St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1882-05-05
Out i'm the West.
Tor OF THE ROCKEYS,
A.I 10 1890

enough every day to give material for
write only one Il week. The question
is what to give and what to omit.
Secondly, We are driving about from
daylight till dark, making the best use
Of our eyes and ears and feet, and when
night comes we ride to fields yet uneX-
| plOred, if not to pastures green. I'm
der such circumstances, about the only
opportunity have for writing is in the
moving train.
The ride from Ration pass to Pueblo
was without interest after we left the
mountain range and the strange and
primitive adobe houses of the Mexi-
cans, which extend north somewhat
above Trinidad. These houses are
low, one-story affairs, made of adobe
mud formed into brick shape, baked in
the sun. The roofs are fiat, made of
straw, prairie grass, mud, or whatever
will shed water and keep out cold.
Even public houses are made i'll this
shape and of this material, and it is
unnecessary when one registers at the
tavern to state that he doesn't want a
room very high up, or to ask where the
| elevator is or even to enquire if he
can have the use of the telephone If
one can eat the hash and sleep in the
beds of the ''hOtels" of New Mexico or
southern Colorado he may consider
himself fortunate. But it is better
farther on, and so | will hasten on.
At Pueblo we strike the Denver and
Rio Grande railroad. A ride of about
an hour brings us to Canon City, the
gateway to most remarkable and
wonderful mountain canon. We have
been following up branch of the
Arkansas river for forty miles or more.
1t looks about the size of the Passump-
sic river at Barnet, but there is much
gradual approach to mountains. Sud
denly, the train plunges into canon
while yet nearly on a grade with the
river. The mountains grow more pre-
cipitous, the river much narrower and
more rapid. The mountains shut i'll
closer together until there is nothing
but Il chasm of several thousand feet
in depth, cut clean from the top of the
mountains to the bed of the river. This
is the 'ROyal Gorge" 1t cannot be
described it must he seen and felt
The walls of the chasm are nearly yer
teal, and some of the way the gorge
is not fifty feet wide. Through this
cleft in the rock runs ii boiling, tumul-
tuOus river, also the Denver and Rio
Grande railroad. At one place the
chasm is only wide enough for the
river, and at this point the roat is run
over an iron bridge suspended by a
truss from the rocks on both sides the
; chasm The railroad follows the
windings of this river which has cut
this mighty chasm in the mountains
for nearly fifty miles, until the eye
. grows weary with gazing and the head
dizzy. At last we reach Salida, where
we rest for the night.
The surroundings of this town re-
minded me of Salt Lake valley. We
, reached Salida after dark, and Oh go
ing out i'll the morning our eyes were
greeted with the white peaks of the
mountain range which nearly sur
! rounds it. The weather had been cold
for several days, with considerable
snow, and the mountains glistened il
the morning sun like silver-as much
brighter and clearer cut than the White
Mountain range as seen from the Dan
! Vile hills, as new silver dollar i.
s brighter than an old piece of lead. Mt
, Washington is 6,000 feet high We
could see dozen mountains that look.
ed less than ten miles away, nearly al
: over 1000 feet high, the highest o.
which is Mount Ouray. Do you won,
r der that one of our party threw up hi,
hat and shouted: ''Hooray for Ouray p
! After breakfast we started to climl
D over this mountain range-nOt through
it, as on the day before. Three pas
senger ears and baggage car wer,
attached to two powerful locomotives
and We slid over the plain for five Of
six miles at a rapid rate. Then begar
the climbing-2ll feet grade to the
mile-tirst on this side of the ravint
and then on that. While passing alOns
on one cliff we could frequently see tn,
track over against us two or three hun
l. dred feet higher up, and after winding
D in and ont for mile or two the traiI
= would come upon this new elevation
! when the passengers would look dowl
= and see where they had been but
few minutes before.
i AS the altitude increased of cours
d the view broadened and grew NOR
and more grand. After two and hal
n hours of steady ascent the train stop
i ped at Marshall Pass, the highest point
lO,o62 feet above the sea. At our righ
II rose Ouray, nearly four thousand fee
d higher still, but in the clear atmos
n phere of this climate it seemed scarce
ly farther away or harder of ascen
than Harris hill from Railroad street
! Then began the descent on the Pa