Evening star., 1902-02-25
WIPED OFF THE MAP.
y
Mt. Sherman Station, Nine Thousand
Feet High, Deserted.

Cheycnne Corr. of the st. Lonis Post Dispatch
Since the great railroad tunnel through
Mount Sherman, Wyo., has been completed
and trains now run under instead OF over
the giant steep, there has PASSED forever
what has been for thirty-five years one
of the most peculiar railroad stations in
the world. Mount Sherman station stood
on the very top of mountain 5000 feet
high, in possibly as desolate a spot hu
man eye has ever gaZed upon. Nowhere is
there visible any vegetation beyond
a few scraggy tufts of alkali wire grass.
Even this can hardly exist n that region,
where one may encounter almost any day
i'm the summer rain, sleet snow and hail.
with temperature that often varies from
10 degrees to 40 and hack again within a
few moments: where the wind never
ceases to blow from twenty five to seventy
miles an hour, and where the nerves of
many a tenderfoot have received terrible
shocks during the passing of storms. with
the clouds touching the ground and here
and there hurting angry lightning bolts
into the mineral rock.
Now the map no longer has Mount
Sherman station. Nothing in the way of
habitation remains TO denote the past eX-
istence Of man on that dizzy height and it
is very probable that the weird, rockclad
spot will never again be visited. If. how
ever. in some future age science or quest
Of adventure shall lead some curious per-
son over the summit, he will find standing
SilhOuetted against the sky ma SSlVe pyra
mid shaped pile of chiSeled granite. sixty
five feet high and sixty feet at the base.
erected there years ago in honor of the
Ames brothers. who made it possible to
complete the Union Pacific railroad
feeling of Sentimentaism will doubtless
now and then creep into minds of those
ylhn hay M at
the thought that it now stands so far out
of the path Of commerce, so far from the
haunts of man, deserted, to remain there
almost as long as time shall endure
Several years ago two tramp telegraph
operators devised scheme for making a
few dollars without much effort. They
erected a small shanty at Sherman, gath
cred pieces Of rock Of different forma-
tions, cOlOred some of themsWith dyes, and
over others poured melted lead in spots
and pounded small bits of copper into the
cracks. These. when finished, were ''speci-
mems of gold and silver ores and found
a ready market. All trains stopped Just in
front of the shanty where the two geniuses
held forth. to have the air brakes tested
and the wheels examined prior to the de-
scent Of the mountain. During these stops
passengers were wont to run over to the
shanty to make purchases Of curios.
If there was ever a time when the wind
did not blow gale at Sherman 1t was
period previous to the aLvent of man up
there, and 1t was this everlasting wind that
o0diy Ole" ROOu 10 the tramp. SnopKeeperS.
One morning. when the overland flyer drew
up a the old red depot, aproned man
stood at the door Of the shanty on the op-
posite side Of the track, beating gong
with vigor which soon attracted the at
tention of the passengers. Heads popped
out of the windows, and in a moment peo-
pie came tumbling out Of the cars and
made a grand rush for the supposed lunch
con counter. The wind was whistling a
merry tune over the summit and in very
few seconds hats were rolling among the
rocks and down into the gloom of the
canyon. OF course the recovery of the
heargear was impossible.
When lot of passengers had been "un-
roofed' it was the signal for the man with
the gong to disappear. and in his stead
came another with string of cheap hats
and caps. which were easily disposed of to
the unfortunates at fabulous prices.