River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1889-08-08
Letter from Z Sass Connolly.
Nj. ST. JosEPH. RHoNERviLLE, }
HCNBolr Co, Cal,
LILY oNth L..


/ had the pleasure of passing lately on
my trip from your charmingly located
( little city Of the Falls, skirted by that
trout inhabited stream the Kinnickin-
ME to this elevated plain mid noun
/ tain ranges and red wood forests, 800
miles north Of san Francisco, on the
I Pacific coast
/ On Monday evening, the 10Th inst.
at 40 my train steamed slowly ana as
it were, sparingly, IA anticipation Of
( the long run out from the Union De-
pot, st. Paul Everything went
smoothly. even a rough sleep, super
/ induced by the WEAKNESS OF packing
and picking up, the previous days.
till we reached Sioux City at 6 A. N.
the following morning Would you
believe it, 7 was lonely enough 70
turu right back again, had I not con
trolled my feelings. Blues" Q yes,
Blues and Graysl | could not even
| take breakfast. tho | remained for
/ full hour! River Fals is not to be
| put ott Of mind tio' ont Of sight In
stead Of going to Omaha. there is now
a short way from Sioux City to Nor
fork Station. thence to Columbus, Ne
braska, on the sUnion Pacific" Ry,
distance Of 81 miles from Omaha,
| thus saving the journey from Sioux
! City to Council bluffs, and thence on
to Columbus This is a considerable
short cut, and will be appreciated by
travellers. The elevation at this point
rs given by the railroad map is l442
feet above the sea. and to mark the
gradual increasing elevation as we
proceed. take the start on the plains
Of Nebraska.
Onward and westward we pushed
through a most delightful country the
fields and meadows all along the route
teeming with luxuriant crops-corn.
wheat and hay; cattle abound too, and
if the rest of the state be Of such fer.
tiiity, ] believe thai Nebraska is one
of those attractive scenes on the finest
and grandest panorama in the world,
viz, the United States.
Cheyenne, SIG miles from Omaha, is
reached at 10 r.. NJ of Tuesday 1t is
as you well know. in Wyoming Terri
tory, and is marked $3.50 #. elevation.
You will perceive that from Column
bus to Cheyenne the distance is 42j
miles. and difference Of elevation 1905
it.: to Laramie-the highest point on
the Rockies, en- the Union Pacific from
Cheyenne is 80 miles, and the differ
ence OF elevation 1899 IT.. so that the
elevation at Laramie up TO which
we were pulled 10y brace of big lung
| locomotives is 7l49 It. Away to the
left snow capped aouata.n (peron.
niap appears, and the summit we were
| assured by the conductor reaches the
| height Of 1000 It.. almost perpendicu.
| lar. Well, we cOiled around about i,
not caring to puff up to the top. Soft
any one doubt me, let him come on
/ and we shall have some snow balling.
| Al, but down below" the streams
are hot. A story is told of a Dutch
man and his son who travelling along
through these hot plains and seeing
the gurgliug and seething waters issu-
ing from the sands, rushed forward to
satiate his thirst. Gulping a mouth
full the old man shouted to the boy
Thrive on. thrive on, JohaI Py
tam. hell is not half mile Won dieser
platz I"
Ogden, Utah Ty is the next stop
ping place of Importance, at the head
Of Salt Lake, and its elevation is 1901
/ it,; its distance from Omaha 1884
miles. Immediately on descending to
the platform 1 made a bee line for
a barber shop. It was ike pigeon
hole in the side of the depot, and on
being barbarously barbarized l was
informed that two hits were necessary
for therelease of the poor unfortunate
half plucked traveller. paid the bits
and concluded that ! was in Utah.
| WelI-praise goodness for it, we had
| only | 81 miles Of that Ty. to penetrate.
| On to Tecoma Nevada, Fenelon, Reno at
the foot or the Sierra Nevada noun.
| tains, the ascent begins, till we reach
a station called appropriately Summit,
| 70l7 It. elevation Downward TO sac
ramento 80 it., and san Francisco Il
| it,. we are on the home run. dis.
lance of 1857 miles from Omaha. Dec
yratiasl At Beuicia our train is cut
I into, put aboard a large ferry boat and
| the river is crossed to Porta Costa,
thence by train still, to Oakland,
the 10th street Of which is only it..
above the sea. We reach the hay at
last. take the ferry and arrive at san
Francisco at l1.30 A.. n. Friday morn
ing.
Well. word or two about the pic
| turesoueness of the country and am
done. is well that we began with
! Nebraska, as the heart IS filed with
/ gratitude for the luxuriant verdure of
/ the fields. and clumps of cultivated
/ trees about the farmers neat cottages,
/ ana better still that California is the
/ terminus; for going through Wyom.
| ing. Utah, and Neyala. and beholding
| the baked. barren soil the red roasted
| mountain tiers Of sand rock. and the
/ scrGb white sage in tufts al over that
thousand miles of eountry-wel, what
will I sayl Twould make a decent
/ crane ashamed 10 raise its head. Con-
/ trast the scene, and you have the two
sides OF a canvas OF needle work. On
the Nebraska side you have the syme-
| try and perfection OF the artist: colors
| most beautifully and charmingly
blended. and pleasing to the eye. On
the Wyoming Nevada side Jon have
| the stitches most horribly tangled. and
hopelessly mixed. Ask yourself why
make such a countryl Vel, 60 to the
artist and ask why put such back to