Wichita eagle., 1886-09-07
STAGING IN THE FOOT HILLS.
Some Aspects Of Rem to Fart Of Our
Expan i've Country.

Some Aspects of a Rem te Fart Of Our
Expan-iye Country.
The name of Deadwood. : '.i'.v that is
still il the "wfld West ~ $ lie Of the
rapid improvements THIRTY years have
seen west of the Mississippi. IS familiar
to many people who know nothing
whatcver CT it except that it lies some
whe in the mining region.
Travelling from the East, it can be
reached within one hundred miles by
rail; the remainder of the distance must
be taken by stage. The railroad ends
at Buffalo Gap.
Six horses, carrying a stage coach
with three seats in it, await the Dead
wood traveller Il there arc more than
six passengers, and any OF them are IN
clined 10 obesity, there is apt to be q
lack OF comfort.
II it is during the spring or autumn
rains, there Is much jolting and careful
drivizr, cnd perhaps some seaslckness
among tie passengers
In the bitter winter weather, warm
wraps, furs and heated soapstones are
necessary.
Perhaps the ride is most delightful
in the autumn, when there is golden
morn, and lazy winds and cloud OF
purple haze in the West.
The one hundred miles are Travelled
in thirty-six hours or thereabout. Every
ten miles the horses are changed, and
every twenty miles the drivers change.
The stations are simply large barns
where the horses are kept. These are
as we'll trained, and enter into their
task with as much spirit and seeming
delight as the horses OF the fire depart
ments in cities
They grow to be familiar with every
step of the journey and know their
driver as children know parent. The
coach stops for meals at regular sta
tions three times day.
Quite an excited interest is visible at
all the towns passed through. The
coming of the stage, with its galloping
horses, its air of mystery and restless
ness, and the charm of knowing it has
come from the outside world, which,
like Rasselas in his valley, every one
envies to be in occasionally, is quite an
event in the lives of the village people.
of the inhabitants of inner Gaul gather
ing around the merchants when they
came to trade, and asking questions in
Vulnerable. The merchants were often
tempted to exaggerate and sometimes
to invent stories of the outside world,
which temptation they often yielded to,
and were eagerly believed by the Gauls.
So the s.age-coach driver after an
swering many questions to suit himself
amid the admiring gaze of the popu-
lace, with flourish of his whip, word
to his horses, is gone.
Gone for wild ride over dangerous
roads, now winding along mountain
path, now between rocks, now along
river bank, and again out into the level
mesa-like stretch, that seems to reach
in infinite distances on every hand.
The drivers find their work to possess
a strange fascination. No stage driver
ever feels content to go back to the
tame life of a town dweller. Each one
of them has his reputation and is known
by his peculiar characteristics all along
the route.
In tbe lover part of the stage, under
the seats, is place for baggage, much
ike the hold j. ship.
The trip i -gorth taking, especially
IN sill:n; ol 1,U;fl:Gn, when the driver is
g!aG 70 g;ve . share Of his seat for at
least & fc hours each day or night.
Deaduood is a very pretty town hem
med n by mountains.
1t is in the extreme western part of
Dako5l, not far from It's boundary line.
1t is only $50 miles from Yellowstone
Park, and is surrounded 10y mountains
upon every hand. Some valuable gold
and silver mines are located near the