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OVER THE PLAINS 
 
 AND 
 
 ON THE MOUNTAINS 
 
 OR, 
 
 Kansas and Colorado 
 
 Agriculturally, Mineralogically., 
 
 AND 
 
 AESTHETICALLY DESCRIBED. 
 
 By J. H. TICK. 
 
 FOR SALE BY 
 
 THE ST. LOUIS BOOK AND NEWS COMPANY, ST. LOUIS, 
 
 T w *1lt*tf&*B' '<*' 
 
 1 HE WESTERN NEWS COMPANY, CHICAGO, 
 
 AMERICAN NEWS COMPANY, NEW YORK. 
 
E invite the attention of buyers, and the trade generally, to our 
 Stock of Goods, which we believe is as complete and varied 
 in the several Departments of BOOKS, STA T2OXERY, 
 PERIODICALS -AMD NEWSPAPERS, as that of 
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 Among our MISCELLANEOUS AND SCHOOL BOOKS are comprised the 
 publications of all the principal Eastern and Western Publishing Houses, 
 by purchasing which, in large quantities, we are enabled to sell at the 
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OTEE THE PLAINS, 
 
 OX T H K 
 
 O TJ ICT T-A, I 3ST S ; 
 
 OR. 
 
 KANSAS; COLORADO, 
 
 A K I) T H K 
 
 ROCKY MOITNTAINS; 
 
 Agriculturally, Mineralogically 
 
 A XT) . 
 
 AESTHETICALLY DESCRIBED 
 
 By JOHX H. TICK. 
 
 Copyright Secured. 
 
 ST. Louis, Mo.: 
 
 FEINTED BY THE "INDUSTRIAL AGE" PREN'TIXG CO. 
 
 1872. 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1872, by 
 
 JOHN H. TICE, 
 
 In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
 
PEEFAOE. 
 
 This volume contains the result of personal observations 
 made in Kansas and Colorado in the Summer of 1871. By 
 a resolution adopted by the Missouri State Board of Agri- 
 culture, it was determimed in a body and in their official 
 capacity, to take an excursion through Kansas, Colorado, 
 Wyoming, and if found practicable, to Utah. The object 
 was to gain information by personal observation, of the 
 natural resources and agricultural capabilities of the great 
 Plains and of the mountain territories, to ascertain the 
 state of the branches of industry to which they were adapt- 
 ed, the character of the soil and climate, the mode of cul- 
 ture, and the probable extent to which they would be de- 
 pendent upon other sections for supplies especially agri- 
 cultural products. An invitation was extended to the 
 Kansas State Agricultural Society, to join us in the excur- 
 sion, which was cordially accepted. To the liberality of 
 the North Missouri, the Kansas Pacific, the Colorado Cen- 
 tral, the Denver Pacific and the Boulder Valley railroads 
 we are indebted for free passes in going and returning over 
 their roads; and for which they will please accept the 
 most grateful and cordial thanks of the whole party. 
 
 During the excursion, I took full notes of everything 
 that fell under my observation, and also of facts elicited 
 from conversations with those familiar with the Mountains; 
 not with the remotest intention however, of perpetrating 
 the infliction of a book upon the patient public, but for my 
 own gratification and satisfaction. 
 
 After my return home, I wrote out a few pages of the 
 notes for the Sunday number of one of our leading dailies. 
 
 /v\ 
 
4 PREFACE. 
 
 These were so favorably received, and excited so much 
 interest, as to draw upon me scores of letters from all parts 
 of the country where these sketches found their way. 
 Some of these were from persons familiar with the scenes 
 described, thanking me for the gratification the reading of 
 my notes afforded them in reviving the recollections of the 
 sublime and grand scenery of these matchless Mountains? 
 and of enabling them mentally to renew the wild enjoy- 
 ments, excitements and pleasures of a rude mining life. 
 Other letters were from parties having various objects in 
 view; some from those desirous of seeking new homes; 
 some from those seeking investments, or solicitous of en- 
 gaging in new enterprizes, and others from invalid^ 
 borne down by disease, anxious to know if a cure, or an 
 amelioration of their infirmities would not be effected by 
 a sojourn in the delightful and salubrious climate of the 
 Mountains. All these wanted full and definite information 
 on the points in which they felt interested. 
 
 The number of these letters, and the intense anxiety the 
 writers expressed for accurate information, first suggested 
 the idea of writing out the notes in full and publishing 
 them in book form. 
 
 I have endeavored to meet the expectations and gratify 
 . the desires of all these questioners, as far as my observations 
 extended. Moreover, I have endeavored to supply a want 
 much needed by pleasure seekers, by making known the 
 variety, extent, grandeur and sublimity of the matchless 
 scenery of these gigantic Mountains. There is a large and 
 increasing class who have the means and leisure to spend 
 the hot summer months in fleeing : to cooler localities for 
 relaxation, recreation and recuperation. Many, but they 
 are not the lovers and admirers of Nature, go to the sea- 
 shore, or some fashionable watering place, where they pass 
 through the same routine of inane amusements and frivo- 
 lous excitements day after day and year after year; and 
 return home without their minds enlarged by acquired 
 knowledge, their sentiments refined, their taste for the 
 
PREFACE. 5 
 
 grand and the beautiful quickened, or even their bodies 
 invigorated. Yea, worse than that, positively damaged 
 physically, socially and morally, by being irremediably 
 inoculated with the virus of the frivolities, follies and vices 
 of fashionable life ; not only mind, heart and taste infected 
 and perverted, but wasteful and expensive habits con- 
 tracted. These " like Ephraim, are joined to their idols," 
 and must be let alone. But there are those who are not 
 yet drawn into the vortex of the maelstrom of fashion. 
 To these it will be doing a good office and a grateful ser- 
 vice, to direct their attention to the untrodden and as yet 
 unfashionable routes of pleasure seekers in these wild, 
 picturesque and indescribably grand and lofty Mountains, 
 where in silence and solitude they can hold communion 
 with Mature in her most awful, sublime, majestic and im- 
 posing forms; and whence they will return home with 
 their thoughts enlarged, their affections ennobled, their 
 sentiments elevated, their taste refined and their bodies in- 
 vigorated , moreover, Avith lighter and kinder hearts and 
 heavier purses. Aye, go upon the mountains as Moses did ? 
 and God will appear unto you and converse with you face 
 to face. His laws and commandments there written on 
 stones, will be transcribed and engraven on your hearts; 
 and you, like the Hebrew Lawgiver, will also return to 
 your friends with an overflowing heart and a shining face. 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 On the evening of the fifth of June we set out on our 
 journey on board of the evening Express train of the 
 North Missouri Kailroad. The day had been intensely 
 sultry, and a lowering sky in the West indicated the ap- 
 proach of a storm. The air seemed stagnant; for not a 
 breeze was stirring ; and the heat was sweltering and op- 
 pressive. Glad were we, when the train commenced mov- 
 ing us through the air, relieving us from the smothering ef- 
 fects -of heat, it having the same cooling effect as a wind 
 would have of a velocity of twenty-five miles per hour. 
 We were therefore soon quite comfortable, which together 
 with the novelty of our situation, starting out to experi- 
 ence a new sensation, contributed to raiso our animal spirits, 
 and we became as cheerful and vivacious a crowd as ever 
 had cast dull care aside; and had set out to test how much 
 relish and enjoyment, new and strange scenes would add 
 to pleasure. Clear of the mephitic city air, and through 
 the bluffs, we were soon flying through the beautiful 
 Florissant (pronounced Florissaw) Yalley, the Arcadia of 
 Missouri. At dusk we came to a halt at the end of the 
 bridge opposite St. Charles, which spans the muddy and 
 turbulent Missouri here. A moment and we are in motion 
 again, but slowly and cautiously we move over the im- 
 mense iron structure; already a new sensation for the com- 
 pletion of the structure had only been celebrated a few days 
 previously. Then there was still lingering a vague feeling 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 7 
 
 of insecurity induced by the croakings of ill-omened birds, 
 who like Dickens' 
 
 "Thompson with a P 
 Think the world is going to tho Devil 
 If they are not hallooing Gee. " 
 
 This feeling of want of safety was intensified by some 
 brainless would-be wag, having the morning of our leaving 
 perpetrated the miserable pun, "that a whole train of the 
 North Missouri Railroad had gone through the bridge ; " 
 which tfor a while had found credence in its literal sense. 
 
 The ebon shade of night soon fell upon the landscape 
 and closed out all save our fiery steed and his luminous 
 train. The sky was overcast, and from the west the dark 
 storm cloud Avas rolling up with flash on flash of vivid 
 lightning. Soon at intervals the hoarse rumbling of the 
 thunder coming nearer and nearer'notified us that we were 
 approaching the storm. 
 
 I had gone to a forward car to chat with an acquaintance, 
 and when I returned, my attention was arrested while on 
 the platform by a most singular display made by myriads 
 of fireflies, ( Photynus py rails ). My first thought was that 
 they were sparks from our engine, and with it came tho 
 thought of danger to the train from being set on fire and 
 burned up, for no structure of wood could live in such a 
 shower of sparks as that. But I soon saw that they were 
 fireflies. Sometimes they emitted a continuous flash, and 
 then after a little intermission, it broke out again like 
 platoon firing. I also soon observed that they were almost 
 exclusively confined to within a rod or so to the railroad 
 on both sides. I therefore concluded that they had gath- 
 ered from the woods on the young herbage along the sides 
 of the railroad ; and being alarmed by the train, had taken 
 wing. Back into one of Pulman's sleeping cars, I was soon 
 stowed away in one of its ample berths. But before I fell 
 asleep the storm had set in. The rain was pouring down 
 in torrents, and the wind was driving it splash, splash 
 against windows and sides of the car, and then the light- 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 ning's glare, and the peals of thunder were terrific. I fell 
 asleep and woke and fell asleep again, and still the storm 
 raged on and beat against our frail shelter. Day had 
 dawned ere we ran from under the rain cloud, yet the sky 
 was still black and overcast. It was nine o'clock before 
 the blue sky appeared. Day overtook us at Lexington Junc- 
 tion, where the branch railroad from Lexington to St. 
 Joseph crosses. The country here generally is level prairie, 
 and consequently water was standing e\ ery where, and the 
 cornfields looked as if they were drowned out. Tfie creeks 
 were booming full to overflowing, and were floating down 
 immense quantities of driftwood, which, lodging in the nar- 
 row passages between the abutments of the bridges, was 
 threatening danger to the structures. From the same cause 
 the culverts were choked up and the water was collecting 
 in lakes on the north side of the road. Everywhere the 
 indications were of an immense rainfall ; the broken limbs 
 of trees indicated a severe wind storm also. The soil here 
 is regarded as one of the most fertile and productive in the 
 West, being intensely black, but extremely friable and mel- 
 low. The road passes up along the north bank of the river, 
 having the muddy Missouri surging in its sandy bed on 
 one side, and a most beautiful country of fine farms alter- 
 nated with dense forests, on the other. In the forests I could 
 not but admire the varied aesthetic forms of Nature, and ob- 
 serve how much of the science of the beautiful man has 
 yet to learn from her teachings. Here was the Tecoma 
 radicans smothering a half grown tree, or reclothing with 
 verdure the trunk of a dead one, and adorning both with 
 its cluster of large trumpet shape orange flowers. There 
 the frost grape', Vitis cordifolia, had obtained the mastery 
 over a well grown elm or hickory, and its long pendant 
 vines were swaying to and fro, and often trailing on the 
 ground. Yonder the American Ivy, the Ampelopsis quinque 
 folia has decked the trunk of some large elm, sycamore or 
 oak, with unsurpassing beauty, making it a green column 
 supporting an immense "coronal of green leaves." 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 9> 
 
 We soon arrived opposite Kansas City and recrossed the 
 Missouri to the south side on the railroad bridge. Here 
 we were joined by two portions of our party, one who had 
 preceded us, and the other who came up on the Missouri 
 Pacific Eailroad on the south side of the river. Kansas- 
 City claims 40,000 inhabitants and has them too, but ap- 
 pears only a small village, being mostly hid by the high 
 and immense bluffs, on which and amongst which, it is- 
 built. It is a natural question to ask ones self: why a lo- 
 cation should be selected for a city that will cost millions, 
 to prepare the site, when a mile or so above and a few 
 miles below, a better site was already prepared by nature.. 
 I heard here an anecdote related, which perhaps contains. 
 the philosophy of the selection made here : A stranger 
 either in quest of a new field for speculation, or of a new 
 home for location, desired to know the price of a corner- 
 lot perched fifty feet above the grade. Two thousand dol- 
 lars was the price asked. " Why that's enormous " said 
 the stranger : " do you not see it will have to be graded 
 down fifty feet before it can be used." " That's true " re- 
 plied the owner, " but don't you see the fix the owner of" 
 the corner lot behind on the next street is in ? He is j ust as- 
 much below the grade, and he will pay me twenty-five hun- 
 dred dollars for my surplus dirt, and cart it off himself to- 
 fill up his." Not quite satisfied with this prospect for a 
 speculation, he went in quest of the owner of the other 
 corner to ascertain his price. Two thousand dollars was 
 the reply. " What," said the stranger " two thousand dol- 
 lars for that gully ; don't you see that it is fifty feet below 
 the grade, and will have to be filled up?" " That's so," 
 replied the owner, " but don't you see the fix the owner of 
 the other corner is in ? He will not have any where to 
 put his surplus earth, and he will pay me twenty-five hun- 
 dred dollars for the privilege of filling up my lot." 
 
 The knights of Wall Street are credited with having in- 
 vented many clever schemes in getting up corners of vari- 
 ous kinds, but no genius has ever appeared there equal to- 
 
10 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 the task of getting up such a brilliant scheme as the loca- 
 tion of Kansas City, where the owner not only sells his 
 corners for enormous prices, but the purchasers gets them 
 for nothing and a large bonus besides. 
 
 After breakfast at the State Line, we got abroad of the 
 train of the Missouri Pacific for Atchison in Kansas, forty 
 seven miles distant. Crossing the Kaw or Kansas river, 
 we passed through the western edge of Wyandotte, a flour- 
 ishing and thrifty town, lying to our right on the west bank 
 of the Missouri, which here has a general course nearly 
 south though after receiving the Kaw it turns east. The 
 bluffs soon make their appearance to our left, intermitting 
 sometimes however to afford a passage for a creek, and leav- 
 ing a level plain of extent enough for a number of fine 
 farms. These bluffs are -covered with the timber generally 
 .abounding in Illinois and Missouri, including the Coffee 
 2STut, (Gymnodadus Canadensis ,) and a dense thicket of 
 hazle sumach, and other undergrowth. The soil consists of 
 broken chert and limestone, covered by a black loam and 
 vegetable humus. We soon passed the city of Leaven worth, 
 which the railroad and expressmen spell " 11 worth" for 
 .-short, and the Fort of same name, situated on a high bluff just 
 north of the city, around whoso base the railroad winds. 
 Opposite the Fort, a railroad bridge is constructing over 
 the Missouri Eiver for the South-West Railroad. The 
 piers, consisting of immense tubular cblums of iron filled 
 with grout, were up and ready to receive the superstruc- 
 ture. The railroad will land on the top of the bluff in 
 the military grounds. 
 
 Several small pleasant villages lie on our route before 
 we reach Atchison one of the tastiest, handsomest and 
 most thriving towns in the West. It claims a population 
 -of 10,000, and is as busy, wide awake and enterprising a 
 city as can be found anywhere ; and which is making it- 
 self the railroad centre of northeast Kansas. It has rail- 
 road connections with the Hannibal and St. Joseph Rail- 
 .road which connects it with Chicago and the East by the 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 11 
 
 roads running through Central Illinois ; with the North 
 Missouri and Missouri Pacific Roads which connect it with 
 ,St Louis and the South and East with the Central Branch 
 of the Union Pacific, which will ultimately connect it with 
 the West and the coast of the Pacific; with the Atchison 
 .and Nebraska Hailroad now constructing and graded to the 
 State line, connecting it with Omaha and the North; and 
 with the South and Southwest by the following roads partly 
 constructed or under contract and work commenced, name- 
 .ly : Atchison, Topeka and Sante Fe Railroad ; Atchison Os- 
 kaloosa and Lawrence Railroad. It is not a mushroom town, 
 l>ut its growth has been gradual, steady and permanent. 
 It has three large flourmills, four sawmills, two wagon 
 manufactories, one largo furniture manufactory, etc. 
 
 On our arrival we were received by Mayor Smith in be- 
 half of the large concourse of citizens assembled to wel- 
 'come u.s. But as I stepped on the platform I instantly 
 recognized in the crowd, Dr. AVm. H. Grimes, an old acquain- 
 tance whom I had not seen for thirty-seven years, with 
 whom I revived reminiscences of "langsync" until the 
 ^ceremony of reception was over. I also met another ac- 
 quaintance here, Gen. B. F. Stringfellow, conspicuous in the 
 Missouri raids some sixteen'and more years ago, of which he 
 had the reputation of being the life and soul. Yet here he was 
 in a Yankee town of the most intense Yankee proclivities, 
 thoroughly reconstructed, and as enterprising, energetic 
 and progressive as any of them. I was not more surprised 
 to find him here, than I was at the completeness with which 
 he has yielded to the current that sweeps everything on- 
 ward here with irresistible force. The peculiarity of Kan- 
 ;sas society everywhere, is that the whole community is in- 
 tensely in earnest, and seems to work as though it had but 
 'One mind and one purpose. This is a main reason, for 
 that unexemplified progress and prosperity that marks all 
 sections of the State. True, it requires intelligence to be- 
 come master of the situation ; and to see what is to be 
 vdone; but when this isseen> then it requires, will, purpose. 
 
12 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 persistent and united effort to achieve it. Consequently 
 Kansas will undertake and successfully accomplish, the 
 most weighty enterprizes in less time than it takes the 
 more sluggish and discordant elements of the older States 
 to arrive at a conclusion of what were best to do. Major 
 W. F. Downs, the General Superintendent of the Central 
 Branch of the Union Pacific Railroad, had provided for us. 
 an extra train to take us to Waterville, the present ter- 
 minus of the road, just one hundred miles west from here.. 
 We were accompanied by many of the principle citizens 
 ofAtchison, with whom we spent a most agreeable time- 
 going and returning. 
 
 For several miles the country is diversified by hill and: 
 dale; the hills rising but to a moderate height, and where- 
 not occupied by farms, have a dense growth ofyoung oak,, 
 hickory, walnut, and other trees indigenous to the West. 
 How the seeds from which they sprung got there, puzzles', 
 the citizens ; for when the settlers first came these hills 
 were covered with prairie grass with no sign of any other 
 growth. I confess I cannot account for it, but it is an oc- 
 currence that happens everywhere ; not only in Kansas, 
 but in the West, wherever the fire is kept out of prairies 
 contiguous to timber, a young forest growth immediately 
 springs up. Many of the citzens of St. Grcnevieve, Missouri,, 
 recollect the time when the Illinois bottom opposite to 
 their town, was a treeless prairie. Now it is a dense forest, 
 with sycamore, cottonwood, walnut, linden, pecan and oak 
 trees from thirty to forty inches in diameter. 
 
 The first village, Farmington, is twelve and a half miles, 
 west of Atchison. It is situated in a rich, undulating coun- 
 try, which is thickly settled, and well timbered. Three 
 miles further is Monrovia on the south bank of Stranger 
 Creek, surrounded by a rich country. It has a beautiful 
 site, and is the oldest town on the road. Some three miles 
 farther is Effingham, a new and thriving village. I will 
 here state that all the towns and villages along the road 
 have good public school houses, and one or more churches. 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 13 
 
 The next town, one of the largest, is Muscoutah, handsome- 
 ly located on the banks of the Grasshopper, which affords 
 fine water-power, it is just on the edge of the Kickapoo 
 Reserve, in one of the richest sections of the State. Senator 
 Pomeroy lives here. He has a highly improved farm in 
 the vicinity. Maj. Downs, the Superintendent of the rail- 
 road, also has a splendid farm near town. Both he and 
 Mr. Pomeroy, have on their farms some of the best blooded 
 stock in the State. 
 
 Here we saw the Kickapoo chief Parthe, who was in 
 town with his squaw and papoose. He brought the latter 
 up to see the engine, but it became so frightened, as to 
 scream and struggle, and he had hard work to hold it; but 
 "when the band struck up it became perfectly frantic. He 
 and his squaw were dressed in the costume of the whites. 
 Poor fellow, he has since been murdered by a half breed, 
 lie was represented as a good man, had himself been natu- 
 ralized, and was influencing, his people to become both civi- 
 lized and naturalized. At every session of the courts, from 
 ^eight to fifteen, are invested with the rights, duties, privi- 
 leges, franchises and responsibilities of American citizen- 
 ship. They cultivate the soil to some extent, but are more 
 generally engaged in stock raising. They have a system 
 of public schools and good school houses, where all the 
 -children of the tribe are educated. They are entirely 
 peaceable, and the whites deal honestly with them, and 
 treat them with the greatest kindness. 
 
 Six miles beyond Muscoutah is Whiting; and five and a 
 ihalf miles beyond it is Xctawaka, a prosperous town of six 
 .stores, two hotels; and a weekly paper, the Herald, is 
 published here. Both these places are in the Kickapoo 
 Heserve. 
 
 The next town is "Wetmore, having four stores, a grain 
 ware-house, etc., then comes Sherman, a railroad station at 
 ihe fiftieth mile post from Atchison, surrounded by a most 
 beautiful and rich agricultural country. Corning is a flour- 
 ishing town seven miles farther West. Then comes Cen- 
 
14 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAIJfS. 
 
 tralia at the sixty-second mile post, one of the largest and' 
 most prosperous towns on the line. Vermillion comes 
 next, and then Frankfort, a large and thriving town. The 
 Vermillion river close by, affords fine water-power. 
 
 Next comes Barretts, a thriving village, having a saw mill 
 and excellent water-power, with plenty of timber in the vi- 
 cinity. Elizabeth, another village three miles beyond, has. 
 a fine quality of magnesian limestone for building purposes. 
 The next is Irving, ninety miles from Atchison; it is a. 
 most enterprising, prosperous town. A newspaper, the 
 Recorder ', is published here. Besides having the most com- 
 modious public school-house in Northern Kansas, it has the 
 " Wetmore Institute, " an excellent institution of learning.. 
 The town is situated just beyond the Big Blue. 
 
 Blue Kapids, five miles beyond, is a colonial settlement . 
 from New York, about a year old. It has some seventy- 
 houses, two stores, sawmill, hotel, etc. It has fine water- 
 power, and steps have been. taken to make it available for 
 manufacturing purposes. Waterville is situated at the pres- 
 ent terminus of the railroad, one hundred miles west of At- 
 chison. It is about five years old, has twenty stores, four- 
 hotels, gristmill, wagon manufactory, etc. It is beautifully 
 situated near grassy bluffs, some two miles south of the Little 
 Blue, which here comes in from the northwest skirted by a 
 belt of timber. The citizens had prepared for us a sumptuous 
 banquet, to furnish which every zone and climate on the-, 
 globe, were laid under contribution. It was surprising to see 
 here, on the outskirts of civilization, whither the first wave 
 of immigration had rolled only a few years previous, the 
 luxuries of the Old and New World, and of both the Indies, 
 brought together to furnish a banquet that the proudest 
 princes cannot excel. After dinner was dispatched then 
 came the speeches, which were fully equal to the best effort 
 that such occasions call forth elsewhere. But this is not 
 saying much however ; for postprandium speeches every- 
 where amongst us, show, that we as a nation are running- 
 more into gab than into thought* 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 15- 
 
 After dinner we examined some beautiful blocks of mag- 
 nesian limestone, and also an immense block of gypsum, 
 quarried out of the hills. "Upon invitation we ascended the 
 grassy bluff behind and south of the church. The sides,, 
 though covered with grass, were stony, apparently for the 
 most part fragmentary chert ; and amongst the grass the 
 beautiful rose colored flowers of the Sensitive Briar- 
 (Schrankia uncinata) and the no less beautiful and large-- 
 purple blooms of the Penstemon grandiftorus. ^ A splendid 
 carmine colored Phlox also abounded everywhere. 
 
 The soil on the top of the bluff is a deep rich loam, bear- 
 ing a heavy crop of prairie grass. To the west, south 
 and east is a boundless prairie; while north, beyond the 
 fine valley at your feet, through which runs the Little Blue,, 
 the view is bounded by the timber belt along that stream.. 
 In other directions no timber was visible, though it is said 
 to be abundant on a tributary of the Blue some ten miles; 
 off to the southwest ; and also beyond that in the valley of" 
 the Republican, and its affluents. There are a considerable- 
 number of new houses dotting the prairies surrounded by 
 the newly broken sod. The bluffs are mere swells rising 
 to moderate elevations, say none exceeding a height of 
 fifty feet. Though sometimes pretty steep, they are smooth* 
 ly rounded off, and covered by the luxuriant green prairie 
 grass. In fact so artistically are they rounded and dresscd ? 
 that they look like immense sodded bastions around a for- 
 tification. 
 
 I will here state that the rural landscape along the entire* 
 route is not emotional as far as exciting the turbulent feel- 
 ings of the wonderful and sublime are concerned; but on 
 the contrary it inspires the quiet and soothing emotions of 
 absolute peace, tranquility, contentment and repose. Look- 
 ing at it until you imbibe its spirit, you think it almost an 
 impossibility that men dwelling in such a quiet, peaceable^ 
 Arcadia as this, would become, or ever could become ruffled^ 
 and show the stronger and rougher passions of the human 
 heart. 
 
16 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 Waterville is in the western part of Marshall county. 
 Washington County lies west, and has already a consid- 
 erable population, though all the settlements are of quite 
 recent date. West of Washington is .Republic county, 
 crossed diagonally from its north-west to its south-east 
 corner by the Eepublican river. This is, or was the west- 
 ern limits of settlement at the beginning of the present 
 season. All these counties are bounded north by the state 
 line, that is by Nebraska. 
 
 On board the cars again, we were soon on our way back, 
 stopping at Blue Rapids, and paying a visit to the dam, 
 constructed by the colonists across the Blue, just below the 
 junction of the Little Blue, which has its sources to the 
 north-west in. Nebraska, and the Big Blue which heads 
 north, also in Nebraska, near the Platte river. Blue 
 Hapids is about a mile and a half from the railroad station. 
 The citizens had come in wagons and other vehicles to 
 convey us thither; but they had not calculated on quite so 
 large a party, consequently all could not get accommoda- 
 tions, of which unfortunate class I happened to be one. 
 ;Some however, walked; but as I thought a walk of three 
 miles in such a sweltering day would not pay, I remained 
 at the station. It was near sundown when the party re- 
 turned. They found the citizens celebrating the comple- 
 tion of their iron bridge across the Blue on the abutments 
 of the dam, by a pic-nic. The guests were invited to walk 
 :across by the colonists; on their return they were halted, 
 a charge made along the whole line, (one dollar,) by an 
 .artist who had gone up on the train, and then photo- 
 graphed; a copy of which was to have been delivered to 
 each, a condition that he has not yet been able to comply 
 with. 
 
 These colonists have adopted the only plan of speedy 
 success with such an enterprise, and at the same time 
 avoiding the evils of non-employment, and consequent suf- 
 fering and privation. They have selected as beautiful and 
 .<as rich an agricultural location as there is in the West j 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 1 i 
 
 having at the same time a site furnishing any desirable 
 amount of water-power. They have already completed a 
 darn which makes that water-power available. A sawmill 
 is in operation, and a gristmill of the. largest size almost 
 completed ; woolen and other manufactories are to follow 
 in rapid succession, and the colony will be more than a 
 self-sustaining community before the end of another year. 
 I did not learn whether the. colonists own the capital in- 
 vested or not. 
 
 Underway again; it was dusk when we crossed the Blue 
 at Irving, reaching Atchison near twelve o'clock, where we 
 found a special train .to take us to Leavenworth, where 
 we arrived at half past one in the morning. 
 
 The following may be taken as. a general summary of 
 the features, character, quality of soil, sanitary condition, 
 etc., of the country between Atchison and Waterville. 
 
 The soil is deep and, rich, even on the upland prairie. 
 Timber abounds in considerable quantities, and is well dis- 
 tributed. Here the prairies, are seen generally to be 
 bounded by timber, while along all brooks and creeks the 
 forest is heavy. In this there is a great difference between 
 a landscape here and that of the great prairies in Illinois, 
 Iowa and Missouri, where the whole horizon includes but 
 one single continuous treeless plain. 
 
 The drainage is perfect, since the country is rolling, but 
 only in gentle swells, .while the river bottoms, several 
 miles in width, are flanked by hills of considerable eleva- 
 tion. There is a strong current in all the streams, the wa- 
 ter consequently is clear and pure. There are no stagnant 
 pools nor low wet and marshy lands to poison the air 
 with miasma. True, there are bilious diseases, but so 
 there are everywhere, where new clearings are made, and 
 virgin soil broken up and exposed to a midsummer sun. 
 These ^diseases however are of a mild type, and decrease 
 as the quantity of newly broken prairie diminishes from 
 year to year, and almost entirely disappear when all the 
 
 land is brought under cultivation. This conforms to ex- 
 2 
 
18 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 perience everywhere, either east or west. That bilious 
 diseases become milder and less frequent as the country 
 settles up, is a well established fact. Time was when 
 chills and fever were just as prevalent in the Genessee 
 valley as ever they were in Illinois. 
 
 The bluffs that flank the valley often are stony, and 
 some even expose ledges of rocks. They arc so abundant 
 in some places, that we saw quite a number of stone fences 
 along the route. 
 
 Springs of pure cold water are numerous along the whole 
 route, and are said- to exsist westward indefinitely. On 
 the highest prairies the best, pure and cold water can be 
 obtained by sinking wells from 20 to 50 feet. 
 
 Wood is still generally used for fuel, costing from three 
 to four dollars a cord. But it has been ascertained that 
 extensive coal beds underlie the country, from two to 
 four feet in thickness. At several places, these beds have 
 been opened, and are now worked. 
 
 The Grasshopper, Yermillion and Blue rivers furnish a 
 large amount of water-power, and sawmills are found along 
 all of these streams. The price of native lumber is from 
 $15 to $25 per thousand feet. 
 
 Besides, stone, board and wire fences, we saw quite a num- 
 ber of osage orange hedges planted, and some pretty well es- 
 tablished. I should think the country from its abundant 
 fresh water, large range covered with luxuriant grasses, and 
 fine climate, well adapted to stock raising and dairying pur- 
 poses. These no doubt now and for an indefinite time 
 to come will be as remunerative as any other business what- 
 ever. 
 
 I could not obtain any reliable data of how much public 
 land there remains subject to entry, homestead or pre-emp- 
 tion. The railroad has a grant of land of every alternate 
 section for ten miles on each side of the road. They hold 
 them from two to eight dollars per acre, with a liberal dis- 
 count for cash. They will sell them also on a credit of 
 three, four, six and ten years at different rates of interest^ 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 19 
 
 according to time. Full particulars can be ascertained from 
 the General Superintendent and Land Agent of the road, 
 Maj. W. F. Downs. The amount of corn, wheat and pota- 
 toes raised per acre, is equal to the highest figures attained 
 in Missouri and Iowa. In fact the quantities reported seem 
 like marvelous stories. But from the character of the soil 
 and nature of the climate, there can be no doubt that the 
 yield is enormous. 
 
20 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 After breakfast we found carriages provided by the citi- 
 zens in readiness to give us a drive through and around the 
 city. We drove up one of the main streets to the Military 
 Grounds just north of the city. These grounds are very ex- 
 tensive, and are elaborately laid off into plots, on which are 
 situated, surrounded with flowers and shrubbery, expensive 
 mansions for the accommodation of the numerous officers 
 always located here. This is the Headquarters of the Trans- 
 Mississippi Military Department, where men and military 
 stores are collected for distribution to the Upper Missouri, 
 Colorado, Upper Arkansas and New Mexico. The barracks 
 are very large to accommodate the soldiers concentrated 
 here from the malarious Gulf States for recuperation, and 
 from the Northwestern, Western and Southwestern Terri- 
 tories for relaxation. The military reservation is a most 
 beautiful tract, containing 6000 acres. The part occupied is 
 a level plateau on a high bluff, whence there is a command- 
 ing view of the city of Leavenworth to the south, which it 
 entirely overlooks ; the Missouri River for many miles both 
 up and down and the rich bottom or valley east ; and west 
 a fine undulating country of hill and dale, as far as sight 
 extends. 
 
 After driving through the military grounds, we drove 
 south-east to the edge of the bluff, and dismounted to look 
 at the structure, a stone abutment, in process of erec- 
 tion at the terminus of the bridge, on top of the bluff, for 
 the Chicago and Southwestern Railroad, and also of the 
 piers of the bridge, then ready to receive the superstruct- 
 ure. 
 
 The bridge is to be wrought iron, placed upon piers of cast 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 21 
 
 iron, the columns of which are now in position. As this 
 was a novelty to me in civil engineering, I will briefly de- 
 scribe it. The sections of the columns are eight and a half 
 feet in diameter, ten feet in length and one and three quar- 
 ter inches thick, and weigh about ten tons each. With 
 proper flanges at the ends, these sections are joined in the 
 process of sinking, so as to form a continuous cylinder, 
 reaching from the superstructure to the solid rock on the 
 bottom of the river. The whole is then filled up with 
 concrete masonry and grouting. Two of these columns 
 placed side and side longitudinally with the current, form 
 one pier. There are three of these piers, two in the river, 
 and one 011 the eastern shore ; the bridge to land 011 the 
 western shore on a stone abutment. The elevation is ten 
 feet above the high water line. Each of the three spans 
 thus formed, will be three hundred and forty feet in length; 
 and the bottom of the lower chord fifty feet above extreme 
 high water, so that steamboats can pass at any stage of the 
 river. The approach to the eastern end of the bridge con- 
 sists of trestle work, 1500 feet long, and an earth embank- 
 ment extending 2500 feet further, both of which are com- 
 pleted. It is contemplated to make this bridge a common 
 union for the crossing of all railroads terminating here, 
 both from the East and West. 
 
 Remounting our carriages, AVC were driven back through 
 the military grounds, and west on and along the heights 
 that surround the city. These were at some places quite 
 stony, covered with a young and low growth of forest 
 trees, inferspersed with the many wild flowers indigenous 
 to this section. We now for the first time realized the 
 charming location of the city. We could look down the 
 Missouri river south-eastwardly fully twenty miles, and, 
 both shores appeared one unbroken forest of gigantic trees. 
 But right below us, on the banks of the river, in an am- 
 phitheatre of some three or four miles in length, two miles 
 in depth, and gradually rising to our position, is nestled the 
 city of Leavenworth, containing fully 25,000 inhabitants. 
 
22 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 To the west, and at the distance of about half a mile, lies 
 the valley of Salt Creek, a stream that debouches into the 
 Missouri above the Fort. Our position must have been at 
 least two hundred feet above this valley, apparently two 
 miles in width, and surrounded on all sides by heavily- 
 timbered and high hills. It was one of the finest rural 
 pictures I ever beheld. In the centre at the widest part 
 arises a rounded hill, about sixty feet high, of perhaps 
 eighty acres in area and heavily timbered ; while all around 
 it lay the most neat, tidy and thrifty farms in the highest 
 tilth. It reminded me of the landscape and scenery of my 
 boyhood's home in the Tuscaroras. 
 
 We now drove to the residence of Professor Percival G. 
 Lowe, where we partook of some of his cherries and straw- 
 / berries and some native wine. After walking through his 
 garden and grounds of shrubbery, we drove to the south- 
 ern limits of the city, and then returned towards its cen- 
 tral parts, but were brought to a halt before the spacious 
 mansion of Gen. J. C. Stone where we dismounted, and 
 were received by the General and his estimable lady in 
 the most cordial and hospitable manner. Ushered into 
 his drawing room, we spent some time in admiring the 
 fine specimens of art, both in painting and sculpture. Of 
 the former but very few were fancy pieces, representing 
 mostly noted wild landscape scenery in Europe and 
 America. 
 
 The doors were now thrown open, and we found our 
 host had with a munificence that would do honor to a 
 prince, prepared a most sumptuous dinner for us. There 
 were spring chickens, ham, buffalo tongue, pies, cakes and 
 pastry of every imaginable kind, an exhaustive assort- 
 ment of comfits and candies, together with ice cream 
 Then there were the largest, finest and most luscious 
 strawberries and cherries, all raised on his farm near the 
 city, besides the choicest native wines. 
 
 Before leaving the mansion of our hospitable host, we 
 were invited to inspect an upper room, completely decorated 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 23 
 
 with military caps, and other German military paraphernalia 
 brought home by the General's son, who has just returned 
 #fter graduating in a German university. I never saw a 
 native so completely Germanized as he; and so charmed 
 was he with university life in Germany, that he spoke en- 
 thusiastically of it. We could not, however, admire or 
 commend all the features of such a life, that for instance 
 of the barbarous custom of resorting on every occasion to 
 single combat, to avenge any real or fancied insult. Our 
 young friend bears on his otherwise handsome face and 
 manly brow, many ugly scars from sword wounds received 
 in such encounters. 
 
 After taking a most cordial leave of our munificent host 
 and his estimable lady, we returned to the hotel to await 
 the departure of the evening train for Lawrence; mean- 
 while I took mentally a business review of the city and 
 its surroundings. 
 
 Leaven worth has naturally one of the most favorable 
 ^sites for a commercial city. Situated on the west bank of 
 the Missouri river, it has water communication with all 
 the states of the Mississippi Valley and the Gulf, and with 
 the gold and silver producing territories of the upper Mis- 
 souri. But in these days, no city has any hold on, nor sec- 
 urity for permanent commercial prosperity, by having only 
 water communication with the outside world. The arte- 
 ries of commerce now are of iron, instead of water, as 
 formerly. In foreign commerce, water communication 
 will always hold an incontestible superiority, but it can 
 no longer control the commercial movements within the 
 interior of a continent. To concentrate and distribute the 
 products of a continent- and of the world, railroads have 
 an unquestioned pre-eminence over all other modes of 
 transportation. In casting the horoscope of any city's 
 permanent growth and prosperity, her railroad access- 
 ability and facilities must be considered. Applying this 
 principle to Leavenworth, it will be seen that the auguries 
 for the future are most auspicious. She is now connected 
 
24 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 by way of St. Louis, with the East, the Centre and the 
 South by the Missouri Pacific, and the Missouri Yalley and 
 North Missouri railroads ; with Chicago and with the East 
 and North, by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy, the 
 Hannibal and St. Joseph, and the Missouri Yalley, the Hock 
 Island and Pacific, and the Chicago and Southwestern 
 railroads; with the North, the North-west and the Pacific 
 coast, first, by way of Council Bluffs, by the Missouri Yal- 
 ley and St. Joseph and Council Bluff railroads; second, 
 by way of Denver by the Leavenworth, Lawrence and 
 Galveston and the Kansas Pacific railroads. The Leaven- 
 worth, Atchison and Northwestern railroad, now in process, 
 of construction, will connect it with Omaha, opposite Coun- 
 cil Bluffs. The Union Ccn'tral branch of the Union Pacific 
 railroad, now completed to Watcrvillc, will when com- 
 pleted, give it direct communication with San Francisco. 
 With the South-west, with the Leavenworth, Topeka and 
 Santa Fe railroad, now completed to Newton, within 20 
 miles of the Arkansas river; and with the Gulf and the 
 South direct, by the Leavemvorth, Lawrence and Galves- 
 ton railroad. Besides these there are several railroads 
 under contract and the work progressing, and several 
 more projected. Amongst those under contract and in a 
 state of progress, the most important is a narrow gauge to 
 Denver, thence to Santa Fe, with branches through Middle 
 Park to Salt Lake Yalley, and to Helena in Montana, by 
 way of Cheyenne. It will be thus seen that LeaA'enworth 
 now is well supplied with railroad facilities which are an- 
 nually extending. There are five daily newspapers, four 
 in English and one German, published here, besides 
 neveral weeklies and monthlies. There are about one 
 hundred and twenty manufacturing establishments, the 
 aggregate products of which are estimated annually to ex- 
 ceed $2,500,000. 
 
 At thirty minutes after four we left for Lawrence on 
 the Leavenworth, Lawrence and Galveston Hail road. 
 
 The country between Leavenworth and Fairmont is gen- 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 25* 
 
 erally heavily timbered with the varieties of trees that are in- 
 digenous to the country ; such as Sycamore, Cottonwood, wil- 
 low, elm, hickory, oak, hackberry, and walnut. The Ken- 
 tucky coffeenut ( Gymnocladus Canadensis} and two species of 
 the honey locust (Gleditcliia triacanthos, and G. monosperma) 
 and the Red bud occurred occasionally. A young growth 
 has also sprung up on what was formerly prairie, which 
 has attained considerable height. The undergrowth is 
 principally hazel and sumach. The different species of 
 wild grape are also conspicuous everywhere. There are 
 many fine farms along the line, but where man has not ta- 
 ken possession of the prairie, the forest trees have, so that east 
 of Fairmont and for some distance west the prairies have 
 practically disappeared. The country around Fairmont 
 is rich and beautiful with a black friable soil. The surface 
 undulates into gentle swells affording good drainage. 
 
 Westward the character of the country changes somewhat. . 
 The varieties of timber peculiar to the river bottoms appear 
 no longer, being replaced by more valuable varieties, such 
 as oaks and hickories. The undergrowth of hazel, sumach 
 and wild grapevines continues in the forest, but there now 
 occur small glades of grassy plain called " openings/' 
 These are enameled with the beautiful carmine Phlox al- 
 ready mensioned, the prairie, and dog rose, the Tradescan- 
 thia Virginica, Schrankia uncinata, white perennial lark- 
 spur, the purple Polanisia, blue Penstemons. etc. Amongst 
 weeds I noticed an ash colored Artemisia, the daisy flea- 
 bane (Erigeron annuum) the Rosin-weed, or Compass-plant , 
 (Silphium laciniaturri) and several species of Helianthus. 
 
 Tonganoxie, a small village, is situated on a fine rolling 
 prairie, surrounded by beautiful farms. Westward the 
 prairies become larger and the swells culminate in hills of 
 moderate height. Reno is the next village surrounded by 
 a rich farming country. The wheat crop generally along 
 the route was heavy, and fully ripe on the 7th of June when 
 we passed there. 
 
 A : rather singular incident occurred here. While the 
 
i26 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THT5 MOUNTAINS. 
 
 train stopped, some of the passengers got out and commenced 
 caressing a colt belonging to a team standing at the sta- 
 tion, and finally got it on the platform. When the train 
 started, the colt got on the track and followed the train 
 ifully a mile, putting forth its best efforts to keep up, but 
 of course was distanced. When we arrived at the railroad 
 .-station at Lawrence, we found conveyances in charge of the 
 Hon. I. S. Kalloch, President of the Kansas State Agricul- 
 tural Society. He addressed us a few pertinent words, to 
 this effect, that here were conveyances to take us to the El- 
 *dridge House, that we must consider ourselves as the guests 
 of the State Society, who would pay all hotel and other ex- 
 penses, and even for medicine while we remained in the city, 
 and therefore, as he had captured and made prisoners of us, 
 .tall we could do was to get aboard the 'busses, carriages, etc., 
 ras resistance was useless. Comprehending the situation, 
 our party yielded with the greatest grace possible, and were 
 rapidly driven over the bridge and up Massachusetts street, 
 ;and set down at the Eldridge House. The Kansas Pacific 
 railroad depot at which w r e landed, is on the north side of 
 the river, while the city proper of Lawrence is on the 
 jsouth side. 
 
 The Kaw is a rapid stream some two hundred yards wide, 
 ;and is spanned by a substantial bridge, which connects the 
 northern suburb and the Kansas Pacific railroad depot with 
 the city. The L. L. and Galveston railroad crosses the 
 Kaw below, and has its depot near the eastern limits of the 
 city on the south side of the river. 
 
 As the Eldridge House is the largest and one of the best 
 'kept hotels west of St. Louis, it cost us no effort to recon- 
 cile ourselves to our situation as prisoners. The kind treat- 
 ment of the keeper and the attentive and obliging disposi- 
 tion of the servants, but above all the splendid supper, spa- 
 cious rooms and elegant beds, rather made us like the oper- 
 ation of being "put through " in that way. 
 
 By the way this Eldridge House has a history. The 
 ^abrogation of the Missouri Compromise, which excluded 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 2< 
 
 slavery from all territory north of thirty-six and a half de- 
 grees of north latitude, and the passage of the Kansas-Ne- 
 braska bill by Congress, actually initiated the conflict which 
 culminated in the rebellion and the abolition of slavery. 
 This of course could have been foreseen would the result, 
 of that illstarred measure. It actually was foreseen, and 
 moreover predicted by such farseeing men as Benton and 
 others who resisted the passage of the act, by all the pow- 
 er that reason, persuasion and parliamentary law and tac- 
 tics afforded; but their efforts were powerless. 
 
 The syren, " Squatter Sovereignty " sang too charmingly 
 to be resisted by a great many well-meaning and patriotic 
 men ; and the bill was passed under the delusion that set- 
 tlement would be suffered to go on quietly and peaceably 
 until State governments were to be organized in these ter- 
 ritories. But the march of event 3 from the beginning dis- 
 pelled that delusion, if any one ever seriously entertained 
 it. Emigrant societies were organized in most of the north- 
 ern States, especially in Massachusetts, to settle these terri- 
 tories, particularly Kansas. Thes.e, though artizans and 
 agriculturists, and coming with the intention of becoming 
 bona fide settlers, came also prepared to meet any emer- 
 gencies that might arise, hence the " Sharp's rifles " of which 
 we heard so much, at that time. The extremists of the South 
 in the Gulf States, and even in Georgia and other southern 
 States, organized military companies and sent them to" 
 Kansas, not for settlement, but to prevent settlement from 
 the northern States. A conflict at once ensued, which ended 
 in a repulse of the southern military organizations, who re- 
 treated over the border, and there in conjunction with bad 
 men in Missouri, organized marauding and murdering expe- 
 diitions into the territory. One of these expeditions sacked 
 and burnt Lawrence. The earliest colony from Massachu- 
 setts had selected Lawrence as & point d'appul for the settlers^ 
 and had built the Eldridge House, then the most expensive 
 and commodious building in Kansas, for the accommoda- 
 tion of strangers and settlers while looking out suitable lo- 
 
28 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 calities for settlement. The marauders came and first bat-- 
 tered it down with cannon and then burnt it. It was imme- 
 diately rebuilt, larger and more costly than before. It was 
 a second time burnt in the murderous expedition of the 
 infamous Quantrcll. Phenix like, it again arose from its 
 ashes enlarged and beautified j and is this day one of the 
 best appointed hotels in the West. 
 
 Lawrence has many large and elegant buildings for bus- 
 iness purposes, especially on Massachusetts street. Many 
 of the private residences are expensive and elegant > 
 especially on the knolls that surround the city to the 
 west and south, which arc covered with most costly and 
 tasty mansions surrounded by lawns, shrubbery and flower 
 plots. The churches and public schools are also large r 
 tasteful and expensive. The State University on Mount 
 Oread overlooking the city from the southwest, is one of the > 
 most elegant buildings in the West. It will cost when com- 
 pleted nearly half a million, of which amount Lawrence con- 
 tributed $300,000. It is built of a yellow arcnacious magne- 
 sian limestone half dressed ; is four stories high, surmounted 
 by two quadrangular domes and two turrets. Its style of ' 
 artichitecture is the " Bennaissance. " 
 
 Lawrence has a population of 10,000, and is rapidly in- 
 creasing in all the elements of wealth and prosperity- 
 There are no idle heads nor hands here* 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. - 29 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 At eight o'clock on the following morning, June 8th, we 
 found carriages ready to convey us to the depot of the 
 Leaven worth, Lawrence and Galveston Railroad, to take 
 -an excursion to the end of the road, at Thayer, one hun- 
 dred and eight miles south of this point.* "We were in- 
 debted for this pleasure to Maj. Charles B. Peck, the Gen- 
 eral Freight Agent of the road, who had a special train 
 provided for the occasion. Nearly all the members of the 
 Kansas State Agricultural Society had joined us now, to 
 accompany us to Colorado. For the day's excursion, some 
 one hundred of the leading citizens of Lawrence joined us, 
 headed by Mayor Thatcher. Everything being in readi- 
 ness we started towards the sunny South. A heavy storm 
 cloud seemed to lay across our way some fifty or sixty 
 miles distant. Otherwise the sky was perfectly clear, but 
 the weather was sweltering, and the sun shone bright and 
 intensely hot. The day previous a heavy rain had passed 
 over this section, and there was, therefore, no dust to 
 annoy us, but Nature seemed to have put on her gayest 
 attire and brightest smile to greet and welcome us. To 
 our right, and beyond Lawrence, lay Mount Oread, 
 crowned by the superb edifice of the State University. 
 The elevation slopes gently southward to the "Wakarusa, 
 some five miles distant. For several miles the sides and 
 summit of this beautiful swell are covered with stately 
 mansions/the sumptuous suburban residences of the wealthy 
 business men of the city, surrounded by lawns, shrubbery, 
 fruit trees, flower-plots, etc. Soon these are replaced by 
 
 f *Sinee then it has been completed to Coffeyville, on the Virdigris 
 river, where it enters the Indian Territory. 
 
30 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 the neat and tidy farm house, surrounded by fields and 
 meadows in the highest tilth, and threaded by osage 
 orange hedges. The Wakarusa here runs about due east, 
 and its immediate valley or bottom is heavily timbered. 
 To the southeast, beyond the AVakarusa, is an elevation 
 called Blue Mountain, a heavily timbered hill, rising per- 
 haps six hundred feet above the plain. It is a beautiful 
 feature in the landscape. 
 
 Passing beyond the timber skirting the last named 
 stream, the road enters a beautiful rolling prairie, studded 
 over with fine farms, but there are still immense stretches 
 of unbroken prairie, covered with a luxuriant growth of 
 wild grass, and at this season, enameled with wild flow- 
 ers of every hue. The only new species I noticed, except an 
 ^Esclepias with immense dull greenish yellow blooms, was 
 the (Enothera Speciosa, generally called by flourists 
 Crodetia. Of these there were two varieties ; one, the 
 most abundant, was a pure white with a purple center; 
 the other was a delicate pink. Sometimes both varieties 
 were intermixed in large bods. Then, with their large 
 blooms expanding fully two and a half inches, they were a 
 most charming sight. For some eighteen miles, the roll- 
 ing prairie was destitute of trees, except the orchards of 
 the farmers and the young groves they have planted. As 
 we approach the Marias des Cygnes, a tributary of the 
 Osage, wo enter a forest sometimes consisting of rich bot- 
 tom land, and then again of rocky hills. The stream runs 
 southeastwardly, and was much swollen by the heavy 
 rain on the previous evening. 
 
 After emerging from the forest, a few miles brought us 
 to the city of Ottawa, the county seat of Franklin county. 
 I should estimate its population between three and four 
 thousand. It has a bank, several good hotels, churches 
 and fine public schools. Its principal street Is substantially 
 built up with brick and stone houses. It has various 
 kinds of manufactories, and is a prosperous town. Ottawa 
 University is located here, and for several years was 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 3L 
 
 opened and conducted with encouraging prospects of suc- 
 cess. But its endowment failed on account of some defect in; 
 a treaty with the Osage Indians, by which it was to receive 
 a donation of lands. It is now closed. The site of the 
 town is rather level, but the surrounding country is one of 
 the richest in the State. I should have stated that mid- 
 way between Lawrence and Ottawa is Baldwin, the site or 
 Baker University, but of whose history and endowment I 
 could learn nothing. 
 
 Proceeding southward we passed several small streams 
 swollen by the late rains, and skirted by belts of timber. 
 Otherwise the country is rolling prairie until you reach 
 the Pottawattamio river, flowing northeastwardly into the* 
 Marias des Cygnes. Here we again encountered heavy- 
 timber; that on the bluffs generally hardwood, and 
 amongst that in the bottoms many large trees of black 
 walnut. Five or six miles further brought us to Garnett, 
 the county seat of Anderson county, on a considerable 
 swell. The soil is pretty much the same as around 
 Ottawa, but the country is more rolling, and on the side- 
 hills and ravines I saw, in many places, ledges of mag- 
 nesian limestone cropping out. This is characteristic or 
 the country from this onward as far south as we went- 
 I should judge that such portions as have only a few feet 
 of soil overlieing this bed of magnesian limestone, are not- 
 well calculated to withstand droughts. Beyond Garnett, 
 at a distance of some six miles, we crossed Cedar Creek, a 
 tributary of the Pottawattamie, flowing about northeast- 
 On the bluffs I saw a few cedars, and again the black wal- 
 nut in the bottom. Beyond this the horizon enclose* 
 often but one expanse of prairie, which is, however, occa- 
 sionally interrupted by a distant line of timber to the 
 southeast, fringing Deer Creek. The country now slopes-, 
 gently southwest to the Kansas Keosho river, and a belt 
 of timber lining that stream, occasionally looms up in the 
 western horizon. As we approach Deer Creek, the belt or 
 forest we had occasional glimpses of in the southeast,, 
 
^ 32 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 crosses the path of the railroad, and we soon crossed the 
 creek, a rocky turbulent stream, swollen and overflowing 
 its bottom by a heavy rain in the morning, which fell from 
 the cloud we saw as we left Lawrence. Deer Creek runs 
 west and falls into the Neosho river, a short distance west. 
 We were soon at lola, the county seat of Allen county. 
 
 f The road now heads down the valley of the Neosho, the 
 meandering of which stream brings it sometimes in sight. 
 The prairie hence from Garnett was often yellow with the 
 Coreopsis Drummondii, and occasionally a stray plant of the 
 beautiful Coreopsis Tinctoria. A run of some ten miles 
 
 T further brought us to Humboldt, where an excellent din- 
 ner, especially prepared for us, was ready. It was soon 
 
 - despatched, and then came the inevitable postprandium 
 speeches, which I escaped by taking to the prairies. I 
 went to the southwest of the town, which stands upon a 
 considerable swell. ' To the west, about a mile off, flowed 
 the Neosho, having a general course nearly southeast. Its 
 banks are heavily lined with timber, and its course can be 
 traced by it for many miles from the, northwest to the 
 southeast. All the country east of it as far as could be 
 
 ; seen, was a treeless expanse of prairie, but diversified by 
 many newly opened farms, or by an immigrant's new 
 cabin. The flora on the prairie I found the same as those 
 already named, excepting a single plant of the Callirrhw: 
 Verticellata, which we found abundant on the plainn 
 farther west the following day, expanding its purple-red 
 blooms, often two inches in diameter. As the depot is 
 east of the town, I made a detour around the latter to the 
 south. The prairie was full of lupines, larkspurs, pen- 
 stemous, Godetias and flowers already mentioned, but with 
 the exception of the Collirrhoz I found nothing except a 
 species of Sedum that was new to me. It was past bloom- 
 ing, and as I lost the specimen I put up for my herbarium, 
 I have been unable to determine its species. 
 
 Keturning to the depot I found quite a number of the 
 
 .company there already, waiting the arrival of those 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 33 
 
 detained by the orators. When they finally arrived, it 
 was announced that the day was too far spent to go to 
 Thayer, twenty-two miles farther south, the then terminus 
 of the road. This I regretted, not that I probably lost 
 .seeing any thing new, but I failed seeing a historical char- 
 acter, the veritable Eli Thayer, who, as a member of Con- 
 gress from Massachusetts, in times anterior to the Rebel- 
 lion, used to read with such gusto, the " Book of Martyrs," 
 as he called the census of 1850, to the "fire-eaters." He 
 also was the organizing spirit of the emigrant associations 
 formed in the Northern States to settle Kansas in the 
 days of "Border Ruffianism." A retrospect of the coun- 
 try passed over during the day, has satisfied me that u 
 sight of it is sufficient to convince any reasonable mind, 
 that it is one of the most beautiful and the richest agricul- 
 tural districts in the world. The only drawback that I. 
 could discover, and which I have already mentioned, is the 
 fact that the whole country is underlaid at no great depth 
 with a bed of magnesian limestone, which often crops out 
 on the banks of ravines, or the sides of gentle slopes. In 
 case of droughts, which, however, have not occurred for 
 several years, and it is contended that the climate has 
 undergone an amelioration in this respect, land so situa- 
 ted cannot withstand them well. To this may be added 
 the scarcity of fuel. For, although the bottoms along the 
 streams arc generally well timbered, yet there are long 
 reaches of prairie, twenty and even thirty miles across, 
 entirely destitute of trees. Dense settlement of the coun- 
 try cannot take place until a substitute for wood as fuel 
 will be found; and this substitute must be found in an 
 abundant and cheap supply of coal. 
 
 From indications it is fair to infer that it will not be 
 long before an ample supply of excellent coal will be found 
 throughout all this part of Kansas. At Carbondale, a min- 
 ing town some 25 miles northwest of Ottowa, on the To- 
 peka and Santa Fe railroad, there are immense fields of 
 'excellent coal. Again, at Osage City on the same railroad, 
 3 
 
34 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 about 30 miles duo west from Ottowa, a bed of coal is 
 worked, which is said to equal in quality the two best in the 
 Mississippi Valley. Coal of a good quality is also mined 
 at Ottowa and at Thayer, in Neosho county. At lola 
 there is boring going on with a view of striking the vein, 
 which is supposed to underlie the whole country. 
 
 In all its aspects the country passed over to-day indicates 
 recent settlement. Neither farms, residences nor barns, 
 have as yet assumed that solidity and permanence which 
 mark those in the northern part of the State. There the 
 original cabin and cottage have given place to tho neat 
 substantial and commodious farmhouse. But here evident- 
 ly time enough has not yet elapsed to effect such great 
 and permanent changes. 1 called the attention of some 
 Lawrence friends accompanying us, to this difference, and 
 asked for an explanation, since there evidently was no 
 difference in the productive capacity of the soil. I then 
 learned that the whole country south of Ottowa had been 
 an Indian Reservation, and that only some six years have 
 elapsed since the extinguishment of the Indian title. I 
 also learned there was no government land to be entered 
 in southeastern Kansas, excepting in the extreme south- 
 ern tier of counties on the Indian Territory. 
 
 This railroad however has lands located in Anderson, 
 Allen, JsTeosho and Labette counties, which they are offer- 
 ing for sale at from four to ten dollars per aero on a cred- 
 it of seven years at 7 per cent interest. Lands contiguous 
 to the road held by individuals, can bo bought from eight to 
 fifty dollars per acre, according to locality, or the amount 
 and character of the improvements thereon. As in the 
 northern part of the State so here the church and the 
 schoolhouse are conspicuous objects in all th< towns, vil- 
 lages and settlements, a sure index of the character of the 
 people and of its dominant ideas. As already intimated 
 the surface of the country is less diversified by hill and 
 dale than that in northern Kansas. The swells are so gen- 
 tle, and the elevation so moderate, that they cannot as- 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 35 
 
 pire to the dignity of being called hills; while in northern 
 Kansas the elevations are considerable, and the slopes gen- 
 erally abrupt. The conformation of the surface therefore 
 gives wide alluvial bottoms to all the southern rivers, 
 which are admirably adapted for corn, while the uplands 
 are particularly well adapted for small grain. The Avheat- 
 fields passed on the route to-day, were not only riper on 
 the swells, but far less affected by rust on the blade than 
 those on the bottoms. 
 
