Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1880-06-24

lifted oil the track. Others asked
whether the locomotive would be
thrown off first, the rear cars or the
middle cars. A cattle man was
aboard and he told the unexperi-
enced to keep their seats, that such a
squall would hardly furnish sensa-
tional line for the newspapers. But
our strong and faithful iron horse
knew his business With the eye of
a Cyclops he peered through the
darkness, still ascending onward and
upward, for when he reaches the
mountain beyond, he will be above
the storms that now threaten to dart
him from his track. 1t was a great
relief even to the cattle man when
we became sensible the hurricane
was weakening. Oar windows had
all been closed securely. Some one
opened the shutters. "Look out here!
look out here p / threw open my
window and a more brilliant star-lit
sky | had never seen. The storm
had swung round the circle north of
US. The elements had been in com.
motion for two days and what fright.
ened US, as we afterwards learned,
was a destructive and fatal cyclone
in Iowa. As you approach the
mountains, although the wind blow
eth where it listeth, the cattle men
say there are no destructive hurri-
canes. In the morning of the 18th
of June, we had reached region
still unvisited by rain. Here are the
great Laramie plains-the horizon
has vanished. Long fiat topped ele-
vations end abruptly, square as
bricks. Boulders tumble from their
ends and sides. Some miles back
we saw the bed of the Platte, red as
paint, one.half mile broad. No wat
er,except three or four silver colored
brooks not larger than flows from
the Lancaster big spring, were curl,
ing Enthusiastically through the soft
mud. The earthly matter is hue but
the debris from the mountains, gray.
Ell, red clay and an impalpable dust.
But Woe to the herdmau and his
sheep, horses and cattle. No rain
has visited those vast plains since
last summer not square foot of
green vegetation can be seen for
leagues. The buffalo grass of last
year appears over the surface like o
dirt colored covering of moss, or
short wool. The eye seeks in vain
for tree, shrub or oasis covered
with green. The picture of barren
moss and sterility is awful. But take
out your field glass and far off you
will spy the tents of the herdsmen,
and feeding around thsm you see
large droyes of cattle, sometimes
mules or sheep. What rowing, un.
social life, to sit upon the sharp edge
OF the horizon if there be such lin,
it. Your Importance here is meas.
ured by the number of cattle you
own. Among the cattle lords aboard
OF the train was a Mrs. Sullivan who
had herds in Utah and Idaho. She
wore a dark, sun,burnt face, gray
quick eye and denounced Nebraska,
polygamy,women suffrage and sheep.
Her fellow herdsmen seemed to re-.
spect her opinions. She claimed that
herding had been woman's forte
since patriarchal times. She gave
the names of three female herders
who had made of the business a great
success. They seemed to be alarmed
about the future. What would be-
come of their immense herds next
winter. They estimated that 100000
head of cattle would be driven from
Oregon and sold on the Union Pacit.
lc for the eastern market.
But we have now reached Chey.
enne,a sort of Palmyra in the desert.
Here is general rendezvous of
United States troops. Here after
twenty minutes our train started to-
wards the mountain passes for Cali
fornia. We left it and in an hour
we took the southern branch to Den
yer, and we saw the Rocky noun
tains rising one after another to sa-
lutte US as we swept over the bound
less but barren plain. Will write
again. M.