omaha. It is six hun- dred miles, of which two hundred and ninety-five is by rail, the rest of the journey by coach. When the roads are good, the trip is made in two and a half days; but the railroad is still a little shaky from the late floods, and be- tween Indian depredations, floods, and quicksands, the trip is generally extended twenty hours over time. From Omaha, on the Missouri River, to the North Platte, the country is beautiful prairie; but after leaving the river it soon becomes dry, rains seldom fall, dews grow lighter and more rare, until they finally disappear altogether, about Fort Kearney, and thence westward there is but one con- tinued plain, parched, whitened with alkali, without shrub- bery or trees, almost entirely without small streams, and 6 (53) 54 "LONE TREE" AND "PLUM CREEK." altogether inhospitable, bleak, and desolate. From Fort Kearney west to near this place, a distance of four hun- dred miles, I did not see a single acre. in cultivation, not a single fence, garden, patch, field, or anything that indi- cated thrift or productiveness. The river Platte rolls its turbid waters through the Platte Yalley, and makes no sign of life along its borders. It is wide, shallow, muddy, broken by innumerable islands, treacherous, and appa- rently useless. It does not even skirt its own banks with shrubs or timber. All along its banks is the same weary waste that the plains present for miles on either side of it. Occasionally it presents a petty growth of cottonwood for a few miles, but they are mere apologies for trees, and make the general view, if possible, more cheerless by their deformed and stinted growth. From Kearney west I did not notice a tree any place on the route, nor so much as even a temporary tributary to the Platte River. One station on the railroad is called "Lone Tree" station. I looked carefully for the tree, and would have welcomed such an evidence of life in that unbroken waste, but I found no sign of it. Upon inquiry, I was informed that the tree existed only in tradition. It is positively asserted that there once was a tree there, a brave but rather un- sightly cedar, that had successfully resisted the unwhole- some waters and burning suns of the plain, but it fell be- fore the march of civilization. Every traveler plucked a twig from its branches, until the branches were gone, and then the trunk was chipped away, as relics of the Lone Tree of the Platte plain. Equally delusive was the title of another railroad station called "Plum Creek." At last, I supposed, we would find a tributary to the Platte at least a little rivulet winding through the sands to nourish some vegetation along its path. But Plum Creek station had everything but the creek. It had not even the bed or SOURCES OF THE PLATTE RIVER. 55 semblance of a stream of water. It seems that a little stream empties into the Platte on the south side, some ten miles from the station, and the railroad company did the best it could, in the absence of all babbling brooks, by honoring the name of one ten miles away to grace their titles in the railroad guide. So the country continues until the Platte divides, and in the peninsula is located Platte City, better known as North Platte. The North Fork is bridged for the railroad, and at the end of the bridge the railroad round-house and repair-shops have made a West- ern city. It consists of one fair hotel, several one-story boarding-houses for operatives, several warehouses, as many stores, and about forty "whisky-mills," or small groceries, where whisky, tobacco, and portable eatables are sold at fabulous prices. The North Fork of the Platte has its course consider- ably north of west of Fort Laramie, nearly three hundred miles distant from the junction, and from Laramie it sweeps up northward to the Red Buttes, when it wheels around south again, and finally heads in North Park, Colorado. The South Platte has a southwestern course from the junction to this city, and from here its course is to the South Park, where it heads. Both forks start in the Rocky Range, and not fifty miles apart, but they sepa- rate as much as six hundred miles in their course to reach the junction at Platte City. The North Fork has many tributaries as it nears the mountains, but the South Fork continues for three hundred miles without any important tributaries, and its width and general appearance are just the same during all that distance, while the country is but a continuation of the dry alkali plain we had traversed by rail east of the junction. We started from Platte City about two P.M. on Wednes- day. The beginning of Western staging was anything 56 FIRST EXPERIMENT IN OVERLAND STAGING. but soothing to our expectations. A large baggage-wagon, without springs, containing a box guiltless of any sort of seats, was driven up to the door, and half a ton of mail- bags and our baggage first thrown in. These filled the bed more than full, and upon the baggage and mail- bags we were to ride for eight miles, including the fording of the river, before we could get to the coaches. It would have been in vain to protest against compelling passengers, and especially ladies, to travel in that way. We had paid our fare, we had to go, and to have complained would have provoked perhaps still harsher treatment. The ladies, three in number, were piled upon the trunks, and the gen- tlemen hung on and around the wagon as best they could. Between keeping themselves and the ladies from falling off, as the team went at a rapid gait over a rough road, often invisible amid the clouds of dust that swept over us, they had more on hands than men should bargain for. But we got over the river, and finally landed at the coach- station in tolerable order, considering all things. In a short time a regular Concord coach was driven up, with an elegant four-horse team, and one ton of mails and bag- gage and nine passengers were crowded in and on it ready for the plains. Two of the passengers took outside seats, or we should have had a sorry time of it. The coaches here are fully a foot shorter in the bed than our old Eastern coaches, and when nine persons are in one of them, they are so completely wedged together that it is next to impossible to change position. But, by dividing Avith the driver and the stage-top, we got fixed rather comfort- ably, the driver cracked his whip, and off AA T C started for Avhat is at least a thirty-six hours' continuous journey over the Platte Valley. The first station we reached was about ten miles from our starting-place. The stations along the route vary from THE FIRST INDIAN ALARM. 57 eight to fourteen miles, and are distinguished as " swing" and " home" stations. The swing stations furnish a change of horses only ; while the home stations furnish new teams and " square meals" to the passenger. As the Indians had cleaned out one station on the route but a few nights before, I need not say that the Indian question became one of especial interest to all the passengers. I walked into the stable while the change of horses was being made, and inquired of the man in charge whether he had any information of Indian movements. I found him greatly excited on the subject, and apprehensive of an attack any hour. He said that there were not less than seventy-five hundred hostile Sioux and Cheyennes just south of the bluffs, not more than from ten to fifteen miles distant, or between that and the Republican River, and that they would certainly sweep the stage-line with scalping-knife and torch, as they did in the winter of 1865. I got but little comfort from him, and I kept his information to my- self. He was evidently frightened out of all judgment on the subject ; and, while his fears were not entirely ground- less, I was satisfied that there was no large force of sav- ages so near. But he doubtless felt as I did that fifty would settle the business with a^station or a stage-coach just as effectually as five thousand. At the second station I made the same inquiry, and found the station-keepers usually from two to four men greatly alarmed, but much more rational than the others. One of them told me that he had ridden out over the hills near at hand and seen two Indians quite distinctly. He supposed them to be spies, looking out for the best method and time to attack the station. The driver evidently believed the report of the station-keeper, and considered an attack upon the coach as probable. He said that he would do the best he could for himself in case of an attack that he had a good knife 0* 58 A REVOLVER AS A PERSUADER. and a good leader, and they would be smart if they caught him. I asked him whether he would desert the stage and passengers in that manner ; to which he replied that he would take care of himself. I told him I thought that no man would get away with the leader should the Indians attack us. " Why not?" was his quick and somewhat ex- cited response. "Because," said I, "we shall watch that our leader don't get away." We had a fearless Canadian Frenchman on the outside, who has spent many years in the Indian country. I handed him a good revolver ; and, although no explanations passed, there were at least three men, including the driver, who understood that the lead- horse would not leave the team in case of trouble. At the next station we found a squad of soldiers, protecting and patronizing a whisky-mill, and apparently proving them- selves a most effective force in the last part. They had no reports of Indians, and pronounced the route to be clear. When we reached the next station, the men were busy tunneling from the stable far enough off to be safe in case of fire, and they were panic-stricken about the expected Indian raid. They were indeed to be pitied, for they are entirely without protection, most of them not even armed, and, as the Indians want horses badly, they are more ex- posed than any other class of people. On the entire route I found but three stations where there were any arms. They say that they are not furnished with arms, that they cannot afford to buy them ; and that even if they were armed they could not defend themselves in stables, where the Indian has but to apply the torch to the hay roof and burn them out. About ten o'clock P.M. we reached the first "home-station," known as Alkali Station, and we were there to try our first " square meal." The station- house is, like all others on the route, one story high, and covered with sod. The sod is cut in the lowlands about THE FIRST "SQUARE MEAL." 59 six inches thick, and probably eighteen inches square. These are piled upon each other to the height of eight feet, wide rafters are thrown across, and another course of sod for a roof completes the building. All ranches, stables, and residences on the line are built in the same way. The lady of the house set to work at once to get supper, and, while it was being prepared, we were invited to be seated and make ourselves at home. Her shanty bore many evi- dences of neatness, and looked as heartsome as such a hovel could be made. In a short time, supper was ready, and we were all most agreeably surprised by the repast spread for us. We had excellent warm rolls, canned to- matoes, peas, blackberries, peach-pie, fried ham, stewed veal, and fried potatoes, with tolerable butter and coffee and tea. It was, in fact, the best meal I had met with since leaving Chicago. We were all hungry as well as tired, and did ample justice to the supper. The price was one dollar and fifty cents, which we all paid most cheer- fully. We found the station-keeper and his wife both much concerned about the Indians, and they talked about closing out at an early day. The late supper, and the liberal patronage we all extended to it, made sound sleep rather difficult in a stage-coach. We had by this time become used to Indian reports ; and, as there was no place so safe as in the stage, we all got our shawls about us, looked well to the loading of our rifles, and to their position, so as to be of easy access in case they should be wanted, and devoted ourselves to rest. Most of the passengers dozed more or less ; but I could not sleep. My long legs placed me at a great disadvant- age, as they became so painful from the interruption of cir- culation by being squeezed together in one position all the time, that I could not rest. I looked anxiously for the stations, just to give me a few minutes to straighten myself 60 INDIANS DRIVE IN THE CAVALRY. out and get up a little motion of the blood. The night passed without any event of interest, and soon after sun- rise we arrived at Julesburg a little town of three build- ings, all rude frame shanties. At Fort Sedgwick there were ovei one thousand troops stationed ; but they were unfitted for any service that could give protection to the route. The men were unmounted, and, beyond protecting themselves and their officers, they are of no possible use in the West. I called on the commanding officer of the fort, to ascertain whether he had any authentic informa- tion relative to Indian depredations on the route. Colonel Dodge (formerly Assistant Provost Marshal at Harris- burg) was in command ; but, as it was only eight o'clock, he had not yet made his toilet. In answer to an inquiry sent him by an officer, he answered that the Indians had broken the telegraph-line the day before, some fifteen miles west, but he considered it safe for the stage to proceed. I did not ask for an escort, although by an official letter I bore I could have commanded it, for the reason that the practical men on the route, the drivers and passengers who were familiar with both soldiers and Indians, pre- ferred not to have an escort. A large escort cannot be given ; a small one would be useless under any circum- stances; and the Indians, I learn, don't care much for ordinary escorts, whether large or small. After breakfast we passed on until we came to the second station, at a ranch kept by " Buffalo John," where we met the tele- graph operator and his escort, consisting of a squad of cavalry. He had been out repairing the line supposed to have been broken by the Indians, and reported that he had seen a large body of them, probably a hundred ; and the officer who commanded the squad added that he had seen fully a hundred, and had been fired upon and chased into the ranch. They said that these hostile demonstrations THE STAGE PASSES IN SAFETY. 61 had been made about two miles ahead on our road. I asked the officer whether he considered it safe for the stage to proceed. "All safe; they won't attack the stage," he answered. He deemed it unsafe for a body of armed and mounted troops to be there, but considered it safe for three ladies and six gentlemen to go over the route. I suggested that probably we had better detail a mixed guard of ladies and gentlemen from the stage to protect the troops ; but he walked off as if he really considered me insolent. v/ With the cavalry skulking in and about the whisky-mill, we all decided to proceed, as the driver insisted that the soldiers were not to be believed, and that the telegraphic operator was never known to tell the truth. He probably put his point a little strong, but he certainly did not be- lieve the report, positive and circumstantial as it was, and so on we went. The driver was a cool, intelligent, de- termined man, an old resident of the Indian country, and he was very positive that we should proceed ; and as to an escort, he didn't want to have it about him. He suggested, however, that it was barely possible we might meet with Indians, and if so, he named the place where they would attack. At his request, four of us, with repeating rifles, took the top of the coach. I sat beside him on the driver's boot, and three others, with well-loaded rifles, lay on the baggage. About three miles west of the station, the road runs close to the river, in a low, narrow flat, and a series of broken bluffs come close to the road. The driver held his lines with perfect steadiness, but did not wholly conceal the apprehension he felt that, after all, there might be In- dians about. " Watch well for their heads, front and rear, and don't let them get the first fire," was his advice; and we did watch well. Every rifle in and about the stage was cocked and pointed toward the bluffs, and fifty balls 62 QUICKSAND AND SAND-GNATS. could have been fired without stopping to reload. The driver showed his appreciation of strategy by keeping as close to the river as possible, thus giving the bluffs a wide berth. There was scarcely a word spoken by any while passing the bluffs, a distance of a quarter of a mile ; and all breathed freely again when they receded behind us. "I knowed he was a d d liar," was the brief but ex- pressive remark of the driver as he whirled his long lash over his six gay horses and made his silken cracker rend out its sharp, keen music. About three o'clock we stopped at " Riverside Ranch," and did justice to a good dinner. Here we came into the sandy region. For twenty-five miles the road is mostly over a bed of deep quicksand, and three miles an hour with a heavily- loaded coach is good time. It is a much greater impedi- ment than mud, and is, besides, very oppressive upon pas- sengers. The fine sand keeps a perpetual cloud about the coach, and penetrates the eyes, ears, nose, mouth, hair, and clothes, and, impregnated as it is with alkali, it makes every one most uncomfortable. Nor do its torments stop with itself. It has an ally of innumerable little sand- gnats, so small as to be hardly perceptible, and they get in the hair and under the clothing, and bite much worse than even Western mosquitoes. We bore all, however, with commendable fortitude and patience, and finally got out again on good road, only to find the ruins of the " American Station," burnt by the Indians but a few nights before. It was not by any means a pleasant reminder of the perils of the trip. But it is wonderful how people can become used to almost anything. Even the old woman's traditionary eels got used to skinning; and we had cer- tainly become used to Indian rumors. The ladies were not the least heroic of the party, and had their revolvers ready to aid in the common defense in case the war should SUPPER WITH "OLD WICKED." 63 come to close quarters. From the gravest apprehensions felt by all at first, the Indian question became one fruitful of jokes, although there were some grim smiles at times as the loss of a scalp was made the theme of wit. At last we ceased to borrow trouble about the Indians, and as night drew her sable curtains about us, most of the party were ready for sleep. About half-past eleven we drove up before the ranch of " Old Wicked," one of the home stations of the route. We were due there for supper about six, but a heavy load and bad roads had detained us. No one wanted supper at that late hour, but we concluded that " Old Wicked " was entitled to a benefit, and seven of us answered to the call for supper. We had to wait for it to be cooked, and I was glad to have an hour with the proprietor. His name is Hollen Godfrey, and he is the most noted Indian-fighter on the Plains. He was the only man on the Platte Plains who defended and saved his ranch in the raid of 1865. He and three others defended it against one hundred and sixty Indians for half a day, killed over a dozen of them, and finally compelled them to raise the siege. The Indians named him " Old Wicked," and by that name he has since been known. He has a sod fortification connected with his ranch, and defending it at all points, and he proposes to do his own fighting in his own way. He hopes to have a brush with them this summer ; but the general judgment of all along the line is that if an Indian raid is made, " Old Wicked " will not be honored with a call. lie iruve us a good supper; and I was so entertained by his modest but intelligent history of our Indian difficulties, that not until the driver's whip cracked after several calls of " all aboard " did I bid him good-by and get into the coach. I must tell more of him at another time. We. had nothing of special interest after leaving " Old 64 ARRIVAL AT DENVER. Wicked " until we came near " Living Spring " station, within forty-five miles of this city. One of the station- keepers informed us that he had seen ten Indians that day, evidently spies, who were planning the capture of the station and horses, and he said that he would remain no longer. We had become so used to frightened station-men and military reports that we did not even take the trouble to discuss the probable correctness of the story. Dinner was just ahead of us at " Living Spring " the only spring I have heard of during a journey of nearly six hundred miles ; and I was glad to find one oasis in this parched plain where fresh water gave life to vegetation. From thence to Denver the scenery is grand indeed. The Rocky Mountains are in full view, with their eternal snow-clad peaks, the prairie is broken by gentle undulations, habita- tions begin to show some of the signs of civilization, and here and there are irrigated gardens which are beginning to bloom with life and beauty. It was a grateful change from the flat, hot, monotonous valley of the Platte, and we were all more than rejoiced when, stiff and sore, we were landed at the Pacific Hotel in Denver. Of Denver and Colorado I will write hereafter. I find the road through the mountains almost impassable, and while it is improving I will spend a week in the mining regions of Colorado. I go to Central City, Idaho, and Empire, on Monday and Tuesday. LETTER VII. Efforts to understand the Indian Question. The Western De- mand for Chivington or Conner. "Western Contempt for the Regular Army. Why Regulars do not fight Indians success- fully. Advantages of the Indians in a Summer Campaign. The Monuments of Indian Warfare. The Platte Valley Raid of 1865. Horrible Cruelties of the Savages. Hollen Godfrey, or "Old Wicked." His Defense of his Ranch. A Supper with him, and his Story of his Fight. His Solution of the Indian Problem. He regards Indians as Peaceable when they are Dead. How Indians conduct Campaigns. Their Signals and Spies. There must be Peace. It will be the Peace of Death to the Indian. The Harney and Chivington Wars. DENVER, COLORADO, May 13, 1867. EVER since I reached the Missouri, at Omaha, I have been laboring most industriously to get something like a correct understanding of the causes, progress, and probable results of the present Indian war. It would seem natural that the officer commanding a department should be best informed, and two days with General Augur, who kindly allowed me access to his maps, data of the various tribes, reports of the Indian Commission and of scouts, gave me, as I supposed, a reasonably accurate idea of the condition of affairs. After leaving Omaha, I made it a point to gather all the information I could from every available source, without regard to the prejudices which might par- tially or wholly neutralize the truth. Ranchmen, drivers, station-keepers, train-men, and freighters have, after all, the best practical ideas of Indians, and it is remarkable t (65) 66 CONTEMPT FOR THE REGULAR ARMY. how universal is their contempt for military campaigns. " Give us Chivington or Conner" is the answer to all ques- tions as to how peace may be attained ; and I have not found one resident or habitual traveler of the plains who does not demand extermination. Their testimony is fear- fully concurrent that there can be no peace while the gov- ernment negotiates with the Indians and treats prisoners in accordance with the usage of civilized warfare. Next to the Indians, the residents and sojourners of the Platte Yalley west of the railroad have the greatest contempt for soldiers of the regular army. They say that such troops fear the Indians, and will not fight them. They have no private wrongs to avenge. They have had no friends butchered, no wives or children scalped or tortured, and they know that they are exposed to all the atrocities prac- ticed by the Indians, while they are compelled to fight them as if they were humane and chivalrous. Is it not natural that soldiers of the regular army, who fight me- chanically, should be inefficient in a campaign against In- dians? However extravagant may be the views of the Platte Yalley residents as to the folly of .regular military campaigns, it must be confessed that their logic is more easy to overrule than to answer. No one here doubts that Generals Augur and Hancock are doing, and will do, all that is in their power under their orders ; but the con- viction is just as universal that they cannot even protect the great thoroughfares to the West, much less bring the savages to peace, by military success. They might pro- tect the two great routes across the continent if they were instructed to do nothing else; but when they are directed to divide their forces, and make offensive movements north and south of the Platte, they must fail to protect the routes behind them, and also fail to gain any decided success in the field. Every day I have spent in the Indian country WHY REGULARS ARE NOT SUCCESSFUL. 07 has but confirmed the opinion I expressed in my first let- ter from Omaha that there will not be a decisive battle fought this season by either General Augur or General Hancock, and that the so-called Indian war will be but a war, on the side of the Indians, by fleet bands of warriors against weak posts and isolated commands ; and I do not hesitate to add that there will be ten or, more likely, twenty whites butchered for every Indian killed by the troops. Do not understand me as intending to reflect upon the capacity or efforts of our military commanders. They can- not do impossible things; and I assure your readers that what is expected of them generally in the East, and I pre- sume by the government, is as impossible, under existing circumstances, as would be a campaign against the deni- zens of the moon. It is conceded that there are some hun- dreds, and probably over a thousand, hostile Indians on the Republican Fork. It is the central line between the Smoky Hill and the Platte routes, and an excellent base to operate in every direction against the lines of travel and against the settlers. They can strike the Platte route for several hundred miles in one day's ride, and the Smoky Hill is equally accessible. Of their movements no one can be advised. They will burn a station on Smoky Hill one day, and the next strike the Platte. Within the last week they have made two raids on the Platte, and two or more on the Smoky Hill. The country they occupy is held solely by hostile tribes. Spotted Tail and Swift Bear, with their followers, crossed the Platte northward on Fri- day, a few miles below Julesburg, so that the Republican region is now entirely in possession of the hostile Chey- ennes and Sioux. Spotted Tail and his followers were located there but a month ago by General Sully, but the incursion of the hostile tribes compelled him to leave, as 68 HORRIBLE CRUELTIES OF THE SAVAGES. he reports, or allow half his young warriors to be seduced into war. He has, therefore, left for the north, and not entirely pleased because the government agents or com- manders would not allow his young warriors to fight the Pawnees a little occasionally, "for fun." I find that the residents all along the route, as well as the people of Den- ver, have no faith whatever in Spotted Tail, and they pre- dict he will be on the war-path, or at least part of his tribe with his consent, before another month. It is not ques- tioned that in his lodges are quite a number who were concerned in the Fort Phil. Kearney massacre; and yet no effort has been made to have them surrendered to justice, lest it might force all of them into war. I must agree with the Western people, so far, at least, as to demand the summary and relentless punishment of all Indians who have countenanced or participated in the butchery of cap- tives ; and, if it should make a thousand more warriors for a time, hundreds of lives would be saved in the end. The evidences of the necessity of a change in our sys- tem of warfare against Indians are not confined to the opinions and prejudices of the settlers. I saw for throe hundred miles along the route, from North Platte to Den- ver, the mute but terribly eloquent monuments of savage warfare. But a little more than two years ago, in Janu- ary, 1865, the Indians raided the entire Platte line, from Denver almost to Atchison, and spared neither age, s.ex, nor condition. There were not three ranches between this and North Platte that escaped indeed, I know of but one. A portion of the ranchmen and station-keepers escaped, but not one man who fell into the hands of the savages Jived to tell the story of his capture. His scalp graced the belt of some brave, and was carried home to win the favor of some dusky daughter of the forest. Every ranch and station be- tween this and Julesburg was captured and burned, with a HOLLEN GODFREY. 69 single exception ; the men, women, and children who did not escape were inhumanly butchered, and nothing was left to show that the country had ever been inhabited but the charred walls of the mud hovels. At Julesburg they burned the station and warehouse, within range of the guns of Fort Sedgwick, in open day, and not a gun was fired, nor an effort made to arrest the appalling atrocities which traced their line of march. How much the garrison of the fort could have effected, had they tried, I do not pretend to say ; but that they did not try, lest they might provoke an at- tack by largely superior numbers on the fort, is the truth of history. In sublime contrast with the action of the military was the heroism of several ranchmen some fifty miles east of Julesburg. The Indians had passed all the military on the route without losing a man, and had left no habitation or resident behind them except the troops, until they encircled the ranch of Hollen Godfrey, a native of Western New York, but an old resident of the Indian country. I supped with him a few nights ago, and had his story from himself. He gave it with a degree of mod- esty and candor that stripped the popular history of the affair of some of its romance ; but that he gave it truthfully there could be no doubt. He is an intelligent, keen-eyed and brawny-armed man of over fifty, and makes no pre- tensions to the heroic ; but he does pretend to protect his little store of whisky, tobacco, canned fruits, and notions, and his wife and children; and, more than that, he docs it. He has a sod fortification running along the south and west sides of his raach, and extending out some six feet front and rear, so as to protect two sides of the building and command the other two. His fort is but a sod wall, six feet high, with loop-holes, but it is an infinitely better fortification than the scientific officers of Fort Sedgwick have to protect that post. One hundred and sixty warriors 7* 70 DEFENSE OF GODFREY RANCH. attacked the Godfrey Ranch, but, as it was defended, they exhausted Indian strategy to reduce it. There were but four men and two women in the ranch, but they had sev- eral guns each, and plenty of ammunition. The Indians first formed a circle about the ranch, at a distance of four hundred yards, and endeavored to draw Godfrey's fire, so as to get his range ; but he never pulled a trigger until he had an Indian within two hundred yards. " My favorite double-barrel ain't sure at over two hundred yards," he in- formed me, " and I had no ammunition to waste." Judging that they could not accomplish anything without a direct attack, they selected thirty of their fleetest riders, and charged to within thirty yards of the ranch, in single file, each one firing, and wheeling at the nearest point. They made several such charges, each time selecting different loop-holes for their fire ; but they harmed no one, and one or more of the charging thirty fell in each attack. Finally they abandoned the direct attack, and fired the grass at various points, hoping to set the ranch on fire. At one point they had forced the fire close to the stable; but Godfrey could reach the endangered corner under cover, to extinguish the fire. Sixty balls struck the corner of the stable where he was working; but he managed to protect himself, and escaped unharmed. The siege was maintained, with occasional charges, until night, when they were glad to abandon the ranch and leave their dead behind them. Wherever a dead Indian lay, Godfrey kept special watch, knowing that they would make every effort to ,get their dead off the field, and shot .severaV^bo attempted to re- move their fallen comrades, until they finally surrendered their dead braves as trophies for the victor. They gave Godfrey the euphonious sobriquet of "Old Wicked," and since then he is known only by that name. His ranch is called " Fort Wicked "sad his actual name of Hollen (Jed- MASSACRES BY THE INDIANS. 71 frey is almost forgotten. He is now expecting another raid, as do all ranchmen on the line, and he is the only man I have found whose face seems to brighten as he speaks of the probability of " another brush" with them, as he calls it. I made a careful examination of his armory. It contains eighteen rifles, from the old hunter's to the most improved Spencer and Sharpe. All are loaded, and ready for the combat at a moment's warning. When we arrived it was nearly midnight, and the old man was on guard him- self, in front of his ranch, armed with a Spencer rifle. Night or day his ranch is never without a sentinel, and surprise is impossible. The general belief of the ranch- men is, that when the Indians do come, they will not mo- lest " Old Wicked." At the American Ranch, two miles east of Godfrey's, five men, one woman, and a child were residing, who fought the Indians until they had killed eleven ; but they were finally overpowered, the five men were scalped, and the woman was carried off to suffer worse than a thousand deaths from Indian violence and torture. At the Wisconsin Ranch, the next on the line east, two men defended it successfully until night, killing- half a score of their savage assailants; but their ammunition was nearly exhausted, and they escaped to the river under cover of darkness, and passed down safely on the ice. These three ranches are famed in the Platte Valley as the only places where Indian assaults were made bloody victories or disastrous defeats in the winter of 1865. From the Wisconsin Ranch east, clear down below Fort Kearney, there was not a li^ng man or woman left, excepting the f'e\v who made miraculous escapes by flight. The stage did not run through for six weeks ; but the tide of emigra- tion set in as usual in the spring, and new ranchmen and station-men occupied the line, rebuilt their sod hovels and stables, gave the ghastly, mutilated dead decent sepulture, 72 UOW INDIANS CONDUCT CAMPAIGNS. and from that time until now have lived in comparative safety. At present the signs of an early and fearful outbreak on this line are unmistakable, unless General Hancock can dislodge the hostile tribes from the Republican River. That they occupy the country from the Republican north to the Platte Valley is evident to all. They can see every train, and every military movement in the valley, without exposing themselves even to discovery. The unbroken range of bluffs which skirt the- valley on the south com- mand a complete view of the entire Platte region. Their spies occupy the bluffs constantly, and, as they have good field-glasses, which they purchase from the traders, they can distinguish every movement for twenty miles. It seems impossible to Eastern readers that they can so readily ascertain every movement; but when it is con- sidered that a train can be seen distinctly on the plain ten miles distant with the naked eye, it needs no argument to prove that the Indians, with good glasses, know every military movement as soon as it is commenced. During all of last week they were signaling from the Southern Bluffs southward toward the Republican. They signal easily for twenty miles with a lighted arrow, which they shoot into the air, and they can give any communication from bluff to bluff in that way. ~ During the day they signal by various methods. Sometimes they do so with a pocket looking-glass. They get the focus of the sun, make the reflection visible for miles, and thus direct the move- ments of various parties to such points as they may wish. I have thus minutely described the position and action of the Indians to show how utterly fruitless must be In- dian campaigns. Suppose General Hancock should move north toward the Republican. They can keep twenty miles in advance of him, and learn his whereabouts every THERE MUST BE PEACE. 