'; ; .'- .- BANCROFT LIBRARY O THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA .' .. . ov ;.^W \ ,(.-,... SCENE ON THE LITTLE JUNIATA. THE LAND WE LIVE IN WITH YIY1D DESCRIPTIONS OF THE MOST PICTURESQUE SCENERY IN THE UNITED STATES EDITED BY RHV. EDWARD T. BROMFIELD, D.D. YORK WORTHINGTON CO., 747 BROADWAY 1801 COPYRIGHT, 1890, BY WORTHINGTON CO PREFACE. BANCROFT LIBRARY HILE the following papers may be said, in a certain sense, to tell their own story, it nevertheless seems proper to make one or two preliminary statements with respect to the general plan and pur- port of this book. The design has been, under cover of c.n imaginary class or circle of young people, led by a trusted companion or tutor, to introduce the reader to some of the most picturesque portions of our country, and to bring together such facts and sentiments from the general field of observation and reading as naturally belong to the places illustrated. With the above purpose in his mind, the editor frankly admits that, from the first, he felt his own inefficiency, and that he feels it more keenly even now that the work, such as it is, is done. Its due performance, indeed, would seem to involve an extent and range of information and attainment far greater than that to which ven his most appreciative friends could lay claim on his behalf, together with an almost superhuman faculty of condensation, owing to the strictly limited dimensions predetermined for the book. The persuasive influence of the publisher was, however, in a moment of weakness, allowed to prevail, and, having once undertaken the duty, there was nothing for it but to persevere to the end. In respect to two of the literary features of this work (the illustrations speaking for themselves), the editor is perhaps justified in claiming some merit. He has taken conscientious pains to verify facts and dates, so that the book may be accepted as both fair and accurate, as far as it goes ; and he has sought to give it a healthful, moral, and intellectual stamp. He may claim, also, as some justification for attempting this task, his own warm sympathies with young people. As the father of a large family, he feels, more than he can express, the importance of the season of youth, and its need of iv Preface. loving and timely counsel from the lips of experience, with just such helps as this and other instructive and interesting publications are designed to give. And how often does it not happen, in every intelligent home circle, that some beautiful or striking picture furnishes the text for an animated conversation, in which the appetite for knowledge is quickened, and opportunity given to correct error, and to inculcate sound and lofty sentiments ! It is his earnest hope that this book may prove serviceable in these important particulars, and that, while offering some suggestions of amusement for winter evenings, it may awaken in the minds of many a love for that kind of reading which not only excites and stimulates, but strengthens, and enriches the faculties of the mind. NEW YORK, August, 1882. THE editor is peculiarly gratified at the appreciation that the public has be- stowed upon his work. Several large editions have been sold, and the demand still continuing, it has been decided to reprint it in new covers. This affords the opportunity to add the matter and illustrations which were originally intended as parts of the first issue, but which were regretfully omitted to bring the volume within the limitations fixed by the publisher. NEW YORK, Sept. ist, 1884. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER II. THE YOSEMITE VALLEY. Mountain Ride from Madera Mariposa Trees and Redwoods Peak of Inspiration Bridal Falls- Yosemite Falls Vernal Falls Mirror Lake Whittier's " Lake Side." ... Sir W. Scott and Bret Harte Geological Features Cathedral and Sentinel Rocks North and South CHAPTER III. THE YOSEMITE. tgical Features Cathedral and Set Domes Boalders Discovery of the Yosemite Indians Duke of Sutherland 17 CHAPTER IV. CALIFORNIA AND SAN FRANCISCO. Geographical Early Lawlessness 1849 anc ' ^75 City Hall and Chinese Quarter Baron Hubner's Adventure Seal Rocks Pacific at Santa Clara Trip to Silver Mine Railroad and Canon Scenery Gold Mining Glacier Moraines 26 CHAPTER V. THE GREAT AMERICAN BASIN AND UTAH. Position and Character of the Basin Great Desert Cft : *a Rocky Mountain Slopes Devil's Slide Moore's Lake Colburn's Butte Titanic Nomenclature Springville Canon and the Wahsatch Range Humboldt 43 CHAPTER VI. SALT LAKE CITY AND THE MORMONS. Approach from Ogden Early Mormon History Views of Salt Lake City Mormon Endurance Obnoxious Tenets Polygamy and Despotism Brigham Young Emigrants on their Way Dreams of Emi- grants Work and Faith Mormon Church in Earnest Questions for Christian Churches Camp Douglass and the Gentiles 52 CHAPTER VII. ROCKY MOUNTAIN SCENERY SOUTH. Daring Engineering Feats Aspects of Colorado The Park System Climate Canons Central City and Leadville Gray's Peak Garden of the Gods Manitou Boulder City An Emigrant Train 66 CHAPTER VIII. ROCKY MOUNTAINS AND THE YELLOWSTONE PARK. An Extended Pic-nic Access to the Park The Lake Adventure with Indians Lower and Upper Falls Grand Cation Volcanic and Glacial Action Rock Coloring Icebergs and Submergence Diluvium Drifts and Boulders 77 CHAPTER IX. ROCKY MOUNTAINS, YELLOWSTONE PARK, ETC. Tower Creek Falls and Column Mountains Hot Springs and Geysers Chemical Action of Water and Atmosphere on Rocks Meaning of Geyser Explanation of Phenomena Astounding Effects Pris- matic Coloring of Water Earthquakes Forces of Nature Human Strength and Weakness Falls of Snake River 84 CHAPTER X. THE PLAINS AND PRAIRIES. Extent and Elevation of Prairies Why No Trees Different Theories Letter from Settler in Nebraska- Prairie Fires The Buffalo Peaceful Indians Difference between Plain and Prairie Military Reminiscences A Pow-wow Indian with Scalp Sheridan The Indian Problem Wapiti 95 v vi Contents. CHAPTER XL MOUNTAIN- SCENERY IN PENNSYLVANIA. Meaning of " Alleghany " The Appalachians Geological Features Juniata and Susquehanna Railway Cut Sinking Spring River of Yesterday Kettle Run Horse Shoe Bend The Portage Rail- roads Germans and Dutch William Penn 108 CHAPTER XII. THE SUSQUEHANNA AND DELAWARE RIVERS. "Crooked River" Lake Otsego, and Cooper Uses and Abuses of Novels Vale of Wyoming Rise of the Delaware Water Gap The Missing Lake Lovers' Leap Historic Retrospect Washington and Trenton 121 CHAPTER XIII. NIAGARA FALLS. General View Fascination and Spell Music of Niagara Geological Changes Cave of the Winds and Vertical Stairs The American Fall Horse-Shoe Falls Proprietary Rights Suspension Bridge The Whirlpool Historical Attractions War of 1812 " Disastrous Nonsense " Peace of 1814 I2 8 CHAPTER XIV. LAKE SUPERIOR. Extent and Appearance The Pictured Rocks Christian Nomenclature Cascade and Great Cave "Song of Hiawatha " Idea and Merits of the Poem Whittier's Eagle's Quill 139 CHAPTER XV. BOSTON AND THE WHITE MOUNTAINS. Boston from Bunker Hill June I7th, 1775 A Stupid King and Haughty Counsellors Brother against Brother The Boston Tea Party Taxation and Representation Beginnings of the Dispute " The Hub " Fighting for a Principle White Mountain Region Mt. Washington Silver Cascade Dangers of Mountain Travel Crawford's Notch 146 CHAPTER XVI. THE WHITE MOUNTAINS CONTINUED. The Atlantic System Extent and Nomenclature Franconia Mountains Eagle Cliff Canon Mountains Hawthorne " The Great Stone Face " Whittier's " Franconia. " 1 57 CHAPTER XVII. OTHER PICTURESQUE VIEWS OF NEW ENGLAND. Connecticut and the Plymouth Company View near Granby Why Connecticut is a small State Mt. Ascutney, Mass. The Missisquoi, Vt. St. Albans Raid and Rendezvous Negro Head, Newport Rhode Island and Roger Williams 162 CHAPTER XVIIL LAKE GEORGE. Traveling by Imagination The Ambuscade Fourteen-Mile Island General Montcalm and Fort William Henry Sabbath Day Point^-Abercrombie Cat Mountain Robert Rogers War and Peace Summer Day Glory Whittier's " Summer by the Lakeside." 171 CHAPTER XIX. THE ADIRONDACK. Character of the Adirondack Region Preston Ponds Nature and Sadness Lake St. Regis Deer in the Adirondacks The Ausable Mr. Murray, and Trout Fishing Lake Henderson Upper Ausable Lake . 1 8 < CHAPTER XX. THE HUDSON RIVER AND THE CATSKILLS. The Palisades, their Geology and their Uses Notes on Major Andre*, General Arnold, Washington Irving, and Carlyle West Point, Tarrytown, etc., etc. The Catskill Region Sunset Rocks Artist's Grotto Rip Van Winkle New York City 20*. PICTURESQUE TOURS IN AMERICA. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. HE JUNIOR UNITED TOURIST CLUB is an organization consisting of ten or twelve young people between the ages of fifteen and twenty, who are the regular members of the club, and a few older persons, chiefly parents of the members, who are termed "honorary members." It is not necessary for the pur- poses of this book to state precisely the " whereabouts " of this club. It may be assumed to be in some one of at least a hundred cities to be found on any good map of the United States. Every member of this club either has taken, or is presumed to have taken, one of the picturesque tours described in these pages. Ten very delightful evenings are supposed to have been spent in going over these tours, at the rate of one tour to an evening, under the leadership of one particular member who either by personal travel or by special reading is best qualified to take this responsible post. It is the duty of the member who leads the party to furnish sketches or engravings of the scene he proposes to describe, and every member contributes to the best of his ability to the common fund of fact, incident, and adventure thus gathered Picturesque Tonys in America. together. As some of the tours embrace journeys of thousands of miles, and the time is strictly limited to an hour and a half each evening, the reader will at once see that some very rapid traveling has been accomplished. He will also be prepared to learn (as the result of experience) that the members never seem to suffer from undue fatigue in consequence of their long journeys. The reader is invited to consider himself, without further introduction, a corresponding member of this club, and to imagine that he hears the conversa- tions repeated in the following pages. The Junior United Tourist Club held its first meeting for the season, 1881-2, at the house of Mr. Merriman. The meeting was called to order by the host, and elected Gilbert Warlike chairman, pro tern., and Grace Merriman, secretary. The roll was called, and the following members answered to their names, Albert Victor, Bertram Harvey, Clara Harvey, Cyril Merriman, Grace Merriman, John Smith, Gilbert Warlike, Kate Goldust, Laura Smith, Lilian Wiseman ; also the following honorary members, Professor Workman, Doctor Paulus, Mr. S. Harvey, Mr. Goldust, Mrs. Goldust, Mr. and Mrs. P. Merriman, Aunt Harriet Victor, Colonel and Mrs. Warlike. Resolved ': That Professor Workman be President of the J. U. T. C. Appoint- ment accepted, and President formally inducted into the Chair. Resolved ' : That the meetings of the J. U. T. C. be held weekly in rotation at the houses of the honorary members ; that each meeting shall consist of (i) a short business session, (2) a conversational tour, (3) refreshments, etc. Resolved: That the Conversational Tour be strictly limited to one hour and a half in duration. Resolved .\ That the Tour for this evening be California and the Yosemite Valley, under the leadership of Miss Grace Merriman. Resolved: That the Tour for the next meeting be the Great American Basin and Utah. The President read the order of the evening for a Conversational Tour in California and the Yosemite Valley, and called upon Grace Merriman. CHAPTER II. THE YOSEMITE VALLEY. RACE {reading from a MS.) : When papa told us at home that ' he was about to take mamma, Cyril, and me, for a holiday to the Pacific coast, I had only the poorest kind of an idea, in a general way, of the places we were likely to visit. Of course I was delighted, and expected to have no end of fun and excitement ; but I was shamefully ignorant about the Pacific coast, except from what I had learned in the school geographies, and from reading some of Bret Harte's sketches. I must not, I suppose, go into any particulars of our journey to San Francisco, but proceed according to the programme, by giving you some particulars of our trip from that city to the Yosemite Valley, an ever-to-be-remembered event or episode in my experience, and one which some- times seems as though it must have been a dream, so new and strange was every- thing. I only wish I could even faintly convey to the club the impressions I received. But I will do my best, according to the rules of the club, and I am thankful I have papa and mamma, to say nothing of Cyril, to help me through. CYRIL : I was very observant, I assure you. GRACE : We went by rail to a little town called Madera, and took what they call the stage to the Yosemite. There were eight of us inside, and four outside, drawn by four horses ; and I shall say nothing more about this part of the journey than that it was, for more than half the distance at least, a succession of jolts and thumps up the mountains. Mamma got very nervous sometimes, and said that if this were sight seeing she had rather stay at home. Papa and Cyril were outside, and I expected every minute or two to see one or both of them plump ofL We had about twelve hours of this, and were right glad at last to be summoned to dismount at Mr. Clark's ranch, part farm and part hotel, where we found rest and refreshment, and spent the night. BIG TREES OF MARIPOSA. 