The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1873-07-31

The latter half OF the journey wa .
gradual ascent through country quito
like that surrounding the Fort-bsr.
rem rolling plains, destitute Of vegeta-
ton, save only tho short buffalo grass
and priokly pears, with occasional trees
Of stunted dimensions at the edge Of
the Kansas and Smoky Hill Rivers.
The open ocean, with its ever.varYing
beauty is infinitely preferable, to this
dry and desolate plain, the sight Of
which was not only mouotonous Is We
sped over it, but painful to the eye
and even sickening. I think sort Of
habitual introspection must be all that
saves the railroad employees from i'd.
COY or insanity, as day after day they
pursue the Same dresry journey. For
animal life, prairie dogs and numerous
antelopes, usually in pairs or three',
were all We saw. In the cold months,
1 am told that, In this neighborhood,
the plain IL darkened by tho myriad
buffalo that wander here, affording a
trade in pelts at the depot not unlike
the wheat traffic with you.
There is no settlement hereabouts ;
nor, indeed, can there be any, 50 soanty
and uncertain is the rainfall, and, Is
q minor and less constant reason, 80
large and voracious are the 'grasshop.
pers. Attempts to sustain post garden
have largely failed-entirely this sea.
son-though we'll fenced bottom Of
tolerable soil is watered expressly from
damned pond in the Smoky Hill,
close to where the Fort stands.
At the depot, two miles away, Wal.
lace by name, there is no village. A
railroad hotel-twenty minutes for q
tough supper-a few saloons, and some
dwellings for railroad hands comprise
the "town," as we valuly call it in
memory Of better days. OF the popu-
lation, what shall I say, save that it is
cratic, and, for the most part, travels
under the dual banner of Colt and
Bourbon. And, in the leaden meteor.
10 shower which seems 4 normal atmos.
pheric condition on the frontier, a
timid mortal like your correspondent
is about as liable to be tho recipient Of
bullet as the tougher and rougher
beings who think ii fun to carry their
lives in their hands. These genial
ueighbors, in addition to the countless
rattlesuakes one can hardly walk
rod without stopping on, serve as full
compensation for the dangers We lack
because the Indian no longer practices
his knight errantry in this section. In
fine, prodigious recklessness in morals
and manners appears to be the ordinary
outgrowth Of either camp or frontier
life.' Heaven defend us
Our garrison is small al present, two
companies, one each Of infantry and
cavalry, being al We have, and, indeed,
| the cavalry are now in summer camp
at River Bend in Colorado, hundred
miles or more west, SO that in tho
Fort We number but q few over hun
dred heads all told.
This post, which was established in
1866, suffered severely from cholera
that year and the next, and in 81 had
sharp brush with the Indians just
back of the camp, as the well.peopled
cemetery sadly attests by its cenotoph
Of yellow stone. This stone, by the
way, is an abundant material here, and
so soft that it can be worked with car.
penter's tools. Several Of the buildings
are constructed Of it. 81. r.
Society is limited including officers
and post.traders with their ladies, there
are but eight or ten persons 10 all. y
. want to write you later more about
the climate and its hygienio rela-
tions. '..> &".-. o. ~ .~T@A K.
President Grants state carriage,