The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1881-08-16
A Remarkably Readable Letter
From one who Was
There.
He Also Tells of a Number of
Sedalians he Met in The
Far West.
He Discovers q Silver Nine. But
Pressing Business Prevented
His Working It.
E>PANoLA, ". NJ, August Q. 1881

gets On another tear. We want some Next
,an ar Pueblo Indian to knock Us into the
middle Of next watermelon season with =
stuffed club Ii Is over hundred miles
from here {" the suburban precincts oi
anv civilized community. Besides the
depot and stage Office, the town j. COM
posed If mud houses and tents, six oi the
former and fifteen OF the latter. In one of
these tents Long Tongs and WhOopla
Shoo-fy keep laundry. There are
saloons in the other fourteen icnts. There
is certainly need Tor laundry herr. but il
don't seem TO he very libcraly raironized.
We haven't s.en but
THREE MEN WITH CLEAN CLOTHES
IN: that Is oursclf and two other fellows.
We staid mp ia Colorado long time Ia
lore its novelty wore of. We don't think
this place ever had any novelty To wear
Of A. soon rs they fix the railroad and
get thu ears to running again. We will ~
turn Ia Colorado. and try AMI gct into
New Mexico from another quarter. We
struck twelve every time up in Colorado,
hut We are away down below zero here.
We me, some good fellows up there. II
VA. at Alamo,o that We fell in with that
prince OF good fellows, Mr.. j. Abramvous-
XIV, formerly oi Brownsville. Mo-. and also
travelling salesman for Vile 4 Miller, OF
Sedalia. about four years ago. and At one
time Brownsville correspondent oi the
HAzoo. He is in the dry goods and cloth
ing business at AlamOsa. and Is doing we'll
Mr. e. 4. Stevens, conductor ON the Rio
Gran,lc railroad. We also found to be one
%: the hest fellows We ever met. There arr
great many men in the employ oil the
Denver II Rio Grande railroad on this
division who formerly resided in Mis-
souri,. W. II. Bancroft. the division
superintendent. and Frank Taylor, super
intenden, Of the bridge and building
department. and William Usher. pa>sen-
ger conductor, are all from Scda.ia. We
found them TO liz very pleasant
gentlemen. Mr.. I. J. Duddleson, the az
fable. polite and clever passenger conduc
tor IN the Del Norte extension. is
ALSO FROM sEpALiA,
and many Others are from Sedalia and
other parts "i Missouri.
g. A. Ellsworth. formerly operator ut
California. Mo-, and yardma>ter At Cha
mois, On the Missouri Pacific, i the train
dispatcher NJ Alamc>a lie is an old
Kentucky thoroughbred, and was On John
Morgans staff during the war. liccarrics
several emhlemS "f the war in his carcass.
and can recount MANY scenes and Incl
dents oi the late unplca>anIn,>>.
There * III abundance oi game in the
srea, san Luis park, surrounding Ala
mosa We took Winchester rifle. and.
in company with several other gentlemen,
went AWAY oui on the plain one night ~
a. a. get a chance TO Kill some deer and
antelope early in the morning We each
took Il pair OF blankets along and Law
there an our backs and leaked up at the
iwinkliny stars. aud thought about our
>wecticarts, and wondered ii our mothers
knew We were out. The coyotes yelp.-i
around, and would come up cl">c Ia III
and scare us and make our horses snort
and prancc. We tried every means Ia get
rid of them. but without success. until, a.
u last RESORT. We persuaded Dr. Cre>>. ri
Warrensburg, Mo-, To- take off his shoes
and socks. IL acted like charm. Our
r"rmcnterS fled in confusion, and LETT u. all
in our-gIorv. We had good luck next
morning, and killed five antelopeS bv sun
rise, and We're back To town in time I" take
the morning train for Del Nortc. a heauti-
full little town of about one thousand pop
ulation. situated among the cottonwood
and willow trees Oh the banks Of the Rio
Hrande. right AT the loot oi the mountains
Ii would be
\ Boss PLACE FOR 4 CAMP MEETING.
and a patriotic assembly conld celebrate
the Fourth Of July there worlds without
end. This is the end OF the railroad. ST.
We got on the stage here and went thirty
miles further west up TO Wagon Wheel
river until We got tired of pulling them
out. At Wagon Wheel Gap the river
cuts lis way through the mountains that
rise on either hand in almost perlsndicu-
lar walls, the Gap being so narrow that
there Is only room beside the river for the
road, which runs close along the brink OF
the stream under the cliffs. The sur
mountains abound in the widest
and most romantic scenery. 4 mile from
the Gap there are two hot springs. The
Of the water = l50 degrees
Fahrnheit. One Of the springs boils up
basin Of water xii feet in size. Hardly
ten feet from these springs is spring
Of ice cold water. From here We
visited Antelope Springs. twenty miles
west. These are hot and cold springs.
From Antelope Springs We boarded the
stage and went to Lake City. the county
seat Of Hinsdale county. 1t is on the
Pacific slope, in the Ute country, near the
Uncompahgre mountains, about one hum
bred and twenty miles northwest of Ala
mosa. The scenery near Lake City il
grand. Two smeltcrs are in operation
here. There are
MANY PROFITABLE SILVER MINES
in the mountains already being worked,
and many more to be discovered. The
ores yield from $50 to 5000 per ton. The
nights are SD cool in these mountains that
a fire Of an evening is always necessary.
At noon the atmosphere assumes a hazy,
lonesome, smoky appearance, that reminds
one Of noon day after Jackfrosty morn
ing in November, when the Missouri
farmer digs his Irish potatoes and stores