6 Picturesque Tours in America. The next day we devoted to the big trees of Mariposa, about sixteen miles south of the Yosemite. I am fortunate enough to have a very good drawing of the lower part of a group of these trees, and also one of a specimen of the red- wood tree, belonging to the same family, but not so gigantic in its proportions. The Mariposa grove is only three or four miles from Clark's ranch, and we rode there on mustangs or ponies. But what with looking at the trees, gathering speci- mens of the flowering shrubs, eating luncheon, and, if I must say so, a little mild flirtation on the part of some of our company (here some side glances were directed toward Cyril) the best part of a long day wore away before we alighted on the hospitable piazza of the ranch on our return. And now I must say a word or two about these same big trees, at the risk of telling you what you all very well know. Mariposa is the name of the county in California some Indian name, I suppose in which we are now traveling. A few years ago, I do not know exactly what year, but probably about 1850, when miners were prospecting everywhere along the Pacific coast for gold and other precious minerals, some of them discovered this and a few other groves of these big trees. A great stir was made about them at once, as they are of an immense size trunks from thirty to thirty-six feet in diameter ; a straight shaft, almost without leaf or branch, two hundred feet high, and then one or two hundred feet more on the top of that, throwing out enormous branches. Somehow or another the first imperfect specimens got into the hands of English botanists, and they christened the genus Wellingtonia, after their famous Duke ; but our botanists found out that these big trees were not a family all by themselves, but had some respectable cousins called Redwood, a very familiar cone-bearing tree in California and other places on the Pacific coast. The redwoods cover an immense territory, and are used for all manner of purposes, and are very large trees too (though not so large as the big trees), forming dense forests. The botanical name of the redwood is Sequoia sempervirens, named in honor of an Indian chief; and so the American botanists called the big trees of Mariposa Seqiwia gigantea, which is much more appropriate I think, than Wellingtonia, besides being correct. GILBERT : What had the Duke of Wellington to do with these big trees, that Americans should be asked to call them after him ? I hope the English botanists will have the good sense to drop their absurd title. The Indian name is far better. 77/6' Yosemite Valley. GRACE : There are several groves of these trees on the terraces of the Sierra mountains, but nowhere else in the world, so far as is yet known. I think they are unquestionably the largest trees in the world. It is oelieved that they are al- most as old as the Christian era, judging from the rings of the trunks. CLARA : Are there any young Sequoia growing up, or is the race dying out ? THE PRESIDENT : A very natural question, and one which can be answered satisfactorily. The race, happily, is not dying out, as there are trees in these groves of all sizes, from the yearlings just springing up from the seeds to the hoary monsters which evidently have been in existence cen- turies before the Christian era. Unless destroyed by forest fires the race, though not numerous, will prob- ably continue the pride and wonder of our western coast as long as the world lasts, or at least until far greater changes are wrought upon the surface of our planet than we can venture to pre- REDWOO 8 Picturesque Tours in America, diet. I should say that the Eucalyptus tree of Australia, belonging to an entirely different family, is almost as large in its native forests as our Sequoia. By the way, Miss Clara, did you go into any of the hollow trees ? CLARA : Oh, of course. I went into the Pioneer's cabin, a hollow in the trunk of a tree capable of holding twelve persons ; and papa rode right through one of THE PEAK OF INSPIRATION. the long trunks on his mustang, without lowering his head the least bit. I could tell you a great deal more about these big trees, but if we are to see the Yosemite to-night, we must make haste. And I have some very fine pictures here of some of the objects of interest. The Yosemite l^alley. The valley is, I think, about twenty-four miles from Clark's ranch. We go on mustangs of course. You are to suppose that it is a very hot day in June, and that there are plenty of flies. Up, up, up we go, ascending the western slopes of the Sierras, mostly through thick forests of redwood, cedar, and pine, till we come to a halting place, where we have lunch, and then on again, northward of course, YOSEMITE VALLEY. till we reach the verge of a mighty precipice, called the Peak of Inspiration, when the valley of the Yosemite bursts with all its glory upon us. Baron Hiibner thus describes this view : " In front of us, on the opposite side of the Yosemite, one single immense block of square granite with a flattened summit and perpendicular flanks, 10 Picturesque Tours in America. rises out of the valley beneath. The Mexicans gave it the name El Capitan. (It is 3,300 feet from the valley bottom, and almost perpendicular.) Further on. THE BRIDAL FALL. towards the north-east, on both sides of the abyss, rise smooth, vertical walls of rock, diversified here and there by peaks and domes, with narrow aerial terraces, YOSEMITE FALLS. 12 Picturesqite Tours in America. out of which spring gigantic firs. The horizon is bounded by a complete wall of granite, higher than the mountains which surround the valley, and of which the top appears perfectly straight. " This is the highest ridge of the Sierra Nevada." I quote this because it corresponds exactly with the first impression made upon me as I looked across the valley from the peak. I do not think that either of the views I have here quite represents this effect, though they are admirable pictures. As we wind down from the peak into the valley, we get innumera- ble views, each different from the rest, and bring- ing new features of this wonderful scene before us. One of the first cas- cades we see is the Bridal Fall, which makes only two springs in a total leap of over 900 feet from the west side of the Cathe- dral Rock. We had the good fortune to see this fall at its best, as there had been very heavy VERNAL FALL. rains during the spring, and the flow of water was al undant. THE YOSEMITft FALLS. 14 Picturesque Tours in America. LAURA : Did you notice the wave or bend in the column of water, said to her due to the current of wind striking it in its long descent ? GRACE : I did not notice that, but I understand that it is quite apparent when the body of water is not too heavy. Here is a view of the Yosemite Falls, formed by the leap of the Yosemite Creek of the river Merced, over a cliff 2,600 feet high. JOHN : About half a mile. GRACE : There are three leaps, of which the highest is 1,600 feet. It is estimated that when the river is full, in the spring, about a million and a half of cubic feet of water pass over this fall every hour. This is perhaps the highest fall in the world. Here is a view of the Vernal Fall, very beautiful, though not so high as some of the others, being only from 350 to 400 feet. It falls over a perpendicular rock ; but steps are cut from the valley, and a brave and cool person can climb to the top if he thinks proper. At the top there is a breastwork of rock, so that one can enjoy the view without danger when once one is there. Papa and Cyril were both venturesome enough to undertake this trip. In this picture we see the breastwork to the right. I am not keeping exactly to the order in which the visitor approaches these several sights, but I find it easier to speak of them separately. I think that one of the loveliest features of the Yosemite Valley is the Mirror Lake, embosomed among the mountains, pinnacles, and domes, and reflecting all these objects, down to the minutest lichen on the "rocks, on its perfectly smooth surface. Another beautiful effect is produced by the reflection of the " Three Brothers " in the Merced River. As I sat by the lake. in the stillness of the afternoon, on that summer's day, while our party roamed about among the rocks, Whittier's poem,. "The Lake Side," came into my mind, and I found myself repeating: Tired of the long day's blinding heat, I rest my languid eye, Lake of the hills ! where cool and sweet, Thy sunset waters lie ! * * * % So seemed it when yon hill's red crown, Of old the Indian trod, THE THRF.K BROTHERS. 16 Picturesque Tours in America. And, through the sunset air, looked down Upon the Smile of God.* * * * * Thanks, O our Father ! that, like him, Thy tender love I see, In radiant hill, and woodland dim, And tinted sunset sea. For not in mockery dost thou fill Our earth with light and grace, Thou hid'st no dark and cruel will Behind Thy smiling face. THE PRESIDENT: Very aptly quoted, Grace. It is not often that we find bodies of water that are sufficiently smooth and clear to give this intensely powerful reflection of surrounding objects. Some of the smaller lakes in Canada have this quality in an extraordinary degree. The water is so clear, that you can look down many feet into the depths until, as you sail along, you seem to be floating in air, and the islands and shores, lined as they are with trees, are reproduced in inex- pressible vividness and beauty. But we are not yet nearly through our evening, and you have done almost all the talking so far, and I fear must be tired. GRACE : I have finished my special talk, and am thankful to be able to call upon my brother, who kindly undertook to help me. He will, if you please, take my place for the rest of this excursion to the Yosemite, and papa will say some- thing about California. * Indian phrase : " Smile of the Great Spirit." CHAPTER III. THE YOSEMITE. If) YRIL : When my sister spoke of the perpendicular cliff of the Vernal Falls, I had in my mind also a piece of poetry, and, to vary the enter- tainment a little, I will quote it, and then invite the club to guess the author's name. I should not be able to quote it correctly to-night, had I not a few minutes ago slipped into papa's library and copied the piece. Here it is : " And now, to issue from the glen, No pathway meets the wanderer's ken, Unless he climb, with footing nice, A far projecting precipice." DR. HARVEY : If you had not said that you had copied the lines I should have credited you with the impromptu authorship ; but now that I think of it, there is a certain rhythm and ring even in that short quotation which makes me think of Sir Walter Scott.* CYRIL : You are right, sir; but if I quote the concluding lines of the stanza, their applicability to the scenes now before us, notwithstanding the disparity of circumstances, and surroundings, will, I think, be admitted by every one ; names, of course, being different. " And mountains, that like giants stand To sentinel enchanted land. High on the south, huge Ben-venue Down on the lake in masses threw * It is from his description of Loch Katrine of course a much larger piece of water than the Mirror Lake of the Yosemite, which is only a mile in circumference. 2 17 1 8 Picturesque Tours in America. " Crags, knolls, and mounds confusedly hurled, The fragments of an earlier world : A 'wildering forest feathered o'er His ruined sides and summit hoar ; While on the north, through middle air, Ben-an heaved high his forehead bare." THE PRESIDENT : Miss Grace alluded to Bret Harte in her introduction. Does any member of the club recollect his poem upon the big trees ? LAURA : I have it, sir. It is entitled "On a Cone of a Big Tree, or Sequoia, gigantea" He says : " Thy sire saw the light that shone On Mohammed's uplifted crescent, On many a royal gilded throne And deed forgotten in the present. "He saw the age of sacred trees, And Druid groves and mystic larches ; And saw from forest domes like these The builder brino- his Gothic arches." o His concluding thought, as expressed in the next quotation, has reference to the fact that this particular cone, instead of being the parent of other big trees, is doomed to live as a specimen upon his study table " under ink-drops idly scattered : " " Not thine alone the germs that fail The purpose of their high creation, If their poor tenements avail For worldly show and ostentation." AUNT HARRIET : I suppose the poet would suggest to us that real practical use or progress is inconsistent with mere "worldly show and ostentation." The Yosemite. MR. GOLDUST: If a man or a woman gives up days and evenings to fashion and frivolity, old age, if it comes at all, will find him a mere husk. The club cheered this proposition. THE PRESIDENT : I think you may now proceed, Mr. Cyril, with your narrative. CYRIL : You all know, I presume, that the Yosemite Valley, and the Mariposa THE CATHEDRAL. grove, like certain other attractive parts of this country, have been set aside by sundry special Acts of Congress or State Legislation, as national parks. The Yosemite Valley is a rift or gorge in the Sierras, possessing singularly grand and imposing features, some of which are likely to puzzle geologists for some time to come. It is about eight miles long, by about a mile broad, of irregular <4iape, but Picturesque Tours in hemmed in through its entire length by lofty granite hills, nearly vertical. The river Merced runs through the valley, with tributaries flowing into it from both sides, and constituting the : various waterfalls, to some : of which reference has been made. The floor of the valley is about 4,000 feet above the level of the sea, and the hills tower up from 2,000 to 6,000 feet above the plain. The valley itself is richly wooded, and in summer is carpeted with grass and wild flowers. o The latest suggestion as to its formation is that it was caused by a sudden depres- sion of the earth's surface a caprice of nature. No other theory, like that, for instance, of aqueous erosion, or fissure, or glacial action, can, it is thought, explain the almost total absence of debris at the foot of the hills. Occa- sionally there are rock avalanches, when great por- tions of granite are detached and fall with a thundering crash to the plains; but there is every reason to .believe that where they have fallen they remain to this day, which would not have THE SENTINEL ROCK. The Yosemifc. 