Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1894-06-25
WHAT L SAW OUT WEST.
BY DAVID HILL.

yer Plume by narrow guage railway
So read the advertisement, and So
when the day arrived, it found us
among the numbers to go. Not until
we reached Golden, little village
situated like Boulder at the foot of
the mountains, did the interesting
part of the journey begin. Then we
entered Clear Creek Canon, also call
| ed Forks Greek and Beaver Brook,
and followed it to the end of the route.
The entire distance we saw men with
all manner of appliances hunting in
the sands for gold; and, as [ was au-
chemically informed, they found
enough to average them from $3.50 to
$500 a day. The reason for such an
influx of miners along this particular
creek as we'll as others, was on &C
count of the closing of the silver
mines during the panic. 1t turned
thousands out of employment, and in
order to do something, the miners
from Pixies Peak to Longs Peak, and
in other localities, went back to their
old trade Of washing for gold" The
panic also awakened a new interest
among the prospectors; and the re-
suit has been that new mines have
been discovered which, but for the
then present stagnation of business,
would have remained unknown, per-
haps for years.
From the foothills to Silver Plume
it was one wild, grand, unrivalled
scene Of panoramic beauty. Great
mountains loomed up on either side,
their hoary tops standing out
like gaunt silhouetts against the
sky. In many places the canon wild
ened out into several acres in extent,
as if to furnish room for the villages
and towns that covered their sur
faces, and then would narrow up again
until the creek and engine almost
fought for right Of way through the
limited defile. Being unable to look
up to the top of the rocks from the
car windows, we got permission to
ride upon the outside steps. In our
new position no feature Of attraction
was lost. The loaded train pulled
slowly up the heavy grade, SO slow
that, in places we could reach out and
pick the disintegrated rocks from the
steep walls that rose up beside US. At
other times, so close did we run to
the edge of the creek, that we could
look almost straight down into the
waters that went p1ung-
ing over the rocks below. Then! in
other places, the over changing rocks
on either side would almost touch,
leaving barely room for the waters of
the creek to find passage through.
The track had to be cut out Of solid
rock in the side of the giant wall. On
the way we passed Hanging Rock"
"Mother Grundy," 'Inspiration
Point" "Rocky Point" and cold
Man Of the Mountain;" all points of
which, once seen, were never
to be forgotten. 1t did seem as if Ma
ture had struggled hard to make each
one of those places more attractive
than the other; but failing, was salts
fed to leave all of them equally great
and wonderfully sublime.
Then the villages and towns. Who
would expect to see way up in the
bosom of that wild, weird and almost
canon, such villages as
Central City and Silver Plume, and
such towns as Georgetown and Idaho
Springs? Yet there they stand deep
ly buried in the heart Of the Rockies,
and connected with the outside world
only by telegraph and the roads that
reach them through the narrow de-
files. The Rocky Mountains are full
of just such places; just such villages,
just such towns. They are the fruits
of the mines, the working of which
can be seen in every direction.
is laid out in squares on
a comparatively level plot of ground
between two high mountains. All of
the space is occupied, and to enlarge
the place would be to dig out the
rocks or go further up the canon. The
streets are wide and the place sup
ports some fine buildings. The ele
walton is 8476 feet above the sea.
is noted principally for
the famous "loop" that is situated
nearly within it's limits. At no great
distance from the station, and west of
the town, we pass in under. a slender
looking bridge that hangs like thread
of gossamer in the heavens above us.
We think nothing of this at first,
only remarking that the structure is
extremely high up. Slowly we drag
along over the continuous heavy