Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1921-02-23
Letter on Mormon State to Mrs.
C.. L. Drown Read at Meet.
ing of WOmen's Club

DOWney, was read at recent meet
ing of the Woman's Club in Newport
This letter coming. from one so wei
known in Newport, Eshe having lived
here several years previous to her 60
ing to Vernal, Utah, last July where
she now resides will be very interest
ing to her many friends.
| The Woman's Club, Newport, VT.
Dear Friends:
A few weeks ago Mrs. Drown wrote
me and in the letter remarked that
she had for the subject of her meet
ing "a "Trip to Utah. and perhaps
would write a few of my impress
sions. I haven't time to write ge-
nuine club article SO am writing just
a letter to you and hope while she or
some one reads it you will just think
l am with you as my thoughts will
be that afternoon, as l shall think
of you gathered in the cozys room in
the library. Before leaving East one
friend said to me, 81 belive you won't
like Utah." you are too accustomed to
seeing green hills and trees and the
beautiful lake where you have lived
find anything like that in Utah, as
J l.
of bare sand and rocks with one little
patch of green on the side Of a
mountain"
Perhaps that is the impression that
all of you have who have been to
Salt Lake, City by the way Of the
Denver and Rio Grand, but let me
tell you that is a bit wrong, in a mea-
sure, although the first few hours I
10 IN, h
the same way. It was clear and
that July morning when Vieva and
I boarded the train at Mack, Col,
after spending a few hours in the
not been in the train long before it
grew very warm and l could well
understand why the clay of that de-
as far as grass and trees were con-
cerned but plentifully covered with
sage brush, crossword, purple cactus
and little white flower like narcis-
sus. The scenery was very interest
ing and we imagined we saw many
a castle, temple and fort or piece of
sandstone and oil slate many of them
looked upon few days before in New
York. Occasionally we passed log
cabin, some in good condition but
many looking worse for wear, and
weather. AT last we came to halt
of Atchie, Utah. Here another en-
CINE was hitched onto our train which
consisted of a dilapidated old parlor
foI
of twelve of fourteen people, our bag
gage and a little express so you see
it was not heavy but the ascent we
were to make in the next two and
half hours was some steep, and crook
ed was no name for thetrack. Every
few minutes we could see the engine
ON that short train so sharp were
the curves. The train moved like a
ing the six miles from the foot to the
about 5000 #. high. The grade
the wonders you behold! This route
is verify "a whirl of rugged rugged
ness, natural amphitheatres, obelisks,
temples and pinnacles" At times it
seemed as if the engine must switch
the car off the track and we would
roll down the steep side. The climb
to Tennessee Pass III, 900 ft.) was
really tame compared to this
one to Baxter Pass. The descent
was made much more rapidly. On
the way we were sidetracked while
cars loaded with gilsonite passed us.
This gilsonite is found nowhere else
in the world i'm such a pure state. 1t
o,,fh vo 70 oil "
that I cannot tell the difference in a
casual glance. 1t is used in making
varnishes, pipe dip, roofing materials
and to some extent in making rubber
goods which may consist of 40 per
cent gilsonite. At last our train pull
ed up at what looked to me to be a
frame shed and we were told we were
at Watson beyond which no train
runs. Such forlorn looking place,
no trees, not a spear of grass and no
water. All the water used here for
washing or drinking must be hauled
on the train from a place twenty
miles from there.
Here at Watson are a few log cab
ms, store and hotel. Thanks to
Mothers thoughtfulness in telling us
conditions we did not have to eat
dinner there. After about an hours
wait we started on our autotrip
across the desert for Vernal sixty
miles away. The baroness of Wat
son combined with the fatigue of the
four days travel tended to depress
US a bit and we wondered how we
would ever be contented in a place
so different from our dear Green
Mountain State, but our spirits rose
as we beheld more beautiful even al
most spectacular sights in the forma-
tions of that barren desert. In some
PAGES sagebrush grew but in more
places no vegetation at all. I can't !
describe it to you as these pictures
(enclosed leaf) will show it to you.
The man whose name is down as the
author of this article lives about fiji J
teen miles from here at the Dinosaur
Quarry where he is excavating skel-
etons of nammouth animals thatl lived |
certain centuries ago. A visit to this
quarry is very interesting, and in
structive. In one of the pictures it
mentions the DEVILS Play Ground.
Our auto route led across this and
as we saw it spread out before US /
wondered if it had been showing.
Mounds and mounds of alkai like
piles of snow and beyond them hills
IF such red sandstone that it looked
ike fire.