The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-08-17
THE LATEST FL DORADO.
iIum!in Garland Describes His Impress
siOns OF Cripple Crock. Col. and Tells
How Ono Has to Travel TO Get There.

uum:tn Garland Describes HIS impress
siOns OF Cripple Crock. Col. and Tells
How One Has to Travel TO Get There
One morning at 5 o'clock the mist and
the clouds began to break in the west,
and up into the clear air the crown OF
Pixies Peak rose. cleaning with snow,
clear cut as carved marble against the
blue sky. The streams, bank full, came
singing down the gulches, and the
teamsters Of the roads We're merry as
bobolinks or the toads singing In the
pools. Great scarfy rolls of cloud lay
along the middle heights. and spots Of
lesser clouds crept slowly round the
higher peaks, like weary birds seeking
resting place after the storm. To the
east all was dark, gray, fOrbidding. On
such morning l went from Colorado
Springs to Cripple Greek over the Mid
land railway, which runs through the
Ute Pass, keeping Pixies Peak on the
left. 1T was magnificent ride. The
train climbs constantly, attaining at
Divide a height Of 10000 feet above the
sea. From Divide we turned sharply to
the left, circling the great peak, stop
ping at Gillert and Grassy. At Gillett
are a couple Of "chlorination mills" for
the reduction of ore, and a race track.
One of the highest race tracks In the
world, l suppose, 10000 feet above the
sea. Gillett was for time the terminal
OF the Cripple Creek branch Of the Mid
land and Is located In beautiful noun
tain meadow. with smooth green slopes
70 the west and the rugged foothills Of
Pixies Peak to the east.
In Genuine Old Stage.
At Grassy We took stage for Cripple
Greek. 1t was the real thing. An over
Land stagfe which held nine inside and
six on top and which was "too low for
tall man and too narrow for a fat
man, and a h of a place to put a
woman anyhow" And yet 1t once car
ried thousands Of passengers from east
to west.
1t was drawn by six lean, hunched
incredibly strong mountain horses. Not
exactly bronchos. but near it. The
road was muddy and steep and the
stage rolled till the woman shrieked
and the fat men clung to the hickory
framework. We could hear the cruel
swish and vicious pop of the whip but
could see little. A row of boots hung
over the roof, a movable ballast which
probably saved US from overturning.
When the vehicle lurched to the left
the boots shifted to the right, to the
wild cries of those within: SHIFT yer
ballast"
There came time when the hill
grew sleeper, and most of the passen-
gers alighted to walk up the long slope.
Then began painful putting and
whistling and explosive cries. The rare
air demanded the utmost expansion of
the lungs. and the tenderfoot walked
with wide-open mouth and roaring
breath. A sharp pain came into the
chest. I, for one, felt as If l had been
running a long distance in zero-cold
air. My lungs seemed scared and my
pulse throbbed painfully.
First View Of Cripple Creek.
We topped the swell at last looked
away over Cripple Creek. At first sight
It seemed a handful of yellow blocks
sprinkled in the warm hollow between
smooth, grassy, gray-green hills. Be
yond il ranges of brown foothills and
blue ranges Of secondary mountains
lead to the Sangre de Cristo range OF
mountain peaks. white with snow. soft
as the clouds just above them and more
than l4,OOO feet high. The whole pros
pect was of the most gigantic magni-
tude, yet it possessed the delicacy in
coloring of a flower.
The wind. pure as the snowy peaks.
came amiably over the smooth. sunny
slopes, making the blood rush like gal
lopiry horse. Clouds. wind and sun
shine sirove together to make the hour
memorable. The setting of this town
of mingled glory and infamy must,
therefore. be said to be most magnifi-
cent. All about on the rounded slopes
wrere prospectors pits and dumps of
reddish or terra Gotta rock. Every
hillside was pitted with these--broken
out in a sort of terra Gotta rash. with
here and there windlass with a blue
denimed miner winding wearily. Fur
ther down stream holsters were at
work. Occasionally blasts doomed forth
like the sound of cannon.
Most Of the pits and trenches are the
work Of prospectors. Others are made
to show in making a claim. Some Of
them are mines. We passed by several
OF these shafts where men were work
ing with pick and shovel In the good old
way. pushing out or winding out by
hard their buckets of rock. Others had
horses and very handy power for
lifting the carrier
Gold Seeking Is Paramount.
Entering the stage again. we whiried
with some flourish into the town. At
near view 1t was a singular collection Of
buildings. Here was an old log ranch
house, there a shock, half tent and half
cellar, and beyond an ambitious brick
block. Everything looked like a camp.
and so 1t Is called. when did you
come to camp?" they ask, instead Of
using the word town or city.
The camp. we'll say, is less than four
years old and looks to be newer than
that. 1t swarms with people: all sorts
of people. Englishmen in helmet hats:
Scotchmen In visor caps: miners In tall
laced boots and clay-covered hats:
cowboys with sombreros; capitalists
and professional men In smart clothing,
and prospectors In sagging gray shirts
and shaggy boards. Just down from the
higher attitudes.
At the hotel, before the big fireplace.
ananniup with Aorca ooaruy thov