Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1867-11-11

A Trip ON she Union Fncinc
EtnffroaG-

formed ~ an outsider Of this motley crowd,
coo.istin- Of about 100, besides tho band
and the various attendants 81 course Il
constituted The "eclat' OF al the Literary
and Editorial talent Of the country. 10
az s,,cs,at.re il seemed TO be the Editorial
..royvs de henor.iess' Nhich were being
toasted, treated, and dead-headed through,
-one car being loaded with baskets Of
Champagne. Madeira, Cogniac, Holland aud
old rye.-and another with oil kinds Of eat
ab.es, furnished by many fair hand. ]
waited at the Omaha Depot to see the
crowd seated and sure IL was . sight worth
seeing. A conglomera,e mass Of human
beings, comparing well in physiognomy
with such as may he seen in almost any Of
our State Penitentiaries-althou dressed
in somewhat Of different style. /
Among them could be seen the clean,
lank. long -noscd" Of Shakespeare in close
and Confident coniab With the 'b!oated
brandy marked face The wan pale cheek
and snnken eye, with the busy, clustering
gasome,cr of the crowd, the cool, cslculat-
ing man If picty at home, with the self.
concei,ei egotis,icsl AN, whose self.con.
ceit answered 10 some extent for HE lack Of
brains. The drowsy, careless, yet cunning
face with the fashionable "a Ia mode"
stickler for etiquette and good breeding
Meantime the shril whistle announced that
the train had started on its trip for the
western wids. The crowd a. . whole, re-
minded me Of the preacher who said when
he went to California, ''that he left his re.
lig,ous Conscience aud morals in the keep.
ing of some friends for safety before hs
crossed the Missouri riyer, and they would
be really for him on his return" so l
thought 1t was with many Of this party.
With Summit Siding 10 announced,
four miles from Omaha. Here the Compa.
ny have switch tut no house, here they
cain the top Of the Missouri bluAs, and with
out stacking their speed ON We 90 with
increasing spcei-and ~ propose to give
you only the stations as they were announc-
I'd aud what could See around them,
shall leave what transplred In the cars for
some future correspondence.
We pext came TO . station called Papii-
lion, 12t mIles-A wood and water sta
ton, one house with Irish laborer's family ;
country rolling and fertile.
Eikhorp, 20 miles-The eastern gateway
to the great Platte Valley, stretching over
500 miles from the Missouri river to the
Rocky Mountains, two or three scattered
settlers in sight t, country rich.
Diamonds, 33 miles--Wood and water
station only fine prairie region.
Fremont 40 milcs-A town OF sixty OF
eighty houses; good farming region, well
settled FOR several mics sroUnd, with all
the appear snces 81 thriving business town
ci some ei hit hundred inhabitants, and in
anticipation ef IA glorious future as direct
line from this point would Intersect with
the \. ". Road a. Dunlap IN the y, l..
corner OF HarIIsoa county Iowa, crossing
the Missouri at or near Decatur would save
some Sky 600 miles travel, leaving Omaha
out in the cold The route Is said to 70
feasible afd the \. ". Company ale en-
gagged IN putting up extensive depot build
ing at that pont. which seem 10 look to-
wards the future development Of this route.
The next stopping place is North Bend,
Ill mtlesA dozen frame structures two
riss. eating houses price OF meals, one dol
la. The Platte river here makes sweep
ing bend to the north, and the railroad runs
within iex yards Of it. Track usually
several miles north CT the stream.
Shell Creek, 20 miles-rwo or three
houses wood end water citation.
Columbus, 9l miles-Town Of 400 nhab
itan;s. Like the last stations, situated in n
good farming region; millions Of musqu
toes; originally settled by Onioans, and
named after the Buckeye State capital
This place is bound to be the future CAPT
tai Of Nebraska as well IS Of the whole
United States. That is. if any dependence
can be placed upon the glowing prospective
future as set forth by that celebrated hum
bug. Geo Francs Train, who constitutes
one of the Gro ed, aud should judge was
employed to sell some Of those iine city lots
as the future residence of msnv Of our
party. Of course they will gather around
there when the capital is removed from
Washington to this point ss crows conerc-
gate IN The mel gheorhood Of carbon.
Blu, ON we 10, 5 miles farther, and we
coae to Silver Creek, leg miles A house
or two; fertile country.
Lone Tree, 81 miles-A lone house, but
no lone rec IN sight, wood and water sta
tion
Grand Island. 1853 milcs-Ils'f a dozen
honses; good eating station; meals ono
| dollar.
Wood River. ISL milcs-A wood and wa
ter station; one or two houses.
kearnev, 100 miles-Thc railroad feeder
Of Fer. kearney, few miles distant on the
opposite side of the river; eight or nine
houses. ono or two stores.
Elm Crock, 81 ! milcs-One house: coun-
try poor.
Plumb Creek, $50 miles-Thrce or four
houses; soil constantly growi. worse.
Willow Island, $50 miles-Three or four
houses; soil constantly growing worse.
Brady Island, POS miles-Thrcc or four
houses soil constantly growing worse.
North Platte, 900 miles--Ths town lies
between North aud South Plates. at their
confluence, and for several months was the
busy terminus u the road. Some time
last spring the iron-horse made another
jump some 81 miles further west 10 q place
called Julcsbarg, and this town il nov
evidently on the decline, although il con.
tans railroad round. house, . large frame
hotel, where meals are furnished az 81 rs
each, and come forty or fifty non iescript
ona.story buildings mostly devoted to trade.
bat il 10 hard to see where their customers
como from. The country around ssema
barren and unproductive and little there to
induce the emigrant to pitch his tent, ex-
cept it DO is prospective glorious future.
which the inhabitants say can never De
blo,ted out.
But on We 20, some 10 miles. and come
70 O'Falion's. 3o5 miles From this point
vest the country 10 almost desert. One
old rancA nj O'Fallon's.
Alkali, 322 les-Nalned from the pre-
dominance OF the soil. No hosses at Al
kali. Lot of sand and some lovely cact in
fIl, bloom
ossllals, 81 miles-Named from the In
dian tribe. The only distinguishing fen
ture Of Ogallaia is a rs,lroad siding and
| Pile Of cottonwood fasots
Rig Spring, $50 miles Another solitary
ranch.
Juies5urg, SIT miles-The business end
Of the road. Denver coaches connect here.
Busy place, and Will be busy until the rail-
road makes another westward leap, which
il has undoubtedly done ere this. 1t being
nigh, when We arrived, the excursiouists
| were freely distributed atout that least viz