The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1883-03-28
4 RAMBLER's RANKINGS,

Anda Rambling Account Of Thorn
Butte to ogden.
special Correspondence of the M1aER.
March, 1883.
can aboard ~ sounded the cherr,
voice of the conductor. Hurried
hand-shakings followed; goodbye
we're quickly spoken; the engine bel
rang; car doors banged to, and tn
little narrow gauge train moved ava,
from the depot. This little inciden
occurred but u few days ago at Butte
a beautiful, prosperous, wide-awak'
city built under the very shadow o
the great Rocky Mountains in Mon
tana. AS we slowly moved out in thu
darkness of the early morning houl
it required but a slight stretch of the
Imagination of the observer to trans
form the rumbling noise of the hun
dreds of falling stamps behind us, and
the cleaning furnace fires of the mills
and smelters seen in the distance in
to the rush of scores of engines whose
headlights directed the way of thun'
derlng trains in our rear. While in
dulging in a fancy akin to this, and
gazing at the fast receding lights
which bounded our horizon upon
every hand, / was awakened to a
realizing sense of my situation by
Tickets, gentlemen, tickets if you
please" 1 looked up and saw stand
ing before our party a pleasant-faced,
gentlemanly appearing person, wear
ing a peculiarly shaped cap and
dressed in navy-blue pants and coat,
the latter adorned with gilt buttons
which gave him a decidedly officer
like appearance. In his left hand he
carried q bunch Of white cardboard
in his right something which at
first glance looked like a dentists
forceps, but which proved to be a
punch. Following the action of the
others I passed him my ticket which
he branded Or marked with his in
and placed in his pocket,
me in exchange one of the
card slips which he kindly placed be-
hind my hat band, first writing
thereon some uninteliigible hyero-
glyphics which I did not attempt to
.ecipher. As he made the same ex-
with the rest of our party I
felt no uneasiness as to the fate of
my ticket, but could not forbear put
ting up my hand 10 my hat occa-
sionally to satisfy myself that the
little slip of cardboard had not also
disappeared.
I may as we'll state here that this
was my first experience upon a mar
row gauge railroad; that l crossed
the wide expanse of country between
the missouri river and the Pacific
ocean, when it was known as the
Great American Desert" as an en-
sineer of "bull train," and that I
made the journey to Montana on the
as slow river steamer in an
early day. Therefore, if what 1 say
about railrOading sounds ''fresh' it
must not be charged altogether to
ny appreciation and enjoyment of
his mode Of travelling. And if I
yield a tribute of praise to
he men whose energy,
perseverance,, indomitable pluck,
md unbounded faith in the
great resources of Montana made
his means of travelling possible, it is
because [ in common with hundreds
II others have endured the heat, the
ediousness and all the long list of
of a trip over the SLOW,
Uncertain, dangerous wagon routes
which led to u Western frontiers.
it not natural then that one should
'njoy and speak in terms of praise of
he luxurious ease and comfort found
n the splendidly equipped coaches
md palace sleeping ears Of the Utah
I Northern narrow gauge? If there
70 a caviler. o one whose complaints
railroad corporations have
'ecome chronic with him, he may be
eminded that wagons, bronchos and
Jack animals can still be purchased,
nd that the tortuous highways and
ride paths over the arid plains and
ugged mountains are LETT intact and
hat he may pursue them without let
r h%indrance as did the "old timers"
score or more of years ago. One
overland under the conditions !
'hich surrounded it a few years ago
7ould bring the most loud-mouthed
complainant to All appreciation of the
enefits of the iron horse.
tits not the purpose Of your cor
to enter into the history
the Utah 4 Northern railway. Its
arly beginning and struggles until
passed into the hands of Jay Gould
nd by him transferred to the Union
acific Railway Company who hast
ned its completion to Butte and who
now extending it still further
ito the heart of Montana, are
'miliar to your readers. l would
My add that the enterprise was con-
ructed strictly on the private prop
'ty theory that neither Govern
'ent nor Territorial aid was extend
to it; that the line was pushed
to regions almost devoid of popula-
on /; that it was built ON faith in
Ie great resources of Mon
ma; that it reached for a trade
hich it was the principal factor in
aiding up, and that its continued
'osperity depends upon the prosperi-
Of soOroS Of communities <cu,,c