Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1880-09-12
WESTWARD no!
From Kansas to Colorado in July,
1880.
Extract from a Private Letter.

Extract from Private Letter.
The novelty of travliDg through coun
try one had never seen before is not felt
before arriving at Kansas city. You have
seen cities handsomer and agricultural re-
giOns as good up to that point. Thence to
Denver you travel six or seven hundred
miles across the plains, and four-flfths of
that distance is a tree less, parche and bar
rem vase, in wh CD few people exist and
none live comfortably. Both Kansas and
Colorado, on..the plains. have been burned
| by the drouth and heat. The short ''ouffa>
oil grass" that formerly supported the wild
herds, and recently thecattie of the ranch
men, looks for hundreds of miles, as if dead
and now here does 1t flourish. For over q
( hundred miles, from Kansas city to Topeka
and mucn of the way from Topeka to It.
Mary's, as the Kansas Pacific railroad
winds along by the river at an almost
good corn. But eastern North Carolina
has plenty of better corn land. and would
far rather go there TO We as a matter of
comfort and health. West of st. Mary's
the wilderness of waste begins and cheer
| less regions. At the railway stations,
whence cattle, hides and bones are shipped,
| are some railroad buildings, few poor.
| looking cottages Occasionally a pie SAINT
| little onel and some loungers as hard
| looking as the poorest southern town can
| supply. At intervals on the plains, and
always near the stations, you see the dug
outs" in which many .ranchmen and labor
srs make their homes for the SHOWS are
often heavy, the winter winds are terrible,
| and the safest, as we'll as the warmest house
is in the ground. The soil is dry, and being
IN no danger of =g being
flooded. the settler digs a hole in the ground
| to suit his wants as to size, boards up the
sides or covers them with skins. and sup
port the roofs by ridge pole from which
there is slope from the center to each side,
the roof being made of boards, or poles,
and often covered by earth or skins to
make it waterproof. An inclined plane
leads to the doorway; the chimney is q
stovepipe projecting. through the roof
Sometimes you will see an elegant and
stylish 'dug-out!' The logs are three or
four feet above the ground, nicely squared
and the cracks filed with mortar; on each
side appears small glass window, quite
large enough for light and ventilation, the
front is actually weatb efboarded and finish
ed off eel =, in few cases succeed, but IN
more the adobe" or ''mut brick" is tue
material used, and the roof is fairly
shingledl Il seem. to me even the poor
white of the south leads q less cherries
life. In the corn country We see some log
and slab cabins, and above the villages
and towns there are more; and there are
also to be found the darkeys of he exodus,
every one of whom has wished, or soon
will wish, for the more hOspitsb.e climate
left behind.
We reached Denver ten or twelve miles
east of the foothills Of the Rocky noun.
LaIns, dusty and dirty as ever travellers
we g seen, and here W found "a Young and
thrifty well-builL town, into and out o.
Whic daily four hundreds of tourists
merc hants, traders miners and spectators
who radiate thence in every direction
Hence we were able to battle and lodge
;OmfortablS, an the next day took the
Colorado Central railroad for q ntrSl city,
forty miles distant. As we have approach
I'd Denver the day before, we saw thu
RockymOuntsins as tar rs sight. wOulC
AIRY, north aud south, and as we headeC
into them the more distant were many .
them capped with snow.
The Colorado Central goes out of Denve
clrcuItously, and then started across tn
plains stasght for the foot hills. The nigh
IN ID nver had been warm, the morning
sultry, cloudy and gloomy, portendlnI
raini nut boxing nerLhwestward; we Sal
that the sun hitherto unseen by use
was pouring food of light upon the far
|, of snow laden mountains that rose up an
TIL their peaks were lost in the fleecy cloud
, floating about and above them. The seen
/ was sublime, Il required no immaginstio
= to see-indeed &c was vel nighsimposib
IL fail to sea beautiful city set upOn hills
u the streets seemed liquid silver, bordere
by places of white marble, castles of graf
tie and broad mansions of dark stone. a
occasional summit, sinstead of being
palace of royal size, wa q fortress, SUI
FUNDED by lines of intrenchment ready
y sweep to the. falds below. 1t was til
i grandest sight L ever W, and / was sorr
p when our approach to the, foot nils" silt
l. 1t out. These, hs we approached, wer
nearly BARE, heavily AIMED and furrowe
D. By time, dark and forbidding. We woun
. among and up there into Golden fourteen
1 miles ON Denver, and saw no more snow
Golden q little railroad and ore-minin
town; nesting in the.valley and on the side
e of the hills just before you enter the Rock
~ les. Thence We climb by varying grade
into the mountains. following the serpen
tine course of the Clear creek, which d.
, sends from above Central city. 1t is sal
= that formerly the creek was really ceal
\. and full of trout. Now 1t is almost q she'
of liquid mud, because of the mines, mil
and Riuch washings above and along II.
Soon after leaving Golden it began to raj
and we reached Cenral city in heav
rain, The way up was grand in ruggt
scenery. Above and behind Us the mou
3 tains seemed ever ready to fail in ar
crush us, but we crept on and up in safet
Constantly the thought was in my min
! | Truly these ARE the everlasting hill
built by the great architect upon the roc
of the ages.M r8
:, The heaviest grade is to be seen betwe,
"a Black Hawk and Cestral city. At o.
point the engine has to back the train
heavy grade to point like the dov
str Ike 10 letter n, and then agsin pull
M TO this place, which is 8, 800 feet abo
sea level. The airline distacce OF j.
about one mile is made four miles by !
nd railroad. Yesterday I went to mine thr
miles distant and crossed a mountain
- 7 o feet high. Tn $ is the rainy season
here. 1t began two weeks ago, and twi
in the time heavy falls of hail have occr
red. There is RAJ ely whole day witho
sun at some time thou yesterday "
one. The rain is not cont huous, but t
roads and streets are bad, and it will rs
'!y more or less for four weeks more, q
AZ Int rivals until snow falls ineSeptemb
Ill IN less than two months snow will CO,
IA Tue Mountains. There is fire every eve
4 ing the Year round in tove in the no
l. situng-room, is one there now was one
q gay yesterday and last night, in mid
] slept under four blankets. / have sc
- no place in Colorado or kansas for viii
n. | would exchange eastern Virginia
Va North Car lima, not to mention oil
- southern states with which I am not
~ quainted.
.. PERSONAL Should this meet I