Year: 1875

| although we are requested by the
writer. below, to make only a por.
tion of tue letter public. we must.
with all Difference to his opinion.
publish in full. In explanation
however, we add that greater por.
tion of it was intended as private,
but he being in the very zenith of
youth, and the description SO full
and vivid, and from a land of so
much variety of climate and scenes.
that we assume the liberty of laying
it before our readers in its true and
unvarnished style.


BEAR VALLEY, SAN BENITo co., Cal.


March cath, 1875.


When left you at the depot in
Knoxville, | promised to write you
some account of my trip t'across the
continent as it is how styled. and
of my experience in and opinion of,
1.-The golden State In fulfllment
of that. promise you receive this.


It has become so common for tour
lists to write accounts of their jour
neys over the Union Pacific and Cen
tIal Pacific Railroads, that little of
interest to the reader has been left
| undescrihed. At the same time,
none but an actual observer can
have a correct idea of the many new
and interesting scenes which meet
the eye of the traveller along this
route Many of its most pleasant
features are unknown, as ] am told.
to one passing over it as did in the
winter season. But. on the other
hand, he who leaves the East when
Nature is in her summer dress, GER
tainly loses that most agreeable sur
prise which awaited me on the west
ern slope of the Sierra Nevada
Mountains.


Before starting out, had read
several glowing accounts of the
sights and magnificent scenery along
the line of the Union Pacific Rail-
road From actual observation, I
conclude, either. that the authors of
said accounts had but slight regard
for truth, or, that they looked
through highly colored magnifying
glasses. From Omaha to OgdeRssal-
though the road crosses the Rocky
Mountains, and reaches, at Sherman,
an elevation of eight thousand two
hundred and forty-two feet above
the level of the sea, the traveller sees
little but extensive plains covered
for the most part with wild sage.
| think that, with the exception of
Weber Canon and Echo Canon
through which the road winds near
its western terminus, there is not so
much really fine scenery along that
entire road as one may see during a
half-day's ramble among the Smoky
Mountains of East Tennessee. The
| principal objects Of interest to me,
were the people, their habits and
their homes.


Soon after leaving Omaha and
when we reached the Platte River
bottoms. "Lo! the Poor Indian
began to make his appearance at the
different stations along the route
He was generally wrapped up in a
buffalo robe cut according to the
most approved pattern, and had his
face painted q Ia (Indjan) mode. We
could see their lodges, scattered at
intervals all along the bank of the
Platte River as far as we followed
it. and that was a distance of over
three hundred miles. BY the way,
l must tell you something about this
river-something which / consider
rather remarkable. The guide book
tells me that it is very broad, aver
aging three-quarters of a mile in
width, and the strange part, that it
is only siT inches deep on an aver
age. The bed of the river is COM
posed of very treacherous sand, and
learn that the Railroad Company
had much trouble in building their
bridges. Most of the land along this
stream is as fine farming land as can
be found in the Northwest, and
much of it is as well cultivated. and
as pro6tabIy. Although it is appar-
emily as ''level as the floor it has
slope sufficient to keep it well drain
ed. This bottom land, as it Is called,
though it is really more of prairie.
spreads out a long way on either
side of the river. Using the lam
guage of another: 'The eye almost
tires in searching for the boundary
of this vast expanse, and longs to
behold some rude mountain peak in
the distances as proof that the hori-
zon is not the girdIe that encircles
this valley" While speeding along
at the rate of forty miles an hour up
this river. up the banks of which so
many emigrants toiled in the .'sohoG-
hato' times from 1850 to the time
when the railroad destroyed the
teamsters occupation. could not
but think of the most wonderful
progress that civilization has made
within the past fifteen years over
these qltoada9n trackless plains. Nu-
merous vestiges Of the early times
yet remain along this route within
the travellers view. The numerous
low, haif.tumbled down, but evident