The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1917-05-03


ravine, taking its name from the little
brook far down In its narrows, was
known as the Kicking Horse"
So the railroad ran up the ravine
and the Picket Wire was left still vir-
| gin to the assaults of man. But the
day came when 1t was despOlled of its
hitherto long standing, unravished in
nocenCe. Shouts of men, cracking of
whips, trampling of horses, groaning
OF wheels, wOrdless but vocal protests
of beasts of burden mingled with the
ringing of axes, the detonations of dy-
Mantle. The whistle of engines and
the roar Of steam filled the valley. Un-
der the direction of engineers, a huge
mound of earth arose across Its mar
rowest part, nearest a shoulder, or
spur, of the mesa reaching westward.
No more should the silver Picket Wire
flow unvexed on Its way to the sea. It
was to be damned.
All that the huge, hot inferno Of
baked plain, where sage brush and
buffalo grass alone grow, needed to
make 1t burgeOn with wheat and corn
was water. The little Picket Wire,
which had meandered and sparkled
and chartered on at Its own sweet will
was now to be held until 1t filled a
great lakelike reservoir In the hills
back Of the new earth dam. Then
through skillfully located irrigation
bitches the water was to be given to
the millions Of hungry little wheatlets
and cOrnlets, which would clamor for
drink. The fierce sun was no longer to
work its unthwarted will In burning
up the prairie.
With the promise of water on the
plain beyond, Coronado sprang into
newer and more vigorous life. In the
language Of the West 1t Doomed" The
railroad had been fOrlorn branch
running up into the mountains and
ending nowhere. It's first builders had
been daunted by difficulties and lack
of money, but as soon as the great dam
was projected, which would open sew
eral hundred thousand acres for cult
walton and serve us an inspiration in
Its practical results to other similar
attempts, people came swarming into
the country buying up the land, the
price for acreage steadily mounting.
The railroad accordingly found 1t
worth while to take up the long-aban-
doned construction work of mounting
the range and crossing 1t. Men sud.
denly observed that it was the short
est distance between two cardinal
points, and one Of the great transcon-
Hnental railways bought it and began
improving 1t to replace its original
rather unsatisfactory line.
The long wooden trestle which
crossed the broad, sandy depression in
front Of the town, the bed of the an
,ient river, through which the Picket
Wire and further down it's affluent, the
Kicking Horse, flowed humbly and
nodestly, was being replaced by a
great viaduCt Of steel. Far up the
gorge past the other side of the Span
sh Mesa another higher trestle had al
'eady been replaced by u splendid
'teel arch. A siding had been built
lear the ravlne, path made to the
DOT OF the mesa, and arrangements
we're being made to run local train
lp from the town when all was COM
'leted to give the people an Oppor-
unity to ride up the gorge and see the ,
'reat pile of rock, on which enterprise
vas already planning the desecration ,
# summer hotel, the blasphemy of
n amusement park! ,
Up the valley Of the Picket Wire one
nOrning In early fall came young
nan roughly dressed like the average
ow-punCher from the ranches further !
orth. He rode well, yet with a GER =,
nln attention to detail and n niceness
hat betrayed him to the real rough
lder of the range, just as the clothes
e wore, although they were the or {.
mary cattleman's outfit, We're worn
l little different way that again be-
'ayed him. One look into the face of =
le man, albeit his mustache and beard :
Id the revealing outlines of mouth -
nd chin, sufficed to show that here :
as no ordinary Cow-puncher. He rode
OldiJ enough among the rocks of the "
'ail nL5 along the rough road, which ~
nd been made by the wheels of the
hgonS and hOofs of the horses. There