Northern tribune. [volume] (Cheboygan, Mich.) 1875-1885, 1875-07-24
Letter from. Colorado.
Correspondence Indianapolis Sunday Herald.
FOR INV 1870

expect you would like to know how
we are getting along out in these Rocky
Mountains, and perhaps you'd like tt
know the truth about this great country
The reason they call it great is becails,
It's rougher than a nutmeg greater, anc
it CRATES all the leather off your feet and
all the skin off your hands. Now 1 sup
pose you read lots of letters i'm the pa
psssahaut these parts, but, dear me you
can't get any idea of this country from
these letters that are written to be
printed. Why, there's so much lie in the
water here that after fellow has been
drinking it spell he can hardly tell the
truth If he wants to, and these paper
splashers don't seem to want to very
much. But I've been drinking snow wa
ter for three weeks on purpose to get in
good trim to write you the naked truth
about this country, because, unless you
have somebody that you can depend
Ito write to you, the only way yon can
know anything about it is to come and
see it for yourself, and 60 all through
il, over it and around ii, as we are doing.
This is the best country to look at that
ever was, because most of it is set up on
edge or on end, so you can see it all
around. Part of it is flat as a pancake
and they c1ll this the plains. None of
/ has much grass on it, and down about
Pueblo nothing grows but cactus and
sage brush, and grease-weed and soap
weed, and none of them are of any ac-
count that l know of, though they do
say that the Mexicans use the root of the
sOap-weed to wash their clothes with.
But of all the Mexicans have seen none
Of them had clean clothes on, so 1 can't
recommend their soap.
Pueblo is the hardest, the hottest, the
windest and dirtiest place we have seen
in this territory, so we only staid there
one day; but we got on top of a little
butte, and looked all over the town. but
there wasn't much to see; so Mrs. Oba-
diah says to me, says she, "We'd better be
getting out of here" So we took the
narrow gauge railroad to Canon City
but the road isn't finished all the way
and we had to 60 about ten miles on q
stage, which wasn't stage but wagon
We came in sight Of Canon City about
five miles before we got to it, because il
Is down In valley; and what do you
think is looked like? Why it looked like
last years hens nest, which the old her
had left when the chickens were abou
half Matched, and they had all dried up
The houses looked about as big as to-
houses and all huddled together. Blu
as we got nearer the houses got bigge
and moved off from each other, and whcI
we got to it, it looked about like any othe
little town. only more dried up like
There are but three green yards in thu
place, because grass won't grow unless
you dig ditch and irrigate the ground
1t doesn't rain in this country, excep
that once in awhile cloud runs agains
q mountain and bursts, and then it make
rivers where there were no rivers, an,
tears things up fearfully.
Near Canon City there is creek callet
Sand Creek, because there's no water i
it nothing but sand. While we wer
there cloud burst over that creek, an
for about an hour there was more waite
run in that dry creek than ever run il
White River, and I'm that hour it washe,
away roads, fences and farms, and CARRIE
about million carloads of dirt an
stones down nto the Arkansas River OF
its way to the Gulf of Mexico.
This Canon City. if it is sort o. driet
up like, has some of the incest people il
1t that we have seen in this country
They have lived among these tall noun
tains so long that the goodness in ther
has grown so large you can't see the bad
ness unless you hunt for it, and l thin
it isn't good policy to hunt for badnes
anywhere, ~ 49, "a
There is one man in Canon City tina
you would like to know. He has live
mere longer than any one else, is an oil
ROCKY Mountain hunter, good rhyme
ster, and, with all his faults, real gen
ueman. After we had been in Canol
'y lew days, this poet-hunter hitche'
LIP up n AS m mules, packed up his tent an
ts 70 al out into the mountains t
1Su 10 snc hrst rudiments of camp life
uuen say US mean me and Mrs. Oba
Hezekiah.) The frs. nigbt we camn ,.a
in deep canon only about as wide q
Washington street, with mounta;ns n
each side so high that it nearly broke on
necks trying to see the tops. There wa
NICE sPHn&fwhere we camped, and w
We, mere nav'ngA jolly time running aroun
IKE eeits just broke out of pasture, whe
al !. onos II began to sprinkle and OF
s<as wssAI upyet. SAh, then was hui
rying to an fro" &c. Before our tent w,
.a;rly fixed the sprs kle was . ,,onr an
10y the time the last pss was dr;va,, -
pour was torrent. If Jon could ho =,
peeped in then you would nave seen Ia, ~
Do Obadiahs and the yOunr Ohad;aI
Ssand On sticks, boxes and tn like.