Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1877-07-05
Letter from the Belmont Oregon
Party.

Letter from the Belmont Oregon
Party.
SHEEP RANCHE,
UNION COUNTY, OREGON,
--t-a June Is, 1877.
EDITOR BELMONT CHRONICLE
Dear Sir-Here / am, this beau
tiful morning, as per above-Sheep
Rancho, Union county o OregOn-which,
by the way, is in the midst of the
Blue Mountains, good distance above
the level of the sea. / intend to stop
here for few months, and l have
to give condensed history
OF our travels. Alter passing Chey-
enne We began to wind up the Rocky
Mountains; arrived at the summit
Sherman StatiOn-at dnIk Saturday
April z, then v tent " hiriing down the
other side. Sabbath we passed thro' o
rocky valley OF Overhanging rocks, &c;
passed Fort Steel. Monday we passed
through Echo and Webber Canyons,
Ixhick in their scenic beauty are sim
ply indescribable. Among the points
VI iutcEcce, l. VIII oihIPiy "Sn'iOn
Table Rock, DEVILS Slide, Devils
Gulch, Castle Rock, Pulpit Rock, and
1000 mile tree. We arrived at Ogden
at dusk, changed cars here on the Cen
traI. Pacific. -f-. rE.tr
The population OF Ogden is about
equally divided between Mormons
and Gentiles. After leaving Ogden,
we pissed through Snow Sheds, &C.,
but noticed nothiBg of importance un,
til we passed down Humboldt canyon,
and lof there was n. G.. Railroad,
which runs from the Palisades to the
Eureka mines, and Thought of home
The Palisades of the Humboldt are
two hundred feet high on either side
of the road.
Z We arrived at or very near the sum
mit of the Sierra Nevadas Thursday
evening, and did not get started dowr
until near morning. En- route we pass
ed through 40 miles of Snow Shed
rounded Cape Horn,' and slid down
to Colfax and stopped. And again
were my prodigal tho'ts turned back in
their fight to home. We have here 9
N. G.. Railroad, called Grass Valley
Nevada County Railroad. Arrived al
Sacramento at IL o'clock A. NJ, April
l3. There is a fine looking country
from the mountains down to this
place-everything looked as if it could
not be doing better; trees all clothed
with foliage; flowers blooming in pro
fusion; grain turning. and everything
looking lovely; and yet they say eve
rything is burnt up. If so, 1 should
like to see it when it is not. This part
of the country is pretty well settled
and improved.
( A. Henderson and myself stopped in
Sacramento, for day, and found II
as pleasant a city as ever one would
wish to get into. The streets are wide
well paved and shaded; and last but
not least-elean. They are so number
ed and lettered that any one can find
his way. Very fine State building and
Park here. We got aboard steamer
on the 14th, and glided down the
muddy river to the bay, which was
rough. Stopped at San Francisco un-
til the 10Th. Visited several points
of interest, such as U. s. Mint, Palace
Hotel, Woodward's Gardens, City
Park, Cliff House, &c, dc. This city
has some of as fine residences as there
are in the United States--such as those
of the President and Vice President OF
the G. p. Railroad, which are palaces
worthy nabob. We left on the 18th,
George Starkie, ANDREW Henderson
and myself, aboard the ocean steamer
Ajax, and sjax she was--a perfect old
tub. We had some 800 persons on
board, mostly emigrants. We had
pleasant ride until we passed the Bar
at the Golden Gate, and then-well-
In four days we landed for few hours
at Astoria, to deliver some freight and
80 or 40 Cinnamon, and then passed
up the Columbia to the Willamette,
and up to Portland, where we first SET
foot on the soil of Oregon, April 23d.
Staid in Portland one day; and then
went up the Columbia, on board small
steamer Oneida, to the Cascades, and
then for distance of five miles by rail,
where the river is not navigable, and
then aboard the steamer Idaho, and up
to the Dallas, where we stopped day
or two. Finally, the fun began; we
bought pony from the Big Brave, ad-
iusted our packs and started out to
take look ut the country, and you
may know we had sport. We often
wished we had some Of cur Belmont
county friends along to have share
of our enjoyment. Our journey lay
for the M ct part through CANYONS, and
up fertile valleys. This is principally
grazing country, and Il 9 hilisldes
and elevated prairie lands are dotted
with herds of sheep and cattle. We
passed through this, the northern pad
of Oregon, until we reached Birch
Creek, a tributary of the Umatila Riv-
er, at distance of about 60 miles south
of the Columbia. Here We met with
some trouble in the way of getting our
pony crippled by shot in the leg, so
that we had to leave hun, and take
our blankets, when we came to the
To make the matter
worse, ,one OF my pedal extremities gave
out, and we laid up for q few days.
however, we made out to climb the
and get into the Starkie
Rancho on the evening of May 10Th.
Mr.. John Starkie, the proprietor OF the
above Rancho, is brother to George
Stark ie, one of our number. -...
/ visited Camp Carson the 10th and
18th OF this month. 1t is the largest
gold diggings 10 Oregon, and is owned
by Senator Jones, of Nevada, and is
managed by the gentlemanly superin-
Mr.. Church, who tries to make
visitors feel at home, and succeeds.
i am only eight miles from the
mines now, and eighteen miles from
The Starkie Rancho, sixty miles from
he Postoffice, and have heard nothing
rom Ohio since l left. can say that l
.hink Oregon will suit me. AT some
uture time I will write you more III
agreeable. w. A. w.
Eight hundred Memnonites arrived
It Philadelphia, Friday night. from
Russia, emigrating to escape cOnscrip-
ion, and left to-day for various points
q Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri and
Western Pennsylvania.
Governor Hampton, Of South Caro-