Blount County democrat. [volume] (Maryville, Tenn.) 1879-1883, 1880-04-21
Thirty Years Ago.

EDITORS DESoCRAT; {. ~ g&@ |
In1S5Oihcre was not a wliicsether
from mdcpepdcpee,to sixty miles east
of Sacramento city, CAL, distance
of 2,lS0 miles, except snnll settle
tInent Of Mormons, at Salt TIakd,S that
had gone thcrcF two years before in
1S4S.A There were only two Forts on
the routc7T,Foit KcarnGy, and =, Fort
Laramie, both cast Of the Rocky
Mountains, and on the ,Hatt fiyerS r
J The tide of migration, nj 1850, was
the largest that eyer crossed the
Plains in one season it was put down
at50,mO. There was almost every
mode Of travel, from horse team to
that of wheel7barrow. An Irishmaii,
not being able TO make the usual out
fit, showed awbeel- barrow aH the way
to Sacramento City, distance, by the
wagon road, ,,of 2,2iO miles r. I -
Tn Utah there were two routos-thc
Southern, by Salt /, Lake, andE the
Northern, by Bear River and the
noted Soda Springs, gthshse BY fthe
suplct cutoff that formed a junction
again with the lSalt I AXE road, at Cas-
tie City Rocks. The northerp route
Oisitliclprcsent liposof the Central Pa
cific Railroad. When upon this route
-ohe,afIornoon, in June, 1885, we dis
covered something that looked like a
flag OH, titeshhhhit Of a. Very high
mountai south of us. That evening
wclrcachedRaft sllivcf Valley, and
concluded TO rest our horses for one
day. Mr.. Richard Owens, OF Green
.,coullty, No, and the writers got itihto
eouf heads tovisit the mountain that
boasted the fag;; on the following day.
BY sunrise the following morning We
had passed the lfoot-hilis and, began
the ascent. We toilcd up rugged
spur, covered with grease-wood ard
cactus, with a gorge upon either side.
Aswe, climbed higher and higher, the
gorge, or canons, grew, deeper and
deeper, until they finally Terminated
against abrupt overhanging cliffs.
Above this point the mountain was
cut into numerous rayines aud cones,
and was almost destitute Of rcgeta-
ton. When near the summit we sur
Prised large panther, which bounded
out of a ravine, stopping upon a acone
for all instant in apparent surprise, as
much as toysay, 'Tf wonder to what
race you beiongT but as / brought
down my rifle he. scampered off, max
ing wclcomeexit. We now reached
the summit, and as might have been
expected, some yankee had preceded
us, and had torn Off an important part
of his wearingeapparrcL mbd stuck il
on pole, thus Indicating Yfirst dis
covery." The flag-staff was neither
choke or ickry," but pine that had
been lugged from some gulch mics
below. 1t occurred to me that had
read of English exeiirsionists, when
about planting the English flag en- an
eminenee Of some lonely isle in the
tropics, had ,spicd yankee whistling
yankee-doodlc to the monkeys. He il
alwaysa little ahead, from the manu-
factufe of wooden nutmeg to thai
of patent medicines. 1t is a well
known fact that he is no woodsman
and'hov he got out here, in mountain
gorges and rock-walled canons, fifteer
or eighteen miles from, the road, and
return in safety was a mystery.
-91sThe scenery was wild and'romantic
mountains and gorges for miles in al
directions. Freemont's Peak, barely
bvisible in northeast direction. lifted
its snow-cappcd summit thirteel
thousand feet above the SNOW z line
Who could ,haYe, imagined that within
few years the, whistle of tlie locomo
tive wodld be heard 'inPthese wids
Bat such, was the fact. AS WEI hoC
approached the sumit3.from tn,
northwest, for thessal1c of variety o
scenery, we,eopclude,l 10 dcsdcbd. III,
rnorthslopc. We'left.ogr Yankee fla.
futtcripg. in the breeze, and descende,
lat0 a deep canon. = Willie viewing