The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1873-11-06

J
EDITOR JouRNA1.-Presuming that some
of your readers would like to know my
Impressions Of Colorado, after o three
months sojourn, I will proceed to give my
ideas as briefly as possible. In the first
place, no poor man without home, or the
means to secure one, has any business in
Colorado. The inducements. to poor PEG.
pie are meagre indeed. The Territory has
a bouudless expanse Of uuocoupisd, dry,
sandy plains, which are open to settlement.
But they are as dry as kiln-dried brick.
for six-or eight feet Deep To rsndsrthsse'
lands Of any value, they must be irrigated,
and the water brought from ton to- fifty
miles; in a ditch from the mountains.
Thousands OF emigrants who have come
here have found ON their arrival that in
order to get home they must either pay
such prices IS those who have dug ditch.
above certain section Of country demand
or join with colony and dig ditch for
themselves. Thus, if q settler would To-
cate on any Of the lands lying north of
Denver and south Of Cache La Poodre, he
must be prepared to pay from 500 to 500
per acre, and from 81 to So per square
inch for his water, or if not beneath the
ditch he may secure land at government
price.
No fall wheat is raised here, but spring
wheat Of better quality, and yielding moro
to the acre, than in the States is raised in
large quantities. The farms are mostly
enclosed with poles brought from the
mountains, which sell readily to the farm
ers at l23 cents piece. Corn cannot DO
raised profitably. It grows up small and
dwarfed. and with little ainty sort of
grain. No fruit orthy Of the name has
been produced here, nor will the climate
heavy winds Of spring blow the blossoms
| from the few trees the vigorous winters
allow to come through unframed. Vege-
tables are scarce and command high prices.
Potatoes are two cents per pound, but
thousands of bushels have been lost this
fall owing to an early and very heavy fall
of snow. At this time the snow is eighteen
inches deep on the mountains, and the
valleys have been covered for week, but
it is beginning to disappear in places un.
der the influence Of q strong south wind.
Good beefsteak retalls at l23 cts. per lib. !;
butter IS cts; eggs IS cts. cabbage 10
cts. perlb !; -four So. so per cwt; hens ara
worth $500 dozen hay from $la to $15
per ton. = stocky;is low; good horse can
be bought fors$ 100, while $500 will bring
good span Of mules, with wagon and har-
ness, both Of course partially worn. Mich
COWS seH for $ss to $50, md oxen 81 $75
per yoke. Many cattle are dying already
from the cold storms, as farmers never
think of housing them. They must take
their chances. The young and vigorous
come through, while the old and those re-
duced in flesh fall victims to the severity
of the storms. Money is very scarce.
There are hundreds Of persons here to-
day unable to obtain work at'a any price.
Denver is q city of about 10000 inhaoit-
ants, one-third of whom are without vis-
IDLE means Of support, one-third arc tour
lists, while the remaining one-third live off
| Of. the necessities of the others. There are
| no public works, no manufactures, and
the mining does not last all the year.
Therefore, to the poor man I would say,
Don't come here. If you have capital,
money might be made but otherwise, you
will do much better in any of the Western
States The only sort Of men now wanted
in Colorado are capitalists, and wealthy
farmers and stock growers. There is money
to be made, but it will require capital to
enable newcomer to realize it. At pres
ent, there is great rush to the San Joan
mines, but everything is uncertainty re-
garding them. They will not be developed
till the sn ow goes of the mountains in the
spring, when will be on hand and keep
you posted in regard to them.
Idont feel at all at home without The
JOURNAL, which have not seen since June
| 10th. Please send me the paper since that
date, as must and will have The Jour-
NAL. G. NJ. MITCHELL.