73 hour in the twenty-four. If they find his command divided and part of it vulnerable, they will assail and overwhelm it. If not, they will retreat toward the Platte, and per- haps by the time he gets to the Platte -they will be in his rear on the Republican again, and no one but themselves cognizant of their whereabouts. Equally futile would be a movement from north of the Platte. They know to-day within fifty of the number of troops at Fort Sedgwick (Julesburg), and those troops cannot be moved in any direction without the spies on the bluffs signaling their numbers and direction, every hour in the day and night, clear to the Republican if necessary ; and, should General Potter (in command at Sedgwick) move south to the Re- publican, the foe would retreat before him, keeping out of sight, and, when necessary, they would flank him east or west, and could capture the entire Platte route and be hid again before he could bring back his command. I have given the facts relative to our Indian campaign, and I leave it to your intelligent readers to determine how much the military are likely to do this season toward re-establish- ing peace on our great thoroughfares. But there must be peace at any price on the Plains; and how is it to be attained? This is the great vexed ques- tion which the government is laboring to solve. Through- out the West, the ready answer is on every tongue. Re- call General Conner, give Chivington a command, and let them assail the Indians wherever they can be found. The preference expressed for Conner and Chivington has its existence in the fact that they fought Indians as In- dians light white men attack all they meet, and don't encumber themselves with prisoners. "Old Wicked" as- sured me that five hundred Colorado volunteers, under an acceptable commander, would not leave a hostile Cheyenne or Sioux between the Platte and Smoky Hill in two 74 PEACE WILL BE DEATH TO THE INDIAN. months' time. "Where would they be?" I asked him. "In hell," was the characteristic reply. "But are there none of them peaceable ?" I ventured to ask. " Yes, when they're dead," was the significant answer. And yet he confesses that the difficulties do not rest wholly with the Indians. " They have been greatly wronged," he said ; "robbed by agents, killed without cause by thieves and settlers ; but the white man or the Indian must now be driven out, and we can best spare the Indian." Whatever may be the views of the government, the policy of the Western settlers will, in the end, make peace ; but it will be the peace of death. The government will not, cannot, assume to exterminate the Indian. It cannot make war upon squaws and papooses ; but such war will come, and it will be effectual. The government may protest; it may even exercise its power to shield the Indian and the fame of the nation from savage warfare ; but in the mean time every centre of Indian hostilities will have its Sand Creek, and every section will have its Chivington. A single massacre now, in any of the mining regions, would result in the destruction of every Indian within range of the miners. They would organize independent rangers, select their own leaders, arm and provision themselves, and their trophies would be only Indian skeletons bleaching on their path. Thus is Montana moving now since the murder of Bozeman, and so will Colorado act whenever the provoca- tion comes. The military will come after the rangers, and keep up the semblance of civilized warfare; but the Indian will wade through the blood of his race to entire submission and peace, or he will finally end his history as he falls before the pursuit of the outraged and merciless settler. I speak of what will be, and not of what should be. It will be a fearful chapter when rea.d from the opening to THE HARNEY AND CIIIVINGTON WARS. 75 the close ; but the white man will know only of the neces- sity for relentless warfare against the red man, while his wrongs to the savage will be without a faithful historian. We find that these lands have gold or timber, and we want great thoroughfares through them. The whites pass on without treaties, with their rifles in their hands, and they make might right. The Indian is indolent, thriftless, ami naturally a thief. He steals a horse or a cow, and they are paid for by a war upon his tribe by the settlers or miners. He takes the war-path, spares neither innocent nor guilty, and the government is obliged to recognize an Indian war. Campaigns ensue, usually without important military results, and end in treaties made to be mutually violated by agents on the part of the government and by equally debauched Indians. Mr. Hooper, Delegate from Utah, who has been with me most of the trip thus far, assured me that the Harney war was the result of the stealing of a cow from a train of Mormon emigrants. The owner complained to the officer at the nearest post, and a detail was made to recapture the cow ; but the Indian chief could not restore her, because she had been killed and eaten. He could not surrender the guilty parties, because he did not know them ; but he proposed to pay for the cow in horses. The officer planted a gun to com- mand the camp, and required the restoration of the already butchered and eaten cow in fifteen minutes. Of course it could not be done, and he opened on the camp, killing the chief and many others. The Indians rallied, and killed and scalped the officer and every man of his command. The Harney campaign followed; and thus a cow worth about $17.50 cost us $1,000,000, or more, and many hun- dreds of lives. The Colorado* war, which culminated in the Sandy Creek butchery of a whole Indian camp, in- cluding women and children, had, I am credibly informed, 76. THE INDIAN PROBLEM WILL SOLVE ITSELF. not even so good an excuse for its origin as the loss of a cow.* That honesty would have arrested it I do not doubt ; but when once started it had to reach its logical conclusion, as must all Indian wars be decided, in meeting the savage with his own shocking savagery. It ended Indian depredations in Sandy Creek by exterminating the Indians in that section, and therefore is justified or excused. Thus will the Indian problem solve itself in time, and I think speedily ; and while he may live in future story and song to gild the romance of some tale or sonnet, there will be few to stop and lament his sad fate, as the resistless march of progress appropriates his home and hunting grounds to his pale-faced oppressor. Of Denver, Central City, and the mining regions of Colorado, I will speak in my next. I start for the mines to-morrow. * I give these statements as I received them from one who warmly espoused the cause of the Indians in all our wars. At the time the above letter was written, I had more faith in the Indian than subsequent observation and experience sustained. Still, I prefer to give the letters on this subject as originally written. LETTER VIII. A Prolific Subject for the Letter-writer. An Afternoon at the Denver Races. An Interesting Race. The Value of a Sport- ing Watch discovered Denver and its People. Its Experi- ence with Desperadoes. The Fate of the Steels. The Attack upon Mr. Byers. Mr. Hepworth Dixon's Blunders. His Hero Bob Wilson. The Order, Morality, and Advantages of Den- ver. Character of Western Settlers. What Sacrifices they make, and how poorly requited. The Lark. The Prairie- dog and Owl. The Rattlesnake. The Indian Troubles again. The Overland Route closed by Savages East and West. In- dian Atrocities. Western Volunteers the Remedy. DENVER, COLORADO, May 14, 1867. THERE is so much here that is entirely novel and in- tensely interesting, that I scarcely know where to begin to write and where to stop. With all the jolting, wedging, bruising, and blistering of the trip, I have written seven long letters already, and it seems to me that I have not told half of what I would wish to record. Here are gold- fields, vast prairies, fruitful farms systematically irrigated, a city that has grown from nothing in less than a decade, the Roeky Mountains presenting their colossal magnifi- cence to the eye for one hundred and fifty miles, and a thousand and one things and incidents which crowd upon my pen; but time and space demand that they shall be sparingly touched. I have now had several days in Denver, have tried their horse-races, their theatre, their drives, their ehnrehes, their reading-rooms, their stores, and had a gratifying trial of 8 (77) 78 AN AFTERNOON AT THE DENVER RACES. their hospitality, and all seem to be first-class. It is true that I was not nearly so much crowded at church as I was at the race-course and at the theatre ; but it is possible that most of the people were at the other churches. On Satur- day a friend drove up to the hotel and invited Mrs. McClure and" myself to accept a seat in his carriage for the races. His wife accompanied him, and on every side the youth and beauty of the city might have been seen driving in the same direction. Wishing to see Denver as it is, we concluded to go, and soon found ourselves on a splendid course belonging to the Agricultural Society, inclosed by a concrete wall, and cleverly filled with as fine turn-outs as could be displayed in any of the inland cities of Pennsyl- vania. Nor was the crowd confined to the elegant and fashionable. Here was a rude mountaineer on an Indian pony, with spurs something after the fashion of a cogged cart-wheel ; there was one on an obstinate mustang, with blanket and buffalo coat ; and there were hundreds of others, from regular sports, boys and men, to the staidest the city can afford. Deacons and vestrymen act as judges, and elders time the horses and make clever side bets on their favorites. The ladies have their watches, time the horses, and are most enthusiastic over the result. This may seem odd enough far East ; but they tell me out here that they don't raffle, as the churches do East, and they thank the Lord that they are not as other men. I had never seen a horse-race, and have no love for a fast horse. I consider a 2.40 horse a nuisance ; and I went to the course mechanically, because the politeness of my friend required it. I hoped that it would be brief, but in this I was dis- appointed. The course was fixed up for a regular after- noon's entertainment. The irrepressible lager beer was dispensed from licensed booths within the inclosurc, by a regular Reading Dutchman, and ladies and gentlemen AN INTERESTING RACE. 79 washed down the clouds of dust occasionally by taking a draught of the cooling stimulant At last time was called, and we drove up to the course along with hundreds of others, and prepared ourselves to enjoy the sport as much as possible. It was, as I under- stand it, an entirely original sort of a race. The best horse did not run, nor did the fleetest trotter win. The purse was offered to the horse that could trot or pace a mile the nearest to three minutes. " Lady Alice," for instance, trotted it in 2.44 and lost, because another horse trotted it in 3.1J. After several rounds had been made, I found myself pulling out my watch, because it seemed the cus- tom, and, to my surprise, I found that I had been carrying for several years the best watch for the purpose to be found on the ground. I could time to the one-fifth of a second, and in a little while my watch became the centre of interest for all the amateur sports around me, of both sexes. One heat there was a variance between the report of the judge and the report of my watch his making the time 3.1J, while mine made it 3.1f ; and, as another horse had been timed at 3.1J, the discrepancy between the two watches led to the repetition of the race between the two horses, when one made time one-half second better than the other. My excellent sporting watch, of whose valuable qualities I had been in blissful ignorance until then, at once stamped me as a first-class sport, and I was recognized by most of the attendants as if I had been an old acquaintance. In- deed, I found the sport by no means hard to take, and, after I got into it, no one watched the runs with more interest than I did. I was fascinated with " Lady Alice," cer- tainly the most graceful trotter and most amiable, winning little pony I have ever seen. She went her mile without the slightest break, and would have made it in 2.30 but for the sly admonition of bystanders, who kept the time, 80 DENVER AND ITS PEOPLE. that she was going too fast. She is perfectly white, not larger than a good-sized Indian pony, and is the favorite of men, women, and children in Denver, and well knows and highly appreciates it. Ladies stop to caress her on the streets, and children fondle her as they would a house- hold pet. In spite of myself, I wanted her to win, and grieved when her splendid time made her lose. Denver is a clever place, and has clever, substantial, thrifty people. I have seen no place west of the Missis- sippi that equals it in the elements of positive prosperity. They have gone through the severest ordeal, and have come out purified in the crucible of sad experience. They have seen the day when gamblers, cut-throats, and thieves controlled everything elected their municipal officers, possessed the wealth of the city, intimidated the officers of the law, and held high carnival in their work of robbery and death. But crime culminated, as it ever does, and gave birth to vigilance committees, which made a n umber of the most desperate outlaws dance jigs upon nothing on the hill hard by. Sometimes they would give them the form of a trial by an improvised court ; but the poor devil who was ever brought before that court knew that his time had come. At other times they would determine upon the death of some notorious outlaw, and a select party, chosen for the task, would " go for him," as they all say out here, and a hasty funeral was sure to follow. One fellow, named Steel, took offense, several years ago, at an editorial in the News, and rode up to the editorial office and fired several shots at Mr. Byers, the editor, while another man stood off some distance to protect the assassin. A simultaneous hunt was made for Steel, and in less than half an hour he lay on the pavement dead, having breu shot as he turned a corner in his effort to escape. Steel had a brother who resolved to take the life of the man THE FATE OF THE STEELS. 81 who had killed him, and for two years they kept a lookout for each other. Once they met on a highway, both armed with rifles, but Steel was not the first to recognize his foe, and, when he did recognize him, the rifle of the latter was leveled. He did not fire, however, but told Steel to pass, which he did in safety, with a " dead bead " drawn on him until he was out of range. Subsequently they met in New Mexico, and the recognition was simultaneous; both attempted to fire, but the "drop" was got on Steel, and he shared the fate of his brother, and from the same hands. The man is now a quiet, respected citizen of Denver, and is generally beloved for exterminating the Steels. Another murderer was hunted by the vigilants among the Indians, captured, brought back, and hung ; and a man named Ford was taken from the coach a few miles east of the city, by a company of the vigilants, shot by the roadside, and buried. Who did it, no one has ever inquired. Many doubtless could guess, while some certainly know ; but it is a forbidden topic. Ford had to die to give peace and security to Denver, and he was therefore shot like a dog. It is worthy of note that the people of new Territories, who are annoyed by the usual incursion of desperadoes, make it a point of honor not to banish them to other countries. They consider it in the highest degree dishonorable, and they never allow it. One citizen of this Territory, other- wise highly respected, has lost the confidence of the people for a lifetime, for saving the life of a bad man on condition that he should leave the country forever. "It's a pity," they say " he's a clever man, but ho didn't do the fair thing in getting that fellow off." Two years ago they had pretty well banished the characters dangerous to the peace and safety of the citizens; but the orderly gamblers still controlled the municipality, had vast wealth, and pursued their shameless vocation in open day. They had their 8* 82 ORDER AND MORALITY IN DENVER. gambling-houses in some of the best buildings and busi- ness localities of the city, conducted them in view of every passer-by, just like merchants and tradesmen, had bands of music playing in front of the doors to entice the stranger, and were most prosperous. Indeed, so powerful were they at one time, that they controlled the legislature something after the Pennsylvania fashion, I doubt not to pass a bill legalizing gambling; and it is the chief blot OQ Governor Evans's official record that he approved the measure. Last winter a year the growing morality of Denver rose up against the gamblers, and drove them out. They still doubtless remain in some numbers, but they dare not ex- pose their business to the public gaze, and they are under as wholesome restraint as in our best-governed cities. It was this early history of Denver that made Dixon blunder so fearfully as to its present social condition. To-day it is as free from open outrages upon public morals as any other Western place of the same size. Indeed, I regard it as far in advance of most of them. In Omaha the two most at- tractive and courted ladies at the most fashionable hotel in the place were, when I was there, known only as "Mrs. Faro " and " Mrs. Keno." Here they would not be tolerated in any circle outside of a church-pew or a horse-race. On Sunday the city was as quiet and orderly as is Chambers- burg, and the number of elegant churches, seminaries, schools, including a convent, reading-rooms, etc., leaves no room to doubt that Denver has a moral tone controlling its social life quite above the average of new cities. Dixon seems to have fallen into queer hands when he was here. His hero of the city is Bob Wilson, who, like the prophets, perhaps, is unknown as a hero at home; and his statement that from three to five persons were usually killed during t lie night, and sometimes in open day, has not the shadow of truth to justify it. Upon the whole, I have found no plaee CHARACTER OF THE WESTERN SETTLERS. 83 in the Far West that appears to me so pleasant socially, and so substantial in its business, as is Denver. True, it dis- counts its future development of the precious metals, but not more than is fully warranted. The general character of the Western settlers is strikingly peculiar. They cannot be judged by any prevalent rules in the densely populated agricultural regions of the East. They are here solely because they differ from those they leave behind them. Many of them may be directed to the isolated life of a pioneer by circumstances ; but the fact that they have the energy and determination to defy adversity and brave the perils and privations of the plains, shows that they are made of sterner material than those who bow to the storm. The " ranch " is the home of the Western settler. Whether of the farmer, station-keeper, or retailer of the scant necessaries which command a sale to the emigrants and travelers, all are called ranches. For six hundred miles east from Denver to the Missouri River there are scarcely any buildings but sod hovels, a single low story in height, and covered with sod or prairie grass. In these miserable holes they live, without a shrub or tree to shield them from the bleak storms of winter or the scorching suns of summer. Around them there are no signs of vegetable life but what is presented by the vast prairie that reaches from bluff to bluff, north and south and oast and west, until the vision is lost in the hazy dis- tance. Not a plant is cultivated; not a single growth is known that affords sustenance for man. If they should plough and sow, they would be denied their harvest-time. The dry summers, usually without rain from May until fall, parch everything that is green, and only the tough grasses of the prairie preserve a sickly, shriveled life. These settlers produce nothing. They brave the perils of the scalpinu'-knife for a time, to gather enough monev to 84 THE PRAIRIE-DOG AND THE OWL. enable them to remove east or still farther west and get a fruitful home. Xone of them, except those at important points like Julesburg, dream of spending a lifetime where thej are. If they drive a prosperous trade for a few years, they save a considerable amount of money from the sale, at fabulous prices, of whisky, tobacco, canned fruits, bread, etc. But few of them, however, live thus until their am- bition is satisfied. Every few years the Indians make a clean sweep of their ranches the last in 1865, leaving scarcely a habitation or a settler from the Mountains to the Blue River and if the squatters save their scalps they are glad to sacrifice their accumulated property. If they fall victims to the merciless savages, others are ever ready to take their places, and thus a continued line of settlers is kept up throughout the dreary plain. As yet I have not seen a blossom west of Ohio, save an occasional prairie-flower, that seemed to have flung its shrinking beauty untimely upon the wide-spread waste. Nor have I heard a song except the short, sweet warble of the lark, which has been ever on our path, and merry as if surrounded with the fragrance and dews of the East. The buffalo has at times gazed at us from his retreats along the bluffs, and the elegant antelope has often paused to gratify its curiosity by viewing the intrusion of its deadly enemy upon its grounds; but whenever we got within long rifle-range it would bound off with grace and beauty that made me ever wish for its escape from the bullets sent whizzing after it. Only the jolly little prairie- dog and his inseparable companion, the owl, seemed to welcome us to their homes. In places there would be hundreds of them on an acre of ground alongside of the road, and they seemed to take especial pride in displaying themselves in their most graceful attitudes. The sober, solemn owl keeps guard at the door of their earthen THE INDIAN TROUBLES AGAIN. 85 house, while his dogship suns himself on the grass or gathers his meals, and sometimes both sit in fraternal peace upon the common hearth. At times the owl will fly away as the coach approaches, but usually he sits in sullen composure and merely greets us with an occasional blink as we pass. The dog, more jolly and curious, will sit up on his hind legs and chatter away until we get close to him, when he usually utters a low bark, and disappears head-foremost in his little cavern home. The tradition that the rattlesnake shares the hospitality of the dog and owl, I very much question.* I have watched carefully for such a happy family, but never saw it, and the weather we have had after leaving Xorth Platte was just the kind that would have brought his snakeship to the surface to sun himself with his reputed companions. I do*ubt not that he often enters the joint abode of the dog and owl, but as an intruder and spoiler, and not as a welcome associate. I can understand why he should want to visit a nest of young prairie-dogs, for they would make a most delicate meal for him. The Indian question is becoming one of unpleasant in- terest. I just escaped three incursions on the Platte route made while I was on it ; and two raids have been made on it since I reached this city. The Smoky Hill route (there are two routes from the river to this point) has been raided daily since I started west from the Missouri; * I notice that Mr. Greelcy and some other writers insist that the rattlesnake shares the home of the owl and prairie-dog as friendly tenants in common. After writing the foregoing, I made very particular inquiries among the oldest and most observing settlers, and their testimony is generally concurrent that the snake visits the home of the prairie-dog only to forage on the little dogs. In all my observations, I never saw a snaku in any of the hundreds of prairie-dog towns I pa>sed. 86 THE OVERLAND ROUTE CLOSED. and now the Indians have taken possession of the route between this and Salt Lake. The transportation company have refused to carry passengers westward since yester- day; and when I can get off at all, and whether it can be traveled with safety this season, are problems I cannot now solve. The coach company have appealed to the military authorities for prompt protection; but when it will be had, and, when had, whether it will be ample, are questions the future must decide. The coach that left Sunday for Salt Lake is stopped at a fort about one hun- dred and fifty miles west, and will not proceed until a force can be had to escort it safely. Mr. Hooper, the Mormon Delegate to Congress, and Harry Black, son of Judge J. S. Black, of Pennsylvania, are among the pas- sengers. Smce they left, no passengers have been per- mitted to go, and none will start until there is a largely increased military force on the line. Is it not most remark- able that, with fifteen thousand troops in the different de- partments east of the Mountains, not one of the great thoroughfares is protected at all ? There were five thou- sand troops in General Augur's department when I traveled from Omaha to Denver, and yet the coach passed the ruins of one burnt ranch, and where another had been plundered by Indians, but two days before, without any effort to pro- tect it. At one point the military were clustered about a whisky-mill, because, as they said, they had been chased in by Indians but two miles ahead, and they enjoyed their retreat while the coach passed over the very line they re- ported unsafe for them to occupy. There are enough troops in the West to guard the three great thoroughfares, if they were detailed for the purpose, and, if that were done, the tide of emigration would settle the Indian ques- tion more speedily and effectually than regular troops will ever settle it. Look at the record of the last week. The THE WESTERN VOLUNTEERS. 87 Smoky Hill route is raided daily. That of the Platte every other day. The Santa Fe route has its tales of Indian horrors. The Missouri River route, from Benton to Helena, has its fresh graves of cruelly murdered settlers and travelers ; and the Salt Lake route is confessedly im- passable. Most justly do the Western settlers complain of the neglect of the government. They do not ask for troops. Their appeal is that they may be authorized to engage a force to protect themselves, to be armed, equipped, and paid; but it is persistently denied. No one doubts that one thousand Colorado volunteers would do more to sup- press Indian hostilities than will the whole force under Generals Augur and Hancock. The well-known fact that they would do their work mercilessly, as do their cruel foes, would make the Indians glad to abandon their thoroughfares. They have no fear of regular troops, but they have a. most wholesome dread of Western volunteers. There have never been renewed hostilities where Western men have suppressed them. LETTER IX. Colorado and her Progress. The Substantial Progress of Denver. Its Depression and Prospects. The Evils of Selfish Politi- cians. Colorado a Gigantic Suicide in the Management of her Kich Mines. The Kage of Speculation, and consequent Bank- ruptcy. The City of Abandoned Quartz-Mills. Twenty Mil- lions of Capital wasted in Feverish Speculation. Legitimate Development retarded. The Prospect of Eestoration to Pros- perous Business. The Trip through the Mountains. Their Matchless Grandeur. The Storm-King in Conflict with the Snow-Capped Peaks. IDAHO CITY, COLORADO, May 17, 1867. I HAVE now spent a week in Colorado mingled freely with her ever kind and generous people of all classes ;. visited her vast and rich but sadly unproductive mines ; shared the proverbial hospitality of her thrifty farmers ; attended her horse-races and reading-rooms, her churches and theatres; witnessed her variable climate from the chilling snow-storm to the hurricane that illumines its path with the lightning's flash ; perspired under her scorch- ing noonday sun, and spent the evenings of the same days around the cheerful, welcome fires of her own coal-fields, and seen her hopeful, expanding business centres in the tide of prosperity, and her deserted villages, created by feverish speculation, now the unsightly monuments of decay. All these pass before the inquiring tourist like some swift-revolving panorama, and each day leaves him bewildered with its shifting scenes and its impressive lessons. (88) SUBSTANTIAL PROGRESS OF DENVER. 89 Of all the Western cities I have visited, Denver seems to me the most inviting and substantial. It has had the usual schooling of prosperous cities in mining regions ; its history has been blotted by the supremacy of thieves and desperadoes ; its vigilance committee has been compelled to usurp the functions of law in behalf of morality and public safety ; its gamblers have even, until within two years, occupied its choicest places, where the victim was lured to ruin in open day by bands of music ; but a sturdy, earnest, faithful people have steadily warred upon defiant crime, until it has surrendered the contest and left Denver a city of commendable order and morals. It now numbers probably eight thousand inhabitants ; has seminaries and schools, nearly half a score of churches, three daily news- papers, an excellent reading-room, the finest stores I have seen west of Chicago, and a class of business men unsur- passed in character and attainments in any of our Eastern towns of the same size. It has the common fault of all "Western cities. While- they grow at all, they grow with "feverish, unhealthy pace. Instead of systematically labor- ing to cheapen homes, business places, and products, they all struggle to swell the tide of inflation. In a few in- stances, it may be sustained by fortuitous circumstances; but as a rule it results in financial disaster and in pros- trating prices, business, and growth below their proper level. Denver was the creation of the mines. It now is floating on the waves of hope, and discounting all its pros- pects. If the mineral wealth of Colorado shall be mas- tered at an early day, then must Denver even surpass the expectations of its citizens; but if successive years of doubt and hope deferred should be the fate of Colorado, then must its decline be fearful and to very many fatal. I share fully the hope of the business men of Denver, that they have reached nearly or quite the depth of misfortune, 9 90 COLORADO A GIGANTIC SUICIDE. and, while lots and rents are still at fabulous prices, I look for them to advance rather than decline. There is wealth enough to maintain the struggle until science shall pour into its lap the untold riches of the surrounding moun- tains, and the busy husbandman is yearly making the parched plains about the city to bloom and ripen with the golden fruits of the field. Colorado has been sadly wounded in the house of her friends. She has been the football for contending cliques of selfish and corrupt politicians, and is ever convulsed by their ceaseless machinations. It would seem that Caesar has a party, and Antony a party, but that Colorado has none. Badly as most of our Territories have been and are still governed, I know of none that has been so played upon and bedeviled by ambitious tricksters as Colorado. Her policy is unsettled, her future uncertain, and doubt, disappointment, and humiliation constitute the experience of her people. Governor Hunt would doubtless make her a State to-morrow, if he and his friends could hold the win- ning cards ; but whether many of the present State leaders would not, in that event, recede in favor of a continued territorial government, certainly admits of argument. This struggle, ever injurious to Colorado, must continue thus, it would seem, until she is admitted ; and for that reason alone, if for no other, I trust Congress will speedily end the contest in that way. The fact that those who ask her admission are in sympathy with the loyal men of . the nation, while those who resist it are in harmony with and sustained by the faithless here and elsewhere, is an additional argument in favor of ending this bitter and dis- astrous strife, that should be conclusive. I firmly believe that the material interests of Colorado would be more ad- vanced in one year under a State organization than in five years of territorial misgovernment and acrimonious political warfare. THE RAGE FOR SPECULATION. 91 But also in her business prosperity has Colorado been a gigantic suicide. In 1862 her mines yielded not less than eight millions of gold. In 1866 they yielded less than one million ; although her mines to-day present ten times the number of rich leads they had developed when the product was greatest. True, gulch-mining has passed away it has done its work ; and the free gold of the surface-ores has changed, as the shafts have descended, into a combination with the refractory metals. But still Colorado should now be producing five millions of gold and silver annually. The rage for speculation in the East made some of the shrewder owners of the mines put them into huge corporations at bewildering prices; and the miners were not long in learning that it was easier to make a hundred thousand or so by a single sale to ver- dant capitalists than to earn it by pan and shovel or by rude stamps, however rich the yield. Thus the infection reached the mines, and thousands who were once content to earn treble wages at mining, became mere proprietors, speculators, and often swindlers. Legitimate mining was almost entirely abandoned, and the whole industrial wealth of Colorado was paralyzed. As soon as one good lead was sold, a hundred others, in the same locality, would be forced on to the market successfully by a regular system of Jeremy- diddling, and "salted" lodes and hired certificates wore used to tempt the insatiable appetite for sudden wealth. It is a startling fact, but nevertheless true, that there has been nearly as much money invested in Colorado by corporations as the entire product of the mines from their discovery until now. I have seen the fruits of twenty millions of capital in one day's ride from Denver to this place. The Clear Creek gulch, for several miles east of Central City, until we leave it to ascend the range west of Central, is almost one continued city of idle mills and 92 ABANDONED QUARTZ MILLS. machinery. Some are rotting down and their machinery falling to pieces ; others give unmistakable signs of aban- donment and decay. Still others are closed up in tolera- ble preservation, but evidently have served their purpose in the hands of their present owners. A few not one in ten are in operation ; but all, or nearly all, are guiltless of dividends to their stockholders. Many of the finest mills have been built by companies who were cheated in their mines, and who found, when they were ready to run, that they had no gold ore to reduce. Others found their ores so charged with sulphurets that they could not amal- gamate ; but perhaps the larger class were swindled and bankrupted in their management. None seem to have had practical ideas of the successful development of gold. They had been promised easy dividends by those who sold them their mines, and they all rushed up their mills, at enormous expense, before they had opened their leads or had any proper preparation for getting out their ore. The result was delay, wasteful extravagance, and, usually, bankruptcy. I saw fully a score of mills erected by East- ern companies which had not one good mine, put them all together. One excellent stone mill, built by General Fitz- John Porter, is now used as a stable, and it serves a better purpose than do most of the others. Many of them have good mines ; but they never can work them profitably as at present organized. They must, as a rule, begin again, procure new machinery adapted to the peculiar ores of Colorado, bring their inflated capital down to something like a rational figure, and enforce the same system of economy in their management that their owners practice in their private business affairs. It was a painful spectacle to see miles after miles of aban- doned mills standing as grim monuments of the folly of disappointed or ruined stockholders. Their owners have THE PROSPECT OF RESTORATION. 93 paid out their millions of money without stint, and built up a continuous city along the gulch. Black Hawk City, Mountain City, and Central City have no visible lines of separation. A single narrow street winds along the stream, with compactly-built lines of houses on either side ; and even in the midst of the general prostration and ruin which surround the cities, they are keeping up the semblance of business in the very depths of despair. They are waiting and struggling to live until the new order of things shall dawn upon them until the dead corporations shall be decently buried, and strong arms and practical minds shall drag forth the slumbering wealth. Missouri City stands in melancholy solitude upon the hill west of Central, with its tenantless houses, idle mills, and empty flumes, and Nevada City, winding off to the northwest, in continued decay, completes this colossal tomb of buried hopes. Think not that this gloomy picture is to be perpetual. This almost universal desolation is in the midst of enough gold to pay half our national debt. The mountain-ranges along Clear Creek, and thence westward to and beyond this place, are studded with gold. The gulches have all been dug over, and have well rewarded the heroes of the pan and spade. Russell Gulch, just above Central City, had five thousand miners in it seven years ago; and from the top of the hill near by, wherever the eye turns, it meets the ridged surface that tells of the wealth given up to the industrious laborer. From where I write, I can see the same evidences of the rich deposits from the range beyond ; and Empire and Georgetown are new centres of mining success. Georgetown has silver-mines which, for vastness and richness, are hardly surpassed on the conti- nent. Like the gold-mines, they are not yet mastered; but they will soon yield to the progress of science, and then must Colorado once more send forth her millions Q* 94 DIFFERENT PROCESSES OF SMELTING. of treasure annually. How soon this can be done, I do not pretend to say ; but I hope and believe that another year will nearly, if not quite, achieve this great result. I have visited every accessible place where it is pretended to master the Colorado ores ; and, while a number claim to have conquered them, I doubt whether any of the different methods now being tried combine all the essential requi- sites. Some of them, doubtless, save the gold ; but they have not been able to work large quantities at a moderate cost. The Reese process, now in operation below Cen- tral City by the California Reduction Company, seems to have attained the highest measure of success. They are producing from $100 to $150 per ton from ores which yield no results on the ordinary mill ; but they require a large cylinder, five feet in diameter and probably ten feet long, to reduce a ton per dayr^Jhis process is the best effort at simplicity and the complete separation of the gold from the base metals ever yet put in operation. They can save from eighty to ninety per cent, from the obstinate ores of Clear Creek region. The Keith process is more complicated and, I learn, more expensive, but works more ore with the same power, without saving so large a per- centage of the precious metal. The smelting-works of the Consolidated Gregory may or may not be successful. Of their operations and results the public have no knowledge, and stockholders generally but little, if any, more. The practical men here call them the Wall Street Works. Their stock is depressed and inflated at will by a circle of controlling owners, and of its actual value none but the initiated can judge correctly, as there are no dividends to determine the question. I do not, of course, pretend to express an intelligent judgment about these different pro- cesses. I welcome all of them, and would be glad to see ten times the number in actual operation ; for only by per- WHEN MINING WILL BE PROFITABLE. 