The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1876-05-04
TEE FAR WEST.
Valley of the Arkansas-Prairie Railroads
MISUNDERSTANDING Up" the Cattle-Silip-
ments of Beef to New York.
Correspondence of the N. Y. Tribune

ments of Beef to New York.
Correspondence Of the N. Y. Tribune.7
COLORADO SPRINGS, April "a. - That
the new railroads of the Far West are,
as rule, better equipped than the old
ones OF the East can not be denied.
Standing, the other morning, in Kansas
City, on the Missouri River, surrounded
by the trains of ten distinct roads, all
comparatively new, was surprised to
find them furnished with every we'll
established device tending to lessen the
danger and increase the comfort of rail
way travel.
Experience will demonstrate that the
actual annoyances, the jar and clatter
and crash, the insufficient accommoda-
tions and general air of stufiiness, all
cease as soon as the open prairie coun-
try is reached and the sharp curves and
deep rock cuts OF the Alleghanies have
been left behind. Repeated trips over
various transcontinental roads enable
me to make just comparisons, and it is
certainly true that for beauty of sur
roundings, wealth OF resources and ex-
tent of cultivation, no route to Southern
Colorado, the cattle ranges OF the South
west, and the mineral deposits of the.
San Juan country and Arizona, is COM
parable with this, which winds so peas.
dnLly DufOuRu Uu6 bWO MO6t l6Ttlle VAL
Ieys of The Western plains.
In vain l try to recall which of the
twenty pretty little towns scattered
along the line south of Topeka boasts
the biggist brick church or the most
fiourishing school-house. The country
bristles with these evidences of ciyiliza-
tion. Dropped suddenly from some
passing cloud (after the fashion OF flesh
in Kentucky OF from an escaped balloon
into the center of one of these spruce ill
tie towns, the bewildered traveller would
be at loss TO determine whether he
had landed in New England village or
an embryo city OF the plains. The neat
ness and thrift OF his immediate
surroundings would certainly sug-
gest the former, and not till the eve.
wandering to the horizon, had traversed
the limitless expanse OF alluvial bot
toms fanked by rolling stretches of
grassy upland prairie, dotted with the
homes of pioneers and iecked with
fields of waving grain. Wnnld ha fully
sesiiae 'IIis ,wnersa6outs. 1t is difficu Ii
to understand how the worn soil OF the
Middle States can long compete in pro-
ductiveness with the loan of this south
ern section of Kansas. Industry and
constant attention are, however, as
requisite here as elsewhere. The farm.
er who comes here and, finding that ma
ture has cleared his land ready for the
plow, grumbles because Providence has
not turned up the sod aud built his
fences, is no more likely to succeed here
than in less favored localities.
At Hutchinson, one hundred and sew
enty miles south OF Topeka, we entered
the great Valley of the Arkansas, four
hundred miles east Of Pueblo, Less
Than five years ago this portion OF the
country was wholly given over to the
buffalo and the savage. Only the most
fearless cattle-herder then dared to 10.
cate his ranch and pursue his occupa-
tion beyond the immediate protection Of
the frontier line o.. forts. Now all is
changed. The farmer peacefully tilIs
the soil and the soldier eats the bread of
idleness. Game is still abundant
enough to tempt the sportsman, and we
saw plenty OF Buffalo. antelope, and
wild fowl. The Indian has sought an.
other hunting-ground, and the Western
Valley Of the Arkansas is reclaimed ior
civilization. se9fH i1
Regarded merely as river the Upper
Arkansas is far from attractive. TAough
it drains an enormous extent OF terri
tory, and is fed by innumerable minor
streams, It is shallow and turgid, filled
with unsightly sand islands and shifting
bars. gnis is due in a great measure to
the constant absorption of its waters by
the soil Of its borders. Thanks to an i'm.
pervious subsoil stratum the moisture
penetrates the bottoms for miles on
either side, and is retained during the
dryest seasons. as in an underlying
reservoir. The system OF irrigatins
bitches which renders possible the culLi-
walton OF the uplands OF Colorado IL first
met with here. y
The ditch 10 begun at higher point OF
the river, advantage is taken Of the fall
OF the river bed, and the water 10 LED
back often for several miles along the
line Of the bluff, whence IT is spread
loyer the grain lslds as oceAaion may re-