The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1866-12-29

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lFxssss. Eyrroass Having lsisars hour,
| Ian inclined 70 ~ word g my nsishbos
81 Ksokuk soncsruine sAsir Western Railroad
connections. ! have Travelled out West 61s
miles BY rail, except two short stages, one
IS miles, from Des Moines to Ames' Station,
and another from St. Johns to Council
Bluffs, Is miles; and been at mid winter,
fl oat on the prairie, one hundred miles BE-
yund cultivated farms. lam At the vsry end
of the last rail. It il not very cold and there
is no snow, But the ground is hard frozen and
the men have knocked OIL" laid down
their tools, and further progress must await
the softening influences Of spring. From
hi, point it il shout. 200 miles TO Denver,
and stages run dsiy, dlkking the trip in less
than three days In the meantime, great
RESPIRATORY arrangements are being made BY
tie railroad company for pushing forward tho
work in early spring, in confident hope OF
reaching the base Of the mountains next
spring.
This l. realizing all my hopes, and accom-
plisAiug wonders Or Iowa. 1t is connecting
kurxitA the mining region, and - We are the
~ producers, we mdst furnish the mi
$50 With supplies.
= This railroad extension also draws through
low. great portion of the overland travel,
and emigrants to Oregon and California viii
also take Ibis route, and find in Iowa the
most convenient and economical supplies for
their overland outfit.
But the greatest advantages to Iowa snd
all the Northwest, is the extension of our
Iowa system of railroads, and the develop.
ment of the country. Az several Iowa
railroad lines are now malf Earnest efforts
| to push their way through the State to secure
share Of the Pacific Railroad business.
There is q road being constructed from st.
Joseph to SiouxsCity, running aloAg the Mis-.
| souri, Valley, which will connect all our lows
roads with the Pacific road and fortunately
for us, that Missouri Valley roe d is in safe
hands, well endowed. with mean ), and sure te
be completed in a year or eighteen months
| Our railroads may all, therefore, soon find
easy and close connections with the great
trunk which is designed in few years te
reach the Pacific Ocean.
The scarcity of timber in Western lows
has delayed settlements, and THE vast region
of the Northwest never could be developed
without railroad facilities The Pacific rail
road will attract SO many lines through oul
prairies rs to accommodate all sections o.
our State, and secure the early cultivation Of
the richest portion of our domain. Western
Iowa is rolling prairie country, Astounding
in rich soil and cleay streams of water. Rail
roads crossing the coal fields of the Des'
MONIES Valley will carry "out fuel at cheaI
rates, and lumber will come from the foresu
of the Des MONIES and Wisconsin and Min
nesota for fencing and houses.
The growth of groves of timber also ex.
ceeds all my expectations, and counties tina
thirteen years ago, when first psssed through
seemed very destitute of ever fuel, now shov
quite an abundance Of timber.
Campaigning and travelling around On,
over Iowa for years past, possessing extraor
binary opportunities to observe our own ant
neighboring States, am more than ever con
WINGED of our superior advantages aud pros
poets, aud rejoice in my home in Iowa, OF
thebanks of our bright and beautiful Missis
sipph S. R. c.