Iron County register., 1921-09-08
Mr.. HiIburn In Colorado.

Rockies. This time on the famous
Moffat Road. Yes, I went up to
Corona yesterday. Corona is the
name of the station at the highest
point reached py the Moffat, and is
said to be 11660 feet above sea level.
From the station (where we had about
four hours) we climbed to the top of
the peak shown over the "Giants lad
der" on the little folder that am en-
closing and which Is some five hum
dred feet above the station at Corona,
making it over twelve thousand feet
above sea level. The climb was an
easy ascent for the feet but hard on
the lung power of a fat man. How
eyer, found it worth the effort.
You will observe that the track
passes through the little town of
Tolland and then goes on up the
"canonn and then doubles back on
the mountain side, three times, max
ing in all four times that it. passes In
sight of Tolland. Observe also the
beautiful curve at Yankee Doodle
Lake, and l want to say that these
pictures are perfect presentations
as seen by tn e naked eye, with the
exception that they are taken from
single point while the tourist sees
them from many angles, all beautiful
and interesting. | want to say this
for the Moffat that of all the thous-
snds of miles of railroad track that /
have seen, the Moffat stands alone in
railroad construction. In places it
clings to the side of a cliff hundreds
of feet from the bottom where fall
would crush car like an egg she'll.
There has been talk of scrapping the
road because it does not pay ex-
penses. But every lover of beauty
should make the trip in order to
render the scrapping unnecessary.
The only feature that deserves any
criticism is the bunch of ramshackle
buildings at Corona, that furnish
shelter to tourist in case of rain or
snow and from the snow sheds there
Judge that the winter travel goes
through snow tunnel there. Imade
a mistake in the date of the building
at Colorado Syringe, the old State
house there. It should have been
1858, instead of 1S48 as gave it in my
former letter. We found snow banks
at Corona In sheltered places, which
the sun never has fair chance at,
and the peak we climbed is far above
perpetual snow, for there was little
snow in the air, mixed with rain,
when / was coming back from my
climb. The air was very exhilarating,
and while quiet I felt no incon-
venience from the altitude.
The Company furnishes man to
call out the notable scenes along the
route, and the uptrip is slew enough
that ample time is given to see them
all. There are some 2S tunnels in less
than that many miles, some of them
very short, and noticed that there
we're one or more places that two
tunnels were visible from one point.
The gentleman in charge of the bureau
of information said that the construc-
ton cost $143, 600 per mile. We OBJ
served large areas that had been burn
ed over, as evidenced by the dead
timber, and our information man said
that was done by the Indians in 1875
while they were at war with the gov
ernment. 1t was done to destroy the
range. Along the line of the Moffat
the famous tungsten ore was found
seven years ago.
The old Mormon Trail was pointed
out to US also. 1t runs along "a mar
row divide at that point, several hun.
dred feet above Yankee Doodle Lake
From this point one gets the impress
sion that what is now a lake of many
hundred feet in depth was once
seething volcano. And the position
of the rocks and ledges confirm thi
belief.
Mere words are SO inadequate in th'
description of these scenes of wonder
and beauty, and the pictures them
selves, though very beautiful, are un
able to fully portray the beauty Of tn
original scenes. l had chance to g
back to Arkansas by motor car bu
could not get ready in time, so l an
still here and may not leave for tel
days yet. II it were not for the lon
hard winters here / should be 10th t
leave Colorado, but give me Dixie, q
least in winter. F. P. HILBURN.
Hackmannis Ordered to Pay Barnhoust
Salary.