95 sistent, patient, practical efforts, and the combination of the successful features of each system, can the Colorado ores be made to give up their countless wealth. The day cannot be far distant when they must yield to complete mastery, as the New and Old Worlds are both directing their best scientific and practical efforts to solve this great problem. I do not hope that any process will ever be dis- covered to save the corporations now scattered all over the mining regions of the Territory, as they are now or- ganized ; and the sooner this fact is appreciated, the better it will be for all parties interested. The inflated capital and cumbrous managements must be abandoned, and new organizations effected, based upon actual capital and con- fided to practical miners or scientific mill-men. Mining and the reduction of the ores will become separate and distinct enterprises ; both will command the most skilled labor in their respective branches, and both will thus prosper. I believe that one year hence no owner of mines will think of reducing his own ores, and few owners of mills will trouble themselves about the purchase of mines. When this fearful rubbish of decayed corporations now holding many valuable, but to them useless, mines in their clutches shall have been cleared away, mining in Colo- rado will again become a legitimate business, and the miner will need no more than his own industry to develop his claim. Then, and not till then, will mining be profit- able to any parties in Colorado ; and when that time shall come, this rich but sorely-depressed Territory will rival California and Montana in the production of the precious metals. I should be glad to say something about the magnifi- cent scenery presented by the trip from Denver here, but I have neither time nor space. From the base of the mountains, some thirteen miles west of Denver, we were 96 THE TRIP THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS. whirled through the narrow canons, over the steep de- clivities, and along the mountain - sides, over the best stage-road I ever traveled, until we landed in this lovely little village, hemmed in by a circle of ranges. Its cele- brated hot soda-springs made me tarry a day to enjoy them; and I hazard nothing in predicting that in a very few years they will attract thousands annually from the Eastern coast in search of rest and of nature's sublimest beauties. Go where you will in this section, the prospect is most charming; but all is dwarfed by the indescrib- able grandeur of the mountains. Volumes have been written about the grandeur of the Alps; but the world has only one such view as is presented from the rolling prairie east of Denver. In bewildering sublimity it is without parallel. There may be isolated views of the Alps as beautiful as any twenty miles of the Rocky range, and the icy land of Russian America has its St. Elias, that towers higher toward the heavens than the highest of these; but here is presented, in one grand view, nearly two hundred miles of the Rocky Mountains, from beyond Pike's Peak far off to the south, thence by the Spanish Peaks, to Long's Peak, and still on toward the north, until the range is lost in the dimness of distance. Black, threatening clouds hung about them when first I saw them, and added to the peerless beauty of the scene. Around Long's Peak the storm-king seemed to be spell- bound or held an easy captive, for he had no deliverance until his heavy clouds had been discharged and broken and his thunderbolts drawn in harmless violence. Far behind the struggling tempest the setting sun was casting his evening rays through the tossing clouds. On either side of the storm he was reaching out his light, flinging the silver lining around the raging elements, breaking in refulgent splendor on the distant peaks, and flashing in THE GREAT SNOWY RANGE. 97 almost dazzling brilliancy upon their eternal snows. To the north the sweeping snows, falling and flitting in grace- ful waves, seemed to defy the lightning's erratic flash, while on the south the bow of promise illumined the heavens. It was the very sublimity of moral and material grandeur a panorama that God alone could have fash- ioned. The great Snowy Eange is the first to meet the eye, and the vision insensibly wanders along its vast, ridged, and broken sweep, which loses itself in the deep-blue vaulted dome on either side. It has no two points alike, as if the Great Architect meant to confuse the very concep- tions of men in this colossal masterpiece of His creation. Yonder is a cluster of peaks which look as if made up of huge inverted icicles, and beside them it would seem that gigantic snowdrifts, with their unique and countless forms, had fallen in. Here is a hillock of spotless white, whose clothing changes not with the revolving seasons, regular, graceful, rounding with apparent mathematical precision until it finishes with its tapered cap of snow. There are deep ravines, vast gorges, and rude, scraggy peaks, as if the earthquake had taken the Western world in its frenzied arms and tossed its mightiest rocks in wild disorder across the plains. Thus, north and south, as far as the eye can see, and for five hundred miles toward the setting sun, these vast, snow-clad monuments of omnipotent power pre- sent their varied beauties and surpassing grandeur, and I turn from them only when the last ray of the receding sun has parted with their topmost crowns, and the mellow moonlight takes up the grateful task of displaying, through night's weary .shadows, this mute but most impressive tribute which an all-wise God has reared to Himself. LETTER X. Indian-bound in Denver. The Savages controlling the Overland Route East and West. General Augur's Use of Troops. In- teresting Telegraphic Correspondence with Him. His "Upper Country" Campaign. No Earnest Effort to protect the Great Overland Routes. A Pleasant Time with the Coloradans. New Treatment of Strangers. Why Dixon was fooled. The Variety of Character in the West. The Stage-Driver. His Skill, Intelligence, and Courtesy. Staging about Denver. The "Square Meals" of the West. High Prices of Labor. House- Servants and Wives wanted. Judge Eyster. Colonel Wash. Lee. DENVER, COLORADO, May 20, 1867. STILL in Denver, with no prospect of an early departure. If I had the time to spare, I would not regret the deten- tion ; but, anxious as I am to get to the north by Utah, the days hang heavily on my hands. I dare not leave for any of the many distant points of interest in the Territory, lest I forfeit my title to the first coach that starts out with pas- sengers for Salt Lake, and I am putting in the time as best I can, between devouring the exchanges of the several newspaper offices, boring the coach-agents, complaining of the military, and discussing the Indian question with the people generally. It is the question of all others that the Far- Western people prefer to elucidate ; and they seem to thrust it upon every visitor, morning, noon, and night, until they consider that their policy of prompt and merci- less extermination has been adopted. The stage company has declined passengers since the 12th instant. On that day, Mr. Hooper, Delegate to Con- (98) GENERAL AUGURS USE OF TROOPS. 99 gress from Utah, and others, started west ; but they have enjoyed the luxury of rusticating for a week at Cooper's Creek, without accommodations, and living on provisions sent them daily from this place by coach. From that point west, for fifty miles, there is no stock, and, of course, no transit for passengers. The horses not captured by the Indians have been "bunched" at either end of the hostile country, and I doubt whether there will be regular coaches through for a month to come, if indeed they get into oper- ation at all this season. The universal impression of the people is that the Indians are now stealing stock to mount their warriors, with the intention of inaugurating general hostilities as soon as the grass is sufficiently grown to feed their horses, on the war-path ; and, if this be true, the In- dian troubles are just beginning, and a month hence there will be no coaches, at all west of this point, and very few regular trips between this and the terminus of the rail- road. I have exhausted every means I could devise to get off, but without in any degree facilitating my passage west- ward. Knowing as I do that General Augur has nearly or quite five thousand troops in his department, that over one thousand of them are at Fort Sedgwick, less than two hundred miles east of this point, and that he has but this one great thoroughfare to protect, the Smoky Hill route being in Hancock's department, I at once appealed to him, by telegraph, to hasten forward a sufficient number of troops to protect the stations and the travel. I was amazed to find less thai* three hundred troops on the entire line between this and Salt Lake a distance of six hundred miles, and of that number less than one-third mounted, or in any way fitted to protect the route. I took it for granted that General Augur would at once open the line, as it seemed to be entirely in his power to do so ; but 100 T1IE "UPPER COUNTRY" CAMPAIGN. he telegraphed me a speech in reply, at the cost of $18.06, the material portion of which was that the route didn't need protection, and that if it did he couldn't protect it. He also favored me with the luxury of a disquisition on the obstinacy of army contractors, who were preventing him from moving his army into the "upper country." I need not say that I ceased telegraphic communication with military head-quarters. I may, if detained at Big Lara- mie, get General Augur to telegraph me the 119th Psalm, if the time passes wearily ; but I do not think it likely that I shall make any further telegraphic eiforts to get the In- dians out of the way. The " upper country," of which General Augur speaks as the destination of his army, is where not a solitary trav- eler nor private train has ventured this season, and where none will venture while there are any Indian disturbances. There are forts to supply, and government trains must be protected in supplying them ; but beyond that any military movements in that direction will be disastrous failures. Here is a great thoroughfare, over which thousands of people wish to travel this season, and it should be made safe first of all ; but it seems to be the last point looked after by our military commanders. They insist that the Indians are not at war, that they are simply stealing stock. Granted, for the sake of argument, that they are now simply stealing, what are they stealing horses for? It is done by Indians who have openly declared war; and when they have the horses, what wiJl they do? I maybe stupid on this point, but I cannot resist the conviction that if the Indians were to try their peculiar system of thieving upon General Augur, he would use different terms to express his idea of their acts, as long as he could use any terms at all. In the same raid by which they interrupted the coach- line west, they killed and scalped one railroad engineer, and A PLEASANT TIME WITH THE COLORADANS. 101 severely wounded and imperfectly scalped another ; and on t lir Smoky Hill route they have killed three station-keepers since I have been here, scalped them, cut them in pieces, and burned their remains. This is called "thieving" in military parlance out West ; and I presume that if the Indians should scalp me, and have a war-dance over my mutilated corpse, the commanding officer would report a case of petty larceny on the part of the savages. Judge Carter, of Bridger, has been among the detained passengers here for several days, but he got together a party of half a dozen frontier-men and started off in the coach yesterday for Cooper's Creek, intending to do the best they could thence westward. They will join Hooper's party at Cooper's, and may manage to " bunch" (as they call it here) two coaches, and proceed slowly, traveling in the dangerous country only at night. In this way they may get through ; and Judge Carter proposes to do the work of the government by sending back friendly Indians to protect the coaches. So far as concerns the opening and protecting of the stage-line, I would not exchange Judge Carter for a score of major-generals, even with a lieutenant- general thrown in. Save my disappointment in not getting west, as I hoped, my stay among the people of Colorado has been exceed- ingly pleasant. They do not cultivate the ornamental very much in the reception of pretentious strangers, but they do welcome, with genuine kindness and hospitality, all who behave themselves properly. Those w T ho come here overflowing with knowledge?, and the grace to dis- pense it in a patronizing way to the denizens of the plains and mountains, generally go wooling and come home shorn; but those who come as gentlemen, and prove them- selves worthy of the title, meet with gentlemen and re- ceive the treatment due. The people here judge quite us 10 102 VARIETY OF CHARACTER IN THE WEST. well of the merits of a gentleman as do the more assuming circles of the East perhaps a little better. They do not lay much stress on the color of a man's gloves, the cut of his coat, or the elegance and grace with which he swings his cane; but they appreciate good manners, intelligence, and fair repute, and welcome them to their firesides. He who comes here, expecting to judge men by appearances and get his information from the outward signs of gentility, will, as a rule, spend his money and time in vain, besides making a fool of himself. You will often find some grad- uate of Yale " bull-whacking" his own team from the river to his mines, looking as if he had seldom seen soap and water, and had pitched his clothes on at some second-hand shop ; while if you want a first-class loafer you will find him in seedy gentility, sponging upon strangers and visitors about public houses, ever ready with startling tales, such as were played off upon Dixon. Had that gentleman met the people as a student rather than as a teacher, leaving the "Athenaeum" behind him, he would have been spared the fantastic figure he cuts in his history of these settlers. Even Bob Wilson, his galvanized hero of Colorado, admits only to having casually met Mr. Dixon, and, beyond Bob, no one confesses to his acquaintance. There is here, as elsewhere, every variety of character ; but of all classes the sojourner can learn much, if he so chooses. The jolly, self-complaisant, semi-comic whittler who described to me the nature of the cotton wood by saying that he had built a shanty of it and found it warped, in one day and night, so that it stood " square on the roof," and who described the perpendicular heights of Pike's Peak by declaring, in the most positive manner, that it required a man to look four times, and chalk the places, before he could see to the top, was neither fool nor knave, nor did he leave, without giving me, in his own THE STAGE-DRIVER. 103 extravagant way, much information that I desired. But the stage-driver is the institution of the Far West, and I have enjoyed his acquaintance in no common degree. The driver of the plains and mountains is an expert with the lines and whip, and has no charge of horses except- ing when they are on the road. He is an educated man in his line. He usually drives from forty-five to fifty miles, while the teams are changed every ten miles. When he arrives at a " swing station" (where the teams are changed), he drops the lines, and chats with the land- lord or the passengers while his team is unhitched and another attached. He then walks, with becoming dignity and conscious responsibility, about the newly-hitched team, sees that the traces, lines, etc. are all in perfect order, then gathers up his lines and, with the majesty of a legislative presiding officer, calls out, "All 'board," and away he goes. I have made the acquaintance of every one I have traveled with, and never yet found one that even approached loqua- city. They will talk freely, and always intelligently, but you never get more than a hasty glance of their e3 r es from their gay and fleet teams. Some, indeed, I found unpleas- antly reticent, but all, without exception, were courteous. I doubt not that they are often bored until their patience is sorely tried, and perhaps I repeated, in some instances, that particular feature of their experience ; but, as a rule, I found them highly entertaining. They usually drive six horses, and aim to be, as they doubtless are, the best drivers in the world. I rode outside with them frequently, and was charmed with the caution and precision they display in the narrow, steep, and sharply-curved roads of the mountains. With a single hand they will sweep their horses around a short turn, or pass another team, with a grace and elegance that are perfectly artistic ; and, while they almost fly down the steep mountain declivities, they insure safety by never 104 THE "SQUARE MEALS" OF THE WEST. losing for a moment the complete control of a single horse in the team. A word from the driver is expected to be obeyed by the horse to which it is addressed ; and woe to the luckless animal that does not heed! The long la^h of the whip will whirl in the air, and its keen, silken cracker will bring the blood from the flank of the obstinate animal. The teams are all matched, with the gayest of leaders, and it is not uncommon for them to make ten miles an hour on the plains, or descending the mountains. Distance in stag- ing seems to be dwarfed, out here. I now consider fifty miles of staging, over these excellent roads, but a pleasant little morning ride. Last week I breakfasted at Idaho, drove six miles over one of the steep spurs of the mountains, and was in Denver for two o'clock dinner having traveled nearly sixty miles over harder hills than separate Charn- bersburg from Bedford. I tire, of course, of being cramped up in a crowded stage ; but a little walk at each station, in this region, makes one feel as fresh as if resting for an hour. The air is so pure that it seems to strengthen not only the lungs, but the blood, the brain, the very bones, and it is a luxury to breathe in its sweet invigoration. I had read so much of the " square meals" of the Far West, that I expected to find eating anything but a luxury in this country. In this I have been agreeably surprised. I have traveled the plains for three hundred miles by stage, and the mountains for over one hundred miles, and the meals have been quite as good as the average of hotel meals in the East. At the Alkali Station, fifty miles west of the railroad, with not a cultivated field or even a garden within two hundred miles of it, I had the best meal set before me since I left Chicago ; and all along the plains, and far up in the heart of the mountains, I have found good bread and butter, fresh eggs, tolerable ham and beef, and often the most delicious antelope or venison HIGH PRICES OF LABOR. 105 broils, and I have had canned fruits and vegetables at every meal, whether breakfast, dinner, or supper. Corn, tomatoes, beans, oysters, and all kinds of fruits are scarcely luxuries in this far-off region, for they tempt the appetite of the traveler every day. The uniform price of meals for travelers is $1.50, and they are usually paid for most cheerfully. By fall the Pacific Railroad will have passed Denver one hundred miles to the north ; and the Eastern Division, from Leavenworth by Smoky Hill, will run direct to Denver in the spring of 1868. Prices must then diminish, as the cost of transportation has heretofore been enormous, and living will be nearly as cheap in Colo- rado as in Pennsylvania. The high cost of the necessaries of life makes the wages of labor very high, and the development of the country has thus been greatly retarded. Ordinary farm-hands command from forty-five to sixty dollars per month, with boarding, and in the mining regions five dollars per day is a moderate price. But the highest rates, comparatively, are paid to domestics, for the reason that female servants are exceedingly scarce. But few laboring women can af- ford to come to the Territories, and those who happen here get fabulous wages The most ordinary female house-ser- vants get fifty dollars per month, and board, and good female cooks command from seventy-five to one hundred dollars per month. One hundred ordinarily good female servants could now find permanent employment in pleasant homes in Denver, at an average of twelve dollars per week and boarding; and three months' wages would pay their fare from the East to this city. Besides the high wages they can get, they are in equal demand in the matrimonial market. The adult unmarried population of the Territory is probably ten males to one female, and here, as elsewhere, people continue to be given in marriage. The importation 10* 106 COLONEL WASH. LEE. of several hundred virtuous, industrious, single females into Colorado would be a great benefaction both to the females themselves and to the people of the Territory. I had hoped to meet Judge C. S. Eyster here by this time, but he is not even reported on the route as yet. He is the most popular official in the Territory, and is anx- iously inquired for daily. It will be gratifying to his many friends in the East to know that he is deservedly esteemed here both as a citizen and as a judge ; and whether Colorado shall be a State or a Territory, Judge Eyster will share her honors. I send my kindest regards to Colonel Wash. Lee, of Luzerne, for the magnificent glass he sent me before start- ing on my trip. With it I can bring the distant ranges alongside of the coach-wheels as I travel along, and can fringe the green grass of the prairie with the far-oif moun- tain snows. I have not yet tried it on Indians, as I have not lost any, and therefore do not hunt for them ; but, if they should come around the edges, unless all appearances are deceptive, I could kill them ten miles off with a com- mon rifle and Lee's glass. I trust that he will take my word for this, as I prefer not to practice shooting at red- skin targets during this journey. LETTER XL Still Indian-bound in Colorado. End of Hancock's Expedition. Another Peace-Talk to be had with the Savages. The Indians raid the Overland Koutes, while the Troops are ordered to hunt Indians where they are not to be found. General Sherman's Policy. Great Injustice to the West. The Tide of Emigration arrested. The Necessity of protecting One Koute. Contrac- tors said to be encouraging "War. The Sad Failure of Mining Companies in Colorado. Their Hopeless Future. Legitimate Enterprise the only Way to Success in the Mines. The Yaria- tions of Colorado Climate. The Crops. DENVEB, COLORADO, May 21, 1867. I AM still Indian-bound in this city, and when I can go on westward with reasonable safety depends entirely upon the enemy, rather than upon friends. With nearly ten thousand troops in the departments of Generals Hancock and Augur, there are not any ten miles of the two great thoroughfares, from the Missouri River to this place, that twenty Indians could not " clean out" any day. Hancock has made one campaign against the red-skins, and with what result your readers well know. It is now officially announced that his expedition is at an end, and General Sherman has joined Hancock to go down and have a peace-talk with the same Indians who talked peace with him at Fort Zarah and immediately proved their pacific intentions by fresh atrocities. In the mean time, while the troops are " bunched " in forts, the Smoky Hill route is the scene of a fresh raid or murder almost daily, and the coach passes solely because the Indians thus far have (107) 108 THE INDIANS RAID THE OVERLAND ROUTES. allowed it to do so. Since I have been detained here, three station-keepers on that route have been murdered by the Indians, scalped, their bodies cut to pieces and burned, and several stations have been robbed of stock, and ranches have been destroyed. There arc enough idle troops in the department to station fifty on every mile of the road ; but they seem to be used for every other purpose than that for which they should be employed. On the Platte route five distinct raids have been made since I have been on it, one station burned, and but two days ago a stock-keeper was killed and scalped within a mile of Fort Sedgwick. West, the Indians have cleared the stage-route of stock for eighty miles, stealing part of it and compelling the withdrawal of the balance, and two men have been scalped. The stage company have declined to forward passengers west from this point since the 12th instant, when Mr. Hooper and others started and got as far as Cooper's Creek, where they still remain. Judge Carter picked a party of frontier- men and started, determined to fight their way through and organize a force of the Indians to escort the stage. All these things have occurred in a department where there are five thousand troops, with nearly the same num- ber in Hancock's department, immediately south. Instead of protecting the thoroughfares, they are planning grand campaigns north and south of the lines of travel, leaving them to be raided, ravaged, and crimsoned with the blood of the emigrant and traveler whenever the Indians take a fancy that way. The stage-line of six hundred miles from here to Salt Lake, traversing all the passes of the mountains, where the best ambuscades in the world are to be found, has less than three hundred soldiers on it two companies of infantry at Fort Bridger, just where the Indians are friendly, and one company of cavalry, reduced by deser- tions and demoralized generally. Instead of posting troops GENERAL SHERMAN'S POLICY. 109 on the line to protect emigration, transportation, and tntvel, General Augur (doubtless acting under specific orders) is busy preparing for a campaign into the "upper country," just where nobody thinks of going, and where there is nothing to protect but the troops in the forts. Last year the Reno and Phil. Kearney route was pro- nounced open for emigration ; and hundreds of graves along its entire length, with the Phil. Kearney massacre as the central figure, attest how the promise was kept with the emigrants. This year it is accepted as hostile and im- passable, and two thousand troops are about to march along it, strengthen its posts, and play the farce of pro- tecting a route that is a stranger to the tread of the white man, while the great thoroughfare is practically abandoned by the military, excepting as troops are huddled in huts here and there to mock the sojourner. I do not hope to accomplish anything by stating the facts. Out here no one expects sensible action on the part of the military, and they have to bow to perpetual imbe- cility and wrong. General Sherman is presumed to have more common sense than usually falls to the lot of com- manders ; but should it be necessary to say to him that his first duty to emigration, to the West, and to the country is to determine upon some route or routes to the Far West, and give adequate, complete protection ? Colorado, Mon- tana, Idaho, and Nebraska are inviting fields for thousands upon thousands of the. enterprising and industrious people of the East; and the right way to make the West self-pro- tecting is to maintain safe routes for emigration, so that settlements may spring up in this distant world of wealth. When the settlers once rear their homes or the miners open their claims, the Indian is doomed to peace or death. He well knows that red tape and the circumlocution of pn eminent warfare do not obtain in the summary adjust- HO CONTRACTORS ENCOURAGING WAR. ment of difficulties between him and them, and he there- fore emigrates, or smokes the pipe of peace in their ranches. I doubt not that ten thousand people will be prevented from emigrating to the Far West this season by the Indian troubles on the great thoroughfares, and this, too, when there are more than enough troops already here to afford the amplest protection. Is the government wise in this policy ? If it is, I must confess that the whole West, and all who visit it, are most fearfully deluded. I know that the popular impression in the East, and perhaps the preva- lent conviction in official circles, is that Indian wars are mere speculations. I am not prepared to deny this as a general proposition. I cannot resist the belief that most, if not all, Indian troubles have their origin in frauds, or contemplated frauds, alike upon the Indians and the government. I hear it charged that government con- tractors, agents, and officers have much to do with the creation of Indian wars ; and the suspension of travel West is imputed to a deliberate purpose of certain con- tractors who wish to compel modified terms from the government. These grave suspicions may or may not be so; I have not means of ascertaining whether they are wholly or partially true ; but I do know that if the government would throw its troops upon the routes of travel and make them safe for the contractors, there could be no pretext whatever for attempting to create Indian troubles. It would seem that the surest policy for the government to pursue would be to open the lines, fight, or beat the Indians away from them, and then say to con- tractors, " The way is open : perform your duty." But enough of grumbling : it will do no good. I am but repeating the earnest protests of the Western people for years against the costly and terrible mismanagement of Indian affairs; and, as they have thus far been disregarded, SAD FAILURE OF MINING COMPANIES. HI I need not cherish the hope that now, when silly cam- paigns have been deliberately planned and the troops disposed to carry them out, the observations of an humble tourist will be heeded. I will get away West as soon as I can, and have some faint hope that to-morrow will see me on the way to Fort Saunders, to take my chance with the rest in passing the gauntlet of the savages. There is much I would like to say about Colorado; but time and space compel me to be brief. I have visited her gold and silver mines, and seen the fearful waste Eastern speculation has scattered in fatal profusion among them. With countless wealth in the mountains, there are palpable decline and distress in every mining region I have seen. Let me entreat Eastern companies to learn at once the utter hopelessness of their enterprises as now organized and managed. Their mills are almost wholly worthless, because they are not adapted to the successful reduction of the obstinate combinations to be found everywhere in the Colorado ores. Many companies now on the very verge of bankruptcy, or actually in its embrace, have valuable mines, and they cling to the hope that they may yet make their enterprises successful. It is folly; it is madness. It would be a blessing to both Eastern capitalists and Colo- rado if one vast fire should sweep the mills of Clear Creek from existence. Their charred walls would not impede progress, as do vast buildings with engines and mills un- employed, and never to be employed, as at present consti- tuted. Equally foolish, wasteful, and disastrous must be ev TV effort of amateurs to reduce the ores by experiments with the various processes, flooding the market, and tempt- ing the disappointed stockholder to make another effort to save his investment. Let every Eastern company wait until the problem is fully and practically solved here among the mines, and then they may hope to get more returns. 112 VARIATIONS OF COLORADO CLIMATE. They could profitably employ some capital, in the mean time, by thoroughly testing their lodes and bringing to the surface large quantities of ore. When the time comes for the successful reduction of these ores, the work of re- ducing them will be as distinct from mining as is milling from farming. Where there are good mines, therefore, the companies which early accept the inevitable revolution in the production of the precious metals will yet attain suc- cess ; but let them understand that these mills are, as a rule, valueless, and the cost of their construction an irre- trievable waste. I firmly believe that this year will nearly, if not entirely, master these ores, so that every good mine can be worked profitably; but stockholders might as well attempt to change the fashion of the Snowy Range as to persist in the effort to mine and reduce these ores with their present machinery. I know that this will be unwel- come information to thousands of your readers ; but its truth is fearfully attested by the sacrifice of $20,000,000 in fruit- less efforts to refute it. I have seen almost every feature of the variegated climate of Colorado. I entered Denver through a regular old-fash- ioned thunder-storm. Next day I braved its scorching sun and parching winds. I next spent a day in the mountains, starting with a clear morning and a hot sun, soon to be exchanged for a thunder-shower, and that soon to give way to a driving snow-storm giving me sunshine, rain, thunder, and snow in a distance of thirty miles. Since then we have had what would pass for regular Pennsyl- vania March storms of sleet and snow. Yesterday the snow fell all the day, and now the mountain-ranges are clad in white, while the plains have been cleared of their snowy garb. Each year seems to increase the number of showers, and I doubt not that both Colorado and Utah will soon be farmed with very little, if any, resort to irri- THE CROPS. 113 gation. It seems that as the water is conducted over the plains by ditches, and spread over the fields, it creates clouds and rains, and as irrigation is extended its neces sity is gradually diminished. Last year, Utah could have- grown all its field-crops without any resort to irrigation, and even in Colorado, where irrigation is in its infancy, but little was needed in the settled regions. But for the grasshoppers, the agricultural interests of the Territory would be enjoying a high degree of prosperity. Last year they did but little harm, and the crop of wheat is more than equal to the wants of the people. It is now sold cheaper here than in Philadelphia; but oats, barley, and corn command the same price as wheat five cents per pound. Should the mines be conquered by another year, the population of Colorado would double in six months, and agricultural products would command a still higher price ; but, in any event, farming seems to be one of the certain channels to success in Colorado. I hope to get away to-morrow. If not, I may go down to Pike's Peak to visit the Garden of the Gods, the Boiling Spring, etc., and may write again of Colorado. 11 LETTER XIL* A Journey to Colorado City. Crossing the Divide. Thunder- and Snow-Storms. The Pines. Bierstadt and the Colorado Eocks. Storm-staid at "The Dirty Woman's Kanch." A "Western Cabin. A Pleasant and Hospitable Hostess. A Bright Fire and Excellent Supper. The Guests chat away the Evening. The "Garden of the Gods." Grandeur of the Monuments. Natural Pillars from Three to Five Hundred Feet High. They appear like Ruins of Colossal Statuary. The Mineral Springs. Camp Creek Canon. A Severe Snow-Storm. Vain Attempt to procure Shelter from a Fugitive Mormoness. Petrifactions on the Platte. DENVER, May 26, 1807. THURSDAY, the 23d, trunks packed, bills paid. Coach drove up at seven for Salt Lake, and we were all at the door, expecting to bid farewell to Colorado and its beautiful mountains, possibly forever. Agent conies along, and in- forms us we can only go to Fort Saunders, one hundred and thirty miles, and will have to remain there over Sunday, on account of the great accumulation of mails caused by the Indians stealing Wells, Fargo & Co.'s horses. " Uncle Sam" makes the drivers take an oath that they will see the mails through safe, giving the passengers the widest liberty of looking out for themselves in case of attacks * This letter was written by Mrs. McClure to a friend, who fur- nished it for publication in the Chambersburg " Repository." As it gives an account of a very interesting portion of Colorado that I did not see, and as the letter has already been given to the public, I embrace it in this collection of letters, to complete the description of the many points of peculiar interest on the overland route. (114) CROSSING THE DIVIDE. 