 The return trip was not marked by any incident of note, 
 except that we encountered a small thunder-shower south 
 of Otto wa. On reaching Lawrence we found a largo num- 
 ber of carriages waiting to give us a drive through and 
 around the city. I took a seat in that belonging to 
 Mayor Thatcher, driven by his son, a lad of some sixteen 
 summers. Passing around the southern suburbs and west- 
 ward until we reached the hill designated as Mount Oread, 
 we were driven northward on the street that lines its side 
 at some elevation above the plain below. This street is 
 lined by tasty suburban residences, surrounded by shrub- 
 bery, lawns, winding ways, ornamented with the choicest 
 flowers. To the north Mount Oread terminates before it 
 reaches the Kaw in a well and prettily rounded hill, with 
 a tolerable steep slope. We now drove westwardly until 
 attaining the summit, and then southward till we reached 
 
 O / 
 
 the front of the State University where we were addressed 
 by Mayor Thatcher in a very neat and pertinent speech. 
 From this point the view is very fine. To the north and 
 northeast is the Kaw, a beautiful limpid river, whose 
 course the eye can follow for many miles down its valley. 
 Between you and it lies the city of Lawrence, containing a 
 population of some 12000, with its twenty churches, mag- 
 nificent public schoolhouses, hotels, banks and other public 
 and private buildings. There also is the bridge spanning 
 the Kaw which connects the northern suburb where the 
 depot of the Kansas Pacific railroad is. A few points 
 south of east is Blue Mountain, a high knoll of but limited 
 
36 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 breadth, which deflects the Wakarusa to the north into the 
 Kaw some six miles below the city. To the south and 
 southeast is a campaign country, covered Avith fine farms 
 and orchards, as far as the eye can reach. Through the 
 centre of this campaign runs the Wakarusa. Westward 
 is a succession of rolling hills, and northwest is the wide 
 alluvial bottom -of the Kaw through which its serpentine 
 course can be traced for miles. 
 
 Remounting our carriages we were driven through some 
 of the principal streets of the city, and finally through 
 Massachusetts street, its Broadway, to the Eldridge 
 House. 
 
 We have now been three days in Kansas, during which 
 time we have traveled about five hundred miles, and seen 
 the country from north to south, and from east to west ; to be 
 sure in the brightest season of the year, the flowery month 
 of June; and wo have met and become acquainted with its 
 people and enjoyed their hospitalities. Retracing, men- 
 tally, the incidents and scenes of these three days, they 
 appear more like a lovely dream than a reality. A richer 
 and a more beautiful country the sun does not look down 
 upon in its course around the globe ; and in time it must 
 become the seat of wealth and social and intellectual power 
 and influence, that will make themselves felt even beyond 
 the limits of our own nation. But a few years since and it 
 was the pasture field of the buffalo, and the hunting 
 ground of wild, roaming, hunting savage tribes of the 
 plains. Then came the white man, and with him the 
 fierce passions engendered in sectional strife, who made 
 this their first battlefield. ~No crime that blackens the 
 criminal code, but was enacted here, and that by people of 
 the same lineage, speaking the same language, and hailing 
 from the same nation. Fraud, violence, robbery, arson 
 and murder were rife here, and roamed over and deso- 
 lated the land unchecked by the civil authority, because 
 of the imbecility, or rather servility of both territorial and 
 national governments. But the men who came here to set- 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 37 
 
 tic, stood their ground manful^, and maintained their 
 position against unequal numbers backed, as far as they 
 dared, by both civil authorities. Then to become an emi- 
 grant to, and settle in Kansas, was an adventure that 
 required courage, firmness and resolution. None but men 
 of positive and strong convictions dared do it; because it 
 required taking their lives in their hands, with the resolu- 
 tion to die for principles if it became necessary. It was 
 a winnowing process by which the dross was separated 
 in the States from the pure metal, and by which cowards, 
 neutrals, compromisers and temporizers were completely 
 eliminated. Those that then came, learned the important 
 lesson which has been, and is, the secret of their success, 
 prosperity and unexampled progress, mainly that of unity 
 of purpose and concentration of efforts. Whatever may 
 have been, or is their object, whether to repel the aggres- 
 sor, to organize industry, to establish schools and other 
 institutions of learning, to build churches, and push for- 
 ward enterprises of internal improvement, there has been 
 no holding back, no division of council, no lukewarmness, 
 but the united energy of the whole community has been, 
 and is, always concentrated in the effort, acting as though 
 it had but a single thought, and controlled by but one 
 mind. In Austria or Russia, such unity of action would be 
 effected by the use of despotic power, but here it is by in- 
 telligence and enlightened public opinion. The result is 
 that in no State has there been such rapid material pro- 
 gress, and in so short a time such immense strides in all 
 the elements of prosperity and greatness. In one decade 
 they have done more towards the development of the 
 natural resources of the State, to organize its industrial, 
 social, moral, religious and intellectual interests, than is 
 effected by the more apathetic and sluggish communities 
 of the older States in a half century. During the border 
 troubles it was customary to speak of " Bleeding Kansas. " 
 It is true she bled some, but with the light of to-day, we, 
 cannot but regard it to have been good for her health, and 
 
38 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 promotive of her constitutional vigor. It kept away from 
 her the timid, the unenlightened, the thriftless and shift- 
 less; in fact all those without enterprise and determina- 
 tion of purpose. Hence, in her social movements, and in- 
 dustrial enterprises, Kansas had nothing to clog the march 
 of events, nor any dead weight to carry. Such material 
 as that composing this infant State cannot be collected 
 anywhere without developing its inherent tendency of 
 pushing things that promote the interests and pros- 
 perity of communities. Hence originated that spirit of 
 progress, and the adoption of those far-seeing and wise 
 measures that have placed her in the front rank of States 
 in the organization of her material, social and intellectual 
 interests. 
 
 Our experience amongst them has convinced us that 
 they are as kind, generous and hospitable, as they are 
 brave, daring and resolute. In everything they do there 
 is the ring of the pure noble metal. Be it doing acts of 
 generosity and kindness, of extending hospitality to stran- 
 gers, be it meeting the common enemy in a death strug- 
 gle, or in attacking and overcoming the obstacles of 
 Nature, the innate character of the people is never obscured 
 or hidden. It is the embodiment of heart, will and pur- 
 pose. Such 18 a true picture of Kansas and her people to- 
 day, which must forever leave its impression on her 
 destinv. 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 39 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 It was one hour past midnight on the morning of June 
 9th when we left, not without regret, the beautiful and 
 enterprising city of Lawrence, the hospitalities of whose 
 generous and liberal minded citizens we had shared for 
 the last two days. Once on board of the western bound 
 train of the Kansas Pacific railroad, our faces as well as 
 our thoughts were turned to the great objective point of 
 our excursion, the Rocky Mountains. Day overtook us at 
 Wamega, 104 miles west of the State line, the initial point 
 of the railroad, whence distance is measured west to Den- 
 ver. The character of the country, both extrinsic and 
 intrinsic, appeared about the same as at Lawrence. There 
 were bold hills and gentle slopes, boundless prairies and 
 hill encircled valleys, through the latter generally a line 
 of straggling trees mark the windings of a small brook. 
 The soil is a dark mould, and where cultivated, gives 
 promise of an abundant harvest. On all sides were evi- 
 dences that the country is fast settling up with immi- 
 grants. 
 
 New and unpainted cottages or the board shanty meet 
 the eye in all directions, as far as sight can pierce over 
 the plain. $ome of these are yet surrounded with the 
 primitive prairies, yet many stand within or beside the 
 newly broken sod, but all are unenclosed. Often corn 
 has been dropped in the furrow while breaking up the 
 prairie, and w^here so, it is up with a tolerable fair stand 
 five to eight inches above the sod. This often yields a 
 third or a fourth of a crop, with no other labor than drop- 
 ping it in the furrow while breaking up the prairie sod. 
 
 The older settlements exhibit unmistakable evidence of 
 
40 OVER THE PLAINS AND OX THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 that intelligence, industry and enterprise, and consequent- 
 ly thrift so characteristic of the people of Kansas. Neat- 
 er homes, better cultivated farms, and more promising and 
 finer crops, arc hard to find, even in the best cultivated 
 and richest parts of the older States. The aspect of the 
 whole seems as though the people thought there were no- 
 enjoyments nor pleasures equal to the endearments of tidy ,, 
 comfortable and pleasant homes. 
 
 The preceding day we had seen the wheat fields from 
 Lawrence to Humboldt, along the Leavenworth, Lawrence 
 and Galveston railroad. At Garnett and lola there was 
 often much disparity in the growing crop. Fields almost 
 adjacent, with apparently no difference in soil, nor choice 
 of location, differed so much in appearance that the own- 
 ers of the poor fields must have made some great mistake 
 or committed a grievous fault either in the time or man- 
 ner in which they put the crop in, or in the quality of the 
 seed sown. Be the cause what it may, one field promising 
 28 to 30 bushels of wheat per acre was fully ripe for har- 
 vest, untouched by blight, while an adjacent one, thin, 
 green and rust eaten, would not yield one-half that quan- 
 tity of a very inferior quality. Along the line of the Kan- 
 sas Pacific railroad so far, although there were considera- 
 ble differences in fields, there was nowhere such a contrast 
 as we had observed in Southern Kansas. Corn from 
 Wamcga as far west as wo found it planted, was very 
 promising, of a dark rich green, since there had been 
 through this section abundant rains, and most of the fields 
 were in the highest state of tilth with not a weed to be 
 seen. 
 
 Manhattan lies above and immediately west of the junc- 
 tion of the Blue whose upper valley, some seventy miles 
 north from its mouth, we had traversed three days before 
 us far as "Watervillc. Here is located the Kansas State 
 Agricultural College and the experimental farm. Accord- 
 ing to pre-arrangemcnt we were to have stopped here and 
 Hpcnd a day in looking over the farm and studying its sys- 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 41 ; 
 
 tern and that of the organization of the college. The col- 
 lege and farm are located some two and a half miles 
 northwest of the town. But finding that if we did so, our 
 train arrangements would be interfered with, we kept on 
 without stopping, with the intention to defer our visit un- 
 til our return. 
 
 The railroad runs up the valley of the Kaw, or Kansas 
 as it is sometimes called, a beautiful transparent stream 
 with a rapid current. It is sometimes flanked by low 
 hills, which now approach and then recede until lost from 
 view beneath the distant horizon. The banks of the riv- 
 er are sparsely lined with trees, but with little under- 
 growth. Otherwise there is no timber except along the 
 banks of some affluent whose devious windings can be 
 traced over the plains until lost in the distance, by the 
 line of trees that deck its banks. 
 
 The same species of mimosa observed yesterday in 
 Southern and the day before in Northern Kansas, the 
 Schrankia uncinata of the botanists, was still plenty, and 
 occasionally the white and purple (Enothera, was still plen- 
 ty. A new comer, however, made its appearance this 
 morning, the white Mexican prickly poppy, (Argemone 
 grandlftora} growing luxuriantly on the sides of the ex- 
 cavations and embankments of the railroad. Its enor- 
 mous white flowers, often five inches in diameter, were the 
 admiration of the whole party. 
 
 Some fifteen miles above Manhattan is to be seen on 
 the south side of the Kaw the old capitol building now 
 occupied if at all by hogs and other unclean beasts. Paw- 
 nee was to have been the capital of the nascent State ; here 
 the appropriation made by Congress for erecting Territori- 
 al buildings was expended, and here Governor Eecdcr con- 
 vened the first Territorial Legislature, in midwinter on a 
 bleak prairie one hundred and twenty-five miles west of 
 any civilized habitation. This was too much for the prac- 
 tical good sense of the unsophisticated early settlers, and 
 they rebelled against it. After many failures with re- 
 
42 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 newed and energetic efforts, the ambulatory Legislature 
 meanwhile meeting at -other points, the capital question 
 was settled by selecting Topeka, arid the glory of Pawneo 
 departed and with it visions of valuable corner lots, etc. 
 On the surrounding prairies there is now nothing to be 
 seen but droves of Texas cattle, remarkable only for their 
 enormous uncouth horns. Such was the case on the 
 morning we passed there. 
 
 Fort Riley is situated near the junction of the Republi- 
 can Fork; and some three miles beyond is Junction City. 
 A good idea of the topographical sloping of Central and 
 Northern Kansas may be formed by studying its river sys- 
 tem proper, which converges here. Southwestern Kan- 
 sas, nearly one-fourth part of the State, belongs to another 
 system, and is drained and traversed by the Arkansas, and 
 the Cimmaron. But the system which forms the Kaw has 
 its sources west in Colorado and north in Nebraska. The 
 Blue rises in Nebraska near the channel of the Platte, and 
 flows generally south, entering the Kaw at Manhattan. 
 It is said to afford the best water power in the State 
 through its entire length. It certainly does so in the 
 northern tier of counties, as we saw three days before at 
 Irving, Blue Rapids and Waterville. The Republican 
 forms a junction with the Smoky Hill Fork just below 
 -Junction City. The Republican has its source in south- 
 western Nebraska and northeastern Colorado, flowing at 
 first east, then southeast until it joins its waters with those 
 of the Smoky Hill, forming the Kansas or Kaw. Thirty 
 miles or so west, Solomon's Fork, rising in eastern Color- 
 ado, running at first northeast into Nebraska and then 
 -southeast, joins the Smoky Hill. Thirteen miles higher 
 up, the Smoky Hill is joined by the Salina, which also 
 rises in eastern Colorado. The Smoky Hill itself rises in 
 eastern Colorado, and flows a little north of east in the 
 general course. The line of railroad is up the valley of 
 the Smoky Hill, but so level and expanded is its basin 
 that the river is s-eldom in sight, flowing far to the south. 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 43 
 
 Some twenty-five miles above Junction is Abilene, 163 
 miles west of the State line. Being the point for shipping 
 Texas cattle, it in quite a business place, but the concen- 
 tration of the cattle trade here retards the growth, settle- 
 ment and improvement of the rich agricultural country 
 isurrounding it. 
 
 At Abilene we saw the first subterranean habitations, 
 which become more common further west. An excava- 
 tion is made some ten feet wide, twenty feet long and six 
 or seven feet deep. Timbers are put up like rafters over 
 the excavation, and the whole is covered with prairie 
 sod. Such were the houses of the railroad laborers when 
 the road was built, and such still are the habitations of 
 thousands of employees of the road, and of the poor on 
 the plains from Abilene to Denver. An advance on this 
 is the adobe, of which we saw several in the extreme 
 western part of Kansas. 
 
 The first village beyond Abilene is Solomon, at the 
 junction of that stream, and next is Salina, named so for 
 the same reason. Salina is a thriving village, and the 
 best wheat fields seen yet were in the neighborhood. 
 It is a "meal station," consequently we took breakfast 
 here a very good one for which the usual price along 
 the line, one dollar, was charged. 
 
 Beyond Salina the appearance of the country changes. 
 The hills, on the north side especially, become higher and 
 steeper, with occasionally a rock cap. Some twenty 
 miles above Salina, on the highest hill, there is either a 
 natural or artificial stone column, about fifteen feet high, 
 and perhaps three feet in diameter. Some people say 
 Fremont set it up as a landmark to guide the wanderers 
 of the prairies; others, that it is an Indian monument. 
 It is a conspicuous object for miles around. Bavaria is 
 the next Village above Salina. A good deal of newlv 
 broken prairie, and of new cabins were seen here. The 
 town seems to be principally settled by Germans. Brook- 
 ville, at the two hundredth mile post, is the next town, 
 
44 OVER THE PLAINS AND OX THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 and has a very thrifty appearance. The machine shops 
 of the Kansas Pacific railroad are located here. Between 
 Rock Spring and Elm Creek, (207 miles west of the State 
 line) we saw the first prairie dog village. It is, however, 
 a libel to call this little fellow, the Cynomys Ludovidanus r 
 a dog. There is nothing in his looks, manners, habits,, 
 disposition or nature that is at all currish. Why, to con- 
 vince you of his uprightness he straightens himself and 
 standing on his hind legs looks you in the face without, 
 winking; as much as to say "you may call me a dog, but 
 you cannot accuse me of crookedness in my ways, for 
 measure my acts by what rule you may, physically or 
 morally, they will be found perpendicular to any base 
 you lay down." 
 
 His detainers even admit that he lives in amity and 
 peace with the jackass-rabbit, the burrowing prairie owl, 
 and even with the malicious rattlesnake, sharing with 
 them his house and bed. This ought to be sufficient evi- 
 dence that he is not a dog, not even of "the dog-in-the- 
 manger" sort. Moreover, in a life-time he never tastes 
 meat, but being a true herbivore, he lives upon the lus- 
 cious blades and roots of the buffalo grass. He indeed 
 resembles a fox squirrel, being only a little larger and 
 somewhat yellower, with a short, black, straggy-haircd 
 tail, like the groundhog or woodchuck. 
 
 From Bock Creek to Fort Harkcr, especially near Sum- 
 mit Siding, the bluffs and buttcs arc bold and picturesque, 
 with ledges and crests of red rock. The soil is very dark 
 and the subsoil a brown, ashy gray. At Fort Harkerthe 
 hills again assume their wonted shape of gentle slopes, 
 flothed in the light green of the prairies. Just beyond 
 Fort Harkcr, we saw a caravan of about thirty ox-teams, 
 on their way to Santa Fe. 
 
 Fort Harker has an altitude of 1,586 feet above tide- 
 water. Hero there is a summit, and at Ellsworth, five 
 miles beyond, the altitude is only 1,440 feet. But from 
 here to G-opher, 174 miles west, the average rise per mile 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 45 
 
 'is a fraction over ten feet; the altitude of the latter place 
 being 8,220 foot above tide. 
 
 Ellsworth, the limit of western settlement, is a new, 
 neat and thrifty village, standing on the north bank of 
 the Sn|oky Hill, which here approaches close to the road. 
 'The country is rolling, rich prairie, but entirely treeless, 
 except some straggling trees along the river and creek 
 banks. Here the diminutive c'hurch, with a high, curi- 
 ous-shaped steeple, arrests attention. It looks more like 
 a toy house than anything else. We concluded it to be 
 the famous "little church around the corner/ 7 dispensing 
 religious rites, privileges, consolation and charities on all 
 alike as poor sinners, whether they claim, like the Phar- 
 isees, conventional respectability and righteousness or 
 not. Seventeen miles beyond Ellsworth is Wilson's 
 Creek, 1,586 feet above tide water. Here Mr. Elliot, the 
 Industrial Agent of the Kansas Pacific Railroad Com- 
 pany, has located his first experimental station. 
 
 The existence of this agency is an historical sequence 
 of events that took place more than half a century ago. 
 When Missouri applied for admission into the Union, the 
 same questions in principle, though not in form, were 
 raised which forty years later culminated in a war that 
 terminated forever the existence of the institution in 
 whose interest these questions were raised, by submitting 
 them to the arbitrament of the sword. It was evident 
 from the heat and ardor with which conflicting, extreme, 
 and at every point antagonistic views on the conditions 
 upon which Missouri was to be admitted, were presented 
 and urged, that an amicable compromise or an open rup- 
 ture must ensue. Timidity counseled compromise; but 
 compromise upon anything actual was out of the question ; 
 therefore it was made upon what was only prospective. 
 The uninhabited territory hence became the matter of 
 compromise; and to reconcile the extreme Southern men 
 to a compromise, presented, urged and carried through 
 by temporizing and timid men of their own section, an at- 
 
46 OVER THE PLAINS AND OX THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 tempt was made to depreciate the territory in question.. 
 Hence, while all territory lying north of latitude 36 deg. 
 30 min. and west of Missouri Avas dedicated forever to 
 freedom, the Southern people must be deluded with the 
 idea that it was worthless. Hence there eminatcd 
 from the War Department, then presided over by Mr. 
 Calhoun, an aspirant for the Presidency, documents pur- 
 porting to give a topographical description of the coun- 
 try, and of the nature of the soil and climate. These, 
 documents described the country as worthless ; merely a 
 vast, arid, treeless, rainless sandy desert; no springs nor 
 running brooks, because there was no rain to supply them;, 
 and so sandy that the streams that flowed from the moun- 
 tains were soon absorbed on the plains. 
 
 Hence there appeared in our school atlases, for the first 
 time, that myth the "Great American Desert," shaded 
 like the Sahara and other deserts to indicate sand, from 
 the Missouri to the mountains and south beyond the 
 Arkansas. The settlement of Kansas, up to Ellsworth, 
 two hundred and twenty-five miles west of Missouri, has 
 dispelled this illusion as far as the eastern half of the ter- 
 ritory is concerned ; but our geographers still represent 
 the western half as the Great Deser^ or the Desert omit- 
 ting the sandy shading. 
 
 The Kansas Pacific railroad company having a large 
 land grant, (the alternate, or more specifically all the odd 
 numbered sections for ten miles on each side of the road,) 
 from Congress given to aid in constructing the road, find it 
 necessary to disabuse the public mind and root out the geo- 
 graphical errors that have been inculcated for two genera- 
 tions. They have adopted the truly logical way, which is, 
 to combat error by facts. "Without facts and without inves- 
 tigation, and merely upon the dictum of some book com- 
 piler, the public yet take it for granted that practically, if not 
 actually, there is a region some three or four hundred miles 
 wide in "Western Kansas and Eastern Colorado that i& 
 doomed to remain a desert and wilderness forever ; and 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 47 
 
 I 
 
 that the cause of this doom is natural sterility, imposed by 
 a sandy soil and a rainless climate. To eradicate the be- 
 lief in this sterility, the contrary must be shown, and not 
 shown by arguments, but by facts which are incontestible. 
 If crops actually grown there show that the soil is produc- 
 tive, then it cannot be a sandy, sterile plain ; and if these 
 crops are grown without irrigation, then the climate can- 
 not be rainless. These are the problems proposed by the 
 company to be solved and demonstrated by its industrial 
 agent. Mr. Elliot selected three stations Wilson's Creek, 
 Ellis and Pond Creek for his experiments. The distances 
 from the State line, respectively, are 239, 302 and 425- 
 miles, and their elevations 1586, 2019, 3200 feet above the 
 sea. East of Wilson's Creek the demonstration of the in- 
 habitability and fertility of the plains is une fait accompli. 
 Up as far as and around Ellsworth, only sixteen miles- 
 east of Wilson's, the luxuriant fields of corn and the heavy 
 fields of wheat, yellow and ready for the harvest, without 
 any taint of disease, sufficiently attest the adaptation of 
 the country for yielding the heaviest crops of cereals and 
 of the best quality. But Wilson's is on a high bench, with 
 a different soil, and with less black loam than the plains- 
 eastward. In fact, it is a different, a cretaceous forma- 
 tion, reaching clear to the mountains. Here, then, the 
 test was to be made whether this formation was deficient 
 in the elements of fertility, and if not, then under proper 
 conditions the whole plain would be productive. Late in 
 November wheat, rye and barley were sown, and the sea- 
 son being unusually dry, the prospect of success was not 
 considered to be very flattering. The area sown was 
 about one acre and a half of each kind. When we were 
 there (on the 9th of June) the whole crop would bo ripe 
 within ten days. The stand, the hight, and the general 
 appearance of the crop were equal to the best crops under 
 similar circumstances in Missouri .or Illinois, and in the 
 rich yellow coloring of the straw and freedom from disease,, 
 jar superior. Of the crop at Ellis we could not judge^ 
 
48 OVEft THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 (| 
 
 since some nine days before our arrival a hailstorm had 
 passed over, literally mowing it down and sweeping it 
 from the field. At Pond Creek more than a thousand feet 
 higher, the crop was very promising not so forward, but 
 of the healthiest kind of deep green. On our return, ten 
 days later, the barley was here turning yellow and the 
 ears very heavy. As far as the experiments of the present 
 ;and past season are concerned, they have been eminently 
 successful. The winter grains have not only succeeded, 
 but succeeded most admirably, and the corn is promising. 
 The only question, then, is, was the present an ordinary 
 or an exceptional season ? This it is impossible for me to 
 decide; and further experiment and observation maybe 
 necessary to determine and settle this point. 
 
 It will be remembered that in Missouri the spring had 
 been unusually dry. When we left St. Louis in early 
 -June, the spring crops were suffering for want of rain, and 
 we found them still so when we returned on the twentieth, 
 though there had been a few refreshing showers in the 
 intervening time. West on the northern frontier of Kan- 
 sas, as far as we went, some 100 miles northwest of Atchi- 
 son, there had been abundant rains. The same remark 
 may be made as disclosed by our trip to near the southern 
 .border. On the outward trip, west as far as daylight per- 
 mitted us to observe, namely, to Fort Wallace, 420 miles 
 west of the State line, and on our return from Aroya, 511 
 miles, there were evidences of not only abundant but 
 quite recent rains; the excavations along the line and the 
 buffalo wallows on the prairie were pools of water. At 
 Denver, 128 miles further west, there had been no rain 
 when we left. Now, these rains reaching away into east- 
 ern Colorado, and within 150 miles of the mountains, may 
 have been exceptional and not the rule ; but if they are as 
 abundant and frequent every season as this, the crops will 
 suffer less from drought on the plains than they have in 
 southern and eastern Missouri this year. 
 
 Mr. Elliot also experimented in planting trees, both do- 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 49 
 
 eiduous and evergreen. Of the former we saw maples, 
 elms, ailanthus, chesnut, European larch, etc., which all 
 appeared to do well. The larch had started finely and 
 promised well, but my experience with it is that appear- 
 ances are deceptive, and disappointment almost certain, 
 being so liable to kill off during the summer heats, i think 
 it will be found to do well on the higher, well irrigated 
 and cooler plains of Colorado ; but on the plains it should 
 be planted sparingly until experiment has demonstrated 
 that it can be done successfully. 
 
 The seedling oaks and walnuts looked thrifty, and of 
 their success there can be no doubt. Of evergreens there 
 were planted the Scotch and the Austrian pine and the 
 Norway spruce. The latter so far appeared, the most 
 promising. It must also be stated that the planting was 
 not done under the most favorable circumstances. It was 
 done by the employees of the road, none of whom, perhaps, 
 had ever set or seen a tree set before in their lives. The 
 success in tree raising is of the highest importance, smce 
 incontestiblo facts prove that of all agencies within the 
 control of man for the amelioration of climate, that of cov- 
 ering the earth with forests is the most effective. Of the 
 progressive improvement in climate on the plains and the 
 mountains, and the probable cause, we may' speak hereaf- 
 ter. The supply of water is also a material question bear- 
 ing upon the future settlement of the plains. There are 
 more or less springs, but often at long intervals, through- 
 out the plains j and then besides the living streams, such 
 as the Solomon, Salina, Smoky Hill, Republican and their 
 affluents, there are many " aroyasj' that fs beds of tempora- 
 ry streams with pools of water, which answer for stock 
 purposes. 
 
 Suppose that the fall from the clouds is insufficient to fill, 
 the cisterns, the experience of the railroad company is 
 that abundant and apparently inexhaustible supplies, of 
 water can be obtained in sinking wells of moderate depths. 
 In sinking these wells no blasting is necessary. What the 
 
50 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 approximate depth may be to which the wells have to be 
 sunk will depend upon the elevation of the surface. The 
 railroad company sank these wells where necessary, most 
 generally on an elevation, since their road is on a divide. 
 Their wells range from 48 to 130 feet in depth. Upon 
 lower grounds the depth would probably be much less. 
 
 Fossil is a station village, in and around which some 
 thirty families from Wisconsin are settled. They were 
 very poor when they came here, soon after the road was 
 opened. An employee of the road told me the company 
 had brought them here at a mere nominal charge from 
 St. Louis and set them down here, knowing they never 
 could get away. They have comfortable cottages now, 
 are breaking up considerable prairie, and have some cat- 
 tle. I conversed with several of them, both male and fe- 
 male. They appeared quite intelligent and declared, not- 
 withstanding the privations, hardships and trials they had 
 to endure after coming here, they are now well pleased 
 and quite satisfied with their situation. Some of the vil- 
 lage boys had a horned frog they had caught, which they 
 presented to Mr. G-eo. T. Anthony, the editor of the Kan- 
 sas Farmer. Here we saw the first buffalo, but it was a 
 calf, tied with, a long rope, and was quite tame. We could 
 no longer doubt that we were within the range of the 
 buffalo, not because we had seen the calf, but all along the 
 railroad and over the plains, their dead carcases were 
 strewn. This continued for 200 miles and how much fur- 
 ther I cannot say, since, as long as there was sufficient day- 
 light the same evidences of wanton slaughter and insensate 
 destruction were visible. This is a fit subject for the atten- 
 tion of the Humane Society. I suppose I saw at least a 
 thousand carcases lying as they fell, killed merely to afford 
 amusement to the soldiers of Forts Hays, "Wallace, etc. This 
 is outrageous, and the strong arm of the government should 
 be exerted to put a stop to it. These animals are and will be 
 an important item to promote the settlement of the plains, 
 furnishing an abundant and most delicious supply of meat to 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 51 
 
 the pioneers. It is now served up at all the meal stations 
 of the road, and is more relished by the hungry passengers 
 than the best beef. Besides, our Indian difficulties always 
 involve the wholesale slaughter and wanton destruction 
 of the buffalo by the whites. Let the government rec- 
 tify and prevent these outrages in the future, and let these 
 thoughtless men be made to feel that humanity and civ- 
 ilization revolt against such wantonness and cruelty. 
 
 At Fossil there is a most beautiful white limestone in 
 great abundance, admirably adapted for building purposes. 
 Immense quantities of it are quarried and shipped from 
 here and other stations along the road. Further west, 
 near Wallace, there are softer limestones, some of 
 beautifully variegated colors, so soft as to be as easily 
 sawed as wood into blocks; yet when dried will bear the 
 weight of large buildings. Xear Junction City a similar 
 soft magnesian limestone, called "Junction City marble," 
 is found. Blocks from eight to twelve tons weight are 
 quarried and sawed, like wood, into any shape desired. 
 It is of a delicate cream color. Most of the houses in 
 Junction City are built of it; and so is the magnificent 
 State capitol, at Topeka. Its durability has been well 
 tested for years at 4 the government buildings at Fort 
 Eiley. 
 
 We are now fully on the plains. The short buffalo 
 grass has supplanted the taller grasses, common to the prai- 
 ries in all the Western States. This is a peculiar grass, not 
 as long as, but standing fully as thick as the hair on a 
 buffalo's back. Whether green or dried into a natural 
 hay, it is equally well relished by wild and tame animals, 
 and possesses most remarkable nutricious properties. It 
 now would have complete possession of the plains where 
 we are, were it not for the Patagonian plantain ( Plantago 
 Patagonica), which overtops it and gives to the plain a 
 bluish-gray tint. This plantain is common to both North 
 and South America, growing east of the Andes and Rocky 
 Mountains, from the Straits of Magellan to the Arctic 
 
52 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 Sea. The flora have also become fewer and scarcer. 
 There are none to be seen, except the white Mexican 
 poppy along the excavations of the road, and on the prai- 
 ries occasionally a Malvastrum Coccineum, also the beauti- 
 ful Gaillardia Picta and large plots of the Callirrhoe Pedata 
 and Callirrhce Verticillata. 
 
 On and on we go to the westward, passing a road sta- 
 tion every twelve or fifteen miles, Walker, Hays, Ellis, 
 Ogallah, Park's Fort, Cayote, Buffalo, Grinnel, Monument, 
 Gopher, Sheridan, Wallace', Eagle Tail, Monotony, etc. 
 Otherwise the scene is as monotonous as that viewed from 
 a ship on the ocean. Varied, however, with the constantly 
 occurring prairie dog villages. It was really amusing to 
 see the dogs (?) scampering home, big and little, upon the 
 approach of the train. Instantly they would disappear in 
 their holes, excepting perhaps a veteran whose curiosity 
 was greater than his sense of fear. Having arrived on 
 his hillock, he sets himself upright, often raising on hi* 
 hind legs, and stands unmoved like a statue, looking at 
 the passing train. Some of the passengers in a forward 
 car would empty their- revolvers at them, but without 
 effect, unless the ball struck near the hillock, when in a 
 twinkle he would disappear in his hole. 
 
 On the hillocks were frequently seen the burrowing 
 owl, the Anthene Ifypugcea of ornitholigists. 
 
 We saw the first antelopes near Ogallah. As soon as 
 they were discovered the shout of " Antelopes " burst from 
 every car in the train, and all eyes were .strained in a 
 southwest direction to catch a glimpse of the novel sight. 
 There, sure enough, at perhaps three hundred yards dis- 
 tant, were two fine ones, fleeting with the swiftness of the 
 wind over the 'plain. As they seemed bewildered, and 
 taking a direction almost parallel to the line of the road, 
 they were some time in sight. Hardly had this excite- 
 ment subsided before the shout of "Buffalo" broke out, 
 with fingers pointing to the north. Away off at a great 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 53 
 
 distance were three dark moving objects, which we were 
 told were stragglers from the main herd. 
 
 A jackass-rabbit, the Lcpus Townsendii, would now and 
 then start up and scud away. He is as large as a four- 
 month old fawn, with the color and immense ears of a 
 jackass. Sometimes a very large old fellow, accustomed 
 to the cars, would sit on a prairie dog's hillock surrounded 
 by the dogs^ and look unconcernedly at the passing train 
 within fifty yards of it. The antelopes became so numer- 
 ous as not to attract much attention, and twice or three 
 times more we had views of a few buffaloes at a distance. 
 Near dark there was a shout of " coyote, " and a prairie 
 wolf, as he is called in tlio AVcstcrn States (canis latrans) 
 was seen trying his " level best" to get out of the way of 
 the " fire horse. " 
 
 Towards evening the aspect of the plain ^changed. The 
 "mesquite, "a kind of vernal grass, was supplanting the 
 Patagonian plantain. It is about four inches high, heads 
 up like beardless barley, which are filled with a grainlike 
 chess, and as it was past maturity, it was dry and dead, 
 giving the plain, notwithstanding its wooly coat of bluish 
 gray, green buffalo grass, a sere appearance. At Wallace 
 we had fine buffalo steak for supper, and it was after sun- 
 set that we resumed our journey. 
 
 Conversing with Major Reddington, the paymaster on 
 this end of the road, about the meteorology and climate of 
 this section of the Great Plains, I received much valuable 
 information respecting the periodic winds that sweep at 
 regular seasons over this vast region. I may hereafter 
 embody these facts*, combining them with my own obser- 
 vations, into regular form, and explain their laws and me- 
 teorological relations to the climate of the Valley of the 
 Mississippi. 
 
 Inquiring of the Major how long this wearisome monot- 
 ony of plain and sky would continue, I received the wel- 
 come information that fifty miles west from where we 
 
54 * OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 then were, at First Yiew Station, we would get the first 
 glimpse at the mountains. 
 
 It was now getting dark, and a thick grayish haze had 
 settled on the plain; it was therefore evident that we 
 could not enjoy the "first view, " even if at the station. 
 The loneliness of the landscape, the sombre appearance of 
 the sky, shut out by the thick haze, seemed to grow op- 
 pressive and to excite a vague, indefinite feeling of anxi- 
 ety, akin to fear. I looked out, the pall of darkness had 
 settled on the plain. In front was our engine, like a mon- 
 ster, breathing smoke and flame, giving a lurid tint to the 
 thick haze, but all else was impenetrable gloom and dark- 
 ness. I felt as though we had left the coasts of light, and 
 Milton's description of the arch fiend's flight through the 
 domains of Chaos vividly recurred to me : 
 
 "On he fares, through a dark, 
 Illimitable ocean, without bound, 
 "Without dimension ; a vast- /vacuity, where 
 Length, breadth, hight, time and place are lost. " 
 
 Our weary company became silent, and one by one fell 
 into the embrace of 
 
 ' 
 
 " Tired nature's sweet restorer, 
 Balmy sleep. " 
 
 And BO I close for the present, leaving us asleep in the 
 wide, wide plains. 
 
OVK3. THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 55 
 
 CHAPTER Y. 
 
 Our last chapter closed with the retirement of our 
 party to rest, and left us asleep on the vast plains, in 
 charge of the fiery steed, who, sure footed and fleet, and 
 undaunted by storm and darkness, was, with unflagging 
 speed, carrying us forward to our destination. Day over- 
 took us at Agate,. 572 miles beyond the State line of Mis- 
 souri, and 57 miles east of Denver. Refreshed by a good 
 rest, I w^as up at dawn to catch a glimpse of the great 
 mountains, with whose description by Lewis and Clark I. 
 was charmed and captivated in early boyhood. But the 
 same impenetrable haze of the preceding evening still 
 rested on the plains and closed in the view on all sides. 
 The morning was cold, and frost was observable on the 
 plains, which looked more sere and desolate than before, 
 since the dry " mesquite grass " was more abundant, and 
 entirely hid the coat of buffalo grass underneath. But we 
 were either running out of the haze, or else the rising sun 
 was dispersing it, for it was growing thinner and more 
 penetrable to the sight. Ah, there ! the outline of some- 
 thing dark as a storm cloud appeared for an instant and 
 then vanished. Was it fancy, or was it reality? Anon, 
 and the same reappeared, this time like a series of black 
 clouds, but hazy, and of no definite outline. Again they 
 vanish and leave me in doubt. I hesitated making the 
 assertion that I had caught a glimpse of the object that I 
 had a life-long desire to see. I looked doubtfully at Mrs. 
 T. who had been looking out for the same object on the 
 opposite side of the cars. She beckoned me and whis- 
 pered, " I believe I caught several glimpses of the moun- 
 tains through the fog. " I replied I thought I had too, 
 
56 OVEH THE PLAINS. AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 but was not quite certain. Looking out again, i;i a mo- 
 ment they reappeared, this time quite distinct; and in- 
 ntantly a shout arose: "The mountains!" "the moun- 
 tains ! " that awoke every sleeper in the party. 
 
 In fifteen minutes more we had run clean out of the 
 haze into an atmosphere of most crystalline transparency. 
 There lay exposed to full view along the western horizon 
 two hundred and fifty miles, at least, of the greatest, long- 
 est, and most remarkable mountain chain in the world, 
 stretching from Terra del Fucgo to Bchring's Straits, a 
 distance of some 11,000 miles, and containing more of the 
 precious metals than the whole world besides. There 
 they lay, sombre as cast iron, peak behind peak, duplicate 
 and conduplicate, culminating in the far distance into- 
 snowy heads, peering over and dominating the whole- 
 My observations on the plains had already satisfied me that 
 in no particular whatever, cither of general outline, for- 
 mation, soil, climate, productions or meteorology, was the 
 West a counterpart of the East; and that from an eastern 
 standpoint, neither the appearance, character nor condi- 
 tions of the West could be conceived or understood. From 
 even this distant point, no one can look at the mountain 
 system, spread out like a panorama before: him,, without 
 having the conviction forced upon him,. that though Nature 
 operates everywhere by the same la w^, yet she never 
 follows or passively copies the same pattern. In the east- 
 ern mountains the chains are parallel and separated by 
 wide valleys. Moreover they are single and continuous, 
 unbroken it may be, for fifty or a hundred miles. But 
 here, even, the mountain wall that rise* almost perpendic- 
 ular to the height of two to four thousand feet, in a. 
 straight line along the edge of the. plain,, like the houses 
 on one side of a street in our large; cities, is. severed from 
 top to bottom, not unlike those houses, at intervals never 
 exceeding two thousand feet. These immense rifts are 
 the gulches and canyons through which the mountain 
 streams, having their sources in the snowy range, fifty 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE' MOUNTAINS. 57" 
 
 miles distant, pour their limpid, icy-cold water on the 
 plains. These rifts do not strike in a, single gorge directly 
 into the heart of the mountains, but by more or less 
 laterals, honey-comb the whole system,. Hence, the 
 mountain, instead of a .monotonous range,, as in the East,, 
 is a system of cones, oftentimes as sharp as the teeth of a 
 saw. Most appropriately have the Spaniards called them, 
 the "Sierras;" that is, the serrated, or the mountains jag- 
 ged like a saw. The great departure I had observed in 
 the far West, from what Eastern experience would lead us 
 to infer were the normal forms of Nature, had prepared 
 me not to expect seeing the familiar forms of the East re- 
 peated, but I was totally unprepared, even in imagination, 
 for the sublime, strangej and unique forms that greeted 
 rny sight that morning. East, and north and south lay 
 the apparently illimitable plain, but to the west there 
 loomed up from below the horizon what appeared at one. 
 time to have been an ocean of molten iron lashed into> 
 mountain waves; then instantly congealed and fixed mo- 
 tionless forever. The transparency and rarity of the 
 air 5,700 feet above the sea, made it impossible to judge of 
 their distance. They were fully eighty miles away, yet 
 every one judging by ordinary experience,, would not 
 have assigned them a distance beyond five miles. Look- 
 ing at them in this light, it required very little aid from 
 the imagination to fancy that we were approaching a 
 mighty city of cyclopean architecture, and that the moun- 
 tain cones and peaks were domes and minarets,, pyramids, 
 and pinnacles. Such reveries at least passed through my 
 mind as I sat gazing at them from the car windows,, which 
 were uninterrupted till the announcement was made 
 u Denver." For once I was disappointed. It may have ^ 
 been from being so suddenly translated from the regions- 
 of fancy to those of reality; or it may have been that I 
 expected in a region like this, where Xature operates on 
 so grand a scale, and in so unique a style, that man would 
 appreciate it, select his habitation at the choicest spot, and 
 
'58 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 make his works correspond to the beauty of the sur- 
 roundings. Be the cause what it may, yet the truth must 
 be confessed, I never before visited for the first time any 
 place that seemed so tame, humdrum, commonplace and 
 nnpoetical as Denver did that morning. 
 
 My subsequent observations did not improve or modify 
 'my first impressions. I believe such is a universal feeling 
 ^xperien'ced by travelers; and the first thought that finds 
 'expression is, the wonder why ever a city was located in 
 .suchiiTpoint as this. The truth is, the selection of the 
 locality was not determined either from the beauty 
 tor loveliness of the spot, from its primitive adapta- 
 tion for a city, or from its prospective development 
 for such, but by accident; and like most accidents, it was 
 .and is unfortunate, both for the commercial interest of the 
 'Territory and for public convenience. 
 
 The earliest gold hunters that went into the Territory 
 found a few grains of gold in the sandy bed of Cherry 
 Creek, an insignificant stream that flows, when it has any 
 water, from the Divide in a northwesterly direction into 
 the South Platte. This induced them to pitch their tents 
 here and calling the place by the poetical name of 
 . Auraria. The news of the finding of gold here spread 
 .like wildfire over the States as well as over the mountains; 
 &nd it became. the objective point of gold-hunters from the 
 -States as well as from the mountains of New Mexico. 
 .This fact made it a good point to concentrate and distrib- 
 ute supplies. Here the miner of the mountains could go 
 ;nd replenish his stores of provisions, supply himself 
 with tools and other necessaries ; and the adventurers from 
 -the States, after their long wanderings over the plains, 
 -came here to overhaul and refit, and to complete their 
 outfit for their mountain expedition. Numerous stores 
 were opened, with full and complete assortments of min- 
 ing implements, provisions, groceries and other necessi- 
 ties. Although the limited quantity of gold dust found in 
 ,the sands of Cherry Creek were soon exhausted, 
 
OVER THE PLATXS AND ON'THE MOUNTAINS. 59 
 
 : still flourished and had become a respectable village. It 
 
 . still yielded gold to desperate adventurers who had large 
 
 .stocks of supplies to dispose of,. and recklessly engaged in 
 
 keeping up the delusion abroad of the fabulous richness 
 
 of the mountain placers. But the bubble finally burst, 
 ;and the poetical Auraria, (the golden land) shorn of its 
 glory, became Denver, in honor of Col. J. W. Denver, the 
 then Governor of Kansas, in which -all this mountain re- 
 gion was then included. It 'is now a city lighted with gas, 
 has a branch mint, several banks, and some heavy com- 
 mercial houses. Its population is about 8,000. Johnny 
 has invaded it some. On its business streets are con- 
 spicuously displayed the signs of Ho w Chong, Ming Lee, 
 
 etc., announcing that washing and ironing are done there. 
 Besides there is what is called the Chinese quarter, near 
 the bridge, entirely occupied by them. Like ancient Pal- 
 myra, the Thadmorofthe Wilderness in Israelitish his- 
 .tory, Denver is a mere entrepot of commerce, where arti- 
 cles produced in far separated regions, are taken to be ex- 
 
 changed and distributed, but where no article of commer- 
 cial value is, or ever can be, produced. 
 
 'Palmyra, however, was situated in a fertile oasis sur- 
 rounded by shady palm trees, beyond which stretched an 
 inhospitable sandy desert; but Denver is situated on an 
 arid plain, with neither palm nor even the indigenous 
 'Cottonwood to afford shade to the weary ox-teams that by 
 scores are daily arriving with wool from New Mexico. 
 
 The articles of commercial value now furnished, and 
 ever to be furnished, by Colorado, are the precious metals 
 found in its mountain. The center of its mineral dis- 
 trict, as far as now developed, lies considerably to the 
 north of west from Denver. New discoveries, said to be 
 very rich, are rapidly making in the northwestern part of 
 -the territory, while no extension of discoveries or in min- 
 ing operations are being made in the southwest. Gulch 
 mining is not prosecuted much in the Territory now, tor 
 it is not now and never was profitable here, excepting 
 
60 ' OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 within very narrow limits. In the lodes, gold is mostly 
 combined with pyrites of iron, a sulphuretj silver ores are 
 also mostly sulphurets combined with baser metals, as cop- 
 per, lead and zinc. There can be no combinations more 
 refractory than those of the precious metals in this re- 
 gion ; and no patent way of extracting them has succeeded 
 in obtaining more than from one-quarter to one-third con- 
 tained in the ore. Gradually all treatment of them has 
 and is returning to the old way of smelting, liegular 
 smelting furnaces are now in operation in all parts of the 
 mountains where the oldest lodes are located, and others 
 are being erected at points convenient to the newly de- 
 veloped mines. But the talk now is of constructing nar- 
 row gauge railroads into the mountains at various points. 
 As this is said to be entirely practicable, the construction 
 of these roads is a mere question of time. Then, if coal of 
 a suitable quality for smelting these ores exists at any 
 point along the foot of the mountains, these ores Avill be 
 brought there to be reduced. Geological explorations 
 have established the fact that coal beds skirt the moun- 
 tains through the entire width of the Territory. It is a 
 rich lignite, differing much however in quality at differ- 
 ent points. In some localities it is said to be of the best 
 quality, being a pure anthracite. 
 
 It is not known whether any coal exists at Denver; but 
 probably it does at considerable depth. The location of 
 the commercial metropolis of this region is, therefore, still 
 an open question, to be determined by future develop- 
 ments, with the chances decidedly against Denver, situa- 
 ted as it is on an arid plain, some eighteen miles from the 
 foot of the mountains. 
 
 It is situated on the east bank of the South Platte, a 
 bank-full and therefore canal-like stream which heads in 
 South Park, and when it issues from the mountains, like 
 all streams in this region, strikes out on the plain and 
 then gradually tends towards the northeast. 
 
 After spending the greater part of Saturday in looking 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 61 
 
 'Over the city, visiting the United States Mint, scrutinizing 
 its assaying rooms, examining all its appointments, and 
 looking through the mineralogicai cabinet, and then tak- 
 ing a walk down to the bridge, and from it admiring the 
 limpid waters and beauty of the South Platte, rushing 
 with a fearful rapidity past the western portion of the 
 city, we concluded that we had about " done up " Denver, 
 and that it would be a decidedly dull place to spend Sun- 
 day in. Besides, a view of the snowy range looked so 
 <ool, refreshing and inviting, that we could not resist the 
 temptation of going there. Accordingly our party took 
 the evening train of the Colorado Central Railroad, for 
 Golden City, sixteen miles distant, and near the foot of 
 the mountains, where we arrived at half-past six 
 o'clock. 
 
 The railroad rune up to the mountains on the north 
 side of Clear Creek, which, like all the streams here, is 
 brimfull and rapid, running through the plain like a canal. . 
 Before reaching Golden, the railroad runs close under a 
 range of basaltic buttes, jutting out on the plain at right 
 angles to the mountains. They are crested with an im- 
 mense wall of basalt, rising perpendicularly from one hun- 
 dred to two hundred feet. This range is shown in the 
 background of the engraving of Castle Butte, in which the 
 appearance of the rock crest is well represented. Their 
 altitude is from six hundred to one thousand feet above 
 the railroad. They are very bald, extremely steep, rocky 
 and destitute of vegetation, except in places sparsely cov- 
 ered with the short buffalo grass and a few flowers. 
 
 Golden City is cut in twain by Clear Creek, a large, 
 dashing, icy cold stream, that comes booming from the 
 mountains; the hum of whose noisy waters, of an evening, 
 is a perpetual lullaby to the denizens of this unpreten- 
 tious cozy town, nestled so snugly on its bosom, it is 
 more than a mile to the mouth of the -canyon, where the 
 stream issues from the mountains ,; yet .from the rarity of 
 Jthc atmosphere (for Golden. is 5,700 feet .above tide water; 
 
62 OVER THE^PLATNS AND*)N'THE MOUNTAINS.' 
 
 the apparent distance seems not to be more than a quar- 
 ter of a mile. All visitors will learn, if not otherwise, by- 
 painfid experience,. that distance in jthis region cannot be* 
 measured,, or even approximately, guessed at by sight- 
 This peculiarity,, however, is not, as is generally supposed,, 
 due to the purity y but to the rarity of the atmosphere. Be- 
 sides this, a. change- takes place in the form of the eye by 
 being relieved, by the altitude of so much atmospheric 
 pressure. Several instances, illustrating this fact, occurred 
 in our party. For years they could neither read nor 
 write without glasses, yet here they did both unaware of 
 the fact until from habit, when they, got through, they 
 reached for their glasses. The deecptiveness in regard to 
 distance led me and others into several awkward scrapes.. 
 One of these occurred on the evening of our arrival at 
 (rolden.. To understand it,, however, a topographical, 
 description of the surrounding country is necessary.. 
 
 West lies; the rifted barrier of the Rocky Mountains 
 flanking the plains in a straight line north and south with 
 a nearly perpendicular wall, from fifteen .hundred to two- 
 thousand feet high. The- light green of the plain con- 
 trasts beautifully with, sombre brown of the feldspathic 
 rocks of the mountain sides, or the dark green of the ever- 
 greens with which the mountain slopes, where not too 
 steep, are covered. However on this plain, sporatic iso- 
 lated mounts, or buttes, as they are here called, have been 
 thrown up r mostly single cones,, that stand on the plain 
 looking like haystacks. They are often ten miles distant, 
 from the mountains, and twenty from each other, and at- 
 tain altitudes from 500 to 1;500 feet. They invariably are 
 crowned with massive columnar basalt, .rising perpendicu- 
 larly from the summit of the cone to a height of from 160 
 to 200 feet, while the slope of the butte below the crown 
 is regular but very steep, say from forty-five to sixty-five- 
 degrees. They also differ from the mountain spurs and. 
 peaks in this ; they are, without exception, bleak and bald r , 
 having no vegetation . except a, little buffalo grass. A 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND 'ON THE MOUNTAINS. " 
 
 series of these buttes, as already stated, occur north of 
 Clear Creek, and flank the railroad up to Golden, where 
 they terminate. Some of these, I would judge, have ai> 
 altitude of 1,200 feet above the adjacent plain. South of 
 Clear Creek and east of the main part of Golden, at a dis- 
 tance of about three-fourths of a mile, one of these buttes 
 rises to some 800 feet. The basalt, crowning its top, ap- 
 pears as though it had been planed off, and hence has 
 been named Castle Butte. 
 
 CASTLE BUTTE, AT GOLDEN. 
 
 Pulpit Rock, or Castle Butte, is represented by the ac- 
 companying engraving. The engraving is defective in 
 this, that it does not show that the out crop of basalt 
 crowning the ridge, behind the butte, is separated from it 
 by Clear Creek, through which runs the railroad. The . 
 
'64 OVER THE PLAINS ArND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 view is taken from the bench to the southwest, three- 
 fourths of a mile from the butte; and only takes in a few 
 houses in the extreme southeast of the town. 
 
 The height and isolated situation of the butte was so 
 inviting that the larger portion of our party were tempted 
 to ascend it to see the sun set behind the eternal snows. 
 As the distance seemed so short, and the sun was still an 
 hour high, they thought the thing was quite feasible. 
 Some of the citizens suggested that the time was rather 
 short, and cautioned them that distances were very decep- 
 tive here, but as they suwthem bent on the achievement, 
 they pointed out the only practicable way to reach the 
 .summit. 
 
 "Well, to experience a new sensation, a number, both of 
 ladies and gentlemen, started off for Castlo Butte, while, 
 accompanied by several ladies and gentlemen, I ascended 
 a bench, or terrace, some fifty or sixty feet high, lying 
 southwest of the town, the top of which, like all the 
 benches, was a level plain lying against the mountains 
 and overlooking the town and plain below, and Clear 
 Creek, from where it breaks from its canyon until lost on 
 the distant plains. This bench was covered with most ex- 
 quisite flowers. Here were Lupines of every hue between 
 snowy white to tyrean purple; red Penstemous ; indigo- 
 blue and crimson Oxytropies, (the reader must pardon the 
 .scientific names, as these plants, as yet, have no others) 
 yellow Mcntzelias ; white and purple Anemones; the 
 gaudy Gaillardia aristatcij two or three inches in diame- 
 ter; the white Townsendia ; the purple Cleome integrifola ; 
 the fragrant Abronia ; the cream-colored, lily-shaped 
 flower, large as a hollyhock, of the Yucca angustifolia ; 
 and the fragrant Gaura coccinnea. Hear we whiled away 
 the time plucking the flowers, picking up pebbles, and 
 occasionally casting glances at our friends- on the other 
 side of the valley to see how they were succeeding in 
 their laudable efforts at rising in the world. But the sun 
 went down before the foremost of them reached the pre- 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS, 65 
 
 cipitous hasalt cliff crowning the summit. This could 
 only be surmounted by a detour to the northeast of nearly 
 half a mile. Twilight had set in before any of them stood 
 on the summit, and most of them had to give it up in 
 despair, after having achieved two-thirds of the task. 
 
 Returning to our hotel it was not long before strag- 
 glers of the unsuccessful ascensionists began to arrive. 
 Seeing that failure was inevitable, they found compensa- 
 tion for their trouble in plucking the beautiful, and to them 
 new and unknown flowers which covered the precipitous 
 mountain sides. It fell to my task to classify and name 
 them. Besides most of those found on the bench, there 
 were three species of Astragalus, two of (Enothera, a Vesi- 
 caria, a species of Castelegia, and the beautiful Calochortus 
 venustus, as large as a tulip, being, in fact, a three-leaved 
 lily. It was nine o'clock before the last of the party 
 returned. 
 
 At night there was a brilliant aurora, which, through 
 the rare and pure atmosphere of the mountains, showed a 
 rich display of colors and heavy waves of light. The 
 view, however, was obstructed by one of the high buttes 
 north of Clear Creek, which shut out everything in that 
 direction that was not more than 35 degrees above, the 
 horizon. 
 
66 OVER THE 1'LAINS AND ON TllK MOUNTAINS. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 As it was the ambition of omc of our party on the pre- 
 vious evening to see the sun set from the top of Castle 
 Butte, so it was mine to see him rise thence. Early dawn 
 found me on the way up to the summit. Passing over the 
 intervening plain between the town and the foot of the 
 Imtte or mountain, in the gray dawn I espied coming 
 towards me some animal, which I at first feared might be 
 a wolf, but collecting courage I faced it boldly. It proved 
 to be a large shepherd dog who had watched his master's 
 iiows during the night while they climbed up the steep 
 sides of the mountain to crop the luscious herbage^ 
 Throughout the Rocky Mountains, I found it general, that 
 it did not matter how rank and plentiful the grasses 
 were in the valleys and canyons, nor how steep, rugged 
 and dangerous the declivities, all animals, even at the 
 imminent risk of their lives, would ascend ihe steepest- 
 acclivities to crop the scanty herbage of the cliffs and the 
 mountain tops. The cows in question at Golden, like sen- 
 sible animals, selected the coolest part of the day to get 
 their tid-bit, and took with them a courageous and faith- 
 ful guard. He seemed to be glad to see me and accom- 
 panied me until I returned from my mountain ramble. 
 When I got back to the foot of the mountain he sat down, 
 and on the plain I saw his owner coming with milk pails. 
 Stopping to have a chat, he pointed his finger up the 
 mountain and called to his dog to " fetch 'era, Jack." I 
 told him the dog had been most friendly and had piloted 
 me over the mountain. He said, '' that he will do for any 
 stranger, as long as he does not meddle with the cows." 
 
