The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1879-06-12
Letter from Colorado-No. l.

Letter from Colorado-No. /.
A GLANCE AT THE CoUNTRY-sHEEP AMI
CATTLE ACKNOWLEDGMENT &C.
Special Correspondence of the VIRGINIAN.
So many are turning toward the great new
West in search Of riches, as the Spaniards
of old pressed toward Peru and Mexico, Oh
seeking restorative for shattered 'constitu-
tions, as Ponce de Leon wandered south
ward for that tabled Fountain Of Youth,
| that we have determined to set down OH
impressions Of Colorado, during years res.
idence in the Centennial State.
The Old West ia West no longer. The
log-cabins on the prairie exist only in
books, and along the net work of railroads
which spread over the recently settled
States are towns and cities Of people who
breathe an atmosphere OF refinement
Dwellers on the Atlantic coast are practi-
cally as ignorant of this state of things as
that Englishman, entering Uncle Sans do
minions for the first time, who, as the steamer
glided to the New York pier, expressed to
his fellow-passengers his misgivings lest a
party Of Indians should be waiting on the
dock to scalp them.
Books, clothing and delicacies are as at
tainable here as at the East, with the differ
ence that one has to pay perhaps twice as
much for such as at home. But then, one
adopts loose ideas on the financial ques
ton in a State where the five-cent piece,
known Familiarity as ''mickel," is the
smallest coin in circulation. Alas, for the
delights OF Eastern childhood the ''penny
toys'' or sticks OF striped candy, s'two for a
cent? Probably, the essential difference be-
tween east and west lies in the fact that, By
am hours ride in Colorado, you can escape
from pianos, churches, water-works, schools,
and theatres, and reach some rancho where
a primitive style OF living exists, and be
as uncivilized as Cheyenne Indian, if it
so pleases you.
The nation is pressing westward, toward
the Golden gate, and between the wholly
civilized east and the orientally civilized
Californian West, lies the State Of Colorado.
Do you realize that she is as large as Old
England and New put together? Can you
believe that numbers Of freighters spend
their laborous lives in carrying goods, bac k
ard forth, back and forth, from Colorado
Springs, through Ute pass, ''followinga longer
road than that from Boston to Philadelphia,
and yet they do not go out of their own
State.''
Plenty of room here for all who wish to
come. The government DEGREES pre-emp
ton claim Of one hundred and sixty acres
with delicate acknowledgement Of Wo-
mans Rights, the same to every unmarried
woman over twenty-one years OF age.
The eastern part of Colorado comprises
great portion of the waste Of plains, where
the antelope, buffalo and Indian, lin their
pursuit. have roYed for years, more dedicat-
ed in some localities to the herds OF sheep
and cattle belonging to the settlers. The food
the cattle seek is the ''grama" or else the
ssbuffalo' grass-both very nutritious, brown
and withered as they appear. The plains
are the promoting cause Of one great indus
try OF Colorado-namely, stock-raising.-
Their surfaceis dotted with ranches, and
here the rancho men tend sheep and cattle.
The cattle are allowed to range over the
ridges and forage for themselves, unattend-
ed. year by year. At the end Of twelve
month, all the cattle within certain limit
are driven into large enclosure, called
roundup" They are gaunt with scanty
food during severe weather many die from
exposure and starvation), and fierce from
solitary wandering. Their masters, like
the Spanish picadores, dash mounted into
the ring, claim their old stock, brand the
new. and then the herd is free for another
year.
The method pursued with sheep is differ
ent. The flock goes out every day, in
charge of herder,w who selects their pasture,
leads them to the water courses, and brings
them back at night-fall to their corral. A
deep snow in spring Is expected by the
ranchemen. as matter of course, and woe
to the sheep then, il not safely housed
Sometimes the drifts overtake them even in
the corral, and the poor, silly creatures hud-
die together till the white-winding sheet
covers the masses of smothered flock
The wages OF herder are about $15 a
month. You can see these herders in sum-
mer, seated under their cotton umbrellas,
which spring up like gigantic mushrooms on
the slopes. Their shepherd dogs, shaggy
creatures, with long, pointed noses, and
ke,, hao nd aE ho
dense masses in search OF possible enemy,
while they look on with patriarchal gravity.
In winter the herder may be seen with ears
as c'osely wrapped as New England
schoolboy's, rubbing his frosted fingers and
stamping his chilled feet. Truly it is hard
work, with small pay. One must have a
clear conscience to be a herder How else
bear the SPECIFICS solitude Of the trackless
waste, day after day, land year after year? How
endure the monotony Of ceaseless plain and
boundless sky,-s'this everlasting face to
face with God.''
The rancheman finds his land and his wa.
ter ready for him. The latter is sometimes
unfit for use, flowing through adobe clay
and impregnated with alkali. Fer his stock
and his buildings he must pay. It is stated
that 900 capital is none too large for a
successful ''outft'' liz the stock business.
Forming the western boundary Of the
plains in Colorado, is the Denver and Rio
Grande Railroad; the narrow guage road
which can find foothold for its slender
track on mountain lodges, if need be. AT
| Pueblo, on the south, it connects with the
Atkinson, Topeka and Santa Fee Rail-
road, and at Denver it becomes the Denver
Pacific, and joins the Union Pacific on the
north at Cheyenne. Below Pueblo the Den
yer and Rio Grande is pressing on toward
those regions of Arizona and Mexico, whose
crumbling ruins, strange plants, and de,
graded inhabitants, the degenerate descen.
dants of Montezuma, seem like legendary
| J.oor, 70 rs ~, tba;r horlnre Sc exhia