The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1866-04-04

'I,by stealing. At least they are not tat
same conscientious shopmen one finds
at home. 1t was remarked very truy
by friend the e,other night when SPEAK.
ty practiced in this vicinity, that if dc
angel Gabriel lands in the Platte tVa-
ley he will never blow toot, they vii
4 steal his horn before he can say Jads
Robinson. Most 'ardentIy do the nt-
tives worship. their God Sol PcchaS
their services are read from religious
work entitled, How to make Mi
lion and close them with the psalm,
II had but a Thousand a Year,
The Military Posts in this sub Dil-
tricts are, Forts Kearney, Mcpherson
and Sedgwick. Fort Kearney is situai-
ed on the southbank of the Platte Rivei.
at the junction of the IeavenwortH
Omaha and Nebraska q. city roads,. Fob
MCPHERSON one hundred miles west AMI
and twelve miles east of the junction d
the north and south forks of the Platte
Fort SedgNsick one hundred miles far,
ther west, at the junction of what i
called the Kearney road, and the roal
leading o-sFort Laramie, on the soutA
fork of the Platte. Fort Kearney is tin
Oldest established Post of three, ami
though,somewhat. dilapidated, is mon
preferabIeth the others, they beint
but lately established and are conse4
41eEptlE 1eE Il SiAsas astne most pleasantly
situated, and has near it on the islands
and in the cannons neighborfng,s an
abundance of wood. At the other posts
this veryessential article must be hauled
considerable distances. Fort Sedgwick
being most remote, wood there cpm-
mands high price; from sixty to one
hundred and five dollars being the Price
ofitsper cord q, q, Z; es-t
The country in the neighborhood of
these posts is perfectly level, steril
plain, bordered by bluffs and destitste,
save on a few islands, of timber of aay
description. The valley from bluffs to
bluffs on each side of the river is from
eight to ten miles wide, unfit save In
some little patches for cultivation, the
soil being dry and sandy. On the is
lands good crops are grown, but The
land along the river will not raise cat
nip. In, the valley of the Republican L
am told are the finest lands in the West,
the soil being dark and rich, free from
the quick-sand which covers the river
bottoms here; besides another great adj
vantage exists on the Republican from
the fact ofitS being mineral county,
while here stone the size of ones hand
is quite curiosity; and there
good wood of all kinds is abundant
and the prairies are covered with game.
The fact of its not being more thickly
settled is that the same protection from
Indians is not afforded as there is here.
As soon as this is done, the Republican
will become one of the finest grazing
and farming countries in the west.
The Platte river flows almost east and
west, confined between low, sandy
banks. At no place have found them
more than four, feet above the water.
From the depth and width, this stream
hardly deserves the name of river, but
since it is from standards we make
EnH
considerable water course between the
Missouri river and the mountains, L
suppose the title cannot be lar wrong.
The river bed consists ofan ever chang
ing quick sand, derived apparently
from apeculiar kind of stone beneath
the river bed, which. upon exposure to
atmospheric agencies rapidly disinte-
ut certain point, and tomorrow IL
may be certain death. To overcome
this great impedimentsto travel, Col.
Darlington, 18th United States infantry,
is making an attempt 10 bridge the riv-
er at this point, so far successfully. The
great difficulty to oanythingin the shape
ofimprovements being the paucity and
great expense of fprocuring timber.
..At -noints. alonR- ttla fiHer "a rfa- inn u.
with willows aud stunted growth os
timber. On Grand Island, which ex-
tends from Fort Kearney} down sixty
miles, are large groves of cotton wood,
thetonly3 timber inrthe country, but
which, II doubt not, will in compara-
lively short time disappear. But then
along comes the Pacific Railroad with
its huge trains of coal cars with which
the settler will be supplied, and in fact
this period is not far distant, torin
short time the railroad car will displace
the mule team and the back-log will
make way for bitumen.
-GiQuite a race is being run between the
two rival rail com npahies, who are max
ing every endeavor to reach the l00th
,meridian.j The one which succeeds
first being the main trunk, and the 9th
er the branch ro adj One road is being
Pun up the Platte Valley and the other
over, what. is known as the Smoky Hlil
route, past Fort Riley. The road which
first reaches the Tooth meridian compels
the other TO join it, no matter at whal
point it strikes. 81 81 . H. ~
r-4L----AsS----------. ~ .frHHIar
d.