Smyrna times., 1886-03-03
67 9-10 mi. $40 1-1O mi.
to AGATE | to
Denver. Kan. City.

and two dug-Outs."
When about forty miles from Den
yer a man corresponding to my ideal
of the Western pioneer, entered the
car. He seemed Il pleasant, elderly
fellow, so | opened conversation, and
the following is its substance
He had settled in that locality more
than % years ago, in advance of any
railroad. The Indians were thick and
scarce fifty white men could be scared
up in a hundred miles At the Indian
outbreak. Of which the rebels were the
principals, he and his neighbors III
joined the army sent thither as scouts,
and he said before it was over he saw
many Of his poor fellows go under"
After the Indians had been subdued
he came back to the locality and pre-
empted and took up about a thousand
acres Of land, some where Denver now
stands. Everybody tried to discourage
him telling him there was nothing
there but barren soil, &c, and several
times came near succeeding.
Now" he says; young man,
there IS nOthin' in anything unless you
stick to il"
He put water Oh the s barren soil )"
and 10 it brought iIr,h abundance
He claimed that farming by irrigation
was cheapr than depending on rain,
that it cost no more to irrigate than to
dig aud keep open bitches in fiat
countries, that the crops were always
sure and the yield larger. To supply
him water he had two large windmill
pumps.
Mentioning the fact that l had not
seen the much-eXpected buffalo, he
said:
No; they're all gone now exceptin'
a herd of about $50 about one hundred
miles northeast from here" and,
pointing, he showed me the place of
their crossing saying he had seen them
so thick as to stop trains. The few re-
naming are wild and hard to get with
in rifle shot of, saying he sent his son
out after one last Fall and it took him
two weeks to get one.
DENVER AND CHEYENNE.
Being now in the suburbs of Denver
our conversation terminated and as the
train halted in Union Depot l alighted
and was escorted to my hotel by the
old settler.
Denver is n substantially built, busy
city of 10000 inhabitants, by actual
count, with broad streets and many
large, pretty buildings, among them
the Windsor Hotel and the new Tabor
Opera House. 1t is 5000 feet above
sea level and from its streets 800 miles
of the Rocky Mountain range
can be seen. 1t contains the largest
smelling works in America from which
l counted thirty-four smoke-stacks.
tits lighted by electricity from towers 20
feet high, and already has iron mills in
operation, thus cutting off Eastern con
sumption and bringing producer and
consumer together.
Resting in Denver two days. on
Tuesday at noon l started north for
Cheyenne, skirting along the eastern
base of tie Rockies which appeared
very near, a mile or two at the farth-
est, but on asking the conductor their
distance from us he replied forty miles.
AS we advanced the prairie was thinly
covered with snow which had increased
to the depth of two inches by the time
we had reached Cheyenne. The cat
tie sought the bare spots for their
grass, and thus they live all Winter or
uncover it with their feet and horns.
The country is much more thickly set
tied than is generally supposed, espec-
tally at the head waters of rivers and
along living streams. There is scarce
ly any land available to agriculture
that is not fenced. We passed one
town of 4, 900 inhabitants, with a daily
newspaper and two weeklies.
Cheyenne is a city of something over
| 5000 inhabitants. It's streets are wide,
regularly laid out and at the time we
saw them lighted up with electricity.
On its principal streets are many sub
stantial ediiices, but many cabins and
and shanties go to make up it's dwell
ings. Its depot is a One-stOry frame,
brick-dust red, with one waiting room
about 2OX40 to supply comforts to both
sexes, and in it were gathered soldiers,
hunters with their rifles, rough-clad
men, men dressed in stylish suits, wO.
men with crying babes, negroes and an
| Indian, besides piles of bedding and
blankets, which the majority of Wes.
tern travellers always carry with them
hand satchel, bundles and other things
too numerous to mention, awaiting the
Westbound train. An hours wait
brought it, its platforms and car fronts
and windows covered with ice and
icicles hanging from its sides. 1t con
sisted of seven cars, a baggage car, mai
coach, smoker, One-frst-class car, two
emigrants and sleeper, and this was
our carry-all to cross the plains.
AT THE TOP OF THE ROCKIES.
By the time it was fairly dark w
We're tOiling to the highest point of the
Union Pacific, Sherman, S,225 fee
above the sea. AT 1920 we were a
Larimie, the snow grating harshly un
der the feet of the hurrying crowd
At 2 o'clock we were awakened b,
jarring and hammering, and learne
a truck was broken. After a tediOu
and impatient two hours wait, i
whi ch all the train men lost their pa