Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1877-11-06
OVER THE HILLS AND FAR lW4Y.

lor lhem wben opportunity snail be Afforded
OF ftastIpg on them.
From Washing ton to Chicago, and themes
to Couucil Bluffs, there Is little to see
that is not of nature familiar TO all trav-
elers. except the grand views along the line
OF the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad; but a.
that part of my journey was made in the
night they were hidden from me. AT
COUNCIL BLUFFS,
however, the real interest commences. Ar
irving there at ten O'CLOCK in the morning
we have view of the " q reat Mud ~" as II
makes its way along the path that IL mas
taken for to-day. which may be rods away
from the channel II will select for it's next
weeks ramble, so capricious and tickle is IL
in its choice OF a course. Here we leave the
elegant Pullman dining room aud parlor car
in which the Z, d N. w. Il. X. has trans
Ported us-the most cheerful as we'll as most
elegant and conior able in which have ever
tIaN eleO-and after waiting nearly al hour
for uansfer OF baggage, we hudtled into the
very AEabOy cars in which we are drawn
acTs So he grc at bridge 10 the depot OF the u
z X Il in Omaha, when anUlner trans far
takes place, and We are allowed an hour in
which 10 aJtDd To Weighing our btygage
paying AZ The rate of fifteen cents a pound
for ali over one hundred pounds, rechscktng
it. and setti ng ourselves in the Pullma,I
when i 10 ~ oar honA fO- Lhrs @ days w.
al able To eaten glimpse of the outski OF
Tins lev tIN, Win a ht-il tn its bus n *
- lbe "a 4 pOInJ for all expedition, %
1 e wet al'C north, in The Scoops for f,le saI,
Oi supi Les, and the knots of rough Looking
feamstt r. aud dTOvtrs standing about th.,,,
Here, JCo, &c numf rors t>kets ,st Ar. =,
Gee rpv eVesy nook and corner OF IN. palace
g can he replenished, for one OF the mos,
marked lrVUllarItjes of the Journey on witch
We are entering is its rCsem oiance to
PROTRa acted PICNIC.
AlmUSt every traveller has provided him.
self with t. capacious baske., in wuich are
slowed dishes, knives and FORKS, cans OF
meats, preserves, &c &c, which thrice daily
are to be unpacked and spread upon the
tables which the obliging porter aTralges,
and around which gs'her groups OF families
friends I "A : flr.fa-
bly, aud leisurely as at their own homes
Tho e who wish tea or coffee have that, TOO
hot and goo1, brought in the tn teapo.s TIA
We have seen hanging from the baskets, by
the porter, who buys IL, and for a very rea.-
sOr8ble price, at the lunch stations along the
road.
But while we are, in anticipation. provid-
ing for our subsistence on the Journey the
whistle sounds, the train starts, aud We Begin
the Ion asoeat by which, now gradually, bat
bye aUu BY almost ABRUPTLY, we are raised
TO an elevation mile and II half above the
friends we left behind US. Now We are hur-
ried along the rolling prairies OF Nebraska,
which afford little variety of Landscape, ey-
cept as occasionally the sinu0sities of the
shallow, sluggish Platte bring il near us, but
which towards evening are lighted by ffe-
queut flashes OF vivid sheet lightning, AMI
tie murky glow of distant prairie fires and
are glOrltied by a gorgeous sunset. We re-
tire to rest at an early hour, with boiings
of a disagreeable mOrrOw's ride through the
dust Of alkaline plains on which we then
we look ont of the car and the dim light of
early dawn shows us that nature has been
kindly anticipating our wishes and prevent
Ing the dreaded annoyance, by sending
heavy rain to lay the dust; and the sun sooa
rising drives away the lingering clouds aud
assures us of a fair day. The morning passes
with few scenes of special interest. Occa-
siOnally we see flock of antelopes standing
against the SKY on the hills a mile away. or
watch one bounding over the plain. We go
by prairie dog villages, deserted by all but
fx,vV
a solitary sentinel standing bolt-upright and
mOtioneSs At his post. Frequent trails well
worn through the grass show where but a
short time since the deer had been accus-
me rOus buffalo ticks remind us OF the count
less herds that but a few years ago held
Undisiurbet possession.
"JULEsBURG. "
When the conductor calls out 81 ulesbu-g
we call 70 mind the stories of violence and
crime that but yesterday had made this town
of 2 0C0 people a mOteru rival of ancient So
dom; and We look out to see their dilapidatei
shanties, which, with the railroad depot and
water tank that are said to form an average
city of Tie far west, make all that rem ms
OF the former "centef of Influence" With
the eX ensiOD OF the railroad the place lost
its Importance, and its Inhabitants pushed
onward in various directions, seeking new
tarTyiDg places which were TO be in turn
s.GaIdObec, ard taking with them the MAZE
rials of their houses, or leaving them TO de-
stTuctiOn. This is the history of many a
nom being on the frontier or the eenJer of a
mining region, but has been utterly deserted
as circumstances have changed.
a little after noon we stop az
CHEYENNE,
city of about 5000 Inhabitants, with some
fine brick buildings, and Wa Oh evidently is
TO be place of permanent and increasing
business Importance; soon after leaving
which we enter among the southern spurs Of
the Black Hills, which we see stretching
away towards the north, and we commence
that steep a cent that, taxing the energies of
two immense Locomotives to surmount, In
thrty-three miles raises us twenty two hum
dred feet, and at Sherman elevates US more
than eighty two hundred feet above the sea.
are gaining when we look down into the val
Ieys that OPEN under us In the north. Soon
appear the first of those grand or fantastic
form, here smoothly rounded, there rough
ard ragged, they rise from the plain or press
forward from the mountain side or summit.
Here are pyramids and columns OF enOrmOus
boulders SO smoothly cut and closely laid to-
sether that it is hard to believe them the
cha1 &c work of nature, some standing poised
fierce wind has not destroyed their equili-
br;um and hurled them down.
LARAMIE,
where the train stops at five O'Clock, is q
thriving city of 1000 population, with num-
Der Of elegant dwellings and fine stores. The
extensive piles of lumber indicate that q
large business is zone IN t0aJ Hue, ana dIl
the signs are OF prosperity. AS we again re-
sumo our Journey the western sky is iliu-
mined by the crimson and gold OF glorious
sunset, and soou the moon and stars come
forth with cleSTness which the denser air of
lower regions has never before permitted US
TO witness. The platforms are crowded
and The windows occupied by the passengers,
who ere absorbed in admiration or the won
6rous effects OF color and of light and shade
on clouds and mountains.
1T daybreak we find ourselves at the foot
or on the side OF high bluffs that rise from
one 70 twelve hundred feet above US, some
almost vertical, others gradually sloping;
but soon We come into q vast plain, hem ID
in by mountains on all sides, which show by
their structure that even they, high as they
now tower above the sea, have been the bed
Of an ocean, that has formed them, layer
after layer, by its deposits of gravel, sand
and clay, which form their strata, varying In
thickness from nauy feet to fractisn Of an
Inch. As far as the eye can reach no vegeta-
ton can be seen but the grayish green OF the
sage brush or the lighter green OF the. greese-
wood, which to the height of few inches
spring I'm clumps from the otherwise sterile
plains of alkali; and we journey b 1ndreis of
miles without seeing a dwelling, except
those erected at the stations for the employees
OF the ailrOad; yet there is little monOtony,
as the constantly varying contour of the hills
claims the interested attention, TO the neglect
S,f hal <n tf,ar 4, hpa hrnFI to yxi Ia