The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1897-11-27

nary buck board. and the climate
had undergone sudden change.
The wind blew chilly and penetrat.
ei every pore and crevics in my
clothing. I was glad then that ]
kept my overcoat, in the face u
advice 10 the contrary. The follow
| ing night / slept in a very open
frame structure, 60 open that any
sized cyclone or cloud-burst could
have passed through it without
touching board. Before morning
I felt the cold sand, as / supposed,
sitting in on my face, and crawleti
out Of eight under the blankets.
When / awoke at daylight my bed
was covered with snow, pure, un-
adultera,ed snow, just like that seen
sometimes around Ketchum, and
it kept showing all that day and
the following night.
All this in the foothills of the Rio
Grande, few miles from the boun-
Diary line of Old Mexico. Such a
thing has happened but once or
twice in October since the Spanish
flag was first unfurled on these
peaks, SO the oldest liars tell me.
And | believe them, too. for even
now, in the middle of November,
the days are warm. almost border
ing on the hot. They tell me, too
1.-THE aforesaid 0. |. J, that the nights
are cool and comfortable in the
summer. and that Navajo blanket
feels goods in the night time. A
Navajo blanket is all wool, two
yards wide and as thick as an inch
board). They (same Q. /. also say
it never gets SO awfully DID hot but
that you can keep your shirt on.
Possibly. But | am fully convinced,
from observations go far taken, that
if l haven't lost my bearings on
the country, a mans shadow would
burn a hole in the ground any time
between the last of May and first
of September.
But | am not here to expert the
climate. Climate is formed to be
in place always. | am here more
for the purpose of gaining informa-
ton for the public veal CHATS my
first prevarication since l left the
Observatory and for that all-power-
full element Of observation and civ
ilization-cold -blooded lucre. But
am fully satisfied, from what l
have seen and heard. that this is
fine climate for invalids, If they are
good rustlers. But owing to the
presence of such vast numbers Of
friendly little lizards, who insist on
being your companions day and
night, even to poking their cold
nose in your ear if they catch you
asleep, l cannot conscientiously
recommend this country to people
who sleep with their mouth open.
| have interviewed some Of the
heads of the first families Of the
and since / came among them
descendants of Cortez, Pizarro, Bal
boa, Columbus, Vespucius and
others, and also not few Of the
family of Don Quixote and Sancbo
Panza, and they have literally i
stuffed me with traditions galore,
stories of hidden wealth. secre,ed
I'D mission treasure. concealed
mines. buried gold idols and Mon
ezuma's gold staluary, and have
,tfrred to furnish the maps and
.uides cheap, SO that | cannot fail to
ind them. All of which | promise
O take in when get a little leisure,
md of course will divide with the
observatory and thereby put it on
j wider plane of usefulness.
A solitary horseman. bearing a
J. S. mail pouch, passes this way
vice week. / see him coming
low in the near distance. Adios
or the present.
LEoNIDAs LYRE, Ii. Phi. ID.
Late of the ketch um Observatory } /
Rio Grando Valley. N. M Nov. IA, ~.