115 from the noble red men, danger from high waters, or any of the other difficulties which are liable to beset one's path on a journey "Across the Continent" Much disappointed, we had our baggage moved again to our rooms, and I at once made up my mind to see Colorado's greatest wonders, <' The Monuments," " Soda Springs," and the magnificent rocks called by the pretentious name of the " Garden of the Gods." Hired a livery " turn-out," with a boy driver, and, with W. and Mrs. C. for companions, was- on the road to the classical ground in less than an hour. The weather was not promising, and the mountains, especially the Snowy Range, were hidden from sight by clouds threatening and sullen in aspect. We had not proceeded far when rain set in. The road was generally fine across the plain, with a gradual ascent of fifty or sixty miles to the Divide, a high piece of ground separating the head-waters of the Arkansas from those of the Platte, and famous for its thunder- and snow-storms, both of which we encountered. The country is diversified with groves of beautiful spruce pines, so refresh- ing to an Eastern eye after the long stretches of treeless prairie on the Platte ; and the hills on each side are full of white sandstone rocks, in broken, irregular lines, looking precisely like ruins of Hindoo or Egyptian temples, with their broken arches, columns, porticos, and overhanging towers in endless confusion. Bierstadt, it is said, made some beautiful drawings of these rocks, but refused to paint them, giving as his reason that few people would be- lieve- they were real rocks of this continent, and would say he had taken some foreign ruins and tried to palm them off on the public as specimens of Colorado rock-scenery. Since seeing them, I am not surprised at his conclusion. The distance from Denver to Colorado City is seventy miles. We drove fifty by six o'clock; the last twelve 116 A WESTERN CABIN. through a furious thunder-storm. Jove hurled his bolts around us in a manner terrifying to mortal ears, and the winds were not gentle breezes, but blew what a sailor would call "great guns," the carriage rocking at times in the blast. There are three ranches on the road, known by the euphonious names of the " Red-Headed Woman's Ranch," " Pretty Woman's Ranch," and the " Dirty Wo- man's Ranch." After a most tedious and anxious drive, we arrived at the last-named, so called from the untidy person and habits of the divinity who once presided over it, and who, as the legend runs, finally died of dirt. The place was not inviting; but, as the gods seemed determined not to be propitious, we concluded any sort of shelter was preferable to a farther drive in the pelting storm with a tired team. The house was a low one-story hut, divided into four small rooms, devoid of almost all comfort. One ordinary-sized pane of glass constituted the window in the "room," as it was called. The furniture consisted of a round pine table, covered with an old white muslin cloth ; three chairs (one wooden, one split-bottom, and one with seat composed of strips of calf- or cow-skin plaited across), a small looking-glass, half broken away, the remainder, from familiar marks upon it, looking as if it had not seen water since the previous summer, and indicating clearly that the flies were the sole possessors and the only vain members of the family; a small trough, in which was a wooden bucket with ladle; a tin wash-basin; and on a nail opposite hung a homespun' towel. The walls were papered with " Harper's Weekly," leaves from the "Atlantic Monthly, "etc., which served us for reading-matter for a half- hour or so, and struck us as " useful as well as ornamental." The sole occupant was a little girl, five or six years of age, who sat shivering over a scanty fire in a cook-stove in the kitchen. On inquiry for the mistress, she informed us she A BRIGHT FIRE AND EXCELLENT SUPPER. Hf was milking. She soon made her appearance ; a tall, pleasant-faced woman, with a pair of beautiful brown eyes. I knew at a glance that a kind heart had written the lines so easily read there, and, in spite of ill health, advancing age, and poverty, they had maintained their sway. She made many apologies for her rude home, but said she would make us as comfortable as possible. In a few minutes pine chunks and sticks were placed endways (no andirons) in the rudely-built chimney, and soon a roaring fire lighted up the bare walls and floor with a glow peculiarly its own. We were soon cosey and comfortable, drying our clothes and wondering what the " folks at home" would say could they take a peep at our experience of frontier life. In a little time supper was announced. As we had only lunched instead of dined that day, we did ample justice to the fare, which was excellent, much better than we had expected from the appearance of the hovel. Delicious soda-biscuit, poached eggs, ham, honey, coffee, butter, and cream, consti- tuted the bill of fare. The pasture is so fine that butter and milk are unusually good much better than we had tasted since leaving home. The dining-room furniture consisted of an old pine sideboard, and a long table with a bench on each side for seats. One pane of glass served for a window. Two storm-beaten travelers of the bifurcated species were added to our party, one an old frontiersman from the San Luis Valley, an eighteen-year resident of the country. After supper, " we formed around the ingle a circle wide," the old pioneer leading in the conversation, giving us many interesting accounts of the settling of the Territory and of the Indians. The latter he hates most intensely, and, like all the other settlers, thinks Chivington and Conner the only two men who can keep the Indians at peace with the white men. We each chatted our favorite hobby; mine, of course, was border-warfare in the nineteenth century, and 11* 118 THE "GARDEN OF THE GODS." our experience with the chivalry. About nine o'clock our hostess made her appearance with a tallow candle, in the most primitive of tin candlesticks, and offered to show us to bed. Bidding " good-night" to the pioneer who had entertained us so pleasantly, we followed the " brown eyes." Our room about six by ten or twelve, no win- dow, not even a crevice for fresh air looked like a huge store-box. In this were two clean-looking beds, with just room for one to stand between them. The bedsteads con- sisted of two posts or pine logs fastened in each side of the wall, and the beds were made on them. The only fur- niture was a small stool on which to set the candle. After retiring, being really very comfortable, we were soon made oblivious by "tired nature's sweet restorer, balmy sleep," and did not wake until called to breakfast. After that very important meal, we paid our bill ($10), hitched up our horses, found them gay as ourselves after the night's rest, bade good-by to our kind hostess and the guests (the old pioneer hoping "it would burn out" meaning clear off before we had gone far), and started for the remaining drive of twenty miles. The clouds were threatening, and in a little time poured torrents of rain upon us. The mountains were completely veiled in the mist ; had it not been for the sandstone rocks in their pic- turesque ruin the ride would have been a dreary one. We passed Monument Creek, eight miles this side of Colo- rado City, in the rain, and concluded to visit it on our return. As we approached the " Garden of the Gods," the clouds lifted a little, and the sun gave us a few dreary smiles as we entered. And such an entrance ! Here my pen fails to give any correct idea of the grandeur of the rocks. On either side towers a sandstone rock of bright brick color, from three to five hundred feet in height, and seventy-five to a hundred or more in length ; at a little dis- THE MINERAL SPRINGS. 119 tance in front, directly in the pathway, stands another, of grotesque form, looking like some colossal sentinel placed there to guard the sacred inclosure. After passing his majesty, numbers of these bright-red rocks meet the eye on every side, looking like ruins of colossal statuary, their sides marked and seamed with the snows and rains of ages. We spent an hour wandering among these stupen- dous monuments of the Creator's power, gathered a few wild flowers, broke some pieces of rock, to take with us as souvenirs, looked again and again, and could scarcely tear ourselves away. But the clouds gave ominous signs, and, with many regrets, we took our seats in the carriage and finished our drive of one and a half miles to Colorado City. Here our patience was sorely tried. The hotel had changed proprietors, the new one having moved the day before, and everything was " confusion worse confounded." The Soda Springs, three miles north, being the next on the list of curiosities, we hoped after dinner to be able to drive there and spend the afternoon; but it rained inces- santly, and we were obliged to give it up for that day. Retired early, and, in spite of bedbugs and other luxuries too numerous to mention, slept soundly. By our own re- quest, we were called at half-past five. The sun had just risen over the mountains, lighting up the snowy crest of Pike's Peak (fifteen miles away) with the rosiest hues, lift- ing the vapory clouds from the foot-hills and the middle range and sending them in myriads of graceful forms up the mountain-sides, striking the immense white and red sand- stone rocks near the " Garden of the Gods," and making alto- gether a most gorgeous and never-to-be-forgotten picture. These beautiful red rocks extended along most of our way to the springs. One in particular attracted us from its to the pictures we see of the Coliseum. The 120 CAMP CREEK CANON. springs are three in number, and bubble up out of the ground in the merriest way, emptying into the " fontaine qui bouille" (boiling fountain), named, I suppose, from the swiftness of the current and the noise it makes in rushing over the rocks and pebbles in its bed. The water is very strongly impregnated with soda, and with lemon or other syrups makes a most delicious drink. The water, as it runs from the springs into the stream, deposits a calca- reous tufa, white and in waves, looking almost like snow- drifts. I should have been glad to bring away specimens, but had not room in my valise. There are no fish in the " fontaine qui bouille;" they don't like the soda-water, it is said, although the stream looks like our trout streams. Near one of the soda springs is a small iron spring; and doubtless when the place is prospected, as it will be, there will be other springs found of valuable medicinal proper- ties. Many persons visit these springs now for rheuma- tism, scrofula, etc., and are always much benefited. A hotel is talked of; and, should it be built, the place will be very attractive. We had an hour there, and then the clouds gathered. We drove home through the "Garden of the Gods;" stopped at Camp Creek Canon to see the rocks there, and found them equal in grandeur to their brothers. I slipped into the creek and got my feet wet. We rode eight miles to Monument Creek ; raining and very disagreeable. Here we found a still more wonderful rock-formation. At a little distance some groups, hidden as they are by pine-trees, look like a huge cemetery, the rocks running up in columns land single shafts from six to fifty feet in height; others look precisely like groups of Shakers in capes and broad brims. By moonlight they must have a weird, wild look ; and one could imagine them the ghosts of giantesses sent back to hold some special conclave on material subjects. PETRIFACTIONS ON THE PLATTE. 121 Our ride home was through one of the most severe snow- storms I have ever been in. Once the road was so drifted that we were fearful we had missed it and were driving at random on the prairies. The snow blew in our faces, covering the blankets to the depth of three or four inches. A hut looming in sight, we drove to it. Such squalor and poverty I never saw before, and hope I shall never see again. The hut was floorless, and leaking in every part; the children were put to bed to keep warm, and I really be- lieve the mother was insane. She had a wild look about the eyes, and her dress was very eccentric. She had run away from the Mormons, and had been in this hut only four days; the storm coming on, she could not look for food, work, or anything else. I was heart-sick, and de- termined that a night on the plains was preferable to staying there. Finding we were not lost yet, and hoping to be able to keep the road, I slipped some money in her hand, and started again in the frightful storm. We reached Denver at half-past four o'clock, wet to the skin and per- fectly benumbed with cold, and did not have an ache or pain after. One peculiarity of this climate is, that, however drenched and cold you may be, you rarely ever suffer from it, particularly if you have flannel next the skin. The snow was two feet deep in the mountains. This is Sunday. I have been interrupted all the time ; and, as we expect to leave for Salt Lake to-morrow morn- ing, have concluded to finish to-day. Yesterday I spent the day on the banks of the Platte, sixteen and a half miles from here, in search of petrified fish and other curiosities. I saw fish almost a foot long imbedded in the rocks, with a pearly case around them, which on exposure to the sun reflects all the colors of the rainbow. They are, however, so brittle that we could only get pieces of them. The specimens of petrified wood are beautiful. I will have quite a nice cabinet if all reach home in good condition. LETTER XIII. Storm-bound in Denver. An Old-fashioned Eastern Settled Eain. The " Oldest Inhabitant" cannot explain it. Rapid Rise of the Mountain-Streams. The Stage stopped by the Flood. Peril of Passengers in crossing a Little Stream. Prospects of Indian Raids. No " Friendlies" visible but the Utes. The First Settlers of Colorado. Legislation to defeat Foreign Creditors. Summary Execution of Part of Quantrell's Band. Agricultural Productions of Colorado. DENYEK, COLORADO, June 1, 1867. STILL in Colorado. The snow-clad ranges of the Rocky Mountains, which awakened such enthusiasm when I first beheld them, have become common and uninteresting in my anxiety to get out from this Indian and weather im- prisonment. Think of it, in this usually sun-parched land, where vegetation gasps for the artificial stream and withers in its absence a regular storm of eight days' duration. Just a regular, old-fashioned, Eastern settled rain, much to the surprise of the oldest inhabitant, and defying all the weather-wise of the city to explain the order of its coming. And what was rain in Denver was snow and rain on the first and second ranges, and a regular driving winter snow- storm^on the Snowy Range. But gradually the frosty breath of winter reached out from the mountains to the plains, until it chilled the storm eastward two hundred miles, and robed the eastern prairies in spotless white. Just as we were about to enter the threshold of summer, Old Winter crowned himself in his proudest attire, and bade the blos- soms and verdure of the plains and mountain-forests wait (122) RAPID RISE OF MOUNTAIN-STREAMS. 123 for a more convenient season. For eight days the sun did not appear. At times the clouds would lift up along the mountains and give us the faint promise of a ray of sun- shine ; but soon the storm-king would assert his imperious sway again, and the flitting snow-storm would frolic with the mountain-peaks, hurled hither and thither in fantastic forms and flights, while the lightning kissed the plains and rocked them with its thunders. In this country, where the mountains shed the rains and melting snows so speedily, the streams rise and fall with marvelous rapidity. The road to Salt Lake was utterly impassable for several days, and is now unfit to be traveled. The little rivulets, which are dry most of the time, and usually can be stepped without wetting the feet, rose from ten to fifteen feet in a few hours, when the temperature moderated so as to turn the falling snow to rain and add the melting snow to the current of the water. The rude bridges were swept away, and the coaches were brought to a stand. One coach coming in from the west was swept down the stream in Thompson's Creek, the lead- horses drowned, the stage whirled over by the resistless current, and the passengers saved only after almost super- human efforts to get out of a stream but twenty feet in width. But they fall as rapidly as they rise, and in three days of good weather the results of an eight days' storm will scarcely be perceptible on the roads. To-day.the sun dawned upon us almost without a cloud to shadow his splendor, and by Monday we hope to start for Salt Lake with a reasonable prospect of a safe and pleasant journey. True, the Indians may return with the return of good weather; but that is a chance all travelers on the Plains must take, and they do it without borrowing trouble on account of it. It is not doubted by the oldest settlers, who understand the habits and can judge of the temper of 124 THE FIRST SETTLERS OF COLORADO. the Indians, that there will be a general outbreak in some portion of the overland route as soon as the Indians have stolen enough horses to mount their warriors and the grass is sufficiently grown to sustain their stock on the march. Just where they will strike, no one pretends to guess, as they can assail the great line of travel anywhere for six hundred miles with equal facility. Among the many signs of a general Indian outbreak, the most signifi- cant is the entire absence of friendly Indians on the line. When they are at peace, they crowd around the stations and ranches with their squaws and papooses, begging and stealing everything they can get; but this spring I did not see an Indian on the road from the Missouri to Denver. Here the Utes wander through the streets daily; but they are now, and ever have been, peaceable. The history of the peopling of a new Territory like Colorado is a most interesting study. It had no tide of emigration until rich gold diggings had been discovered, and nine-tenths of those who came at first were either fugitives or adventurers. In one mingled mass came the honest bankrupt, the fugitive from justice, the gambler, and the loafer, all trusting to some new turn in the capri- cious smiles of fortune. One of the first acts of the Terri- torial legislature prohibited the collection of claims against any of the residents of Colorado, for the benefit of non- resident creditors, for the period of five years ; and no one was brave enough to test the infamy and impotency of the statute in the courts. It would have been just worth an attorney's life, in the early days of Colorado, to have at- tempted the collection of foreign claims by process ; and none dared to do it. In such a mass of reckless residents, of course the desperate soon gained the mastery, and mur- ders were of such frequent occurrence, without any pretense of justice, that finally the Vigilance Committee was forced EXECUTION OF PART OF QUANTRELUS BAND. 125 into existence, and executed thieves and murderers and gamblers relentlessly, until they were either driven away or subordinated to the safety of society. But, while the Vigilance Committee has served its pur- pose and disbanded, it has left its impress indelibly stamped upon the character of the settlers. There remains a reck- lessness of life that would appall any old settlement in the East. If a bad man is discovered in any of the mining regions, the law is considered too slow and too doubtful in the administration of justice. After the sacking of Law- rence, Kansas, by Quantrell, thirty-one of his gang came to Colorado in a body, and scattered through the Territory. Numerous thefts and several murders followed, and they were charged justly, I believe to these rebel desperadoes. The miners at once organized parties and commenced a hunt for them. They were overtaken several times, several killed each time, and finally all the survivors were cap- tured, with a single exception. Their captors returned, but they were without prisoners, and the explanation given was that they had tied the prisoners to a tree and they had killed themselves pulling at the ropes to get away. No inquiry was made by any one beyond ascertaining the fact that there would be no more disturbances by Quantrell's men. Gradually, however, the majesty of the law is gain- ing ground in every part of the Territory, and the suprem- acy of order will be maintained by all classes. When Colorado shall have recovered from the terrible incubus of bankrupt corporations, now holding the most valuable mines without the ability to develop them suc- cessfully, her destiny must be a great and prosperous one. There are no insuperable barriers to the growth of all the cereals, fruits, vegetables, etc. of the Eastern States, and some of them are produced in matchless perfection. With the climate and soil to produce bread and every kind of 12 126 FUTURE PROSPECTS OF COLORADO. food for treble the population of Pennsylvania, and with the boundless mineral wealth of her mountains, Colorado must some day become one of the mightiest and wealthiest commonwealths of the Union. But again I bid adieu to Colorado, and hope next to write you from the now green pastures and fragrant flowers of the Saints, six hundred miles farther toward the setting sun. LETTER XI Y. Off from Denver. The Party. Our Arms. Indians in Front and Rear. Swollen Streams. Crossing Boulder. Virginia Dale. The Savages uncomfortably Close. Prospect of a Brush. Passing the Black Hills. Tactics of the Indians. When they attack. Arrival at Cooper's Creek. The Stage- Horses stolen by the Indians. The Policy of the Military. An Escort of Three Troopers. Fort Halleck. Elk Mountain. Running the Gauntlet of an Indian Camp. The Driver and his Strategy. A Hasty Drive. North Platte. The Indians on the War-Path ahead. A Council of War. A Forward Move- ment decided on. A Bright but Deceptive Morning. The First Station abandoned, and the Second burning. A Sober Dinner-Party at Pine Grove. A Pitiless Snow-Storm. The Station burning on the Summit of the Rocky Range. Our Situation most critical. " Big Dick." Fresh Tracks, and a Line of Battle necessary. Dick's Disposal of the Lady. The " Cusses" overtaken. A Mutual Retreat. Firing forbidden by Dick. Arrival at Sulphur Spring. The Horses captured there the same Day. The Battle the Day before. A Melancholy Stage-Drive. Captain Wilson's Apology to General Sherman. The Accommodations. The Alarm. Westward again. SULPHUR SPRING STATION, 1 ROCKY MOUNTAINS, June 7, 1867. / ON the 3d instant we bade good-by to Denver, but not without serious misgivings as to our success in getting through the favorite retreats of the " friendlies," as the Indians are termed by the Western people. Our party con- sisted of seven, all going clear through, viz., Mr. Perry, of Missouri, an old freighter of fifteen years' experience, intelligent, and brave as he is unassuming ; Dr. Cass, of (127) 128 SWOLLEN STREAMS. Denver, who had crossed the Plains over a dozen times ; Mr. Phelps, of New York, who was making his third trip; and our Pennsylvania party, consisting of McKibben, Mrs. McC., W., and myself. We were all well armed had three repeating rifles, three of the best breech-loaders, and from one to two first-class revolvers each. Had the eastern route been safe, we would all have willingly retraced our steps to the Missouri River and proceeded to Montana by boat, and taken the chances to return overland in the fall ; but the Indians seemed to be more numerous and quite as hostile and savage on the Platte and Smoky Hill routes from Denver to the Missouri, as on the route to Salt Lake. We were thus between two Indian fires, as it were, and without apparent choice as to safety : so we finally resolved that we would go through the mountains, and take the chances of coming out with whole scalps. Our route once determined upon, the greatest obstacle was removed ; and, after many ominous shakes of the head by friends, and much cheap advice, as they bade us farewell, we started out on as bright a morning as the East could have furnished. The streams were still high from the recent storms, and we apprehended some trouble with them for the first hun- dred and fifty miles; but, as we supposed so much of the road to be clear of the Indians, we did not complain of extra jolts, or frequent walks up hills and over deep mud- holes. We considered a stick in the mud, an upset, a walk or wade through a rebellious stream, or anything of that sort, a luxury, if not mixed up with the war-whoop of the son of the forest. When we came to Boulder, a stream that ordinarily can be stepped over in the dry season, it had appropriated several acres of contiguous territory, and made bogs which would have swallowed up the team, coach, driver, passengers, and baggage. Fortunately, it ran through an agricultural settlement, and there was a VIRGINIA DALE. 129 fence across it, made of pine poles, neither trimmed nor barked, and the gentlemen passengers were invited to walk the pole fence for a distance of forty rods. We strung out on it, and crawled or climbed along, sometimes walking, at other times creeping, now astride, and again hang-ing on to the side, or calling to our aid the profoundest strategy to flank a rough, knotty post, until the boisterous mountain Rubicon was passed. Most of us came out with numerous scratches on the hands and various unpoetical rents in our breeches; but as they were invisible under ordinary circumstances, and as none of us have had any of our clothing off as yet, since we started, but our hats, we have not taken a careful account of damages. When we get to the land of the Saints, if we ever do, we may have time to look up the necessary improvements in our gar- ments. Excepting an occasional tussle with a creek or a bog, we got along quite well until we reached Virginia Dale the next morning, about ten o'clock, for breakfast. We had made ninety-nine miles in a little more than twenty-four hours, and were congratulating ourselves that a week might land us among the long-wished-for Mormons. At Virginia Dale we had an excellent breakfast of antelope- steak, with fresh egg> and fine potatoes and coffee ; but they would hash up the Indian with it. The first news we heard was that the Indians had just cleaned the place of a mule-team, and that the Black Hills, just beyond on our route, were full of Indians their spies having been seen for several days, and their signals at night. The 151ack Hills are a series of spurs from the Hooky llanu-e, and are a wild confusion of rude bluffs and ravines, with interminable windings and occasional thickets of stunted o T ,,\vth all peculiarly adapted to Indian attacks. The landlord at the station, and the drivers, agreed that we 12* 130 PASSING THE BLACK HILLS. stood a fair chance for a brush with the Indians, and they posted us as fully as possible as to the proper precautions and best system of defense. We had expected when we started from Denver to find Indians some sixty miles ahead, from Cooper's Creek to the North Platte, as they had been operating on that line but a short time before ; but here we had the savage on our path at least a day before we had contracted for his society. There was but one remedy, however ; and that was, to go ahead, keeping our heads steady and our powder dry. We passed the Black Hills in safety, notwithstanding the alarming prophecies of our Virginia Dale friends ; but we allowed the Indians no particular chances on us that we could prevent. We sent out a skirmish-line at every dangerous pass or bluff, and exercised every possible cau- tion. Our guns were never out of our hands. When sleeping, they were kept loaded and resting on our knees, with the muzzles projecting a little out at the sides of the coach; and when eating, they were stacked within reach. The tactics of the Indians is ever to surprise and confuse travelers or soldiers by their fiendish war-whoop ; and if they fail in their attempted surprise they will flee from one-fourth their number of resolute men. At Big Laramie we had dinner about four in the afternoon, and there learned that the Indians were along the line, swooping down upon stock wherever an opportunity presented, and scalping the herders. During the evening we had a pleasant road to go over, free of bluffs and ravines, and night came before we had reached any localities where Indians could conceal themselves. It is a remarkable fact that the Indians always select either evening or morning, just after sunset or before sunrise, to attack, when they can ; and they will rarely attack at night. They do not attack at night, because they never risk the danger of STA G E- HORSES STOLEN B T THE INDIA NS. 131 meeting unexpected numbers; and they select evening and morning, because travelers are generally weary in the evening, and in the morning they are drowsy or sleeping. They never attack a train or a coach without first accurately counting every man and gun in the party. This they can do from the bluffs during the day, and then follow up the party or signal to others of their band on the line ahead. About three in the morning we reached Cooper's Creek, and found no horses to take us on. The Indians had captured the stock but a few days before, scalped one of the herders, and there would be no team for us until the coach arrived from the west and the horses had been rested and fed. As usual, there was but one rude bed in the shanty, and that was occupied by the station-keeper, his wife, and two children. He was gallant enough, however, to give his share of the bed to Mrs. McC., and the rest of us formed a circle around the stove, rolled our- _ selves up in our robes and blankets on the ground-floor, and soon were sound asleep. At seven we were waked for breakfast, and had a good "square meal" on elk-steak and potatoes. No western coach having arrived, we started on with our old team about eleven o'clock, and had a cavalry escort of three men to protect us. Colonel Mizner, of Fort Saunders, is charged with the protection of the route from Denver to Fort Bridger, a distance of five hundred miles, and has to protect a corps of railroad engineers in addition. To do this, he has sixty cavalry and sixty infantry -just about enough to protect twenty nii]<-s of the road. He has appealed for an additional force ; but the authorities are still waiting to see whether we are to have war or not, and they leave the whole overland route unprotected, to tempt Indians to steal and murder, while the problem of war or peace is being solved. The of the Indian war, with ample troops to pro- 132 ELK MOUNTAIN. tect the route perfectly, would disgrace a corporal ; and the sooner the policy is changed upon the Plains, the sooner will wanton murders and robberies and the wasteful ex- penditure of millions of money cease. From Cooper's Creek to the North Platte, a distance of sixty miles, was regarded as the only really dangerous part of our route ; and as three troopers accompanied us all the way, changing at the stations, we felt tolerably comfortable. We found an infantry guard of six at each station, and Rock Creek, Medicine Bow, and Wagonhound stations had all protected their stock for several days, although occasionally attacked. At Elk Mountain (Old Fort Halleck) we found a serious condition of affairs. The Indians were encamped but a few miles over the bluff, in strong force ; they had stolen the horses the evening before, and an attack to destroy the station was hourly expected. The most dreary place on the entire route was Elk Moun- tain. The fort has been abandoned, and its buildings are crumbling to ruins. Close by is Elk Mountain, covered with snow. On the opposite side are wild, irregular cliffs, with frequent ravines, and ahead is a narrow canon for miles, with a dozen chances for Indian ambuscades in every mile. Near the station is a burial-ground, where, for a number of years, the emigrant or the settler who yielded up his life to the savage was brought for a rest- ing-place. I noticed some thirty graves ; and the rude in- scriptions told how merciless is the hand of the red man in his 1 warfare against the encroachment of the whites. As the Indian camp was ahead on our route, and but a short distance from the road over the cliffs, we regarded an attack as more than probable. The soldiers assured us that we could not expect to escape it; and our escort started out with us fully satisfied that they would have a brush before they got three miles away. They behaved A HASTY DRIVE. 133 most manfully. Never were saddles and trappings put on with greater care, arms were all carefully examined, and, although it was very cold, they took with them nothing that could embarrass them in a fight. Our driver was a regular Western*" brick." He said but little, but always to the point, whistled merrily while he looked to the charges of his rifle and pistols, and took an extra quid of tobacco as he mounted his box with the dignity of an emperor. In the quaintest Western vernacular, he told us how to act in case of an attack, in the mean time whirling his long whip mechanically over his head; and at the end of every direction on any particular point he would add, with an extra jerk of his whip, "But never scar'; never scar' they're lightnin' when you scar'!" It was nearly sunset, just the favorite time for Indian attacks, as we passed through the canon, and everything seemed just then and there to conspire to make an attack inevitable. Every gun was put in position, with muzzle projecting from the coach so as to be visible, and, when all was ready, the driver's long lash was flung out as only a Western driver can fling it, and we dashed into the ravine at full gallop. There were occasional ruts and bogs, but the sharp report of the whip told both team and passengers that we had not time to slacken our speed for such trifles. Occasionally, as the front wheels would plunge into a di-pp water-course, the middle and hind passengers would land in most ungraceful attitudes on the laps of the front ones, and as the hind wheels would drop in, the whole load would sweep back in a pile on the back seat; but soon all would be right again, and on we whirled, until darkness and ail open country gave reasonable assurance of safely. W<- reached the North Platte about three in the morn ing, in the midst of a drenching rain ; but, as we supposed 134 A COUNCIL OF WAR. it to be the end of our Indian troubles, we welcomed any- thing and every sort of weather that put us there. Judge of our surprise when told that the Indians had just broken out on the road for fifty miles west, that there was not an occupied station on the line, that a number of station-men and emigrants had been killed within a few days, and that all travel was suspended ! How long we should have to stay, no one pretended to say. " The line cannot be run any longer without troops," was the reply of the agent; and, as there were no troops within four hundred miles, the prospect was by no means flattering. We had by this time, however, learned not to borrow trouble on any ac- count ; and we concluded to turn in for a sleep and talk about traveling in the morning. Here, as usual, there was but a single bed in the ranch, and that was a pile of straw on two poles fastened into the wall. Mrs. M. was favored with a place on the soft side of the floor near the cooking- stove, and the rest of us took the dining-room, where, by lying on, under, and all around the table, we managed to find room for a snooze. Our beds consisted of our robes and blankets, with our carpet-bags for pillows ; but never did anybody sleep more soundly. The stage that had pre- ceded us from Denver was stopped at the Platte also : so that there were eleven passengers there. After a hearty breakfast on elk-steak, we held a council of war and transportation, and found that all were well armed but two itinerant speculators of the Hebrew faith. AVe resolved unanimously that they must arm themselves, if arms were to be had, and a committee soon after re- ported that arms could be had at a ranch a mile distant. They sullenly obeyed, at last, by purchasing two old mus- kets at fifteen dollars each (worth about two dollars and a half), and twenty rounds of ammunition. There were two broken-down teams at the station, and the agent of the A T PINE GR VE. 135 division (Mr. Stewart, of Indiana, Pennsylvania) proposed to go through the Indian break with two mud-wagons, if the passengers would go along and stand together in case of an attack. All promptly assented. Mr. Stewart for some time refused to allow Mrs. M. to go ; but she insisted that the party must not be stopped on her account, and declared herself perfectly willing to share the fortune of the rest. Finally, we made up seats in the wagons out of mail-bags and trunks, and started on a journey of fifty miles through a region where the Indians had driven every man and horse away. It was a pleasant morning, and we had the promise of a delightful day to cross the summit of Bridger's Pass on the Rocky Range; but how deceptive were all such indications the sequel will show. The first station (Sage Creek) we reached was not dis- turbed ; but when we came to the top of the hill, near the second station (Pine Grove), it was in ruins, and the re- mains still burning. The thicket close to it was an ad- mirable retreat for Indians, and we stopped and surrounded it with a skirmish-line, but found no foe there. We then drove by to a hill beyond, where we stopped to lunch and feed the jaded horses. The Indians had captured the stock the day before, and the station-men had escaped at night. A large brindled dog first told of the presence of the sav- ages, after the stock had been stolen, by coming in with three arrows sticking in his body; and when they de- stroyed the station they vented their spite on the dog by running a pitchfork through him, and pinioning him where his head was burnt entirely off. The literature of the station was scattered around the ruins. Our driver picked up a book that the Indians had flung out on the road, and, aft IT turning it over several times to be sure that he had it rkrht side up, he said it was called " Triumphs." After another prodigious effort at spelling, he said it was by 136 OUR SITUATION MOST CRITICAL. Curtis. It turned out to be a copy of Curtis's " Trumps," and was given Mrs. M. as a relic of Pine Creek Station. Before we left Pine Creek, a heavy rain set in, and we lunched under our wagons on our robes. It was a dreary day for all. We had twenty-five miles to go to reach Sul- phur Spring Station, our teams were exhausted, and there was neither shelter nor food on the route, while every hour we were exposed to attacks from the savages. We got down on the bottom of the wagon-beds, and covered our- selves, all but our heads, with our blankets. The storm was extremely cold, and before we had gone two miles it turned into snow, accompanied by a pitiless northwestern gale. The snow blew into our faces and froze stiff on our whiskers and clothes. If we could have covered ourselves entirely, we might have been comparatively comfortable ; but every man had to keep his rifle dry and in constant readiness, and a sharp lookout for the Indians. As we ascended the summit of the pass, we saw abundant evi- dences of the presence of the savages. At one place two wagons were standing, and their contents scattered on the bluffs on either side. They had evidently been captured the day before, the horses taken and the goods destroyed. When we reached the summit, we saw the Bridger's Pass Station in flames. It has an open country for a mile around it : so we could see that the savages had gone ; and we drove down to it without delay. It had evidently been fired but a few hours before, as it was still burning and the tracks of the Indians in the snow were fresh. We got out and warmed ourselves by the fire, while the fierce snow- storm raged with fury around us. Our situation was now manifestly most critical. The tracks of the ponies showed that the Indians had gone toward Sulphur Spring, the place we were striving to reach, and it seemed more than probable that they would destroy that place before we "BIG DICK:' 137 could reach it. If so, we would be left on the top of the Rocky Range, without food or shelter, in a terrible snow- storm, with teams unable to travel, and surrounded by the fiends of the Plains. It was a sad prospect; but every one seemed animated with the resolve to yield only when it was no longer possible to save ourselves. We determined to proceed after the Indians, if possible reach Sulphur Spring, fifteen miles distant, and there stop whether the station was destroyed or not. "Big Dick" was our mas- ter-driver that is, the two teams were under his direction ; and he was fully equal to the task. He stood six feet three in his stockings, had a giant frame, had been educated on the driver's boot, in the stable, and among the Indians, and he was perfectly familiar with their habits. He seemed insensible to fear, and insisted that our party could make Sulphur in spite of all the red devils this side of the hottest place he could name. He also seemed almost insensible to the terrible storm that was raging, and faced its cruel blasts as he would the gentle, balmy breeze of spring. After warming ourselves thoroughly around the burning station, we got in again to start on our journey. It was then nearly night, our teams were entirely worn out, and on any sort of a hill we had to stop every five minutes to let them rest. About five miles from the station, Dick pulled up, and said, " Fresh pony-tracks, gentlemen lots of 'em they're not half a mile ahead of us." The snow and the moon made it tolerably light, and the tracks were plainly visible as just fresh, when closely examined. At the word, a dozen men jumped out from under the blankets and robes, with guns in hands, and a brief council was held as to how Mrs. M. could be best protected. " Kiver her up in the bottom of the wagon, pile the baggage around IMT, and leave her to me," was Dick's order; and it was obeyed. In less than a minute she was snugly covered 13 138 THE "CUSSES" OVERTAKEN. over in such a manner as to leave no sign of anything in the wagon but mails and baggage. She had a brace of well-charged revolvers in her hands, and her purpose was firmly fixed to take her own life, in case of the capture of the teams, rather than suffer the unspeakable horrors of Indian captivity. To most of the party she was an entire stranger ; but all seemed to forget their own peril in their anxiety for her safety. Dick's profoundest admiration was won because, as he said, " she didn't take on and screech, as most of 'em would." Our party scattered out, some considerably in advance of the teams to follow the trail in the snow, while the others were in a circle around the teams, which were kept close together. The road was through a narrow canon (can'-yun, the term applied to narrow ravines between spurs of the mountains), and the broken bluffs and frequent sharp turns, together with the snow, made it impossible for us to see any considerable distance ahead. We followed the tracks for about a mile, when they turned off to the left toward a canon running at right angles with the road. The bluffs ter- minated abruptly where the Indians had left the road, and soon a bright light was visible in a deserted ranch "There's the cusses!" exclaimed Dick, and there they were; but, instead of surprising and attacking us, as we apprehended, they were the surprised party and apprehen- sive of an attack. The moment the wagons came out of the canon in hearing of the Indians, their light went out. We were not over one hundred and fifty yards from them ; but a swollen stream divided us, so that they could not make a dash upon us. We knew that their numbers were not greater than ours, from the tracks of their ponies, and we felt safe from attack where it had to be done on open ground. Their ponies were plainly visible picketed around the ranch, and we could have killed or crippled half of ARRIVAL AT SULPHUR SPRING. 