The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1868-01-02
A Frontier yCity-Interesting Letter
= 1T ! Srons cheyenne.

q from cheyenne.
CHEYENNE, D. T., November 80, 1867.
To the Editor of the Washington Chronicle
During my brief sojourn here I have
been the recipient of letters from numer.
Gus friends asking information as to Chey'
enne, its future prospects, and the re-
sources Of the surrounding country; ir
reply to which favors permit me, if you
please, to answer through the columns Of
your valuable journal.
will attempt truthful description Of
this important frontier town, and. the cha
racteristics Of its inhabitants.
Cheyenne is silaate at the base OF the
Rocky Mountains, twenty-nine and one
half miles east of the summit Of the east
ern range of the same, the ground rising IN
altitude on the roads running west at the
rate of eighty-fve feet per mile. WITHIN
twenty miles of the city are the celebrate
Black Hills, existing among and In when
are mines Of superior coal, iron, ana gyp-
sum.
We are five hundred and seventeen
miles almost directly west from Omaha,
the CITY that marks the inception OF that
great national thoroughfarc, the Union
Pacific railroad.
CHEYENNE may justly be said to be city
surrounded by a country with material re-
sources that will prove of perhaps meal,
culable benefit to her, the lands being OF
good quality and quite fertile, with tacill-
Ties for irrigatiDg. The lands upon inc
Cache Ia Poudre and the Big and Little
Thompson, as well also those lying III the
St. Vrains region, arc very proouctlve,
and command good prices; SO TINS must
necessarily become grain market.
On the 25th of July last pioneer >. H.
Whitehead, an enterprising lawyer from
g Bleeding Kansas" brought here guam
tity Of building materials and built a
honse. At that time. adventures were
coming in, aud upon tho ground, upon
which the now thickcst portion of the city
was bnilt could be seen the white tents.
As the railroad advanced toward this, the
then objective point, hundreds OF persons
arrived at the "sceGo of action" and then
the sound Of the carpenters hammer and
saw were heard. In the almost incredibly
snort space of two months a city OF four
hundred houses, and inhabited by four thou
sand people, sprang up almost as if by ma
gic, and aJ ur6e conditGto the present time:
Cheyenne has rapidly advanced, and IS
now a city of no little Importance. me
lucky pioneer of Southwestern Dakota
BODYBUILDING hath reaped harvest, ana
will soon, no doubt, retire upon MS
laurels."
The subject upon which | propose to
spill small vial of ink is one that can
not, perhaps, do full justice, yet l will beg
leave to dissent from some correspondents
and letter-writcrs who have sadly per-
yerted the truth, and would fain have the
eastern people believe that Cheyenne is a
rough town in the wilderness, and the
people inhebiting it merely quasi tame
folks.
There can be no doubt but that an unusual
degree Of taste has been displayed by per-
sous building, and in lieu of huts and
"adobe" houses, substantial wooden struc-
lures lave been erected, which gives the
city an air of ncatness in appearance The
people. irrespective Of position, are Or
derby, and the vision Of the stranger upon
entrance into the city is greeted with signs
of civilization, and the decorum observed
is none the less surprising than it is appre-
ciated. The fact of their being so well
conducted and safe municipal government
is due in the main to that respectable and
law abiding class of citizens who repaired
here from Denver and other portions OF
Colorado, as we'll as from the remote cities
east; those persons referred to having Or
ganizcd themselves the city government,
which consists Of mayor (H. M. Hook
and O. city council composed of SIX men,
bers. with a police force of active and
special officers numbering siXty-seVcn
men.
The judiciary is composed Of Superior
Court of the city, Hon. William II. Miller,
grandson of President Tyler, Judge and
the City Police Court, Justices Larlmer
and Slaughter, who have also jurisdiction
in civil causes where the amount in contro-
versv does not exceed $4,000. The Sure-
rior Court has been in existence for about
two weeks, the necessity for such court
having manifested itself months ago. Ii
is court of appellate and original juris,
diction, to which cases are brough ut up on
appeal from decisions of the said magis'
trates, There is no doubt that the courts
will be legalized this winter.
The practice of law is almost at present
a monopoly; but the confident hope is that
soon an extinguisher will be placed
upon the fraternity, and the newcomers
have chance.
Every branch Of business mentionable is
here represented, and the only article Of
necessity called for So far that could not
be obtained was turned banister post.
We have hotels, boarding houses, restau-
rants and saloons, grocery, hardware, and
dry goods establishments, carpenters and
blacksmiths' shops, drug stores and physi-
clans offices, as well also lawyers Offices
Among the principal institutions of Chey-
enne are two newSpapers-the Cheyenne
Argus and the Leader, with another soon
to be brought into existence-viz., The
| Rocky Mountain Star; an academy OF mu-
sic, one of learning, Methodist and
Catholic church, courthouse, and others
too numerous to mention. should mol
omit to mention Martins Hall, Is Green.
back Rooms,") gambling shell" of 81:
gantic proportions, in which are arranged
in systematic order eighteen gambling ia.
bles, upon which are played, respectively
keno, diana, high-for- luck, faro bank, Span
ish monte, roulette, and others.
Day and night can be seen hundreds O
the human species, of even both sexes
Young and old, "chancing it" for dollar
or two, and sometimes hundreds and thou
sands change hands. The Argus chroni
cles the loss in the First National Faro
Bank Of Cheyenne, q few evenings since
of two thousand dollars, and facetiously
adds: Cases sometimes alter cream
stances" The remark will not be con
strued by printers to have reference to 6
part of their method in composition, but
will be readily understood by those per.
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