The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1882-03-11
the Aztecs and Montezumas will ever be held
sacred by the people of New Mexico.

the Aztecs and Montezumas will ever be held
sacred by the people of New Mexico.
1t was at Albuquerque that experienced
my first sand storm; but do not banker for
another. In the land of snow and hail we
"squeal" when hailstones about the size of pin
heads or marbles strike US in the face, and
make great ado if "blinding snow storm"
catches u.s. but IN order to appreciate the
beautiful" even when mixed with bits of ice,
one should experience sand storm. That
takes the cake! and will make fellow "hunt
his hole" quicker than anything else on earth !!
A hail storm with hailstones bigger than peas
or marbles or even goose eggs Is bad enough,
but "A sand storm, where 1t apparently rains
sand and stones, and the "zepher-like" blasts
pick up brIckbats, rocks and other missiles,
and sends them whirllng through space with
a carelessness as to where they come down,
upon the head or on the groundf" About that
time a fellow wants to git, and he gifts, you
bet!
The ride from Albuquerque TO Deming, the
the terminus of the A., T. ~ 5. f. Ry., is made
at night, in consequence of which but little is
seen of that section of the country; but it in
this ride one gets his first glimpse OF the Rio
Grande river. saw it as ] looked through
the windows of Pullman car, sparkling n
silver sheen fresh from the mountain springs
and rolling placidly on to mingle with The wa
tiers OF the gulf 1t is grand stream and IN
many places before it reaches the guilt spreads
out to majestic proportions.
Demlng Is the junction of the A. I. d 5 F.
Ry. with the S. Z. Ry. Of New Mexico. Here
all changes are made and a transfer of passen-
gers, baggage and all worldly effects is made
Theirs 10 not a redeeming feature in the town
or place. but barren uninteresting and may
say desolate place, composed entirely of car
shops and few scattering buildings.
From Deming on, our ride Is unintersing
and tedious. The country Is barren of vegeta.
ton except some sage brush and Spanish dag.
ger. On, on we glide, over the same dreary,
desolate waste with nothing to relieve the mo-
notony Of the scene of desolation that stretch
es away on every side; hour after hour passes,
and still the same fields of alkall, the same
chunky punches of sage brush, with no signs
vegetation, no lite, no nothing that affords the
of all this, looking out upon the dreary waste
of desert, you ask yourself, "for what purpose
did God make so dreary and desolate waste ?"
and your conclusion is HE only knows"
Bad as Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico
may seem, they are "a land flowing with milk
and honey" compared with Arizona. Some
say that the Almighty made this region for the
Indian and the Mexican; but it could not have
been for Poor Lo," whatever may be SAID of
the Mexican, for the Indian is by far nobler,
grander and more manly than the greaser."
Along toward the close of the afternoon we
reach Landsberg, a short distance from whence
great copper and silver mines have been dis
covered, and are being worked. Here trains
are fitted out for the mountain towns and min
ing camps, and here, as IN days of yore, before
railroads traversed the mighty wastes, the
eight, ten and twelve horse teams, drawing
"Prairie Schooners," are still to be seen, and
all the past glory of the eastern plains still re-
mans. From Landsberg on, we have a slight
change in the landscape. The fields Of akall
become more white, the sage brush heavier;
and now we glide into valley Of the same
nature, except that away to the south looms up
the Chirque range, and on the north the Dry
Dragons, their majestic peaks towering heav-
onward and their snow.clad peaks reaching far
into cloudland.
Onward we glide, with no perceptibe
change IN the country or the landscape from
that over which we have been travelling, and
finally reach the "magic city" of Benson, now
the junction of the Guaymas branch ofthe A,
I. 81 S. F. Ry, with the Southern Pacific; and
here also connects branch of the former road
running to that city with the grave yard name
of Tombstone. The town of Benson is a
combination of Indian, Mexican, white man
men of town that can well be imagined
From Benson the road winds through terri
BILE region of country-rocky, wild and unin-
tereSting, except the mountain ranges which
keep us steadfast company, now apparently
but few miles of, than stretching away for a
hundred miles or more, and again looming up
before us, apparently more grand than before.
AT Tucson, or "Too-son, Arizona, as it is call
ed here, our train pulled up at the depot, and
tax ing hack @ rode through the old town
to the Palace Hotel O., and alighted at the en-
trance in the midst of the toughest crowd 1t
was every my experience to meet at a hotel
door, There were miners gamblers, thieves
and blacklegs, and the worst specimens of hui
in, and the rest of the passengers, with the
eye of vulture. wore plug hat, or, IN
other words, a "stove,pipe," which, to say the