, 1879-02-01
LETTER FROM CAPT. ARMSTRONG,
From the Golden stat to the ,,.,e, ,a,d

dences and nicely improved grounds, adorned
with shade trees that give it a rural appear
ance, altogether II conveys the idea. TO .
stranger, that 1t would be pleasant 20 liv
there. From there To Brooklyn. seven miles
the cottages are dotted SO closely that it il
almost continuous village. Thence t.
! Lathr"p, the railroad passes through an az
ricuitural country. Of TO the left. east. the
traveller sees range of hills, cultivated
nearly TO the summit, which reminded me OF
our Waila Wala country. At eight O'Clock
the train reaches Lathrop, eighty miles fro1i
: the bay. So Tar We have been on the Cea-
trail Pacific railroad Here passengers take
:. meal those bound TO the states pass on to
/ the <aot. We being bound for Arizona, con
tinued southerly on the Southern Pacific
! railroad, and soon took possession Of our
berths in the - sleeper" We reached the
depot, near Los Angeles. the next day about
IL 4 NJ The country through which We
had been spinning along did not impress HE
favorablv as an agricultural country The
window OF a railroad ear, moving at the rate
OF thirty miles an hour, Is not perhaps the
J best place from which to form 4 correct iuag-
ment, but grain, about twenty inches high,
with heads an inch long all standing straight
up, aud III condition to be harvested that is
rlpe-would not be considered good grain IN
oar country, and that is abont as 1t seemed
To me- The farms appear to be very large,
IN fact 1t may all he one farm, for there are
no fences. Nothing that looks like home
The houses are small without out buildings,
and have = desulate look about them, that
does not favorably impress Il stranger, or one
At any rate who Is accustomed to see barns
AMI sheds ut all farm houses The orchards
and lar famed beautiful fields and gardens
oi Los Angeles, are not visible from the
road or neither is the city. At the depot
there Is dirty eating house, some sheds for
cars and other bindings pertaining TO the
railroad but nothing to induce a person to
think that within mile or two is the re-
nowned semi tropical city of the Angels.
was 50 much disappointed in the whole ap-
pearance OF the country, that it wogla have
taken very little to have made mt believe
that Los Angeles was 4 myth. IL is there
though, because there are Los Angeles
oranges for sale at Yuma. From there to
Yuma the outlook FROM the cars IS dreary
indeed. Sand and the cactus abound to Such
an extent that there Is no room for anythin.
else. At the watering places, boys board
the tram with baskets ike fruit baskets,
that III any other country would contain
frult, bIt here it is horned frogs, lizards and
tarantr LIS they oiier you. | did not See any
Of the passengers eat any Of them. SO pos
S!biV they were not intended for lunch.
Yuma. which We reached next morning
fnr breakfast, is Oh the Colorado river, which
Is the dividing liEe between California and
Arizona On the right hauh of the river Is
Fort Yuma. The town and Qu2rteImaSterS
depot being OH the ARIZONA side. Yuma is
a cosmopolitan town, buiit of daObc5. 1t is
AZ the confluence of the Colorado and CHA
rr0noaucei Hcia-rircrS, and Is. II appear
ance Ike most Mexican towns that | have
seen. H"us 5 being one story with very
thick walls OF alobeS, which serve the pur-
pose Of exc!GIing the heat, which is said 90
he fearful IN the summer. Here is consid-
cradle forwarding business done at this point.
From Eerc the boats OF the Colorado Steam
Naviga ION company take their departure .or
the landings aOoye. AID the freight teams fGr
the military posts ard mining towns in the
southern l.art of Arizona, The inhabitants
comprise many different natIOnalItIcS, the
Mexican and Indian Predomin iting 1t Is
the first tine IN my waniermgS that have
beeu waited on at a table By Indians. Sras
CU!nftes indeed, naked except the breecl-
z 9th. 1t caGseS a Shudder, at irst, when
Strappiu" nased Indian hands you a cup Of
coffee, but the peculiar sensation wears of
or escapes with the perspirati0n- There are
good quarters, offices, stables, etc, at the
QuarteGmaSter depot, jHSt below the town.
Life Is endurahle under the wide piazzas and
shady verandaS Officers, whe have been
stationed there, get accustomed to the heat
and like the place as a station. As for the
writer, he wouid prefer residence On the
Alpowai or Pataha.
At : A. NJ, June l2th, we left the wharf
at Yuma on enc OF the Colorado Steam Navi-
CATION eompanys boats and steamed mp the
Colorado. The contrast between this river
and boats and the Columbia boats Is very
great. | have not time for an elaborate de
of scenery or boat, suffice it to say
that accommodations are poor, though the
officers are polite and obliging. There was
good stage nf water and far progress was
made by the boat The crew, like the wal
boat tied up at night We made i few
landings and discharged freight, machinery,
for mines back from the river.
At one landing there WAS white woman
who immediately joined some ladies who
were on the boat. She was very hungry
for white woman to talk to said she had /
not such pleasure for months. One OF the !
ladies with lis made her happy by presenting /
her with copy of HarporS Basar. On the /.
of the Sd, We arrived at the point !
of debarkation, Ehreuberg. More Indians. /
Mexicans, cactus, sand and granite rock. \ |
more desolate, uninvIcing place cannot be !
after reading Mark TwainS /
description of the Holy Land Avery short !
stav sutiiced here. The smallpox was rag
inc too, but we did not appear to think /
much of it. Everything was So uneomfOrt- /
able that :; little smallpox, more or less, did /
not amount 10 much One lady who came /
up the river with us took 1t, and has died /
since. 1t was sad case. She had just 4
arrived from San Antonio, Texas, with two /
little children. She came 10 join her hus-
band
Taking land transportation here, We pro-
,eeded that day to ''Tysons We'll, a dis
,ance of twenty-five miles, where We pitched
,ur first tent, and lighted our first camp iire-
viii tell You now about these wells on the
leserts. 1t Is only by digging wells from
me 20 three hundred feet deep that water
an be had. Ii is raised by horse power
generally pule-and sold at 50 barrel or
= cents an animal, horse or muie. These
stations on the desert are substantially built
# adobe, and as it is not possible Ter traye-
ers to avoid them, they are profitable 10 the
,roprietors. Water and forage are sold to
rav.lers, water at the price stated Hay
md rrain at from cents TO 10 ce?ts a pound.
rbe water comes to the surface from depth
+ three hundred feet, too warm TO drink.
|, vessel called an cola pronounced
lva-is used TO cool 1t and reduce 1t to a
lrinkable temperature. This is a porous,
arthen vessel, which is wrapped IN old
.ieces of woolen cloth, and is then suspended
$. cords In a shady nlace and the Clothes