21 been the case had there been any glacial disturbance, or the rushing of a vast body of water for centuries through this gorge. Do I put this correctly, Mr. President ? THE PRESIDENT : Yes. It is supposed by many that the gorge was at one time a lake, and that it has been gradually filled to its present level by the falling: masses from above. MR. GOLDUST : How long will it take to fill it up by this means ? THE PRESIDENT : We cannot tell what sudden changes may happen to hasten. THE NORTH AND SOUTH DOMES. the comparatively slow action of climate, storm, and gravitation ; but we might safely put it at thousands of years. MR. GOLDUST : Then there will be a chance for all the club to visit the place yet. CYRIL : One of the most prominent objects in the valley (we are going north) is a group called Cathedral Rocks, about 2,660 feet high, and from some points of view presenting a church-like and very imposing appearance. Above this is the Sentinel Rock, a weird and solitary peak, or rather group, 4,500 feet high. Below the Yosemite Falls are the mighty North and South Domes, the latter of which has hitherto defied all attempts made by travelers to climb it. The Picturesque Tours in America. sketch of rocks and bowlders gives an idea of some portions of the valley along the course of the Merced, not far from the base of the South Dome, and it illustrates the President's remark about the rock avalanches. Another sketch gives us a nearer viewof the South Dome. THE PRESIDENT : We have not heard yet about the discovery of this valley. ROCKS AND BOWLDERS IN THE VALLEY. CYRIL: I had forgotten to say that in 1851 an expedition was organized by the miners in the Sierras and Foot Hills, to pursue and punish the Indians for various outrages they had perpetrated upon the whites. The Indians fled to their fastnesses, and, amongst other hiding places, this one was discovered, and the unfortunate Red Men were attacked, and great numbers slaughtered in this very TJie Yosemite. spot. A few years later, tourists began to visit it, and in 1856 the first hotel or ranch was built there. The name is Indian, of course, and signifies "grizzly bear." The Indians in California now give little or no trouble to the whites. The tourist meets with them occasionally, but they are harmless. In the Yosemite region they are known as Digger Indians. MR. GOLDUST: How did you get out of the valley? Did you take all your party up the precipice at the Vernal Falls, or return by the way you entered ? THE SOUTH DOME. CYRIL : There is a rugged and steep way out in a northerly direction. Some tourists, indeed, enter from this direction. As you ascend from the valley, the air grows perceptibly cooler. In fact, the whole region is subject to sudden changes of temperature, and to severe storms. Cool nights and hot days alternate with each other. Our party got thoroughly drenched in a rain storm on the road to Coulter- ville ; but, after we had proceeded a few miles, our clothing dried upon us, and we thought no more of it. Some carriages were waiting for us at the first point in Picturesque Tours in America. the road available for wheels, and some of our party gladly changed their method of locomotion, though I do not think they gained much by it, as the roads are FRIENDLY INDIAN. not smooth by any means, and in some places the driver has to proceed very 77/6' Yosemite warily, or he would upset his party into some deep ravine or abyss. Coulterville is a small mining town, and the tourist will be in no humor to remain there longer than necessary to recover from his fatigue. From Coulterville we drove some forty miles down the rugged slope, into the plains, to the line of the railroad, and so on the following day reached San Francisco. AUNT HARRIET : I have been very lately reading a description of the Yosemite Valley by Dr. Russell, one of a party accompanying the Duke of Sutherland last June in a rapid tour through the States and Canada. A friend of mine in London sent me a copy of the work.* Dr. Russell says : " The peculiar and unique feature of the valley seems to me to be the height and boldness of the cliffs, which spring out from the mountain sides like sentinels to watch and ward over the secrets of the gorge. Next to that is the number and height of the waterfalls ; but it is only by degrees and by comparison that the mind takes in the fact that the cliffs are not hundreds but thousands of feet high that these bright, flashing, fleecy cataracts fall for thousands of feet." He adds : " What is the use of rolling off a catalogue of names and figures ? Even the brush of the painter, charged with the truest colors and guided by the finest hand and eye, could never do justice to these cliffs and waterfalls." CYRIL : I had almost forgotten to say that the Duke of Sutherland and his party preceded us by only two or three weeks. We heard a great deal about them from the guides and others. It appears that some of the party, including the Duke himself, were very much amused by a guide calling upon the Duke to help him water the horses. " Here, Mister Sutherland, hold this bucket, please, while I pump." There was a good laugh, but the Duke obeyed with alacrity. GRACE : I rather liked to hear the story. I do not suppose the man meant to annoy the Duke, and it was a reminder to him, anyhow, that dukes and lords do not grow out here. GILBERT : Perhaps that is why our people run after them so much when they do come. KATE : Well, people cannot help being born heirs to dukes and duchesses. I do not know that I should have been so very sorry if I had been a duchess. AUNT HARRIET : An American girl who is true to herself needs no title to proclaim her nobility. * An American edition has been published. CHAPTER IV. CALIFORNIA AND SAN FRANCISCO. HE PRESIDENT called upon Mr. Merriman, who promptly took the part of leader of the club for the concluding portion of the Californian tour. Let me first, he observed, give a general idea of San Francisco. It is situated at the northern end of a peninsula thirty miles long and about six wide. The city slopes towards the east, facing San Francisco Bay, which is between thirty and forty miles long, and from seven to twelve miles wide. The entrance to this bay from the Pacific Ocean is through the Golden Gate a strait, five miles long and a mile wide. The shores of the Golden Gate are picturesque, the northern being lined with lofty hills. The bar has thirty feet of water at low tide, and the bay has safe anchorage for ships of any size. In 1846, San Francisco was a mere fishing-hamlet. Gold was discovered in 1848, and in less than four years the city had a population of 35,000. It now numbers at least a quarter of a million. On the eastern shore of the bay, opposite San Francisco, is the city of Oakland, bearing a somewhat similar relation to it that Brooklyn does to New York, only that Oakland is relatively more fashionable, and is even more thoroughly a resi- dential city and suburb than Brooklyn. The ferryboats plying between these two cities are mammoth boats, with immense saloons above the deck. The distance is seven miles. It gives one a strange feeling to walk the busy and beautiful streets of San Francisco and Oakland, and to think that all this has sprung up in far less than an average life-time. There must be many men now living who can look back to the time when it was an unpretentious hamlet, and when no one dreamed of the future before it. 26 California and San Francisco. 27 During the early years of the city, things proceeded after a very lawless fashion. The people who flocked to it were influenced by only one motive, and that a powerful one the thirst for gold. There was no strong government to restrain the unruly and punish crime. At length the inhabitants formed a Vigilance Com- mittee, which soon became " a terror to evil doers," even if not " a praise to those who did well." Its decisions were prompt, and its punishments severe, though perhaps not always just. It was not until 1855 that the municipal government THE BAY OF SAN FRANCISCO. and the regular tribunals of justice became strong enough to cope with the situa- tion" ; but by that time a new element had sprung up in the city a class of men who lived by trade and commerce, as well as by mining, who were in themselves a guarantee of good order, and to whom, on the other hand, good order and perma- nence in the institutions of government were indispensable. Still the population of the city is so heterogeneous, and the rowdy element so strong, that it continues 28 Picturesque Tours in America. to have its full share of crimes and disturbances, perhaps rather more so in propor- tion to its population than the other large western cities. I must not, however, be betrayed into giving you a merely statistical narrative. Here is a series of sketches which, without any words, would convey a very good idea of the Capital of California. DR. PAULUS : When I visited San Francisco, I was particularly struck with the contrast between its climate and that of the eastern cities of America. It was decidedly cooler in the summer months than I have ever known it to be in New ':^f^^^ T~vwU^~* MONTGOMERY STREET, SAN FRANCISCO. and it is no wonder that the more brutish among them retaliate upon the white man wherever an opportunity presents itself. Besides, the Chinese quarter in San Francisco is under very poor police supervision. MR. MERRIMAN : The picture of the Seal Rocks represents a very curious scene which the San Franciscan shows to all his friends. It is a view from the 34 Picturesque Tours in America. Cliff House, a hotel about six miles from the city, connected therewith by a wide boulevard. The outlook is towards the Pacific Ocean and a glorious outlook it is. In the foreground are these rocks, upon which the sea-lions or seals make their holiday, wriggling and clambering up the sides of the rocks after a fashion which partakes of the marvelous. THE PRESIDENT : It is now time for us to hear something about other portions of California. MR. MERRIMAN : With pleasure. Here is a view of the Pacific from the coast of Santa Clara county, some forty miles below San Francisco county. The capital of this county is San Jose, a thriving city of some 'fifteen to twenty thousand inhabitants. It has some remarkably fine public buildings and parks, and the climate of the whole region is mild and equable. As all sea views are very much alike, we will now pass into the interior, and I will ask my daughter to describe a visit we paid to a silver-mine in Virginia City, Nevada. It is a little beyond the confines of California, but near enough to give us a general idea of mining opera- tions in this part of the world. CLARA : Instead of giving you my own description I shall do what will be much better, namely, read you a portion of the description of the same -journey made by a lady who accompanied us, and recently published in Lippincotfs Magazine* The writer says : " It is a bright, clear day, warm as June in the sun (it was August) cold as. March in the shade, with a brisk, sharp breeze from the bay, blowing the white powdery lime-like dust full in one's face ; just such a day, in short, as can be found for eight months of the year in San Francisco, when during a morning stroll you are sure to meet dusters and ulsters, lace shawls and seal-skin jackets ; the wearers apparently utterly oblivious as to what season it really is. The Valejo boat is reached, and we steam out into the bay, surrounded, as one generally is in every California steamer, train, or stage, by commis voyagcurs of a decidedly Jewish cast of countenance. Looking back across the rippling, blue water, we catch one last glimpse of the town, half shrouded in a soft, golden mist. Farewell, great city of contrasts, of the very rich and the very poor; of the Irish millionaire and the Chinese beggar, of the palace and the gambling-hell ; of the breezy hill-top, and the low opium-scented valley. Picturesque Tours i;i America. " The sun is setting, and the golden mist which we left hanging over the city like a soft bright canopy, is creeping after us when we reach Vallejo, and take our places in the train for Virginia City. Our friends, the Israelitish commis voyageurs, have dispersed, and in their place we have tall, bearded men, with their wives. They are, one and all, without a single exception, talking stocks. " Early the next morning we leave the sleeper, and, after depositing our bags and shawl straps with the baggage master at Reno, start empty handed for Virginia City. During the night we have come through the evergreen Sacramento Valley, but now we strike northward, straight up into the Sierras. All vegetation, except an occasional patch of yellow tar-weed, is left far below us. The great mountain slopes, bare and brown as we near them, but softly purple in the distance, and the clear brilliant blue of the summer sky, are all that we see. The road, twisting and turning as the ascent grows ever steeper, lies so close along the mountain side that at times it seems as if nothing but a miracle could keep us from plunging into the valley, many hundred feet below. Now and then we rush past deserted villages, where the frail, shell-like wooden shanties are already falling into decay. Again, we stop at the station of some small hamlet city by courtesy perched on the bare hillside, and composed of half a dozen miner's huts, an equal number of saloons and billiard-rooms, and the railroad station." At last Virginia City is reached, built on the side of a hill, and looking, in spite of its large houses, "as if a very slight push would send it reeling into the valley." The party, after the usual California lunch of mutton-stew and pork-and- beans, proceeded to the mine. " Following our guide, we entered a large building filled with rapidly revolving wheels of every size, some of which are used to work the elevator running constantly up and down the main shaft ; while others move the immense pump which forces the cool air from above into the mine. "Each of us having been provided with a bundje of rough-looking garments, we are ushered into the ladies' dressing room." At last the party are properly equipped and begin the descent. "At first I can do nothing but grasp my companion's arm. Then comes a sensation of floating, but upward, not downward, and it is not until I see by the light of the lanterns that we are passing passage after passage cut in the granite California and San Francisco. 