 Well, instead of following the advice I heard the citizens 
 
OVER T1IK PLAINS AND OX THE MOUNTAINS. 67 
 
 give. to the evening party, to follow the winding path 
 made by the city for the benefit of visitors to the top of 
 the mountain, I, like many an impatient politician, 
 thought I would take a short cut for the attainment of my 
 ambition. I saw a ridge, or i% hog back," as it is here 
 called, right before me which seemed entirely practicable 
 for my purpose. AH far as the ridge was concerned I 
 found it so, but suddenly my " hog back " gave out, end- 
 ing in a perpendicular precipice fifty feet deep, facing the 
 mountain. I saw the trap, and also how I could get out 
 of it. This was to go down the edge of the precipice, but 
 before me there rose the almost impassible barrier of a 
 slope up the mountain of an angle of about sixty degrees 
 with the horizon, with but little foothold, and what waa 
 more important handhold either. Having determined to 
 try it, after a most desperate scramble of about one hun- 
 dred and fifty yards, I reached the winding path dug by 
 the citizens. Thoroughly disgusted with short cuts, I 
 gladly followed it. Looking down, I now first became 
 aware of the risk I had run. It made my head swim to 
 look down and see that one misstep would have sent me 
 rolling and tumbling down the precipitous declivity five 
 or six hundred feet. Though almost balked by. the mis- 
 take made, I yet reached the summit fully twenty minutes 
 before the sun showed himself above the horizon. Castle 
 Butte or Table Rock, as it is sometimes called, from the 
 plain below, appeared as though its truncated summit 
 might be a square rod in area. I was surprised to find it 
 about one acre. Approaching the edge of the precipice, 
 one hundred and sixty feet perpendicular, there, apparent- 
 ly within a stone's throw, lay Golden . There, too, was 
 Clear Creek, breaking from its mountain defile, nearly two 
 miles west, rushing and foaming and roaring over the 
 plain and through the village ; clear as crystal, and like 
 a stream of molten silver from its native mountains. It 
 was a beautiful, quiet Sabbath morning scene. Sleep had 
 not yet left weary eyelids, and all was silent save the ever 
 
68 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 murmuring noise of the limpid water. My eye ran up 
 and down the vacant streets and across the bridge span- 
 ning this beautiful .stream, but no living thing could bo 
 descried, except the ever-moving waters. Like a vast 
 panorama the plain spreads out along the foot of the 
 mountains until it dips below the horizon, though the 
 view is somewhat interrupted by the buttes to the north. 
 West lay the rifted yet unbroken chain of the mountains, 
 terminating southward with Pike's Peak, which, like a 
 mighty bastion, stands out from the mountain rampart in 
 that direction. To the northward the mountain*} at length 
 dip below the horizon, but far to the northwest the snowy 
 summit of Long's Peak lies against the intensely translu- 
 cent sky. To the west the scene is exceedingly grand and 
 impressive. On the edge of the plain rises to the height 
 of two thousand feet a mountain wall of rusty feldspathio 
 rock, sometimes bare and sometimes covered with ever- 
 green shrubs and trees, the whole crowned by fir, pine and 
 cedar. Behind this wall, peak rises behind peak, until in 
 the far West the whole are overtopped now and then, as 
 seen from here, by a snowy pinnacle. As for the rising 
 sun view, it was a failure and disappointment. Over all 
 the plain to the east there hung a gray haze, and when the 
 sun appeared he seemed to shine through a dull fog bank. 
 This was singular, since overhead and through the whole 
 mountain region the sky was of an intensely deep blue, 
 and the air along the plain skirting the mountains ex- 
 tremely transparent. South on the plain, some three 
 miles distant, is the large brick edifice of the Episcopal 
 College, and some distance beyond stands the Territorial 
 School of Mines. East could be seen several ranches 
 whose irrigated fields of dark green contrasted beautifully 
 with the dull gray of the buffalo grass on the plain. Be- 
 yond, just discernible through the haze, at a distance of 
 sixteen miles, lay Denver, bordered on the west by the 
 glistening waters of the South Platte; and from the north 
 base of the butte through the intervening plain, like a sil- 
 
OVER THK PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 60 
 
 ver band, Clear Creole couid be traced until its junction 
 just below Denver with the Platte. 
 
 i'l licking u few rare flowers, amongst which was the 
 Er\j?;inuitn asprru/n of delicate orange purple; and taking 
 up a Mclocactus as memorials of the place, 1 reluctantly 
 turned my back on the enchanting scenery and returned 
 to Golden. 
 
 After an excellent breakfast, the major part of our com- 
 pany elected to go to the mountains and in the depths of 9 
 their gulches and canyons, and from their high pinnacles 
 to contemplate and admire the sublimity, grandeur and 
 vastness of Nature's works. Clear creek canyon and 
 Chimney gulch seemed both to be eligible points for our 
 purpose. For two and a half miles up the canyon the 
 track for a narrow-gauge railroad is graded. The scenery 
 in the canyon is sublime, but we 'were assured 
 there was no practicable route for ascending any of the 
 peaks within a reasonable distance. A half a mile south 
 of the canyon lies Chimney gulch, through which flows a 
 mountain brook ef clear and cold water. The gulch opens 
 a vista into the mountains, and exposes to full view, in 
 their third tier of cones, the culminating peak in this sec- 
 tion. This was deemed most eligible for our purpose, 
 and, therefore, was selected as the objective point of our 
 mountain ramble for the day. To the summit in a direct 
 line is only about three and a half miles, but the doub- 
 lings and windings of the way leading to it, make it 
 between six and seven. The sky was of the deepest blue, 
 and from it beamed a midsummer sun, with an ardor and 
 brilliancy unknown to other climes. But the craving de- 
 sire to see and explore the most stupendous of Nature's 
 works, was too strong to be repressed by the fiery beams 
 of a vertical sun. Ascending the bench, or terrace, that 
 here stretches out upon the plain and overlooks Golden 
 and the valley of Clear creek, a walk of a mile and a half 
 brought us to the mouth of the gulch, up which leads a 
 path. Here it at once became evident that we. had 
 
70 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THK MOUNTAINS. 
 
 turned over a new leaf of the volume of Nature. Nor 
 tree, nor shrub, nor flower presented familiar species, or 
 greeted us as old acquaintances. All were n<>w in form, 
 in kind and in aspect. In pines, there were the Pinus pon- 
 derosa, contort a y flexilis and Edulis, the latter, El pin-on, of 
 New Mexico. Of firs or spruce there were the Abies Douglas- 
 mi, Engelmannii and Menziesii. A maple, the Acer glab- 
 rum, so disguised in the form of its leaf as to lie unrecogniz- 
 able except by its samara; a half a dozen new species of 
 Spirea ; the Nootka raspberry, with a bloom two inches 
 in diameter; a shrub, the Jamesia, so called after J)r. 
 James, a companion of Col. Long, an early explorer, 
 whose name is perpetuated in Long's Peak; two species of 
 shrubby Potentillas, and two species of evergreen barber- 
 ries, generally known as Mahowias. The cornus and the 
 rose families are also represented by new species; so also 
 are the plum, cherry, serviceberry, huckleberry and rasp- 
 berry. In fact, everything was new excepting the com- 
 mon juniper, the bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) and 
 one or two others. In addition to the flowers below on 
 the plain, mostly repeated here, there were a yellow Cas- 
 tillejia, a large, snowy and splendid blue 'Columbine, two 
 species of Gilia, the beautiful Clematisligustici folia, and her 
 not less beautiful, and more than half sister, the 'Afragene. 
 alpina, the former expanding her snowy white sepals fully 
 three inches and the latter two.' Amid such a profusion 
 and great variety of plants, gaudy as well as new, and sur- 
 rounded by rugged cliffs, mountain precipices and over- 
 hanging rocks, that every moment threatened to fall and 
 crush us or obstruct our way, the flight of time was un- 
 heeded, and we were ascending the steep acclivity up 
 which our path led, without being conscious of weariness 
 or exhaustion. The mountain air, though the sun was 
 hot, was invigorating; and then at. short intervals we 
 turned aside to slake our thirst by dipping "the gliding 
 crystal" from the little mountain stream that flows 
 through the gorge, hid for the most part by ferns; 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 71 
 
 amongst which I noticed a species resembling the Pteri* 
 aquilina with an enormous leaf, (frond), from five to six 
 feet high and three wide. Our path, made for bringing 
 down ties for the railroad, was extremely rough and tor- 
 tuous. The ridges or " hog backs " from opposite sides of 
 the gulch continually forced the latter from a straight 
 line ; now forcing it Almost at right angles to the left, and 
 then back again to the right, so that its course is zigzag. 
 The gulch finally terminates, and a huge "hog back" 
 sweeps in from the south, terminating, only at the canyon 
 wall of Clour creek. The road now slopes up to the north 
 until the ridge of this "hog back" is reached, when it fol- 
 lows up the ridge southeastward, to a slight depression on 
 the top of the mountain. AVest of this ridge is an im- 
 mense chasm so steep as to be impracticable for any liv- 
 ing thing except the mountain goat. At the bottom of 
 this chasm runs Clear creek, the roar of whose waters are 
 distinctly heard, though hid from view by the spruce and 
 pine trees, on whose tops you look down from this point, 
 Ascending the ridge, to the right rises our objective point, 
 the peak, at some places almost perpendicular, to the 
 height of between six and seven hundred feet more. 
 Here we met some of our party returning, who had taken 
 advantage of a steep cut-off up the great " hog back, " and 
 in about one hundred yards climbing had saved a mile of 
 walking. Attaining the summit and taking a position on 
 a projecting rock, they endeavored to attract our atten- 
 tion and to direct us where to go by firing a pistol as soon 
 as we would come in sight on the "hog back." Acci- 
 dentally the pistol was prematurely discharged, the .ball 
 passing through the hand of the party holding it. They 
 therefore returned to the water to wash and tie up the 
 wound. Persuaded by them that by going'a little to the 
 left the ascent of the peak was practicable from this side, 
 besides saving a mile in distance, the last stated fact deter- 
 mined my course, so away I went up the acclivity, but 
 soon had reasons to regret the choice I had made, for the 
 
72 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON TTIE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 soles of my boots soon became us smooth as polished mar- 
 ble, making it impossible to keep my feet on the dry 
 leaves of the spruce and pine. As it was a question 
 whether, under these circumstances, a retreat was prefer- 
 able to an advance, so I chose the latter, and after the 
 most desperate scrambling of all my mountain experience, 
 attained the summit ahead of all my companions. 
 
 The summit is level, and covered by a pine and spruce 
 grove. Walking in a northwestward direction beyond 
 the skirts of the grove, brings you to a bare rock, the 
 edge of the precipice. The view from this point is most 
 enchanting, grand and magnificent. You stand on the 
 top of the south wall of Clear creek canyon, a precipice 
 that slopes down 2,500 feet at an angle but few degrees 
 removed from the perpendicular. The roaring of the 
 creek "like the sound of a rushing mighty wind" rises to 
 your ear. To your left at the distance of about two hun- 
 dred yards, for a part of the way down is a rugged perpen- 
 dicular wall of naked rocks; but immediately in front the 
 declivity is covered with young firs and pine. Since you 
 overlook the whole, the side of the declivity appears not 
 only covered with a mantle of everlasting green, but 
 seems almost as even as if clipped by shears. But as you 
 look down the chasm your eyes strain in vain for a sight 
 of the bottom, or to eaten a glimpse of the roaring waters 
 that flow there. .Down, far down as the eye reaches, the 
 tops of gigantic fir or pine trees are the only objects visi- 
 ble; tops of trees whose heads are bathed in the light of 
 noonday sun, but whose roots are fixed in the bottom of a 
 gloomy, dismal chasm. 
 
 Lift now your eyes to the scenery beyond the chasm. 
 You see you are looking down on the less elevated 
 north wall of the canyon, beyond which rises gradually 
 like a vast amphitheatre, mountain upon mountain piled 
 against the northwestern sky, and the whole crowned by a 
 rampart of everlasting snow. To the north this snowy 
 rampart terminates in Long's Peak, some fifty miles dis- 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 73" 
 
 tent, which rises fully two thousand feet above the aver- 
 age height of Snowy Range. Far in the southwest it cul- 
 minates in Mount Lincoln. As intermediate bastions, 
 rise James' and Gray's Peaks, each to tho aftitude of over 
 14,000 feet above the sea. The first is about twenty-five 
 miles, south of Longs' Peak ; the last is about twenty 
 miles south of James' Peak, and about thirty miles due 
 west from here. Mount Lincoln is the Titan of the 
 American Cordilleras, being estimated, according to de- 
 terminations made by Prof. A. DuBois, at seventeen 
 thousand five hundred feet above tho level of the ocean. 
 It is nearly ninety miles distant from here, standing at 
 the northwest corner of South Park. West of it is the 
 Upper Canyon of the Arkansas; north, Middle Park; and 
 southeast, South Park. From its sides issue springs that 
 on the southeast feed tho South Platte ; on tho west, the 
 Arkansas; and on the north, Blue river, which falls into 
 Grand river, a tributary of tho great Colorado of the 
 West. Notwithstanding its great distance, there it stands 
 majestically, towering high above all other peaks, unique 
 and inimitable, a Titan among pygmies, like its proto- 
 type, whose name it perpetuates, did amongst men. Its 
 base garlanded by evergreens, emblems of immortality, 
 and its summit crowned with tho symbol of spotless pur- 
 ity, the white, persistent snows of untold ages, it is a 
 fitting monument to symbolize the towering intellect, and 
 to perpetuate the memory of the devout patriotism and 
 Immaculate purity of the great and wise statesman and 
 model President whose name it bears, and whose. 
 
 " One of tho few, the immortal names 
 That wero not born to die. " 
 
 Long's Peak and Mount Lincoln, terminating the ox- 
 treme visible points of the Snowy llange, as seen hence, 
 from their great altitude appear like immense bastions at 
 the angles of an icy rampart, behind which stern winter 
 lies intrenched forever. To the south the view is ob- 
 
74 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAIN'S. 
 
 structed by a pine and spruce forest, but on the east there 
 is a fine view of the plains for one hundred miles and 
 .more. At a point or two south of east and twenty miles 
 distant, but apparently near the foot of the mountains, 
 lies Denver. You look down into its streets, and from far 
 south of it to down north of Greeley, where it meets the 
 Cache a la Poudre, the sparkling waters of the S'outh 
 Platte are seen. The Plains are an unvaried gray, with 
 nothing to give them variety excepting the irrigated fields 
 along the South Platte and Clear creek, and the line of 
 straggling cottonwood trees that skirt. their brinks. 
 
 To the northeast, far beyond the Platte, appeared what 
 seemed to be two beautiful lakes on the plains. One of 
 our lady companions mistaking them for such, to unde- 
 ceive her I told her they were only phantom lakes, the 
 optical deceptions of mirage; giving the word the French, 
 but also the only authorized English pronounciation. 
 " And pray, " said she, u what is mirazh!" To explain, I 
 began by telling her it is one of those things 
 
 "For which the speech of England had no name. " 
 
 In Italy they call it Fata Morgana. It was observed 
 there in ancient times as is abundantly evident from both 
 Greek and 1 Ionian records. Along the Straits of Messina 
 then, as now, the coast and objects below the horizon 
 sometimes loomed up above it; at other times seemed to 
 approach the opposite shore, and what was more astonish- 
 ing, oftentimes seemed to hang inverted from the sky/ 
 -" Why, " she replied, " that is mi-rage. " I then saw what 
 was the matter and felt relieved, for I began to fear that 
 if I attempted the explanation of special atmospheric con- 
 ditions, different densities of adjacent superincumbent 
 layers of air, and the consequent refraction of light, that 1 
 would succeed in making it plain that neither I nor the 
 learned knew a particle more about the true nature of the 
 phenomenon than the common people do. Indeed, 1 
 
OVEH THE PLAIXS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 75 
 
 made a narrow escape of exposing the fact that I was 
 talking phylosophy, if judged by the Scotchman's rule, 
 who always knew when a man talked metaphysics ; 
 namely "when you can'na tell what lie means, and lie 
 din'na ken himsel." 
 
 As already stated I had reached the mountain top fully 
 half an hour in advance of my companions. On the edge 
 of the grove and near the brink of the precipice, there 
 stands a perpendicular rock, some twenty feet high and 
 about the same width. At the base, near its north end, 
 there is about as beautiful a bench rock, some twenty 
 inches wide, as if made by hand. It is a part of a huge 
 rock which faces north-west, and for five feet this bench 
 protrudes from the side. Where it terminates, there stands, 
 with its trunk against the rock, a low headed spruce, com- 
 pletely shading for ten feet and more the ground around 
 its roots. Breaking off some dry limbs that interfered 
 with the use of the bench, I sat down to rest until the 
 company would arrive, and to enjoy the magnificent scen- 
 ery of evergreen mounfciins, bounded by everlasting 
 snows in the distance that lay stretched out like a vast 
 panorama before me. 
 
 Answering a call, soon brought the greater part of the 
 company to the spot, where they gave vent to their enthu- 
 siasm at beholding the grand sight by a yell that would 
 have done credit to the Utes themselves. 
 
 Appropos ; why is this impulse for whooping so univer- 
 sal in all, even in the almost inexcitable, on reaching these 
 elevated regions ? Some think it is owing to the excite- 
 ment produced by so great variety of novelty, or an out- 
 burst of enthusiasm at beholding so much grandeur and 
 sublimity. Judging by my own experience I cannot con- 
 ceive these to be the true causes. I felt an irrepressible 
 desire to whoop long before I saw anything at all as extraor- 
 dinarily impressive. Moreover, when I stood face to face 
 before the shrine of Nature, and contemplated her inimita- 
 ble beauty, bewildering grandeur and imposing majesty, I 
 
76 OVKR THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 felt as though a whisper would bo sacriligious profanity. 
 I think the causes arc physiological and not aesthetic.. 
 Dwellers in the Mississippi Valley or on the sea shore,, 
 breathe an atmosphere so dense that their average respir- 
 ations are but sixteen per minute. .But here on the moun- 
 tains, the respirations are increased to twenty-four per 
 minute; and the pulsations of the heart and the flow of 
 blood in the veins are accelerated in like proportion. The 
 effect on the system is an exhilaration almost amounting to 
 intoxication, and hence that outburst of feeling which 
 affects all, and which it is found so difficult to repress. 
 
 Resigning my seat on the rock to a lady, who made a 
 sketch of the mountain scenery and the Snowy Ilange for 
 her children, I sought shelter under the shade of a most 
 magnificent Douglass spruce, whose pendant branches 
 swept the ground for some distance around. Here I laid 
 down on the dry fir and pine leaves that made a bod as 
 soft as a mattress. Professor Kelsey, of Kansas, soon 
 joined me, and we talked until we fell asleep. Awaking, 
 we found our company all gone, and the mountain silent. 
 Breaking a branch of the tree as a grateful memorial of 
 the pleasant hours spent under its shade, we wended our 
 way down the mountain towards Golden, where we arrived. 
 in timo for supper. ' 
 
OVJiB TRE PLAINS ANi> ON THE MOUNTAINS. 77 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Early on Monday, June 12th, wo left Golden on the 
 morning train for Denver, where we arrived in ample 
 time to take the train of the Denver Pacific railroad for 
 Cheyenne, in Wyoming Territory, one hundred and BIX 
 -miles north. By an amended act of Congress the Kansas 
 Pacific railroad was released from its obligation to connect 
 with the Union Pacific railroad at the 100th meridian, and 
 the law BO changed as to require it to connect with the 
 Union Pacific railroad at a point not more than 50 miles 
 west of-the meridian of Denver. The Kansas Pacific con- 
 sequently followed up the general route of the Smoky 
 Hill to -Denver, with the intention of ultimately connecting 
 with the Union Pacific hence. As the land grant of Con- 
 gress extends the whole length of the line, the Kansas 
 Pacific encouraged the formation of a new company, whose 
 initial point was Denver, to make this junction. Accord- 
 ingly the Denver Pacific Railroad Company was organized, 
 and by a subsequent act of Congress the Kansas Pacific 
 was authorized to transfer its lands and the franchises of 
 that portion of the line from Denver to the junction, to the 
 new company. It was late in the fall of 1867 when the 
 initial steps for the organization of the new company were 
 first taken. The land grant amounts to 12,800 acres for 
 every mile of the length of the road ; or more specifically, 
 the lands granted by Congress were alternate, that is odd 
 numbered sections for ten miles on each side of the road. 
 The work was commenced at Cheyenne; and*on the 16th 
 of December, 1869, the road was completed and opened as 
 far as Evans, a distance of 53 miles j and on the 23d of 
 June, 1870, the first passenger train arrived at Denver 
 
78 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 The. total cost of construction and equipment of the road: 
 is said to be $3,000,000. 
 
 At 8 o'clock the train started heading due north. The 
 plain appeared dry and parched in consequence of the 
 prominence and prevalence of the dead "mesquite" grass. 
 But underneath this sere covering of mesquite is a thick 
 coating of Buffalo grass (Bucliloe dactyloides) possessing- 
 most extraordinary nutritive qualities. At short intervals 
 we passed large herds of cattle feeding on this apparently 
 arid plain in the best condition. Often these were accom- 
 panied by herdsmen. The road is straight, and its direc- 
 tion is down the valley of the Platte, but the river is 
 generally several miles to the west and can be traced by 
 an occasional cottonwood. It soon becomes evident that 
 the direction of the road diverges from that of the moun- 
 tain range j for the mountains apparently recede farther 
 and farther to the west ; whereas their course is due north 
 and south. Long's Peak is now the central figure, tower- 
 ing far above all the neighboring peaks. 
 
 The first station, seventeen miles north of Denver, is, 
 Hughes', the junction of the Boulder Valley railroad; but 
 the first town is Evans, the county scat of Weld county. 
 Evans claims to be a St. Louis colony, but I could learn 
 nothing of its organization, advantages nor investments. 
 It seemed to me as though its inhabitants were singularly 
 deficient in enterprise and energy, and that they have 
 very little to do other than that e/1 running to the station 
 when a train arrives ; at least such was the case each time 
 we passed ; and we can scarcely imagine that rumor had 
 noised it abroad that in the coming train were great men 
 worth seeing yet such may have been the case, and a 
 hoax played of on them may explain, their conduct. 
 
 Four miles north of Evans is Greeley, about which 
 there has been more written and published within a year 
 than of any other place on the globe beside. Its history, 
 in briefj is this : The colony was organized in the city of 
 ^ew "York, on the 23d of December, 1869, by the enroll- 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND OX THE MOUNTAINS. 79 
 
 ment of fifty-nine members. An executive committee 
 was appointed to investigate what advantages and induce- 
 ments were offered to settlers by Nebraska, Kansas,. 
 Wyoming, Utah and Colorado. After an investigation, 
 the Executive Committee selected the site for the town 
 between the Cache-a-la-Poudre and the South Platte, 
 three miles above their junction, about fifty miles south or 
 Cheyenne, and fifty-six north of Denver, on the Denver 
 Pacific railroad. The distance from the mountains is. 
 about forty-five miles. But I must draw yon a pen-and- 
 ink sketch of the topography and scenery surrounding- 
 this famous place, that you may know how it looks t 
 Suppose you take a position looking north, on the rail- 
 road bridge spanning the Platte south < f Evans. Beneath 
 you flows a mountain torrent one hundred and thirty 
 yards wide, brimful], yet clear as crystal, roarmp and 
 dashing down the plain. It is a noble, majcrtic i.nd beau- 
 tiful stream. No bushes encnmber its edges, ior bauks it 
 has none, because the level plain sinks down with it; bur- 
 then of grass and flowers to kiss the silver wave. Like 
 
 O 
 
 the shores of Loch Mary : 
 
 "Just a line of pebblr sand 
 Marks where the water meets the land. " 
 
 The plain, level as a barn floor, is covered with the 
 persistent, but now dry mesquite grass, and has, therefore,, 
 the color of a newly harvested oat-field. Some eight 
 miles distant, and stretching to the northwest until lost- 
 eight of in the distance, is a very straggling line of low 
 cottonwood trees, the only sign of living vegetation. The 
 plain extends west to the mountains, forty to forty-five- 
 miles distant, and rests against them. It has a regular 
 ascent from here to the mountains of fifty feet per mile,, 
 but is entirely dettitute of vegetation excepting the hid- 
 den buffalo grass and the dry mesquite. Far towards the 
 east the plain seems to culminate in a ridge, probably 
 
80 OVE3. THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 merely mirage, which often on the Plains seemingly raises 
 lip the edges of the horizon like the rim of a saucer around 
 you. Before you is the village of Evans, and four miles 
 further is Greeley, beyond which sweeps the Cache-a-la 
 Poudre, marked out over the plain by the aforesaid line 
 of cottonwood. In the fur north rise elevations of a whit- 
 ish greenish gray, indicating that the mesquite has boen 
 supplanted by some other vegetation. Down, northeast, 
 after the junction with the Cache-a-la-Poudre, some three 
 miles below Greeley, the course of the Platte can bo 
 traced by the cottonwood, until it sinks below the hori- 
 zon. There you have a picture of Greeley and its sur- 
 roundings, which in all conscience is monotonous enough. 
 
 The colony purchased of the Denver Pacific Bailroad 
 Company arid from individuals 12,000 acres of land. The 
 preliminary steps, that is, by pre-emption, etc., for the oc- 
 cupation of 60,000 acres of government lands, and also a 
 contract was made with the Denver Pacific Company to 
 purchase within three years 50,000 acres more, at from 
 $3 to $4 per acre. The colony thus has control of some 
 125,000 acres of land, all of which can be irrigated from 
 canals from the South Platto and Cache-a-la-Poudre. 
 
 The town is subdivided into 520 business lots, 25 by 190 
 feet; 673 residence lots, ranging from 50 to 200 by 190 
 feet ; and 277 lots reserved for schools, churches, pubiio 
 buildings, etc. The adjacent lands are subdivided into 
 plats from 5 to 120 acres each, according to distance from. 
 the centre of the town, and each member allowed to select 
 one of these under his certificate of membership. The 
 town now contains about 350 buildings, from board shan- 
 ties to brick fronts. It has some seventeen stores, thre<3 
 lumber yards, throe blacksmith and wagon shops, and ono 
 printing press. It has an Educational Board, Farmers' 
 Club arid Lyceum and Library Association. As far as 
 the eye can reach the plain is dotted with new shanties of 
 the homesteaders and pro-emptionors. Some of our party 
 stopped over until the return of the train from Cheyenne, 
 
OVER THK PhAlNrf AND ON THli MOUNTAINS. 81 
 
 They interviewed the citizens, but the latter scorned so 
 reticent and averse to communicate information or answer 
 questions, that nothing of importance, either concerning 
 the progress or prospects of the colony, was elicited. It 
 is not possible for any one merely looking from the car 
 window of a train to form any accurate opinion of the 
 condition and capabilities of a soil, or to form an accurate 
 judgment of the art ana skill with which it is handled. If 
 it were, then, I must confess that the opinion so formed is 
 not of the most favorable character as to Greeley. In this 
 case the opinion of those who stayed over, and had better 
 opportunities than I had, not only coincide with my own, 
 but are even more unfavorable. In the first place the land 
 is very gravely, forming naturally graveled streets, and 
 certainly not of the first quality for agriculture; and then 
 it seemed as though those who had the management of it 
 knew next to nothing of the way things have to be done 
 in this climate. Gardens were flooded and literally 
 drowned out; arid of the thousand of trees planted, both 
 evergreen and deciduous, not hundreds were living from 
 the same cause. It would have paid the colonists well if 
 they had hired some New Mexican to have taught them 
 the art of irrigation, and some expert tree-planter who 
 would have shown them how to plant and to take care of 
 a tree. It seemed as though the greater part of the colo- 
 nists were mere theorists, and were for the first time in a 
 situation to reduce their theories to practice. But we 
 have hope they will profit by their mistakes, and guard 
 against their recurrence. As a matter of course it could 
 have been anticipated that dreams and expectations of 
 enthusiastic natures, who are most likely to ewgage in 
 such an enterprise as this, would not be realized in a day, 
 nor even in a year. Moreover they may be so outre us 
 not to be realizable. Consequently, disappointment is to 
 be expected, and, necessarily dissatisfaction and grum- 
 bling. Perhaps the management has not at all times been 
 the wisest; and there may have be<3n over-reaching on 
 6 
 
0* OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 the part of some managers for self aggrandizement and 
 personal ambition; but still the enterprise seems to have 
 the elements of ultimate success, notwithstanding the 
 hardships it imposes on its pioneers and the many present 
 discouragements. 
 
 At present the prospect of finding a market for its sur- 
 plus productions, is riot of the most flattering nature. It 
 is sixty-five miles to Boulder, by rail, the only inlet into 
 the mountains at this point; to Cheyenne it is fifty, and 
 to Denver fifty-six miles. To be sure there is some 
 talk of constructing a railroad direct to Boulder, forty-five 
 miles distant. But in that case the citizens on the Plains 
 around Boulder will have the advantage of them, to the 
 amount of freight and charges. 
 
 After passing the Cache-a-la-Poudre, another of those 
 bold, limpid and rapid mountain streams, the plain as- 
 eerids rapidly 1,675 feet in the forty miles to Summit Sid- 
 ing, and then descends into a valley, whence it rises to the 
 ridge on which is Cheyenne. Cheyenne is 6,041 feet 
 above the sea and 375 feet lower than at Summit Siding. 
 Soon after crossing the Cache-a-la-Poudre the character of 
 the plain changes. The mesquite grass disappears, the 
 soil becomes a lighter color, it even appears whitish, and 
 the only vegetation on hill and plain is the short buffalo 
 grass and prickly pear or cactus. The latter in full 
 bloQin, extending its yellow blossom fully to the size of a 
 holly-hock. Hitherto the only color was j^ellow, but now 
 a brownish purple is intermixed with the yellow, and 
 often alone occupies large patches. The prairie-dog vil- 
 lages also are more numerous, and there is a lively time 
 in them when the train approaches. Hundreds of the 
 dogs, big arid little, can be seen running for dear life to 
 their holes. But there stands the stolid burrowing owl 
 on the hillock, fixed as if ho were a brass statuette, un- 
 mindful of everything that passes around him. 
 
 The hills occasionally show caps of rocks, frequently as- 
 suming the shapes of low pillars, pyramids and occasion- 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 83 
 
 ally of ruined castles. In a valley on the plain is a most 
 singular one of the latter. It stands within fifty feet of 
 the railroad. It is about forty feet square with an exten- 
 sion eastward for half the length of the east wall, say 
 twenty feet more. The wall is about thirty inches thick, 
 and its average height is about four feet.. Facing the road 
 at the southwest corner is a space of about four feet wide, 
 making an opening in the enclosure which is covered with 
 grass and looks for all the world as though it had been 
 the doorway. The sides of this open space are perpendic- 
 ular rock, weatherworn and rounded as with architectural 
 design. The wall also has angular depressions that re- 
 semble openings for windows. It simulates the work of 
 man so closely that it would be mistaken for such did 
 its exposure not disclose that it is a single rock 
 
 With the exception of these castellated rocks protrud- 
 ing, for the most part, from the hilltops, the scenery for 
 the fifty miles between Greeley and Cheyenne is ex- 
 tremely monotonous. The rolling plain is covered with 
 a coat of buffalo grass of unvaried greenish gray, enameled 
 now and then by a stray plant of the deepest blue peren- 
 nial larkspur (Delphinium azureum,) a red Penstamon, an 
 indigo blue Oxytropis, and occasionally a spot covered 
 with Cactus. 
 
 At Cheyenne your eye sweeps in vain around the hori- 
 zon for an object to rest upon, nor shrub, nor tree, nor 
 rock is visible at any point or in any direction. Alone, 
 the mountain tops are to be seen, seventy or eighty miles 
 away, protruding their icy pinnacles above the southwest- 
 ern rim of the horizon ; all else is vacuity except plain 
 and sky. Such is the weary monotonous scenery of the 
 plain in and around Cheyenne. Again, as in the case of 
 Denver, the question rises spontaneously, why was this 
 point selected for a city ? and again the answer is, by ac- 
 cident; that accident was the arbitrary choice of the man- 
 agers of the Union Pacific railroad locating their machine 
 shops here. Like Denver, it has streets graveled by 
 
84 OVER THK PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 ture, which never need repairing; but unlike it in this re- 
 spect, that the gravel rests upon a solid foundation and 
 not upon quicksand Cheyenne, unlike its sister city ? 
 Denver, will, therefore, never be afflicted with a periodi- 
 cal paroxism. of treasure seeking, looking for the city safe. 
 Even our eastern cousins are not exempt from similar 
 .attacks of more or less severity and frequency, during 
 which they vigorously hunt for the mythical treasures hid 
 by Captain Kidd. But the gravelly streets of Denver, or 
 rather the pebbly bottom of the South Platte, hides a real 
 treasure, which occasions the outbreak of the mania in. 
 Denver; for on an ever memorable morning in 1864, 
 Cherry (.'reek being "on a bender," the glory of Denver, 
 the City Hall, containing the city's safe and its treasures, 
 took its departure down stream, and finally disappeared 
 in the quicksand like a dissolving view, leaving nor 
 wreck nor trace behind. 
 
 Forbidding as is the appearance of the landscape 
 .around Cheyenne, and oppressively monotonous as is Us 
 scenery, yet there is the demonstration being made of the 
 value of these apparently arid plains, for grazing and 
 stock-raising. Here are men who own cattle by thous- 
 ands, and who are realizing from ten to twenty thousand 
 net profit annually from their flocks. More than 6,000 
 feet above the sea level, and forty-one degrees and more 
 of north latitude, yet cattle here need no shelter or feed- 
 ing the year round, subsisting upon the natural hay of the 
 country, the dry buffalo grass, and going through the win- 
 ter in better condition than cattle do in the States upon 
 both food and shelter. And then if you desire to know 
 what a tender, juicy and savory beefsteak is, let me com- 
 mend you to try that raised and fattened upon the buffalo 
 grass of the western plains. I have abundant statistics on 
 hand to show the number of the flocks of different own- 
 ers and their annual profits, on the plains along the foot 
 of the mountains hence to south of Denver, which I must 
 here omit. Sheep do splendidly, and are entirely exempt 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. *:~> 
 
 from diseases. Large flocks are being introduced an- 
 nually j a Boston company alone has a herd of 25,000 
 head. 
 
 After an excellent dinner at Cheyenne, we took the re- 
 turn train for Denver, where we arrived at half-past six 
 o'clock. Finding carriages in waiting, we hastily drove 
 through Denver, crossing the fine bridge over the Platte, 
 and ascended the plateau beyond from which there is a 
 fine view of Denver and the surrounding country. Tho 
 plateau is in high tilth, being irrigated by canals brought 
 from the Platte on the south, and Clear creek on the 
 north. The crops looked fine, but we had no time to 
 make a critical examination of their mode of cultivation 
 and irrigation, as the sun was setting. Finally turning in 
 at the gate, we found ourselves in Mr. Pcrrin's strawberry 
 patch, and were abundantly supplied with fruit. But 
 without halting we drove down the plateau and across 
 Clear creek, here one hundred and fifty feet wide, three 
 feet deep, and running with such fearful velocity as threat- 
 ened to sweep carriage and horses down with the tor- 
 rent. 
 
 On the plain north of the creek, and within fifty yards 
 of the brink, stands Mr. Perrin's residence. Alighting, 
 we had just time to inspect, before dark, his highly culti- 
 vated and artistically irrigated vegetable garden of about 
 three acres. "\Ve were both delighted and surprised at 
 the large size and vigorous growth of every kind of culin- 
 ary vegetables. As we are promised samples of beets, 
 turnips and cabbages for exhibition at our next St. Louis 
 Fair, our citizens will have an opportunity of seeing for 
 themselves what Colorado can do in the way of vegeta- 
 bles. Supper being announced, but as the distance wa w 
 about five miles from Denver, the major part of the party 
 who were going away with the eastward bound train, left, 
 which was to be regretted, as the vexed strawberry ques- 
 tion would have been settled by the best proof in the 
 world the eating. Larger, finer-flavored and more lus- 
 
86 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON TUB MOUNTAINS. 
 
 cious strawberries I never tasted than were furnished for 
 desert that evening. I soon deserted the company and 
 went out on the verandah. It was now quite dark, and I 
 sat down to bo soothed by the ever-murmuring waters of 
 Clear creek, which sweeps around on two sides west and 
 south of Mr. Perrin's place. Oh, it is a place for night- 
 dreaming, and day-dreaming, too ! Leaving, wo drove 
 leisurely back to Denver, in the splendid equipage of 
 Mr. Byers, of the .Denver News, where wo arrived before 
 the departure of our friends. 
 
 At half-past nine we took leave of the major part of our 
 party, who Avere returning home; but there were twelve 
 of us, who thought that it would not be entirely satisfac- 
 tory to come 1,000 miles to see the great temple of Nature, 
 and then turn back after having only entered its vesti- 
 bule. Besides the Boulder County Agricultural Associa- 
 tion, the only one in the Territory that had acknowledged 
 our presence, had extended to us, by a committee on the 
 day of our arrival in Denver, a cordial invitation to visit 
 Boulder City. This invitation a few of us had at once ac- 
 cepted, and consequently the committee had gone back to 
 make the necessary arrangements. This engagement we 
 now determined to fulfill, and this incident determined the 
 point of our mountain excursion and movements while we 
 remained in the Territory. Boulder City, in a direct line 
 from Denver, is but twenty-eight miles, but the railroad 
 traversing two sides of a triangle, makes it. forty- 
 seven. The Boulder 'Valley railroad meets the Denver 
 Pacific at Hughes, seventeen miles northeast of Denver; 
 thence to Erie is seventeen miles more as far as the road 
 is now completed and thence twelve miles by starve to 
 Boulder City. 
 
 At Erie is u vein of excellent coal, twelve tlv-'t thick. 
 The Kansas Pacific railroad tapped this coal by a road 
 from Hughes', but the grading is now done, and the ties 
 are being rapidly laid up to Boulder City, the road to be 
 completed by the time of the Boulder Fair, in September 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 87 
 
 This vein of coal continues up to Boulder twelve miles, 
 where it is thirteen feet thick, and where four other veins 
 exist, namely : one twenty, one four and a half, one five, 
 and another seven feet thick. The next day when we 
 .arrived at Erie, we found our Boulder friends waiting with 
 spring wagons, hacks, buggies and carriages to convey us 
 to Boulder City, a distance of twelve miles over the 
 plains. 
 
 The road is on a plateau or terrace, south of, and slight- 
 ly elevated above the plain, through which runs Boulder 
 XJreek. Far down northeast as the eye can reach towards 
 Oreeley the shimmering waters of Boulder Creek can be 
 seen, or their direction traced by a straggling line of cot- 
 tonwood and a dark green belt of from five to seven miles 
 wide, of wheat, rye, barley and corn fields, irrigated by its 
 waters. Mid way between you and the mountains, and some 
 half a mile north of the creek, is White Rock, looking like 
 .a huge snowbank, a conspicuous object from all the plain 
 itround; and immediately opposite, on the south side of 
 the creek, is Yalmont, one of those sporadic buttes of 
 erupted basalt occasionally found on the plain along the 
 foot of the mountains. It is 300 feet high, rising some- 
 what in the form of a haystack, and at its base occupies 
 about an acre in area. It terminates in a curious basaltic 
 column, curved somewhat like a horn leaning northward. 
 At its foot is the village of Yalmont. Yalmont Mill stands 
 a few rods northwest, and beyond the Boulder is White 
 Rock Mill. As soon as the mill is passed Boulder City, 
 on the Plains at the foot of the mountains, and five miles 
 distant, comes into full view. Here also the South Boul- 
 der joins the main stream. The country between here 
 and the mountains is all under cultivation, covered with 
 farmhouses surrounded by the finest farms, irrigated by 
 the waters of the* two Boulders, which issue from their 
 mountain defiles at points about five miles distant from 
 4$ach other. 
 
 We soon pass the Agricultural Fairgrounds, forty adres 
 
88 OVER THE PLAINS ANT) ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 with the necessary buildings, the whole inclosed by a, tight 
 fence. Just northeast of Boulder is one of those remarka- 
 ble benches or terraces already spoken of, surrounded on 
 all sides by a plain rising about thirty feet high. It is an 
 oblong ellipse, having its transverse diameter at right 
 angles to the mountain chain. It contains about fifteen 
 acres, and lias been selected for tho site of the iState 
 University when Colorado becomes a State. 
 
 Arriving at Boulder we were received at the Colorado- 
 House by the citizens en masse, and addressed in their 
 behalf by Judge Berkley, tendering to us the hospitaliites 
 of tho city during our stay, and offering to place at our 
 disposal conveyances to visit any points of interest, either 
 around the city or in the mountain canyon, that we might 
 desire. I, by arrangement, responded to the reception 
 ppeech, as the Denver Tribune reporter, flatteringly no 
 doubt, said, " in very appropriate terms, " thanking the 
 citizens for the distinguished honor conferred upon us, but 
 declining in behalf of the Missouri and Kansas delegation 
 tho generous offer of free rides ad libitum. In a country 
 where, to us, thero w r as so much novelty, so much to inter- 
 est, and such sublime and magnificent scenery, the offer 
 was entirely too generous and tho inducement too great 
 "to ride a willing horse to death;" we therefore most 
 gratefully declined it, and placed ourselves at their own 
 disposal, to visit only such places as they might deem 
 most interesting. 
 
 After a dinner, sumptuous enough for princes, we were 
 driven around the suburbs, visiting some of the adjacent 
 farms, examining the condition of tho growing crops, the 
 canals and ditches for, and tho method of irrigating, pick- 
 ing the most luscious strawberries we ever saw, and end- 
 ing by a drive up to the mouth of Boulder canyon, to see 
 the head of the irrigating canals which begin in the canyon 
 
OVKR THK PLAINS AND ON THE MOLTNTAINH. 8 
 
 and branch off both right and left from the creek an soon 
 as it enters the plain. 
 
 The weary Sim had made a golden eet, 
 And, b}' the bright track of his fiery car, 
 Gave token of a goodly day to-morrow. 
 
 The citizens now had settled that on the next day 
 would give us a picnic np in Boulder canyon; and so 
 retired to rest with bright anticipations of to-morrow. 
 
90 ovEi rajs PLAJJXS A^ND cw TILK MOUNTAINS. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 From peculiar meteorological causes, which it is not 
 necessary here to state or explain, dew never falls on the 
 Plains adjacent to the mountains. A morning's walk 
 therefore, can be enjoyed without incurring the drawbacks 
 of wet feet and soiled garments, and without having the 
 specter of chills and fever flitting constantly before your 
 eyes. Then, too, the sky is always so bright, the air so 
 pure and exhilarating, the songs of strange birds so charm- 
 ing, the murmuring of the mountain torrents, dashing head- 
 long down the plain, so soothing, and the scenery so bold 
 and captivating, that ears and eyes are never satiated. 
 Stolid and phlegmatic must be the nature of that man, or 
 woman either, who here can act the sluggard, where Na- 
 ture puts on her gayest attire and most majestic mien, as 
 well as displays her wildest and most phantastic forms. 
 
 Under such influences and impulses, even at the risk of 
 disturbing the tranquility of our host, the llev. Nathan 
 Thompson, and his estimable lady, whose hospitality we 
 were enjoying, Mrs. T. and I were up early, and out for 
 a morning's ramble up to the mountains and along their 
 base, to drink in health from the pure, invigorating moun- 
 tain air, and inspiration from the scenery surrounding us. 
 
 Mr. Thompson's house stands about one-third of the way 
 up the slope of a terraced plateau that lies against the 
 mountains, extending from Boulder canyon to the first 
 gulch north, distant from the mountain at this, the farthest 
 point, about 400 yards. Like all these elevated plateaux, 
 it is perfectly level on the top; but the slopes are as 
 neatly and. as smoothly rounded off as if done by hand. 
 These benches, as they are here called, are unquestionably 
 
OVKU THE -PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 91 
 
 the remains of abrasions, records of events loin* anterior 
 to the existence of man, when the pent up waters of moun- 
 tain lakes broke through the rocky barriers, and issuing 
 from the gulches and canyons with irrisistible force degra- 
 ded the plain-tolls present level. The slope rises with an an- 
 gle of about thirty degrees with the horizon, and the summit 
 of the bench is about forty feet above the level of the plain. 
 Mr! Thompson's house stands near the north end, and his 
 church (Congregational) on the south end of a five acre 
 lot, lying against this bench on the east .side. Above and 
 higher than the top of his house and along the edge of the 
 level summit of the bench is an irrigating canal carrying 
 from Boulder canyon a rapid stream of water five feet 
 wide and thirty inches deep. Up to this canal and along 
 its margin northwestwardly lay our morning walk. 
 
 From the plain on the top of this bench the view is 
 charming, and in any other country than *this would be en- 
 titled to the terms grand and magnificent. West and north-- 
 west the precipitous walls of brownish porphyritic rock ris- 
 ing from the edge of the plain to the height of from 1500 to 
 4000 feet;* mostly nude, but incidentally at many places 
 there are narrow terraces, bearing evergreen shrubs and 
 dwarf pine, cedar and spruce trees. Southwest is Boulder 
 canyon, an immensely deep, narrow rift in the mountain ; 
 and beyond it rises a most singular protuberance, oblong, 
 rugged and imposing, to an altitude of 4000 feet and more. 
 Its roof-shaped top starts from terraces on both the east 
 and west sides, and runs up as steep as the steepest roof of 
 a gothic church for some 600 feet, the ridge running north 
 and south. But what is most singular, along the eastern 
 terrace rise noUess than six abutments, looking for all the 
 
 * "The- seonerytiio'^the flanks of the mountains is wonderfully unique, 
 and I have not seen a similar example in the Rockv Mountain region. 
 The uplift is on niv unparalleled scale. The mountain wall, a tremen- 
 
 dom uplift of nvetamorphosed sand-stone rises 4000 feet above Boulder 
 Valley on the phi tm below, and their rugged summits project far over 
 
 on the granitic roe^s we-Uwnrd. " I'rof. Jtjfrfb' Grtoloywal report of 
 
 JL869. 
 
!>Z OVKK THK PLAINS ANI> ON THE M< 
 
 world like pilasters, extending above the terrace and ter- 
 minating in sharp quadrangular pyramids, some three hun- 
 dred and fifty feet high. South of this singular mountain 
 is Bear Gulch, a correct engraving of which can be seen in 
 "Views from Nature. " Beyond Bear Gulch rises another 
 high mountain, round-topped and dome-shaped, ending in 
 a narrow peak like a sow's teat. This closes the mountain- 
 view south from this point. 
 
 BOULDER. 
 
 Turn now your face towards the east. To your right,, 
 southeastward, you see a bench about four miles distant ; 
 there is Marshall's coal mine, and near this bendi on the 
 plain are seen the sparkling waters of South Boulder 
 creek. That building beside it is Marshall's iron works. 
 Then, on the intervening plain, are seen farm-houses and 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. VQ 
 
 .green fields up to the main Boulder creek, a dashing 
 mountain torrent, hastening down the plain to embrace 
 her sister stream. At your feet, between the elevation on 
 which you stand and the creek, is Boulder City, which 
 you entirely overlook, extending northward on the plain 
 between you and the University plateau, which lies im- 
 mediately east. Down on the plain eastward in the dis- 
 tance, is seen Mr. Day's and other ranches, on the South 
 Boulder. Then there is the fine lake between the two 
 Boulders, formed since the plain has become irrigated, now 
 well stocked with fine fish mostly perch and redhorse. 
 .Nearer still, the house in that dense coppice is the resi- 
 dence of Judge George Berkley, the oldest and most en- 
 thusiastic tree-planter in the Territory ; and nearer still 
 -come the fair grounds, with its inclosed buildings. But 
 over all, and beyond, is seen that singular btitte or basal- 
 tic dyke, Yalmont, raising its isolated cone on the plain; 
 and to the left of it, that white object like an immense 
 snow bank, is White Bock. 
 
 In the northeast, at a distance of about ten miles, is seen 
 Haystack Mountain, another of those isolated basaltic 
 cones, that at long intervals are found protruding from the 
 level plain. Those buildings near its base are the vil- 
 iagesof Burlington and Longmont the latter a new colony 
 from. Chicago organized somewhat on the principles of 
 that at Greelcy. Around these, and extending up to the 
 mountains, are seen ranches and green fields, and the un- 
 cultivated plain covered with cattle. This gives a some- 
 what faint idea of the scenery from this point, to which 
 must be added, to complete the picture, the light green 
 <x>lor of the plain as compared with the sombre ever- 
 greens which deck the porphyritic sides of the mountains. 
 
 As we were strolling leisurely towards the mountain, 
 plucking flowers and examining the pebbles for moss 
 agates, our attention was suddenly drawn to the thrilling 
 notes of the skylark (Eremopliila cormita); notes which 
 for compass and silvery sweetness of tone are inimitable 
 
D4 
 
 OVER THE PLAINS AN 7 !) <>N V THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 and unapproachable by any other songster. There he eat 
 on the fence half way down the slope, and again and again 
 he would pour out his silvery, ringing notes on the morn- 
 ing air, that almost awoke the sleeping echoes of (he 
 mountains. As we walked on, he would fly ahead and 
 take his position on the fence, and pour out his matin song 
 as if in triumph. When we returned he followed us, and 
 
 MOUTH OF BOULDER CANYON. 
 
 repeated more and more rapidly his charming song, 
 seemingly striving to excel his first efforts. At last hia 
 notes Beemed mingled with the sadness of despair, becom- 
 ing louder, sweeter and tenderer, but touched, as it were,, 
 with the anguish of a heartrending sorraw. At this mo- 
 ment I spied his mate dodging through the grass; and, 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 95- 
 
 now I understood his strange conduct, and the cause of 
 his alarm and distress. 
 
 Our host now appeared in sight calling us to breakfast, 
 so we hurried on, greatly to the relief of our feathered 
 friend. May he Jive a thousand years and raise a brood 
 of songsters every month ! 
 
 After breakfast, returning to the hotel, we found car- 
 riages, buggies, spring wagons, etc., collecting to convey 
 us, and baskets arid trays filled with luxuries to add to 
 our enjoyment, and minister to our comfort during the 
 excursion up the canyon. When all was ready the train 
 of some twenty wagons and coaches moved off toward the 
 mountain defile, up which lay our route, into the heart of 
 the Cordilleras. The mouth of the canyon, where it 
 opens on the plain, is about one hundred feet wide, and 
 the ascent of the canyon Avails on either side exceeds but 
 little fifty-five degrees. The acclivities are sparsely cov- 
 ered with stunted pine and cedar trees, growing on huge 
 rocky angular terraces, that jut out all over the sides of 
 the walls. On the top of the wall, amongst evergreens, 
 occasionally stands a tall pine or spruce tree blasted by 
 the lightning. The scenery is rugged and wild in every 
 imaginable sense. The creek, a stream discharging fully 
 three times the quantity of water our Meramec river 
 does j * flows rapidly through not over its rocky bed, for 
 the sharp rocks project in every direction from one to four 
 feet above the water. The water purls and frets, and 
 foams as if in a rage at the obstruction imposed by the 
 rocky barriers, but otherwise it is dark, being prevented 
 by its rapid flow and agitation from reflecting either the 
 canyon walls or the narrow strip of blue sky above. The 
 road and the stream mostly occupy the full width of the 
 canyon, but occasionally a large rock crowds the stream 
 into narrow limits and against the opposite wall ; then 
 there is a little headland used for turnouts, where ascend- 
 
 *Meramec river in Missouri.. 
 
K) OVER THE PLAINS AND OX THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 ing and descending teams pass each other. When not BO 
 used, these headlands form a nestling place for numerous 
 mountain flowers. Amongst entirely new flora, I here 
 found a splendid red lily, as large as a cup, ( Lillium Phila- 
 delphicum^ and the most showy of all the mountain flow- 
 ers, the Epilobium angustifolium, forming plots of brilliant 
 rosy purple flowers. 
 
 As the course of the canyon is zig-zag, it often narrows 
 so as scarcely to, afford room for the waters to pass; the 
 roadway is then blasted out of the perpendicular side rock 
 of the canyon wall. If this side rock (as is generally the 
 case) is a projecting promontory of a mountain peak rent 
 : in twain, then there is left a fissured rock from one to two 
 thousand feet high hanging overhead, that any moment 
 may tumble down, or from its sides send down an aval- 
 anche of rock into the abyss below. You instinctively 
 hold your breath until it is past. Xow you come to a 
 bridge, (for' there are thirty-one of them in twelve miles), 
 loading to the narrow beach, eight or ten feet wide, on 
 the opposite side, while the river dashes its foaming 
 Waters against the perpendicular cliff three thousand feet 
 high, on the side you are- leaving. All you see of sky is 
 now reduced to a narrow band overhead. You look up 
 the sides of the canyon, and in crevices in the flank of the 
 walls, or on protruding rocks, grow shrubs of pine and 
 spruce, while their summits are crowned with stur-dy ever- 
 greens, who for centuries have battled with the storms 
 and defied the artillery of heaven, not with impunity, 
 however, as many a lightning scarred or dead one attests. 
 High over all is seen, wheeling in his airy flight, the gol- 
 den eagle, who finds his congenial home hero 
 
 "On the mountains that proclaim 
 The everlasting creed of liberty. " 
 
 Miles are thus passed, the scenery becoming grander 
 and more imposing at every step, and the flowing of the 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 97 
 
 water, now all foam, also more impetuous. Suddenly tho 
 canyon walls for an instant recede, for man has invaded 
 and profaned the sanctity of the place. There stands his 
 puny, busy mill turning into plank, shingle and lath the 
 brave old giants of the mountain forest. On the right^ 
 too, there are indications of his presence ; for from tho 
 rocky chasm of a cleft mountain issue the turbid waters of 
 Four-Mile creek; turbid because miners are washing the 
 auriferous sands of the gulch in its limpid waves. 
 
 But this interruption is only temporary. Coy Nature, 
 that fled the contaminating presence of man, returns with 
 more commanding presence and majestic mien than ever, 
 to avenge the interruption by displaying sublimer forms 
 and more imposing and awe-inspiring grandeur and wild- 
 ness. The river roars and pitches more furiously than 
 ever; there hangs the beetling cliff, higher and more 
 threatening than before ; and there, too, the graceful fir 
 lifts high its head into the light of the sun, 250 feet above 
 the roaring, foaming waters that rave at its roots. 
 
 It seemed now as though Nature must have exhausted 
 her stores of wonders to astonish, amaze bewilder and 
 overwhelm, and drawn upon her last resources for exciting 
 enthusiasm and exalted emotions; but not so. Themagio 
 panorama moves on, and we enter a mountain defile, sun- 
 dered by some great natural convulsion, of perpendicular 
 walls, scraggy and naked, three thousand feet high, over- 
 hung by pines and cedars. It can easily be taken for a 
 huge stair-case walled in, such as might have been built 
 by Titans and Cyclops for ascending Olympus, the resi- 
 dence of the gods; and that the jets and fountains in 
 which nymphs and goddesses disported themselves, fallen 
 into decay, were pouring down their waters over the dilapi- 
 dated steps; for tho river here descends a steep, rocky 
 declivity. The waters are no longer foam, but spray, and 
 their roar is deafening. You look ahead whence they 
 come, but the canyon is closed up by a transversal per- 
 pendicular wall, with no sign of an outlet, forming appar- 
 7 
 
98 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 ently a complete cul de sac. Again and again is this re- 
 peated. The walls, when perpendicular and solid, are 
 always naked ; but when full of fissures and crevices, they 
 are completely hid by evergreen shrubs, and decorated as 
 evenly and as neatly as the ivy decks the dilapidated cas- 
 tles of Europe. 
 
 Turning the angle, the scene now changes. The accliv- 
 ities of the walls, instead of perpendicular, are but 75 or 
 80 degrees, then the sides become a thicket of spruce sap- 
 plings thirty or forty feet high, and completely hide the 
 eide rocks, forming a green wall as you look up the 
 Canyon. Immense spruce trees also stand in the bottom 
 of the canyon, sometimes alone and then in groups. Thus 
 at every turn, and in every instant of time the scenery 
 changes and new and startling forms present themselves. 
 You are now opposite the embouchure of the North Boul- 
 der. You look up a dark deep rift in the mountain side, 
 overshadowed by trees and partly hid ; you se at the 
 distance often rods a white sheet of water pitched west- 
 ward across the chasm. This is the rebound of the falls 
 of the North Boulder from a shelving rock. "We will visit 
 them on our return. 
 
 Up, up we go (for the acclivity up which our road 
 leads, or rather the declivity down which the river flows, 
 ascends for twenty miles at the average rate of 210 feet 
 per mile, but here it is 469 feet per mile). The chasm 
 now for a short distance becomes heavily timbered with 
 fir and pine, and its sides very rugged, then intermits and 
 becomes narrower and bolder. Huge rocks obstruct the 
 passage of the water. It pitches over some and forms a 
 series of cascades, others deflect it and dash it against the 
 perpendicular wall of the canyon, whence it rebounds. 
 Closer and closer the canyon contracts, and higher and 
 steeper arise its walls. A dense grove of spruce trees, 
 narrow and tapering as church steeples, and two hundred 
 and fifty feet high, crowded each other so closely as to fill 
 up the entire chasm between the walls, completely shut- 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 99 
 
 ting out the light, and shrouding everything with twilight 
 gloom at noonday. The imposing grandeur of the appear- 
 ance now may be fairly conceived, but not realized, when 
 to this solemn, almost dismal scenery, is added the milk- 
 white waters of the river rushing down the rocky decliv- 
 ity, dashed hither and thither by the obstructions, roaring 
 and casting their spray in your face. 
 
 EAGLE CLIFF, BOULDER CANYON. 
 
 Anon, the 
 
 scene changes. Light breaks in and dis- 
 perses the gloom; and the canyon is clear again of trees, 
 excepting the long, tapering spruce sapplings that run up 
 and seem to lay against its walls. But look ! twenty rods 
 ahead a perpendicular mountain, three thousand feet high, 
 is thrown across the canyon at right angles, and there 
 seems no possible outlet from it. But soon a break ia 
 
100 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 seen to unfold itself towards tho left; and on turning the 
 angle, the winy on walls, instead of continuous rock, are 
 composed of dissevered mountains, crowded against each 
 other, varying from 1,500 to 3,000 feet, sometimes expos- 
 ing large, craggy, naked rocks, and at other times clothed 
 with evergreens to their summits. To the left is what ap- 
 pears as the half of a huge red granite mountain, verti- 
 cally cleft from top to bottom, whose perpendicular wall 
 rises fully 2,000 feet high. About six hundred feet from 
 its top -is seen a small speck which we are assured is an 
 eagle's nest in a cavity. Mr. Fitch, from Boston, who ac- 
 companied us from Denver, had with him a field glass, 
 which was brought into requisition, and lo ! sure enough, 
 there is the eagle upon tho nest. 
 
 But on we go silent, abstract and thoughtful, now en- 
 tranced by an overhanging crag, then startled by a beet- 
 ling cliff, and spell-bound by the stupendous vastness, in- 
 imitable grandeur and awful sublimity of Nature's works 
 around us. Suddenly our revery is broken by a commo- 
 tion in the advance. The men rise to their feet and swing 
 their hats, and the ladies are waving their handkerchiefs, 
 there is shouting, but it is drowned by the roar of tho 
 waters. To make us understand what was the matter, 
 fingers are pointed to a culminating cliff to the right. 
 Turning our eyes in the direction indicated, upon a prom- 
 inent rock, and under a pine leaning over the precipice, 
 stood a bighorn, or Eocky Mountain sheep ( Ovis Mon- 
 tana ) against the blue sky, and fully 1,500 feet above our 
 heads. It was a large buck, and he gave us side views, 
 both by turning his head to look at our advance, and rear. 
 We found the attempt vain to make noise enough to fright- 
 en him from his commanding position. 
 
 Finally we reached the objective point, as far as tho 
 party was concerned, this was Castle Eock. Here our 
 picnic was to take place in an alcove in the rock. Thij 
 recess is some forty feet wide and sixteen to eighteen 
 feet deep. Cloths were spread on the sandy floor, baa- 
 
OVER THK PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 101 
 
 kets and trays were unpacked. There was boiled ham 
 and buffalo tongues, roasted chickens and turkeys, togeth- 
 er with any amount of cakes, pies, custards and tarts, and 
 all washed down with lemonade made from the icy 
 waters ( for the snows are but three miles distant ) of the 
 Boulder, which sweeps by within twenty feet of our re- 
 treat. 
 
