The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1886-05-27

DENVER, April 80. 1855.


wild beasts roamed over the site Of Denver. The
avenues, grassy lawns and fragrant gardens.
The tedious and uncertain stage coach 10 laid
aside and slowly gathers the dust of passing ses.
sons, while ten railways send their cars thunder-
ing and out over roads Of steel The wealth and
refinement of the East have come aud found here
an abiding place.
Denver is the social, commercial and Political
capital and centre Of Colorado State that yields
its yearly millions in silver and gold, in coal and
New England, and, young IS il is, has within its
borders nearly half a million souls. 1t is the
gate to the mineral and scenic phenomena tha,
have made the Rocky mountains famous From
it the arms Of steal are stretched iu all directions
reaching the richestjmines and the moss delight.
full resorts the widest canous and loyliest parks.
lakes and streams. Reaching further they tlra "
from far OF Puget Sound, Los Angles, Salt Lake
and Santa Fe, the lie blood Of commercial
strength which is telling so marvelOusly 10 the
growth OF the city. The teeming life that Den
vers $4,000 people give, sends an impulse
through every part of the State. Lonely canons
and gorges glow ruddiy to the fires OF the
smelter and echo back the wierd clamor of stamp
mills A thousand hills ring with the strokes of
the prospector's pick, and hundreds of keen-eyed
patient men are exploring hitherto untrodden
heights in search OF the mineral wealth with
which they are known to be filed On wooded
cliffs and mountain parks, far and near are the
summer hotels which welcome and harbor the
seven hundred tourists which Denver daily re-
ceives from April to October The force that is
felt in these remote quarters, creates in Denver
itself, the heart OF it all, busue and rush that
al ha hPoa 4 10
on reduced scale, metrOp )litan 10 its taste and
manner and cosmopolitan beyond all precedent.
1t grows with q rapidlty that astonishes the
East, yet its advance is even and its foundation
sure.
BY the happy accident of gold being found in
the bed OF the Platte, the pioneers selected the
best possible location for their city Perhaps they
were captivated by the view of the Continental
Divide sweeping by, just as it does to day. from
Pixies Peak southwark to Longs Peak northward,
hundred and fifty miles of purple and snowy
white, scene now still more attractive because
seen across fertile farms and miles of rolling
pastures Perhaps, more practical, they thought,
this may be great city in a great State" And
so it is. The land has pail its tribute and the
dream of the pilgrim is realized while the
dreamer is still in the prime of manhood
Socially, the city is at first an enigma 1t is
the home of strangers 1t is exclusive only to
proper degree the best circles being always
socially, there is great originality and there are
violent contrasts. Churches are numerous and
stately, and 10 each one is reserved seat for the
stranger, be he well or lily clad Life and prop-
erty are here as safe as elsewhere, the baser ele.
ment being a small minority and sinking to a
stratum above which the current OF the CITY life
hows undisturbed and pure.
Some distant readers may have supposed that
in Denver is stationed a watchman who is kent
ever on the alert to give warning of Indian
iOrays and to see afar of the smoke of burning
villages, and hOrdes of whooping savages But
such is not the case. The Indian has per-
manently retired from the field, and many thou
ands OF Denvers citizens have never seen one
Few cities Can equal Denver in the matter
OF drives. They are long and level, bordered by
trees half-hiding the mansion OF the millionaire
mechanic The same soI T iha; MN. "n,sr ~.
OF its increase becomes by the pressure OF hoof
and wheel as hard as asphalt There is not
paved street or drive in the city, nor one in
which the natural road-bed has been in any
way aided. Few in Denver could be found to think
that such assistance is needed. All of the best
residence streets afford mile or two OF excellent
drive, but Broadway is the longest and is gener-
ally like floor Few views are found TO equal
that afforded by spin out of town on this av-
enue. Eighty miles in front rises the snowy dome
dome OF Pixies Peak, the purple Divide filling
all the western sky and passing up within ten
miles, while east and south tie gray Plains stretch
away into distance. Looking back the CITY ia
seen-a story of progress told in brick and stone
its towers and pinnacles rising from an oasis OF
green foliage through which the silvery Platte
and Cherry creek wind in glttering links
Denver is on the plains, but almost within the
shadow OF the mighty hills, which protect it
from winter and summer alike, checking the
tendency to climatic extremes which mar some
otherwise desirable places Colorado is renowned
on both continents for its mild and health-giving
weather Tourists flock to it from every quarter
OF the globe, TO be rewarded with renewed life
Thousands have come 10 the city to die, expect
ing but to prolOng their days little, and have
stayed TO live and laugh at their fears.
One passing through the city during the sum.
mer might note as an argument against il, that
it contains good many invalids. The same is
true OF u hundred places in the State But those
who are invalds here would be-corpses in an
other and less favored spot Some will recover
but others have waited too long. When a man
sees that six story block is about to fall on
him, he gets out of the way, not waiting to be
dug from pile OF bricks and mortar But in
sickness he waits until one foot is in the grave
and the other anxious to follow, and flies to Col
orado. When he goes back neatly boxed and
labelled his friends commence to blame Colorado
climate. Looking at it in proper light they
should be thankful that the invalid did not die
on the cars while en- route to this great sanitarium
Sometimes he does.
There IS NO human system which if worked
down to low tone is not built up by soj0urn
on the plains or beyond them. II is like change
of diet The blood leaps through the veins with
renewed vigor. the chest expands, the cheeks
glow, and the whole man is transformed Ca
tarrh is often banished, but not with such GER
tainiy as asthma The same is true of rheuma-
tism. Effects vary with varying constitutions
For heart disease high altitude is unfavorable
on account OF the quickened actien. But 30
many diseases are in some way related to the
lungs that the number to b. benefited by climatic
treatment is legion.
When to come is largely question of conye-
nience. Come to escape heat or cold. Come
when you can. Every season has its advocates.
Some prize the mild winters at an altitude of
5000 feet Others the cool summers. What to
do is a question OF greater scope. You can suit
yourself and treat your own case Live the me-
tropOltan life the city affords. use the splendid
drives, attend the theatres, read the papers, go
into society. Or seek the healing waters of
Wagon Wheel Gap or Colorado Springs, and
mix with hundreds of pleasure seekers from East
and West Or plunge into the Businesses of the
timbered m untains, wander In canons where
you are utterly alone, scale heights which are vet
untrOdden hunt where the gam is plenty and as
yet fearless of man, where the brook trout leaps
to the fly and where the air is laden with the
spicy fragrance of nr and cedar forests Take
long drsughts Of the invisible tonic which carries
the spirit OF health on its silent wings
Two classes OF people found ON the streets of
Denver are peculiar tn the West-cOwboys and
prospectOra4 Cowboys have come To be gener-
ally considered bad men," They do not de-
serve this reputation as q WHOLE though thev
are brave dashiug fellows who delight in wide
brimmed hats heavy with gold braid, in iingling
spurs and six shooters. There is no horse too
vicious tor them 10 ride, no steer who can escape
their laseo, no whiskey 30 biting as to frighten