Urbana union. [volume] (Urbana, Ohio) 1862-1872, 1869-08-18

/ passed on, Green River became the ter
minus, the Arabs of commerce who had
enjoyed its prosperity folded their tents
and silently stole away, and not house
now marks the site, which is positively
painful to sore eyes. Not a shrub or
blade of grass grows on this portion of
/ the great alkaIi desert; fiat, cheerless
/ eXpanse of dull white, a few Unsightly
heaps of brick and other rubbish, and
old tin cans and barrel hoops alone show
ing that once there was life and trade.
| RaWlins, fifteen miles beyond, is still "a
place. the end of the Third SupeTin-
/ tendent's division, and the location of
| the company'S shops and eating-hOuse,
besides the attraction of its wild scenery
and curious springs. It has q fixed pop
ulatiOn of about three hundred. Thirty
miles further on, we reach the "divide
of the cOntinent,n the water on the cas-
tern side flowing into the affiuents OF
the Platte, and those upon the western
side into Green river. But at this point,
just east of Bitter Creek Plains, lies a
high plateau or basin, some two hundred
by one hundred miles in extent, with
drainage to the center. The railroad
runs through but a narrow portion Of
this section.
It consists rather of a succession Of in
dependent basins, each with separate
drainage to depTessiOns in the centre,
which in the wet season are considerable
! lakes, but in the dry nothing more than
mud flats and alkali beds. The average
/ level of this tract is 1000 feet above sea
level. The largest depression, is known
as Lodges Basin, is some thirty miles
from north to south, and from ten to
twenty east and west, from two to three
hundred feet below the level of the sur
rounding country.
Between CrestOn, T3S miles out and
100 feet above sea level, and Table
Rock, 776 miles out and at an elevation
of 6,901 feet, lies basin known as Red
/ Desert 1t is entirely destitute of drink
able water, and the soil, composed of
red sand and decOmpOsed shales, seems
to be effected by some internal heat, Civ
ing this tract something like the charac-
ter Jim Ashley, of Ohio, assigned to
the whole Territory of Wyoming, which
said he, lis hell with the fires put out for
six hundred miles, This part pry' burnt
over and barren look, but there is Un-
dOubtedly much more wealth in the ter
ritOry than Ashley's description would
indicate.
Passing these dry ridges, allali deserts
and soda BEDS the railroad a little west
. of Washakie Station, reaches the valley
of Bitter Creek, which is better than
the region behind only i'll the fact that
it has running water, and near the foot
of the mountain cold, clear springs can
be found almost free from, alkali. But
the water runs but little way across
the valley until it is so strongly impreg-
mated with alkali as to be disgusting to
the taste and trying to the SYSTEM
Throughout its entire course the water
I-C L
suds, and operates like mild infusion
of aloes. The valley, which is barren
to the utmost degree, is a result of the
combined geologic processes, erosion anC
drift in wet weather covered with sli'
my, sticky mud, of the appearance anC
cOnsistence of soft soap, in dry Weathel
ever covered with a cloud of binding
white dust. Passing Green river, cold
swift mountain stream, flowing south
ward, to junction with Grand river
where they form the Great Colorado, W.
, move upward toward the high plains 0
: BridgeT. There are several pieces of rath
er rough road on this portion of the line
much of il was built in winter, and il
great haste, but no accidents have Oc
Cured here. The road is not rOughel
than many older roads in the East, anC
has been considerably improved within
few months past.
I spent one day in the once great city
of Bryan, another one of these towns
which sprung rapidly to maturity, en-.
liOyed a live period of two or three
. months, then fell into decay, and spends
the short remnant of its days in lament
ing that it grew so fast. Bryan is an
other ''city of the Desert, a new Pal
myra, which, with an existence dating
but eight months back, has an antiqui-
! Avr n fo7 7,Y11nV1- n horoio inI n ],
tOric period and an Oldage. When Bry-
an was laid out, nobody dreamed the
railroad would pass that point. Last
winter it was regarded as the winter
town to Il certainty; the fever of spec
UlatiOn ran high, corner lots and build
ing sites We're sold for $500 or 81 ,000 and
whole blocks of substantial dObie build
ings were erected. 1t was to be the
winter town till May 1, and important
always after the Outfitting point for
the Sweetwater mines and all points in
Western Wyoming besides other mines
to the South. The decay of Bryan was
gradual but certain. Point of Rocks, on
Bitter Creek, divides with it the Sweet
water trade and travel, and the town
now consists of one large hotel, a depot
four or five stores, saloon, two baker
les a newsstand and another saloon.
The plat is utterly destitute of vegeta-
ton, except for the vicinity of Black
Fork as dry as the Desert Of Sahara;
and the hot dust and sand of the bare
plain are painful to the senses, while the
ruins of dObie houses, mingled with fall
ing chimneys and mud walls, convey a
melancholy impression of departed glO-
~. Whole blocks of solid buildings are
standing untenanted. in the midst of the
desert, among which I wandered like
'Thalaba amid the ruins of Babylon al
most shrinking for dread of the ghosts
of dead business. There are still nearly
two thousand people in the town. A
daily stage runs to South Pass City, in
! the Sweetwater mines, ninety-five miles
distant, leaving Bryan at A. NJ. and
reaching South Pass at P. NJ; fare,
| twenty dollars. From Point of Rocks,
on Bitter Creek, the fare is but fifteen
dollars, and the distance twenty miles
less; but the road is far more rough and
disagTeeable, and the time about the
same.
Passengers from the East will proba-
| bly, find it best to take the stage at Point
of Rocks, but those from the West gem
orally start from Bryan westward again
over the desert; our only point of inter-
est before reaching the Basin, is the
Plain with intersecting ridges, near
! Granger Station, the region where moss
agates are so abundant. The moss ag-
ate is characterized by geolOgists as "a
crystalized stone, the product of vOlca-
mic fOrces.' The moss contained in the
agate forms into many curious shapes,
some resembling the horns of a stag or
elk, others are finely transparent and
thickIy interspersed with traces of iron,
that form very natural and beautiful
shapes. I have never seen the ribbon
agate or water agate from this region,
but an immense deposit of the latter has
been discovered at a point some thirty
miles south of Bryan. Except for n few
minerals, and the large deposits of coal
on Bear river, the district from Bryan
to this place is unworthy of note. III
this once wicked city 1000 feet above
sea level, pause for a days rest before
entering upon the immense rock cuts
and magnificent natural scenery of Echo
and Weber CanOns.-CW. Com.