Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-07-16
A TRIP WEST.
IA letter by Arthur Jones.l

cars DIT DdDCOCk IOI lOIIldn. Here
we were obliged to wait two hours
for the train going to La Crosse,
At 4:3o a. m, on the 18TH, found
US near Redwing and Turkey
River Junction. The river here is
full of saw logs RATED up into
floats to be hoated TO the saw
mills below. We arrived at St.
Paul at us, and left at 9 o'clock
on the Northern Pacific Ry.
There were about $50 or 800
people in the Union depot waiting
for this train, nearly all bound for
Washington. It is all farming
country after we leave Minneapolis
for miles. In Minnesota and the
Eastern part of North Dakota l
did not see any crops that were
any better than they are in Wis
consin, except perhaps some small
grain. The western part of Mimi.
is quite heavily timbered and we
noticed quite number of portable
saw mills along the track saving
mostly hardwood. Friday morn
ing, June 10th, we ate breakfast in
the Bad Lands of Dakota. No
one seemed to eat a very hearty
breakfast; they couldn't keep
their eyes off the car windows
long enough to see what they
were eating. I have seen pictures
of the Bad Lands and always
supposed they were solid stone,
but they are not, they are just the
same as the surrounding country,
worn into various forms by the
rain. Some will be cone shape,
with a stratum of harder earth
near the top, washed away above
and below, thus forming an over
hanging shelf from I to 10 feet
wide Others will be larger in
circumference at the top than at
the base, with tilted strata running
through them. Still others are
precipitous, fronting a dirty little
creek and worn into the most
grotesque forms imaginable. The
most of them are the natural
color of the soil with now and
then a patch of green sod covered
with flowers and sage brush. In
the valleys are excellent grazing
grounds and a number of cattle
ranches are scattered along the
track. AS we leave the Bad
Lands, the "Buttes" gradually
resolve themselves into low
mounds, a rolling prairie, and at
last into beautiful level prairie
Soon after crossing the Montana
line we come to what might prop
eriy be called the Bad Lands of
Montana. These surpass the Bad
Lands of Dakota in beauty and
grandeur Of scenery but the land
is utterly good for nothing. At
Glendive we strike the Yellowstone
river and follow it for distance of
800 miles. This is the dirtiest
river | have ever seen, being of a
dirty cream color and looks SO
thick it will hardly run. There
was a wreck on the Northern
Pacific road of the train ahead of
us. The accident took place
about II o'clock, Thursday June
10th, near Rosebud. A binding
rain-storm was raging and the
wreck was caused by washout
in the track. At the place where
the wreck occurred the track is
removed few feet from the river,
with a high bank with overhanging
cliffs on the other side. The
storm, then in progress, had
washed away a portion of the
grade leaving only the ties and
rails to bridge the hole. The
entire train passed safely over this
with the exception of the last car,
a Pullman sleeper. When the
latter reached the place the track
gave way and the car rolled over
twice and landed right side up in
the river. Sixteen passengers
were in the car and a frlghtful
scene ensued. Men and women
fought for places of fancied secur-
ity, children screamed and begged
to be saved. The water ran in at
the car windows and everybody
expected to meet death by drown