New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-07-30

IT,.
Silver Cliff the other day, speaking of his rea-
tons with his employers. "Tney always done
what's right by and 1 can't kick" ho added.
Aud this was said in way which showed that be
meant it.
WINS FROM THE STAGE BOX.
The road on leaving Canon City leads M at once
upon the arid foot-hils of tho Wet Mountain Tor
Greenhorn. as it is locally known range. sup
pose the buffalo or grass OF which the roots.
only, are now visible. Will spring up during the
rainy reason of this mouth and next, but now it
looks as though it were dead beyond all hopes Of
resurrection. The Only thing that really fourishes
IN this parched-up country is the cactus. and that
grows to perfection. They tell a story in Canon
City Of Mr. Rudd. one of the first ettlers of that
place, who, IN 1859. sat down on q cactus and
waited twenty minutes 10 get shot at a deer.
They say that it took two Of his friends twelve
hours to pull out the tnorns with tweezers and that
Mr. Rudd preferred to stand in company for a long
time after.
In an hour and half after starting we were over
the foothills and climbing the divide which at the
highest point has elevation of nearly 5000 feet,
or $500 feet above that OF Canon City. The views
from the foothills were enchanting. Cation City
sits Gu the edge of little park or ampItheatre
surrounded on all sides by mountains. The rail-
road from Pueblo comes IN through Canon and
that to Leadvlle fluids the only practicable way out
through tho ROYAL Gorge OF the Arkansas. which
surpasses in grandeur all other cafions the West
except that of the Colorado River North Of Can IN
CITY. apparently right at its door. hut really eigh
teen miles away, towers Signal Mountain with ITS
coDe-sbaped peak. This mountain. like many others
of Colorado, has been renamed by the Government
explorers and IS marked on the maps =" PisgalO
Peak" The Old name was much more appropriate
am ca no not oulV IA !tp
but also from the South Park and the peaks that
surround IT. The Ues therefore, established upon 1t
one of their telegraph stations, and the early pio
neers bound for Pixies Peak frequently from
their camps at night the signal fires OF the Indians
on the TOD Of this mountain. As we got well I'D CD
the foothills also, Pixies Peak itself that great
landmark Of Colorado which narrowly escaped
giving ts name to the State, reared its head above
the lesser hills that had before hidden it,.
But if the views from the fOot-hills enchant-
ing from the divide" up the steep zigzag road 10
which tor about fl teen hundred feet we were po-
htely requested 10 walk by Frank the driver. the
outlook was grand. We could see over the tops Of
the intervening mountains TO the east and far out
upon the plains beyond Pueblo, until it required
very little stretch of the imagiaation to see the
ocean bounded by the far distant horizon. while
Pixies Peak and the other peaks to the north
seemed to grow in height and grandeur with every
hundred ieet Of our ascent Tie plains looked like
one vast brownish yellow aud the mountains
between them ana were like gigantic bluffs
covered with struggling pine trees
Every road in the Rocky Mountains If you follow
it far enough, leads over some pass or divide or
through some canon. That from Canon City to
Silver Cliff does both. Oak Creek is ordinarily
little stream with hardly water enough in it to
Stake the thirst Of cattle and horses, but It has cut
their almost perpendicular sides in some places a
thousand or more feet high. These canous IN the
Rocky Mountains not like long narrow CORR
doris, but wind about in such a way that In riding
through them you TO be constantly shut IN
all sides by hills that IL would be impossible dbl
cult to scale. Occasionally the stream flows for
half mile a mile in a toleraby straight course,
and then It seems to dash itself against high
noun tain which apparently closes ~ the canon IN
that direction afording outlet for creek or road.
But when You to the foot of that mountain
you find that the little rll makes sharp turn about
It's base, while a few rods distant its new coarse
seems to be blocked By another insurmountable OBJ
stacle.
Generally the turns Of the stream frequent
that the traveller seems constantly to be shut in By
high mountain walls which cut off escape all
sides. At every bend, too. there is change in the
picture. Sometimes tue sides of the canon are al
most perpendicular walls OF bare rock. with few
shrubs cling ing to the crevices sometimes they look
Ike tue Palisades of the Hudson with a great ac-
cumulation of rock debris at their feet. Now they
are steep mountains whose sides are covered with
broken and gayly-colored rocks and whose feet are
bathed by the clear stream and again the sides re-
cede leaving a narrow fat bottom which cotton
wood trees grow. freiGhters make their camps at
night. and the keeper of a little waysde inn has
reared his log cabin.
THE APPROACH TO SILVER CLIFF.
Oak and Grape creeks are both tributaries Of the
Arkansas and are both equally wild and picturesque.
Both rise on the west side of the Wet Mountain
range and have forced their way through it, making
natural gateways. The stage road I have
already said, has been built through the former.
The Denver and Rio Grande Railway Company.
which stops at 10 obstacle and apparently afraid
of no grade or curve. is building its Silver Cliff
branch I'D the latter. Work has been in progress on
the lower end for several weeks, and since my ar
rival here the engineer of the company has estab-
sbed his camp Just below the town, and advertised
for 500 men and fifty teams to push the work of
grading on this end. In few months another of
the wonderful cons of this State will be accessible
TO tourists by rail- and another stage line will have
to be hauled OFT.
After leaving the canon the stage road comes out
upon the western foot hills Of the Wet Mountain
range five or SIX miles from Silver Cliff. and then
got my first of the Sangre de Crsto range,
which surpassed in grandeur and beauty any noun
tains have ever seen. shall any attempt
at description OF them for another letter. Though
nearly twenty miles distant from Silver Cliff and
koslta they much part of each the ground
on which 1t Is built-a never ending of in
spiration and pleasure.
he lie n.
storm was raging In the Inouna through which
We had lust passed. and in which there had been no
ram Tor many months. The heavens seemed to be
opened and the rain and hail poured forth In tor
rents few drops only reached Us, but an icy
wind swami down from the range. and a cloud hid