The Emporia weekly news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1881-1889, 1881-08-11
SIGHTS IN COLORADO.
An E:mPOrIa Tourist Among the Mount
aims OF the Centennial State.

HrleliY outline some incidents OF m
Colorado trip. Leaving Buena Vista Oh
the evening Of the 24th ult., droppet
down to South Arkansas on the ID. & r
g. road ,ninety-seven miles above Pueblo
Next morning took mixed train 70
PonchO Springs. Marshal Pass, Shirley
and Sargent. Shirley was for a time
the terminus nf the road, aud grew M
like Jonah's gourd, though hardly a.
useful. The buildings were all tents
Soon as the track was laid to and an of
fee opened at Sargent, forty-three mile:
west from South Arkansas, everything
Dut tie saloons were moved. The NOV
ing Of all these could not be tolerated
no matter how imperative the demands
of business. 1t seems remarkable that
in a country of such high attitudes
where intoxicants so easily affect one
and where the ever-changing scenery,
conditions and impulses furnish an IN
natural stimulus, that the artificial
should be SO eagerly sought, but SO it is.
There is more drinking TO the square
inch than in the most famed parts of
Missouri.
At Sargent you see conventional
stageg of long ago, ready TO pack in
zone more" and several children beside,
II, perchance, the little ones are on.the
roads This Sargent is the 5edlO ideal of
n frottier town. One building Contain
ing tents) is a dance house with bar,
the 9ext a saloon proper, the next a
boarding house with whisky, etc., and
then repeat In front of each or nearly
so. ybu see negligently Longing and
chatting, the nymph da pare of the
= far west. They all wear either the
jockey or broad brim felt hat of the
male persuasion. Did they take that
fashion of us, or We from them?
From Sargent to Gunnison, 80 miles
away, you are buried in one cloud of
sand. For time you mentally protest
speaking under the circumstances is
impracticable-then you ardently pray
for the hour when your traditional
peck of dirt shall have been absorbed
or consumed aHd the account squared.
Those who, like myself, had to make this
return trip, left indebted TO mother
earth in one real estate transaction.
Nomatter what time of day you reach
Gunnison you can't leave till the next
mosnsng, and then you can take your
choice of a dozen stages. l went north
, from Gunnison up the Gunnison River
10 It's source, being the confluence of
Taylor and East rivers. All the streams
ia that section are beautiful and clear
and cold, with a rocky bottom and hour
ly ed from springs and melting SHOWS.
AT Crested Butte, 90 miles north from
Gunnison, you stop for dinner, and it Is
no. misnomer, for you get splendid
meal gotten up and spread on in all the
style Of the cuisine art, by Mrs. FlunO,
formerly OF the Fifth Avenue, at Topeka,
who is equal to the occasion; while Mr.
Flauo runs the railroad eating house at
Albuquerque, N. NJ. Crested Butte takes
its name from a mountain, on the ex-
treme top of which the L. S. Surveyor
has flag for observation.
That country has a reputation for
snow falls. Mrs. FlunO assured me
that when she returned the last of May
no stage could get through. and she made
the last few miles on foot over the snow.
seven miles from Crested Butte, to the
left, you strike the famous Ruby camp,
where they boast of 80 feet of snow last
winter, and it was very mild. Bearing
To the right from Crested Butte eight
miles, you reach Gothic, a promising
camp Mt the foot of Gothic Mountain.
Here Mr.. and Mrs G. w. Frederick re-
side George is looking after the inter
ests of the La Veta Coal and Mining
Company, in seven mines, dubbed re-
spectively: Helena, Wood Chuck, Bo-
mama, Emporia, Little Pittsburg, Lou
lisa and Evening Star. The first, like
her ancient prototype, had been toying
with the "apple of discord," so that by
the time / reached there the sheriff was
looking after two men who had visited
the Helena, and by means of Shapes
rifle, u dOuble-barreled shotgun and
three navies had persuaded Isom &
BFainard, two of our miners, to tempo
rarily suspend. Judge Harlow, of Gun
nison, required those fellows to recog-
nize. Gothic is certainly quiet camp
and has some very pleasant people.
The mines Whereabouts are from six to
twelve miles away and some are very
rich. A short walk from camp takes
you into the Ute reservation. Fine
lakes are TO be found up among the
mountains even above the timber line,
and flowers Of rare beauty bloom in lux
nriant abundance at the very edge of
snow drifts a century old. In the val
leys are grasses of nearly all kinds. wild
oats, timothy, red top and a clover re-
sembling ours except that the head is
smaller and more cOn4cal. By the side
ola huge snow drift you can gather and
arrange a choice boquet, and if you
chance 10 drop piece of your lunch on
the snow, the large green flies will
pounce upon II as greedily as elsewhere.
On the last day of July l took long trip
over the mountains and for convenience
lefOthe "slide rock" and took to large
anow drift some ten feet deep and fol-
lowed 1t for great distance. II was SO
compact 1t would support loaded team.
The cars on the D. & r. G. road run
into Gunnison. and work will be pushed
ON to Crested Butte. where that company
have large coal-felds. The Denver,