139 them by a single fire ; but Dick would not allow the ex- periment to be made. "We've not lost any," said he, "and we are not hunting 'eni." In obedience to his orders, we moved on, all of the men walking through snow and sometimes in mud six inches deep. We had still four miles to the station, but our teams could scarcely draw the wagons, and we had to wade along the best way we could. When within a mile of Sulphur, one of our horses dropped down, and had to be unhitched and abandoned. As we supposed that we were beyond the Indians, one wagon, with most of the men, went on to the station, leaving the other with the driver and several of the party to remain with it until we could send back a fresh team. When we reached the station, we found the men on guard, expecting an attack, and learned that the Indians had made two at- tacks in the afternoon and captured some sixteen horses and mules. This startling information developed the fact that the Indians were in front of us as well as behind us, and that they could unite their bands in an hour and greatly outnumber us. No lights were allowed about the stable, and all possible haste was made to send a well- armed party with fresh horses to get in the party left be- hind. When they reached the wagon, the deserted ranch, where we had left our band of Indians, was in flames, showing that they had fired and deserted it as soon as we got out of range of attack; and the station-men concluded that their united force would attempt to destroy the station at daylight the next morning. We found things about the station by no means calcu- lated to quiet our apprehensions. The station- and ranch- men had gathered in there for safety, and there were over thirty armed men when we joined them. One of them, the division agent, had his arm in a sling. He had come through with the last stage a day before us, and was at- 140 CATT. WILSON'S APOLOGY TO GEN. SHERMAN. tacked near Bridger's Pass. He was first wounded in the arm ; next, the driver, who sat beside him on the boot, was killed instantly; next, a ranchman, who was along, was killed, and his body put in the coach ; and another ranch- man was killed, and his body captured by the savages. The agent drove the stage in, some fifteen miles, through an Indian attack of two hours, and landed at Sulphur, driving with one arm, a dead comrade lying under his feet, and another in the coach. Two emigrant-wagons were with him, making a party of eight to resist the at- tacks ; and they brought their teams safely through. The same evening they attacked Bridger's Pass Station, in which there were but two men Captain Wilson, of Phila- delphia, and another man and they repulsed the assail- ants, killing one and wounding two others. Four Indians had also been killed by the party with the coach ; but they always carry the bodies of their dead from the field. An Indian will brave the greatest danger to get off a dead or wounded comrade. Captain Wilson, however, brought in the pony, blanket (a new government, evidently recently issued), robe, and battle-flag. The battle-flag was a light pole, about eight feet long, with a fork at the end. Each prong of the stick was decorated with a feather at the extreme tip, and near the base of the prong two long streamers, made of beaver-skin, were attached. Captain Wilson begged me to apologize to General Sherman for killing the Indian, as he understood it to be against the regulations ; but, he said, as the Indian insisted upon his scalp, he had to kill the Indian even at the risk of incurring the displeasure of the lieutenant-general and becoming liable to the grave charge of provoking an Indian war. A strong guard was put out around the station, and kept up all night, with reliefs every three hours, and the rest of us tried to find some sort of a bed. We were all THE ALARM. 141 drenched to the skin, and so bespattered with mud that we could scarcely recognize each other. No one pretended even to draw off his boots, but in our wet clothes we rolled ourselves up in wet blankets and piled into every corner of the shanty, with our rifles and ammunition close at hand. Mrs. M. had a part of the only bed in the house one belonging to an emigrant- wagon, which the good lady kindly invited her to share. It was a thin straw mattress, and blankets and a borrowed robe served the purpose of sheets, pillows, and cover. All slept soundly : indeed, I never slept better ; and, but for an alarm about four o'clock, I would have nearly got square with sleep for the loss of several previous nights. About daybreak, a wild Indian yell rang out from the cliffs, not far from the station. The guard accepted it as the signal for an attack, and hastily aroused the slumbering warriors. There were no toilets to make. In a twinkling, each man had kicked off his blanket, grasped his gun, and was ready for action. The port-holes were opened, parties stationed at the proper places, and all was in readiness in an incredibly short time. We were all ripe for a brush. We had been chased, fretted, and bedeviled by the Indians for several days; some had lost their property, others their ranches, and still others their friends ; and there was a universal desire to have the thing settled by a square fight. W T e had the advantage, and felt strong enough to repel five times our number ; and that fact, doubtless, had much to do with our general desire for a fight. But the alarm proved groundless. The Indians did not come; and in the course of an hour we ventured out and restationed our guards; but no man left the door with- out his rifle-in hand. Immediately in the rear of the station- house was a high cliff, the top of which was within short rifle-range, so that the Indians could approach close enough to fire upon us before they could be seen. A fine sulphur " 13* 142 WESTWARD AGAIN. spring rises within five yards of the building, near the foot of the bluffs. I started to get a drink, but was promptly stopped until some one could cover my movement w r ith a rifle, by standing in the door. Usually, when water was wanted, a boy was sent, and a man stood in the door with his cocked rifle leveled toward the cliff. As an Indian could not fire without uncovering himself to some extent, they did not interfere with our bringing in water when a rifle guarded the carrier. The morning was cold and cheerless, and altogether everything seemed most un propitious. The snow still fell in fitful gusts, the roads were almost impassable, but little stage-stock remained, and that was worn out, and, to crown all, the Indians were around us, and in such num- bers that the party could not divide with safety. We had a hearty breakfast of elk-steak, bread, and coffee, and then began to devise ways and means to get forward. We could not remain there, for provisions were becoming scarce, and hunting (upon which the station depended en- tirely for meat) was impossible : so we resolved to move ahead, if at all possible. The agent finally concluded to send out two stage-loads of passengers westward, and our same party that had braved the storm and Indians the day before, unanimously agreed to go. By noon we are to start ; and of our experience on the rest of the route the next letter will tell provided, always, that the Indians do not capture the writing-materials and the writer. LETTER XY. Departure from Sulphur Spring. The Savages witness our De- parture. Military Strategy of the Old Station-Man. The Pets of the Stations. Cats, Dogs, and Chickens. Vengeance of the Indians in killing the Station Pets. Indians attack a Train. Bitter Creek reached. The Alkali "Water and Dust. Green Kiver. Fresh Water again. A Dispute for the Team. The Driver convinced in our Favor. A Belligerent Official. The Church Buttes. A Team of Bronchos. Fort Bridger. Hospi- tality of Judge Carter. The Mormon War. Indians. Con- tempt of the Males for Women. The Quaking Asp Summit. A Night at Bear Kiver. Echo Canon. Hank Conner and his Gay Team. Among the Mormons at Weber. Crossing the Wasatch Kange. Five Feet of Snow. A Harmless Upset. Arrival at Salt Lake. SALT LAKE CITY, June 12, 1867. WE left Sulphur Spring Station on Friday, near noon, all glad to get away and ready to brave new dangers with the red-skins if necessary. We started out with two coaches, containing the same party we had from North Platte to Sulphur Spring, and all, of course, well armed. When we reached the top of a bluff a mile west of the station, we saw the Indians on the bluff behind the station, making an accurate observation of our numbers and movements. They were all mounted, and seemed ready for a dash ; but we felt satisfied that they would not try their hands on us in day- light, in a comparatively open country. There were occa- sional bluffs and ravines for some miles west of Sulphur, but the country gradually opens out until it becomes a wide plain, for fiftocn miles. With :i little precaution, jind (143) 144 THE STATIONS. going in advance of the coaches here and there to guard against surprise, we felt tolerably safe. At the first sta- tion (Waskie) we found that no Indians had appeared there as yet. The old station-keeper had the hind carriage of a stage-wagon mounted with a section of large stove- pipe, a caisson improvised out of a wheelbarrow, and the letters "U.S." painted on them in the largest possible style. While the team was grazing, we had a pleasant chat with the old fellow, and heard him tell some thrill- ing stories of the early trials on the plains and in the mountains. The stations were ever places of interest to me. They are isolated, generally located in a hollow beside a stream, and the occupants have no companions except their horses and such other animals as they gather about them. The "swing-stations," where the teams are changed, and no meals furnished passengers, consist of a rude stable, built of logs or mud and invariably covered with earth. In a little corner is a small room partitioned off, in which the station- men cook, eat, sleep, tell stories, read yellow-covered liter- ature, and caress their pets. In every instance I was first greeted by one or more cats. They are the insepar- able companions of the stable-men, and usually answer to the tenderest names. They always come stepping out as soon as the stage stops, and approach the passengers, giving the most cordial welcome, and rubbing themselves against them to get a kind stroking in return. Sometimes one large Tom has the monopoly of the establishment, but generally Tabby follows with her litter, and directs attention, with maternal pride, to her jewels. The little ones will spring into your lap, climb on your shoulders, and purr in your very ears to win a little notice. The Newfoundland or St. Bernard dog is also the invariable companion of the stable-man, and they, too, greet the pas- CATS, DOGS, AND CHICKENS. 145 sengers with every evidence of hospitality. Frequently the Creole chickens are part of the family, and they are as tame as the rest of the pets. The rooster steps out in front of the stable when the passengers get out, and gives them a touching reminder of home as he rises in his con- scious dignity and makes the bluffs ring with his shrill, defiant crow. With him come the biddies, sometimes with their broods, meekly presenting their claims to* a kind word or a crumb from the passers-by. The men, animals, and birds constitute one family. When meals are ready, puss, Jowler, and the chickens all are present, and are trained to earn a liberal share by practicing cunning tricks which they have been taught. At the "home-stations," where meals are furnished to passengers, there is always a log or mud shanty in addition to the stable, and usually the land- lord has a family. I did not find one of the home-stations without a landlady. Frequently there were other house- hold pets, such as obtain in most well-regulated families ; but babies did not appear in the assortment. I cannot re- call a station, in the trip of six hundred miles from Denver here, where the cats and dogs did not come out in the most friendly manner to welcome us, and always persisted in pressing their acquaintance until they were recognized kindly. At Sulphur Spring the station-keeper of Bridger's Pass was one of our party, and his keenest grief was be- cause of the brutal murder of his favorite cat. Had she been burned or shot, he would not have complained ; but I gave him the p^ofoundest sorrow by telling him that the Indians had skinned his cat, cut the head off, and set the carcass out in the road on a tin plate. The Indians well knew that next to scalping the station-keeper himself, they could not have inflicted upon him a deeper wound. " They've skinned her alive, the devils of hell," was his exclamation, and, Avith gritting teeth, he vowed vengeance. For horses, ranch, 146 BITTER CREEK REACHED. clothing, traps, etc. he cared not ; but that the Indians should wreak their atrocities upon the pet of his little family, was more than his nature could endure with equanimity. When we got out some twenty miles west of Sulphur, we had a beautiful open prairie, and the. sun was strug- gling with the clouds to give us a pleasant day. At times he would seem to triumph, and the green grass, and the ponds just filled by the storm, seemed to give us a grate- ful welcome ; but again the heavens would blacken, and the spiteful snow make us close up our coach and gather about us our blankets and robes. We met a large mixed train of mules and oxen just as we had gained the wide prairie, and gave the master the details of our trials. He informed us that there was another train some miles behind him, and that he would wait for it to go through with him. He had sixty armed men, and felt pretty safe so safe, in- deed, that at the next home-station the telegraph informed us that the Indians had, that very day, captured all his mules and killed one of his men. About eleven o'clock at night we reached Laclede, and stopped for supper, rather to have a little rest and get warmed up, than to satisfy hunger. There we found our- selves fairly in the celebrated Bitter Creek region of the Rocky Mountains. For a distance of about one hundred miles, there is no water fit to drink. Bitter Creek, which drains the country, is so impregnated with alkali that neither man nor beast can drink it without injury ; and the wells at the stations are almost equally bad. The water, if drunk in the usual quantities, produces violent nausea, and does not satisfy thirst. Even in coffee and tea it is tasted, and the " square meals" seem throughout as if alkali had been spilled profusely on everything. Fortu- nately for us, we entered it about dark, and the recent storm prevented dust, and the continued cold weather did GREEN- RIVER. 147 not provoke thirst. When the weather is warm and the roads are dry, the dust of this section is almost intolerable. We had but a small installment of it the last few hours we were on it, and it parched the lips and irritated the nose with a keenness almost equal to that of quicklime. It is the most desolate section between the Atlantic and Salt Lake. Even the sage-brush and grease-wood, the only growth it can boast, are stunted, and seem to eke out a miserable existence. There is no grass to protect the traveler or trains from the widest sweep of its almost impalpable sands, and when the season is dry it envelops everything in its burning clouds. It is a portion of the desolate route that every tourist hurries over with the utmost speed, and usually the most delightful view of the trip is the fresh water of Green River. It is hailed as an oasis in the desert, as it furnishes clear, sweet water and invites the traveler to continued fresh waters beyond. ^v, We ferried Green River just before dark, and supped at the station on potatoes, dry bread, and coffee. The gen- eral derangement of the stage-stock by the Indians left us without horses to proceed farther with our two coaches, and it became a nice question who should get the prefer- ence. There being no agent there, the driver was the supreme power in the case. The rule of the line is to send on the first coach that comes. As we came together, each claimed precedence we because our party had the oldest tickets, and the others because they started from Denver a day before us. Just here our old freighter (Mr. Perry) came in excellent play. The driver was obstinately non- committal, and a brief council decided that even rights were marketable in the Far West. The driver was called behind the baggage-boot on pretense of locking up a valise. There \\cre a few words said, a very slight rustling of fine paper in his vest-pocket, and he promptly decided that we 148 THE CHURCH BUTTES. were entitled to the first team. One of A. J.'s appointees was in the other party, and he demonstrated the fitness of his appointment by such an Executive, by swinging his pistol and demanding to be forwarded at once because he was a government official. While he was swearing, the driver coolly handed him his baggage and told him that he should have the first passage " after the gentlemen and lady had gone." He rushed to the telegraph and sent a message to the stage-officer at Denver, at a cost of $1.20, while $10 had settled the whole question against him but a few minutes before. As nobody paid any attention to him, he finally subsided, and in a short time was asleep with the rest of us in the little room around the stove. Mrs. M. had been favored with a corner in the kitchen, where there was a good fire, and the rest of us had a com- fortable bed on our blankets and robes in the dining-room. We had to wait for the arrival of a western coach before we could proceed, and we were allowed to sleep until one in the morning before we were called to pursue our journey. From Green River to Fort Bridger, a distance of about sixty miles, there are the finest springs, and a continuous, broad, green valley. The day was beautiful the first pleasant weather we had been favored with since entering the mountains. The Church Buttes are the special object of interest to the traveler in this valley. They consist of immense rocks situated on abrupt cliffs, presenting the ap- pearance of vast churches with altars, pulpits, and domes. Some of them tower up three hundred feet above the top of the bluffs, with almost perpendicular walls, and present every variety of architecture. The roads being fine in this region, we had some original teams. At Millersville, twelve miles from Bridger, they hitch up six raw bronchos (wild California horses). It required a man to each horse HOSPITALITY OF JUDGE CARTER. 149 to get them into the harness, and then each one had to be held until all was ready. They reared, plunged, kicked, pulled back, lay down, and played all manner of fantastic antics ; but the driver finally mounted his box with a cool- ness that showed him to be perfect master of the situation, and, as he yelled to them to "git," his keen silken cracker flashed about their flanks and kept flashing until all started on a run. They don't take time to break horses on the plains, but where there is a level country they harness them with a pitchfork and drive them under the whip until they are glad to be docile. Bogs and washes in the roads arc of no consequence they dash through them as if they did not exist, and, with a yell and a sharp crack of the whip, they rear out on the other side. The strange feature of these horses is that they are never broken until they are worn out. They seem to be by nature intractable, and as long as they are able for the road they yield to harness only after an exhaustive struggle. We reached Fort Bridger about the middle of the after- noon (Sunday), and were met at the station by Judge Carter, and made to share his proverbial hospitality. I had met him at Denver when we were all blockaded there, and was glad to be welcomed to the abode of civilization after a full week of unpleasant adventure among Indians and ranchmen. He has a comfortable house, an estimable wife, several daughters (most of them East at school), a fine piano, library, and everything that is to be found in Eastern residences. He came to Bridger with General A. Sidney Jo*hnston, in 185T, as a sutler, and remained after the so-called Mormon war was ended. He is a Virginian by birth, a tall, spare, flaxen-haired gentleman, with white fl<>\ving beard and moustache, and evidently a gentleman of iniicli mon- than ordinary character and culture. He has expended some $40,000 in building on the military 14 150 THE MORMON WAR. reservation lands, and has an immense store. He deals largely with the friendly Indians, and emigrants, and sup- plies the garrison with sutler's stores. As is usual in the exercise of Western hospitality, he took us into his well- filled cellar, and, as I declined whisky, brandy, gin, rum, etc., he went on to something else, until he turned up a bottle of what he called favorite bitters, and that, he said, I must drink. Being under military rule, I, of course, complied. Before I had the glass empty, he had a bottle in my overcoat-pocket ; and, as I was starting, he insisted that I didn't balance properly, and he crammed one into the pocket on the other side. To resist would have seemed to be affectation, and I submitted. In case of accident they may, as Mrs. Toodles would say, be handy to have about the house. Judge Carter and Colonel Miles, the post-commandant, favored me with a general inspection of the works and buildings. The position was first chosen by the Mormons to resist Johnston's advance, and their cobble-stone fortifi- cation still stands, and serves as a stable for the garrison. It is most beautifully situated in what seems to be nearly the centre of a vast plain. A number of rapid mountain- streams flow through and around the works, and a heart- some growth of cottonwood breaks the monotony of the prairie. It was there that General Johnston was overtaken by winter, and compelled to go into winter quarters ; while the Mormons retreated west and wintered in Echo Canon. The next year the regular fort-quarters were erected; and it is now an admirable military post. As we had no change of horses, we were glad to remain with Judge Carter until late in the day. There were swarms of In- dians around the buildings, begging, trading, and stealing. The chief of the Bannocks, a northern tribe, was there to confer with Judge Carter about peace and supplies, and QUAKING ASP SUMMIT. 151 Wnskie's tribe always stay close to the fort. They wander about in squads, the "bucks" and " squaws," as they are designated, always separate. The males have the pro- foundest contempt for the squaws. They will never recog- nize or speak to them before the whites, unless to order them away. One bedizened warrior, glorying in beaded buckskin pants, and silken streamers elaborately embroid- ered flying from his feet, was mounted on his pony before the door. Mrs. M. approached to examine his finery, and he looked at her for a moment with intense disgust, when, yelling out, " Pooh, pooh squaw !" he galloped off. Some of the Bannocks came in front without any trappings, and their squaws came meekly after, sitting astride of their tent-covers, with their papooses tied to their backs and their lodge-poles trailing behind them. When they arrive at the place where the tent is to be pitched, the dusky lord lies down on the grass, while his bride builds their shelter and prepares their meal. We left Fort Bridger a little before sunset, but could not make rapid progress, as our old team had to be taken. Toward midnight we crossed the Quaking Asp Summit. It is about nine thousand feet above the level of the sea, and is the greatest altitude attained on the route across the Rocky Mountains. The road across was very rough, and when we reached Bear River, about midnight, the driver refused to go farther until his teams were rested. Accordingly, we turned in at the station, and made up our beds, as usual, with robes and blankets, giving Mrs. M. the kitchen floor and the benefit of the stove. It will doubt- 1< >> seem strange that the stove was ever in demand at the stations; but for five hundred miles we did not have a single day or nightthat a stove was not desirable. After a sound sleep and a hearty breakfast, we started out with a bright morning, and soon came to the head of Echo Canon 152 AMONG THE MORMONS AT WEBER. one of the most remarkable ravines in the mountains, where the echoes can be heard for miles. It is a continuous narrow passage through the broken mountains for twenty miles, at times so narrow that there is not room for both the little creek and the road ; and it is usually driven by one of the famous drivers of the overland journey. Hank Conner, a fancy and decidedly fast hero of the whip and lines, is the regular driver ; but he was off his beat by the general derangement. We had one, however, who was determined to sustain Hank's reputation. Mrs. M. sat out with him on the driver's boot, to get the full benefit of the wild scenery, and he could not miss the opportunity to dis- play his art to the best advantage. We had reached a region where grain and hay were plenty, and we had ex- cellent horses. One of our teams was so wild that it took all of us to get them into the harness, and when in, " Gin- ger" and " Lantern" well-nigh defied the power of the lines ; but the road was good most of the way and all down hill, and we whirled along in the liveliest manner until we emerged at Weber's Station, near the foot of the Wasatch Range, and but fifty miles from Salt Lake City. After an excellent Mormon dinner, we started off again through the first settlement we had seen since we left the streams near Denver. For some fifteen miles we passed through a thick settlement of Mormons and one or two considerable villages. They have good fences, and seem to be most thrifty farmers. About every house there was shrubbery and shade, grown by irrigation, and all had gardens in bloom. At the eastern foot of the Wasatch Range we stopped with Wm. Kimball, son of Heber Kimball, second president of the Mormon Church. He keeps a hotel, and has the first regular two-storied house 1 had seen within five hundred miles. He had three wives to shower bless- ings upon his domestic hearth, and quite an assortment of ARRIVAL AT SALT LAKE. 153 children. The favorite wife was in the parlor, with two snirill children, and entertained us while the others pre- pared supper. We had some music on the piano, and spent an hour most pleasantly. How it would have been had the three wives and their latest editions of little Kim- balls all been with us, I cannot guess ; but I doubt whether there would not have been some clouds mingled with the sunshine. About ten o'clock we started to climb the Wasatch. We were but twenty-five miles from this place, and were most impatient to get through. It was a beautiful night, the moon more than half full, and the road passably good. Near the summit we all got out to walk, and had to pass over five feet of beaten snow in the road on the tenth day of June. We had a magnificent team of six grays, and ex- pected to whirl into Salt Lake City handsomely as soon as we crossed the summit. After we had got fairly over, we got in, and off we started ; but in less than twenty minutes the stage plunged into a deep rut and upset instantly. For- tunately, the team stopped, and we directed our efforts to get the passengers out. I was on the upper side, and soon got out through the side door, and as each passenger was hurriedly called the answer came that no serious damage was done. They presented a strange mixture. Rifles, traveling-bags, satchels, lunch-baskets, bottles, etc. were all in admirable confusion among the passengers ; but luckily no material harm was done to either passengers or property. We soon righted up again, and had a delightful moonlight drive down through Parley Canon to this place, where we arrived about three o'clock on Tuesday morning, after a most tedious and eventful journey of eight days from Denver. 14* LETTER XYL Hospitality of the Mormons. Despotism of the Mormon Leader?. The Theory of Mormon Power. Character of the Mormon Emigrants. Their Greatly Improved Temporal Condition. The Serfs of the Old World become Thrifty Farmers in Utah. Brigham Young. His Abilities as an Administrator gener- ally underrated. His Appearance, Culture, and Manners. His Wives. The Last and Favorite an Apple of Discord in the Prophet's Home. Polygamy as a Source of Power. Plural Wives. The Terrors of Polygamy to Mormon Women. Preaching in the Tabernacle. Brigham Young's Sermon. His Blasphemy and Profanity. His Temporal Power. His Finan- cial Management. Distracting Issues in the Church. The Causes combining to the Overthrow of Mormonism. SALT LAKE CITY, June 18, 1867. I HAVE seen Mormonism in its best garments only. Its dignitaries have made me welcome. Its hospitality en- compassed me. Its fruits and flowers, its bright spots and pleasant recreations, were all before me. With its humble followers and its shadowed household circles I must repeat the experience of all other gentile visitors, and go, as I came, a stranger. But on every hand, on the streets, in the homes where crime wears its richest gilding, in the tabernacle, and even in the very fountain of the pol- luted stream, are plainly visible the melancholy evidence of mingled fraud and infatuation, of cunning wrong-doors and deluded wrong-sufferers. The world elsewhere may be sought in vain for a des- potism so relentless and pitiless as is Monnonisni. Kings (154) k DESPOTISM OF THE MORMON LEADERS. 155 and emperors rule millions of willing or unwilling subjects, but there is no people in such utter, abject servility to their monarch. There are churches wherein infallibility is ac- corded to the head, or limited power of an absolute char- acter conceded ; but in none could any spiritual potentate rise up, as did Brigham Young on Sunday last, before twenty-five hundred people, and prescribe their worldly actions, their ordinary daily dealings, with the penalty of eternal damnation proclaimed for disobedience. At first glance, the arrogant exercise of power by the Mormon leaders, and the willing submission of their followers, be- wilder the observer ; but when the whole theory of this stupendous fraud is unraveled, the character of its subjects studied, the thousand channels through which absolute power reaches out and ramifies into almost every house- hold, it ceases to be incomprehensible. A very large ma- jority of the Mormon people are the rescued serfs of the Old World not so perhaps in name in most cases, but so in fact. They are ignorant, superstitious, fanatical, and ready victims for a new doctrine that promises to bring them into immediate communion with God. When once brought to the home of the Saints, often by the generous aid of the Emigration Society, their temporal condition is readily bettered, their social status is elevated to recogni- tion by even the inspired teachers, and they never learn aught else but submission to the dogmas of the Church and the mandates of its apostles. They, as a rule, remain aliens to the government ; and no claim upon the citizen is tolerated that in any degree antagonizes the claims or doctrines of the Church. I regard Brigham Young as a man greatly underesti- mated by most persons in the East. They all judge him mainly by his ribald and often blasphemous harangues from the pulpit, and do not appreciate him as a great ad- 156 BRIGS AM YOUNG. ministrator and a leader of surpassing attainments. I first saw him in his own business-room. He was nearly or perhaps quite alone when I entered, but almost instantly several side doors opened, and half a dozen brothers, sons, secretaries, etc. were seated around the little office. I learn that he never sees any person alone, unless he knows per- fectly the character of the visitor, and that when strangers call on him his person is guarded from possible assassination by the apparently casual but doubtless systematic appear- ance of his immediate friends. He greets the visitor with serene dignity and faultless courtesy, and converses freely and quite intelligently on all agreeable topics. He was evidently in no mood for a talk about the inside workings of Mormonism ; and an inquiry as to the number of his wives and children, and their health, would doubtless have terminated the interview most abruptly. He is a well-pre- served man of sixty-six years, of medium height, rather corpulent, with an abundant growth of light, auburn hair, and a heavy crop of sandy whiskers, excepting on his upper and lower lips. His eyes are of a very light, dull blue, and wanting in expression, his nose sharp and promi- nent, his lips thick and firmly set, and the whole gives him the appearance of a man of obstinate will and cold, calculating purpose. His head is of unusual shape. The face is quite broad just across the centre, and gradually narrows up to the top of the forehead and down to the point of the chin, while his neck is of uncommon thick- ness, and describes a semi-oval line from the base of the head to the top, tapering gradually to the crown, giving it a sugar-loaf finish. He is evidently a man of the keenest perception, of great self-reliance and will, of the subtlest cunning, and possesses a physical organization capable of the highest measure of endurance. In his manner and movements he is quite graceful, indicating considerable 1 ins WIVES. 15 1 culture, but really the fruit of his varied experience and intercourse with all classes of men. No man could acquire any needed quality more readily than Brigham Young. He is eminent as a mimic, and often resorts to mimicry as his most powerful weapon in hurling his anathemas against the gentiles or apostates in his sermons. In short, I would put him down, after meeting him in his office and hear- ing him in the pulpit, as a finished impostor, singularly able, versatile, and unscrupulous, and as one who seeks to hide his revolting licentiousness by deliberate blas- phemy. I do not pretend to know the number of wives and chil- dren Brigham Young can boast. I believe that no two writers have estimated them alike ; and I have found no Mormon, in the scores with whom I have conversed on the subject, who professed to know. It is conceded, how- ever, that he has some twenty who are members of his household, and probably a score of others who are simply sealed to him as spiritual wives, to share his high crown in the future world. Even the dead have been wedded to him by proxy, to satisfy the anxiety of deluded parents who wished their departed daughters to wear starry robes around the prophet in heaven. Of his living wives, who are subject to his domestic laws, the first, who was his lawful wife before polygamy was thought of as part of the Mormon faith, now lives in a pleasant, spacious cottage by herself, some distance from the harem that is peopled with the fairer and more tender acquisitions to his family circle. She is said to be a firm believer in the faith, and accepts her situation as a cross imposed upon her to enhance her reward hereafter. I saw her in the theatre, along with five junior wives, who had succeeded each other in the favor of the prophet and had given way in time to younger and fresher charms. Of all the so-called Mrs. Youngs I 158 POLYGAMY AS A SOURCE OF POWER. 1 have seen, the lawful wife seems much the most intelligent and refined. The last one. and of course for the present the favorite, had a private box- in the theatre, sported gay ribbons and furbelows, and seemed to look down upon her faded predecessors with the contempt they deserved. She is a niece of the first wife, and defies even Brigham's boasted domestic government. She was tried in the harem, but her rebellious spirit threatened the subversion of all law and order there, and she is now quartered in a house of her own, beyond range of the others. I do not, of course, credit all the stories of revolting scenes detailed as occurring in the extensive family of the Prophet; but it is well known that the last addition to the wives hectors her anointed frac- tion of a husband in the most irreverent style, and storms the holy inner circle of inspired power with profane speech and violent pugilistic gestures. Although each one after the first has usurped the place of another, not one has been discarded for a successor without the keenest sorrow, and often only after frenzied but fruitless resistance. Polygamy was not a part of the Mormon creed as pro- mulgated by Smith. On the contrary, he expressly de- nounced it, and his widow and sons have discarded the Salt Lake Mormons because of the adulterous practices committed in the name of the Church. Brigham Young is the founder of the polygamic feature of the faith of the Latter-Day Saints. While I doubt not that lust had much to do with its adoption, yet, as a means of attaining des- potic power, it has served an important purpose. Mr. Young has four brothers, all adhering to the Church in this city, and all with a plurality of wives. His sons imitate his example with filial fidelity; and his daughters are married only into harems of the more intelligent and influential members of the Church. By this system he is directly related to every family of importance in Zion, and TERRORS OF POLYGAMY TO MORMON WOMEX. 