The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1869-07-29

EKOM CALlFOkNlA.6Q
Special Correspondents Of tho Courier 2
SAN Francisco, July IL, 1869.
DEAR GENERAL f,o. 55t.,, IA
591 aaa As many Of your citizens,
and readers Of. the COURIER, express.
cd q dcsife to hear from me IN rela-
ton to the truth or otherwise Of the
reported dangers to be met in 8 trip
by the Overland Route to this goodly
city Of San Francisco, | have con-
cluded to trespass upon your good
nature, and tho, valuable space OF
your invaluable CouRlHR, as the best
medium through which ! Icould reach
them all. a@' sasiia zee saifsa,i
do not mean to touch upon the
many beauties of tho scenery thro'
which we passed, as to do justice to
it would require you to publish an
extra, and il I'shouid attempt IT I
know Ishould fail gr aa.e..-
5a The eastern end of tho road is
barren in the extreme, and till the
train reaches tho Rocky Mountains
1t is the same sandy waste, with
nothing to vary the scene. The Utah
valley was passed during the night,
so that one beautiful view was miss
ed. Some Of the scenery in the
mountains is awfully grand and i'm
pressive, in places the track running
at the foot of hills rising almost per-
pondicular, whose rocky submits
seem TO oyerhang the road in i'm
mense and mighty grandeur which
cannot fail to arrest the gaze and
cause the stoutest hearts to quail. I
must confess that in passing these
points l felt myself, q very insignif-
cant atom in the mighty and Won
derful works of the Almighty. But
l am going mereinto details of scene-
ry than at first intended, and shall
only spoak Of the last grand scene
the scene of the road-boyond the
power Of the most fanciful iInagina-
tion to conceive, and certainly SO far
beyond my powers Of language to
describe that | shall not oven attempt
it, Imoan the Sierra Nevada Moun-
tains-the view from Humboldt to
Truckec, the highest point, is per-
fectly magnificent, and passing from
barron, sandy plains upon which the
'eyc has wearied looking, to lofty hills
on ane side ind deep valleys on the
other, the former crowned with the
SHOWS of last winter, and the latter
covered with the most beautiful ver-
dnre, aud thick with the growth Of
immense Pine trees, mako the scene
moro grand, or at least makes one
appreciate it with more zest. The
grade of the track from White Plains
to Summit, o distance of 1l8 miles,
is about 80 feet to the mile, but in
some sections it runs from so to 80
feet To the mile, as on this side, from
Summit to Coltax, distance OF o1
miles, the fall is 1900 feet; OF course
the cars run down with the brakes
set, but two locomotives are required
to move the train up to the Summit.
With regard to the road, the un-
finished state and roughness ofwhich
has been diIated upon SO much, I can
only say from my experience that,
those articles must have been written
by interested parties antagonistic to
the road, for, taking it flom Omaha
to Sacramento, I affirm that | never
travelled on a smoother one.
We left the good city of Ottumwa
on Thursday, June 17th, ut 1a:iO,
arriving in Des Moines at 5, whcrc
we put up at tho Savery House (to
which commend the travelling pub
lic), left Des Moines. ut l2:4b, by C.
r. !. & p, reaching Omaha about 8
a. M, (1sth), put up at the Wyoming
House (Which I warn all my friends
to avoid); loft Omaha on the grand
trip at 2:40, reaching Promontory,
the end Of the Union Pacific Road, at
8 .. m, Monday 2lst. Here we were
detained elevens hours in tho most
miserable part Of the road, without
shelter from the scorching sum-:
Left at 3 p. M, arriving in Sacra-
mento at Up. m., Wednesday 23d.-
Thus, from Omahu TO Sacramento,
we were just five days. But ! am
satisfied that when the two roads
come to u proper understanding, the
trip will be made in loss than four
days. #as E
The facilities for procuring meals
along the road are excellent; thefood
generally very good, and charges
moderate. One hotel cannot help
referring to, tho one at Laramie-a
magnificent building in the desert,
whore tho passenger can get as good
q dinner as at the Ballingall, and that
is saying everything, and the charge
very reasonable. Passengers sitting
still all day do not require it, and
should not eat SO much as they usu'
ally do. | would advise parties com.
ing horc TO provide sufliciency fo,
n midday lunch, taking breakfast
and supper at tho regular stopping
places, where twenty minutes are al
lowed for meals, the charge for which
does not exceed ono dollar currency,
or IS cts coin. The expense of the
journey to mo was less than oxpec.
! tod il would be: Fare from Oman,
to Sacramento s133.00 currency; from
Sacramento to San Francisco, $3.50