 CASTLE ROCK. 
 
 But what of Castle Rock ? Why, of this it is enough 
 when it is said that it is an object worthy a trip across 
 the continent to see it. It stands right across the direc- 
 tion of the Boulder coming down from the snowy moun- 
 tains. When within fifteen feet of its base, the stream de- 
 flects Muitheastwardly, until it strikes the south wall. 
 
W- OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THK M 
 
 which it follows until it meets a perpendicular rock 1,800 
 feet high, standing at right angles to the south wall. It 
 is then deflected back to the northwest striking the north- 
 eastern base of Castle Kock. Here the bridge crosses 
 from the opposite side, and the road winds around the 
 base of this wonderful rock. On the northwest side is a 
 gap,' through which, at a former period perhaps, the Boul- 
 der flowed. It is, perhaps, a hundred feet wide, reaches to 
 within one hundred and fifty feet of the base, and sepa- 
 rates Castle Kock from the north wall of the canyon. This 
 wall is here hardly more than 1,200 feet high, while the 
 southern one is f.illy 1,500. This latter is nearly perpen- 
 dicular, but the evergreens with which it is covered from 
 top to bottom, make it look as smooth and regular as 
 though it had been trimmed with shears. The perpendic- 
 ular rock that meets it at right angles, is red granite, and 
 entirely bare. 
 
 The area of the base of Castle Rock is less than half an 
 acre, but its altitude is over 800 feet. The Court House 
 in St. Louis, from the pavement to the ball on top of the 
 dome, is 196 feet. The imposing appearance of Castle 
 Rock can, therefore, be imagined. Standing on a base 
 not 150 feet square, yet rising to the enormous altitude of 
 more than four times the distance from the pavement to 
 the brass ball on the St. Louis Court House. Its distance 
 from Boulder City is thirteen miles. 
 
 The engraving from a photograph taken at a point up 
 the canyon, gives a good idea of the appearance of this 
 singular rock. It is, however, only a view of the upper 
 part of it, commencing say 300 feet above the base. 
 
 But we must here terminate our vain and futile attempt 
 to describe Boulder Canyon an object that is absolutelv 
 indescribable. Ko language can do justice to its awful, 
 sublime and grand scenery. Here is immense variety and 
 stupendous vastness combined with all the elements of the 
 grand, the beautiful and the sublime, which no mortal peri 
 can describe or pencil delineate ; yet the whole presented 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 103 
 
 with such rugged and austere, yet lovely simplicity, that 
 iit strikes every beholder with awe, delight and amazement. 
 We have read of Alpine scenery, and of the Yosemite Val- 
 ley, and we have both read of and seen Niagara, Falls, 
 Delaware Gap and the passage of the Potomac through 
 Blue Ilidge ; and we pronounce Niagara Falls, Delaware 
 Gap and the passage of the Potomac as tame and common 
 place, when compared with the scenery of this fearful and 
 wonderful canyon ; and unless writers on Alpine scenery 
 .and of the Yosemite Valley lack command of the resources 
 .of our language, they, too, will suffer by the comparison. 
 "VVe, therefore, assert confidently, that for majestic presence 
 to excite powerful emotions of veneration and awe ; for 
 wild, stern, and startling ruggedness to impress fear, and 
 for sublimity and grandeur to fill the soul with inspiration 
 and enthusiasm, Boulder Canyon stands without a peer or 
 even a rival in the world. 
 
 I will only relate one of the many incidents that show 
 its magic effect upon visitors, though many might be 
 related that occurred to our own party. Soon after 
 entering the canyon, my attention became completely 
 absorbed and spellbound by the immensity, sublimity and 
 wildness of the scene that was unfolding to view. The 
 ladies occupying the open barouche with mo thought I 
 was listless, and was missing it all. Honco there was a 
 continual call on me of, Oh ! look here ! O, there, etc. , 
 which I must confess annoyed me not a little. But the 
 grandeur soon became so sublime and overwhelmingly 
 powerful that they were filled with unutterable emotion* 
 and awed into silence. Abstract and staring wildly at the 
 magic scenery, grander and vaster, that was constantly 
 unfolding itself, they were incapable of any effort except 
 to wave the hand slowly in the direction of the object on 
 which their eyes were fixed spellbound. 
 
 Here we took leave of all our Kansas friends, who 
 returned home, while the Missourians pushed on to the 
 
104 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON' THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 mines and snow fields, higher up and deeper in the recesses 
 of the mountains. * 
 
 * Since this was written I have received the levelling* of the railroad 
 survey made up the canyon duriog the summer which is as follows : 
 
 Istftnilo from Boulder City, 184 feet; 2ndmile, 126.1; 3rd mile, 98.8; 
 4th mile, 175.8; 5th mile, 128.3; 6th mile, 180.9; 7th mile, 205.1; 8th 
 mile to Falls of N. Boulder, 331.3; 9th mile, 469.4; 10th mile, 188 ; llth. 
 mile, 96.5 ; 12th mile, 129.G; 13th mile to Castle Rock, 150.21. 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 1Q5- 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 As already stated, we took leave of our kind Boulder 
 for the present, and of our Kansas friends, perhaps forever, 
 at Castle .Rock. The latter expressed themselves satisfied, 
 yea, more than satisfied at having seen what it falls to the 
 lot of but few, the most varied, picturesque, grandest, most 
 imposing and sublimest work of Nature, and of having 
 experienced such sensations and emotions as only such a 
 work can excite and inspire. If the Italians can say, " See 
 Naples and then die/' they felt that with emotions of a 
 higher order, they could say, u See Boulder canyon and 
 Castle Bock and then die, for the world holds nothing be- 
 sides that combines so much of every element of beauty, 
 grandeur and sublimity as they." 
 
 We Missourians hired conveyances to take us up to the 
 top of Caribou mountain, to inspect the silver mines there. 
 Our party was now reduced to Judge Moore, of Franklin 
 county; B. Smith and wife, of Crawford county, and 
 myself and wife, from St. Louis. 
 
 It was about four o'clock when we started, and the dis- 
 tance about seven miles to Caribou. The canyon soon 
 widens, and instead of bare perpendicular rocky walls, the 
 gtream is flanked on both sides by mountain ranges, some- 
 times running parallel with the banks of the stream, but 
 generally the ridges or . " hog backs" abut on the stream 
 at right angles to its course, and have the general trend 
 north and south, of the Cordilleras at this point. They 
 are heavily timbered with pine and fir, and rise but to a 
 moderate height, say from 700 to 1000 feet above the 
 valley. Occasionally a high cone is seen in the distance 
 protruding from one to two thousand feet above the sur- 
 
106 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 rounding peaks. Were it not for these sporadic cones, the 
 scenery otherwise would remind one of the wildest portion 
 of the Alleghanies, except that the "hogbacks" (a very 
 expressive and descriptive term) never have a length of 
 more than five or six times their width. The canyon now 
 has become a valley, with from five to forty rods of arable 
 land on one or the other side of the stream, and the moun- 
 tains mcasureably give way to high hills covered with 
 evergreens and buffalo grass. 
 
 Signs of beaver now appear. Here on both sides of the 
 road stand the stumps of trees, six to ten inches thick, 
 gnawed off last fall to build their winter dam, which is 
 here close by, as you see, cut through recently by the ac- 
 cumulated waters of the melted snows of the present sea- 
 son. Yonder they had 
 
 "Reared their little Venice; " 
 
 T 
 
 lodges from 13 to 18 feet in diameter and from 6 to 8 feet 
 
 O 
 
 high, resembling huge mud ovens. Their interior is said 
 to be about seven feet in diameter and from two to three 
 feet high. Their beds, separated from each other, are 
 made of grass or fibers of bark, and are placed around 
 the walls of lodges, leaving the space in the center unoc- 
 cupied. That deep ditch around the lodges is the moat 
 made so deep that water never freezes, giving egress and 
 ingress to the lodges. In it also they lay up a store of 
 wood, the bark of which serves them for food in winter, 
 while the wood after the ba,rk is gnawed off is used for 
 repairing their dams when needed. The lodges are cov- 
 ered with boughs of evergreens woven and matted together, 
 lined and well stuffed with moss and grass, and the whole 
 covered with mud. It is said that even amongst the beav- 
 ers there are lazy fellows who will not work, refusing to 
 assist in building lodges or dams or to cut wood and peel 
 bark for winter provender. The industrious ones beat 
 these idle fellows and drive them away; sometimes even 
 
OVER TIIK PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 107 
 
 disgracing them by lopping off a part of their tails. These 
 " Paresseux" as the French trappers call them, that is, 
 " lazy fellows," are more easily caught in traps than the 
 others, because, I suppose, being more in want, they are 
 more reckless. 
 
 New flora also appears. The Thermopsis montana with 
 its large raceme of papilionacious yellow flowers, dwarf 
 Dodecatheon, with intense purple blooms ; the delicate 7m 
 tenaXy and the Polygonum bistorta, with its white oblong 
 head, are abundant on the grassy glade, or along the banks 
 of spring branches flowing from the mountain sides. Birds 
 were quite numerous. Amongst old acquaintances I no- 
 ticed the silent lark, the chipping and tree sparrow, the 
 robin, red-headed woodpecker, common dove, some war- 
 blers and fly catchers. The following are the principal 
 >ones amongst the new species : the mountain song-spar- 
 row, green-tailed and Lincoln's finch, two kinds of grouse 
 (the gray-mountain and dusky) , the long-crested and 
 "Woodhouso's jay, both much larger and handsomer than 
 our blue jay, the Rocky Mountain magpie, et<-. 
 
 The first dwelling is that of Abel (J-oss, a young couple 
 from New Hampshire, who have here a pleasant mountain 
 ranche; and a few miles beyond is Brown's, now called 
 Middle Boulder, where a large new tavern is nearly fin- 
 ished. Hero we met ( 1 ol. B. O. Cutter, superintendent of the 
 Caribou Mining Company, who is here engaged in erecting 
 .smelting works to cost about $150,000 for the com- 
 pany. Here there is a cross road leading from Central 
 City to the Ward mining district, north, near the base of 
 Long's Peak. The Colonel gave us a letter of introduc- 
 tion to Mr. Martin, who superintends the mining opera- 
 tions at the lode, requesting him to give us every facility 
 for inspecting the mines, and that he himself would be up 
 In the morning if he could leave. 
 
 The valley now spreads out to a considerable distance 
 and the bottom land would be as level, as an Illinois prai- 
 rie, were it not for the ridges of the old beaver dams that 
 
108 OVER, THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 every fifteen or twenty feet lie across it from one moun- 
 tain flank to the other and the old beaver lodges. These 
 ridges are made of trees and sapplings cut down and 
 dragged into place by these animals, the upper limbs all 
 cut oil* and woven in below, and then the whole filled in 
 with small stones, bark and moss, and covered with earth. 
 It is only where the water has broken through them that 
 you can soe their structure. They are even yet from two 
 to five feet high, and four to eight feet wide. Their 
 length varies with the width of the valley, but some of 
 them are fully two hundred yards long. 
 
 As we were leaving the valley to ascend the Caribou 
 Mountains to our left at the head of the glade and south of 
 the Boulder, we saw a high ruggod mountain, some half a 
 mile distant, whose side was covered with a field of snow of 
 considerable size. The mountains on the north also 
 crowd in on the creek above, and as the sun had descend- 
 ed behind their peaks, the dark green of the pino and firs 
 that cover their sides gave the scenery a sad arid gloomy 
 appearance. Above and over head, coming in from Long's 
 Peak, on the north now also appears a narrow storm 
 cloud, from which at intervals dart forked lightning, and 
 the roar of the thunder with its reverberating echoes from 
 peak to peak is as grand as it is terrific. I gazed up at the 
 low cloud with wonder and amazement. Instead of a hazy, 
 ill-defined outline and enveloped in fog, it looked so pure 
 and crystalline that I could not help imagining it carved 
 out of solid ice, so distinctly were all the outlines of its 
 involutions and convolutions marked, and then it was 
 almost rendered transparent by the sunlight. I observed 
 this same appearance on other occasions while in the 
 mountains. It is only in case of terrific storms that any- 
 thing at all resembling it can be seen " in the States. " 
 With this difference, however, that the cloud is dark and 
 gloomy, instead of crystalline and almost transparent as 
 here. 
 
 The road is very steep from where it leaves the valley 
 
OVER THE PLAINS ANT) ON THE MOUNTAINS. 109 
 
 of the Boulder to Caribou City, rising at the average grade 
 of five hundred and fifty feet to the mile. It slopes up 
 westward !y along the south side of a mountain whose de- 
 clivity IM impracticable for anything except a Bighorn. 
 Yet so dense is the spruce forest on the side that for some 
 hundred feet below the road the forest has been felled to 
 let in the sun to melt the winter snow from the road in 
 the Spring. A few days before we passed there, a fire had 
 swept up the mountain side amongst these felled trees 
 leaving nothing but their blackened trunks, and doing 
 immense damage to the beautiful forest. Soon Cardinal 
 City is reached, a hamlet of some dozen of houses, mostly 
 built since the fire of the blackened trunks of trees, and 
 ome of them covered with nothing but spruce branches. 
 Here are two very rich and promising lodes ; the Trojan 
 and the Boulder county lode. The former averages $160 
 per ton, about equally divided between silver and gold, 
 sometimes one predominating, sometimes the other. It 
 in not yet fully developed being only one hundred feet 
 deep. Boulder county lode is owned by Colonel Cutter 
 and Mr. Conger. Shaft twenty-five feet deep, its ores are 
 zinc-blend and argentiferous galena. More specimens of 
 native silver have been taken from this mine than any in 
 the district. Some eight or ten other lodes in the vicinity, 
 we were told by Mr. Adolphus Livernash, an assayer who 
 has his log cabin here, assay from 132 to 243 ounces of 
 silver per ton. They are mostly argentiferous galena. 
 
 After leaving Cardinal, we ascend another mountain 
 spur which lies to our right, while to our left lies a moun- 
 tain gorge perhaps 1000 feet deep, beyond which rises an 
 extremely steep mountain. The gorge and mountain are 
 covered with a dense forest of spruce trees, in which a fire 
 is raging, the flame often rising high above their tops. 
 Near the western terminus of this mountain is a snowfield 
 reaching from the top to its base. We had now ascended 
 to sunlight again, for through a gap between two bald 
 heads in the Snowy Range, about four miles distant, thd 
 
no 
 
 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 sun poured a flood of Golden light. The spent storm- 
 cloud now showered down a few large drops. I looked np, 
 and from the nearness of the cloud could see the drops 
 from the time they left the cloud. They looked like 
 a shower of pearls, ruby, opal and amethyst; but when 
 they hit, made one wince by their icy touch. 
 
 j 
 
 CARIBOU. 
 
 The mountain spur we are ascending now deflects north ; 
 and west beyond the narrow valley lies a hog-back, heav- 
 ily covered with spruce, whose culminating point is at the 
 head of the valley, northwest. This hog-back is Caribou 
 mountain. Against this culminating point, and in the 
 head of this valley lies Caribou City, of some 250 houses. 
 The town has been built since spring set in. The houses 
 are frame, many two stories high, made of spruce and pine 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. HI 
 
 plank sawed by the mountain mills. Xot a brush of paint 
 had been applied to any of them when we were there. 
 There are two streets well built up running longitudinally 
 with the direction of the valley. Above the town from un- 
 der a bluff issues a fine mountain spring, in which is a spout, 
 and from which the greater part of the citizens obtain 
 water. In the accompanying engraving the log house in 
 the foreground is just below the spring. The view is down 
 the valley and taken from the road leading to the Caribou 
 lode on top of the mountain. 
 
 We put up at the Planters' House, kept by Capt. W. O. 
 Logue, a former steamboat engineer, a captain in the 
 Union army, and long in the employ of the McCord 
 Brothers, of St. Louis. As soon as we had stowed away 
 our luggage, all of us belonging to the masculine gender, 
 started north over the mountain, to the nearest snowbank. 
 As an evidence of the rejuvenating effect of the mountain 
 air and climate upon the human system, I will state that 
 though we were all on the shady side of sixty, yet we in- 
 dulged, boy-like, in a real hearty snow balling. 
 
 We went over the mountain ridge in a northeastern di- 
 rection, but the culminating point on which is the Caribou 
 lode, is northwest, and about a third of a mile -distant 
 from town. AVhere we crossed we found the whole top of 
 the mountain perforated with shafts and prospecting pits. 
 All the shafts sunk last fall were filled with the drifting 
 snows of the winter ; some were yet even full of snow,, 
 and undisturbed. At others the miners were engaged in 
 cleaning out the snow, and in others this had been done 
 and the work of mining was progressing. Within a circle 
 one-half mile from town there are no less than seventy 
 lodes ; fifty-six pay well, and all would pay if there were 
 means for reducing the ores. But the nearest reduction 
 works are at Black Hawk, twenty miles distant. They 
 are owned by Prof. Hill, who buys ores at his own price. 
 He also buys only the better grade, because the supply is- 
 abundant. 
 
112 OVEK THK PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 For this reason the lower grades are neglected and 
 many mines fail of being developed because the miners 
 cannot dispose of the ores. I have heard it stated no ores 
 will pay that do not yield eighty ounces of silver per ton, 
 because the mill men will charge some thirty-five dollars 
 for reducing them, to which is to be added at least ton 
 dollars for hauling, making altogether forty-five dollars, 
 which leaves thirty-five dollars to the miner. Two men 
 working together in sinking on a pay-streak, will raise on 
 an average two tons of ore per week, making their wages 
 thirty-five dollars per week, from which, however, must 
 be deducted the wear of tools and powder for blasting. 
 The average cost of mining per ton, with proper facilities, 
 where the lodes are fully developed, including wages, etc., 
 is about $5 15, and when operations are carried on on a 
 large scale, 30 per cent. less. Colonel Cutter thinks the 
 actual cost of reducing a ton of ore, ought not to exceed 
 $7 50 per ton. At present the mines can be made to pro- 
 duce five times the quantity that can be reduced at the re- 
 duction works when completed. 
 
 The reduction works already spoken of as in process of 
 erection at Middle Boulder, two and a half miles below, 
 will not afford any relief to the Caribou mines, since tho 
 Caribou and other lodes owned by the company that is 
 erecting the works, will alone supply all the ore it can 
 work. There are more than ninety lodes open in Boul- 
 der county, but there is not a single mill nor reduction 
 work in it, while in Gilpin county there are twenty-six, 
 and in Clear Creek county some twenty mills and reduc- 
 tion works in operation. The result is that mines are 
 well developed there, and ores reduced of such low grade 
 as only yield from $20 to $24 per ton. The reason there 
 are no facilities at Caribou for reducing the ore, is because 
 all the lodes have been discovered within tho past year, 
 except tho Caribou, which was discovered in September, 
 1869. 
 
 The Caribou mines alone can furnish ore enough to run 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND OX THE MOUNTAINS. 113 
 
 a dozen stamp mills; and here is a fine opening for an im- 
 mense fortune, by erecting a first-class smelting furnace at 
 Boulder, where the best quality of coal in the Territory 
 exists in unlimited quantities. 
 
 Prof Hill, of Brown University, K. L, went to Black 
 Hawk a comparatively poor man, some three or four 
 years ago, and invested some $8,000 in a smelting furnace. 
 He is now a millionaire. He reduces the ores to what Is 
 called "matte," which is packed up and sent to Swansea, 
 in Wales, where the precious metals are separated from 
 the base. Prof. Hill receiving all the gold and silver, and 
 the English company retaining the copper and lead ob- 
 tained from the " matte " for their pay. 
 
 Our evening ramble took us around the Caribou moun- 
 tain westward, and then over its top back to town. In 
 this ramble I performed the feat of gathering snow with 
 one hand and plucking flowers with the other, which I 
 had often heard could be done, but about which I was 
 somewhat incredulous. The flower, which I preserve in 
 my herbarium as a momento of the fact, is that of the 
 Vaccinnhim myrtillus, a species of blueberry. We found 
 the northwest side of the mountain to be the wall of North 
 Boulder canyon. We could hear the roaring of the 
 waters about a thousand feet below us, but could not 
 see it, the view being obstructed by the donse grove 
 of spruce that line the declivity. 
 
 The north wall of the canyon is the southeastern side of 
 a peak of the Snowy Eange. The trend of the peak is a 
 little west of north, and on its eastern side lays an im- 
 mense snow field, reaching to the summit. This is caused 
 by the west winds drifting the snows, as they fall, to the 
 leeside of the mountain. Up to the hight of the Caribou 
 mountain, this wall was densely covered by dwarf 
 spruce and pine, some even standing within the margin of 
 the snow field. Above the " timber line " and on the west 
 side, the peak was bare; and being covered with the vel- 
 vety buffalo grass, it looked like an ordinary, smoothly, 
 8 
 
114 OVEB, THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 rounded, grassy but steep hill. No rocks can be seen- 
 protruding from its sides above the timber line. 
 
 Its apparent distance from us seemed not to exceed a 
 stone's throw, but we were assured in a direct line it was 
 more than a mile j and to get to the point opposite some 
 three miles had to be traversed. Being now tolerably 
 posted as to the deceptive appearances of distance in this 
 region, yet while we were looking at it, and following 
 with the eye the margin of the snow line toward the sum- 
 mit, some one jestingly proposed to ascend it. I replied,, 
 "No, we will leave it for to-morrow, and do it up before 
 breakfast. " At this a miner, hid in the spruce thicket,, 
 and whom wo had not noticed before, volunteered the 
 kind advice : " You had better take your breakfast first, 
 and your dinner along, for you'll have a late supper. " 
 
 This incident recalls another. While standing on the 
 summit of Caribou mountain, I said to Judge Moore, 
 * Judge, have you observed with how much ease and free- 
 dom you can talk here, and how sonorous and ringing the 
 voice is ? " No sooner were the words out, than Mr- 
 Smith, who was fully one hundred yards distant, replied, 
 " I expect that is the reason you talk so much nonsense 
 here." The explanation is very simple. In the caissons 
 of the St. Louis bridge, those persons who went down in 
 them remember the difficulty there was in speaking, or 
 making yourself heard. There the air was compressed 
 and consequently the effect was the reverse of the effect 
 here, where the air is expanded by the altitude. The bar- 
 ometer here stood 19:52, showing that the atmosphere had 
 only about two-thirds of tho density as on the sea shore, 
 or in other words, that the mountain was over two miles 
 high. Its hight, as received here, is 11,300 feet. 
 
 On tho following morning the barometer stood 19 5 
 inches tho boiling point of water was 191.8 degrees. 
 Following tho usual formula for deducing altitude from 
 these data, the hight of the mountain would be 11,286 feet. 
 It must, however, be stated that at the time the electric 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 115 
 
 tension of the mountain was great, as was evinced by the 
 bushy appearance of the tails of the horses, and also by 
 the hair of our heads having a tendency to stand out 
 straight, This electric condition was followed by a moun- 
 tain storm in the afternoon. Probably an allowance of 
 one inch in barometric pressure should be made for this 
 electric condition at the time ; still, it would leave the 
 mountain over 10,000 feet high. 
 
 Apropos, this rarity of the atmosphere makes itself felt 
 in the breathing of all animals. We had to give the 
 horses, on ascending the mountain, their own time, for if 
 urged they soon commenced panting for breath, and had 
 to stop. The miners here walk slowly, and never feel 
 any inconvenience ; but "greenhorns, " like ourselves, in 
 trying to rush up the mountain, soon find their "wind" 
 failing. I felt no inconvenience, until walking rapidly up 
 a steep terrace, only some six or eight paces, and then 
 found I had either to sit down or fall down. A miner 
 gave me this direction : "Whenever you find your breath 
 iailing, stop and turn your back to the mountain. Two 
 or three breathings, and you are all right again." 1 
 found, in following it, invariably an almost instant relief. 
 When we reached the tavern, a little after dusk, I found 
 Urs. Y. sitting by the stove and fanning, complaining she 
 could get no breath. The landlady assured her it would 
 be all right by morning. It is said that the few who are 
 thus affected by the rarity of the air, find themselves en- 
 tirely relieved of the difficulty after a stay of a few hours. 
 
116 OVER THK PLAINS AND ON THIS MOUNTAINS. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 As we were to return to Boulder by evening, we re- 
 solved to utilize the earliest beams of light in pursuing 
 our investigations of the mines, their character and 
 method of working them. Accordingly we were up even 
 before twilight had completely dispersed, and out on the 
 mountain amongst the mines. At all the well developed 
 mines the ores had been separated by an expert and class- 
 ified, and all the first class taken away or locked up. 
 "Where they had facilities, the second class were also 
 locked up in houses to prevent depredations. We found 
 many excavations just commenced; these we examined 
 critically, to ascertain by what signs and appearances 
 the miners were guided in their prospecting. We 
 had taken with us samples obtained at the mines of the 
 rock carrying the lowest grade ores; with these we com- 
 pared the surface rock at the newly opened prospecting 
 pits, and came to the conclusion that signs of inetaliferou* 
 veins were either very obscure, or that it required a culti- 
 vated and experienced eye to recognize and detect them. 
 Some of the new pits we found, were developing well de- 
 fined metaliferous veins. At these we found small piled 
 of rock showing the progress of development, from very 
 faint signs to well-defined crystals. Comparing thes^ 
 with specimens of rock from the well-developed mines, 
 we were satisfied that though surface indications to 
 " greenhorns " were undistinguishable, yet the metal bear- 
 ing rocks had well-marked characteristics to distinguish 
 them from the non-metaliferous. We examined some 
 thirty or forty paying lodes and any number of prospect- 
 ing pits. 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 117 
 
 After passing through the mining ground, we went 
 around the peak westward, to take a look at the snowy 
 peak opposite, seen the evening before, now that it had its 
 snowy side bathed in sunlight. It was really a charming 
 sight to see the white snow apparently piled against an 
 intensely blue sky. 
 
 Pushing on still further, but southwestwardly, we en- 
 tered a dense pine and spruce forest, full of long-crested 
 jays. ( Cyanura macrolopha,) larger, and having no resem- 
 blance in color to our blue jay. 
 
 Frojn here we ascended to the top of the mountain to take 
 a, morning's view of the scenery. West at from a mile to 
 two miles distance lay the Snowy Range, running a little 
 west of south and east of north. The range separated us 
 from Middle Park, only eight miles distant. But the only 
 practical route thither is by Boulder Pass, some fifteen 
 miles southwest. To the south and east lay what appeared 
 a hilly table land covered with a dense evergreen forest. 
 At various distances a few isolated cones protruded above 
 the surrounding hills from one to two thousand and per- 
 haps more feet. A little north of east the peak of Sugar- 
 loaf Mountain, some nine miles distant, was a prominent 
 object. I did not learn the name of a very large, high 
 cone some fifteen miles southeast. It had i-eally a 
 majestic appearance. In the northeast was another 
 cone, but at some distance, and apparently not as high as 
 Sugarloaf, some seven or eight miles south of it. The 
 town of Caribou lay at our feet on the east side of our 
 look-out in a scooped-out valley between two mountains. 
 We now went to Caribou Lode, entirely closed in and 
 under cover, which lay to our left on the northeastern 
 point of the mountain. Korthwest of the mine are the 
 large stables of the mining company well stocked with 
 provender, including corn. As we approached a large- 
 number of little vermin were seen running from the sta- 
 ble which I supposed to be rats. But seeing one dodge 
 behind a large rock, I kept a lookout for him as I turned 
 
118 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 the corner, and there he sat erect on a small rock, and 
 handling a grain of corn in the most graceful style while 
 eating it. He proved to be a chipmunk. ( Tamias quad- 
 rivitatus'), or the four-striped ground squirrel, fully as 
 beautiful but not so large as the chipmunk or ground 
 squirrel (Tamias lysten) of the Eastern ^tates. The four- 
 striped ground squirrel was discovered by Prof. Say, at- 
 tached to Colonel Long's expedition to the Ilocky Moun- 
 tains. Audobon gives its comparative size at five-sixths 
 that of the Easteru chipping squirrel, from which it differs 
 by having four stripes instead of three. 
 
 Finding that I had ample time before breakfast would 
 be ready, I made a detour to the left, and coming in front 
 of what I had taken to be a pile of spruce boughs, I found 
 it to be a miner's lodge, made of a few poles laid over the 
 gap between two large rocks and covered with the fan- 
 shaped boughs of the Abies EnglenianniL His bed con- 
 sisted of a buffalo robe and some gray army blankets. 
 He was just rising, arid from his cordial "good morning" 
 I knew lie was a "whole-souled fellow," and therefore 
 stopped to have a talk. He soon had a hot fire to get his 
 breakfast. He put on his coffee pot, and from a pouch 
 drew some ground coffee. Slicing his bacon, he put a 
 sharp stick through it, held it in the flame, and when 
 right hot would pour cold water on it to "freshen it," as 
 he said. lie gave me a history of. his wanderings for the 
 last twenty years, when he left Pennsylvania for the 
 mines in California. Had made a half dozen of fortunes 
 and lost them all, but had now ample means laid up for 
 old age, whenever it might undertake him. T asked him 
 why he did not take the world easy and enjoy life now? 
 " I do," he replied ; "I think there is no enjoyment like 
 the wild, free, dare-devil life of the miner on these moun- 
 tains. " Here/' he continued, " we have no classes nor ranks 
 in society, but every true and honest man we moot is at 
 once and forever a friend and brother." I asked him how 
 long he had been here. " About three weeks," he replied. 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 119 
 
 "I had just got," he continued, "into Denver from a very 
 successful prospecting tour through New Mexico, when 
 
 Mr. met me and oft'ered me * grub ' and five dollars a, 
 
 day, and half interest in what I might find, to, come here 
 and prospect Caribou mountain over for him." I re- 
 marked that I had made his employer's acquaintance in 
 Denver, and that he bore the reputaion of being " very 
 sharp." " That's so," said lie " and I got things so fixed 
 before I left that convinced him I was sharp too, 
 and knew my man." "Well, my friend," said I, "ever 
 since daylight I have been tramping over this mountain 
 and trying to find out what signs governed the prospec- 
 tors here in their search for mineral, and have failed. 
 Can you tell me?" "Well," said he, "in my twenty 
 years' experience I have not seen a place where prospec- 
 tors have to work so much in the dark. We have almost 
 to go it blind here, for the surface indications are so indis- 
 tinct. Our experience tells us in what rocks we need not 
 look for minerals, and also what rocks may have them, 
 but here there are often no surface indications whether 
 they carry mineral or not; yet this is the richest silver, 
 region in these mountains." 
 
 I hero rose and left, with the cordial invitation extended 
 to me to come and see his prospect after breakfast, which 
 I accepted, but had no time to keep my promise. After 
 breakfast the whole party, accompanied by the landlady 
 and several other ladies, walked up to the Caribou lode. 
 Here we met Mr. Martin, one of the original discoverers 
 of the lode, who had sold the west half to Mr. Breed, of 
 Cincinnati, for $50,000, still retaining his interest in the 
 eastern half, and superintending the mining operations. 
 He received us cordially and showed us all over the works, 
 their arrangement and operation, the separation and class- 
 ification of the ores, and liberally furnished us with rich 
 specimens. The ladies then left for a ramble to the snow 
 banks on the north side of the mountain, while the men 
 descended the shaft, then 186 foet deep. The shaft, follow-- 
 
120 OVER THK PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 ing the lode vein, is sometimes perpendicular, then slopes 
 at an angle of about 80 degs. east, which is the general dip 
 the strata here of all the lodes, and the vein runs north- 
 west and southeast. In Clear Creek, Gilpin and other 
 counties south, the veins run northeast and southwest. 
 The descent is by ladders, and the place was damp from 
 the dripping water of the side rock above, and gloomy, 
 notwithstanding the star candles we held. It possessed 
 no particular interest nor attraction, and we were glad 
 when we returned to daylight. 
 
 The Caribou is the great silver mine of the mountains. 
 The Colorado Gazetteer says : " It is not only one of the 
 most valuable silver mines in Colorado, but amongst the 
 richest ever discovered in America." Prof. Hill bought a 
 ton of choice ore for which lie paid $13,000. It assayed 
 $16,498,95. About one hundred tons of ore were taken 
 out per month when we were there, but it was not worked 
 to its full capacity. Besides the. company are now mainly 
 engaged in extending levels east and west so that Avhen 
 their smelting works go in operation they can keep them 
 running from this mine alone, if necessary. The assays 
 show the following results : 
 
 PER 
 Fret class oir. .......... , ........................ .*. ............................... $1,054 
 
 Second class ore .................................. . ............................... 634 
 
 Third class ore .................................................................... 14& 
 
 The ladies soon returned accompanied by quite a num- 
 ber of miners, and loaded with specimens given them. 
 We now left, following the lead of the miners to a small 
 black swell on the mountain consisting entirely of black 
 magnetic iron, which the minors said " the clouds kissed 
 every time they passed." We found the ore strongly 
 magnetic, often suspending a string of watch keys. The 
 miners proposed to find me a real good one, and at last suc- 
 ceeded in finding one weighing about three pounds that 
 a chain of no less than six watch keys. In- 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 121 
 
 stantly I saw a hammer descending on it, shivering it into 
 half a dozen fragments. " Oh ! " J exclaimed, " you have 
 spoilt it now." " O, no," said he that struck it, ta- 
 king up the largest fragment and applying it to his 
 key, but the key fell to the ground. " O," said another, 
 "you did not get the magnetic part," while trying another 
 fragment, but with the same result ; and so on till every 
 fragment was tried, but not one showed a trace of mag- 
 netism left. This astonished them. One of them asked. 
 "What did you mean when you said you have spoiled 
 it now ? and how did you know it was spoiled ? " " Why," 
 said I, "it is a well known fact that no magnet can be 
 struck without loosing its magnetism." They looked at 
 each other as though they thought, " he is trying to poke 
 fun at us; " but instantly the thought struck them of ver- 
 ifying the assertion by experiment. Strong magnets were 
 selected and struck with hammers, and then tried, but 
 every trace of magnetism had disappeared. " Well," ex- 
 claimed a half dozen of voices at once. ' that's a new 
 wrinkle." 
 
 As they saw 1 knew some things they went to the usual 
 extreme of believing I knw all things; and as their curi- 
 osity had been excited they demanded to know "what 
 magnetism was, how it got there, and whether the struck 
 stones would again acquire their lost power ? " " Well," I 
 rejoined, " to answer your first question were to tell a 
 long story of what it is imagined to be, because I don't 
 know, nor does anybody truly know, what magnetism is; 
 but you can find out the answers to your second and third 
 questions for yourselves. Lay all the stones that you 
 have struck, and which you know are not magnetic now, 
 on a pile, and wait until after the lightning has struck 
 here, or, as you say, "a passing cloud has given them a 
 smack," and you will find them all right again. "Is that 
 HO?" said some of them. Try and see, said I, and if it is 
 cot so let me know it. They then piled up the stones for 
 trial, and as I have not heard anything from them, I infer 
 
122 OVER THE PLAINS AND Off TfflE MOtTNTAINS. 
 
 that the experiment has succeeded to their satisfaction* 
 We now returned to the tavern, and at eleven o'clock 
 started to return to Boulder. But it is due, before break- 
 ing off this narration here, to bear unequivocal andunqal- 
 ified testimony to the order and quietness of Caribou, and 
 to the sobriety, intelligence and manly bearing of the min- 
 ers, not only here but elsewhere. Liquor of every form 
 is for sale here, but there are no drunken broils, rioting, 
 wantonness or profanity. 
 
 This is at variance with the common idea of the habits, 
 customs and condition of society in mining villages, which 
 are regarded as only a synonym for any amount of drunk- 
 enness and rowdyism, because desperadoes, roughs and 
 bullies are fond of congregating at such places. But I 
 saw nothing of this kind here, nor in any of the mining 
 villages I visited in Colorado. 
 
 We stopped long enough at Cardinal to examine the 
 Trojan lode, one of the most promising new lodes in the 
 Grand Island district, as the mining district enclosed by 
 the North and Middle Boulder creeks is called. It re- 
 reives its name from a mountain fully one thousand feet 
 high a few miles below Caribou, forming an island in the 
 North Boulder which flows around it on all sides. This 
 mountain is called the Grand Island, which has been trans- 
 ferred to the adjacent mining district. The Caribou and 
 Pugh mountains and other metaliferous cones are in this 
 district. Silver and lead are the predominating metals in 
 the district, the mines being what is called argentiferous 
 galenas, though silver in some localities is found combined 
 with copper. Gold has not yet been found to any great, 
 extent, though just south of the Middle Boulder, and a 
 short distance southeast of Middle Boulder Post-office, rich 
 lodes have been discovered. It is probable that further 
 explorations of the lower part of Grand Island district 
 will develop the existence of this metal in paying quan- 
 tities, since it is surrounded by rich lodes, three of which 
 are located at different points on the south side, Gold Hill 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THK MOUNTAINS. 123 
 
 on the east, and the Ward mines on the north. Besides, 
 on Four Mile creek, which has a course parallel to the 
 North Boulder, north and east of the latter, gulch mining 
 is carried on, paying daily from $8 to $15 per hand. 
 Some miners were at work on a placer on Beaver creek, 
 a branch of Middle Boulder, just south of the mountain 
 on which the road ascends to Caribou ; they quit because 
 the water gave out. 
 
 The Trojan lode yields on an average of $160 to $240 
 per ton, half gold and half silver, sometimes the gold 
 predominating and then the silver. The vein increases in 
 riches as great depths are reached. We did not go to the 
 Boulder county lode, also located here. Prospecting is 
 also going on vigorously and quite a number of paying 
 lodes have been discovered here. Between here and the 
 village of Middle Boulder the fire was still raging as on 
 the previous day in the tall spruce forest that lined the 
 mountain acclivity on the farther side of the gorge to our 
 right, the side we were descending having been completely 
 swept by it several days before. Its distance from us was 
 less than a quarter of a mile, and its crackling noise and 
 roaring was terrific, the flames leaping up in large sheets 
 over the top of the forest. It was a sad sight to look at. 
 Here were forests destroyed and wasted, that for several 
 generations would have furnished ample supplies of lum- 
 "ber for building purposes and for fuel for smelling the ores, 
 and all for what? Merely to clear away the fallen leaves 
 so as to expose the naked rocks to the observation of the 
 prospector. This wantonness has no parallel except the 
 folly of killing the goose that laid the golden egg. 
 
 The penalty for firing the woods is severe, and there 
 were fifty-one indictments found against persons and pond- 
 ing for the offence "in Boulder county alone. It is to be 
 hoped, if found guilty, that the full penalty of the law 
 may be meted out to them. On our descent we met a 
 burly mountaineer on a spirited horse going up to Caribou. 
 Mr. Smith recognized him as Major John Q. A. Rollins, an 
 
124 OVKfi THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS^ 
 
 old Illinois acquaintance, but whom lie had not seen for 
 many years. Hailing him, and a mutual recognition 
 taking place, the Major insisted that we should pay a visit 
 to and take dinner at his mountain rancho, some two miles 
 fiouth of Middle Boulder, offering to accompany us back. 
 This we gratefully declined, as we had in the morning 
 sent down word to Goss's to have dinner for our party at 
 two o'clock. At Brown's, or .Middle Boulder, as it is now 
 called, we again met Colonel Cutter, another mountain, 
 specimen of physical development, robust in health, and 
 manly vigor. He is a New Yorker, an educated and intelli- 
 gent man, and from his long residence in the mountains, an 
 expert in mining affaire. He considers this as one of the 
 ricnest mining districts yet discovered, and that investments 
 judiciously made and managed here, either in mines or 
 reduction works, cannot fail of being remunerative. The 
 reduction works he is erecting for the Carbiou Mining 
 Company, of which he is managing director, will be com- 
 pleted by the 1st of September But the present activity 
 in the mining district and the extent of the discoveries 
 making, indicate that the works will be^ when completed, 
 entirely inadequate to reduce the ores that can and will 
 be supplied. 
 
 Arriving at Goss's, and having a few minutes to spare 
 before dinner was ready, I followed the mountain branch 
 np to the gorge whence it issues, in search of now flowers. 
 I was rewarded in finding the Dalea la.rijlora, the Thas- 
 pium montanum and a new and perhaps undescribed Gilia ^ 
 besides any number of the dwarf purple Dodeeatheon r 
 Polygonum bistoria and Thermopsis montana. 
 
 Mrs. Goss had a large collection of mountain cacti from 
 which she invited us to help ourselves to such as we might 
 fancy, but we were not provided with means to transport 
 them. She also had a Woodhouse jay ( Gynocitta Wood- 
 housei) which she presented to the ladies. But which, to 
 our regret, we had to leave at Boulder, for want of facili- 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAIN*. 125 
 
 ties to bring it away. It was a most magnificent bird of 
 brilliant bottle green plumage. 
 
 After a most excellent dinner, to which our mountain 
 appetites did ample justice, and for which we were charged 
 a very moderate price, wo started and were soon at Castle 
 Rock, where we stopped to survey it once more, first from 
 the west, then from the east side. A mile or two below 
 we descried a pair of bighorns, ( Ovis montana,) or Ilocky 
 Mountain sheep, with a lamb under an overhanging cliff 
 on a terrace of the canyon wall some 1200 feet above us. 
 There they stood immovable as statues, -looking down 
 upon us. We shouted, whooped and yelled, making all 
 the noise we could, but it had no effect upon them. The 
 lamb, however, became alarmed and kept dodging fronx 
 one side to the other of the pair. 
 
 Still further down wo stopped to see the son of our 
 Caribou host, Willie Logue, a St.. Louis boy, fourteen 
 years old, who was working on a very promising prospect 
 of his own discovery. He was in a very great glee, and 
 assured us that the assayer had just sent him Arerd that a 
 specimen sent had analyzed at the rate of 140 ounces to 
 the ton. He sent a specimen of the ore to the Missouri 
 State Cabinet, where it can now be seen at the Washing- 
 ton University. We have since heard with regret that 
 the same discovery had been made before and recorded in. 
 1862. It seems, however, by the latest news from there, 
 that Willie has been in luck, and made a very promising 
 discovery on the north side of Caribou Mountain, in the 
 <nyon of the North Boulder. 
 
 We were next halted by one of our Boulder female 
 friends, the excellent wife of Major Buttles, who is one of 
 the principle stockholders and managing directors of the 
 Boulder canyon road, which I ought to have stated before, 
 was only completed three weeks before our arrival there. 
 The Major having some business in connection with the 
 completion of the road in the upper part of the canyon, 
 Mrs. B. had accompanied him to stay a day or two; and 
 
126 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 here we found her in the wild, gloomy, mountain canyon,, 
 beside the noisy stream, occupying a cabin made of poles,, 
 with a ground floor, covered with the wing-shaped boughs 
 of the spruce. She said she had just finished catching a 
 fine mess of mountain trout, and pressed us to wait and 
 she would fry some for us. Old Roman etiquette would 
 have required us to take an emetic to get rid of our din- 
 ner, that we might accept, the invitation. But modern 
 politeness, foolish, heartless and exacting as it is, deviates 
 not quite as far from the path of common sense as the 
 ancient did. Suppose it did, what judgment would Mrs. 
 (TOSS form of our estimation of her cookery ? 
 
 Our next halting place was opposite the embouchure of 
 the North Boulder. The road here crosses a bridge to- 
 the south side of the main canyon, where we drove be- 
 cause here was one of the few turnouts to pass ascending 
 teams. After alighting, we walked back over the bridge 
 and then clambered along the precipitous sides of the 
 north wall of the canyon, down to the mouth of North 
 Boulder. \i r ". soon found that I had as much as I was able 
 to do to -take care of myself, and therefore had to aban- 
 don Mrs. T. to the care of Mr. Corson, the President of 
 the Boulder County Agricultural Association, who had ac- 
 companied us to Caribou. The canyon of the North 
 Boulder was even more difficult than the first. By run- 
 ning any number of risks of breaking our nocks, or of a 
 cold bath in the stream, we stood at length on a very nar- 
 row gravelly beach facing the falls. The canyon runs 
 northwest, but suddenly becomes a cul de sac; a perpen- 
 dicular wall, a thousand feet or more high, lies right 
 across it. The falls meet the canyon from the northeast 
 and therefore at right angles. To the right of the falls 
 the northeast wall of the canyon consists of red granite, 
 and is apparently a mountain peak cleft in twain perpen- 
 dicularly and rising to an altitude of from 1,500 to 2,000 
 feet Between this peak and the mountain closing up the 
 canyon the water has cut down through the granite a 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 127 
 
 trough some 300 feet deep and 20 feet wide. This trough 
 is of the same width throughout, and perfectly 'symmetri- 
 cal, it is the only instance I saw in the mountains of 
 erosion, the canyon walls invariably being cleavages 
 made by convulsions of Nature. The falls are about 20 
 feet wide and 70 feet high. They strike a slanting rock 
 inclining to the northwest, which lies on the east side of 
 the canyon. The rock is about 12 feet high; it therefore 
 pitches the water, the south half of the cascade that falls 
 on it, against the northwest wall, which closes the can- 
 yon. The other half goes without any obstruction to the 
 bottom behind this deflected sheet and boils up at our 
 feet white as milk with foam. We are standing within 
 30 feet of the falls and facing it, and occasionally a whirl 
 of air carries the spray into our faces, but the roar is ter- 
 rific and the ground trembles beneath our feet. Behind 
 the falls is a large cavity extending to within ten feet of 
 the top, so that the falls pour over a projecting rock, leav- 
 ing a deep recess. What was singular a Rocky mountain 
 blue-bird, the Salia arctica, had its nest in this recess, and 
 it had evidently " not learned the fear of man, " for it 
 would come down to the beach on the opposite side and 
 within fifteen feet of us, without seeming to notice our 
 presence. It would hop about, and after finding an in- 
 sect, often a grasshopper that had come over the falls, it 
 would rise, and after a little suspension would dart in 
 through the thinest part of the falling sheet, close by the 
 north wall. A moment after and it would re-appear at 
 the game point to repeat the performance. There is a 
 second fall a short distance above the lower, of some 45 
 feet, which is said to be extremely grand, but it is inacces- 
 sible from this point. After an equally hazardous scram- 
 ble, we got back to our conveyances, but now we found 
 ourselves in trouble. Some teams had come up from 
 below carrying a part of Col. Cutter's machinery, but our 
 vehicles blocked up the way, so there was neither a way 
 V) retreat nor advance for either party. After mutual 
 
128 OV7.R THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 consultation, it was discovered if we unhitched and took 
 the horses across the bridge, and then piled up the vehi- 
 cles, room could be made for the wagons to pass, which 
 being done, all of us went on our way rejoicing. It was 
 about sunset when we issued from the mouth of the can- 
 yon, upon the plain where stands the city of Boulder. 
 
 
OVER THE PLAIX8 AND ON THE MOUNTAINS 129 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 The next morning, Friday, June 16, I waa up with the 
 dawn and out on the streets. They were yet deserted 
 and silent. Not a living thing was to be seen nor heard, 
 except the ever purling murmur of the waters hastening 
 down over the plain. Instinctively I was drawn to their 
 side and up their brink and on to the bridge that spans the 
 Boulder opposite the centre of the town. It was yet twi- 
 light and I stood on the bridge for some moments musing- 
 ly looking at the flow and listening to the murmur of th 
 waters ; and then raising my eyes to look at the aperture 
 in the mountains whence they issued. Oh, those moun- 
 tains how dear to me now that I have made their acquain- 
 tance ! When I recalled the gloom and solitude of the 
 rifled canyon in the Cordilleras through which these waters 
 have flowed, and the overpowering and magic grandeur of 
 the scenery of which they had formed a part, I felt sad. 
 I thought that they, like I, had left forever scenes of in- 
 spiration that give birth to thoughts and emotions too 
 high and holy for utterance, to mix hereafter with the 
 low, groveling, commonplace humdrum of every-day life. 
 Purling and dancing and singing so joyously as they 
 glided along over their rocky bed, I could not help sigh- 
 ing : Ah, little do they know of what is before them ! I 
 felt like apostrophizing them thus: Ah I well ma} r ye of 
 so little experience be light of heart and dance and sing 
 and prattle with glee as you hasten from your mountain 
 home. Soon the merciless iron of experience will peno- 
 trate your bosom and your joy will flee forever. You 
 will enter into the great throng, and falling under its bo- 
 numbing influences will lose your identity forever. With 
 9 
 
130 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 them, you will pursue a sluggish career amid fens, bog& 
 and sandbars to obstruct your way, till you finally fall 
 into and are lost in the great ocean of which you are an 
 emanation. Were ye sentient, and had ye the faculty of 
 prevision to see the low career before you and its final end, 
 like the dying Swiss boy, ye would entreat and cry : 
 
 ' Oh, carry me back to my mountain home. " 
 
 But fate has set its seal upon me as well as you, and from 
 you I can learn the lesson to be cheerful, and not repine 
 while obeying his behests. 
 
 Breaking from my reverie, I crossed the bridge and 
 followed the pebbly margin of the stream up to the 
 Hfouth of the canyon, examining the endless variety of 
 size, color and material of the boulders and pebbles of 
 which its bottom and margin are composed. Then turn- 
 ing south and following the base of the mountain, I soon 
 ascended one of those terraced plateaux that invariably 
 lie against the mountains between the mouths of canyons- 
 and gulches. The plateau I followed till it terminates at 
 Bear gulch, and thence down till I reached the road lead- 
 ing to town. The view from the plateau is most charming, 
 even finer than from that on the north side of the stream 
 already described, since it brings the valleys of both the 
 Xorth and South Boulder under nearer view, and for a 
 greater distance the valley below their junction at Yal- 
 ruont. The lower plain and that of the plateau were 
 densely covered with flowers, all of which have been men- 
 tioned before except the Mertensia paniculata and the 
 Campanula rotundifolia, which I found in the mouth of 
 Bear gulch, and the beautiful Lippia cunei/olia of the lower 
 plain. 
 
 After breakfast at the Colorado House, where we put 
 up, the proprietor called my attention to some stones used 
 for flagging the pavement, which he said were " photo- 
 graph stones. " I found several large slabs fringed around 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 181 
 
 with images of miniature trees and forests. While I was 
 examining them, Mr. J. A* Carr, a grocer, but formally a 
 miner, and a true lover o Nature, 'passed by; and seeing 
 what had attracted my attention, said if I would go to his 
 store he would show me, and make me a present of very 
 fine specimens of these stones. Complying with his invi- 
 tation, I accompanied him, and he gave me a specimen of 
 great beauty two miniature trees, more than six inches 
 in length, imprinted on a fine white sandstone. He said 
 about two miles north of town, the top of the first hog 
 back was entirely composed of these stones. These, how- 
 ever, were of a red sandstone, while the white specimen 
 he gave 7ne was from a hog back two miles west, in the 
 recesses of the mountains. 
 
 He very generously got a carriage and took me out to 
 the locality. In driving out I noticed on the edge of the 
 plain, near the mountain, and running parallel to it, a 
 dark-looking rocky ledge, rising sometimes to a height of 
 80 feet above the plain. This is a bluish semi-crystalline 
 limestone, from which excellent lime is made. It occa- 
 . sionally appears along the foot of the mountains, but 
 nowhere else on the plains. Arriving at the foot of the 
 spur, on the summit of which the "photograph stones" 
 are deposited, we found it consisted of red sedimentary 
 sandstone, upheaved to a hight of some 1/200 feet above 
 the plain. Against its sides lies a steep bank of earth, 
 through which the rocks protruded, and which is carried 
 up to a hight of some 500 feet above the plain. Then 
 comes the rock split into lamina from less than one-half to 
 six inches in thickness. This upheaval is very steep and can 
 be ascended only by using both hands and feet, a danger- 
 ous performance, however, since often you get on a slab 
 which will slide down the side of the mountain with you. 
 After ascending about one-third of the acclivity, we com- 
 menced splitting the slabs, and wherever there was an in- 
 dication of a seam, we always found the <' photograph 
 tree " and sometimes a picture representing a forest. All 
 
132 OVEB THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 the handsomer ones we slid down the sides of the moun- 
 tain to take, with us, but they were generally broken into 
 fragments by the operation. However, we secured a fine 
 lot, which we brought home with us. Different explana- 
 tions had been given of the nature and origin of these pic- 
 tures of trees and forests in the seams of these stones. 
 One is, that as these are sedimentary rocks, annual fresh- 
 ets brought down from highlands silicious matter which 
 would be deposited on the botton of some pool or pond of 
 tttill water. During the interval between freshets, mosses 
 would grow and spread themselves out on the bottom of 
 these pools, which in turn, were submerged by the sedi- 
 ment of the succeeding freshet. As these lamina were 
 often not more than a fourth of an inch in thickness, thirf 
 account for their origin and nature appeal's quite plausible. 
 But the fatal objection to this theory is that the cleavages 
 in which these figures occur are always perpendicular to 
 the sedimentary stratification. 
 
 Another theory to account for them is this that they 
 are of electric origin, and that the figures are the photo- 
 graphs of trees or forests that once stood around the pools 
 in which these sedimentary deposits took place ; that a 
 flash of lightning, after night, had photographed the ima- 
 ges of these trees upon the bottom of the pools, which was 
 supposed to .have been sensitive to such an impression in 
 other words, somewhat similar in condition to a photo- 
 graphic plate. In support of this theory they advance 
 the well-observed and indisputable fact that persons killed 
 or shocked by lightning often have the image of a tree, 
 leaf or branch intervening between them and the main 
 electric discharge imprinted on their bodies. This theory 
 also assumes that the lamina in which these figures occur 
 are identical with, or at least parallel to, the sedimentary 
 layers, when the fact is, they are at right angles to them 
 a fact likewise fatal to it. 
 
 The true explanation of these figures is as follows : If 
 we put eomo mercury in a phial filled with a weak solution 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 133 
 
 of nitrate of silver, in a few days, if not disturbed, the sil- 
 ver will be found precipitated, the crystal constituting a 
 beautiful tree-like form, called Diana's tree, (Arbor Dtance). 
 Similarly the lead tree, (Arbor Saturni) is precipitated 
 from acetate of lead by zinc. They are therefore simply 
 arborescent mineral figures, that is, crystalizations of some 
 solution of manganese which had been carried by the 
 water into the fissures of these rocks, and there precipita- 
 ted and crystalized by the reaction of iron, or perhaps 
 potassium. They are known to geologists as dendrites, 
 that is, stone trees. 
 
 After dinner, accompanied by Mr. Corson and 'Squire 
 Dabney, we drove out to the South Boulder, some four 
 miles, to inspect the iron works of Langsford & Marshall, 
 adjacent to their coal bank. A mile or so from town we 
 passed the limits of cultivated fields, and found the plains 
 covered with cattle. There are again fine farms on the 
 South Boulder, though they occupy but an insignificant 
 area when compared with the scope that can be reached 
 by irrigation. The South Boulder we found a limpid, 
 turbulent, rapid creek, like all the streams issuing from 
 these mountains, though less in size than the main Boul- 
 der. 
 
 On its south margin are the iron works, where consid- 
 erable ore is smelted and castings made; but they were 
 not in operation when we were there. The iron ore is 
 obtained on the terraced plateau in which their coal bank 
 is situated. A good strata overlies the coal, but is not 
 fully developed. Most of the ore heretofore used has been 
 gathered by collecting the loose nodules on the plateau 
 and the adjacent plain. The nodules are often several 
 feet in diameter, and are red hematite of varying richness. 
 Judge Moore, who has had some experience in such mat- 
 ters in Pennsylvania, says if they would assort their ores, 
 and not use them indiscriminately, more satisfactory 
 results would be attained, both in the quantity and quality 
 of the metal. In fact, that the ores generally are rich 
 
134 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 enough to make the enterprise eminently successful. The 
 coal mine is situated some two hundred yards southeast of 
 the iron works. It is a drift running southwardly under 
 the bench or plateau. The coal is metamorphosed lignite, 
 being but one remove from anthracite. It is light, and 
 does not soil the fingers in handling. The vein is thirteen 
 feet thick, and often stumps of petrified pine trees are 
 found in it. What is most singular about it is that it is 
 permeated in all directions by seams of resin ; and often 
 lumps of pure amber colored resin varying in size from a 
 hazelnut to a hen's egg, are found embedded in it. Analy- 
 sis give about 50 per cent as the amount of fixed carbon 
 contained in -it; ashes under two per cent, and entirely 
 free of sulphur. It is found to answer most admirably for 
 smelting all kinds of ores, the only drawback being its 
 tendency of breaking up into parallelepipeds and then 
 fusing into a mass, thus choking up the draft. 
 
 We explored the*mine as far as worked, some three 
 hundred yards in a straight adit. It is under the superin- 
 tendence of Mr. Henry Wrigley, a Welch miner, formerly 
 of St. Louis, and *vvho at once recognized me. 
 
 This is unquestionably not only the largest, but the best 
 deposit of coal on the western plains. There are no less 
 than eleven distinct veins with but small intervals between 
 them. The aggregate thickness of eight of these, ascer- 
 tained by working them, is sixty-three feet; the thick- 
 ness of three being unknown. A vein 12 feet thick of the 
 same deposits is worked at Erie, twelve miles from the 
 mountains, and extends south towards Golden City, but 
 thins out before reaching there ; it also depreciates in 
 quality, as shown by Professor Hayden's Geological report 
 of 1869. 
 
 We then visited other mines farther down on the plain ; 
 and among them the shaft on the 16th, the school section, 
 which some malicious persons had set on fire, and which 
 was banked up with earth to smother the fire. Strata of 
 the best fireclay are interposed between the veins of coal 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 135 
 
 varying from 4 to 8 feet in thickness. These will be 
 invaluable for furnaces hereafter in smelting the ores 
 of the mountains. 
 
 On our way back to town we inspected some of the 
 principal irrigating canals, and examined the method of 
 applying the water. We found main canals away out on 
 the highest benches of the plain, conveying water . to 
 ranches from five to eight miles distant. The general 
 regulations here respecting irrigation are, that proprietors 
 of land join and excavate an irrigating canal along such 
 line as will supply water to the greatest scope of territory 
 compatible with their own interest and convenience. Af- 
 ter the canal is so constructed, any one entering land " tin- 
 der ditch, " as they call it, that is, that can be irrigated 
 from any completed canal, is required to pay the proprie- 
 tors of the canal at the rate of fifty dollars for every quar- 
 ter section of land so entered, or acquired, which had no 
 water privileges. This secures to him forever the privilege 
 of free use for all the water required for irrigating his 
 land; the number and size of the sluices, however, are 
 regulated by law. He is subject, however, to such annua! 
 assessment as may be necessary to keep the main canal in 
 repair, which is found on an average never to exceed four 
 dollars per year. This, added to the interest on his origi- 
 nal investment, makes the cost of water from four to five 
 <eents per acre annually. About Denver irrigating privi- 
 leges have become a monopoly; and the monopolists 
 charge outsiders one dollar and fifty cents per acre annu- 
 ally for water. 
 