159 his power is perpetuated. By thus binding the more in- telligent to his cause by marriage ties, he is enabled to command the complete submission of the unlearned, by declaring polygamy to be the duty of the faithful, and promising the heart-broken wives that their crosses are but creating for them brighter crowns above. I had much anxiety to see polygamy in the household, but have failed. Not only are strangers practically denied acquaintance with plural wives, but the subject is never a welcome one in conversation. I have talked with many Mormons who are polygamists, and in every instance when I asked respecting their wives, they responded as if I had introduced to them some painful and delicate scandal about their families. I found but one who claimed, and I learn justly, to have two wives in one house, and both happy. In most instances each wife must have a sepa- rate house, to hide herself from humiliation and shame. Of all who introduced the subject to me, I asked the question, "Did your first wife cheerfully consent to your marriage to another?" and in not a single instance was an affirmative answer given. Mormon or gentile, with one accord the women revolt against it. They must cease to be women, and descend into the scale of brutes, before the wives of Salt Lake can voluntarily consent to such appalling degradation. One-third of the entire adult male population of Utah is now practicing polygamy, and in Salt Lake City the proportion is larger. It hangs like a terrible pall upon the mothers, wives, and daughters of the Saints. Not only those who have been enfolded in its slimy embrace mourn from day to day their hard lot, but those who have thus* far escaped its pollu- tion know not how soon the spoiler may enter their fire- sides, and harrowing anxiety dims the lustre of their eyes and traces its shadows upon their faces. i 160 PREACHING IN THE TABERNACLE. Not only is licentiousness ever pleading the cause of polygamy, but the Church demands it of all men who can afford more than one wife, and women are taught to con- sent to it on pain of eternal damnation. I heard four Mormon sermons on Sunday two by fools and two by knaves. The one, for instance, who declared that he had seen Joseph Smith perfectly personated in Brigham Young when he thrust Rigdon out and assumed the presidency himself, even to a broken front tooth, was simply a lunatic. In the course of his sermon he gave the particulars of his conversion. He proposed to the Lord that if He would appear in person to him he would believe, and the Lord appeared to him, and he thenceforth became a Saint, He was followed by one of the shrewdest of the elders, who argued with some plausibility that the original Church of Christ had strayed and broken into discordant branches, and that it had been founded again by Smith and Young and was separate from the world and united in its groat work. In the afternoon, we had an incoherent and sense- less harangue from a Cockney; but Brigham pulled him down by the coat-tail in a short time, and took the pulpit himself. His speech would read, away in the East, like the foolish vaporing of a conceited blackguard ; but never were remarks more timely or better adapted to the people he addressed. He argued for twenty minutes, that not one person in forty knew how to take care of himself in either temporal or spiritual matters ; that all must have leaders experienced in temporal, and inspired in religious affairs ; that they must live submissively to those who are compe- tent to lead them, or be cut off with the wicked. He com- plained of the selfishness of some of the Saints. Said he, " People I brought here from serfdom, who could not own a chicken before they came, and who wen 1 glad to take a spade from me to get a crust of bread, now have lands, and BRIG HAM YOUNG'S BLASPHEMY. 161 houses, and cattle, and greenbacks, and carriages; and they want to dictate to me ; they want to sap the founda- tion of Zion ; but I will not be dictated to. I am called of the Lord, and it is mine to teach, and yours to obey. I say what I please ; I put up this pulpit with the crimson covering, and paid for it myself, expressly to go into it and say what I please. I will take it away if I like, and stand on a table or chair ; for the Lord's will can be de- clared in one way as well as another." And thus he ram- bled on, but always with evident method. After pleading for unity, he told the young ladies of the Church that they had no capacity for taking care of themselves and their honor, and that the Church, with its ceremonies and cove- nants, was their only safety. He closed by demanding that gentiles and apostates be shunned in all dealings, even although it costs more to purchase from a Saint "You may answer," said he, "that is none of my d d business. Perhaps it is not, just now; but the time will soon come when it will be my business to testify respect- ing this people, and I pledge you that those who disobey this command shall not enter into the strait gate. I will not speak hard of you if you don't stop wasting your dollars with gentiles and apostates, nor will I think hard of you ; but I will say, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, let the righteous be saved, and the wicked go their way to everlasting punishment." I saw poor infatuated Mormons shudder at this terrible anathema from one they supposed to be an inspired oracle of God ; and the fear of his malediction is one of the strongest elements of cohe- siveness with the deluded masses of his followers. In the foregoing quotations I have given his language almost literally, and preserved the sentiments faithfully, without the least embellishment. Brigham Young is the supreme temporal as well as 15 162 HIS FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT. spiritual head of the Church, and he is no more responsible to his fellows in temporal than in spiritual matters. The Church property is all in his name in fee, the titles are re- ceived by him, and he accounts to no one, nor will he tolerate inquiry as to the expenditures. A prominent Mor- mon merchant here, whose tithes amounted to a very large sum of money, demanded a statement of the receipts and disbursements, and he was cut off from the Saints here and from the Saints in heaven. When it is considered that all Mormons are required to give to the Church one- tenth of all they raise in kind and one-tenth of all they make in any business, the magnitude of the fund intrusted to Young without question or check of any sort is start- ling. First of all he supplies his harem and numerous progeny ; then he builds at. the tabernacle and temple ; then mills, theatres, factories, etc., all in his own name, receiving the proceeds ostensibly for the Church, and no one daring to question his judgment or demand a balance- sheet. His annual income now cannot be less than half a million dollars. The humble, deluded followers believe that it is wisely and faithfully expended ; but do not the licentious leaders know better ? There are palpable signs of dissolution in the Mormon Church. The Josephites (the followers of Smith) pro- nounce polygamy a sin, and they claim to be the true Mor- mon Church and entitled to the Church property. When Brigham was South, this spring, he had to "cut off" sev- eral hundred members for heresy, because they adhered to Smith; and over one hundred wagon-loads of emigrants are now in the mountains on their way East to escape his fearful vengeance. The Morrisites are another class of dis- senters, and have no fellowship with the Salt Lake Church. They denounce polygamy, and are constantly receiving acquisitions to their numbers. They have a strong settle- DISTRACTING ISSUES IN THE CHURCH. 163 ment in Utah, at Soda Springs, under the very shadow of the Prophet. Every sermon I heard from the Mormons betrayed nervous fears as to divisions ; some appealed, some unfolded the duty of submission, and Brigham thun- dered his fierce anathemas against the faithless. Gentile dealings and associations are forbidden, because Mormon- ism cannot bear contact with virtue and truth, nor can its crowning crime of polygamy bear contact even with vice. Virtue and vice are alike its foes and equally fatal to its perpetuity. Thus is the Mormonism of Young beset by schisms, periled by growing intercourse with gentiles ; and soon the Pacific Railroad will pour thousands of popula- tion into all the fruitful valleys of the West, and in but a few years the distinctiveness of this people must fade away. While the government has been shamefully remiss in tol- erating the habitual, insolent defiance of one of its soundest laws, it seems that natural causes are fast converging to the overthrow of this foulest blot upon the American name. One gentile family in a community of polygamists is better than a thousand sermons against this colossal crime. One happy, cheerful wife, confident of the undivided affection of her husband, is like an angel of light in the region of despair ; and even the deepest-seated superstition gradually yields, as it sees the gentile wife worship with her hus- band and household gods, read from a common Bible, plead the atonement of the same Saviour, and supplicate the same God. Secret discontent, positive dissatisfaction, or open rebellion has its place around every fireside, and each year develops in bolder tones and more defiant ac- tions the restless cancer that is preying upon the vitals of this monstrous vice. It must soon die. Its own enor- mity must give it the grave of a suicide, if no other great causes were tending to its destruction ; but it is a blister- ing shame that, in this noontide of the nineteenth century, 164 CAUSES TENDING TO DESTROY MORMONISM. just laws forbidding this wholesale prostitution, practiced in appalling mockery and blasphemy of all that is pure and holy, stand as dead letters upon our national statute- books. With the strong arm of the government firmly maintaining virtue, order, and law ever careful to en- croach upon no rights of conscience or freedom of worship this wrong would soon hide itself from the scorn of society, instead of boasting of its social supremacy, and linger out its future existence in shame. As an insti- tution, it would at once cease to have a habitation or a name, and this twin-sister of human bondage, equally fruitful of treason and of crime, would perish from the fair land of freedom and justice. BRIGHAM YOUNG. ll-pa LETTER XVII. The Pleasant City of the Saints. Their Industry and Thrift. Their Enjoyments. The Great Basin. Salt Lake. Its Tribu- taries. Why Utah was chosen by the Mormons. Character of the Valley when they found it. Success of Mormon Indus- try. The Mormon Keligion. Brigharn Young Spiritual and Temporal Head of the Church. His Wives. The Eeligious Feature of Polygamy. Mormon Wives again. Mormon Ser- vice in the Tabernacle. The Blot of Polygamy. SALT LAKE CITY, June 19, 1867. I HAVE now spent a week with the Latter-Day Saints, admired their green shades, beautiful artificial streams, pleasant homes, and the innumerable evidences of indus- try and prosperity which appear on every hand. Their markets are filled with the choicest vegetables, and the finest strawberries of the continent are offered every hour of the day, at reasonable prices. Stores equal to those of the cities of the Western States are numerous, and busi- ness of all branches has an air of system, capital, and thrift that is delightful. This is a city of twenty thousand population, without paupers, brothels, or gambling-hells. Among the Mormons, who constitute over ninety per cent, of the people, there are none idle, and they claim that none suffer. The bee-hive is found on the dome of the Prophet's house, and frequently on rude business signs, as typical of the habits of the faithful. All must work ; and, while each owns his property gained by industry, there is still a common store where the distressed and children of want repair. And industry is brightened in every possible way. 15* ( 165 ) 166 SALT LAKE CITY. In the evening the merry dance is to be heard in almost every ward ; the theatre is never closed for any length of time, and recreation is devised in every conceivable manner to lighten the burdens of toil. Salt Lake City is in what is called the Great Basin of the West. A section of country, nearly a circle, with a radius of about three hundred miles from the centre, is walled in by the Wasatch Mountains on the east, the Sierra Nevada on the west, and their broken spurs north and south. This great valley has no outlet for its waters. The Jordan, Ogden, Bear, and Weber Rivers, with many lesser streams, empty into the Great Salt Lake, distant about twelve miles from this city. It is ninety miles long, and averages about thirty in width, and is the most briny body of water in the world. So strongly is it impregnated with salt, that its shores are but a bed of salt, and a man in the lake will float like a cork. Sink he cannot ; but the head must be kept carefully uppermost, for in whatever position he lands in the water he is likely to remain. If head down, down the head will stay, and it requires almost a superhuman effort to reverse the position of the body. In the lake are vast islands and high, rugged mountains, some of them covered with nutritious grass and abounding in fresh springs. Cattle and horses are grazed there, and thrive better than anywhere else in the Terri- tory. South of this the river Sevier empties into Lake Sevier, which is also without an outlet ; but the waters sink, and do not become salt. In the western portion of the Great Basin (now the State of Nevada) there are a number of large rivers, and all sink into the earth at differ- ent points in the valley and doubtless find subterranean passages to the sea. The Humboldt, Walker, Carson, Truckee, and other rivers drain Nevada, and all are without an open channel to the ocean. Some of them empty into INDUSTRY OF THE MORMONS. 167 lakes, but none of them are salt, and all doubtless have invisible outlets. This great basin was once regarded as a vast desert. The Mormons accepted it as their home to escape the antagonism of the Christians, and supposed that here they could remain unmolested for centuries. When they arrived here, there was not so much as a trail across the mount- ains. This valley, as well as all west to the Pacific and south to the Gulf, belonged to Mexico ; and one of the chief motives for the Mormon pilgrimage to this place was to escape the hated jurisdiction of the United States. But, within a year after they located here, the territory was acquired from Mexico, and they again became unwilling and disloyal subjects of our government. When they arrived here, there was nothing to promise them requited labor and plentiful harvests. The soil was sterile, acrid, full of alkali, and refused to produce anything but the dreary sage and grease-wood ; but Mormon industry flooded it with artificial rains, tamed it with corn and buckwheat, and now raises as fine wheat, oats, barley, etc. as are grown in the Union. Not a shrub or tree shaded this vast desert plain when they made it their home ; but they had with them the seeds of the locust, and they gathered the little cottonwoods along the streams, and now tUe city is one forest of the most heartsome shades, and the gardens are covered with the green foliage of every species of fruit trees. They seem to have aimed to make this as nearly a paradise for the stranger as human effort could make it, and they have succeeded better than do most Christians in surrounding their homes, from the most humble to the most spacious, with the beauty, fragrance, and fruitfulness of nature. But the peculiar religion, or professed religion, of the Mormons, is the most marvelous problem of the age. Here 168 BRIG II AM YOUNG HEAD OF THE CHURCH. are one hundred thousand people, the most industrious, as a class, on the face of the earth, sober, neighborly, of good repute as a rule, and most of them sincerely and devoutly pious in their way, who tolerate and sustain in their leaders the most arrant swindling and revolting licentiousness, and call it making sacrifices to the Lord. Of the one hundred thousand Mormons, nine-tenths are ignorant aliens, who were the slaves of the mines or the serfs of the proprietors in the old countries. They need but little here to improve their condition, and, as a rule, they have been made owners of their homes. All they ever did learn, they have learned from the Mormons ; and it is not so surprising, therefore, that they bow implicitly to the teachings of those they believed to be inspired from on high. If I were going to analyze the Mormon population, I would set down nineteen of every twenty as pitiable dupes, and the remaining one-twentieth as the most expert and successful knaves on the earth. Brigham Young is the spiritual and temporal head of the Church. He assumes to be the successor of Christ, and is esteemed by his deluded followers as of equal power and glory with the Saviour. They hold that Jesus was the first Messiah, Joseph Smith the second, and Brigham Young the third ; and I heard it distinctly taught in the tabernacle that Christ, Smith, and Young would come back to the earth together, in the fullness of time, to reign with the people of God. Accepted as of divine anointment indeed, as being in immediate communication with the Almighty, as the oracle through whom God speaks to his chosen people, it is not wonderful that he can riot in wealth, pick the fairest and tenderest lambs from the flock to gratify his beastly lusts, and have the streets filled with his children who are fed, clothed, and schooled by the labor of his followers. I spent half an hour with him in his inner sanctuary ; THE RELIGIOUS FEATURE OF POLYGAMY. 169 lint it was a mere show, like going to see any other mon- strosity. Some half a dozen others were with me, includ- ing Mrs. M., and the Prophet was courteous, but reticent. He did not know who we might be, and his never-failing sagacity made him self-poised and diplomatic in an eminent degree. He most adroitly warded off several neat strategic movements to get an insight of Mormonism, and kept the party to glittering generalities with masterly skill. When- ever the conversation became unpleasant for him, he would turn to Mrs M. and address her with great elegance and fluency on commonplace topics. I had a seat beside his oldest son, who was not so prudent as the father, and I had his view of true Mormonism. " Religion," said he, " with- out plurality of wives in the Lord, is the play of Hamlet with Hamlet left out ;" and he gave me a patronizing look, as if he pitied my unbelief. I did not venture on a discussion, as we had merely called to see the lions, and could not, in a general conversation, learn much worth knowing. Around the house, or rather houses, of Mr. Young, there were a score of children, from three to ten years of age, most of them girls, with different mothers, but all owning Brigham as father. He has some twenty wives who are named to him in the flesh, and perhaps twice as many who are sealed to him merely to become his spiritual wives in heaven. I need not say that these, as a class, are long- neglected spinsters and unsightly widows, who have failed to gain a union in the flesh. I saw several of them stowed away in one corner of the theatre ; and it was not difficult to determine why they were merely sealed as wives for the spirit-land. I notice that in no instance do the Prophet and Elders seal the young and beautiful daughters of the church as spiritual wives. Severe as they profess the cross to be, they accept them in the flesh, usually to the neglect and sorrow of their older partners. In the theatre were 170 BRIGHAM YOUNG'S WIVES. six of Brigham's wives in a row, the original wife occupy- ing a comfortable rocking-chair as the honored mother in Israel. She looks like a woman of intelligence and refine- ment ; but rude furrows have been plowed in her face by ever-visible grief. She lives in a, cottage by herself, and seldom is favored with visits from her lord. The others are all women beneath mediocrity, all more or less faded, and none bearing the traces of early beauty. They are the sobered and practically discarded mistresses of the Prophet, and have served their purpose, while other and fairer faces usurp the favor they each in turn enjoyed. They are relics of the past, and see'm to have quietly resigned them- selves to their fate. And why should they not? Each one, as she became the favorite so-called wife, pushed others aside ; and they accepted their degraded position with the full knowledge that the passions which were sated with their predecessors would in time demand others to take their places. The favorite is, of course, the last wife ; and while the venerable, unsightly spiritual wives were hud- dled in a corner in plainest garb, and those discarded in the flesh crowded each other in a row near the centre of the parquette, the richly gilded and curtained private box, and softly cushioned chair, held the last fair flower trans- planted to the harem. She is still gay and festive, has a queenly step, sports her elegant opera-glass and the best of ribbons and laces. She is the niece of the first wife, and, like most babes in large families, is the spoiled child of the establishment. Notwithstanding the holy sphere in which she moves, she occasionally combs the head of the Prophet with a three-legged stool, raises Hail Columbia in the very sanctuary of the holies, and smashes a chair over the piano to prove her devout affection for the sacred calling she has accepted. So revolutionary has she been, in spite of divine commands from the very oracles of Heaven, that MORMON BELIEF IN REGARD TO WOMEN. 171 she had to be " corraled" in a house by herself ; and there she rules in her own boisterous, obstinate way, and makes the Prophet bow at her feet, instead of becoming the meek, submissive wife the Church demands of all on pain of eter- nal punishment. According to the Mormon faith, women have no status in heaven excepting such as is given them by their husbands ; and, as they cannot be given in marriage there, it is of the first importance to all women to become wives. If they become the wife of a man who has many others, and sad crosses and trials result therefrom, they thus lay up for themselves bright crowns in heaven. In accordance with this belief, it is not uncommon for dying damsels to send for high officials in the Church and be sealed to them before death, so as to gain a high seat with their spiritual hus- bands ; and even the dead are sometimes married by proxy, near friends representing them, to lift them up to a level with their spiritual lords in the future world. This doc- trine is preached daily to the women by men who claim, and are believed, to be inspired by God, and as a rule it is accepted religiously by the Mormon women. Yet each one struggles to avert the pollution of her own domestic circle, and prays that the bitter cup may pass from her. I hear of one man who married two wives together who has a peaceful household ; but no wife in all Utah has received another to divide or rather to usurp the love of her hus- band, without consuming sorrows. They bow in submis- sion to it, but, in spite of their religious infatuation and the promise of a brighter crown above, their womanly instincts revolt at it, and they go in grief the remainder of their . and erect machinery, and when they want their ores ey discover that, while they have plenty of good ores under ground, several others own intervening claims, and compel them to buy them out at ruinous prices or work ir claims of good lends at a positive loss. No company should ever purchase a lead fur the purpose ol' working it, 220 THE ERROR W STARTING MILLS. without an accurate map showing the location of every claim on the lead, the streams of water accessible to mills, the formation of the ground traversed by the mine, its alti- tude and grade, its timber, and satisfactory points for shafts or tunnels which will command the ore at the least cost. When companies announce in their prospectuses that they own claims on a dozen different leads whose names are in good repute as valuable mines, unless they own connected claims on some one or more well-tested leads which can be worked by one shaft or tunnel, rest assured that the projectors of the companies either have been fearfully cheated, or they are seeking to defraud the public by the sale of stock that can never be valuable unless by accident. I have explained in detail this feature of mining claims, because it is the rock on which very many have wrecked the most sanguine hopes, and it is alike the interest of the country at large and of stockholders that they look well in the start to this peril. A mill once erected, whose suc- cess depends upon the control of adjoining claims, is cer- tain to suffer extortion to a degree often fatal, or make its bed in bankruptcy beside untold wealth. Another fundamental error committed by nearly all companies is the expenditure of hundreds of thousands of dollars to start mills before their leads are developed. This is the common disease that has spread hopeless failure throughout the mountains; and, strange to say, the most stupendous failures have been made by the most trusted scientific men. It will doubtless startle thousands of your readers, but it is nevertheless true, that there is not a single gold-mine in Montana that is developed, and few, if any, in Colorado. Good "pay-rock" has been found here in the surface ores, and they have been worked with tolerable success ; but the character and value of the leads, clown where they are clearly defined, no one has as yet ascer- HOW COMPANIES SHOULD TEST MINES. 221 tamed. Experienced miners judge of them by the walls, clay, pockets, and streaks, and pronounce them the most valuable and trustworthy in the world; but one claim of two hundred feet on a lead may be of surpassing richness, while another may cap, or pinch, or narrow to almost nothing. One claim will present free gold, while the adjoining claim will be so strongly impregnated with iron as to defy re- duction by the ordinary stamp-mill. I have seen free gold and heavy sulphurets at the same depth, on the same lead, and within one hundred feet of each other. When these facts are considered, sensible men will see the folly of rush- ing up mills on undeveloped leads, where they have to run the risk of striking barren mines or a character of ores that their mills will not reduce. No mining company in Colorado or Montana should entertain the idea of purchas- ing machinery for at least one year after they have secured their mines. When they have purchased their leads, always being careful to have their claims in a body or bodies sufficiently large for the most economical mining, they should employ a trustworthy, experienced, and prac- tical miner to develop their mines. Ten or twenty thou- sand dollars thus expended will prove beyond all doubt the character and value of the ore ; and until at least one thousand tons of ore are on the bank, its value proven, its cost calculated, and its peculiarities ascertained, nothing else should be considered. If the mines refuse to yield good ore at a reasonable cost, the loss is comparatively slight, and the project can be abandoned without involving the sacrifice of the whole capital of the company and the embarrassment of many of its founders. Companies thus foiled, with the expensive mills erected, are natural Iv tempted to borrow and assess additional sums, with the faint hope that they may .succeed by mistaken percscver- 20 222 CHARACTER OF MINING MACHINERY. ance, until finally hope and means fade out together, and the enterprise is abandoned in despair. If the mines prove valuable, and an abundance of good ore can be produced at a reasonable cost, the character of the ore is next to be considered, and the selection of the proper machinery and power to reduce it and save the largest percentage of the gold or silver. For crushing all kinds of free-gold quartz, the ordinary stamp-mill is the best, while for slight mixtures of the pyrites of iron the Chilian mills and barrel -amalgamators are pre- ferable. The stamp-mill is the simplest and most waste- ful machinery used in the reduction of ores. It requires less skill, and is less expensive. The Chilian mill does better work, and, with the barrels, will often take more gold out of the ore after it has been reduced by the stamps and ordinary amalgamation, than the stamp pro- cess yields. When the ore is largely mixed with the base metals, as in Colorado, there is no process yet perfected that will reduce it profitably. The best scientific talent of this country and of Europe is now directed to master these refractory ores, and is steadily attaining a higher measure of success; but, until entirely successful, ama- teurs have no business experimenting with any of the various patents which flood the markets. Companies which develop such ores will save money by waiting for science to overtake them ; and they can do it with entire confidence that they will ultimately make their mines profitable. When companies have thus fairly developed their mines and ascertained the character of their ores, they can readily determine what kind of machinery is best adapted to their wants, and they can then wisely pro- ceed to ship it. First, however, they cannot be too careful in looking to the quality and completeness of their mills. There are mills now erected in this Territory which were SELECTION OF A SUPERINTENDENT. 223 worn out in a month. This is no country for defective machinery. It cannot be repaired, and missing pieces cannot be supplied. Every part of a mill likely to break should be duplicated, and a forge outfit is essential to suc- cess. There is, as yet, no foundry in the Territory. I learn that one is about to be established in Helena ; but the stoppage of a profitable mill for days to get repairs done one hundred miles or more distant, is attended with fearful loss, not to count the exorbitant charges for work and transportation. If anything important is found want- ing in the machinery when it arrives, it requires another season to supply it, as no trains or boats leave the East for Montana, the same year, after a mill is delivered on the ground, and its defects discovered by its erection. One company here lost a year by the omission to send some essential portion of the mill. If they are improving the lost time in developing their mines, it was A fortunate ac- cident ; but they can claim much above the average of good management, if they thus made their supposed mishaps a blessing. The mill selected and started by the river, a first-class, industrious business-man is wanted for superintendent. In most cases, some son or friend of one of the leading officers of the company, having no fitness for business, and entirely inexperienced, is sent out to enjoy fast horses, good liquors, and cigars, and speedily mismanage the com- pany into debt and failure. Sound, practical, experienced, and frugal men only can conduct such operations prop- erly. With wages from five dollars to eight dollars per day, and everything else in proportion, mismanagement tells upon profits and capital here with a rapidity that Eastern men can scarcely appreciate. In no ordinary busi- ness in the East is judicious supervision so essential, and the dividing line between success and failure so narrow. 224 ALDER GULCH. I have, for obvious reasons consistent with truth and fairness, given the dark side of mining operations in Mon- tana. It is one vast field of bewildering wealth, and I most earnestly hope to see it speedily and most success- fully developed. Twenty millions of capital could be more profitably invested here than in any other locality ; and, by simply observing the same sound business principles which govern capitalists in other enterprises, not one dol- lar in twenty should be lost, while a very large majority of the investments would pay fabulous returns. In no other mining region are the leads so uniformly good and so easily tested; and they can, as a rule, be developed by tunnels, and the ore delivered at a very low rate. Not only the mountains, but the gulches are of incomparable richness. Alder Gulch, that has already produced more gold than any other single gulch in the world (so I am informed), will soon be worked over again and repeat its previous yield. It was once worked for ten consecutive miles, in claims of one hundred feet, and each claim yielded from two hundred dollars to two thousand dollars every twenty- four hours. Clear-headed business-men are now gathering up the claims, and will, by one central flume traversing the rock-bottom, work over the whole gulch with vast profit, while others will wash down the rich hill-sides by the hydraulic process. In the mean time, the rich bluff's whence the gold of the gulch has been washed will be disemboweled, and their leads, studded with gold quartz, worth from thirty dollars to one thousand dollars per ton, will be worked, and boundless fortunes amassed. There is no part of this continent where Eastern capital is so much wanted, and where it will so well reward its judicious in- vestment, as in Montana; and I entreat men to discard "professors," jobbers in claims, inflated speculative con- cerns, and lend a helping hand in the legitimate develop- COLOSSAL FORTUNES TO BE MADE. 225 ment of this slumbering- wealth. Send practical men to secure leads properly located for development, and then, above all things, "make haste slowly." Test all things, and failure is hardly possible. Different degrees of success will be attained ; but, upon the whole, there must be incal- culable profits, and the colossal fortunes of the next decade will have their birth in this long-unknown but richest offering of our national creation. 20* LETTER XXIV. The Montana Vigilanters. The Reign of Crime in the Mining Regions. Montana the Refuge of the Lawless. The Concentra- tion of Desperadoes. How Virginia City was named. Organi- zation of Pluminer's Band. Plummer Sheriif of the Territory. All the Channels of the Law controlled. Completeness of the Organization. Its Signs and Officers. Victims unconsciously notifying the Robbers of their Prey. The Tide of Retribution. Its Merciless Sweep. Colonel John X. Beidler. The Hero of Montana Justice. His History and Exploits. How the Judg- ment of the Vigilanters is executed. The First Execution. The Last of Plummer 's Band. The Great Revolution wrought by the Vigilanters. One of their own Members executed. The Justice of their Judgments. The Restoration of Order and Safety. VIRGINIA CITY, MONTANA TERR.,. July 9, 1867. THE term " Vigilance Committee" is familiar to all Eastern readers ; but there are few who have just concep- tions of crime as it compassed the isolated mountain min- ing regions, or of its merciless retribution. California tolerated the rule of murderers and desperadoes for years, but finally effected an organization founded on the maxim salus populi suprema lex, and the leaders of disorder and lawlessness were executed or banished. But California then had large cities, vast commerce, easy access to the great business centres of trade, and a social bulwark to strengthen the harsh but imperative reformation. Not so with the Territories of the Rocky Mountains. Their wealth was discovered just when the golden slopes of the Pacilic hud become intolerable for those who preferred any crime ( 220 ) THE REIGN OF CRIME. 