37 walls, and each one lower than the last, that I fully realize the fact that every moment is bringing us nearer the center of the earth. Almost before I have collected my senses, we stop at the mouth of a large cavern, and I hear W s voice sounding as if many miles away, so deaf have I become by the sudden change of atmosphere, at 1,750 feet below Virginia City. " From several points run narrow arched passages furnished each with a. SILVER CIl'Y, NEVADA. railway on which the ore-cars are brought to the elevator, and into one of these black openings we plunge. On and on, through the heat and darkness, now slipping as we step by chance on iron rails, now passing a huge pipe connected with the air pump, now standing close against the shining, dripping walls, to let pass a low, heavy car loaded with ore, and pushed by a couple of miners ; then Picturesque Tours in America. on again, until we come to a small circular cave, the walls composed of heavy beams of timber closely packed together, but bent in more than one spot by the tremendous pressure from above. Some of the richest ore has been found here ; and a little farther on we come upon a group of men at work. There is a small pool of water to be crossed by means of a narrow plank, and then, one, two, three ladders to be climbed, the heat be- coming more intense at every step, until we reach a niche-like opening where two men are at work or, rather, where one man works for a quarter of an hour, while the other sits with his arms in a pail of ice-water. " The descent of those frightful ladders is, if possible, more perilous than the ascent. We follow our guides up one passage and down another, till a heavy curtain, which hangs from wall to wall, is pushed aside, and a hot blast seems to scorch our very bones. From that moment each step is one of increasing agony. I feel as if the whole seventeen hundred and fifty feet of earth above me were resting on my chest ; my blood, which seems on fire, is driven violently to my head, and as each fresh wave of heat passes over us I gasp painfully for breath. The next ten minutes will always be a haunting memory to me. The long, dark passages, the burning atmosphere, the scattered lights, the weird figures of the miners, appearing only to vanish the next moment in the surrounding gloom, all recur like some terrible dream. After thanking our guide, we get on the elevator and, warmly enveloped in pea-jackets, return once more to the upper air." TRESTLE BRIDGE NEAR SACRAMENTO CITY. TALULOWEHACK CANON, SIERRAS. Picturesque Tours in America. ALBERT: The great wealth of Nevada is in its silver mines. The famous Comstock lode is partly beneath Virginia City. THE PRESIDENT: I see that we have a sketch of Silver City, which might be, by its looks, the scene of several of Bret Harte's stories " Smith's Pocket," for instance. I know no better way of familiarizing oneself with the peculiarities of this wonderful section of our country than by reading Bret Harte. Take, for instance, his graphic description of a snow-bound party in the Sierras in " The Outcasts of Poker Flat." This is suggested to me by the picture before me of Talulowehack Canon. Imagine winter setting in suddenly, as it always does, in such a scene, and a party of outcasts snow-bound at the foot of one of those hills. MRS. MERRIMAX: Do you think Bret Harte a good writer ? THE PRESIDENT : Decidedly. He is not a romance writer, but he is far better than that, he is a graphic and trustworthy artist. He paints men and things as they are, or have been, and accordingly his works will in- crease in literary value with every generation. o MR. MERRIMAN : I would like to hear Mr. Goldust give us some infor- mation about gold-mining in California. MR. GOLDUST : I have been so much interested that I ought not to refuse to contribute a little to the fund of entertainment. You all know that I have lived twenty-five years and more in California. I went there in 1856, a poor man. I became interested in gold-mining, and have been rich and poor alternately on an SNOW-SHED, CENTRAL PACIFIC RAILROAD. A CALIFORNIA* MINER. 42 Pictttresqtie Tours in America. average every three years. Fortunately I have been able to retire at last from active business, and unless I become tired of traveling, or doing nothing, shall in future carefully avoid all mining speculations, or speculations of any kind. I have been looking at the sketch of a Californian miner, and I can only say that it reminds me of some of my earlier days. I worked hard I assure you to get my first capital out of the dust of the earth. LILIAN : What are those men doing? MR. GOLDUST : The man holding the hose is directing two powerful hydraulic streams against the rock to loosen the earth and so cause it to wash down the sluice. The other man in the picture is shoveling the loosened gravel or earth into the sluice, from which, by various mechanical or chemical contrivances, the gold is finally extracted. THE PRESIDENT : It is now time for the club to take its departure from the land of the Sierras. I invite you, therefore, to take your places in the train. The journey is long and not destitute of interest or of peril. You will be thankful to pass in safety over the long trestle bridges across the creeks in the Sacramento Valley, and will duly admire the snow-sheds and deep cuttings through which you are traveling at the moderate pace of twenty-two miles per hour. GRACE : I intended to state that there is an interesting article on the Conif- erous Forests of the Sierra Nevada in the Century Magazine for last September (1881). The writer says that these forests are the noblest and most beautiful on earth, though, owing to the shortness of the time which has elapsed since their discovery, they are as yet but little known. He asserts that the soils on which the forests are growing are in fact glacier moraines, that is, soil deposited by the ice glaciers after being crushed and ground from the solid flanks of the mountains. I would like to know something more about these glacier moraines, and the action of ice in preparing beds for the growth of these immense forests. THE PRESIDENT : We have not time this evening to go into so large and interesting a subject, but it will certainly come before us again, and your curiosity may then be gratified. I have read the article you speak of with great inter- est, and consider it an excellent contribution to the natural history of this region. The proceedings of the club then assumed an informal character. CHAPTER V. THE GREAT AMERICAN BASIN AND UTAH. HE second meeting of the J. U. T. C. was held at the house of Dr. Paulus. Every member was present, and also several invited guests. The routine business having been disposed of, the President invited Dr. Paulus to conduct the club through its second 'tour. DR. PAULUS : If you look at the map of America, you will find on the western portion two lofty mountain chains or systems. One is comparatively close to the Pacific Coast, and includes the Coast range and the Sierra, which, though separated by an extensive and rich valley, may be regarded for our present purpose as one system ; the other is the great Rocky Mountain system, running from the extreme north to the peninsula. Between these two mountain systems is a vast undulating and broken valley, called by geographers the Great American Basin. KATE : A very matter of fact name. JOHN : German bach, brook, or place of flowing water : geographically, a dip on the surface. DR. PAULUS : We are now descending into this Great Basin on its western side, hastening down the Sierra's slopes as fast as the railroad people think it prudent to draw us. Remember, however, that the Great American Basin, though it includes the whole of Nevada, and parts of Utah, Arizona, and California, is far surpassed in extent by the basin or valley of the Mississippi, which lies to the east of the Rocky Mountains. Indeed, geographers not uncommonly ignore, as it were, the Great American Basin, by including all the three mountain systems of which I have spoken the Rocky Mountains, the Sierra, and the Coast range in one grand system, which they speak of as the Rocky Mountains, or Pacific coast range, in opposition to the great Appalachian or Eastern mountain system. But for the present we have to do with this great valley, and not with the whole of it either. 43 44 Picturesque Tours in America. We have some picturesque views here which will help us in some degree to under- stand what this valley or basin is like. It is by no means uniform in its features, but presents almost infinite variety of physical aspect, and is at present the scene of some of the strangest developments in human character and history. THE PRESIDENT : Will Dr. Paulus mention some of the special geological and physical features of this Basin ? DR. PAULUS : I presume you refer to the peculiarity that it is what I may term self-drained. None of its rivers seem to have any outlet towards the sea. The region, however, abounds in lakes, in some of which the water is salt. These lakes GREAT AMERICAN DESERT. receive the rivers, but in consequence of the little rainfall and the great evapora- tion they rarely have any outlet the Great Salt Lake, for instance ; or, if they have, the stream is usually soon absorbed in the earth. JOHN : I understand that this region, though comparatively depressed, is an elevated plateau, with ranges of hills running through it, generally north and south. DR. PAULUS : Yes, and these hills are of a volcanic origin, treeless, and rain is gradually washing their substance down into the valleys. But enough of these preliminaries. That portion of this Great Basin we are now entering is very peculiar, and to the eye unattractive. It is termed the Great American Desert, and is applied especially to a tract of land some seventy to one hundred miles square,. The Great American Basin and Utah. 45 though of very irregular outline, and apparently utterly profitless and barren, both in an agricultural and mineral sense. In traveling through this region the eye sees only bare, brown hills and plains, covered with sand and alkali, with a thin growth of sage-bush, and grass. There is no water visible. Special trains con- vey this necessary commodity daily to the different stations along the railroad. In wet weather the soil becomes like mortar, and traveling, except by the railroad, is well nigh impossible. LILIAN : Does sage grow out in this desert ? I should think that there must be good soil in it somewhere. THE PRESIDENT : It is not the garden sage, nor anything like it. The sage- bush is a species of Arte- misia, the wormwood group of the order Com- posite. It seems indige- nous to these dry alkaline soils, and as it is a shrub- by plant, it makes good fire-wood in these regions. DR. PAULUS : We are now entering, if you please, the confines of Utah terri- tory. GRACE : The land of Blue-beards. DR. PAULUS : Most of it, unfortunately, is held by the Mormons ; but they will not interfere with us, though we may have a little to say about them by and by. Here is Corinna, not a Mor- mon town, though in Utah. KATE : It does not look much of a place. DR. PAULUS : No, nor very picturesque ; but it is a specimen of a frontier city, and has a large trade with the great mining regions of this great Basin. At Ogden City we leave the Union Pacific for the Utah railroad for Salt Lake City. But before going there, I wish you to look at some beautiful views V, CORINNA. Picturesque Tours in America. of Utah scenery, after which we shall have something to say aboul Mor- mondom. I have said that a portion of Utah is in the Great Basin. But as we approach Ogden we get nearer glimpses of the lof- ty Rocky Mountains ; in fact we begin to ascend the slope on the east side of the basin. Here the railroad track sometimes winds along the bottom of a wild ravine. " Canons, now gloomy and savage, then radiant in verdant beauty, run up into the mountains. Waterfalls come tumbling from dizzy heights. Huge masses of rock, torn and splintered into grotesque shapes, seem to have been fash- ioned by the fantastic ca- prices of genii, rather than by the unaided operations of nature." One of the most remarkable of these rock formations is known as the " Devil's Slide," of which we have a view. THE DEVIL'S SL.DE. ^^ j g & ^ ^ ^^ mass of dark red sandstone, some eight hundred feet high. Up the side of this, 48 Picturesque Tours in America. from base to summit, runs a stratum of white limestone consisting of a smooth floor about fifteen feet wide, on either side of which is a wall varying from ten to thirty feet in height. As seen from the railroad it resembles a huge mass of ma- sonry, and it is very difficult to discover by what natural agency it has been pro- duced. Some five years ago a celebrated artist visited some of the most picturesque portions of Utah, and painted some remarkably beautiful pictures. Amongst other places he sketched was Moore's Lake, of which I am able to give you an engraving. This lake is eleven thousand feet above the sea level. It is about nine miles in circumference. It lies about sixty miles south of the railroad among the Uintah Mountains. The water of this lake, as might be supposed from its altitude, is always very cool. It is generally thought that this region has been the center of great glacial rivers. Around the shores of Moore's Lake the moun- tains rise abruptly to a height of three thousand feet and more, and from the top of one of them there is a view on a clear day of over twelve thousand square miles. There is abundance of timber and very fine pasturage. The lake evidently gets its supply from the melting snows. We are now in the region of canons THE PRESIDENT : Pardon me for a moment. Miss Laura, what is the deriva- tion of the word canon ? LAURA : I looked that up, and also the word butte, which is used to describe the high, pinnacle-like, isolated peaks common in this western mountain scenery. Canon is from the Spanish, pronounced canyon, and signifies originally a tube or pipe to carry off water. We use it in this country to designate the deep, mountain, rocky rifts or ravines, with precipitous sides, which are so numerous and also so grand and beautiful in our mountain regions. THE PRESIDENT : And " butte ? " LAURA : Butte is from the French, and means a high, bold hill. It is pro- nounced, I suppose, as one syllable, and the " u " should be short. THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. DR. PAULUS : One of our illustrations is of Springville Canon, which is in the Wahsatch range, directly on the verge of the Great Basin. It certainly gives one an idea of loneliness and desolation, though of grandeur likewise. This canon is not far from a Mormon town of the same name, on the southeast border of Utah COLPURN'S RUTTE. 