New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1860-09-08
A DAY At PIXIES PEAK.


New England friend last Winter. :" II | were
there to- day what should | see 7" Perchance
you, my home keeping reader blessed in yOur free
dom from rowing disposition, may share his Curl
osiy and prefer days observation of nature and
human AZURE to the ordinary details of gold seek
ing in the Mines crime in this young metropolis.
You, then, shall play the vsitOr and the cicerone.
Four weeks ago you left the western terminus of
the railroad, on the Missouri Riser. You now
realize how the railway condeDses life; for the
locomotive would have brought you In twenty. eight
hours all the weary journey which with horses or
mules has consumed az many days.
For the f st four hundred miles you followed the
old California trail which is dotted with graves
thicker than milestOres Seventy miles back you
took the great Cutoff" with its scanty grass
and alkaline water; and whatever your previous
experiences upon shortened roads, you are firmly
convinced that this is the unkindest cutoff of all.
You have seen the rich green prairies with their
graceful slopes Ike the waves OF the sea suddenly
arrested; tasted the intOXcatiOn OF bufalo-huutlng
among the large st herds and the grandest pastures
In the world; witnessed the long caravans Of men
and women moving like ocean tide t'ward the
setting SUP, and sailed among the great white fleets
of pfairie schOOners" propelled by patient oxen,
guided by prOfane masters, and laden with quartz.
mills saw mills and provisions for this remote region.
You have fshed in the Platte, philosophical
among the prairie dogs, shot at the antelOp-s hob.
nobbed with the Indians, had your tent blown down
and your clothing drenched by nocturnal storm,
and hungered aid thirsted daily after the newspa-
pers of civilization. Two days ago, after you had
iouIneyed Fix hundred miles on the naked prairie,
and three hundred over the mOnotOnOus desert, the
resinOus odOr Of the pine like sweet incense 30
Your nostIils, and the Mother Mountans-as the
old Spanards used TO call them began to loom up
grandly before your charmed and astOnshed eyes
Last night, you came once more in view of the
Platte, with ts shining waters fringed with cotton
woods; and this morning, after early start, you
rose upon Denver before the sun. But your Jour
ney not yet ended; for this city of magnificent
intentions, with its additions, already embraces
than five thousand acres. laid off nto building
lots.
You rode over the barren ridge, and the first city
ynu struck was city of the dead. Though Denver
had not single house two years ago. the graves
are now thick in the cemetery; and of all who
sleep there eleyen-twelfths, it is said, met
violent deaths Thus far the revolver and bowie
knife have been the fatal disorders of the city, You
descended gentle slope, noticing here and there
rough log cabin, few scattered frame houses like
Eastern barns, and three or four spacious and ele-
gent residences; and now you stand upon the
threshold of our humble but honest habitatiOn at
the witching hour Of Cd o'clock in the morning.
Enter, and we twain who abide here will give you
a cordial though drowsy welcome.
A looking. glass Certainly here it is.. You
may well be surprised at your ragged beard, I'M
kempt hair, and sun-browned face, upon seeing
them the first time for four weeks. Your lOOped
and windowed raiment" too, will preclude your
being mistaken for a DOrsay in disguise The eyes
of your nearest friend could hardly penetrate that
paIoply of dust; and you look as If you had not
loved the world nor the world you. However,
here you are, ragged but rejoicing, dapidated but
not dOwncast Half an hour for additions and |
toilet
Now you look more like a Christian; and shall |
you not take your in mine inn In New-York |
this onestory house. fourteen feet by twenty, with
eIgbtfeet Offshoot of Kitchen would be an indif-
ferent stables but here it is something quite paatal
in the way of residence. The unplaned upright |
boards of the sides and ends fitted snugly when put
on; but the pine lumber has shrunk in seasoning |
until the cracks between are nearly an inch in width
Narrow strips or "battens nailed on the outside. |
keep out the rain and dust. A square, clapbOarded |
front three doors, three windows, aud a stove pipe
from the kitchen roof are the exter-
pal features Erected utterly regardless of expense
at cost of 5000, and containing all the modern
improvements (Which means, in this longitude, a
kitchen, cellar, aud 0uth0nse), our habtatiOn is bet
ter than those Of our neighbOrs; and that you know
Is the great desideratum the world over.
Within, the budding studs have not yet blossomed |
ntO partition, ceiling, or plastering. The furniture
hough ample, is strictly utlitaran. That desk |
Jnce graced an Editorial room in Cincinnati, and |
literward a Gotta 20 in Kansas YOU cannot wonder
therefore, that il looks little decrepit aud home
sick after its long journey. Books Yes score |
lr on yopder shelf The great rival pictorial die |
onaIies head the column, and look down with |
Oney and astonished air; for no one else in the |
Gold Region, believe, has vet succeeded in the at
empttO get the best" Shakespeare, Robinson Cru
soc, Greeleys Overland Journey, Bayard TaylOrs FL
Dorado, and other works of travel complete the
library bed (wbose white sheets are refreshing |
10 your eyes, if it does rest upon the ioor) two
chairs, three stools, wooden bench and table, two
reyolyers, musket and bowie knife (resting upon
The rough jOsts which serve for shelves), trunks,
and caTpet-sacks finish the inventory.
The four outside" members of our mess ar
rive; the Ethiopian Sam (cOok, steward and fac
t0tum) who has been spreading the table during our
chat, announces breakfast; and we cross our legs
under the festive pine. A rowing party it is, al |
ways excepting your untraveed self. One is an ex-
hotel keeper from Sacramento; another youthful |
merchant from Boston, who has made two voyages |
up the Medterrsnean the third has done business |
in Boston, New York, Australia, California, Mis- |
sour and Kansas; the fourth, typo and editor
has worked upon newspapers IN Chicago, Calfor- |
MIA, Australia, NewEZeaand and Peru; the fifth |
was recently principal tf New Hampshire acad-
envy; and the sixth has been for ten years Journal
stic shuttlecock "takin' notes among Cincinnati
editorial rooms, Kansas wars, Nebraska bunaloes,
Missouri iron and lead mines, Arkansas ievers,
Chcctaw cotton plantations, Texas n0rthers, Mexi-
Fan fnndangoes, and Rocky Mountain Indians
The attendant, Sam, must not be forgotten. Sam
Is a historic darkey. Two years ago he practiced
the tonSorial art in Lecompton. When Gov Medary
the eighth Kansas Governor within three years) |
had TAI ON his initial Sho,a ap1 ,,ro,n,,J