The Wichita city eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1872-1883, 1876-03-30
From the Walnut Valley Times.
A Trip to the Mountains.


On the first day of June, 1880, our Oldest broth
er, who is now editor of the Wichita EAGLE. and
ourself, loaded wagon with thirty-fve hundred
pounds of -four, bacon, sugar, coffee, and such
like hitched three yoke of cattle to it, and START
ed from Emporia to Pixies Peak to dig gold. we
struck the old Santa Fe road at Council Grove,
where we boughta ''skillet' OF NJ Conn, ana
started our long and tedious journey across The
plains. 1t took thirty days to make the trip to
the foot of Pixies Peak. We passed directly up
the Arkansas Valley to the mouth Of the Foun-
taine Boulle, where the city of Pueblo now
stands. We followed up this latter stream to the
soda springs. now called Msnitou, where we en-
camped. our brother being the cook made some
soda biscuit from the water.
Two weeks ago, in company with our wife and
sister, we made the entire trip In fur days, the
actual travelling time being fifty hours.
In 1850 We camped out, shot buffalo, jack rab-
its and antelope. We Travelled with a jolly crowd
and thought we did big thing TO cross the plains
and reurn home inside of four months.
In Is.G we made the trip in Pullman Palace
car over one of the best lines of railroad on the
continent
In lsG0 the Great American Desert commenced
four miles west of Council Grove and continued
without intermission to the very foot of the noun
tains No man at that day and age Of the world ex-
pected to live to see railroad built across this
desert But we shall not theorize. Being some
what of a practical turn OF mind, we will en-
deavor to discuss this country we found it on
our last trip.
Leaving Emporis, we rapidly pass out of the
blue limestone formation, into the magnetism
belt which is about forty miles wide. Between
Florence and Peabody We enter new formation
resembling very much the soil of Delaware. Two
hundred miles west of Hutchinson the uplsnds
are not near SO good as the lands in the eastern
portion OF the State, but the Arkansas Valley
land is all good. From Hutchinson west, we find
untold millions Of acres of as good wheat land as
can be found ON the continent. Within the next
ten years this valley will prove to be one of the
greatest wheat producing countries known to the
world.
II is well known that Southern Colorado con-
tains millions of acres of bituminons coal, noun
tains Of iron ore, and exhaustless beds of cop
per, silver and gold. There is no longer any
doubt of this.
The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Road will,
within the next five years carry into these mines
a half million of people, large majority of
in mining and manufacturing.
The agricultural lands in Colorado being con-
fined exclusively to the valleys, it is fair TO pre-
sumo that Southwestern Kansas will be called
upon for pork, flour, potatoes, butter, eggs, corn,
hay and vegetables to supply these mining dis
tricts.
Taking everything into consideration, it seems
TO us that good farm, well cultivated, in this
portion of our State, will yield an income equal
to gold mine for the next ten years to come.
We cannot for the life of us see why these mines
not going TO furnish TO our people one of the
best markets in the world for everything that
grows out of the ground Corn is worth two
cents per pound and hay $50 per ton there now;
the demand, OF course, being limited.
The six to twelve passenger coach loads of peo-
pie going into the mountains with every train 60
ing west, wall soon solve the problem of mar
ket Tor the products of this country.
Within the next five years the mountains Of
Southern Colorado will become summer resort
of national importance; and this too will add
much TO the value OF this line of road as well as
creating an additional demand for the agricultur-
al products of Southwestern Kansas.
Our tip to the mountains in company with the
Kansas Legislature and numerous editors, was a
most pleasant on. No man should be set down
as having travelled, unil he ms seen the Rocky
Mountains.