The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1877-07-20

over tho Alpine submits ffom Capital City
90 Omrny-The Gransiest Of Colorado
SCENERY Amidst Wonderful Deposits al
Mineral Wealth.
Especial Correspondence -. Louis Times.
OuRAy. Col. July 2.-The trip from
Capital City over the range 70 this place
Il one Of the most remarkable in all this
mining country. The distance il only 20
miles, hui nearly half OF that Il over
snow upon the range.
You get up By daylight at MERIT :
cabin about At timber line. and find the
little tream Of water sparkling with ice.
and after hasiy breakfas sci out so AZ
To get over before the snow becomes soft
enough 10 let you sink in, as in that case
you would 90 down waist deep or more
II every step. After crossing noun
tain torrent on log all covered with
ice, ON hands and knees. and climbing
for miles up 1igzag trail, you arrive
sea level, or nearly two miles and half
high. This scenery once seen is never
70 be forgotten. Not tree or bush or
blade Of grass, but dwarfcd and stunted
heritage, and no sign Of bird or animal,
save now and then snow-bird or the
chipmunk, while even the eagles fight
is far below, and the Rocky Mountain
sheep that delight to sport upon the
highest cliffs prefer the southern slope
until the snow Is gone. On every side.
both near and far, great granite peak
half buried in the snow rise up in dis
nal grandeur, while silence as Of death
Il all around
II Is as if one was above the ordinary
action of nature and even the bright
beaming sun seems powcrless 10 give
life. And your own heart nuiters tu-
multuously, and the mouth opens wide
70 catch the thin air as You hasten on
with weary step over frozen snow TO
reach land Of forests, flowers and
birds below. Thence downward, rs
though you never would get done de-
scending. along the sides ~ great noun
tains Of rock high overhead and dizzy
depths into which you care not to look
far below; thence upwards over pro-
jecting mountain spur, thence down
wards where you can scarcely stand and
across mountain torrent as white in
foam as Niagara below the falls, and
then, footsore. faint and weary, find
yourself in the little new town Of Ouray.
Every thing j. new; scarcely house
more than a few months old and hardly
one completed Every thing il activity
and life; every body seems satisfied that
a rich harvest of wealth is hid away in
those nightly mountains. The climate.
too, conduces To energy and activity
The town il shut in by Snow-clad noun
tains on every side but the northwest,
50 that the air is always cool. and al
night the more blankets You have the
better YOU sleep.
Whether the hopes that are built
upon the treasures in the mines will be
realized or not. remains 10 be seen. but
there Is no doubt that treasures of silver
and other metals are found here.
Labor. time and capital. however. must
be expended before these treasures can
he possessed. One man finds a vein
and sells il for ten thousand dollars.
and another for ten times ten thousand.
and another spends his bottom dollar
for flour At fifteen cents per pouxd and
other things IN proportion, and gets
away as best he can without a mine
that he can sell for shilling or that
viii pay him % work. and blesses the
mines inyersely. Five or ten miles be-
low there i beautiful valley. valuable
fur farming BY irrigating and almost
absolutely necessary TO supply this place
with food, but most Of il i IN Indian
reservation and the settlers are notified
~ the Secretary Of the interior 10 leave
by the first of October. u which they
think very hard. especially rs the
Indians put Il % no properTe. Beyond
this valley and westward the country
opens out into rolling lands and table
lands and extension valleys. till You
reach the mountains of Southern Utah,
some two hundred and iifty miles distant.
Wagons make the trip there and back
for Hour. dried fruits and other things in
the fall ~ the year. when tn rivers can
be crossed. and return IN forty days.
buying Hour At five dollars per barrel
and selling IL here AZ twenty-five. This
y an excellent country for tourists
there are several valuable hot mineral
springs here and any amonnt Of winter
in-summer on the ranges, and bear hunt
M, and trout fishing, and cascades aud
peaks and skies as Of Switzerland, and
water rs from melting SHOWS Of Mount
olympus, and cactus blooming in the
crevices Of rocks and wild flowers
forcing up through snow b bloom, and
much 70 make life happy.
PAIL BAGLEr.