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MAP  OF  PORTIONS  OF  COLORADO  AND  NEW  MEXICO. 


NEA¥   COLOEADO 


AND 


THE    SANTA    FE    TKAIL 

BY 

A.  A.  HATES,   Jr.,   A.M. 

FELLOW   OF   THE    AMERICAN    GEOGRAPHICAL   SOCIETY    AND   THE   ROYAL    GEOGRAPHICAL 

SOCIETY   OF   LONDON 

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ILLUSTRATED 


NEW    YORK 

HARPER    &     BROTHERS,    FRANKLIN    SQUARE 

1880 

^  \  Q. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1 880,  by 

HARPER     &     BROTHERS, 

In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 

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TO 

THE    COLORADO    PIONEERS 

AVHO  SHOWED  THEIR  FAITH   IN  THE   FUTURE   OF  THEIR   MOUNTAIN  HOME   BY  THEIR   ENERGY  IN 

DEVELOPING   ITS   RESOURCES,  AND  THUS  CONCLUSIVELY  PROVED  THAT  ALL 

THE   WISE   MEN   DO   NOT  COME   FROM  THE    EAST 


(Tljis  Book  is  DcLJuatcL)  brj 

TffH  AUTHOR 


PREFACE. 


THE  contents  of  tliis  book  embrace  five  articles  whicli  originally  ap- 
peared in  Harper's  Magazine^  and  one  wliicli  appeared  in  the  Inter- 
national Hevieiv,  and  is  reprinted  by  permission  of  its  pnblisliers.  One 
chapter,  on  the  characteristics  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  region  as  a  resort 
for  invalids,  has  been  contributed,  in  substance,  by  an  accomplished  Eng- 
lish physician,  Dr.  S.  E.  Solly,  resident  for  some  years  at  Colorado  SjDrings  ; 
and  others  now  appear  for  the  first  time. 

The  extraordinary  development  of  the  mineral  resources  of  Colorado 
during  the  last  three  years  has  not  only  excited  great  interest  throughout 
the  country,  and  caused  hundreds  and  thousands  of  persons  to  journey 
thither,  but  it  has  also  rendered  most  of  the  books  useless  which  have 
been  previously  written  about  that  region.  This  volume  may  therefore 
be  held  to  supply  a  manifest  need ;  and  the  author  is  encouraged  by  the 
reception  of  the  Magazine  articles  to  hope  that,  in  a  more  permanent  form, 
and  with  the  additions  which  have  been  made,  they  may  aid  in  increasing 
the  comprehension,  on  the  part  of  the  people  of  the  United  States,  of  the 
resources  and  scenery  of  their  country.  The  facts  given  have  been  care- 
fully verified ;  but  discoveries  and  developments  progress  with  such  mar- 
vellous rapidity  in  the  Far  West,  that  he  would  be  indeed  a  bold  man 
who  could  claim  that  any  descriptions  would  long  hold  good.  It  is  hard- 
ly necessary  to  add  that  the  book  has  been  written  from  an  absolutely 
independent  point  of  view,  and  with  a  sincere  intention  of  stating  things 
as  they  are,  rather  than  to  suit  special  interests,  or  to  meet  the  precon- 
ceived notions  or  the  "requirements"  of  any  portion  of  the  public.  It  is 
entirely  natural  that  men  should  fiercely  champion  and  loudly  exalt  the 
particular  points  where  it  lias  been  their  lot  to  fight  for  fortune  or  exist- 
ence, but  an  entire  sympathy  with  each  and  all  is  not  inconsistent  with  a 
judicial  balancing  of  their  claims. 

Regarding  the  cattle  and  sheep  business,  very  many  communications 
have  been  received,  both  by  the  publishers  and  the  author,  since  the  ap- 


10  PREFACE. 

pearance  of  the  articles  bearing  thereon.  Some  of  tliem  would  have  been 
quite  unnecessary  had  the  writers  carefully  read  the  statements  made,  the 
advice  given,  and  the  caution  enforced.  It  may  as  well  be  said  here,  how- 
ever, that  no  one  can  rightly  derive  therefrom  any  encouragement  to  en- 
gage in  such  business  without  adequate  capital,  or  without  a  careful  per- 
sonal examination  of  the  matter.  Regarding  tlie  estimates,  it  may  be  re- 
peated, with  all  diffidence,  that  they  have  been  very  carefully  made.  Put- 
ting an  accusation  of  unduly  magnifying  i^roiits  against  a  serious  remon- 
strance as  to  underestimating  them  (both  received  by  him  within  twenty- 
four  hours),  the  author  concludes  that  "  in  medio  tutissimus  ibis.^^ 

It  will  be  seen  that  no  extended  or  elaborate  account  is  given  of  the 
mines  and  mining  operations,  which  make  up,  in  the  eyes  of  many  j^eople, 
the  sole  attraction  of  Colorado  and  the  adjacent  regions.  It  would  have 
been  foolish,  for  several  obvious  reasons,  to  attempt  anything  of  the  kind 
in  a  book  like  this.  In  the  first  place,  the  space  could  not  be  had.  In  the 
second  place,  it  may  be  pronounced  impossible  to  make  an  index  of  mines, 
in  esse  and  in  posse,  interesting  to  the  general  reader.  In  the  third  place, 
oqe  cannot  count  on  statements  about  mines  holding  good  even  while  they 
are  in  press.  No  more  striking  illustration  of  this  can  be  cited  than  the 
position  of  the  Little  Pittsburg  at  Leadville.  It  was  mentioned  with  en- 
tire propriety  as  being,  at  the  time  of  the  author's  visit,  a  representative 
mine  of  the  carbonate  class ;  yet  in  a  very  few  months  the  stock  dropped 
from  $30  00  to  $7  00  in  the  market ;  and  at  the  present  writing,  few  can 
be  found  "so  poor  as  to  do  it  reverence."  Such  a  consummation  is  in 
entire  keeping  with  the  position  taken  in  the  book  with  regard  to  the 
general  character  of  operations  in  gold  and  silver  mining,  as  at  present 
carried  on.  Long  before  these  pages  see  the  light  it  may  again  be  "  boom- 
ing," and  some  rival,  now  pharisaically  exalting  itself,  may  in  turn  have 
tumbled,  and  lie  prostrate  at  the  feet  of  the  bears  of  the  Stock  Exchange, 
"  The  only  thing  certain  about  luck,"  says  Mr.  John  Oakhurst,  "  is  that  it's 
bound  to  change."  Some  sages  already  shake  their  heads,  and  say  that 
Leadville  is  "playing  out."'  Others  can  tell  you  of  new  districts  upon 
which  its  mantle  is  to  fall ;  and  others,  again,  darkly  hint  at  a  general 
collapse.  Perplexed  by  such  conflicting  sentiments,  the  intending  in- 
vestor should  go  and  see  for  himself.  In  the  fourth  place,  both  the  num- 
ber and  the  extent  of  the  mining  districts  to  which  the  attention  of  the 
public  is  now  directed  are  so  great  that  one  shrinks  from  their  classifica- 
tion. Woe  betide  him,  too,  if  he  show  preference,  or  seem  to  do  so.  The 
author  ha§  had  the  misfortune  to  be  "  denounced,"  at  a  public  meeting, 
for  the  jilayful  remarks  quoted  (not  original  with  him)  about  the  San  Juan 


PREFACE.  11 

deposits  being  harder  to  work  than  the  carbonates.  Fearful  that  at  every 
point  of  a  more  extended  description  he  would,  as  in  this  instance,  un- 
wittingly offend,  he  wisely  abstains  from  the  task.  If  it  rested  with  him, 
every  claim,  from  Eupert's  Land  to  El  Paso,  should  be  a  bonanza  of  the 
-fii'st  water. 

Placer  or  hydraulic  gold  mining  is  increasing  in  the  Sierra  Madre  and 
adjacent  regions,  under  improved  conditions.  It  has  so  long  been  familiar 
to  the  public  that  lengthy  description  would  be  out  of  place  here.  It  has 
many  merits,  conspicuous  among  which  are  its  simplicity,  and  the  dispens- 
ing with  all  those  processes  for  the  extraction  of  bullion  from  ore  which 
consume  such  a  large  measure  of  stockholders'  greenbacks. 

It  would  have  been  proper  to  say  more  about  the  burning  "  Indian 
question ;"  but  a  suitable  disquisition  thereon  would  have  not  only  outrun 
the  limits  of  the  book,  but  cast  a  sombre  tinge  over  it.  It  is  a  wonder 
that  peoi3le  who  profess  to  regulate  their  individual  lives  on  the  principle 
of  there  being  a  certain  and  inexorable  retribution  for  wickedness,  will  not 
comprehend  that  they  share  the  responsibility  of  our  country  for  its  shame- 
ful, infamous  wrong-doing  in  this  regard.  Much  can  be  said  in  justifica- 
tion of  the  residents  of  the  West  in  their  hatred  of  the  Indian,  and  the 
evil  lies  far  back  of  them.  Our  country  stands  clearly  convicted  of  the 
acts  of  cruelty,  perfidy,  and  dishonor  w^hich  have  had  their  logical  sequence 
in  the  smoke  and  fiame  of  burning  houses,  and  the  shrieks  of  murdered 
women  and  children,  which  have  gone  up,  year  after  year,  on  the  frontier. 
Individuals  who  are  gnilty  of  such  crimes  are  warned  to  expect  a  "judg- 
ment'' on  them.  If  ever  an  aggregation  of  individuals,  called  a  nation, 
was  in  danger  of  such  retribution,  the  United  States  are  so  to-day. 

The  Colorado  hereinafter  described  is  "New,"  because  it  differs  as 
widely  from  the  one  depicted  by  Bayard  Taylor,  Ludlow,  and  Bowles,  as 
does  the  IS^orth  America  of  Mrs.  Trollope  and  Captain  Marryat  from  the 
one  portrayed  in  Count  de  Lesseps's  flowery  and  diplomatic  speeches  after 
his  return  to  Europe.     Its  renaissance  dates  but  about  two  years  back. 

