Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1870-04-19
ACROSS THE CONTINENT,
Washington TO San Francisco.
SAN FRAScIsco, April 7th, 1870.

| 10 tie LGUoT OF me Joh|Hdt
In company with six other gentlemen your
correspondent left the National capitol on
i Monday the 2lst, ult, at o'clock L. NJ.
and arrived here on the following Monday at
s O'Clock p. NJ, making tine distance some
| thing over 5000 miles, in one week and seven
| hours, counting the difference in time between
the two cities 3 hours and minutes. We
came all the way in one of the Baltimore (
| Ohio cars the first K. X. car through from
| Washington In that marvellous ride we had
spread out before us the ever shifting pam
Drama of "our country" not pictured upon
tame canvass in litolcss images, but as we
| were whrled along mile after mile was I'M
folded for hundreds and hundreds Of miles,
until We grew weary with constant gazing.
| What a wonderful journey this is to n NAM
who is able to appreciate it, No other coun-
| try can boast of 5000 miles of unbroken rail-
road. | doubt if outside of this country rail
road car could run over 800 miles of unbroken
road. We traversed the Alleghanys, the
vast inland prairies of the Mississippi Valley,
! the granarics of the world, the desert wastes
| of the Rocky Mountains, the Rockies them
| selves with their eternal snow submits seen
| only at n distance and so gradual is the rise
! and SO wide the pathway which centuries of
'slow grinding away has made across those
mountains that we could hardly realize
we had passed over, or when we were ut Sher-
man. the highest altitude 1885 feet above the
sea level it seemed impossible. almost. to
believe that we were astride the ridgepole of
the continent, that we were sitting as it were
in its saddle, for mountains were not to be seen
except in faint line far, far away. The rise
of grade is nearly so feet to the mile approach
ing Sherman, and that is the steepest ascent
in passing over. On the Pennsyl vania Cen
trail, the Baltimore 4 Ohio, and several other
Eastern railroads, the grade is much heavier
than this. Dropping down something over
100 feet we enter and cross the broad Lara
ME Plains, 1000 feet above the sea, with the
Black hills on the north and the Medicine
Bow mountains on the south. This wonder
full valley is about IS miles in extent, and av-
eragcs about 80 miles wide. Passing through
it we strike into the Bitter Greek region, where
for nearly 800 miles we see only an alkaline
desert covered with sage brush or perfectly bare
where the alkali is too powerful for even that
to grow. The streams here are impregnated
with this substance and the water is impalat-
able and unwhoesome. On this dreary waste
! thousands of emigrants have persisted as they
! toled onward like snaiis over the vast desert.
| Luckily for us we passed over the greater por
| ton of this almost ''God-forsaken country"
| during the night The next morning We were
| still in it, but about noon the green mountains
| were around about us, and in the afternoon
| we passed through the Echo and Weber Can
| ons, the finest and grandest scenery on the
| whole route
The Devils Slide the Palisades, the Devils
| Gate, ETC., have been described aud brought I'M
| der the eye by photography so often that they
do not need another description. We are
now in a strange and almost ''dream land"
High above us tower the rugged mountains.
| and as we run through narrow ravine we
see on the over-hanging cliffs piles of stones
placed there by the Mormons, who gathered
there to dispute the mountain pass with our
soldiers during the mormon War"
We are in Utah. Mormon hamlets are fire.
quenty seen, and we wonder and ondcr,
and long for an opportunity of conversing with
these strange people. We can hardly realize
that we are among them. 1t seems almost
like Eltin Land, and we find it difficult to be-
lieve that these plain country people are he
levers in such strange doctrine; that these
men and women believe in Joe Smith and
Brigham Young as prophets of the most high
God, and hold polygamy to be of divine origin.
Can it be possible that these people have en-
durcd the bittcrest persecution in their devo-
ton to this strangely primitive religion, and
have finally joined away from all civilization
and founded city beyond the Rocky noun
tains. a thousand miles from the nearest Cen
tile town? Last summer it was my good fortune
to visit that most wonderful of places, Salt
Lake City. At that time the Utah Central
/ Il. X. had not been finished, and We took
Wells, Fargo & Co.'S stage at Uintah station.
After most delightful ride of 80 miles, made
in four hours through Mormon villages and
/ farms, we cnjoyeda rare treat. Rounding a
hill, before lis lay Salt Lake City in a forest of
shade trees-the Damascus of the American
Desert surroundedby fertile fields, while above
il, and apparently oyer-hanging the city, tow
1 err the Wasateh mountains, their lofty sum
mits covered with perpetual snow.
From Uintah the railroad passes north along
/ the eastern shores of Great Salt Lake, and
at Ogden, Mormon village of considerable
size, VIC found on our arrival a real Mormon
railroad and q Mormon train ready to start
for Salt Lake City Sc miles TO the West.
This road was built and is owned by Brigham
Young and the Mormons, and is said to be
well constructed. Its rolling stock seemed
all first class. Young is the President OF the
Road and one of his sons is the Superintend-
ent. At Ogden we were transferred from the
Union TO the Central Pacific Road. Prom