50 Picturesque Tours in America. Lake, a large fresh-water lake flowing into the great Salt Lake. We see here plainly the action of the water in cutting this enormous and gloomy rift in the mountain side. You can look down upon the little stream from a point fifteen hun- dred feet above it. And I understand that this canon is only a specimen of many similar ones throughout this grand mountainous region. Laura has spoken of the word butte as descriptive of certain hills. Some of these are strange and awful monuments. Immense masses of rock, a thousand or two thousand feet high, per- haps, sides almost perpendicular, and looking like compact and solid towers of masonry built by a Titanic race of men. THE PRESIDENT : Favor us, Albert, with the key to the word "Titanic." ALBERT : I imagine it refers to the Titans of Greek mythology, a fabled race of giants, far back away from any historic period, powerful enough to make war against Jupiter. THE PRESIDENT : Whenever a vast, gloomy, and awe-inspiring object is before us it is natural to think of the traditional heathen stories of the freaks 'of this race of giants, hurling mountains at the gods. AUNT HARRIET : I suppose that in all ages and among all races of men the love of the marvelous and the idea of the supernatural have been prominent character- istics. And especially do we seem to find everywhere the idea of a rebellious race at war with the ruling powers of the universe. I wonder whether the idea of these Titans has any affinity as to its origin with Genesis 6 : 4-7. THE PRESIDENT : It is not improbable, as we see a strange though often a gro- tesque and weird likeness to Scripture history in many heathen traditions. I think that Frederick Von Schlegel brings out this thought very clearly in his Philosophy of History. By universal agreement of ancient traditional sources this world was. early the scene of a great conflict between opposing moral influences. MR. GOLDUST : To judge by the frequency of the references to his Satanic Maj- esty in the nomenclature of the picturesque and grand objects in creation, that per- sonage must have had no little influence in this world. There is hardly a square mile of mountainous country but has some point named after him. THE PRESIDENT : In the Golden age of Grecian mythology, man is said to have lived in peace and plenty, and in happy communion with the gods ; but this was suc- ceeded by a degenerate or Silver age, in which the passions of men became turbulent. HEAD WATERS OF THE COXXEMAUGH. 52 Picturesque Tours in America. and wicked. Then followed the Brazen age, in which crime and disorder reached its highest pitch. This was the age of the Titans, and of their war against the gods, which issued in the triumph of the latter. But the Grecian mythology does not embrace the idea of an elevation or restoration of mankind. It gives us the Iron age as the closing term of human degeneracy, and there it leaves us. The idea of malevolent supernatural influences being at work among men, fostering this evil spirit of disobedience, and causing grand and awful disturbances in the physical world, to the dismay and destruction of mankind, is universal. It has been reserved for the Christian system to bring out the truth of a divine fatherhood and rulership of love, through whom and through which the devout may find safety 'amid the wreck of matter and the crash of worlds.' MR. MERRIMAN : Utah is much more picturesque in its physical features than I supposed. DR. PAULUS : It is divided into two sections by the Wahsatch Mountains which form part of the eastern slope of the Great Basin. The waters which flow west- ward find no outlet to the ocean for reasons which I have explained. The Wahsatch range is grand and full of features of interest. The Uintah range is also very picturesque, with towering peaks covered with perpetual snow. For extreme diversity of scenery and climate, this part of the United States is almost without parallel. ALBERT : It will be a long time before the Great Basin becomes populous. DR. PAULUS : Portions of it will never become so, but it has, as we have seen, great mineral wealth locked up within it, and some of it is already finding its outlet. KATE : Perhaps the rivers which now sink into it may some day find their way out also. DR. PAULUS : At Humboldt wells there are about thirty springs, some of which have been sounded over 500 yards without touching bottom. As these springs rise to the surface it is supposed that they may be the outlet of some vast sub- terranean lake. But the surrounding region is most desolate, and, I agree with Albert, not likely to attract visitors at present, although it is thought that the Humboldt valley might be made productive by irrigation. Being the highway between East and West, this valley may become, in the near future, more attractive for labor and settlement. CHAPTER VI. SALT LAKE CITY AND THE MORMONS. R. PAULUS: I have here a series of views of Salt Lake City. This place lies, so to speak, on the eastern edge of the Great Basin, at the westerly foot of a spur of the Wahsatch Mountains. We approach the city from Ogden, by the Utah Central Railroad, which follows the east- ern shores of the Great Salt Lake. Salt Lake City is about twelve miles from the southern extremity of the lake. The first view shows the Wahsatch Mountains to the left or east, so that we are looking south. The second view is from a point southeast of the city, and therefore looking northwest, with the lake in the background. This is the point from which Brigham Young first saw the valley which was to be his future home, and the chief city of his de- luded followers. And here I will ask my friend Bertram to relate to us some of the particulars which led to that memorable journey of Brigham Young. I know that he has been studying the history of this remarkable heresy, and can probably furnish the club with a brief summary of the leading incidents. BERTRAM : I will do my best. The founder of the Mormon sect, as everybody knows, was Joe Smith, who brought out his book of Mormon in 1830, and in the same year organized the Mormon Church. He was an infamous man, notwithstand- ing his claims to be the leader of a religious sect ; he tried his hand at banking, and cheated his depositors, and was otherwise disreputable. The Mormon Church re- moved its headquarters from place to place, being compelled to "move on " by the authorities and public sentiment. The irregularities mostly charged against them were burning and plundering houses, and secret assassinations. They were a kind of Ishmaelitish people, and were suspected of all kinds of crimes and misdeeds. At last, I think in 1839, they concentrated to the number of seven or eight thousand in Illinois, and built a city which they called Nauvoo, in Hancock County. They obtained a charter from the State, which permitted them to organize a little army,. 53 54 Picturesque Tours in America. and Smith became a general, as well as a self-styled prophet and apostle. For a time his authority was supreme in Nauvoo, and the Mormon Church increased rapidly, but at length his immoralities stirred up a spirit of hatred and revenge .among his people, and some of them appealed to the State for protection. This led to a kind of civil war. Smith and his brother were captured and put in jail at Carthage, but the jail was attacked by an infuriated mob, and both were shot dead. I Of course Mormon affairs were thrown into great confusion, out of which they were extricated by Brigham Young, who had been a rising man for some time in the SALT LAKE CITY FROM ENSIGN PEAK. sect, and now put in a formal claim for the presidency of the Church and was chosen to that office. The State very properly revoked the charter of Nauvoo, and Young conceived the plan of emigrating to some far off place where the Mor- mons would be likely to be undisturbed for a great number of years. He pros- pected around in the vast region of the Rocky Mountains, and at last, in 1847, fixed upon the site of a city, and the Mormons, who had been having a hard time of it at Nauvoo, flocked thither to a man, and laid the foundations of the city. DR. PAULUS : Admirably sketched, Mr. Bertram. And now I will do the Mor- mons the justice to say that their emigration or exodus from Illinois to Salt Lake 56 Picturesque Tours i;i America. was one of the most remarkable events of the kind in the history of the world. The distance traveled was 1,500 miles and more. They had to journey in wagons, on horseback, on foot, through a region uninhabited and waste. They crossed the great prairies, ascended the mountains, penetrated the deserts, and defiled through the numerous canons. They endured indescribable hardships, and many died on the way ; and even when they reached their journey's end they found no welcome awaiting them ; not even the shelter of forests and the luxury of a well-watered valley. For years they had to live on the hardest of fare, and often to suffer hun- ger, thirst, and cold, without the means of providing sufficiently for their most ne- cessary wants. But they had faith in their leader, and at last they conquered the desert ; they brought water from the mountain lakes in perpetual streams and brooks into their valley ; they built themselves homes, and in fact established them- selves as a people and a State. However abhorrent and detestable some of their principles and practices are, history will do them the justice of acknowledging the magnitude of the deed they accomplished. THE PRESIDENT : I would suggest, doctor, that you state some of the objection- able principles held by the Mormons, so that before we leave this subject we may have a fair view of the case as a whole. DR. PAULUS : Certainly : and in doing so I would carefully discriminate be- tween the mere errors and delusions of Mormon faith, and those principles and prac- tices which bring it into unceasing and essential antagonism with Christian civiliza- tion. As to the pretended revelations of Joe Smith, and all the mockery and mim- icry of the apostleship, the civil state or government has nothing to do with such things. It has no right to interfere, for the constitution of this country expressly provides for the fullest enjoyment of religious liberty compatible with the general laws of morality which the nation as a whole has inherited, and which enter into the spirit of the commonwealth. The most conspicuous and obnoxious tenet of the Mormon Church is its inculcation of polygamy. ALBERT : Do they not base this upon the practices of the patriarchs ? DR. PAULUS : Certainly ; but Christian civilization, as founded on the New Testament and the teachings of Jesus Christ, discountenances polygamy, as opposed to the highest interests of mankind, and as ruinous to the proper claims and rights of womanhood. Salt Lake City and the Mormons. 57 CLARA : Lady Duffus Hardy, in her book " Through Cities and Prairie Lands," narrates a conversation with a Mormon railroad conductor on the Salt Lake City line, who says that there are many Mormons who never dream of taking more than one wife. BERTRAM : And she also says that the women have been trained from child- hood to believe that polygamy is right, and that the natural rebellion they feel is regarded by them as the voice of the evil one, to be stilled only by prayers and self-mortification. MRS. WARLIKE : I should like to have the making of laws for Utah for the next ten years. I would make it rather hot for these polygamous husbands. DR. PAULUS : Another obnoxious principle of the Mormon Church is its claim over the consciences and lives of its followers, ordering them to undertake services in its behalf, to their peril and danger ; sentencing them to death if their offenses come within the range of such extreme penalty ; doing all this, not in open tri- bunals and in accordance with the principles of law and order, but secretly, despot- ically, in defiance of personal rights and liberties, and often in violation of law. Christian civilization has an extreme horror of secret tribunals. It believes in law and publicity, and in the rights of conscience and of the individual citizen. These two features of the Mormon Church polygamy and secret irresponsible despotism bring it into direct opposition with the enlightened public sentiment of this coun- try and, I may say, of Christendom. COL. WARLIKE : It is a kind of expanded and rampant papacy, with a Jesuitical taint of the rankest and most dangerous complexion. DR. PAULUS : Undoubtedly. Purify the Mormon Church of these two mala- dies, and the nation will not quarrel with them about their eccentricities of belief, and they may remain in Utah to all time. As it is, there is a ripple, and perhaps more, of public sentiment among the strict Mormons of a new exodus to some region even yet beyond the borders of Christian settlement, or possibly to a coun- try where their practices may be less repugnant to public sentiment. But it is time for us to proceed on our journey, or at any rate to look around us a little in this strange place. Very different the scenes presented in these pictures to those which greeted the eye of Brigham Young and his companions in 1847 thirty-five years ago. Picturesque Tours in America. Here we have a very beautiful city, well wooded, richly watered, and bearing all manner of fruits in her enclosed orchards and gardens; with the added charm of mountain scenery, and the proximity of a noble inland sea. The city, which is the capital of Salt Lake county, as well as of the territory of Utah, is large, populous, and beautiful. It is laid out in blocks of six hundred and sixty feet square, sepa- rated by streets one hundred and twenty-eight feet wide. Ditches or cuttings run through most of the streets, on both sides, filled with water brought from a dis- tance. Most of the streets are lined with handsome trees. The houses are generally built of adobe, and are of but one story. Some are very large and handsome, and THE HAREM AND THE RESIDENCE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG. all have gardens. The public buildings are not numerous, nor very imposing. The Tabernacle, with its peculiar dome-like roof, will seat fifteen thousand per- sons. Besides this, the Mormons are building an immense temple. There are a number of smaller places of Mormon worship, a few " Gentile " churches, banks, etc. The most conspicuous private dwelling is the house which Brigham Young occupied. It is rather a collection of houses than a house, and is still occupied, in part, by his numerous widows and their families. We have also in our collection a portrait of Brigham Young as he appeared when nearly seventy years of age a remarkably well preserved man, one would say, though with a cunning expression in his countenance, which is far from attractive. Salt Lake City and the Mormons. 