Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1883-04-05
Out West.

Ed. Register-When I left Iron coun-
ty I promised a number of my friends
to write to them, and give description
of the country I passed through, and
OF the trip to California generally.
And I will write to all Of them through
the REGISTER, giving a short descrip-
ton of the country and towns as I saw
them. / have seen great many arti-
cles written about the Western States
and Territories, and of the beautiful
fertile valleys; but failed to see them
on the road to this place.
1 left Iron Mountain on March 1st;
came 20 st. Louis and stopped until 8
o'clock P. N. on the Cd, when / took
the train on the NJ. P. R. r. for Kan
sas City. We arrived in that town
about S o'clock A. NJ, March Sd, and
spent the day in walking over the city.
We found it to be a lively place, and
uphill any way we could go. At1l
O'Clock P. NJ. of same day we took the
train on the A, T. & S. F. R. R., for
Los Angeles, Cal.
From Kansas City we travelled lit
tie south Of west to the western boun-
Diary OF the State of Kansas. Near
Newton, in the central part Of that
State, the road strikes the valley of the
Arkansas river. and keeps it to Las
Animas, Colorado. We passed through
some beautiful country in Eastern and
Central Kansas; the western part Of
the State was dry and desolate looking.
there having been no rain there since
last October. 1 saw q great many
sheep and cattle ranches, and some Of
the stock men told me that portion of
Kansas was only good for grazing pur-
poses. But to me it looked like it was
too dry for anything; and from the
looks of the stock, they had certainly
suffered from both hunger and thirst.
West of Dodge City we saw our first
prairie dogs. When the train would
run through one of their towns, it was
almost equal to a little battle. The
"boys" threw away several pounds Of
lead; but don't think there was more
than one dog killed.
The principal towns we passed
through in Kansas, that I remember of,
were Lawrence. Topeka, Emporis and
Dodge City. They all seemed to be
lively business places.
COLORADO.
We passed through only small por-
ton of Colorado-in southeastern part.
The country had about the same appear
ance as that of Western Kansas, until
we came to the mountains. Trinidad
is the only town Of any note / remem-
Der passing through. 1t is situated
about fifteen miles from the line that
divides Colorado and New Mexico, and
is surrounded by high mountains with
scattering evergreens growing on them
Il suppose the same as the cedar and
pines that grow on the Ozark noun
tains. The scenery is fine around
Trinidad; and we enjoyed looking at
the high hills after passing though
the plains of Kansas. There are plen-
ty of "dobies" around this place-and
in al! the other Western towns.
NEW MEXICO.
Leaving Trinidad, we crossed Raton
mountain, which is spur of the Rocky
mountains. Il is tunnelled near the
top, at which point the elevation is
about 1000 feet. One Of the prettiest
sights I ever witnessed was three en-
gines pulling the long trhin of cars up
the crooked road around the sides of
the mountain, where If they were to
jump off the track they would 60 down
almost perpendicular bluffs for hum
dreds of feet. The track on the west
and south sides is not 30 crooked, and
so many engines are not needed in going
down. I believe that if a train were
turned loose at RatOn on q straight