 We passed fields of oats, barley, wheat and corn, all un- 
 der irrigation, of the darkest green, and in the most thrif- 
 ty condition. We also passed a meadow of splendid 
 promise. Finally we came to the ranche of a farmer from 
 Pennsylvania, the largest wheat grower in the territory, 
 whose name I have unfortunately forgotton. He haa been 
 here nine years, and for the last seven years has not 
 raised less than 5000 bushels annually. This year he ex- 
 
136 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 poets between 9000 and 10,000 bushels. Ho was in his 
 wheat field, about 190 acres, with his hoc, attending 1x> 
 irrigation. \Vo stopped and had a long conversation with 
 him. From him wo learned, as we did from others, that 
 their crops never suffer from insects, because they drown 
 them out; that there is never any rust on the blade, nor 
 smut on the berry, because the aridity of the climate pre- 
 vents all fungoid growth. The wheat I examined at the 
 mills gave testimony to the same effect. It had the plump- 
 est kernels I ever saw. No imperfect, diseased or shriv- 
 eled kernel could be found. I asked him what effect the 
 extension of railroads will have upon the price of wheat,, 
 oats and barley. Ho said none whatever; wo fear no 
 competition here, because the quality of our wheat, and 
 consequently of our flour, is so superior that, it will alwaya 
 command a higher price than any that can be brought hera 
 from abroad ; and then with irrigation, and with our ex. 
 emption from disease, our crops never fail ; while we* 
 raise fully between two and three times as much per acre 
 as you average in Missouri. To the inquiry what ho had 
 obtained for his crop last year, he answered, three dollars 
 and forty cents per cental, (that is, $2 04 cents per bushel) 
 which was about New York price for prime white wheat. 
 I asked him about the grasshoppers. . " Well," said her 
 "wo had them here one year. They came over the moun- 
 tains and cat us out, and then left for eastern Kansas arid 
 Missouri, and would have eateij you out, too, had the sea- 
 Bon been longer." I asked him what he supposed was the 
 average yield per acre of wheat, oats and barley. 
 "Wheat," said he, 'Making all that receives respectable 
 cultivation, will yield on an average of thirty-five bushels 
 per acre. But, by the best cultivation, this can be in- 
 creased from twenty to thirty bushels more per acre. A. 
 premium field of five acres averaged seventy-one bushels 
 pcraerc. Oats and barley," ho said, " would yield from 90 
 to 120 bushels per acre; corn, ordinarily, about thirty-five 
 bushels, but as high as eighty bushels has. been attained".. 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 137 
 
 Meadows will yield two and a half to three tons per acre, 
 but the hay is not of the first quality." But this is the 
 case everywhere. No hay of prime quality is made any- 
 where, where the growth is rank. I examined so*mc timo- 
 thy (PhUum pratense') that had spikes from six to eight 
 inches long, and was coarse in haum in proportion; and 
 this is the cause of its inferior quality. There is a wild 
 timothy in the mountain parks which I did not sec, which 
 is said to yield heavily and to make a better hay than the 
 tame on the plains below. It may prove indentical with 
 the Phleum alpinum, found on the White Mountains in 
 Hew Hampshire, and on the mountains of Europe. 
 
 It will thus be seen that though the natural climate of 
 Colorado is such that agricultural pursuits, for lack of 
 moisture, could not be conducted successfully, yet where- 
 ever the soil can be irrigated the agriculturist is practi- 
 cally independent of the weather. In its season the sun 
 pours down a flood of light and heat from an intensely 
 blue sky, and through a perfectly transparent atmosphere. 
 Though the clouds withhold their rain, yet their remiss- 
 nesa is retrieved by the abundant water that flows from 
 the melted snows which the mountains collect during the 
 winter. No worm or other insect devours the succulent 
 grain, while growing, nor is it ever smitten by blight, an 
 abundant harvest therefore never fails to reward the agri- 
 culturist, nor is there little variation in quantity and none 
 in quality. 
 
 All this is indisputably true ; but still the picture is too 
 highly colored. There are some drawbacks, which are 
 patent to every close observer. In the first place, when 
 the water is withdrawn the soil becomes as hard as a 
 brick, and there is no stirring it until the rains and winter 
 frosts have mellowed it again. For this reason, but little 
 winter wheat itf or can be sown unless there are heavy 
 rains in the latter part of summer, which is sometimes the 
 case. Then, the waters coming from the melted snows in 
 the mountains, only 20 miles ditant 7 and from the short 
 
138 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 time it takes them, because of the rapidity of their de- 
 scent, are yet intensely cold when they reach the plains. 
 Hence there is an unevenness in the ripening of the 
 grain, the coldness of the water keeping back a strip just 
 below every ditch, while that portion of the field which 
 receives water that has flowed over a considerable surface 
 and become warmed, comes earlier to maturity. But the 
 coldness of the water is the most serious drawback in irri- 
 gating corn, which is a lover of heat. This is partially 
 overcome by letting the "water flow over a considerable 
 extent of plain or pasture land until it has become 
 warmed, and then gather it into ditches again and apply 
 it to the corn. But the fact is, corn can be raised about 
 as well without as with irrigation, and sometimes, in favor- 
 able seasons, produces crops fully as heavy as the average 
 crop in Missouri. 
 
 It must also be stated that occasionally there occurs a 
 season when the rains are sufficient to mature all crops 
 without irrigation. Thus in 1868 .the irrigating canals 
 were not opened at all. A season of thunder-storms com- 
 mencing in the mountains in June and continuing to Sep- 
 tember, often extends to the plains along the foot of the 
 mountains. Then corn yields an abundant crop. 
 
 Spring wheat is almost universally raised ; but the flour 
 and bread made of it have no resemblance to those of spring 
 wheat in the States. The flour contains less gluten, and 
 consequently is not sticky like flour made of spring 
 wheat in the States. The bread made of it is as white as 
 that of the choicest St. Louis brands ; and then it is so light 
 and spongy. I actually believe it also has medicinal prop- 
 erties. Why should it not ? The soil on w T hich it grows, 
 when the water is withdrawn, becomes encrusted with the 
 carbonate of soda, white as if a flurry of snow had passed 
 over it. Cattle lick this crystalized soda, and never need 
 to be salted ; in fact, they will turn up their noses, if you 
 offer them salt, and walk away. Soda springs and lakes 
 .abound throughout the mountain region ; and since the 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 189 
 
 soil on the Plains is almost exclusively formed of debris 
 from the disentegrated rocks of the mountains, it is pecu- 
 liarly rich in phosphates of lime, soda and potash. The 
 grain that grows upon such a soil must partake richly in 
 these phosphates, especially that of soda. Hence the 
 chemical action taking place between the soda and the 
 gastric juice must give rise to electric currents in the 
 system. 
 
 Since then the Colorado Fair has been held at Denver, 
 and the Boulder county, at Boulder; the following amongst 
 other awards were made : At D enver to John G. Lilly, of 
 Arapahoe county, in which De nver is situated, first pre- 
 mium for largest yield per acre of wheat, on entire farm. 
 Amount of acreage being 90 acres, yield 4,968 1-2 bushels, 
 or a fraction over 55 bushels per acre. 
 
 At Boulder, for best field of corn raised in Boulder 
 county ; first premium to M. G. Smith, being 70 bushels, 
 less 19 pounds, to the acre. Second premium, Mr. 
 Walker, 64 bushels to the acre. 
 
 First premium for largest yield of potatoes per acre to 
 David Hersham, being a fraction over 305 bushels to the 
 acre. Seventeen of these potatoes made a bushel by 
 weight. First premium for best half-dozen beets, to G. 
 F. Chase, the average circumference being 31 inches each. 
 
 The best half-dozen heads of cabbage ; first premium to 
 Mr. Smith; average weight of each head being 541-4 
 pounds. The rival competitor's average was 53 1-2 
 pounds per head. 
 
 The extent of arable lands is the limit to which irrigation 
 can be carried. How far east of the South Platte this 
 may be done I am unable to say definitely, but so far as 
 the supply of water holds out. Between the Platte and 
 the mountains there extends a triangular plain from the 
 debouchure on the plains of the Cache a la Poudre to that 
 of the South Platte, whose longest side along the foot of 
 the mountains is about 90 miles. From the mouth of the 
 Platte canyon until it receives the Cache a la Poudre the 
 
140 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 distance is about 80 miles. The course of the latter stream 
 from the time it leaves the moun tains until it meets the 
 Platte is about 40 miles. The following are the moun- 
 tain streams proceeding south from the Cache a la Poudre 
 in the order in which they occur: Big Thompson, a trib- 
 utary of the Platte ; Little Thompson, a tributary of Big 
 Thompson; St. Train's Fork, a tributary of the Platte; 
 Left Hand Creek; and then Boulder, both tributaries of 
 the St. Vrain; South Boulder, a tributary of Boulder; 
 Coal Creek, a tributary of South Boulder ; Clear Creek, a 
 tributary of the Platte ; and finally Bear Creek, which 
 falls into the Platte above Denver. Besides these there 
 are numerous branches which issue from mountain gulches, 
 but whose sources measurably fail before the summer is 
 over. 
 
 This triangle included between the mountains and the 
 Platte covers an area of about 1,800,000 acres of land, four- 
 fifths, at least, of which can be irrigated ; and the whole ia 
 one of the most desirable grazing regions in the world. 
 To substantiate this I quote from Professor Hayden'* 
 United States Geological Report of 1869, page 144 : 
 
 "Snow sometimes, though rarely, reaches a depth of 
 twelve inches ; yet it passes off as rapidly as it comes, 
 seldom remaining longer than twenty-four hours. Even 
 in the valleys which penetrate the first range of mountains 
 in the northern section this is the case. Some winters but 
 little snow falls during the entire season. As conclusive 
 evidence of this statement, cattle are herded out during 
 the entire winter in all parts of the Territory, such a thing 
 as preparation for winter feeding being almost wholly un- 
 known. And yet in the spring they will come out in as 
 good order as those of the States which have been housed 
 and fed day by day. The Mexican horses, or bronchos, 
 will also winter out during the winter like the cattle/' 
 
 This, however, is only true of the plain immediately 
 along the base of the mountains, say a strip from 15 to 20 
 miles wide. Lower down on the Plains, it does not 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 141 
 
 always hold good. There are exceptionally cold winters, 
 when the depth of the snow and the intense cold are fatal 
 to stock unless fed and sheltered. 
 
 The herds in Boulder county are not very large, ranging 
 from 400 to 1500 head. Wm. A. Corson, the President of 
 the Boulder County Agricultural Association, is one of the 
 principal stock raisers in the county. 
 
 It will be seen, from what is said elsewhere, that those 
 vast parks, formed of the table-land on the summit of the 
 mountains, possess an agricultural value that cannot as yet 
 be estimated. That they are admirably adapted for dai- 
 rying purposes there is no question. Butter made there, 
 in quantity, quality and delicacy of flavor, surpasses that 
 of the famous land of Goshen. They are also well 
 adapted for stock-raising. Hay, oats, barley, rye and even 
 wheat can be raised in all of them notwithstanding their 
 great altitude above the level of the sea. Of hay, oats, 
 turnips and cabbage, no country yields more abundantly, 
 area for area, than the three most elevated of these parks. 
 Their value for agricultural purposes was early acknowl- 
 edged, not because their soil was richer and more produc- 
 tive than that of the mountain lands east of the Snowy 
 Range, but because their lands lay in compact bodies; 
 while those of the elevated mountain plains east of the 
 Snowy Range are broken up and dissevered by sporadic 
 peaks, and cleft asunder by gulches, deep chasms and im- 
 passable canyons. The difference in the quality of the 
 soil, if any, is in favor of the mountain lands. It is no 
 unusual thing to find a black soil of humus or vegetable 
 mould from four to six inches thick underlaid by a rich 
 subsoil of ochreous clay. Notwithstanding the broken 
 character of the mountain table-land, fully one-fourth of 
 it is arable, and three-fourths of the remainder is well 
 adapted for grazing purposes both for sheep and cows. 
 This is contrary to the generally received public opinion, 
 but it is nevertheless true. Potatoes of tho largest size, 
 weighing as much as four pounds apiece, and of the best 
 
142 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 quality can be raised on these hills and mountain plains 
 without irrigation. The yield often approximates 300 
 bushels to the acre, which is larger than is generally ob- 
 tained in the rich prairie lands of the Y alley of the Mis- 
 sissippi. 
 
 These lands indeed are often rough, but I have seen 
 thousands of acres cultivated in the Eastern States not 
 only rougher and steeper, but poorer and far stonier than 
 these. 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 143 
 
 CHAPTEE XII. 
 
 Colorado seems to be regarded as a favorable ground 
 for trying colonial experiments. I heard, while there, of 
 no less than three locating committees that were explor- 
 ing the Territory for the most favorable location for a, 
 colony. One of these represented a Boston colony, 
 another a Western, and still another a Tennessee colony. 
 1 have not heard whether they have finally fixed upon 
 their sites, or at what conclusion they have arrived. 
 
 To those affected by this colonizing mania, and who 
 think of acting a personal part in carrying out such a 
 scheme, I would address the admonition, 
 
 " Tis distance lends enchantment to the view. " 
 
 The most rugged landscape viewed from afar looks- 
 charming and roseate, but it is otherwise when we meet 
 face to face the stern realities of Nature. Then the path 
 that promised to lead easily and gently over a smooth 
 and level plain, shaded by trees, enameled by flowers and 
 enlivened by the songs of birds, is found to be rugged, ob- 
 structed by rocks and floods, full of yawning chasms and 
 insurmountable precipices, a real "howling wilderness, " 
 the roaming ground of the wolf, the tiger, the panther and 
 the bear, exacting resolution, energy, courage and daring 
 to make way through it successfully. So it is with these 
 cclony schemes. It would be a nice thing if a hundred or 
 a thousand persons of small means, but large hearts and 
 noble aspirations, could locate upon a territory now of no 
 intrinsic value, and to all of which their very presence 
 would give a marketable value often, fifty, or even a hun- 
 
144 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 , 
 
 dred dollarS an acre. JIow easily and rapidly people 
 would then pass from straitened circumstances to compe- 
 tence, and even affluence. 
 
 There is no doubt that after years of patient endurance, 
 and hoping against hope in many instances, this will be the 
 case, but the sanguine colonists see all this realized at 
 once, without any trial of waiting and tiring of patience; 
 with no hardships to be borne, nor any privations to be 
 endured. He supposes that in a new country labor is 
 scarce, and therefore must be in demand, and that the 
 products of his industry and skill will find a ready mar- 
 ket. All this is a delusion which sad experience will dis- 
 pel. If a vacancy for a colony, with all these advantages, 
 could be found in the heart of a civilized community, all 
 these dreams and expectations would be speedily realized; 
 but out on the vast Plains, surrounded by a domain only 
 inhabited by the wolf, the cayote, roaming beasts of prey 
 and wild animals, and where the only towns and villages 
 are those of the prairie dog, the conditions forbid such in- 
 stant realization. There a man with the inventive geniua 
 of a Watt or Fulton, with strong arms, willing mind, and 
 skill fill hands, is practically reduced to inaction, because 
 there is no use for their skill or talents and no demand for 
 any article they can produce. Such a community neces- 
 sarily is without money because it produces nothing that 
 brings money; and all cash that accidentally finds its way 
 there is sent abroad to obtain necessaries. Trade within 
 the community is thus reduced to bartering and its indus- 
 try diverted to doing "chores." Such ever has been and 
 always must be the case of isolated communities beyond 
 the pale of civilization. Greeley now is an example that 
 may bo quoted both for proof and illustration. It started 
 with seventeen stores and no customers except the colo- 
 nists. These for a while may have had money brought 
 with them, but when that was exhausted none came in to 
 supply its place, because nothing was produced that com- 
 
I 
 
 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 145 
 
 Tnanded money, and there is as yet no market or any thing 
 that can be produced. 
 
 Even in the new mining communities of the mountains 
 the same evils are felt, but not in such an aggravated form. 
 T J?hey produce something that has a commercial value in 
 the markets of the world; but it is only the prime article 
 they can make available; and from that they hardly real- 
 ize more than one-half of its intrinsic value. The other 
 half is absorbed by expenses in taking it to market, and 
 by middle men. Take Caribou for illustration ; it has the 
 richest silver lode in the Territory in fact, one of the 
 richest ever discovered in America; and the whole moun- 
 tain seems to be argentiferous. There are now more than 
 one hundred lodes opened that would, at localities pro- 
 vided with proper facilities, be sources of immense wealth 
 io their owners. These lodes could furnish three hundred 
 tons of ore a week, that will on an average, assay $80 to 
 the ton. But as the locality is isolated and too 'new for 
 reduction works, they have to carry their ore, the richest 
 only bearing the expense, twenty-two miles to a smelting 
 furnace, where they receive just what the proprietor of th 
 works chooses to give them. Thus that community is 
 working along and kept from stagnation, hoping and 
 praying for better times. Yet if they had reduction 
 works, the mines now open would furnish ore that would 
 yield at least $35,000 in silver per week, besides the gold, 
 copper and lead. Now, perhaps, a thousand dollars is the 
 limit received per week by the miners in that locality, 
 which is only about 40 per cent, of the- actual value of the 
 ores sold. Then this community, Avhile its labor is actu- 
 ally adding $2,500 per week to the wealth of the world, 
 does so at an expense to itself of $1,500. Not only so, but 
 the labor there that would add from $40,000 to $50,000 
 per week to the common wealth, is idle and unemployed 
 from necessity. New discoveries carrying only ores of a 
 low grade, but rich enough to pay the expense of opening 
 them and leave a margin to the miner besides, are left un- 
 10 
 
146 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 developed, because these low grade ores are without value- 
 under present circumstances. 
 
 The great Comstock .lode of Nevada has yielded up- 
 wards of one hundred million dollars of bullion, yet the 
 average yield of its ores does not exceed twenty-five dol- 
 lars per ton. Why has it been so productive and profita- 
 ble? Simply because San Francisco capitalists provided 
 reducing works, which have enriched both the miners 
 and themselves. Xow, furnish the new discoveries at 
 Caribou, hardly a year old yet, with facilities for reducing 
 all classes of ores that will pay for reducing, and Boulder 
 county in one year will have one thousand lodes that will 
 furnish ores as rich as that yielded by the famous Com- 
 stock lode, which has enriched all connected with it.* 
 
 These facts make it clear that colonists, whatever the 
 object of their settlement maybe, should be either well 
 provided with cash to last till the advent of their expected 
 golden age, which AVI 11 only be when civilization over- 
 takes them, or that they should fix definitely the main 
 pursuit to which their industry is to be directed, and go 
 provided with all the appliances and appointments to in- 
 sure success. 
 
 The want of foresight to foresee the inexorable condi- 
 tions of isolated communities, and hence of providing for 
 meeting them, now press heavily upon the colonists of 
 Colorado, and is the cause of that dissatisfaction, bickering 
 and crimination which more or less prevail in all of 
 them. 
 
 I make these remarks because there is scarcely a State 
 east of the Mississippi but has colonization schemes, and 
 is excited by colony excitements. In fact colonization 
 schemes are now the rage, and the rage intensifies as time 
 advances. I give results as developed in Colorado, and 
 volunteer unwelcome but wholesome advice to those about 
 
 *This estimate is not mine but is that of an experienced miner, per- 
 fectly familiar with the silver mines of Nevada, Utah and Colorado^ 
 My opinion is, the estimate is too low. 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 147 
 
 entering upon such enterprises. Then if we must, have 
 such enterprises, and as they are forewarned of what they 
 have to expect, and of the stern realities that will con- 
 front them when they get there, let them go prepared to 
 meet the exigencies that must arise, and overcome in the 
 shortest time possible the obstacles in the way of success. 
 I have already sufficiently spoken of Greeley to give an 
 idea of the condition of things there. On the South 
 Platte, some twenty-five miles below Greeley, and below 
 the island in the river covered with cottonwood, known 
 as "Fremont's Orchard," is the location of the South- 
 western Colony. It was initiated at Memphis, hut its 
 members are from Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana 
 and Illinois. Its town has been named Greensboro, in 
 honor of its chief projector and patron, Col. I). S. Green, 
 now a citizen of Denver, a gentleman well and favorably 
 known in Colorado. Lost Spring debouches into the ' 
 Platte just above the town site. Its valley, about two and 
 a half miles wide, has a soil of deep alluvial loam, as light 
 and pliable as an ash heap, covered with a most luxuriant 
 growth of a peculiar kind of perennial grass, resembling, 
 it is said, the famous blue grass of Kentucky. At least 
 15,000 acres of this valley need no irrigation, and the same 
 may be said of thousands of acres of the Platte bottom. 
 The broad expanse of uplands away from the streams 
 furnish excellent and unlimited range for pasturage; and 
 the colonists are principally engaged as yet in stock-rais- 
 ing. Of their condition, progress and prospects I could 
 learn nothing. From the articles of association I ascer- 
 tained that the organization of this colony is different 
 from most of the others located in Colorado. There are 
 no restrictions or obligations imposed on its members, no 
 commun ism, nor co-operative interests provided for. Each* 
 member has to pay a moderate fee of membership one 
 hundred dollars which entitles him to special rates of 
 transportation to the colonial site, a share in the division 
 of the town property, and such other privileges as inhere 
 
148 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 in similar organizations. Each one is then left free to 
 make his own selection of vocation, and to pre-empt lands, 
 claim as homestead or otherwise, as he may elect. There 
 i.s a railroad talked of to run from Boulder, by way of 
 Longmont, Greeley and Greensboro, down the valley of 
 the South Platte, to connect with the Union Pacific rail- 
 road at or near the mouth of the stream. In that case, 
 the colony may become a thrifty settlement. 
 
 In the spring of 1870 there was organized a German 
 colony at Chicago, under the leadership of Col. Carl 
 Wuesten. This colony made almost as much noise in the 
 world as did the Greeley, or more properly, the Union 
 colony. It found its way into the high valley of .the 
 Sierra Mojada ( wet mountains), in Pueblo and Fremont 
 counties, in the southern part of the territory. The valley 
 is south of Canyon City, located at the mouth of the can- 
 yon of the Arkansas, which there breaks through its 
 mountain barrier and passes upon the plain. The valley 
 is shut in by spurs of the mountain ranges. It is well 
 watered, abundantly supplied with timber and has excel- 
 lent and extensive beds of bituminous coal. 
 
 There is a good deal of disaffection in this colony, and 
 charges of corruption and dishonesty have been made 
 against some of the prominent men of the organization. 
 Some members have left in disgust; and in conversation 
 with them both at Denver and Boulder, they represented 
 the elevation so great and the valleys hemmed in by bleak 
 mountains, that most of the crops fail to mature before the 
 frost nips them. 
 
 I have no doubt that much of this is exaggeration, pro- 
 ceeding from disappointed expectations. My own obser- 
 vations rather would discredit the statement of the failure 
 of the crop in consequence of elevation. I saw as thrifty 
 potatoes as I ever saw, in the upper part of the canyon of 
 the Boulder, at least 9000 feet above the sea, and 
 was told that the average yield was upwards of 200 
 bushels to the acre. Hill's ranch e, on the Xorth Boulder, 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND OX THE MOUNTAINS. 140 
 
 about three miles east of Caribou, yields him $5,000 net 
 profit from hay and vegetables, and he says winter wheat 
 can be successfully cultivated there. There are three 
 ranches, Orvis', Jones' and De Land's, all within five miletj 
 of Caribou, and at an elevation of nearly 10,000 feet, 
 which are extremely profitable to the proprietors, who 
 make a business of raising hay and vegetables, and who 
 have never sustained any serious loss from frosts and 
 storms. In G-ilpin county, south, and also at the foot of 
 the Snowy Range, Hall & Banta's ranche has averaged 
 them $19,000 profit per annum from 62 acres, chiefly in 
 potatoes, turnips, cabbage, and other vegetables. Then 
 the success of Queen, ( -ochran, Hickox, Conner, etc., are 
 well known facts. Therefore, I think the statement of 
 frost destroying the crops in a more southern latitude, and 
 most probably at a lower elevation, must be taken with 
 many grains of allowance. 
 
 There is another of these colonies, yet in its infancy, 
 located in Boulder county, about 15 miles northeast of 
 Boulder city. It is called the Chicago Colorado colony. 
 We had an invitation to visit their location, but we had no 
 time for that purpose. Their town, located about a mile 
 north of the village of Burlington, is called Longmont. 
 I think the location the best of any colony in the territory, 
 since it is contiguous to the mountains, where it must 
 eventually find a market for its products, and adjacent to 
 the settlements that extend along the mountain range the 
 entire width of the territory. It is convenient to coal 
 both at Erie and Boulder; is supplied with lumber from 
 the mountains, and is well watered. It has selected and 
 obtained control of about 60,000 acres of land lying longi- 
 tudinally across the valleys of the Bou-lder, Left Hand, 
 Little Thompson and St. Train's Fork. The soil is as 
 good as any in the territory, has all needed facilities for 
 irrigation, good water power, and being so near the moun- 
 tains has fine scenery; the snowy crest of Long's Peak 
 rises majestically above the surrounding peaks, almost due 
 
150 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 west. It will, from its location perhaps, realize its expect- 
 ations in a shorter time, and with the endurance of less 
 privations and hardships than any colony in the territory.- 
 
 The colony only commenced its agricultural operations 
 in the spring of the present year. It sowed considerable 
 wheat, to what extent I did not learn ; it has constructed 
 many of the principal irrigating canals, and was busy in 
 building. A Mrs. E. Thompson, a wealthy lady from 
 New York, made the colony a donation of forty thousand 
 dollars for purchasing a library, and she had a building 
 put up that cost her five thousand dollars more to put the 
 library in. Some of our party that stopped at G-reeley 
 met her there on her way to Longmont on a visit; she 
 came over to Boulder to join our party in our ex- 
 cursion up the canyon, but arrived too late, and went 
 on to Denver. It will be remembered that there is also 
 a colony at Evans, four miles from Greeley, of which I 
 could learn nothing, except what I saw, and my im- 
 pressions have already been given. 
 
 From the altitude of Colorado a rigorous climate would 
 be inferred. The plains in the eastern portion of the Ter- 
 ritory, along the State lines of Kansas and Nebraska, are 
 more than 4000 feet above the sea. At Denver the eleva- 
 tion exceeds 5100 feet, and along the mountains it is 6000 
 feet and upward, Between the Snowy Eange and the 
 Plains there is a gradual ascent; the table-land attainingan 
 elevation on an average of a little over 8000 feet. The 
 North, Middle and South parks, encircled by the Snowy 
 Range, have an altitude of about 9000 feet on an average, 
 while the highest peaks attain an altitude of from 14,000 
 to 15,000 feet. It is claimed that Mount Lincoln is 17,500 
 feet; arid Silver Heels 17,000 feet above tide water. The 
 elevation at which timber ceases to grow, "timber-line," 
 as it is called, is various; on the Eastern slope it is 11,800 
 feet; on the Western, 11,3.00, and on the isolated peaks it 
 is over 12,000 feet. 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON TI1E MOUNTAINS. 151 
 
 Scientists have given us mathematical formulas for de- 
 termining climate from altitude. It is unnecessary to 
 state these formulas, and the reasoning by which they 
 have been arrived at. It answers every purpose by mere- 
 ly stating that in them, it is assumed that an elevation of 
 every two hundred feet above the level of the sea deterior- 
 ates a climate as much as the displacement of the locality 
 of one degree of latitude from the equator towards the 
 pole would do. * 
 
 Now, while these formulas may give approximate results 
 when applied to the Atlantic coast and to Europe, yet, 
 when applied to the continental plain and mountain sys- 
 tem of Colorado they give results so egregiously erroneous 
 as to show their utter worthlessness for that purpose. 
 
 I have already stated that in no way do our Eastern 
 standards of comparison serve us when applied to Nature's 
 operations in this great mountain system, and these scien- 
 tific formulas prove the truth of the assertion. According 
 to deductions drawn from them, the table-land of the Cor- 
 dilleras would have the climate of northern Greenland, 
 and the Plains along their foot even more rigorous than 
 that of the coast of Labrador. But observation has estab- 
 lished it as an incontrovertible fact that the Plains along 
 the mountains in Colorado have the climate of the same 
 latitude along the Atlantic coast, and that the climate of 
 the most elevated table-lands of the mountains corresponds 
 with that of three degrees higher latitude on the Atlantic 
 sea-board. 
 
 Another error in regard to the climate of Colorado is 
 that its aridity is owing to the want of precipitation. 
 Now, the fact is, the amount of annual precipitation on the 
 mountain is nearly thirty-four inches, and that of the Plains 
 a fraction over twenty. The aridity, therefore, is due to 
 other causes than want of precipitation. First it takes 
 more vapor under a given pressure to saturate a rare than 
 
 *See article, CLIMATE, in Cyclopedia of Physical Sciences. 
 
152 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 a dense atmosphere ; great elevation, producing rarity of 
 atmosphere, is, therefore, the controlling cause, since it 
 not only rarities the air, but reduces also the boiling point. 
 I ascertained at Caribou that .the boiling point of watei\, 
 that is total evaporation, was 191.8 degrees Fahrenheit,, 
 while on the seashore it is 212 degrees. Now, since water 
 evaporates at all temperatures, even when frozen, there- 
 fore, in the elevated regions of Colorado, a given amount 
 of water, at any degree of temperature, evaporates as 
 much as the same quantity -does at the seashore with a- 
 temperature twenty degrees higher. Consequently vege- 
 table and animal substances are more speedily desiccated 
 there than in less elevated regions. Hence it is that fresh, 
 meats hung up in the free air never putrify, but dry up 
 sweet. Hence, also, there is so little decay of animal and 
 vegetable substance that no noxious effluvia arises from* 
 the one, nor miasma from the other. To the aridity of its- 
 climate Colorado owes its remarkable exemption from all 
 kinds of bilious diseases. The thermometer often in Den- 
 ver indicates a greater heat by five degrees than we expe- 
 rience in the trough of the Mississippi Valley. Yet sun- 
 strokes are unknown; because it is impossible for a dry 
 atmosphere to become sultry, sweltering, smothering and 
 oppressive. It matters not how warm it is, the air is al- 
 ways elastic and exhilarating, because evaporation is con- 
 stant from our bodies. Climate unquestionably exerts an 
 immeasurable influence on every living organism in both 
 the animal and vegetable kingdom. To a nation of inva- 
 lids, (for such we must be taken to be, if our sanitary con- 
 dition is measured by the amount of medicine we consume),, 
 it will be welcome news to be told that within our own 
 borders there is a climate that produces almost as marvel- 
 ous effects as the Spanish cavaliers expected to realize 
 from the fabled Fountain of Youth which they sought in 
 vain in the malarious fens and bogs of Florida. The influ- 
 ence ot this atmosphere is remarkable, as is testified by 
 genera] experience. -It is entirely free from humidity., 
 
OVER THK PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 15& 
 
 wonderfully clear, exhilarating and health inspiring. 
 Mists and fogs, except when rain and snow are falling,, 
 are unknown. The absence of clouds, the clear intensely 
 blue sky, and a brilliant sunshine are remarkable, the 
 year round. Colorado has a wide spread celebrity already 
 ibr rel caving and curing tubercular and pulmonary affec- 
 tions, general debility, scrofula, dispepsia, asthma, bron- 
 chitis, enlargement of the liver, splenetic diseases, etc., and 
 not -without cause, for at least one-third of her present 
 population are reconstructed individuals. 
 
 Dyspeptics soon recover their lost power of assimilation, 
 and become vigorous and more robust than ever. There 
 are many there who had been afflicted with bronchitis and 
 other throat affections, who had tried Minnesota, the 
 West Indies, California and sea voyages without effect j 
 who, as a final resort, took up their sojourn in Colorado, 
 and are now sound and well. Consumptives who come 
 here before the ravages of the disease have wasted there- 
 euperative vital energy, almost certainly recover ; others- 
 become comparatively comfortable, even regaining a con- 
 siderable degree of vigor. Many, however, come too 
 late, that is in the last stages of the disease. In such cases- 
 a crisis ensues at once, followed in a few days or weeks by a, 
 fatal termination. The cause of this is self-evident. They 
 are brought here from a dense atmosphere in which all the 
 demands of vitality are satisfied by using from one-half to- 
 two-thirds of the capacity of their lungs, while here in 
 this rarified air the full capacity of every lung cell is taxed,, 
 and then cannot satisfy the demand ; for to make up the de- 
 ficiency the respiration is accelerated fifty per cent, that is, 
 from sixteen to twenty-four times per minute. The full 
 inflation of lungs and the accelerated motion must pro- 
 duce ruptures in diseased cells, hence the fatal crisis that 
 speedily ensues. Before railroads penetrated here, when 
 it took thirty to forty days to make the journey, more 
 desperate cases were cured than now; because the strain 
 on the lungs, caused by the increasing rarity of the air, 
 
154 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 was so gradual that the slight lesions had time to heal. I 
 would therefore give this advice to all consumptives: 
 Make the journey by easy stages; say first stop over ten 
 days or more at Abilene, Salina or Brookville on the Kan- 
 sas Pacific, all of which points are from 1,000 to 1,200 feet 
 above the sea. Then, if no unfavorable symptoms have 
 made their appearance, go to Hays, nearly 1,000 feet 
 higher; thence to Wallace, some 1,200 feet higher still; 
 thence to Kit Carson, about 1,000 feet higher than Wal- 
 lace; thence to some of the towns at the foot of the 
 mountains; and not to ascend the mountains until a 
 decided improvement has intervened. By following these 
 suggestions, many will be permanently cured, others 
 relieved, who would rush in the very jaws of death if 
 they go there at once, as many now do, as fast as steam 
 can carry them, which is in about two days from the 
 Mississippi. 
 
 It is now generally conceded by physicians and physi- 
 ologists that the phosphates possess great medicinal value 
 in the treatment of tubercular and other diseases involv- 
 ing enfeebled vital functions. The soil on the Plains, ad- 
 jacent to the mountains, is the detritus of feldspar disinteg- 
 rating slowly, through myriads of years on the moun- 
 tains, and carried down and deposited by floods. The 
 constituent elements of feldspar, which is a silcate, are 
 silex, soda, lime, potassium, magnesia, etc. Hence, the soil 
 is rich in these alkalies. In fact the first crop of wheat, 
 raised in some localities, was so much embued with alka- 
 line matter that the flour made of it would effervesce 
 with an acid and would almost make " suds " by adding 
 lard and water; and the bread could not be eaten at all. 
 
 Dr. Chambers, an eminent English physician, in his lec- 
 tures on the " Renewal of Life," gives this sensible rule 
 on this subject : 
 
 " In choosing a home for your consumptive, do not mind 
 the average hight of the thermometer, or its variations; 
 do not trouble yourself about the mean rain-fall; do not 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 155 
 
 be scientific at all; but find out from somebody's journal 
 how many days were fine enough to go out forenoon and 
 afternoon. That is the test you require, and by that you 
 may be confidently guided." 
 
 Judged by this standard Colorado is one of the most 
 favored spots on the earth for a home of the consumptive. 
 There is not a score of days in any year that invalids 
 may not sit out of doors, ride or walk forenoon or after- 
 noon without any discomfort. Then the nights are 
 always cool so as to ensure refreshing sleep, an essential 
 condition for the restoration of shattered nervous systems 
 -and broken down constitutions. 
 
 Another favorable condition is the dryness of the atmos- 
 phere. There is no such thing as "damp night air." 
 There is no "taking cold" if you sleep with doors and 
 windows wide open summer and winter. Invalids can 
 sleep on the open plains or mountain recesses, wrapped in 
 a pair of blankets without incurring any risk. The new, 
 varied and sublime scenery inspires to activity, and the 
 pure exhilerating air and mild climate invite to outdoor 
 life. In obeying these impulses lies the groat secret of the 
 onany wonderful cures a residence here has effected. 
 
156 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 The founding of new communities on the frontier of civil- 
 ization, whether done individually or collectively, is ac- 
 complished at the sacrifice of temporary ease and comfort. 
 The hardships and privations it imposes are longer or 
 shorter in duration as the location has been judiciously 
 made with regard to favorable surroundings. A main 
 point is to secure a location in the direction that the cur- 
 rent of migration is strongly tending; and the next point 
 is not to make it too far in advance, unless overruling con- 
 siderations determine it otherwise. Immigration can very 
 aptly be compared to the movements of those large flocks 
 of wild pigeons in their migrations from higher to lower 
 latitudes and vice versa. Invading a grain field, the rear 
 is constantly flying over to the front. Therefore the front 
 soon becomes the rear, and the field in a short time is 
 cleanly picked over and crossed. Settlers on the 
 frontier of Kansas and Nebraska, that this year are locat- 
 ing just in front where the last year's wave of migration ex- 
 pended itself, by next year find that the new wave has- 
 swept over and beyond them, and now rolls on thirty or- 
 forty miles ahead. In a year or so more, they will find 
 themselves so far in the rear that they are no longer able 
 to tell how far and to what point the front line has ad- 
 vanced. 
 
 In that time they will, however, find that the condition 
 of their community is improving; and that surrounding 
 circumstances are more favorable. In fact they find that 
 prosperity is dawning upon them. Five or six years 
 more and they find themselves surrounded by all the com- 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 157 
 
 'forts and amenities of long established and consolidated 
 communities. 
 
 Immigration is rapidly filling up Colorado, but there is 
 no onward wave there at present, rising higher and 
 higher, and rolling farther West every year, much less a 
 reflex wave coming back on the Plains. The gold and 
 silver regions, the coves and parks of the mountains, and 
 the plains immediately along their base, are the objective 
 points first attracting immigrants, for reasons that in all 
 .ages have swayed and determined the migrations of man- 
 kind. 
 
 In migrating, man's physical wants are always the 
 paramount considerations that govern him. His first and 
 absolute necessities everywhere are food and raiment. 
 Hence he is impelled to select the locality where these are 
 to be found; or where the means for procuring them can 
 be obtained. He may safely undertake to cultivate the 
 soil if he have a reserve to draw upon, until the "soil has 
 time to remunerate him for the capital and toil expended 
 upon it. After that it will supply his bare necessities. 
 But luxuries, and even comforts, must remain in abeyance, 
 not only until he has a surplus of productions, but a mar- 
 'ket for that surplus. Agricultural products are too bulky 
 to bear the expense of transportation over long distances; 
 therefore in remote and isolated communities the demand 
 ibr them is limited to supplying the deficiency in the com- 
 munity itself. The outside trader or merchant shuns such 
 communities, not because his wares are not wanted or 
 needed there, but because he cannot make available for 
 his purposes what he has to take in exchange for 
 them. 
 
 But if the precious metals are discovered anywhere, it 
 matters not what long journeys they have to make, what 
 deserts to be passed, what mountain precipices to be 
 scaled, what dangers to be encountered, and what hard- 
 ships to be endured, the merchant and trader are there 
 almost as soon as the miner. He is not only there with 
 
158 OVER THE TLA1NS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 the bare necessities, but with the luxuries and comforts 
 of civilized life, for all to indulge in who can afford the 
 means. The pioneer to Colorado therefore knows the 
 shortest way for him to provide for the wants and com- 
 forts of himself and family, is to delve into these moun- 
 tains and bring up the precious metals. 
 
 But the mountains are not a total barren waste of rocks 
 and precipices; for large areas are covered with the lus- 
 cious buffalo grass; and the dells and coves are decked 
 with the living green of the wild timothy and blue grass.. 
 The settlers bring in domestic animals; milk and butter 
 and cheese dairies spring up to supply the wants of the 
 mining towns and camps. And such butter as is made 
 here ! Ah ! the dwellers in the trough of the Mississippi 
 Valley, can have no conception what a luxury sweet, deli- 
 cious and aromatic butter is. 
 
 The mountain dells are also well adapted to the growth 
 of oats,*hay and garden vegetables, especially turnips and 
 cabbage, which grow to an enormous size. All these find 
 ready sale and at highly remunerative prices in the min- 
 ing camps, as has been stated more particularly elsewhere.. 
 I was told by old mountaineers that there was more money 
 in a good hay or vegetable ranch e, than in any placer in 
 the mountains. This certainly has been the case, as many 
 of these ranchemen have realized comfortable fortunes by 
 their business; but the extension of railroads into the 
 mountains will interfere with their large profits by bring- 
 ing them in competition with the ranchemen on the 
 Plains. 
 
 The Plains along the base of the mountains are selected 
 by settlers for special, as well as for general reasons. 
 They are admirably adapted for raising all kinds of stock 
 to supply the wants of the mountain settlements. They 
 are extremely fertile, and as we have seen, unequaled for 
 raising the cerials, either as to quantity and quality. 
 Land near the mountains, besides its contiguity to the 
 only real market that ever will be there, is more desirable 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 159 
 
 and valuable than land more remote. They are not only 
 nearer to an abundance of water, and, therefore, easily 
 and cheaply irrigated, but the climate is far milder and 
 more equable than farther off, down on the Plains. 
 From 10 to 15 miles along the base of the mountains, 
 stock, nine years out often, have no need either of shel- 
 ter or provender during the winter, making their own liv- 
 ing and thriving on the dried buffalo grass, the natural 
 hay of the Plains. 
 
 Lower down on the Plains, in proportion as you recede 
 from the mountains, the snow falls deeper, lies longer on 
 the ground, and the cold is severer. Stock has not only 
 to be housed but provender provided to feed with during 
 the time that the Plains are covered with snow. There 
 are exceptional seasons when this is not absolutely neces- 
 sary, but generally it would be disastrous not to be pro- 
 vided to meet such contingencies. 
 
 The reasons are therefore very plain why immigration 
 flows into the mountains, or spreads settlements only 
 along their base. When railroads, as they will before 
 many years, once penetrate and pierce through these 
 mountains, as they are metaliferous through their entire 
 breadth, settlements will rapidly extend farther West, un- 
 til the remaining gap is closed, and the westward tide of mi- 
 gration that has flowed from time immemorial will cease 
 forever. A reflex wave recoiling from the mountains and 
 rolling eastward, has yet scarcely commenced. It never will 
 have much impetus, and will move sloAvly and cautiously. 
 The obstacles to settlement on the Plains east of the 
 Platte are truly formidable. The most serious are the 
 want of living streams, for Stock and irrigation in sum- 
 mer; and the severity and long continuance of the winters. 
 To remedy the first evil, it is said that the Kansas Pacific 
 Tfoilroad Company, who own millions of acres on these 
 Plains, has it in contemplation to carry the waters of the 
 South Platte from the mouth of the canyon where they 
 debouch upon the Plains, in a canal eastward to the head 
 
160 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 -springs of the Smoky Hill. This is entirely feasible, but 
 "whether it can be done compatible with the rights and 
 interests of settlers on the Platte below, is a serious ques- 
 tion. 
 
 This is a remote and almost unknown region. Though 
 considerable has been written and published about it of a 
 general character, yet nothing specific enough to enable 
 anyone to form a definite idea of its capabilities, natural 
 resources, soil and climate. Ample reasons therefore ex- 
 ist for giving these minute details. It is performing a 
 good service to those contemplating settling here, to 
 furnish them with reliable facts as to the inducements held 
 out here to immigrants, and what are the influences here 
 determining locations of settlements. In order that they 
 may be enabled to select their location judiciously, I have 
 endeavored to furnish them with a survey of the whole 
 field in advance. My sole object is to benefit those going 
 into the territory whether for pleasure, recreation, 
 health or settlement. I have no object in view, and no 
 interests to subserve except those of truth. As far as the 
 modes of settlement are concerned, truth does not permit 
 me to speak very flatteringly of the colonies established 
 here. How could I, when it is notorious that great dissat- 
 isfaction exists in nearly all of them. Charges of mis- 
 management, corruption, selfishness, with crimination and 
 re-crimination are rife in nearly all of them. I have not 
 assumed to judge who, if any one, is in fault; prefering 
 the more charitable course, to attribute their internal con- 
 dition to the inherent viciousness of the system which is 
 not adapted to the condition of things here. However, 
 the manager of one of these colonies has taken offence at 
 my remarks as applied to his colony; and in one of the 
 leading papers in the territory charged that favorable re- 
 ports could be had of all itinerant scribblers, if they 
 Avould take charge of them, give them free lunch and 
 plenty of whisky ; adding, that to do the latter would be 
 difficult, since there was not a place in town where it was 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 161 
 
 .sold. I now publish this as an important fact and one 
 which I could not have discovered in a year's exploration ; 
 my investigations not tending in that direction. I think 
 it however entirely reliable, for other " itinerant scrib- 
 blers " have been there since, and state it to be a fact> 
 but in compensation, for its absence, medicine for curing 
 snake bites is plenty, and answers just as well. 
 
 I now repeat the advice to all desiring to go to Colo- 
 rado for settlement, go alone, be your own colony, free to 
 go where you please and to exercise your own judgment 
 when you get there, so that you may select the location 
 best adapted to your purpose or pursuit. If you go with 
 .a colony, you cannot do this. You have to locate where 
 it locates, spend your money in providing shelter for 
 yourself and family; and when that is done find your ex- 
 chequer exhausted, and without remunerative employ- 
 ment to keep the ravenous wolf of hunger from your door 
 Awav from the mountains, your colony is at a disadvan- 
 tage in getting a market for its products, or of transport- 
 ing them where there is a market. Besides the colony 
 affording no great diversity in pursuits its productions 
 will be small and chiefly of one kind glutting the little 
 market there is. But, in the vicinity of the mines, or in 
 the towns whence the miners draw their supplies, there is 
 a demand for all kinds of fabrics and productions. Tillers 
 of the soil are wanted as well as miners, metallurgists, ma- 
 chinists, experts in the different operations and treatment to 
 which the ores in process of reduction must be subjected. 
 Here artificers in wood, in stone, iron, brass, clay, hides, 
 leather.,wool and lint are all in demand, to carry on the in- 
 dustrial machinery. Like elsewhere, some localities are 
 better than others for particular pursuits. All that is neces- 
 sary is that the adventurer is free to select, from all the lo- 
 calities offering, the one best calculated for the success of 
 his particular business. This is my advice, and I believe it 
 to be the surest and safest that can be given. It is, however, 
 
 11 
 
162 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 optional with each immigrant to follow it, or not, as his 
 judgment may determine when he gets there. But let 
 him go untrammelled. 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 163 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Animal life depends upon plant life; and plant life 
 upon the presence of a proper plant food in the soil. 
 Plants, like animals of different genera, feed upon different 
 kinds of food. Some subsist entirely upon mineral mat- 
 ter, some require both mineral and vegetable food; and 
 another class, the epiphytes, depend entirely upon decom- 
 posed vegetable matter The first class will thrive any- 
 where, under favorable conditions, where mineral sub- 
 stances alone are present. Not only BO, but they have the 
 faculty of decomposing crude mineral matter containing 
 their food, if it be not free. The most primative forms 
 of plants belong to this class. 
 
 The higher order of plants, in so far as they depend on 
 mineral food, must have it free in the soil, because they 
 have not the ability to decompose rocks. Neither have 
 they the faculty of decomposing vegetable and animal 
 matter; therefore this part of their food must also be free 
 in the soil, already decomposed, stored up and subject to 
 their draft in such quantities as they may need to perform 
 their function in Nature's economy. 
 
 Of epiphytes and other parasitic plants, it is not neces- 
 sary to speak here, since wo have no purpose of writing a 
 general treatise upon plants, and the variety of their food, 
 but only of making some brief remarks upon favorable 
 conditions, for abundantly growing those absolutely es- 
 sential to man. These may be termed the omnivorous 
 class, since they can flourish only where there are abund- 
 ant stores of decomposed matter, mineral, animal and 
 vegetable, laid up for them. A little reflection reveals the 
 fact that they comprise grasses, grains, fruits, etc. ; in fact 
 
164 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 all plants that serve for food to animals, and which man 
 has to produce to sustain his herds, his flocks and himself. 
 
 It is evident that every crop he produces, makes a draft 
 upon the different kind of plant food stored up in the soil. 
 If he removes the crop from the field on which it grew, 
 he impoverishes the soil to the extent of the draft made hy 
 the crop upon its stores ; and lessens its ability to meet 
 subsequent demands upon it. This reveals a necessity 
 imposed upon man, to make restitution in some way of the 
 amount withdrawn, and to keep up ample deposites in 
 bank, or his drafts will come back dishonored. 
 
 To keep a sufficient surplus on deposite, and of the right 
 kind .of funds, are serious questions which have vexed 
 man ever since he became a waster of stores in other re- 
 spects than in terra-culture. Plants do not relish in- 
 differently all minerals, but each kind' of plant affects 
 particular minerals, and must have a full supply to meet 
 its wants, or it will fail to accomplish the task assigned to 
 it, or expected of it. Some plants demand salicatcs, oth- 
 ers carbonates, while others must have phosphates and 
 others again sulphates. The problem therefore is a com- 
 plicated one which demands a solution from the farmer, 
 even when viewed only from the mineral standpoint; 
 while it is no less complicated while viewed from the 
 standpoint of vegetable and animal manures. Worse than 
 all is the fact, that whatever may be claimed for Agricul- 
 tural Chemistry, it is entirely unable to aid him to deter- 
 mine, whether all the elements of fertility are present in 
 the soil, and in the exact proportions necessary to satisfy 
 the demands of his various crops. 
 
 I do not subscribe to the doctrine that soil leaches except 
 the surplus of saturation ; for Nature is all harmony. 
 There is the most cordial relations and amenity between 
 her ordinate and co-ordinate departments, between organic 
 and inorganic substances, and between dead and living 
 matter, for Nature has ordained them to be inter-depend- 
 ent. The soil as the harbinger of the plant, most kindly 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 165 
 
 prepares the way in laying up stores for it, and by an in- 
 exorable law holds them till the plant, the only proper 
 claimant, appears. Therefore wherever there is a point 
 where there is a surplus of plant food accumulating over 
 and above what can be stored away, whether mineral 
 or vegetable, it becomes the radiant point from which the 
 elements of fertility depart to be distributed. Since water 
 is the most efficient agent in effecting this distribution, 
 therefore the radiant point should be the summit and sides 
 of a watershed, the sources and fountains of brooks and 
 rivers. 
 
 Applying these general principles to Colorado, (but 
 they apply with equal force to all the States that lie on or 
 flank the Andean Chain ), we see at a glance what an im- 
 mense advantage terra-culturalists there have over those 
 in the trough of the Valley of the Mississippi, or on the 
 Altantic Slope. The granite, gneiss, feldspar, quarts, 
 metarnorphic and igneous rocks of the mountain chain, 
 contain silica, lime, magnesia, soda, and potash; the ores 
 they carry are either sulphurets or carbonates ; and many 
 springs are living fountains of soda-water, carbonate, 
 chlorate and sulphate. The mountains also are deposites 
 of immense beds of vegetable and animal mold, the accu- 
 mulated stores of myriads of years elapsed since plants 
 grew on and animals roamed over them. The soil and 
 subsoil are super-saturated with these fertilizing ingredi- 
 ents; and therefore they are ready to yield up at all times 
 their surplus to living water running down the mountain 
 slopes after rains, or from melting snows. 
 
 The waters flowing from these mountains to the plains 
 below, are therefore strongly impregnated with all the 
 ingredients of plant food, ready to deposite them there if 
 man so direct; but if not, to carry them forward to the 
 sea. If anyone doubts the fertilizing properties of 
 waters flowing from any highlands, let him tell us the 
 secret of the exuberant fertility of the alluvial deposites 
 along all rivers and streams from the centre of continents 
 
166 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 to the seas. Let him tell us whence are derived the fer- 
 tilizing qualities of muck, so much valued in the mountain 
 districts of the Eastern States. Let us know why it is 
 that the valley of the Nile has produced without artificial 
 manuring, annual crops from time immemorial, and is to- 
 day as productive as it was in the days of Joseph. 
 
 From the fourteenth to the sixteenth century, during 
 which Spain attained the highest summit of her power, 
 glory and prosperity; when her soil Avas the granary of 
 the world ; when her plains sustained a denser population 
 than ever before or since ; she constructed those immense 
 dams whose remains are still found across her mountain 
 gorges, making reservoirs to receive and retain the waters 
 of the winter rains and snows to be used in summer for 
 irrigating her arid plains. 
 
 The ability of Asia to sustain a population numbering 
 nearly to a thousand million, and for thousands of years, 
 is owing to the application she has made of her waters 
 whose sources are on the loftiest mountains of the Globe. 
 Irrigation is the magic wand by which she transformed 
 arid wastes into fruitful fields, and made " the desert blos- 
 som like the rose." Where the system has been kept up, 
 as in China and India, there has been neither deterioration 
 in products nor decrease in population. But in Persia 
 and in the valley of the Euphrates, where the system has 
 measurably fallen into desuetude, there have been degra- 
 dation of soil and climate, failure of agricultural products, 
 and depopulation as a necessary consequence of destitution 
 and starvation. Irrigation, though practiced in the East 
 from time immemorial, was not introduced into Europe 
 until Eome reached the summit of her power and great- 
 ness. By its introduction into Italy, a writer of the 
 highest authority for accuracy says, " Large unproductive 
 districts were made to yield sustenance for hundreds of 
 thousands of animals, and for millions of men." 
 
 The Spaniards brought the system to Mexico and all 
 Spanish America, whence it spread along the Andean Cor- 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 167 
 
 dilleras both north and south with the Spanish settle- 
 ments, being thus introduced into Sonora, California and 
 New Mexico. 
 
 Since the advent of the Americans in California, New 
 Mexico, and Colorado, and of the Mormons in Utah, it 
 has been practiced by them with the most satisfactory re- 
 sults. At first they adopted it from what seemed to them 
 Si necessity, as a substitute, and a poor one at that, for 
 rain ; but experience has taught them better and demonstra- 
 ted to them that rain is no substitute for irrigation. They 
 iind, as in the case of the irrigated valleys of China, of the 
 valleys of the Ganges and of the Nile, that irrigated lands 
 never grow old and become worn out. The plant food 
 dissolved and held in suspension by the water, perpetually 
 renews the soil keeping it fresh and vigorous. Nor in 
 California, Utah and Colorado is this solution of the prob- 
 lem demonstrated, but also in the Eastern States. There 
 are meadows in the valley of the Connecticut which are 
 irrigated from that river, which have not had a particle of 
 manure applied to them for twenty years, yet which an- 
 nually yield four tons of hay to the acre, which is more 
 than double the quantity that can be produced on land 
 not irrigable with all the artificial manure that can be put 
 on it. 
 
 The products of plant life are vegetable tissue, starch, 
 gum, mucus, sugar, etc. All these are composed princi- 
 pally of three elements j namely, Hydrogen oxygen, and 
 carbon. The other elements are silica, alumina, lime, 
 soda, potash, etc. Hydrogen and oxygen are principally 
 supplied by the roots, they being the constituent elements 
 of water. Humus (that is, decayed vegetable and animal 
 matter,) consists largely of carbon, and in combination 
 with nitrogen forms ammonia. Therefore carbon is also 
 taken up largely from the soil by the roots. But the 
 leaves have also the faculty of taking in carbon from the 
 atmosphere by decomposing carbonic acid. It is only the 
 mineral substances that are exclusively taken up from the 
 
168 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 soil; and their quantity can be ascertained by burning any- 
 vegetable matter, and weighing the ashes. It will be 
 found that they are but a small fraction of the whole- 
 weight of the body consumed; yet they form, (if the ex- 
 pression is permissible,) the skeleton of the plant. In the- 
 mysterious operations of plant life by which are elaborated 
 the products of vegetation, they also perform important 
 functions in breaking up old and forming new combina- 
 tions. Each of the mineral salts, has a distinct function - f 
 hence the necessity of its presence in the soil when ite 
 services are demanded. 
 
 It has been ascertained by observation that on an aver- 
 age, crops require not less than seventeen inches of rain- 
 fall during the season of growth. If less than that falls,, 
 they suffer from drought and fail in proportion to the de- 
 ficiency. But rains generally fall faster than the soil can' 
 absorb the water : consequently much water is wasted by 
 flowing off to brooks and creeks. Not only wasted, but 
 worse ; the water takes along with it a large portion of 
 soil containing its richest ingredients. A heavy rain- 
 therefore often has a more impoverishing effect on the soil* 
 than two crops. 
 
 In irrigating we will suppose that fifteen inches of water 
 is sufficient to meet the demand of the crop. This wil> 
 give 407,271 gallons of water to the acre. The time that 
 the water is used for irrigation, is the time of floods from 
 the melting snow. It is therefore the time that they are 
 the richest in mineral, vegetable and animal matter. I 
 was unable to obtain any analyses of waters made at any 
 time, much less at particular seasons, for the purpose of 
 ascertaining the amount of plant food they hold in sus- 
 pension ; consequently cannot state with precision the 
 amount held in solution. But as the water used in irriga- 
 tion is utilized when richest in these ingredients, I will 
 assume that each gallon contains twenty grains. This 
 gives 8.145.420 grains or more than 1,162 pounds of the 
 quintessence of manure, whic-h the water will convey to^ 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 1GO 
 
 and deppsit in the soil per acre. This is more than the 
 most exhaustive crop demands or can utilize. 
 
 Scientists have long sought, but in vain, for ingredients 
 whose combination should constitute a perfect manure, 
 not only to replace deficient elements in the soil, but to 
 keep it in perennial fertility. They have failed to find 
 them, and consequently to solve the problem, and ever 
 must fail, until they can tell, not only the quantity of a 
 missing factor, but the exponents of each factor that enters- 
 into the solution. 
 
 * Nature who is wiser than Man, but who offers to him 
 her wisdom as a free gift, has solved this problem com- 
 pletely for him, and in the simplest manner. She has- 
 piled up on every continent her cloud constraining moun- 
 tains, compelling them to leave on their summits their 
 stores of rain and sleet and snow. These mountains from 
 their composition are the radiant points whence the ele- 
 ments of plant life take their departure, and spread them- 
 selves over the continents. They are therefore Nature's, 
 compost heaps from which she fertilizes the Earth. 
 
170 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 CHAPTEK XV. 
 
