Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1921-04-14
From Tulnre, California, to Cameron Township
Editor Advocate:

This last letter is written with some
regret in a way for it really marks
the close of a trip which was full OF
interest from every point of view. In
the many miles of travel there is
nothing particularly remarkable, but
when you consider the fact that in
connection with the entire trip there
were no missed trains, no accidents,
and no mishaps of any kind whatever,
it was surely a piece of good fortune
to say the least. 1t was almost con-
tinual round of pleasure, profit, flow
ers, scenery, and sunshine. We were
either in for a time or passed through
at least 300 towns and villages. They
ranged in size from little village of
three or four houses on the great
plains of the west to the city of Los
Angeles which was the largest and
is destined to some day become one
of the big cities of the world. In
fact you do not have to work on your
imagination very far to see the day in
the future when all of southern Cali
fornia along the ocean will be built
UP as an almost solid city. This will
be true because there are millions OF
miles of other territory under our
flag, but there is only one southern.
California.
In my letter of two weeks ago we
were just starting on home from
Tulare. A little belated now possibly
but nevertheless true is the story as
we leave the orange groves and hast
en- on our way to Byers' "Fairest
Land of All the West"-Iowa. DOW
through the San Joaquin valley was
a beautiful trip. North OF Herndon
many fields resembled flower go
dens. / do not know what they were,
but the hand of the painter never
formed prettier picture than those
fields of golden flowers as viewed
from the car window. Going past
Madeira we entered great grain
fields and l am quite certain that
these mature without irrigation. /
noticed the peculiar way of hitching
horses to farm machinery in that part
of California. For instance, when
they use twelve horses, they are all
strung out as we would say with only
two horses abreast, making the front
team a long ways from the driver.
Seeing a truck load of calves, called
generally kept and grown to maturity
as in Iowa, but are taken to market
by the truck load when quite young
BY the way, l have seen truck loads
with trailers attached and them load
ed too, hauling such large loads on
the paved roads of California that |
am afraid to repeat here what have
seen for most of my readers would
declare it to be a pipe dream. Arriv-
ing at Sacramento our course was
changed to the northwest and we
were beating it for home as fast as
the old Continental Limited could
carry us. Sacramento has been the
capital of the state since 1854. Here
we saw the first engine operated over
the Central Pacific railroad out of
Sacramento. Its greatest popularity
is the big drum smokestack which all
engines used to be adorned with, as
old timers will remember. Our train
ran through Dutch Flat, which is one
of the historic places where gold was
mined in the great rush of 1849. His
tory says that the route to this Ell
Dorado was strewn with skeletons.
And after going over part of that
route one would not be surprised at
such results. Entering the Sierra Ne
vada mountains We pass through for
ty three miles of snow sheds. With
out these the winter travel would be
impossible, for at one point the snow
fall is forty five feet. We passed
within three miles of Bonner lake
where thirty four of the Bonner party
persisted of starvation. l might state
by way of explanation that the Don
ner party were company of emf
grants crossing the plains from Hin
OILS and other states and bound for
the gold fields of the far west. There
being so many of the Donners among
them, the company was very natural
ly called the Bonner party. On reach
ing the lake they were caught by the
early mountain SHOWS and compelled
to stop and their awful suffering soon
began. The survivors lived only by
eating human flesh from the skele-
tons of others as fast as the latter
persisted. A great cross now marks
the spot of this fearful tragedy. A
little coincidence was that had COM
pleted reading THE Misery OF the
Bonner Party" just before leaving
Long Beach. So this place although
not in sght-had a particular inter
est to me, tor the history of this cal
amity was still fresh in mind. A part
of the Inflated Bonner party started
from Oskaloosa, Iowa, and went thru
Council Bluffs (or KanesVille as 1t
was then called) l believe, and were
doubtless quite close to Audubon
county at one time. And in the study
Of OH IN
there are many such little happen
ings of interest if one will only dig
them out by little careful study. We
passed through Truckee and at this
place several surviving members OF
the Bonner party settled soon after
the fearful winter spent in the noun
tains, and undoubtedly number of
the descendants--and possibly some
of the original membership reside
there. Reno, Nevada, is an historic
city and the largest in the state. 1t
was named after General Reno who
was killed in Maryland during the
Civil war. All day long the run across
the state of Nevada was a picture of
desolation most of the time. Running
along Humboldt river for a long dis
lance the water was very high, often
over the valley and up on the sides
of the haystacks and up a ways on
stockyard fences. However, the por-
ter told me that II we were to go
along there a month or so later it
would be absolutely dry, for the water
was coming from the melting snow
in the mountains. At place called
Alfarata ranch a shepherd was out
with his sheep in just the same way
suppose as they were 1000 years
ago on the hills of Judea. Near Hum
boldt the word saloon" was printed