:.J,. ^^ t NEW COLORADO AMI THE SA.ISrT^ FE TR^TL, L MAP OF PORTIONS OF COLORADO AXD NKW MEXICO. NEW COLOEADO AND THE SANTA FE TEAIL BY A. A. HAYES, Jr., A.M. FELLOW OF THK AMKRICAN GEOCiUAPHlCAL SOCIKTY AND THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SiJClLTY UF LONDON ILLUHTllA TED LONDON r. KEG AN PAUL .t CO., I PATERNOSTER SQUARE 1881 ( The rights of translation and of ii'/io.luciion arc reserved) T7^l Hi TO THE COLORADO PIONEEHS WHO SHOWKI) THEIR FAITH IN THE FUTURE OF THEIR MOUNTAIN HOME BY THEIR ENERGY IN DEVELoriNG ITS RESOURCES, AND THUS CONCLUSIVELY PROVED THAT ALL THE WISE MEN DO NOT COME FROM THE EAST Sljls Book is JHcliicatcb bji THE AUTHOR /V1773175 PBEFACE. rpHE extraordinary development of the mineral resources of Colorado during the last three years has not only excited great interest throughout the country, and caused hundreds and thousands of persons to journey thither, but it has also rendered most of the books useless which have been previously written about that region. This volume may therefore be held to supply a manifest need. The facts given have been carefully verified ; but discoveries and developments progress with such marvellous rapidity in the Far West, that he would be indeed a bold man who could claim that any descriptions would long hold good. It is hardly necessary to add that the book has been written from an absolutely independent point of view, and with a sincere intention of stating things as they are, rather than to suit special interests, or to meet the precon- ceived notions or the " requirements " of any portion of the public. It is entirely natural that men should fiercely champion and loudly exalt the particular points where it has been their lot to fight for fortune or exist- ence, but an entire sympathy with each and all is not inconsistent with a judicial balancing of their claims. It will be seen that no extended or elaborate account is given of the mines and mining operations, which make up, in the eyes of many people, the sole attraction of Colorado and the adjacent regions. It would have been foolish, for several obvious reasons, to attempt anything of the kind in a book like this. 10 PKHFACE. It would have bfcn proper to f^:\y more about tho burning " Indian question ;" but a suitable di^Kiuisition thereon would have not only outrun the limits of the book, but cast a sombre tinge over it. It is a wonder that people who profess to regulate their individual lires on the principle of there Ix-ing a certain and incxoralile retribution for wickedness, will not comprehend that they share the responsibility of their country for its shameful, infamous wrong-doing in this regard. Much can be said in jtistification of the residents of the West in their hatred of the Indian, and th«^ evil lies far back of them. The United States are clearly convicted of the acts of cruelty, perfidy, and dishonour which have had their logical sequence in the smoke and flame of burning houses, and the shrieks of murdered women and children, which have gone up, year after year, on the frontier. Individuals who are guilty of such crimes are warned to expect a "judgment" on them. If ever an aggregation of individuals, called a nation, was in danger of such retribution, the United States are so to-day. The Colorado hereinafter described is " New," because it differs as widelv from the one depicted by Bayard Taj'lor, Ludlow, and Bowles, as does the North America of Mrs. Trollope and Captain Marryat from the one portrayed in Count de Lessep's flowery and diplomatic speeches after his return to Europe. Its renaissance dates but about two years back. In the portion of the book relating to the Santa Fe Trail only brief allusion is made to subjects which cannot fail to afford a rich field for the antiquarian. The citizens of Kansas claim that Coronado visited a por- tion of what is now their State, and they have tried to name a county for him. After diligent research, resumed in the West since the article was written, the aiithor can find no authentic record of any travel over that region during the two hundred and sixty-four years which elapsed between Coronado's supposed eastward and Pike's westward journeys, PEEFACE. 1 1 although it is reported that a Spanish expedition against the Indians was in the Arkansas valley in 1745. There were Jesuit missionaries at Kaskas- kiainl695; and it would be most interesting to establish the fact that they had overland communication, even ninety or a hundred years later, with the priests of their Church in New Mexico. The doings of the Colorado troops in 1862 were narrated for the first time in detail in the TntematioTial Review, and the account has since been fully confirmed by the highest military authority. It is now given in per- manent form, as a contribution to the history of the country. In the protracted personal researches upon which what is here written is founded, the author has met with the most valuable and willing assist- ance, and the kindest hospitality from all with whom he has been thrown ; and he would fain hope that what has been so grateful and agreeable to him may in some degree inure to the pleasure and benefit of the public. CONTENTS CHAPTER I. Introductory 17 CHAPTER II. The Journet to Pueblo and Uncle Pete's Ranch 22 CHAPTER III. The Cattle Ranches 35 CHAPTER IV. El Paso County and Colorado Springs 51 CHAPTER V. The Shepherds of the Plain 64 CHAPTER VI. Grub-stakes anj) Millions 79 CHAPTER VII. The Honest Miners of Lkapvti.tk 94 CHAPTER VIII. The Tourist 109 CHAPTER IX. Over the Rajs'ge 120 CHAPTER X. The Santa Fe Trail 133 CHAPTER XI. The Santa Fe TRXu.— ContinncfJ 147 1 1- CONTENTS. CllAPTER XII. TACK An Inwuitten Episode of the Late Wau IGO CIIAPTEK XIII. 'Voi.u AT TiUNinAP 174 CHAPTER XIV. The IIealtii-seeker 180 CHAPTER XV. Itineuauy, and Suggestions fok the Traveller 197 ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGK Map Frontispiece The BiiiTos 23 " An' when the Feller Jumped Up " 24 The Old and New in Puehlo 26 La Maquiua de San Carlos 28 Uncle Pete's House 30 Old Autonio 32 '•A Spanish Air" 33 A "Round Up '\.-. 37 Crossing the Huerfano 39 "Cutting Out" 40 Branding a Calf 41 Cattle going to Water 47 Three Days Later from Puehlo 48 Rocky Mountain Specimens 50 El Paso Club-room 53 Moving the Capital 55 Under the Rose 56 Flock on Austin's Blufifs 57 Township Map 59 Off for the Range 61 The Tragedy of the Big Corral 62 Shearing 63 The Prairie Post-office 65 Supper with the Herder 66 Morning at the Ranch 67 Counting the Sheep 68 PAGE The Sleepy Store -keeper of Bijou Ba- nn 69 Milor in Flush Times 76 Sheriff's Sale 78 Grub-stakes and Millions 79 Rosita 84 The Colonel Investigates thu Humboldt. 87 Hungry Gulch 88 Mining at Silver Cliff' 89 Sunday Evening at the Varieties 91 Freighting on Mosquito Pass 96 " Round one of them ' Cute ' Curves "... 98 Residence at Leadville 100 A Wall Street Man's Experience in Lead- ville 102 Suburban Scene, Leadville 103 Leadville Graveyard 104 Manitou— Pike's Peak 110 An Illustrative Poem 112 The Missionary of Micronesia 113 Grand Canon of the Arkansas 115 " Stranger, do you Irrigate?" 120 Camping Out 122 Expedition of the Commodore and Mon- tezuma 124 The Special Agent's Work 126 Mountain of the Holy Cross 127 IG Il.l.rSTl>'ATIO\; Ktikonio l~y Spanish IVaks 1:52 Alva Nunez Cabczn Do Vaca orossinjj the Great American Desert 134 Prairie Schooners at the Dock 137 Entrance of the Caravan into Santa IV. 139 Snddcn Attack hy Indians 141 The Don 143 Kearny's SoUliers Crossing the Range... 14H First Store in Lakin 151 Road Agents at Work 154 The Captnred Road Agents 1 57 :^E^Y COLOEADO THE SANTA FE TRAIL. CHAPTEE I. NTRODUCTORY. " T ET every man," saitli the Apostle, " be fully persuaded in his own -L' mind." He may go across the Atlantic ; endure that most trying of all short civilized journeys, the transit from London to Paris ; spend a night, uncheered by Pullman, between Paris and Bordeaux ; traverse the gloomy Landes ; walk under a white umbrella through the not always odoriferous streets of Pan ; and, finally, indulge in orthodox emotions at the orthodox glimpse of the Pyrenees from the Place Royale. His neigh- bor, again, may enter a car, fitted with every comfort, at E"ew York or Boston ; travel westward by the Mohawk Valley and the shores of the Great Lakes ; or across the Alleghanies, and some of those States once Western, now Central ; visit several growing, aggressive cities ; cross the Mississippi and the Missouri ; and then, leaving the shores of the latter one forenoon, raise the curtains of the hotel windows at Denver the next afternoon, and see the Snowy Range lifting itself in regal grandeur from Long's Peak on the north, to Pike's on the south. Then, still in compar- ative comfort, and without undue exertion or fatigue, he can approach Wahatoya, the beautiful Spanish Peaks; view a sunset on the solemn Sangre de Cristo ; and, crossing the great Cordilleras, or climbing Gray's Peak, see the eternal sign of the Holy Cross on that wondrous moimtain away beyond. Each would state a strong case. The former would exalt the delights of a visit to the Old World, of historical associations, of living for awhile on a soil every inch of which has a vivid human interest ; nay even, if he 2 /if IS Ni:\V COLOKADO AM) TlIi; SANTA IE TKAIL. l>e c;inu m:\V (Ol.ol.'ADO AM) llli: SANTA VE TIJAIL. j)orts spread al>n>:ul tliat aiiotlRT I'actolus was stivaniiiii;- down the canons of the Rocky Mountains — or, if one may use that other name, so appropri- ate and mehulious — the Sierra Madre. The re^doii was soutli of tlie California route, and took its name from tlie nohU" mountain discovered hy Pike; since this, although perhaps a hundred mih's from the place of the earliest findings, was the notable landmark in that direction. Tiiither was no long sea route, no Nicai-agua transit, no royal road whatever. For the millionnaire and the tramp alike, stretched the California trail to a point some eighty miles beyond the junction of the North and South Platte, and thence a trackless waste up to the base of the llange. For both, too, after they had turned their steps to the south-wcji, was displayed that view of the monntains of which as experienced a traveller as Bayard Taylor said, " In variety and harmony of form, in effect against the dark blue sky, in breadth and grandeur, I know of no external picture of the Alps which can be placed beside it. If you could take away the valley of the Rhone and unite the Alps of Savoy with the Dernese Oberland, you might obtain a tolerable idea of this view of the Itocky IMountains. Pike's Peak would then represent the Jung- f ran : a nameless snowy giant in front of you, Monte Rosa ; and Long's Peak, Mont Rlanc." Nor did travel groAV safer and more comfortable, although it was of course more speedy, as time went on ; and until, in 1870, the Kansas Pacific Railroad from the Missouri River, and the Denver Pacific from the trans -continental line at Cheyenne, reached their objective point. The Indians, who, of all people in the world, are no respecters of persons, were far more troublesome and dangerous in 1864 tlian previously, and the writer has seen a curious sight in the file of a Denver daily paper for that year; its size and the material on which it was printed gradually deteriorating, as the red man cut off or delayed train after train, until a diminutive sheet of pink tissue-paper represented the press of Colorado. The graders and track-layers often had to fight their way, and there is a tradition current of an attempt to stop an express train. It is understood that a lariat was stretched across the track, breast high, and held by some thirty braves on each side; but, says the narrator, " When the engineer fust see it, he didn't knoAV what on airth wuz the matter; but in a minute more he bust out laughin', and he ketched hold of that throttle, an' he opened her out ; an' he struck that there lariat agoin' about forty mile an hour, an' he jest i)iled them braves up ever- lastin' permiscuous, yo?^ letT'' One mav readily believe that to face the dangers and hardships of IiNTRODUCTOKY. 21 tliis journey, on the chance of finding gold, required men ot no ordinary stamp, and yet but few even of them passed through the crucible of the early years of disappointment, loss, and homesickness. After the first rush very many jDersons returned home ; " gulches " be- gan to prove unprofitable, and ores refractory ; and the rash speculation of war days culminated in a panic which gave the State a bad name for years. There was hardly any farming in the early times ; there were ter- rible grasshopper seasons before 1876 ; and in 1878 but 2U0,000 acres were ofiicially rejjorted as taxable. Even stock-raising has grown to its present dimensions quite recently, and it is clear that it is, in the main, by her mines that Colorado must sink or swim. IS^ow that she is buoyant, those men have found their account who, without the varied resources which have given San Francisco some twelve times the present popula- tion of their saucy little Denver, have clung through all vicissitudes to their mountain State ; and they may be studied to-day with interest and profit. That the case of the mountains is made out in these pages, the writer is far from claiming. He would prefer to trust it to the advocacy of tlie mighty works of Nature themselves, and of that quality in their local par- tisans which Mr. Ruskin emphatically ascribes to the hill-dweller — "im- aginative energy." If the nomadic reader do not return from a tri]) to this region with an increased admiration for our country, it will assuredly not be the fault of the mountaineers of the Sierra Madre. NEW COLOKADO AND 11 IK SANTA TE TKAIL. CIIAPTEH IL TIIK .TOrRNEY TO rUBlJLO AND UNCLE PETE'S RANCH. ^I^lIE travrllcr wlio journeys westward in our favored land slioiild make J- up liis iiiind to acce])t witliout demur siicli military or judicial raidc and title as may be conferred iii)on liim. lie may be quite sure, too, that when his brevet has once been settled west of the Missouri by proper au- thority, it will clini!; to him as long as he remains in that region. "I don't half like," once remarked a Scotch fellow-traveller of the writer, to a friendly group at Denver, " the promotion backwar-r-d wliicli 1 receive. East of Chicago 1 was Colonel; at Chicago I was Major; at Omaha a man called me Captain, and offered me dinner for thir-r-ty- live cents!'' One of the group, after a careful survey of the face and figure before him, the kindly yet keen expression, and the iron-gray whiskers, replied: '' You ain't Colonel A^iith a cent. I allow that you're Jedge P'' And " Jedgc" he was from that time forth. Nobody called him any- thing else.. Newly made acquaintances, landlords, stage-drivers, conduct- oi-s, all used this title, until his companions began to feel as if they had known him all his life in that capacity. So when, a short time since, an "honest miner," with whom the writer was conversing amicably at Kansas City, remarked, " Wa'al, Colonel, I al- low that when you git out there on the range in Color^ydo, you'll say it's a white man's country," the person addressed well knew that his rank was finally settled. So the " Colonel," who might be called unattached, liaving no regiment and no staff, but having what was far better for his peaceful and descriptive purposes, the companionship of an artist coad- jutor whose nautical achievements had gained for him among his friends the distinguished naval sobriquet of " Commodore," settled himself in his scat, and was whirled off in the direction of the "white man's country." It must not be hastily ;ussumed that when one uses this expression in the "West he has the sentiments of certain campaign orators at heart, and means that the country must belong to a white man, rather than a black, or even a red man. It is ratlier a condensation of the popular West- ern phrase, " Fit for a white man to live in." AVith this requirement in view, does Colorado "fill the bill r That is what we were going to try to find out ; and of all the phases of life in this presumedly "white man's country," the herd- ing and breeding of cat- tle easily commanded our attention at the outset. What this is in theory we all know, the primi- tive scriptural occupa- tion, the grand, free, in- dependent, health - giv- ing, out-of-door exist- ence, the praises of which have been sung through all ages. To how many pale, thin, hard-working city dwell- m:\v colok.vdu and tui: santa fe tkail. (loos tlie tliou: sight of the miglity nionnt- ain^ bring strange- ly vivid emotions and longings! And Avhcn one goes out to put the matter to the test, these emotions are all quite legitimate, and will do him no harm if he allow not their in- dulgence to abate in liim one whit of a truly Gradgrind-like demand for Facts. " Xow there's some fulks," once said an old plainsman, " who complain THE JOURNEY TO PUEBLO AND UNCLE PETE'S KANCH. 25 of a trip across tlie country in a Pullman car. I wonder what they'd 'a said if they'd had to ride in a bull team, or drag a hand-cart all the way !" No more striking contrast, indeed, can anywhere be found than be- tween old times and new on the plains, and lie can hardly be a traveller worthy of the name who does not derive great enjoyment from his jour- ney from the Missouri to the mountains in these days of comfort and convenience. Aside from all matters of external interest, there is that pleasant association between the passengers such as one finds on an ocean steamer, and the types of character are even more original and striking. It was a person of a rare and quaint humor who fraternized with us in the smoking compartment one pleasant evening, and it was no small addi- tion to our enjoyment to hear him laugh heartily at his own narratives, lie had been travelling on a line where there was great competition, and tlie rates had been reduced from eight dollars and a half to fifty cents, the curious expedient being adopted of charging the full fare, and then re- turning the eight dollars at the end of the journey. " I've heerd of hacJc pay before," said he, " but I never got any until I fell into line at the ticket ofiice. Did ye get yours V he asked of the Commodore. " What, no ? Ye bought a ticket, an' give it up, an' took a check ? Wa'al, you did just everlastingly give yourself away. But ye warn't so bad as a feller that come on the train with a pass. An' when the conductor see it, he said it warn't no use, an' he'd just trouble liira for nine dollars. An' when the feller jumped up, just like this, an' got the light on the pass, an' see it was the opposition road, he was the wust beat feller you ever see !" Thus it was that we beguiled the way until the mountains took shape in the hazy distance — the famed Spanish Peaks on the south, the " Green- horn" range almost in front, and stern old Pike's Peak on the north — and the train rolled into Pueblo. When local parlance is thus adopted, and local appellations thus used, it is done under mental protest, and with a strong sense of their entire unfitness. The Spanish-speaking people who dwelt here, and the far-famed old Chevalier St. Vrain and his French hunters and trappers, who traversed the plains and the foot-hills, gave names to the mountains and streams which were as appropriate and melo- dious as those of the Indians before them. About mines, telegraphs, and railroads, however, there is nothing of the oesthetic ; and it has remained for the progressive Anglo-Saxon to repudiate La Fontaine qui bouille, Sierra Mojada, and Uncompahgre, and introduce Ilardscrabble and the Greenhorn. Now the Colonel and the Commodore had been thinking about those old times, and repeating the old names with correct emphasis, 2G NEW COLORADO AND THE SANTA FE TRAIL. and giving a foreign sound to their vowels, so that it was a shock to them when tlie porter called out, " Pew-eb-lo !" Not Kit Carson, or old "William Bent, or tlie Chevalier St. Vi-ain him- self, however, could have had a warmer welcome ready for us than did our friend Major Stanton, who met us on the platform, and whose intel- ligent guidance and kind attentions would have made us i)leasui'ably re- member a far less enterprising and progressive town than Pueblo, which THE OLD AND NEW IN PUEBLO. may be called the emporium of the cattle trade of Southern Colorado. It is still young, and its growth was retarded by " the panic ;" but it is now getting its full share of the prosperity which has come to the Centennial State, and the twenty-five people who were there in 1865 have grown to between six and seven thousand. It has two daily papers, two railroad depots, two national banks, with goodly lists of stock-raising depositors, and two school-houses in juxtaposition, a sketch of which will give a good idea of the old and the new in Pueblo. Like many other AYestern settle- ments, it has had, too, its baptism of blood. It was a trading post of stout old William Bent, and became other than this only in 1858, when the gold excitement began, and " Pike's Peak or Bust " was the motto painted on the canvas cover of each prairie schooner, or emigrant wagon. One may still see, near the handsome stone station of the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Eailroad, the remains of the old fort into which, when, on Clu-istmas-day, 1851, the residents, thoughtless of danger, were gathered around the fire and enjoying the festive season, the lite Indians broke, with brandished tomahawks and wild war-cries, and massacred nearly all. THE JOURNEY TO PUEBLO AND UNCLE PETE'S KANCH. 27 Throiigliout the region of country tributary to Pueblo — where are found, besides the nutritious grasses and running streams, which are indis- pensable, a genial climate and mild winters — are scattered cattle ranches, great and small, including the immense Craig property, often mentioned in Eastern papers, and of which more anon. It was to " Uncle Pete Dot- son's," situated about thirty miles south-west from the town, and close to the Greenli — no, the Sierra Mojada, or Wet Mountain range, that we were bound. Preparations had been made for the trip, and all would doubt- less have gone well but for an unconquerable propensity on the part of the Commodore to attempt to conform in a feeble and uninstructed way to the customs of the country. He had already purchased an enormous and most unbecoming hat, and then happily proceeded to lose it, much to the satisfaction of his friends. Kow he was possessed of a desire to con- tinue his pilgrimage on the back of an animal known in Colorado as a hurro, and in other lands as a Jerusalem pony, or small donkey. . Now the burro has doubtless his place in the economy of nature, but it is in a sphere hitherto undiscovered by the present writer. Useful he may pos- sibly be ; ornamental he certainly is not ; ugly and obstreperous and un- manageable he most certainly is. In the words of the old song, " our sor- rows did begin" when the Commodore insisted on having one, and on the Colonel's doing the same. In vain did the latter plead that no more ridiculous sight could be found east of the mountains than his tall form, clad in the garments of civilization, mounted on this diminutive brute. He pointed out with eloquence that he had always maintained a fair repu- tation for dignity ; that Pueblo was on one of the roads from New York to Denver, and that some one from home might see him ; nay, even that he had a wife and family. The Commodore was inexorable, and fell back on that unansweraljle plea that "his 'pard' must not go back on him." Two of the atrocious animals were thereupon procured, and the pair mounted — one jubilant, the other inwardly raging. The Commodore thought it a most comfortable and convenient mode of progression, and said that by holding umbrellas over our heads we might ride all the way to Uncle Pete's, to which conclusion the Colonel owed a speedy though short-lived triumph. Our good friend and entertainer, with a nice sense of the fitness of things, had provided for the journey a convenient vehicle, with a basket under the seat, and two fine horses in front — such an equi- page, indeed, as would befit travellers of dignity and refinement. And among the almost human attributes of that noble animal the horse is a dislike for burros, amounting to a positive hatred, and an utter unwilling- ness to associate with them, or remain in their presence. Starting to meet 28 NEW COLOKADO AND THE SANTA EE TKAIL. our friend and sii<;d()re turned a corner sud- denly, followed hy the Colonel, and met the Avat^on. The liorses reared and })luno;ed, the Commodore's burro balked, the ( Colonel's wheeled around, the two came in collision, and, in fact, just that hai)pened which was needed to evolve from the depth of the Commodore's mind the conviction that our dilnt as Imrro-riders had been ill-timed. It was Lis face tliat was sour, and the Colonel's that was radiant, as we took our seats in the covered wa£»-on, and ascended the hill in South Pueblo. THE JOURNEY TO PUEBLO AND UNCLE PETE'S EANCH. 29 Thence we drove out over the great plain, the excellent road being a strip from which the grass had been worn away, and which was probably marked out originally by two furrows cut with a common plough, or even by a wagon track. East and north the prairie grass stretched to the ho- rizon. South was a mesa^ or high table -land, and, dimly visible many miles away, Wahatoya, the two Spanish Peaks. West, loomed up, nearer and nearer, the Sierra Mojada, over which dense clouds were gathering, while the rest of the sky was beautifully blue. Little whirlwinds of dust, forming slender spiral columns, were seen on the distant prairie, and birds flew fearlessly near us. From the mountains near by flows out the San Carlos, or St. Charles, Creek, running in a northeasterly dn-ection to the Arkansas Kiver, and its course was made visible as we approached it by the fringes of cottonwood trees. After what seemed a long drive, we turned to the west, up the " Great iVrroya '' — a sterile valley, with pinons, or scrub pines, and dwarfed cedars clinging to its slopes — and traversed it as far as the crossing of the St. Charles, passing on the way an eagle's nest on a rocky ledge, and a Mexican, herder keeping his lonely watch over a large flock of sheep. Just at the crossing, and where the creek forces its way through a cleft in the rocks, stood a substantial grist-mill — La Ma- quina de San Carlos. Stopping here to give our horses rest, and to in- vestigate the contents of the basket under the seat, we read on the locked door of the mill various uncomplimentary allusions to the absence of the miller when loads of grain had been l)r()Uglit thither from points far away on the "Muddy," or the melodiously named Huerfano. One individual had broken into verse, and written as follows : "Where, oil, ■nhero did tlie miller go, And leave to us no sign or trace? The ne.xt time to mill we must go, We will go to some other place." Knowing something of the varied and engrossing occupations of the miller, who was no other than our expectant host, ITncle Pete, the writer could fancy him replying to the complainants as did once a Vermont ex- pressman to the summer residents who told him that they had been time and time again to his office without finding him. Laconically said he, " Don't calkilate to be there mucliP Now the valley lay behind us, and the foot-hills began to shut out the range ; but Pike's Peak, sixty miles off, loomed up as grandly as ever. Eight miles more were traversed, and then we turned into a great farm- yard, or corral, and stopped at a rustic stile. In a few moments Uncle 30 NEW COLORADO AND THE SANTA FE TRAIL. Fete Dotson came np tlic patli from tlio lioiise, and ii^avc lis a cordial greeting. Al)Oiit a quarter t)f a century ago this gi-ay - bearded veteran, then a hale and vigorous West-Virginian, started to drive cattle to California, st(>i>ped at Salt Lake, became the United States Marshal for the Territory, and was there when Brigham Young was in his glory, and Albert Sidney Johnston M'intered in the snow. "lie left with the troops in 1850," said Mrs. Dotson (a brave, patient woman, who has shared his fortunes, good and bad, and crossed the plains at least once by herself), " and came to Denver watli a train in ISO 1. Next year we came to the Big Thompson ; then we went to the Greenhorn, and TNCI.K PETE S HOUSE. farmed ; then we kept a hotel in Pueblo. In 1864: we were 'washed out' by the Fountain [Fontaine qui Bouille]. A boy rode down on a horse without saddle or bridle, only a rope in his mouth, and gave me fifteen minutes' warning. I was sick in bed, but I took the children and ran. Then we went to the Muddy and lived, and the Indians nsed to come and visit us ; but we were washed out there too. And then, in 18G5, we took up this place." Uncle Pete had evidently made good use of his knowdedge and expe- rience in the choice of his ranch. His domain embraced 9000 acres, 5000 of which were arable land. The ground sloped gradually from the foot of the range, and the whole of his possessions were under his own eye. In a large barn-yard were great granaries and a fine stone stable, whicli would not be amiss in any city in the United States ; and at varying dis- tances on the gentle slope could be seen the little cabins of the tenants, THE JOURNEY TO PUEBLO AND UNCLE PETE'S EANCII. 31 -who cultivated parts of the land " on sliares ;" for it must be understood that this estate was not only a cattle ranch, but also a great faiTQ. There is no doubt that nearly every one who visits this region for the first time, even if partially informed about it beforehand, is grievously dis- appointed at the arid aspect of the plains, and finds it hard to believe in the power of that great beneficent agent. Water, which can make every inch of these table-lands and valleys, or the sage-brush wastes of the Hum- boldt region, or the Egyptian desert itself, literally " blossom like the rose." This is a comparatively rainless area, the " barren and dry land, where no water is," of the Psalmist ; and yet a means has been found not only of supplying the place of the rains of heaven, but also of making such sup- ply constant and regular. An intelligent and experienced writer says: '' Irrigation is simply scientific farming. The tiller of the soil is not left at the mercy of fortuitous rains. Ilis capital and labor are not risked upon an adventure. He can plan with all the certainty and confidence of a mechanic. He is a chemist whose laboratory is a certain area of land ; ev- erything but the water is at liand — the bright sun, the potash, and other mineral ingredients (not washed out of the soil by centuries of rain). His climate secures him always from an excess of moisture, and what nature fails to yield, greater or less, according to the season, the farmer supplies from his irrigating canal, and with it he introduces, without other labor, the most valuable fertilizing ingredients, with which the water, in its course through the mountains, has become charged." Water is thus both for the farmer and the herder — and the ranchman, who is often both farmer and herder — the sine qua no7i, the prime neces- sity ; and just here did one see how well Uncle Pete liad chosen his situa- tion. He had nine miles of water frontage on the St Charles Creek, and the same on the Muddy. Just where the former comes out of the Wet Mountain range, and where no one could take water above him, he had tajiped it for his broad irrigating ditch, which, after a tortuous course through the estate, empties again into the stream from which it came, not a drop of its precious contents being thus M'asted. Along the upper side of the fields lying on this gentle slope, before described, run smaller ditch- es. Then during the season does the skilful Mexican laborer dig little cluumels leading down through these fields, and, making little dams for the purpose, turn the water into them. The result is simple ; Uncle Pete has raised 10,000 bushels of wheat, 6000 of oats, and 2000 of corn, and had a market for the whole on the spot, it being one of the charms of Colo- rado farming that the "honest miner" is both hungry and liberal, and that tlie farm produce has ready buyers. Suppose, however, that for our ?.2 NEW COLORADO AND TlIK SA>;TA FE TKAIL. |)rosent purpose wc cull fanuiup; a side issue, aud come to the cattle wliicli tills ranch wuuUl sui)p(>rt all the year round. It is said that when Ken- tuck v cattle nu-n, frcsli tVoiii the '* JMue-ii^rass Ke'-'ion," see the plains, they il.I) ANTONIO. are entirely incredulous as to their fitness for stock ; hut the experienced stockman smiles, well knowing that the nutritious qualities of the grass are simply unsurpassed, and that the food for liis cattle for the whole year is THE JOURNEY TO PUEBLO AND UNCLE PETE'S RANCH. 33 ready at a minimum of cost. For their water, again, a splendid creek frontage like Uncle Pete's would more tlian amply provide. But to procure all this information we did not wait supper, after our long drive. It was served in a quaint dining-room, once constructed for the giving of Mexican fandangoes, but now forming part of the curi- ous composite structure in which Uncle Pete, his family, friends, and nu- merous visitors found accommodation. In the old adobe fireplace, con- A SPANISH AIR," structed by Mexican women, the sticks of firewood were placed on end, and in the figure standing alongside of it, with his dog at his feet, our readers should thank us for introducing old Antonio Lopez — a grand specimen of a class now rapidly disappearing. He was a most striking character : hair and mustaches nearly white, complexion deeply browned, about sixty years of age, and dressed in overalls of colored duck, with broad Mexican sombrero of black felt, its binding and tassels of silver braid. His pistols were in his holster, and his old-fashioned St. Louis rifle leaned against the wall. Antonio came from Mexico years ago, and fought a long while with the Indians, who gave him the many scars which 34 NEW COLORADO AND THE SANTA FE TliAIL. lie carried, rnfitted ft»r hard manual labor, lie caine to Uncle Pete as a hunter, and rendered liim service in many ways. "Let me put you in his charge to go into the mountains," said his em- ployer, "and I could sleep soundly enough. lie would be killed a dozen times before he would let you be insulted or hurt." And he looked it. After supper came an iiisthetic phase of the ranchman's life, which ap- pcuied to the sympathies of the Connuodore. Coming in from the star- light, taking his scat on the vine-clad piazza, and feeling the mild evening air blowing in through the open lattice, and bringing with it the scent of the ilowers, he heard the tones of a guitar, and the voice of one of the gentle and cultured daughters of the house raised in charming Mexican folk-songs in three-quarter time. Soon he forgot all about the burros, and was fancying himself under some window in Seville, and perhaps listening for the rustle of a mantilla above, Avhen Uncle Pete suggested that if he were going to go into the stock business bright and early in the morning, it might be as well to go to bed. He M'ent to sleep in a room with both doors and windows open to the night air of this peaceful region. And when they called him in the morn- ing, he was heard to murnmr : " Hold on to those horses. Major ! Con- found this burro, I'll be the death of him ! W/ioa, you — !" and then he rubbed his eyes and started up. THE CATTLE RANCHES. 