The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1893-08-31
Written Especially for the vIReIN1AN.l
AN OBSERvANT TOURIST.

N@OAAAO ~ SAAO $500
At your kind request, Mr.. Editor, |
herewith send you sort of continuous
account of my recent trip:
Leaving Clifton Forge on Thursday,
June 22nd, on No. 3, and stopping over
night at Cincinnati, reached st. Louis
on Friday evening by the Southwestern
Limited Express. This is a fast train
running by way of Cleveland and In
part of the next week was spent with
friends in the city. On Sunday morn
ing the first man upon whom my eyes
fell after entering the pulpit of the
Grand Avenue church, was Prof. d. G.
Humphreys, of Lexington, who gave
such an interesting lecture last winter
on the Upper Missouri and it's Indians. }"
One of the ministers there, now pastor
of the Peoples church in st. Louis, was
licensed at Covington, Va, when the
writer was Moderator of the Presbytery.
Here also had the pleasure of meeting
Mr.. Grice, brother Of our Mr.. Grice,
who represents the Burlington Route,
which, by the way, is one of the best lines
over which one can travel in the West
On Thursday, boarding the Centen>
NAL State (Colorado) Express, we were
whirled to Denver, almost 1000 miles
distant, the next evening. The country
through which the route lies, in Me-
braska and Colorado, is ranch and
grazing land, but the ranches are smaller
and though many horses and cattle are
seen they are less numerous than they
were once.
After days travel over the bounds
less praries, long blue line, fringed
with white, is seen, and soon the out
lines of the Rockies loom up in the dis
tance. Towards evening>we enter an
irrigated section, and at once the indi-
cations OF city appear, the brakeman
calls out Denver, and this part of the
journey is ended.
Denver was once the home of the Cat
tie Barons and Silver Kings, and is yet
to some extent. Anyway the city is
reputed to be very wealthy one. The
buildings are very fine. The 1st Presby-
terrain church is very handsome build
ing of red sandstone, and is said to have
cost $4,000. The Opera House is also
magnificent building, said to be the
finest in the world, except perhaps, that
of Paris. But this place, and indeed the
whole State, has been rudely shaken
up in the last few months. The silver
agitation closed many of the mines.
securities deprecated and Banks went
to pieces in quick succession. Besides
thousands of men have been thrown out
of employment and the general condition
is far from pleasant OF hopeful.
Colorado Springs, the next place at
which we stopped, is a pretty place with
beautiful surroundings. 1t is a famous
resort for consumptives and hundreds of
people suffering with lung troubles are
found here. The clear and pure air, the
Garden of the Gods nearby, the beauti-
full resort of Marriton. with Pixies Peak
towering above, and looking down upon
it all, conspire to make the vicinity most
attractive to tourists as well as health
seekers.
Leaving Colorado Springs by the
famous Denver and Rio Grande Ry. one
enters at Canyon City the Royal Gorge
of the Arkansas, one of the most sublime
pieces of scenery on the road or on the
Continent, perhaps. These superb views
are repeated and enhanced in the Black
Canyon and over Marshall's Pass. Just
west of Leadville, the historic mining
camp, the Continental Divide is crossed.
Here are the headwaters of streams
which find their way into the Pacific
After passing through the Grand Can
yon, and beholding more of these won
derful scenes of rock, cliffs, and water,
we stop for the night at Glenwood
Springs, another beautiful resort, with
fine hotels and hot water baths. From
this delightful place the way lies through
a hot and dry country, which but for the
blessings of irrigation would be hopeless
Iyebarren The waters from the streams
cause not only the grass but excellent
fruit to grow, and enables it. to sustain
many people.
Soon we pass up into the dusty desert,
with its sage brush and sand. The hills
along the way are lonely, some of them,
however present a striking appearance.
especially one called the Acropolis of the
Desert, after its classic namesake at
Athens.
Having passed through the Castle
Gates, two huge cliffs that seem to bar
the entrance of the railway, we enter
the mountains east of Salt Lake City
But your patient readers are already |
weary, and an account of the rest of
the journey will be postponed for an
other time. M.
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