Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1883-09-21

Edward Kings letter to Boston Journal
Up we went, passing near the rich belt of
silver mines at the head of Ten Mile Creek
and on through the country where the Vigil.
antes did their sOmhre work almost daily
Our guides pointed out to US two or three
places in which murderers had been hung only
little while ago. This history of murder
meets one at every turn in Montana AT
Bozeman,a peaceful looking town in charm
ing valley, we were shown a neat Jail in
which seven murderers were awaiting trial
At Bozeman the civilization is twenty or
twenty five years old in younger towns the
assassin does not even get the triiling ncon-
venience OF temporary sequestration. The
grandeur of the scenery in the Rockies as
they are approached from the east by this
new railway is quite sufficient to repay one
for the monotony experienced in traversng
the Hat and dusty plains of Dakota and swell
teriug IN the cahons and river valleys in East.
ern Montana. Truly this vast territory mer
its its name Here the Northern Pacific re.
deems itself from the charge of unpcturesque-
ness which we had been inclined to bring
against it, Here the mountains are naked
and not ashamed. For miles on miles in ev.
cry direction stretch away vast rounded domes
now crowned with spruce and pine, now GOV.
cred with brown and withered grass, but
above them rise denuded peaks seeming yer.
lily to pierce the cloudless blue of the sulen-
did sky. Some day this Mullau Pass may be-
come no less renowned than the famous
Gemmerng between Vienna aud Trieste. 1t
has the SAME boldness, the same sharply-de
fined contrasts, the same panoramic success.
sion Of surprises. We could often look across
a deep rayine and see our two locomotives
sturdlly pushing their way around a curve,
while We were still trembling on the edge of
prccipice, or suspended between heaven
aud earth on a trestle hundreds o. feet high
On we went, and wherever there was a tiny
settlement, dozens of newspapers huttered
down from the commissary car to be eagerly
scrambled for below by rough bearded men
and scrRwny women, who have not heard
from the east for weeks. The enterprisinR
managers of the Bismarck Tribune thus un
dertook to supply literature to Western Mon.
tana, and Dakota merchants doubtless hope to
reap the results of their judicous advertis
ing. Pushing up the grade at the rate of 2l7
feet III every mile we began to dominate the
Rockies. The Mulan tunnel is not yet COM
plete and We were carried ABOUND aud above
it, across great hills and over gulches on
lengths Of trestle from which We could look
down on hrawliug streams, or on little min.
ing towns. or upon heaps of trees torn by
the winds and buiIeted by the floods and
hacked by the axes OF the hardy workman
On the steep sides of the mountains the
spruces stood ranged in battalions Jagged
lodges of rock, blush black or notified with
grays or tinged with royal purple uprose gi-
gantic. At the summit we were nearly GOO0
feet above the level Of the sea. This pass is
much lower than those through which the
Union and Central Pacific railroads cross the
Rocky Mountain chain, but in point Of pic.
tnresqueness ! believe that it yields to none
other in the northwest. 1t would be well 70.
the Northern Pacific company to maintain
this temporary track which affords much
finer views Of the mountain chain than are to
be had by the route on either side of the tun.
mel The hillsdes were dotted with the i'm.
proyised homes of the laborers on the tun.
mel Many stout fellow had brought out
his family, and the spectacle of black wal.
nut bedstead, a capacious cooking stove, q
checkered carpet and half q dozen chairs in
one tent was nat al all uncommon. In every
valley was O canvas saloon, " and in COM
Portable nooks dining tents were established
As the papers fell to the ground from the
train the blowsy faced cook, with her arms
akimbo, would utter a shrek of delight
which would bring from their dinners score
of men anxious for the news At the sum-
nit of the pass there is a sign. evidently the
work of some humble toiler, which announces
that it is lone mile to Terra Firma." Per.
haps the sign painter had recently taken
trip across one of the lengthy trestles
The descent on the Pacific side is not very
impressive all the grandeur is on the east
ern slope We wound slowly down gentle
activities into series of pleasant pastoral
wales, each succeeding the other with monot-
onous regularity. Once down the mountains,
we found that the smoke from the forest
fires in Oregon and Washington had covered
the landscape, and We saw everything through
the glamour OF soft haze, which had GER
tain enchantment of its own, but which eff
fectually hindered US from getting glimpses
of the snow clad peaks not very far away.