35 CHAPTER III. THE CATTLE RANCHES. SPACE will not permit a detailed description of the pleasures of life at and about Uncle Pete's : walks up the picturesque canon ; trips, un- der Antonio's watchful care, for some distance mto the mountains ; rides on some of the many fine horses always ready for the saddle ; and con- stant study of the minutiae of this great and interesting industry of stock- raising. It IS carried on, as must be generally known, from Texas to a region considerably north of the Union Pacific Railway, and great herds pass from the Lone Star State through Kansas, and up to the great iron roads running east and west. In Kew Mexico, in Southern Colorado, on the Arkansas and its tributaries — the Fountain, the St Charles, the Mud- dy, the Cucharas, the Huerfano, and others — in the great parks over across the range, and over the plains in Colorado, Nebraska, and Wyoming, the herds roam, and the rancheros ride. Between Denver and Julesburg, on the Union Pacific Railroad, lay the immense range of the late Mr. Aylifte, one side of which was fifty miles in length. He is said to have begun fifteen years ago with a capital of $100, and his estate is valued at $1,500,000. It was interesting and instructive to hear how one of his friends accounted for this unusual success : " Some people try to attend to several things, or to do more than one kind of business, but he only thought of one thing for those fifteen years, and that one thing was cattle. And attending only to that, and working at it, and thinking about it all the time, he came to understand it wonderfully well, and to have perfect judgment about making the most of stock." A dissertation on the cattle herds of the Great West would occupy a large volume, and those who have chosen other parts of this domain than Southern Colorad-o are doubtless competent to "give a reason for the faith which is in them," and amply support the wisdom of their choice of loca- tion. To us this same Southern Colorado seems to present, on the whole, the greatest advantages. It is traversed by railroads, and accessible from all sides ; and the climate is most salubrious, and so mild in winter that 3G XKW COLORADO AND THE SANTA FE TRAIL. the stock can remain on the ranriii AM) Tin; SANTA I"K ri.'AH.. of a stern and S[):irtan siiiij)lic'ity. TIr' State-liousc is still standing. Tra- dition states that it contained three rooms: in one the members met, in one thov slept; the third contained the bar! In the course of the proceed- ings a motion was made to transfer the seat of government to Denver. "And we carried our point/' said a most entertaining pioneer, witli wliom it was our good fortune to converse, " because we had the best wagon, and four nudes, and the mod ichidnj. In fact,'' he added, sentcntiouslj, "1 rather think that we had a kind of a wtujoii capital most of the time in those days." Tlie Colonel and the Connnodore rode into Colorado City from the north one bright moonlight evening, nnising on its departed glories. In the pale, glinnnering light the rear view of a pretentious brick and adobe l)uilding brought faint suggestions of Syria to their minds, and the flat- roofed dwellings of Palestine. The Commodore with a pensive air dre\v his i)encil from his pocket. Alas ! another moment dispelled our visions : in this Oriental dwelling they bottle lager beer ; in a w^ooden building op- posite they drink it (largely). I believe that " Ilay and Feed" are sold in the ancient Capitol. A young lady, accompanied by a gentleman in a linen duster and wide felt hat, passed in a buggy, and was heard to ask, "Oh, ain't this real pleasant?" and a stray burro, emei'ging into the road, lifted up his voice in a wail that sounded like a dirge for the departed statesmen and lost greatness of Colorado City. The Commodore mur- mured, "aS/c transit gloria mundi ; I know that amount of Latin, any- how ;" and struck the horse viciously with the whip. Later on, he was seen drawing, with a savage exj)ression on his face — an expression alto- gether indicative of vanished illusions. But if Colorado City be a thing of the past, Colorado Springs is a bright and flourishing little city of the present. When one conceives, however, the intention of describing it, he is fain to ask himself,'" What shall the man do that cometh after the king?" Xot only has tlie special corre- spondent bankrupted himself in adjectives long ago, but, as is well known, a charming lady writer, whose praise is in all the book review colunms, has established her home in a pretty vine-clad house on a pleasant street in the town itself, and made due and varied record of her impressions and experiences. The colony (for such it is, and containing now some 4000 souls) lies on a little narrow-gauge railroad, starting at Denver, running at present to Southern Colorado and San Juan, and destined and confidently expected, say its friends, to establish its ultimate terminal station in one of those "halls of the Montezumas " of which we so often hear. It is a charm of this countrv that its residents are filled with a large and cheer- i EL PASO COUKTY AND COLORADO SPKINGS. ing, if somo^\^ult vai2;ne, liopefnlne^-^, and there i'? no duiil)t tlidt the ^t i- tion agent at Colorado Sj^rings be- guiles his leisure, wlien not selling the honest miner a ticket tor El Moro or Alanio=;a, with ro-^eate \i- sions of despatching the ''City of Mexico Fast E\pre=;>5,"' and check- ing luggage for Chihuahua and Guaynias. The little city i& unde- niably growing, and it ha& pleabant residences, w^ell - stocked stores, wa- ter from the mountains, and a col- lege and gas-\\orks in probpect. An inspection of the forms deeds of property and of the municipal regu- lations will satibfy the M' W%- MOVINi; THE CAriTOL. )G NEW COLORADO AND THE SANTA FE TKAIL. UNDf;R TIIK ROSJ most sceptical iiujuirer tliat the sale of beer, wines, and liquors is most strictly prohibited, unless "for medical purposes," and on the certificate of a physician. Now the Colonel knew that the town was founded by sonic worthy Pennsylvania Quakers, and he told the Connnodore all about these regulations, and how rigid and effective they were; but he rc- gi'ctted to notice a tendency on the part of the latter worthy to disbe- lieve some of the statements made to him, especially since his visit to Colorado City. He made a remark, common to naval men, about " tell- ing that to the marines," and went out. In a short time he returned, and with a growing cynicism of manner proceeded to demonstrate, with as much mathematical exact- ness as if working up his longitude or " taking a lunar," that the support of the numl>er of drug stores which he had seen would involve the furnishing to each able-bodied inhabitant of a jper diem allowance of two average prescriptions, one and one-half tooth-brushes, three glasses of soda (with syrup), five yards of sticking- plaster, and a bottle of perfumery. He also muttered something about this being " too thin." During that evening he was missed from his ac- customed haunts, and in the morning placed in the Colonel's hands a sketch, which he said was given him by a bad young man whom he had met in the street. It pui'portcd to represent a number of people partaking of beer in a place which bore no resemblance to a druggist's shop; but as the Colonel knew very well that such practices were pro- hibited in the town, he assured his friend that it must have been taken in some other place. Colorado Springs it was that killed poor Colorado City, only about three miles to the westward, and all that is left to the latter is the selling of lager-beer in serene lawlessness, while the former is the county town, and has a court-house, and a fine school building of light -colored stone, and a hotel very pleasantly situated in view of the mountains. Down from the Divide comes the Monument Creek, joining, just below the town, the Fontaine qui Bouille, which we shall l)y-and-by see at Manitou, and away up in the IJte Pass. Along the wide central street or avenue EL PASO COUNTY AND COLORADO SPRINGS. 57 (and what line names they have ! — Cascade, Willamette, Tejon, Kevadaj and Huerfano), and up the grade toward the pass and the South Park go the great canvas-covered four-mule teams, bound, '•'• freighting," for Fair- play, Leadville, and " the Gunnison." But we must go five miles north- west (the Commodore loould ride his burro, Montezuma, and the Colonel positively refused, and took a horse), and climb Austin's Bluffs, and look out. To the north rises the Divide, nearly as high above the sea as Sher- man, on the Union Pacific Railroad, Westward the great mountains seem to have taken on thousands of feet in height, and to loom up with ^^^ FLOCK ON AUSTi: added grandeur. Away at the south, whither the course of the Fontaine is marked by the line of cotton-wood-trees, are seen the Sierra Mojada, and, on a clear day, the Spanish Peaks : and to the eastward stretch, across two States, and afar to the Missouri, the great "plains." It was to this pleasant region that the Colonel and the Commodore, after their researches, alreadv chronicled, among the cattle ranches farther r»S M:\V (.Ol.Ol^ADO AM) THE .SANTA FE THAIL. poutli, had conic in search i»f '* fivsli iicMs and pastures new;" and tliey were not loni^ in discovering that Kl I'aso County was famed for its shoej), and the (juality of its wool product. It stretches from a point well over the range, out toward the Kansas line some seventy-two miles, and from the Divide on the north well down toward Pueblo ; and there are between 15(),(»0() and 2(>0,()00 head of sheep returned as held last year within its borders. Although in many respects the sheep business is less attractive than that of cattle-raising, it deserves attention as an important and grow- ing industry, and it is doing very much for the prosperity of the country. There is, to be sure, something excitmg, and, in a sense, romantic, about the steer and his breeding, while the sheep is a quiet and modest animal. One can fancy the broad-hatted '' cow-boy " on his fleet horse, and throw- ing his lasso at full gallop, as feeling himself a kind of Spanish toreador, and perhaps imparting a spice of danger into the chase by flaunting a red scarf in the eyes of the lordly bull. The Mexican herder, on the other hand, plods monotonously after his flock, and all the chasing is done by liis shepherd dog, while we know of but one man who was ever able to And anything alarming in the nature of this simple animal. This worthy, de- siring a supply of mutton for his table, shot one of his neighbor''s sheep, and was overtaken by the owner while carrying it away on his shoulder. "Xow I've caught you, you rascal,"" said he. ""What do you mean by shooting my sheep ?'' Sternly and grimly replied the accused : " I'll shoot any man's sheep that tries to hite me P'' But the gentle sheep does not lack friends and adherents, especially in El Paso County. It may here be stated that between the flock and the herd there is an irrepressible conflict. The sheep puts in a mild plaint,to the effect that when he is nibbling away at the grass, in company with his relations and friends, the steer comes in with a party and "stampedes" him, and sets him running so far away that sometimes he cannot And his way back ; also, that the steer stands a long time in the water, and tram- ples about there, and makes it so muddy that he (whose cleanly habits are well known) is debarred from drinking. lie further deposes that while he stays at home, on his master's range, the steer is a first-class tramp, and roams about, trying to get meals from the neighbors. To this the steer disdainfully replies that no Avell-bred cattle can associate with such mud- sills as sheep, and that the latter gnaw the grass so close that there would be nothing left for him in any case. It is a clear instance of " incompati- bility of temperament," and a separation has generally to be effected. Sheep are kept in many parts of Colorado, l>ut thoy have a special hold EL PASO COUNTY AND COLORADO SPRINGS. on this county, and have done a good deal in tlie way of dispossessing the cattle, the taking up and enclosure of water privileges tending materially to that end. This county affords a favorable opportunity for studying the life and work of the shepherd, for although there may be more sheep in some of the others, the wool from this neighborhood commands a high price, and it is claimed that the growth of grass and weeds here is particu- larly suitable for food. The public lands of the United States are divided into two classes — those held at the usual price of §1 25 per acre, and those which lie in sec- tions alternate with railroad lands, and are consecjuently put at $2 50. It is on the cheaper ones that the prospective sheep-owner wishes to settle, and his first object is to find that one great and important requisite — water. lie examines the county map, and finds the public domain hiid out in "townships" measuring six miles each way. Each township is divided into thirty-six "sections" of G-iO acres each, and these again into " quarter sections" of IGO acres. Of a cpiarter sec- tion the whole, three-quarters, one-half, or one -quarter (the mininmm) can be had in one of various ways. The shecj) man finds a stream, which we will suj)- pose to run in one of the two courses shown on the diagram, which represents a section of G-iO acres. In the case of the lower stream his plan is simple. The law requires that his plots of forty acres each shall touch along one side, and plots Nos. 13, 14, 15 and IG will give him IGO acres and a mile of water frontage. In the former case, after taking No. 1, he must take either No. 2 or No. 8 (containing no water) in order to secure Nos. 6 and 7. This land can be had in dif- ferent ways. In the first place, there are sales held by the government, at which any amount, great or small, down to the minimum, and within the offerings, can be taken by the highest bidder ; and portions offered and not sold can be taken subsequently at $1 25 per acre. Next, each man can "pre-empt" IGO acres, i. 10 II n 14 v^ y, " 15 NEW COLORADO AND THE SANTA I'E TRAIL. " No foot of land do I possess, No dwelling in this wilderness," lio may require iinieh more, and liiul no man who wants to sell ont to him. ^'ow, Tnele ISam gave the soldiers in the Civil War the right to IGO acres each, only requiring thcni to take them up and live thereon five years, from which, up to four years, was deducted the time of their military service. Some of the boys in blue only took up portions, and the Solons at Washington then said that they should not suffer for this, and that "scrip" should issue to each one for the forty, eighty, or 120 acres which he had failed to take up. The beauty of this and other scrip, such as "Louisiana," "Sioux half-breed," etc., is that it can be bought, and the purchaser can locate, in forty-acre parcels, where he pleases. Thus, l)y paying perhaps at the rate of $3 50 per acre for scrip, our sheep man can secure plots Nos. 11 and 12, and more in that direction, also perhaps a nice spring near by, and, what he most wants, land along another water-course three to five miles away. Between, therefore, his two water frontages his sheep can roam, for no one will take up this waterless tract. Between him and his next neiglil3or there is a courteous understanding that each shall use half the space. Then up go his wire or post -and -rail fences around the springs; perhaps some more divergent water - courses are secured; and now " He is monarch of all he surveys, Ills right there is none to dispute." Next our shepherd must purchase his sheep , and here come in a good many honest differences of opinion as to the kind which will give the best results. Some will buy cheap "Mexicans," expecting to breed a better quality of lambs, and then dispose of the original purchase. Others affect the California stock, which, of late years, has come into favor in some quarters. The M-eight of opinion, however, w^ould undoubtedly incline our enterprising young ranchcro to buy sheep on the spot in good condi- tion, and, what is very important, thoroughly acclimated. His " bucks " (say about three to each hundred ewes) will generally be Merinos. In the autumn, we will say, then, he begins operations under favorable auspices. His cabin is very plainly furnished, and his " corrals," or yards and sheds, properly constructed and in readiness. For feeding in stormy weather he lias enough hay safely stored away ; and, after due care and inquiry, he has secured an experienced and competent herder — better an American. At daylight all hands are called to breakfast, and soon after the bleating flock are moving over the range, and the herder, with his canteen slung over his shoulder, and probably a book in his pocket, has whistled to his she])lier(l EL PASO COUNTY AND COLORADO SPRINGS. 61 (log and started after tliem. During the whole day they graze on the short grass, going once to water ; and afternoon sees them brought back near to the corrals, in which, later on, they are again confined for the night. Day after day, week after week, month after month, pass in monotonous round ; and then the cold weather comes, and the herder puts on a thick- er coat, and reads less, and walks about rapidly, and stamps his feet for warmth. And then some day, when he is far away from the ranch, there comes on that dreaded enemy of sheep - raising — a prairie snow storm. AYith but little warning the clouds have gathered, and the snow is fallmg in thick and heavy flakes. The sheep hurriedly huddle together, and no OF? FOR THE PxASGE power can make them move. The herder may have had time to get them into a gulch, or under a bank , failing in this, there is nothing for it but to stay with them, sometimes a day and a night, and trust to getting them home when the storm is over Not far from Colorado Springs is a gulch called the Big Corral, in which more than one thousand sheep were lost a year or two ago, having followed each other up to the brink, and fallen over into the deep snow. Nor did the IMcxican herder ever return to tell the tale, for he shared their fate. It is with the snow-storm, indeed, that the dark side of the Colorado shepherd's life is associated, and the great tempest of the spring of 1878 left a sorrowful record behind it. It must be mentiuiicd that sheds are an innovation, that some ranches have none C<2 Ni:\V COl.OKWDO AND TlIK .SANTA IH IK'AII.. cvfii iinw, aiiil tli:it Ix'Torc tlicy wci-f Idiilt tlu; slifc]) wvw, exposed, even in till' (-(iriMls, to tilt' fury of the elements. J*r/' cDiii r(i,\X .should be Kuid that no snch stoi'in as that of IVfareh, 187^, h;is Ijeen known .sinec there weri- any slu't']) in this part of the conntry. On this occasion thousands THE TRACiKDY OF THE lilG COltUAL. and thousands of sheep perished. The snow was eleven feet dcej) in the corrals, and slieep were dug out alive after being buried for two and even three weeks ! Their vitality seems very great, and many perish, not from tlie pressure of the snow, but from suffocation caused by others falling or crowding upon them. It is asserted that they sometimes, while still buried, Avork their way down to the grass, and feed thereon. But our shepherd has taken care to have i)lenty of sheds, and he knows, too, that by EL PASO COUXTV AND COLORADO SPRINGS. 63 the doctrine of chances he need not count on such a storm more than once in ten years, so lie faces the winter with a stout lieart. Whenever it is possible to send the sheep out, the herder takes them, despite the weather ; but when that is impossible or indiscreet, they are fed at home. In May comes "lambing," and the extra hands are busily occupied in taking care of the young lam1)s With their mothers they are separated from the rest of the flock, first in small " bunches," then in larger ones ; and in October they are weaned. In June comes shearing- -an easy and simple operation ; and, if need be, " dipping," or immersing the stock in great troughs containing a solution of tobacco or lime, cures the " scab," and completes the year's programme. Our she^^herd sells his wool, counts the increase of his flock after weaning, and if, as is to be hoped, he be a good book - keeper, he sits down and makes up his ac- counts for the year. It is hard to picture a greater con trast than that which exists between the sheep and the cattle business, the freedom and excitement of the latter bearing about the same rela- tion to the humdrum rou- tine of the former as does the appearance of the great herd of often noble -looking animals widely scattered over the plains, and roaming some- times for months by them- selves, to that of the timid flock bleating in the corral, and frightened at the waving of a piece of white paper. sukaking. And then to think of the dif- ference between the life of the "cow-puncher" (as he calls himself), riding his spirited horse in the company of his fellows, and that of the herder, on foot and in solitude, is enough to make us wonder how men can be found for the one, while there is the slightest chance of securing the other. And yet there are many such men, and the Colonel and the Commodore saw and talked with them. C4 NHW C'OI.OK'AIH) AM) Tin: 8AN'TA I'E TRAIL. CHAPTER V. THE SIIKIMIEKDS OF THE PLAIN. IT was tliro\ii>;li the courtesy of Mr. J. F. Atlicrton, of Colorado Springs, tliat we were lirst enabled to see something for ourselves of the life and operations on sheep ranches. Wc drove out of the town on a bright morning, and north and east over the prairie. On the front seat sat our guide, philoso]iher, and friend — a young man of a dry humor, and gifted with a faculty of forcible and incisive expression. Far off in the direction in which we were going rose a high ridge, which we must surmount before reaching our destination, and twenty-two miles must be scored off before we could hope for dinner at a small roadside ranch. Had the road been twice as long, the flow of anecdotes from our friend would have made it short enough. First we had a sprightly account of some of the manners and customs of the colony which we had left behind us. '' Temperance town ? Not much. If a man wants his beer, all he's got to do is to sigu his name in a book, and get a certificate of member- ship in a beer club, and then he's a share-holder — blamed if he ain't — and they can't stop him from drinking his own beer !" " You've seen old , haven't you ? Didn't you know that they run him for Senator — just put up a job on him, you know. Blamed if he didn't think he was going to be elected. The boys got a two wheeled cart, with a little runt of a burro in the shafts, and an everlasting great long pole sticking out in front with a bunch of hay tied to the end (You see, the burro was just a reaching out for that hay, and that was the only way they could get him to go ) Blamed if the old chap didn't ride round in that outfit, all dressed up in a kind of uniform with gold epaulets, and two fellows behind, one beating a big drum, and the other blowing away at a cornet. lie was the worst-looking pill that you ever saw, and dog- goncd if he didn't put it u]) that he was going to be elected sure. Well, that night the boys hired a hall, and when he come out to address them, they made such a noise that you couldn't hear a Avord ; and then, in about live minutes, there come a cabbage, and took him alongside of the head, THE SHErHERDS OF THE TLAIN. 65 and tlien eggs, and potatoes, and I don't know what ; and when the elec- tion come, he had just one blamed vote, and he cast that himself !" " Rain ? No ; I guess not. But when I was in Pueblo last time— that's the blamedest town, ain't it ? — I was caught in a storm, and it turned into hail, and before I got to the hotel, blamed if I didn't turn round three times to see who was throwing stones at me !" "VYitli quaint narrations of this kind, made doul)l j comical by that man- ner of telling which the hearer must despair of reproducing, the miles slipped away, until the earth -roofed loff-cabin came in sight at which din- ner was to be had. At a short dis- tance therefrom we saw the white tents of a party from the United States Geodetic Survey. In one of them we found the cook hard at work baking bread and cake, and engaged him in friendly converse. He informed us that, in the matter of pay, he came next to the chief; and from the ac- count which he gave of the appetites of the party, we were disposed to think that he was earning his stipend. It may be that it was only because our charioteer judged all occupations by contrast with the hardships of sheep- raising, but we found him inclined to underrate the labors of the surveyors, and he told us that they " had a soft thing." "While we were dining, a man who was sitting near us quietly re- marked that he had just lost twelve hundred sheep. With the most perfect nonchalance he went on to say that he and his "pard" had only just come to the country and bought the sheep ; that he was driving the wagon, and that his pard, who was behind with the flock, was ill, and lay down, and missed them. To those who know what a showing a body of twelve hundred sheep will make on the plains, this will seem rather like a fish than a sheep story, but it was quite true. Our companions made a show of offering sympathy and advice, but, in confidential converse with us, spoke with a certain lofty disdain of the " tender-feet " (Coloradoan for new-comers), and their efforts to find their lost stock. Kor did they change 5 THE rr.AiuiE post-office. fit') M:W COLOKADO and the SANTA FE TltAIL. their tone Avhen the poor man stiid that he was too tired to scarcli any more, hut Avoiild pay muii to do it for him ; and it was left for tlie Colonel and the Conunodore — jtainfiilly con.seions as they were that, desj)ite their ! I ■^fPl'Ktl AViril TIIK HERDEU. exalted military and naval rank, they were also " tender-feet " — to feel for the snfferers. Resuming our journey, and after passing a notice of the lost sheep, and a jirimitiv^e prairie post-office, consisting of a small box on a pole, in which the " cow-punchers' " letters were quite as safe as in any of Uncle Sam's iron receptacles, we met the pard, his long legs dangling on each side of a small broncho, and a calm and happy smile on his face. We made sure that he had found his little flock, and his assurance that he had not seen anything of them elicited the remark from our companions that he " took it mighty easy." It may give some idea of the character and sparse population of this country to mention that these sheeji, lost on Tiiursday night, were found on Sunday, thirty miles away, less some sev- enty killed by gray wolves and coyotes. A few hours later, ascending the hill which had loomed up before us all day, we entered a little valley, and came to Mr. Atherton's ranch — a representative one for this region. There were a small cabin, a stable, sheds, a pump at the spring, three corrals connected by " shoots," or nar- THE SHEPHERDS OF THE PLAIN. G7 row passages, with a curious swinging gate for throwing the sheep into ahernate divisions. A more lonely place it is hard to imagine. The short greenish-yellow grass stretched to the horizon on all four sides, and not even a tree or a shrub was to be seen. Before long a few sheep came in sight, then more, then hundreds, and then the herder, in a long dingy canvas coat, walking with a swinging stride. Smoke, meantime, was com- ing out of the iron stove-pipe in the cabin roof, and the herder was busy, as soon as the sheep were safe in the corrals, in preparing the supper. The ranchman does not feel inclined to say, with the late Mr. Motley, " Give me the luxuries of life, and I'll dispense with the necessaries." On the other hand, he treats luxuries with a pronounced disdain, but is not without certain comforts. Of the herder's home-made bread and roast mutton, on this particular occasion, no one could complain ; nor is " apple-butter " to be altogether despised. Que voulez-vous ? If you sigh for the flesh-pots of Delmonico, you ought to have stayed in New York, or at least gotten into the good graces of the cook of the Survey party. And, after all, these things are a matter of taste and habit. A genial trav- eller, the late lamented J. Ross Browne, once remarked to the writer, when in the discussion of a particularly good dinner, " But you know MORNING AT THE RANCH. that this formality, this elaborate cooking, these courses, are all barbarism. True civilization is to be found in the Colorado Desert, where one fries his salt pork on a ramrod, and goes his way rejoicing." We heard rumors of ranch cabins wherein a third room was added to the one in which the occupants eat and sle^p and the kitchen ; but we saw them not, and were yet content. And after the knife had been duly G8 Ni:\V COLOiiADO AND TIIH .SANTA V\] TK'AII. COUNTING THE SIIF.EP. sharpened on the stove-pipe, and the mutton carved, and the tin porrin- gers of tea served out to all, we cultivated the acquaintance of the lierder, and a remarkable character he proved to be. The first words that we lieard him speak settled his nationality, for, on being told that the owner of the twelve hundred sheep wanted a man to search for them, he senten- tiously remarked, " Ili'm 'is 'uckleberry." Then his conversation flowed on in a steady stream : "I was in the British barmy. Left there? Yes; deserted. Then I was in the United States barmy twice. Used to shoot two or tliree II in- dians jevery day, me and two otlicr good fellers. I didn't 'ave no 'ard duty : was the pet of the regiment. Then I was l)rakcman on a rail- road. Oh yes, I have been in hall kinds of business. Tli'm the champion walker for five hundred yards. Lost $700 of my own money on a bet last winter. Leadville? Yes; I've worked in the mine. You bet hit's the best one there. Lively place ? That's so. I used to work hall day in the mine, and spar in the tlieatre at night for twenty dollars per week. You bet they've got the fattest graveyard in the country in Leadville. A pard of mine saw twelve fellers dragged hout in one night. Been to THE SHEPHERDS OF THE TLAIN. 69 Ileiigland lately ? Oh yes. Made $1600 in two weeks. Why do I 'erd sheep at twenty dollars per month ? Oh, just for my 'ealth. System's kind of ran down. I tell you a feller can just make money in this coun- try, but he's got to have sand.'''' (It must be exj^lained that "sand" — one of the happiest and most forcible expressions in the whole vocabulary of Western slang — means dogged resolution, or what we call " grit.") THE SLEEPY STORE-KEEPER OF lilJOU BASIN. Neither the Colonel nor the Commodore approved of very early rising, but, tlie next morning, determining to "assume a virtue if they had it not," they said that it was very pleasant to breakfast at 5.30. Then they saw the sheep run through the shoot to be counted, giving long leaps as they cleared it, and, as soon as the gates of the corral were opened, tum- bling over each other as they rushed out to find the grass ; and their last sight of the herder, as he stepped off, vividly recalled the feats of Rowell and O'Leary. 70 NF.W COLOIJADO AND THH SANTA FE TKAH.. Tlu'ii ;i«;-:iiii wr wt'iit to visit the ranch oi' a resident of JJijoii J'usiii — ;i pretty valley on the Divide — with a ])lea.saut lioiise in the village, and 800(> sheep in ample corrals just over the Urst hilly ridge. As we drove into this curious little village it seemed steeped in a sleejiy atmosphere, most strongly suggestive of Kip Van Winkle. Two stores out of three were closed as we passed them ; and when we came back, and found one open, the proprietor rose from his bed to make a small sale. The keeper of the second also reclined on a couch of ease, and the third store — Dick's — remained obstinately closed. " JMamed if I ever see a day seem so like Sunday," said our cicerone. '' If I had to live here, I'd just hottle iq) and die .^" " Dick's got some beer in his shop," charitably suggested the second store-kee])er, again gracefully stretched on his counter. " He ain't there a great deal, but he 'most always leaves the key at the blacksmith's." With a singular unanimity a move was made to the establishment of that artisan, whose sturdy blows on an iron wedge were the first signs of life in the ])lace. Two villagers were watching him ; the three new- comers joined them ; then three residents came up on horseback, and swelled the throng. The blacksmith had no key, and Dick had gone away. The Colonel and the Commodore felt the somnolent influence coming on them ; in common with six other able-bodied men, their sole interest in life seemed to be the comj^letion of that wedge, and only the ring of the hammer saved them from the fate of the sleepers of Ephesus. Suddenly there M'as a cry, " Dick is coming !" and everything Avas changed. The blacksmith remarked that he "must wash dow^n that wedge before he made another," and when Dick arrived he took the key from him and opened the door. Then somebody said "Beer," and the majority of the residents of Bijou Basin held a town-meeting in the store. Dick's coming, like that of the prince in the tale of the " Sleeping Beau- ty," had completely broken the spell. After a talk with our new host, and an inspection of his flocks, and corrals, and some of the operations in progress, we concluded that no bet- ter place could be found than Bijou Basin (where, as an exceptional thing, the family home has replaced the cabin, and the school-house is close to the ranch) wherein to rest awhile, and carefully compile some figures, which the reader, unless he intend becoming a shepherd, can readily skip. They apply to the case of a man with capital coming out, not to take up or pre-empt land, but to buy a ranch ready to his hand. Such a one, capable of acconnnodating 5000 head of sheep, could be had, say, for $4000, comprising at least three claims three to five miles THE SHEPHERDS OF THE PLAIN. 71 apart, also proper cabins, corrals, etc, A flock of 2000 assorted ewes, two to three years old, should be bought at an average of $3 each, say $6000 ; and 60 bucks at an average of 8-30, or §1800. A pair of mules and a sad- dle-horse will cost §275 ; and we allow for working capital §1925. Capi- tal invested, say, October 1st, $1-1,000. Under ordinarily favorable circumstances, and with great care, one may expect his lambs during May, and estimate that there will be alive of them at time of weaning a number equal to seventy-five per cent, of his ewes, or, say 1500 on the 1st of October, a year from time of beginning operations. His gross increase of values and receipts will then be, for that year, as follows : 1500 lambs (average onc-lialf ewes, one-half wethers), at $3 each $3000 00 lu June he will shear his wool, and got from 2000 ewes, 5 pounds each, or 10,000 pounds, at 21 cents $2100 00 60 bucks, 17 pounds each, or 1000 pounds, at 15 cents 150 00 2250 00 |525ir00 Expenses : Herders, teamsters, cook, and provisions $1835 00 Shearing 20G0 sheep, at G cents 123 GO Hay and grain 275 00 $22331)0 Losses (all estimated as made up, in money) : E\vos,4 per cent, on 6000 $240 00 Bucks, 5 per cent, on $1800 90 00 330 00 Depreciation : On bucks, 5 per cent, on $1800 90 00 2653 60 Net profits for first year $2596 40 SECOND YEAR. The 1500 lambs will be a year older, and worth an additional 15 per cent. (or 15 per cent, on $3000) $4,50 00 1500 new laml)s will be worth, as before 8000 00 And there will be of wool from 2000 sheep, 5 pounds each, or 10,000 pounds, at 21 cents $2100 00 1500 lambs, 4 pounds each, or 6000 pounds, at 21 cents 1260 00 60 bucks, 17 pounds each, or 1000 pounds, at 15 cents 150 00 3510 00 " $6960 1)6 Expenses : Herders, etc $2060 00 Shearing 3560 sheep, at 6 cents 213 60 Hay and grain 850 00 $2623 60 72 NEW COLORADO AND THE SANTA FE TKAIL. Losses: On ewes, 4 per cent, ou $0000 $240 00 On bucks, 5 per cent, on $1800 90 00 On lambs, 7 i)er cent, on $3000 210 00 $540 00 Depreciation : On ewes, 5 per cent, on $G000 $300 00 On bucks, 5 percent, on $1800 90 00 390 00 $3553 00 Net profits for second year $340G 40 THIRD YEAR. Tlie second year's lambs will be worth an additional 15 per cent., or, say (15 per cent, on $3000) $150 00 There will be 1500 lambs from original 2000 ewes, and, say, from new 750 ewes (one-half of 1500), not more than GO per cent, in first lambing, or, say 450— in all, 1950 lambs, at $3 3900 00 Wool will be: From 3500 ewes, 5^ pounds each, or 19,250, pounds, at 21 cents. .$4042 50 From 1950 lambs, 4 pounds each, or 7800 pounds, at 21 cents.... 1638 00 From GO bucks, 17 pounds each, or 1000 pounds, at 15 cents 150 00 5830 50 $10,180 50 Expenses : Herders and fodder $2970 00 Shearing 5510 sheep, at G cents 330 GO New corrals, etc 300 00 $3600 GO Losses : On ewes, 4 per cent, on $6000 $240 00 On new sheep, 4 per cent, on $4500 180 00 On lambs, 7 per cent, on $3000 210 00 On bucks, 5 per cent, on $1800 90 00 720 00 Dejireciation : On old ewes, 10 per cent, on $0000 $600 00 Ou bucks, 20 per cent, on $1800 360 00 960 00 5280 60 Net profits for third year ' $4'899~9Q RECAPITULATION. First year's profits $259G 40 Second year's jjrofits 3406 40 Third year's profits 4899 90 Total $10,902 70 This statement would probably meet with scant favor from an " old- timer," who would coniidently assert that he can " run " a flock of 5000 sheep, year in and year out, at an average cost of fifty cents per head. Such a one (and there are many of them) has perhaps lived twenty years in this part of the country, and tried many kinds of business. lie is THE SHEPHERDS OF THE PLAIN. 73 deei)ly attached to tlie soil, and knows no other home. lie has spent years and years, it may be, in the mountains, prospecting and mining, and while he may like a soft Led, and a tight roof, and a good dinner as well as his neighbor, there have been epochs in his life when they, or any one of them, would be no nearer his reach than the joys of a Mohammedan paradise, and "he counteth none of these things dear" when his mind is set on the accomplishment of any object. When this man takes ujd the business of sheep - raising, he is in dead earnest. At the beginning, at least, he knows nothing, thinks of nothing, but sheep ; lives among them, studies and masters every detail of their management, and institutes a rigid and searching economy. He will have good sheep, good corrals, and probably good sheds ; but he will care little for comforts in his cabin, and it is well known that one of the most successful sheep men in this region began by living in a cave in the bluffs near Colorado Springs. To loneli- ness the old-timer is a stranger, and very possibly early habits have made him prefer a solitary life. His herder will most assuredly give good value for his wages, and will do exactly as he is told, and know that the master's eye is on him. " Yes, he was a good herder when he wanted to be," remarked an old- timer, "but he liked to be boss, and so did I, and there couldn't very well be two." His pencil would be busy with the foregoing estimates, and if such as he were the only ones to engage in the business, then indeed might they be modified. On the other hand, we will suppose the case of the young man in the East whose health will, he thinks, be improved by a residence in Colorado, or wdio fairly believes himself inclined and suited to face a life on the plains, " with all that that implies." This ideal personage, if (and that word nmst be italicized in mind as well as on paper) he is wise, and wisely advised, will come out on a preliminary visit. He will live for some time on a ranch, and make up his mind how the life and the business will suit him ; also, if an invalid, will he most carefully, and with good medical ad- vice to aid him, notice the effect on his health. He will not underrate the monotony of the existence, the isolation, the dead level of the year's prog- ress ; and unless he be exceptionally constituted, small blame to him if he invite his hosts to a good dinner, propose their very good health and over- fiowing prosperity, bid them good-bye, shake off the dust of his feet on sheep ranches, and betake himself either to some other avocation in Colo- rado, or to the nearest railway station where he can catch the Eastern ex- press. But, perhaps, wisely counting the cost, he remains until he has 74: NEW COLOKADO AND THE SANTA EE TRAIL. tli(»n»ii!j,lilv loanu'd tlic business, then leases before he buys, and tlion launches boldly out as a full-Hedged shepherd. It will not be necessary to recall to him or his kind the old, old truth, the cardinal axiom, that there is no royal road to business success of any sort ; and that in Col- orado, just as in New York, or London, or Calcutta, or Constantinople, there is no hope for him w'ithout economy and industry, and strict per- sonal attention, and that, even w^ith them, the fates may be sometimes against him. To such a one, then, are these figures respectfully submitted, showing returns of something like twenty-five per centum per annum. Compar- ing them with those previously given in these pages about cattle, he sees that the latter promise him larger but more tardy returns, while the for- mer show smaller requirements in the way of adequate capital, and his wool is a yearly cash asset. As regards variety and attractiveness, and in any aesthetic sense, the poor sheep must clearly go to the wall in the com- parison, and the steer be elected to the place of honor "by a large majority." It may here be properly remarked that good men can almost always find employment as subordinates, and ought to learn the business quickly, and perhaps do well for themselves. " I wanted a man to herd sheep," said, for instance, an old-timer in the hearing of the writer, " and I met one coming out of Pueblo, lie said that he would like to work for me. ' Look here,' said I, ' I won't j)ay you any wages, but I'll give you 250 lambs, which you must herd as part of mine.' He agreed to that, and worked for me three years and a half, and until he had to go away and be married, and then I bought him out. The wool had paid all expenses, and he had $2250 coming to him in cash." Nor would it be impossible for a hard-working man, with a very much smaller sum at his command than that assumed in the figures, to purchase a few sheep and make a beginning for himself ; but, with the gradual ab- sorption of the streams and springs, this is becoming daily more ditiicult. For the Colonel and the Commodore there was small need to conjure up ideal shepherds, for they found them in El Paso County in every con- ceivable variety, and heard most entertaining and veracious narratives of their manners and experiences. Successful old-timers, enjoying the results of their past labors, and clad in the sober garb of civilization, laid down the law over social cigars ; while youthful beginners, with doubtful pros- ])ects, sported hats with an enormous breadth of brim, and seemed to de- light in garments of dubious cut and texture, and extreme antiquity. In this connection, indeed, tliere is room for a homily, for it may surely be THE SHEPHEEDS OF THE PLAIN. 