The Idaho world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1864-1918, 1869-06-10
SKETCHES OF A TRIP OVERLAND TO IOWA

rom lclfEr TccflTe1 On last SUNDAY lEOn
Mr.. Z. T. Lewis, our estray printer, who mail
ed it at mis- home place 10 Iowa, May 2,th. VI
copy the following sketches Of bis journey over
land, via stage ard railroad. He left here Ma!
14fb, and says:
/ left Boise City, Saturday morning. MAJ
18th, al } O'Clock. by HaIley's stage, and reach
I'd C0rinne Monday afternoon, al half past /
O'Clock. The road was fine: not any dust un
til we reached City OF Rocks, Sunday after
nO0n and not enough then 10 ANNOY passen
gers II raiDed hard all Saturday night, and
we crossed Snake river. 80 miles from Boise
City, al O'Clock Sunday morning.
After much turning and twisting reached
Clarinda Sunday evening May 2}i), i.
O'Clock left COrnne az 1850 7. II. of May
18th. and reached Omaha AZ : o'clock, 4. NJ,
the I'D From there took the Council Bluff.
and st. Joseph railroad south % miles, thence
here BY stage 81 miles, and stopped for the
night at Hamburg, and again for frw hours
at Sidney, on the railroad, 40 miles from this
pIaee-inaklng the full Journey of 800 miles
(112O by railroad. and the remainder by stage
in eight days and seven nights from Idaho City.
including the laying Oyer on one day and three
nights.
While delayed in Corihne took look about
town. The only Idahoan saw sign Of wa.
''Boston," and Bis Saloon sign was the only
indication / saw Of his presence there as the
man himself was not visible. ! visited the
ReporLeT Office, and found il, ike every other
business house In Corinne, 10 be in a muslin
tent The occupants looked joyous and happy,
notwithstanding. The whole place reminded
me Of the appearance of Idaho City after the
fire, barring the ruins and ashes The com.
pleti0h o! the railroad to Promontory, sixty
miles further west and It's connection with thu
Central Pacific, We're already having effect
upon Corlmne and other points eastward, and
many We're pulling up stakes and starting out
for PrOmontOry and beyond. Hurdy houses
saloons and poor grub we're the chief FEATURES
Of the tented city. lett it BY the first train
which was the first too that went on time from
Sacramento 10 Omaha, and good time We made.
/ assure you.
Owing 10 the hurry Of construction the road
was 10 bad condition to Cheyenne, with the ex-
ceptIOn of some stretches over natural levels
81 few miles each. and across Laramie Plains.
where but little work had to be done. in the
first place, to build the road, and very little
viii be needed TO keep it in good repair
We left COrInne, as | say, at 1880 p NJ.
and reached Wasatch the next morning about
B O'Clock, The train travelled slowly over the
summit Of Bear River Mountains. aud as We
passed the Mormon settlements Of Ogd-n and
Box Elder at night, did not have opportunity
10 see them. The bridge at Devils Gate in
Weber Canon was IN very precarlous cOndl-
ton, and the locomotive unh"oked from the
train and passed over it several times before il
again hooked on and drew the passenger train
across. The bridge il - feet above a roaring
raj IN reffa and rt,.l -.
I'd by large ropes, yet it swayed aud crrakrd
fearfuIly as the train passed over it, slowly and
carefully, with glimmcrlng fires Of brush heapg
at either end to enable the engineer T., notice
the condition Of the ricketty structure at night
There were about $50 passengers in the cars
and as the train securely crossed ard gave
forth the peculiar rumble which signifed We
were on solid ground again, one simultaneous
I0ng-draWn breath from each and all attcstrd
the satisfaction and thanks which were felt
mat That peril had been safely passed Still il
was criminal IN the Company to subject pas
sengers 70 SUCH peril, for the parting Of a rope
or the breaking Of prop might have caused
much loss Of life, or the manning and woundinp
Of those on the train. That very day, while
overseeng repairs to the bridge the boss
builder was accidentally knocked off from il !
and drowned. could not learn his name.
AT Wasatch large number of the graders
and track-layers, some with their families
along got on board, and annoyngy crowded |
the cars. They were true specimens of the
genus "rallroader" and had been on an indis-
crimnate "bust" the night before, and "you
bet" they made things lively all the way to
omaha Among them was one old fellow arm
ed with bottle Of "Valley-tan" who annonn-
ced himself thus: II am s-n Of b-h from
Salt Lake City, and Bishop Of the l4th Ward,
and eat billed eggs by the bIshel!" Passing
MS bottle to each as he approached them in
staggering down the aisle of the crowded car.
ne continued: 81 am collecting my tithnp; all
you that have anything, keep it you that have
nothing, take drink" He would then de.
clare his mission on his return, in loud Voice:
Come unto me, all we that are an hungered
ana atblrst, and l will give We food and drink.
FOR vengeance is mine, saith the Lord! Eggs
Eggs The conductor tried to stop him. and
could only save the sober passenger from the
annoyance by putting the drunken passengers
all in car by themselves and locking the door
m them.
Much, if not all the bad road will be finished
mp on my return, mot by me, however,, as an
army OF laborers are engaged at all the bad
places in rebuilding the bridges and making
cuts to avoid curves, which would have reau-
red too much time on the original job. In one
place the road ran three-fOurths of mile on n
me hundred feet down grade, and then backed
'ne same distance on an up grade for four
changes before they reached the summit
winch occupied an hour or more to perform
ma which will be avoided and passed over by