227 in the decalogue to honest industry. Colorado, Idaho, and Montana were isolated from the civilized world. Hun- dreds or thousands of miles had to be traveled over, mount- ain-passes and almost trackless plains, unpeopled save by the pitiless savage ; and the population was of necessity rude, without social restraints, and naturally tended to semi-barbarism. There was no government, no law, no access to the protecting power of the national authority for years, and here were most inviting fields for the banished desperadoes of other lands, and every incentive to lead the upright down through the tempting but ultimately fatal labyrinths of crime. Few families were among the early settlers, and the happy influences of faithful wives and vir- tuous daughters were unknown. The influence of woman, so far as felt, came from the hopelessly fallen, and, like all perverted angels of light, they but hastened the mas- tery of wrong and led the way. Gamblers plied their vo- cation, without blush or restraint, on the most public places. Murderers infested every locality where there was the least inducement to take life for gold ; and organized thieves ramified into every settlement. It is a tradition of Denver that Mr. Greeley was so highly respected when visiting that place in 1859, that, as he mounted a box to address the citizens near the " Elephant Corral," the dealer of three- card monte on the sidewalk close by suspended his game until the speech was concluded. This was considered a most marked deference to the public appreciation of the man, and a tribute that few bishops could have won. So common was this fearful vice there, and in all the other Territories as they were first settled, that every public place on the streets and sidewalks, but two, successfully invited the miner to be defrauded of his earnings. I have in a previous letter referred in general terms to 1ho rcig-ii and decline of crime in Colorado, and the stern 228 HOW VIRGINIA CITY WAS NAMED. retribution the Denver Yigilanters visited upon some of the most desperate leaders in lawlessness ; but it was re- served for Montana to organize and maintain the most efficient combination of order-loving men that this country has ever witnessed. Just as Colorado had become strong enough to enforce some measure of public order and safety, the richest gulches of the continent were discovered in Idaho and Montana, and there was a general exodus of thieves and murderers from all the other mining regions, and also from the haunts of evil in the Eastern cities, to inaugurate the supremacy of crime in this new El Dorado. Four years ago (in June, 1863) the surpassing richness of Alder Gulch was discovered. With the lucky adven- turers who opened its glittering wealth, came " The first low wash of waves, where soon Shall roll a human sea." Nevada was the first mining camp established. It is down near the extremity of the gulch ; but, as its wonderful de- posits of the precious metals were opened up the stream, Virginia City was founded. It was called Yarina, in honor of the then rebel chieftain's wife, and two-thirds of its inhabitants were jubilant with the hope soon to be sub- jects of the notorious heroes of treason. Antietam, Gettys- burg, Yicksburg, Atlanta, Nashville, Five Forks, and Ap- pomattox were then unknown, and the fitting representa- tives of unholy rebellion in these mountain-fastnesses had forgotten that there is One high over all, whose justice sleeps not. Little did they dream that, like the name they so fondly cherished as to rear thereto a city, they must soon live only in the history of the overthrow of wrong in Montana. Judge Bissel indignantly and arbitrarily ex- punged the name, and substituted Yirginia, in his first legal record, informing the bewildered audience, in Ian- ORGANIZATION OF PLUMBER* 8 RAND. 229 more emphatic than polite, that no such blot should the records of justice in his court. A year before the settlement of Virginia, the rich placers of Beaver Head and Deer Lodge had been discovered, and it was in these localities that the most perfectly organized and best appointed band of desperadoes ever known on the continent had its origin. Its system was perfect, its plans devised and executed with consummate skill, and it reached into every camp close upon the footsteps of the miners. While Bannock City was its original centre, as Virginia grew in importance and surpassed all other camps in wealth and population, it promptly extended its operations until its chief field was here. It was no loose aggregation of in- dependent thieves and cut-throats. It had a commander, subordinate executive officers, secretaries, agents, stool- pigeons, signs, and by hieroglyphics could so mark a man, a coach, or a train as to make them innocently invite their own destruction on the way. Certain of the leaders even wore their neck-ties in a peculiar knot, and by day or night, whether visible or shrouded in darkness, they could com- municate with and aid each other. They were not, as in California and Colorado, the shunned and abandoned men of the communities in which they lived ; they were the most wealthy, influential, and by many at first believed to be useful citizens. The leader of the band, Henry Plum- mer, was one of the most accomplished of villains, and a master-mind in the application and government of men. So shrewdly did he direct ^iis operations that he was chosen sheriff of both Madison and Beaver Head counties, and his deputies were selected from the most trusted and expert of his band. The counties had no legal organiza- tion; no authority was known other than the regulations adopted by the settlers, and might made right. With the power of the people in the two richest and most populous 230 "ROAD-AGENTS" counties in his keeping, it is not wonderful that for nearly two years the band prospered and defied detection. So completely did the organization compass everything re- lating to their interests that every placer was watched, its yield traced to the time of shipment, and it was rarely indeed that any man could get safely to the States with treasure. They were, as a rule, lucky if they lost only their gold and saved their lives. If they started in a coach or with a train, unerring signs were marked upon them, or upon something about them, to notify the pre- datory bands to strike and secure the plunder ; or if vengeance was to be glutted, as was often the case, the traveler would unconsciously notify the skulking foe that his life-blood was to be theirs. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were thus plundered from miners and business- men, and, if arrests were made, the prisoners were delivered to Sheriff Plummer, the chief of the robbers. They thus escaped punishment, and were soon off again to operate for the band in some new field, where recogni- tion was improbable. This organization became known as "Road- Agents," from the fact that they committed most of their depredations on the routes of travel; and to this day no other term is applied to highway-robbery in the Far West. They numbered over fifty desperate men, all well armed and most skilled in the use of weapons, and had, besides, probably a hundred or more outside allies and dependents. They would scatter in every direction, and simultaneously rob coaches, trains, or travelers hundreds of miles apart. They had stations all through the country, where they could stop in safety, as the keepers were pimps of the band and received small shares of the common booty. Thus these thousand sinews of crime extended throughout all the settlements and highways of Montana, held the law paralyzed in their clutches, and were supreme ORIGIN OF THE VIGILANTERS. 231 everywhere in the Territory. Even when the civil law protruded to assume its prerogatives, this band either fur- nished or corrupted its officers, and no jury could be sworn that did not contain enough of their own members to con- trol the verdict. Not only did they murder when neces- sary to rob, but they gradually became so bold that, upon the slightest provocation, they would deliberately shoot down men on the streets of Virginia, Nevada, or Bannock, and none dared to call them to account. Encouraged by habitual success, and confident that there was no power equal to the task of bringing them to punishment, they finally flung over Montana a reign of the most appalling terror, and men were compelled to defer to Plummer, obey his authority as an officer, and submit in silence to his atrocities to save their own lives. But, though "the mills of the gods grind slowly, they grind exceeding small." Many prominent citizens had been murdered or robbed, and the depredations of the band on the routes to the States were so frequent that no one ventured to return with treasure. Every good citizen felt that there must soon be a terrible remedy applied, or all legitimate pursuits abandoned. Strange to say, the mur- der of one of the humblest residents of Montana a simple, friendless German was the feather that broke down pub- lic forbearance and called into existence a power that has executed nearly one hundred men, banished hundreds of others, and restored order, safety, and peace in Montana without a single stain of injustice upon its fame. The German was murdered to obtain some mules he had sold, and was on his way to deliver to the purchaser, who had already paid him for them. lie had been in the employ (f Mr. Clark, an old resident of California and a member of the Yigilanters. The lifeless body had been secreted in u thicket of sage-brush, and the story circulated that the 232 COLONEL JOHN X. BEIDLER. German had left for unknown parts with the mules and money. For some time there were no data to controvert the explanation made by the murderers ; but finally a hunter brought down a grouse, which fell in the very thicket in which the body of the German was concealed, and told the story of another murder by the " Road- Agents." The body w T as taken to the city, and Mr. Clark was the first man, I believe, to give form to the ripened resolution against the desperadoes. The effort was gener- ally and promptly seconded, and, once started, its sweep was boundless and merciless. It was a perilous undertaking. A single failure would have been fatal to all concerned in it ; and it was not doubted that the lawless were in a decided majority. Had any ten or even fifty men been suspected of such a purpose before the organization was effected, not one could have lived to see their plans succeed ; but they were discreet as resolute ; their vengeance was unseen and unfeared until it took the murderer from his bed and the light of morning dawned upon his lifeless body suspended from a tree. There was no muttering thunder before the bolt fell with pitiless destruction upon the wrong-doers. Of the many brave men who inaugurated and openly sustained this movement, no one can justly be awarded exclusive praise ; but there is" one who- figures as conspicu- ously in the history of the Yigilanters as did Plummer in the reign of terror. Some twelve years ago I was accus- tomed to meeting, on the streets of Chambersburg, Pa., a young man named John X. Beidler. His frugal wants were supplied by the manufacture of brooms, and finally he mixed the best of cock-tails and juleps at a neighboring summer resort. He was as amiable and unoffending a lad as the community could furnish, and his jolly, genial hu- mor made him a favorite with all who knew him. Although he had attained his majority, he was scarcely five feet six BEIDLERS HISTORY AND EXPLOITS. 233 inches in height, and was far below the average of men in physical power. He finally wandered West in search of fortune, and soon after the advent of Plummer came "X," the name by which he is universally known in Mon- tana. Thus the bane and the antidote were close upon each other. Strong in his inherent love of honesty, a stranger to fear, not powerful, but quick as thought in his actions, and firm in his purpose as the eternal mountains around him, he naturally entered promptly and earnestly into the effort to restore order and safety to society. That little was expected of him when he first cast in his lot with the stern reformers is not surprising ; but his tireless per- severance, unfaltering courage, and singular skill in thwart- ing the plans of the common enemy soon made him the chief pillar of the organization, and the unspeakable terror of every desperado. This diminutive man, without family or property to defend, has himself arrested scores of the most powerful villains, and has executed, in open day, an equal number under the direction of that wonderful, dreaded, unseen power that surrounded the hasty scaf- fold. So expert is he with his faithful pistol that the most scientific of rogues have repeatedly attempted in vain to get "the drop" on him. Quick as a flash his pistol is drawn, cocked in the drawing, and presented at the doomed man, with the stern demand, "Hands up, sir," and the work is done. At one time, without aid, he ar- rested six of the most desperate thieves in a body, all well armed, and marched them before him to prison. " Hands up, gents !" was the first intimation they had from him that he had business with them, and submission was the only course of safety. Had any one of them attempted to reach toward his belt, he would have fallen that moment. There were citizens close by ; and how many of them, if any, were sworn to protect and ready to aid Beidler, he 21 234 HIS REMARKABLE CAREER. knew, while the prisoners did not. This indefinite, un- seen, immeasurable power seems to have ever stricken the most courageous thieves and murderers nerveless when its sudden and fatal grasp was thrown around them. They would fight scores of men for their lives in any ordinary attempt to arrest them, but they seemed weakened when the citizen confronted them in the name of public safety. No formalities were known. No process was read bearing the high seal of the courts. When or where the dread sum- mons of the great unseen tribunal would come, none could conjecture. The sleeping companion of the desperado in some distant ranch would probably drink and breakfast with him, and then paralyze him by the notice, " You're wanted business at Virginia !" In no instance did any of the many lawless characters arrested by the Vigilants ever fire a pistol in their own defense, even when they knew that death was inevitable. In most cases the opportunity to do so was but slight ; but, under ordinary circumstances, the closest chances would be taken to effect escape. From "X" no criminal ever got away. To have attempted it would have been to hasten death. So much did the des- peradoes respect as well as fear him, that most of them, when condemned to die by his hand, committed their last requests to him, and with him they have been sacred. Order and public safety have been restored, but he still has employment in bis favorite line. He comes and goes, and none but himself know his errand. "What's up, X?" is a query that is generally answered, " After tracks ;" and " Don't know" is his usual reply to all questions as to his route or tftne of departure. He has traversed alone every highway and settlement of Montana, prospected many of the unexplored regions, and is always ready, without escort or aid, to pursue a criminal wherever he may seek refuge. His career has, indeed, been most remarkable, and his es- THE FIRST EXECUTION. 235 cape unharmed, through his innumerable conflicts with the worst of men, seems almost wholly miraculous. He has re- cently been appointed Collector of Customs for the port of Helena ; but, while there is a thief, a defaulter, a murderer, or a savage to disturb the peace of Montana, he will re- main the most efficient messenger of justice known in the mountain gold-regions. He has lost none of his genial, kindly nature by his long service as the minister of venge- ance upon the lawless, and wherever he goes he is wel- comed by every lover of order and government. When he is upon the war-path " it's no for naething the gled whistles," and crime has no escape but in timely retreat. Fully three thousand perfectly organized men are at his back. They have their companies, officers, minute-men, and messengers in every settlement, and he can rally in an instant scores or hundreds of true men to his side. The first execution was that of George Ives, and he was condemned by a court of the people. It was the turning- point of order or anarchy. The outlaws were numerically the strongest, and the rescue of the prisoner was among the probable results ; but brave men were braver than be- fore, and the cloud of crime that encompassed the court to control the verdict or save the accused by fresh mur- der was dissipated by the stern integrity and unblenching courage of the lovers of order. Colonel Sanders, a young advocate, small in stature, but large in soul and manhood, conducted the prosecution, and for the first time the ad- vancing column of wrong recoiled as the verdict was an- nounced, " That George Ives be forthwith hung by the neck until he is dead." Fifty-eight minutes thereafter, but ten yards distant from the place where he had been tried, the fatal drop fell, and justice had a foothold in Montana. This was on the 21st of December, 1863. Soon after, Sheriff Plummer and two of his band were executed together at 236 THE TIDE OF RETRIBUTION. Bannock. He swung from a gallows he had erected for the execution of another, and he maintained his wonderful self-possession to the end. His last act was a deliberate examination of the rope and drop, to be sure that his neck should be broken by the fall, and he was launched into eternity without a prayer. Five of his followers sleep in unmarked graves on the hill close by this city: they died together, on one of the street-corners, and then the resist- less course of justice ran on, until, at last, near the head of the murmuring waters of the Gallatin, a lifeless body, sus- pended from a tree, bore this inscription : " Bill Hunter, the last of Henry Plummer's band." Several of those first arrested and executed confessed upon the gallows, and revealed the names of the whole organization, and with this information the Vigilants rested not until there was not one of the original Plummer band among the living. Not one re- mains of that once omnipotent organization to tell its crim- soned and fatal history. After the leaders had been exe- cuted three at Bannock and five at Virginia one by one, the scattered fugitives were hunted down and sent sud- denly to their long homes. All of them died without even the profession of penitence, and many of them blasphemed until utterance was choked by the death-noose. Two of them leaped high in the air from the gallows, to hasten their presence before an unreconciled and avenging God. For the crimes of these men self-banishment was considered no atonement. Thousands of dollars were expended in- the pursuit of those who fled hundreds of miles to escape this merciless and inevitable retribution. When they felt safe in their isolated retreats, the hand of the Vigilants would fall upon them, and they would find graves, unshrived and unmourned, wherever the ministers of justice crossed their path. Some had climbed the narrow passes to Ida ho and Oregon, others had sought for refuge in California, NO ESCAPE FROM THE VIGILANTERS. 237 and even South America was tried as a retreat from this resistless current of vengeance. All, all was fruitless. The solemn judgment of the unseen tribunal must be executed, though the ends of the earth had to be searched for the guilty victim. Not only justice inflexibly de- manded it, but common safety was equally imperative in exacting that none, once condemned, should escape. They could infest the thousand miles of unpeopled plains and mountain-canons between here and the States, where the ministers of justice must sometimes travel ; but not one was left to renew the vengeance of crime. They made themselves and the public safe by ceaseless pur- suit, until the murderer lived only where all are judged in righteousness. Nor is their work wholly of the past Although unseen and unknown, their sleepless eyes guard the Far West with tireless vigilance. No desperado can ascend the Missouri without his name, description, and antecedents either preceding or coming with him, and every settlement will have its faithful sentinels to chal- lenge him on his arrival. There is no pomp or parade in their proceedings, and most who would fear them nat- urally suppose that they have disbanded as an organiza- tion ; tut the hapless rogue who lands in Montana will ha-ve the ardor of his hopes speedily chilled by some un- kntfwn friend bidding him good-by and suggesting that he depart without delay. No explanation is given, none is needed, and Montana loses a citizen she can better spare ^than keep. Many miles from this place I saw a doomed man doomed to death by this matchless human agency, and conscious of it. He was a prisoner in the hands of the law. He could have escaped, but dared not, for around him were the silent and unknown sentinels of a tribune that has no technicalities in its trials. He may escape the cobwebs of the civil law, but the world is too 21* 238 RESTORATION OF ORDER AND SAFETY. small to afford him an asylum, and he lives from day to day in hopeless despair. Ere long he will surely go un- wept to his final resting-place, and none will inquire why he has made an untimely exit. Such is a brief, and necessarily imperfect, history of the triumph of justice in Montana. The civil courts are now in operation, but, without the power of the Vigil anters, crime would soon regain the ascendency. Their organiza- tion is maintained as an auxiliary to the courts, and to reach out the arms of justice where the civil power is un- equal to the task. Should the law ever prove too feeble for the support of order, then will three thousand men guard the public safety. So inflexible have they been, that no means, no ties, no circumstances, could shield the guilty. One of their own number was found to have sought shelter from just punishment in their " circle," and he was summarily executed. In another instance the friends of the condemned proposed to make restitution of stolen property, if the sentence could be changed from death to banishment ; but the criminal was one of the robbers' band, and the restitution was made by the Yigi- lanters, and the robber sent to his grave. In three years of operations, covering nearly one hundred executions, this organization is not to-day charged, by friend or foe, with partiality or prejudice, or with a single unjust punishment. Sternly, patiently, untiringly, it has prosecuted its unwel- come labor, and its history is but the history of the suprem- acy of virtue, order, and justice in Montana. LETTER XXY. A Political Mandamus. Opening of a Mountain Political Cam- paign. Western People. Their Generosity and Prodigality. Extravagance of Prosperous Times. The Kestless Prospecter. Sunday in Virginia City. Street-Auctions. Cheap John on Eastern Notions. Shepherds get astray. Sunday in Union City. The Children of the Village. Departure of Little Eva. Her Affecting Farewell. Little Alice. Her Theological Disputation. Corraled in the Mountains by Indians and Low Water. UNION CITY, MONTANA TERR., Aug. 12, 1867. As I have been absent from our little mountain-city of cabins but twice since I arrived here, and then less than a day each time, I cannot be expected to write about general affairs in the Territory. During the six weeks I have been in Montana I have not rotated outside of a circle of eight miles from this place; but the Union Territorial Committee have issued a peremptory mandamus directing me to put on the political harness again ; and by the late papers I find that I am to speak once a day, commencing on Thurs- day next, until the election on the first Monday of Septem- ber, and must often travel from forty to sixty miles each day. I have not the remotest idea where most of the ap- pointments are, as many of the names of the cities (three cabins constitute a city here) I had never so much as heard of before. As it was my purpose some time this summer to visit the leading mining-districts of the Terri- tory, I shall do so while the political campaign is in pro- gress, as it will afford the best possible opportunity to ( 239 ) 240 WESTERN GENEROSITY AND PRODIGALITY. mingle with the people and acquire reliable information relative to the wondrous mineral wealth of Montana. I made my first appearance before a mountain-audience on Thursday last, and during the whole of the speaking there was a degree of order and attention that Eastern audiences could often imitate with profit. I have seen the Far-Western people in almost every phase of life, and I have never, in a single instance, found respectful conduct on the part of a stranger met in any other way than with a just, if not a generous, measure of respect. I have already written of their horse-races, their theatres, their churches, their reading-rooms, and their proverbial hospitality. That they are merciless on " bilks" and pretenders generally, is true; but no matter how humble the straightforward visitor may be, he is received with the warmest cordiality, and will meet with generous hearts and welcome boards wherever he may find the camp of the miner. Every settlement in Montana, and every city as well, is but a mining-camp. Yirginia City is but the centre of the great Alder camp ; and Helena is the same for the various gulches which surround it. They are sustained solely by the mining-interests about them, and the cities advance or recede with feverish haste just as the mines improve or degenerate. There are agricultural settlements in Deer Lodge, Jefferson, Madison, and Gal- latin ; but there is not a farmer or ranchman, as they are called who has not his claims, or fractions of claims, on various gulches and leads, and he is merely farming to live until his slumbering wealth is developed by others more able than himself. As a rule, the successful gulch-miners are most improvi- dent; and of the scores of men who came here without a dollar and made from ten to fifty thousand dollars of gold out of Alder Gulch, there are very few indeed who could THE RESTLESS PROSPECTER. 241 to-day command one thousand dollars, while most of them are utterly "broke." Their necessary expenses were very heavy, but their needless expenses were usually much heavier. A newspaper would bring from one to two dollars in gold in the days of gulch-mining, but three years ago. A letter usually cost five dollars. Flour cost from fifty cents to one dollar a pound ; and everything else in proportion. A cat would sell very readily in the days of gulch-mining for one hundred dollars in gold, and the display of pets of any kind was one of the easiest means of reaching the miner's well-filled buckskin bag. Then came the gambler's claim, and the fever of speculation, and what the indulgence of the appetites left was mostly sure to be swept into the faro-bank or frittered away in some fancy purchase. This restless, profligate, and heterogeneous mass has long since departed from Alder Gulch. Many of their rude and now tenantless cabins remain ; and the continu- ous ridges through the gulch for more than ten miles tell of the thousands of sturdy men who here delved for the precious metal, gathered it in fabulous sums, and scattered it as lavishly as they found it. Now most of them are spending their time in prospecting, and earn a precarious subsistence by resuming legitimate labor when stern necessity leaves them no other channel through which to find bread. I have already spoken of this class of men. How much they do for the world, and how little for themselves, but few can appreciate. It is to them that the nation at large, and all who profit by mining-opera- tions, are indebted for unlocking the vast wealth of the mountains ; but the fruits of their labors are in most cases gathered by strangers. They sow through merci- less storms and spiteful snows, while others reap in the sunshine of golden harvest. 242 SUNDAY IN VIRGINIA CITY. Although there seems to be general safety to person and property in Montana, and a leaven of healthy moral tone apparently pervades all circles, the outward signs of morality, as recognized in the East, are among the novelties of the Territory. Sunday is the main business-day of Vir- ginia City. On that day the gambler's saloon, licensed by law, is gayest and receives its largest profits. Most of the stores are open and drive their briskest trade on that day. The streets swarm with miners, who gather in their week's wages or "clean up" in their pockets, and com- merce readily accommodates itself to their wishes and wants. Every corner in the main street has an auction- eer, whose stentorian voice is raised to its utmost volume to compete with that of his rival who is bawling out his bargains on the opposite corner ; and through the crowd the horse-jockey and his mounted salesman ride, John- Grilpin-like, expecting every one to look out for his own neck and limbs. "Cheap John," whose sign I have seen in every Western town, deals out heavy pepper-and-salt suits for thirty-five dollars each, and sends a score or two of the mountaineers home every Sunday in his favorite costume. He had trouble in fitting me when I called for a suit, and invited me to come on the following Sunday, when he would open his new goods. In answer to my inquiry whether Monday would not answer as well, he gave me a look of pity, as if he considered me totally unfitted for life in this region, and expressed the belief that I would soon "get over that Eastern notion." Of the six mills in this section, that of the Montana Gold and Silver Mining Com- pany is the only one that suspends operations on Sunday- Such a thing as a sermon I have neither heard nor heard of since I have been in Union City. Occasionally a stray shepherd comes along to look after his lost sheep wander- ing through the mountains; but as a rule the shepherd SUNDAY IN UNION CITY. 243 gets lost among the sheep, and seems to prefer glittering nuggets of gold from the gulches and mines to the prom- ised glittering stars in his future crown for the salvation of souls. I have had bishops and divines at my frugal board; but they were merely viewing the confines of their commands, and did not tarry to expound the gospel. There is now some show of Sunday in Union City, but by most Eastern observers it would be regarded as a micro- scopic view. The miners and other laborers reluctantly leave their work, and the mill stands in apparently uneasy solitude. Here may be seen an innocent game of quoits ; there a pair of bronzed arms kneading the bread for the coming week ; yonder the sounds of the axe tell that there will be a bountiful supply of firewood to serve through the days allotted to regular labor; and thus throughout the city the odd chores are done up to save what is re- garded as the more precious time when wages can be earned. Some gather in their ponies for many miners keep their ponies, letting them graze and roam at pleas- ure until wanted, when they seldom search in vain for them and take a pleasure-ride ; others, armed with pick and shovel, devote the day to prospecting for new mines. There is no Sunday-school, no church, no public observance of religious ceremonies in the city. Two bright-faced little girls, one rollicking boy. and one infant constitute the children of the town ; and one of them drew tears from eyes unused to the melting mood as she twined her little arms about our necks, from house to house, and kissed us all a long good-by. She was the fairest and most fragile flower of the mountains. When she came to gladden the little cabin on the hill-side, she was tried in the scales, and the needle quivered about the figure three, as if unwilling to fix that low standard to the little lump of mortality that filled the swaddling clothes; but in obedi- 244 DEPARTURE OF LITTLE EVA. ence to the laws of gravity it pointed to three pounds as the "heft" of the little stranger. The pure breezes of five brief mountain-summers had fanned her marble cheeks when I came, and infused some strength into her still delicate frame. Lovely and affectionate in disposition as her finely chiseled face was beautiful, and fastidious in her dress as her most cultivated Eastern sisters, she was as a bright sunbeam wherever she wandered, and the horny hand of toil would steal a fond caress as she tripped along. Each day I claimed and received a portion of her companionship ; and I only knew how much I prized her daily prattling when she was about to start for "the States." She knew no home but Union City, and to her the whole world was embraced within the five mountain- cliffs which shut us in from even the sight of a habitation or the evidence of fellowship. She had already passed the severe ordeal of her " aunties" and " grandmothers" when she reached me, and her soft blue eyes were flooded as she gave me her last embrace and kiss and promised as usual to come again to see me "the morrow day." I gave her my best equipage a brace of sober oxen and a homely cart for her journey to the coach-office, and there were many longing looks and tender regrets as the slow but steady cortege passed around " Lincoln Avenue" to dis- appear behind the abrupt bluff beyond. Strong men, long used to rugged mountain-life, leaned upon their picks and spades as little Eva passed from among them, and thought more of "home" than they dared to tell. Alice, her only companion, was bowed in inconsolable grief, her red dishev- eled locks streamed in the air, and her sobs broke painfully upon all as she followed her playmate until the last fare- well was given, when she sought the child's last refuge from grief in a hearty cry. To her it seemed as if the sun had gone out in perpetual darkness, and the future "CORRALED" IN THE MOUNTAINS. 245 appeared as only a dreary, withered waste. Alice is a bright waif with more than a common share of nature's better qualities, and she floats down life's unseen current with a smile and a kind heart for all. We have a per- sistent difference in our theology, as she insists that her aunt Mary was her creator, while I have maintained that we have all a common and an infinite author of our being. She staggered at times in her belief, but finally relapsed hopelessly into her original conviction, because the common Creator had not created sausages a favorite dish of hers, and of whose origin she desired to be informed. She is now the pet of the city, and each day brings her a fullness of pleasure. It has been my fortune to get " corraled" every now and then in my journey. Between Indians and storms, I was detained three weeks in Denver ; and now the elements and the Indians seem to combine again to prevent my return home. The Missouri River, which was navigable last fall until October, has been falling so rapidly that it is feared no more boats will get up to Port Benton, and the Indians have practical possession of the overland route. As things are now, I have but one chance to get back with any show of safety this fall, and that is by pack-mules over the Rocky range to the Columbia River, thence to the Oregon coast, and around by San Francisco to New York a journey of nearly two months. I borrow no trouble, however, on account of these mishaps. I can stand it in the mountains as long as the government and the people on the line can stand the Indians on the over- land route, and hope to come out of the trial improved in health. LETTER XXVI. The City of Hoggum. How it got its Name. The Hoggum Hust- ings. An Unsympathizing Audience and an Uninspired Speaker. A Hospitable Pennsylvania Farmer. A Hot Eide across the Prairies and Cliffs. Rest and Refreshments on the Madison. The Madison Valley. The Devastation of the Grass- hoppers. Crossing the Hot Springs Divide. A Continued Belt of Gold-Leads. Proposed Military and Prospecting Campaign into the Yellowstone. The M. M., or Montana Militia. How they deal with the Indians. Hot Springs District. The Quartz- Mills and Mines. Obstacles to Successful Mining. A Political Meeting. Interesting Discussion. Rocky Mountain Audiences and Orators. Pleasant Entertainment at Lower Hot Springs. .A Mountain-Dairy. Prices of Milk and Butter. Dinner in the Gallatin Valley. A Missouri Spinster the Hostess. Welcomed to Bozeman. Another Political Meeting. Entertained by the Lawyer of the City. One Room for Chamber, Dining-room, and Office. Down Gallatin Valley. Its Beauty and Fruitfulness. Political Meeting at Gallatin City. But One Republican present. The Head of the Missouri. Another Hot Drive to Hoggum. HOGGUM, MONTANA TEKR., August 20, 1867. THE city bearing the romantic title of Hoggum is a little mining-camp near the Missouri River, some thirty miles below the junction of the Madison, Jefferson, and Gallatin. The mining-gulch in which it is situated was discovered last spring; and it is charged that a few parties " hogged up" the whole of the pay-claims before the usual stampede thereto was fairly inaugurated, and the disappointed ad- venturers named the new camp Hoggum and turned away from it in disgust. A little branch camp near the main (246) AN UNSYMPATHTZING AUDIENCE. 247 one is known only as " Cheatem ;" and the whole outfit is regarded by the itinerant miners as a sort of fraud upon the profession. Some of the more poetical Montanians have endeavored to change the name of the city to Springville ; but when they placard the place for public meetings they go back to the original title. I had spoken daily for nearly a week, and traveled from thirty-five to forty miles each day over hard divides, under scorching suns, and with a miserable team, and I did not regret par- ticularly that I was behind time in reaching Hoggum, as I hoped thereby to escape a speech. It was fully eight o'clock when I arrived there, and the deserted streets of the camp plainly indicated that, if a public meeting had been thought of, the idea had been abandoned. The city was, however, crowded with brawny miners, most of them in and about the rude cabin saloons which comprise nearly one-half the buildings in the camp ; and, as they had fairly set in to their favorite games of poker and all-fours, I sup- posed that they could not be congregated for so tame an en- tertainment as a political speech from a worn-out stumper. But I was not to escape in that way. A prominent Republican merchant, with whom I stopped, had a bonfire blazing before his store in a few minutes, a box was rolled out for a rostrum, and in less than ten minutes over a hun- dred miners had gathered around the door. Begrimed with dust, and tired, sore, and hungry, I mounted the stand and waded through a short speech, to which two-thirds of the audience listened with sullen silence, and the other portion put in occasional cheers at stated intervals, appar- ently as a matter of duty, and usually without reference to the fitness of the moment. The truth was that two- thirds of niy audience were Missourians, or Democrats of like proclivities, and they attended the meeting merely to vary their usual evening routine of cards. It is possible, 248 A HOSPITABLE PENNSYLVANIA FARMER. too, that they hoped to have a row, as they had enjoyed that " delectable pleasure" the evening before (Sunday), when the regular Democratic meeting of the campaign had been held there, and, as there were not enough Republicans in the camp to get up a shindy, they got it up on their own hook, and proceeded to mutilate each others' mugs. The meeting being over, the audience adjourned to the differ- ent saloons, and only the excuse of indisposition exoner- ated me creditably from imbibing Hoggum strychnine. I hastened to the ranch of an old Pennsylvanian, two miles distant, on the river-bank, and was welcomed with the pro- verbial hospitality of the Far-Western people. Mr. Yandil- berg, from Washington county, Pennsylvania, has the finest farm I have found in the beautiful valleys of Montana ; and his was the first modern house and furnishing I have met with in the rural districts of the Territory. His farm lies on the river-bottom, and his large fields waved with the most luxuriant and bountiful crops of wheat, oats, and barley. I felt this morning like staying a day with him, regardless of political appointments ; but I am in charge of the Cen- tral Committee, the driver is under positive orders to de- liver me in Helena this morning, and soon I must start out for another hot, dusty, and most tedious journey of thirty- five miles, to be dumped out of the wagon and put up to speak in the principal city of Montana. But I shall not borrow trouble, as it will neither cool the air nor inspire oratory. Excepting the hard drives over parched and dusty prai- ries and bluffs almost blistered by the pitiless rays of the sun, the trip has been rather a pleasant one, and abound- ing in interest. I left Virginia City on horseback at noon, to reach an appointment thirty-five miles distant that even- ing. To escape the dust, we took an Indian trail, and traveled twenty miles without seeing a residence. Only THE MADISON VALLEY. 