In  the  portion  of  the  book  relating  to  the  Santa  Fe  Trail  only  brief 
allusion  is  made  to  subjects  which  cannot  fail  to  afford  a  rich  field  for  the 
antiquarian.  The  citizens  of  Kansas  claim  that  Coronado  visited  a  por- 
tion of  what  is  now  their  State,  and  they  have  tried  to  name  a  county  for 
him.  After  diligent  research,  resumed  in  the  West  since  the  article  was 
written,  the  author  can  find  no  authentic  record  of  any  travel  over  that 
region  (lining  the  two  hundred  and  sixty-four  years  which  elapsed  be- 
tween Coronado's  supposed  eastward  and  Pike's  westward  journeys,  al- 
though it  is  reported  that  a  Spanish  expedition  against  the  Indians  was  in 


12  PKEFACE. 

tlie  Arkansas  valley  in  1745.  There  were  Jesuit  missionaries  at  Kaskas- 
kia  in  1695 ;  and  it  would  be  most  interesting  to  establisli  the  fact  that 
tliey  had  overland  coninumication,  even  ninety  or  a  hundred  years  later, 
with  the  priests  of  their  Church  in  New  Mexico.  Any  information  on 
this  point  would  be  gratefully  received  and  acknowledged  if  sent  to  the 
care  of  the  publishers  of  this  book. 

The  doings  of  the  Colorado  troops  in  1862  were  narrated  for  the  first 
time  in  detail  in  the  International  Review^  and  the  account  has  since  been 
fully  confirmed  by  the  highest  military  authority.  It  is  now  given  in  per- 
manent form,  as  a  contribution  to  the  history  of  the  country. 

In  the  protracted  personal  researches  upon  which  what  is  here  written 
is  founded,  the  author  has  met  with  the  most  valuable  and  willing  assist- 
ance, and  the  kindest  hospitality  from  all  with  whom  he  has  been  thrown ; 
and  he  would  fain  hope  that  what  has  been  so  grateful  and  agreeable  to 
him  may  in  some  degree  inure  to  the  pleasure  and  benefit  of  the  public. 


f 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

IXTRODUCTORY  17 

CHAPTER  II. 
The  Journey  to  Pceblo  and  Uncle  Pete's  Ranch 23 

CHAPTER  III. 
The  Cattle  R.\:n'Ches 35 

CHAPTER  lY. 
El  Paso  County  and  Colorado  Springs 51 

CHAPTER  V. 

The  Shepherds  of  the  Plain G4 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Grub-stakes  and  Millions 79 

CHAPTER  YII. 
The  Honest  Miners  of  Leadville 94 

CHAPTER  YIII. 

The  Tourist 109 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Over  the  Range 120  » 

CHAPTER  X. 

The  Santa  Fe  Trail 133 

CHAPTER  XL 

The  Santa  Fe  Trail — Continued 147 


14  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XII. 

PAGE 

Ax  Unwritten  Episode  of  the  Late  War 160 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

Told  at  Trinidad 174 

CHAPTER  XIY. 
The  Health-seeker 180 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Itinerary,  and  Scggestions  for  the  Traveller 197 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 

Map Frontispiece 

The  Burros 23 

"  An'  Avhen  the  Feller  Jumi^ecl  Up  " 24 

The  Old  and  New  in  Pueblo 26 

La  Maquina  de  San  Carlos 28 

Uncle  Pete's  House 30 

Old  Antonio 32 

"A  Spanish  Air" 33 

A  "Round  Up" 37 

Crossing  the  Huerfano 39 

"Cutting  Out" 40 

Branding  a  Calf 41 

Cattle  going  to  Water 47 

Three  Days  Later  from  Pueblo 48 

Rocky  Mountain  Specimens 50 

El  Paso  Club-room 53 

Moving  the  Capital 55 

Under  the  Rose 56 

Flock  on  Austin's  BluflFs 57 

Township  Map 59 

Oflf  for  the  Range 61 

The  Tragedy  of  the  Big  Corral 62 

Shearing 63 

The  Prairie  Post-office 65 

Supper  witli  the  Herder 66 

Morning  at  the  Ranch 67 

Counting  the  Sheep 68 


PAQE 

The  Sleepy  Store -keeper  of  Bijou  Ba- 
sin      69 

Milor  iu  Flush  Times 76 

Sheriff's  Sale 78 

Grub-stakes  and  Millions 79 

Rosita 84 

The  Colonel  Investigates  the  Humboldt.    87 

Hungry  Gulch 88 

Mining  at  Silver  Cliff 89 

Sunday  Evening  at  the  Varieties 01 

Freighting  on  Mosquito  Pass 96 

"  Round  one  of  them  *  Cute '  Curves"...    98 

Residence  at  Leadville 100 

A  Wall  Street  Man's  Experience  in  Lead- 
ville   102 

Suburban  Scene,  Leadville 103 

Le.idville  Graveyard 104 

Manitou— Pike's  Peak 110 

An  Hlustrative  Poem 112 

The  Missionary  of  Micronesia 113 

Grand  Canon  of  the  Arkansas 115 

"Stranger,  do  you  Irrigate?" 120 

Camping  Out 122 

Expedition  of  the  Commodore  and  Mon- 
tezuma   124 

The  Special  Agent's  Work 126 

Mountain  of  the  Holy  Cross 127 


16 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


TAGB 

Kokomo 129 

Spanisli  Peaks 132 

Alva  Nuuez  Cabeza  De  Vaca  crossing 

the  Great  American  Desert 134 

Prairie  Schooners  at  tlie  Dock 137 

Entrance  of  the  Caravan  into  Santa  Fe.  139 


Sudden  Attack  by  Indians 141 

The  Don 143 

Kearny's  Soldiers  Crossing  the  Range...  148 

First  Store  in  Lakin 151 

Road  Agents  at  Work 154 

The  Captured  Road  Agents 157 


>s^EW    COLOEADO 

AND 

THE     SJ^NTJ^     FE     TR^IL 


:^EAY  OEADO 


THE    SA  r  E    TRAIL. 


CHAPTER  I. 

INTRODUCTORY 


"  T  ET  every  man,"  saitli  the  Apostle,  "  be  fully  persuaded  in  liis  own 
-Li  mind."  He  may  go  across  the  Atlantic ;  endure  tliat  most  trying 
of  all  short  civilized  journeys,  the  transit  from  London  to  Paris  ;  spend  a 
night,  uncheered  by  Pallman,  between  Paris  and  Bordeaux ;  traverse  the 
gloomy  Landes ;  walk  under  a  white  uml)rella  through  the  not  always 
odoriferous  streets  of  Pan ;  and,  finally,  indulge  in  orthodox  emotions  at 
the  orthodox  glimpse  of  the  Pyrenees  from  the  Phice  Royale.  His  neigh- 
bor, again,  may  enter  a  car,  fitted  with  every  comfort,  at  IS^ew  York  or 
Boston ;  travel  westward  by  the  Mohawk  Valley  and  the  sliores  of  the 
Great  Lakes ;  or  across  the  Alleghanies,  and  some  of  those  States  once 
AVestern,  now  Central ;  visit  several  growing,  aggressive  cities ;  cross  the 
jlississippi  and  the  Missouri ;  and  then,  leaving  the  shores  of  the  latter 
one  forenoon,  raise  tlie  curtains  of  the  hotel  windows  at  Denver  the  next 
afternoon,  and  see  the  Snowy  Range  lifting  itself  in  regal  grandeur  fi-om 
Long's  Peak  on  the  north,  to  Pike's  on  the  soutli.  Then,  still  in  compar- 
ative comfort,  and  without  undue  exertion  or  fatigue,  he  can  a])proacli 
Wahatoya,  the  beautiful  Spanish  Peaks;  view  a  sunset  on  the  solemn 
Sangre  de  Cristo ;  and,  crossing  tlie  great  Cordilleras,  or  climl)ing  Gray's 
Peak,  see  the  eternal  sign  of  tlie  IJoly  Cross  on  that  M'ondrous  mountain 
away  beyond. 

Each  would  state  a  strong  case.  The  former  wcniltl  exalt  the  delights 
of  a  visit  to  the  Old  World,  of  historical  associations,  of  living  for  awhile 
on  a  soil  every  inch  of  which  has  a  vivid  human  interest ;  nay  even,  if  he 

2 


18  NEW   COLORADO   AND   THE   SANTA   FE   TRAIL. 

be  candid,  of  "doino;  tlie  correct  tiling."  lie  conld  impeach,  too,  tlie 
newness  of  the  latter's  snrronndino-s,  and  the  senii-barljaric  acconnnoda- 
tions,  and  cuisine ^  and  he  might  k)ftily  quote  the  declaration  of  some- 
body or  other  that  "  the  farther  he  went  AVest,  the  more  was  he  strength- 
ened in  his  faith  that  the  AVise  Men  did  come  from  the  East." 

His  friend  would  doubtless  retort  that  one  cannot  expect  everything ; 
tluit  a  true  mountain -lover  can  forget,  in  the  presence  of  such  mighty 
scenes  of  Nature,  any  little  collateral  discomforts;  and  that,  although  he 
has  slept  on  softer  beds  and  eaten  better  dimiers  (a  slight  retrospective 
shudder  might  here  be  hardly  repressed),  they  are  not  what  he  went  to 
Colorado  to  find.  Who  shall  decide?  If  a  truly  impartial  opinion  could 
be  had ;  if,  say,  an  intelligent  Tasmanian,  or  a  clever  Japanese,  or  perhaps 
the  pupil -lacking  Chinese  professor  at  Harvard,  were  asked  to  arbitrate, 
he  would  do  well  to  content  himself  with  a  reference  to  the  apostolic  in- 
junction just  cpioted.  Whereas  we,  who  make  no  pretence  of  impartiality, 
Init  are  partisans  au  hout  des  doights,  would,  if  we  could  not  do  both, 
choose  without  hesitation,  and,  as  Mr.  Ilarte  puts  it, 

"  Speed  to  the  sunset  that  beckons  far  away." 

This  for  two  reasons :  first,  because  the  overwhelming  majority  take  the 
European  trip,  and  the  mountain  one  has  comparatively  few  friends.  If 
you  tell  an  Englishman — what  in  his  heart  he  knows  perfectly  well — that 
his  countrymen  longed  for  the  destruction  of  our  nation  in  the  Civil  War, 
and  that  Appomattox  was  nearly  as  grievous  a  disappointment  at  the 
London  clubs  as  at  Richmond,  he  will  reply,  "  Oh !  I  say,  really  now,  my 
dear  fellow,  you  are  mistaken,  quite  mistaken,  I  assure  you,  by  Jove !  You 
see  we  always  sympathize  with  the  weaker  side,  and  we  thought  you  fel- 
lows at  the  North  were  the  stronger,  don't  you  know  ?"     Q.  E.  D. 

