The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1886-12-10
STAGING IN THE FOOT HILLS.
Some Aspects Of Remote Part of o.
Expansive Country.

Some Aspects Of Remote Part OF Our
Expansive Country.
The name of Deadwood, n city that is
still in the wild West " in spite of the
rapid improvements thirty years have
seen west of the Mississippi, is familiar
to many people who know nothing
whatever of it except that it lies some
where 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. If there are more than
six passengers, and any of them are in
clined to obesity, there is apt to be
lack of comfort.
If it is during the spring or autumn
rains, there is much Jolting and careful
driving, and perhaps some seasickness
among the 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 q golden
morn, and lazy winds and q 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 arc
as well 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 es children know parent. The
coach stops for meals at regular sta
tions three times day.
Ouite an excited interest is visible at
all the towns passed through. The
coming of the stage, with its Callopine
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.
Caesar, in his commentaries, speaks
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 Cauls.
So the stage-coach driver after an
swering many questions TO suit himself
amid the admiring gaze of the popu-
lace, with a flourish of his whip, word
to his horses, is gone.
Gone for q wild ride over dangerous
roads, now winding along a mountain
path, now between rocks, now along a
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
n strange fascination. No stage driver
ever feels content to go back to the
.-me life of a town dweller. Each one
-. them has his reputation and is known
bv his peculiar characteristics all along
the route.
In the lower part of the stage, under
the seats, is place for baggage, much
like the hold in q ship.
The trip is worth taking, especially
in spring or autumn, when the driver Is
clad TO give share of his seat for at
least few hours each day or night.
Deadwood Is a very pretty town hem
med in by mountains.
It is in the extreme western part of
Dakota. not far from its boundary line
1t is only $50 miles from Yellowstone
Park, and is surrounded by mountains
upon every hand. Some valuable gold
and silver mines are located near the
town.