 Middle Park is the gem of the Eocky Mountains. The 
 variety, singularity, wildncss, grandeur and sublimity of 
 its scenery; the beauty of its grassy and flower-enameled 
 glades, presenting, as they do, such a marked contrast in 
 color to the sombre appearance of the evergreens on the 
 surrounding hills and mountains; the sheen of its crystal 
 -and sparkling waters that thread it as with silver bands ; 
 the solitude of its forests; the tranquility of its landscape, 
 the fascinating beauty of its clear and calm mountain 
 lakes, that mirror-like not only reflect the deep blue over- 
 hanging sky, but .the surrounding forests and ice clad 
 peaks, and the enjoyment of all these enhanced by being 
 :seen through an atmosphere so translucent as apparently 
 to annihilate distance; will forever make Middle Park at- 
 tractive to all lovers of Nature. While the purity of its 
 ,-air, the coolness, salubrity and invigorating influence of 
 its climate, will make it the Mecca of invalids seeking the 
 boon of renewed vigor and restored health, or when these 
 .are out of the question, temporary amelioration and relief 
 from physical infirmities. It is as yet, only the central 
 point of attraction to Coloradians, bent on enjoying a few 
 weeks of recreation and pleasure in Summer. But to the 
 outside world, it is almost as complete a terra incognita as 
 though it were in the moon. During a portion of the 
 year it is still the hunting ground of the Utcs, who yet claim 
 it, for the Indian title has not been extinguished; and 
 they look with no friendly eye upon the encroachments 
 of the palefaced ranchcmen, gradually extending down 
 .the valleys of the Blue and Grand. 
 
 The valley of the Blue is separated from that of Grand 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 171 
 
 Eiver by a mountain chain running through the Park, 
 from Gray's Peak in a northwest direction, and termin- 
 ating near the junction of the two rivers. The Blue river 
 valley is, therefore shaped like a ham, with the hock end 
 resting on Grand Elver. In the upper part of it, is the 
 town of Breckenridge, the county seat of Summit county. 
 This portion of the valley is very rich in the precious 
 metals. All the mountain streams are auriferous, and the 
 most extensive placers in the Territory are here. Gold 
 Eun, Galena, American, Georgia, Humbug, French, Gib- 
 son, Corkscrew, Kegro, Illinois, Hoosier, etc., gulches, and 
 Stilson's and Delaware flats, are all famous placers, and 
 yield now about $500,000 annually, and are said to be 
 capable of yielding double that annually a long and in- 
 definite time to come. The mountains are full of gold 
 lodes but are not worked, and will not be whilst placer 
 mining continues to yield so richly as now In fact 
 placer miners are opposed to lode mining. On the head 
 streams of Snake Eiver, a tributary of the Blue are, two 
 mining districts, Montezuma and Peru. The latter is at 
 the south base of Gray's Peak. Montezuma is a few miles 
 further southwest, at the foot of Glazier Mountain, on a 
 branch of the Snake. It is about 15 miles southwest, as 
 the crow flies, from Georgetown, but by the wagon road 
 through the chain, near the base of Gray's Peak, it is 20 
 or more. From South Park, these districts are reached 
 through Tarryall Pass. Montezuma has a silver reduc- 
 tion works; and at St. John's, a half a mile distant, the 
 Boston Mining Association have reduction works, saw- 
 mill, etc. The girdle of snow clad mountains that environ 
 Middle Park, is the culminating point of the Eocky Moun- 
 tain chain. The Snowy Eange, as this towering moun- 
 tain escarpment is appropriately called, since it rises from 
 3,000 to 5,000 feet above the line of perpetual snow, here 
 ilexes or doubles upon itself. Commencing on the north 
 wall of Grand Eiver Canyon, it runs first north some 
 thirty miles, thence a few points south of east, to Long's 
 
172 <>YEtl THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 Peak. Thenco south by way of James' and Gray's Peaks' 
 to a point some fifteen miles south of the latter; thence 
 southwest to Mount Lincoln; thence west some 25 miles ^ 
 and thence north to the south wall of Grand River can- 
 yon. Its flexure thus forms a huge fold like that of a 
 gigantic anaconda. Within this fold lies Middle Park, 
 some eighty miles long from north to south, and forty 
 wide from east to west. It belongs to the Pacific side of 
 the Continent, since its waters flow west, and its springs 
 are far the most distant tributaries of that ocean. Here 
 at the culminating point of the American continent, at 
 the apex and most easternly trend of the Great Cordil- 
 leras, and amidst eternal snow and ice, they commence 
 their long journey to the sea. At first taking their course 
 due west, they flow for hundreds of miles through the 
 craggiest, roughest and wildest mountain district in the 
 world. Then they enter the four hundred mile canyon 
 of the Colorado of the West, the chasm of which is from 
 3,000 to 5,000 feet deep. Emerging thence, they hold on 
 their way through sandy deserts for hundreds of miles 
 more, till they reach the Gulf of California; and finally 
 reach the Pacific Ocean, near Mazatlan, in Mexico, south 
 of the Tropic of Cancer. 
 
 The elevation of the Park above the sea, is from 7,000 
 to 8,000 feet. The wall of porphyritic rocks constituting 
 the Snowy Range, rises from 3,000 to 5,000 feet above the 
 Park; and huge tower like peaks from 3,000 to 5,000 feet 
 above this snowy wall. The highest of these peaks is 
 Mount Lincoln, on the south. The next in altitude is 
 Long's Peak, on the northeast, 14,350 feet high. Inter- 
 mediate between these two, both in height and position,, 
 are Gray's and James' Peaks. Long's Peak and the 
 range adjacent to it, as seen from Middle Park, have a 
 rugged, sharply cockscombed, or deeply serrated appear- 
 ance, characteristic of all mountain chains composed of 
 eruptive rocks. 
 
 The north branch of the Grand, heads in the angle of 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 173 
 
 the Snowy Range at the southwest base of Long's Peak; 
 and the south branch near the summit of Berthoud's Pass, 
 north of Gray's Peak. They unite near the centre of the 
 eastern-half of the Park. The course of the river is 
 nearly due west ; and it receives the Blue just before it 
 enters the canyon by which it makes its exit through the 
 wall of the western mountain. Blue Paver heads near the 
 base of Mount Lincoln, and flows nearly clue nt)rth for 
 fifty miles along the base of Blue River Mountains till it 
 -meets Grand Paver. Kear its mouth it is about 90 yards 
 and Grand River about 160 yards wide. Both rivers have 
 strong and swift currents. 
 
 The surface of the park is generally rough and hilly ; 
 even rising to mountains of 1,200 and 1,500 feet in altitude 
 <on that range jutting out from Gray's Peak to the junction 
 of the two rivers. In fact it is composed of a series of 
 parks. Both Grand and Blue rivers have many broad 
 savannas hedged round by mountains j and on all their 
 affluents there are glades of greater or less extent enclosed 
 by precipitous hills and mountain peaks. The higher 
 hills, as well as the base of the Snowy Range up to the 
 "timber line," are heavily covered with pine, spruce and 
 other evergreens, besides quaking-asp (Populus tremu- 
 loides). Some of the lower portions are covered with a 
 dense growth of sage brush, a tough aromatic plant which 
 attains a hight of from two to three feet, and is not 
 found anywhere east of the Snowy Range. Grasses, such 
 as wild timothy (Phleum Alpinum), two species of blue- 
 grass, ( Poa serotina and P. Andina\ red top, wild oats and 
 the lucious buffalo grass are so abundant and luxuriant 
 that neither horses nor cattle require any other food sum- 
 mer or winter. Elk, black-tail deer and mountain sheep 
 resort to this Park during the winter, seeking its rich 
 pastures and on account of its comparatively mild climate 
 and greater exemption from snows than the surrounding 
 mountains. Though the snow falls to the enormous depth 
 of from 12 to 15 feet in a season; yet it is a well observed 
 
174 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 fact that the Pacific Slope, however remote from the ocean,, 
 has a milder climate than on the Atlantic or Eastern 
 Slope. In summer the climate is cool, pleasant and ex- 
 tremely exhilerating. Though scarcely a week passes 
 without some frost; yet, strange as it may seem, flowers 
 bloom throughout the season, and straw-berries ripen even 
 to the hight of 11,000 feet above the sea, and in close prox- 
 imity tb the eternal snows. 
 
 Gold and silver have not yet been found in paying quan- 
 tities, except on the Blue as already stated; consequently 
 but little has been done towards the settlement of the 
 northern portion of the Park. The latest prospecting, 
 however, indicates the presence of the precious metals in 
 rich and paying quantities on the sources of Grand Eiver. 
 Quite a number of cattle ranches however already exist 
 on the Grand and its tributaries, and are extending down 
 the valley of the Blue towards the junction. Wheat haa 
 not been tried, but oats, potatoes, turnips and cabbage 
 find here a congenial climate and yield enormous crops. 
 When the narrow guage railroads now projected from 
 both Denver and Boulder to Salt Lake are completed, * 
 this Park will become one of the most desirable portions, 
 of the territory, not only for grazing purposes, but for the 
 manufacturing of lumber from its large and heavy forests 
 of pine and spruce. 
 
 Near the head of Grand Eiver, amongst the side moun- 
 tains of the Snowy Range lies Grand Lake, about two 
 miles long, and of unknown depth, since a sounding line 
 500 feet in length has failed to reach bottom. The moun- 
 tains forming its sides rise abruptly from the waters' edge ; , 
 Grand Eiver forming both its outlet and inlet. Up 
 through the canyon through wich the river comes tumbling 
 down, are several smaller lakes; and still higher up is 
 
 *The one from Denver, to run by way of South Park through 
 Hoosier Pass and down the valley of the Blue ; and the one from Boul- 
 der, through the Snowy Range and down the valley of the Grand, 
 thence by the Grand Iliver Canyon through the middle basin of the > 
 Colorado of the West into Salt Lake Valley. 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 175' 
 
 Estes' Park, a miniature glade on the verge of the " tim- 
 ber line" where Mountain Jim has a cattle ranche. 
 
 The streams and lakes are filled with fish, mostly trout. 
 Deer, elk, mountain sheep, hares and grouse are plenty in 
 the Park, and the coyote and grizzly bear in the forests 
 and mountains. When Fremont was here in 1844 the 
 Park was filled with buffalo, but they have all left these 
 parts now. Beaver are also plenty on all the streams and 
 mountain brooks. On one stream there are at least fifty 
 dams within a mile, and a regular Yenice-like beaver 
 city. 
 
 There are many coal beds in Middle Park; in fact the 
 only true carboniferous coal in Colorado is found here;, 
 which will be of immense value should the mineral de~ 
 posites prove as rich as it is now anticipated they will.. 
 Fossil wood is found in all the tertiary deposites which 
 cover four-fifths of the Park. The petrifactions of fossil 
 palm trees are recognized by their endogenous structure,, 
 but the most of the fossil trees were exogens. A species 
 of magnolia has been found and identified as belonging to* 
 a sub-tropical species. 
 
 South Africa has the largest and richest diamond fields- 
 in the world. Middle Park has no diamonds, but it has tha 
 richest known deposites of the inferior precious stones. 
 There are thousands of acres of agate patches, and fields 
 of jasper, amethyst, opals, emeralds, chalcedony and silici- 
 fied wood; in fact there are enough of these to supply the 
 world for ages. Many of the agates arc what are popu- 
 larly known as moss agates, from having those dendritic 
 forms resembling petrified moss. These forms however 
 originate, as has already been stated, from crystallization 
 of manganese under the reaction of oxide of iron. 
 
 The epoch in which the great changes of climate were 
 effected, and of the upheaval of this mesa to its present 
 altitude, was one when terrible energy manifested itself 
 on a tremendous scale. It has forever left the impress of 
 its character on the turreted battlements of peaks above 
 
176 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 peaks, mountains on mountains and hills on hills, and on 
 the deeply rifted canyon walls of its flowing streams. 
 The whole topography of the Park is an almost unvaried 
 series of igneous rocks forming immense cones and dikes 
 of basalt and lava. 
 
 On the banks of Grand River near the centre of the 
 Park, are yet numerous hot sulphur springs. Mr.. Charles 
 Dabney, of Boulder, gave me a piece of sulphur foam, 
 which he gathered from the basin of one of these springs. 
 It weighs about twelve ounces. He described the spring 
 as a stream of hot water of the capacity of twenty-five 
 ^miner's inches," issuing from a fissure in an over-hanging 
 rock. The orifice is about fifteen feet above the basin into 
 which the water pours. The whole surface of the basin is 
 covered with this incrusted sulphur foam to the depth of 
 four and five inches. Immediately below the hot spring 
 there is Grand Canyon, three miles long, where the river 
 cuts its way through an upheaved ridge of massive felds- 
 pathic granite between walls from 1,200 to 1,500 feet 
 high. 
 
 On Troublesome Creek there are monumental stones 
 similar to those on the Divide, east of Pike's Peak. They 
 are the remains of sandstone that have otherwise suc- 
 cumbed to the erosions of the elements operating upon 
 them for unknown thousands of years. They are said to 
 be extremely picturesque, fantastic and weird, surpassing 
 oven those on Monumental Creek flowing from the Di- 
 vide south of Denver into the Arkansas. 
 
 Near Troublesome Creek is a rectangular mural hill, or 
 rather mass of light colored rock two hundred feet high. 
 The sides are nearly perpendicular, and have been so 
 fashioned by the erosions of the elements as to resemble a 
 huge castle. There are towers, battlements, abutments 
 and gateways, so that when seen by moonlight or in the 
 gray dawn of morning the effect is most charming and 
 impressive, and the illusion is complete of an old massive 
 -castle, such as are seen upon the Rhine. 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THK MOUNTAINS 177 
 
 There are several passes over the Snowy Range into 
 the Park. Hoosier Pass at the source of the Blue, near 
 the base of Mount Lincoln, leading into South Park, was 
 estimated by Fremont, who passed over it in July, 1844, 
 on his return from California, to be 11,200 above the sea. 
 His estimate was' deduced from the boiling point of water, 
 having broken his barometer late in the previous year on 
 the Columbia. Berthoud's Pass, about five miles north of 
 Gray's Peak, at the head springs of Clear Creek, as deter- 
 mined by Prof. Hayden, in 1869, is 11,816 feet above the 
 ocean level. Boulder ass, some ten miles further north, 
 at the head of the South Boulder, also affords easy access 
 to the Park. I cannot ascertain that its altitude has ever 
 been determined. Its altitude probably does not vary 
 much from that of Berthoud's. It is rather singular that 
 on the summit of all these passes, the springs w r hich send 
 their waters in opposite directions and to different oceans,, 
 are in close proximity, only a few feet, or at most, a few 
 yards, apart. From Georgetown, there is a good wagon 
 road over the Eange at the south 4>ase of Gray's Peak to 
 the silver mines on the head waters of the Blue, and from 
 the same place, through Berthoud's Pass, the head waters 
 of the Grand are reached. 
 
 There are four of these parks in Colorado; namely, 
 North, Middle, South and San Luis. To which might, 
 with propriety, be added a fifth ; namely, the upper basin 
 of the Arkansas, which has all the requisites of a park as 
 the word is here understood. Of North Park, in which 
 the North Fork of the Platte rises, it is not necessary to 
 speak. It is yet beyond the pale of civilization and not 
 visited by tourists. The easy accessibility from the Plains 
 has secured to South Park an early settlement, and makes 
 it a favorite resort of tourists, though its scenery is said 
 not to be of the first order. As it has been often describ- 
 ed by tourists who visited it, it would be presumption in 
 me to attempt a description who have not seen it. 
 
 12 
 
178 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THK MOUNTAINS. 
 
 The following are the estimated areas of the three- 
 northernmost Parks : 
 
 ACRES. 
 
 North Park 1,600,000* 
 
 Middle Park :. 1,900,000- 
 
 South Park 1,400,000 
 
 West of South Park,' and separated from it by the- 
 Buffalo Peaks, lies the Upper Basin, or Park of the Ar- 
 kansas, which heads at the western base of Mount Lincoln^ 
 In it are Oro City, Dayton and Granite, all of which were 
 at one time flourishing mining towns, but now are some- 
 what dilapidated; not because gold is not there, but 
 because it takes labor, skill, and perseverence to obtain it... 
 Prosperity, however, must sooner or later return to them, 
 because not only are the placers rich, but the lodes in the 
 mountains give bright promise of the future when capital,, 
 skill and science will be directed to their development. 
 
 Dayton, situated on Twin Lakes, is the most charming 
 village in the mountains. The Twin Lakes are the larg- 
 est lakes in Colorado, and are unsurpassed for beauty in 
 the world. They were the scene of a sad accident while 
 we were in the mountains. Young Copp, of St. Louis, 
 whom a few days before we had seen at Denver, full of 
 life, spirits and expectation, was drowned here by the up- 
 Betting of a boat. 
 
 Chapters could be written in describing this lovely r 
 charming, picturesque and delightful valley, and its match- 
 less scenery, without exhausting the subject. Every tour- 
 ist should make it a point to visit it, for no one ever re- 
 grets having gone there. 
 
 South of the Upper Basin of the Arkansas, and beyond 
 a range of snowy peaks, lies San Luis Park, the most 
 southern, the largest and the least elevated of the series.. 
 It contains about 12,000,000 acres of arable land, and its 
 altitude above the level of the sea is about 6,500 feet. It 
 is generally said that San Luis Park lies in the basin of" 
 
OVER THK PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 179 
 
 the Rio Grande del Norte, though a portion of it really is 
 a continental basin. It in separated from the Taos Val- 
 ley by the Sierra Blanca (White Mountains) running on 
 its southern border nearly due east and west. They are 
 the grandest, most imposing and picturesque range in 
 Southern Colorado. Southeast of the Park, in the sec- 
 ond range of mountains, the Spanish Peaks raise their tow- 
 ering heads above the clouds. The mountains that wall 
 in San Luis Park on the cast, from the Sierra Blanca 
 north to Poncho Pass, are of eruptive rocks, and grand in 
 aspect and vast in proportions. The north wall is of 
 metamorphic rocks and rises above the line of perpetual 
 snow. To the west are the Sierra San Juan (pronounced 
 San Whawn). The Rio Grande rises in Los Animas (the 
 Spirits' ) Park, flows at first east to centre of San Luis 
 Park, and then turns south. The northern portion, a con- 
 tinental basin, is San Luis Park proper. This northern 
 portion is about 60 miles long and 15 to 20 miles wide. 
 In the centre of it is Saguacho Lake twenty-four miles 
 long and ten wide, at its widest part. It looks like a vast 
 thicket of " grease wood, " (Sarcobatus vermicular is). It 
 has no outlet. It seems to be a vast swamp or bog, and 
 has some 1* or 16 large streams flowing into it. It is 
 said that in the interior of this bog, small lakes exist, the 
 largest of which is three miles in length. The waters of 
 these lakes, and of the bog itself, are said to have an ebb 
 and flow with the regularity of the tide. I will not vouch 
 for the truth of this, but it conies to me from so many 
 credible sources as to entitle it to mention here. If it is 
 true, it is a remarkable phenomenon, worthy of scientific 
 investigation. As its elevation is so great above the level 
 of the sea, it cannot be a tidal wave, yet there must be a 
 uniform physical cause in operation to produce it. As- 
 suming it to be true, I would suggest atmospheric pres- 
 sure as the probable cause of it. From the nature of the 
 facts existing here, we can very readily infer the laws op- 
 erating to produce the phenomenon in question. The 
 
180 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS 
 
 facts arc, fifteen or sixteen large, besides many small 
 streams, discharge their waters into this bog, yet like the 
 sea it does not become full. The water therefore must 
 sink, since its volume is too great to disappear by evapo- 
 ration. Now supposing there is an air tight cavity, or a 
 series of air tight cavities filled with air connected with 
 the cavity by which the water slowly discharges, and these 
 air cavities lower than the surface of the lake; then what 
 would be the effect of atmospheric pressure in such case ? 
 From well established physical laws, there would be low 
 water in the lake under a high barometer, and high water 
 under a low barometer. I use a fountain inkstand, and 
 can always tell whether the barometer is rising or falling. 
 If rising, I have constantly to push down the, India rub- 
 ber air-chamber to keep up a supply of ink. But when 
 the barometer is falling, I have constantly to raise the air- 
 chamber to keep the ink from overflowing. Precisely 
 the same thing would happen to this Lake, if our supposi- 
 tion of subterranean air-chambers be correct. 
 
 Now as we know that there are two normal maxima of 
 atmospheric pressure, and the same number of minima in 
 a day, and also the hours of their uniform occurrence, 
 therefore the ebb and flow of these waters, if ou$ explana- 
 tion be correct, must be synchronous with these maxima 
 and minima each to each. The major flow, or highest 
 water would therefore be between 3 and 5 o'clock in the 
 afternoon, and the minor high water between 3 and 5 
 o'clock in the morning. The major and lowest ebb would 
 be at about 10 o'clock in the morning, and the miner low 
 water at about 10 o'clock at night. The hours of these 
 maxima and minima would shift like those of barometric- 
 pressure with the altitude of the sun during the seasons. 
 Observations would soon settle the questions whether 
 there are such ebbs and flows as reported; and if so 
 whether the periodicity of the phenomenon corresponds 
 in point of time with atmospheric pressure, as shown by 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND OX THE MOUNTAINS 181 
 
 the barometer, which it must, if the explanation hero 
 offered bo the true one. 
 
 What makes both the facts and explanation more 
 probable is, that it is not the only instance in which a 
 similar phenomenon has been observed. Every one must 
 have noticed, or if not, must be a poor observer of what is 
 going on around him, that dried up springs in long 
 droughts just preceding a change to rainy weather, often 
 send forth large volumes of water, so as not only to swell 
 the brooks, but to send living streams through dry 
 ravines. What is the explanation of this fa-ct? Simply 
 that since every rainstorm is preceded by a low barome- 
 ter, therefore the air contained in closed cavities of rocks, 
 when the external pressure of the atmosphere is removed, 
 expands, displaces and drives out a volume of water 
 equal to its own increase of volume by expansion. 
 
 The streams falling into this lake, are perennial, and 
 are filled with mountain trout; and the pasturage in their 
 valleys is so rich that the Mexicans call them "los vegas, " 
 the meadows. 
 
 Altitude, latitude and moreover being surrounded and 
 hemmed in on all sides by lofty mountains, jointly have a 
 modifying effect upon the climate of San Luis Park. It 
 is exhilarating and bracing, yet mild and equable. ]^o 
 extremes of cither heat or cold are experienced the year 
 round. All the cereals, excepting corn, yield abundant 
 harvests; and as a stock-raising- country, it is not sur- 
 passed in the world. 
 
 It is a singular fact that on the Plains, near the Moun- 
 tains at La Porte and Boulder, though one and a half to 
 two degrees farther north, and nearly of the same eleva- 
 tion, the wheat harvest is from five to six weeks earlier 
 than in San Luis Park. Prof. Hayden, in 1869, found 
 them in the midst of harvest at Boulder on August 5th, 
 while on the 21st of September they had not yet finished 
 it in San Luis Park. Above Santa Fc and in the Taos 
 Valley, though lower than Boulder, he found, the same 
 
182 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON TUK MOUNTAINS. 
 
 year, the harvest fully four weeks later. Here is a prob- 
 lem for physicists to solve, from as yet unknown factors. 
 San Luis Park contains about 12,000,000 acres of arable 
 land. My early and esteemed friend, Ex-Governor Gilpin, 
 owns, or did own, a little over one-sixth of it, or about 
 2,250,000 acres, acquired by purchasing Spanish and Mex- 
 ican concessions. Being down at his residence in the 
 Parlc, whither I did not go, I did not see him while in 
 Colorado. Humor said, (and it is so published in the 
 Colorado Gazetteer, of .1871) that he had disposed of a part 
 of his interest to some English capitalists, for 82,500,000. 
 He was then engaged in settling colonists on his estate, 
 but I learned nothing of the principles embodied in his 
 colonial scheme. 
 
 While these pages were going through the press, I met 
 him on his way to the Eastern cities. I learned from him 
 that the narrow gauge railroad building from Denver to 
 Santa Fe, and already completed beyond the mouth of the 
 canyon of the Arkansas, will be completed to San Luia 
 Park by November, 1872; and that there are yet millions 
 of acres of vacant public land in the Park subject to settle- 
 ment either by homestead pre-emption, or entry, and that 
 there is an abundance of water for irrigation. As I ara 
 under a promise to pay him a visit when Tiext I go to Col- 
 orado, I may hereafter more specifically describe this 
 Park. In the meanwhile let no one who visits Colorado 
 with a view of settlement in agricultural pursuits, especi- 
 ally stock-raising, fail to examine the adaptation and 
 capability of this Park for his purposes. There is no 
 lack of precious metals in the surrounding mountains, but 
 they have as yet received no development. 
 
 These parks arc indentations or bowls formed by the 
 upheaval of ignous matter which has formed rims around 
 the enclosed, elevated table-lands or mesas, as the Span- 
 iards say. These plateaux are not only the culminating 
 point of the Rocky Mountain chain, but the apex of the 
 Continent. Each is an independent watershed, having its 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 18S 
 
 own system of springs and fountains- They do not com- 
 mingle their collected tribute with those of any other, but 
 they send their waters in opposite directions to the four 
 (Cardinal points of the compass and to different oceans. 
 
 The Indian name for these parks signified " cow-lodges" 
 -or "bull-pens" on account of the immense herds of buffa- 
 loes with which they abounded. The Canadian French 
 trappers, the first intruders into these mountain recesses, 
 for the same reason called them "pares," which in French 
 .signifies an enclosed pasture. The buffalo which then 
 constituted the greater part of the animals in these enclosed 
 pastures, have now disappeared; and the elk, deer, moun- 
 tain sheep and antelopes, are rapidly diminishing in num- 
 bers. Not many years therefore will elapse before the 
 name of park will be a misnomer. The name is also ap- 
 plied, all through the mountains, to little openings or 
 glades on the borders f*f mountain streams, which is a to- 
 tal perversion of the term. In our language the term park, 
 is exclusively applied to an enclosure for holding wild 
 .animals of the chase. \Vheu the buffiilo roamed here and 
 filled these mountain glades enclosed and shut in by moun- 
 tain walls, the term was both appropriate and descriptive, 
 ;and we might add poetical. But the onward march of 
 civilization, in this as in many other cases, is sweeping 
 Into oblivion the facts that made names pertinent, thus 
 leaving coming generations to wonder that there ever 
 could have been such misapplications of names. 
 
 These park regions in many respects resemble Switzer- 
 land and the Alps; and the resemblance would be com- 
 plete if glaciers existed in them. Those who have been to 
 Italy as well as to these mountains, say that the most im- 
 pressive view of the Alps from the Italian side, is from tho 
 banks of the Po, above Milan, across the plains of Lom- 
 "bardy; and that the view of the Rocky Mountains from 
 the Plains, say twenty miles east of Denver, has much 
 .similarity to it but is the more imposing of the two Here 
 have in one view, the towering masses of Long's and 
 
1&4 OVER TUB PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 Pike's Peak as termini of a cocks-combed irregular snowy 
 curtain, 145 miles long connecting them, which in length, 
 arid massiveness has no analogue any where in the Alps* 
 The great Plains stretching up and lying against the moun- 
 tain wall, has also vaster proportions than the plains of 
 Lombardy : while the immense mountain wall in sight, 250 
 miles in. length, stretching North and South in the west- 
 ern horizon, is a view without a parallel along the base of 
 the Alps. 
 
 The mountains of the western rim of Middle Park, 
 sometimes called the Blue River Mountains, have so im- 
 pressed travelers with their similarity to the Alps as seen 
 from Southern Germany, that they never fail to recognize 
 their resemblance to the Helvetian Mountains, and have 
 proposed that name for the range. 
 
 These bowl, or saucer shaped table-lands, collect the 
 waters from all points of the compass that issue from un- 
 derneath the perpetual snows and ice of their mountain 
 rim. The causes that formed these larger basins, formed 
 also many smaller ones between lower hills or mountains. 
 These minor basins in many instances are reservoirs where 
 the water collects, farming numerous lakes of greater or 
 less extent. Though in size they will not compare with 
 the lakes of Switzerland ; yet the torrents of ice water by 
 which they are fed, dashing through chasms and over rocky 
 precipices form many cascades, which for beauty and the 
 wild-scenery surrounding thorn, are unsurpassed by the 
 cascades of the Alp . The cocks-combed serraturo of the 
 encircling Snowy Range is not surpassed by any view of 
 the Snowy Alps. 
 
 Before closing let u.s take a brief review of the attrac- 
 tions and inducements held out not by these parks alone y 
 but by the whole mountain system of this region, to those 
 seeking health, relaxation, or pleasure. We take for grant- 
 ed, that the enfeebled invalid, the care-worn man of busi- 
 ness, the overtasked artizan, the enervated student, and the 
 curious pleasure seeker, need more than mere relaxation 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 1$,~ 
 
 and inane recreation. They want something to break up 
 the routine of thought to which their daily pursuits neces- 
 sarily, in a measure restrict them ; and to open up new and 
 wider channels for the flow of the mind. With relaxation 
 from their treadmill drudgery, they want recreation to ele- 
 vate their tastes and sentiments, and to enlarge their range 
 of thought. In a word they want recreations as diverse as 
 their tastes and as their mental capacities. Variety, gran- 
 deur and sublimity of scenery, are all essential elements- 
 of recreation and enjoyment, but they do not meet every 
 requisite. They suffice to those of a romantic turn of mind 
 for subjects of revery and day-dreaming ; and to the poet 
 for inspiring themes for verse. To all admirers of Nature's 
 handiwork they afford the most pleasurable emotions 
 and the highest order of enjoyment. In other words they 
 speak to the poetic element which is the common patrimo- 
 ny of the human race, and awaken that exaltation of mind 
 which is the effect of inspiration. But the real is also as 
 important and as irrepressible an element of human nature 
 as the ideal. Man desires not alone to feel, but to think ; 
 not only to imagine, but he wants to know. The foun- 
 tains of knowledge must therefore be as free and flow as 
 copiously as the fountains to induce feeling and inspira- 
 tion, or he fails in the attainment of the highest enjovment 
 as an intellectual being. 
 
 There is no region of the globe where these requirements 
 are raoro completely met, than in these matchless moun- 
 tains. In juxtaposition with the wildest and grandest 
 Rcenery in the world, is every geologic formation, and 
 every mineral and metal known to science. Here if any- 
 where is the plain and legible record of the mysterious- 
 processes by which the inhabitable globe has been elabor- 
 ated. Here is a lithological record, which contains the 
 history and describes the character of each epoch that su- 
 pervened in the Past, and engraven in stone are the gro- 
 tesque and unique forms of vegetables and animals that 
 appeared with, lived through, and perished, with the epoch 
 
186 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 that gave them birth. Here is impressed in indolibio 
 characters upon the stern features of these mountains tho 
 omnipotent energy of the Physical Forces as they mani- 
 fested themselves in the earlier history of the globe. What 
 ;an immense field for exploration is here opened. CTC- 
 ology, lithology, metallurgy, paleontology, meteorology, 
 IxHany, in fact every branch of Physical Science finds hero 
 copious stores of materials, not only for their study but 
 for their enlargement. To those of scientific tastes, and to 
 men of science, no part of the globe offers richer stores, 
 holds out stronger inducements arid affords greater oppor- 
 tunities for collecting specimens for their particular branch- 
 es; nor more agreeable pastime and diversion than to turn 
 over the pages of this immense and new volume, and study- 
 ing the histories it embodies. 
 
OVER. THJ-; PLAINS AND OX THK MOUNTAINS. IB' 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 All the pleasures ami enjoyments of traveling flow 
 .from the gratification of the eye. When beautiful, 
 wonderful and sublime objects are presented to the eye 
 the attributes of those objects powerfully affect the sensi- 
 bility, giving rise spontaneously to exalted and pleasur- 
 able emotions, that may carry the mind to the highest 
 pitch of enthusiasm. But while a view of. many objects 
 afford pleasure to the highest degree, but few of them in- 
 spire enthusiasm. Then again we are differently affected 
 by the same object according to the standpoint from which 
 we regard it. For instance, our point of observation may 
 be the 'top of a high building, the point of a pinnacle, the 
 top of a tower, or the summit of a mountain. The pleas- 
 urable emotions that arise in this case, spring from the ex- 
 tended view and the number and variety of the objects 
 seen. All of these objects when taken singly, maybe in- 
 .capable of inspiring any emotion whatever,, yet when 
 taken in by :i single glance, afford the highest kind of 
 pleasure. It is the view that affects us rather than the 
 form and character of the multiplicity of objects that 
 compose it. A riao however is incapable of awakening 
 enthusiasm in its highest sense. AVe generally call views 
 beautiful, grand, and even magnificent, but never sublime. 
 Again, our standpoint may be at the head of a lane, in the 
 opening of a row of trees, or we may look down length- 
 wise between the two sides of a mountain gorge, and we 
 may call the vista beautiful or charming, but never mag- 
 nificent, much less sublime. The emotions excited by fine 
 vistas, though highly pleasurable, are not even of so ex- 
 
188 OVER THE PLAINS AND OX THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 altod a character as those arising from a grand and mag- 
 nificent view. 
 
 Finally, our standpoint may be, in front of a splendid 
 building, at. the bottom of Niagara, in the abyss of a 
 mountain chasm, or at the foot of a precipitous, craggy, 
 cliff overhung by toppling rocks, and crowned by moun- 
 tain pines; then in looking up, wo arc smitten with wonder, 
 awe and astonishment. We had seen the same objects at 
 a distance; they then were component parts of our views 
 and vistas, and as such merely objects that filled up points 
 in the more or less extended space in sight. We hardly 
 regarded even their forms, much less their attributes. But 
 now we are regarding them singly. We then only saw 
 enough of them to perceive they were trees, houses, cliffs, 
 cascades, precipices or mountains, but we now see that 
 they are extraordinary trees, houses, cliffs, precipices, etc. 
 Then we saw no attributes except such only as enabled us 
 to classify them; now we see nothing but attributes. We* 
 now see they have beauty, symmetry, harmony, vastness, 
 grandeur in all grades up to the highest degree of sublim- 
 ity. These fix the gaze and rivet the attention; aglow 
 darts through our veins, the imagination is set on fire and; 
 enthusiasm is awakened; and then if under the influence 
 of their inspiration we attempt to give utterance to our- 
 feelings we call the sight beautiful, grand, magnificent,. 
 sublime. 
 
 To meet fully the demands of the traveler the country 
 visited must possess objects and scenery that will afford 
 all of these three sources of pleasurable emotions; namely, 
 beautiful and charming vistas, grand and magnificent views,. 
 and grand, stupendous, magnificent and sublime sights. 
 
 Of late years traveling has degenerated almost ex- 
 clusively into sight-seeing of the lowest order. Our citi- 
 zens visit the large towns and cities of our own and of 
 foreign lands, which have more fame for being dens of 
 iniquity and infamy, than for affording sublime and inspir- 
 ing sights. The rich, large, munificent and splendid 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON TUB MOUNTAINS. 189 
 
 Cities of continental Europe especially, seem to have 
 particular attraction to those having the desire and the 
 means to see the World; by which they understand the 
 manners, customs, habits and vices even of man. As for 
 sublime sights, they believe they have seen everything 
 worth seeing, when they have looked at, although they 
 may not have tate enough to admire, the most famous 
 specimens of architecture in the world. 
 
 The ancients had seven wonders : 1st. The statue of 
 the Sun, at Rhodes; 2d. The Mausoleum of the King of 
 Caria; 3d. The statue of Jupiter, by Phidias; 4th. The 
 Temple of Diana, at Ephesus; 5th. The walls and hang- 
 ing gardens of Babylon ; 6th. The Pyramids of Egypt; 
 and, 7th. The Palace of Cyrus, the younger; these were 
 what they called the seven wonders of the World, and, as 
 is seen, every one of them was the work of human hands. 
 
 It is, therefore, an ancient idea, that the great, the grand, 
 the beautiful and sublime, must be sought in the works of 
 Man. Which are the greater and more sublime, the works 
 of Nature or the works of Man, is not even admissible 
 as a question; for it has been truly said, "Man made the 
 city, but God made the country." In the cities, Man has 
 built St. Pauls and St. Peters, the Louvre, the Tuillieries 
 Sans Souci, arches, columns and domes; hut Nature built 
 Niagara, the Alps and the Andes, the cliff, the gorge and 
 the abyssimal chasm. Of Man's works we have less in 
 this country than there is elsewhere, but of Nature's more. 
 Not only more, but of a higher order, and of a unique 
 type. They have only to be known to be appreciated; 
 not only by us, but by the World. 
 
 Were I called upon to designate the country having the 
 most beautiful and the greatest variety of scenery, and in 
 its greatest perfection all the elements of grandeur, mag- 
 nificence and sublimity, I would unhesitatingly name 
 Colorado. 
 
 Lately it has become fashionable for tourists to visit the 
 White Mountains, and ascend to the top of Mount Wash- 
 
190 OVER THE PLAINS AND OX THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 ington; and when they return, they tell us they have been* 
 above the clouds. Why, any of the towns of Colorado, on 
 the Plains along the flank of the Eocky Mountains, are as 
 high above the sea as the top of Mount Washington j, 
 while those on the mountains are from three to four thou- 
 sand feet higher. As for sights, go to the bottom of one of 
 those awful chasms that seam the great Cordilleras in all 
 directions, and look up the side of the cleft mountain 
 that lifts its rocky escarpment to the clouds. How utterly 
 insignificant is anything man has done, or can do, when- 
 compared with this Cyclopean work of Nature ! 
 
 Everywhere, in threading the labyrinthine mazes of the 
 mountain canyons, these overhanging, cloudcapped and 
 oftentimes beetling cliffs are met with. But foremost 
 amongst these stands Boulder Canyon, unequaled either 
 in these remarkable mountains or in the world, for the va- 
 riety, grandeur and sublimity of its scenery. Its only pos- 
 sible rival is the Yosemite Valley of California. But the 
 Yosemite is a spectacle of a different order It is a valley 
 quiet in all its aspects j the very embodiment of tranquility,, 
 if we except the Bridal Yeil and the cascade of the main 
 source of the Merced, pouring themselves into the head of 
 the valley from under the everlasting snows and ice of the 
 Sierra Nevada. But the Merced itself flows through the 
 valley so gently that it scarcely shows a ripple upon its tran- 
 quil bosom. It even forms a calm lake in the centre, which 
 is scarcely ever ruffled by a passing breeze. This lake is- 
 hedged in on all sides by lofty spruce, and the whole en- 
 closed by a loftier wall of smooth weather-worn rocks. 
 On this wall, said to be from 3,000 to 4,000 feet in height, 
 riso high, huge and bald battlements of giganite rocks, 
 named respectively, the Half Dome, the Dome, the Three 
 Brothers, etc. All these have been eroded by the elements 
 until they appear as though the waves of the sea had 
 rolled over them for myriads of years and effaced every 
 angular vestige. The Half Dome, however, appears as if, 
 at a more recent period, one half of it had dropped in the 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 191 
 
 abyss below, and consequently on that side has a sharp 
 anglo. Tho Three Brothers are a boetling cliff from 
 which jut three immense rocks, looking as though three 
 huge hexagonal crystals were superimposed one above the 
 other, with their points directed horizontally towards the 
 valley.. Though the Yosemito has an exhuberant growth 
 of spruce within it, yet the mountain wall and the coun try- 
 surrounding it are entirely bare. No sign of vegetation 
 is to be seen on it; and therefore its smoothness, combined 
 with the utter sterility surrounding it, give it an exceed- 
 ing tame and commonplace appearance. In fact the whole 
 environment of the valley looks as though desolation had 
 swept over the region and had blasted and annihilated all 
 vegetal life, except what is enclosed in this secluded little 
 dell, two miles long, and half a.mile wide. The surround- 
 ings therefore have a dreariness and monotony that are 
 absolutely painful, and the valley, or more properly dell,,, 
 taken as a whole, fails to affect and impress the senses 
 vividly. 
 
 Not so, however, with Boulder Canyon. Its walls are 
 as steep and high as those of the Yosemite, yet they are 
 not bleak, bare, smooth and sterile, but for fifteen miles 
 aro fearfully wild, rough, bold, angular and grand, with 
 their sides clothed, and their summits crowned with ever- 
 green shrubs and trees. Its waters are not a calm lake 
 nor an unruffled stream, but a milk-white, dashing, roaring, 
 mountain river, rushing through a rocky gorge often hav- 
 ing a descent exceeding five hundred feet to the mile. In 
 density of thicket and number of trees at any one point, 
 it cannot be compared with the Yosemite, but in size it can^, 
 for it has trees four feet in diameter and upwards of two 
 hundred feet high. The Falls of the North Boulder can- 
 not be compared with the Bridal Veil, but the whole river- 
 is a continuous cascade which immensely enhances the 
 wildness of the scenery and stamps its impress on the- 
 mind. Tho Yosemite and the Canyon are therefore spec- 
 tacles of entirely different orders. As already stated, one- 
 
192 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 Is the ^personation of repose and Iran qui lily, the other,, 
 that of restlessness and intense activity. These -two* 
 -orders must impress the mind with different feelings and 
 emotions. Inspiration always comes from without. We 
 drink in the very spirit of the objects we behold and con- 
 template. If it be a quiet scene, however beautiful and 
 grand it may be, the spirit that pervades it will instantly 
 -evoke is counterpart in our own bosoms. If it be wild, 
 violent and turbulent as well as grand, beautiful and 
 sublime, our emotions will be of the same order. 
 
 For exciting intensity of feeling, wild and turbulent 
 passions and overwhelming emotions, Boulder canyon 
 must have an incontestable superiority over the Yoscmite 
 Valley. 
 
 To give relaxation to the mind and variety to the eye, 
 beautiful and charming vistas are essential. It has been 
 asserted that the Rocky Mountains, unlike the Alps, do 
 not afford them. I must contest this assertion. If there 
 is a more beautiful vista than that to be seen in Boulder 
 canyon, near the narrows, where you look out from under 
 u canopy of immense spruce trees, and up the gorge, down 
 which rolls a foaming torrent, enclosed by perpendicular 
 Avails, and see at about a hundred rods distant a transverse 
 mountain many thousand feet high, forming an apparent 
 cul de sac, then I have not heard of it, nor seen it describ- 
 ed. Then again there are the many mountain lakes, 
 sometimes nearly encircled by perpendicular or over- 
 hanging precipices, at others surrounded by a forest of 
 picturesque, tall and tapering fir trees. If a look through 
 dense groves of tall evergreens and across, or up the lake 
 walled in by a rocky escarpment, a thousand feet high, or 
 hedged around by an evergreen forest, is not a charming 
 vista, then I do not understand what is meant by that term. 
 Again you can take your stand at the head of a narrow 
 vale. The mountains that form its sides are fir-clad, steep, 
 rugged and impassible, confining the view to a single 
 point down the dell. It widens out somewhat as it de- 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 193 
 
 scends, but curves round to the right or left and is finally 
 cut off from view by the mountain Avail on that side. But 
 <as it curves, you see mountain after mountain terminating 
 on it endwise, like huge folds of a garment, until finally 
 over the vanishing point dominates a stately, majestic 
 cone, rising many hundred feet above the surrounding 
 peaks. Surely if this is not a lovely vista of unsurpassed 
 beauty, then tell me what constitutes such. Now such 
 scenes as here described, are constantly to be met with by 
 those who ramble over these mountains, or while thread- 
 ing and exploring their interminable gorges and chasms. 
 He who cannot discover them, or enjoy them without 
 borrowed enthusiasm, had better remain at home, for he 
 will cull by traveling very little knowledge, either useful 
 or pleasurable to himself, or that will tend to enlighten 
 the world. 
 
 The trouble however is not the absence of vistas, but 
 that some person of taste, genius .and imagination, and an 
 enthusiastic admiration of Nature, has not preceded these 
 befogged tourists, and discovered and described them. 
 Had there been, then it would be fashionable to follow in 
 his footsteps, going wherever he went, and admiring, too, 
 whatever he admired; for if they did not, it would be ev- 
 ident that these bell-weather-lcd tourists were people 
 without any taste. 
 
 As for views, the most captious admit that they arc not 
 only numerous, but grand, varied, and many of them 
 magnificent. There is scarcely an elevated point on the 
 plains or mountains, from which a splendid view cannot 
 be obtained. This is my experience, as will be seen by 
 the perusal of these pages, yet I ascended none of the 
 highest peaks, found only in the Snowy Range. I found 
 the peaks near the edge of the Plains give the most varied 
 and therefore most charming views. It appears to you as 
 though the cone on which you stand were a mere -high 
 hill on a vast table-land constituting the mountain, while 
 .around you rise similar pine-clad peaks northward and 
 13 " 
 
194 OVER TUB PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 southward as far as the cyo can reach, and westward also, 
 until they culminate in the bald Snowy Range. Eastward * 
 almost at your feet, lies the Plain, drained by the South 
 Platto and its affluents. Beyond the Platto is the Denver 
 Pacific railroad to Cheyenne, upon which arc seen trains 
 going in opposite directions; and beyond that to the boun- 
 dary of the horizon, a hundred or more miles of tho 
 mythical "Great American Desert" are in sight. Tho 
 eye follows with pleasure the Platte and its affluents, by 
 the silvery sheen of their waters, marked out also by a 
 straggling row of cottonwaod. Tho basin of the Platto is 
 diversified by towns, villages, hamlets, farms and ranches. 
 On tho uncultivated Plain, thousands of cattle are seen 
 grazing. The irrigating canals are even visible, stretch- 
 ing out through tho characteristic bluish gray of the 
 Plains, to the wheat and cornfields that fleck and diver- 
 sify it with patches of deep green. Such a view there is 
 near Golden City, which I have already described, and 
 such views there are in tho vicinity of Boulder, and I pre- 
 sume anywhere on the high peaks along the Plains. 
 Between the Middle and North Boulder, some two miles 
 below Castle Rock, there is a high peak, which Mr. Bar- 
 nabas Smith, one of my compagnons de voyage ascended,, 
 which he thinks must have been the Mount of Tempta- 
 tion, so beautiful, grand, rich and extensive is the view 
 from it. At least, ho thinks that if tho Devil owned and 
 could show a good title to all that can be seen from it, it 
 would be a tempting bait to mammon-loving souls, if 
 offered as a bounty for enlistment in his service. It is too 
 far interior to see the settlements immediately along 
 the foot of tho mountain, but Denver, Yalmont, Eric r 
 Burlington, Longmont, Evans and Grccley, are all in 
 sight, while the course of the Platte, from above Denver 
 to far below Greelcy is seen glittering in the sun, and 
 marked out by tho line of cottonwood trees. Be- 
 yond it are tho great Plains, unbroken, except by the 
 railroad near the river margin, on 'which arc Been the 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 195 
 
 passing trains. Between the foot of the mountains and 
 the Platte, the plain is seamed as if by silver threads, by 
 the two Boulders, Left Hand Creek, St. Vrain Fork, Big 
 and Little Thompson and the Cache-a-la-Poudre, all moun- 
 tain torrents, draining the Cordilleras east of the Snowy 
 Range; and their margins lined by villager, farms and 
 ranches to their junction with the Platte. 
 
 Immediately north, and at a distance of about two 
 miles, rises Sugar Loaf Mountain to nearly a thousand 
 feet higher than this point. Farther north and west, at a 
 distance of some 25 miles, is the Rabbit Ears, a double 
 peaked cone; and to the northwest, at the distance of 
 thirty miles, is Long's Peak, rising to an altitude of 14,300 
 feet, and covered with perpetual snow. West lie the un- 
 broken but serrated Snowy Range. The view from 
 Sugar Loaf is still more extended, and that from Long's 
 Peak is said to be inconceivably grand. 
 
 The vicinity of the Boulder and Sugar Loaf Mountain 
 would be very attractive to tourists, if there were a hotel 
 there. The waters of the two Boulders, Four Mills and 
 Left hand -creeks are filled with mountain trout, and in the 
 heavily timbered district around about arc mountain 
 grouse, blacktailed deer, elk, mountain sheep, and occa- 
 sionally a cinnamon bear. Old grizzly, it is said, has left 
 these parts in disgust. 
 
 James' Peak in the Snowy Range at the Boulder Pass 
 into Middle Park, and Gray's Peak further south in the 
 same range and west of Georgetown, are well known points 
 and much affected by tourists for the fine views from their 
 summits. Farther to the southwest and on the northern 
 line of the South Park, stands the Titan of the Cordilleras, 
 Mount Lincoln, said to be over 17000 feet above the sea. 
 Being more remote and in a less frequented part of the- 
 mountains it is not so well known and appreciated as it 
 deserves to be. However, from the difficulty of ascending 
 it without a guide, and the March-like cold and wind al- 
 
196 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 ways on its summit, prevailing even in mid Summer, it 
 will never become so popular as other peaks. 
 
 The whole of Mount Lincoln is auriferous and argentif- 
 erous, and many rich lodes both of gold and silver are 
 worked on its sides. From the base a road has been con- 
 structed a mile and a half long up to the edge of the tim- 
 ber line for hauling quartz, which is obtained from a lode 
 nearly 12000 feet above the sea. Several thousand feet 
 above this is a rich silver lode, the ore of which is packed 
 on jackasses and carried down to the end of the road. 
 From the end of the road several trails can be followed; 
 some steeper, more rugged and difficult than others. Hence 
 the necessity of a guide, or of being accompanied by some 
 one familiar with the mountain. One the more difficult, 
 but shorter, is up through a valley extending from the 
 "timber line" to an abrupt precipice. This valley is from 
 an eighth to a half a mile wide, has a stream of ice water 
 flowing down it, and has several ponds or small lakes in it. 
 From where the valley terminates it is two miles to the 
 summit with an incline of forty five degrees covered with 
 loose pebbles, shells and rocks which make the footing 
 very difficult and insecure. However by laborious effort 
 and persevering climbing with frequent pauses to rest, 
 necessitated by the rarity of the atmosphere at this great 
 altitude, the summit is finally reached. The more popular 
 route however is to ascend a ridge running East from the 
 summit of the mountain. By this route, the ascent can be 
 made to within 800 feet of the top on horseback; then 
 leaving the horses at an immense snow bank, the remainder 
 of the ascent can be made on foot up a steep acclivity. But 
 having attained the summit the view is inexpressively mag- 
 nificent. You have left the world and its din behind, and 
 ascended far above all signs of life, either animal or vegeta- 
 ble. On every side, but far below you, are bleak, dreary, sul- 
 len, stern and icy peaks. Colorado is spread out at your feet^ 
 South Park sixty miles long and thirty wide, with its un- 
 dulating hills, green meadows, glittering lakes and silver 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 197 
 
 streams, is a mere speck on the vast panorama. You look 
 over Long's Peak north almost into Dakota; to the west 
 stretching towards the golden shores of the Pacific, you 
 look over the plains of Utah, South over the Spanish 
 Peaks into New Mexico. To the Southeast over Pike's 
 Peak, into the valley of the Arkansas; and eastward be- 
 yond the Cordilleras upwards of a hundred miles away, 
 rise the bluish gray sea of the boundless Plains. 
 
 The sources of Blue river in Middle Park which' falls in- 
 to Grand River, an affluent of the Colorado of the West; 
 and those of the Arkansas westward in a deep mountain 
 canyon, are all in sight. The lake, frozen the year round, 
 from which issues the northern branch of the South Platte 
 more than 13000 feet above the sea, seems so near though 
 several miles away, that it appears as if a stone might be 
 thrown into it from this summit. Though far outside of 
 the usual route of travel, good accommodations and excel- 
 lent fare can be had at the village of Montgomery at the 
 northern base of the mountain. 
 
 The numerous mountain lakes well stocked with speckled 
 trout, are interesting objects to visit, both for the un- 
 surpassing beauty of their scenery, and for the sport they 
 afford to the disciples of Sir Isaac Walton. 
 
 Golden Lake, in Boulder county, Green Lake, west of 
 Georgetown, and the Chicago Lakes, in Clear Creek 
 county, all lie in convenient distances on the usual route 
 of travel and are easily accessible. In fact, in every part 
 of the Mountains and in the great Parks, these lakes are 
 found. 
 
 When satiated with mountain scenery, let the tourist 
 descend to the elevated plateau that runs out eastward 
 into the Plains from Pike's Peak, for nearly one hundred 
 miles. It is well covered with pine, mostly the Pinuspon- 
 derosa, and is called the "Divide," since it separates the 
 waters flowing north into the Platte from those flowing 
 south into the Arkansas. It has many springs and from 
 its sides issue Plum Creek, Running Water, Cherry, Kiowa, 
 
198 OVER TIIK PLAINS AND ON' THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 Bijou, Coyote and other creeks that flow into the PlattoJ 
 and Big Sandy, Monument, Fontaine qui buille, Camp 
 
 and other creeks flow into the Arkansas. In fact, the 
 Smoky Hill, Solomon, Salina and even the Republican 
 forks of the Kaw, have their sources in its eastern flank. 
 It is the Paradise of ranch-men and farmers; and is 
 already comparatively thickly settled. It is an Arcadia of 
 beauty aTid tranquility which will enchant the admirer of 
 a rural landscape, while its geological formation has a 
 peculiar interest to the scientist as well as to the curiosity 
 seeker. Those, so called, monuments abound in more or 
 less frequency through its whole extent from the foot of 
 the mountains to its most eastern flank on the Plains. 
 But they are especially abundant in certain localities. 
 Monument Creek, has been appropriately named so for 
 the number of these eroded stones standing in its basin, 
 especially at one point. This is one of the most curious 
 and singular spectacles that can be found in the world. It 
 consists of yellowish, white sandstones, composed of strata 
 differing considerably in hardness. Under the erosive 
 action of the elements, the softer strata have disintegrated 
 more rapidly than the harder. Consequently these shafts 
 or columns exhibit every variety of phantastic forms. At 
 some points worn very slender, at others leaving large 
 protuberances; it requires but little aid from the imagina- 
 tion to see, or to fancy you see, in some immense folds of 
 drapery hanging from what may be taken as the shoulder 
 of a gigantic statue; and in others the bare chest, or the 
 outstretched arm of an Indian brave. In fact, there is no 
 limit to likenesses or supposed likenesses the fancy may 
 conceive and the imagination form, while looking at this 
 singular spectacle. For instance: a towering triangular 
 one about thirty feet high, ha^been imagined to resemble 
 Washington; and as the top of it, having withstood the 
 action of the elements better than the softer strata below, 
 gives it a number of angular projections not unlike a 
 three-cocked hat, the resemblance is conceived to be com- 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS.. 199 
 
 plete ; and as it is also surrounded by a group of lessor 
 columns, these have been imagined to represent his staff. 
 'Hence the whole group is fancied to represent General 
 Washington holding a council of war, and it has been 
 named so accordingly. Another has been imagined to 
 represent an Indian chief with his arm extended, and his 
 blanket falling in folds from his shoulder; and another as 
 an Indian maiden. Though there are many spots where 
 these singular columns are found alone and in groups, yet 
 on account of the number found at this one point, in the 
 midst of a large grove of pine tree', ithas been called 
 Monument Park. 
 
 Near Colorado City, on the Creek, named by the French 
 traders, Fontaine qui Buille (that is the Boiling Fountain, 
 because it rises in four effervescent soda springs whose 
 constant bubbling give the water the appearance of boil- 
 ing violently ), there are what are called the Gardens of 
 the Gods. The larger, called the First Garden of the 
 Gods, is an enclosed area of six or seven miles long and 
 from a few rods to a quarter of a mile wide. The en- 
 closing rock is composed of various strata, but its predom- 
 inant one is red sedimentary sandstone of a brick color. 
 The enteranco has a gate-like appearance of perpendicular 
 rocks two hundred feet high, and the wall generally is 
 from 200 to 275 feet high, having an inclination of a few 
 degrees from the perpendicular, but at places actually 
 leaning over from five to ten degrees. As at the proper 
 season this little dell is a continuous, glaring and gaudy 
 floral plot, all the richly colored wild flowers indigenous 
 to this region being found in it, it has been very appro- 
 priately named the Garden of the Gods. 
 
 About for miles northwest of Colorado City is the 
 second Garden of the Gods, through which flows Camp 
 Creek. Its gateway is through a passage cut by the creek 
 at right angles to the ridge. In this enclosure there is 
 said to bo a fine echo. 
 
 This must suffice for the present, not because the subject 
 
200 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 is exhausted but because if we entered into a complete 
 detail of all the sublime and wonderful scenery of this 
 mountain region this narrative would be drawn out to an 
 almost interminable length. I have shown enough to 
 make it incontestible that Colorado possesses in the highest 
 degree, every requisite to meet the demands of the tourist, 
 and is deserving of their attention, before thinking of 
 going abroad 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 20 L 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Colorado in its early history was the theatre of stirring" 
 scenes, such as marked the early settlement of but few in- 
 cipient States; and which are not excelled, if equaled, in 
 thrilling interest by those of any Terrritory in the Union. 
 Originally included within the geographical limits of" 
 Kansas, yet so wild and remote that it was visited only by 
 a few daring trappers and traders. Its nominal inclusion 
 within the jurisdiction of Kansas was regarded as a mere 
 empty form; for it was not supposed that the Territorial 
 government of Kansas could exercise any show of au- 
 thority in this remote region ; or that even the General 
 Government would find it possible, if necessary, to do- 
 more than to keep the roving tribes of savages some- 
 what in check, and to restrict them to desirable limits. 
 
 But when the "Pike's Peak fever" broke out, "-old 
 
 ' O 
 
 hunters, and, consequently gamblers, desperadoes and 
 almost every kind of desperate adventurers Hocked to- 
 tliis supposed Eldorado: the former to seek gold; and 
 the latter to look for chances to plunder with impunity;, 
 in many instances they being fugitives from justice in ih& 
 States. 
 
 The miners spread themselves in lone camps for hundreds- 
 of miles along the eastern flank of these mountains ; tempo- 
 rarily to prospect and search for the precious metals, and to 
 make permanent homes here if their labors should prove 
 successful. In the latter case mining villages soon sprung 
 up, which became nuclei for concentrating and distribut- 
 ing supplies; and consequently also the points for ex- 
 changing ' dust" by the fearless prospectors, who pushed 
 their explorations and search for gold into the most re- 
 
202 OVER THE PLAIN'S AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 mote untrodden wilds, and gloomy recesses of the moun- 
 tains. These villages soon were found to be infested with 
 gamblers, cut-throats and other desperadoes, so that 
 neither life nor property was safe. Lawlessness became 
 so rife that even murder did not seek the obscurity of the 
 night to perform and hide his deeds. Crime in all its hid- 
 eous forms stalked abroad at noonday, bold and defiant. 
 There was no government to restrain it, much less to pun- 
 ish it. The law-abiding, industrious miner had either to 
 flee the region, or to take the means of protection into 
 his own hands. By men who had single-handed encoun- 
 tered and vanquished the grizzly bear, and defied and 
 kept at bay the wily, blood-thirsty savage, the idea of 
 yielding ground to sneaking, cowardly thieves arid assas- 
 sins, could not be entertained, and therefore they deter- 
 mined to expel them from the country. Amongst the 
 miners were many, good, true, brave and resolute men, 
 equal to any emergency that could arise. These soon de- 
 vised and perfected an organization for mutual protection. 
 They constituted themselves the guardians both of the 
 public peace and safety, by devising, enacting and execu- 
 ting such rules and laws as the emergency required. 
 These laws were enforced most rigorously through the 
 "People's Courts." Life was demanded for life, and the 
 murderer had short shrift and summary punishment j 
 other offences and criminals were as summarily dealt with; 
 and in a short time there was such a hegira of scoundrels 
 from the mountains as was never witnessed anywhere be- 
 fore, nor since. Lawlessness and crime had not only re- 
 laxed their grasp upon the community, but let go their 
 hold, and terror-stricken were fleeing from the presence of 
 the avenger. Since then, now more than eleven years, 
 the country has been free from violence, and life and 
 property as secure as anywhere, except as endangered by 
 savage raids. The prominent actors in these stirring 
 times, now the most prominent citizens in their respective 
 counties, are yet to be found everywhere, and you can hear 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 20S 
 
 the thrilling narratives of these bloody scenes from their 
 own lips. 
 
