Year: 1878

examine tor ourselves, as the time al


!otted us did not permit Of any stops o.


length, or slow speed. In passing ovel


this country its evenness disappears. Ii


looking over it from distance you dc


not see the depressions. Yet there were


no grounds 50 rough but that cultivation


was possible.


Arriving at Cuchora we see great


many Mexicans, and adobe houses with


clay roofs. Here we seem to be neal


the Spanish Peaks, but they are in fact


some 30 miles away. Our road from


CuchOra turns to the west, and running


down to LaVeta it again turns more


to the west, or north Of west, and COM


mences climbing the mountains. On our


right and front is bold peak, whose


height is said to be 1900 feet. An ex-


animation with my field-glass showed


that it was composed of loose rocks at


the top, and that many slides of these


rocks had occurred, by which trees on
it's sides had been buried with rock half
way or more to their tops. Other slides
had either cut away or buried the trees
completely. 1t seemed to be very un-
stable concern, at least so far as it's sur
face rock was concerned. Our road was
along the base of this mountain, some
II miles from LaVeta, and then we
make a sharp turn to the left, cross the
wagon road over an arched bridge, turn
again to the left and return on our
course along the side of Dump Noun
tain. All this time from LaVeta we
have been going up at the rate of nearly
200 feet to the mile. As we run south
of east back on the side of Dump Noun
tain we can see across the gulch and see
the track over which we went up. 1t
lies far below us, but is now nearly par
allel to our course. After running back
on this line some two miles, we appear
to be about 500 feet above the track
across the gulch. We have now made
the circuit of the famous Mule Shoe.
We here turn again, this time to the
right, and pass around the end of Dump
Mountain. Spanish Peaks are in front
of us, some 1850 feet high. We are
on Dump Mountain, some 5000 feet
high, and though about II miles away,
the peaks do not look to be more than
four miles distant. So clear and pure is
the air, so bold and prominent are the
peaks that distance seemed annihilated,
and you think you can almost touch
them as you reach out your hands to-
wards the pure white snow-banks on
their sides.


At LaVeta an additional engine had
been attached to our train, so we had
two engines, one baggage and FIVE pas
senger cars to make the ascent. While
making the turn around the end of
Dump Mountain, it made the blood run
quick through our whole system; there
was prickling feeling in the ends of
our fingers and toes.


Scarcely had the train Slaughtered it.
self out on the south side of Dump
when a gentleman came into
our car from the rear, and inquired in
an excited manner if there was anyone
in this car who had any whisky. No
one replied or made any move. Such an
absurd thing-to inquire for whisky in
a car filled with church excurionists!
He then stated that lady in the rear
car had tainted, and he had been thro'
every car to find some liquor of some
kind to revive her. | told him if the
lady was really sick, and needed liquor,
that | had some tirst-class brandy that
she could have drink Of. So opened
my valise, took out the bottle and pour
ed into my cup a good drink, and he
went back with it. After awhile he
brought back the cup, saying the lady
had drank all the brandy and felt much
better, and was very thankful for the
liquor, and sent by him her thanks. On
inquiry as to the cause, he said she had
laced herself very tight in the morning,
and the rari6ed air, with the excitement
Of making the turn around Dump Noun
ain. had left too little room in her


hest for air enough to sustain good


regulation. When her corset strings
we're loosened she revived; and the
brandy had given her Quickened pulsa-
ton. / told him l was sorry to have
wasted such good brandy on woman
who had so little sense as to be guilty of
tight lacing. But as the brandy was
gone and she was still alive, we should
have to endure the loss and the infic-
ton of her twaddle for time longer
To this all the ladies in the car assent
ed. But some of them were anxious to
know how this man found out that tight
lacing was what allied her. He did not
stop to explain, but retired to the rear
car. So we shall always be ignorant of
the method by which he came to know
so much.


BY the time this little side show had
subsided, we were at Veta Pass, the
highest point attained by any railroad
in the world, except one in Chill, and
that was so far away that we concluded
not to count it. Here our train stopped
and we got out and examined the peaks
us. and took a good look at
Spanish Peaks in our rear. The timber
in the Pass is better than we had seen
on the eastern slope. The soil is solid
clay filled with small granite rock. Near
the depot building at the Pass they
were digging we'll and had gone down
some 40 feet with it, and all the way
down was the same kind of soil, clay
and sand and rock, none of the rock so
large but that man could easily pick
them up. The waters on the east side
of the Pass flow into the Arkansas riv-
er, by way Of the Cuchoras river, while
that from the west side goes into the
Rio Grande del Norte, by way of the
Trinchana. AS we pass down the west
slope Of the mountains, we are impress
ed with the change of the products Of
the mountain. Here are pine, spruce
and poplar trees. tall and straight, and
on the ground rich, luxuriant grass and
beautiful flowers, and evidence every
where of abundant moisture.


At little before sundown we reached
Fort Garland, which is at the foot of
the mountains, on the edge of the famed
San Louis Valley. Our road over this
valley was as level as any stretch of
road in Iowa. This valley is about 18O
miles long by 80 miles wide, and is sur
by mountains. The highest
peak in the State of Colorado, one of
the Sierra Blanca range, named Blanca
Peak, 14,464 feet high, is a prominent
landmark in this valley. It is a spur
of the range projected into the PLAIN a
little to the north of Fort Garland.
Once out on this plain, We saw that sage
and grease brush grew here to perfection.
At several points we saw where the
sage and grease brush had been grubbed
out, and the ground was covered with
luxuriant grass.


Our train made good time across this
valley, and we reached Alamosa, a new
town on the bank of the Rio Grande del
Norte, just north Of the mouth Of Ala
mosa Greek, before it was dark. This