Salt Lake evening Democrat. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1885-1887, 1886-10-02
WASATCH WANDERINGS.
a Hacy sketch of Matters in the
Mountain Districts.

Correspondence of the DEMOCRAT
With due regard to the prophet Wig
gins prediction of low down earthquakes
and proper appreciation of the fact that
the melancholy days had come" for
the mountain grouse), your correspond
ent, few days ago. sought safety and
sustenance in the mountain tops. With
slow and halting steps, by the zig-zag
trail leading from Alta City to the divide
beween Little and Big Cottonwood, the
summit was reached as the trio of steam
whistles at Alta were calling the faithful
to their MONDAY spuds. Near by the
beetling cliffs, stripped for battle with the
elements, which often hold high carnival
upon these awful heights, looked down
upon as gorgeous spectacle OF sunshine
and shadow, of dark defiles and rounded
hills, of green pines, flaming naples and
yellow aspens as this round globe affords.
Far upward, in the cloudless blue, an i'm
perial eagle winged his spiral course to-
ward the sun. On the Alta side, within
half circle and at a glance, could be
seen the famous mines, known around
the world. On the Big Cottonwood side
the Reed Il Benson mine, with its two
million product of high grade ore, and its
2,400-foot tunnel penetrating the solid
rock, should it jump ten thousand feet
above sea level, and across on Kesler's
Yellow Peak at an equal attitude, the
Carbonate had disgorged its huge
bonanza through an embrasure in the
solid rock down sheer precipice to the
dizzy trail below. The faint echo of
distant powder blasts floated upward to
tell the entranced observer of actual and
prospectively valuable mines being
worked and opened by the plucky, indie
fatgabe miner All much abused and
poorly appreciated class Every little
peanut vender, fawning middle-man,
hair-splitting shyster, and cent-per-cent
usurer, must have his fling at you and
your royal business. To wrest from their
rocky vaults the metallic treasures stored
up by benificent Creator, is the noblest
of missions, and whether fortune or pow
erty attend the prospector and miner in
his self-denying path in the high places
of the earth in the legitimate pursuit of
his business, life cannot be a failure.
But hunger and business demand Il
movement to the front, and with
last lingering look which will remain a
joy forever, the pack is shouldered and
the downward trail is taken. The well
come miners home, with fat grouse fried
to the right of us, grouse roasted to the
left (but little left of us, and grouse
stewed to the front OF us, is reached
Monarchs OF all we survey, we sip our
coffee and smoke the pipe of peace and
good fellowship, while the Mormon and
various other problems are discussed
With pick and shovel, and in nv case
with blistered hands, the many-sided
mining problem is viewed from a prac
teal standpoint. The conclusion arrived
Canon presents first-class inducements
spection and application is OF vital i'm.
portance.
The Maxield mine presents scene Of
unusual activity in preparation for an
energetic winter campaign. Monk, the
first love, Dolly Warden. and will soon be
tial and hospitable residence. The Reed
and Benson owners propose for bids to
run their long tunnel 100 feet further
eighteen men, and are jubilant over out
coming treasure The Silver King is
yielding well and shipping gold and sill
yer ore. The Tecumseh and Garfield
group of mines, as we'll as the Jupiter
combination, in South Pass, are being
worked with good results. Steam and
manual labor work increasingly day anG
night in Alta, and big strikes are likely
to be made any time.
Rafting volleys OF hail on the roof o
our mining house last Thursday night re
minds one that snow might shortly GU
off retreat over the summit, SO amid alter
nate rain and hail, with hair-scatterinl
wind, the divide was crossed and a safe
harbor with mine host, Hannibal ,
Grice, was reached. 'In time of peace
prepare for war;" so our landlord is de
veloping nautical genius in attaching q
triangular bow and bulkhead to hi
house. The addition is some twenty OF
thirty feet high, composed of upright
timbers, braced and dashed together with
an embankment OF earth inside. 1t pre-
sents q sharp nose to the oncoming snow.
slide from the Emma hill, and its base OF
stern is equal to the width of the house il
is designed to protect the coming winter
1t was suggested to the modern Noah
that snowslides might come from the
other side of the canyon, and that he
make "double.ender" OF his house. AS
discretion is the better part of valor,"
Grice proposes to retreat to the valley
about Christmas time, and let his de.
serted house fight it out alone, if it takes
all winter.
Starting yesterday from Alta in cold
drizzling rain, the flying car passed
through red sea OF fiery naples and
mountain ash, and welcomed warmth
and sunshine in the valley. To the
sight-seers and sensation hunters, trip
up and down the tramway on one OF
these beautiful autumnal days is better
than a trip to Europe, with sea-sckness
thrown in. But like repentance, it must
be attended to at once-to-morrow may