75 said that in a new country the incomers who have enjoyed the blessings of an advanced civiHzation in their former homes owe it to themselves to do all in their power to translate said blessings to their adopted residence. And so, when water has come, and gas is coming to the county town of El Paso, it would be well for youthful rancheros to cease emulating the attire of Buffalo Bill, and make the acquaintance, when they come thither, of a tailor and a boot-black. One of two gentlemen from the Eastern States, visiting Colorado Sj^rings, and calling upon a lady to whom the conve- nances of life were traditionally dear, apologized for the absence of his comjianion, whose clothes suitable for such an occasion had been delayed by the expressman. " Only hear that !" she delightedly cried. '' Why, I have been meet- ing the sons of dukes and earls with their pantaloons tucked in their boots." To which the very natural reply was : " So much the worse for the sons of dukes and earls. They would not presume on such liberties in their own country, and it is high time that they were effectually tauglit that they shall not take tliem here." Indeed, there are features of the curious irruption into Colorado of scions of the nobility and aristocracy of Great Britain which are extremely interesting and amusing, and which may justly claim future attention ; but at present it may simj^ly be re- marked that slieej) have no regard for noble birth, and that Piccadilly seems to furnish an inadequate preparation for a successful ranchman. Then before our observant eyes there passed other figures and faces — two gentlemen from New England, in from a distant ranch ; one, after some months' hard work, to deslpere in loco at Manitou, another to drive sheep to Las Yegas, in Xew Mexico, at the rate of ten miles per day, through the sage-brush ! Next came an Englishman bearing the name of a noble family — a university man of remarkable culture, and manners be- fitting his birth and education, but in garb and general appearance a veri- table figure of fun. Learning that after abandoning a sheep ranch of spe- cial squalor, where he had toiled to little purpose, he had been engaged for four months in driving horses up from Texas in company with some Mexican herders, a gentleman engaged him in friendly converse, and final- ly asked point-blank what possessed him to lead sucli a life. With great gentleness and courtesy he rejjlied that he was one of Matthew Arnold's " Philistines," And thus the procession went on. AYe were indebted at the last to a very lively and outspoken resident for some illustrations, given us " in dialect," of the unfavorable side of the shepherd's existence. IBs experience of men had not been an agreeable one, and an officer of the law ajjpeared with unpleasant frequency at the 70 NKW COLORADO AND Till': SANTA KE TRAIL. end (tf the vistas (tf raiicli life wliicli lie jtortrayed ; but the sliephcrd of Ctdorado is not tlic only man wlio linds fatal enemies in whiskey and cards, extravagance, inattention, and laziness and stupidity. " Didn't you never hear of ?" asked our friend. "lie was the worst pill you ever see. lligh-toncd Englishman ; always ' blasting this bloody country, you know\' Come here with $50,000 ; went away owing ^20,000. How is that for high? Blamed if he cared what he paid foi- anything! Offer him a horse worth $40, and charge him $150, and hcM MILOU IN FLCSII TIMES. give you a check. You bet he lived high ; always set np tlie drinks. Didn't take long to bust him. He didn't care what he paid for liis sheep. Had 2500 of tliem, and you used to see thirty or forty Englishmen loaf- ing on him. You bet he didn't have the trouble of selling them sheep. Sheriff did that for him.'''' " Then there was . He just put on heaps of style. Flew In'gli, you know — regular tony. He started in with 600 sheep — just think of that ; wouldn't pay for his cigars. He used to come into town in great style — four horses to his buf Then he come down to three ; then two ; THE SIIEniERDS OF THE PLAIN. 77 then one. Then he had none, and had to stay on the ranch. Sheriff sokl him up sharp. Then he kept a billiard saloon. You bet he busted on that, because, you see, he used to play with the boys, and always got beat. Then he was a-going about the streets, just everlastingly played out ; and the last I see of him he was a kind of rostabout, or dish-washer, to a camp- ing outfit. Would nt that just get some of his high-toned relations i/^ on their ear f We thought that it undoubtedly would, and we thought, too, with a certain wonder, of the habit of some parents and friends of sending young men to this country who are either mauvais sujets, and bet- ter out of their sight, or incapacitated for competition with the keen souls whom they must meet, [ ] and then letting them shift for them- selves. But, like the recent writer on Colorado in an English magazine, we are giving " the dark side of a bright picture ," and it was only with kindly and pleasant impressions and memories of the gentle shepherds of the plain that the Colonel and the Commodore bade them good bye, and turned their steps toward the grim canons and lofty mountains liolding in their remote fastnesses those silver and golden treasures for which most of the dwellers in this land so eagerly strive. They are kindly and hospitable, these lonely ranchmen, and no one goes hungry from their doors, or lacks a sheepskin on which to sleep ; nor are the lighter graces altogether neg- lected. We had heard much from one of our friends, the proprietor of a large and successful ranch, of the extraordinary gifts and quaint peculiari- ties of his chef de cuisine, and had the honor of making the acquaintance of this gentleman. His appearance suggested the Wild Hunt of Lutzow rather than the surroundings of a peaceful kitchen ; but we were bound to credit his assertion that if we "would come out to the ranch he would treat us kindly. You bet he could cook. He was just on it.'''* This worthy had run through his cash, and desired to negotiate a small loan. This being effected, he proceeded to invest the funds in a bouquet, which, with great courtesy and gravity, he presented to his "boss" just before he gal- loped off. We had understood that he resembled the person of whom Mr. llarte says, " He was a most sarcastic man, tliis quiet Mr. Brown, And on several occasions he had cleaned out the town ;" and we therefore made record of this little incident as truly pastoral. And so, as we looked back from the Ute Pass over the plains, dotted with ranches away out to Kansas, the lovely lights and shadows were alto- 78 NKW COLOKADO AND THE SANTA FE TUAIL. <;etlicr suggestive of the vieissitudes of tlieir occupants' career; and, as an abrupt turn sliut tlieni out, we recalled admiringly the herdei-'s epigram- matic saying: "A man can nudce a lot of money in the sheep business, but /n'\^'j(iiit (jot to have sand!" GRUB-STAKES AND MILLIONS. 70 CHAPTER YI. GRUB-STAKES AND MILLIONS. OlSTE miglit indeed call it providential, that the vast deposits of the precions metals in the Rocky Monntain region remained practically nnknown to the citizens of this country until a time when they were never more needed by said citizens. Old Mendoza, the Sj^anish viceroy, had a shrewd idea about them, and it was he who sent Vasrpiez Coronado, with three hundred and lifty Spaniards and eight hundred Indians, from Culiacan, the capital of Cinaloa, in 1540, to confirm the correctness of his suspicions ; but Coronado does not seem to have been a success as a pros- pector. If he had only had a keen eye for " blossom rock "" and other in- dications, or if there had been a Diamond Drill Company in Cinaloa, how differently history naiglit have read ! More than two centuries and a half later, again, when tremendons changes had taken place in the map of the world, and a young and independent nation was building itself np and pushing its borders westward, one James Pursley, a Kentuckian, fonnd gold at the "head of La Platte." Even the Cherokee Indians had a hand in turning the attention of our people, and no one else, to the rich inher- itance locked np for them in the coffers of the Snowy Range ; for they brought shining samples to Kansas and Nebraska in 1857, and soon after that time the emigration began to what is now Colorado. Of this exodus, and some sul)sequent phases of life in the new land, it was our good fort- une to hear some account from one of the old pioneers — a fine specimen of the men who made this country what it is by their courage and energy : 80 NEW COLORADO AND -TIIK .SANTA FE TKAIL, '' Nothing ever seen like that rush to tlie mountains, gentlemen — noth- ing. I assure you. California? Wliy, that was an agricultural country, while here there was nothing hut gokl and silver, or the chance of getting them, which isn't the same thing by a long sight. What brought men out liere was that they were just dead hroke at home — just dead broke, I tell you ! '57 had done that. These men were ready for a new country — had to iind something — and they came out across the plains when there wasn't a thing here but Indians. Why, we old fellows have a round up 'most every year in Denver, and talk and laugh over those times. We were all alike — nobody had any money — all cleaned out before we skipped out from home. No one had done anything to be ashamed of ; but it was a regular amalgamation of busted people, who left their country for their country's good — and their oicn. If you'd meet a man, and be introduced to him as Mr. Jones, it was all right to ask him, ' What was your name in the States, Mr. Jones V But you bet it was because the boys had pluck and grit that they stuck to it, and got the ores out, and got the country going ahead. What do you say to bacon one dollar a pound, and flour fifty dollars a sack ? I tell you, when the sulphurets came along, and we couldn't hold the ores, and things were pretty blue, a good many would have left, but they coiddnH get awayy It took the " honest miner " a long time to learn that " placer " opera- tions — the washing of metal from the sands — were not a certainty and a permanency, and the capitalists who came in after him also a long time to make expensive experiments, and equally expensive mistakes, and to come down to what is technically and happily called " hard pan," and op- erate to some extent with proper means, skill, and common-sense. There wac one collapse about ISG-i, and of course the panic of 1873 affected the progress of the State, and it may fairly be said that the real " flush times " in Colorado are these in which we are now living. In spite of all disap- pointments and drawbacks, steady progress has midoubtedly been made, and great results accomplished. Mining is, beyond all question, as has been said, the foundation of the growing greatness of the State, and it is most interesting to learn from an elaborate calculation, coming recently from a responsible source, that after making full allowance for the labor of all the men employed from the beginning, and all the money sunk, the residue shows a better return than any other investment in this country. It must not be forgotten that this is an average, and that the fortunes of two or three bonanza kings balance the losses of thousands of poor men ; and against the results of this calculation should be set the assertion — for which ample support can be obtained — that at least up to 1871, when GRUB-STAKES 'AND MILLIONS. 81 railroads cheapened living and introduced greatly improved facilities, the proportion of miners who could be called successful was one in five hun- dred. It is to be noticed that here, as in other similar regions, public inter- est is continually attracted to new discoveries, and a floating population at once drawn thither ; and events move so rapidly that an account of the state of affairs in the mining regions may be stale before it is in type. On the other hand, it may be said that even if some of the people go away, the mines remain, and the silver and gold come out just as surely and easily as before. A larger area than ever is now the scene of active operations. Starting from the north, we come to the mines of Boulder County, not far from Long's Peak, where there was an excitement, some three years ago, about tellurium veins. Then come those of Gilpin (Black Hawk, Central City, etc.) and Clear Creek (Georgetown, etc.) counties ; the for- mer noted for gold product, and both containing what are called " true fis- sure veins," where the rocks have been broken or torn asunder by earth- quakes or volcanic disturbance. In this neighborhood some of the earliest discoveries were made, and the bullion product of the two counties is large and steady. Then come various points in the South Park, and just between the Park and Main Pangcs, California Gulch, now known from one end of the world to the other, for here is Leadville. South again, and between the Sierra Mojada and the Sangre de Cristo lie Rosita and Silver Cliff, and south-west again of this, the great San Juan district. Discov- eries have also been made in the Gunnison and Elk Mountain country, away west of the Snowy Range, and only time can show what other now hidden treasures are to come to light in these regions. It is needless to say that several quarto volumes could easily be written about these mines and their operation, and still much be left unsaid ; and perhaps, indeed, in view of the rapid movement of events, the writer of such a work stands in greater danger of being behind the age than he who attempts some ran- dom sketches of the haunts and ways of the "honest miner" — so first called, it is said, by aspiring patriots who sought his suffrages. Mr. Ilarte declares that when sets of pictures portraying the contrasted careers of the honest and dissolute miner were first sent out to California they utterly failed of their effect, for the reason that the average miner refused to rec- ognize himself in either capacity. A man may come to Colorado w^ith resolutions worthy of Leonidas ; he may treat gold and silver with a lofty disdain ; he may be doctor, law- yer, parson, school-teacher, book agent, lightning-rod man, or dealer in sew- C 82 NEW COLORADO AND THE SANTA FE TRAIL. ing-macliines — anytliing but a miner : all in vain, for sooner or later, if he stays in Colorado, the mania for the precious metals will make an easy vic- tim of him ; he will seek a " claim," and fondly see a bonanza in the small- est and shallowest of his " prospect holes." The Colonel and the Commodore were nothing if not strong-minded, and the latter had been particularly cynical about the sordidness of a thirst for wealth, but his downfall dated from the time that he acquired, with strange ease, some share in a mine of great possible, if small actual, value (there are so very many of this kind). lie hinted more than once that we had better look for ourselves into this mining business, and started on the tour of inspection with unwonted alacrity. lie even showed some inclination to " grub-stake " some men — a simple and easy process, by-tlie- bye. One can acquire an interest in mining property in many ways. lie can find a mine himself ; he can supply another man with food and tools, and give him a share in what he may find (and this is " grub-staking ") ; he may buy a mine when found, or a share of it, bearing in mind the Western saying, that " a prospect hole is not a mine ;" or he can invest in stocks. Grub-staking a good man, and, if possible, accompanying him on his search, may be called the best way — for, said an old hand, " you make your loss at the start." Buying a claim or claims is not infrequently satis- factory ; but said, with quaint gravity, another '' old-timer," " If I was a capitalist, and I'd see a mine worth half a million, I'd want to buy it for about twenty-five thousand dollars, and have some advantage on my side. A man can't see very far into the ground." It is stated that no geologist ever yet found a valuable mine — the hum- ble prospector being always at the front — and even then owing much to accident. With his burro laden with a little bacon and flour, perhaps a little coffee and sugar, a frying-pan and a coffee-pot, and with his pick and shovel, this hard-working pioneer traverses the length and breadth of the mineral region, undergoing many and great hardships, often facing danger, often, indeed, laying his bones on some desolate hill-side or in some lonely cafion ; and then — only to think of it — one in five hundred finds fortune ! We hear of late years tliat mining has become as regular and legitimate an occupation as manufacturing; and it is undoubtedly true that method and system have been largely introduced, and that the strong owners of paying mines and successful smelting-works may rightly claim that they are en- gaged in sober and industrial pursuits ; but with the great bulk of modern Argonauts, from our poor, sanguine pick -user and burro -driver to the Kew Yorker who, without the slightest real knowledge of what he is do- ing, " takes a flyer " in Wall Street, it is as certain as the sun rises and sets GRUB-STAKES AND JiIILLIONS. 83 that the gambling and not the commercial instinct predominates. A bank was pointed out to the writer in a large mining town which, with a capital of $50,000, had deposits of from $700,000 to $800,000, and which had made $43,000 net profits in nine months. "But they say that there is no money in banking," was added—'*! mean, no money as compared with what some of them can make in min- ings When a fellow can go out and make a forty or fifty thousand dollar strike, hanking seems pretty sloiv^ Could anything better illustrate what has just been said ? But if we did not grub-stake anybody, or make large investments for ourselves, we had ample opportunities of seeing those who did. Of all mining camps in Colorado (and a centre of mining operations is always called a camp) Kosita is one of the prettiest and most interesting. There must have been a vein of sentiment in the honest miner who gave it that chamiing name. Little Eose. When he made his first " strike," he must have thanked his stars that nature had put the silv^er in such a pictu- resque place, and even the operations carried on for seven years have not been able to spoil it. We went thither from Canon City, takmg the stage on a pleasant morning, and driving over the foot-hills of the Sierra Mo- jada, and into and up Oak Creek Caiion. From the head of this the sum- mit was easily crossed ; and then, when we had scored our thirty miles, a beautiful and striking scene met our eyes. In the foreground were dome- like hills, the upper ones bare, and the lower ones, as well as the gulches between them, showing great numbers of pine-trees. On these hill-sides and in these gulches were scattered the houses and other buildings which make up the genuine little Alpine town — so Alpine, indeed, that one might expect to hear at any moment the echo of the Rroiz des Vaches or the tinkling of the bells Then came a valley lying a thousand feet below, and beyond rose with wonderful and unusual abruptness, and in a solemn majesty which must have impressed the Spaniard when he associated it in name with the sufferings of the Divine Redeemer — the great Sangre de Cristo Range. The peaks are sharp and jagged, and some attained the height of about 14,000 feet. What Nature can do here in the way of grand and glorious effects with light and shade, at early morn, at sunset, or when the moon is sending her rays down on the grassy meadows in this peaceful Wet Mountain Valley, cannot be described, nor should the sug- gestion thereof be publicly named, but whispered to those true worship- pers whom she so surely rewards. Happy the honest miner whose pros- pect hole lies in this charmed region ! and well might some comrade who had toiled in such a place as those parts of Nevada where the sage-brush 84 NKW COLORADO AND THE SANTA VK TIJAII.. sniTounds liim, niid \]\v I'o-i^o-iiij) (icy wind) chills him to tho bone, ox- elaiiii, " This — and silver too C This little town was founded in 1ST2, and led a qniet existence, with occasional e])isode8 of what is hei-e called "booming/' until about tw(» years ago, when occurred one of those striking and romantic episodes which do so mucli to clothe mining with a strange fascination. One ]\Ir. E. C. Bassick liad been a gold-seeker in Australia in old days, and there lost his health. In 18T7 he w^as, as happily reported, thoroughly "busted" — "dead broke." He prospected in a vague way, and passed over a good deal of s])ace, with no success; l)ut one day was sitting on the ground on a spot over which he had jireviously gone, and, with his pick between his knees, was striking aimlessly at a bowlder. One of his blows chipped off something from its surface which looked to liim like good ore, and he picked it u]) and carried it into the town. Telling a gentleman (well known to the writer) of his discovery, he offered him one-half interest for twenty-five dollars. And here comes in a striking illustration of mining life, and a curious comment on its uncertainties, for the gentleman de- clined. The reader, whose imagination has baen, perhaps, Hred by lurid descriptions of th-^ colossal fortunes reported during the past \ ear, may ask, " How could he be so foolish i It was such a small amount to risk!" Ah I tiiendj when a man takes one of these small risks and uu'n Ni:\V CULOKADO AND THE «ANTA FE TKAIL. ceive, if you j)leiisc', a crater in a liill, of indetiiiitc and undiscovered .size and extent. Conceive, then, some niiLdity power to have taken bowlders of diti'erent shape and size, dipped them in rich molten ore, largely chloride of silver, heaped the crater full of them, melted up a giant nmseum full of all kinds of silver ores with gold in considerable quantity, and copper thrown in, poured the compound in so as to fill every crevice, heaped on the dirt, and left the whole to cool for indefinite centuries, and you have this mine. As a contrast, take the Humboldt, round the corner, which may stand for a specimen of the thousands of silver mines on true fissure veins of quartz mineral in the old camps in Gilpin and Clear Creek counties, Jthe new and wonderful ones in the San Juan country, and hundreds in the long leagues lying between. Entering a rough wooden building, you see a steam-engine turning an immense drum, around which is coiled a wire rope. On a chair sits, with each hand on a lever, the bright, watchful en- gineer, his eyes fixed on the drum, now nearly covered with the coil. In another minute, click ! the machinery has stoj^ped, and out of an opening in front, like Harlequin in a Christmas pantomime, has come a grimy fig- ure, who stands there smiling at you, with a lamp fixed on the front of his cap, and his feet on the rim of a great iron bucket. lie steps off, the bucket is emptied of the load — not of rich ore, but of very dirty water, which it has brought up — and there is an air of expectancy among the workmen, and an inquiring smile on the face of Mr. Thornton, the super- intendent. Something is clearly expected of you, for it is established that you are not what is called by the miners a " specimen fiend," or unmiti- gated sample-collecting nuisance, and it is assumed that when you came hither to investigate you " meant business." You take the hint, and fol- low Mr. Thornton to a room, where, amidst a good deal of joking, you put -on some clothes — and such clothes ! If you have one sj)ark of personal vanity, " all hope abandon, ye who enter here," for even your kind guide has to turn away to hide a smile when he sees you in overalls which will not meet in front, and are precariously tied with a ragged string, an ancient flannel shirt, the sleeves of which hang in tatters around your wristbands, and a cap which might have come over in the Mayflower^ and has a smoky lamp hooked into its fast decomposing visor. As you approach the mouth of the shaft the engineer genially remarks that there " ain't much danger," and when the bucket has come up and been partially emptied, the by- standers repeatedly advise you to be careful about getting in. As you climb perilously over the side, you think of the Frenchman w^ho, starting in the fox-hunt, cried out, " Take noteece, mes amis, zat I leafe everyzing GRUB-STAKES AND MILLIONS. 87 ^f^^fS^^^^:^ to my vife !" And when you are crouched down so that Mr. Thornton can stand on the rim above, you do not think at all, but know that you are what Mr. Mantalini called " a dem'd moist, unpleasant body." Mr. Thorn- ton makes a grim remark about it being as well to have some matches in case the lamps go out, gives the word, and down you go. Understand that there is just about room for the bucket in the shaft, that the latter is slightly inclined, and that you catch, and jar, and shake in a nerve-trying way; and understand, further, that a person should carefully study his temperament and possible disabilities before he takes a contract to go into a deep shaft. At a certain depth — it may be 500 or 1000 feet (in some Nevada mines ss Ni:W COLORADO AND TIIH .SANTA FE TKAIL. it is 2500) — vow sto]) at side drifts or cross-cuttings in wliicli niou arc at -work, and here you see, walled in by rock, the fissure vein, yonic are "stoping," or cutting pieces away with the pick, otheis holding the steel wedges, and others striking them tremendous blows with sledge-hammers. They are, by-the-way, in the habit of accompanying these blows with gut- tural sounds, the hearing of which induced a special correspondent of the gentler sex — ignoring the fact that they receive three dollars per diem, own chronometer watcluis, and have tine bank accounts, and silver spoons lUINIiRY GULCH. on their tables — to write a soul moving description of the poor down-trod- den miner, imprisoned far from the light of the blessed day, uttering ter- rible groans as lie toiled his life away for the enrichment of the bloated and ])ampered capitalist ! Other men, again, are drilling, loading, and tamping for the "shots" which are to tear the rock in pieces; and you will probably remember a pressing engagement to " meet a man " at some distance from the mine, and induce Mr. Thornton to ring for that moist car, and take you up before they light the match. Emerging from the shaft, clad once more in the garb of civilization, and thinking what a set of fine fellows you have seen, you will agree with the sagacious soul who said to the Colonel and the Commodore, " Yes, there's a good many of them bio--licarted fellers in this countrv. You sec, them small-soulcd GRUB STAKES AND MILLIONS. 89 cusses taJces too much irrigation to hrinrj them out. They've just got to git up an' git !" Our route lay, one joleasant morning, tlirougli Hungry Gulch. On one side stood Xebraska Eow, a curious collection of cottages, built in the early days, with sunflowers growing out of their mud roofs, and recalling to a fanciful imagination the hanging gardens of Babylon. Behind these cottages a lone miner, to whom steam-engines and modern improvements lent no aid, toiled at a -small claim, to which at- p^ tached the sentimental cognomen of the Ada. Mines are usually, indeed, named with more regard to forcible signiticance than to jDoetry ; and the school - master must be frequently abroad in the camps, for some friends told us that after a claim had been named the Cym- beline, it was four weeks before its owners could ascertain who this personagj might 1)0. Then our road wound among the hills, where only a short time - ago the mule -deer roamed in large numbers, and soon the Wet Mountain Yalley was entered, and the curious mining camp of Silver Cliff came in sight — an- other wonder of these times. The frugal and prosperous ranch- men of this pastoral region had gathered in their hay crops in peace for years, and the low hill, ending in a cliff, seven miles from Rosita, had probably never struck them as anything else than a contrast to the fertile lowlands near it. Not many years ago it was actually ex- amined scientifically but unsuccessfully for iron. Some prospectors tried AT SILVER CLU 90 NEW COLORADO AND THIO SANTA I'H TKAIL. their fortune here in the sunnner of 1878, and found some "pay ore" in the shape of ehlorides of silver. The first house was built in September, and in ten months there had sprung up, like Jonah's gourd, a wonderful town. As curiously unlike its pretty little neighbor Kosita as it is pos- sible to conceive, it lies like a checker-board on the plain, angular, treeless, and unpicturcscpie. No wise man will accept the local census of a town which is "booming," but the population has certainly run in less than a year from one or two tens to several thousands. We had an excellent dinner, and can state that it was not here that the scene occurred of which a friend told us. " Whafs your order, stranger?" asked mine host of an inoffensive guest. *' Broiled chicken on toast, if you please." ^^ Which r '" Broiled chicken on toast," said the guest, " if it can be had." " Stranger," said the landlord, impressively, drawing a six-shooter, and ])ointing it at his head, " you want hash, and you're a-goin' to eat it. I don't allow no tender-foot to go back on his victuals in this place !" Saloons apjjeared with painful pertinacity, and a variety theatre, in which, on a certain Sunday night, the proprietor invited a preacher to othciate, listened, in company with " the boys," in a respectful and orderly manner, with a view of " giving the Gospel a show," passed round the hat, handed its ample contents to the parson, b )W^ed him out, and in ten min- utes more had the usual miscellaneous orgies in full blast. The prospectors of a few months ago have given place to a great New York company, with a capital of $10,000,000 ; and although we know of none of tlie signs by which one distinguishes that specimen of natural his- tory called the " capitalist," he was confidently declared to be on the spot in great force, and on the point of making colossal investments. For the rest, we could assuredly see signs of prosperity, and more than a few promising mines ; and after sinking shafts and running tunnels, people were clearly getting tired of such slow processes, and w^ere actually cut- ting slices out of the hill, as does paterfamilias out of the Christmas plum- pudding. A very kind and hospitable lady, proud of the Colorado town which had the good fortune to claim her as a resident, asked the Colonel, wnth great courtesy, if he had prepared accurate descriptions of certain streets and buildings, and on his reluctantly confessing that want of space, etc., rather petulantly remarked : " Now I really believe that you w^ill only tell about the funny side of things, and that isn't fair." GRUB-STAKES AND MILLIONS. 91 Filled with compunction, tlie Colonel began a course of reading in the papers of the place ; and having insensibly imbibed a measure of their style, he tried to write about Silver Cliff in a manner different from the foregoing, and something as follows : "This live town contains at least eight thousand inhabitants, and is bound to see that figure and go some thousands better within six months. Our esteemed friend the Hon. Charles Bunker, who has recently estab- i;. cisaiir i!.rji.. SUNDAY EVKXING AT THE VARIETIKS. lished an excellent peanut stand in our city, reports that people are flock- ing to us from the effete Denver and the upstart Leadville. Charley's peanuts can't be beat." " The Hon. Zechariah Fettyplace, Member of the State Legislature of Indiana, from the flourishing town of Sandy Plains, and Pelatiah Petten- gill, Esq., a prominent undertaker and capitalist of the same place, show a 1)2 NEW C0I.()1:AI)() A\I) the SANTA FE TRAIL. preference for the tootlipicks of the Oriental. These representative i^en- tlemen declare tliat New York is phiyed out, compared with this ])hi('e. We need just such citizens as these, and trust that they may he induced to cast in their lot with this maf2:nificent camp." "The j2;enial Pete Starkweather, who so efHciently assists Aleck Smitli- ers in mi\inf>; drmks at the Honest Miners' Home, has, we are glad to liear, struck it rich on a lead adjoining the Roaring Cowpuncher and Mary Ann Eliza, in Blue Murder Gulch. A prominent gentleman from Dakota, who came in on l>illy Bullion's boss coach last night, and wrastles liis liasli at the Occidental, says that he knows a man whose cousin told liim that leading New York capitalists had telegraphed to bond this claim for a million and three-quar — " But here the Commodore said that this was all rubbish, and the Colonel knew it, and that he would just like to know if he w\as not going to write soberly, and say something al)out the mastodon found thirty feet below the surface in the Cedar liapids Mine, which might have been of priceless value to science, but which was ruthlessly smashed to pieces — the mine men saying that they were after pay ore, not mastodons. Why, even the society upon the Stanislaus, of which Truthful James relates that " Every member did engage In a warfare with the remnants of a paleozoic age," would have done better than that. The fact was that the Commodore had heard of trout in Grape Creek, and had brought forth a pair of brand- new and sportsman-like leggings, and borrowed fishing-tackle from a too- confiding native, and he wanted to "give mining a rest," and have a turn at the fish. His enthusiasm infected the rest of the party, and they pushed out toward the range. They had a near view of the grim sum- mits close at hand, and of the Moscas and Veta passes, and the Spanish Peaks away at the south, but the poor Commodore came home very low in his mind. He had been wet tlirough, damaged the new gaiters, broken the borrowed pole in one place and the borrowed line in two, and slaugh- tered thousands of grasshoppers for bait, but the trout in Grape and Col- ony creeks swam untouched in the clear mountain water. It was only in the evening, when a genial old resident was "reminiscing" for the benefit of the company, that he found consolation in hearing of the misfortunes of some other sportsmen. Said this gentleman : " I used to ride the Pony Express. Pretty rough grub in Pueblo, you l)ct : fried cucumbers and water, with a piece of fat bacon hung up to tan- talize tis. Then I went down further south, and couldn't git nothing to GRUB-STAKES AND MILLIONS. 93 drink but tarantula juice [bad wliiskej], and I struck a kind of a colony of gruber-griibhers from Georgia," " What are griiber-grubbers V "Why, peanut diggers — worst lot you ever saw — come there expect- ing to find houses all built, and irrigating ditches all dug. 1 saw an old bell-wether, and asked hiin for something to eat, and he hadn't a thing, and I knew he was the kind that live on snaps^'' '' What are snaps ?" " When 1 first heard it I didn't know myself — thought the man meant ginger-snaps. But he said that these beats, when they were at home, had old squirrel rifles about as long as a mantel - piece, and with flintlocks. They'd go out and snap at deer, and if they killed him, all right. If they didn't, they'd have to live on the snaps until next day !'' " Yes, those were pretty rough times in Pueblo," remarked another old hand. " I was county clerk, and when we wanted bacon or flour we'd issue a county warrant for it. Things came out all right, though, for when we wanted to square up, the treasurer burned 'em, and we had a new deal." D-i NEW COLUKxVDO AND THE SANTA FE TRAIL. CHAPTER VII. THE IIOXEST MIXERS OF LEADVILLE. WE could not tarry on the Rosita hills, and we sjied north, reluctantly postponing the trips to San Juan and the Gunnison country, which promised such store of information and pleasure. A day's staging took us to Pueblo, and on the way we passed a new little camp called Silver Hill. It looked picturesque enough, and we were fancying it the abode of a gen- erous prosperity, when, just as a young and hopeful citizen had remarked to us that "•the boys could make a first-class camp out of this if they only had the fortitude," an aged person exclaimed, with a sort of growl, "There's fortitude enough, but there ain't no money, you see. That's what's the matter, you bet !'' It was our lot after leaving Pueblo to go, not as goes the every-day trav- eller, but on a " special," with Billy Peed, of the Rio Grande Road, on the engine — or rather partly on, for he seemed to project half his length out of the window of the " cab " as he rounded the curves in about half of sched- ule time. One of the men best worth knowing in this world is an Ameri- can locomotive engineer ; and either the sight of the great mountains, or some less perceptible influence, seems to develop in the Colorado brother- hood an added measure of simjjle manliness and grave courtesy. The Colonel found a worthy successor to him of the "special" in Tom Loftus, whose guest he was on the engine of the Leadville express, two hours out from Denver, early on the morning of the day of all days in his mining pilgrimages. Little enough do the passengers in the comfortable cars know of the skill and caution required to control the train on such a jour- ney; but it is clear to a careful observer, and infinitely interesting. All roads, it is said, lead to Rome ; all railroads in Colorado try to lead to Leadville ; and from the force of circumstances, and through the energy displayed in its construction, this line, which had terrible natural obstacles to overcome, is, at the date of writing, well in the van. Not very far south of Denver it enters the canon of the Platte River, up which it winds after the manner of the narrow gauge in these parts. The strong little engine THE HONEST MINT:RS OF LEADVILLE. 