The Bryan daily eagle. (Bryan, Tex.) 1895-1898, 1897-01-23

white bones Of dead men and old yokea /
OF dead oxen and the parnpheraalia OF /
ancient emigrant trains. No yuliure
wheels above IN the bald. blue sky. no |
wolf or coyote howls from the sandy |
ridges. Il Is sepuleher where silence |
reigns ioreve-. The rush has already /
commenced and the nat levels along |
the Mojave are marked with the deep /
wheel tracks OF daring nrospcci0rs
This Is because u "a winter and ln wln-
ter the desert Il comparatively kind
let them lnd gold and let them hans
10 Il as long as their strength lasts
The desert viii dream Ga placid sllcnc,
until summer cones aad then The pros
peciors viii DE like rats Ia q trap be-
fore they can 60 over the hieh. stony
ridges that surround Death valley.
The area OF the desert s. traversod
by numerous parallel valleys running
from northwest % southeast and
bounded by great ranges Of irecless
hills The center valley OF these is
the one that bears the name OF Death
Il Is the hottest on earth and yies In
many ways with the botomlcH plt
And no wonder 10 Ia from 100 to 800
ieel below the level OF the sea.
AZ various times since los discovery
individuals have penetrated the arid
waste. Once a government expedition
passed hurrlciiy through 40. hui could
not spare time 10 make explorations
Cor fear OF losing their lives.
Springs were found. but they we're
not sufficient 90 Quenoh the thlrst Of
a suffering mule. The average mid
night heat during summer Is said 90 be-
close 10 10 degrees. much o. which "a
subierranean.
Yet Il Is 20 this region and that Of
the Molaye that the gold-feyorcd mia
Crs are hurrylng.
Death valley Il oyerhung on the east
BY the Funeral mountains. which rise
above Il In great bald ridges. They are
called the funeral mountains because
they witnessed one of the sadlosi rag-
cdies that even the Death valley has
ever witnessed
In the early SOS al omigrant train,
steering south. away from the regular
trail. sighted 4 range Of mountains on
the far side OF a wide. bllndlng desert
Two days viii take us across the des-
ert and In the mountains we viii find
water" they argued.
so they allied their water barrels and.
with cracking whips. launched their
white prairie ships over the white and
motlonlcss waves OF the borax desert.
Forty miles, ATTY miles. a nights en-
campmont: sixty. soyonty-fye miles.
and the blue mountains that had hung
like a painting against the sky were
reached.
No wood. no water no grass. no song
I Of birds or sound other than the thirsty
loving OF maddcnod oxen. the cry OF
children and the vail Of women. Men
lave Instincts that are g9d.lkc 10 emcr-
I soncics such "a these.
They parcelled out thc precious store
u food and the more than precious
store Of water. giving the women and
children two-thlrds OF everything IN
sight. Then they pitched camp at the
foot OF the mountains
on the next day. with Infinite
trouble. they gradually rolled the great
wagons to the top Of the mountains
one behind the other In a long line
They wheeled into a stony plateau at
the top. Then great cry broke from
them.
To the west lay the shining white
levels OF as dead a land as God ever
made There was nothing but grease
wood and a few bare clumps Of sage
brush In sight nothing but the silence
OF death and the austerity Of utte- desc
lation.
And yet q was a sight that would
have filled the heart OF a painter with
delight. To the northwest lay the
ranges OF the Argus and the sierras.
hundreds OF miles away. To the south
they could see the Pilot butte. the
/ Callcos and the san nernardino range.
beyond which was safety. These noun
nins were blue and family stroakod
with snow. 10 the north were rage
upon range oi mountains namoiess and
. unknown.
Al their feet, beyond The mesa. which
they reached later. was a narrow val.
Icy. an siroakod with soda. Ike the
white ribs OF a skeleton. spotted with
lava buttcs and blotchod with sage
10 was death 90 30 back. They could
never have survived the journey. They
could only plunge on, into the un-
known.
And so they lowered the wagons by
ropes down 10 the mesa or table land
below, They could set no further a
melancholy meeting was held There
were no tears; only sad questioning
eyes and burning gases across the
wastes.
They resolved 10 separate Each man
took his own. whlihopoovor the hus-
bands went there went the wives. faith
fol, mute and Qgestlonloss, and the llt-
tie children.
A great, Eaunt omlgrant named
Brand took his children IN hls arms
and, followed by his wife and two
others Arsaes on westward toward the
Pesaniat rance. The others separated.
going according to their several Ideas.
The two msn following Towno drove
tNo oxen,
On TOP OF the mountain range these
were killed aud some OF the meat was
dried. From the ton Of these noun
tains. looking back. they could see