Mexico weekly ledger., 1891-02-12
THE GOLDEN STATE.
An Audrain Boy Gives an In
teresting Account of His
Journey to the Pa
citic Coast.

20 the Editor OF the Ledger.
FRESNO, CAL, Jan. 31.-I have
read your newsy paper nearly
every week for the last three years.
1t gives me a great deal of pleasure
20 read it. l can hardly wait from
one week to another, l am SO inn
patient. | have been aiming to
write you a short letter for three
years and have just now found
time; SO if you will give me a
small space i'll the columns of the
&. R. W., 1 will write you a few
lines concerning my trip to the
Golden West. There Is so much
to tell | am afraid I cannot find
words to express my thoughts. 1t
would take a ready pen and a
ready writer to do justice to this
grand and glowing country.
If my pen was plucked from
some beautiful bird of paradise and
dipped in the most gorgeous hue
of the rainbow, l could not do
more than describe this country
truthtully; but if the critics eye
rests upon these lines l trust they
will deal gently with them, for my
pen is but a steel one and dipped
in the worst of ink. We left Gen.
t~ralia, Mo-, Feb. 3, 1888, at 2 p.
n. and arrived at Kansas City at
9 D. n. Our train was late and
we missed connections with the
west bound train, SO we had to lay
over there twelve hours, but We
did not care as it afforded US much
pleasure to spend one day more in
the city an grand old state.
As | saw the last glimpse of the
fertile prairies of old Missouri fade
away like a cloud in the horizon, it
seemed as if | was conscious OF
being cast loose from the secure
anchorage of settled life and sent
adritt upon a doubtful world.
l cannot tell you but very little
of my trip across the plains from
Kansas City to New Mexico. A
writer with more mind magma,
ton than mine might give you d
grand and flowing description OF
the great PLAINS.
We topped in Las Vegas one
day, and l like the country very
much ; think if l was a milllonair
would like to live there; all tropi-
cal plants grow we'll there.
After we left Las Vegas the
country was very mountainous for
quite a distance; some OF 1t was
very fine scenery. The most oil
Arizona near the railroad is moth.
ing but as andy and alkali desert;
no vegetation of any kind grows
there, except the cactus. Some
times a solitary mountain away of
in the distance, on the edge of the
great sandy plains, would be a
new theme for idle speculation.
One of the granGest sights on this
road, to the fastener, is Spanish
Peak. The top of it Is covered
with snow and ice, and the nice
sunshine makes it lovely scenery
for the eager eye of the weary
emigrant. Spanish Peak and the
Grand Canon of the Colorado are
next to the Dakota and Rio Grande
scenery.
All of Southern California is
nothing but a desert, from the
NeadIes to within thirty miles OF
Mojane. We had to lay over at
Mojane junction twelve hours to
wait for the San Francisco express.
1t IS in the center of the great
Moiane Desert. OF all the desc
late, Godforsaken countries l ever
saw, Mojane is one. So you can
see we did not enjoy our visit there
much. Its a grand scenery cross.
ing the Sierra Nevada mountains.
We counted eighteen tunnels, one
after another, and don't know
whether we counted all or not, but
this will do for this time. This is
one of the most remarkable pieces
of engineering ever done, lnclud-
ing the Loop Tunnel and Horseshoe
Bend.
After we crossed the mountains
we were in a moe civilized coun-
try. Nearer to Fresno the country
improved very fast. l think that
Fresno county is one of the finest in
California.
Fresno City, the county seat
of Fresno county, three years ago
was but a mere village, and to-day
In its infancy, is in the centre