The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1869-12-14
CHICAGO. Ds,. 8, 1869.

ZOtLO1s y oAAAe@-" n
Eight days ago left the Clty OF
Saints by one of Wells, Fargo q Co. :
coaches for the railroad. which | had
not seen for several months. The
weather being what the Western man
terms nasty snow. rain, slush
and mud being the order Of the day
in the New J erusalam-it was quite q
relief to step from the street into one
Of the snug Compartments Of the
coach which was 10 put me |
down at Unitah after a six
hours ride. Western trains are nat |
punetual to the minute, especially
during the Winter season. SO after
hurrying to and fro IN order to en-
bark an unusually large number OF
passengers, we at last got of. some
minutes behind time, and halt an
hour later were dropped at the little
Mormon town Of Ogden, which has
lately been agreed upon b. the Union
and Central Pacific Companies as the
point of junction for their roads.
Here we found railroad affairs in an
unusually disturbed state. Already
some dozen or twenty side tracks had
been thrown down, and iron vas being
got in position for others. Heavily
loaded trains were constantly arrlv-
ing from both the East and West.
The entire outfit, comprising
several hundred men, had arrived
from Promontory the previous night,
and there was much huTrying to ana
fro in O vain endeavor to get things
e fa-r Isl
of various sizes were already 0ccu-
pied when | arrived, and during the
Following night and day some forty or
fifty more were put up, Of these about
one-third were occupied as railroad
offices and the remainder as drinking
houses and gambling dens. AS an
,seyiderse of the rapid march Of civil
ization among the Saints / will
mention that up to the Both Novem-
Der, siXty&eVel applications had been
made for license to sell Intoxicating
spirits. 1t is generally believed
that Ogden is destined to be
the metropolis of the noun
tains. and the merchants are
preparing for heavy Winters cam
paign. Ogden is also the southern
terminus Of the Utah Central Brig
richest portion of Utah, and ends at
Salt Lake City. The entire road bed
has been graded, and twenty miles of
track are down, ready for use. It's
thought that the road will be com
pleted by the latter part of January,
1870. 1t is estimated that these
three roads will keep one thousand
men at Ogden constantly employed,
which will, of course, benefit
the town. I remained there
during Sunday, and at an early
hour the following morning, babe
adieu to Utah, and was soon speeding
eastward after an absence Of six
months spent among the Saints. We
we're soon in the region of wonders,
of rocky mountains, of rocky laby-
rinths and countless peaks. of thou
sand prospects of far-r reaching vistas.
wonder inspiring, in q country IA
nous for its Alpine grandeur. /
wish my pencil could picture them to
you as they stand forever and ever
there among clouds, and mist, and
rain, and furious tempests, but also
familiar with Sunshine, aud sunny
weather. Leaving these granite
portals, we follow second
Whirling canon stately twisting our
selves out from among the grizzly
knot of bald spurs which stand like
so many seutinels guarding some an
cient halloWed stronghold. As the
heavy train soughs along around
sharp curves, overlooking awful
chasms, the traveller gazes upon sue
ceeding ranges Of columnar granite
and sandstone; upon smooth bondery
masses rising skyWard; at series of
rising hills, truneated, assured, ter
raced; at n mountain shooting ab-
ruptly sky high, out of sight among
the ocean of clouds; at eanons be-
Wilderingly crooked, and so on until
we arrived at the top of long grade,
many thousand feet akeve sea line. AT
noon We emerged out into the sunlight
and among the grand wilderness of
rockies. among granite deserts, among
huge aspiring rocks whose SUBMITS
are bald and hoary from age. For
FIVE hundred miles we traversed that
portion of the great American Desert,
which IS no myth, and on the morning
of the second day found ourselves
upon that division which may be
classed as practically worthless. This.
however, was soon crossed, and we
entered upon q soil of average rich
ness, ft->for agriculture, but noted
especially for its grazing. We soon
emerged upon the Laramie Plains,
and looking out of the windows
of the comfortable express carriage
We found we were nearing the town Of
Laramie, second IN Importance on the
line of the road Half an hour later,
after having shaken ourselves a little
from the lethaTgy Of sleep, on the
platform OF the depot, inhaled little
fresh air, and slipped, with relish, a
cup of strong tea, we were bowled
along at the rate Of twenty-four miles
an hour, over the pastoral lands of
Wyoming, heading direct for the bold,
the seemingly impossible mountains,
the vast rocky nights of which were
seen In front, ike mighty bulTark.
with clouds and mist enveloping the
crests.
From Laramie, East and West. the
pam seems'only few miles in width.
WINE y IS, IN reality, considerably
more than forty. 1t becomes mar
mower to the Northwest. and Is .sT1
denly terminated miles aWav BIZ the
Black Hills ndSnoY RANGE which
form one regular unbroken barrier as
far as the eye can reach. AIthouob
the ground was covered with snow
and the beauties of the country were were
hidden as I passed over this time. VET
| still retain pleasant remembrar Sss
from my first trip early In June. The
rhins are known as Big and Little
Laramie, and are at an actual eleya.
jon of $500 feet above sea level
Here .singularly enough the promi.
nent characteristics of two opposing
climates are brought together, anc