95 laboriously puffed \ip the grade, and Tom was exactly as careful in econo- mizing "lier'' strength, and giving "•her" rest, and food, and water, as if she were a favorite mule. The frost had turned many of the leaves yel- low, and a few red, lighting up the cailon in a striking manner. At cer- tain points it opened out into little parks, and graders' cabins and campers' locations were frequent. Then came one of those grand horseshoe curves, and Kenosha Summit, some 10,000 feet above the level of the sea ; and then a scene altogether wonderful, and something to be long remembered. The summit was a kind of plateau, and was quickly crossed, and we had hardly taken in the outline of the great peaks on the north, when, without warning of any kind, we glided on and along the edge of the sloping wall of the great South Park, and saw it stretching below us leagues away to the south, and across to the Park Pange, beyond which lay our goal ; and now Tom shut off his steam, and let the train, controlled by the air-brakes, scramble down the slope and run across the park to Ped Hill. Here were the Leadville stages, and here also a spring-wagon, to which were attached four good mules. Climbing into this, we whirled along the dusty road ahead of the stages, passed the old mining camp of Fairplay, arrived at the foot of Mosquito Pass, and began to ascend the road, which had been open but about two months. Two extra mules toiled away on the lead, and foot by foot we climbed toward the summit, rising, bleak and bare, some 13,300 feet. It must be known that, not among careless tourists, but among ex- perienced drivers, who rightly estimate danger, the crossing of the Mosquito is considered what the life-assurance companies call " extra hazardous," and Sam, who had held the reins for twenty-one out of the thirty-three years of his life, viewed it with a certain gravity. He had shaken his head at a loose tire, insisted on having an extra brake-shoe at Fairplay, and shut his lips hard together when he saw a new and refractory mule as near wheeler. A remarkable character, indeed, was this driver, and we listened with growing interest to his hearty utterances. When he had taken the trouble to lean over and point out to the inside passengers a little house built by some hardy miner away up on the crest of a peak, where it looked a wild bird's nest, and the person addressed had assumed a nil admirari manner, Sam remarked, " I come out a small shaver twenty-one years ago, an' / never knew the time when I couldn't see somethin' worth lookin' at in them great mountains. It's a pity that Smart Aleck in there can't cross them once without bein' bored." And again, after a pause, " Guess if them clouds was to drop on us when we get to the top, he'd find out some- thin' new. Why, I've had them clouds gather round my coach up in the 96 M:\V COLORADO AND THE SANTA FE TRAIL. pass tlicre so as I was as cold as Cliristnias— this time o' year, too — and you couldn't see a foot. All I could make out was a glimmer, like a miner's lamp, liangin' on to the end of my whip-stock — made by the elec- tricity, you kn(j\v ; uiT I only knew where my team was by the pull ou the lines." THE HONEST MINERS OF LEADVILLE. 97 That's what shes afeered of [thus did lie, with affectionate persistence, designate his wife] — them clouds a-dropj^in'. When I come in, on t'other route, last winter, with both arms froze half-way up to the elbow, she just begged me never to take the lines again — women is such fools about a fel- ler, you know. When I'm out, she just watches the mountains, an' if a storm is a-comin' on, she'll just cry an' worry all night. So now, if it's bad weather, I just telegraph her when I get to Leadville. 'Tain't any trouble, you know ; an' then she's satisfied." He had expressed himself somewhat strongly at the station where we had changed teams, because the wagon had not been repaired, and the bad mule had been thrust upon him. " She never heerd me swear but once," said he, later on ; " then it slip- ped out at a jayhawker as wouldn't give me no show to pass him on a narrer road down by Fairplay." As we climbed higher and higher, little animals, hardly squirrels and hardly rabbits, ran over the rocky slopes, puzzling us as to their identity, until we remembered the words of the Psalmist, "The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats, and so are the stony rocks for the conies" — for such they were. As the wind grew colder, the passengers buttoned their overcoats and wrapped their heavy blankets around them, talking and laughing as usual ; but Sam sententiously remarked that " if they knew what was ahead of 'em, they'd keep quiet, sure." And they knew in a few moments, for we reached the summit, from which stretched dowjiward Avith sharp turns, and on the very edge of an awful precipice, the road, hardly wide enough for the coach. The elderly gentleman who had seen nothing to surprise or please him in the lofty miner's cabin, nervously dropped the canvas curtain after his first glance, and in a few minutes hastily asked to be allowed to change his seat to the other side. Certain demonstrations made by him during the descent induced the driver to re- mark, later on, " I guess, by the way that Smart Aleck hollered when we sM'ung round some of them ' cute ' curves, he'd seen somethin' new this trip ;" and in fact we heard the next day that he had indeed seen some- thing so new to his experience, that he would give all that he possessed to be safely out of the town, and once more on the home side of the passes. But the driver had something else to do than talk, now that the descent had begun. Ilis eyes shone like diamonds, and there was a bright spot on each cheek, for he saw the refractory mule's behavior, and felt tlie loose brake. The angles were terribly acute, and the front feet of the leading mules would seem to be over the edge before they were skilfully swung round. Fortunately no clouds " dropped " on us, but night was fast com- 7 98 NEW COLORADO AND THE SANTA FE TKAIL. ing on, and the wind blew fiercely over the lofty sum- mits, and each turn seemed more abrupt, and each stretch of road nar- rower and more dan- irerou^, than the last. It was rather more interesting than reassuring to see the only j^assenger who was thoroughly familiar with the pass quietly clear the wraps from his feet, and make ready for a possible spring. The situation was not agreeable, but it was worse before it was better ; for in another minute off came a tire, and it was hardly hammered on when adverse fate again ROUND ONE Ot TIILM ' CUTt ' CL'R\»b' THE HONEST MINERS OF LEADVILLE. 99 brought us to a halt. Through the whole drive we had been meeting great mule teams, the drivers riding one of the wheelers, one hand on a string leading to the brake-lever ; and now just ahead on this narrow road, and inside^ was one of them, " I swear, Jim, I believe I'll have to drive right over ye !" cried Sam, in despair ; but after a moment's deliberation, and urged by one of their number, the passengers descended, and literally put their shoulders to the wheel, not without a mental reservation to the effect that their contract with the stage company hardly compelled them to lift for dear life within a few inches of that terrible descent, at the foot of which a slip might cause them to be found the next day mangled and crushed past all recog- nition. And thus we went on from Scylla to Charybdis, for we were be- hind time, and reached only after dark the place where the road agents had waylaid the stage only a few nights before. Well might Sam say, "Never had a drive like that before. Everything against me: the brake bad, and the shoe not workin', an' the tire comin' off on the same side that the black mule was on, an' the wagon draggin' to one side all the time." We had reached what by comparison was level ground, but our pace was slow, for Sam quietly told us that there were "as many stumps in the road as hairs on a dog's tail." The stage behind us was actually caught on one, and remained there two hours ; and as we finally entered the California Gulch of old days, we thought of Mr. Ilarte's heroine, and her pathetic inquiry : " Oh, why did papa strike pay gravel When drifting on Poverty Flat?" for although great are Leadville and its carbonates, the way thither is in- deed a hard road to travel. And now, having seen this famous place, and returned to a lower ele- vation, and carefully pondered over the matter, does the present writer lay his hand on his heart and make two solemn asseverations: first, that the mines here are extensive, and doubtless valuable, and easily and profitably operated ; and second, that Baron Munchausen, and Marco Polo, and the author of the "Arabian Nights," must hide their diminished heads in the face of the achievements of the special correspondents who have " written up Leadville," for as romancers the last-mentioned indisputably carry off the palm. For some years, beginning with the spring of 1860, men panned the surface dirt for gold in California Gulch, and when it " petered out " they 100 NEW COLORADO AND Tllli; SANTA FE TRAIL ■■vvent away. In 1877 it was found that tlie now world-renowned "carbo- nate Itelt'' lay among the wooded hills on the east of the Arkansas Valley. In April, 1878, an important discovery was made on Fryer Hill, and re- sults nuiy be expressed in a few simple figures: Tn eighteen years this •;S1DKNCK AT LEADVILLK. county (Lake) is estimated to have produced in gold and silver about $7,300,000; in 1878 it produced about $3,100,000; and one well-informed writer thought that in 1S70 it would produce something like $10,500,000! So easily handled are these new-fangled ores that this is pre-eminently the " poor man's camp," and many and great have been the changes from penury to affluence in this region, although none so picturesque and rounded off as that narrated as happening at Rosita. The small store- keeper who " grub - staked " some prospectors is Lieutenant-Governor of the State, and credited with indefinite millions ; at the recent wedding of THE HONEST MINERS OF LEADVILLE. 101 one of these prosjDectors Jenkins fairly revelled ; and a right-minded nou- veau riche, whom we met on his way back from a quiet summer on the Eastern seaboard, informed us that while six months before he could not find a man who would spare him five dollars, he had lately been " presented with three diamond rings." Mining camps, in the nature of things, grow to towns and cities, as boys grow to be men ; but as there are those humans whom we declare to be not men, but overgi'own boys, so is Leadville not a city, or a town, or a village, but an overgrown mining camp. And when one reads what has been said about its actualities in this regard, he feels inclined to exclaim to the writers, in the words of one of their brethren, " Perhaps you fellows think that there is no hereafter !" Let the reader picture to himself a val- ley, or gulch, through which runs a stream, its banks rent and torn into distressing unshapeliness by the gulch miners of old days. Close around are hills, once wholly, now partially, covered with trees, which, having been mostly burned into leafless, sometimes branchless, stems, furnish sur- roundings positively weird in tlieir desolation. Around, at a greater dis- tance, rise lofty mountains, and between the town and one of the ranges flows the Arkansas. Along a part of the length of two streets (six inches deep in horrible dust, which one of the local papers declares will breed disease) are seen rows of the typical far Western buildings, some large, some few of brick, one or two of stone, very many small, very many of wood. Outside of these are mines and smelting- works, smelting -works and mines, stumps and log-cabins, log-cabins and stumps, ad infinitum. The Commodore had heard that an unfortunate Eastern " capitalist," dismounting from the stage some time before, arrayed in a particularly elegant and voluminous duster and a high hat, and starting " in an airy kind of way" to walk to the hotel, found himself followed by a gradually lengthening single file of jocular residents, all keeping step with him. Fearing a similar fate, he had reluctantly doffed the new leggings before we started on a tour of inspection. Traversing the principal street, and ascending a hill, we came to one of the great mines of the region — the celebrated Little Pittsburgh Consolidated, of which all the world has heard, and which may rightly be taken as an exemplar of those carbonate properties which have puzzled the geologists and experts, delighted the workmen and smelters, and enriched the finders and owners. There are many of them, but one speciman may stand for all. Here, at a very mod- erate depth, was a great body of mineral through which shafts and horizon- tal levels ran, and in marked contrast to the following up of a vein now three feet and now three inches wide : here the inquisitive wanderer could 102 NKW COLORADO AND THE SANTA FE TKAIL. ^N'alk comfortably around a <2;reat block of ore, and amuse liimself by ci- plierini:; uj) its cubic contents. Only a portion of the property liad pre- pumably been opened up, and yet of the dividends, was it not written in the financial columns? " But," says the doubter, " I am not sure that this will all last.* Here we are at the bottom of the deposit, and large as it is, there arc limits which must ultimately be reached in four directions. Now, in the San Juan country, you can look up in the canons and see true fissure veins A WALL STUKET MAN'S KXPKRIKNC'E IN LEADVII.I.K. stretchino; for 3000 feet on their sides, and know that they go through tlie crust of the earth." " Yes," says another, " but that ore is harder and more expensive to work, and the veins ' pinch ' (or contract to very small dimensions), and, as the miners say, ' you can't see into them farther than the end of the pick.' I am not sure but that it is better to buy a barrel full of pork, than to buy a barrel with the hope of filling it." * The collapse of tlie stock of the company, in 1880, offers a curious commentary on this remark. THE HONEST MINEHS OF LEADVILLE. 103 And so went on the discussion. It need not be said that the man who could solve the questions raised would be the deadliest bull or bear that ever broke loose in Wall Street. Wiser was that clear-headed mining su- perintendent who, feeling confident that the deposit which he was work- ing was underlaid, at a greater or less depth, by othci*s, ordered a dia- mond drill, and declared that he was " going for carbonates or China !" It is to be hoped that he fared l)ctter than the Irish shaft-sinker who said, when asked if he were not in litigation, " Bedad, no, surr ; sure I'm in porphyry." Amidst all this treasure the Colonel and the Commodore wandered like two modern Ali Babas, sometimes talking with the miners, and rather LKADVILLE. overwhelmed with the profusion of " other people's money " about them ; but when the mariner heard an expert, who was chipping away at the wall with a little hammer, remark, " That's good goods," this purist stop- ped both ears, and asked the way to the nearest shaft. Then we jour- neyed about the camp, exchanging the sights of the great mines, the com- modious buildings, and the modern machinery for other and strange ones. Pursuing a tortuous course between stumps, we brought up against cabins 104 NEW COLORADO AND THE SANTA FE TRAIL. of different degrees of newness. Quaint signs invited the tliirsty to "Smile twice for two hits," and tlie intending purchasers of stores to *' Cook 'oni yourself !'' A funeral, consisting of a liearse, one carriage, and a hrasfi handy i)assed down the tnain street, and men came out to view it from tlie ecclesiastical-looking porch of a saloon actually called The Little Church. Following another, or, rather, the otlier, street down parallel with the gulcli, wo camo to sTnclting cstal)lishmcnts disgorging red-liot crucihles which took up half the road, and compelled the teamsters com- ing in through strata, rather than ch)uds, of dust to turn out of the way. And mir last saunter in Leadville brought us to two startling sights, about "wliich there was a terribly impressive suggestion of cause and effect. We had driven to the point where the picket-line of log-shanties, shaky and mud-bedaubed, reared chimneys economically constructed of old barrels, and had hardly passed them when an indescribably dreadful odor brought us to a sudden halt, and it was from a safe distance that we looked on multitudinous heaps, from which blackbirds were rising in masses, of the reeking garbage of the town. Farther on, in another direction, we came upon a graveyard which was the very embodiment of grim desolation. It lay between two frightfully dusty roads, and the sulphurous fumes from a smelter near by brooded over it ; the fences were broken do^vn, and only an occasional rail hung by one end on a tottering post. Within were a few white-railed enclosures, and only a few inches apart rows on rows of earth - mounds, and hundreds, not of head -stones, but of stunted head- boards. It was the very saddest of sights — a scene for the genius of Dore himself. One could fancy the disembodied spirit of the poor miner hov- THE HONEST MIXERS OF LEADVILLE. 105 ering about in vain longing for a resting-place for the clay so lately ten- anted by it — perhaps on some grassy slope in an Eastern State, or even in the wildest canon ; and there came back to us, with strange significance, the words of the herder away out on the plains : " Leadville ? why, that's the fattest graveyard you ever see !" In estimating the population of this place, one should remember what John Phcenix said about that of Cairo, Illinois — that it consisted of thir- teen, but was put at five thousand, because they took the census just when five trains of cars had arrived before a boat started for New Orleans. A deduction of fifty per cent, from the average newspaper figures might come near the mark, but a " reliable gentleman " residing there thought even this too high. Nor can the writer refrain from an expression of wonder and disgust at that morbid spirit which has wasted such power of description and comment on the alleged wickedness of Leadville ; the plain truth being that it is just about as much worse than any other frontier mining camp as it is larger. The gist of the whole matter is that this is a wonderful aggregation of human beings about a wonderful development of mineral wealth, " with all which that implies ;" that with a little leisure from their absorbing occupations its respectable residents may be trusted to greatly improve their surroundings ; and that, besides making a notable addition to the wealth of the country, it has done g-ood service in advertis- ing Colorado to the ends of the earth. Our last recollections thereof are connected with the conversation between an honest miner and a pompous new-comer, who was walking down the street. " Mister, how much do you ask for it V^ " For what, sir ?" (in a deep bass voice). *' Why, the town. I supposed you owned it." To Leadville, Central City and adjacent towns arc as the old to the new To reach them, one goes by the way of Golden, from Denver, through the Clear Creek caiion, beloved of photographers, and up the north fork of said creek. As far as Black Hawk, the impudent little nar- row-gauge road has only taken a steep upward grade, and wound around curves in the manner common to these parts, but here something else must be done. Towering on hills above are many repetitions of the mills, houses, and shops below ; indeed, they seem continuous for miles ; but how to reach that particular division thereof which is called Central ? Clearly "Facilis descensus * * * Seel revocare gradum Hie labor, hoc opus est;" 100 NEW COLORADO AND THE SANTA FK TRAIL. a statement, liowcvcr, which Virgil would have modified could he have known a Colorado engineer. Hoc opus est^ indeed. The train runs through or hy the station, and some distance up a guleh ; then a switch is changed, and it is pushed back, over Black Hawk, at a considerable height, and uj) the side of the mountain at the south. Once again it runs ahead, and concludes its climbing at the station in the town with as much mod- esty as if it had not made its way up 3000 feet in twenty -five miles. At Urst sight Central seems set amidst unlovely surroundings, the hills having been quite stripped of trees and covered with gray " dump-heaps ;" but a short stay develops a home-like sentiment. The hotel is of brick; the churches, the schools, and opera-houses of granite. Perched fairly on top of each other, on the almost perpendicular hill-sides, are comfortable little houses, in which dwell not only "honest miners," but U. S. Senators as well. Here, twenty years ago, John H. Gregory found the first of that gold which has poured out in a steady and increasing stream ever since. Fort- unes have been lost as well as made ; unsuccessful and terribly expensive experiments have been tried, and many wrecks are strewn around ; but not only docs the Pactolian flood flow on more freely -than ever, but the ground on the opposite side of North Clear Creek has been found to be rich in silver. Old shafts, abandoned by disappointed Eastern companies, are now successfully worked by local lessees ; the stamp-mills are running and en- riching their owners ; and people have come down to " hard pan " or " bed rock." New findings, " bonanzas," and " lucky strikes" in various quarters have drawn off nearly all tlie floating and most of the rough element ; the revolver is put away in its case ; and, as just stated, the church is of stone. Driving across Cellevue Mountain and down Virginia Canon to Idaho Springs, one may take the train for Georgetown, shut in on South Clear Creek by lofty mountains, and " solid for silver ;" and then returning, thread- ing the famous canon of the Vasquez, and passing between the Table Moun- tains, approach the bustling little aggressive metropolis, Denver, which its inhabitants proudly call the Queen City of the Plains. Its distinctive character is fast disappearing — as the street-cars run through the streets occupied not many years ago by ox -teams and bands of ration - seeking Indians — but progress is in the right direction. A commercial city, and attracting, from the first, even a more miscellaneous population than the mining centres, there have been times when it was by no means a pleasant residence for a person of delicate nerves, but now law and order are as powerful as in most "Western cities of its size. In a work now out of print, but written with a delightful force and vi- THE HONEST MINERS OF LEADYILLE. 107 vacitj, the antlior, a Colorado journalist, says, after speaking of the good order in the mining regions (italics are ours) : " In Denver it was not so quiet, although the worst days of that town would not hegin to justify the hideous and altogether fictitious picture given of it by William Ilepworth Dixon, A.D. 1866." To prove this assertion come the following statements : " Subsequently, ruffians, gamblers, and thieves overran the town, and no mans life or property was safe. * * * There was a man, or fiend, named Charley Har- rison, who boasted that he had a jury in h — 1, sent there by his own hand ! He was the king of the desperadoes. One day he deliberately shot to death a negro, ive suppose for helng a negro. * * * It may interest the gentle reader to know that, on the breaking out of the Civil War, these thugs ardently embraced the Southern cause. Returning from Richmond in the spring of 1863, with Confederate commissions in their pockets, they were captured by a band of wild Indians in the Osage country and their heads cut oif. Theij died. It is to be hoped that Harrison is having a good time down heloio with his jury ! * * * One man, named Gordon, seems to have taken Harrison for his exemplar. * * * He fell upon a barkeeper named Gantz and * * * succeeded in shooting him through the head. Gantz died. Gordon ran away." And now comes the turn of the tide, for " Sheriff Middaugh followed him into the Cherokee country more than five hundred miles, caught him, and, in spite of the most frantic efforts of a mad Leavenworth mob to release liim — ivhether for the pur- pose of hanging or letting him escap)e we have forgotten — brought him back to Denver. lie was tried by a people's court, found guilty, and hanged." In the face of these and other sketches — by a local artist, be it remem- bered — Mr. Dixon must stand abashed. Near Denver are the Boston and Colorado Smelting-works, the estab- lishment j9a/' excellence of its kind in the United States; here in the nu- merous and busily occupied banks does the successful miner deposit his gains ; here does the hirsute mountain-dweller don the garb of civilization, and procure a "shave" and a "shine;" and here does the whilom grub- staker and present millionnaire purchase his comer lot, and rear his lofty business block and commodious dwelling. The successful prospector, when the horizon, so long contracted for him, at last expands, is generally content with less. " I'm goin' to have my first real square meal, boys," said one, exhibit- ing seven hoxes of sa?'di?ies ; jmd then, with his eyes kindling, "You bet I'm a-going to Kew York, and I'll have a carriage driv' by a nigger with a bug on his hat .^" 108 NKW COLOKADO AND TIIK SANTA FE TRAIL. As the Colonel and the Commodore sat, after the manner of the place, in chaii-s on the sidewalk of Larimer Street, in front of tlie hotel, the former asked, " Do you not find, oh Commodore, an answering chord in your breast to the emotions which stir yon sturdy man whom we met last night, who had unloaded on the gentle capitalist, and sees vistas of wealth and luxury before him ?" " To me," replied the Commodore, sententiously, " the hardy gold- seckcr appeals more powerfully than the gold -finder. About him, what wealth of nigged picturesqueness — what symmetry — what intensity — Hello! by Jove, there are our burros, after all! I was afraid that scamp had gone back on us."' The Colonel sadly rose to his feet and walked around the corner, whereon stood a lemonade stand. "Wherefore lemonade?" he asked of the attendant. "Surely this is at variance with the traditions of the Far "West." "Oh," replied the native, half apologetically, half contemptuously, "it's a kind o' hahit they've got into." A little farther on a gentleman in a wire hat, nankeen trousers, and cloth shoes accosted him, and softly asked, " Was you a-thinkin', sir, of investin' in mines ?" His hand fumbled nervously at papers in his coat pocket ; but the Colonel looked him kindly in the eye, and deliberately an- swered, " My friend, I am not a tender-foot. I have ' been there before !' " THE TOUIilST. 109 CHAPTER YIII. THE TOURIST. I MET the Manitou stage one pleasant morning on its way from the train to the Springs and the hotels, and had several minutes' view of a number of travel-worn linen dusters and expectant faces. " To how many of those people," I asked of my very intelligent com- panion, "will their first impressions on alighting be of disappointment, pure and simple ?" " To at least nineteen - twentieths," was the reply of this gentleman ; and he was undoubtedly quite right. It is a misfortune to a region, great or small, to have been overpraised and too much " written up," and it is this which has happened to Colo- rado. In some cases people have imdoubtedly, for one reason or another, 6aid that about the country and its characteristics which they knew to be untrue or exaggerated ; in others, some of those who are gifted with a keen and absorbing appreciation of its peculiar and subtle delights, and rare power in describing their own impressions thereof, have given vent to their feelings. The latter might say that they must not be held re- sponsible for the deficiencies of their readers, but they have undoubtedly aided in making up that unhappy nineteen-twentieths. Of these disap- pointed people, again, it must clearly be said that many may, after all, find the country growing upon them — but the fact of the original disappoint- ment is an unmistakable one. In one of the following cases persons may be advised and encouraged to expend the time and money needful to make the journey to the Rocky Mountains, and remain long enough in the Centennial State to enable them to study it : 1. If they have present or prospective business interests. 2. If they are in ill-health, and if (let the proviso be heeded) they have intelligently satisfied themselves that the probabilities are in favor of the climate proving beneficial to them. 3. If they are enthusiastic devotees of some of the sciences for the 110 NEW COLOKADO AND THE SANTA FE TRAIL. tudy of wliich there is here siicli a grand field. 4. If they are gen- iie lovers of moun- iijs. 5. If, without he- iig altogether such overs, they sincerely Icsire to study this ;reat country, and may expect to experience a growing degree at least of the fascination which the very at- mosphere of the Far West has for some people. If, as is often the case, one can combine two or more of tlicsc conditions, the induce- ment to go will be propor- tionately increased. On the other hand, if people will not intelligently inquire about a pos- sible destination ; if they will delude themselves into expecting to discover paradise, or the gardens of the Ilesperidcs, or the fountain of Ponce de MANITOU — PIKE I THE TOURIST. Ill Leon, between the tliirty-seventh and forty-first degrees of north latitude, and the twenty-fifth and thirty-second meridians of longitude west from Washington, they will find out their mistake. If they want the pleasures of Newport and Saratoga, by all means let them go to those well-known and charming places, and not look for such things in a State where there are probably less than two inhabitants to the square mile. And, finally, if they be grumbling, discontented, imperfectly developed travellers, let them, in the name of common-sense, stay at home. Now the Colonel and the Commodore, already so conspicuous in these pages, had mounted their ridiculous - looking burros, Montezuma and Es- meralda, and were traversing a certain canon, when the Colonel delivered liimself of the sentiments just laid down, and was going on to explain how much he himself admired the country, and how it grew upon many peojile, even if they were not enthusiastic at first, when the Commodore, who was as yet unacclimated, and breathed with difficulty, and was generally out of sorts, said that "he couldn't see it." And then the Colonel quoted the Autocrat, and serenely replied, " I know that you can't, my dear Connno- dore; hut you prove HP And so it was, for a few days saw this naval worthy restored to liis ac- customed spirits, and tlio one glass fitted to his eye with its wonted jaunti- ness, and his appetite as nnicli a terror to landlords as ever. lie began to show a keen appreciation of the picturesque, and it was only his antipathy to hard work which induced him to spitefully reply, when some one re- marked that after his investigations among sheep-owners he knew enough to carry on a sheep ranch himself, " I know enough not toP Of course we went to Manitou, for every one goes thither. It is called the " Saratoga of the West " — an appellation which pleases Manitou and does not hurt Saratoga. There are some baths and some mineral sjirings there ; and the qualities of the latter can be learned by the curious from the pamphlet written by Dr. S. E. Solly, of Colorado Springs. The re- sponsibilities of the place seemed to be shared by a colored brother of va- ried accomplishments and gi'eat command of language, and a fine specimen of the great North American hotel clerk. Wishing to realize the repro- duction of the gay life of Saratoga at the foot of Pike's Peak, we asked the former about the prospects of a " hof) ;" and his reply reminded us of the man's statement that he had a match, and if he only had a pipe and tobacco, he could have a smoke, for he exclaimed, with great enthusiasm, " Oh yes, boss — yah, yah ! — dat's easy enough. We'll have lots of fus'- rate hops. Jus' you get de music, an' de ladies an' gen'lemen, an' 1 can call de dances bully — you bet !" llli NEW COLOlvADO AND THE SANTA FE TRAIL. Tlie latter, with a lofty superi- ority, stigiiuitized us as "teudcr- feet," but we found that he was (inly saying, " You're another," for his own stay in the country had been brief in the extreme. Everybody, or nearly everybody, ascends Pike's Peak, but we did not do so, because the Commodore dis- covered that Montezuma's spirit was willing, but his flesh was weak. Manitou is a " health resort," as are several other places in Colorado ; and it may briefly be said, and with all seriousness, that the Centennial State, while it is no more of a cure- all than the patent nostrums of the period, can indeed afford relief, and life itself, to many a forlorn and de- spairing sufferer. " Words," says the Chinese proverb, " may deceive, but the eye cannot play the rogue ;" and one may see men and women walking about, and using and enjoy- ing life, who long ago, if they had stayed in the East, would have, in AVestern parlance, "gone over the range," or joined the great major- ity- " Why, they keep me here for an exam])le of the effects of the climate," said a worthy and busy man at Colorado Springs. " I came here from Chicago on a mattress." And so did many others, and so iiiiiy many, many more, if they will A.N iLLLMiiAiivt luKM. ouly dlspky ordluary commou-seuse, and heed a few plain words of advice, which will surely have the endorse- ment of those who know the country well. They should, firstly, on no possible account (and this caution is disre- THE TOURIST. 113 ganlcd every day), think of comin rilK SANTA VE I'K'AIL. ;i cIoikI ; and wliilr I was lookiiii;-, out ciuiu' tlii' sun, and the ail' was full ut" millions of dianiond points, just aklntUlatlny, f2)ers' wings ! And they settled down, some iiu'hes dee}), o\\ my ranch, and the next day, out of my $30,000 wortli, I had — one hatful of lettuce, that was under ghiss ! And wlien I went down to Denver sonic time afterward, the boys asked me to supjier; and they'd put up a job on nie, and ii;ot a jeweller to help them, and the chair- man made a speech, and give nie a coat-of-arms, and it wasn't nothing but a gmti(i/toj>j)er raiujntnt.'''' Rampant indeed was this terrible insect, and a most effective "evener up " of profits and losses. It is understood that he is not as much feared as formerly, and that the crops can be protected — a consummation de- voutly to be wished. A part of one's vacation can be profitably employed in observation of the social and domestic life of the State. Colorado homes are of many kinds, from the handsome brick or stone house of the Denver banker to the adobe-plastered, earth-roofed log-cabin, the hut of boughs, the tent, even the caves of the miner or the poor stockman. Of comfortable and often [i^sthetic residences there are more in proportion in Colorado Springs than in any other place, owing to the facts that many cultured people have come thither for their health, and that the colony organization has done much to improve and adorn the town. The "little rift in the lute," in the fine character of the average "old timer," is his indifi'erence not merely to some of the convenances of life, but also to those sanitary precautions and i-egulations which are becoming indispensal)le in this age ; and he is too apt to say that things "are good enough for him,"" and to put too much faith in the power of the dry air. That a fine old pioneer, fur in- stance, whose horse had fallen and died in the road, should, because the carcass was inofiiensive, lay out new wheel tracks at the side, rather than move it, must surprise most people. Nor is the cuisine all that can be desired ; and this, too, from apparent carelessness rather than the want of ample facilities for good living; and in some places the water, alkaline or otherwise unpleasant, will not prove satisfactory. Churches abound, and worshipjjers too, and some faithful early leaders have sown good seed. Clergymen adaj^ted to the country find their hands held u]), and have many interested and intelligent parishioners. "Do you know the Rev. Mr. X V was csked of a stage -driver. "X V delightedly cried he, "Why, that's mtj preacher. I hang mg hat on h'lni everg titneP Cities abound to a irreater extent than is aposed brigand aeain asked, " Stranircr, do vou fumigate ?" OVER THE RANGE. 