The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1874-11-07


is forty miles from Pueblo, and the ranch
is kept by family from Indiana. A girl
about eighteen appeared to be the P. NJ,
who expressed herself as well pleased with
this solitary life. Her mother, however,
did not seem so well satisfied with her lot.
The bottom is wide in some places and
studded with cone shaped hillocks called
butts in this country, evidently the remains
of the drift left in the valley of the Arkan-
sas by the glacier as it receded toward the
mountains. This drift is composed of
coarse sand and gravel intermixed with
alluvial soil. The bluff on which the col
ony OF South Pueblo is laid out, rests on
this deposit Of the glacier, and it is met
with all along the river underlying the low
bluffs from the summit of which sweep
away the plains till they meet the horizon.
Frequently the bluff stoops down with
gradual slope to the bottom land and the road
winds out on the plain, or there is second
bluff above the first, the latter terminating
at an imperceptible line with the bottom,
and the plain is clothed with cactus and
greasewood; and hundreds of acres of sage
brush would sometimes cover the country,
to the almost total exclusion of every other
plant. The sage brush orchards are inter-
esting; the punches being nearly uniform
in size, and standing out from each other
as if they had been planted at the proper
distance apart for cultivation. The foliage
is much finer than the garden sage, but
about the same color, and the bunch of
similar form, but much larger than the
domestic plant. The odor of the sage
brush is not unpleasant, being almost iden-
tical with that of the familiar plant, called
sold man by our grandmothers.
The view at all times was wide and grand,
if dreary. Pixies Peak reared his tall sum-
nit in the rear, and the two Spanish peaks,
a hundred miles to the right, lifted their
blue heads, with the Greenhorn range lying
like blue line on the southwestern horizon.
The only house in ride of ninety miles
worthy of note, was passed twenty miles
from Pueblo. This was two-story frame,
of roomy dimensions and good finish, which
was built by Col. Boon, at cost of $780,
900. The house was tenantless, the Col.
being politician, found Denver more
congenial place for him, and he established
dence.' The Col. had board fencing round
his entire farm, and things fixed up in good
taste. The son-in-law, however, finding it
much more convenient to use the fence for
fire wood than cut wood on the bottom,
burned all within convenient distance of
the house, and finally moved away from
the farm.
The most extensive farm, and the most
desirable in every respect between Pueblo
and Las Animas, is Spring Bottom, which
is about thirty-fve miles from Las Ami
mas. This tract of 1 200 acres belongs to
David Bent, one of Col. Bent's sons. Col.
Bent built Bent's Fort, place famous in
the history of the plains. Spring Bottom
was purchased from the Indians and given
to his son David, who has run a fence round
one side of the tract, of cottonwood logs,
which is three miles in length. The river
bounding the other side of the farm. This
Enclosure affords fine Winter pasture for
stock, the fence protecting it from the
range in Summer. AS we passed his house,
which is on the road side, we stopped for
drink of water, and had peep at the
inside of this wealthy half breeds man
sion. In appearance and furniture, it re
sembled the fish houses to be found along
the Elk river, and customer" who
seemed to be chief cook and dish washer,
was twin brother in appearance to some
of the tramps who are seen in the Spring
making their way to the fishing. Dave
was in the meadow busy with his hay, and
had the appearance of a Cheyenne Indian
at a distance, being broad shouldered, of
medium statue, and walked pigeon-toed.
He has all his mothers ancestral love for
whisky, and spends the most of his Win
tiers among his Indian cousins on the Reser-
walton. When Col. Bent established his
trading post or Fort, about thirty miles
from Fl. Tyson, on the river, he married
a squaw, and raised several worthless half
breed children, this Dave being the flower
of the flock. One of the daughters, after
receiving tolerable education with the
whites, went off on visit to her cousins
and married an Indian buck. One of the
brothers joined the Indians, and was the
leading desperate of the tribe. The whites
finally caught him, and cut short his career
by hanging him to the first convenient
limb.
Our first relay, or change of mules, was
forty miles, and the day being warm, and
the mule we drove somewhat old, the poor
animal could scarcely stand till he was
unhitched. Here was case for Bergh, of
cruelty to dumb animals. Poor old George,
as he was called, after a rubbing down and
roll, revived again, and was ready for his
oats. Our change was a young, gray, wry
mule, which the driver called Bill. Bill
professed to know nothing about harness,
and cut around lively for a few minutes.
In the melee with Bill and getting started,
the landlady" was forgotten, and we got
off without paying for dinner, but we met
the west-going mail gig in the course of
the afternoon and returned the money with
him, doubtless to the delight of the lady
who kept the forty mile house.
The driver was an amusing fellow, and
told his first experience with Bill in single
harness. He had colporture, kind of
half missionary, with a bundle of tracts
and religious papers, as passenger. Bill
was dancing a rigadoon, and going through
some of his liveliest movements, when the
axle of the machine broke, and the animal
was given to the missionary to hold while
the driver tied up. Bill in the mean time
turned his eye round and saw stranger
holding the lines loosely, and concluded
that was his time. Making a sudden
spring, the missionary was thrown several
yards on his back into muddy slue, and
Bill being free, started at full speed. The
broken axle allowed one wheel to rub the
side of the carriage bed, and the protrud-
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