Again,  the  sights  of  Europe  have  lasted  for  a  long  time  in  the  past,  and 
will,  we  hope,  last  for  many  generations  to  come  ;  while  it  is  now  that  one 
can  see  and  study,  in  Colorado,  not  only  a  magnificent  mountain  region, 
but,  just  at  the  right  moment,  a  most  unique  and  interesting  population. 

Approaching  the  Centennial  State  from  the  east,  we  have  been  grad- 
ually ascending  since  we  left  the  Missouri,  and  cross  its  eastern  border  at 
an  elevation  of  some  4000  feet.  ITp  to  the  foot-hills  run  plains, — 
intersected  by  streams  and  by  the  "-Divide,"  a  ridge  8000  feet  high, 
fifty  miles  south  of  Denver,  —  giving  room  for  many  cattle,  sheep,  and 
farming  ranches.  Boldly  out  among  these  foot-hills  comes  the  great  lat- 
eral buttress  capped  by  the  famed  Pike's  Peak  ;  then  comes  the  majestic 
"Range"  itself,  the  backbo'ne  of  the    Continent,  describing   a   tortuous 


INTRODUCTORY.  19 

course  throiio-h  the  State,  and  throwing  out  other  great  buttresses  enclos- 
ing the  so-called  Parks;  and  then  the" still  mountainous  and  comparatively 
thinly  populated  region  "  Over  the  Range."  This  whole  unique  domain, 
of  106,475  square  miles,  may,  witli  the  exception  of  the  extreme  south- 
western corner,  in  which  are  the  curious  ancient  ruins  and  cliff-dwellings 
of  the  Mancos  Canon,  be  called  essentially  a  new  country ;  since  its  white 
inhabitants  (whom,  pending  the  new  census  -  taking,  w^e  will  estimate  as 
numbering  200,000)  liave  all  either  been  born,  or  immigrated,  within  some 
twenty  years. 

Our  ideas  of  the  characteristics  of  an  American  mining  region  and  its 
people  are  generally  formed  from  what  we  know,  or  have  heard,  about 
California ;  and,  to  be  sure,  the  miner  pure  and  simple  is  sui  generis — 
much  the  same  in  all  j^arts  of  the  country  ;  but  there  were  elements  in 
the  pilgrimage  to  the  Pacific  slopes  and  the  subsequent  occuj^ation  of  the 
land  which  have  been  quite  wanting  in  the  Rocky  Mountain  region. 
Many,  it  is  true,  braved  the  yague  terrors  of  the  overland  journey  to  Cali- 
fornia, but  thousands  went  l)y  the  Panama  and  JSTicaragua  routes :  first 
very  uncomfortable,  then  gradually  improving,  lastly  very  good ;  and 
thousands,  again,  by  the  long  sea  trip  "•  around  the  Horn." 

Into  the  beautiful  bay  where  they  cast  anchor  flowed  the  Sacramento, 
affording  easy  communication  for  some  distance  into  the  interior ;  and  for 
those  desirous  of  reaching  the  southern  portion  of  the  country  there  was 
more  than  one  harbor  easily  accessible  by  coasting  vessels.  The  Golden 
Gate,  too,  was  the  mouth  of  a  gigantic  ocean  ferry -slip.  Into  it  could 
freely  sail  or  steam  vessels  from  many  and  divers  climes ;  the  new  side- 
wheel  steamer  from  New  York  via  the  Strait  of  Magellan,  the  Aberdeen 
clipper,  the  teak-built  East  Indiaman,  and  even  the  Chinese  junk,  or  the 
Japanese  fisherman  blown  off  his  own  coasts;  and  come  they  did,  and  in 
them  came  the  men  who  gave  to  San  Francisco  the  cosmopolitan  charac- 
ter which  she  has  never  lost.  Again,  these  Argonauts  found  not  only  the 
Golden  Fleece  for  which  they  sought,  but  a  land  where  ample  harvests 
would  reward  the  farmer,  and  the  wheat  of  the  North  compete  witli  the 
oranges  of  the  South  ;  so  a  city  of  350,000  iidial)itants  stretches  itself  over 
the  sand-hills ;  and  the  pioneer  of  tlie  "  fall  of  '40  and  the  spring  of  '50  ", 
sits  under  his  own  vine  and  fig-tree,  a  res]iected  veteran,  an  aristocrat  of 
tlie  Land  of  Gold.  lie  builds  as  hiii;]i  a  brown-stone  front  as  he  dares, 
in  view  of  the  earthquakes ;  and,  in  curious  forgetfulness  of  the  circum- 
stances of  his  own  advent,  he  exclaims,  "The  Chinese  nnist  go  !" 

On  the  other  hand,  San  Francisco  liad  superseded  the  little  village  of 
Verba  Buena  ten  years  before,  througli  wandering  adventurers,  whose  re- 


20  NEW   COLORADO   AND   THE   SANTA  FE   TRAIL. 

ports  spread  abroad  tliat  another  Pactoliis  was  streaming  down  the  canons 
of  the  Koeky  Mountains— or,  if  one  may  use  that  other  name,  so  appropri- 
ate and  melodious— tlie  Sieri-a  Madre. 

The  reo:ion  was  south  fcf  the  Cahfornia  route,  and  took  its  name  from 
tlie  noble  'mountain  discovered  by  Pike ;  since  this,  although  perhaps  a 
hundred  miles  from  tlic  place  of  the  earliest  findings,  was  the  notable 
landmark  in  that  direction.  Thither  was  no  long  sea  route,  no  Nicaragua 
transit,  no  royal  road  whatever.  For  the  millionnaire  and  the  tramp  alike, 
stretched  the  California  trail  to  a  point  some  eighty  miles  beyond  the 
junction  of  the  North  and  South  Platte,  and  thence  a  trackless  waste  up 
to  the  base  of  the  Kange.  For  both,  too,  after  they  had  turned  their  steps 
to  the  south-west,  was  displayed  that  view  of  the  mountains  of  which  as 
experienced  a  traveller  as  Bayard  Taylor  said,  "  In  variety  and  harmony  of 
form,  in  effect  against  the  dark-blue  sky,  in  breadth  and  grandeur,  I  know 
of  no  external  picture  of  the  Alps  which  can  be  placed  beside  it.  If  you 
could  take  away  the  valley  of  the  Rhone  and  unite  the  Alj)s  of  Savoy 
with  the  Bernese  Oberland,  you  might  obtain  a  tolerable  idea  of  this  view 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Pike's  Peak  would  then  represent  the  Jung- 
f ran :  a  nameless  snowy  giant  in  front  of  you,  Monte  Rosa ;  and  Long's 
Peak,  Mont  Blanc." 

Nor  did  travel  grow  safer  and  more  comfortable,  although  it  was  of 
course  rtore  speedy,  as  time  went  on ;  and  until,  in  1870,  the  Kansas 
Pacific  Railroad  from  the  Missouri  River,  and  the  Denver  Pacific  from 
the  trans  -  continental  line  at  Cheyenne,  reached  their  objective  j^oint. 
The  Indians,  who,  of  all  peoj^le  in  the  world,  are  no  respecters  of  persons, 
were  far  more  troublesome  and  dangerous  in  1864  than  jDreviously,  and 
the  writer  has  seen  a  curious  sight  in  the  file  of  a  Denver  daily  paper  for 
that  year;  its  size  and  the  material  on  which  it  was  printed  gradually 
deteriorating,  as  the  red  man  cut  off  or  delayed  train  after  train,  until  a 
diminutive  sheet  of  pink  tissue-paper  represented  the  press  of  Colorado. 
The  graders  and  track-layers  often  had  to  fight  their  way,  and  there  is  a 
tradition  current  of  an  attempt  to  stoj)  an  express  train.  It  is  understood 
that  a  lariat  was  stretched  across  the  track,  breast  high,  and  held  by  some 
thirty  braves  on  each  side ;  but,  says  the  narrator, 

"  "When  the  engineer  fust  see  it,  he  didn't  know  what  on  airth  wuz  the 
matter ;  but  in  a  minute  more  he  bust  out  laughin',  and  he  ketched  hold 
of  that  throttle,  an'  he  opened  her  out ;  an'  he  struck  that  there  lariat 
agoin'  about  forty  mile  an  hour,  an'  he  jest  piled  them  braves  up  ever- 
lastin'  permiscuous,  you  het  /" 

One  may  readily  believe  that  to  face  the  dangers  and  hardships  of 


IXTKODUCTORY.  21 

tliis  journey,  on  the  chance  of  finding  gold,  required  men  of  no  ordinary 
stamp,  and  yet  but  few  even  of  them  passed  through  the  crucible  of  the 
early  years  of  disappointment,  loss,  and  homesickness. 

After  the  first  rush  very  many  persons  returned  home  ;  '*  gulches ''  be- 
gan to  prove  unprofitable,  and  ores  refractory;  and  the  rash  speculation 
of  war  days  culminated  in  a  panic  which  gave  the  State  a  bad  name  for 
years.  There  was  hardly  any  farming  in  the  early  times ;  there  were  ter- 
rible grasshopper  seasons  before  1870;  and  in  1878  but  200,000  acres 
were  otficially  reported  as  taxable.  Even  stock-raising  has  grown  to  its 
present  dimensions  quite  recently,  and  it  is  clear  that  it  is,  in  the  main,  by 
her  mines  that  Colorado  must  sink  or  swim.  Now  that  she  is  buoyant, 
those  men  have  found  their  account  who,  without  the  varied  resources 
which  have  given  San  Francisco  some  twelve  times  the  present  popula- 
tion of  their  saucv  little  Denver,  have  cluni^j  throuo-h  all  vicissitudes  to 
their  mountain  State ;  and  they  may  be  studied  to-day  with  interest  and 
profit. 

That  the  case  of  the  mountains  is  made  out  in  these  pages,  the  writer 
is  far  from  claiming.  He  would  prefer  to  trust  it  to  the  advocacy  of  the 
mighty  works  of  Xature  themselves,  and  of  that  quality  in  their  local  par- 
tisans which  Mr.  Huskin  emphatically  ascribes  to  the  hill-dweller — "  im- 
aginative energy.'''  If  the  nomadic  reader  do  not  return  from  a  trip  to 
this  region  with  an  increased  admiration  for  our  country,  it  will  assuredly 
not  be  the  fault  of  the  mountaineers  of  the  Sierra  Madre. 


22  NEW  COLOEADO  AND  THE  SANTA  FE  TRAIL. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE   JOURNEY   TO   PUEBLO   AND   UNCLE   PETE'S   EANCII. 