121 " If you mean smoke, sir, I do not." " Do joii object, stranger, to om* fumigating?'' " No, sir." And tliey jDroceeded to smoke. At the dining-place, when our friend came to tender his money, the proprietor said, '' Your bill's paid !" '^AVhopaiditr " That man " — pointing to the supposed liighwayman, who, on being- asked if he had not made a mistake, rephed, '' Not at alh You see, when we see that you didn't irrigate and didn't fumigate, we knew that you was a parson. And your bills are all right as long as you travel with this crowd. We've got a respect for the Church — you bet !'' It was no high- wayman, but a respectable resident of Denver. This reminds us of another traveller, who displayed such verdancy on tlie top of a Leadville stage, not long ago, that he gave some practical jokers too good an opportunity to be neglected. "We must be gettin' pretty nigh where them road agents be — eh, Jim?" asked one of another, at a particularly safe stage of the journey. " What, gentlemen, do you have road agents here T' asked the tender- foot. " Yes, indeed ; we're attacked 'most every day," was the cheerful re- ply. It was but a few minutes before the unfortunate man, having been iirst induced to conceal his watch in one of his boots, was jolting horri- bly about on the baggage-rack in the rear, covered by the large leather flap. Crouched here, he heard with terror the reports of the pistols dis- charged in the air by the worthies on top, and cries of '^ Bully for you. Bill! — guess you plugged that fellow." (Crack!) "There's another of them do^vn." (Crack ! crack !) " Guess they Avon't attack no more coaches." When released, some time later, from his uncomfortable posi- tion, he proceeded to present a sum of money to a quiet man on the box, M'ho was pointed out to him as having saved the lives of the party by his bravery and sharp - shooting. This money was, of course, afterward re- turned to him, with the hint that he had been badly " sold." The holiday tourist can come hither by several routes, as hereafter spocilied. Local raih-oads afford him considerable facilities, and without fatigue or annoyance, and with ladies in his party, he can visit, in addition to the places to which allusion has been made, Estes Park, near Long's Peak (the property of the Earl of Dunraven), Bowlder and Clear Creek Caaons, Bellevue Mountain, Idaho Springs, the canon of the Platte, the Ute Pass, and the crossing of the Sangre de Cristo Range into the valley of the Rio Grande. Next, eschewing the flesh-pots of the hotels, and the V2-2 NEW COLOKADO A\l) THE .SANTA EE TKAIL. *' Delinonicos of the West," or " of tlie Mountains," or what not (there are several of them), lie may procure tent and general "outiit" (oh, ex2)res- sive and most conipre- I hensivc word !), and I ])r()ceed to camp out, I CAMl'ING OUi. perhaps in one of the great park^ North, Middle, South, or San Luis ; the smaller, Estes, Mani- tou, etc., etc. ; or on Bear and other creeks, where the trout do mostly congregate ; bearing in mind that the average camper of this decade will rcrpiire fresh meat, mails, and telegrams twice a week, and choosing accordingly. Tlemendjering the time and expense involved in transporta- OVER THE RANGE. 123 tioii from tlic Atlantic sea-board, he buys his tent and stores at Denver or Colorado Springs, puts them on a wagon, and then, arrayed in the seediest of flannel shirts, the broadest of hats, and the tallest of boots, and with gun in hand, and large revolver and cartridges in belt, he casts oS the trammels of civilization. He can live just as economically or just as ex- pensively as he pleases — can buy fat salt pork and flour, and, as the Lead- ville sign suggests, " cook 'em himself ;" or he can hire a fine cook, order fresh meats, vegetables, and fruits, which will keep wonderfully well at these altitudes, and find his camp a " Saratoga of the West " — in expense if not in other respects. In the morning he may discover ice near his tent in August, and at noon be enjoying a refreshing bath in the stream. For the rest — horse, dog, gun, and rod, with a good supply of magazines and pa])ers, help him pass the time. Some come simply for economy's sake, and secure, at all events, an out-door and rustic life, such as it is, for a small sum ; others are ordered to live in just this way for the benefit of their health, and there is no doubt that in certain cases it proves a cure ; others, again, think it novel and interesting and romantic, and if they are disappointed, do not say anything about it. The Colonel was sceptical, and made objections. " Why, O rover of the mighty deep," said he to the Commodore, "seekest thou to abandon the delights of the El Paso Club, the post and telegraph ofticcs, and the flesh-pots of this civilized town ? AVliy hast thou thy head cropped like unto the gentlemen who serve the State in striped suits at Canon City ? And why incasest thou thy manly form in the flan- nel of the backwoods and the overall of the miner, instead of the gay tweed of the latest Eegent Street cut ? Speak, I entreat thee !" '' Learn, then, O warrior," replied he, with dignity, " that my soul, long inured to communion with nature on the vast ocean expanse, seeks longingly a return to the primitive delights of the dweller far from the haunts of men. It will none of these effete luxuries and demoralizing dainties ;" and the Commodore helped himself to a third portion of the gooseberry-pie. " But," rejoined the Colonel, " hast thou not read in the journal of the period, unjustly called venal, what words of wisdom have fallen from the lips of the Froudes and Macaulays ? Is it not written that, when people desire to imitate the ancients, they forget that the ways of our ancestors were but the choice of Ilobson, and that if they lived in caves and teuts, it was but because co-operative building associations were the inheri- tance of their posterity, and the brown - stone, high - stoop dwelling was a dream f 124 Ni:\V COLORADO AND THE SANTA FE TRAIL. " The Froiules and Macaulays be bio wed !'' said the Coniinodore. "k>Jiivcr my tind)oi*s if I don't go camping — you bet!" And he went — a comical figure, indeed — coercing tlie reluctant Mon- tezuma on the dusty road ; and he camped ; and he returned, and said that lie "had a boss time." Only from contemporaneous history were vivid EXPEDITION OF THE COMMODORE AND MONTEZUMA. accounts gathered of his first dinner, when he gazed pitifully through his one eye-glass at the ants crawling over his plate, and sprung up in distress when a large yellow-jacket stung him on his close-cropped head ; and of his last night, when he awoke from fitful slumber to see a steer with his head through a hole in the tent, and a coyote snuffing under the flap, and to hear the howl of the dog ensconced at a safe distance. AVitli the approach of cold weather the camper sells his outfit as ad- vantageously as he can, and inscribes his name on the nearest hotel reg- OVER THE RANGE. 125 ister ; and lie who lias chartered a wagon, and combined camp life with travelling, emerges from the Ute Pass or one of the canons, and becomes like nnto his fellow-men. Bnt for one thing how shall they, and even the residents of Colorado, answ^er — the strewing of the whole country with the great North American tin can ? From the Wyoming line to the Veta Pass, from the White Eiver Agency far ont on the plains, lie terrible de- posits, daily increasing, and rivalling gold and silver, in extent if not in value, of the whilom receptacles of egg-plums (whatever they may be), to- matoes, and succotash. " Do you not think," gently asked a clever friend of the writer, as they drove past one of these shining piles, " that when the New Zealander is quarrying out the remnants of our civilization, he will come to the conclu- sion that the tin can contrasts unfavorably with the pottery of Etruria V If the Colonel would not camp out, he willingly acceded to the Com- modore's wishes when the latter wanted to " be on the move," and go where he would not see the perennial and conventional verdant tourist, open-eyed and duster-clad ; and it was when our Colorado sojourn was drawing to a close, and our wanderings and investigations had far pro- gressed, that w^e took a trip combining more of rare attraction than it is easy to describe, but not to be recommended except to the experienced traveller, and to him only when in robust health. Given these conditions, let him speedily go and do as did we. We had " seen Leadville " by day and by night, but never before at the hour just preceding daylight. From the hotel we went to a restau- rant for coffee. It had apparently not been closed during the whole night. A sleepless proprietor presided, and a sleepy waiter served us ; and as the former saw us counting thirty-three empty champagne bottles on the table, he cheerfully remarked that "that warn't the half of 'em." Then we emerged, and saw a shadowy stage coming up the street, and a shadowy driver conhrmed our claim to outside seats. Then there climbed up l)y our side a (piiet man, courteous of manner and gentle of speech, and one might have thought him a mild Eastern capitalist ; but he was some- thing very different. Connected -with the transmission of the United States mails are certain officials called " sj)ecial agents." Matters may be goiiig a little wrong in an office, and one of them appears just in the nick of time. When one's registered letter has not come, he may have a call from another ; and let a highwayman make a mistake, and choose for his operation a coach with " U. S. M." on it, and the whole power and purse of the government are against him ; and when he is brought to bay in a gulch, and throws up his hands as the rifles of the posse are covering him, 120 NKW COl.oKADO AM) THE SANTA TE TKAIL. it is siiiiu' such iiiiltl iiianiu'i'cd gciitlcinan as this who rides ahead and [)nt.s liis hand on his slionlder. The writer has met three of tlieni in oom})any, l)laying a quiet game of tenpins before starting on a quest, and noticed one in particular who wore gokl spectacles, and looked like a German ])ro- fessor. This man alone took two mail robbers from the North to Texas, (p)ietly informing them that while the intending rescuers could undoubt- edly kill him, they might be enth-ely sure that the iirst motion would send both of tJieia into eternity ; and such was his fame that no man in all the crowd moved a finger. Just about as the clock struck five, the stable-man who had brought the stage to the office door descended from the box, and "Purlej," one of the oldest and most celebrated drivers in the country, drew on his gloves, turned uj) the collar of his long brown overcoat, and looked up, shaking his head. " Don^t know about so many on top, gentlemen. Bad road ahead, you know, and light load inside. I bring three peoj)le into Leadville for one that 1 take out. But never mind ; Til risk it. If we go over, we'll all go toojethcr." OYER THE RANGE. 127 " All ready !" And receiving the mail from a sleepy clerk, we rolled out of the rows of shanties, past the saw-mills and lime-kilns and charcoal ovens, and into and up the valley of the Arkansas — here as mean a little stream as ever ran through some Massachusetts meadow. " I'll show you where it rises in a few minutes," Purley told us ; and he did. This is what is usually called summer, and yet he was beating his arms to warm his hands, and we wore extra thick clotliino;, and were MOfXTAIX OF THE IIOLV CROSS. wrapped in great miners' blankets. The road is cut through the woods, and we dodged sharp branches with some difficulty. Eleven miles out came Chalk Ranch and breakfast, and then we climbed up to the Tennes- see Pass, the ascent being picturesque in the extreme. With the spring pointed out to us, we had done with not only the Arkansas, but all streams and rivers which affiliate with the Atlantic, and beyond us was the Pacific slope; for we were about to travei-se the great continental iL^S Ni:w COLOI{.\DO AND TIIK SANTA VE TRAIL. Divide, tlit> hackhoiie of America. This road is confidently stated to 1)0 ;m iniprovenient on the old one; but neitlier is very kind, if a broken and abandoned wagon told a true tale. Nevertheless, it leads to tlie top, and over it we went, the Commodore fancying tliat he snnffed the l)reeze from Japan and China. A dead broncho lay on one side — perhaps he had been attached to the broken M'agon, and thought his occupation gone when it came to grief — and some grim soul liad put a whiskey bottle between liis stiffened jaws. Now we came to Ten-Mile Creek, into which, if you drop a nautilus shell, it will float away west, make the mysterious journey through the great canon of the Colorado, pass Callville and Fort Yuma, and Anally be swept into the Gulf of California. When one passes Cres- ton, on the Union Pacific Railroad, it is his guide-book which tells him that he is on the Cordilleras and the great Divide. Here he sees it for himself ; and he sees, a mile or two farther on, and if the weather be clear, something else — a sight worth the whole journey — the famed Mountain of the Holy Cross, rising up at the westward, and saying to a fanciful imagi- nation, with the great white cross lying on its sloping crest away above the lonely range. In hoG s'lgno vinces. And one looks at this noble, this stupendous sight from Carbonateville — store and post-office. Then we passed the Ten-Mile mining district, and in due time came to Kokomo — a mining camp sup^^osed to be " booming," but giving no marked evidence of the process ; surely is it, however, one of the queerest and quaintest places that was ever seen. One very narrow street is carved out of the side of a steep hill, and below it are numbers and numbers of skeleton houses — mere wooden frames — the very morbid anatomy of architecture. Along we came from a higher level, and Purley saw the wistful look in the Commodore's face, and obligingly pulled up just where the buildings began ; all of them, above and below this one preternaturally narrow street, having the air of hanging perilously on the hill-side. Nothing could pos- sibly pass us, as a woman discovered who rode up the slope in front, neat- ly dressed, hatted and gloved, as some women would be in a Sioux village or on the Jornada del Muerto. " Can't you give me a chance to pass T' she asked. "Well," said Purley, "this gentleman's taking a sketch of the town, and just you keep still, and he'll have you." "Picture?" cried she. "Well, then, just put me in as a coiohoi/, for I'm hunting stray cattle ;" and, with a laugh, she guided her surefooted broncho to one side, and over half a dozen stumps and rocks, as Ave touched our hats, and Purley set his foot hard on the brake and drove up to the little inn. The "loafers" hung ai'ound as if this were a sleepy ag- OVER THE RANGE. 129 ricultiiral town on a "lean streak," in Kew Hamp- shire, and we concluded that "booming" is a mis- nomer for Kokomo. This road, only very recently constructed, is just wide enough to let the wheels pass between stumps and rooks, and no more, and the strain on the driver is tremendous. To travel it at night would be impossi- ble, and it is lonely enough by day. Up and down steep hills it goes, through desolate Ten-Mile Canon. over stretches of terribly dusty levels, and anon across an attempt at a meadow, while mighty peaks are seen on all sides. Leaving the stage, we took a large wag- on, and, after passing the Ten-Mile, the Snake, and the Blue, and stopping foi- dinner, two wagons instead of one. To the east lies Breckenridge ; to the south - east, grim Mount Lincoln ; to the north-east, (rray's Peak and the Ar- gentine Pass ; and here we were again at the foot of the continental Divide and l:i(> M:\V COl.dK'ADO AM) Till': SANTA IE IK'AIL. must cliiiil) it. Syiiiptoiiis ui" fatijjj'iU" wciv not wiuitiiii;- aiiioiier belt, and our progress was slow enough to make our driver's conversation verj welcome. lie told of old days when he rode the Pony Express, sjsringing from horse to horse, and making his hundred miles j^er diem ; and then of the over- land stages, and of the time when the murderer escaped from Denvei-, and took the coach at an outside station, and he heard a hail, and saw the vigilantes in full gallop after him — stern Nemesis herself, in the shape of three quiet citizens armed to the teeth, who took their prisoner out, and then let the stage go on. There comes a time, he also told us, when an old driver " loses his gi'ip," and cannot keep up the pace, and must " take a back seat ;" and all this time we were still climbing, and here at last we were on the summit of Loveland Pass, and saw two little posts wdth "Tunnel Line" on them, and another giving the elevation as 11,784 feet. For, strange to say, these Colorado railroad builders, who joke at grades and speak disrespectfully of elevations, propose carrying the Colorado Central through the ridge, and in some mysterious manner over the "high line " by which we came. Now for the last time we descended ; and here our nautilus shell would be whirled down that roaring South Clear Creek, the Platte, the Missouri, and the Mississippi, and float out between Captain Eads's jetties into the Gulf of Mexico. Soon we again took a stage ; and then, when the sun was well below the horizon, and we seemed to have passed our whole lives in those seats, and never known what it w^as not to have our sjiines brought at intervals into violent collision with the sharp edges be- hind us, the valley narrowed, and the great dump-heaps appeared on the side of the hills, and we passed Brownsville and Silver Plume, and finally rattled down into the main street of Georgetown. We ached in every bone, and thought of supper as a hollow mockery, but we would not have missed that drive of sixty-five long miles for all the world. This w\is all the Great American Desert when some of the youngest of us studied ge- ography. Pathfinder Fremont came to grief on one of the creeks along which we passed ; the fires causing the smoke hanging over the mountains were set by Ute Indians ; and yet not only had we crossed and recrossed the range, and enjoyed all this grand scenery, in fourteen hours, but the locomotive may soon do it in four and a half. The changing leaves on the mountains reminded the Commodore, shortly after this last trip, of what he was to see of gorgeous yellow, brown, and gold on the familiar slopes of the Hudson Yalley and in the OVER THE RANGE. l?.l New England woods ; and tlie daj came wlien onr effects were packed, and he exacted one last test of the ColoneFs devotion in a ride to the sta- tion with him on the backs of Montezuma and Esmeralda. It was accom- plished with a large degree of exasperation on his friend's part ; but the obnoxious burros had become, through the Commodore's mistaken devo- tion, pampered and overfed, and mischief looked out from their eves as w^e dismounted. The train moved off, the engineer blew his whistle, the burros raised their voices and their heels simultaneously, the horses heard and speedily saw them, and we looked back from a curve in the track at a scene of havoc and devastation. A small donkey-boy, a colored porter, and an old woman lay prostrate in the dust ; the driver of the North-west- ern Company's stage was, with strange and angry exclamations, endeavor- ing to hold his frightened horses with rein and brake ; and the burros were well up the Manitou road, and making the best time of the season toward the Pacific Ocean. With the departure of my naval friend at Pueblo, I dropped all sem- blance of official rank, and, still lured on by the fascinations of the country, ascended the Veta Pass by night, favored by the wondrous sight of a freight train far above our heads, on the track where we were soon to follow it, and thrown into a lurid illumination by the s})arks from the smoke-stack, and the frequent opening of the furnace door of the panting engine. I visited the valley of the Rio Grande, ate trout cooked to perfection, saw the stage of the Southern Overland Mail Com])any, with its splendid East- ern horses (at one point they put twelve on the coach), start for the South- west, and then came again across the Sangre de Cristo, and around the Muleshoe Curve. Just before we approached it, and as the engineer was telling me with what extreme caution he was compelled to run ("If a stone should happen to drop on the track, look where we'd go," said he), we saw, winding along the stage -road far, far below, what seemed to be pack-mules, and one bit of bright red color lighting up the line. Five minutes brought us to a band of Ute Indians bound over the range, and they w^ere a sight not to be lightly viewed by any reader of the novels of J. Fenimore Cooper. All were on lean ponies, leading and driving others ; braves with their guns across their knees, squaws with their pappooses bound on their backs in receptacles which exactly resembled bark quivers, and diminutive children. Drawn up on the hill-side, they gazed stolidly at the train, and the engineer said that " he'd a good mind to whistle, and see those ponies jump, if he didn't think the Indians might lire into us." AVhen we came on the plain there were looming up, to gladden the heart l;3-j m:w colukado and iiik santa fe ikaii,. <)i tlic niountt'in-lover, tlio beautiful Wahatoya. Fusiyama, in Japan, is beyond all question tlie finest* single mountain known in the world ; the Holy Cross is awe-inspiring ; but for two lofty and splendid hills, side by side, and forming a spur thrown out into the level like these, I know of no match. I sing their praises at all times, and eagerly strain my eyes for them when there is a possibility that they may be seen on the distant horizon. We were a little doubt- ful about them once on a long drive ; but a friend who had been scan- ning the misty distance, and who knew that, as far from New York as this, he might paraphrase Pinafore without fear of actual personal vio- lence, softly said, " For they are the Spanish Peaks : For they might have been La Vcta, Or peaks of other natm\ Of which tlie guide-book speaks; But in S2)ite of all tem])tations To belong to other nations Tlicy remain the Spanish Peaks." I had them again before me as I sat waiting the last lines of this clia])ter at a lonely station in the sage-brush, with the rattle of the telegraph in- struments in my ears. On this side was the newest and most vigorous American civilization ; on the other were the remnants of effete Spanish rule, and the wonderful and tantalizing records of a prehistoric race. Past them lay my road, and, with the "All aboard !" of the conductor, I stepped on the train and turned my back to the New and my face to the Old. THE SANTA FE TRAIL. 13o CHAPTER X. THE SA>-TA FE TRAIL. FEW citizens of this country are aware how hitely begun, and how rapidly accomplished, has been the development of communications throughout what we call the Great West, but which is more properly des- ignated the Heart of the Continent ; especially since, if we are guided by the meridians of longitude, our domain now extends — strange as it may seem — as far to the loest of /San Francisco as it does to the east. The average layman may, indeed, rightly claim that when as astute and expe- rienced a traveller as General William T. Sherman could state, in 18G5, that he " would not buy a ticket for San Francisco for his youngest grand- child," and then ride thither himself by rail only four years later, he (the laynnin) can hardly be blamed for not keeping pace with the graders and track-layers. It is, actually, only about thirty years since parties of any considerable size began to cross the continent, and only about twenty since the first emigration to the Rocky Mountain region. In two and one quarter cen- turies after the landing at Plymouth Rock the descendants of the Pilgrims had made their way in force only to the Missouri ; and it seems curious that the Spanish race, so far behind the Anglo-Saxon in enterj)rise, should, starting from the South, have made so much earlier progress toward the great central domain, where the miner and the ranchmen now find con- genial homes. Yet in 1527, only thirty -five years after Columbus had given a new world to Castile and Leon, Alva Nunez Cabeza de Vaca sailed from Spain, and landed in what is now Florida ; thence he made a wonderful overland journey, occupying nearly nine years, and after pass- ing through the region known at present as Kew Mexico, arrived at the city of Mexico in the summer of 1536, more than eighty years before the Mayfloimr dropped her anchor off the American coast. Previous to his coming, wonderful stories had reached the Spanish authorities of the " Seven Cities of Cibola ;" and his accounts induced the sending of expedi- tions to the North, which finally resulted in the conquest of the country. i;u iMlW COLORADO AM> TIIK SANTA VE TKAIL. Ill !.");>!) Niza laid claiin to Cihola in the iiaiiic of the Kiii^- of Spain; and wliile the aetual (hite t)f tlie foiiiuliiig of the city of Santa Fe is in doubt, it probably antedates Leudville hy some three centuries. Into the field of ALVA NUNEZ CABEZA DE VACA CROSSING THE GKEAT AMERICAN DESERT. fascinating inquiry and speculation as to the pre-Columbian inhabitants it is not permissible here to enter. The Pullman car now bears the enter- prising antiquarian, in ease and comfort, to the banks of the Rio Grande del Norte, and his learned lucubrations will soon be spread broadcast over the land. It was at about the beginning of this century that it dawned upon our people that there were good markets as well as cities and jDcople in and near this same Eio Grande Valley, and under Mexican rule. There is said to be in the ancient palace at Santa Fe a Spanish document proving the existence of a trail, in the last quarter of the eighteenth century, from the old French settlements in what is now Illinois to some of the towns in Kew Mexico ; and from one of them — Abiquiu — to California. General Kearny is said to have despatched a courier over the latter ; but all efforts of the writer have failed to prove the authenticity, or secure a proper translation, of the document in question. Mr. Gregg, in his interesting THE SANTA FE TRAIL. 135 book, " Tlie Commerce of the Prairies,'' now out of print, and from wliicli uiucli information could be collated, stated that a merchant of Kaskaskia named Morrison heard, about 1804, througli some trappers, of the stories which the Indians had told them of this ancient land, where Spanish pomp and civilization went hand in hand with royally high prices for merchan- dise, lie despatched one La Lande, a French Canadian, on an adventure to Santa Fe, and La Lande went thither with alacrity, but omitted the trifling formality of coming back again. The log huts of Kaskaskia knew him no more ; he lived in opulence in a one-story adobe house, while the excellent Morrison '•Looked for the coming which might not be;" and linally La Lande died in the odor of sanctity and was gathered to his fathers, without having rendered any account sales, or made any remittance to his principal. Next there comes to the front again that splendid patriot, Lieuten- ant Z. M. Pike, soldier, explorer, and high-minded gentleman, whose fame deserves far more enduring record than it has received. It was in the course of the expedition on which he started, in 180G, that he met James Pursley (whom, for his refusal to show the Spaniards where he had found gold, a Coloi"ado writer laconically calls "good boy"); and this worthy man seems also to have been allured by the tales of the Indians, and to have gone to end his days in the land of Montezuma; and when Pike himself came back, and told his manly, straightforward story, great inter- est was excited in the strange places which he had visited, and in the al- luring prospect of a profitable trade. Considering that Santa Fe, Taos, and other towns, and the country in their vicinity, had depended entirely upon supplies from Mexico and the other provinces under her control, there was every reason for this interest, and for a vigorous opening up of the business. First essays were not promising. Four men, starting with their goods in 1812, and manfully jjushing their way to Santa Fe, returned only in 1821, Laving been imprisoned during nearly all the intermediate time. The next year, however, marked the opening of the Santa Fe Trail — that wonderful road, some eight hundred miles in length, rising so imper- ceptibly for three-quarters of this distance as to seem absolutely level, and without bridge from end to end. There it stretched away toward the sun- set half a century ago, and there it stretches to-day; and what poet's dream, what prophetic vision of the ardent patriot, steadfastly believing in the future greatness of his country, can afford a measure of either the romance or the reality of the march over and beside it, during those fifty years, of 13r» NEW COLOKADO AND THE SANTA EE TIJAIE. the pioneer, the trader, tlie soldier, tlio Free-State champion, tlic settler, and the railroad engineer, and its results, as seen to -day? We listen coniplaecntly to Fourth-of-July orators, and read with uninstructcd enthu- siasm of the development of the Great West ; hut to really know some- thing ahout it one ought to study for himself the region through which is defined, now clearly, now faintly, this pathway of empire. It is to the doings of this worshii)ful brotherhood of nation-builders and their achieve- ments that the writer would offer his meed of tribute. I. — TUE riONEER. AVith only misty and imperfect records to guide us, we cannot tell by what route stout Cabeza de Vaca toiled through the wilderness, or how far Coronado journeyed toward the Missouri, but it is only fair to give them the place of honor. For two hundred years after their time, as far as can be gathei'ed from accessible data, the Indian and the buffalo were undisturbed, and it was perhaps after Bunker Hill and Yorktown that the Jesuit or the Franciscan took up his pilgrim's staff, and turned his face to the sunset. Mr. Parkman has told with graphic power the story of the followers of Ignatius Loyola in the Northern wilds, and the people of Illinois arc about to erect a monument to good old Pere Marquette ; so in tmie the world may learn, from the pen of some investigator and histo- rian, of heroic and lonely missionary journeymgs across the great plains. The people of Kansas, already claiming Coronado as the discoverer of their State, may also find room for a reminder of some self-denying pilgrim priest ; and jjerhaj^s, too, the poet may discover herein an engaging theme, for as well in the lonely valley of the Arkansas as elsewhere one can im- agine a dying exile murmuring, "As God shall will. What matters where A true man's cross shall stand, So heaven be o'er it — here, as there lu pleasant Norman land? " ' Uvls Sion 7ni/stlca,'' I see Its mansions passing fair. ' Condita ccelo.'' Let me be, Dear Lord, a dweller there." II. THE TRADEK. The first adventurers carried their merchandise on pack-horses or mules, and it was in 1824 that it was decided to use wagons, a number of which reached Santa Fe with much less difficulty than might have THE SANTA FE TRAIL. 137 [ been expected. The practicability of this method being established, the trade began steadily to increase, and in a few years a large amount of capi- tal was embarked therein. Its initial point was, first, FrankUn, some one hundred and fifty miles west of St. Louis, then Independence, then West- port — all these towns being on the Missouri Eiver, and thus easily reach- ed during the season of navigation. Ilere were found motley crowds — traders, outfitters, dealers in supplies of all kinds, tourists, invalids hoping to regain their health by a trip on the plains, drivers, and "roughs" in abundance. The covered wagons were drawn first by horses, then by mules, then by both mules and oxen, and were carefully loaded. Besides fee, sugar, and a little salt — it being expected that enough buffaloes would be killed to furnish fresh meat. Starting off in detached parties, the wagons would rendezvous at Council Grove, on a branch of the Neosho Eiver, twenty miles north of the present town of Emporia, and here an organization would be effected for mutual aid and protection during the long journey. In such a caravan there would be perhaps one hundred wagons, and a " captain of the caravan " would divide them into four di- 138 Ni:W COhOKADO AND THE SANTA FE TRAIL. VIS US, witli a lieutenant to eaeli. Every individual in the caravan was cnnipelled to stand liis wateh at night, and this guard must have presented a motley assortment of ch>thing and arms. AV' hen all was ready, the start was made. p]very night a hollow sfjuare and temporary corral were made with the wagons, and the camp-tires lighted outside of this square. Across swamps, (piagmires, and even rivers, the teams were driven, men being sent ahead to make temporary bridges over the first two, of brush or long grass covered with earth, and sometimes to fabricate " buffalo boats " of hides stretched over frames of poles or empty wagon bodies. The main route to Santa Fe will be described later on ; but the trains sometimes left the Arkansas Valley near what is called Cimarron Cross- ing, about one hundred and twenty -five miles east of what is now the (\)lorado State line, traversed an arid desert for some fifty miles, reached the Cimarron Valley, and passed on, striking the main trail somewhere near the present site of Fort Union. There is no doubt that great trouble was experienced with the Indians from time to time, and that while they might dread interference with strong parties, they w^ere glad enough to attack weak ones ; but Mr. Gregg, writing in 1844, expresses the fear that the earlier traders were not guilt- less of instigating the hostilities of later days, and says that "many seemed to forget the wholesome precejjt that they should not be savages them- selves because they dealt with savages." He adds, " In the course of twenty years, since the commencement of this trade, I do not believe there have been a dozen deaths upon the Santa Fe route, even including those who have been killed off by disease as well as by the Indians." AVhen the caravans were within a moderate distance of Santa Fe, run- ners were sent ahead to send back supplies, engage storehouses, and make arrangements with the customs officers — arrangements not unlike, prob- ably, those made with (some) customs officers in other parts of the world and in later days. And then, at last, the long valleys traversed and the high hills crossed, the goal appeared in sight. Loud cheers rang out, guns were discharged, and demonstrations of the greatest jo}^ abounded on every side. I must quote once more from Mr. Gregg's enthusiastic description : " It was truly a scene for the artist's pencil to revel in. Even the ani- mals seemed to participate in the humor of their riders, who grew more and more merry and obstreperous as they descended toward the city. I doubt, in short, whether the first sight of the walls of Jerusalem w^ere be- held by the Crusaders with much more tumultuous and soul-enrapturing THE SANTA FE TRAIL. 139 " The arrival produced a great deal of bustle and excitement among the natives. ' Los Americanos !' ' Los carros !' ' La entrada de la cara- vana !' were to be heard in every direction ; and crowds of women and ENTRANCE OF THE CARAVAN INTO SANTA FE. boys flocked around to see the new-comers, M'hile crowds of leperos hung about, as usual, to see what they could pilfer. The wagoners were by no 140 NEW COLOKADO AND THE KANTA FE TKAIL. moans free from excitement on this occasion. Informed of tlie ' ordeal ' they had to piuss, they liad spent the previons morning in ' rubbing up,' and now tliey were prepared, with clean faces, sleek-combed hair, and their choicest Sunday suit, to meet the ' fair eyes ' of glistening black that M'ero sure to stare at them as they passed. There was yet another preparation to be made in order to 'show off' to advantage. Each wagoner must tie a brand-new 'cracker' to the lash of his whip, for, on driving through the streets and the Plaza Publica, every one strives to outvie his comrades in the dexterity with which he flourishes this favorite badge of his au- thority." Then were sold the domestic cottons, calicoes, cotton - velvets, silks, hardware, etc., wdiicli had been brought across the plains ; and the founda- tion of many a large fortune was laid in the handsome profits coming from this business. It suffered at times from the capricious and despotic behavior of the Spanish or Mexican authorities, and was closed in 1843 by them, only to be reopened, however, in the ensuing spring. In 1841 the Texans, being at war with Mexico, sent an expedition into the coun- try, which resulted most disastrously ; and, ostensibly in reprisal for the treatment of their countrymen, gangs of men, under Wariield and McDaniel, made attemj)ts to raid some of the trains as well as attack vil- lages. One of these gangs was also guilty of the robbery and dastardly nnirder of Don Antonio Jose Chavez, in April, 1843, and the criminals were pursued, and most of them captured. Nor was the trade seriously interrupted by the Mexican war, for Santa Fe was taken by our trooj^s in 1840, and an American governor soon replaced the haughty Dons. Then it progressed steadily, and only the Indians seem to have interfered with it ; and when the great iron roads began to push out from the Mis- souri, the starting-place moved farther and farther west. The forwarding establishment at the head of which is Don Miguel Otero, a highly re- spected citizen of New Mexico, and uncle of the territorial delegate to Congress, has made seven jumps in eleven years. It was, in 1SG8, at Hays City, Kansas; thence it went to Sheridan, Kit Carson, Granada, La Junta, El Moro, Otero, and Las Vegas. Of interesting incidents, sometimes pleasing, often tragic, there is a large store from which one has but to choose. In either 1850 or 1851, F. X. Aubry, a young man of Canadian descent, rode, on a wager, from Santa Fe to Independence in five days and sixteen hours ; his own beauti- ful mare, Nelly, having carried him, it is said, over one hundred and fifty miles. It is sad to relate that a man possessing the courage and endurance for such a feat was killed in a brawl in Santa Fe, September 11th, 1854. THE SANTA FE TKAIL. Ul In 1S50 a United States mail party was cut off by tlie Apache and Utali Indians, not a man surviving ; and at about this time Mr. and Mrs. TVhitc and party were attacked, and all at once killed, except the lady and her DDKN ATTACK UT INDIANA child, who were taken prisnners. A party of dragoons, with the famed Kit Carson as gnide, started in pursuit, and overtook the miscreants, but the unfortunate captives were murdered during the fight. To this splen- 142 m:\v c<)Ij>1vAi»(> and iiii; sama ii; ih'AiL. i-oscnt forts aloiip; its length arc of comparatively recent construction ; l)ut without ohronieling any other startling or romantic events, it may be paid that the soldier has had more or less duty between the Missouri and Santa Fe for the last twenty years, and has done it bravely and faithfully, IV, — THE FUEP>STATE CHAMPION. In taking u]) this department of his subject the writer is approaching very nu»dern and well-known history too closely to admit of more than a l)i-ief reference to the men who, if they marched but a comparatively short distance west from the river, were as surely the pioneers of the great army of peaceful conquerors of the soil next to receive attention, as they were the standard-bearers of liberty. It is but a quarter of a century, as only recently commemorated at LaAvrence, that the bill for the organization of the Territory of Kansas passed Congress, and to read of that same Law- rence being sacked two years later is like a sudden jilunge backward into the Dark Ages, Secure in a united country, ]iurged from the stain of slavery, we can strive to forget the horrors of " Bleeding Kansas ;" but we must not forget the honor due to the Free-State diampions. We owe it to them that the wagoner's and not the overseer's whip has been cracking on the Santa Fe Trail for the last twenty-five years, and that the wdiistle of the engine is heard there to-day. The slave power died hard in Kan- sas, as it did at Vicksburg and Gettysburg and Richmond ; and on our country's roll of honor there should be a high place for the men who fuught and bled for freedom on this soil. V. - THE SETTLER Tie, to quote the motto of the State of Massadmsetts- Ense petit j)la- cidam sub libertate quietem — seeks with the sword liberty and tranquil peace ; and then he hangs up the sword, and beckons to thousands from all over the world to follow him, and proceeds to push the limit of the agricultural belt farther and farther West. Starting on a recent and ex- tended tour in these regions, with the impression of knowing something al)out them, I have been an amazed learner, and unless my readers have had equal advantages, what will be told them will be a surprise ; and they should, if sufHeiently interested, follow my statements with a good map Ijefore them. There has been doubt as to whether this part of the great march should be described as that of the settler or of the moist and fertil- izing atmosphere, which we in the East have been inclined to deny to our brethren on the plains. But, in any case, simple facts will be given. In 1800 Ohio produced 10,200,000 bushels of wheat, and Kansas THE SANTA FE TRAIL. 