Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1899-09-14
IN THE HEART or THE ROCKIES.
Many Things Seen by James D. Massey Oconee Boy
Recent Trip He Made Far West


EDIToRs COURIER: Having at ono
time had the honor of being one of
your staff Of local correspondents, l
have not been able entirely to break
off the habit Of scribbling for the
press; and while your readers may
not remember "Josh Hayseed" of
former years, l am glad to renew tho
acquaintance by giving brief sketch
of a trip which I had the pleasure of
taking recently, provided you can find
space in your columns for that pur-
pose.
The route followed was from At
lanta to Cincinnati over the South
ern and Queen and Crescent rail
ways, to Chicago over the Big -Four,
to Denver over the Burlington, to
Salt Lake City over the Denver and
Rio Grande and the Rio Grande an,
Western, to Butte, Montana, via the
Oregon Short Line; thence to Vel.
low Stone National Park, and after
ward on to St. Paul, Minnesota, by
the Northern Pacific; then down TO
Chicago over the Burlington, and
back to Atlanta over the same route
taken outward.
Leaving Atlanta at night, we
awoke among the hills of Northern
Kentucky, and crossing soon into
Ohio at Cincinnati, Dixie was left
behind and we were in the great
middle West, the land of corn and
cattle. Here, where once roamed
the red man over the vast prairies in
pursuit of the buffalo, arc the farms
which make the Mississippi valley
the grancry of the world to-day.
Fields of corn, of wheat, oats, rye
and barley, pastures containing large
herds of cattle on every hand, vast
areas Of land, now as level as floor,
now gently undulating and OCCASION
ally more uneven and rolling. Big,
commodious barns ovcrshadow what
are really adequate and well-built
homes. The wire fence is every
where, because of timber there is
none. A clump Of trees usually
hovers around the houses, planted,
of course, for shade and protection
from wind. The lightning rod is
apparently in high favor along with
the wire fence, but the pronounced
feature of the landscape all over the
West is the windmill. 1t is ever
present and universal-uot, to be
sure the big four-armed machines
that have helped to make Holland
famous, but the busineas-like steel
concerns, which moves like other
busy Americans. Like the fence,
they are made necessary by circum-
stances, for streams arc not numer-
GUS and wells must be depended up
on for the water supply.
Tradition hath said that Mr.. Car
ter made so many oa ,s that he had
to rent an adjourning lot on which
to shock the surplus sheaves. Mr..
Carter beat the west somewhat on
oats, but here the shocks stood won
derfully thick on the ground. IIar-
vesting had just about been finished
and threshing was in progress.
Great stacks of straw stood about in
the fields, and fat cattle browsed
upon the stubble lands from which
the grain had been removed.
The train halted long enough at
indianapolis for one to take brisk
walk and get slight glimpse of that
city, with it's handsome buildings,
clean asphalt streets and business
like air. A good view of iudiana's
capitol building was had. 1t is a
sister building to Georgia's seat of
government, both being built of
Indiana limestone. The general
design is also somewhat similar, but
believe that an unbiased opinion
would be favorable to our capitol on
external appearance.
SoJoURN IN TIE WINDY CRY.
Chicago is colossal. She is great
from every utilitarian point of view
great in area, population, wealth,
business. She is huge hive of hus-
tie, and the hub around which GEN.
ters the vast and varied interests
Of the west. Sho reaches out and
draws to herself cattle from
Colorado, wheat from Dakota and
oats from Texas. She is the central
market for the whole west and
southwest, and producer and con-
sumer alike pay her tribute.
Acres and acres of ground are COW
cred with massive buildings from
twelve to twenty-apc stories high.
Office buildinps. st0ros. factories