Delta chief., 1884-01-16
SURFACE CREEK.
What .'The Lost Charlie R0ss'' Saw
While on a Bdmming Trip.
To the Editor OF THE CHIEF.

| To the Editor OF The CHIEF.
BAKERS FORD, January IL, 'S4.-When l
made my exit from the parental roof, my pa
rents filed with me the following injunction:
''Get your living by the sweat of your face,
| take your whisky straight, vote the Demo-
cratic ticket and you will be at peace with
/ your God" have tried awful hard to COM
/ ply with their request, but think the first
! part of it pretty tough pill to swallow, as it
! calls into force too vigorous eXerton OF my
| physical energies. Howbeit | am regarded
/ by some as being in full possession of many
| of those rare qualifications which go so far
toward the general makeup of an ndefatig-
| able worker, which honor, if one it be, am
trying to shuttle off by gradually initiating
J myself into that vocation better known in
| this part of the country as drumming" In
! order that the change from steady work to
| idlencss might not be of too sudden nature
! | have come the conclusion to answer an adj
| vertisement saw in THE CHIEF shortly to
! the effect that few able men were wanted to
act as staff correspondents. Fearing that any
/ efforts my part pertaining to an applica-
/ tion would prove futile without something
| more than what can be Cleaned from my gen.
4 eral contour l have come to the conclusion
/ that before taking any steps looking thereto,
| to send in an article entitled, ''What / saw on
! n trip to Surface creek.
started out by first paying a visit to the
rancho of my Utah friend. whose religious
proclivi:ies strictly Mormonistic. This
| ranch is located on what is known as Surface
| Creek mesa about one and half miles from
/ Bakers Ford. Its altitude is something near
| 800 feet, and its topography is such as to
render it highly adapted to the raising of all
| kinds of early vegetables Us well as corn and
| cereals.
| From here wended my way to that usual
| ly disputed spot known by some as Alfalfa
| and by others Hart's Basin. There is
theory extant, and by the way has gained
! considerable credence among some, to the eff
/ feet that it was in this basin that Cain slew
| Abel, and that God cursed it by transforming
| it into deep canon and changing Surface
| creek to its present course. One look at this.
the most beautiful of little valleys, will at
| once dispel any such hallucinations, however
deep they might have become imbued hereto
| fore in the imag gination OF the theorist. 1t is
! here we see that evidence of prosperity and
enterprise that bespeaks for its citizens that
! credit which is due only to those who had
sufficient confidence in its fertility to make
the outlay of money and work which was
| found to be necessary to redeem it from n
barren waste TO its present high state of cul-
! tiyation. The actual settlers of the basin
! A. c. Botsford, whose pen has electrified the
readers of THE CHIEF on more than one oc-
casion; John j. Hart, one of the 'powers
| that be" and ex-Iudge $. 5. Baldwin, one of
! the cattle-kings of the southern slope of the
| Grand Mesa.
! | next visited the cattle ranch of Pierre
! just at the lower edge of the cedar belt
tending nearly east and west across the coun-
try. Mr.. Settle is one of our most worthy
citizens, and probably next to the largest eat
tie owners in the county. consequently does
| hot devote much of his time to farming, still
the altitude of his ranch is such to insure
/ a success in the raising of either corn melons
or vegetables, while the cereal crop would
prove ''sure shot," from the fact that at this
| altitude a sufticency of snow falls in winter
Il. al.
enough to bring up grain that is well put in.
| without irrigation. This combined with the
| fact that the entire Surface Creek mesa slopes
to the SOUTH thereby securing at all times of
| the year the full force of the sun, renders the
circumstances surrounding farming more IA
vorable for the planter than on the mesas that
slope to the north, where the suns rays
! strike the earth obliquely and with less force.
The next hash-house struck was the one
| presided over by those estimable old-timers,
| Col. +. +. Boyd and his humble opal, +" Louis
| Thomas who with the help of Jack Watson.
made my sojourn at their domicile one for
| pleasure long to be remembered. They in
| formed mt that they had the contract for put
ting up house for the Denver artist, J. Har-
rison Mills, who when here in the fall located
ranch on the mesa about one and half
miles west of Pierre Settles, to be watered
| from Tongue creek.
! Retracing my steps soon found myself at
the residence of Mr.. Col. Gresham, who set
| tied on land lying back from Surface creek
some three quarters of mile, where he raised
the past season very good crop. by the
way must not forget our old friend, Samuel
Sheffield, who is an old timer in these parts,
and who in conversation never fails to COM
mand the undivided attention of his auditors,
as his comparisons and SMILES are of the
most interesting.
In this immediate vicinity live Messrs.
Sheppard and Weaver, who have n ranch on
Surface. and wintering lot of stock
what is known as Dry Creek mesa. <
Among the prominent fixtures of these
parts are the two Italian citizens who bought
the ranch formerly owned by Mr.. Sheppard,
| upon which they have already put some val
liable improvements. such as corrals, build
ings, fences, etc. They are possessed of II
reasonable amount of this worlds goods and
are workers, and as they understand our
mode of farming. their efforts in this direc-
ton will be watched with interest.
My next halt was made at the halfway
"synagogue," where the bachelors are wont
to meet and worship, and which is presided
over by that friendly and goodnatured old
SOUL Robert Trickcl, whose son Jack says is
"a holy terror" especially among the old
"widers." 1t is on this ranch that evidences
of Improvement can be seen on every hand
He has on the ground set of as nice quak-
ing-asp logs as one could wish to see which
he contemplates converting into n mansion
for the purpose, presume, of trying to en-
trap one of those creatures whose very pres.
ence seems to "sooth our sorrows ana smooth
our cares" Mr.. Trckel and his sons are
getting out n goodly lot of posts preparatory
to the fencing of land which they will culti-