145 260,000 ; in 1872 Ohio produced 18,200,000, and Kansas 2,100,000 ; in 1878 Ohio produced 32,000,000, and Kansas 32,300,000! I have not ventured to take these astounding round numbers from any less authorita- tive source than the Keport of the Secretary of the State Board of Agri- culture of Kansas. Let us further notice that Kansas stands at the head (in 1878) of the list of wheat-producing States. Two-thirds of these 32,300,000 bushels were grown in that part of the State which has been settled and cultivated dur- ing the last ten years. Of these 32,300,000 bushels, again, the icesteni tilled half of the State produced 23,300,000. Ford, Edwards, and Pawnee counties, the first-named being intersected by the one hundredth meridian (the western boundary being about three hundred and eighty miles west of Kansas City), and the other two just on the east of it, produced 587,000 bushels in 1878. In 1845 vegetables could not be grown at Topeka, and the missionaries there were compelled to send to the river for them ; in 1870 they could not be grown at Newton ; in 1872 they could not be grown at Larned. In 1879 they could be grown at Dodge City. Some writers on this subject of the increasing fertility of the so-called "plains" have been compelled to construct facts to suit their theories. One finds himself in a far more agreeable position when he is only called upon to offer something in the shape of a scientific theory to account for facts which any observer can study for himself. Assuming that this fer- tility is within the general western limit of the region of farms, and that it is not claimed for soHtary out-pickets, it would seem that when such limit, extending for a considerable distance north and south, is pushing steadily on, the breaking up of the soil has done the work, and there is strong scientific authority in support of this. Tlie turning of the sod, then, introduces two modes of action tending to increase locally the moisture of the atmosphere. Perhaps the more im- portant is that of simply parting with its own natural moisture, slowly but surely, until it arrives at a certain stand-point, balanced by the greater or less dryness of the air meeting it. The other source of continued local moistening of the atmosphere is that of the gradual decomposition of the organic constituents of the turf, thus giving, at the points needed, moist- ure prepared to assist vegetation. These two modes of action are produc- tive of relatively large amounts of humid atmosphere as compared with the whole weight of the turf displaced. Rain, being always due to an oversaturated atmosphere, follows in the train of agricultural progress, and is limited to or most active at the very points where it can contribute 10 146 Ki:\V COLOKADO AND THE SANTA FE TRAIL. most essentially to tlic germination and growth of the crops. Thus it is clearly the settler's march over the trail, for the rain is incident on the labor of his strong hands. ISettlor, too, if not farmer, is the stockman who is joiishing his ranches and flocks and herds out along the Arkansas, in com2:»etition with his brethren in other parts of Colorado, in New Mexico, and in Wyoming. Both contribute largely to the w^ealth and x>i"ORperity of the region in wliich they dwell and labor. Who, in the face of wdiat has been stated, shall boldly predict how far west and south they shall, in friendly alliance, push on ? The farther the better, may all true patriots heartily say, even if they meet, as Governor Gilpin thinks that they will, the eastern sweep of hordes from Asia somewhere in the Parks. (It is to be trusted that he will ]>ronounce this correctly stated.) We might well like to see farms and ranches stretching, as the old skipper said, ''from Cape Horn to the Eory Borealis." THE SANTA FE TRAIL. lit CHAPTER XI. THE SANTA FE TRAIL— Conihiued. VI. — THE EAILROAD ENGINEER. WIIE^N" the train was runnings one pleasant day last summer, over a certain Western line of railroad, a distinguished British official, of great experience in the construction and management of lines of various descriptions, asked, with much interest, who had planned and built the section which he had just traversed. Being told that it was a regular employe of the corporation, of modest demeanor and small pretensions, lie expressed the greatest surprise, and said that if such work had been done in Great Britain, or any of her possessions, the engineer would have been [knighted or made a baronet. Indeed, there is no doubt that few things in our country have excited greater admiration from the ''hearts of oak" across the Atlantic than the manner in which the surveyors and track- layers have pushed their way into the primeval Avilderness, and across the continent. The oxen that drew some of the first teams were excellent en- gineers, and the iron horse of the West, in more than one instance, has fol- lowed where they led. Rarely, however, in thus doing, have the tracks run over and toward such scenes of romance and historic interest ; and it is indeed curious to think that abeady the whistle of the locomotive has startled the sleepy Mexicans, and echoed across the Plaza in the ancient City of the Holy Faith. It was alike with a vivid interest and a curious realization of the ex- treme discrepancy between my modes of travel and those of my predeces- sors that I traveled, during the summer and autumn of 1879, the Santa Fe Trail, and one finds it hard to believe that the journey over it is now but an every-day duty of the brakeman and the baggage-master. Kansas City, but a few miles north of Westport, is, albeit not in Kansas at all, but in Missouri, a bustling and thriving town. Three competing lines connect it with St. Louis, and the same number with Chicago, and the Union Depot presents a busy scene. Starting thence, the train ran swiftly along the 14$ Ki;\V C'OLOKADO AND THE SANTA VK TKAIL. banks of tlic Kaw ov Kansas IJiver to Tc^peka, passing through Lawrence, ■with its line brick buiklings on a high bhilf. Topeka is the capital of the State, contains about 12,000 people, and boasts, besides wide avenues, line business blocks, and comfortable private residences, a very handsome State- house or Capitol, and a Female Seminary which, for strength and thor- oughness of building and convenience of arrangement, surpasses many of the most pretentious ones of the East. Moreover, it may be mentioned with satisfaction that there is here a Historical Library, which, if managed as it has been, and now is, will be of great value to the future historian. AVliile many West-bound parties doubtless travelled along the banks of the Kaw, the old Santa Fe Trail proper took a somewhat different course as KKARNY'ri SOLDIKRS CROSSING THE KANUE. far as the Arkansas, which is reached by the rails near the town of New- ton. Thence I sped on, the old wagon-road being in sight or close at hand nearly all the way along this famed valley. Instead of herds of buffaloes, and occasional bands of Lidians, and long lines of canvas-topped wagons, I saw farms, and school-houses, and churches, and National Banks. Yankees from New England, Scotchmen from the Highlands, Germans from the banks of the Rhine, Mennonites from Russia, and a motley crowd from all parts of the earth "dwelt together in unity" w^here the wagons were " parked," and the weary patrol trudged through the night, not many years ag(.. One feels just a shade disappointed at the absolute peaceful- I THE SANTA FE TKAIL. 149 ness of his transit, and as tlie verdant vojager sometimes longs for a storm at sea, so might one in his inmost soul hope for a sight of a savage Indian, at a safe distance. Alas ! we could hear of but six, and they were in jail. And on what does the reader suppose that we had to fall back for a tinge of excitement ? Not on the painted, tomahawk-brandishing warrior ; not on desperate Mexicans and still more desperate American bandits; not even on a set of drunken, pistol-shooting '' cow-boys," but (and this in the Far AVest and on the great plains) on that hot-house freebooter, that dis- tinctive product of Eastern civilization, the original, impudent, worthless tramp! Exit the wild rover of the prairies; enter the bummer! In 1830 or 1840 the Cheyennes fiercely attacked the lines of wagons ; in 1879 the tramps captured a freight train ! It was a short one, and there were only two or three men on it, who were told that they had better keep quiet, if they did not want to be shot by some of the twenty-five seedy, second-class rufiians, who proposed to travel, as they say in the West, "with their hats chalked," or free. Their journey was a short one, for they shortly met the express, and the trainman told his tale to a worthy Master of Transportation who happened to be thereon. This quiet Massa- chusetts man said little, but acted promptly. " He told the boys," said my informant, " just to git them rifles out of the baggage-car. ' We'll clear 'em out for you,' says he to the freight con- ductor ; and then we just Avent for 'em. AVe could 'a' had fifty good re- volvers to help us, out of the passenger-car ; but there warn't no need of 'em. When them tramps see us a-comin', they knew we was on the shoot, and they just give three cheers, and lit out."' Shade of Kit Carson! has it come to this? AA^e buy a new revolver, and take out an accident-insurance policy, and go forth to meet the wild warrior of the AVest ; and, lo ! the modern kind would flee from a police- man's club, and would not make a hero for a juvenile " blood-and-thun- der" weekly. Resuming my seat, I am reminded of the Briton who left his native shores on a quest for the typical American of the border — the mighty Leather Stocking or Davy Crockett of these latter days. In vain did he search through town after town, farther and farther from the East- ern seaboard. AA^earied and disappointed, he was about to retrace his steps, when Fortune smiled, and he saw — the first glance brought convic- tion to his soul — the real thing! Nothing could be more conventionally correct — the suit of buckskin, the leggings, the large felt hat, the long hair, the rifle, the revolver, and the bowie-knife. " Eureka .'" he muttered, as he hurriedly crossed the street. " My dear sir," said he, " would you — aw — excuse the liberty, you 150 NEW COLORADO AND THE SANTA FE TRAIL. know, and have tlic kiiulncss to — aw — tell nic, you know, from whence you conic P lie doubtless expected to quail bef(U-e the eagle eye of tliis Wild Bill ; perhaps to be greeted with strange imprecations ; but the man answered, in mild tones, and with familiar accent, " Hoot, mon ; aw'm just three months from Inverness !" And now the school-houses and churches began to decrease in size, and the houses were farther apart, as we ran swiftly on to Dodge City. Thence, or from a point not far distant, diverged the old alternative trail by the Cimarron. Thence, to-day, one travels by stage to Camp Supply, and (less than two hundred miles) to Fort Elliott, south of the Canadian River, and in the " Pan Handle " of Texas. Near by, too, is Fort Dodge ; and we drove thither, and saw the neat quarters and the storehouses and the corral, and talked with some of the othcers who are stationed at these lonely points. Several of them were rejoicing at orders for a post farther cast, but in twenty-four hours after we parted with them all was changed, and they were sent with speed to the front, perhaps to lay down their lives in a fight with Indians armed with rifles of the newest patterns, and sup- plied with provisions of the best quality — all from one of those centres of wretched corruption and chicanery, an Indian agency. From this same Fort Dodge went to his death, not many months ago, that brave and chivalric man. Major William II. Lewis, U. S. A. His ca- reer affords an excellent comment on the weak points of our republican system. Gaining distinction among his comrades for services in the early part of the Civil War, which in another land would have earned both higli military rank and public fame, he lived to find himself, six years later, a major, and to see his pay and allowances gradually cut down by a Con- gressional majority hostile to the army ; and then he was shot, fighting heroically against the Cheyennes — and why ? Because that wicked and powerful organization, the Indian Ring, successfully maintaining itself by its unnatural alliance with the sentimentalists of the East, cannot rob and plunder without desperate outbreaks on the part of its victims. While the former is fattening itself at a safe distance, and the latter, untaught by the ghastly doings of year after year, are whining platitudes, Lewis and Thornburgh and Custer, and many more brave men, are dying at the front. Some of us, who "speak what we do know and testify what we have seen'' on this subject, do most implicitly believe, and would have our fellow-citi- zens believe, that the nation which permits such things to be, stands in danger of an unerring retribution ; and this saddest of all aspects of West- ern life cannot be ignored in any truthful sketch of that region. THE SANTA FE TRAIL. 151 Speeding on again, we passed Lakin (in Avliicli enterprising town the store, established in a " dng-out," contrasts ciirioiislj with the new raih-oad dining-hall), then across the line, and into Colorado. From Las Animas we went to another military post — Fort Lyon — situated just where the Purgatoire enters the Arkansas. The moon was shining down on the neat square, with its plank walks, and trees, and tall flag-staff (in these Western posts — forts only by courtesy — there are no stone or earth works). A " hop " was progressing at the barracks, and the soldiers' wives, who were dancing to the music of a violin and guitar, had brought with them the children whom they could not leave at home, so that one saw the pretty, chubby little things sleep- ing as quietly on rugs on the floor as if miles away from the noise and the lights. And if any further hu- manizing influence were wanted by the pilgrim on the old trail, he found it in the gathering of cult- ured ladies and gentlemen who had not heard Pinafore., but who could and did sing it on the far Arkansas. Then, not very much farther on, we went down to the bank of the river to get a sketch of Bent's Fort — a famed post in the old days. The main structure was one hundred and eighty by one hundred and thirty-five feet, and the walls were fifteen feet high and four feet thick. It is now deserted and in ruins ; and the only information which we had to guide us in our search for a fortification (it cannot be seen from the train) which was in its glory when the Army of the West marched to Mexico, was the statement that it was near the 549th mile-post on the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad. And now the droves of cattle, and the buffalo trails stretching over the plains and down to the water, as straight as if laid out with a theodolite, grew more fre- quent, and we came to La Junta (pronounce it La Iloontah, if you please), the junction of the Timpas with the Arkansas. Here the four-footed en- gineers turned off to the south-west, and their two-legged successors, leav- ing the main Colorado line, by which one reaches Pueblo, Colorado Springs, and Denver, followed exactly in their steps. The land is barren to the eye, and the route lonely for awhile ; but soon we saw the Spanish Peaks, and the snow-topped Sangre de Cristo on the horizon, and then it was only HKST STOKK 152 NKW COLORADO AND THE SANTA FE TRAIL. eiijlity miles to Trinidad. Directly tliroiii^li this town, in wliicli one-story adobe huts and Mexican i/wsedls, or hovels of mud and straw, are curiously minified with I'nited States Hotels, and National Banks, and saloons, runs the trail, and on the hanks of the Purgatoire, which we have again reached, runs till' iron n»ad. And here let me stop to record t/ic corruption ^>ar excellence of a name \\liich I have encountered in all my wanderings. The pious Spaniards called this stream Las Animas (the Souls), the French called it Purgatoii-e (Purgatory), ami the freehorn American calls it the Picl-etwlre. We crossed the bridge to take the train, nmsing on what they call in California the "pure cussedness" of such a transformation; and then we saw Fisher's Peak on the east, and to tlie south, rising up against the sky, the Raton (Pat) Mountains, which first compelled the trail to follow a heavy grade. In starting to cross them, and enter a land which came to us hy right of conquest only about thirty years ago, I experienced a curious feeling of expectancy and adventurous enthusiasm, unknown in long and distant wanderings in four continents, and which, if worth analysis, I should trace to the fact that the passage from youngest America to older Spain and oldest kingdom of Montezuma, and from the express-office and the "" rum- mill "" to the vice-regal palace and the ancient j!;?^fZ'/(>, is effected so speed- ily, and without the crossing of any portion, however small, of the mighty deep. At all events, the feeling is there, and it is resjjectfully commended to the attention of the sensation-seeker. The trail went over the toll-road owned by Uncle Dick AYootten, a veteran pioneer, and many stories are told of the long lines of teams and other vehicles which paid tribute at liis gate ; but the railroad, lirst using a very bold and ingenious " switch- ])ack," now runs through a tuimel, approached on either side by aJieavy grade, and showing curious seams of coal in its inner walls. We saw it from the rear platform of a single passenger car at the end of a long freight train, and also looked at the " Devil's Gate," through which the trail passes after crossing the mountain, and which might have proved at any time a terrible place for an amljush. Then came supper at Otero, and a cot in the baggage car, in which car, besides many trunks and some amia- ble officials, we noticed several crates suggestive of poultry. Wrapped in my blankets, and with my head on an ancient mail-sack, I slept soundly until morning, and then only faintly heard the following colloquy: " Who's that feller. Bill ? Is he alive r " Oh, lie's a passenger. Blamedest feller to sleep that / ever see. There's them cocks been a-crowin' and them ducks a-cpiackin' by the hour, and blame me if he's stirred. You bet he's a loss sleeper P THE SANTA FE TRAIL. 153 Assuming tins as a compliment, I rose from my coucli, and was rub- bing my hands to warm them, as the train, which had run down the trail in the night, through a pleasant valley, and many herds of sheep, and across the edge of the great " Maxwell Grant " (some one and three-quarter million acres), stopped at Watrous, the station for famed Fort Union, only about six miles from the track. Then we ran on to the south, and in due time reached the then terminus of the road — Las Yegas (the meadows) — where the plain is clearly seen to come to an end. There is a "new town " about the railroad station, and a large number of saloons and gambling dens are to be seen ; but the old Plaza, a short distance off, looks just about as it did when General Kearny stood there to make liis address to the Mexican people. The most striking buildings are an ancient church, with a rude cross in front, and an enormous edifice, three stories or more in height, erected by a Mexican, who, having travelled to some cities of the Eastern States, was fired with a noble ambition to emulate the lofty struct- ures in New York and Boston. The accommodations will doubtless im- prove, but they were described to us by a witty friend as not yet equal to those of Paris or Yienna. He assured us that he was given the same bed which Montezuma occupied in prehistoric days, and said that when he was taking his leave the landlord told him that he was going to put a new story on the hotel. "I told him," added he, "that he'd better put a new story on the kitchen, and another coat of loh'dewash on those slats I slept ony Near by are some famed hot springs, which the future traveller can visit with ease and comfort, and for which manifold virtues are claimed. At an early hour in tlie morning I climbed beside "Dick" on the box of the Southern Overland Mail Company's stage, and settled myself for an interesting drive on tlic trail itself. Between Las Yegas and Santa Fe lie mountains which it would be impossible to cross, and we made a long detour to the south. All around us were hills covered with dwarf cedar and pinon, and presenting rather a desolate appearance from the trail, which wound around and among them. At Tecolote we first changed horses ; and although nearly every writer who has visited New Mexico has described this and other native villages as resembling lime hilns, the fitness of the comparison is so obvious and complete that no one could suggest any improvement on it. And now we were brought into contact with an experience of the Santa Fe Trail which was of anything but an agreeable nature. To be sure, the otfieials on the train from Trinidad complained that the rifles furnished on their end of the line, where they were most likely to be needed, were not so good as those on the Eastern Division, where only the semi-occasional tramp was encountered. To be sure, too, 154 NEW COLORADO AND THE SANTA FE TRAIL. they spolcc in cliecrf ul local parlance, at Las Vegas, of " having had a man for breakfiist" (cn])henusni for a murder during the previous night), and the existence of a powerful vigilance committee was made known ; but it was certainly just a little novel and exciting to have a genial resident of Santa Fe, sitting on the seat behind us, quietly mention the fact, as we were lighting our cigars, that the road agents had "gone through" all the UOAI) AGENTS AT WOUK. passengers of the stage on w^hieh he had come in the opjwsite direction, and which they had attacked at a spot which he would show me. We reached it before long, and concluded that the " agents," or robbers, had an excellent eye for position. Tlic trail turned to the right at a sharp angle, and around a point on which were rocks of considerable height. On the left were high trees, among which lay a burnt log. " Here it was," said our friend. " The first thing that I saw was four masked faces and eight revolvers belonging to men behind those rocks. THE SANTA FE TRAIL. 155 Of course tliey ' had the drop ' on us, and we had to tln-ow np our hands. And then they made ns all get out, and they put the lady passenger on one side, and then made the rest of us sit down on that log;" and he pointed at it with a cool laugh. " One man," he went on, " kept the re- volvers pointed at the party, and the others just ' went through ' us, and took everything that we had in the world. I mean the men. The lady had some money, but they let her alone. One fellow — a doctor — walked about, and the man with the revolver told him just to sit down on that log again. 'Is it any of your business whether I sit or stand?' asked he. 'Oh no,' said the man, pleasantly, 'none at all, only Pll let dayl'tght through ye if ye cIonH sit down quicJc P And he sat down. When they'd taken everything, even fifty-seven dollars of the driver's hard earnings — and they generally let them alone —they told us to keep still for twenty minutes at peril of our lives, and took the horses and a buggy that they had up there among the trees, and went off." And this was a fair specimen of the doings of the " road agents." If anything can be conceived more exasperating to a strong red-blooded man than to sit with a pistol at his head, and have a villain take his watch and money, I have not yet discovered it ; and yet the " agents " are almost universally successful. The Western man, bold and resolute as he is, shrugs liis shoulders, and asks what you are to do when they "get the drop on you;" this "getting the drop" being, of course, the certainty of being able to kill you (which they will surely do) before you can harm them in any way. On this occasion it was intimated that while the one man was standing with his two revolvers pointed at the unfortunates on the log, and with his back to the woman passenger, the latter bitterly la- mented the fact that she had no pistol ; and that there are plenty of women in the West with nerve enough to have disposed of him, is perfectly tnie. " Were you not greatly alarmed ?" asked a visitor of a stern-looking woman who had been telling of an Indian attack on the stage in which she crossed the plains. "Not much,'''' she replied, and the siuq) in her eyes told how well she must have handled the rifle. " I was too mad to be frightened." One of the most celebrated government detectives in the West was on a stage which was attacked by two masked men, and, to his infinite rage and disgust, was compelled to give up his watch and money. Almost mechanically, he put his hand down in the " boot," as they drove on, and to his great delight found a carbine under the seat, which the robbers had forgotten. With a grim smile he asked the driver to go on a little farther, and then stop and wait for him ; and he went back alone. Just 15(5 NKW COI.OKADO AND TlIK SANTA IK I'KAIL. as he expected, the two men, unsuspicious of dano;cr, were ''divv^^ing up" tlie spoils in the middle of the road. In anotlier moment they heard the words, "Now, you scoundrels, it's my turn. Throw up your hands, or I'll Mow your brains out!" The game was up, and they knew it well. To make them, covered by the repeating carbine, step on one side with their hands held up, to pick up their revolvers, and to sternly tell them to move on, was simple work ; and it was not long before the astonished and de- lighted passengers saw them meekly coming down the road, with their cool captor behind them. Their principal solicitude Avould now be as to whether they could be gotten into the shelter of a jail before some of " the boys " strung them on a tree. It may not be amiss to state that the hero of this little affair was the General Charles Adams who went boldly among the Utes, and secured the surrender of the women captives from the White River Agency. [Another story of a dramatic repulse of such ruffians will be found in Chapter XIII.] To digress further, I may mention my good fortune in seeing the sequel of the attack in which my fellow-passenger figured. The robbers went back to Las Vegas, where, of course, tliey had plenty of friends ; and the United States Marshal for New Mexico, Mr. John Sherman (nephew of the General), who resides at Santa Fe, thought that they would be agi-ee- able and witty people, and that he would like to make their acquaintance, and to present to them two associates and deputies of his own — Mr. Charles Jones, of Kansas, who had come to the Territory for that purpose, and Mr. Thomas Barrett, of Santa Fe, both gentlemen of very tailing ways. As the robbers did not seem anxious to be presented, the marshals concluded to waive ceremony, and make the first call ; and they took a few broad-shouldered, quiet-looking, heavily-armed friends with them. " I see Charley and Tom that night," said a loquacious citizen of Las Yegas to us ; " an' I knew somethin' was up when I see 'em turnin' up their coat-collars, an' lookin' at their percussion-caps ; but I didn't know what it was." The "agents" were enjoying social games of chance and skill in a hall of the gay town, when each one saw men on both sides of him, appar- ently interested in the game, while several others had strolled into the room. In anotlier minute there was a grip of iron on each arm ; half a dozen shining barrels, with resolute faces behind them, covered the crowd, and all was over. "The chief of the Vigilantes come to me," said one of the captors, "and sez he, ' John, do ye M'ant 'em hung to-night V and I sez ' No !' " THE SANTA FE TKAIL. 157 and the other being occupied by the I shall always prize, as one of the strange and original experiences of my life, the sight of the examination of these men. It took place in a hail in the old palace at Santa Fe, in which Spanish viceroys reigned some two centuries ago. A low studded room was divided by a counter, the spectators taking uf* one side, court. Behind a square table sat a kindly - looking, weather-beat- en United States Commissioner. At one end were the marshal and the counsel for the defence, at the other the United States District Attorney, In the corner was a Mexican fireplace, in front of which sat tliree men, with their ankles chained together. Two of them had as villanous faces as I have ever seen ; and one was, as we were told by a by-stander, "Flapjack Bill, the Pride of the Pan-handle"(!) They were ad- dressed as "gentlemen," shook hands with their friends, and deluged the palace floor with tobacco-juice. My friend of the stage-coach entered, and was sworn ; and then ensued a remarkable scene. " Do you know those men V he was asked. He looked at them stead- ily, and said, " I should like to hear them ^pears to me to be the determination of General Thomas (Lorenzo Thomas, Adjutant-general) not to acknowledge the services of the officers who saved the Territory of New Mexico ; and the utter neglect of the Adjutant-general's department for the last year to communicate in any loay with the commanding officer of the Department of New Mexico, or to answer his urgent appeals for re- enforcements, for money and other supplies, in connection with his repu- diation of the services of all the army there, convinces Tne that he is not gratified at their loyalty, and their success in saving that Territory to the Uniony The militia had been called out, but their services were naturally of lit- tle account. The number of regnlars of all arms in the spring of 18G2 was put by General Roberts at nine hundred. There were two regiments of New Mexico Volunteers, the first having notable officers. The nominal colonel was Cerin St. Yrain, the courtly French pioneer, frontiersman, and trader, whose name has been familiar for half a century on the border, in IM NEW COLORADO AND THE SANTA FE TRAIL. the iKMnoiiclaturc of the mountain region, and in books of travel and ro- mances. The lieutenant-colonel, and actual commander, was Kit Carson ; the major, J. F. Chaves ; and one of the captains, Albert II. Pfeiffer, a very j)aladin of the frontier — a mild-mannered, blue-eyed, kindly man, and, in the estimation of his fellows, probably the most desperately courageous and successful Indian fighter in the AVcst. The colonel of the second was Miguel Pino. General Canby was well aware that the rebels were coming, and he made every preparation possible, in his crippled and neglected condition. Even food was most difficult to obtain, and great privations were borne by the men. In the mean time, H. II. Sibley, a Louisianian, graduated from "West Point in 1838, had been appointed to command the rebel brigade which was to form the invading army, and was organizing it with the re- sources of Texas at his command. In the beginning of 18(52 he was ready to march northward a short time before Governor Gilpin set his force in motion southward from Denver. The latter had intended to personally connnand his valiant little army, but the Government seemed to care far more about some n'regularity in his drafts on Washington than for the safety of two Territories, and summoned him to the caj^ital. Canby, with about nine hundred regulars, the two regiments of volun- teers, two extra companies from Colorado, and some militia, was at Fort Craig, on the west bank of the Rio Grande, in February, 1862, when Sib- ley approached, coming up from Fort Bliss by Mesilla and Fort Thoni. The latter had a formidable force of some twenty-live hundred men, in- cluding a body of efficient " Texan Eangers," and no doubt deemed this ample for his purpose. In his view there were many men prepared to flock to his standard, and his friend Floyd had attended to the cpiarter- master's and ordnance de^^artments at Fort Union, so that by the time he would reach his allien in Utah he would have a large, well-ecpiipped, and disciplined force. It was on the afternoon of February 19tli that Sibley, having deter- mined that he was in no condition to make an assault on the fort, forded the Rio Grande below it. Canby then threw detachments of the Fifth, Seventh, and Tenth Regular Infantry, and Carson's and Pino's Yolunteers, across the river, to prevent his adversary from occu})ying an eminence commanding the fort. The next afternoon the cavalry under Major Dun- can, and a light battery commanded by Captain M'Rae, a gallant soul, were also sent across, and the Texans immediately opened a heavy artillery fire on them. According to the account published at the time in a Santa Fc paper, Pino's regiment exhibited much confusion, in spite of the efforts of AN UNWIUTTEN EPISODE OF THE LATE WAR. 107 their colonel, Major Donaldson, and other officers ; but it is known that Carson's men behaved extremely well. General Canby deemed the panic among the volunteers a sufficient reason for returning that night to the fort. The Texans had been without water for a whole day, and that night their mules broke away from the guards, and our scouts captured some two hundred of them wandering about in search of means of quenching their thirst. The scouts also burnt a number of wagons. About eight o'clock in the morning of the 21st General Canby ordered Colonel Eoberts to proceed seven miles uj) the river, on the west bank, and keep the enemy from reaching the water at the only point where the slop- ing banks allowed of their so doing. He began the action with two hun- dred and twenty regular cavalry, brought up M'Rae's battery, planted it at the ford, supported by two companies of regular infantry and two of Car- son's Volunteers, and opened a destructive fire on the enemy. At half- past eleven the rest of the infantry came up, were thrown across the river, formed in line of battle, repulsed a charge from the Texans, and made a brilliant one themselves. Then Roberts sent over M'Rae's battery and two twenty-four pounders under Lieutenant Hall, and the battle of Val- verde was fought. The artillery fire was continued until a quarter before three, when General Canby came upon the field with his staff and Pino's Volunteers. He was about to order a general advance, when a demonstra- tion made on the dismounted cavalry on our extreme right drew off a part of the infantry supporting M'Rae's battery. Immediately it was charged by a thousand Texans under Steele, who had been di'awn uj? in a thick wood and behind sand-hills. This charge was most desperate, the men relying principally on revolvers and bowie-knives, and being maddened by thirst. The battery had been moved up to the edge of the wood, and M'llae, with his men, made a most gallant and determined resistance, but in vain. It is clear that while Carson's men and some other infantry stood firm — one company having twenty-two killed — the rest behaved badly. The battery was captured, after all the horses were killed or wounded ; Captain M'Eae, sitting astride of a gun firing his revolver, and disdaining surrender, was shot ; Lieutenant Michler was killed, and Lieutenant Eell twice wounded. Canby recrossed the river, and conducted his force to the fort. Sibley then marched on to Albuquerque, and thence to Santa Fe, which he entered without resistance. But he now began to see a portion of his programme miscarry. A few Mexicans, including one of the wealthy Armijo families, threw in their lot with the Confederacy ; but the great bulk of the people not only adhered to the L^nion, but, with a vivid memory of the past, hated 108 NEW COLOKADO AND THE SANTA FE TRAIL. the Texans with an lionest hatred, wliicli must have Ijceii sadly disappoint- ing and infinitely annoying to Sibley and his adjutant, the same Jackson who was Davis's partisan in 1851, and late Secretary of the Territory. We are much in the habit of speaking contemptuously of the Mexicans, or "greasei*s," as they are called, who live under our flag, and it is time that some justice should be done them, and that it should be made known that they brought money, mules, and provisions, and placed them at the disposal of the National troops, greatly, no doubt, to the gallant but de- luded ex-secretary's surprise. Still, Sibley doubtless reasoned that this was but a small matter, and that all would be well when he should be safely in possession of the booty at the F(jrt Union arsenal ; and he knew well the road thither through Apache Canon — just, as the Persian Hy- darnes, in B.C. 480, doubtless knew well the road to some Grecian Fort Union through the Pass of Thermopylae. The only obstacle was a few of those brave men who in every age and country are in the best sense Spartans. The Colorado Yolunteers marched from Denver on February 22d, 1862 (the day after the battle of Yalverdc) through snow nearly a foot deep, and reached the base of the Eaton Mountain on March 7th. This march is de- scribed in the journal of a gallant officer — Cajitain, afterward Major, Jacob Downing — as very distressing, on account of "snow-storms and wind- storms, accompanied by sand and pebbles," which impeded progress. But after crossing the mountains these line fellows actually accomplished six- ty-seven miles in a single day ; they arrived at Fort Union on the 11th, and were thoroughly armed and equipped by Major Eene Paul, U.S.A. They started thence on the 23d, and arrived next day at San Jose on the Rio Pecos. The old trail to Santa Fe from this point passes through the grim and narrow gorge called Ajjache Canon. Just where the canon widens at the east end was (and is, as has been previously stated) the ranch-house of Alexandre Yalle. Past it, on March 2Gth, marched Major Chivington, with two hundred and ten cavalry and one hundred and eighty infantry, and a lively skirmish ensued. "Zat Chivington," said the excellent M. Yalle to the writer, " lie jpoot Hs ''ead down, andfoight hike malid Indl .