Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1903-12-01
TELLS "TRIP
THROUGH WEST
Interesting Account by A. Decker
of the Development In the
New States.
"SLOUCH HATS, FLOWING
MUSTACHES, REvOLVERS''
Not a Part of Western Civiliza.
tion.-Gradual Extermination
Of Red Man.
Continued from Fridays Issue.

| Meanwhile the Sioux with q history
full Of pathos. cannot but be an
object OF interest and sympathy. II
one has the good fortune to visit the
Bad Lands as the guest Of the Eaton
brothers (near Medora) he not only
sees the wonders and beauties of the
Bad Lands, but he receives an i'm.
preston Of ranch life and ranch
mans hospitality which will never
leave him.
Land Of Peaks aud Canyons.
Beyond the Pyramid Park country
the railway traverses rolling upland
prairie that supports large herds Of
cattle and then desoends the little
valley Of Glendive creek to Glendive
on the Yellowstone river. President
Roosevelt formerly owned two ranches
10 this region ard spent much time
in hunting thereabout. His old
Chimney Butte ranch is not more than
ten miles south from Medora along
the little Missouri river,-the great
drainage channel OF the Pyramid Park
country.
This is land OF lofty peaks and
deep canyons whose forms are often
weird and fantastic. One passes them
by in such quick succession that a
glimpse only is possible for the eye
has not time to appreciate the details
so that the mind receives q general
impression of panorama of marked
; interest and variety.
There is always something weird
and uncanny about caves. They seem
to be the homes of ghosts and gcblins
and robbers galore, figure in their
history. Echo cave has vaulted
rocky dome, several hundred feet high,
and from the side OF the solid rock
bursts a stream of clear water, that
stands for moment as though dazzled
by its own brightness and beauty, and
then ripples off in white foamy
stream that goes singing out in the
sunshine, happy TO escape from its
dark prison house. After its first
wild leap, it saunters away amid hills
and valleys, leaving life and beauty in
it's track. 1t may seem incredible
but there is decided element Of rest
in travelling through this western
country.
West for Phvsical Rest.
Ordinarily We seek quiet when we
are fatigued, but the mental rest
| which comes as the net gain upon any
wholesome recreation is as essential
to our health and welfare as is the
physical rest which is necessary to our
bodily well being. Nothing is more
wearying and exhausting than the
monotony of life spent In one pursuit
in one locality. When q man begins
to regard life as one continuous grind
the surest cure for his depressed state
of mind is a little. journey out In the
world; out among new sights and
sounds; and where his horizoa is
broadened, his mind stimulated, and
his heart beats ARE quickened. To
the man who is heart weary and soul
sick railroad ticket Is worth more
than all the bitters in the village
Iapothecary shop. It is a tonic to his
body, his mind and his soul.
There is no hospitality as cordial
and as wholesome as that which
nature extends. Nature is the ideal
hostess. She welcomes mankind tC
her forest-haHnts, her lakes and
Istreams, her mountains aud valleys
with an open hand. She asks for nc
pedigree, Iio bank check. She spreads
her charms before all alike without
prejudice or distinction. No one
will regret the days spent in crossing
the plains and desert when the noun.
tains are reached and the Pacific
coast is mot far away. One goes t6
sleep in desert and wakes up in a
garden.
Union Of Old and New America. i
| On the trip from ST. Paul to Rec
Rock, Mont, one gets the extremes ol
the country, extremes OF climate
habits of life and civilizations. Ma
ture's wonder book has been unfolded
The history Of the past and the pro
mise of the future have been read a.
on an open page, for old and new
combine in this fair western land
The footprints of the pioneers are no.
yet lost, the traces Of the Red mar
are not all wiped away, the future o
America is pictured in the life of th'
miner and the cowboy, the farme
and the business man, the explore
an the surveyor.
Lit is in the west that the old ant
the new America unite. The trans
formation of the arid districts j
really an interesting sight. Along
the railroad right OF way the grount
is parched and brown, but just beyone
1.-The barb wire fence that little stream
u [Contsnued on page 81