Western sentinel. [volume] (Winston [i.e. Winston-Salem], N.C.) 1856-1886, 1881-01-20

home within one week.
At 12 M. l got on board full
train, it was filled almost beyond
comfort, hnt a great many persons
dropped off before going far, which
gave us plenty of room tor. a COM
Portable rest at night. v..rr-..F
A short time before night the
plains were entered, and nothing
was observable l.ut the naked, bar
rem earth At first my interest wa-
at a great height, but l.efure The one
thousand aud thirty y-two miles were
made, Il dull ,norIotanv had spread
over the whole n" one lives along
the road except now and then a few
secr;on l,ands. Rain is unknown.
and tile few persons in the country
are supplied from the enormous
water tanks. Some Of tfse,n hold
ing fifty thousand gallons. and are
flied from exceedingly deep wells
by wind mills. Occasionally a we'll
rs 80 deep that wiad fails to tofce.
the wa;er and steam is brought to
bear. Pipes are ssn4ctitsses laid
t"nr "r five miles to supply persons.
Onething is quite remarkable, viva
that i'll that country they have the
best of soil, rich loan. Alkali
aouund> t. some extent.
In winter, and that is nearly all
the year around. Judging from my
experience in the last of May. the
fail OF snow us tremendous, which
leaves kind If grass until the sum
rler heat kills it and from this sod
so formed some of the beguiled set
tiers build their houses. / saw
some Of them and they were >olne~
thing to look at. Sometimes the
settlers make dug outs and build
their chinney's IN the back sile.
This reminds me Of an incident
that once to"k place in Virginia on
the Fancy Gap.
Mr.. Tate had dng-out, and on
top of the chimney were few
sticks crossed. A man was pass
ing on a cold dav and observed the
smoke coming out, and thought to
have some fun. SO he called, and
the proprietor stuck his head ont At
the s"-called door. The stranger
asked: docs Your chimney draw
we'll, my friend 2" "Ye~. sir, it
draws the attention of every id
fool that passes the road !" A per
son who has never seen it cannot
| conceive Of hundreds of thousands
of acres in one body. and eli ircly
devoid of any vegetation whatever.
Some wild animals yet roam over
this country, The irst saw was
a Coyote. species OF Wolf, this
WAS near the Laup river, along
which the train runs for some dis
tance. A few prairie dogs exhibi-
ted themselves, but were nGtabund-
art. They arc exceedingly amusing
little fellows about the size Of and
much resembling a fox squirrel, ex,
cept they have short tails. Their
houses are under ground, and their
doors are openings IN the centre of
circular mounds, and are not sea.
tered but huddlcd close into towns.
As the train approaches they seam,
per for their holes, and then sit on
their launches and ba k savagely.
Antelopes are occasionally seen,
and once a herd of nineteen were
along the track. Buff ID are ex
tinct here, but about twenty five
miles north some few are still ex-
listing.
TIE first night confirmed our
number ct passengers, as none We're
t., get off or OH, and so in view OF
our long ride we made ourselves
comfortable On Tuesday morning
we found the whole earth covered
with snow, and about noon we
,canle in sight of the famous ''Black
Ilills," in Wyoming Territory. AMI
not long after we arrived at
Cheyenne, where the road branches
off into Colorado. Here | met Mr..
Robert Biickenierfer,. who was ut
the time surveying n road in the
Hills, A.. l was engaged in TAX
ing notes a fel low traveller rem .rk
| ed AhatI sir,Al.l not slnhy oteivisi-
bic Al,ingss but what we did not see.
| askeds him /" mention some, and
he answered, 'l,arent medicine AL
xerti>ener:s." Yes, thought. and
Alters Hardware Store and Dur
HAMS Marble Yard oa"' :. '5ii s'7s'
Is Mt lng after leaving Cheyenne
we Came in sig,t of the first snow.
capped, mountains, ana also here
,appeard large bonldeIs, Indicating
our approach to the s.R"ckies. .
Tie snow that fell around US the
night before Ii ID by this time dis>
appeared. At Sherman we ys1ood
on the "Continental Divide" al
though the altitude is not as great
as At Cheyenne. We stopped hfteen
MinuteS, giving tile passengerstime
to examine the wonderful specimens
Afithe country's productions, such
as minerals, animals, beads and
skins, and many other things. -
Tho whistle hiows and off we