59 Main Street is the chief business street, as its name implies, and to the visitor presents a unique picture. There are no trees on this street, and the houses are built close to the sidewalks. The style of architecture of the different houses varies considerably, but many of the edifices have considerable claims to notice, and are quite worthy of an Eastern city. At times this street is thronged with bullock wagons, coaches, and carriages of every description, together with miners, Indians, and the residents of the city, passing to and fro, or engaged in shop- ping. JOHN: What is the staple trade or industry of Salt Lake City ? DR. PAULUS: It is the leading trade center of the territory, which is fairly rich in mines of lead, silver, copper, and gold. .There are also coal-mines. A surplus of agricultural produce comes to market, and there has been a steady advance in manufactures. Here is a picture of Mormon emi- grants on their way to Salt Lake City. From the beginning of the settlement, Brigham Young relied for recruits chiefly upon foreign countries. In England and Wales, Australia, and on the continent of Europe, the Mormon missionaries have for years been busy in the work of proselytizing. Scarcely a rural village in England, and more particularly in Wales, but has been the scene of this kind of preaching ; and many of them have yielded converts. These are invariably from the poorest and most ignorant of the population, to whom the word-pictures, skillfully drawn, of the paradise await- ing them in America, if they will but join their fortunes with the faithful, present a vivid contrast with the life of toil and penury to which they seem inevitably BRIGHAM YOUNG. 6o Picturesque Tours in America. doomed in the land of their birth. These missionaries are skillful in adapting their appeals to the varied conditions of their auditors. Their object is to get men and women and children. The necessary funds are supplied by the Mormon Church the principal use to which the contributions and tithes of the "faithful" are devoted. Here is a fine company on their way to the promised land fathers and mothers, young men and young women, boys and girls. You do not see any old or decrepit people. They have encamped on a spot which overlooks the valley of the Salt Lake, though at a great distance, and with eager, longing hearts they are striving to get a glimpse of the blessed place ! Every one has his or her own MAIN STREET IN SALT LAKE CITY. vision of prospective happiness. All the visions are not alike, but they are all tinged with a rosy hue. There is work before them, but there is plenty also, and abounding delights and comforts which will be to them a present and palpable pledge of the bliss which they will enjoy in the life to come, Mormonism is essen- tially materialistic in its views of things. The Mormon idea of God is of a Being of flesh and blood. Jesus Christ is His Son. Man has existed from all eternity, and the future life, in some other world, will be but a continuance of beings hold- ing the same relations as they do here, and similarly constituted. No wonder that this group of people is characterized by such an aspect of hopefulness and of joyous anticipation as manifests itself on every countenance and in every bodily attitude. 62 Picturesque Tours in America. I think that the artist has been very skillful in giving this character to the picture. Arrived at their destination, a convenient camping place is found for them, while the bishops and heads of the church go around and ascertain the capabilities and the history of each person. Work is found for all. The idea of letting the new arrivals drift helplessly along, or entering into a contest for existence without "WORK AND FAITH." MORMONS WORKING AT THE GRANITE FOR THE TEMPLE. guidance, is not to be thought of. Unfortunate, indeed, it is, that all this won- derful executive talent is at the service and in the cause of so infamous a system as that of Mormonism. THE PRESIDENT : I have often wondered at the superiority of many of the meth- ods and plans in furtherance of evil systems over those which are put into operation by good men for good purposes. As a rule, the churches of Christendom take no Salt Lake City and the Mormons. interest whatever in advancing the material interests of their people. They will contribute and bestow money in charity, but the general plan is to let men severely alone, to struggle in life as best they may, without sympathy or guidance, unless they come as paupers for charity, and then they are stamped at once as degraded. Why should not Christian churches in America do the work for humanity which Mormonism only pretends to do? Why should a Mormon emigration system suc- ceed, while the planting of a Rugby Colony becomes abortive of the good intended ? Why should Christian communities sit by in luxury, seeing Christian men contend against superior forces, when a little practical sympathy would save many a valu- CAMP DOUGLASS. able life, and people many a desert region ? It is not only charity for the sick and help for the victims of some special calamity, or the care of a few miserable street Arabs, that Christianity enjoins upon us ; it is brotherly sympathy of man for men the union of forces against the common enemy. DR. PAULUS : I cannot attempt to answer those pertinent questions. The subject is one that deserves the most practical thoughts of our wisest men and women. Here is a suggestion in the picture "Work and Faith." See how from the granitic mountain sides are hewn out the massive stones to be shaped and polished for the great Mormon temple. So, from the mountain masses of humanity Picturesque Tours in America. may be shaped the polished stones for the spiritual palace of the skies. Nothing- can be achieved without toil, but faith is needed to sustain the toiler ; otherwise he sinks into the gloom, sooner or later, of utter despair. The idea of the Mormon Church is to interest itself (for its own welfare chiefly) in every new comer. Work, food, social companionship, are found for all. Money is advanced to those who enter upon farming. It is secured by mortgages, and becomes often a permanent burden ; but meanwhile there is a visible means of support, and poverty, in the sense in which that word is understood in populous. SALT LAKE. communities elsewhere, is unknown. The Mormon farmer may be heavily in debt to his church, but somehow he thrives very well and is more than content. GILBERT : Suppose a Mormon should be converted back again to Christianity, can he get away easily from his new associations ? DR. PAULUS : I understand that the conversion of a Mormon is a very rare event. They are under a grip which never relaxes its hold. And there are secret laws against perverts, which the Church does not hesitate to put into execution, so that it is highly dangerous for any one to renounce Mormonism after having once embraced it. But, notwithstanding this, I have an idea that Mormonism can- Salt Lake City and the Mormons. 65 not withstand the moral forces which accompany an aggressive Christian civiliza- tion. Already a large proportion of the residents of Utah are " gentiles," and if, in the progress of settlement, the latter should become the numerical majority, Mormonism must gradually change its character or disappear. The last picture in this group is of the military camp at Fort Douglass, where the United States government maintains a force of soldiers. It was with extreme reluctance that the Mormons admitted the right of the government to establish this fort, but they had finally to submit. Whether with a prompt demonstration of military power the Mormon Church could be made to abandon her obnoxious tenets and practices is a question upon which the country is deeply agitated at the present moment. Many think that the cancer has been allowed to exist too long already, and that, like slavery, it will now require a very vigorous application of the knife to remove it. There have grown up political complications around this question which make it a difficult matter for the Executive to move ; and yet it is generally felt that the crisis is near at hand, and that firmness above all things is now necessary on the part of the government. But we have not time to discuss the Mormon question, and I shall cheerfully give place now to my friend Bertram,, who is to give us some further light and help over this Rocky Mountain region. CHAPTER VII. ROCKY MOUNTAIN SCENERY ;SOUTH. ERTRAM : I shall have to take you away from the overland railroad, and invite you to perform some rapid journeys with me, as I lead you to some picturesque scenes to the south of the line in the State of Colorado. Before we leave the track, however, look at this view of a railroad bridge over one of the creeks or valleys in the Great Basin. The engineers of the old world are fairly astonished at the daring of our engineers on this side of the world, with whom it often becomes a necessity to accomplish feats which could never enter their heads if they were constructing railroads in countries of a less bold physical contour, or with unlimited means at their command. In this case, for example, the railroad has to cross a chasm of perhaps a quarter of a mile in width, and several hundred feet in depth. No time nor money for elaborate masonry ! The thing has to be done quickly, cheaply, and, withal, effectively. This leads to a close study of the possibilities of timber, and the result is a bridge which, under inspection, is pronounced perfectly safe for travel. Occasionally, of course, a collapse takes place, and one hears of engineers rushing their trains at full speed across a rickety bridge and seeing it fall to pieces behind them as they just reach the opposite side. Whether such a thing has ever really happened, or is simply a feat of imagination by story writers, I cannot say ; but we all know that not long ago what was thought to be a very solid bridge over the river Tay, in Scotland, collapsed suddenly while a train was passing over it, and that train and passengers disappeared into the abyss. On the whole, the timber bridges of America have stood the test of experience remarkably well, I think. KATE: Hiibner says that the last sensation of fear in the journey from the Rocky Mountains westward is the peril of passing over the trestle-work bridges near Sacramento City. I suppose this remark would apply in general to trestle- 66 Rocky Mountain Scenery Sotith. The greater the abyss to be crossed, of course the a general idea of the comformation of canon work bridges everywhere, greater the apparent peril. Here is a picture giving one scenery in Colorado. THE PRESIDENT : Will some member of the club be good enough to furnish us with a few geographical and other points about Colorado ? Perhaps you are prepared to do this, Bertram. BERTRAM : I have collected a few particulars. Colorado is about 380 miles east and west, by about 280 miles north and south, and is almost a parallelogram in shape. Geographically it may be said to have three natural divisions the mountains, the foot-hills, and the plains. The mountains intersect the territory north and south, and have many branches and spurs. In the center of this mountain re gion, behind the peaks seen from Denver, are what are called the Parks, a series of immense pictur- esque valleys bounded by mountain elevations. Of those the principal are, the North Park, with an area BRIDGE OVER A CREEK. of 2,500 square miles; Middle Park, 3,000 square miles ; South Park, 2,200 square miles, and St. Luis Park, nearly as large as all the other three put together. There are many other smaller parks scattered all through this mountain system. MR. GOLDUST : These parks would dwarf the noblest of the magnificent parks surrounding the palaces of the titled aristocracy of the old world. What scope is 63 Picturesque To2trs in America. there not in these regions for human energy, and what a future may there not be for a country so richly gifted ! BERTRAM : Of course, if I were to invite you to a v/alk or a ride round one of these gigantic parks, you might reasonably decline the invitation. Here, however, is a little sketch of Middle Park, which gives a good general idea of these "pleas- ure grounds of the gods." The foot-hills, averaging 7,000 or 8 ; ooo feet in altitude, Pictitresque Toztrs in America. lie to the east of the mountains, and slope towards the plains, the latter consisting of a series of valleys and ridges traversed by many streams, and with an elevation above the sea of about six thousand feet. West of the Rocky Mountains is the easterly side of what we understand as the Great Basin. The parks are watered by numerous small streams, the head waters of the larger rivers. They are most interesting re- gions for the geologist, and are full of mineral springs of very valuable medicinal properties. The climate of Colorado is said to be remarkably healthy, with mild winters and cool summers. The high mountains are, of course, to be excepted. The atmosphere also is peculiarly rare, invigorating, and tonic in its quality. The pasturage is excellent and capable of sustaining vast herds of stock, and [this industry is progressing very rapidly. Another of the remarkable features of Colorado scenery is its canons. Some of these are within view from the cars of the railroad. Here is the Grand canon of the Colorado, where the river cuts its way through many miles of solid granite, in some places 7,000 feet high. The Clear Creek canon is on the Colorado Central Railroad. This gorge is so narrow that in many places the tor- rent which roars along the bottom fills up the whole space. Often the mountains seem to close in upon its tortuous wind- ings, so as to leave no possibility of exit, till by some sudden turn a passage is discovered. Far overhead are peaks covered by eternal snows. And yet, through this canon the railroad is constructed a narrow-gauge line, of course- following the windings of the ravine, and with the sharpest of sharp curves. MIDDLE PARK. VIEW OF CLEAR CREEK CANON. COLORADO. Picturesqiie Tours in America This road is not, however, built for pleasure purposes merely. It traverses a rich mining district. MR. GOLDUST: The streets of Central City are paved with the refuse from the gold-mines, and as the ore has been only imperfectly worked they may be said to be liter- ally paved with gold. KATE : Is not Lead- ville somewhere in this region ? MR. GOLDUST: Lead- ville is on the Southern Colorado Railroad, 2/9 miles from Denver, and the center of the Colorado silver-mining district. It has sprung up into prominence and wealth within less than five years. Only the most recent editions of the encyclo- paedias contain any refer- ence whatever to it, and yet to-day it is a stalwart young city of some twenty thousand inhabitants. It is in the heart of a rich silver-mining district, and of course has attracted to itself not only enterprise and capital, but a vast amount of the ruffianism and lawlessness of the nation. GRAY S PEAK. Rocky Mountain Scenery South. 