Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1870-06-15
PACIFIC RAnRoAp.
The March OF civilization 60 che
West OF us.

fAClFiC hAti-nVN"'
The March OF civilization 90 IN
West OF Us.
As there is a likelihood Of the Mem
phis and Kansas City railroad beinl
built bringing us in connection with til
Pacific railroad. the following sketch o
the country about Denver, from a cor
respondent Of the Pittsburgh Post, vii
be Of interest to our readers;
cArrLr-RAIsIxs COUNTRY,
The westward progress Of settlement
is now checked along our whole frontier
having reached a region OF twice the ex
tent Of our whole Atlantic slope, the nat
ural conditions Of which are so differ
ent from those Of the prairies or wood
land farther out as to battle the means q
Improvement used there. Formerly i
was all characterized by the one word
desert: from tina; Its capabilities are an
thoritatively affirmed, Many are inqnir
ing what they are and how they shall be
developed, and the curiosity is appealed
to by natural features utterly unlike
those OF the East. Close beyond the
rich farm lands of Nebraska, Kansas
and the still more inviting counryto the
south, an almost uninha5lted tract
stretches from our northern border to
the Rio Grande, and from the Rocky
Mountains four hundred miles eastward,
almost without rain, rivers, hills, trees,
material for building OF capacity to pro-
duce crops. and yet capable Of making
larger returns for capital and labor
rightly expended than any of the now
settled PARTS of the country. This IS
simply because caitle-raising, which will
be the one great business here, costs but
little, after the purchase Of the original
stock. in labor and appliances to carry II
ON. while the breeder is being enriched
bv the increase Of his hocks, Neither
population nor products can be as large
as ON an equal area in the East, but no
part%.f the plains which ! have seen, and
few of which | have heard, are unfit for
On their vast extent could
be produced beef enough to supply all
our Eastern cities, while the herders could
almost entirely subsist upon the produce
of the irrigated valleys, Deer and buff
falo win be plenty for years; coal Is found
in large quantities; plneries Jut ont TAR
from the mountains, and ma
tural meadows afford hay in abundance.
Thus the necessaries of life most difficult
Of transportation can be produced here
HEALTHY CLIMATE.
But the dry, pure air of this climate.
with It's entire freedom from the delete
rious influences prevalent elsewhere, Is
its greatest attraction. Nowhere within
our national boundaries are its health
giving qualities equaled, All physiology
cal operations seem 10 be accelerated;
elsewhere inveterately chronic
are eliminated, and recovery from acci-
dents, as / have myself experienced, IS
very rapid. There is more energy and
exuberance of life, so that some think
that life must be shortened, as if over
stimulated, but the rarity of natural
deaths in this climate, and its resem-
blance TO that enjoyed by the hale old
Bedouins, satisfy me that their fears are
THE KANSAS VALLEY.
Approaching the plains from the Mis-
sour river BY the middle route, up the
valley of the Kansas, and passing through
two hundred miles of the finest farm
lands on earth, we strike their eastern
border at Elsmouth. Up to this place
the landscape had the general character
Of prairies further east, but with softer
contours and the clearer outlines and
deeper light and shade produced by the
purer air; but from this on 1t seems to
the newcomer dead monotony of
nearly fat, yellow-green plain; cut by
the dry channels of what are mapped as
rivers and creeks, and swept by search
ing winds, seemingly the most comfort
less region on earth. How few weeks
experience changes all this, and how life
on the plain has become to myself and
others the most enjoyable will presently
appear. What few years can do TO
bring about the highest degree Of com
fort and refinement will be seen when
one gets TO Denver.
UNRELIABLE MAPS.
Becoming used to this country is like
viewing an obscure painting, our interest
growing as its meaning becomes clearer.
Once familiar, no other is so ineligible,
for the clearness of the air, and the
landscapes exhibit the topography of
of square miles at one view,
and the expert may infer much Of what
lies beyond. This is the more necessary
since beyond the government surveys
the published maps are very unreliable,
even the Kansas-Colorado boundary,
where it crosses the principal stage line
to Denver, being undetermined within
several miles. One thing especially de-
ceptive in maps of the plains is indIcat-
ing as streams, often as rivers, channels
which water never flows, except
for few hours after heavy rains, when,
from the then great declivity the water
quickly runs off in the sudden floods
which have caused 50 much damage in
Western Kansas, and, in its earliest days,
swept away the best part Of Denver.
The hard adobe-like soil, too, sheds the
water very quickly, and this, as much as
the lack Of rain, which in spring and
early summer is not so great as com
monty supposed, causes the drouth which
agriculture by the ordinary
Enough rain fell in the first
half Of last year to have produced crops
in deeply-plowed ground in many parts
Of the plains.
VARIETY OF LANDSCAPE.
The sameness of the landscape at first
sight is increased by the clear air and
the uniform color Of the higher ground,
making distances indistinguishable, ex-
cept By q practical eye $50 much so that
| have known crows to be mistaken for
buffalo, And then the whole back
ground is blendid into a vague. feature
Iess ring of duskY green. Far Otherwise