Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1893-09-14

1
cisco. The spruce and pine for
ests, the pure, fresh atmosphere
and clear water, the luxuriant veg
citation, the bright sunshine and
beautiful flowers.
Williams, with its inexhaustible
pine and fir, landscapes and dis
tant peaks, stretching to the fam
Gus Johnson's Canon. All, my
friends, / would relate the grandeur
Of this place, but pen cannot de-
scribe. From the first il would
seem that we were to be hurled
down fearful precipice, but cling
ing to the steep crags, ravines and
dashing waterfalls until the realm
of nature is exhausted and lost on
the undulating hillsides, the far
stretching landscapes and crystal
stream winding its deep and silent
way in the distance, until the
green trees that adorn its mossy
banks blend their emerald colors
with the morning sun and are lost
in one grand panoramic view OF
the combined beauties of heaven
aud earth. The old Santa Fe trail,
the letter S above the clouds ,pecu-
liar looking trees and Italian sky,
all of which once seen can never be
forgotten. Ash Fork, Prescott
Junction, the million dollar bridge
across the turbid Colorado, then
long cherished California. The
Needles, appropriately named from
the adjacent sharp, inaccessible
points of which there are three or
four groups
The situation here is not what
was expected of the golden state,
but instead, we are. entertained by
the somewhat nude and imperti-
nent Mojave (Moharvy) Indians,
who never fail to represent their
ancient industry by selling the
susceptible traveller a clay doll or
some triiiiug memento of their un-
skilled workmanship. While the
women are busy disposing of their
little trinkets and exhibiting their
papooses, Mr.. "Shorty" is getting
up considerable excitement over a
comic dance which, after few
dimes have been Clipped in, never
fails to come off and a general hi
larious time ensues. In justice to
"Shorty" and for the information
of those who, unlike your business
manager, have never been through
! The Needles, | must apologize for
him in this way. The Mojaves
cremate their dead as soon as the
spirit has departed. shorty"
was once consigned to the flames
but the heat resuscitated him, and
though terribly burned and disiig-
ured, he grew TO manhood and has
since been a great curiosity and
favorite among his people.
The houses here are built of
stone with double roofs to mitigate
the extreme heat. The great and
dreaded Mojave desert, uninhab
liable, unremitting sand stone for
hundreds of miles, never out of
sight of brown, barren, massive
mountains. Siberia and Ludlow,
lonely stations by the black lava
beds. Bagdad, a veritable furnace.
High basins of millions OF acres
but like inland seas covered with
yellow sand drifted hither and
thither by the shifting winds and
resemble immense ripening grain
fields. But they are not, aud for
th. benefit of my GOOD old rural
friar Is like Thos. Hpwie and Capt.
/ v c. Myers, want to say they
could not raise a bushel of arti.
chokes or a ton of hay in forty
years.
Al Newberry we see the entrance
to Death Valley, at Daggett the
Calico gold fields and largest borax
mines i'm the world. From Bar
stow, Southern California railway,
/ Yucca palm trees. Tojon pass
over the three parallel ranges.
/ Looking back upon the Sierra
Madres in the early morning as
they are draped in snowy, hlmy
wells of cloud, soltening all their
mighty features and seeming to
tenderly kiss their dark raviues.
\ little later and their stupendous
heights are gilded by the first
beams of glorious sun bathing
them in floods Of flame and melt
ing the mists Of night away. San
Bernardino to Los Angeles, valleys
of emerald and gold.
But | am diyerging from scenes
on the Atlantic & Pacific railway,
and will here conclude.
+. l. DECKER.