73 BERTRAM : Here is a pretty view of Gray's Peak from Middle Park. The snow-capped mountain in the far distance is Gray's Peak, and the stream run- ning through the center of the picture is the Grand River. Gray's Peak is 14,251 feet above the sea level. MRS. GOLDUST : Is not the "Garden of the Gods" somewhere in Colorado ? BERTRAM: Yes. I have not any pictures of it but it is the name given to a little park or valley near Colorado Springs. It is about five hundred acres in extent, and is shut in by mountains on the north, west, and east. The entrance to it is through a narrow defile called the Beautiful Gate, and it contains some curi- ous rocks of red and white sandstone, of great height and of singular appear- ance. These, I imagine, are " The Gods " which BOULDER CANON. suggested to some fanciful tourist this strange name. The surroundings are romantic. We are not far from the famous Manitou Springs, situated near the base o< 74 Picturesque Tours in America. Pike's Peak, and much frequented by invalids, especially asthmatics and consump- tives. It is about five miles from Colorado Springs. It is the correct thing to ascend Pike's Peak from this town, and from the summit of this mountain, nearly 15,000 feet above the sea, the views are among the grandest in the world. And now, if you please, we will find our way to Boulder, a small mining town. Near this place is a mountain gorgfor firing and for building on the Beaver Creek, which is three miles north of us. On these prairies the regulation house is built of sod, and I can assure you is very warm and comfortable, as well as neat and good-looking, according to the taste of the inmates. They remind me of the houses of the farmers in some parts of Scot- land walls about three feet thick (though in Scotland the material is granite). The Indians hunted this re- gion, but it is some years since the buffalo left, though there are plenty of tracks and bleached bones. " We have had one good sight of the mirage of the plains, when there appear to be splendid lakes, bordered by groves of trees, the waves rolling as with real water. I assure you the illusion is com- plete. The only trees here are along the courses of the rivers ; but as all available land is being rapidly taken, and a good deal of it is in timber claims, it will not be long before there will be groves on all hands. There are evidences, where the prairie has not been on fire for some time, of young timber." THE PRESIDENT : That suggests a third cause to be considered in relation to the treeless condition of the prairies prairie fires ; the short, dry grass of these regions being peculiarly susceptible to fires. AUNT HARRIET: The letter from which I am reading goes on to say: "One Sunday, coming from church, we saw a prairie fire, spreading rapidly under press- ure of a strong south wind. We felt safe, as there was a good ' fire-break ' all BUFFALO HUNTING. IOO Picturesque Tours in America. round our premises that is, land ploughed, so that there is nothing for the fire to catch. But after dinner, to make doubly sure, we started another fire against the wind, and then took in the full grandeur of the scene all the evening, and went to bed with the waves of fire rolling all round, feeling far more secure than, under similar circumstances, we should have done in any city." THE COLONEL: I am much obliged to you, and I am sure the Club is, for Oil B ^ T SIOUX INDIANS. furnishing so appropriate a contribution. And now, perhaps, you are expecting from me some of my personal experiences in the great prairie region. JOHN : Pardon me for interrupting at this point, but I am curious about the distinction which is usually drawn between the plains and the prairies. What is the difference ? The Plains and Prairies. 101 THE COLONEL : In a military sense I think that the word plains as distin- guished from prairies is that portion of the treeless, or nearly treeless, territory east of the Rocky Mountains more or less infested, until quite recently, by preda- tory Indians, whereas the prairies are more under cultivation, and free from Indian raids. The prairies lie to the east and the plains to the west of, say, the meridian of Leavenworth. The farther west you go from this line the more Indians you see, and the more wild and uninclosed the country ; but, of course, the prairies are encroaching on the plains all the while. MR. MERRIMAN : Civilization is " marching on." THE COLONEL : Here are some groups of Indians a party of four Sioux, some Utes and others. 'They are dressed in their best clothes, and do not look the terrible savages that they really are. Contrast their peace- ful appearance with the Indian flour- ishing a scalp, and you will not won- der that they are the dread of front- iersmen and their families, and foemen worthy of the steel of the bravest and best of our soldiers. Fighting them SNAKE INDIANS FROM UTAH. is no mere pastime, I assure you. We have heard of the Beaver Creek in Nebraska. It is now, I believe, the center of a district rapidly filling up ; but the last and only time I passed through it was in the spring of 1869. I was then a junior officer in the Seventh Cavalry Regiment, of which General Custer was colonel, and our regiment formed part of General Hancock's expedition against the Cheyennes and Sioux, who were already on the warpath, and had committed many acts of spoilage and murder. Of course you will not expect me to give you the details of this expedition. It was my first experience with the savages. On one occasion I accompanied a squadron of my Picturesque Tours in America. regiment as an escort of a train of wagons which our commanding officer had dispatched for supplies to Fort Wallace. We were to halt about midway down Beaver Creek, when our squadron was to divide, one company proceeding with the escort, and the other scouting up and down Beaver Creek till their return. I must, therefore, have been very near the spot from which the lady wrote the letter which has been read to us. ALBERT : Did you go with the wagons or re- main in Beaver Creek ? THE COLONEL : It fell to my lot to remain at Beaver Creek, but on the second morning after the wagon train had left us we were greatly sur- prised by the arrival of another full squadron of cavalry bearing orders to our captain to join forces and proceed with all dispatch towards Fort Wallace, distant about fifty miles, until we met the returning wagon train, as it was suspected that the Indians were intending to attack and capture the train. Accordingly we started as soon as possible, and fortunately met the train about midway. The train, which was escorted by only about fifty soldiers, had been attacked by a force of several hundred Indians, and had had a sort of running fight for hours. Nothing but excellent tactics and judgment could have enabled our men to bear the brunt of such an attack, but they did, and killed several Indians, who were evidently hoping that our men would exhaust their ammunition, and then all would have been over with them. But in the very crisis of the battle the Indian scouts saw our troops, far away in the distance, galloping towards the scene, and they thought it prudent to retire for the time. CYRIL : How did the Indians fight ? Did they use rifles? THE COLONEL : They had excellent rifles and fleet ponies as usual. Their plan was to circle round the train, firing from the sides of their ponies, at full gallop. Picturesque Toztrs in America. They are wonderful adepts at this. But our men formed the wagons two abreast, with the horses between the columns, one trooper having charge of four horses. The other men on foot formed a guard round the moving wagons, and, as soon as any of the boys could get a shot at an Indian as he flew past, he fired. In this way the whole train kept mov- ing along while defending itself. JOHN : Were any of our men killed ? THE COLONEL : I think not in that engagement ; but unfortunately a few days after, a lieutenant of cavalry and ten men, bear- ing despatches to our Colonel, were attacked by it- ir 1 Indians, and alter a des- perate struggle were mas- sacred to a man. We found the bodies brutally dis- figured at Beaver Creek, and buried them. BERTRAM : Pray go on, Colonel, with your ad- ventures. THE COLONEL : I must not do any such thing, or I should not know when to stop. I have here a few more illustrations, with which I hope you will allow me honorably to retire from my command. Here is a portrait of General Philip Sheridan, commander of the department of the Missouri during most of my term of service. I need not say that the General has had a most eventful and brilliant career as a soldier, and fully deserves the confidence and affection in which he is held by both the army and the nation at large. Here is a INDIAN WITH SCALP. W&&M THE WAPITI. io6 Picturesque Tours in America. picture showing an interview or great council between Indian chiefs and a Com- mission from Washington. It is a good and characteristic sketch of one of these famous pow-wows. AUNT HARRIET : I suppose that the Indian question will never seriously inter- est any but a small proportion of our people ; otherwise w r e might even yet hope to see the Indian department creditably managed. DR. PAULUS : I do not despair altogether of the future of the race, although there are many gloomy aspects of the question. The Church of Christ is grap- pling with the difficulty with more earnestness than ever. It is demon- strated, beyond doubt, that the Indian is capable of civilization, and I am glad to see that our government is encourag- ing and aiding the establishment of schools in the various tribes, with very gratifying results. AUNT HARRIET : I hope it will not be long before Indian citizenship will be fully recognized. MR. MERRIMAN : I believe that some of the wisest and most philanthropic men and women of our country are devot- ing their lives to the study of this great question, and it is devoutly to be hoped that the next decade or two will witness the dawn of a better state of things a more enlightened and creditable administration of the department, and a greater tendency to peaceful pursuits on the part of the Indians. THE COLONEL : I sincerely hope it may, but the Indian is a hard puzzle at best, though I admit that he has been used very badly. Miss Laura, you can give us some stanzas of Bryant's Soliloquy of an Indian at the burying place of his fathers. LAURA : You mean that piece beginning : GENERAL SHERIDAN. The Plains and Prairies. 107 "It is the spot I came to seek, My fathers' ancient burial place, Ere from these vales, ashamed and weak, Withdrew our wasted race." It is too long to quote. I remember the verse " They waste us ay like April snow In the warm noon, we shrink away; And fast they, follow, as we go Towards the setting day, Till they shall fill the land, and we Are driven into the western sea." THE COLONEL : And now to change the topic, and before we leave the plains, let me show you a beautiful picture of the famous Wapiti deer (Cervus Canadensis), native of the Northern States, and found most abundantly on the upper Missouri and Yellowstone rivers. Sometimes it is called the elk, though improperly, as the true American Elk is what is called the moose (Alces Americanus), found in Maine, eastern Canada, Labrador, etc. The Wapiti is by far the nobler-looking animal of the two. CHAPTER XI. MOUNTAIN SCENERY IN PENNSYLVANIA. H E next meeting of the J. U.T. C. was held at the house of Mr. John' Smith, and after the transaction of the usual preliminary business wmc h occupied only a few minutes, the Conversational Tour of the evening was begun by the President calling upon Mr. John Smith first to lead the club through some of the mountain and river scenery of Pennsylvania. JOHN (reading from MS.} : The Alleghany Mountains form a part of the great Appalachian chain, extending from the St. Lawrence River on the north, to Alabama in the south. The general direction of these mountains is from northeast to southwest, and they cDnstitute the great easterly ridge of the northern con- tinent. Sometimes the whole range is generally spoken of by this title " Alleghany," the meaning of which is " endless "-Indian origin, of course. The name Appala- chian was given to the range by the Spaniards under De Soto, who probably re- ceived it from the Indians, but I do not know the meaning of the word. The total length of the Appalachian range is about 1,300 miles, and its mean width about 100 miles. It comprises several extensive groups of mountains better known by their local names, such as the White Mountains of New Hampshire, the Adirondacks, the Catskills, the Highlands of the Hudson, the Cumberland, the Blue, the Black Mountains, etc., and the entire system of lateral hills and spurs of this eastern region of the continent. The highest peaks of this range are in North Carolina and in New Hampshire. In the former State the Black Mountains rise to an elevation of between six and seven thousand feet above the. sea ; and Mount Washington, in the White Mountains, has an altitude of 6,288 feet. Geologically this mountain range is highly important. Granitic rocks containing veins of magnetic iron ore, limestone rocks, iron and coal of almost limitless ex- 108 110 Picturesque Tours in America. tent, together with copper, lead, gold, silver and other mineral strata, abound. In some parts of the range rock salt exists in abundance, and in others salt is ob- tained by boring artesian wells, and evaporation. The surface of these hills is clothed with noble forests, and the valleys are THE JUNIATA. watered by ever-flowing streams. The scenery is romantic, and in many parts full of grandeur. This evening we will visit some of the most beautiful places along the Susque- 1 1 2 Picturesque Tours in America. hanna, the Juniata, and the Connemaugh Rive-rs, in Pennsylvania, in the heart of the Pennsylvania Alleghanies. These streams flow through a region of surpassing loveliness, well deserving the tribute paid to it by the late* Thomas Buchanan Read: " Fair Pennsylvania ! -than thy midland vales, Lying 'twixt hills of green, and bound afar By billowy mountains rolling in the blue, No lovelier landscape meets the traveler's eye." The Juniata the names of all these rivers are Indian in their origin, and some- what obscure as to their meaning takes its rise at the foot of the Alleghany Mountains proper, and follows a winding course, in an easterly direction, for over a hundred miles to its junction with the Susquehanna, a few miles above Harris- burgh. Comparatively few persons are acquainted with this stream. In fact the whole of this region is worthy of far more attention than it receives from the tourist. We will now imagine