The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1908-09-10
End OF OUR VACATION
The Last of the Series of Letters
Telling of the Reporter Editors
Vacation Trip in Colorado.

Telling of the Reporter Editors
Vacation Trip in Colorado.
After our delightful visit at Ft. Col
Inns we found that we had but a week
more which we could spend in Colorado,
having already extended our vacation a
week, although we could have spent
several more weeks and enjoyed every
minute of the time in Colorado, SO after
reaching Denver we decided to take
swing around tho circle over the Den
yer q Rio Grande railroad, making our
first stop at Pueblo, 119 miles south of
Denver, which we reached just before
dusk and went to hotel for the night.
We cannot say our first impression of
Pueblo was very good, for the street
car line which we took from the depot
to the hotel runs through the old part
OF the city, and it is very much like
some old Mexican town, being one of
the oldest cities in the west, the orig
inal town being a frontier trading post,
but upon the arrival of the first railroad
in 1874 the town soon grew to city
and has now almost $4,000 population.
After supper we walked down to the
business part Of the city and found it
was quite different being modern city
with splendid stores and prices about
the same as here in Iowa. Early the
next morning we hunted Harry Wright
up, formerly Of Lineville, who went to
Pueblo about the first of the year and
established new democratic news
paper, the Arkansas Valley Item, and
he has struck a good proposition out
there, his paper doing splendid busi-
ness and Harry has made good, being
known by nearly every one in town for
he was always good mixer and he is
head over heels in politics, and Pueblo
is democratic city, SO he is right in it.
Within few minutes after we dropped
into his Office things began to move.
He got busy on the phone and tele-
phoned to Mrs. Hull and Dorothy at the
hotel to be ready IN five minutes for an
auto ride, and in a minute or so a big
sixty horse auto was putting at his office
door and away we went for a ride over
the city, stopping to pick Mrs. Wright
up few minutes later. And say, that
auto certainly exceeded the speed limit
without straining itself and we covered
the whole city in three hours which we
had before our train left, visiting the
beautiful city parks, their boulevards,
the big steel works where thousands of
men are employed and rightfully gives
Pueblo the name of the "Pittsburg of
the West" The car was owned and
driven by Mr.. White, one of the leading
merchants of the city, who was asformer
resident OF Creston, moving to Pueblo
about ten years ago, and he knew every
thing about the city. One interesting
part visited was the old Spanish quarter
where the original city was laid out
and here the streets are narrow and ir-
regular and the blocks are not square,
but all kinds of shapes. Harry and his
estimable wife wore determined that
we should move right up to their house
and stay over a few days, but our time
was now very limited, 80 after dropping
in at the Arkansas Valley club, the
splendid democratic club of the city,
visiting the Elks home, the K. P. lodge
room and other places where we were
made welcome and given the glad hand,
we boarded the train for Salida, and
again we met genial H. D. Harvey who
was bound down the road to meet big
party of California tourists and see that
they did not miss any Of the side trips
over the "Short Line" Just after leav-
ing Canon City the train enters the
Grand Canon of the Arkansas, the mar
newest portion of which is known as the
Royal Gorge. As we leave Canon City
we pass close by the white walls of the
state prison, where only the day before
was executed an Italian who shot =
priest while kneeling at the altar in a
church at Denver. An open observation
car had been attached to our train at
Canon City and we were fortunate in
securing seats so that we had splendid
view of the gorge in all directions, the
car having no roof or sides above the
tops of the seats. AS we rush along the
track winds in and out hugging the
walls of the canon and the gorge grows
narrower and narrower, SO that the
river and track occupy every foot be.
tween the towering rock walls which
rises nearly 5000 feet above us, until
at last we reach the famous hanging
bridge, where there was not a foot Of
space for track the passage way
between the rock walls being but ter
yards wide, but the skill Of the en-.
gineers who built the road overcame the
problem by building a hanging bridge
| VIC NidCh DoAuS u1fSCUly over Uno mar
row rushing stream, the bridge being
supported by heavy iron beams i'm
bedded in the sides of the rock walls
there being nothing below to supper,
the bridge and it is really hanging ir
the air, with the cliffs towering above
us 1927 feet, but thirteen feet less thar
half mile. 1t is rock and more rock
of all colors and shapes, many looking
like they had slid down from the tor
and stopped just before reaching the
river, and the suns rays reach the
gorge only for short time during the
middle of the day. The gorge gradually
expands until Parkdale is reached, anc
we gradually climb up until we reach
Salida, at an elevation of 7,038 feet
We had to stop over night here in or
der to take the narrow gauge trair
which runs from Salida up over Marshal
Pass and on west to Montrose where il
connects with the standard gauge line
again.
We started from Salida at O'Clock
the next morning in dinky little mar.
row gauge train but pulled by power
full locomotive, the cars being narrow
| and the seats 40 small that two oood