The Forrest City times. [volume] (Forrest City, Ark.) 1871-1919, 1899-08-25
From Omaha to Portland.

article covering the National Editorial At
ISOLATION excursion from Chicago as fan
as Council Bluffs. Iowa. being for that dis.
lance the guests OF the Northwestern Line.
II Is now the intention OF the writer 10
take up the trip from that point and brief
" outline the most important features OF
the Journey thence to Portland. Across
the Missouri river from Council Bluffs
stands beautiful Omaha We arrived
there after dark, remained only sufficient
~ long To exchange engines, and were
ven over by the Northwestern people to
/. the care and courteses of the Union Pa
/, cfic. the nrst transcontinental railway.
]. aud for sT4 miles we were rapidly trans
/. ported through the vast cornfields and
pastures OF Nebraska. the homeland oil
cyclones aud Bryan, and through the
boanLless coalfelds and cattle ranges OF
+. Wyoming. " here woman's suffrage first
/, : caught on. Cur only stops so ia'
,.were for meals al North Platte, Nebraska.
and Rawlings, Green River aud Granger.
Wyoming. vm
{, The Union Pacific is the pioneer route
+. to the west. 1t Is the graldfater of west.
ern railways. :, Constructed with grea,
difficulty aud over almost insurmountable
obstacles, 1t was " the first band that fas
tened irrevocably to our common country
the Eden Of the western world, the verdi
/. ure clasped slopes that end at the Golden
Gate. ~
A writer in the Clarksburg IVA News
says the country through which til $
nine passes, though rich in minerals, aud
magnificent scenery, is not altogether
pleasing to one who looks so much upon
the green, velvet slopes of Virgina's hills
. Herds and iiocks feed upon the table lane S
Ut Wyoming aud Idaho, but to me it looks
MUCH as ii the Creator when he made the
world rested day to soon. 1t is an VI,
finished country. Sage brush, grease,
weed and cactus greet the eye, hour after
hour, day after day. untilyOa think the
fountains Of the great deep lave dried up.
aud that you are crossing Wthe erstwhie
Pacific ocean la Moses over the Red sea.
AT Sherman, between Cheyenne and
Laramie, we passed the famous Ames
monument, placed at the highest point OF
altitude on the Union Pacific line, s,247
feet above sea level. There we were
practically on the summit of the Rock,
Mountains to which it had been a long
and difficult climb; but the powerful en-
gines had slowly but steadily drawn our
very heavy train to the summit where We
overlooked the country for miles. When
first talked of most people thought the
feat of building a railroad over the Rock,
Mountains an utter impossibilty. Men
who had crossed the mountains to CalifOr.
ma with OK teams in '49 and the sos said
that no locomotive could climb a noun
lain where six oxen could hardly draw ~
wagon.
But the Union Pacific was built follow.
ing the old emigrant trail over the noun.
tains almost exactly. and now night and
day heavy trains run up the mountains
and over the lofty SUBMITS. Ii is pleas
ant. as one is whirled swiftly along, to IL,
the mind turn back to the day of small
things, when man confidently set the limit
to the achievements of the railroad builder
and predicted failure If the impossible
were attempted. Experience has taught
us that there are no impossibilities to the
men who build our great highways OF
travel, and that railroad can be bail
anywhere on dry land and will be built il
there is any money in doing it, T.
The Union Pacific passes through the
great buffalo country OF former years, but
fertile farms and great grazing ranges for
horses and cattle now occupy the land
aud the buffalo and the Indians are but a
memory OF the past. 1t is wonderful,
interesting ride over the plains and across
the mountains. and We have only pleasant
u'ein"ries to take with us when we leave
the Union Pacific.
At Granger We became for 54i miles
the lourDeying guests Of the Oregon Short
Lne, and were met by some of the nu-
merous genial official representatives of
the company who We're loaded down with
artistic souvenirs and whole ency clopedias
OF information. The farther west we
went II seemed the more hospitable the
people became. II indeed, the Inequalities
o! these first met, could be excelei.
The Oregon Short Line has about 1900
miles of road e.stending from Granger.
Wyoming to Huntington. Oregon, and
from Butte, Montana, to Salt Lake and
Mcclure, Utah, and many important in
tetmediate points. General Passenger
Agent Burnley extended cordial invita-.
ton TO the editorial party to visit Salt
Lake City, and also extend our trip north.
ward and visit the yellow. Stone National
Park, but we were already some twenty
hours behind our schedule, and to have
accepted these additional eourtesies would