THE  traveller  who  journeys  westward  in  our  favored  land  should  make 
up  his  mind  to  accept  without  demur  such  military  or  judicial  rank 
and  title  as  may  be  conferred  upon  him.  He  may  be  quite  sure,  too,  that 
when  his  brevet  has  once  been  settled  west  of  the  Missouri  by  proper  au- 
thority, it  will  cling  to  him  as  long  as  he  remains  in  that  region. 

"I  don't  half  like,"  once  remarked  a  Scotch  fellow-traveller  of  the 
writer,  to  a  friendly  group  at  Denver,  "  the  promotion  backwar-r-d  which 
I  receive.  East  of  Chicago  I  was  Colonel ;  at  Chicago  I  was  Major ;  at 
Omaha  a  man  called  me  Captain,  and  offered  me  dinner  for  thir-r-ty- 
tive  cents !" 

One  of  the  group,  after  a  careful  survey  of  the  face  and  figure  befoi'e 
him,  the  kindly  yet  keen  expression,  and  the  iron-gray  whiskers,  replied : 
"  You  ain't  Colonel  wuth  a  cent.     I  allow  that  you're  Jedge  .^" 

And  "  Jedge  "  he  was  from  that  time  forth.  Xobody  called  him  any- 
thing else.  Newly  made  acquaintances,  landlords,  stage-drivers,  conduct- 
ors, all  used  this  title,  until  his  companions  began  to  feel  as  if  they  had 
known  him  all  his  life  in  that  capacity. 

So  when,  a  short  time  since,  an  "  honest  miner,"  with  whom  the  writer 
was  conversing  amicably  at  Kansas  City,  remarked,  "  Wa'al,  Colonel,  I  al- 
low that  when  you  git  out  there  on  the  range  in  Color«7/do,  you'll  say 
it's  a  white  man's  country,"  the  person  addressed  well  knew  that  his  rank 
Avas  iinallv  settled.  So  the  "  Colonel,"  who  mio-ht  be  called  unattached, 
having  no  regiment  and  no  staff,  but  having  what  was  far  better  for  his 
peaceful  and  descriptive  i)ur2)oses,  the  companionship  of  an  artist  coad- 
jutor whose  nautical  achievements  had  gained  for  him  among  his  friends 
the  distinguished  naval  sobriquet  of  "  Commodore,"  settled  himself  in  his 
seat,  and  was  whirled  off  in  the  direction  of  the  "  white  man's  country." 
It  must  not  be  hastily  assumed  that  when  one  uses  this  expression  in  the 
West  he  has  the  sentiments  of  certain  campaign  orators  at  heart,  and 
means  that  the  country  must  belong  to  a  white  man,  rather  than  a  black, 


THE  JOURNEY  TO  PUEBLO  AND  UNCLE  PETE'S  RANCH. 


23 


<  »r  even  a  red 
uiaii.      It   is 

rather  a  condensation     ^T^ 
of  the  popuhir  West-  '  "^ 

ern  phrase,  "  Fit  for  a 
white  man  to  live  in." 
AVitli  this  reqnirenient 
in  view,  does  Colorado 
-  till  the  bill  r  That  is 
what  we  were  goins;  to 
try  to  find  out ;  and  of 
all  the  phases  of  life  in 
this  presumedly  "  wdiite 
man's  country,"  the  herd- 
ing; and  breedinij;  of  cat- 
tie  easily  commanded  our 
attention  at  tlie  outset. 
What  til  is  is  in  theory 
we  all  know,  the  pi'inn'- 
tive  scriptural  occupa- 
tion, the  grand,  free,  in- 
dependent, health  -giv- 
ing, out-of-door  exist- 
ence, the  praises  of 
which  hiive  l)een  sung 
tlironizli  :i!l  ages.  To 
lidw  many  pale,  thin, 
liard-working  city  dwell- 


r 


WW.     HlKltOS. 


24 


NEW  COLORADO  AND  THE  SANTA  FE  TRAIL. 


€Qef!S, 


ers  does  the 
tlioiight  of  "the 
cattle  upon  a  thou- 
sand hills,"  the 
rare  dry  air  of  the 
elevated  plateau, 
and  the  contin- 
ual and  enno- 
1)1  ing  sight  of  the 
mighty  mount- 
ains bring  strange- 
ly vivid  emotions 
and  longings! 
And  Avlien  one  goes  out  to  put  the  matter  to  the  test,  these  emotions  are 
all  quite  legitimate,  and  will  do  him  no  harm  if  he  allow  not  their  in- 
dulgence to  abate  in  him  one  whit  of  a  truly  Gradgrind  -  like  demand 
for  Facts. 

"  Now  there's  some  folks,"  once  said  an  old  plainsman,  "  who  comj^lain 


"  an'    MllEN    THE    FELLER    JUMPED    CP. 


THE  JOURNEY  TO  PUEBLO  AND  UNCLE  PETE'S  RANCH.      25 

of  a  trip  across  the  country  in  a  Pullman  car.  I  wonder  wbat  they'd  'a 
said  if  they'd  had  to  ride  in  a  bull  team,  or  drag  a  hand-cart  all  the  way !" 

]^o  more  striking  contrast,  indeed,  can  anywhere  be  found  than  be- 
tween old  times  and  new  on  the  plains,  and  he  can  hardly  be  a  traveller 
worthy  of  the  name  who  does  not  derive  great  enjoyment  from  his  jour- 
ney from  the  Missouri  to  the  mountains  in  these  days  of  comfort  and 
convenience.  Aside  from  all  matters  of  external  interest,  there  is  that 
pleasant  association  between  the  passengers  such  as  one  finds  on  an  ocean 
steamer,  and  the  types  of  character  are  even  more  original  and  striking. 
It  was  a  person  of  a  rare  and  quflint  humor  who  fraternized  with  us  in 
the  smoking  compartment  one  pleasant  evening,  and  it  was  no  small  addi- 
tion to  our  enjoyment  to  hear  him  laugh  heartily  at  his  own  narratives. 
He  had  been  travelling  on  a  line  where  there  was  great  competition,  and 
the  rates  had  been  reduced  from  eight  dollars  and  a  half  to  lifty  cents,  the 
curious  expedient  being  adopted  of  charging  the  full  fare,  and  then  re- 
turning the  eight  dollars  at  the  end  of  the  journey. 

"'I've  heerd  of  had'  jxnj  before,"  said  he,  "but  I  never  got  any  until 
I  fell  into  line  at  the  ticket  office.  Did  ye  get  yours?"  he  asked  of  the 
Commodore.  "  What,  no  ?  Ye  bought  a  ticket,  an'  give  it  up,  an'  took 
a  check?  Wa'al,  you  did  just  everlastingly  give  yourself  away.  But  ye 
warn't  so  bad  as  a  feller  that  come  on  the  train  with  a  pass.  An'  when 
the  conductor  see  it,  he  said  it  warn't  no  use,  an'  he'd  just  trouble  him  for 
7iine  dollars.  An'  when  the  feller  jumj^ed  up,  just  like  this,  an'  got  the 
light  on  the  pass,  an'  see  it  was  the  opposition  road.,  he  was  the  wust  beat 
feller  you  ever  see !" 

Thus  it  was  that  we  beguiled  the  way  until  the  mountains  took  shape 
in  the  hazy  distance — the  famed  Spanish  Peaks  on  the  south,  the  "  Green- 
horn "  range  almost  in  front,  and  stern  old  Pike's  Peak  on  the  north — and 
the  train  rolled  into  Pueblo.  When  local  parlance  is  thus  adopted,  and 
local  appellations  thus  used,  it  is  done  under  mental  protest,  and  with  a 
strong  sense  of  their  entire  unfitness.  The  Spanish-speaking  people  who 
dwelt  here,  and  the  far-famed  old  Chevalier  St.  Yrain  and  his  French 
hunters  and  trappers,  who  traversed  the  ])lains  and  the  foot-hills,  gave 
names  to  the  mountains  and  streams  which  were  as  appropriate  and  melo- 
dious as  those  of  the  Indians  before  them.  About  mines,  telegraphs,  and 
railroads,  however,  there  is  nothing  of  the  ivsthetic ;  and  it  has  remained 
for  the  progressive  Anglo-Saxon  to  re])udiate  La  Fontaine  (pii  liouille, 
Sierra  Mojada,  and  Uncompahgre,  and  iiitiddiice  llards('ral)ble  and  the 
Greenlioni.  Now  the  Colonel  aiul  the  CoiniiKKlore  had  been  tliinkiiiii' 
ahi^it  those  old  times,  and  I'epeating  the  oM  names  with  correct  em})]iasis, 


20 


NEW   COLOEADO   AND   THE    SANTA   FE   TRAIL. 


and  giving  a  foreign  sound  to  tlieir  vowels,  so  that  it  was  a  sliock  to  tliem 
Avlien  the  ]iorter  called  ont,  "  Pew-eb-lo !" 

Not  Kit  Carson,  or  old  William  Bent,  or  the  Chevalier  St.  Vrain  him- 
self, however,  conld  have  had  a  warmer  welcome  ready  for  us  than  did 
onr  friend  Major  Stanton,  who  met  us  on  the  platform,  and  whose  intel- 
lip-ent  miidance  and  kind  attentions  would  have  made  us  pleasurablj  re- 
member  a  far  less  enterprising  and  progressive  town  than  Pueblo,  which 


THE    OLD    AND    M.  W     IN    I'UEBLO. 


may  be  called  the  emporium  of  the  cattle  trade  of  Southern  Colorado.  It 
is  still  young,  and  its  growth  was  retarded  by  "the  panic;"  but  it  is  now 
getting  its  full  share  of  the  prosperity  which  has  come  to  the  Centennial 
State,  and  the  twenty-live  people  who  were  there  in  1865  have  grown  to 
between  six  and  seven  thousand.  It  has  two  daily  papers,  two  railroad 
depots,  two  national  banks,  with  goodly  lists  of  stock-raising  depositors, 
and  two  school-houses  in  juxtaposition,  a  sketch  of  which  will  give  a  good 
idea  of  the  old  and  the  new  in  Puel)lo.  Like  many  other  Western  settle- 
ments, it  has  had,  too,  its  baptism  of  blood.  It  was  a  trading  post  of  stout 
old  William  Bent,  and  became  other  than  this  only  in  1858,  when  the  gold 
excitement  began,  and  "•  Pike's  Peak  or  Bust "  was  the  motto  painted  on 
the  canvas  cover  of  each  prairie  schooner,  or  emigrant  wagon.  One  may 
still  see,  near  the  handsome  stone  station  of  the  Atchison,  Topeka,  and 
Santa  Fe  Railroad,  the  remains  of  the  old  fort  into  which,  when,  on 
Christmas -day,  1854,  the  residents,  thoughtless  of  danger,  wei-e  gathered 
around  the  fire  and  enjoying  the  festive  season,  the  Ute  Indians  broke, 
with  brandished  tomahawks  and  wild  war-cries,  and  massacred  nearly  all. 