249 the abandoned and well-nigh decayed ranch of Slade re- lieved the uniform garb of nature, now withered beneath the intensely hot suns of the heated term, save where some little stream defied the drought and preserved the verdure of the dwarfed growth along its banks. The Yigilanters had summarily ended the mortal career of Slade by swing- ing him to a cross-beam, and his rude grave is still marked by a pile of stones close by his deserted ranch. A fine spring, carefully walled in by the hands of the desperado, refreshed my Democratic guide and myself, and from thence for ten miles we did not find cool water. The heat was fearfully intense, and even the usual welcome breeze that tempers the hot rays of the prairie was utterly forgetful of its duty. Occasionally we would get into a little clus- ter of alder-bushes where water had been, and stop for a few minutes to enjoy the shade, and once or twice little streams crossed our trail, but were too warm to satisfy thirst. We could refresh our dripping horses, but could not take time to rest, as, with two long, steep spurs of the mount- ains to cross, we had no time to spare. After twenty miles had been traveled, we came out on Meadow Creek, near to the Madison River, and found a pleasant ranchman, clear, soft mountain-water, plenty of ice, and sweet bread and butter. It was one of the most grateful entertainments I had enjoyed for a long time ; and, after an hour of rest and pasturage for our horses, we started to climb the last divide into the Hot Springs district. Meadow Creek comes from the mountain-range north of the Madison River, and empties into the river just as it turns from the Madison Valley to rush off through a deep, narrow canon. Nearly the whole valley is visible from Meadow Creek, and just now its aspect is that of one vast field of desolation. The table-lands, which have never yet been cultivated, are parched into a pale pink color, 22* 250 DEVASTATION OF THE GRASSHOPPERS. and the only sign of life is a narrow green line that winds up the valley, following the serpentine course of the river. But even where the moisture from the river was sufficient to satisfy the wants of vegetation, the grasshop- pers devastated almost every field and garden. With the first soft breath of spring they came up out of the ground where the eggs had been deposited the year before by millions, and marched in countless throngs wherever any- thing green and succulent invited them. Here and there a field or farm escaped their destructive visits, without any visible reason for their forbearance ; but, as a rule, they cleaned the fields and gardens to the very earth, and as often as the roots would start out fresh stems or leaves they would renew the attack, and keep repeating it while anything grew to tempt their insatiate appetites, until wounded and exhausted vegetation gave up the unequal contest. The potato-crop alone they have spared, and it will be very large; but the Madison valley, one of the most fertile prairies of the mountains, will not harvest as much wheat, barley, and oats as were sown last spring. Nor does the terrible plague end with present destruction. The now full-grown grasshoppers have again deposited their eggs, and the ranchmen have fair notice that they may sow next season, but cannot reap. I learn that these winged pests usually disappear after the third year, but seldom sooner. In crossing the eastern fork of Meadow Creek I found the first evidence of the work of the miner. The water was muddy and carrying the sluiced earth down to the river. Most of the leads discovered in the Hot Springs district are on the eastern slope of the divide ; but I noticed dur- ing the whole journey the evidences of continuous gold- leads running in a direct northeast line from Summit to Hot Springs, a distance of nearly forty miles. Where the THE MONTANA MILITIA. 251 belt starts on the mountains beyond Summit City, fully a score of good leads are more or less developed, and some of them are of wonderful richness. From that point the leads seem to be in an unvarying line, regardless of the confused formation of the many cliffs they cross at all angles, and end only in the great foot-hills which divide the Gallatin Valley from the broken mountains on the west. That the belt ends even there, I think improbable ; for the range dividing the Gallatin from the Yellowstone " prospects" in almost every gulch, and undoubted evidences of the ex- istence of rich leads are abundant, not only on the Yellow- stone range, but as far beyond as the adventurous pros- pecter has braved the scalping-knife of the savage. I hazard little in saying that before five years there will be one succession of mining-camps from the Rocky range southwest of Virginia clear through the Gallatin and Yel- lowstone ranges on to, or beyond, Wind River and Big Horn Mountains. In this I do not rely upon conjecture merely ; for hurried prospects have been made in the re- gions named, and in every instance satisfactory results have been obtained. The Montana militia are about to start out on an offensive campaign against the Indians,* and I noticed that every company is supplied with pans and other im- plements to test the quality of the diggings as they clear the Indian from their path. There will be some five hundred of them, and there are not enough hostile In- dians in the mountains to impede the progress of that number of mountain-volunteers. There are several thou- sand of the savages enough to defy General Sherman * This expedition was stopped by order of General Terry, com- mander of the military district. Had it been allowed to proceed, the country would have received reliable information of the min- eral and agricultural wealth of the Yellowstone region. 252 HOT SPRINGS DISTRICT. with over eight thousand men; but they will not raid upon five hundred earnest men who are not cramped, as the savages well know, by the sentimentalism of Sherman's orders. When they first went upon the border, after the Indians had murdered Bozeman and stolen a large amount of stock, a professedly friendly Indian stole one of their horses. They traced him out, surrounded the camp, and de- manded the thief. He was promptly surrendered, because the chief knew that the militia meant ''business," and he was made to dance a hasty jig on nothing under the limb of a cotton-tree, in sight of the camp of his tribe. Inter- woven in his hair they found the tresses from a white female scalp ; and the Indian was scalped to add another to the innumerable evidences of the atrocities of the sav- ages, who are fed, paid, and armed by the government to murder the defenseless settlers of the West. These brave volunteers, each of whom has a personal account to settle with the savage, are about to prospect the Yellowstone, Wind River, and Big Horn regions; and if they find gold, as I doubt not they will, the Indian question north of the Platte and east of the mountains will speedily settle itself. How it will be settled, the bleaching skeletons or hurried graves of the red man alone will tell. I reached Sterling City, the central camp of the Hot Springs district, about sunset, and was hospitably wel- comed by Mr. Pratt, of the New York and Montana Min- ing*Cornpany. I found his experience but the old story of inflated hopes, the most unwise direction in the outset, and disappointment in the end. To save the cost of boiler and engine and transportation, they erected a water-mill. The water failed, and, between ditches, flumes, etc., they have now expended ten thousand dollars on their power, and can run but half the mill in the dry season, and stop en- tirely in severe winter weather. They are now about to A POLITICAL DISCUSSION. 253 erect an engine, and then will have a good mill, at nearly double cost. Their leads developed unsatisfactorily, and they do nothing now but custom-work at fifteen dollars per ton in currency. They have numerous good leads around them, still in the hands of the miners, and they are wisely content to pay expenses now, and make fortune cer- tain, as they can, in the future. Professor Ward is about finishing a first-class mill close by. It is conceived, manu- factured, and erected on the most scientific principles, and will want only plenty of good ores to give it a high meas- ure of success. The district has the ores, but the com- pany has not, so far as developed; and I was sorry to see so magnificent an enterprise measurably or wholly at the mercy of others. The Clark mill was idle cause, want of ore. These three mills are in the midst of hundreds of thousands of tons of good ore, and in a district where mil- lions of capital will soon be profitably employed in the pro- duction of the precious metal. I saw ores from half a dozen leads, all of which have large strata of gold-bearing rock and are easily mined, which yield from forty to sixty dollars per ton, and some of them yield as high as one hundred dollars per ton. In the midst of these remarkable mines there is not, as yet, a single prosperous mill, for the reason that the mills were located, as a rule, on speculative mines, and the original discoverers still own the valuable leads. This mutual wrong to both the miner and the capi- talist will soon be overcome, and there will be many most successful mining companies in the Hot Springs district. Soon after dark, several hundred of the miners gathered in the central part of the city, and we devoted the even- ing to a free discussion of national politics in general and Montana politics in particular. If any ambitious Eastern orator supposes that it is an easy task to declaim to the people of the mountains, and that any sort of speech- 254 UPPER HOT SPRINGS DISTRICT. making will be accepted as a treat, he would do well not to attempt to carry his theory into practice. 1 have never been before audiences in the East where political questions were better understood than by the people who compose public meetings in Montana, and I can conceive of no worse place for pretentious stumpers than just here. They not only detect the want of fitness for the task of enlight- ening them, but they are merciless in exposing it on the spot. Every public speaker in this region must be pre- pared for any questions the audience may see fit to propose ; and it is deemed no breach of propriety for a Democrat to get up at a Republican meeting, after the regular speakers are through, and reply to the speeches. This was done at Sterling -by a Democratic candidate, who directed his an- swer to Mr. Claggett, the silver-tongued orator of the mountains ; and I have never listened to a more chaste, elo- quent, and logical speech than was his reply. Cavanaugh and Sanders, the rival candidates for Congress, are both singularly gifted on the stump, and as skillful as able ; and almost every portion of the Territory can turn out cam- paigners who would rank with our ablest disputants in the old-settled States. Both parties seem to attend all political meetings, and the speeches here, as a rule, are above the average of Eastern addresses in point of candor and re- spect for political differences. I spent most of the next day in visiting the mills and mines of the Upper Hot Springs district, and there, as everywhere else I have been in Montana, I was bewildered by the profusion of mineral wealth. The time for its sys- tematic and successful development seems not yet at hand, but it cannot be long delayed. The interests of capital and miners need only to be harmonized to give a very high measure of success to both. So far, they have seemed to be in antagonism a policy mutually disastrous ; but grad- A MOUNTAIN- DAIRY. 255 ually they are progressing toward concerted action. When- ever it is once known here that Eastern capitalists cannot be cheated into the purchase of undeveloped leads at enor- mous prices, there will be a wholesome change in the man- agement of mines. They will be developed by their owners, under the encouraging policy of the mill-men, and capital can then be invested wisely and safely, and the owners of valuable mines will realize just prices for them. As my next appointment was in Bozeman City, forty miles distant, over two hard divides or mountain-spurs, we concluded to shorten the trip by making a portion of it in the cool of the evening. Mr. Muffly had overtaken me at Sterling with a hack, bringing his wife and Mrs. McC.: so we had a party of five, and a miserable livery team. The first evening, we went down to the Lower Hot Springs dis- trict, where the more recent, and, I believe, the richest, dis- coveries have been made in gold-leads. A mill is in course of erection, and three prominent leads now promise an in- exhaustible supply of first-class ore to half a dozen mills. We stopped at a ranch, and by dark several other way- farers had joined us, to lodge for the night. The land- lady was a most intelligent and agreeable dame, but with- out a maid or cook, and herself confined to bed by a dis- eased limb. In addition to lodging the many travelers on the route, she keeps thirty cows all of excellent stock, and in the best of order and raises all the calves of the herd. Her butter is worth from sixty cents to one dollar per pound in gold, and her new milk sells readily at thirty cents per quart. Two young men milked the cows and fed the calves, and the son of the landlady came in with his team about sunset, after which he prepared us a most bountiful and delicious meal. One of the guests was a returned Salmon-River miner, who had staked and lost in that stam- pede ; another was a Gallatin farmer, out on a four days' 256 THE GALLATIN VALLEY. journey to sell a part of his crop ; and another was a pros- pecter in search of his truant pony, who had strayed off while the master was industriously panning for a color or a prospect. After supper, the gentlemen were ushered into the spare room of the house, in one end of which a cheerful fire sparkled in the large, old-fashioned chimney ; carefully-laid ox-hides made a soft carpet for the floor, and the robed bunks served for chairs until bedtime. The ladies had a regular bed, in the kitchen, with the land- lady, and all were comfortably provided for. After a sound sleep and an excellent breakfast, we started for the Gallatin Valley. For some ten miles after crossing the Madison River we were gradually ascending the divide. The bluffs were broken in the wildest confusion, and thrown up in the most unique and varied fashion, running in every possible direction, and sometimes forming the most unnatural junc- tions. The lower or table lands were covered with the finest growth of grass I have seen in the mountains, but it was all withered by the continued drought, excepting occa- sionally where some little stream preserved the life of vege- tation on its banks. But, notwithstanding its apparently dried-up and dead condition, the grass is most nutritious, and stock of all kinds will thrive better on it than even on the finest green pastures of the East. On this dead grass, oxen will winter in the valleys in ordinary winters, and come out in the spring excellent beef. During unusually severe winters, like the last, when the snow was so deep that cattle could not graze, many are lost, and all come out of winter poor ; but generally they thrive well without hay. When we reached the top of the divide, the beautiful valley of the Gallatin presented itself in one grand view, with clusters of large, green trees on the river-banks, the golden wheat-fields, blooming gardens, and fresh meadows which mark the thrift and comfort of the husbandman. WELCOMED TO BO Z EM AN. 257 From where we entered the valley, it was fifteen miles directly across it to Bozeman City, and I had an excellent opportunity to see its bountiful crops and countless herds. We crossed the river on a substantial bridge, and a few miles beyond stopped before a neat-looking cabin to get dinner and feed our horses. None of the family were at home but a grown daughter ; but she informed us that she would promptly prepare our meal. After caring for the horses, I went into the house, and soon found that one of the inevitable Missourians was our host. Thousands of them came here in the early part of the war, because they were too cowardly to fight with Price and too faithless to oppose him. I found Brick Pomeroy's paper the only literature in the house, and read his latest justification of the assassination of President Lincoln, while the gentle Missouri spinster prepared our dinner. If I had not known the fact before, the appearance the table presented, when ready for the guests, would have told that its pre- siding genius never had its culture farther north than Mis- souri. We had light warm biscuits, good coffee, butter and fruits, and a palatable dish of new potatoes and peas ; but the butter-dish was a black tin pan that looked as if it served for a fat lamp in the evening, and, as there seemed to be but two cups and saucers in the house, they were divided around, each guest getting a cup or a saucer, and with it a greasy, dirty, battered tin for a cup or a lamp- pan for a saucer. With good cooking, it was made so re- pulsive by the marks of the slattern that half the relish was lost. In due time we reached Bozeman City, and were kindly welcomed by the citizens, a deputation meet- ing us a few miles out of the little village of a dozen cabins. Comfortable quarters were provided for the ladies by an extra bed spread on the earthen kitchen floor, and I was handed over as the guest of Mr. Meredith (nephew of Hon. 23 258 DOWN GALLATIN VALLEY. Win. M. Meredith, of Philadelphia), who is the only law- yer of the city, and has his office, kitchen, dining-room, etc. all in a little cabin ten feet square, with an odd wing for a spare bed. He posted me on the politics of that section, and gave my forthcoming speech the proper inclinations. In the evening the church was crowded with a mixed audience of Democrats, Republicans, ladies, and both soldiers and infants in arms, and I was introduced by the embarrassed President as " Hon. J. K. McCulloh," in terms which would have been embarrassing to me had I not been able to disclaim both the name and the compli- ments. After the meeting, the city politicians kept me up until after midnight, discussing politics and Indians, the vital theme with all Western men. I was glad when they departed and allowed me to rest. At six in the morning my host waked me, saying that he had breakfast ready, and the bed must be taken up before the table could be set ; and, by the time I got my heavy eyes open and finished a simple but sluggish toilet, he had the breakfast on the table. He had delicious Yellowstone trout, potatoes, sweet butter and bread, and excellent coffee ; and I have enjoyed few meals better. Breakfast over, the dishes were hurriedly washed and put away, and the kitchen transformed into an attorney's office ready for clients. From Bozeman City we had thirty-five miles down the Gallatin Valley to Gallatin City, where my next appoint- ment was to be filled. It is the only valley I have seen since I left home that promises to rival the beautiful and fruitful Cumberland. It is from five to twenty miles in width, has cheerful streams crossing it at frequent inter- vals, is bounded by mountain-ranges on both sides, and has the most luxuriant crops I have ever seen. I saw hundreds of acres of spring wheat, just in blossom, which will yield not less than forty bushels to the acre, and many POLITICAL MEETING AT OALLATIN CITY. 259 small fields of winter wheat which will yield from fifty to seventy bushels. It is the favorite grazing valley of the Territory, and swarms with finely-bred cows and the most elegant stock-cattle. It is but a few miles from the hostile Indian tribes ; but three hundred mountain-volun- teers protect the entire border of fifty miles, and the savage turns from them in terror to defy the mockery of eight or ten thousand regular troops. A jolly Massachusetts Demo- crat made us at home for dinner, and followed us to the Gallatin meeting. When we arrived there, we found none but Democrats in the city (composed of three cabins and a flouring-mill), and Major Campbell, the veteran citizen of the place, opened his hospitable doors and made us more than welcome. Two of his highly-educated and accomplished daughters are married and settled in the neighborhood ; another, just a graduate from the East, brightens the cabin with her music and smiles ; while the good old people greet the traveler with old-time cordiality. Entertaining is, I presume, their main reliance for a livelihood, but they do it with a fascination to which the East is a stranger. At the usual hour for country meetings some forty men had gathered as my audience ; but there was but one Republi- can in the whole congregation. He could not nominate himself for President, and he could not propose any one else. The problem was finally solved by the venerable major, a sturdy Democrat, calling the meeting to order and nominating the lone-star Republican as President. I may say that I spoke with reasonable prudence, and thereby secured respectful attention in return. I doubt whether I converted more than half the audience, and don't feel at all sure that I converted any. In the morning we made an early start, in order to have a spare hour at the junction of the Madison, Jefferson, and Gallatin Rivers, where the Missouri is formed. From a 260 ANOTHER HOT DRIVE TO HOG GUM. bluff in the peninsula between the Madison and Jefferson the three rivers are visible for miles up their respective valleys, while the Missouri can be seen for a considerable distance as it dashes off through a deep, narrow canon on its northward course. From the river we turned to the northwest to cross the divide into Crow Creek Valley, and had a tedious and hot journey over another long spur of the mountains, and then across a burnt-up and desolated valley. For fifteen miles we did not see water, and our worn-out team seemed almost famished for drink when we at last reached a clear, cool spring on the prairie. After crossing Crow Creek, on which there are a number of fine farms, we had to climb another high spur, on which I saw for the first time in the Far West the red slate soil of the East, covered with a low growth of pine. After reaching the summit, we found that we had circled around to the Missouri River again, and found it skirted with most bountiful fields. A pleasant drive of a few miles along the river-bank, in the cool of the evening, brought us to the renowned city of Hoggum, whose history forms the open- ing chapter of this letter. I would be glad to spend a day or two among the bright harvests and green shades of the Missouri Valley ; but the election is only a few days distant, and the show must go on in Helena to-night. LETTER XXVII. Crossing the Plains and Divides to the Madison. Madison Val- ley. Its Fertility. Indifferent Farming. Mormon Industry and System wanted. Ravages of the Grasshoppers. Swarms of Millions migrating from one Valley to another. No Crops next Year. The Crickets and their Ravages. Hot Springs Mines and Mills again. The Gallatin Valley. Its Beautiful Streams, Bountiful Farms, and Splendid Herds. Farming a Permanent Business in the Gallatin. Fine Crops and Implements Yield and Price of Wheat. Bozeman City. Colonel Bozeman. His Murder by the Savages. The Montana Militia Gallatin City. Its Hasty Rise and Decline. Its Founders ignorant of Geog- raphy. The City Cabins now grace the Prosperous Ranches. GALLATIN CITY, MONTANA TERR., August 21, 1867. I STARTED on Wednesday last from Virginia City to visit the mines of the Hot Springs district, and the famed agricultural valleys of the Madison and the Gallatin. These, with Jefferson and Deer Lodge, constitute the main agricultural sections of the Territory of Montana. Leaving Virginia by an old Indian trail coursing to the northeast, I did not meet with the sign of a habitation for twenty miles, excepting the crumbling walls of the Slade ranch, which was consigned to decay by the summary ex- ecution of its owner by the Vigilants in 1864. After a tedious and hot ride over the main Madison "divide," we reached the welcome waters of Madison Creek, a pure mountain-stream that hurries down to join the Madison before it plunges into the narrow canon at the foot of the valley. I had to make thirty miles on horseback in the 23* ( 261 ) 262 MADISON VALLEY. afternoon to fill an appointment with the Republicans of Sterling, and it was anything but a pleasant journey. Be- hind us we could see a green line winding down the Stink- ing Water, but, wherever else the eye would turn, nothing but parched plains and hot bluffs were visible. Occasion- ally a little stream would cross our path and cheer us with a stinted growth of cottonwoods and alder bushes; but the heat steamed up from the prairies and swept down from the cliffs with terrible intensity. Now and then we could get a glimpse of the Madison Yalley from some prominent elevation, but even there the general seared and desolate garb of the country was relieved but by a narrow, sinuous strip of verdure that seemed to hug the low banks of the river. On the beautiful table-lands between the river and the mountain-range beyond, there was the broad, pale seal of death to all vegetation ; and even where the narrow flats had been sown, the grasshoppers had bared them to the very earth in their relentless march. At Meadow Creek we stopped to rest and refresh our- selves and horses. The clearest and softest of mountain- water ran by, and the brook-trout sported, with their match- less grace, in its crystal ripples. Our host had an abundance of ice, all that the grasshoppers had left him, and our party had a delightful rest, and cooling draughts from nature's sweet fountains. At this point we were at the lower end of the Madison Yalley, and could see most of it from the rise in the prairie. It is the smallest of the four leading valleys now settled in the Territory, and has been very productive. At some points the bottom-land on either side of the river widens out for several miles, and beyond that the ranchmen have not yet ventured to break up the ground. Between the river and the range that divides the Madison from the Yellowstone there is a broad table of most beautiful and fertile land, that could be easily irrigated INDIFFERENT FARMING. 203 by the mountain-streams, or even by the Madison, if di- verted some miles above through a canal. But this would require more labor than the limited number of settlers now in the valley could afford to give to such an enterprise, and they therefore content themselves with the bottom- lands, which are so wet and cold in the spring that they expose their garden and field crops to the early frosts. Vegetation of all kinds would start several weeks earlier in the higher and dryer table-lands in the spring, and add vastly to the safety and product of the crops. The greatest obstacle to agricultural progress in Mon- tana is that scarcely one farmer regards farming as his fixed pursuit. Most of the ranchmen came here adventurous miners, and only settled on the ranches to secure a living for the time being until others should develop their quartz- lodes, or until some regular farmer should come along and buy them out at a large advance. Flour commanded as high as one hundred and forty dollars per hundred pounds when gulch-mining was prosperous in Bannock and Virginia, and when the gulches were exhausted many rushed into the valleys to make a sudden fortune out of a single crop the next season. The next year flour was down to twenty dollars per sack, and the hope of sudden fortune vanished. Thus, most of the ranches have been improved in the most temporary and imperfect manner, and great crops have been gathered rather because of the wonderful fruitfulness of the soil than the skill or care of the farmers. In the Madison Valley there is no farming except in locali- ties where irrigation needs little artificial aid; and then it is not attended to with the degree of care necessary to secure first-class crops. If the Mormons could leave their beastly polygamy behind them, I would be glad to see a settlement of them in one of the agricultural valleys of Montana. Immense as the crops are now, they would, upon the whole, 264 RAVAGES OF THE GRASSHOPPERS. double them, and beautify their homes as they increased the fvuitfulness of their fields. Farming is their calling, and they would not put out a crop each year imperfectly, ex- pecting that by next season they would be after some new diggings or prospecting for new lands. The cabins, fences, and all implements, as a rule, are made in the most indif- ferent manner by the ranchmen, because the settlers do not expect to remain and pursue agriculture for a livelihood. There are exceptions, of course, but not more than enough to prove the rule. This year the grasshoppers have almost totally de- stroyed the crops of Madison Valley, and last year they committed serious depredations upon the late crops. I saw them moving in the valley, and they seemed to be in swarms of millions. In their flight, they almost shadow the sun. As far as the eye can distinguish an object the size of one of these fearfully destructive insects, they may be seen circling around, apparently in general con- fusion ; but a careful examination shows that the count- less body is steadily moving on toward some desired point. In the evening, when the eye can face the sun, they can be seen until the white specks fade out in the dimness of distance. Thus they migrate from place to place; and woe to the luckless ranchman upon whose fields they light, if the crop is still green. But their devastation does not end with the destruction of the growing crop. They deposit their eggs while desolating the fields this season, and thus give the farmer notice that their successors will be more destructive, if possible, next year. Last summer they migrated into the Madison Valley, and this spring the valley swarmed with little grasshoppers, who began their fatal work before they were half an inch in length. As fast as vegetables or field crops grew, they were eaten down, until finally the last remnant of life was destroyed, THE CRICKETS AND THEIR RAVAGES. 265 and the fields and gardens were left as bare as the high- way. Of all vegetables, the potato alone escaped their devouring appetite ; and, while there is general destruction of crops and vegetation in the Madison Valley, there will be an immense yield of potatoes. Here and there a ranch escaped their march ; but how or why, no one can guess. I saw isolated fields of elegant grain, where there was nothing but utter waste on all the ranches for miles above and below them. There are but few who will venture next year to put out anything like full crops in the valley of the Madison, and many ranches will be sold out at a sacrifice this fall, by the ever-restless and discontented settlers. At Meadow Creek I left the river, as it rushes down into a deep, narrow canon, and ceases to aid the farmer until it reaches near to its junction with the Jefferson at this point. Another long and steep " divide" had to be crossed to reach the Hot Springs mining district, one of the most celebrated in the Territory. As I arrived at the foot of the hills, I saw for the first time the crickets, which are no less destructive to the crops than the grass- hoppers. I came suddenly upon an immense flock of them, covering acres of the prairie, and awkwardly jumping and lumbering along toward the Gallatin, as if they considered the Madison " sluiced out." " They are four times as large as the largest of Eastern house-crickets, of every color from black to pale yellow, and have a most clumsy motion. They are about an inch and a half long, half an inch thick, and stumble and tumble over each other, when frightened, in the most ludicrous style imaginable. They have no wings, and travel by walking or hopping, slowly but steadily, until they reach some field or garden on which to try their appetites. As they cannot fly, they are sometimes repulsed in their movements by water 266 HOT SPRINGS MINES AND MILLS. ditches, when they flank the ditch and move on to the fields of some less careful or less fortunate farmer. After reaching the top of the divide, a short distance through a narrow canon brought me to Sterling City, the chief mining-camp of the Hot Springs district. It is a modern mining-city of probably twenty cabins, all built within eighteen months, and most of them neatly finished. There are three quartz-mills just above the city, two more in the neighborhood, and one or two new ones on the way, to be used on the Hot Springs ores. It is undoubtedly a rich quartz-district ; but I was surprised to find that not a single lead had been thoroughly developed, and not a single mill able to command a certain supply of ore from its own mines. The leads are mainly owned by prospecters and miners, who will not sell at reasonable rates, and cannot develop ; and they are waiting in poverty for others to dig beside them, prove the value of their property, and make them millionaires. One mill, that was started with highest hopes, is doing a mere paying business by crush- ing custom ores at fifteen dollars per ton in currency. Its mines exhausted the capital of the company and supplied no ore ; but it is wisely managed, and is content to pay expenses and wait until the time comes to secure property that will warrant development. The best stamp-mill in the Territory is nearly completed there, by Professor Ward. It will do much for the district, and I hope that it may do as well for its stockholders. It is the most improved California machinery, is being put up regardless of expense, and will doubtless test the ores of the district very thoroughly ; but, like every other mill in the neigh- borhood, it has no certain source of supply from its own mines, and must for some time at least be measurably or wholly at the mercy of the miners, who well under- stand the advantage they possess over capitalists whose THE MADISON RIVER. 26 T money is already invested and who must have valuable ores to secure returns. The third mill is idle for want of ore, while there are thousands of tons of good ore in the vicinity. One large lead, owned by three miners who dis- covered it, has been several times on the very verge of sher- iff's sale for twelve hundred dollars of debt. It produces ore cheaply that yields from fifty to eighty dollars per ton, and which can be mined, hauled, and reduced for less than twenty-five dollars per ton. It may be worth a million or more, as its owners estimate it ; but practical men do not pretend to see into the ground, and they know that it may cap, or pinch, or play out entirely ; and so it is likely to remain undeveloped for some years. As far as the partial developments have been made in that district, it promises to be most bountiful in the production of the precious metals. It is, so far as now known, the northeastern ter- minus of the great gold-belt of Montana, that starts at Summit (eight miles southwest of Virginia) and seems to run in a direct line across the country to Hot Springs. It is distinctly traced all the way by the discovery of leads for a distance of thirty-five miles. From Sterling I started for the upper end of the Galla- tin Valley. I crossed the Madison River, as it swings around to the north, on a substantial bridge, about four miles above the crossing on the Bozeman wagon-route. It is a beautiful stream of clear water, with pebble bottom, less than one hundred yards in width, and abounding in trout and other fish. It has no timber at all on its banks, but here and there are thickets of willow bushes. As far as I followed it there was no bottom-land of any conse- quence on either side of it, and the table-lands are gravelly, broken, and not adapted to successful agriculture. The bluffs which skirt it close by are abrupt and timberless, and ridged by game-trails, made before the advent of the 268 THE GALLATIN VALLEY. white man. After climbing another long and most tedious divide, made up of miles of successive prairie-hills, I at last reached an abrupt descent into the celebrated Gallatin Valley, and the river was visible for twenty miles down the valley by the luxuriant growth of timber that lines its banks. Where I entered it, its breadth is about twenty miles; it continues down for thirty miles, ranging from three to twenty miles in breadth, and extends southeast, or up the river, probably ten miles ; but there are few set- tlers along the Bozeman route. It is the most magnifi- cent valley I have seen in the Rocky Mountains. It is one vast meadow, almost level, dotted with green lines along its numerous tributaries to the river, and its soil is as productive as any in the world. I crossed almost its entire breadth to Bozeman City, and saw its most bounti- ful crops of wheat, oats, barley, and buckwheat, and its tempting vegetables. The spring wheat is just in blos- som, and the winter wheat is about ready for the reaper. Until two years ago the settlers sowed spring wheat en- tirely ; but a trial of winter wheat gave such satisfactory results that last fall all that was in the valley sold for twenty-five dollars per bushel in gold, for seed. This season about one-tenth the harvest is winter wheat, and the whole crop will be sold at five dollars per bushel for seed again. I cannot question the evidence that establishes the raising of eighty bushels of winter wheat on an acre of ground in the valley. Even spring wheat usually yields forty bushels to the acre. I saw winter wheat on Saturday that is expected to yield seventy bushels to the acre ; and I do not think the calculation an unreasonable one. This valley is so well watered, so easily irrigated, and so universally productive that it is being rapidly settled by men who mean to follow farming as their calling. I saw on one splendid farm a reaper and MURDER OF COLONEL BOZEMAN. 269 mower, grain-drill, hay-rake, thrashing-machine, etc., of the most improved Eastern pattern ; and throughout the valley farming seems to be regarded as a legitimate busi- ness. The ranchmen do not fly off to every new diggings reported, but are, as a rule, content to labor in seed-time and wait for harvest for their abundant reward. There are two excellent flouring-mills in the valley, one at Bozeman City, on the Gallatin, and the other here, on the Madison. Both have the most improved turbine wheels, run two pair of burrs, and can each turn out one hundred sacks of flour (equal to fifty barrels) in twenty-four hours. Just now there is some depression in this valley, owing to the low prices for produce ; but there are vast fields of gold over the Yellowstone divide, and, I doubt not, in the mountains close by, and the day is not very distant when this section of Montana will be as prolific in the yield of the precious metals as it is now bountiful in Jthe yield of the staff of life. SjT Bozeman City took its name from Colonel Bozeman, who opened the Renno or Powder River route to Montana, and who was basely murdered by the Indians last spring. He welcomed the Indians into his camp, believing them to be friendly, as they professed ; and, while he was eating his dinner, he was butchered. Mr. Coover, of Bozeman City, was with him, and escaped with a wound after Boze- man was killed. I have had his statement of the affair ; and a story of Train (given in a speech in Omaha after looking into the Indian question from railroad-cars), that Bozeman had been killed for insulting a squaw, is utterly false, as there were no squaws with the Indians who killed Colonel Bozeman. Although a young man, not over thirty- five years of age, he had been a long time in the mount- ains, was very familiar with the Indians, and exerted a