The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1876-08-16
ON THE BORDER
Where One Of Our Young Men
Went to Grow Up for
Few Days.
COMMENTS on COLORADO.


AGRICULTURAL REsoURCEs-MININe IN
TEREsTs.
Especial Correspondence Of the Sentinel
DENvER, COLORADO, July 26. ls76.-A
Trip to the Rocky Mountains is almost as
great an undertaking as q urney to
Europe. We well remember how, in boy
hood days, bending over our old geography
we thought OF those mountains as "thet
my sterious bourne from which DO mariner
that e'er set sail has yet returned" Little
did we dream that within so short time
we ourselves should climb those craggy
peaks and gaze upon their majesty. Our
route from st. Louis was by the st Louie,
Ksnsss City and Northern railroad with
Der elegant reclining chair coaches to
Kansas City, and by the Kansas
our first visit To Kansas. We
were not prepared to see so rich and
prosperous country. We had heard o.
the drought end the grssshcppers until we
armed to think OF Kansas with a great
deal of compassion. But the more we saw
of Kansas the more we pitied Indiana!
Why will men stay there and grub stumps
and curse roots that cost them forty dol
ars per acre when they could come 10
Kansas and buy deep, rich land, all ready
for the pillow, aud near q great railroad, Tor
three or four dollars per acre For TWO
hundred and fifty mills west of Kansas
City the Kansas Pacific runs through
RICH ROLLING PRAIRIE
finely adapted to agricultural and
grazing purposes. The soil is a deep black
losm uuderlsid with a substrstum
of clay enabling it to withstand a pro-
trsc,ed drought. We stopped off at stv-
eral points along the route to examine
the soil and productions. One of these
points is Abilene, about one hundred and
sixty miles west OF Kansas City. Here l.
Mr.. T. G. Henry's famous wheat farm of
TWO Thousand acres. We saw men hsr-
vesting, threshing and blowing all in the
same field. Mr.. Henry let's out all his
Dusl profit of from nine to twelve dollars
per acre. For exsmple-it costs him nine
dollars per acre by contract for blowing.
seeding, harvesting and tbresning. Will
Ter wheat Is sure crop, and produces
from twenty to thirty bushels per acre
II sells for about 81 O5 per bushel. The
reader can easily solve the problem.
We stopped day at Russell. the county
seat of Russell county. Our friend DIR.
Ellis kindly furnished us team sno
sp.ing wagon and drove us out to exam
ioe the land. This is one of the best coun-
lies in the state for wheat growing. 1t il
rich, rolling prairie with
VERY DEEP BLACK LOAN,
and is destined to support an immense
population. Mr.. Henry, of Abilene. has
recently purchased a large tract in this
county for wheat raising. The people are
planting trees, and twenty years to come
this region will be studded tn forests.
The uplauds o. Kansas are better adapted
to wheat raising than the valleys, while
the valleys are better for corn. The couD-
try is rapidly filling up with sturdy intel
lIgent farmers who come TO find homes
and grow rich. And they will not be dis
appointed. No one can ioretell the mar
velous changes this country will undergo
In the next five years. Millions OF acres OF
uDcultiYated prairie will be transformed
into splendid farms and happy homes. 1t
is no exsggeration to say that this region
will speAdIIy become the great wheat field
of the Union. The Kansas Pacific road offers
the most favorable terms to land buyers
TDeir lands are in the market at from two
to six collars per acre, on SIX years time,
and ten per cent. of for Improvements.
At hugo, the traveller first comes in sight
of Pixies Peak, hundred miles away. 1t
looms up like great black specter with
its head lar above the clouds. From Hugo
on to Denver the country is
DESTITUTE OF WATER,
sor we have passed the rain belt. But an
telope and prairie dogs are numerous on
the plains, and along some small streams
one sees a vast herd of cattle guarded by
1 he rancnmen. It was a great relief to
quit this arid plain and enter the
valley OF the Platte, not far
Denver is a beautiful city; centrally located
under the mount aims, in the plains section
of the territory-bsg pardon Colorado
lsns, ye are a state nOw-tbe city has q fine
climate all the year. She is the gate to the
rich Clear creek and Black Hawk mining
districts, aud the principal market for all
TIRE agricul ural counties. From the streets
OF DsDvtrnDe sees a panaroma II mountain
scenery 100 miles long. The snow capped
peaks seem to kiss the sky. They
rise up In awful grandeur
If to remind the beholder of MS own
littleness. With all these advantages of
location, resources and scenery, Denver Is
destined to be one of the great inland cities
OF America. All the
MINING IN COLORADO
is up among the mountains, and good
roads have been built to all the mining re-
gions. To the northwest one leads up
Boulder creek, where rich mines are being
worked. Directly west Is the Clear creek
canon road passing through Gold City,
central Nevada, Idaho Springs, Fall River,
Georgetown and Empire; while south
west are roads across South Park,
to Hsmlton, Fair Play, Breckenridge. and
on to Del Norte and the San Juap couD-
try. The Denver and Rio Grande railroad
is completed to Ell Moro aud La Vets, and
branc1 will be pushed out from the lat
ter place to San Juan, the low famous sill
yer district. The mines OF Clear Creek and
Boulder counties are very rich, but the
miners have always worked with inferior
and inadequate smelling machinery
Happily this is now being remedied. /
visited the rich gold mines on Silver
mountain, near Empire, and have in my
pocket q nugget of gold which q miner
kindly washed out of Jew pans full OF
earth for me. One miner on
this mountain cleared sos, 900 in
one year by sluice mining-tnat Is,