THE  JOURNEY  TO  PUEBLO  AND  UNCLE  PETE'S  RANX'H.      27 

Tbroiio'hout  the  ree:ioii  of  eoimtry  tributary  to  Pueblo  —  Avliere  are 
found,  besides  the  nutritious  grasses  and  running  streams,  which  are  indis- 
pensable, a  genial  climate  and  mild  winters — are  scattered  cattle  ranches, 
great  and  small,  including  the  immense  Craig  property,  often  mentioned 
in  Eastern  papers,  and  of  which  more  anon.  It  was  to  "  Uncle  Pete  Dot- 
son's,"  situated  about  thirty  miles  south-west  from  the  town,  and  close  to 
the  Greenh —  no,  the  Sierra  Mojada,  or  Wet  Mountain  range,  that  we  were 
bound.  Preparations  had  been  made  for  the  trij),  and  all  would  doubt- 
less liave  gone  well  but  for  an  unconquerable  propensity  on  the  part  of 
the  Commodore  to  attempt  to  conform  in  a  feeble  and  uninstructed  way 
to  the  customs  of  the  country.  He  had  already  purchased  an  enormous 
and  most  unbecoming  hat,  and  then  happily  proceeded  to  lose  it,  much  to 
the  satisfaction  of  his  friends.  jS^ow  he  was  possessed  of  a  desire  to  con- 
tinue his  pilgrimage  on  the  l)ack  of  an  animal  known  in  Colorado  as  a 
hu.rro,  and  in  other  lands  as  a  Jerusalem  pony,  or  small  donkey.  Xow 
the  burro  has  doubtless  his  place  in  the  economy  of  nature,  but  it  is  in  a 
sphere  hitherto  undiscovered  by  the  present  writer.  Useful  he  may  pos- 
sibly be ;  ornamental  he  certainly  is  not ;  ugly  and  obstreperous  and  un- 
manageable he  most  certainly  is.  In  the  words  of  the  old  song,  "  our  sor- 
rows did  begin"  when  the  Commodore  insisted  on  having  one,  and  on 
the  Colonel's  doing  the  same.  In  vain  did  the  latter  plead  that  no  more 
ridiculous  sight  could  be  found  east  of  the  mountains  than  his  tall  form, 
clad  in  the  garments  of  civilization,  mounted  on  this  diminutive  brute. 
He  pointed  out  with  eloquence  that  he  had  always  maintained  a  fair  repu- 
tation for  dignity ;  that  Pueblo  was  on  one  of  the  roads  from  Xew  York 
to  Denver,  and  that  some  one  from  home  might  see  him;  nay,  even  that 
he  had  a  wife  and  family.  The  Commodore  was  inexorable,  and  fell  back 
on  tliat  unanswerable  plea  tliat  ''his  'i)ar(r  must  not  go  back  on  him."' 
Two  of  the  atrocious  animals  were  thereupon  procured,  and  the  pair 
mounted  —  one  jubilant,  the  other  inwardly  raging.  The  Commodore 
thought  it  a  most  comfortable  and  convenient  mode  of  progression,  and 
said  that  l)y  holding  umbrellas  over  our  heads  we  might  ride  all  the  way 
to  Uncle  Pete's,  to  which  conclusion  the  Colonel  owed  a  speedy  though 
short-lived  triumph.  r)ur  good  friend  and  entertainer,  with  a  nice  sense 
of  the  fitness  of  tilings,  had  provided  for  the  journey  a  convenient  vehicle, 
with  a  liasket  under  the  seat,  and  two  line  horses  in  front — such  an  equi- 
page, indeed,  as  would  befit  travellers  of  dignity  and  irliiiciiicut.  And 
among  the  almost  human  attributes  of  that  noble  aiiininl  the  lioi-sc  is  a 
dislike  foi-  bun-os,  amounting  to  a  ]K)sitive  hatred,  and  an  utter  unwilling- 
ness to  associate  with  them,  (»r  remain  in  tlicii-  ])resence.     Starting  to  meet 


28 


NEW   COLORADO   AND   THE   SANTA   FE   TRAIL. 


om-  friend  and  sngijest  a  bniTO  ride,  the  Commodore  turned  a  corner  sud- 
denly, foll(nved  by  tlie  Colonel,  and  met  the  wagon.  The  horses  reared 
and  plunged,  the  Connnodore's  burro  balked,  the  Colonel's  wheeled  around, 
the  two   came  in   collision,  and,  in   fact,  just   that  happened  which  was 


LA  MAQUINA  DE  SAN  CARLOS. 


needed  to  evolve  from  the  depth  of  the  Commodore's  mind  the  conviction 
that  our  dtlnit  as  burro-riders  had  been  ill-timed.  It  was  his  face  that 
was  sour,  and  the  Colonel's  that  was  radiant,  as  we  took  our  seats  in  the 
covered  wagon,  and  ascended  the  hill  in  South  Pueblo. 


THE  JOURNEY  TO  PUEBLO  AND  UNCLE  PETE'S  RANCH.      29 

Thence  we  drove  out  over  the  great  plain,  the  excellent  road  being  a 
stri])  from  which  the  grass  had  been  worn  aAvay,  and  which  was  probably 
marked  out  originally  by  two  furrows  cut  with  a  common  plough,  or  even 
by  a  wagon  track.  East  and  north  the  prairie  grass  stretched  to  the  ho- 
rizon. South  was  a  mesa^  or  high  table -land,  and,  dimly  visible  many 
miles  away,  Wahatoya,  the  two  Sj)anisli  Peaks.  West,  loomed  up,  nearer 
and  nearer,  the  Sierra  Mojada,  over  which  dense  clouds  were  gathering, 
while  the  rest  of  the  sky  was  beautifully  blue.  Little  whirlwinds  of  dust, 
forming  slender  spiral  columns,  were  seen  on  the  distant  prairie,  and  birds 
flew  fearlessly  near  us.  From  the  mountains  near  by  Hows  out  the  San 
Carlos,  or  St.  Charles,  Creek,  running  in  a  northeasterly  direction  to  the 
Arkansas  Kiver,  and  its  course  was  made  visible  as  we  approached  it  by 
the  fringes  of  cottonwood  trees.  After  what  seemed  a  long  drive,  we 
turned  to  the  west,  up  the  "  Great  Arroya  ''^ — a  sterile  valley,  with  pinons, 
or  scrub  pines,  and  dwarfed  cedars  clinging  to  its  slopes — and  traversed  it 
as  far  as  the  crossing  of  the  St.  Charles,  passing  on  the  way  an.  eagle's  nest 
on  a  rocky  ledge,  and  a  Mexican  herder  keeping  his  lonely  watch  over  a 
large  flock  of  sheep.  Just  at  the  crossing,  and  where  the  creek  forces  its 
wav  through  a  cleft  in  the  rocks,  stood  a  substantial  o-rist-mill — La  Ma- 
quina  de  San  Carlos.  Stopping  here  to  give  our  horses  rest,  and  to  in- 
vestigate the  contents  of  the  basket  under  the  seat,  we  read  on  the  locked 
door  of  the  mill  various  uncomplimentary  allusions  to  the  absence  of  the 
miller  when  loads  of  grain  had  been  brought  thither  from  points  far  away 
on  the  "  Muddy," '  or  the  melodiously  named  Huerfano.  One  individual 
had  broken  into  verse,  and  written  as  follows : 

"Where,  oil,  where  did  the  luiller  go, 
And  le.ave  to  us  no  sign  or  trace? 
Tlie  next  time  to  mill  ■\ve  must  go, 
We  will  go  to  some  other  place." 

Knowing  something  of  the  varied  and  engrossing  occupations  of  the 
miller,  who  was  no  other  than  our  expectant  host.  Uncle  Pete,  the  writer 
could  fancy  him  replying  to  the  complainants  as  did  once  a  Yermont  ex- 
pressman to  the  summer  residents  who  told  him  tliat  they  had  been  time 
and  time  again  to  his  office  without  finding  him.  Laconically  said  he, 
"  Don't  calkilate  to  l)e  there  muchr 

Now  tlie  valley  lay  behind  us,  and  the  foot-hills  l)egan  to  shut  out  the 
range;  but  Pike's  Peak,  sixty  niiU's  oif,  loomed  up  as  grandly  as  ever. 
Eight  miles  more  were  traversed,  and  then  we  turned  into  a  great  farm- 
yard, or  corral,  and  stopped  at  a  rustic  stile.     In  a  few  moments  Uncle 


30 


NEW  COLORADO  AND  THE  SANTA  FE  TRAIL. 


Pete  Dotson  came  n]i  the  patli  from  the  house,  and  gave  us  a  cordial 
ffreetino". 

About  a  quarter  of  a  ccnituiy  ago  this  gray  -  Ijcarded  veteran,  then  a 
hale  and  vigorous  AVest-Yirginian,  started  to  di-ive  cattle  to  California, 
stopped  at  Salt  Lake,  became  the  United  States  Marshal  for  the  Territory, 
and  was  there  -when  Brigliam  Ycnmg  was  in  his  glory,  and  Albert  Sidney 
Johnston  wintered  in  the  snow. 

"lie  left  with  tlie  tr()0])s  in  1859,"  said  Mrs.  Dotson  (a  brave,  patient 
woman,  who  has  shared  his  fortunes,  good  and  bad,  and  crossed  the  plains 
at  least  once  by  herself),  "  and  came  to  Denver  w^ith  a  train  in  1861.  Next 
year  we  came  to  the  Big  Thompson ;  then  we  went  to  the  Greenhorn,  and 


UNCLE    pete's   house 


farmed  ;  then  we  kept  a  hotel  in  Pueblo.  In  1864  we  were  'washed  out' 
by  the  Fountain  [Fontaine  qui  Bouille].  A  boy  rode  dow^n  on  a  horse 
w^ithout  saddle  or  bridle,  only  a  rope  in  his  mouth,  and  gave  me  fifteen 
minutes'  warning.  I  was  sick  in  bed,  but  I  took  the  children  and  ran. 
Then  we  M'ent  to  the  Muddy  and  lived,  and  the  Indians  used  to  come  and 
visit  us ;  but  we  were  washed  out  there  too.  And  then,  in  1865,  we  took 
up  this  place." 

