Butte semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1886-1890, 1889-08-28
AMONG SAGE AND LAVA.
A JOURNEY 10 TIE LAND or rHE
GREAsEWo0D and PUM-
ICE STONE. j

nc" sage Hens" of Idaho-scenes al
Incidents by the wayside Pullms
Coaches and Upholstered Stages NAL
the Trip a Pleasant One-Trials of
Tenderfoot Correspondent.
Almost everybody can, nov and the
take a vacation and go iunketing over Il
country, but it is not every person who
as fortunate az I was. Neither does fa'
guide the footsteps OF every nomad into {
pleasant places as it did mine. and dire
him into as agreeable company as this
which it was my extremely good fortune I
have during the last few days of my lon
aforementioned trip to Idaho. Eve
now while attempting to give ~utterances t
the many recoilections which will ever clul
ter about that journey q peculiar feeling {
longing and unrest steals over me, and ]
fancy / am once more going over thegroun
traversed, and beholding the scenes | the
beheld. The putting. painting engine, th
long train of cars filled with people going t
the most distant parts of the habitabl
globe, some sad and some joyous; but a
going, going, going somewhere, living, tang
BILE evidences of that great characteristic G
all true Americans, a love for travel ant
its attendant excitement, and an ever
abiding desire to see new places ant
meet new people. Next before my mind
eye looms up the long, dusty road, tn
numbering, iolting stage coach with it's 81,
powerful, prancing hoeses; the sun burn
driver r1errily swinging his long, snakelik,
whip as he urges the brutes on to greater
speed, while all the time he is talking tC
them and ~affectionately calling them ''chil
dren.' The tired, dust-begrimed inmates
of the coach lazily lolling in their seats OF
else vainly endeavoring to clutch some I'm.
aginary strap overhead as they are shot
upwards by the sudden jerk which always
follows when coach wheels strike an unus-
ually well developed and well preserved
rock in the road. Then, too, l a again
see the look OF resignation which creeps
over the c~ountenance of the b~ack-number
humorist as he relates, for the thousancth
time perhaps, Horace Gresley's fam
GUS ride with Hank Monk, and notices
that the story falls fiat and that it does
not even cause a smile to appear on the
countenaDces OF any Of the long suffering
victims who are compelled to share the
trip with him. Even as he repeats at each
jolt, "Hold on, Mr.. Greeley, I'll get you
there on time" the same solemn visaged
crowd stares him in the face, and when
finally he sees hat to infiict his fellow
passengers once more with that specimen
of senile humor means a sudden ard awful
death, he subsidies ard for the balance of
the journey amuses himself by studying the
country and trying to whistle, wait Till
the Clouds Roll By" These and other
things march before me like an army of
soldiers and as fast as one disappears in
the background OF memory Others come
.treoping along to take its place, and so the
procession continues. s
Monday afternoon, August 10, I babe
to HALEY and the hot springs and
boarded the train for Shoshone,
there to remain over night and the next
day continue on to the famous Shoshona
falls, one of the grandest and most mag
sights which America, the land OF
wonders, contains. Through the
kindness of Mr.. %Strahorn, manager OF the
HALEY hot springs, Mr.. Senter, who looks
after the interests of the Shoshone Falls
company, was at the depot to meet me,
having been advised OF my coming, and
had already made arrangements for my
Transportation to the falls that night and
the anticipation of a moonlight ride OF
twenty-six miles in q buggy to the falls was
q most pleasurable one. Colonel Spencer,
who wes to be my jehu, however, had re-
ceiyed a telegram from Omaha a short time
before stating that the Union Pacific exeur-
sion to the National park would arrive
time during the night on a special
train, and requesting him to pilot the party
to the falls, as they would come provided
with two tally-ho coaches aud twelve
---- 49, =. x~~ry 400
my ride and instead of going to the falls
hat night I went to bed.
For some reason the train did not ar
i've until the following morning about nine
But when it did make it's appear
lnce it was, indeed, "a bird /" as the natives
expressed themselves. A fat car contain
pg the two stages, a baggage car for the
lorses and their attendants and the Pull
nan d%rawing.room car "Kearney,'
omposed its make up. The par
v was c~haperoned by G. z.
Brown of the Union Pacific passenger de-
,artment, and as events went to show, a
,etter selection could not ave been made,
or Clarence was constantly on the alert
nd handled his little army with as much
kill and ease, garnished with just enough |
lightly, as a general would q company OF
nfantry. "Jim" Stephenson, OF Omaha,
ne OF the oldest and most sue
essfuI stagemen in the country, and
t present proprietor OF the Western Stage
ne, besides owning a large livery stable at
'maha, furnished the stages and horses
was on hand in person to supervise
in connection with that depart-I
tent of the excursion. Under his direction
he coaches were unlCaded. and in twenty
from the time the train arrived the
horses, six to each coach, were
up," passengers n baggage load
i on, and the wagons were read TO "roil."
'wo expert drivers, one OF them Tom"
who, years ago, drove on the Chey-
eadwood road, and who has probn-
" had more experience with "road agents"
any other driver now living, handled
le ribbons and welded the "hails." AS no
alter could be obtained on the road between
hoshone and the falls, a barrel OF il was
ken along for the horses, and with Colo
Spencer, with his span Of grays, 10 the
ad as guide and Mr.. senter along as a
,rt of boss-of-all, the ride toward the falls 5
gan. Myself, Jim" Stephenson, the &
isses Bessie and Mile Stephenson, 1t
70 most charming young ladies, t
of Mr.. Stephenson, Colonel j. A. 7
Reed, OF Chicago, Z. Rrewn, DIR, and :
RS. D. W. Smause, of Des Moines, Iowa, d
FL. hubert, Of F~ontanelle, Iowa, b
,ram Rutt, Casey, Nebraska, o. A. t
ltterson and wife. Sioux City, Io~,a, +
'hn Erck, Omaha, R.. ]. Clancy, special 7
OF the Omaha Bee, two or :
rec stock tenders and a colored porter .
sde up the party. - b
Four hours drive took US to the falls and t.
were the guests of Bishop" foyer, II
mayer of the excellent hotel which the II
ppany has built there. A most Tempt
!, old-fashioned, home-cooked dinner was 81
'en and then we began to view the st
merry. Although the river was unusually CT
=, fifteen feet lower than it was ever IL
OWN to be before, the sight which IN
sented itself 30 our awestricken ID
g as we beheid the falls in all OF their b
iestic grandeur, was one which none oil
'se who looked upon it will ever forget.
, lnslgnificance OF poor, pigrny ma and
works never appeared more complete
it did then in the presence of that aw-
lie spectacle. The thunderous and T.
er.ceasing Ioar produced by Che i'm. ',
lse volume OF water madly and +, light
dashing down an abrupt precipice OF Vei
feet, the clouds of spray which it "!
sed as it mingled with the churned !
ers below, the beautiful rainbow, da
brilliant hues OF which hung de
: the vast whirlpool peacefully
dove and as though continually but ms
lily striving to quiet the angry waters. col
a scene which caused all tongues to be. thi
Q tied and all eyes to look with rapture Y
the picture. Words we're useless and inf
liter them in vain sttemnts Of nvn,os oII