The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1878-04-06

! CrCstOn, u place oil no Importance cN'OP' w.
sage brush and alkali but like four.iifths Of the
towns down on the guide book, composed OF IL
water tank and telegraph shed, (which constitute
| the town.
Some mile, beyond ths station we come To
what is called the Growing Ridge, or b'rN
bone Of the Rocky Mountains"
| "What in God, name was this country made
| for" asked fellow traveller of another =
can't say, unless it wa, to hold the rest Of it to-
gcthcr," wa, the ready reply. THAT may be the
best reason for II, existence, and presume it Is
Of some Use after ALL" Indeed it is q wild region,
with no evidence Of vegetation whatever, and Il
in summer it should exist, it must be in q very
primitive state. But look at its wild and aston
ishing appearance, which seems to be the wreck
Of mountains nj distance and the shape Of re-
elining hills that have tumbled m
On We speed through this diversified region
for hundreds Of miles; and with few exceptions
it may be called dcsolate waste of drcary DESERT
with nothing Of much importance to be seen I'm,
til the wonderful regions of
GREEN RIVER
are reached, and here we are treated to another
dose Of those strange formations OF rocks whsh
are 50 often seen, and which have troubled sci
enttsts to understand. Here the bluffs rise per
pendicular for hundreds Of feet and arc OF various
colors and formations; and in all eases have
names which are characteristic and appropriate,
such rs THE Twin Sisters" Castle Rock"
Giants Club" Giants Teapot, =" "Thc Flam-
ing Gorge" and SO on. ! should say, however,
that their names are the most striking rcscm-
dances about them; but they are wonderful.
"Wdkc up John" said an old lady to her other
half" who was snoring loud and strong, here
is SOlomOn'S Temple pctricd;" and, saying so,
she gave him dig in the ribs which caused
him to cXclaim, Great Godn-whcthcr in his
establishment at the appearance of these wonders
of nature or the old woman's mode Of awakening
him ! will not say. From the formations and
strangely constructed appearance of these rocks
one would imagine that some great temples had
once stood here, and in the wreck OF time left
their gigantic pillars standing reminder of
their former greatness | am told that the Gu
riOus formation Of rocks which gives all this re-
gion its characteristic features bears the name of
the "Grccn River Sholcs." The sediments are
arranged in regular layers, mostly quite thin, but
varying from the thickness of knfc-blade to
several feet. These peculiar layers or band, are
quite varied in shades of color In some of the
thin slabs are thousands of impressions of fish,
sometimes a dozen or so within the compass Of
square foot.
It was at Green River we had our first meal
where they employ Cinnamon as walters, which,
Of course, was a novelty, especially rs "John's y
1. ,,, IL, Ia, Lot Ann fos
thought it, oh, awful. as they took the heathcn's
oycrcoat for an unmcntionablc. 1t was still more
amusing to have them tell what the bill Of fare
consisted of, something in this way
Iioastcc hcefcc roastcc lambcc,
CoIncc bccfcc, boilcc hain-ce.
"That heather Chinee is peculiar
ECHO CANYON.
"Hcrc nature seems to have finished her work
in the grandeur of omnpotcnt might" The deep
chasms, frowning cliffs and wonderful formations
which are seen within this canyon are something
of the unreal. have observed that there are three
things in nature which make man feel small
the ocean, with its ccaseless roar; the mighty
plains, in their solitude and with their sense of
loneliness; and the mountains, in their towering
greatness. thought had seen mountain great
ness in its sublimcst forms in other sections, but
the sublimity of Echo Canyon surpasses anything
and everything had ever seen before this; in
fact, all mountains and rock formations were
mere pgmies compared to this. Feelings of
overwhelming awe and wonder must possess the
soul Of all that see this majestic and incompara-
bic region! Here rock after rock rises in massive
ness and grandeur, colossal old Titans Of majestic
dimensions and sublimcly soaring submits and
perpendicular sides succeed each other for miles;
walls, solid and broken, walls of granite and
sandstone, and walls Of Il cOngomeratiOn of near
y all kinds Of stone, raise their massive sides for
hundreds of feet upward and shut out from our
vision, perhaps, something grandcr that lies be.
yond. 1t seems too bad that so much grandeur
should be confined i'm SO small space, and that
the constant succession of these scenes and OBJ
jccts of natural curiosity, which form the most
interesting ride ON earth, should be limited 10 n
few hours duration, and especially after spending
SO many days and nights ON drcary, dcsolatc and
barren plains. Among the thousands of wonder.
fully shaped rocks and formations which are seen
from the ear window, and which the railroad men
point out TO passengers rs the most interesting,
are Swallows Rest" Winged Rock" A" Kct-
tie Rock" witches Rock" Egyptian Tomb"
witches Bottles" pulpit Rock" etc. all Of
which resemble more or less subjects after which
they are named; rs, for instance Swallows
Rest" on account of the myriad- of swallows that
are to be seen around it, and To see it, rs the
boys say, "whcn the swallows homcward ly," is
something worth looking at Witches Rock"
reminds u, of those old hays that cut such fgsrcs
long ago. Pulpit Rock !, 50 called from its
resemblance TO an old fashioned pulpit. To give
anything like description Of thi, place is beyond
my power, and anything referring to points in
particular places does not give much Of an idea
Of what the place really il; ii must be seen to hc
understood But, as ~ sur7,v and most re-
markahlc section have ever seen. feel com
| PEELED To make some effort and thus Keep my
promise To the reader, of the TRADER.
! | should have stated az first that there are two