Gunnison news-champion., 1908-04-17
Nusssni asmn.nsanss
E.A Naeheil

1 aenncn
T.. a NIsehei!.
The writer c4u.e with the gpea,
wave of mining excsted erni&rAnis to
the GuHnlson country over this route
IN IsSl.
Camping somewhere wes; 81 Ss-
guach, the Wise man ct cur wagon
tram todd us as sure preventive II
the dreaded mountain fever or pnel-
monia TO brew and drink a Wild
sage tea. A stripping ,enderioot of
the party, whose knowled9e Of
mountain botany was limited. vas
instructed to prepare the tea lie
carefully gathered Lat iull oi leaves
OF grea-ewood or chico and boiled
them We all drank Of the potion
and a. a result all were beastlv s,ck-
M sleep in camp that night None
of the party afterwards haa pneu-
mona Likely, enihsrdv enoagh
to sarvive dose Of chico tea were
immune from ordinary Diseases.
On the summit If Cocbetopa pass
our wagon train drew off the road to
allow an ore freight wagon, drawn
by the longest string of Oxen we
ever saw yoked together, to pass
They were Just reaching the summit
from west side and made line al
most an eighth Of a mile in length.
dragging huge freight wagon
nearly the size Of narrow gage
box car, loaded with high grade ore
from ouray bound for railroad and
smelier The teamsters walked back
and forth along the line urging the
oxen along with vigorous language
and pistol like popping Of their long
cruel whip lashes against the oxen 5
sides.
Later we saw Gen. Sheridan VIII o
had been making tour of inspec.
ton OF government posts to the west
and was going east with cavalry
escort to a railway station to take
the train. He WAS q short, stout,
grimly determined, soldierIy looking
man, who sat his horse well, looking
neither TO right nor left; appearing
every inch the fighting general he
was. A trooper holding a cavalary
guidon in a stirrup socket, and eight
troopers riding double file proceeded
Sheridan. The remainder, proba-
bly, twenty troopers and pack animals
followed. He had 10 vehicles, all
camp equipage WAS packed on small
mules. A striking contrast to Capt.
Fremont, who On his fourth sxpedi-
tion insisted on delaying the party
10 make trail wide enough to pass
over with wheeled vehicles.
Sasaa Fe Tsa1 Msannssh
The last Legislature appropriated
$1,000 to erect monuments marking
the course of the Santa Fe trail in
Colorado, The first one was placed
near Lamar with fitting pomp and
ceremony, under the auspices of the
Colorado Daughters of the Revolu-
tion, supposedly marking that part
of the trail, but later proven by the
accurate historian, Jerome c. Smi-
ley, to be off the real trail some 20
miles. What a waste of energy by
those patriotic danes, and of money
by the state. Granting it is in the
right place, it represents nothing
and commentaries but little worth
remembrance by the people of this
state. The old trail is not now nor
never will again be used as great
highway In places fenced in and
in alfalfa or sugar beet fields, man
and nature have conspired to oblit-
crate its last trace.
A monument must appeal to the
mind in fitting place and surround
ings to be anything else than a bur
lesque on the event or place it ever
seeks to call to memory. Could
visitors to Gettysburg gaze on that
historic field with reverential respect
if planted to turnip and potato
patches? A noble and fitting place
for such q monument would be at
the summit of Cochetopa pass on
state road where an unending stream
of travel would gaze upon it year
after year for all time. There, set
on the backbone of the continent,
where on one side the waters flow to
the Atlantic. on the other side to the
far off Pacific. Where Spanish ex-
plorers have stood l,efore the p;l-