^" This seems to have been a drawn battle. The great fight was on the 28th, when the Texans had come up in force, and Colonel Slough had ar- rived with the rest of his regiment, two howitzer batteries under Caj^tains Ritter and Claflin (" as brave men," says our diarist, " as ever wore uni- form "), and some regular infantry, prominent among the officers of whom were Captains "W. II. Lewis, 5th Regiment, previously mentioned, and AN UNWEITTEN EPISODE OF THE LATE WAR. 169 A. B. Carey, 13tli Regiment. At an earlj Lour in the morning was cua- ceived and put in execution a strategical movement of great merit. A brave New Mexican, Manuel Chaves, led a detachment of about four hun- dred men, commanded by Chivington, and comprising two battalions of regulars and volunteers under Lewis and Carey, up> a steep ascent and along a terribly difficult path toward the rear of the Texans, where were their wagons and supplies of all kinds under a guard. There is no doubt that the Texans surprised the force left under Slough to fight them in front, Sibley was not in command — a fact which, after the fiercest recrimination among his informants, the author only ascertained beyond a doubt by an interview with the barber who shaved him that very morning, twenty miles away from the scene of ac- tion. He seems to have been supplied (perhaps for medical purposes!) with whiskey. The actual commander was Colonel W. R. Scurry, who was not killed, but lived to fight again (a fact which the author commends to the thoughtful consideration of the friends in Santa Fe who proposed to show him the grave where Scurry was buried in the town cemetery). M. Yalle, or Pigeon, says, " Gooverment malms vas at my ranch, and fill 'is cahnteen viz my viskey (and Gooverment nevaire pay me for zat viskey) ; and Texas malms coom oop, and soorprise zem, and zey f oight six hour by my vatch, and my vatch vas sIowP As to the details of the battle, which unquestionably deserves to be ranked among the notable ones of the war, accounts differ hopelessly. It is clear that the volunteers were forced back ; and it was, indeed, too much to expect that a Denver lawyer, without military experience, would handle a large force to great advantage ; but it is equally clear that companies and individuals fought with desperate courage, and their fire was terril)le. M. Valle describes the men as fairly raging when ordered back, and they did not hesitate to upbraid their commander. Meantime, however, the grand coup had been struck. Chaves did his duty, and led the climbing force (the detaching of which had of course greatly weakened Slough numerically) to the edge of the hill at the back, and showed them the rear-guard below, some six or seven hundred men. Chivington was brave enough, but this was new work for him. He paused a moment, and then looked at his battalion commanders. In the eyes of Lewis and Carey he read plainly, Vestigia mdla retrorsum. He nodded to Chaves, who coolly pointed out the path, and then down rushed the little band. This brilliant exploit resulted in a complete victory, and the destruction of sixty-four wagons, two hundred mules, and everything in the shape of supplies, am- munition, even surgical stores, which the rebels possessed. A messenger 170 NEW COLOliADO AND THE SANTA FE TKAIL. nislied Inirrioilly to their front with tho news ; the result was obvious ; a Ihii:: of truce was sent to Colonel Slough, and the battle of Apaclie Canon, La Glorieta, or I'igeon's Ranch, was over. The official despatch puts the l^niou loss at one hundred and fifty killed, wounded, and missing, and the rebel loss was acknowledged by themselves to bo three to four hundred killed and wounded, and ninety-three prisoners, including thirteen officers. Sibley saw that all was lost, and, evacuating Santa Fe, pushed southward. Slough fell back to Fort Union, where supplies were ample. But his men were soon on the march again, and on April 13th, after a hard trani]) of forty miles, joined General Canby in the field, forty-seven miles from Per- alta, on the Kio Grande, whither they marched next day. Roberts had alj'eady come up, and next morning, April 15tli, tlie troops fell on Sibley's rear, capturing a large train and a number of prisoners, and killing many of the escort. Next day the town vs^as bombarded, and during tlie follow- ing night Sibley escaped across the river under cover of the darkness, and in a sand-storm of long duration. His rear was agam attacked, and more damage done. "After a close pursuit of one hundred and fifty miles," says General Roberts, " he was obliged to break up his force into small parties, having left all along the line of liis retreat his ambulances, and the private and public stores of his entire command." General Canby offi- cially reported him as having left behind " in dead and wounded, and in sick and prisoners, one-half of his original force." Concerning these same prisoners, a remarkable affair occurred at Fort Union. Some of them were in the guard-house, where were also confined tw^o Navajo Indians. A sergeant, under sentence of death by a court-martial, having been exe- cuted, the Texans told the Indians that they were to suffer the same fate. Thereupon they began to shoot with bows and arrows from the windows of the guard-house, wounding a number of men ; and they were only put hor8 de combat by a shell wdtli ignited fuse dropped down the chimney. One cannot write the history of this remarkable campaign without mentioning the strong opinion of some of Carson's fiery fighters, and even at least one officer of distinction and experience, that victory was within their grasp at Valverde, and lost by mismanagement ; but no suggestion of what " might have been " can be allowed to weigli against the splendid reputation of Canby. Nor can one entertain any animadversions against him for not capturing the whole rebel force after Peralta, inasmuch as it is perfectly well known that he liad no desire to take prisoners whom he could not feed ; and inasmuch, also, as his judgment in this regard was more than borne out by the subsequent reduction of his own men to quar- ter rations. AN UNWRITTEN EPISODE OF THE LATE WAR. 171 That these events were not known, and have not since been known in the East, is hardly surprising, in view of tlie fact that other matters of transcendent importance, far nearer home, were contemporaneous with them. Fort Henry was taken on February 6th, Roanoke Island on Feb- ruary 8th, and Fort Donelson on February 16th. The battle of Pea Ridge ended on March 8th, the Monitor fought the Merrhnac on March 9th, and the great engagement at Sliiloh occurred on April 6th and 7th. Prob- ably not one in ten thousand suspected that such a threatening movement was making in the rear of our armies ; and it would have been equally surprising and terrible to have heard suddenly that a junction had been effected by the rebels with the Mormons, and that mischief had already been done which could be repaired, if at all, only at the cost of hundreds of lives and millions of money. Instead of this, the bright days of May saw Sibley, disheartened and demoralized, resting at that same Fort Bliss from w^hich he had marched with fell purpose four months before. The valley of the Rio Grande would know him no more, and he doubtless sought his accustomed consolation in the flowing bowl. Thus, in confusion and disaster, ended the great scheme for the " re- demption " of five States and Territories " from the heel of the tyrant ;" and it was the end of the rebels in that region. The Spartan band from Colorado had done its work, and for a long time was, to quote from our oflScer's journal, " in camp at Valverde, on the Rio Grande, one mile from Fort Craig, New Mexico, * * -■ surrounded by tarantulas, scorpions, centi- pedes, and rattlesnakes ; living on rotten bacon and wormy crackers, until the scurvy nearly destroyed those who had escaped the perils of war." General Carleton, with a force of California Volunteers, soon occupied the Territory, and the Colorado troops returned to the North, ma Santa Fe, in October. Before parting company with them, as they march off to be reorganized, and sent to fight Indians and bush-whackers, let us read a quaint and concise account of their achievements, contained, with other most curious reading matter, in a work (now out of print) by a Colorado journalist : "They were not recognized and paid as United States troops until eight months after their enlistment. It is perhaps doubtful whether or no they would then have been recognized, had they not marched nearly a thousand miles, and in one hard-fought battle and two brisk skirmishes broken and driven from New Mexico all those lean and hungry Texans w^ho called themselves, with a delightful humor, ' Baylor's Babes ;' who had left San Antonio for the Pike's Peak gold region about three thousand strong, swallowed Fort Fillmore without winking, raihcr beaten Canby at 17^ NEW COLORADO AND THE SANTA FE TRAIL. Valvcrdc, iiiul luul since tliat event been coining northward, covering the country as the frogs did Egypt, and wearing it out. Tliej had got twenty- five miles north of Santa Fe, when they were met by the ' Pet Lambs ' [the Colorado troops]. The Babes and the Lambs each rebounded some live miles from the first shock, which was more like the shock of lightning than of battalions. The reserves of both sides liaving come up the next day, the Babes and Lambs each went forth to mortal combat again. The ground was not unlike the roof of a house ; the Babes reached the ridge- pole first, and by the weight of numbers and the advantage of j^osition, during a seven hours' fight, forced the Lambs back off the roof. Night fell upon the scene, and the Babes and the Lambs each sought their own corner. The Lambs found theirs all right, but the Babes did not. It ap- peared that a part of the Lambs had been there during the fight and de- stroyed their commissariat and transportation totally. There being no grub in New Mexico in a general way, there certainly was none now, since armies had been sustained by her during the winter, so that the Babes had to go home to get something to eat. The Lambs accompanied them to the door, and wished them a safe journey. And so ended the war of the Babes and the Lambs in the Kocky Mountains. All this occurred in March and April, 1862, when Logan was storming Donelson, and Grant, or Sherman, or Buell, or somebody was winning or losing or drawing the bloody game of Shiloh. Governor Gilpin always insisted that his Pet Lambs broke the far left wing of the Eebellion — that they led off in the march of victory organized by tlie great "War Minister." In this view the reader of the foregoing pages will, it is to be hoped, fully concur. Poor Canby, a Bayard of this century, fell a victim to the results of the villanous treatment of Indians by white civilians. General Roberts, after long and brilliant service, has also " gone over to the majority." Governor Gilpin resides in Denver, a respected veteran, and a prophet not without honor in his own country, since the predictions in regard to a Pacific Rail- road, for which he was ridiculed years ago, have come almost literally true. Kit Carson died some years since ; and Pfeiffer, whose wife and children were killed by the Apaches, is living, an invalid, on a ranch near Del Norte. Colonel Slough, when Chief-justice of New Mexico, was killed in a brawl at Santa Fe. Chivington, the ex-Methodist elder, brought on himself dis- honor in the East and glory in the West by commanding in the "Sand Creek Indian Massacre," so called ; and he has since been under a cloud for some other reason. Major Carey is in the Paymaster's Department at Washington ; and Major Lewis met his death as previously descril)ed. AN UNWRITTEN EPISODE OF THE LATE WAR. 173 Away in tlie West these brave officers and men fonglit like heroes for their country (from what they saved her let the reader form his own con- clusions), and what was their reward ? Practically, nothing ; for a two- penny political general, who dined and wined reporters and issued cotton permits, could win more fame in a day than these patriots ever received. "When prize-money was withheld during the mutiny in British India, a private scribbled on the walls of Delhi, " When war is rife, and danger 's nigh, ' God and the soldier' 's all the cry. AVhen war is o'er, and danger righted, God is forgotten, and the soldier slighted."' If this be true in a monarchy, nay, in an empire, how doubly true is it in a republic, the traditional ingratitude of which is never more manifest than in its treatment of its soldiers ! In the oration on General Meade the speaker made a careful comparison between Waterloo and Gettysburg — the principles and momentous results at stake ; the numbers engaged ; the fighting and the losses ; and summed up somewhat as follows : " The British Government gave their connnander a dukedom, a magnificent estate, and a million of dollars. The United States Government made Meade a brigadier-general in the army, with four thousand five hundred dollars a year !" But it is not with gloomy reflections that one should bring a record like the foregoing to a close. It is a story, rescued from obscurity, not only of the defeat of a scheme of momentous potency for evil, but also of duty nobly and unflinchingly done ; and that there is somewhere and at some time a recognition of such devotion, he must be sure who believes in the moral government of the universe. It has a rightful place in a work bearing on the mountain region, for it chronicles some grand deeds of the mountaineers. And one can never despair of his country, knowing that there were in these remote corners, and would be again, men so ready to shed their blood in her defence. 174 iNKW COLORADO AND THE SANTA FE TRAIL. CHAPTER XIII. TOLD AT TRINIDAD. WE liad driven over from El Moro only to fiiul that the daily train for the Sonth had started, and that we had a long night and day on our liaiuls. We soon exhausted the sights of the town, and sat down on tlie hotel pia/.za in company with rather a motley group. We talked in a languid way abont various subjects, and drifted after awhile to the old staging days ; then a quiet New Yorker took his cigar out of his mouth, and said, ' " Gentlemen, I should like to tell you a story. Those of yon who saw the Neia York Herald of July — , 1876, may have noticed a rather unintel- ligible account of a crime committed by the scion of a wealthy and dis- tinguished family long resident in the city. It was supposed to be a heavy foi-gery, but one soon saw that extraordinary measures and powerful in- fluence had suppressed details and prevented further publicity, and the matter passed oif as a nine days' wonder. AVlien I myself first saw the item, I felt sure that I knew who the culprit was. James W and I were schoolmates at Geneva, and once great friends. He was the son of one of the finest gentlemen of the old school that I have ever seen — who had married rather late in life, and been a most affectionate and in- dulgent father. James was a boy of most attractive appearance, with very dark complexion, hair and eyes, and the figure of an athlete. There was apparently nothing in feature, expression, or manner, to cause suspicion that he was not a very fine fellow ; and yet there came to me before long the positive conviction, first, that under that attractive exterior a desper- ate power of evil was at work ; second (and I am no more able to explain this than those other spiritual mysteries which so many of us encounter in our lives), that it wonld be my fate to come into contact with him in after years when this power had developed itself. "Through certain channels then open to me I easily ascertained that, after a career of deep dissipation, James W had committed a bold forgery ; that in some way the money had been paid, and the affair quash- TOLD AT TRINIDAD. 175 ed. Other tilings came to my ears, all strongly confirmatory of my expec- tations about hini. About eighteen months later his mother died, and his father settled all his business and went to Europe ; nearly every one sup- posing, in the mean time, that the son had suddenly started, when he was first missed from his accustomed haunts, on a journey to Central Asia, and that it would be months before he could hear this sad news, " Later again, as the Union Pacific train, on which I was a passenger, stopped at the Green River station, I saw on the platform, evidently wait- ing to join us, a father and daughter. The former was a fine specimen of the better class of plainsmen — six feet two, and of powerful build — his eyes large and blue, his long hair and full beard light-colored, and his ex- pression kindness itself. The young girl was about eighteen, slender and delicate, and altogether charming — one of those beautiful, tender, clinging young creatures sometimes found on the frontier, like the delicate wild flowers ill the canons. They were going to Chicago ; and having been commended to Major G by some mutual acquaintances, I passed much time in his company, and we became excellent friends. He had been a widower for a number of years, and was deeply devoted to his pretty Anita, who in her turn seemed to adore him. I could not help thinking that she was ill fitted to meet the cares of life, and that there was a look in her lovely eyes that suggested a rare capacity for suffering. She had never been east of the Missouri before, and the major told me that after a short stay in Chicago, they were going to live on a ranch which he had bought in the Wet Mountain Valley. lie had been a noted hunter and Indian fighter in the West, and bore the scars of more than one struggle with wild beast and wilder man. I remained with them one day in Chi- cago, and remember Anita's childish delight in a bouquet of flowers which I gave her, when I called at the hotel to say good-bye, and her waving her handkerchief to me as I drove off to the station, and she stood on the balcony leaning on her father's shoulder. " Chance brought me, within six or eight months, to the region south of the Arkansas, and I took a trip on the Wet Mountains with an old Mexican called Manuel. One day it occurred to me that we could not be far from my friend's location ; so I asked Manuel if we could not cross the range and go down into the valley, and if he knew where Major G lived. " ' Oh si, senor !' he quickly replied, ' we easy come over the mountain and to the Rancho San Jose, where live the major. Oh, it is a place so beautiful ! the valley which the senor will see when we pass the Sierra and go down the canon.' 'And the major and his daughter, are they ITC. NEW COLOIJADO AND THE SANTA FE TRAIL. well?' I asked. 'The major, yes,' said Manuel; 'but the seilorita' — and his voice chaniijed — ' she is not well. The sefior does not then know — hut ah ! how could he ? —that she have so great trouble.' " Much surprised and shocked, I gradually elicited from him a narra- tion of what had occurred after the father and daughter took up their abode in the valley. It seemed that a young man, bound ostensibly on a hunting trip, once asked for a night's lodging at the ranch, and was evident- ly struck by the beauty of Anita ; that he had returned again and again, and iinally expressed his intention of taking up a homestead in the vicin- ity. Anita seemed attracted by him from the first. They were finally betrothed, and the major had the comfort of knowing that they would re- main near him. lie had apparently given his full confidence to the young man, and talked freely to him of his affairs ; and notably, on one occasion, of his intention to keep quite a large sum of money in the house for two days, contrary to his usual custom, but for the purpose of paying for a mine which he had bought. The next morning the money was gone ! The young man \vas never seen again. " I heard this tale with great regret, and said to myself that the poor girl would never bear such a blow. When I asked Manuel about her con- dition, he broke into distressed and almost incoherent utterances about la pohrecita (the poor little one), for whom might the Madre de Dlos inter- cede. I began to dread the visit to the ranch, and would have turned back but for a desire to offer my sympathies. "When we entered the corral the sun was just sinking behind the Sangre de Cristo Range, and flooding the valley with light. The major came out when he heard our horses, and, recognizing me, at once bade us welcome. When I saw his poor daughter I was shocked beyond measure. She lay on a sofa looking at the western mountains. She knew me and gave me her poor little hand, so thin that it seemed almost transparent. Her face was pallid, and deep 25urj)le rings were under her eyes. I said a few commonplace words of sympathy, and then turned away. The major followed me into the house, and, coming up and taking my offered hand, said, 'They call it quick consumption. I know better than that — -it is a broken heart!' His grasp tightened painfully on my hand. 'My God!' he cried, 'liow can I bear it!' The scene was painful in the extreme. I found Manuel and told him that we must go on, and that he had best lead the horses outside of the corral, where I would join him. The ma- jor's life-long instincts of hospitality flashed out in a momentary protest at my departure, but he did not press me to stay. I knew that he had kind neighbors, and the ranch seemed no place for us. I went to say farewell TOLD AT TKINIDAD. 177 to tlie dying girl, but linding lier lying with closed eyes and folded liands, I dared not disturb her, although I knew that I saw her for the last time. Major G walked mechanically to the gate, and bade us good-bye. I saw the tears in old ManueFs eyes as we mounted and rode some distance in silence. Two weeks after this, coming from Fort Garland, I bought a Denver paper from the newsboy on the train, and saw that I had rightly judged of the poor child's inability to bear a rude shock, for I read that she had ' entered into rest.' " Now, gentlemen, I am afraid that you will think I am spinning a sensational yarn, but it is only a few mouths since, just as we are sitting here, I was sitting with a party of gentlemen at the door of the fonda at the corner of the plaza in Santa Fe. We were admiring the gorgeous sunset, and listening to the band playing under the trees, when the ' buck- board ' of the Transportation Company arrived from the South. It was with a start that I rose to salute, in the only passenger, my poor friend Major G . He had changed sadly ; his hair had grown white, and his cheeks were sunken. Then he had a habit of pressing his hand to his forehead, which gave one a vivid impression of despair. " He greeted me warmly, as of old, and mentioned that he had come from Mesilla, and was going on to Fort Garland in the morning, but he said little more at first, and I dreaded any recurrence to the past. In the evening I induced him to take a cigar, and to drink a little from my flask. Soon he seemed restored to a temporary animation, and after asking me if I proposed accompanying him on his journey, and expressing gratification at my willingness so to do, he went on as follows : " ' I have heard something which leads me to think that the road agents are going to try to rob the stage, which will have some treasure freight. The only passengers besides us will be a couple of greasers, who can't help us if they would. You know the boys say that the agents always have things their own way. Now, as I feel at present, I'm not inclined to give up without a try. I don't want to ring you in unless you are for it ; but, with all the trouble I've had, a bullet more or less is of no account to me ; but I have a notion,' he continued, ' that I can block their game. It was done once by an old pard of mine, and, if you say so, I'll try it, and you just follow my lead. Will you take the chances 'f I knew him to be a man of desperate courage and fertile in resource, and I assented. ' What kind of shooting-iron have you ?' he asked. ' Navy Colt ? No, that's good in its way ; but I'll lend you a self-cocker like mine. Mind and take at least a strong cup of coifee before we start ; and now you'd better turn in.' "In the morning we took our places in the coach, the maj(^r sitting on 12 ITS NF.W COJ.OliADO A\l» TIIH SANTA 1"K TNAIL, the front seat, and left-hand side ; 1 sat opposite, and each had a silent Mexican next him. "VVe drove withont incident to the place where the horses were tirst changed ; but, before we started again, my friend saitl to mc, '" I allow that we'll liav(> our troiil)le, if at all, in the cafion four miles ahead. Now just put your blanket over your lap and hold your pistol under it. Keep a bright lookout, and if we strike 'em, just have your wits about you, and be ready to fire after T do.' Soon we rolled oif again, and I saw him lean back for awhile and then sit upright, and keep his eye fixed on the road. The horses were good ; we soon approached the cafion, and the suspense became almost unbearable. I could not help thinking about our chances in the case of attack. Just then — I remember that I was looking at a group of cedars — the stage stopped, and, as if conjured up by the hand of a magician, three men on horseback appeared on our side, two close to us, one behind. I seemed to comprehend the whole sit- uation in the twinkling of an eye ; the figures — the levelled barrels — the major sitting before me. '' ' Throw %ip your hands, you P They were reckless enough to wear no masks — the speaker lowered his head to look in. Heavens! shall I ever forget that scene ? On my part there was a startling recogni- tiou — on the major's there must have been the same, for never have I seen a human face so transformed, and it added an almost demoniacal force to the action, which all passed in a flash. The terror of the sudden start, the throwing out of the left arm, the frightened glare of the eyes, may have been the product of rare dramatic power; but there was something far more terribly real in his wild cry, '"'•Great God! who is that hehind youf The robbers instinctively turned their heads. Crack! — crack! The major's right arm, rigid as iron, held the smoking -weapon, as two riderless horses galloped off, and I me- chanically fired at the third man. Then my friend laid his revolver down, and put his hand to his forehead. "VVe drove on a short distance, and then made one of the frightened Mexicans hold the horses, and the driver and I hurried back. It was with a sharp shudder, and a vivid realization that the forebodings of earlier days had come only too true, that I saw my old school-mate lying dead in the dusty road. And then I saw one of those strange phenomena of the occurrence of which there is ample scientific evidence. Gentlemen, I assure you that there had been mutual recogni- tion, and the terror of it was in those dead eyes. " We drove back to Santa Fe almost at a gallop, the major sitting like a ?tatue in his scat, and never speaking. As we entered the plaza and TOLD AT TRINIDAD. 170 stopped before the old palace a crowd gathered, and I whispered to an army officer to take mj poor friend to head-quarters, while I attended to the needful formalities. I can see the scene before my eyes this moment : the motley gathering of Americans and Mexicans, with some uniforms among them ; the driver eagerly talking — the hostlers taking the horses' heads. The United States Marshal and Commissioner came out of their offices, and I told them the story. The marshal stopped me for a moment after the first ten words, and sent for his two deputies and three horses. Then he lighted a cigar and offered me one as I M-ent on with my brief narrative. The deputies came up, the marshal went to his office for his arms, and examined the percussion-caps as he asked me a few questions. Then they all three shook hands with me and galloped down the narrow street. They were fierce pursuers, and when I saw the chief deputy that evening, he told me that the third man was in the jail. " ' I know 'em all well,' he added, ' and two more ungodly ruffians than the dead men never cheated the gallows. I've been after that black-haired one a long time for a matter in Wyoming ;' and a wolfish look came for a moment over his pleasant face. ' I knew where to find the third man. lie's a mean cur, and gave in without the show of a fight. To be sure, you plugged him pretty bad in the arm.' " When the marshal had gone to his office the commissioner and I walk- ed to head-quarters and found the major (whom the surgeon had induced to drink a composing draught) sitting in a chair, leaning his head upon his hand. He rose as we approached. ' Sam,' said he to the commissioner, ' the Lord delivered him into my hands ! It was his will.' " He started again the next morning, and as the stage turned the cor- ner he waved his hand to me, and then put it to his head once again in that sad, weary way of his. Urged by the spirit of unrest which had seized upon him, he joined the prospectors at Leadville, exposed himself reckless- ly, and died of pneumonia in three weeks. " Strangely enough, the news recently came that old Mr. W was never seen after taking a steamer at Vienna to go down the Danube. That is the reason that I have felt at liberty to tell the story. They say the way of the transgressor is hard ; but in this case it seems to me that there is a good deal to be said about the ways of those against whom he transgressed. Perhaps many of you have come across curious things in your lives, but nothing much stranger than what you have just heard." And to this statement no one took exception. IJSU Ni:\V COLOUADU AN1> TlIK SAYi'A FK TKAIL CHAPTER XIV. THE IIEALTII-SEEKER. '"I'^IIERE is nothing more interesting to the jmblic tlian information or J- snggestions regarding tlie possible means of regaining lost health ; and residents of Colorado have for years been flooded with inquiries about the advantages offered by that State to the invalid. It is with a view to the truthful enlightenment of these inquirers, and people in general, that the author has sought, in the presentation of the following pages, the aid of Dr. S. E. Solly, M.R.C.S., England, member of tlie American Medical As- sociation, and Fellow of the Koyal Medico-Chinirgical Society. Dr. Solly went from London, for his own health, to Colorado, and has resided tliere for a number of years. AVhat is " change of climate," of which so much is spoken ? It is often the last infirmity of a baffled doctor or a bored patient. What does the wanderer seek, and of just what does this change consist ? The essence of change of climate is undoubtedly in a change of the air we breathe, and the soil we move upon, and also in the amount and intensity of the sun's heat and light to wliicli we arc exposed. These three embrace all the physical conditions : there are, of couivse, the secondary results, more or less connected therewith — sucli as the change of scenery, modes of life, thought, food, and water. The simplest change we can make in the air we breathe, is to remove from the vitiated atmos})here of a city into the country air. It is a sine qua non in change of climate that the atmosphere shall be brand-new, so to speak ; that it shall not l)e the second-hand article abounding in crowded places ; and that it should have abundance of oxygen to destroy any poi- sonous germs whicli may float in it. AVe find these conditions most com- pletely filled on the scM-shorc ur tlie mountains. In both situations there are vast spaces over whicli the winds of heaven blow without being used by man or beast, so that tliero is always plenty of the genuine article lirouglit to one's doors. If, however, the air were always still, we would soon use 11]) tlic atniospliiTc around us. and it would be very slowly re- THE HEALTII-SEEKEK. 181 placed. One of the chief reasons, therefore, that sea or monntain air is so healthful, is that there is constant change of atmosphere, giving always jjiire air, and stimulating the vessels of the skin and lungs to hurrj the blood along its course and renew its vitality by restoring its oxygen at every breath. Let no man speak ill of the "stormy winds that blow," even if he lose his hat by the same. Kext, let us consider the quantity of the air, for the atmosphere is a jDonderable elastic body, and as that which is at sea-level is pressed upon by the air above, it is much condensed, and there is more oxygen, nitrogen, and watery vapor to the cubic inch at the sea-shore than on the mountains. The rarity of the air which is found on the mountains has two special effects. It compels one to take more fresh air into the chest at each breath to procure the amount of oxygen which would come from a lesser quantity of air at the sea-level. Perhaps it would be well here to refer briefly to the mechanism of breathing. The reason that we carry on this ceaseless occupation is that oxygen may be absorbed by the blood, and car- bonic acid and water given off. This process is effected through the law of osmosis. If a most permeable membrane be interposed between two fluids or gases of different density they will change places. The lungs are composed of innumerable blood-vessels, held together by the slightest j^os- sible membrane in such a way that cells are left between them, into which the air can enter, and every vessel is thus practically surrounded by air. The walls of these vessels consist of such a membrane as this, so that we have all the conditions for osmosis — on one side of the membrane the blood containing carbonic acid and watery vapor, and on the other, air con- taining oxygen. The air, to reach the lungs, has to j^ass through the mouth and windpipe into the chest, where the tube divides up into smaller tubes, called bronchi ; then into still smaller ones, called bronchides ; and so finally into minute ramifications which end in an air-cell. The lungs and heart are contained in the chest, which is a conical expanding box ; its floor is of muscle — the diaphragm which separates it from the abdomen. The regular contractions and relaxations of this muscle cause the floor to go up and down, and keep up a constant entrance and exit of air into and from the chest. The sides are made up of ribs, which run round the chest like hoops cut in half — being fixed at one end to the spine, and at the other end able to be lifted up and down by muscles — thus increasing and diminishing the capacity of the chest. The air which the chest con- tains at any given time during life may be divided into three strata. The lowest is never directly changed, so that there will always be some air left in the chest. Then comes the middle stratum, which is only changed on 1S2 Ni:W COLOKADU AM) THE SANTA FK TKAII.. •violent exertion, and the nppor stratum, wliicli is constantly changing. "NVe can, therefore, see tliat under certain conditions we take in more air than usuaL And the breathing of rarelied air produces increased chest expansion. Then comes tlie all-imj)(»rtaiit element of moisture in tlic atnujsphere. The variation of humidity, in different climates, has most to do with their peculiarities. The effect of much watery vai)or in the air is to retain heat or cold, so that they are each in turn more acutely felt. It is known that a much higher temperature can be endured in the Turkish dry air bath than in the Ilussian, or vapor bath. This element of moisture in tlie air supplies the reason why we often fail to get comfort and support for our sensations on applying to the thermometer. Although heat and cold are more acutely felt in a damp climate, yet the changes, being slower, are less perceptible. The moisture retains the one or the other for a long time af- ter the cause is removed, as l)y simset. In a very dry climate the change from sunshine to shade is so marked, that it appears as though divided by a knife. Then, as regards the bodily electricity in the two climates, there is a marked difference. Without going into the why and wherefore, suf- fice it to say that a damp air is constantly robbing the body of its elec- tricity, being a good conductor ; while the dry air, being a non-conductoi', allows it to be retained in the body. Therefore, in a dry air the nervous system is kept in a state of tension, while in a damp air it is relaxed. Consequently, full-blooded nervous peo2:)le are better in a damp climate, and thin-blooded lethai-gic folks are happier in a dry one. Xext comes the question of persjiiration. This is a process fulfilling two different objects. In the first place it is a means of getting rid of waste products fi-om the body through the vehicle of water, and the skin is studded with innumerable glands for secreting the fluid. When this function is checked a variety of ills may result. The other function is that of moderating the temperature of the body by evaporation, account- ing for the relief sweating affords us in hot weather. This evaporation, again, is governed by the law of osmosis — and when there is an atmos- phere filled with moistnre ontside the skin, and inside a fluid trying to get out, the water on both sides of the skin will not change places. The air has a natural tendency to absorb moisture, but it can only take up a certain amount. Therefore, we find that in a damp climate, although the perspiration comes through the skin it remains on it, clogging the pores, as the air cannot take it up ; but in a dry climate it is common for people to declare that they never perspire. The fact is that they probably per- spire more, but that the air, being without water of its own, greedily takes THE HEALTH SEEKER. 