The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1875-04-23

NORTH Platte, NEB.. April II. 1875.

NORTH PLATTE, NEB.. April II, 1875.
DEAR FREENAN--Having cast my lot In these
of your paper seems to me like a letter from
the many dear friends and acquainrancesI had
pense by way os describing my new home.
You must not expect anything racy or fanci-
common orf % hard-bea % dead thick headedsI SENSE
This town of North Platte is situated the
Union Pacific Railroad, between and fmmedi-
ately above the confluence of the North and
South Platte rivers, 29i miles west of Omaha.
1t is town of between Loo and 1000 inhab-
itants. There are no public industries here
except the railroad repair shops and the neecing
The grasshoprers did not do us any material
damage last year, as their stoiuachs had not
egraPh poles: A sort of scouting party of q
few quintrillions of them paid flying
visit" but after thoroughly prospecting the
to what they charged emigrants for square
meal" they pensively winged their way east
There is really very little farming land in the
Immediate vicinity of this place, or, rather.
of the inhabitants being principally given to
stock-raisng. 1t is undoubtedly a fine grazing
| country. and already we are beginning to have
! our Cattle Kings" Ere many years Nebraska
will be as famous for supplying the Eastern
Within the past four or five years number
! of colonies from the older States have pur-
chased large tracts of land here, both from the
! Government and the Railroad Company. and
| have built up some charming little villages
! and erected many elegant residences. There
| is undoubtedly plenty of good farming lands
| here. but in most parts of the State the win
tiers are simply abominabe. North Platte it
! self is situated in the center of what is known
as the warm belt" and we seldom have more
/ than six inches of snow. This belt extends
about fifty miles on either side, and its length
| is as yet undetermined. Here it is not Rener-
/ ally necessary to pay any attention to stock
/ during winter, and excellent beef may be
/ shipped from it any month in the year. Out
i side this belt. however, the winters are very
severe. and it is not unusual for the snow to be
/ from three to ten feet deep. The greater part
of the State is almost dead level, and a hurri-
cane would be mild name for "Nebraska
zephyr" Water and timber are both very
scarce. and nearly all the building material Is
I imported. No IN neral of any kind. so far as
| know, has been discovered in the State, nor is
Sidney, the most western town in our State;
is just now attracting some notoriefE as being
drsings f gins % The hifis, however, I lie % partly in
| Wyoming and partly in Dakota Territories;
but it is claimed that the route is much shorter
/ by taking the government wagon read from
SidEey 10 the Niobrara river, thence to the
Red Cloud Agency in the hills, and thence to
! the mines, wherever they may be.
was one of large party who pretty thor
! ouehly prospected these same Black Hills, so
called, long aga as 1858. and am very sure
! we did not find it necessary to purchase any
additional ack-anmais in order to carry away
| the wealth we amassed there. Gold there is in
| the hills, also in all the ranges betwecn them
and the Rocky Mountains; but to find it in
paying quantities is the difficulty. Another
thing: II gold did exist there in paying guam
titles, every available location and every foot
of valuable mining ground would be taken up
by the hardy and adventurous fronticrsmen of
Mont and Idaho long before any of those
IL
there, as it is not more than four or five days
ride from the most distant of the pal
mining towns of Montana, across the noun
| tanS. TO this most fabulous land fallacious; Ell
Dorado The story of "CuSter'S men" doesn I
''go down" here worth a cent. 1t is scarcely
rational to suppose that the soldiers under
General Custer knew more about prospecting
than did the men who discovered the rich pa-
GERS and quartz iodes of Montana and Idaho
men who had been engaged exclusively in
mining ever since the discovery of gold in CAL
ifornia in 1889. AT ali events, / fail to per-
ceive any wild excitement" among our people
here, and from the tone of all the late Califor-
the "honest miners of the G oiden State have
all become hard-shels, as the Black Hills don't
faZe 'em.
Well. Sidney will have the last pull at the
plethoric pocket booXS OF the outward-bound
miners, and viii reap rich harvest. She will
hungry hordes of disgustcd returning miners.
So she needs to make hay while the sun shines.
As to the climate of this Paradise described
10y clusters men: On that part OF the UnIon
Pacific road passing through the Black Hills
there are ten or twelve miles of detached snow
sheds, and about four or five hundred miles of
snow fences. If il be such a delightful place
number OF soldiers required to compel the
Indians to remain there at all?
My advice to any Camhrian who may ha We
symptoms of the Black Hills fever is. wait till
you hear from some one who has retIlrDed-
there will soon be plenty of them. IT You
rush oil this Spring, with money enough to
pay your way there. the chances are that you
can watch your Chance ami walk back
j started in to write about Nebraska, but
somehow switched off on the Black Hills track
aud this spasm is about long enough, I II
put oh the brakes. Thine, NIX.