 It was a stormy and gloomy time when, in 1861, Col. 
 William Gilpin, the newly appointed and first Governor, 
 arrived to organize the Territorial Government. More 
 
 O 
 
 than one-half of the area of the cismontano portion of the 
 Union was in open rebellion against the Federal authority. 
 As a large portion of the population here was from the 
 Southern States, a division of sentiment based upon the 
 sectional line had taken place from the earliest period of the 
 controversy. When the war broke out, the gathering 
 tempest soon marshalled and concentrated its forces in 
 this distant land, and the storm was about to burst in all 
 its fury when the Governor arrived. Delay would have 
 been dangerous, so he took prompt measures to organize 
 the territorial government at once. It was a sad eight in 
 a weak and defenseless community, remote from succor 
 and surrounded by savage foes, to see such fierce and 
 irreconcilable dissentions. True, brave and tried men 
 who had stood firm as a rock, braving danger in all its 
 forms, and acting together in case of necessity, like a 
 solid phalanx not only against the wily and murderous 
 savage, but the no less cruel and barbarous white outlaws 
 and desperadoes, now had become divided into hostile 
 factions and reudy to engage in a conflict in which victory 
 was not so much the object, as extermination. One party 
 was ready to dare and do" anything that the infant colony 
 might be offered up a sacrifice to the Moloch of Slavery, 
 while the other was just as determined and resolute to 
 sacrifice all their worldly possessions and life itself if neces- 
 sary, to maintain this rich and beautiful land sacrod to hu- 
 man freedom and liberty. Collision was only prevented by 
 the prompt, energetic and decisive measures taken by the 
 now Governor, being himself one 'of the oldest residents 
 of the mountains, and who, they all knew, was a daring, 
 fearless, brave arid resolute man. The crisis therefore 
 passed without any serious disturbance f and the better 
 
204 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 and bravest portion of the southern party either ac- 
 quiesced in the 'established order of things as determined 
 by the majority, or instead of making it a neighborhood 
 warfare, took up the braver and more manly course, of re- 
 turning to their respective States and entering the regular 
 service of the Confederates. Not so however with that 
 part of them who belonged to what in the States were 
 styled the "homo sneaks/' men too cowardly to fight, but 
 malicious and brutal enough, in the dark or under cover, 
 to act the neighborhood assassin, these latter went to 
 New Mexico and Texas to organize military and maraud- 
 ing expeditions against the defenseless colony thinly 
 scattered over these mountains or along their flanks on the 
 Plains. But worse than all, some of these malignants- 
 went into the country of the wild Indians and excited 
 them to hostilities, and thus brought upon this infant 
 colony the merciless butcheries of a savage warfare. 
 
 To thwart the machinations of these malevolent dis- 
 contents, Governor Gilpin organized three regiments of 
 volunteers, which did efficient service both at home 
 against the Indians and in New Mexico in repelling and 
 defeating the Texas military expedition. However the 
 savages encouraged by bad white men, and emboldened 
 by the apparent tardiness or impotcncy of the General 
 Government to punish their crimes, continued making 
 their murderous forays upon the mining "camps of the 
 mountains, or the agricultural settlements on the Plains; 
 and committed the most shocking and revolting atrocities, 
 during the entire war and for two years after, when they 
 were summarily chastised both by the General Govern- 
 ment and by citizens of the Territory. Under such a state 
 of things it is no wonder that the exasperation was great, 
 and that when the hour and opportunity for taking ven- 
 geance had arrived, it was executed summarily and relent- 
 lessly. 
 
 My object is not here to give a narrative of these Indian 
 atrocities, marked by the merciless butcheries of defense- 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 205 
 
 Jess woman and children, the desolation of homes and the 
 extinguishment of entire families and settlements, these 
 must be left to the historian and the romancer, but to 
 give an insight into the causes and extent of these troubles, 
 which at least palliate if they do not justify the signal and 
 decisive acts by which they were avenged, after having 
 been endured for seven long years. Go wherever you 
 will at night either on the mountains to the camp-fires of 
 the miner and prospector, or to the hamlet on the Plains, 
 and you will there find plenty of actors in these stirring 
 and tragic times, who will relate harrowing tales that 
 warm to wrath, or chill the blood by their horrors, all 
 founded on facts, of the atrocities of the fiendish Utes, 
 Apaches, !N"avajos and Espinosas. The tears will roll 
 down over their weatherbeaten faces, while they mourn- 
 fully tell you of a noble, brave and beloved friend who in 
 the dead of night with all his family perish under the 
 fiendish onslought of the prowling savage. Another will 
 tell you of a dear, generous noble friend, an old trapper, 
 explorer and miner^who fell unknown where into an am- 
 bush of the wily foe then lurking and swarming over the 
 mountains and perished where his bones may yet be found 
 unburied. Then he will recount the stories of his many 
 adventures, brave exploits and manly virtues concluding 
 with a sigh, " ah, poor, poor fellow, it is a long time ago 
 since he went over the range." 
 
 Ask them w^hat they know about the "Chivington," or 
 as it is more generally known in the States, the " Sand 
 Creek massacre," and the answer is : "I know all about it, 
 for I was there. That has been stigmatized as a massacre 
 
 O 
 
 and we have been ajudged as murderers by those who know 
 nothing of the facts about our wrongs, nor of the outrage 
 that led to it. We did our duty then, if ever, to ourselves, 
 to humanity, our country to our God. You have been 
 told in the States, these were peaceable and friendly Indi- 
 .ans. Peaceable and friendly indeed! Why there was not 
 .a mining camp in the mountains, nor a town on the Plains 
 
206 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 where there were not daily brought tho bodies of our- 
 friends and neighbors and sometimes the bodies of whole 
 families, all gashed, scalped and chopped to pieces j mur- 
 dered in cold blood by these fiends, and our own homes 
 pillaged, burnt and left desolate. We were impelled to 
 take the remedy into our own hands, because tho military 
 officers w r ere fond of the quaker method of dealing with 
 the savages and refused us protection, while they seemed 
 always ready to accord it to our murderers. Why, these 
 Indians had just made one of the most murderous and 
 destructive forays into our settlements and were returning 
 heavily laden with plunder to the friendly protection of 
 Fort Lyon, when we undertook that long winter march 
 and surprised them almost under the guns of the Fort, 
 and Ah, well, they gave us no trouble after that ! Now 
 that you may know what kind of friendly Indians they 
 were, we will tell you what we found and captured in their 
 camp: Sugar, coffee, dry goods, whole boxes of boots and 
 shoes, clothing, greenbacks and bills of lading showing 
 that these were tho plunder obtained from some trains 
 which had been captured, and those in charge murdered, 
 a short time before on the Platte j but worse than that 
 we found female clothing all bloody, a partially worn 
 lady's shoe, which evidently had been filled with blood,, 
 and the scalps of white women and children dangling at 
 their sides or decorating the shields of their braves ! " I 
 asked if there had not excesses been committed on the 
 occasion ; that I had read that they had fired upon and 
 killed the squaws after the men had either been killed or 
 had fled ? " That's true," w T as the answer. " But after the 
 braves were killed or had fled the squaws took up the fight 
 with the fierceness of grizzly she-bears when fighting 
 for their cubs. Now if our object had been to rid our- 
 selves of old Grizzly, and he had quit the field, being too 
 cowardly to fight, would we have been deterred from our 
 purpose because the she-bear stood her ground ? Certainly 
 not; nor would we in a fight with any other wild beasts,, 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 207 
 
 for these Indians' blood-thirstyness are worse than wild 
 beasts ! But we only fought them as long as they fought 
 ns. Why, what else could we do ? If we had run away 
 from the squaws, or shown that we would not fight squaws,, 
 why they would have fought us with squaws ever after." 
 
 Now I do not pretend to judge who was in the right 
 and who in the wrong in that unhappy affair. Btit this- 
 much is evident, there are two sides to that as well as to 
 every other question. Cue Bide has told its story long 
 ago, and if these men have been wronged and injustice 
 done them, it is time that their version of the affair be 
 heard. If W T O persist in prejudging the case against them, 
 they can at least put their protest upon record, and bravely 
 tell us to "strike but hear." 
 
 Whatever may be the true explanation of the affair, or 
 one thing I am certain, that malicious revenge and wanton 
 cruelty is foreign to the nature of every one, (and there 
 were a good many of them,) that I met in the territory,, 
 who participated in it. They are quiet, peaceable and 
 inoffensive men, enjoying the universal confidence and 
 respect of their neighbors. Col. Chivington, the leader of 
 the expedition, I did not meet, because I did not visit the 
 immediate portion of the territory where he resides ; but I 
 understood he is a leading and influential citizen of his 
 section, highly respected and loved by the people who 
 have known him best and longest. 
 
 Afterwards, in 1866, Kanihache, a Ute chief, murdered 
 and plundered defenseless settlers and immigrants in the 
 vicinity of Trinidad, in Las Animas county, in the south- 
 eastern corner of the Territory. Emigrants to New 
 Mexico and many defenseless settlers were pounced upon, 
 murdered, their property plundered or burnt and their 
 cattle and horses driven away. At first so little resistance 
 was offered, that the savages become bolder, and followed 
 their own inclinations to murder and plunder with im- 
 punity. They even threatened to depopulate the entire 
 region. Finally, Col. Anderson with a troop of cavalry 
 
"208 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 from Fort Stevens, was sent to adjust the matter. In a 
 conference with the chiefs, the Colonel at first used the 
 Quaker argument of moral suasion ; asking them to desist 
 and to state their grievances and he would have them re- 
 moved, and justice done in the matter. But they not only 
 declined positively to state their grievances, but defied 
 him to punish them. Whereupon he used the sabre and 
 Sharpe rifle argument, gave them a terrible thrashing, 
 killing most of their braves and driving the balance out 
 of the country over the mountains. This affair and that 
 at Sand Creek taught these savages that prowling over the 
 territory, murdering its defenceless inhabitants and stealing 
 stock was no longer a pleasant pastime, but a dangerous 
 exploit, and they have not much fondness for that kind of 
 .sport since. 
 
 At these camp-fires you hear not only these stories of 
 Indian wars and butcheries related, but also the exploits 
 of the principle characters that took part in them. 
 
 As might be ex,pected Kit Carson is the hero of a great 
 many of these camp-fire tales. The Bents, St. Train, 
 Bill Williams, the Autobeas, Koubideaux, in fact all the 
 old mountainers, are central figures around which many 
 tales of adventures and exploits are grounded. Carson 
 was from Missouri ; and so I believe was the noble hearted 
 and brave Bill Williams, long the terror of the wily Bed 
 skin thieves and assassins. He was finally ambushed and 
 killed by them, in 1860, near the " Dead Camp of Fre- 
 mont," so called because of the disaster that befel the 
 party of this bravo explorer in 1849 on the San Juan 
 Mountains. 
 
 The Bents, St. Vrain and Eoubideaux- are from St. 
 L/ouis. All this heroic band spent the vigor and prime of 
 their lives in the danger and excitement of the border as- 
 trappers, traders and Indian fighters, and became the 
 heroes of many exploits that will carry their names down to 
 posterity. Being married to Mexican wives they finally 
 fettled in the southern part of the Territory on ranches, 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 209 
 
 and are leading a quiet and civil life. None ever went 
 back to the States to live except lloubideaux who founded 
 the city of St. Joseph, where he died a hhort time ago at 
 an advanced age. Col. St. Vrain lives at Toas , arid of the 
 " Autobeas," that is, Tom and Charley Tobin, Tom, lives 
 on the Trench era and Charley in the Valley of the Huer- 
 fano, on ranches, extensively engaged in stock-raising. 
 
 But the most conspicuous figure in this heroic group is 
 Col. Pfcifcr. Whenever not on the war path, " Old 
 Pfeifer," as he is called, (his age however is not yet forty- 
 five,) makes his home at Fort Garland, in San Louis Park, 
 and Conejos. He is a grave silent man, and loves to wander 
 alone amid the scenes of his exploits, and the graves of 
 his comrades. He came to the Far West in 1847, when 
 but a mere boy fresh from the military school of Stock- 
 holm, Sweden, of which country he is a native, though of 
 German descent. He soon became conspicuous for his 
 coolness and daring, and early gained the distinction of a 
 good and brave Indian fighter. In the whole series of 
 long wars with the Camanches, Apaches, Utes and Nava- 
 jos, he bore a distinguished part. He was Lieutenant 
 Colonel under General Kit Carson during the Kavajo wars 
 of 1863, 4, 5 and 6, which resulted in the surrender to a 
 small volunteer force of 11,000 of the supercilious ma- 
 rauders who called the Mexicans tneir herders ; and which 
 resulted in the forced removal of their tribe from the San 
 Juan country to the Basque Rodondo Military Res- 
 ervation. Many daring exploits and wild stories are re- 
 lated of him; all of which are more or less actual occur- 
 rences. He without exception is the bravest, most reckless 
 and daring man in the country. At Santa Fe, on one 
 occasion he wrapped a scrape around his head, and went 
 into a store on fire, and brought out two kegs of powder 
 already charred and blazing. At another time, with a 
 knife in his right hand, he killed a grizzly bear that was 
 chewing his left arm. Single handed he fought two Capote 
 Indians, all the parties being armed with camp knives, and 
 14 
 
210 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS 
 
 killed them both though badly wounded himself. In a 
 fight with the Apaches at his ranche, atthe Ojodel Muerte 
 (that is, the Spring of the Dead), his wife and children 
 were brutally massacred and he besides helpless from 
 wounds in both of his legs, had his body so riddled with 
 balls and so cut into gashes that there was scarcely room 
 for a fresh cut or another bullet hole. He however sur- 
 vived, but ever since has been unhappy. Since then his 
 only pleasure has been revenge. It was a sad day for the 
 Apaches when they killed Old Pfeifer's family. He now 
 often takes lone trips into their country; is often absent 
 for months, and for a few days after his return seems 
 pleased and satisfied. In a few weeks he is off again with 
 his horse and trusty rifle. He is always accompanied in 
 the Apache country by half a dozen of wolves. Once he 
 said to a friend, " they like me, because they are fond of 
 dead Indian and I feed them well." Kind hearted and 
 gentle as he is said to be in social life, his thirst for re- 
 venge almost makes him the personification of Murder, as- 
 described in the "Masque of Anarchy:" 
 
 " I met Murder on the way, 
 He had a mask like Castlereagh, 
 Very smooth he looked yet grim, 
 Seven blood-hounds followed him ; 
 All were fat ; and well they might 
 Be in admirable plight 
 For one by one, and two by two, 
 He tossed them human hearts to chew 
 Which from his wide cloak he drew. " 
 
 The main incident in this narrative reminds mo of a 
 romance based upon the legends of the early settlements 
 of Kentucky, written about forty years ago. If I re- 
 member correctly it Avas entitled " Jibbenayinosah, or 
 Nick of the Woods." The author w r as Dr Bird, a popular 
 romance writer of that day. The hero, " Nick of the Woods," 
 was a Quaker- The Indians having murdered his family, 
 and he being alone in the world, took no other pleasure 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS, 211 
 
 than in seeking and taking revenge for the irreparable 
 wrongs he had suffered. If the romance is to be believed, 
 his thirst for vengeance must have been inordinate if it 
 was not satiated by the number of his foes he sent to the 
 " happy hunting grounds." 
 
 The stirring and thrilling events between advancing 
 civilization and retreating barbarism, are of so recent oc- 
 currence that they have not passed into legends and tradi- 
 tions, but live in the memory and recollection of the present 
 generation. Here yet linger the most conspicuous actors 
 in them, who can relate them and vouch for their truth, 
 because like the Roman narrator they can say: "All 
 which I saw, and part of which I was." Other events, 
 however, have left their record here, which perhaps never 
 will be deciphered. So long ago, indeed, have they oc- 
 curred that even tradition has forgotten, if it ever knew, 
 by what race of men they were enacted or at what period 
 they occurred. In the southwestern portion of the Terri- 
 tory, many ruins of indubitably Aztec towns are found 
 Tradition says, that when Cortez invaded Mexico, and laid 
 siege to its capital, the noble but unfortunate Montezuma 
 called to his aid all the \vorshippers of the Sun ; and that 
 the faithful obeying the summons of their monarch, aban- 
 doned these their cities, and rushed to the rescue to fight 
 the battles of their God and country, They went forth to 
 battle, but never returned ; for the Aztec army melted 
 away before the powerful invader, like snow before the 
 face of their Sun God. 
 
 There too are those enigmatical ruins of the "Seven 
 cities of Cibola," or rather seven human hives; buildings 
 scattered over the Plains containing from 600 to 900 rooms 
 each, and rising in terraced stories to the height of four 
 stories. In front extends a semi-circular court yard con- 
 taining from three to five acres, surrounded by a stone 
 wall. The hive closes by a straight line the semi-circle, 
 so that the building and wall represent the letter U if 
 closed and filled to half its height. What people built 
 
212 OVER THE PLAINS AND OX THE MOUXTANLS. 
 
 these ? What were their modes of life, manners and cus- 
 toms ? History and tradition here stand mute, affording 
 no clue to unravel the threads of the inexplicable mystery. 
 The architectural remains of Aztec, Tescucan and other 
 semi-civilized Indians of Mexico, Central and South 
 America, though differing entirely both in design and exe- 
 cution from that of the Old World, has no semblance 
 whatever to that of these Seven Cities. They must, 
 therefore, be the remains not only of a distinct race, but 
 of a distinct and different order of civilization. Of what 
 race were they, and what became of them? Were they 
 an offshoot representing a more advanced stage of civili- 
 zation of the Mound Builders, who, in the central part of 
 our Continent, vanished before the rude hunter tribes, 
 leaving no memorial of their existence except those mys- 
 terious mounds in the Valley of the Mississippi ? 
 
 I would not advise novel writing, and far less their 
 reading; but if such inane literature as modern novels is 
 to continue to be the almost exclusive scaple of reading 
 and consequently the mental pabulum of both young and 
 old, then I say the legends of Colorado will be found a 
 rich placer for treasures of a new sort. The change will 
 also be for the better; for writers and readers will in de- 
 gree leave the region of the fabulous and to that extent 
 will enter the domain of actual life. The romancer will 
 then give us a few facts instead of all fiction, and at least 
 a tithe of an idea that will be of some service in life, in- 
 stead of nothing, or rather worse than nothing as now. 
 
 What intemperance is doing to Man physically, modern 
 novels are doing to him intellectually, and it is a debate- 
 able question, which is the sadder sight, a man in physical, 
 or in mental ruin. 
 
 Besides the exploits of the Indian fighters, there are the 
 thrilling adventures of the old trappers, a race now almost 
 extinct in the mountains; a few having died, while 
 the many have fallen victims to the untameable ferocity 
 of the savages. A few of them still linger here, not as 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 213 
 
 trappers but. as sedate ranchmen surrounded by their herds 
 of sheep and cattle and droves of horses. To succeed in 
 their hazardous adventures, some of these had ingratiated 
 themselves with the chief of some powerful tribe ; had 
 been admitted as a member into it j learned its language, 
 adopted its habits and customs, and been initiated into its 
 religious mysteries. Yet all this was no avail, for it de- 
 pended only on what mood the Indian was in whether life 
 was safe. Many of these after a residence of thirty years 
 amongst the Indians have been butchered in cold blood 
 without a cause. Fremont found a Sioux chief and two 
 or three braves, down on the Republican FoVk, nearly 
 perished and surrounded by Pawnees, by whom they had 
 been defeated. He supplied their wants, protected them 
 and took them in safety to their home in the mountains. 
 Tn less than two days after they left his camp, they mur- 
 dered in cold blood an old trapper who had lived amongst 
 them thirty-five years and had been adopted into their 
 tribe. Such is the nature of the noble Red man of our 
 morbid sentimentalists! 
 
 I have learned from these men, that the Indians have 
 their nursery tales as well as we, and that they have tra- 
 ditions and legends of giants in older times who performed 
 feats of strength and deeds of valor equal to that of the 
 Greek Hercules. 
 
 Legends of Indian exploits long anterior to the advent 
 of the white man are also numerous. There is scarcely a 
 brook, canyon or peak, of which some Indian tale is not 
 related, derived from the Indians themselves by the daring 
 trappers who were domiciled amongst them. One of 
 theo only I will relate. While at Boulder, I expressed 
 my admiration of the picturesque and singularly turretted 
 mountain peak, just south of the canyon, but, which I regret 
 is so poorly represented in our engraving as not to show 
 the turrets at all ; the most picturesque and striking fea- 
 ture of the mountain, and I expressed a regret that some 
 stirring Indian tale of heroic deeds or tragic occurrence 
 
214 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 was not associated with it, to spread its name and fame 
 abroad over every land. There is, was the reply. The 
 Indians say that a thousahd moons before they ever saw a 
 white man's face, and when millions of buffalo grazed 
 upon the Plains watered by the South Platte,. a party of 
 Utes from their look-out on the mountains had spied what 
 they supposed to be a small band of Arapahoes on the 
 Plains. They immediately went down and attacked them ; 
 but the Arapahoes were stronger than they suspected and 
 not only repulsed their assailants but pursued them so 
 closely to the mountains that the Utes sought safety upon 
 that peak. Here they defied their pursuers and kept 
 them at bay. The latter tried to take the heights by 
 storm; but their enemies rolled down huge stones upon 
 them and drove them back every time they attempted it. 
 They therefore beleagured them and starved the whole 
 party to death. It is said that ever since, the Utes have 
 a superstitious dread of that pinnacled mountain. 
 
 If the tales of a wild hunter's life should be more de- 
 sirable staple for a romance, there is no kick of them also, 
 whether of those who long since "have gone over the 
 Divide," or of those who are " still on the .Range." The 
 recital of these will melt the heart into pity, or freeze the 
 blood with horror. While we were in the territory a min- 
 er came over the Snowy Hange, from Middle Park, with 
 the news that " Mountain Jim" a character whom they 
 all knew, had a terrible fight with a grizzly bear in the 
 Park, and was almost " chawed up " before he succeeded in 
 killing the bear with a knife. lie said that Jim had his 
 right eyebrow bitten off, his left arm iitterally chawed up, 
 his ribs, and one of his thigh bones laid bare by his 
 ferocious assailant; and though victorious in the fight, he 
 would have perished had not some prospectors and tourists 
 discovered him and kindly taken care of him. Since then 
 I have received a private letter from Central, from which 
 the following is an extract : 
 
 "I saw Mountain Jim, in towr last Thursday, who was 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 21 5 
 
 so terribly mangled by a bear in Middle Park about the 
 time you were here. His left arm is yet in a sling, and is 
 entirely powerless. His right >eye is still bandaged, the 
 scars on his fa?e show how terribly it was lacerated; and 
 he walks with difficult}'. He is on his way to Estes' Park 
 where he has a ranche and considerable stock. He says 
 he has heard that tourists are riding and driving through 
 his ranche and leaving the gates open, and that his cattle 
 are scattering. He has a man with him to collect his 
 cattle and take care of them. With a moist eye he speaks 
 with gratitude of those who befriended him in his late 
 misfortune, both gentlemen and ladies. " Why/' says he, 
 "I did not know I had so many friends before. They 
 took care of me as though I were a prince." 
 
 Colorado previous to the advent of the white man was the 
 battle-field where all the neighboring tribes were con- 
 stantly contending for supremacy ; and where the victors of 
 the fight to-day, were beaten and driven out by the victors 
 of to-morrow. The mountain streams whose issues swell 
 the Platte and the Arkansas, water a plain covered with 
 luscious grasses, and hence the natural pasture land of the 
 buffalo, who in millions roamed over it and occupied it 
 the whole year. The possession of the Plains of Colorado, 
 was therefore the possession of the immense herds of 
 buffalo that cover it. Narrowed down, it was a question 
 of food and raiment, for the primitive savages of this 
 region clothed themselves in buffalo robes. In these con- 
 flicts the hostile parties taxed their utmost resources, both 
 physically and mentally, to overcome, expel and if neces- 
 sary to extirpate their adversaries. Art, stratagem and 
 running were the weapons employed, wielded by bold- 
 ness, bravery, resolution, recklessness and desperation. 
 Tragic events of blood and cruelty were enacted, that 
 fiends might imitate but could not excel. No tribe, how- 
 ever, attained at any time more than a temporary posses- 
 sion of the coveted land. Such was the position of things 
 
216 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 when the white man, a new claimant, appeared upon the 
 etage. 
 
 The old tragedies with aggravated horrors were now re- 
 vived; because hero wa.s the common enemy of the red 
 man. Coalitions and confederations of the formerly hos- 
 tile tribes were made not only to check his advance, but 
 to expel him from the country; but the contest was un- 
 equal this time. Neither physically nor mentally is the 
 Ravage able to cope with the civilized man. As the rising 
 day drives back the shades of night, so the wild Indian 
 flees towards the setting sun from the irresistible advance 
 of the civilized and enlightened man. The untutored sav- 
 age may return to the attack, and make renewed efforts to- 
 avoid his fate, but he is doomed. He may even bo inspir- 
 ed to desperation by despair, but brute force cannot con- 
 tend successfully against intellectual power. The ordi- 
 nance of Nature has so ordained it. History does not re- 
 cord an instance where barbarous and civilized and en- 
 lightened nations have dwelt side by side in amity and 
 friendship. The contrasts are too great and the antagon- 
 ism too irreconcilable between civilization and barbarism, 
 so that collisions are inevitable. Civilization may not 
 seek, yea, may do all that is possible to avoid such collis- 
 ions, but they will bo forced upon it by barbarism. When 
 it comes to blown, victory in the end must perch on the 
 banner that is the representative of the highest intellectual 
 culture. Not only is thit: true between civilized and bar- 
 barous nations, but it is likewise necessarily true between 
 nations of relatively different degrees of civilization. All 
 the recent great wars bear evidence to the truth of this 
 assertion; conspicuously amongst which may be named 
 the late war between France and Germany. The French- 
 man who wrote from the prison camp in the German 
 lines, these memorable words, "their common soldiers 
 know more than our officers" stated both the cause and 
 the philosophy of the result. 
 
 Our Indian troubles are to be deplored, but in the very 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AXD ON THE MOUNTAINS. 217 
 
 nature of things they are unavoidable. Philanthropists 
 with laudable efforts, are endeavoring to avoid them, but 
 they have mistaken the means. Moral suasion used with 
 the Indian, and homilies read to the whites will never do 
 it. The lirst step to save the Indian race from extinction 
 is to teach it fear and the art of behaving itself. But how 
 is this to be effected ? By moral suasion ? The Indian 
 knows nothing and cares less about moral influences. All 
 the moral suasion to do him any good is that which is in- 
 spired by fear. Since he does not know that it is his duty 
 to behave himself, let him know that he must do it ; and 
 that if he does not do it, that sure and swift punishment 
 will overtake him for his crimes. Bring him under the 
 wholesome restraint of fear, and hold him there while you 
 cultivate his moral nature. That accomplished, you may 
 extend his lesson to civilization in general, and teach him 
 the duty, yea, the absolute necessity of supplying his own 
 wants by physical labor. Then intellectual training and 
 social elevation will naturally follow. 
 
 ]S r o doubt in many of our border troubles, the baser 
 class of whites are the first aggressors, and deserve not 
 only censure but severe punishment. But it is a squeam- 
 ish sentamentalism in every Instance, and upon all occa- 
 sions, to lay the fault at the door of the whites. The hon- 
 orable, high minded, noble red man has no existence in. 
 ^Nature. He is not a real, but an ideal character. And 
 worse than that, the ideal is the worst possible caricature 
 of the reality, as all ought to know who have ever come 
 in contact with the original. In judging of the conduct of 
 remote settlements towards the Indian, we ought to think 
 of him as he is, not as we imagine him to be ; and not jus- 
 tify him while me mete out indiscriminate censure against 
 our own race. Especially ought we to be chary in our 
 judgment when we find whole communities affected by 
 his mis-conduct, rising as one man and expelling him from 
 the land. 
 
 I have had ample opportunities upon the Indian fron- 
 
218 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS 
 
 tier for observation and forming an unbiased opinion on 
 the causes of the disturbed relations between the whites 
 and Indians. I lived eleven years, ( eight in Alabama and 
 three in Iowa) in the immediate vicinity of large bodies 
 of Indians in daily contact and intercourse with the 
 whites, free to come into the settlements and to go whither 
 they pleased and when they pleased. It is true the Chicka- 
 saws and Chocktaws of the South were in a rudimentary 
 civilization of a very low grade; but so were not the 
 Sauks and Foxes of Iowa, and these moreover had only 
 some six years before been severely punished in the Black 
 Hawk War; yet in all that time, in neither locality was 
 there any collision between the two races, nor even a 
 cause for any. There was a most cordial feeling of good 
 will, trust and confidence between the parties; the whites 
 regarded them as a weak and helpless people, and there- 
 fere entitled to kindness, generosity and protection. Any 
 one who would have injured a simple minded Indian, 
 would have incurred as much odium as if he had struck a 
 woman, or maltreated a child. Thus even upon the rude 
 frontier, the innate impulse of the strong to protect the 
 weak and defenseless, manifests itself as strongly and sig- 
 nally as it ever does anywhere. When I therefore hear 
 the frontier settlers accused as lawless aggressors, exercis- 
 ing wanton cruelty and perpetrating merciless and fiend- 
 ish butcheries on peaceable and unoffending Indians, I 
 cannot believe it; because it is contrary to all experience 
 .and observation. It is an impossibility in the very nature 
 of things. Frontier men are daring; men of decision, en- 
 ergy, vim and pluck; but the}^ are neither outlaws nor sav- 
 ages. They are, in fact, the very kind of men in which 
 the manly and heroic virtues, of which protection to the 
 weak and defenceless is one, shine the brightest. Cow- 
 ards could be guilty of such wanton cruelties, but bravo 
 men never. 
 
 It is, however, undeniable that violence and bloodshed 
 jnark the extension and stain the progress of settle- 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 219 
 
 ments now as they did in the days of the Pilgrims. IIow 
 can they be accounted for ? Very easily. Sharpers trad- 
 ing with them shamefully swindle them. Outlaws who no 
 longer find it safe to ply their robberies and thefts 
 amongst whites, plunder and oftentimes murder them. 
 These are about the only offences that are chargeable to 
 the whites; and for which there is a remedy, if the Indian 
 could only understand that the guilty alone must be held 
 responsible for their crimes. The intrusion of the whites 
 upon the Public Domain to which the Indian title has not 
 been extinguished, is a source of irritation, but no crime. 
 It is against the ordinance of Nature that myriads of 
 square miles of rich and arable lands should be doomed to 
 barrenness, and lie vacant merely to furnish a hunting 
 ground to a few vagabond savages. The white man so 
 regards it, and conceives he is obeying the commands and 
 executing the decrees of the Creator when he enters upon 
 and occupies it. As these intrusions cannot be prevented, 
 and should not if they could, the Government should 
 take early steps to prevent occasions for these conflicts by 
 extinguishing the Indian title. 
 
 On the other hand the causes of Indian wars originate 
 with the Indians themselves. Their native ferocity, which 
 springs from regarding all men not belonging to their 
 tribe as deadly enemies; their moral obtuseness which 
 prevents them from discriminating between meum and 
 tuum until taught by fear; their inveterate Bourbonism 
 which never forgets anything, nor learns anything, and 
 which impels them, however frequently vanquished, to re- 
 new perpetually the conflict with the Inevitable; these 
 are the true sources from which nearly, if not quite, all 
 our Indian troubles spring, as the history of American 
 settlement everywhere shows. They are the causes in 
 operation now in Texas, ?\ew Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, 
 Montana and all the States and Territories on the Plains, 
 the Mountains and on the Pacific Coast ; and to lay the 
 entire blame upon the whites, is both gratuitous and disin- 
 
220 OVEE THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 genuous, when the conflict, aggravated by a long series of" 
 wrongs, outrages and barbarities, does come, we must 
 make some allowances for the exasperation of feeling 
 manifested, and the almost inappeasable resentments these 
 outrages have provoked. We may regret the extent and 
 severity of the chastisement inflicted; but until human 
 nature, as it always has been and ever will be, is changed, 
 it never can be otherwise. There is no remedy, except 
 that the savage man must learn the severe lesson which 
 the civilized man has even yet so imperfectly learned by 
 sad but wholesome experience, that " they that sow the 
 wind must i-e-ap the whirlwind. " 
 
OVER THK PLAINS AND ON THJC MOUNT AI-Nd. 22 1 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Any sketch of Colorado and her natural resources is 
 imperfect that does not include her mines and mining 
 industry. Disastrous as may have been enterprizes un- 
 dertaken to develop her mines of gold and silver, and sad 
 as may have been the experience of those that have risked 
 their money in that enterprise; yet the fact remains un- 
 deniable that her mountains are rich in the precious met- 
 als; and that immense and inexhaustible stores of gold 
 and silver only abide the time when capital will furnish 
 the means, labor the skill, and Science the knowledge to 
 treat the ores successfully and make them surrender their 
 rich treasures. 
 
 However rich we deem her mineral resources, it is 
 undeniable that at present the character of her mines is 
 under a cloud, and stocks in them at a heavy discount. By 
 some the mines are regarded as humbugs, by others as 
 deficient in richness; and by others, who admit their 
 richness, as worthless becauae of the refractoriness of their 
 ores. 
 
 There are causes for all this diversity of opinion; but 
 they are so numerous that an attempt at their enumeration 
 were futile. The great and controlling cause was and is, 
 not the low grade of the ores, but their character. The 
 ores are richer than the ores of California and Nevada, as 
 their analyses show; but their character is such that under 
 the stamp-mill (the processes that in California and Nevada 
 save from 85 to 95 per cent, of the gold or silver in the 
 ore), they will not yield on an average more than 80 per 
 cent, of the precious metals, contained in them. In many 
 cases, ores that by smelting will yield from 8200 to $300 
 
222 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 per ton, yield nothing under the stamp-mill. In Califor- 
 nia the ores contain the metals free, or else are carbonates;: 
 in Colorado they are sulphurets. Where the metal is free,, 
 or where its composition is that of a carbonate, it is sub- 
 missive to the influence of mercury and forms an amal- 
 gam with it; but when it is a sulphuret, it is indifferent to 
 the influence of mercury, and hence cannot be saved by 
 what is called the amalgamation process. Now the stamp- 
 mill process is the simplest and least expensive process of 
 treating ores known. With it the treatment does not cost 
 on .an average more than five dollars per ton. Hence it is 
 par excellence the process for treating ores of low grade. 
 This is the secret why the Comstock mine, in Nevada, has 
 been so profitable and enriched all concerned in mining 
 it, and treating its ores. Though, as already stated, its 
 ores have not averaged more than twenty-five dollars per 
 ton, (a quality of ore that would be worthless in Colo- 
 rado), yet as it was all " mill ore," three-fifths of its yield 
 was profit. I have been assured, by a gentleman who had 
 an interest in a claim on it and formerly was engaged in 
 working it, that the cost of mining and mill treatment 
 of that ore in no case exceeded ten dollars per ton. There 
 are 22 claims on the Comstock lode ; the bullion product 
 of all these claims is over $200,000,000. Up to the year 
 1869, from official tables, I learn that it was $137,382,000. 
 It was very natural that the earlier miners in Colorado, 
 who were familiar with the successful modes of treating 
 the California and Nevada ores, should form high expecta- 
 tions of the products of the richer lodes of Colorado ; 
 and that they should be sadly disappointed at the results 
 obtained in working them. Nay, that they should be 
 struck with consternation and dismay at the results. 
 What was the more inexplicable to them, and added to 
 their astonishment, was that while the disintegrated 
 quartz on the surface lasted, the results were satisfactory, 
 and as good as could be expected from ores of so low 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 223 
 
 grade. Eat when the pyrites and sulphurets* wera- 
 reachcd at greater depths, the metallurgists, who knew 
 nothing except what experience had taught them in the- 
 arastras and stamp-mills of California, became nonplussed. 
 Here was something they had not dreamed of in their 
 philosophy. The more they thought about it, the darker 
 and more incomprehensible it became; and finally they 
 had to confess that they were at their wits' end. The, to 
 them, unknown character of the ores, was the first and the 
 most serious cause of failure in lode mining in Colorado. 
 To be sure they were not a new kind of ore; for they 
 constituted almost exclusively the kind known from time 
 immemorial ; and successful methods of reducing them 
 were equally well known to metallurgists; but both were 
 new to the stamp-mill men of California and Colorado. 
 
 The earlier investments were generally made in good 
 faith, both by the miners and by capitalists. That they 
 Avere so, it is sufficient to state, that men who had acquired 
 a competency by saving their hard earnings amid dangers 
 and privations, in the earlier days of California mining, 
 invested their all in lodes and stamp-mills in the moun- 
 tains of Colorado. Many capitalists who had been suc- 
 cessful in mining enterprises in California, also eagerly 
 invested in lodes that were richer than those of California, 
 as shown by analyses made by competent metallurgists.. 
 These men knew nothing, either by experience, or by 
 theory, of the character of ores, and of their method of 
 treatment. The natural assumption was that they were 
 of the same character as those of California, and hence of 
 course would yield up their treasures by the same process. 
 Consequently, the inference was that the same kind of 
 machinery had to be provided for, and the same methods 
 to be pursued here as there. When, therefore, both failed 
 to produce the desired result, the presidents or agents of 
 
 * The distinction between pyrites and sulphurets is merely nominal. 
 Pyrites are sulphurets of iron, whereas combinations of sulphur and 
 other metals are called sulphurets and not pyrites. Pyrites, however,, 
 may have besides iron, the sulphurets of other metals. 
 
'224 OVKR TUB PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 mining companies thought the fault lay in the incom- 
 petcncy of the foreman of the stamp-mill. He was dis- 
 charged and another employed, but with no better suc- 
 cess. Still the opinion was that if an expert could be 
 obtained, the results would be satisfactory, so he was also 
 discharged ; but matters grew from bad to worse, until a 
 consternation and panic ensued amongst the stockholders. 
 There were no dividends declaring; yea worse, things 
 had come to that point that the concern did not begin to 
 pay running expenses. This prepared the way for the 
 supervention of the most disastrous fate that ever fell 
 upon any undertaking. 
 
 In the great extremity of the stockholders, light broke 
 forth in a dark place. This, however, was a false light; 
 being no more or less than a new process, a pretended 
 genius claimed to have discovered; and claimed that the 
 "refractory ores" yielded ready obedience to it. Claimed, 
 did I say ? No, that was not the word. Claimed would 
 ~have left the matter in doubt until it were proven by 
 experiment. No, it was not claimed that the new process 
 would do certain things, but it was boldly asserted that it 
 did do them ; and to prove it, the testimony of easy good 
 natured and complaisant newspaper reporters and a few 
 credulous and ignorant spectators, was adduced, certifying 
 to the statement that they were present at an experiment 
 conducted by the interested party, and saw everything 
 performed satisfactorily as claimed by the patent. Hope 
 revived in the desponding hearts of the stockholders, and 
 they believed, because " the wish was father to the 
 thought," that the intricate problem of making refractory 
 ores tractable had received a final solution. Prudence 
 would have suggested, that before the costly machinery 
 be procured, that the matter be examined by a competent 
 committee of disinterested experts, and that a trial experi- 
 ment to verify both the theory and process be made by 
 themselves, or under their supervision. But incredulity 
 was laughed to scorn under the joy and excitement of the 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 225 
 
 moment; and the manipulations and statements of inter- 
 ested parties were received and accepted as true without 
 question or any apparent misgiving as to their correctness. 
 Then commenced that disastrous new process mania, 
 lasting for three years, from 1864 to 1867, by which 
 millions of capital were sunk, the character of the mines 
 damaged, and the fair fame of the territory aspersed and 
 almost ruined. 
 
 When the stamp-mills failed in working pyrites and 
 sulphtirets known to be rich, then the conclusion became 
 general that the ores must be roasted; that is, the sulphur 
 burnt out of them and the baser metals calcined, before 
 the gold and silver could be amalgamated. Immediately 
 there appeared any number of processes for desulphuri- 
 zation of the ores with expensive machinery. Of these 
 desulphurizing processes many were disastrous, some 
 sheer humbugs, and even the best partial failures. While 
 other new processes too numerous to mention were all 
 miserable failures without any redeeming qualities. They 
 were not based upon either scientific or metallurgic prin- 
 ciples; and even if they had been, \vero so expensive that 
 they could not be economically applied. The only 
 valuable legacy these processes left, was a largo amount 
 of wholesome experience, and some more or less useful 
 second-hand machinery which now is utilized for more 
 rational purposes. 
 
 Upon whose shoulders the blame of these failures 
 should fall, it is hard to determine. One thing is certain, 
 the fault was not and is not in the mines. Perhaps the blame 
 is about equally divided between operators and jobbers, 
 between so-called scientific men, without practical expe- 
 rience and often blest with only a modicum of common 
 sense, and blundering practical men without science; hon- 
 est men without capacity, and smart men without honesty. 
 That the disaster was wide spread and ruinous, there is- 
 painful evidence everywhere. Crumbling walls and tot- 
 tering chimneys of "played out," reduction works. Pon- 
 15 
 
226 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 derous, broken, and rusted machinery and curious shaped 
 furnaces, whose fires have been extinguished for years, 
 meet the eye everywhere and chill the hearts of capi- 
 talists anxious to invest in the rich mines of these moun- 
 tains. The fact that mining has survived these terrible 
 trials and disasters is proof of its inherent vitality in 
 Colorado, and a pledge of its future prosperity. 
 
 For the four years, commencing with 1860, the statistics 
 show that over $30,000,000 of gold was shipped from 
 Colorado, while it is well known that immense sums were 
 carried away by individuals. In other words, the yield 
 of gold by the mines of Colorado was upwards of $7,500,- 
 000 annually. But as soon as the experiments with the 
 new processes comn>enced, the quantity began to diminish, 
 reaching its minimum in 1867 when it was less than $1,800,- 
 000. The new processes had now run their career and were 
 generally abandoned as worthless, or if not worthless, too- 
 expensive for economical application. Men now returned 
 to the stamp-mills arid although these generally wasted 
 from one-half to two-thirds of the precious metals and all 
 of the copper and lead, yet they afforded a living profit. 
 The old and tried processes of Germany of dressing and 
 smelting the ores, improved by American ingenuity, were 
 gradually introduced. Since then the production of the 
 mines has gradually increased from year to year. In 
 1870 it reached about $5,000,000 as the shipments show, 
 and the present year (1871) it will nearly, if not quite,, 
 reach $6,000,000. 
 
 Though chlorination and smelting are perfect as metal- 
 lurgical processes, yet they are too expensive to be 
 economically applied to a large class of ores. The 
 uninitiated have no means of telling what the average 
 cost is of treating a ton of ore by these combined pro- 
 cesses. But as the owners of reduction works charged mi- 
 ners from $30 to $35 per ton, the cost can certainly not be 
 more than $25, and may be less than $15. 
 
 However, the stamp-mill and the amalgamation process- 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 227 
 
 arc the only means yet known cheap enough to treat ores 
 of a low grade, since the actual cost in no case exceeds $5 
 per ton. With ores containing the precious metals free, 
 that is, imcombined with sulphurets of other metals, they 
 will save from 80 to 90 per cent, of the metal. But with 
 pyrites, and sulphurets, and especially when the particles 
 are indefinitely small, the mill will not save more than 
 from 30 to 50 per cent. Unless the expenses for reducing 
 ores by chlorination and smelting are much less than inter- 
 ested parties would induce us to believe, the great problem 
 of the future, is to find a cheap process that will leave the 
 precious metals in a condition to form an amalgam with 
 quicksilver after the pyrites have been calcined. 
 
 It is yet a mooted question whether the gold contained 
 in pyrites is so in a mere mechanical mixture, or in chem- 
 ical combination. The weight of authority and experi- 
 ment is in favor of the hypothesis of mechanical admix- 
 ture. However the gold of Colorado is generally alloyed 
 with small quantities of silver and copper. The gold ob- 
 tained by pulverization of pyrites mixed with copper, 
 zinc-blend and lead, is not of a bright yellow color and 
 metalic lustre, but has a grayish brown tint. It is what 
 is called "rusty gold, " and is indifferent to the action of 
 quicksilver, it therefore will not amalgamate. From this 
 fact the stamp-mill process fails to save it. It has not yet 
 been determined what is the cause or nature of this coat- 
 ing. In the refining crucible this "rusty gold " gives a 
 regulus of 99 per cent. However mechanical rubbing in 
 pans, roasting, or chemical treatment, removes this rusty 
 film and leaves the gold in an amalgamable condition. 
 Also when copper sulphurets combined with other metals 
 are desulphurized the gold cannot be extracted by amal- 
 gamation, because it has this same film rendering it indif- 
 ferent to the action of quicksilver. 
 
 When the great problem is solved of treating, upon a 
 large and economical scale, pyrites and sulphurets so that 
 the contained gold and silver is left in an amalgamable 
 
228 OVER THE PLAINS ANT) ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 coadition, then the stamp-mill, as it is the cheapest and 
 simplest of all known appliances, will supersede all other 
 methods of reducing such ores as are found in the hither- 
 side of the Rocky Mountains, from Ne\v Mexico to 
 Montana. The fortunate individual who will succeed in 
 accomplishing this feat, will reap the richest harvest yet 
 gathered in the field of discovery, while at the same time 
 he will confer untold blessings and incalculable wealth 
 not only upon the great mountain region of the West, but 
 upon the World. 
 
 But it is evident that as the case now stands, private 
 economy comes in conflict with political economy. The 
 object of the individual is accomplished when lie succeeds 
 in extracting the -precious metals in paying quantities at 
 the least possible expense, regardless of how much he 
 wastes. 
 
 It has been already stated that on an average, stamp- 
 mills working pyrites, and sulphurets, do not save more 
 than one-half, some say one-third, of the precious metals 
 contained in the ores, while they waste all the copper and 
 lead. But the interests of society demand that there 
 should be no waste. The common yield of one cord, 
 (about seven tons, ) of average gold ore at the stamp-mill 
 is from $120 to $130. Say the average yield is a medium 
 between these, that is $125 per cord. According to the 
 highest estimate this is only one-half of the assay value of 
 the ore. Deduct $25 for mill fees and there remains t the 
 net yield of $100 from seven tons of ore worth $250. Sup- 
 pose now that the cost of the combined processes ofchlor- 
 ination and smelting is $15 per ton or $105 for seven- tons j 
 and that only 90 per cent, of the metal is extracted, which 
 is $225. Subtracting the cost of reduction from this sum 
 we have a net yield of $120. The difference of profit 
 therefore would be 20 per cent, to the owner of the ore^ 
 besides which the production has been largely increased ami 
 many more persons have been furnished with employment. 
 The estimated vield of bullion of the mines of Colorado 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 229 
 
 for the present year (1871) is $6,000,000.' Deducting 
 from this for the proceeds of gulch mining and smelting 
 works $2,000,000, and the product of the stamp-mills for 
 the current year is $-,000,000. According to the forego- 
 ing estimate this is only one-half of the bullion contained 
 in the ores treated hy them. The actual value of the ore 
 worked by them would, therefore, be $8,000,000. By the 
 combined chlorination and smelting process upon the sup- 
 position that they saved only 90 per cent, this ore would 
 have produced ,$",200,000. The additional gain of the 
 owners, therefore would be 8800,000, and to the public 
 $3,200,000. Such an increase of bullion alone would not 
 only enrich Colorado but would affect the business and 
 prosperity of the whole country. Besides this the copper 
 and lead saved would be worth a million of dollars more. 
 
 That mining operations in Colorado can be made highly 
 remunerative there can be no question. The success of 
 the reduction works of Stewart, and of Hucpeden & Co., 
 at Georgetown, and especially of Prof. Hill's smelting 
 works, at Black Hawk, places this beyond controversy. 
 The Caribou Company have now completed, at Middle 
 Boulder, the most extensive and complete works in the 
 Mountains. They cost about $150,000, and I have been 
 informed that since they have been in operation they have 
 shipped from 8,000 to 8,500 ounces of bullion per week. 
 
 However, to make mining successful and the investment 
 safe, men must go into it as they do into any other legit- 
 imate business. There is a great deal of capital in the 
 country seeking profitable investment, but those who 
 have the control of it, have spent all their lives in other 
 pursuits, and have never had their attention drawn to min- 
 ing; especially mining of the precious metals. They have 
 besides had their fears excited by the losses their friends 
 have sustained who had ventured into such enterprises. 
 Capital generally is timid when controlled by those who 
 have accumulated it. Within the field of enterprise 
 wherein they have gathered it, they can make a calcula- 
 
230 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 tion of results with almost unfailing accuracy ; but in new- 
 fields of enterprise they can neither make a calculation, 
 nor feel or see their way through it. In fact every kind 
 of business has so little margin for prcffits, that it requires 
 the closest sailing to the wind to keep within the margin, 
 and make a successful voyage. Moreover the margin 
 being small the operation must be on a large scale to make 
 the profits an object. Hence the many shipwrecks that 
 befall even the most -wary. Besides the uncertainty of 
 prosperous circumstances, is the fluctuation in prices of 
 the commodity on which the transaction is based. The 
 price depends upon the supply and demand. The latter 
 may be two-fold the ordinary and extraordinary demand. 
 The prospect of an extraordinary demand may put up the 
 price, yet aften all the demand may be only an ordinary 
 one. In such cases more or less losses must be sustained, 
 , and these may be often ruinous. Of late years also the 
 commercial centres have become theatres of operations 
 which are no better than gambling. Thousands by these 
 means become shipwrecked both in capital and character. 
 It is generally the most unscrupulous that win. But there 
 is one consolation, the victor of to-day becomes the victim 
 of to-morrow. It is therefore a serious question for capi- 
 talists to consider whether they cannot invest ther capital 
 in other enterprises than those which are constantly drawn 
 into, and engulfed in the vortex of speculation and 
 whether such investments would not be safer and the 
 profits surer. 
 
 In the kind of new enterprises, mining deserves the 
 most serious consideration, but let it be done Avith 
 a view of business and not of speculation. Gold and 
 silver are the measures of value the world over, by which 
 the prices of all other commodities are measured ; therefore 
 there can be no fluctuation in their value. The only ques- 
 tions to be determined are, how much can be produced? 
 and what will be the cost of production ? Both of these 
 questions can be accurately determined by dispassionate 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 231 
 
 investigation and calculation. In fact this is the course 
 now pursued by all who mean business. 
 
 While in the Mountains, I met English capitalists, ac- 
 companied by a professional geologist and metallurgist, 
 and by an expert miner. They would not look at a pros- 
 pect'; but when a developed lode was offered, the geologist 
 examined carefully the country rock, the size of the 
 crevice and its material, and made a series of qualitative 
 and quantitative analyses; while the miner determined 
 accurately the cost of mining. The supply of ore and the 
 cost of reduction were then calculated from known data ; 
 and if the result showed a fair margin for profits, nego- 
 tiations were opened for purchasing the mine. With such 
 precautions as these no one need make a misadventure. 
 This is the only way that investments should be made, 
 whether the object in view be mining and reduction com- 
 bined, or only reduction. Mr. Wm. Cope, an English 
 capitalist whom I saw in the Mountains, after his return to 
 England sent a written proposition to the "Central Reg- 
 ister" saying that his company, the British and Colorado 
 Mining Bureau of London, "stood ready at once to erect 
 smelting works on a large and comprehensive scale, for 
 the treatment of all descriptions of ores, whether gold 
 or silver, to invest 81,000,000 in the works and for the 
 buying of ores, provided that mine owners will give 
 sufficient guarantee that said works shall always be fully 
 supplied with all the ore they can possibly use," and 
 promised to revisit Colorado the present year (1872) to 
 see what inducements mine owners would hold out for 
 such investment. 
 
 Mr. H. B. Grose, an English metallurgist who has spent 
 nearly four years in the mines of the Mountains, in a 
 communication, dated London, Oct. 4, 1871, and published 
 in the London Mining Journal, says : " The country (Colo- 
 rado) is a good one for mining, and parties interested in 
 bonafide mines under practical management have no need 
 to fear loosing their money; for I am fully convinced that 
 
232 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON TUB MOUNTAINS. 
 
 there is not a richer country in the world for minerals 
 than Colorado is, and especially for gold and silver. I 
 have been through all the mines that are yet opened up, 
 and have taken every means to ascertain their value, cost 
 of working, &c.; and after allowing for all extra expenses,, 
 I find the average yield of the lodes to be greater in value 
 than in any other country, arid with proper management 
 would leave greater profits. There is no doubt the mines 
 of Colorado have been badly managed; in fact there is 
 not a mine that I have seen, worked in a proper manner j 
 neither is there a mine with the sole management in the 
 hands of a practical man. It was quite a surprise to me 
 to see how some of -them are worked, and the waste of 
 money incurred." 
 
 Mr. Grose since then has returned to the Mountains, and 
 did good service in. exposing the tin swindle at Ogden, 
 Utah. 
 
 Having sufficiently established the fact that the mines of 
 Colorado are rich, and under proper management must be 
 productive. It may perhaps be pertinent briefly to show 
 (he causes why so much capital has been irretrievably 
 swamped in operations looking to their development. 
 
 In many cases failure was a foregone conclusion, which 
 without a miracle could not have resulted otherwise. 
 The management of the enterprise was entrusted to utterly 
 incompetent, or if competent, to reckless men, whose ex- 
 travagance made success an impossibility. Xot even 
 ordinary prudence, foresight and judgment were exercised 
 in selecting the sight for reduction works. Expensive 
 works were erected, where the company owned the only 
 lode in the vicinity, and that a mere prospect. At other 
 places the prospects in the vicinity for mines were plenty 
 but not a single mine developed ; so that neither the na- 
 ture and character of the ore, nor the capacity of the dis- 
 trict to furnish a supply of it were known. Besides, 
 worse still, the owners of prospects had not the means of 
 opening them up, or if they had, they had not the inclina- 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 233 
 
 tion to do so. This is yet a serious obstacle in the way 
 of making reduction works successful. 
 
 The defect is in the law, which allows a man to find and 
 hold any number of prospects with a mere nominal 
 amount of work on each. To homestead a piece of land 
 it requires improvement of it and residence on it for fivo 
 years; but for obtaining a patent for a lode it requires 
 only the sinking of a shaft ten feet deep ; whereas it 
 should require its development by an expenditure of not 
 less than $500. This, or something like it, I believe is a 
 provision in the new law relating to mining now pending: 
 before Congress. 
 
 As the case now stands no guarantee of a supply of ore 
 can be given ; and consequently no assurance that the works- 
 will not have to stand idle. Summer, the best season for 
 operating reduction works, is also the bewitching season 
 for prospecting which the miner cannot resist. He there- 
 fore leaves and for months explores the mountain sides, 
 the deep gorges, the canyon walls or the towering peaks 
 for new lodes. 
 
 In early days this evil necessarily was much greater 
 than now; and consequently the first adventurers in 
 mining and reducing enterprises suffered more from it 
 than they would now. But it is as yet a serious drawback, 
 and retards a rapid development of the mines. It was a 
 fruitful source of failure then, and it has entailed many 
 evils on the mining interests which are still felt and will 
 be felt for sometime to come. Besides creating a preju- 
 dice against the mines, it has reacted against the miners ;. 
 for shrewd capitalists that have since gone there and 
 erected works, taking into consideration the uncertainty 
 of a supply of ore, make it pay while they do run, both 
 for the time they run, and may bo idle; and hence pay 
 very low rates for ores. .Assure them of a constant sup- 
 ply the year round; and they will advance their prices for 
 ores thirty per cent. 
 
 So far I have only ppoken of legitimate transactions in 
 
234 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 the Past and Present; but there have been many trans- 
 . actions, (and unless people are careful, there will be many 
 more hereafter,) that were neither legitimate nor honest. 
 It is necessary to speak of these also, to make the causes 
 apparent of that widespread disaster and consequently 
 deep mistrust in the mines and mining in the mountain 
 territories. 
 
 Upon the discovery of gold and silver here, those who 
 had made profitable investments in California were not 
 backward in venturing capital here ; because their knowl- 
 edge and experience in mines justified them in doing so. 
 Insensibly others, who had no such experience, were 
 drawn into like investments; and the buying and selling 
 of mines and mining stock became a speculation. This 
 ;soon ran wild, because the purchaser did not know, 
 or if he did, did not care to make the distinction between 
 a prospect and a mine. The mountain men were not slow 
 to perceive that a good prospect was equally as saleable 
 .and brought as much money as a good mine; and they 
 were not backward in profiting by it. As it answered all 
 their purposes, if they could show a well defined metal 
 vein in a crevice, so they devoted themselves to the task 
 of finding these. But the fact that undeveloped mining 
 property found a ready sale, and ofte;i commanded exor- 
 bitant prices, in the end proved to be the most serious blow 
 that it was possible to strike at the character of the mines 
 and at the prosperity of- the mining interest of the moun- 
 tain territories. Such sales begat intemperate speculation, 
 and speculation begat a rage for finding prospects. The 
 quickening influence of speculation converted nearly the 
 whole mountain population into prospectors; and their 
 efforts would have supplied prospects for reasonable specu- 
 lation prolonged indefinitely. But speculation was soon 
 intensified into a mania, which like all such transactions, 
 by the operation of an inexorable law, collapsed and left 
 widespread disaster in its train. It is necessary here to 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 235 
 
 produce as testimony the most shameful record of those 
 times, showing how the thing was done. 
 
 A swarm of unprincipled speculators made their appear- 
 ance in the Mountains, whose only object was to enrich 
 themselves at all hazards, and by any means however foul 
 and disreputable, and then flee with their plunder from 
 the country. They had confederates in New York and 
 other eastern cities who were coworkers with them. 
 These at first were ready to buy all prospects that were in 
 market, and while their supply of money lasted, which 
 was not long, they did so. But what then ? Where there 
 was a purpose and a will, there was a way. Ink was 
 cheap, the pen nimble, lithograph stone docile, and paper 
 patient ; therefore one could be made to say, and the other 
 to show anything calculated to strike the excited fancy of 
 men laboring under a delusion. Fraudulent mining com- 
 panies were gotten up, stocks issued, engravings made of 
 the company's Reduction Works and of the surrounding 
 mountain scenery, lithographed plats of the property, 
 showing the location of the lodes; fraudulent certificates 
 of pretended assays of the ores, signed and sworn to by 
 fictitious metallurgists before fictitious officers attested 
 under seal, &c., and with these the Eastern cities were 
 flooded. Millions were thus paid for what was not worth 
 even a chance in that most worthless of all things, a " Gift 
 Enterprizc." 
 
