Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1889-06-13
The Land of Fruits and Flowers.

Ed. Register--Writlng up trip
have become so common that to th
many they are no doubt as time-tolt
tales, but to few they may still b.
interesting. On May 18th, 1883,
started to Southern Cal. by way of tn
Southern Pacific r. r. The officer!
of the Road were gentlemanly ant
kind; but the scenery very monot
onous until / reached Texarkana. A
Fort Worth got a much needed night'l
rest at hotel. From there to Ell Pase
1 was disappointed in not seeing the
large grain fields of which had heard
but instead / saw what seemed to me
to be the confines of desert. So
was not favorably impressed with
Texas. At Ell Paao fortunately met
a gentleman and his wife, old &C.
quaintances of mine, from Pennington,
Mo-, who were going TO River Side
Cal. short distance this side of my
stopping place. On the third morning
1 awoke in the midst of real sandy
desert. was impressed with its vast.
ness, thought should neyer tire OF
looking at it; but before the day was
gone I was glad enough to see the
green oasis where the trains stopped.
At Fort Yuma the Yuma Indians
were attractive and uDattractive.
They are black with black course long
hair, half clad filthy looking creatures.
Nothing further of interest until
reached my destination, Florida, which
L believe is the prettiest little town in
the prettiest valley ever saw.
Wishing to return by different
route I purchased my ticket by way of
Rio Grande and Denver. Los Ange-
les the first city of importance seemed
to be bustling and busy, but the people
said, "Times are hard, work and mon
ey scarce" I was anxious to see Cen
trail Cal. for had heard much of its
wonderful wheat:fields, and vineyards
and orchards. Again 1 was disap-
pointed except in its vineyards. The
wheat and barley did not compare
with the wheat and barely In South
ern Cal. Tulare and Fresno were two
very pretty little cities OH our road to
which we reached at p.
NJ. too late to see much of the city, but
enough to say II have seen the capital
of Cal. Awoke the next morning to
behold the windngs of the Truckee
river with saw-mill at every curve.
1 was told that the Truckee had fine
trout in it, and was the outlet of lake
Tahoe and empties into lake Pyramid,
which has no outlet and has an eleva-
ton of 5000 feet, and has an area of
.35 square miles. AT Reno Nevada,
we took breakfast not far from Virginia
City, Loted mining town. Then
through a desert covered with alkali,
with all occasional pasture with rath-
er poor looking stock in it. AT all the
sta tions the Puts Indians greeted us
with their babies for exhibition which
they would unvail and show for a
nickle or piece of cake. On to Hum.
boldt where We dine, after which for
the first time saw dugout dwelling;
then through Palissade canon with a
lovely brooklet running through it..
Next day A. NJ. founi US at Ogden
whore we We're glad to change Cars,
for with the change of cars came a
change of porters of whom we had
some reasons to complain. Left Ogden
at $40 A. NJ. and soon we were in sight
of the far famed Great Salt Lake.
Then Brigham Young's city loomed
up before our vision in all its beauty,
with it's broad streets lined with pop
lar trees and a rivulet on each side of
it's streets; surrounded with its snow
capped mountains. We see the Tenn
pie and Tabernacle in the distance and
learned that the walls of the Temple
were feet tLick of solid hewn granite
which decreases to feet at the height
of the roof. 1t is over 80 years since
the foundation was laid and has cost
over $2,OOO,O0O derived from the
church tlthings. The Tabernacle is
an elliptical dome, set upon circle of
stone piers 20 feet in height, with an
ampitheatre large enough to seat $4,000
people; and is nearly filled every Sun
day. How does that compare with
our Gentle church going people? l
noticed some very fine looking cattle in
the vicinity; think they Were Holstein.
A 20 minutes stop at Provo City for
dinner and then We enter Spanish