183 up \\ aat passes from tlie skin, so that the evidence does not remain upon the surface of the body. This rapid and constant evaporation of moisture from the body in a dry atmosphere, probably accounts in most part for the fact that pei-sons in an equally good condition of health weigh less while residing in a dry climate than in a moist one. As with the skin, so witli the lungs ; where there is much moisture taken into the lungs, the watery vapor and gases are not readily given off, the blood does not get sufii- ciently aerated, and the circulation is slow. On the other hand, in a dry climate, the action of the lungs is especially active and complete. The amount of moisture in the air also influences the sunlight in two different Mays; first, because the light cannot shine as brilliantly through an atmosphere charged with vajjor ; and secondly, because the formation of clouds and fogs obscures the sun's rays more frequently, and the in- fluence of sunlight upon the body is quite an inqwrtant element in the proper discharge of its functions. With regard to the effect of the sun's heat upon the body : the dii'oet rays of the sun shining through a dry clear atmosphere are not as liable to cause injury to the body from excessive temperature as the indirect effect of the sun's heat, when the sun itself may be more or less obscured by clouds and vapor. This is shown by the rarity of sunstroke in dry cli- mates, even when the temperature is high, as conqjared Mith its frequency in moist climates at a lower tenqierature. The power of enduring heat varies greatly in individuals ; some always feel better in the summer, and some in the winter. The general effect of moderate heat is to quicken all the functions of life and stimulate healthy growth, but excessive heat re- laxes the nervous system which governs those functions ; and, therefore, great irregularities ensue — some organs acting excessively, and others being more or less paralyzed. Morbid growth, as in disease, is generally stimu- lated, and natural increase often arrested. The general effect of moderate cold is to limit growth, but make its quality good ; to strengthen the con- trol of the nervous system over the body, and to check morbid j^rocesses. Excessive cold does not produce irregularity of function, like heat, but tends to paralyze and kill all life. "We know how important is the question of soil in choosing a habita- tion. A dry soil is always preferable, and, therefore, gravel is the best, and clay the w^orst — apart from the questions of dampness and drainage. There is now arising in science a point which may in future prove of great importance to the sanitarian, viz., that of the quality of underground air (the air permeating the soil for some distance below the surface), but at present this study is in its infancy. 184 Ni:\V {'OLOKADO AND THE SANTA FK TRAIL. In coniiectiuii witli the soil there is the question of ve<^etation. On dry soils the pines are apt to grow, and they are undoubtedly a help to those who require a dry climate. In moist climates the luxuriant decidu- ous foliage increases the mildness of the air, and in hot ones it gives shade. The purity of the water is an important element in the choice of a climate, and the purest water is usually found flowing through the gravel. In clay the soil and decaying vegetation are apt to mingle with the water and spoil its quality. AVith change of climate often comes change of food ; and, although the changed food may not be any better (or as good) for the traveller, when in his usual health, than what he has left, yet the old saying, "AVlien you are in liome, do as the Romans do," is usually a good dictum to follow. The good effect of a climate has often been marred by the visitor inqjort- ing with him the cuisiiic of other climes. Having now arrived at some idea of what is meant by change of climate, let us consider, in a general way, what the wandering invalid seeks. It is not relief or cure for any acute illness or suffering; for the change of the physical conditions which we have been considering could only act slowly, and they are only a change in degree from the conditions under Avhich the patient is at home. It must be some chronic malady — some bad habit of the body (for the body, like the mind, is prone to keep on in an evil course if once started in it) — some tendency contrary to the stream of healthy life, which drives the sick man from home to seek, not a single element or medicine to antagonize the evil that is in him, but some slow, subtle influence which will in time bring back the machinery of his body once more into gear. Let us see what we have in this climate of Colorado to make its name so great as a sanitarium. This name has been made — not by the doctors discovering and testing its j^roperties, and recommending them for certain diseases, but by the sick themselves, coming of their own instinct, as it were, over the great plains ; many falling by the way, but many more, after much privation, finding health and strength, and staying to build up a new State with their own labors. It is often estimated that a third of the population of Colorado came for their health and that of their families, and probably the estimate is not excessive. But this climate, like many other blessings, has often been misused, because of the popular idea that, like a patent medicine, a health resort must be a panacea for all ills. On the other hand, its striking qualities, like two-edged swords, cut both ways. AVe have in Colorado a dry, l)racing, cool climate, with an al)undance of sunlight, and a septic and highly electric atmosphere, at an elevation THE HEALTH-SEEKER. 185 varying from four to eight thousand feet. Beautiful mountain scenery and the vast plains are there to supply us with unlimited air, untainted by cities or vegetation. The rain and melted snow-fall for the year along the foot-hills average fifteen inches, while those of Xew York are forty- four inches, Boston forty-five inches, and St. Louis forty-two inches. As regards humidity — by comparing the actual number of grains of vapor to a cubic foot of air, we find that at Denver, which may be taken to represent the climate along the foot-hills of Colorado, the average for the year is 1.13 grains, as against 5.11 grains at New Orleans, 3.98 grains at Santa Barbara, and 2.35 grains at Philadelphia. "We can, therefore, without further question, call Colorado's climate a dry one. In looking over the maps of " Lombard's Medical Geography," it will be found that wherever the shading indicates much moisture, there is an excess of con- sumption among the inhabitants ; and the two things, moisture and con- sumi3tion, w411 be found to stand in the same relation to each other all the world over. Then, in further examining these said maps, it will be found that with increasing elevation of the land comes a decreasing amount of consumption ; so that in the highlands, where the climate is dry, consump- tion is a disease unknown among the natives. With this small rain- fall come a great many clear days, there being no less than three hun- dred and two in the year, thus allowing of much out-door exercise. With regard to temperature, the mean annual of 47° marks this as a temperate climate. It has been pointed out elsewhere that cold is more advantageous than heat ; and this is especially so as regards pulmonary disease. Heat les- sens the number of respirations, and causes them to be more shallow ; and one of the great causes of consumption is, as it has been aptly called, a consummate stinginess of breathing. The great trouble in consumption is the stagnation of imperfectly aerated blood in the lungs, giving rise to low forms of inflammation, and consequent pouring out from the blood of morbid material, such as tubercle, into the air-cells or their walls ; or a blocking of the vessels themselves with deposits of unhealthy plastic matter; or else, as in fibroid phthisis, a thickening of the lung-tissue, so that it loses its elasticity, and the air-cells become contracted. All this leads to consolidation of the organ ; consequently the lung, instead of being like a sponge, into which the air can freely penetrate, becomes solid, like the liver. The first objects to be obtained are to cause the lung to expand again, and once more take in air, and to stimulate the circulation, so that these objectionable deposits which clog the efiicient working of the organ may be absorbed into the blood again. This is largely done by 1S(> Ni:\V (OLOKADO AND THE SANTA FE TRAIL. i^ottiiiu; rid of the carbon (which forms the basis of these deposits) by ad- mitting oxygen into tlie chest, and allowing it to unite with the carbon and pass off in the form of carbonic acid gas. Cold, therefore, by stimu- lating tlie ])ulmonary circulation, tends to repair the mischief already done and prevent the further development of the process. This ques- tion of heat and cold is one of degree, however. Cold is only good when it ])roduces a reaction. This is exemplified in the use of the matutinal tub, whose ])raises the English so loudly sing. Tlie cold sponging is good, as bracing the circulation of the skin and stinuilating the nervous system, when the bather leaves his bath in a glow and sits down to breakfast with warm feet. But if he emerge from the tub with blue skin, and eagerly seek the fire, he had better have taken a warm bath. The question of heat and cold, also, is not so much a matter of degrees of Fahrenheit as of the amount of humidity in the air; and, therefore, if the cold be dry and not extreme, its depressing effect is absent. So it is, also, with the individual exposed to it ; lie must have sufficient vitality to produce a reaction. This point — that cold is preferable to heat — is the reason that consump- tives do better in winter than summer. Dryness also improves the pul- monary circulation : by causing a greater amount of watery vapor to be got rid of, it lessens the distension or congestion of the blood-vessels, and tends to dry up the excessive mucus which may be secreted in the bronchi or air-tubes, and which, in consequence, obstructs the free passage of air to the cells. It was explained elsewhere that with dryness we have a higher de- gree of animal electricity ; and, therefore, the nerves of the chest would re- spond more vigorously to the stimulus of the air. It is, probably, impossible to get much further without talking about ozone. The latest investigations have proved that pure dry oxygen can be converted into ozone by electricity. It is therefore probable that ozone is " electrified oxygen." Schonheim's test — the only one at present used — requires the presence of atn)ospheric moisture. No doubt this is the rea- son that in a dry climate, such as Colorado, where the indirect evidence is strongly in favor of the presumption that there is considerable ozone in the air, this test fails to reveal it. Ozone shows that there is an excess of oxygen in the air, and, therefore, that the atmosphere is specially pure. Ozone itself is a powerful antiseptic and disinfectant, and its presence in mountain air is no doubt one of the reasons why wounds tend to heal with a minimum of suppuration. When the Colorado traveller passes — as often he will — the decaying carcass of horse or cow, he may bless the electrified oxygen which tempers the wind to his olfactories. Ozone, being absorbed through the lungs, purifies the blood, and prevents the individual from THE HEALTH-SEEKER. 187 being poisoned by the effete material arising from the renewal of the va- rious tissues. The reason that to be among the pines is good for invalids, is supposed to be because the turpentine exhaled from them has a special power of converting oxygen into ozone. Let us now return to a brief consideration of that fell disease, con- sumption, which is computed to kill annually thirty-five per cent, of the inhabitants of this country. We have shown that, in the beginning of this disease, there is a deficient amount of air entering the chest. This may arise through the individual living in a damp, relaxing climate, and taking very little exercise, and, therefore, not stimulating the muscles and nerves of his chest to expand the lungs ; or, though he may expand them sufli- ciently, the air he breathes may be so impure that he cannot absorb enough oxygen from it. For instance, a workman in a factory may use enough exertion to exjjand his chest, but the atmosphere he works in may be poisoned by overcrowding or the effluvium from some manufactory. Again, it may hajjpen that the individual, though breathing a j^ure air, may fall a victim to inflammation of the lungs, or some other acute affec- tion of the chest ; and, as he has a scrofulous tendency, the results of the inflannnation are not absorbed into the blood but remain, obstructing the proper exj^ansion of the lungs and degenerating into permanent morbid dej^osits which, after a time, by becoming a source of irritation, cause the lung to consume. There is another cause of consumption — next to foul air probably the most prolific — dyspepsia. Dyspepsia, which is an imperfect action of the digestive j^owers of the stomach and bowels, may arise when there is gen- eral weakness, or what is called anojmia ; that is, when the blood supplied to the organs of digestion is deficient in quality and quantity, and the food given is too great in amount or too rich in quality. Not being thor- oughly digested, it then becomes only an irritant to the mucous mem- branes and sets up a catarrh or chronic inflammation of them ; in which case their power of absorption is so nmch diminished that very little nutri- ment finds its way into the blood, and the individual is starved. Often the same result is reached by a much more wilful process. The victim of dyspepsia overworks his nervous system in his business — sits down to his meals so exhausted that the nerves of his digestive canal refuse to answer to the stimulus of the food. lie probably takes this food not in strata (be- ginning by tempering his appetite with a little easily digested soup, and causing, as Hamlet remarks, " increase of apjietite to grow by what it feeds upon," and building up gradually), but piles it all in pell-mell, and l)enumbs his already too lethargic nerves with a liberal douche of iced water. 1S8 NKW COLORADO AND THK SANTA I'E TKAIL. It was all very well for the London alderman to say, in tlic course of a discussion on dietetics, " They talks a deal about what you may eat, and what you mayn't eat ; but I eats what I likes, and then lets 'em fight it out down below." Some favored ones are blessed with the digestion of an ostrich, but the man who drives his brain, and labors hard in bad air, must have method in his eating. A little wine or beer, taken with food will often help him, and prevent the craving for a stinmlus on an empty stom- ach M'hich he is too apt to hold in check with the devil's own peculiar nectar — the too seductive " cock-tail." After such a meal as described — bolted down in hot haste — the victim returns to drive his unrested brain with an indigestible incubus lying in his stomach. The result is that his blood is thin and scanty, and his lungs become starved from want of good blood, as they may be from want of air. There is a notion in the minds of some chemists that there is an oil })rcsent in all healthy blood, and that when this is absent, there is the tendency for the blood to form deposits in the lungs and elsewhere. Whether this be so or not is un25roved, but it is a fact that one of the greatest difficulties in dyspepsia is the digesting of fatty or oily substances, and that when they can be digested, cod-liver oil and like remedies do much to restore the consumptive. Chronic dys- pepsia, being always accompanied by poverty of the blood and an irregu- lar circulation, as might be expected, is greatly relieved by an improve- ment in the pulmonary circulation, and, therefore, is benefited by a dry, stimulating climate like that of Colorado. In continuing our consideration of consumption, we have now to come to that stage M'liich gives the disease its name. After the lung has be- come obstructed and rendered more or less solid, the extraneous matter thrown out will, under favorable circumstances, become absorbed into the blood, or a portion may become contracted into a close, hard mass, and re- main inert for good or bad, for a certain period, as for life ; or, it may be- gin to soften down and be gradually carried off in the expectoration, leav- ing a cavity which may after a time contract. In this case the patient may get well with so much less lung, or the cavity may go on extending till the drain of this consuming process brings death. The effect of quick- ening the circulation, and introducing an abundance of oxygen into the blood, is to increase the powers of absorption, and to burn up with the oxygen all morl)id deposits. This is why such a climate as that of Colo- rado tends to cure the early stages of consumption. But when softening is going on, it will also tend to increase that destructive process, and then come in the questions whether the patient can stand the strain ; whether there will be sufficient sound lung left ; and whether the patient has THE IIEALTII-SEEKER. ISO enongli inherent vitality to react under this stimnhis — to cast off the old Adam and renew his life. So, also, before softening has begun, but much of the lungs are solid, it becomes a question whether there be enough healthy lung left to breathe with in the rarefied air, and whether the soften- ing stage may not be precipitated by a change to Colorado. Dr. Fother- gill, in his hand-book on treatment, speaks of a process of levelling up and levelling down ; by which means, when an organ is chronically weak, or a function imperfectly discharged, it is sometimes well to grade up the gen- eral health, and relieve the general pressure on the peccant part. On the other hand, where the disease is far advanced, any increased exci-temcnt of the circulation, or any effort at repair, may but hasten the fatal termina- tion; and it is, therefore, better to somewhat lower the general standard of vitality, and be contented with reducing the patient to more of a vege- tative existence, and so prolonging life. In such cases an equable sedative climate would be better than the stimulating air of Colorado. These are points, however, which the physician can alone decide. When Dr. Solly first came to study this climate, he was inclined to warn patients against seeking it while their fever ran high and the disease seemed rapidly extending, but experience has taught him to think other- wise, and he has since found that if the other conditions are favorable, the fever and night-sweats are usually speedily arrested, and local signs also abate. The reasons, no doubt, are l)ecause the circulation all over the lungs, skin, and body generally is stimulated, and therefore equalized ; and the congestion which necessarily accompanies, and in a measure causes, the extension of the local mischief, is relieved. Congestion is a stagnation of blood in one part, and is an essential condition of inflammation. Of course, where the patient is much disturbed or depressed by the disease, it is best to rest frequently on the way ; especially once, at least, while as- cending the slopes of the great plains. For some time after arriving it is prudent to remain quiet, and allow the gymnastics which the rarefied atmosphere compels the chest to take to supersede the bulk of the accustomed exercise. As might be expected, the cough is frequently increased, owing to the stimulation of the air, and it will, perhaps, remain till the cause of it is removed. The cough is spe- cially apt to be increased when it is mainly due to an irritable throat, for the direct local effect of the dry air upon the throat is of itself somewhat irritating. The effect of the climate upon the shortness of breath from which consumptives suffer, is variable. When the amount of sound lung is small, this symptom is necessarily increased until the obstructed portion clears up. This increase is specially marked where consolidation is exten- 100 NEW COl.olfAlX) AM) TIIH SANTA TK TRAIL. sivo, and j)arti('nlarly if of the fibroid cliaracttT ; but often, in eases in wliieli this synij)toni lias been very distressing l)eforc coming, it is much ri'lievcd. This is, no doubt, Avhere it was due mainly to the air-tubes be- ing tilled with mucus, and wliere the deposits or exudations, l)cing of re- cent date, are readily absorbed. The stimulating atmosphere causes the chest to expand, and an abundance of highly oxygenated air can rush into many air-cells which were closed before. As might be expected, the amount of expectoration is usually lessened. There is a point on which a popular fallacy exists not only among patients, but, alas ! also among many intelligent physicians. It is that the tendency to hemorrhage is much in- creased at such an elevation as six thousand feet. This error has arisen from the observations of Humboldt, who found that bleeding at the nose and ears, and even blood-spitting, were caused by ascending mountains six- teen thousand feet and more in height. Later travellers have recorded the same effects, and consequently the j^ublic have generalized so far as to be- lieve that all elevation will more or less increase any hemorrhagic ten- dency whatsoever. Now, all clinical observations in Colorado and at other similarly elevated health resorts go to show that a patient is less liable to hemorrhage, other things being equal, at this altitude than on lower ground. Strong evidence contirming this statement has been re- corded by Dr. J. Reed, in the transactions of the State Medical Society of Colorado. If we consider the matter, we can understand the reason of this. Hemorrhage occurring in a healthy person at an elevation is caused by the atmospheric pressure, outside the blood-vessels, being so reduced that the pressure of the blood from within forces it through the walls and extremi- ties of the small vessels or capillaries, as they are called, and naturally those most exposed are the first to give way, the blood being called to the surface and the pressure relatively relieved from the internal organs and somewhat from the lungs themselves ; then the atmosphere in the chest is necessarily different from that in the throat and nostrils and on the skin, because of the constant exhalations from the lungs and its protected situa- tion. This is why blood-spitting occurs less often than bleeding from the nose and ears in the ascent into the upper air, and not till the higher ele- vations are reached. There is another element which is undoubtedly the frequent cause of blood-spitting in healthy persons while ascending moun- tains. This is the increased action of the heart, owing to exertion in the rarefied air, which is caused in the same way as in a boat-race or any other violent manner of over-hurrying the heart at sea-level. Now, blood-spit- ting may occur in consumptives in quite an early stage of their disease or THE llEALTII-SEEKER. 101 in a late one. In the former case, the deposit or exudation of morbid ma- terial into the lung-tissne or air-cells sets up ii-ritation in the lungs them- selves, or the tubes leading to them, and gives rise to a congestion or en- gorgement of the vessels at one part, so that the pressure in them finds relief in a hemorrhage, and the patient generally feels better. This may occur any time when fresh tissue is invaded, and this kind of hemorrhage usually stops of itself. Now, as we have shown, the tendency of dry mountain air is not only to check the morbid process, but specially to equalize the circulation, and so relieve and prevent congestion. In the latter case, when hemorrhage occurs while the lung is breaking down, it is caused by the ulceration ex- tending through the wall of a vessel and making a leak. Therefore, in the one case the cause is from within tlie vessel, and in the other from without. When bleeding occurs from ulceration, it is more often alarming and uncontrollable ; but even in this case the climate is not usually found to in- crease the chance of hemorrhage, because it tends to arrest the progress of the ulceration and to remove the cause. Of course, where the danger of hemorrhage in this manner seems imminent, any change combined with the fatigue of travelling would probably precipitate it ; although, as be- fore said, there is no doubt that hemorrhages from the lungs are in this climate more infrequent. When they do occur they may be said to be more copious, the patient losing more blood in a given space of time; but there is less liability to continual oozing. The gist of the benefits that this climate confers on consumptives is its power of getting rid of those bad habits of the lungs which cause the absorption of morbid deposits, and of setting all the healthy processes of life going with increased vigor. The question of the expediency of any special case coming, depends probably little on the particular form of con- sumption, but much upon the extent of the mischief, and the amount of reserve force in the patient to stand the stimulus. When a patient arrives, it is, as has been said, specially inq3ortant that he should take very little exercise for the first few weeks, but be in the air as much as possible. Horse riding, after the patient has become accustomed to the air, is an ex- cellent assistance to a cure, if indulged in moderately. In the summer a trip to the mountains is often l)enefieial, especially on account of the sleeping in a tent. Even where the patient cannot take such a trip, sleep- ing in a tent close to the house is almost invariably attended with benefit. An ideal year for a consumptive is best begun about September or Oc- tober, though a patient may come any time, as the seasons are such that 1!)'2 XKW COl.olv'ADO AM> THi: SANTA Fll TIJAIL. ]\c can ivniain all tlic year rouiul. Tin's is a matter c»f great iniportaiioo in cluiosiiii;- a climate, for climate -cure is a slow process, taking at least as long for the jiatient to get well as it has taken him to nin down in health, and the influence ought to be continuous. This is not so impor- tant, perhaps, in sedative climates, or where the effects are simply nega- tive ; but where they are positive, as in Colorado, it is of the greatest im- portance that the residence should be sufficiently prolonged to give rea- sonable assurance that the disease, if still present, has at least become in- active. Abraham Lincoln used to say it was "bad to swap horses when you were crossing a stream ;" and so it is bad for a consumptive to expose his lungs to a change from this thin air to a denser atmosphere while the process of cure is still going on. It is only too common an experience here for a consumptive to resist all advice and go home soon, only to re- turn worse than ever, and with a greatly lessened chance of cure. If a patient comes here in the early fall, he has time to pick up strength to enable him to expose himself with advantage to the cold of winter, which is at times quite severe. The days are for the most part bright and warm, but the nights are often intensely cold. All the year round they are cool. There is very little snow, and it falls mostly in early spring. On at least a third of the days of winter the mid-day meal can be taken out-of-doors. The great drawback to the enjoyment of the Colo- rado climate is the winds, which blow mostly in the spring months. Ex- cept to the very feeble, however, they are seldom more than disagreeable. There is no rain to be looked for from the middle of September to the middle of April ; but there are frequent thunder-showers, lasting seldom more than twenty minutes, in the summer afternoons. These serve to cool the air, but rarely cause sufficient dampness to be an element of dan- ger to the consumptive. In a climate as dry as this has been pointed out to be, the changes of temperature are sudden and extreme, and it there- fore behooves the visitor to be always prepared with extra wraps ; and it is advisable to qualify the effect of these sudden changes on the body by wearing woollen underclothing and stockings in the winter, and also sleeping in flannel ; and in the sunnner, wearing merino and silk. Al- though during the summer the thermometer may run quite high, the thin dress used in the East at this season can seldom be worn with impunity. In deciding the question of coming to Colorado, the condition of the heart has often to be considered. As the effect of the climate is to stimu- late the heart to inci*eased action, it is dangerous for persons with any or- ganic disease of the valves or walls to come liere. They always recpiire that the rapidity of the heart's action should be lessened, although at the THE HEALTH-SEEKER. 193 same time it may be well to increase its strength. Of course tliere are cases where the defect is congenital, or has been borne so long without its progressing, that nature has entirely accommodated itself to the condition. Such cases, which are rare, we occasionally find living here without appar- ent injury. Cases of what is called fatty degeneration, or any case where the muscle of the heart shows signs of breaking down, should stay away ; but where the muscle is simj^ly weak, as the other muscles of the body are weak, a visit to Colorado will often prove beneficial. Such cases on first arriving have specially to avoid exertion ; and if an attack of irregularity of the heart's action comes on, it is liable to be exaggerated. The tonic effect of the climate will, however, probably remove the cause, and so re- lieve the trouble. In neuralgic affections of the heart — angina and the like — the stimulat- ing effect on the nerves connnonly increases the distress. Where the ner- vous system generally hiis run down, and the heart in consequence acts irregularly, persons will receive benefit. Asthma is always relieved in this air, more or less in each individual case according to the elevation. Heart disease is a frequent consequence where asthma has existed in a severe form for some years. Such cases, if they observe great care, are often better here than at home, since the cause of their distress has been re- moved. Cases of nervous exhaustion, from whatever cause, are almost invaria- bly relieved ; and all irregularities of the nervous system dependent upon a bad circulation, defective nutrition, scrofula, or poison (such as malaria), are also benefited ; but when they occur in persons of good circulation and full habit, the symptoms are increased. Even in the cases which are ulti- mately cured by residence in Colorado, before the cause is removed the attacks are usually more severe w^hen they occur, though happening less frequently. Acute organic disease of the nervous system is made rapidly worse by this climate. Some stationary chronic cases will improve in general health here, but it is not well to advise their coming. With re- gard to rheumatism of the joints, it exists here as it does all the world over, and there M'ould be nothing gained by coming specially for that, were it not that scrofula is probably the parent of the bulk of cases of rheumatism ; and as this climate is its deadly enemy, the rheumatism may indirectly be removed. Then again, where there is much debility, benefit is gained. But in this disease, as in all others, the type of individual has much to do with the choice of climate ; the florid and full-blooded had l)etter seek the sea-shore ; the dark, pale, and ansemic climb the uplands. AVlien gouty or rheumatic deposits exist around the joints or elsewhere, the 13 11'4 NKW COLORADO AND TIIK SANTA VE TRAIL. type of individual must ai»;ain decide the question ; tlie alkaline waters of Manitou are undoubtedly a great aid to their removal. In liver deranarty, and found the trip healthy, enjoyable, and not costly. A man fur- nished team, riding-horses, and such food as was not supplied by the guns, also all cooking, etc., and charged the participants $2 00 per diem apiece. To men willing to " rough it," such an arrangement may be highly com- mended. The traveller to whom time is an object can save twelve hours between New York and Denver by taking a particular train on the Pennsylvania Ilailroad, which leaves the station every morning at nine o'clock. lie sees the beautiful Juniata Valley in the afternoon, and, in summer, the "Horse- shoe Curve " in the Alleghanies before retiring. Columbus is reached on the second morning, Indianapolis about noon, St. Louis at nine p.m., and Kansas City next morning. He is due at Denver by the Kansas Pacific Railroad at half-past three o'clock, and by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, via Pueblo, Colorado Springs, and Pike's Peak, at eight o'clock P.M., on the fourth day. The journey between the Atlantic and the Missouri may, of course, be varied in many ways, and the following itinerary, while combining much of curious interest, need not be regarded as the best : J)^ew York to Chicago^ 3G hours. («) New York by Hudson River Rail- road, at 8.30 P.M. (Boston at 6 p.m., by Boston and Albany, or Iloosac Tunnel route, connecting at Albany and Troy) ; Albany and Troy to Chi- cago ; — by Buffalo and Cleveland (Lake Shore Railroad) ; by Buffalo, Inter- national Bridge, and Detroit (Canada Southern and Michigan Central Rail- road) ; and by Suspension Bridge (in full sight of the Falls) and Detroit (Great Western of Canada and Michigan Central Railroads). (J) New York by Pennsylvania, and Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne, and Chicago Rail- roads, at 8.30 P.M. (c) New York by New York, Lake Erie, and Western, and connecting railroads, at 7 p m. Chicago to Omaha, 24 hours (one may, of course, go to Kansas City in- stead). Chicago at 10.30 a.m., by Chicago and North-western Railroad, via Fulton and Clinton ; by Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad, via Burlington ; or by Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific Railroad, via Rock ITINERARY, AND SUGGESTIONS FOR THE TRAVELLER. 190 Island and Davenport. The celebrated Missouri Bridge is seer, between Council Bluffs and Omalia. Omaha to Cheyenne^ 25 hours. Omaha at 12.15 p.m., by Union Pacific Railroad, giving 500 miles of the transcontinental route. Cheyenne to Denver, 6^ hours. Cheyenne, 2.50 p.m., by Colorado Cen- tral Railroad, md Longmont, Boulder, and Golden. The trip to Estes Park is made, easily and pleasantly, by stage from Longmont in about G hours. Denver to Central City, 4 hours. Denver, 7.30 a.m., by Colorado Cen- tral Railroad through the Clear Creek Caiion, and over the " Switch-back." Central City to Idaho Sjyrings, by private conveyance, over Bellevue Mountain and down Virginia Cafion, taking several hours to view the scenery. Idaho Springs to Georgetown, \\ hours. Idaho Springs, 10.55 a.m., by Colorado Central Railroad. Return to Denver by same (5^ hours), start- ing at 3.25 P.M. ; or go to Leadville by stage, 65 miles in 14 hours, starting at 5 A.M., and seeing the Mountain of the Holy Cross {vide caution on page 127). Make excursion from Denver to Bear Creek (fishing, etc.), and other points. Go to Leadville, if not from Georgetown, by Denver and South Park Railroad, via the Platte C/afion, and perhaps over the Mosquito Pass. Going to Leadville by Georgeto^vn, return this way. The larger parks can be visited by those who are accustomed to rough- ing it. The trip should be arranged in Denver, but it is not recom- mended to parties containing ladies, or, indeed, to any but sportsmen. Many minor excursions and detours can be made from the different points named. Denver to Colorado Springs, 4 hours. Denver, 7.50 a.m., by Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. Go to Manitou (5 miles) by stage, also up Pike's Peak, and to the Ute Pass, Manitou Park, Cheyenne Canon, etc. Colorado Springs to Canon City, 5^ hours. Colorado Springs, 11.40 A.M., by Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. Go through Grand Canon, and as far toward Leadville by rail as may be practicable or desirable. Return to Pueblo. Puehlo to Alamosa, 8 hours. Pueblo, 1.45 p.m., by Denver and Rio Grande Railroad over Veta Pass. Go as far as desired into the San Juan country, and, if not willing to visit New Mexico, return to Pueblo, and go home by Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad. Otherwise, stop on return trip to Pueblo, at Cucharas, take train to El Moro, and drive to Trinidad. Go from Trinidad to Santa Fe, or as far as may be desired down the Rio Grande Valley, by Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad. lino XKW (OLOKADO AND THE SANTA FK J'KAIL. Return Uy same railroad to La Junta, and take train on main line to Kansas City. From Kansas City go to St. Lonis by one of three ways, and choose one of many itineraries thence to New York. A tour could he ])leasantly rounded off by taking Cincinnati, Washington, Baltimore, and Pliiladelphia en route. A. i.oNnoN : rniNTKn nr SrOTTISWOOMK AND <(>., N HAV-STKKF.T SQCARK ANU rAllMAJIKNl' .STKKKT I RETURN CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT TO— ^ 202 Main Library ■| LOAN PERIOD 1 HOME USE 2 3 4 5 6 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS Renewals and Recharges may be made 4 days prior to the due date. Books may be Renewed by calling 642-3405. DUE AS STAMPED BELOW DEC 08 1988 ^ Lff"- juii^iy^^v) / / nmniii atio' / / / / UNIVERSi FORM NO. DD6, BEk, GENERAL LIBRARY -U.C. BERKELEY B00DE7SbD3