Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1874-09-10
From the Rocky Mountains -

from Judge D. Mclean, Of this place,
who with his wife and daughter are
touring it'' in the Rocky Mountains
of Colorado, whittier they have gone
for the purpose of enjoying the health
rejuvenating air of that region, and
viewing it's beautiful scenery and in
Vulnerable gigantic wonders:
MANIToU, Col, Aug. %, 1874
| We arrived here, all well. Tuesday
noon. We are sojourning at the Cliff
House, which hotel is located at the
mouth of Williams Canon, and, as
stated in its card, sis situated in the
heart of the most sublime scenery in
the world, near eight or ten medicinal
springs of great excellence, with Pixies
Peak and its eternal SHOWS looking
/ down upon it from an altitude of
IA, 1886 feet" The altitude of the Cliff
House is given as 6,342 feet.
This morning, Jesse Hagler and
walked up the side of the mountain,
east of the hotel, to an elevation of
1000 feet, from which point we com
manded fifty mile range of view, af
| fording us a most beautiful, sublime
panoramic outlook, surprising in
/ grandeur and vastness anything in ma
| ture scenic we ever elsewhere beheld.
Our elevation was SO great that Colo
RADIO Springs, town of 5000 inhabi
tants, about six miles distant. looked
strikingly suggestive of little toys
spread out within arms reach. We
could see the summit of Pixies Peak,
looking majestically grand, about eight
miles distant, in an air line; and the
Garden of the Gods, though about
four miles easterly distant, seemed to
be Immediately beneath US. But, to
us, the most pleasing, picturesque fea-
ture of the view was the vast and
seemingly illimitable Plains, present
ing an appearance shimmering, wave
like, horizon-dipping.
We saw a drove of $50 cattle, with
which were two or three calves. They
came down the Ute Pass, and were be-
ing driven to Kit Carson, in the plains,
about three hundred miles from here.
There are several boiling springs
close by here-iron and soda. By ad-
ding lemon and sugar to water from
the latter, you have an excellent effer-
vescing drink, much more palatable
than the soda water drinks to be found
at home. You can have choice of wa
ter-sulphur, and so on, al zi6itum
No doubt the surface of this coun-
! try, at one time, presented a somewhat
level appearance-old Time, in his con-
vulsive throes, having wrought great,
mighty change; the long water
washed rocks decaying and crumbling,
moldering down, and so creating great
canons, and, hills and valley scatter
ing DER the plain.
There are all kinds of rock here.
The decayed rock forms the soil.
! Up Williams Canon, one mile distant,
there are two lime llilns, which furnish
lime of first rate quality. The stone
used is rolled down the mountain
about half mile, and burned with ce-
dar and pine timber, rolled and hauled
| from one to five miles.
One thing which strikes the tourist
| houo h. ii
rarefied condition of the atmosphere,
which becomes forcibly perceptible in
climbing the mountains. as, getting
out of breath" q rest of a few mo-
ments, and ften, is absolutely neces-
sary. The new conner here must climb
slowly, and use circumspectly "the all
we breathe Jesse Hagler has been
here some time, yet mountain climbing
seems to fatigue him about as quickly
as it does me.
The grasshoppeIs are here in i'm
mense numbers, On what they subsst
Icannot tell, very little of anything
herbaceous growing contiguous here
to, except buffalo grass, which is from
ntwo to four inches high, and dry as
powder. Cattle, however, fatten on
it. They who live here say that it is
equal to our corn for stock feeding
J purposes. The citizen natives here ride
and drive their horses all day, and OF
dismounting at night stake them, Will
a rope elength of thirty to forty feet
SO that they may partake of the grass
and that is their only food till the mex
night; yet they keep in fair order.
The largest mountain oaks here are
not much thicker, near the ground
than q good-sized broom handle; bu
they yield very fine acorns.
i The Cliff House card states that Col
orado Springs is 81 miles distant, Gar
den of the Gods 81 miles, Glen Eyri'
4 miles, Monument Park 81 miles, Pet
> rifed Forest II miles, Cheyenne Canol
), 81 miles, Falls of the Fountain mile
l. Summit of Pixies Peak (air- line)
miles-all Of which points are accessi
: BILE by good wagon roads, except tn
t. summit of the Peak; and that may b
. reached by the trail, on horseback.
The entire country. hereabout, j
: unquestiOnably a stupendous naturs
curiosjty--totally different, in ever
respect, from anything akin theret
:. that / before have seen 1t is, indeed
: appropriately named = the Rock
e Mountains.