The Elk Mountain pilot., 1923-09-27
AN INTERESTING LETTER
Victorville, Calf, Sep. 90, 1923.
Dear Mr.. and Mrs. Rawalt,

NiSlolNllit, Stlll-, Dep. ~, 1870.
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Rawalt,
| promised to write you a story of
our trip from Crested Butte to Cali
fornia, and / will now make an at
tempt to at least start the story.
On September a we left Crested
Butte and on account of having so
much to attend to and the hard rain
that day we decided to spend the
night in your city and make new
start the next morning. Six thirty
found us leaving and we went thru
Salida about noon, eating lunch two
mile east of that place. Martin
Verzuh and John Byouk, with their
families, passed while we were eating
and stopped to chat with us. We
drove on to Canon City that after
noon and ate supper at the camp
ground, which is beauty spot in an
old orchard. The boys and Fred met
Paul Smith next morning before we
left.
On to Trinidad on Thursday and
we stayed over Friday in that city.
Our first exerience with rain was
here. 1t simply poured, and regu-
lar river ran under our beds in the
tent.
We were high and dry on the beds
however. The two nights we spent
in the camp ground there was not
less than 100 cars on the grounds.
People from all over the United
States, some going one way and some
another.
On Friday looked up some friends
whom I knew "a years ago when I
resided in that city l had quite a
time too, as Trinidad is several times
the size it was at that time and ev-
cry thing is so changed
Our troubles began here too for
when tried to cash my first travel
er's checks found they had not been
they told me they were worthless
without his signature. However, by
showing my check book with the stubs
therein and after the whole bank
force held a conference they decided
70 take chance and' cash one $50
.check. They told me I would have
trouble all along the way and so /
did although I managed nicely as
you will see later.
Saturday morning we left Trinidad
real early and drove up to Morley.
Mr. c. L. Hudson is manager of the
Colorado Supply Store at that place,
and here l decided to make every
thing safe as far as money was con-
cerned. The night before had been
pay day so Mr.. Hudson was short of
cash but by rustling some of his own
and giving me some silver he man.
aged to cash good sized personal
check.
I must tell you about the nice store
the Supply Co. have at Morley. 1t
represents an old Spanish fort, 1t is
made of cement with large logs rep
resenting guns protruding from the
walls. The company Office, telegraph
and postoffice are all in the same
building, also the Hudson residence.
They keep the cars in the basement.
This building was designed by Mr..
Schenck, an official of the company.
We visited Mrs. Hudson for a few
moments, bought some things for
lunch and were ready to start over
Ration Pass. o yes, Rudie Skoff's
pleasant face was the first we saw at
Morley. Mrs. Hudson was expecting
her daughter, Mrs. Maribel Buchanan,
and baby. and when Mr.. Hudson took
us over she thought her daughter had
arrived.
We crossed Ration Pass without any
trouble, and by the way it is pretty
drive and not at all so dangerous as
had been represented to us. Nothing
to compare with Monarch, as far az
steepness or length were concerned
We drove on to Las Vegas that day
and camped in the campgrounds. We
liked it there very much but almost
froze, as frost was very heavy.
Sunday morning we left Las Vega!
and drove to Santa Fe by noon The
state penitentiary is located in thi!
old city and there are many othel
historic buildings. We went into ,
store to get some fruit and saw gir
going by all painted and decorated
She was dressed in several bright
colors and was carrying large gill
cross. asked the girl who waited
on me if she was a full-blooded In
dian. We thought she was the frs
Indian we had seen. but the clera
said she was a Spanish girl who wa!
crazy and dressed up like an Indiar
to attract attention.
On to Albuourque that afternoon
We had tire trouble and were lat,
getting in, so all the cabins at thu
Old Trail camp-ground were taker
and we had to pitch tent, We hat
travelled all day over what they callet
roads, but we, of Colorado, would cal
them cow-trails, and we were tiret
bunch. At some places we wer,
obliged to detour for miles through
fields and over cactus. Great lake
of water covered the, roads, or rathe
trails, in places. Cars by the dozen
were going each way and we wer,
unable to keep track of those broker
down or stuck along the way. W.
passed lots of Indians and they wer
a great nuisance to us. They wer