The Morristown gazette. [volume] (Morristown, Tenn.) 1867-1920, 1873-06-11
Letter from Oregon.

we puDllsn the IollOWlng extract
from letter written by young gen
tleman, formerly of this section, to a
citizen of our town, dated Harrisburg,
Linn county, Oregon. May 10th,
1878:
81 presume that Brother Summers
has told you something of our trip
as far as Sherman, Texas. I must
say that / was not so well pleased
with Texas as he seems to have been.
Leaving DR.. S. and Sam Taylor at
| Sherman, about the last of March,
I proceeded, Uid the NJ, K. & T. R.
R., through the Indian Territory and
Kansss. to New Chicago. where I
stopped for about week with DR..
r. 4. Sweeney, formerly of Cooke
county. He is in a good country,
and is doing well, but do not like
the climate. / left there about the
18th of April, expecting to meet DIR.
Mendenhall and A. S. Bible at juno
ton City, Kansas, but was disap-
pointed. On the 18th of April, in
the midst of the severest snow storm
/ have ever witnessed, / left that
place for the Pacific coast ala the
Kansas Pacific r.. r. We were sew
en- hours behind time at Denver, in
consequence of the storm. At one
time on the plains, while running
against the wind, we were driven
backward for about one hundred
yards by the storm. After travelling
about 200 miles westward of Kan
sas City, we came out upon the
waste plains, where for over 400
miles we see nothing scarcely but a
wilderness, with herds of Buffalo
and Antelope grazing in the distance.
They had their coal and water on
extra cars along the plains. Fifty
miles from Denver we came in sight
of the Rocky Mountains, covered
with snow. This was a scene we
had long anticipated and was greet
ed with much admiration by all the
passengers. About 8 o'clock, P. NJ,
we reached Denver, the ''far famed
city of the Palms. This is, indeed,
an oasis in the desert. Situated on
the South Platte river, with over 200
miles of the snow-capped range
plainly visible. / left Denver at 8,
A. NJ, April 18th. on the Denver
and Pacific Railroad, for Cheyenne,
where we connect with the Union
Pacific. On the evening of the 18th,
we passed Sherman, Wyoming, Ter
ritory, said to be the highest Rail
road point in the world, being 8,242
feet above the level of the sea
in honor of Gen. Sherman,
the tallest General in the service
Arrived at Ogden, Utah, at 4, P. NJ,
April 18th. This is hard place.
and infested with pickpockets and
gamblers. Below here from the
Railroad we get view of the great
Salt Lake. The scenery along the
Central Pacific, especially in the
Sierra Nevadas of California, is sub
lime, indeed. No one can properly |
without seeing them. I
arrived in Sacramento at 2, p. NJ, |
April Doth. Here I met a brother,
good and kind, who showed me all |
the interesting scenes about the city. |
We visited the State House, said to |
be the finest building on this coast /;
over three million dollars in
coin have been expended, and it is
not vet completed. We were up in |
the steeple, 250 feet high, and from
there we had fine view of the great |
Sacramento Valley, stretching away
towards the ocean, also the snowy |
caps of the Sieras. We visited the
Odd Fellows Temple here, and
believe it will compare favorably
with any building of the kind in the
States. Sacramento is rath-
er a small city, yet there are seven
strong Lodges of Odd Fellows there.
[ arrived in San Francisco April 21st, !
and remained until the 26th, on
which day my friends Bible and Men
denhall arrived here, having come
Uia Omaha instead of Denver. The
Odd Fellows here have a very fine
Temple on the corner of Montgom-
erp and California streets. There
are twenty-one strong Lodges in San
francisco, some OF them having a
membership of over five hundred.
Some of the Lodges work in French
and German. The order is immense
" rich on this whole coast. I visited
a Lodge in Portland; also attended
a funeral while there; about five
hundred members were in attend
ance. There is Lodge of Odd Eel
lows in every little town in Oregon
of any size. / am we'll pleased with
Oregon; am now in the great Valley
of the Willamette, stopping with the
Mendenhalls from Messy Creek.
believe that this valley will some
time be the finest in the world. AS
a popularity of Oregon climate, some
farmers are not done sowing wheat,
near here, while am in sight Of
field heading out. Yours, H. S. NJ