Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1901-06-27
ALTUs, ARKANSAS,

AITUs, ARKANSAS,
Juno 10th, 1901.
Well, hero We are at last. How
strange it seems to wake up this
morning in this strange land. Ii
we had the colored people down
here it would seem just like our
old Tennessee home, but since the
war they have scattered The
houses here are all built on the old
style-hall extending the
entire length of the house, divi-
ding it as it we're into two sepa-
rate homes, with long porches the
entire length of the buildings, and
l find them very pleasant places
to sit during the evenings, but the
strangest thing to me is the soil
1T is 80 different from the black,
rich soil of Iowa; it lis much the
color of chocllalet, and mixed With
gravel and stone, but | am told it
is very productive. On our east
is large hills or mountains all COW
cred with heavy timber, but the
people are building residences on
the side of these hills, and on the
very top Of the mountain is a large
Catholic Church.
The population lis largely Ger
man and they are planting vine
yards and manufacturing vino.
The roads here are very much
like the country roads in Tennes-
see, and the ground is covered in
many places with gravel and stone.
| do not see any blue grass, and
the door yards look like clay we'll
tramped down, and to me, it looks
hot, and yet it is not hot and OPP
press hero as in Iowa, nor is the
air 80 damp; | sat on the ponrch
last night to a late hour and felt
very comfortable, and the night
air did me no harm, and you know
| could not have done thntin Iowa.
have o nice place to board, a
large roomy house, pure air, good
water, and plenty to eat, and think
l shall like it here and believe ii
will be good to be here. A lady
on the train told me she had a
daughter living in this county who
came here for her health, HAVING
q bad cough, and is now quite
That's encouraging at least.
! must not forget to toll you OF
my trip from Omaha to this place.
j took chair car from Omaha to
Kansas City, and had a very nice
journey, reaching that city at 500
Ip. m. Here | had to procure a
ticket to Ft. Smith, and then my
troubles commenced. | made my
way through the throng to a tick
ct window and was told to call nj
the next window, and was told to
go to the next window, and to my
delight | found at the third win
dow the agent ] was looking for
being very gentlemanny agent
from whom l procured u ticket
but from whom | learned that the
train to LIT. Smith did not leave
until $40 p. m. We spent the af-
ternoon in looking at the city, and
in watching the great sea of hu.
manity as they rushed, crowded
pushed and jostled each other in
their mad rush to 90, and we won.
lered if it was possible for all to
know where they were going.
At $40 sharp we left for Fort
Smith, and had q nice ride to COT
feeville, Kansas, where we had i
good breakfast, which was very &C
ceptable after the night ride; from
there we came right through with
out change of cars to this place.
The trains do not run so smooth
down here us in Iowa, and it wat
very dusty, SO much SO that tho
windows had to be closed, and ever
then the smoke, dust and sinderl
filled the cars 30 as to make it very
disagreeable, and l found that i
had worked it's way into my trunk
Another thing that struck me a!
a little strange was the fact tina
down here Negroes and Indians
are not allowed to ride in the carr
with white people, though they
have just as good cars as the white
people have for their use.
The crops, SO far as have seen
look rather backward until we en-
tered the Indian territory. ant