 But who is responsible for this state of things; and 
 where lies the fault that disaster and ruin ensued from 
 such transactions ? Surely not in the mines, for they were 
 only the occasion for, not the cause of them. It has been 
 said, in music there would be no flats if there were no 
 sharps. Whether true or not in music, many from sad ex- 
 perience can testify that it is true in some other things. 
 Men possessed of some money which they did not earn, 
 and the value of which they, therefore, do not know, of 
 sanguine temperament, little or no experience, and dazzled 
 with the prospect of becoming millionaires with a single 
 
236 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 season's operations, are very liable to become flats if sharp* 
 are about. It needs no labored argument with the facts, 
 set forth, that this is what was the matter with these 
 transactions for which the existence of gold and silver in 
 the Mountains gave the occasion. They were mere 
 "tricks upon strangers/' 
 
 Before closing we must address one word of caution 
 and advice to those who will undertake a mining enter- 
 prize. You must do it upon strict business principles- 
 Buy no property whatever until either by personal in- 
 spection, or by examination of a competent and honest 
 expert, you have satisfied yourself of its character 
 and ascertaned its true nature and value. Never in- 
 vest your capital in any company whose main object is 
 to pay fat salaries to one or more favorites ; and who, in 
 order that theymaynot.be put to any inconveniences,, 
 will have the ore brought clear across the continent to be 
 treated at home. The failure of such a company is a fore- 
 gone conclusion. The ores must be smelted in the moun- 
 tains, and as near to the mines as facilities can be had- 
 Labor is about as cheap there as anywhere and fuel much 
 cheaper. At Boulder city, for instance, coal is delivered 
 at $2.85 per ton. The "matte" may be transported else- 
 where for separation and refinement, but that only so 
 long as Express Companies and Railroads charge the 
 . enormous rates they now do for transporting bullion. 
 The refining can be done there now as cheaply as any- 
 where, so there is even no economy in having smelting 
 works in the Mountains and refining works at Omaha, SU 
 Louis, Chicago, Newark or New York. 
 
 When the works are completed, put the technical opera- 
 tions in charge of a scientific expert, and the business 
 management in the hands of a man of tact and capacity, 
 who will supervise the whole by constant attention, and 
 the greatest possible vigilance. The success of Prof. Hill 
 is mainly due to the fact that he gives his entire time and 
 attention to the business management of the works while 
 
OVER THK PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 237 
 
 the technical operations are entrusted to a skillful German 
 metallurgist. 
 
 The present is a favorable time for investment. The 
 country has not yet recovered from the recoil and revul- 
 sion caused by the earlier failures. People are cautious as 
 they should be ; and when you mention Colorado mines 
 they are as suspicious as the mice in the fable, that a cat 
 may be concealed in the bottom of the meal tub. A year 
 or BO longer, and people will have recovered confidence, 
 when everything of value will be bought up for the pur- 
 pose of legitimate business. Eeduction works also will 
 have been erected at all favorable points, so that rich 
 mines now almost without value, being in the vicinity of 
 such works, will be so much enhanced in value that the 
 same favorable opportunities for investment will not exist. 
 
238 GVEK THE PLAINS AND ON 7 THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 The time had now arrived for us to turn our faces- 
 homeward, and it was with deep regret that we yielded 
 to the inexorable necessity. After a sound and refreshing 
 sleep, such as can only be enjoyed in its full fruition in 
 Colorado, on the 17th of June, I was up as usual with the 
 dawn and out for a walk to enjoy for the last time the 
 life inspiring breath of the morning air; to view once 
 again the sublime and gorgeous scenery of Nature's great- 
 est and best effort, and to feel once more the emotions of 
 enthusiastic admiration and inspiration which alone such 
 grandeur, sublimity, yet unadorned simplicity can en- 
 kindle. 
 
 Both here and at Golden, whenever awake during the 
 night, it was a most pleasurable sensation to be soothed 
 and lulled to sleep again by the ever-murmuring waters as 
 they flowed down the plain. Consequently, I seemed to 
 be in fellowship with them, and felt a strong desire to 
 hold communion with them whenever opportunity offered. 
 I was therefore irresistibly drawn to their side, and on to 
 the bridge over them, ready to muse arid lose myself in 
 day dreams. Oh, how sweet it were to spend life here, 
 where everything speaks with such irresistible eloquence, 
 yet soothingly and feelingly, to the eye, the heart, the 
 mind and the imagination ! There the everlasting moun- 
 tains spring up at a single bound four thousand feet, to 
 kiss the blushing, pure and smiling skies. Grand, awful 
 and sublime are they, with a history that human pen will 
 never record, a mystery that the human mind will never un- 
 ravel, and involving laws that human reason will never 
 unfold and explain. Yet they are as beneficent as their 
 
OVER THE PLAIN'S AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 239 
 
 presence is great, majestic and imperious. From the icy 
 fountains under their stern and snow-covered crests issue 
 these pure, limpid waters, to gladden the valleys, refresh 
 the parched plain, clothing the land with verdure, and 
 filling hill and dale with joyous life. 
 
 From them, ye supercilious, proud, 
 
 Learn the great lesson which ye so much need, 
 
 That to be truly great is to be good, 
 
 Benevolent, beneficent and kind, 
 
 And scatter blessings all around the land. 
 
 Ah ! surely this is a place for the poet to catch new in- 
 spiration and pour forth songs on themes never attempted 
 in verse, and where the moralist can draw ennobling les- 
 sons of instruction, and enforce them by the great sanction 
 of Nature. 
 
 Listlessly and with a heavy heart I left the bridge and 
 sauntered down the margin of the stream, then down the 
 lane bordered by meadows and wheat-fields, through 
 which runs the Denver road. I felt oppressed with an in- 
 definable sadness which I could not shake off, for in my 
 ears seemed to be ever ringing the words, " Once more, 
 but never again. " I was at last arrested by the thrilling 
 notes of a skylark on the fence before me. Whilst listen- 
 ing with wrapt attention to his song, I could not refrain 
 from repeating the following stanzas from Shelley's ad- 
 dress to a skylark : 
 
 "What objects are the fountains 
 
 Of thy happy strain ? 
 What lie Ids, or waves, or mountains ? 
 
 What shapes of sky, or plain ? 
 What love of thine own kind? What ignorance of pain? " 
 
 "Teach me half the gladness 
 
 That thy brain must know, 
 Such harmonious madness 
 
 Prom my lips would flow 
 The world would listen then, asl am listening, now.." 
 
240 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 But ev.en his cheerful, j oyous and ringing notes could not 
 break the gloomy spell that had settled on my fee-lings. I 
 therefore returned to the hotel to prepare for the home- 
 ward journey. 
 
 After breakfast, everything being ready, our kind Boul- 
 der friends came in troops to bid us a final farewell. The 
 drive of twelve miles down the plain, through which flows 
 the Boulder, by Yalmont, and through the village of the 
 same name nestled at its feet, to the then terminus of the 
 railroad at Erie, was delightful and pleasant. The sky 
 was perfectly transparent and of that deep azure blue' of 
 which tourists in Italy speak so enthusiastic-all}'. But in 
 the East, as usual, over the plain hung a grayish, purplish 
 haze. I do not know how common this haze is, but every 
 day I was out on the Plains fifteen or twenty miles from 
 the mountains, while in Colorado and Wyoming,! encoun- 
 tered it. It is a meteorologic fact which should be inves- 
 tigated, as it is a precursor of, and synchronous with, elec- 
 tric disturbances to the eastward of it. Its density also in- 
 dicates the intensity of the electric disturbance. From 
 the mountains I had noticed for several days that the haze 
 was more than usually dense and lurid. I then predicted 
 great electric disturbances to the eastward, and got laugh- 
 ed at for being so weatherwise. Yet on those very days tor- 
 nadoes were raging from Galveston to Nebraska and east- 
 ward to Louisiana and Ohio. It was on one of those days, 
 namely, the 16th of June, that the town of Eldorado, in 
 Kansas, was totally destroyed by a tornado. That night, 
 as wo left Denver, there was a brilliant aurora, which even 
 the dense haze could not hide, seen as far east as Ohio ; 
 iind the following night, the 18th, a most brilliant aurora 
 was seen over the whole of the northern part of the con- 
 tinent, I therefore renewed my predictions, not only of 
 storms but of earthquakes. The storms extended from 
 Central Kansas to New York, and the earthquake occurred 
 in New Jersey and Brooklyn on the 19th, and one at 
 X/ima on same date. It is well known that in California 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 241 
 
 they dread an earthquake whenever a lurid haze spreads 
 over the sky; and the recent terrible hurricane in the 
 West Indies and the coast of Florida, accompanied by an 
 earthquake, was synchronous with a lurid haze that spread 
 from Western Nebraska to Central Ohio and south into 
 Mississippi, and with a most brilliant fiery red aurora. 
 The record of physical phenomena occurring all over the 
 globe, which I am keeping, shows the unvarying contem- 
 poraneousness of earthquakes, cyclones and other elec- 
 trical disturbances, with auroras, lurid haziness and suii- 
 spots as far as I am able to obtain the latter. In Europe, 
 as my record also shows, these electric disturbances are 
 often preceded by the phenomenon of mirage. 
 
 Returning now to our drive to Erie : When we had as- 
 cended the terraced plateau some four miles east of Yalmont 
 looking eastward, I saw distinctly an image, though faint, 
 of the mountains behind us reflected in the haze. It soon 
 vanished, and I saw it no more. I called Mr. Ephraim 
 Pound's attention to it, (who was kindly taking us in his 
 carriage to Erie. ) I remarked, " I suppose wo must call 
 that mirage, though to do so knocks all the philosophy of 
 the wiseacres into a ' cocked hat. ' ' They have only one 
 explanation to give of this phenomenon, and that is, that 
 it is caused by the refraction of light through superim- 
 posed strata of atmosphere of different densities; but this 
 is not the refraction but reflection of light. 
 
 "This mirage," said he, " is a wonderful thing. I have 
 seen it, not faint as it is now, but as clear and distinct as if 
 it came from a looking-glass. One day I was driving 
 along listlessly, almost in a half dreamy state, when sud- 
 denly I raised my eyes', and my first impressio'h was that 
 somehow my horse had turned around and was going 
 home again. But looking behind I saw that he was all 
 right. I then knew it was mirage, but moro distinct than 
 I had ever seen it before. I then saw that it came as 
 though from a looking-glass more elevated than my posi- 
 tion; for I could see objects reflected that I could not see 
 16 
 
242 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 from the point where I was. There wa.s White Rock and. 
 Valmont just as you see them now, and there was the 
 Boulder flowing down through the plain as distinct as 
 though I stood over it, and Boulder City and the mouth 
 of the canyon, too, which you see are hidden behind Val- 
 mont. It was the most wonderful sight I ever saw. '> 
 Fremont, in his journal, mentions the same phenomenon. 
 Seeing, what he supposed, some horsemen opposite in a 
 fog-bank, he sent one of his men to meet them, to ascer- 
 tain who they were, why they were apparently trying to 
 head him off', and what object they had in view. As his 
 messenger departed, he saw one of the strange party do 
 the same; and discovered it was his own party mirrored 
 back by the haze. 
 
 We had now arrived at Erie, and had but ten minutes 
 to spare. We therefore took cordial leave of our friends,, 
 Messrs. Pound, Corson and Captain Austin, who had taken 
 us to the depot, and who wished us a pleasant and safe 
 journey, which we reciprocated by wishing them long life 
 and continual prosperity. 
 
 Once on board the cars, attached to a freight train tak- 
 ing coal to Denver, we were soon on our way. We will 
 state here that we were indebted to the liberality and 
 generosity of Col. S. W. Fisher, the General Superinten- 
 dent of this railroad, the^Boulder Valley, as well as of the 
 Kansas Pacific, Denver Pacific and Colorado Central rail- 
 roads, not only for free passes but for other favors while 
 in the Territory, for which we tender him the most cor- 
 dial thanks of our whole party. 
 
 As soon as the cars got under way, 1 took my seat at 
 the window to take a long and farewell look at the glori- 
 ous old mountains now fast receding from view. A spell 
 came over me, aaid I ventured for once upon the danger- 
 ous hight of verse, to indite them a long and lasting fare- 
 well. 
 
.OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 243 
 
 FAREWELL TO THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 
 
 Farewell, ye icy Crests ; ye fir clad Peaks ; 
 
 Ye Chasms deep ; and foaming Torrents wild ; 
 
 Ye stern old Mountains, with your flow'ry dells 
 
 And valleys green, and pouring cascades, white 
 
 As your own snow-clad bi^nvs ; a long farewell ! 
 Ye are a gorgeous temple, such as ne'er 
 
 By mortal hands was reared, nor extasy nor dreams 
 
 E'er built m cities of enchanted land. 
 
 I gazed upon } r our wonders, and I garnered 
 
 Stores to fill the mind, and feed the loftiest thought ; 
 
 And fire and inspiration drew from out 
 
 Your scenes ; whilst health I drank from your pure balmy air. 
 
 I cannot choose but gaze upon you now ; 
 
 A glamour and a fascination sit 
 
 Upon your brows, and dwell within 
 
 Your deep abysms. A music, while I gaze 
 
 Soft, entrancing, sweet as if it came 
 
 From tongues angelic, falls upon my ear 
 
 And I'm again amidst your pathless wilds ; 
 
 Amid your hills, and vales, and glens, and chasms 
 
 I hear the ^'Eolian strains of winds at play 
 
 Amid the lofty tops of mountain pines 
 
 And firs. Anon, I'm in the canyon wild 
 
 And gaze upon its weird, gigantic forms ; 
 The sound of rushing waters, and the roar 
 Of cataracts leaping with impetuous bound 
 From mid air to the yawning gulf below 
 Fall on my ears ; and I'm entranced again. 
 
 Hail ! All hail, ye Mountains ! and ye Hills 
 Ye Valley^, Glens, and Precipices steep ! 
 All hail, yc everlasting Snows, pure and white 
 Unblemished, unpolluted ; though of Earth, 
 Unsoiled, where all else festering reeks 
 With foul polution and corruption dire. 
 Hail Boulder, mighty magic canyon hail ! 
 Thy raving, foaming waters rolling down 
 Through rocky gorge, now dark, now glist'ningin 
 The sun, swift down the precipice they leap 
 In cascades wild, with roaring, stunning sound; 
 Thy battlements of rocks, now bare and smooth, 
 Then rugged wild and threat'ning, high aloft 
 Upon their craggy sides, a giant brood 
 
244 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 Of firs and pines they bear, which overarch 
 Thy deep abyss. The blue o'crhariging sky 
 Looks down and smiles upon thy beauty wild. 
 Swift sailing clouds their fleeting shadows throw- 
 In thy abyss, and then the charming scene 
 Is bathed in twilight gloom. And high o'erhead 
 The golden eagle soars in circles wide, 
 And shrieks in triumph his hoarse thrilling notes ; 
 The exulting shout of Liberty. -While 
 I gazed on thee arid thine, I was entranced, 
 And saw things strange, and wonderful, sublime 
 Beyond all utterance. My thoughts afire 
 All wild on wandering wings soared upward far 
 Above this mocking unsubstantial world 
 Of shadows, to realms empyreal, where 
 Nor change, nor death, nor phantasy have place. 
 
 Ye great and glorious Mountains, hold the keys 
 T'unlock the secret chambers of the heart; 
 Ye have the power to change the fickle soul 
 And harmonize its music with the spheres. 
 Earth has no greater joy to me than this: 
 To flee the world and its corroding cares, 
 And dwell amidst your rugged scenes, and fields 
 Of ice and snow ; to hear the soothing hum 
 Of flowing waters, and a requiem sung 
 By odorous winds; to hear the eagle's shrill wild shriek; 
 To listen to the thund'ring cataract's roar; 
 To see in wild confusion, rocks on rocks, 
 And cliffs on cliif that scale the low'ring cloud ; 
 To lay the ear upon your breast and feel 
 The throbbings of your mighty heart, and hear 
 Entranced the gushing forth of Nature's sweet 
 And glorious harmony, until I feel 
 My soul enlarged, enraptured, transported, 
 Exalted far above the sordid cares, 
 Gross pleasures, and blind passions of the age; 
 Ah this 15 real, noble life indeed ! 
 
 The transient spell that on my dreaming mind 
 Had fallen and kindly ta'en me back 
 To thoughts and scenes so wild and glorious 
 Is broken now ; and from afar I look 
 Upon your snowy field*, and jagged peaks 
 All clothed in sombre blue. 
 
 Ere drops the veil 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 245 
 
 That must forever hide from me, your all 
 Imposing grandeur, an 1 majestic mien, 
 Say, cannot ye unseal those silent lips 
 That keep the secrets, which from eldest Time 
 Frail man has tried, in vain, to wrest from you 
 And yours; and which with expectation wild 
 The world on tiptoe e'er has stood to hear ? 
 Thus fur to rne your bosom jVve unveiled, 
 And with a voice melodiously sweet, 
 And mien all eloquent, me have ye taught 
 To understand the weighty import of 
 The lesson great, ye wero designed to teach 
 To my benighted race, of grandeur, power, 
 Wisdom, purity, and Omnipotence. 
 Will not ye, whose resounding echoes make 
 So many-tongucd the thunder's awful peal, 
 Make me your confidant and whi<per now 
 Though in the lowest, gentlest breath, the word 
 That gives the clew by which to tread the maze 
 Whose intricacy has, till now, perplexed 
 Confounded and embarrassed, aad defied 
 The purest, noblest, highest efforts of the mind ; 
 And solves the laws and causes of your birth? 
 
 Ye prattling tell-tale Waters whose glib tongue 
 The palsying Irostd^th strive in vain to hush, 
 To me will ye not now divulge the strange 
 And thrilling secrets of these mountains old, 
 By telling how they rose above the sea 
 And plain ? Will ye impart the wonderful 
 Mysterious argument to fill the blank, 
 The abysmal blank, up on the scroll 
 That men call history; how living things 
 Arose and flourished ; then in Ocean waves 
 O'erwhelmed, how long they lay in darkness ajid 
 In ruin; how amid the earthquake's shock 
 When reeled the wor}d and stars were blotted out, 
 And darkness prime had filled again the deep 
 Abyss, their forms arose above the sea, 
 For aye preserved in stones as fossils strange? 
 How long they've lain as now they lie upon 
 The mountain side, or deep beneath the plain ? 
 Ah, yes, enumerate the cycles long 
 Of loveliness, of ruin, which have swept 
 The earth by turns; how oft the Earth so lovely, green, 
 
246 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOCNTATSS. 
 
 And filled with life exuberant, became 
 
 The bottom of the sea, by deluge whelmed 
 
 And drowned for myriad years, then rose again 
 
 To light, put on her wonted vesture green, 
 
 And populous became again ; how in 
 
 The realms of Spacq, new suns came forth and blazed 
 
 Awhile, and then extinguished quite became 
 
 In darkness, deep, impenetrable, stark. 
 
 Ah, tell how oft Destruction fierce and fell, 
 
 Revival lovely,* mild and calm, in turn, 
 
 Have stepped upon the stage, and there have played 
 
 Their magic parts, ere Man, the glory and 
 
 The shame of Earth, first trode the scene to act 
 
 His tragic, comic, or imposing part. 
 
 Ye heaven-pointing Peaks, and pearly Floods 
 That teach to Man so much ; will ye not now 
 Unfold the thrilling and transporting story 
 Of all ye saw, and part of which ye were 
 In all the great illimitable Past '? 
 
 What! Silent still! Not one small voice cornea forth, 
 The echo of the myriad years, to tell 
 The wond'ring world the mystery of your birth ! 
 Ye will not for a moment lift the veil 
 Implacable that hides the unrecorded Past ; 
 Nor deign to tell the strange events that sinc 
 Your birth have come and gone ! Ye are to all 
 Entreaty deaf and resolute and dumb, 
 And sacred keep the secrets of your charge. 
 The poet's vision, reason's grasp, and proud 
 Philosophv, in vain, have tried to wring 
 From you the trust, and to the vulgar gaze 
 Unfold your wondrous lore; and failing have gone mad. . 
 
 Ah, while I gaze, a vision bright flits by 
 A glimpse it gives so fearful, grand, sublime 
 Of that dread night which gave ye birth, that while 
 The spell is still upon me I'll portra}', 
 If fitting words fail not, your natal hour. 
 
 ' Twas a tempestuous night; the lamps of Heaven 
 Were blotted out : commotion red had seized 
 This trembling sphere: wild whirlwinds racked the Earth, 
 The air, the sky. The Hashing lightning cleft 
 Th' abyss of darkness shrouding Heaven and Earth; 
 'Twas then in earthquake's couch, while Ocean seethed, 
 The sickened "Earth yawned wide, and gave ye birth. 
 
241 
 
 Ye wonderful, sublime, majestic, grand 
 
 And beauteous Mountains. The tempest then grew calm ; 
 
 The storm's dark clouds flew swift as leaves before 
 
 Th' autumnal blast; the gentle Moon looked forth ; 
 
 And silvery stars beamed bright and calm 
 
 In the etherial space. Anon the pure 
 
 And golden dawn broke forth ; and Orient Sun 
 
 Before his throne drove back the ebon spirit of 
 
 That fearful night; and when green Earth awoke, 
 
 She found a cloudless sky. Mild xephyrs blew 
 
 To fan and cool your glowing, infant brows ; 
 
 And there ye stood as now yo stand, glorious, 
 
 Kesplendent, great, magnificent and calm, 
 
 Sublime, immutable, majestic, 
 
 And proud, a mystery unfathomably deep, 
 
 The ever-daring wonder of rny puny race. 
 
 When [ in contemplation wrapped behold 
 The instability of Man, his works; all that 
 He is, and wluit he's wrought ; how rapidly 
 New nations, tribes and peoples have, in turn, 
 Arisen like the bubbles on a stream 
 And danced, and glittered for awhile, then bur>t, 
 Dissolved and disappeared from Earth ; effaced 
 For aye, and vanished into airy nought ; 
 Ah, well may I a frail ephem'ral child 
 Of clay thea weep, to see the pride anl power 
 And evanescent glory of my race, 
 Fade like a morning rni.st. and lost to sight, 
 Yea, from all memory lost. 
 
 Relentless Time 
 
 Has ever fed upon his off-spring; spared 
 Nor young, nor old, nor beautiful, nor brave. 
 We cull him cruel, but alike he treats 
 Proud Man, the crawling worm, the mountains high. 
 And continents an 1 seas ; e'en the bright orbs 
 That roll in glory through ce^stial space ; 
 All are engulfed and swallowed up by him. 
 I weep, but sweet it is to shed such tetiis, 
 For thus the heart o'erburdenecl finds relief, 
 And throws its sorrows off. But ye ne'er weep 
 Nor know of sorrow, feel no grief nor care ; 
 For ye seem ever-during as the Sun ; 
 Nor Time writes on your brows the boding lines 
 Indelible of coming change and growing age. 
 ..Storms beat upon your naked breast, and then 
 
OVER THK PL.VINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 The lightning glares upon your brows; the hoars* 
 And bellowing thunder shakes your sides; 
 But azure calm returns, and finds no wound 
 Upon your breast, nor soar upon your brow. 
 Day follows night, and Night the dying day; 
 The seasons eomo and go ; and fleeting years 
 Pass and return, yet on your adamantine front 
 Though stern and old, Decay nor Death will set 
 Their withering seal, nor leave a trace or mark 
 Upon your brow ; but warmth, a radiance mild 
 Unfading beauty, arid the vigorous glow 
 Of an immortal youth, sit high enthroned 
 As erst; the pledge secure of endless years. 
 
 Ye Mountains, rugged, strong, unchanging, grand, 
 With beauty wild and terrible, your dark 
 And deep, mysterious chasms, o'erhung 
 -By toppling rocks, and your cold icy peaks 
 That glitter like a distant star ; ye seem 
 Eternal; think ye the poignant words "No MORK" 
 Do not apply to you ; reesrved for such 
 As me and mine? Yet in the future age 
 To you will come, as comes to all beneath 
 The stars, destructive change. Kent, hurled and whelmed 
 In ocean waters deep, the rolling wave 
 Will be the mound that marks your grave. Alas, 
 Who then will come to weep and shed the bitter 
 Tear above your tomb, save I from far, 
 From bright abodes where the Eternal are ? 
 
 'Tis thus we part, but part to meet again, 
 Both now and then. A tenant for awhile 
 Of this terrestrial sphere, though I may roam 
 Afar, I still behold your shadows weird ; 
 And though to eyes your wondrous forms no longer apeak 
 With burning words and eloquence so fierce 
 That set my g-mi afire; yet in my heart 
 I hear amongst your pines the soughing wind ; 
 I gaze upon your silvery lakes, your cliffs 
 And rocky ramparts, icy peaks, lir-clad 
 Escarpments, gorges deep and roaring waterfalls, 
 And rusliing, surging streams in rocky beds ; 
 And as I ga/e melodious voices fill 
 Mine ears, a glowing thrill darts through my veins,. 
 Mine eyes dilate, my heart with rapture swells, 
 With wonted firfr my soul's imbued again, 
 And holds communion with the Great Unseen. 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 249 
 
 Wo soon ran into the gray hazo which shut out the 
 mountains, as well as cut off everything from view on 
 the Plains, and we saw them no more. The sun had a lurid 
 glare ; and a perfect gale of hot wind blew from the South. 
 Several jackass rabbits loping away, a few antelopes scud- 
 ding off over the Plains, and the killing of a calf belonging 
 to herders who had not precaution to clear the track of their 
 p stock in time, were the only incidents that diversified the trip 
 to Denver, where we arrived at three o'clock. Rummag- 
 ing through the contents of a news depot, we found some 
 stray copies of different dates of the Democrat and Repub- 
 lican, which together posted us both as to news at home 
 and the world abroad that occurred while we were buried 
 in the recesses of the mountains. With these wo whiled 
 away the time until half-past nine, when the eastward- 
 bound train left. Wo were soon ensconced in the com- 
 fortable berths of Pullman's palace sleeping cars, and ob- 
 livious to everything passing around us. But on we sped 
 in charge of the fiery steed, and day met us at Kit Carson,, 
 near the eastern limits of Colorado. 
 
250 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THK MOUNTAINS. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 At Kit Carson there had been rains within a few days, 
 .and vegetation looked fresh and thrifty. At Arapahoe 
 (pronounced Ah-rap-a-ho) thirty-five miles east, it had 
 rained heavily, as the buffalo wallows on the Plains and 
 excavations along the railroad were yet filled to overflow- 
 ing with water. At Pond Creek, at an elevation of over 
 4000 feet, the industrial agent, R. S. Elliott, of the Kansas 
 Pacific railroad, has one of his experimental stations, at 
 which were sown wheat, rye, barley and corn, all of which 
 looked remarkably vigorous arid thrifty. The barley and 
 rye were just coloring and would be ripe in ten daya 
 There Avas also a nursery of various species of deciduous 
 trees grown from seed the present season, which were very 
 flourishing, and the brilliant green of their leaves con- 
 trasted beautifully with the black moist soil on which they 
 .stood. 
 
 At Wallace, a meal station, where we took breakfast, we 
 met Mr. Elliott, who expressed himself sanguine of the 
 triumphant success of his experiment. So far as we could 
 judge there appeared nothing to prevent the realization of 
 his fondest hopes, namely : That of abolishing the " Great 
 American Desert." 
 
 Off again, we successively passed Sheridan, Gopher, 
 Monument, Carlyle, Grinnell, Buffalo, Coyote, Park's Fort, 
 Ogallah, etc., all stations from ten to fifteen miles apart, 
 consisting generally only of the station house and tene- 
 ments of the railroad employes. These mostly are of 
 those subterranean dwellings already mentioned, or cabins, 
 though occasionally there are a few neat and comfortable 
 tcottages. The whole horizon otherwise encloses an ex- 
 
OVER THE PLAIN'S AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 251 
 
 pause of treeless, shrubless plain, covered with the short, 
 velvety buffalo grass. The only thing that gives variety 
 is the old buffalo trails, leading straight as the flight of an 
 arrow north and south over the Plains, which can be fol- 
 lowed with the eye, as far as sight can reach, by the deeper 
 color and richer green of the buffalo grass. At short 
 intervals we passed prairie dog villages, and, as we had 
 nothing else to do, we watched, for amusement, their 
 antics when alarmed by the approaching train. The first 
 thing was for each member of the family to run home on 
 the approach of the train, then take a peep for an instant, 
 when up would fly heels and tails, and they were out of 
 sight. The old one of every hillock, whom we took to be 
 the paterfamilias, generally faced about when he got to the 
 hole, and set himself up straight to look at and study the 
 monster that creates such alarm and consternation in the 
 village whenever he passes. "When sitting up straight, in 
 color, size arwl position he looks like a ten-pin set on top 
 of the hillock. 
 
 Well, since there is so much uniformity and sameness in 
 the landscape of these Plains, the variety of objects is lim- 
 ited and their discussion soon exhausted. For want of 
 something else, let us while away time by talking of this 
 our unjustly stigmatised little 'friend, the Prairie Bog. A 
 welcome friend he always is, for he relieves us of ennui, 
 and breaks up the wearisomeness and dull monotony of 
 these wide expansive and treeless Plains. For this reason 
 he possesses, aside from his novelty, a permanent and 
 abiding interest to all traversing this part of the Conti- 
 nent. He was discovered by Lewis and Clarke, in their 
 ever memorable expedition across the Continent to the 
 Pacific, in 1804, '05 and '06, -and described for the first 
 time in their Journal. They called him the Prairie Dog, 
 not because he is any way, even remotely, allied to the 
 -dog, or resembles him in nature and habits, but simply 
 because he sounds his alarm note, " chip-ip-ip," so rapidly 
 and shrilly as to have some resemblance to the yelping of 
 
252 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 a pup. But then, everybody talks of the barking of a 
 squirrel, yet nobody thinks it a sufficient reason for calling 
 it a dog. Why then should the one be libelled, by being 
 called a dog, for yelping, and not the other for barking? 
 Each yelp he gives, when he sounds the alarm of danger, 
 is accompanied by a twitching of the tail, similar to 
 a squirrel when barking. 
 
 Well, if we are not to call him the Prairie Dog, what 
 are we to call him? Sure enough, what? A question 
 well and pointedly put. Unfortunately lie has been many 
 times christened, but the names have not stuck well, ex- 
 cept the vulgar one given him by his discoverers. 
 
 The Indians culled him Wisht onwish ; and he is so called 
 in the description given of him in the Journal of Pike's 
 Expedition to the Mountains in 1806. Guthrie, in 1815, 
 proposed to call him Arctomys Ludovicianus, Literally, 
 Arctomys means Bearnwusc, or Bear-rat. It is the gen- 
 eric name given to the Marmot family; one species of 
 which, the Arctomys Monax is familiarjy known as the 
 wood-chuck or ground-hog. Ludovicianus comes from 
 Ludovicus, the Latin for Lewis. The name proposed b^ 
 Guthrie, therefore, when translated woulcl be, Lewis' 
 Marmot. The name is not only inappropriate, for the 
 Prairie Dog is not a marmot, but the name, Lewis' Marmot, 
 was already appropriated to another animal and a true 
 marmot, the Arctomys Lewisii. Prof. .Say, who accom- 
 panied Col. Long's Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, 
 in 1820, describes him under the name proposed by Prof 
 Guthrie. 
 
 Audubon proposed to call him Spcrmophilus Ludovicia- 
 nuSj because it seemed to him that he was nearer allied to 
 the Bpermophiles than to the marmot. He is, howeveiv 
 less lithe and less active than the spermophiles, and not 
 BO short and clumsy as the marmot. In fact, in form and 
 habits, he is intermediate between the two. Warden pro- 
 posed to call him Arctomys Missouriensis. Others have 
 proposed the generic name Sciurus, that i.s, squirrel, for- 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 253 
 
 him. Ah ! but look at his tail ! Yes, look at it. Scia, a 
 shadow, und oura, a tail. Do you call him with that 
 stumpy, scraggiing haired vertebral appendage, an animal 
 tha't can sleep in the shadow of his tail ? Bah! Sciurus 
 indeed ! Why all Squirreldom feels insulted by the propo- 
 sition ! But recent zoologists have called him Cynomys 
 Ludovicianm, Cynomys literally means Dog-mouse, or 
 Dog-rat- Hence it seems that scientific men are not in 
 accord as to what he actually is, nor as to what he shall be 
 named, except the specific name of his first describer, 
 Lewis. 
 
 The common names proposed for him have not shared 
 a much better fate than the scientific, always excepting 
 that given him by Lewis. Those who have not fancied 
 the latter, have proposed to call him the Prairie Marmot 
 Squirrel. The French Canadians, trapping in the Moun- 
 tains, call him " Le petit chien" the little dog. But, not- 
 withstanding, the obvious impropriety of the term first 
 applied to him, he is now generally called and known by 
 it ; namely, the Prairie. Dog ; and he will bear it till his 
 race becomes extinct, by the extension of settlements over 1 
 the vast Plains of which he is mow the only denizen that 
 has a fixed habitation. 
 
 He is found spread over the Plains, eastward of the 
 the Rocky Mountains, for five hundred miles, and from 
 the Missouri to south of the Red River in Western Texas. 
 They are always found in communities j sometimes num- 
 bering hundreds of families living together. Their habi- 
 tations are called " dog-towns," or " prairie dog villages/' 
 It is said the burrows are connected by subterranean 
 galleries. Old rangers of the Plains, amongst other 
 strange stories, say the towns are intersected by streets, 
 and that the streets are kept scrupulously neat and clean. 
 These streets must be underground, as above ground I 
 but rarely saw even evidences of a regular beaten path. 
 
 The female has ten mammae, from whence it is inferable 
 that they are very prolific, 
 
254 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 Any one of them seeing the approach of danger, imme- 
 diately scampers off to his burrow uttering that peculiar 
 cry which has been fancifully compared to the yelping of 
 a puppy. At' the first cry of danger from the outskirts of 
 the town, the whole community takes it up, every one 
 making for his own hole. A thousand guinea fowls, 
 alarmed by a hawk, could not make more racket than the 
 denizens of a dog-town on such an occasion. Arrived at 
 home, without stopping to see whether the danger is real 
 or imaginary, all plunge into their holes by a kind of lu- 
 dicrous summersault, excepting some old quidnunc who 
 has an aversion of being humbugged and then laughed at 
 for being so easily sold after all his pretentious to superior 
 wisdom. Having arrived at his hole, he sits himself up 
 perpendicularly on his hind legs, and takes a cool survey 
 of the vicinage to satisfy himself whether there was any 
 cause for all this commotion, or whether it was a mere 
 hoax played off by some wag of the village. I have, on 
 many occasions, seen them rise on their hind feet to have 
 the better view. If there is real danger, he caches in a 
 twinkle j but if the alarm was false, he runs to a neighbor, 
 apparently exchanges a few words with him, and then 
 runs back to his own burrow, giving a shrill whistle. 
 Soon a head is seen cautiously peering out of each burrow, 
 and when satisfied that there either was no danger, or 
 that it is over, they venture out and set up a chipping un- 
 til the wimle village joins in the concert. That concluded 
 they attend to pleasure or business as though nothing had 
 happened. 
 
 The young colored man who had charge of our sleeping 
 car, and who, by the way, was a model for politeness and 
 honesty, and most sedulous in his attentions to our welfare 
 and comfort, seemed to have taken a great interest in 
 these little fellows, and to have studied their character and 
 habits well. Besides he was well posted in all the stories 
 told of them by the old rangers of the Plains. 
 
 Ho told me many curious anecdotes about them, which. 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 255- 
 
 cannot bo repeated here without becoming tedious.. 
 Whilst staying at Ellis one day the idea struck him of 
 going out on the Plains and seeing the dogs at home, and 
 ascertaining what kind of a life they led. 
 
 Creeping as near to a village as possible without being 
 discovered by them, or of alarming them, from his favor- 
 able position he could overlook the entire plot of the* 
 town, and such a frolicsome, wild and madcap set of fel- 
 lows, he had never seen before. The younger ones were 
 romping, rolling, tumbling and playing like so many kit- 
 tens, whilst the older ones were running about saluting 
 each other and chatting in the greatest glee. Every one 
 was constantly on the move, except a big old fellow who 
 sat very stiff and stately on the hillock around his burrow, 
 never moving. Evidently he Avas the " big dog " of the 
 town, perhaps, its Mayor, and could not unbend his dignity 
 enough to take part in the sports and amusements of the 
 village. Every dog in the town would run up to him and 
 have a short chat with him and then scamper away; but 
 he felt too much the cares of State, or his own importance 
 to relax one moment from his gravity. 
 
 From observing their habits and studying their charac- 
 ter, the young man has become fully persuaded that to 
 avoid disorder, each village is a municipality consisting of 
 a regularly organized government; and that this grave 
 old chap is at the head of it. He also averred that in 
 some villages he had' observed that the Jackass liabbit 
 was the Potentate. Tie reasoned in this way; that if the 
 race qf big dogs through dissipation became degenerate 
 or extinct, then if the village had no dog large enough to 
 fill the bill, they elected a Jackass Rabbit; because the 
 first qualification for chief of a dog-town is, altitudinal 
 dimensions, so that they will have to look up to him. If 
 that is so, there should be no hesitation to admit that they 
 arc a wise race. Man, himself, could go and learn lessons 
 of wisdom in politics from them; for the Human -rac& 
 have i^no case, excepting that of Saul, selected their head 
 
256 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 man for qualifications that would constrain them to look 
 up to him, either physically, morally or intellectually. 
 However, in one respect they copy remotely the precedent 
 set by the Prairie Dog ; they generally take the animal, 
 minus the rabbit. 
 
 I saw, myself, a Jackass Rabbit, of the largest size, sit- 
 ting on the highest hillock of the town looking as grave 
 and dignified as any .Lord Mayor, and surrounded by the 
 dogs, but whether he was lord paramount and was there 
 officially to receive us and tender us the hospitalities of 
 the town I cannot say, as we very unceremoniously 
 passed by without stopping to ascertain. But there he was 
 sitting up straight and immovable, although the train 
 passed within fifty yards of him. 
 
 The young man said, when a dog-town is governed by 
 a rabbit, they show as much respect and deference to him 
 as if he were a dog. Just as we do, said I, to our Jack. 
 
 This called forth another argument from the young man, 
 to this effect : " I 4 see you don't believe it; yet you believe 
 that a beehive is governed by a queen. Now from what 
 you have seen, to which would you assign the greater in- 
 telligence, to the bee or to the Prairie Dog? As you must 
 to the latter; which then is the greater strain on human 
 credulity, to believe that law reigns in the beehive or in 
 the dog-town ? " Continuing, he said, " 1 tell you these little 
 fellows are almost human. \cu can't find an old ranger 
 of the Plains that will kill one of them, unless forced to 
 it by hunger, though their meat is tender, juicy and de- 
 licious. The tenderness and affection they show to each 
 other, has touched the feelings of these exteriorly rough 
 and seemingly hardened men. You kill or maim one, and 
 instantly the tenants of the burrows sally forth, regardless 
 ol danger, and carry him, home. The old rangers Bay 
 that this shows more than human affection, and that they 
 will not, except in case of necessity, be instrumental in 
 striking down with death the loved ones of such a house- 
 hold and fill it with sorrow and grief." 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 257 
 
 I believe Leckey mentions a general belief that the 
 elephant is a religious being in his native forests; and 
 that it is their custom once a month, on the night of the 
 full moon, to assemble on the banks of a river in South 
 Africa for general worship. The Prairie Dog has a simi- 
 lar custom. On a summer evening, they have either ves- 
 pers or else prayers after their fashion; and on the night 
 of the full moon these services are continued far into the 
 night and with unusual clamor. 
 
 It has not been settled what office the burrowing owl 
 holds in the municipality. Some think it is that ot scav- 
 enger or doctor ; and others say it is that of fool-catcher, 
 ridding the community of pestiferous members. Some 
 again are satisfied his sole occupation is that of snake- 
 killer. If the latter, then he, like our street cleaner, is 
 evidently very remiss in his duty. All, however, are 
 ;agreed that the rattle-snake is an unwelcome intruder, a 
 loafer who insinuates himself where he is not wanted, a 
 regular nuisance that has to be tolerated or worse would 
 ensue. 
 
 The following are the dimensions of the full grown 
 Prairie Dog : 
 
 From the tip of the nose to the root of the tail 13 
 inches; length of vertebrae of tail 25-8 inches; length 
 of tail to tips of hair 3 1-8 inches ; width between the 
 eyes 1 1-2 inches. 
 
 As the body of our "Western fox-squirrel is but 12 
 inches; and that of the Eastern 14 inches, it will be seen, 
 that the Prairie Dog is intermediate in size. His color 
 resembles that of the fox-squirrel, but is more clayish- 
 yellow. On the Plains and ]S"orth, on the Upper Missouri, 
 he hibernates. According to Lieut. Abert, on the frontier 
 of Texas he does not go into winter quarters. 
 
 After the Prairie Dog, the novelty of the snow fence 
 
 attracts attention. The snow fence is placed north or 
 
 northwest of a deep cut some fifty yards distant. Imagine 
 
 ;a plank fence some seven feet high, with a support in- 
 
 17 
 
258 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 clined at an angle of forty-five degrees, and you will have; 
 a tolerably correct idea of the appearance of the snow- 
 fence. The wind in striking it " becomes demoralized" 
 and drops its burthen of snow, instead of carrying it for- 
 ward and, as with malice prepense, blocking up the road in 
 the cut. 
 
 The buffalo trails of former years also present novel 
 features. They lead over the Plains northward as far a& 
 sight can penetrate, perfectly straight. The first impres- 
 sion IB that a furrow had been made by the plow ; and as 
 the young grass in them is of a more vigorous growth 
 than that on the Plains, they appear like a narrow band 
 of deep green stretched over the prairie. 
 
 We saw a number of jackass rabbits and a few antelopes, 
 which fled at our approach. A short distance east of 
 Ogallah there was an immense patch of the beautiful 
 G-aillardia picta, i\\Q first wo had seen on our return. It 
 was a real treat to look at their large purple blooms, 
 fringed with yellow, and it was a relief to the eye to see- 
 something else than the greenish gray buffalo grass and. 
 dull gray Patagonian plaintain. 
 
 A mile west of Ellis there was a large area of prairie 
 freshly broken. A stream of some size from the north, 
 here empties into the Smoky Hill Fork. Ellis is 303- 
 miles west of the State line, that is 581 miles west of St. 
 Louis. 
 
 We here entered into a sirocco that blew a perfect gale 
 from the south. It was so hot that on your hands and 
 cheeks it produced a sensation like that of a sunbeam, and 
 the brass, iron and wood of the seats felt hot to the touch. 
 Our conductor told us that they blew on an average once,, 
 and sometimes twice a week, from the middle of June to 
 the first of September ; that they were from ten to fifty 
 miles wide ; and were invariably the precursor of a storm 
 either there or further down on the Plains. In January, 
 February and during the early part of March, similar cold 
 blasts, called by the railroad men, "Nebraska zephyrs,"" 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 259 
 
 sweep south. As my informant said, "they are keen 
 enough to shave off the hair of a buffalo." 
 
 A few miles east of Hayes we came upon ten buffalo. 
 They first started off in a trot, but as we n cared them, up 
 went their tails and down their heads and they galloped 
 away as far as we saw them with a speed truly sur- 
 prising. The conductor remarked, we will probably 
 soon seea large drove. Before we lost sight of the first 
 we came upon twelve more, who also fled at our approach 
 But a large drove of hundreds soon came in sight; in fact, 
 the Plains as far as we could see were covered with them. 
 The nearest being about two-thirds of a mile off, they 
 kept grazing and paid no attention to us. 
 
 At Fossil, and some distance both east and west, there 
 is a valuable white limestone for building purposes. It is 
 so soft when "green " as to be more easily cut into blocks 
 than wood ; yet when thoroughly dry it becomes so hard 
 and firm that it is said it will bear the weight of the 
 largest structures. 
 
 At Wilson's creek, 1586 feet above tide and 522 miles 
 west of St. Louis, the winter wheat sown late in Novem- 
 ber at the experimental station was nearly ripe. The 
 stand was excellent, hight fine and heads large and well 
 filled, with no signs of rust on the blade. Its yield per 
 acre must fully equal the average of wheat in Missouri 
 and Illinois. The rye was unusually good and fully ripe. 
 Corn and sorghum were dark green and very thrifty; 
 vegetables, such as peas, beans, potatoes, tomatoes, melons, 
 etc., very promising. The nursery seedlings of deciduous 
 trees looked so vigorous and thrifty that there can be no 
 doubt that timber can be grown on the Plains. It was 
 yet too soon to judge whether evergreens, such as pines 
 and spruce, would succeed, though so far they appear to 
 do well. The European larch had also been planted for 
 trial, but like the evergreens, it takes a whole season to 
 determine whether it will succeed. 
 
 In the vicinity of Wilson's some immigrants, who had 
 
260 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 pushed west thus far in advance of the settlements, had 
 broken up some considerable prairie. At Ellsworth the 
 advancing wave of settlement rolling westward meets 
 you. Here is a snug little village of perhaps seventy 
 houses, and considerable land in cultivation. In all di- 
 rections, on the Plains, the cabins of those making home- 
 steads or pre-emption claims could be seen, generally sur- 
 rounded by a new breaking of the prairie sod. The soil 
 is black and very friable, and judging from the growing 
 crops, fertile and productive. I cannot conceive how there 
 can be a lovelier rustic landscape than this must become, 
 when entirely subdued and under cultivation. 
 
 At Brookville, twenty -three miles east of Ellsworth, we 
 met and exchanged civilities with Messrs. Adolphus Meier, 
 0. S. Greeley, and Win. M. McPherson, officers of the 
 road, on a tour of inspection. Brookville, just 200 miles 
 west of the State line, (483 miles from St. Louis,) is a 
 flourishing town for its age. Its elevation is 1250 feet 
 above tide-water, and is situated on a rolling grassy and 
 rich prairie, which is fast settling up. The machine shops 
 of the Kansas Pacific railroad are located here, which 
 have given an impulse to its growth and settlement. 
 
 It was quite dark when we left Salina, where we stop- 
 ped for supper. Before retiring, and while our berths 
 were preparing, I went on the rear platform of the sleep- 
 ing car. I observed that there was a dark bank of clouds 
 lying along the whole western horizon, in which there 
 was an incessant play of vivid lightning. I recalled the 
 prediction of our conductor as forecast from the sirocco. 
 This phenomenon ought to be observed and investigated 
 bv the signal office, as it may involve and unfold an im- 
 portant law of meteorology. 
 
 It will be observed from the distances made that the 
 rate of the trains on this road is only twenty miles an 
 hour. Yet, on the return trip, I found we had to stop 
 once an hour, and oftener, to cool the car boxes by pour- 
 ing water on them to prevent them from taking fire. In 
 
OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUUTAINS. 261 
 
 a conversation with those having charge of the train, they 
 told me the difficulty to a great extent was owing to the 
 meteorologic condition of the weather; and that they 
 were much more troubled with heated boxes before, du- 
 ring and after these siroccos than at any other time; and 
 that they could almost unerringly foretel a sirocco, by ob- 
 serving the temperature of their boxes. If this is so, it 
 will suggest the existence of a new physical law, in the 
 transformation of the cosmical forces, a law more than 
 suspected from other physical facts. 
 
 The storm overtook us at Manhattan and it poured down 
 till near daylight. "We found water standing everywhere, 
 when day met us at Lenape, 22 miles beyond the State 
 line. The creeks were booming, and the culverts at many 
 points of the road were overtaxed and the water threat- 
 ening to break over the road. On the Missouri Pacific, 
 beyond Pleasant Hill, we found a break, wjiich however 
 had nearly been repaired when we got there, and the Blue 
 near by was up to within a few inches of the bridge; and 
 many cornfields were under water. 
 
 The rain had extended to some ten miles below Jeffer- 
 son City, when all traces of it vanished, though a violent 
 wind-storm swept over all Eastern Missouri and Illinois. 
 Around Sedalia, and especially west of it, is a landscape 
 whose conformation and natural features at once remind 
 you of the lovely plains of Kansas. But there is this dif- 
 ference ; every foot of this plain is under cultivation, while 
 in Ilansas they are yet practically in a state of nature. I 
 could, therefore, not refrain from recalling the emotions 
 of admiration and enthusiasm I felt on first beholding the 
 wide expanse and beauty of the undulating plains in Kan- 
 sas. In his course around the earth, the sun does not look 
 upon a lovlier scene than they. Yet here I could see what 
 mighty changes time and art will effect in them. On 
 every knoll stands the ample mansion of the farmer, sur- 
 rounded by shade trees, orchard and vineyards. Here are 
 hedges stretching far away over the plain enclosing fields 
 
262 OVER THE PLAINS AND ON THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 of wheat, rye and barley filled with shocks or already 
 garnered : and there the dark green corn, the meadow and 
 the oat field cover the vast plain as far as the eye can 
 reach; and then yonder again are pastures filled with 
 herds and flocks, a pastoral scene that would tax the pow- 
 ers of a Homer or Yirgil to describe. 
 
 Before another .score of years are numbered with tho 
 past, this picture will have been reproduced on a more 
 western landscape, on the more ample plains of Kansas, 
 improved and embellished by intelligent industry, judi-. 
 cious care and refined taste, in proportion to the vastness 
 of the theater on which it is done. 
 
 After having spent days and weeks upon the treeless 
 and even shrubless plains of Kansas and Colorado; it was 
 quite an agreeable change and a welcome relief on enter- 
 ing Missouri to see again the hills and valleys covered 
 with forests, fields bordered by growing timber, and the 
 expansive cultivated plain interspersed with pleasant 
 groves. 
 
 At 8 o'clock P. M., June 19th, we arrived at home, just 
 forty-six hours from Denver, distance 923 miles. 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Page 34, second line, for "the two best," read "to the best." 
 
 Page 37, fourteenth line, for "mainly" read "namely" 
 
 Page 124, seventh line from bottom, for "bistoria' 1 read "bistorta." 
 
 Page 207, first line, for "Indian' blood-thirsty ness" read Indians in 
 
 blood-thirstiness." 
 Page 208, fifteenth line from tho bottom, for "grounded" read 
 
 11 grouped. " 
 Several minor typographical error? in mia-spelling escaped notice 
 
 nntil too late for correction. As the intelligent reader can correct them, 
 
 it is not necessary to note them. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Leaving St. Louis 6. Arrival at Kansas City 9. Anecdote 9. 
 
 Reception at Atchison 11. Trip to "Waterville 14. Surroundings of 
 
 same 15. General character of landscape 15. Summary of general 
 
 features of landscape, character and quality of soil and sanitary condi- 
 
 ^tion of country passed over 1 7 
 
 CHAPTER H. 
 
 Leavenworth as seen from Military Reservation 20. Railroad bridge 
 across the Missouri 21. Leavenworth as a commercial City 23. Trip 
 to Lawrence 24. Arrival at Lawrence 26. History of Eldridge House 
 26. et seq. 
 
 CHAPTER HI. 
 
 Trip southward 29. Ottawa 30. Flora on route 32. Eli Thayer 33. 
 Coal 33. Lands 34. Return to Lawrence 33. Early settlers and 
 character of the people of Kansas 36. et seq. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Leaving for the Mountains 37. Observations on wheat crop 4(T. 
 New Flora 41. River system of Kansas 42. First Prairie dog village 
 44. Experimental stations of Kansas Pacific R. R. 45. Water supply 
 49. Horned frog and buffalo calf at Fossil 50. Insensate slaughter of 
 buffaloes 50. Building stone 51. Buffalo grass 51. Antelopes and 
 buffaloes 52. Coyete 53. Night closes on the Plains 54. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Return of day 55. First glimpse of the mountains 56. Arrival at 
 Denver 57. Early settlement of why 58. Off for Golden 61. Descrip- 
 tion of 61. Pulpit Rock or Castle Butte 63. Flora found at Golden 
 64. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Morning view from Castle Butte 67. Chimney gUicn 69. Flora in 
 same 70. Ascension of dominating peak 71. View from same 72. 
 Exhilarating effect of an attenuated atmosphere 75. Causes of same 76. 
 
II INDEX. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Return to Denver 7o. Route down the Valley of the Platte 78. 
 Landscape around Evans and Greeley 79. Union colony at Greeley 80. 
 Plains between Greeley and Cheyenne 82. Fantastic forms of erodid 
 rocks 83. Cheyenne 83. Grazing in Wyoming 84. Return to Denver 
 and excursion around vicinity 85. Colorado strawberries 85. Excur- 
 sion to Boulder 86. Coal mines at Erie 80. Road from Erie to Boul- 
 der 87. Reception at Boulder 88 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Scenery around Boulder 90. Excursion up the Canyon 95. Flora in 
 same 96. Grand scenery of 9o. Eagle Clift' 93. Rocky Mountain sheep 
 100. Castle Rock 101. Water grade of Canyon 104. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Trip to Caribou 105. Upper valley of the Boulder 105. Beaver 
 106. New Flora 107. First snow field 108. Mountain storm cloud 
 108. Road up the mountain 108. Cardinal 109. First view of Snowy 
 Range 109. Caribou 110. The first snow bank 111. Prospect holes 
 and mining shafts 111. Evening ramble over the mountain 113. Peak 
 of the Snowy Range 113. Accoustic effect of attenuated atmosphere' 
 114. Effect on brettthing of animals 115. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Morning ramble over the mountains 116. Longcrested Jay 117. 
 Four striped ground squirrel 118. Talk with a miner 118. Caribou 
 Lode 119. Magnetic-iron ore 120. Orderly conduct of the miners 122. 
 Grand Island 122. Metals in the district 122. Woods on fire 123. 
 Another view of Mountain sheep 125. Falls of North Boulder 126. 
 Singular conduct of a Rocky Mountain bliu* bird 127. Return to Boul- 
 der 128. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Morning ramble 123. Apostrophe to the Waters 130. Photograph 
 stones 130. Explanation of them 135. Visit to Marshall's coal mines 
 on South Boulder 134. Extent of coal 134. Irrigation 135. Advan- 
 tages of 137. Agricultural effects of 13G. Grasshoppers 136. Excel- 
 lence of flour 138. Crystalized soda incrusting soil 138. Premium: 
 awards for field productions 139. Extent of Arable land in Platte Valley 
 and affluents 140. Desirable grazing region 140. Arable and grazing; 
 land on the Mountains 141. 
 
IXDEX. ni : 
 
 CHAPTER XIL 
 
 Colonial schemes in Colorado 143. Difficulties suggested 144. 
 Drawbacks even in mining towns 145. Greensborough colony 147. 
 Col. "Wuesten's German Colony 148. Mountain ranches product of 
 149. Chicago Colorado Colony 149. Climate of Colorado not deter- 
 minable by empiric laws 150. Sanitary condition of Colorado 152. 
 Par excellence the climate for invalids 150. Directions and warnings- 
 to consumptives 154. 
 
 CHAPTER Xin. 
 
 Inevitable hardships and privations in forming new settlements 156. 
 "Where immigration in Colorado goes 157. The mountains not a barren 
 waste 157. Climate on lower Plains severer than at base of the moun- 
 tains 159. Proposition of irrigating canal from Platte canyon eastward 
 ever the Plains 160. Advice to emigrants 161. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Different orders of plants demand different kinds of food 163. Diffi- 
 culty of keeping a supply of plant food in the soil 164. How fertility 
 is spread 165. Irrigation in the Orient, etc., 166. System carried to 
 America 167. Products of vegetation 167. Estimated amount of plant 
 food carried on and deposited in the soil by irrigation 168. The prob- 
 lem of perfect manure solved 169. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Middle Park 170. Mecca for invalids 170. Precious metals in 171. 
 Flexure of Snowy Range enclosing it 171. Pertains to Pacific slope 
 172. Elevation above tide 172. Surface and vegetation of 173. Con- 
 templated railroads through 174. Agricultural adaptations of 174. 
 Grand Lake 174. Coal beds in 175. Precious stones 175. Sulphur 
 springs 176. Eroded stone monuments 176. Passes over the Range 
 leading into it 177. Area of three northern parks 178. Upper basia 
 of the Arkansas 178. San Luis Park 179. Lake Saguache, singular 
 phenomenon in 179. Singular facts about harvest 181. Public land 
 in San Luis Park 182. Review of attractions and inducements to all 
 iclasses of tourists 184. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Difference between views, vistas and sights stated 187. Difference 
 between works of Nature and of Man 189. Contract between the 
 Yosemite and Boulder Canyon 190. Vist>is and views in the mountains 
 192. Top of Mount Lincoln 195. Lakes 197. The Divide 197. Mon* 
 ument Creek 198. Gardens of the Gods 199. 
 
IT INDEX. 
 
 CHAPTER XVH. 
 
 History of Colorado 201. Peoples Courts 202. Party divisions when 
 the Rebellion broke out 203. The Colorado side of the Sand Creek 
 affair 205. Indian insolence punished 207. The heroes of the Moun- 
 tains 208. Col. Pfeifer 209. Ruins and their traditions 211. Mountain 
 Jim 214. Indian history of 215. Advent of the white man 216. Con- 
 trast between civilization and barbarism 216. Cause of Indian troubles 
 217. Where the responsibility lies 219. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Mining in Colorado 221. Cause of early failures 222. Disastrous 
 experiments 224, Who responsible for them 225. Products of mines 
 226. Rusty gold 227. Waste of stamp-mills 228* Success of smelting 
 works 229. Investments in mining recommended and advise how to do 
 "it 230. English capitalists, their proceedings and opinions about 
 Colorado 231. Why formerly so many failures 232. Shameless 
 swindles 235. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Skylark 239. Leaving for home, haze on Plains 240. Denotes electric 
 disturbances Ib. Produces the phenomenon of mirage 241. On board 
 the car* 242. Last look at the Mountains Ib. Farewell to them 248 to 
 248. Arrival and departure from Denver 249. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Rains at Kit Carson in Eastern Colorado 250. Pond Creek experi- 
 mental station Ib. Buffalo trails on Plains 251. The Prairie dog 252 
 to 256. Snow fences 256. Siroccos in Summer and " Nebraska zeph- 
 yrs" in Winter on the Plains 258. Herds of Buffalo 259. Night storin 
 of rain 261. Arrival at home 262. 
 
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