The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1893-11-10
A RAMBLE OVER UNCLE SANS TERRI
TORY.


A. RAMBLE OVER UNCLE SANS TERRI
TORY.
r. NUMBER SEVEN.
Many fine views were afforded us dur
ing the journey, of the,many peaks of the
Rockies, some near and some far away,
the white tops glistening in the bright
sun light; and many very curious rock
fe<mationS were passed. The Union
Pacific has always allowed the Indians
along the line to ride free on the car
platforms; the forward one on the bag
gage car of our train held motley crowd
of squares who rode from Butte to a
town about a hundred miles south,
where they were met by lot of stolid
Ipiian ex-braves The Pullman car
porter possessed one of the finest base
voices it was ever our privilege to listen
to. and music made the evening pass
quickly. He did not seem to care for
the usual style of songs his race delight
in, but to his guitar sang classic airs
magnificently. He claimed to be able to
strike a lower note than the famous
Whitney, and think he could Morn
ing dawncd just as we passed through a
narrow canon, the track high up on a
rocky shelf; the stream rushing over the
boulders far below. On each side were
large irrigating bitches, carrying the
precious fluid to the thirsty soil beyond,
the other under construction; and an
immense amount of work is necessary
before the long ditches are ready for the
water Passing through the canon we
emerged into the immense plain, once
the great Salt Lake, now shrunkcn
to small part of its former greatness;
the whole vast plain was walled in by
the surrounding mountains. AS we ap-
preached nearer to Ogden the country
was better cultivated. On one side of
the track the rich farms with their fine
crops extended to the foot of the noun
tain wall, all the result of irrigation;
while on the other side stretched away
as far as the eye could see, the desolate
plain, white with alkali and salt, and
glistening in the sun, its only growth the
sage brush; yet out of exactly the same
kind of land irrigation had made the
fine farms. The trees were loaded with
fruit, and at every station the youthful
MormoDs swarmcd with baskets of fruit
% sell. and luci3us it did look after
weeks with scarcely sight of any. Far
away the waters of salt Lake sparklcd
a the sunlight, just before we reached
'Bgden the train r,n close blythe shoEa-
The Southern, formerly the Central, and
the Union Pacific run parallel many
miles, although Ogden, miles to the
eastward, is the junction point The
Union Pacific has a monopoly of the
traffic north from this point to Helena,
the nearest parallel roads are hundreds
of miles distant. Full advantage is
taken of this fact and five cents per mile
is the sscharge for passenger fares, Ist
two and One-half times that of the New
York Central. The tickets sold on these
western roads make people from the
East very mad; the description of each
passenger is punched in his ticket, so
that if he, for any reason, wishes to dis
pose of it, he will need to find purchas-
er whose appearance is similar to his.
None of these roads from Chicago west
ward would give tourists any decent
rates on through tickets, with stop over
privileges, so that to see places en- route,
was necessary to pay local fares. This
resulted in tine lightest travel the roads
have known in years; soon after we
passed, trains were taken off, and some
branches almost abandoned; this, too, in
the year of the Chicago exhibition, when
proper concessions BY the roads, as is
done in Europe, would have sent crowds
of travellers through the Northwest; all
those foreigners too, who do not yet
know the extent of this great country of
ours. Ogden is good sized place, en-
powered in trees, the railway station is
fine structure for the place. A ride of
36 miles over the old floor of the lake
brought us to what we had always de-
sired to see, the city of the Latter Day
Saints" or sinners, according to the
point of view. A mile or two before the
the city was reached, we passed a fine
bathing resort, possessing quite large
swimming tank, the whole supplied by
large hot spring far up ON the mountain
side. Salt Lake City covers an immense
area, the site once part of the lake, is
perfectly level, and the city can spread
many miles east and south, if it chooses;
the other two sides are close to the encir-
cling wall of mountains. The streets
are very wide, perfectly straight, and run
even mo at right angles than those of
the City of Brotherly Love: it is city of
magnificent distances. There are, how
ever, plenty of electric car lines running
in all directions, so it is an easy matter
to reach any part of the city. expected
to find the sparkling water cold and clear
from the melting SHOWS on the surround
ing mountains, running down both sides
of every street, as the books tell us; but
instead, found it in very few streets, and
then iJ was rather dubious looking
water. Alas, another story gone to join
Geo. Washington's hatchet and VIM.
Tells apple. Only afew of the streets
are paved, two of the principal business
thoroughfares were then undergoing the
process, and consequently were rather
upset: it would require almost as much
money to pave all those streets as to pay
Uncle Sans pensioners. The streets
are both named and numbered, and on
by far the queerest system l ever came
across. Every thing begins with the
great square containing the Temple, the