Uncle  Pete  had  evidently  made  good  use  of  his  knowledge  and  expe- 
rience in  the  choice  of  his  ranch.  His  domain  embraced  9000  acres,  5000 
of  which  were  arable  land.  The  ground  sloped  gradually  from  the  foot 
of  the  range,  and  the  whole  of  his  possessions  were  under  his  own  eye. 
In  a  large  bani-yard  were  great  granaries  and  a  fine  stone  stable,  which 
would  not  be  amiss  in  any  city  in  the  United  States ;  and  at  varying  dis- 
tances on  the  gentle  slope  could  be  seen  the  little  cabins  of  the  tenants, 


THE   J0U1«EY   TO   PUEBLO   AND   UNCLE   PETE'S   RANCH.  31 

wlio  cultivated  parts  of  the  land  "  on  sliares ;"  for  it  must  be  understood 
tliat  this  estate  was  not  only  a  cattle  ranch,  but  also  a  great  farm. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  nearly  every  one  who  visits  this  region  for  the 
lii-st  time,  even  if  partially  informed  about  it  l)eforehand,  is  grievously  dis- 
appointed at  the  arid  aspect  of  the  plains,  and  finds  it  hard  to  Ijelieve  in 
the  power  of  that  great  beneficent  agent,  Water,  which  can  make  every 
inch  of  these  table-lands  and  valleys,  or  the  sage-brush  wastes  of  the  Hum- 
boldt region,  or  the  Egyptian  desert  itself,  literally  "blossom  like  the  rose." 
This  is  a  comparatively  rainless  area,  the  "  barren  and  dry  land,  where  no 
water  is,"  of  the  Psalmist;  and  yet  a  means  has  been  found  not  only  of 
supplying  the  place  of  the  rains  of  heaven,  but  also  of  making  such  sup- 
ply constant  and  regular.  An  intelligent  and  experienced  writer  says : 
"  Irrigation  is  simply  scientific  farming.  The  tiller  of  the  soil  is  not  left 
at  the  mercy  of  fortuitous  rains.  His  capital  and  labor  are  not  risked  u})on 
an  adventure.  He  can  plan  with  all  the  certainty  and  confidence  of  a 
mechanic.  He  is  a  chemist  whose  laboratory  is  a  certain  area  of  land  ;  ev- 
erything but  the  water  is  at  hand — the  bright  sun,  the  potash,  and  other 
mineral  ingredients  (not  washed  out  of  the  soil  by  centuries  of  rain).  His 
climate  secures  him  always  from  an  excess  of  moisture,  and  what  nature 
fails  to  yield,  greater  or  less,  according  to  the  season,  the  farmer  supplies 
from  his  irrigating  canal,  and  with  it  he  introduces,  without  other  labor, 
the  most  valuable  fertilizing  ingredients,  with  which  the  water,  in  its 
course  through  the  mountains,  has  become  charged." 

Water  is  thus  Ijoth  for  the  farmer  and  the  herder — and  the  ranchman, 
Avlio  is  often  both  farmer  and  herder — the  sine  qua  non,  tlie  prime  neces- 
sity ;  and  just  here  did  one  see  how  well  Uncle  Pete  had  cliosen  his  situa- 
tion. He  had  nine  miles  of  water  frontage  on  the  St.  Charles  Creek,  and 
the  same  on  the  Muddy.  Just  where  the  former  comes  out  of  the  Wet 
Mountain  range,  and  where  no  one  could  take  water  above  him,  he  had 
ta])i)ed  it  for  his  broad  irrigating  ditch,  which,  after  a  tortuous  course 
tln-ough  the  estate,  empties  again  into  the  stream  from  wliicli  it  came.  Hot 
a  drop  of  its  precious  contents  being  thus  wasted.  Along  the  upper  side 
of  the  fields  lying  on  this  gentle  slope,  before  described,  run  smaller  ditch- 
es. Then  during  the  season  does  the  skilful  Mexican  lal)orer  dig  little 
cliannels  leading  down  tln'ough  these  fields,  aiul,  making  lirtle  dams  for 
the  purpose,  turn  the  water  into  them.  The  result  is  simple;  rncle  Pete 
has  raised  1(),()0(>  l)usliels  of  wheat,  GOOD  of  oats,  and  2i»00  of  corn,  and  had 
a  market  f(jr  tlie  whole  on  the  spot,  it  being  one  of  the  charms  of  Colo- 
rado farming  that  the  "honest  miner"  is  both  hungry  and  liberal,  and 
tliat  tJie  farm  produce  has  ready  buyers.     Suppose,  however,  that  for  our 


32 


NEW  COLORADO  AND  THE  SANTA  FE  TRAIL. 


present  purpose  we  call  farming;  a  side  issue,  and  come  to  the  cattle  wliicli 
tills  ranch  would  support  all  the  year  round.  It  is  said  that  when  Ken- 
tucky cattle  men,  fresh  from  the  "  Blue-grass  Region,"  see  the  plains,  they 


OLD    ANTONIO. 


are  entirely  incredulous  as  to  their  fitness  for  stock ;  but  the  experienced 
stockman  smiles,  well  knowing  that  the  nutritious  cpialities  of  the  grass  are 
simply  unsurj^assed,  and  that  the  food  for  his  cattle  for  the  whole  year  is 


THE  JOURNEY  TO  PUEBLO  AND  UNCLE  PETE'S  RANCH. 


33 


ready  at  a  minimum  of  cost.      For  their  water,  again,  a  splendid  creek 
frontage  like  Uncle  Pete's  would  more  than  amply  provide. 

But  to  procure  all  this  information  we  did  not  wait  supper,  after  our 
long  drive.  It  was  served  in  a  quaint  dining-room,  once  constnicted 
for  the  giving  of  Mexican  fandangoes,  but  now  forming  part  of  the  curi- 
ous composite  structure  in  which  Uncle  Pete,  his  family,  friends,  and  nu- 
merous visitors  found  accommodation.     In  the  old  adobe  fireplace,  con- 


"A    Sl'AM.SU    AIH. 


structed  by  Mexican  wonuMi,  the  sticks  of  firewood  were  placed  on  end, 
and  in  the  ligure  standing  alongside  of  it,  with  his  dog  at  his  feet,  our 
readers  should  thank  us  for  introducing  old  Antonio  Lopez  —  a  grand 
specimen  of  a  class  now  rapidly  disap])earing.  lie  was  a  most  striking 
character :  hair  and  mustaches  nearly  white,  complexion  deeply  browned, 
about  sixty  3'ears  of  age,  and  dressed  in  ovei'alls  of  colored  duck,  with 
lu'oad  Mexican  sombrero  of  black  felt,  its  binding  and  tassels  of  silver 
braid.  Ilis  pistols  were  in  his  holster,  and  his  old-fashioned  St.  Louis 
rifle  leaned  against  the  wall.  Antonio  cmhu'  from  I\[exico  years  ago,  and 
fought  a  long  while  witli  the  Indians,  who  gave  him  the  many  scars  Avliich 


34  NEW  COLORADO  AND   THE   SANTA  FE   TliAIL. 

he  carried.  Unfitted  for  liard  niaiiual  labor,  he  came  to  Uncle  Pete  as  a 
hunter,  and  rendered  liini  serv^ice  in  many  ways. 

"  Let  nie  jint  you  in  his  charge  to  go  into  the  mountains,"  said  his  em- 
ployer, '•  and  1  could  sleep  soundly  enough.  lie  would  be  killed  a  dozen 
times  before  he  would  let  you  be  insulted  or  hurt."     And  he  looked  it. 

After  supper  came  an  aesthetic  phase  of  the  ranchman's  life,  which  ap- 
pealed to  the  sympathies  of  the  Connnodore.  Coming  in  from  the  star- 
light, taking  his  seat  on  the  vine-clad  piazza,  and  feeling  the  mild  evening 
air  blowing  in  through  the  open  lattice,  and  bringing  with  it  the  scent  of 
the  flowers,  he  heard  the  tones  of  a  guitar,  and  the  voice  of  one  of  the 
gentle  and  cultured  daughters  of  the  house  raised  in  charming  Mexican 
folk-songs  in  three-quarter  time.  Soon  he  forgot  all  about  the  burros,  and 
was  fancying  himself  under  some  window  in  Seville,  and  perhaps  listening 
for  the  rastle  -of  a  numtilla  above,  when  Uncle  Pete  suggested  that  if  he 
were  going  to  go  into  the  stock  business  bright  and  early  in  the  morning, 
it  might  be  as  well  to  go  to  bed. 

He  went  to  sleep  in  a  room  with  both  doors  and  windows  open  to  the 
night  air  of  this  peaceful  region.  And  when  they  called  him  in  the  morn- 
ing, he  was  heard  to  murmur :  "  Hold  on  to  those  horses,  Major !  Con- 
found this  burro,  I'll  be  the  death  of  him!  W/ioa,  you — !"  and  then  he 
rubbed  his  eyes  and  started  up. 


THE   CATTLE    RANCHES.  35 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE   CATTLE   EANCHES. 

SPACE  will  not  permit  a  detailed  description  of  tlie  pleasures  of  life  at 
and  about  Uncle  Pete's :  walks  up  the  picturesque  caiion ;  trips,  un- 
der Antonio's  watcliful  care,  for  some  distance  into  the  mountains ;  rides 
on  some  of  the  many  iine  horses  always  ready  for  the  saddle ;  and  con- 
stant study  of  the  minutite  of  this  great  and  interesting  industry  of  stock- 
raising.  It  is  carried  on,  as  must  be  generally  known,  from  Texas  to  a 
region  considerably  north  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railway,  and  great  herds 
pass  from  the  Lone  Star  State  through  Kansas,  and  up  to  the  great  iron 
roads  running  east  and  west.  In  Xew  Mexico,  in  Southern  Colorado,  on 
the  Arkansas  and  its  tributaries — the  Fountain,  the  St.  Charles,  the  Mud- 
dy, the  Cucharas,  the  Huerfano,  and  others — in  the  great  parks  over  across 
the  range,  and  over  the  plains  in  Colorado,  Nebraska,  and  Wyoming,  the 
herds  roam,  and  the  rancheros  ride.  Between  Denver  and  Julesburg,  on 
the  Union  Pacific  Railroad,  lay  the  immense  range  of  the  late  Mr.  Aylitfe, 
le  side  of  which  was  fifty  miles  in  length.  He  is  said  to  have  begun 
iifteen  years  ago  with  a  capital  of  $100,  and  his  estate  is  valued  at 
Sl,o^'^?000.  It  was  interesting  and  instructive  to  hear  how  one  of  his 
friends  accounted  for  this  unusual  success :  "  Some  ])eople  try  to  attend 
to  several  things,  or  to  do  more  than  one  kind  of  business,  but  he  only 
thought  of  one  thing  for  those  fifteen  years,  and  that  one  thing  was  cattle. 
And  attendinu;  onlv  to  tluit,  and  workini>;  at  it,  and  tliinkiuii;  about  it  all 
the  time,  he  came  to  understand  it  wonderfully  well,  and  to  have  perfect 
judgment  about  making  the  most  of  stock." 

