Saturday news. (Watertown, S.D.) 19??-19??, 1914-06-25
ACROSS THE ROCKIES
IN AN AUTO IN JUNE
Watertown Man Has Few Thrilling Experiences in
Climbing 70 the Top Of The Great Divide IN the
Wids Of the State Of Colorado.
tEy F. ]. Cory,

Ss N.Y. q Va 4S0TysJ
For my automobile trip from Grand
Junction. In the extreme western por-
tion of Colorado, to Watertown, South
Dakota, chose an inopportune time,
50 far as roadways and weather are
concerned. However, I did not begin
my journey with the expectation Of
encountering either good roads or fine
weather, 5s
AS a rule, it is not safe to com.
mence a trip across the great divide
of the Rocky Mountains until the mid
die Of June (the first of July is even
better1, but, having finished the bus
mess that called me to Colorado, /
did not feel disposed to await the sub
sidence of the mountain streams nor
to postpone my journey until the rains
Of the Missouri valley merge into the
sprinkles of the later portion of the
season. n 5
Nineteen Days En- Route
left Grand Junction on the last
day Of May and arrived in WatertoWn
on the eighteenth of June nineteen
days on the road. had spent some
leisurely time in various cities and
towns through which passed, and l
had been five times delayed on account
of either high water in the mountain
regions or heavy rains in the prairie
sections. N
Throughout the entire distance the
roads averaged rough In the noun.
famous sections they had not been
amoothed over, since the melting
SHOWS had covered them with water;
in the deserts of Colorado and Wye
ming. where there is apt ~
or or less June rainfall, the roadways
had not been worn smooth by, travel
while on the prairies of South Dakota
they were rough from the same cause,
decidedly muddy as ! approached the
city Of Pierre, and growing more SO
as neared Watertown.
The stretch Of thirty miles Between
Clark and Watertown was in more
unfavorable condition than any simi
! lar section of the entire distance GOV.
cred, with the exception of twenty
miles in the canon of the Rio Grande
river, where the road was impassable
because Of high water.
Rio Grande on Rampage
The Rio Grande river, whose source
is the snow-capped peaks Of the Rocky
Mountains, was on its annual ram
page. and higher than it had been for
four years. The snow above the tim.
ber line was reported twenty to thir-
q ty feet deep In the ravines and
gulches. Snow storms We're not un-
common in the mountains at the time
of year; indeed, a few days before !
left Grand Junction. Leadville, whose
altitude is above ten thousand feet,
was deluged with snow and the tenn
perature was reported to have dropped
ten degrees below The freezing point
And vet I struck out for God $
country with the. determination to
reach it, and to cover the entire dis
tance in my gasoline machine not
an automobile, perhaps, as automo-
biIes so, but just little Ford that
was turned out Of the factory In 1909.
So = -
had passed to and fro between
Grand Junction and Watertown sew
eral times and had utilized every rail-
road that crossed the mountains In
the state Of Colorado. decided to try
the automobile route for a change,
which would enable me to traverse
the western portion Of our own state,
and especially to Visit the Hills re-
gion, which. although having resided
In South Dakota for more than 8 quar-
ter Of a century, ! had never seen.
The Canon Of the Grande
The first two hundred miles was
through the canons Of the Rsp Grande
and Eagle rivers, and all the way an
upgrade. covered distance Of 102
miles the first afternoon, and put up
Tor the night at one of the popular
shosteirIes Of that famous resort,
aGIenwood Springs, lying snugly on.
ssconced within the wallis Of the
canon Of the Rio Grande, which was
obviously carved from the solid rock
iby the ceaseless rushing Of the wa
ters tor centuries upon centuries n
fheir seeming haste to reach tho ~