The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1882-02-22
FROM AMERICA.
An Old Timer who Visits the States for
the First Time in Twenty Years
Gives his Experience.

The following private letter to Mr.. James
Fergus is from the pen of a prominent citizen
of Lewis and Clarke county, who, after an
absence in the mountains of twenty years,
returns to the scenes of former days. The
letter was not intended for publication, but
we take the privilege of making a few ex-
tracts
w. O. SPRINGS, Wis, Jan. 18th, 1882
James Fergus,
DEAR SIR IF = 9 has not written you
of my flight to ''the genial influences of civ
ilization," you might think it was my ghost
that was sending a letter from this out of
the way place.
December the 18th, 1881, l mounted the
''poop-deck" OF one of Granville Stuart's
''palace jerkies" and had safe ride to Dill
Ion, one hundred and twenty miles from
Helena. A party of four Of the boys-I
will call them boys, as we have been boys
and girls together for a goodly number of
years-Mad. Stedman, going to Portland,
Maine Jack Stewart, one of the water COM
pany. going to Hampton, Iowa and Chas.
Larson going to Omaha. The narrow
guage cars are very commodious, more so
than / anticipated, and the road-b is not so
rough as che would think from such hasty
construction ; and down Snake river we
went at a good rate of speed to Ogden, with
out accident.
This place I was agreeable surprised with,
not thinking it near SO large or imagining SO
much business being done. 1t looks to me as
if it was destined to grow to a large place.
1t is the junction of the Utah & Northern,
Union Pacific, Central Pacific, and Salt Lake
City railroads. The own is we'll laid out,
and | noticed boys and girls vending their
way to school, and | was told that they had
good school facilities. | will always remem-
Der the place, kindly too, as l got rid of a
troublesome tooth that gave me fits all the
way from Helena, and we parted company,
or rather, travelled together afterwards-the
tooth in my vest pocket-all of which was
done for the big sum of fifty cents mean
| had my tooth pulled for that amount,
sssavee 2"
Here the busy scenes of life began, and
the cars of the U. P. going and coming
with freight and PASSENGERS would tell the
dullest mind that one Of the great arteries of
the nation was before him. We sped on up
the Weber canon and had a look at some of
it's wonders : aside from that the country is
like our own, barren of timber and q rolling
prairie. The Sherman bridge, the highest
point on the road, we passed in the night, but
I was on the platform looking into the depths
below, and could not help but think shou Id q
break occur 1t would all be over in a minute
the cars kindling wood and the passengers
mince meat.
This company has coal lands of Its own,
and all that the road uses is mined by them.
No one who owns private coal lands can
mine to any profit. as the company will not
carry the coal. All of the towns along this
road look as if they will grow and and pros
per, and contain perhaps from two to four
thousand Inhabitants. We did not learn this
from a guide book. but from conversations
with passengers and those we met at differ
ent places ; ! used my eyes and tongue and
then judged for myself somewhat. I was
amazed at such large towns, and yet the coun
try along the road is filled up with those who
have taken Horace Greeley's advice and who
must have centers to go to.
Some of the conductors on the road would
talk, others were Grabbed and our informs
ton is based on the disposition of the several
men to tell what they knew, sad you could
judge somewhat whether they were telling
''liar stories" or not BY putting this and that
together. The iron bridges, the locomotives,
the magnificent cars, the air brakes, the
.sOh, Ln,dy massey" IS the darkey says
everything that greets the Eye wherever you
turn l could write hook, or stay for
years examining the mechanical contrivan-
ces. After you cross the Missouri ~ Omaha
the dining cars make their appearance on the