Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1896-01-10
do we got our first view of the mountail-
Had the day been clear. we would have seei

rom rolling praiTies To small mountain
.ud intervening valleys. Jus. after passiu.
through trinidad and until We reached ia,
unnel we had n very heavy grade The
rain WAS divided into two sections. tive
,owertul locomotives taking the first seveI
coaches, while the three rear coaches provec
tlmo5t too much OF load IN places for on,
Xtra large locomotive. The road. beds art
Seil balasted and the curves and outer rail-
% well 40 justed that one hardly knows whei
ne Ii rounding a mountain, we're It not thu
se often see from the rear cars the first sec
.ion ahead. The mountains are covered
with scrub pine, grease wood and sage brush
slnce leaving La Junta adobe honses become
more numerous as we 20 south, many OF
which are Inhabited 10y mexican Greasers."
After leaving Ration, we cross another
loug stretch OF pr urie, upon which large
nerds of cattle and horses are feeding with
now and then u mule for company. One
great surprise To me has been the entire
absence OF sheep, not one having been seel
This side of Chicago.
$3.50 a. IN. We are now at Wingate. New
air is very cold. but the sun IL shining bright
ly. Yesterday when writing | neglected to
unentiOu the fact that our route passed
through small place called Dorsey, the
scene of tx Senator Dorsep's stock raising
venture and little further on we passed
through Maxwell City, located on The great
Maxwell land grant" At LagunR we had
m eXcellt ut view of one of the noted Pueblo
Indian yillsges of terraced adobe huts. just
before reaching Coolidge, n. y. we passed
over the continental divide. Near Wlngate
we gOI view of Fort Wingate where L. )
troops are stationed. At Ga!lpp We pass
through prominent coal mining district;
We also had "A view ut this place of several
Navajo Indians. with blankets wrapped
around them. of their Own manufacture.
which they were trying to sell Upon being
asked how much they wanted for one an old
Indian held up one hand with the thumb and
four fin gers extended, meaning five dollars.
He did not sell any to our passengers. To
the north and south of here are several
Indian reservations. The soil of the villege
through here appears to be composed mostly
OF adobe clay. One road runs at such an
altitude that the tops of the mountains.
which we see from the train, appear more
like foot hills or, in the east, 90 I'd sized hills.
They are mostly rocks with a little covering
of soil in which grows scrub cedar. The
valleys, when not cultivated, are covered
more or less with sage brush At this point
solid rock towers vertically about 400 feet
above Us. it looks quite picturesque.
Thursday, = O'Clock p. m. As we pass
through Holbrook We see a sample of the
petniied frank of tree taken from the
Detrted forests, which are twenty miles
south Of here, called ctalcedony park, where
millions of IONS OF chalcedony, agate and
amethyst are to be found.
Thursday, 3 p. IN. We have just passed
through Miuslow, Arizona: this Il snall
town with pleasant outlook. To the north
abou' 20 miles the mountain peaks, which
border the Grand Canon of the Colorado
river, lift up their heads tar above the sur
rounding plains. To one fresh from the
east they appear about five miles away.
A little to the north of Winslow is the moqui
Indian reservation, where the famous snake
dances are performed. They handle the
most poisonous reptiles with impunity. OF
course, at the conclusion of their perform
ances strong antldotes are taken great
many cattle aud some horses are killed by
the rail road through here, owing To absence
of fences, every few minutes carcus Is seen
thrown to one side of the track. At l:25 p,
IN. ! sighted the Twin peaks of snow covered
San Francesca mountains. | said 70 my
seat mate There Is a fine mountain about
one mile ahead of us, We will reach them
about five O'Clock. We are looking now at
some mountains OF volcanic formation.
They are as black a. coal Two hocks OF
sheep and goats have been seen since we
entered Arizona. An occasional coyote il
Canon Diablo, cut or washout in the
plateas 22J feet deep, $50 feet vide and
many miles long.
Friday, $3.50 a. m. Flagstaff was our next
point of interest after crossing the canon.
Ii WAS there We passed the snow covered
twin peaks which We had sighted 100 miles
back and thought II about one mile. Near
Flagstaff are the ancient cliff dwellings, but
we failed to soc them from the traiU From
there also trl. weekly excursions are made to
the Grand Canon of Colorado river the great
est wonder of the American continent. Flag
staff - located upon the mountains at an
elevation of nearly 1000 feet. The scenery
from it is grand. The surrounding mount
aims are covered with pine forests which.
together with the nigh attitude OF the place,
makes great health resort As we sped
away from this beautiful spot darkness en-
veloped Us and 1t was not until about five
O'Clock the next morning that ] avoke Just
in time to get n good view OF the great can't
lever bridge. SAID to DC the longest of its
kind IN the Y. =, which spans the Columbia
river near the town called The Needles"
so named from the mountain peaks near by.
Near by IL also mojava indian village.
Since leaving the mountains near Flagstaff
we have also left all trace of snow. We are
now crossing the great Nojava desert. The
air Is COOL at this time of the year Although
Judging from the double roofs on all the
stations pass potion of the year is not
enough to suit even "A 1artor. We have Il
fine view O the mountains on either side of
Us. The soil of the valleys Is composed OF a
coarse sand, covered with a scanty growth of
some kind of shrub. A good many mount
aims blackened by lava Ia seen. One extent
crater was noticed from which iii times
passed lava had flowed 20 miles away. 1t
was in ridges as though 1t had been drawn
out by wagon and dumped. We are nearing
Daggets, the station for the rich Calico min
ing destrct and for deaths Valley.
lis p. m. We are Just passing through
Hesperia, everything here indicates a new
country. Alfalfa is green, strawberry,
plants luxurent, the plains covered with
scrub cedar and yucca plants and the weather
like summer in the east. Miles of worthless
land when without water, but when il can
be IRRIGATED It can he made luxurient with
vegetation AS cultivated spots here and there
shows.
Al Pasadena. The ride through Cajou
Pass, the point where we pass over the San
Bernardins range of mountains and enter
semi tropical Cal, was grand beyond the
DESCRIPTION of my pen. A we neared san
Bernadno we got our first glimpse of the