The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1878-09-10
colorado
From Our Own Correspondent.
INTERESTING DESCRIPTION OF
DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE
STATE.
The Inhabitants--wonde Scenery
--Mining--Modes of Travel, Etc,

--m1n1nR -~mOuoS OF IEdV0AJ 1LCsB
ALAMosA, Colorado, Sept. 5th, 1878
You need not look for this town on any
maps, as the geographer has not yet re-
corded it; but you can fnd its where
abouts by looking on the map and finding
the Sangre de Christie range of the Rocky
Mountains. Just westnof the Spanish
Peaks, which are 1880 and 1870 feet
high, respectively, and which stand out by
themselves and do not belong to y other
range, you will 6nd 1.-THE upper waters Of
the Rio Grande river. % the south
bank of this river, nearly in the cente: of
level valley, probably 60 miles by 80 or
100 miles in extent, is this little 100 day
old" town, with about 200 houses. 1t is
the southern terminus Of the Denver &
Rio Grande r. R., which you know is q
narrow guage road, running north through
Pueblo to Denver $50 miles. The first Is
miles south Of Pueblo is through a barren
country, which seems to produce nothing
but q species of cactus and sage brush
Occasionally herds of cattle are seen in the
lower valleys where they can find vegeta-
ton enough to nibble at; in thesethey find
water; and the grasses must be very
nutritious as the cattle all look we'll The
country is settled by Mexicans, principally
who cultivate little land for their own
sustenance. Wherever they can irrigste
they raise good wheat, and they tell me a
superior quality OF wheat. Their method
OF threshing is very primitive, and must
have been handed down from olden times.
They clean off circular piece Of ground
four or five rods in diameter, according tC
the extent of their crop. beat it down hard
aud smooth, spread their grain evenly over
this space and then drive flock of sheep
on to the grain, and with a long whip
which they keep cracking necessarily
trundle the sheep around this space. They
occasionally stir up the straw and chat
with fork and repeat the sheep walk" I'M
I'll the grain is alIseperated. 1t they have
equally as primitive q way of cleaning
up" ! would suppose they pitch off the
straw aud let the chat blow away. None
of them have any barns to speak of and il
was long time before l could discover
their houses, and only did so by seeing
now aud then q womans black head and
occasionally children through openings il
whatI took to be shelter Tor the cattle
Along the railroad they take the ties
stand them on one end, plaster the cracks
with mud, cut hole for a door, one hole
seldom more, for a window, put on fla
roof, cover it with mud, put solitary boz
inside for general and particular furniture
(it answers for chairs dining table and 9
place to store the bed in day time) and
you have the habitation and household el-
fects of the poorer class of Mexican in
habitants. Here in the southern part OIL
the state there are sOme who are well e
do. Some are well educated, in
telligent, and hold majority of the loca
Offices. Their religion is principally
catholic their politics, for they all vote, il
with the side that sees them last. They
are vain of attention, they may know and
like candidate, but il be cosen't 90 among
them aud the other side does they viii
vote against him. These two southern
counties are largely republican as that side
has Largely seen these fellows just before
election and here the party has not the
reputation Of very large" moral ideas, OF
to be correct OF any morals at all Dom
mention this to any of my republican
friends as it might hurt their feelings &c
know the truth about their party in this
the centennial state. 4 .oaoala taTt1
Some of the houses, or might say most
OF the houses of these people, this does
not Include those Of the little railroad
towns, are called c'dobiesp from the
materialiused in their construction, more
than from the style Of their architecture.
They are'mads from adobe" brick. mud
and sand moulded say 4x6xl0 or II inches
10 size, baked In the sun and laid up with
mud Tor mortar. The house usually con-
tains one room l0xl2 feet and is furnished
very much after the same design as those
made from railroad ties. The towns are
filled with live shrewd trading people of, al
nations aud with tourists from ali parts 81
the world, The tramp nuisance is IN
known here, although there are q large
number OF idle people in the cities and
towns. Money is not plenty, yet business
Is mach better than in eastern cities,
The only thing 70 be seen Of importance
after leaving Denver is Pixies Peak, seven
teen miles from Colorado Springs and il
only looks tobe two or three miles away
They tells story there on an English maj
who Started out 70 walk over TO the hill
before breakfast. He tried it faithfully
He didn't reach the hill, but he got bacl
about O'Clock in the afternoon, remarkius
as they asked him f'how he enioye,
his morning walk that the blarste
ills were "a long way hoff. TIL
next day tho Englishman came .acros
one OF the little foot irrigation ditche
and sat down on the bank, took off hi
brogans and commenced TO roll up hi
pants. When asked what he was doin,
he told his experience of trying TO walk /
the hills hofore ahPenkfnak, and aid Wd;,