ourselves, if you please, at the romantic village of Hun- tingdon, 203 miles from Philadelphia, on the Harrisburgh and Pittsburgh division of the Pennsylvania railroad. This is the capital of the county of the same name a county rich in agricultural produce, and in its stores of minerals, as yet hardly touched. Here we get many fine snatches of scenery. Here is a very graphic picture showing a railway cut through one of the charac- teristic slaty ridges of the country, and giving a beautiful view of the valley and adjacent hills. Not far from this is a natural curiosity worth turning aside to see. A little tributary of the Juniata, called Arched Spring, flows for one mile under ground. Its entrance and its exit are shown in the two accompanying illustrations. I do not suppose that any one has been bold enough to follow this little stream through this one dark mile of its course, but you see that it comes at last back again to the sunlight, and sparkles and rejoices on its destined way. I think that we may draw a moral from this, though, in the dignified presence of our honorary mem- bers, I almost feel that it is presumptuous to suggest it. THE PRESIDENT : We trust that the dignity of the honorary members will not be so great as to be unduly repressive upon the juniors. Pray let us have your moral. Mountain Scenery in Pennsylvania. JOHN : Simply this, that darkness, trial, and obscurity in a human life must not be confounded with failure. If this spring in the mountains never issued forth again as a brooklet to be seen and admired, its intrinsic value and, probably, its TNLBT TO SINKING SPRING. uses would be none the less important even in its rocky chambers than they are in the light of day. KATE : Still I would rather have a little sunlight on my course than be all the time in darkness and obscurity. Picturesque Tours in America. JOHN : No doubt ; and so would we all. And because that is so, we too readily despond or misjudge if for a time the sunlight is withdrawn from us, or from our neighbor. DR. PAULUS : " He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall OUTLET TO T;;E SINKING SPRING. doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." Thank you for your moral, John. AUNT HARRIET : I am reminded of Longfellow's poem, " The Two Rivers " : " O River 'of yesterday, with current swift, Through chasms descending, and soon lost to sight. I do not care to follow in their flight, The faded leaves, that on thy bosom drift ! n6 Picturesque Toiirs in America. O River of to-morrow, I uplift Mine eyes and thee I follow, sure to meet the sun, And confident that what the future yields Will be the right, unless myself be wrong." JOHN : We will now descend the river for a few miles till we come to Lewis- town. All around us as we journey are charming and picturesque glens, vales, and water courses. Here the train passes through a narrow defile or gorge called Lewistown Nar- rows, suggestive, though on a less magnificent scale, of the canons of the West. From this point we will retrace our steps and travel westward for a few score miles, taking an air-line, or a bee-line, if you please, to Altoona, a large city of over 20,000 inhabitants, built up within the past thirty years as the site of the machine shops of the Pennsylvania railroad. This city lies at the easterly foot of the Alle- ghanies proper, and the surrounding scenery is grand and beautiful beyond ex- pression. The railroad here ascends by a very steep grade towards the west, re- quiring two engines, whereas trains coming east run down eleven miles without one single particle of steam force a long inclined plane. At the top of the mountain there is a tunnel about three-quarters of a mile long, after which the line descends the western slope of the Alleghanies towards the Ohio Valley, and so or to Chicago and the West. Two or three miles west of the tunnel, and on the di- viding ridge of the mountains, is the village of Cresson, celebrated for its mineral waters and for its cool, breezy atmosphere during the summer. It is a delightful place for a summer's holiday. And now, if you please, we will take a glimpse of the scenery in this locality, and farther on in the region of the Connemaugh and Kiskiminetas. GRACE : What delightful Indian names ! I am so glad they have not changed them into prosaic modern names. JOHN : What do you say then to the title of this picture, " Kettle-Run, Altoona ?" it is a sketch of a lovely and romantic forest glade, but Altoona sounds to me somewhat Dutch-like, and as for Kettle-Run, there is a decidedly Yankee notion in name, or I am very much mistaken. KETTLE-RUN, ALTOONA. n8 Picturesque Tours in America. ALBERT : I suppose Kettle-Run is the name of the brook. JOHN : Yes, and so christened from a remarkable hollow surrounded by hills, and said to resemble a kettle, through which it flows. There is a curious State law which forbids the cutting of timber along this stream, and the consequence is that its banks are densely wooded, and the stream itself a good deal obstructed by falling trees and moss-grown logs and boulders. Our next view is a very fine one of the great " Horseshoe Bend " in the rail- road, between, I think, Altoona and Cresson. A great many engineering difficul- ties had, of course, to be overcome in the construction of this mountain line. Be- fore this road was built the old Portage railroad used to convey the trains by sec- tions up and down inclined planes, but now there is no break in the journey, al- though at times during the descent, on either side, the traveler cannot avoid a feel- ing of apprehension, though fortunately accidents hereabouts are extremely rare, owing to the great precautions observed. BERTRAM : Is this the old regular beaten track from east to west ? JOHN : I believe it was the direct road taken from the earliest times by the im- migrants to Ohio ; that is to say, the route lay along the banks of the Juniata, and away over the Alleghanies at this point. The whole of this region and far out beyond, among the hills and valleys of Pennsylvania, is peopled largely by the Dutch and their descendants a thrifty, old-time race, keeping their ancestral faith and customs, and not permitting the outside world, by reason of the introduction of the steam railroad into their hills and valleys, to rob them of their heritage, or to seduce them with its vanities. LAURA : How came it that Pennsylvania has so many people of German and Dutch descent in it ? Penn was an Englishman, at any rate. JOHN : I think I must refer to our President for an explanation of that impor- tant fact. THE PRESIDENT : I think it largely due to the fame which this State early ac- quired for good government and wise toleration of religious preferences. Penn himself was a man of exceeding nobleness and liberality of view. He had the good fortune to be strongly backed by the English government, though in many respects he was in character the very antipode of the Stuart kings. The colony soon ac- quired a reputation for stability, which, combined with the material advantages of I2O Picturesque Tours in America. soil and climate it offered to the settler, and the policy of William Penn to welcome good men without respect to race or religion, drew towards it the attention of the European nations in an especial manner. The Dutch, however, were really on the ground before Penn, and the Swedes even before them ; so that when Penn came upon the scene he found a country already in part settled ; at least along the course of the Delaware, for a considerable distance. In the first half of the last century a strong German Protestant emigration set in, meeting another steady stream of Scotch and Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, and giving a decided tone to the population of the State. MR. GOLDUST : That old Portage Road of which mention has been made is an interesting relic. I remember traveling over it in 1835. It was a connecting link, thirty-five miles long, between Johnstown on the western side of the Alleghanies, and Hollidaysburg on their eastern slopes. From Hollidaysburg there was a canal to Philadelphia, and from Johnstown there was a canal to Pittsburg. The first scheme to make this important link between east and west was by means of a canal with locks, but the difficulty and expense seemed insuperable. Then this old Portage road was built at a cost of nearly two million dollars. All the bridges were of stone ; the rails were imported from England ; and the whole was a solid and durable affair. BERTRAM : Was it a steam road ? MR. GOLDUST : The inclined planes were worked by stationary engines, and the level portions of the road by horses at first, but afterwards by locomotives. There was a new Portage road built in 1856 without any inclined planes, and with two or three long tunnels ; but even this was at last abandoned, or sold to the Penn- sylvania Railroad Company, who laid out and constructed the present track. Both of these Portage roads are now in ruins ; the rails have been removed, and much of the road beds has been broken away by torrents, or obstructed by fallen trees. The tunnels are also unused. At this stage travel for this evening was suspended, and the proceedings became informal. CHAPTER XII. THE SUSQUEHANNA AND DELAWARE RIVERS. HE sixth evening was spent at the house of Mr. Goldust, and after the transaction of the usual routine business, Miss Laura Smith was invited to lead the club in a Conversational Tour through por- tions of the Susquehanna and Delaware Valleys. LAURA (reading from notes): The river Susquehanna, from the Indian, signifying "Crooked River," is a noble stream, four hundred miles in length, taking its rise from Otsego lake, New York, and emptying itself, after a very tortuous course, through highly picturesque scenery, into the Chesa- peake Bay, at Havre de Grace. Lake Otsego, with its magnificent hemlock trees, which give quite a character to its scenery, is classic region in American litera- ture, the novelist J. Fennimore Cooper having made it the scene of many of his powerful stories. Our party went to Otsego Lake from Albany by the Albany and Susquehanna Railroad. We stopped at Cooperstown, and made that village our head-quarters. The village is close to the lake on the south. The lake is about 1,200 feet above the sea, a beautiful sheet of water, eight or nine miles long, by about a mile broad, and set in a cluster of hills. Cooper has made the region very famous, and indeed it is a very charming place, and we enjoyed many a delightful sail upon its waters. THE PRESIDENT : You have probably looked up some facts about Cooper. As he is so closely associated with this region we ought to know something about him. LAURA : Yes, I find that James Fennimore Cooper was the son of the founder of Cooperstown. His father owned a good deal of the land in this region, which was then (1790) on the frontier. Cooper was only a few months old when his father moved from Burlington, N. J., to Otsego Lake, and his boyhood was spent in this romantic and Indian-trodden region. At sixteen years old he entered the navy and served six years. He married in 1811, resigned his commission as lieu- 122 Picturesque Tours in America. tenant, and took up his residence at Mamaroneck, N. Y., where he wrote some of his earlier publications. The first work of his which attracted general attention was the "Spy," founded on American Revolutionary incidents; then came "The Pilot," " The Last of the Mohicans," and other volumes. He went to Europe in 1827, lived there six years, and wrote several works. On his return, his writings took a satirical bias, and he was much criticised by the American press for showing up the peculiarities of his countrymen. He settled down into a regular course of literary work at Cooperstown, and died of dropsy in 1851. THE PRESIDENT : What do you consider the chief characteristics of Cooper as an author. LAURA : I am hardly qualified to sit as a critic, but what little I have read of Cooper gives me the impression of a wonderfully imaginative faculty, in which the results of close and vivid observation serve as the groundwork, and give a living interest to his works hardly second to that of Sir Walter Scott. MR. GOLDUST : I have never read a line of Cooper, and always supposed that his books were very trashy productions. THE PRESIDENT : That depends upon the reader to a great extent ; in reading fiction a great deal of mental winnowing has to be done, and it is this which makes it undesirable to become a great novel reader the majority of people read for mere excitement, or to kill time, and forget what is really valuable as soon as it is read. LAURA : Cooperstown was the home of the novelist after his return from Europe, and the neighborhood is full of interest on his account. In its course to the Atlantic the Susquehanna passes through a rich and beau- tiful country, receiving many tributaries, large and small, in its course. Passing into Pennsylvania, it waters the charming and famed Vale of Wyoming, where we again tread upon classic, even if we may not say, hallowed ground. You are aware that this little valley some twenty miles long by about three broad, and exceedingly lovely and peaceful in aspect, nestling between bold and rugged hills was the scene of a fearful massacre during the war of Independence, and has been immortalized by the poet Campbell in his poem, Gertrude of Wyo- ming. The date of the massacre was July 3d, 1778. This district was then pretty -well settled by an industrious, farming people. Sir Henry Clinton was commander The Susquehanna and Delaware Rivers. 123 of the British forces at Philadelphia, and had earned anything but an honorable name as a soldier by the countenance he gave to marauding and robbery in the name of warfare. Most of the men of Luzerne county, in which Wyoming is sit- uated, were away in Washington's army, when an infamous man, an American tory named Major Butler, planned a raid from New York State into Pennsylvania, and suddenly appeared on the banks of the Susquehanna near Wilkesbarre with six- BANKS OF THE SUSQUEHANNA. teen hundred men, half Indians, and half Canadians and British. The inhabitants gathered together, and, fortifying an old fort, defended themselves as best they could, but at length capitulated, on Butler's assurance that their lives would be spared. The instant they surrendered the massacre began, and hundreds of mei^ women, and children were slaughtered. Then the raiders separated into coir.- panies, and pillaged the whole country, driving the few surviving people into th