Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1870-06-14
Communicated.
Trip to Montana-Notes by the Way.

| Communicated
Trip to Montana-Notes by the Way.
FRIEND Cover Thinking that q
letter from this part of the continent
would not be entirely lost to your
readers, l will write you an account
of things seen and experienced by
the way.
At Patch Grove Mr.. Mitchell join
ed me and proceeded toPrairie du
CHEN, where we expected to take
boat that night, but were informed
that none was due till next morning.
Morning came, but it failed to bring
the boat. Through the telegraph we
were informed that the boat would
not arrive until the following morn
ing. The gentlemanly proprietor of
the Dousman House furnished us
with good rooms, and we thought to
enjoy a good nights rest ere we
launched from the shores of old Wis
consin but just as we were forget
ting ourselves in sleep the train came
in, and the cries of noisy porters and
ferrymen united with the plying of
the ferry boat created such din that
it effectually drove slumber from our
eyelids. At A. NJ. of the 9th we
took passage on the steamer Thomas
Jasper, one OF the best on the river.
Our ride down the river was very
pleasant. The high water in many
places had created a deluge TO some
luckless inhabitant who had pitched
his tent too near the shore, making
it necessary to remove to higher
quarters. was greatly amused
while looking at the steamboat hands,
as we neared the different stopping
places, to see how many it took to
throw out the gang planks, each one
SEEMING to lift with all his power.
There are two sets Of handsome
white, the other black, with occasion
ally a white man among the darkies,
and they seem to feel that they are
just as good as a niger, and showed
by their actions that they were no
better. We reached Clinton, Iowa,
after dark. AS soon as landed we
were transported to the Revere
House whore we stayed till 5 o'clock
next morning.
Passing through Iowa on the
ca N. w. r. r., you see as fine u
country as can be found in the
Northwest. The fields show great
fertility and look as though the hus-
bandmen could not fail in reaping a
rich harvest. | could see but one
drawback to the countryside search
ty Of timber, none being seen except
on the streams. Wereached Council
Bluffs at midnight, where the hotel
runners from Omaha were thicker
than Chicago drummer" in the busy
springtime. After all the delay in
cident to change from cars to
omnibuses we were driven to the
ferry boat, crossed the Missouri
River and put up at the Wyoming
Hotel. Omaha viewed from the old
state house presents quite favora
bic appearance; scattered as it is,
here you can see the whole, forming
city of rs, 900 people, where but a
few years since the red man was the
only inhabitant. We left Omaha on
the IL o'clock train. The cars on
the U. p. r. r are all new, and one
cannot fail in getting good accomo-
dations. The sleeping cars are of
the best, and passengers are supplied
with everything necessary to their
pleasure and comfort. Every Thurs
day train of hotel cars leaves for
San Francisco, in which the occu-
pants are served in as good style as
they would be at the Sherman House
in Chicago, not having as many
dishes on the bill of fare, but great
variety and gotten up in taste. l
could but draw the contrast, while
passing along the Platte Valley, be-
tweenlthe present mode of travel and
that of a few years ago. The old emf
grant road is plain to be seen, where
thousands have passed at the slow
rate of % or 30 miles per day, while
we are hurried through at thirty
miles per hour.
After passing Fremont but very
little land can be seen under cultiva-
ton. AS far as the eye can reach
one vast plain looms up, with not a
tree or shrub in all the dreary waste
to change and enliven the scene for
hundreds of miles 1t is the same, and
to mo it looked cherries and unin-
viting. The little towns along the
road seem to partake of the wilder
ness about them, and l fancied /
could see in the faces of the inhabit-
ants something that was not akin to
people living within the borders of
civilization ; but one thing is certain,
l know they had associated with
civilization, for in every town almost
the first sign to be seen was Saloon"
The r. r. Company have good
eating houses at convenient points,
and if one is well stocked with green
backs, victuals and drink are easily
found. Grand Island, Sydney and
Laramie are all good towns, being
points where the Company have es-
tablished eating houses. We saw
plenty of antelope quietly grazing at
some distance from the track also
few villages of prairie dogs were
plainly seen, and these were the only
animals saw on the trip. In nearly
every village in the vicinity of ante
lope, whore the bridge was cut or
undermined, soldiers were stationed
as a guard against the Indians.
These ''noble red men of the forest"
as they are termed, are the most
loathsome and degraded race Of peo-
pie l ever saw; it is perfectly sicken-
ing to look at them. Civilization
e. l. q L