The Van Buren press., 1878-05-07
Trip to Colorado and New Mexico and
what was Seen.

I T.
say, in your last issue, that you expect
, cd sketch of our western trip from me
| will cndeavor to give brief and unbl
, ased account of it. Through the excel
lent arrangement of Supt. Hartman, O.
, our railroad, we were enabled to reacl
! st. Louis few minutes over "a hours
, We spent u day in ST. Louis, and left Oh
the Missouri Pacific, for Kansas City-a
busy city, with promising future, too
} and we, Of Van Buren,, hope, at no dis
tant day, to be in more direct commune
cation with it, when we shall have com,
pletcd our contemplated Joplin railroad
At Kansas City we found it alive with
emigrants, westward bound. AS many
as 1000, | presume n greater portion
were going to the "wheat belt of Kan
sas, along the line of the Atkinson, To
pcka and Santa Fe railroad. 1t requir-
ed two trains to carry them, and our train
consisted of thirteen coaches, "paclled
and iammed."
We steamed out from Kansas City,
about noon, and passed over large
portion of Kansas, in daylight, passing
through the pretty cities Of Lawrence,
Topeka and Emporia, striking our own
Arkansas river at Hutchinson, Kansas.
We travelled up it to Pueblo, Colorado.
At this place it is very small, and the
city is on both sides Of it. From here
we went south over the Denver and
Rio Grande railroad to within twelve
miles of the New Mexico. line, where
we took Wagon, kindly rendered us
by Senator Dorsey. We crossed the
Ration Mt, lying between Colorado and
New Mexico, and found laborers vigor.
ously at work on the line of our travel
of both the A. 7. and Santa Fe railroad
and the d. Il Rio g. railroad. This RIA.
ton pass being the only desirable, prac
ticablc place to cross south into New
Mexico, and it was at this place that the
attaches Of the A. L. & S. f. railroad
took possession of at midnight, and went
to work in order to get possession of al
the desirable points along the line of the
road. The D.& Rio G. railroad was not at
all discouraged by the advantages thus OBJ
tanned over it, but went to work and both
roads are being pushed forward to com,
pletiou, side by side. New Mexico has no
railroads, at present, within her bor-
ders, and the first one reaching it is, by
legislative enactment, exempt from tax
alton for period Of II years. Although
New Mexico has no railroads, am sat.
istied it mW have, i'll ten years, more
miles than Arkansas. We saw our first
"adobes" in Colorado, and | think there
/ is Il greater contrast in this kind O
dwelling houses, than those made of any
other kind of material, from the fac
that some Of the most insignificant hou
ses | ever saw, were made of mud, tavo
ring mudhonses made by small children
but on u larger scale while, on tn,
other hand, some Of the prettiest dwell
i lighthouses and business-houses were
/" adobes." The adobes" belonging tc
ranchmon were generally one story higl
and square, and present a poor appear
from without, but cozy and tidy within
They arc warm in winter and cool in sum
mer; cool in summer, from the fact tina
the walls are thick so that the heat doe
not penetrate, and warm in winter, be
cause the cold does not penetrate. W
were on Senator Dorsey's grant, at hi
two ranches, at Apache and Chic,
Springs. At the latter place he is havin.
a beautiful dwelling house built, which
when completed, will be the finest il
northern New Mexico. Mr.. Dorsey ha
about 5000 head of cattle the create
portion were not at the rancho, but vii
be driven up from Fort Elliott, thi
Spring. We passed through severa
towns of note in New Mexico some o
them, think, will be towns of conside
rablc importance in the not distant FL
ture. Santa Fe is an old Mexican tow
of 5000 or 5000 inhabitants, and | thin
never will be much larger. Many ricl
: MeXicans reside at this place, and Their
, are some few good buildings. Los We
gas and Albuquerque, | think, will b
good points in the future, and there vii
| be good town in northern New Mex
co, at the point whore the A. 7. IS.
railroad crosses the Vernejo river (cree
what citizens of New Mexico and Co
orado call rivers we would call creeks
SO much for towns. Now as to Colora
do and New Mexico, for other purposes
As to health, no better place in the worlc
can be found for consumptivcs. The al
titude is so extraordinarily over 100
feet above the level of the sea-that tn
atmosphere is pure and bracing. On
? can see with great distinctncss, with tn
naked eye, objects over 100 miles dis
tant.
l say it is good place for consumT