A  dissertation  on  the  cattle  herds  of  the  Great  West  would  occu]\y  a 
large  volume,  and  those  who  have  chosen  other  ])arts  of  this  domain  tlian 
Southern  Colorado  are  doul)tless  competent  to  '•'gi\e  a  reason  for  the  faith 
whicli  is  in  them,"  and  am])ly  snp])(»i"t  the  wisdom  of  their  choice  of  loca- 
tion. To  us  this  same  Southern  Coloi-ado  seems  to  i)resent,  on  the  wliolc, 
the  greatest  advantages.  It  is  traversed  by  railrojids,  and  accessil)le  iVom 
all  sides;  and  the  climate  is  most  salubrious,  and  so  mild  in  winter  that 


30  NEW  COLORADO  AND  THE  SANTA  FE  TRAIL. 

the  stock  can  remain  on  the  range  tlironghont  the  year.  Otlier  things 
being  eqnal,  there  are  many  men  wlio  highly  prize  the  grand,  ever-present 
spectacle,  and  gennine  comi)anionship  of  "the  everlasting  hills."  No 
donbt  in  other  regions  land  can  be  had  more  cheaply,  and  sometimes  occu- 
pied without  fee  or  reward,  bnt  there  are  sure  to  be  counterbalancing  dis- 
ad\-antao:es. 

Above  a  certain  latitude,  and  notably  in  Wyoming,  great  losses  have 
occurred  from  severe  winters,  and  not  very  far  to  the  north  the  "  Lo  fami- 
ly "  (as  the  noble  red  man — "  Lo !  the  jioor  Indian" — is  called  on  the 
plains)  come  in  to  disturb  and  molest.  All  admirers  and  advocates  of 
these  hyperborean  regions  have  am2:)le  opportunities  to  rise  and  explain ; 
be  ours  the  pleasant  task,  reclining  under  the  sj)reading  cotton- wood,  and 
in  the  shadow  of  the  Sierra  Mojada,  of  singing  the  eclogues  of  the  valleys 
of  the  San  Carlos  and  the  Huerfano,  for  it  is  "  not  that  we  love  Csesar 
less,  but  Rome  more." 

Tr  has  been  said  that  water  was  the  prime  requisite,  and  the  banks  of 
streams  are  consequently  first  sought.  Government  land  is  divided  into 
sections  of  G-iO  acres  (a  mile  each  w^ay),  and  quarter  sections  of  IGO  acres. 
AYhat  more  simple  and  easy,  one  may  ask,  than  to  take  up  four  quarter 
sections  in  a  line  along  the  stream,  and  while  owning,  strictly  speaking, 
only  a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  width,  to  occupy,  Avithout  let  or  hinderance, 
away  back  to  the  divide  (ridge  between  that  valley  and  the  next),  being 
sure  that  no  one  will  have  either  the  motive  or  the  will  to  dispute  the  j^os- 
session  of  this  arid  area?  Nothing,  certainly,  except,  that  a  number  of 
able-bodied  citizens  besides  one's  self  have  not  only  conceived  this  same 
idea,  but  acted  promptly  on  it,  and  that,  in  consequence,  the  supply  of 
water  frontage  may  be  found  inadequate  to  meet  the  demand,  and  its 
market  value  may  consequently  and  proijortionately  increase.  There  are 
always,  however,  ranchmen  walling  to  sell,  for  one  reason  or  another,  and 
no  one  need  despair  of  obtaining  a  good  location  at  a  fair  rate,  with  the 
improvements  ready  made.  Then  he  can  buy  his  stock,  mainly,  if  he  be 
wise,  on  tlie  spot  and  in  the  neighborhood ;  for,  with  the  great  improve- 
ment now  taking  place  in  breeds,  it  is  no  longer  desirable  to  buy  largely 
in  Texas.  Then  come  his  "cow^-boys,"  or  herders  ;  not  Mexicans,  as  in  old 
times,  but  generally  stalwart  Americans,  quick  of  hand  and  deliberate  of 
speech.  They  are  provided  with  swift  and  sure-footed  horses,  generally, 
in  these  days,  of  the  Ijroncho  type — a  mixture  of  the  American  horse  and 
the  mustano;. 

It  may  now^  fairly  be  asked,  where  else  in  the  world,  and  in  what  other 
known  way,  can  a  man  sit  down  and  see  his  possessions  increase  before  his 


THE   CATTLE    RANCHES. 


37 


eyes  with  so  little  exertion  involved 
on  his  part  ?  With  the  dawn  the 
cattle  are  all  grazing.  Thin  and  gray 
enough  the  grass  looks  to  the  inex- 


V.  •'^'J^'V 


perieneed  ej^e,  but  the 
ranchero  well  knows 
the  tnfts  of  bnfiPalo 
J  and  gramma  gro^^'th, 
ganges  the  valne  of 
iffl  this  feed  as  compared, 
ill  the  matter  of  nu- 


triment, with  the 
richest    ,     green- 
sward   of    apjiar- 
ently  more  fertile 
regions,    and    re- 
members that  it  grows  afresh 
twice   a  year.      Then,  witli 
the.  utmost    regularity,   and 
some  time  before  noon,  the 
whole    herd  —  the    splendid- 

bulls,  the  plump  steers,  the  red,  and  wliite,  and  ruan,  and  mottled  cows — 
take  their  accustomed  trail,  and  seek  the  water  with  unerring  certainty. 
Then  back  to  the  grazing  again,  and  i'uijd  until 


\%-'-. ' 


A    "round    up. 


38  NEW  COLORADO  AND  THE  SANTA  FE  TRAIL. 

"  The  embers  of  the  suuset's  fires 
Along  the  clouds  burn  down," 

and  iiii;lit  brings  them  repose. 

As  ill  more  ])rimitive  days  the  different  herds  ranged  intermingled 
over  the  public  domain,  so  do  they  now  stray  from  ranch  to  ranch,  and  at 
certain  seasons  of  the  year  they  must  be  collected  and  separated.  They 
are  distinguished  l)y  ear-marks,  and  more  especially  l)y  brands,  said  brands 
being  conclusive  and  universally  accepted  evidence  of  ownership.  In 
June  and  July,  and  in  September  and  October,  "rounding  uj),"  or  the 
grand  collection  and  separation,  takes  place.  For  each  district  a  master 
or  director  of  the  "round  up"  is  chosen,  whose  orders  are  implicitly 
obeyed  by  the  working  force,  consisting  of  from  twenty  to  fifty  men, 
furnished  by  the  ranchmen  of  the  district  in  j^roportion  to  their  holdings. 
They  have  two  or  three  horses  apiece,  and  are  accompanied  by  assistants, 
herders,  cooks,  etc.,  etc.  Starting  from  a  given  j^oint,  taking  a  regular 
course,  and  camping  every  night,  they  sweep  over  the  ranges.  Each  day 
they  "  round  up ;"  the  horsemen  scour  the  country,  and,  with  the  skill 
coming  from  long  practice,  gather  the  cattle  together.  In  vain  does  the 
restive  steer  break  away  and  run  back  or  aside,  the  skilful  horseman  is 
ready  for  him ;  the  trained  horse  "  turns  on  a  five-cent  piece,"  and  he  is 
headed  off,  and  must  yield  to  his  fate,  and  move  on  in  the  j^reordained 
track.  The  "  round  up "  takes  place  sometimes  at  a  "  corral,"  or  large 
enclosure,  sometimes  on  the  open  plain.  But  we  must  see  it  for  ourselves, 
and  with  the  reckless  disregard  of  "  magnificent  distances  "  which  charac- 
terizes this  country,  start  for  the  "round  up"  at  a  corral  on  the  great 
Craig  or  Barnum  ranch — if  we  adopt  the  naming  of  Eastern  newspapers ; 
in  reality,  Hermosilla,  the  property  of  the  Colorado  Cattle  Com2)any, 

It  was  on  a  cool  and  pleasant  afternoon  that  the  Colonel  and  the  Com- 
modore found  themselves  the  guests  of  a  new  host,  once  more  speeding 
across  the  plains,  behind  two  fine  horses,  and  this  time  leaving  the  A¥et 
Mountains,  the  "  Great  Arroya "  and  the  San  Carlos  on  the  west,  and 
bearing  off  toward  the  Spanish  Peaks,  and  into  the  valley  of  thd'  Huer- 
fano, or  "  Orphan."  Clouds  had  been  gathering  to  the  southward,  but  we 
escaped  the  rain  ourselves,  and  only  found  the  dust  laid  for  us,  and  con- 
gratulated our  host  on  the  prospective  filling,  from  the  distant  showers,  of 
his  irrigating  ditches. 

"  How  do  we  cross  the  Huerfano  ?" 

"  Oh,  it  is  easily  forded.  The  bridge  was  carried  away  some  time  ago, 
but  the  creek  has  been  dammed  above,  and  most  of  the  water  must  be  in 
the  ditch,  and  the  bed  quite  dry." 


THE   CATTLE    RANCHES. 


