The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1881-11-23

cider what he is, which will lead him
to further comparison Of himself 10 iii
creation. Lot him mount to one If
the loftiest peaks Of the Rockies"
W nat a ecene IS spread before him |
II Is lndeseribable. Far as the eve can
reach there is an appropriate comb.
nation, valley and plain, which relieve
each other in appearantly rapid sue.
cession, yet are so distant as to require
days to reach the nearest of them.
The atmospere is so rare and free
from vapors that small objects can be
seen for one hundred miles. and
mountains for distance of FIVE to
eight hundred miles. From the ton
of the "Coniineptal Divide" can be
seen the Wasatch mountains and the
plains Of Utah. With the telescope
OF common transit can be seen the
"City of the Mormous," and the sand
of the Umoompahgres. From the
Medicine Bow Range can be seen the
half of Wyoming Territory, much Of
Idaho and the eastern plains of Color
ado. Mountain scenery is all that
is here to be seen, wa take tho
plains we have nothir mt plains
once seen all seen, for are nearly
similar. The grandest of all our rug.
ged scenery is that of the ,eanons.
Here rise walls of the hardest granite
to an elevation of from two to six
thousand feet above the stream which
hnds It's wsy through the narrow
gorge. Among the most noted canons
are those of the Arkansas River, be.
tween Canon City and South Arkan-
sas through which the Deuner and
Rio Grande railway has forced the
solid rock to yield it e roadway. The
CanOn Of the South Platte, twenty
miles above Denver, is traversed for
Its entire length by the Denver, South
Park d Pacific r. r., road owned
end controlled Sby the giant Uniop
Pacific. A ride over this road will
make the timid shudder, and cause
the sturdy traveller to admire the tri.
umPhant teats Of engineering whereby
a road is built scarcely ten feet above
the waters which rush in fury through
the rocky bed which it has occupied
unknown ages in cutting down for
itself through the hardest of granite
The canon OF the North Platte,
known as the "long canon of the
Platte" is also very notable, being the
tnost crooked aud narrow of all the
canons in Colorado. Then comes
Cores canon of the Grande, through
which all the drainage Of Middle Park
rushes with turbulence that is truly
trightful. A river Of 700 feet in width
is suddenly narrowed down to less than
fifteen feet in width, and rushes
through the canon at an average fall
of about $50 feet to the mile. The
Denver and Rio Grande railway have
commenced the construction of q line
through tho canon down the Grande
characterization as yet undeterm-
med. Then comes the Toltic Gorge,
on the San Juan extension of the ID.
& X. q. Il. Il, the canon of the Rio
de las Animas, &c. The canon of the
Rio Colorado is 5000 feet deep and
900 miles long. One Of the strongest
Of the canons is that of Rio Dolores,
which is in canon 200 feet deap the
bottom Of which is over 1000 feet
above the Monteznma Valley, which
Is less than Dlile from it aud extends
parallel with the river. Ga the Maa.
cos are tho famous Cliff houses of the
prehistoric races of America Az.
tees, the Toltees Mound Builders, sc.
The scenery is we'll worthy Of going to
see and for massive grandeur far sur.
passes anything in the east; yet |
think that for the cultured the east
possesses charms in scenery not
equaled by the grandest in the west,
but as l said before they are incon.
parable.
Well, Mr. Editor, this is probably
the last communication You will re.
ceive from me from Colorado. Work
will close in the mountains about De-
cember 1st, and all the corps called
in. | purpose to return to Pennsyl
vania and he content with what the
keystone affords, although salaries ara
higher out here than in the east, yet
We have comforts there which Colora'
do can not afford, and are in conse-
quence more than an equivalent ia
my estimation. Following are the
salaries paid by the D. e. r. 6. in oui
corps: Locating Engineer $3.50
Tranaitman 500; Le7elmen 800
Rodman $50; Chairman &C., $40 tc
$50, and expenses for all.
With best respects to Forest friends
yourselfincluded, l am,
Truly Yours,
F. F. WHITTEKIN,