Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1870-09-15
CALIFoRNIA LETTER.
REV. JOHN PEATE,

4 AHhNhSA bhAo luOob WOhuti ~
place after more than two weeks 0
almost constant travel. / left hom
on the 2lst Of June. Travelled il
the company Of Red Cloud and hi
party from Omaha to Pine Bluff,
distance of nearly five hundred
miles. l found the great railroad
well guarded, as trouble is anticipa
ted from the dissatisfied Indians
The road is in excellent condition
The scenery is wild; some of il
e, grand, most of it mountainous.
left the main line at Ogden and
went down to Salt Lake City, and
!. remained there two or three days.
The city is unlike any place l ever
saw, in many respects. The streets
3 are wide, and streams of water run
down them. The houses are small,
of unburnt brick, and mostly hid
behind fruit trees. Snowy noun
tains rise around the city nine
thousand feet above the plain. /
went to the Mormon Tabernacle
twice, and heard a defence of their
system, and saw about two thousand
of the poorest dressed and most
miserable looking women ever gath,
cred in one place. | went out six
teen miles and took a swim in Salt
Lake. 1t is not SO buoyant as the
water Of the Dead Sea.
Instead of going direct to San
Francisco, left the cars at Stock
ton, and took the stage for the
nearest point to this place. The
first two days we rode over plains
destitute of verdure, except the few
scattered oaks, as this is the dry
season. We passed through John
Jones farm, on which he is in the
habit of raising ten thousand acres
of wheat. 1t was the hottest and
dustiest day ever experienced in
America. The second day we
reached the foot hills and began
the ascent ofthe pine covered Sier-
ra Nevadas. We passed from time
to time, men engaged in mining
for gold. Up the winding way our
horses toiled, amid glorious groves
of pines and cedars, and ever
changing and enchanting views
Gods thoughts were not only ex-
pressed in the scenes of sublimity
all around us, but also in the vast
variety of flowers of every hue and
shape.
We reached Clark's ranch at s
in the evening, and had the honor
of being the second party that has
reached that point in a stage, as
twelve miles of new road has just
been opened where trail had been.
The next day was Sabbath, and
we rested. At Clark's we found
about twenty tourists, some of them
people Of note, and some of them.
shOddy. On Monday we went six
miles to see the MaripOsa grove Of
big trees. They are at an elevation
of six thousand feet above the lev
ell Of the sea. There are about six
hundred of them in this grove
There were twelve of us on horse t
back; we drew up our horses in /
line around the "Grisley Bear"
and found that it would take ten i
more horses to complete the circle, ,
In the afternoon we mounted our
horses for twenty five miles ride /
through the woods and over noun c
tains for this valley. After some t
hard climbing we came to the first v
house, where we lodged. The v
house is new, and stood at an ele- O
vation above the sea equal to Mount
Washington. On arriving, was q
happy to meet the Esau of all this q
region, Mr., Duncan, dressing a fine a
buck which he had just brought in h
He is a man of much intelligence, +,
and has spent about ten years hunt Y
ing in these parts. He is a bit of n
a wag withal. asked him if lie o
had family He said he had a +
family of five. l said: II
"It can't be pleasant for them to fl
have you absent from them SO g,
much" /" >,
Said he, 81 always take them with ir
me when go on a hunt" y y
l looked at him in doubt, and II
said, as it possible" /" Y
EYES," said he, II mount one of y
hem and all the lest follow" q,
l. thought he was crazy. He y, ~
paused a moment and then said = n
Don't you know that the people in
n these parts call my five horses or
ny family? r
Finding him thoroughly acquaint- SC
ID with the country, we engaged m
lin to take us the next morning 10
o a mountain top called the bc
Jentinal Dome, eight thous- if,
md three hundred feet above the
ea. The view from it is grand .
beyond description. From thence Ss he
We went about a mile from Glacier ue u,
Point, and had our first view of the VI ~.
alley from perpendicular cliff - -
L,oo tbouonnd eattog, bu,,1voI an6 81
i've feet above the plain below. / ~ ~
ever before had such mixed feel az ~,
ng Of awe, sublimity, power, and W, W.
ny own littleness. l was afraid to u"
rust myself to look over, there
eemed to be an awful and mysteri- SCI
us attraction. The abyss was OF
rawing and charming me. And th
ct a little, pale, neryous-looking I'M