St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1889-06-20
A TRIP TO SEATTLE.

Before leaving Vermont a number
of my friends requested me to write
to them all about our journey, and
how l found Washington Territory.
| desire to favor my friends request
in Caledonia county with one letter
in your esteemed paper.
We left St. Johnsbury Friday, May
"a, arriving at Montreal in the even
| ing. At Montreal the train was
made up of cars from and on our
way to Vancouver, B. c., from Bos-
ton, Des Moines, Iowa, Toronto and
Halifax-in all FIVE colonist cars.
| They contained nearly two hundred
passengers, largely consisting of
young men, ladies and children, and
a pleasanter and more social set of
people | never met.
From Montreal to Vancouver, a
distance of nearly 5000 miles over
the Canadian Pacific, the accOmm o.
dations were very satisfactory, all
that was promised being fulfilled by
the managers of the road, and great
courtesy being shown the passengers
by obliging conductors and brake
men. ]. G. Knuckey, the New En-
gland passenger agent, was with us
as far as Port Arthur and added
much to the enjoyment of the pass
u
couver we were escorted by w. T.
Dockrill of Toronto, the travelling
agent of the passenger department,
who was untiring in his efforts to
supply all the wants of the party
from the oldest lady to the youngest
child. Such faithful attention was
given one of the passengers who was
very sick, that resolutions of thanks
were drawn up by Rev. r. d. Hyland,
rector of Warwick, and signed by
100 passengers. The rector present
ed these to Mr.. DockrilI with CRATE
full speech, which was responded to
in a pleasing manner by Mr.. Dock
rill
Language cannot describe the
grand scenery over this route, espe-
cially through the Rocky, Selkirk
and Cascade mountains. One must
be an eye witness to enjoy the views.
After leaving Montreal there is little
of interest for long distance. The
road passes through a barren coun-
try with poor soil. Winnipeg, the
chief post of the Hudson Bay compa-
ny, has many handsome stone and
brick buildings, street railways and
electric lights, large Touring mills,
workshops of the c. p railway, the
principal land Offices of the c. p. rail
way, also the chief land Offices of the
government in the west. Passing
Winnipeg we come to Brandon, the
largest grain market in Manitoba.
Here are fine grain elevators and
Touring mills, and all along from
Winnipeg to the Rockies one noticed
immense prairie lands and beautiful
farms, and in other places the widest
region that can be imagined with
hundreds of lakes and rushing rivers,
with wild ducks and game, prairie
dogs, wolves and antelopes on the
banks. Along the lakes are many
Indian huts, while Indians gather at
many of the stations to sell buffalo
horns to the passengers. Much of
the work in this section is performed
by the Chinese, whose hutS are seen
everywhere.
Passing through the mountains
there is grand scenery for hundreds
of miles. Steep mountains surround
the track, towering thousands of
feet above us, while the valleys are
hundreds of feet below The road
crosses high trestles over rushing
rivers, and runs through immense
snow sheds and tunnels. AS the rail
road wound around the mountains,
going several miles and gaining only
one straight mile, it seemed to me
that it was going round and round
over the same track, and it was a
wonder to me where we should find
our way out. At the Glacier house
station noticed passengers strolling
about, some picking wild flowers,
and others snow-balling each other
We Vermonters were reminded of
home all the way through the noun
tains by the snow and ice that COW
cred them. l was told by people
there that the snow and ice remained
on them all summer. There were
several banks of ice 1900 feet deep
between the huge mountains. Pass
ing through the Selkirk mountains
we came to the Cascade mountains.
On one side of the car could be seen
mountains thousands of feet high,
while on the other side the Fraser
river, hundreds of feet below, ran
rushing and foaming through the
rocks. l agreed with many of the
passengers that the trip through the
Rockies was we'll worth the cost of
our tickets to the Pacific coast.
We had in the cars all kinds of
amusements, entertainments and re-
ligious exercises. One evening sever
al passengers from the different cars
met together and had a concert, each
taking part in singing and giving re-
citations. l wish to mention two
quite young ladies, the Misses Hill
from Des Moines, Iowa, bound for
Tacoma, who sang very sweetly and
to the delight of the audience On
oulludy dllSlhooI lHS NeE. N. ~. ny
land favored us with a Bible reading
and remarks, and in the evening a
prayer and praise meeting was held.
On the following Wednesday evening
praise and prayer service was held.
Among those present was Miss San
dersen, bound for Seattle, who took
an active part in the service. This
same lady not only showed her
Christian spirit in these religious ser
vices, but acted the part of the good
Samaritan by her deeds of kindness