39 


But,  if  we  thought  so,  we  were  soon  to  be  undeceived.  Away  up  in 
Huerfano  Park,  in  the  great  Sangre  de  Cristo  Range,  and  close  to  the  Yeta 
Pass,  rises  this  stream,  which  only  this  noon  was  thin  and  sluggish  enough. 
But  far  off  there,  where  towers  old  Baldy  Peak,  had  been  a  storm,  or  per- 
haps a  water-spout,  and  a  tremendous  body  of  muddy  water,  bearing  with 
it  shrubs,  sticks,  and  even  large  trees,  had  come  tearing  down  the  caiion. 
When  we  drove  into  the  cotton-wood  grove  the  horses  stop])ed.  From 
bank  to  bank  stretched  a  roaring  torrent.  We  were  on  this  side ;  on  the 
other  were  the  trees  around  the  dwelling-house,  the  stable  for  the  horses, 
and  the  sujyper — so  near,  and  yet  so  far !  We  thought  of  the  wojds  of 
the  ancient  psalm-book : 

''  Bright  fields  beyond  tlie  swelling  flood 
Stiind  dressed  in  living  green : 
So  to  the  Jews  fair  Canaan  stood, 
While  Jordan  rolled  between ;" 

and  we  waited,  watching  the  growing  darkness,  and  coveting  the  flesh-pots 
of  Ilermosilla.  And  did  we  finally  cross?  Well,  yes.  A  mule  team 
came  along,  and  the  Commodore  said,  with  Sam  Patch,  that  "  some  things 
could  be  done  as  well  as  others,"  and  that  he  might  as  well  be  drowned 


CROSSING   THE    HUKRFANO. 


as  starve ;  and  some  one  else  remarked  that  his  head  was  level  (under  or- 
dinary circumstances  the  use  of  slang  Mould  have  been  strenuously  depre- 
cated);  and  then —  But  it  is  best  to  dwell  on  results  rather  than  on 
processes.     SufHce  it  to  say  that  ikj  <jne  was  missing  at  the  8U})per  table. 


40 


NEW  COLORADO   AND   THE   SANTA   FE   TRAIL. 


Some  decades  ao;o  the  Chevalier  St.  Vrain  raised  a  force  to  fio^ht  the 
Indians;  but  although  he  had  faced  danger  on  the  frontier  for  a  long 
while,  he  did  not  entertain  the  view,  so  common  in  1801,  that  every  one 
could  command  troops,  and  he  a^^plied  to  the  United  States  Government 


■  CUTTING    OUT. 


for  a  trained  officer.  Colonel  Craig  was  assigned  to  this  duty,  and  he  and 
his  men  began,  not  unsuccessfully,  the  repression  and  suppression  of  Mr. 
Lo.  Before  he  parted  with  St.  Yrain  they  had  become  great  friends,  and 
on  one  occasion,  when  he  had  expressed  an  admiration  for  the  valley  of 
the  Huerfano,  his  chief  told  him  that  he  was  welcome  to  three  or  four 
hundred  thousand  acres,  and  had  better  have  the  papers  made  out ;  and 
with  his  enormous  Mexican  grants,  no  man  was  in  a  better  position  to 
make  such  a  donation  than  St.  Vrain.  Ui3  to  this  time  Colonel  Craig's 
title  to  97,000  acres  has  been  confirmed,  and  it  is  of  73,000  of  these,  and 
8000  more,  that  the  Colorado  Cattle  Company's  domain  consists.  In  the 
substantial  and  imposing  house  of  stone  and  adobe,  burned  last  year,  dwelt 
Colonel  Craig  himself  for  some  years,  and  many  an  old  army  comrade,  on 
his  M'ay  to  or  from  a  distant  post,  has  enjoyed  his  hospitality.  As  we 
looked  at  the  ruins  of  this  dwelling,  w^ith  the  faint  moonlight  shining 
weirdly  through  a  dismantled  window,  we  could  almost  fancy  it  dating 


THE   CATTLE   RANCHES. 


41 


back  centuries  instead  of  years,  and  perhaps  the  paehlo  of  an  ancient 
Indian  race. 

But  the  bright  day's  doings  savored  little  of  anticpiity.  We  wended 
our  way  to  the  great  corral,  and  waited,  like  Sister  Ann  in  "  Blue-beard," 
until  we  saw,  first  a  cloud  of  dust  over  the  hill,  then  tlie  galloping  horse- 
men. Then  came  the  herd,  perfectly  controlled,  and  urged  on  by  the 
rancheros,  and  soon  they  were  in  the  corral.     Of  these  corrals  there  were 


BRANDING    A    CALF. 


five  on  this  property.  They  are  made  of  rough  timber,  standing  on  end 
and  firmly  secured,  and  are  entered  by  bars.  Some  liave  what  are  called 
>'  slides,"  or  passages  gradually  narrowing  until  l)ut  one  animal  can  pass ; 
and  he,  as  he  cannot  turn  around,  can  be  easily  l)r;inded,  as  would  be  need- 
ful with  a  new  purchase. 

Only  the  first  purpose  of  the  "round  ui)"'  lias  been  subserved  when 
the  cattle  are  collected.  Next  the  cows  and  calves  must  be  "cut  out;" 
and  we  saw  the  "  cow-boys  "  ride  into  the  herd,  single  out  the  cow  (with 
calf  following),  and  with  great  skill  extricate  her  from  the  throng.  Tlie 
young  calves  are,  of  coui-so,  not  yet  marked,  bur  the  presence  of  one  with 
a  cow  makes  it  iiii])(i;iti\  l'  lo  place  tliat  cow's  nuirk  on  it.  Strayed  calves, 
on  the  other  hand  (called  '' Mauvrics,"  from  iiu  old  Frenchman  in  Texas 
who  is  said  to  ha\'e  added  largely  to  his  worldly  store  by  a  systematic  ab- 


4:2  NEW  COLORADO  AXD  THE  SANTA  FE  TRAIL. 

struct  ion  of  tliese  waifs  and  strays),  are  sold  for  the  benefit  of  the  asso- 
ciated ranchmen.  "  First  catch  your  calf,"  as  Mrs.  Glass  would  say.  Per- 
haps one  may  think  that  this  is  an  easy  task ;  but  he  would  find,  if  he 
tried  it,  that  he  was  never  more  mistaken  in  his  life,  for  the  ease  with 
wliich  the  rancheros  accomplish  it  has  only  come  with  careful  training 
and  long  practice.  The  little  animal  runs  wonderfully  fast,  springs,  turns, 
and  dodges  almost  like  a  flash ;  but  the  cow-boy  never  takes  his  eyes  off 
of  him,  and  the  trained  horse,  now  well  warmed  up  and  entering  fully  into 
the  spirit  of  the  chase,  responds  to,  almost  seems  to  anticipate,  every  turn 
of  his  rider's  left  hand  and  wrist.  Meanwhile  the  latter,  with  his  right 
arm.  is  swinging  his  noosed  rope,  or  lasso,  and  in  another  minute  he  has 
thrown  it  exactly  over  the  calf's  head.  Instantly  the  horse  plunges  for- 
ward, giving  "  slack  "  to  the  rope,  and  allowing  it  to  be  wound  around  the 
horn  of  the  saddle ;  then  he  moves  on,  dragging  the  calf  after  him,  and 
the  little  creature  is  soon  in  the  hands  of  the  men  with  the  brandino;-irons. 
These  have  been  heated  in  a  hot  fire,  and  are  quickly  applied,  and  in  a 
few  minutes  the  calf,  now  indelibly  designated  as  the  property  of  his  mas- 
ter, is  again  running  about. 

By  nightfall  the  cattle  belonging  to  the  ranch  on  which  the  "  round 
up  "  has  taken  place  are  separated  and  cared  for,  the  rest  of  those  collected 
are  in  the  hands  of  the  herders,  the  cook  has  prepared  supper,  and  then 
come  pipes  and  stories  and  songs,  and  well-earned  repose  in  the  per- 
fectly dry  air,  perhaps  without  other  canopy  than  the  starry  sky.  J^ext 
day  all  are  uj)  early,  and  again  in  motion.  There  is  a  wonderful  amount 
of  life  and  merriment  and  vigor  in  these  operations,  and  they  cannot 
fail  to  greatly  interest  all  who  are  fortunate  enough  to  witness  them. 
It  may  not  be  amiss  to  hint,  incidentally,  to  enthusiastic  spectators  from 
the  East,  that  they  are  likely  to  view  a  "  round  up  "  with  more  satisfaction 
and  peace  of  mind  from  a  seat  in  a  wagon,  or  on  a  stout  fence-rail,  than 
from  the  back  of  a  broncho. 

In  late  summer  and  autumn  the  cattle  which  it  is  intended  to  sell  go 
to  their  purchasers,  who  sometimes  take  them  on  the  ranch ;  or  they  are 
shipped  East  by  rail  to  Kansas  City  and  elsewhere,  and  would  doubtless,  if 
they  could  speak,  thank  the  benevolent  people  who  have  tried,  by  strict 
regulations  and  improved  cars,  to  make  their  transit  as  easy  as  possible. 
Then  through  the  whole  winter  the  rest  remain  on  the  range,  sometimes 
on  the  level  plain,  sometimes  under  the  abrupt  side  of  the  mesas,  or  in  the 
dry  arroyas. 

Through  the  splendid  estate  on  which  we  were  one  could  drive  for 
twenty-eight  miles  along  the  creek  valleys,  with  occasional  glimpses  of 


THE    CATTLE    RANCHES.  43 

striking  scenery,  wliere  the  stream  lay  at  tlie  bottom  of  a  deep  gorge. 
Everywhere  there  were  cattle  to  be  seen :  those  branded  as  belono-ina-  to 
this  ranch  nmnbering  some  OUOO  and  expected  soon  to  be  20,000. 

At  a  time  when  so  much  attention  is  directed  to  this  business  of 
stock-raising,  some  iigures  will  naturally  be  expected  in  an  article  of  this 
kind,  showing  the  probable  results,  and  some  advice  or  suggestions  in  re- 
gard to  the  desirability  and  the  best  way  of  engaging  in  it.  AVe  will  pro- 
ceed, then,  with  a  catechism,  premising  that  the  (juestions  cover  the  main 
points  on  which  information  is  likely  to  be  sought. 

Q.  Is  it  advisable  to  engage  in  the  raising  of  cattle? — A.  Yes;  pro- 
vided (1)  that  the  person  either  knows  the  business  thoroughly  himself,  is 
willing  to  learn,  or  will  give  a  portion  of  his  profits  to  a  trusty  man  to 
manage  for  him  ;  (2),  that  he  can  command  adequate  capital ;  and  (3),  that, 
if  he  be  cjoino;  to  take  charge  himself,  he  will  not  chafe  at  the  loneliness 
and  deprivations  of  the  life. 

Q.  Can  good  and  trusty  men  be  found  in  the  West  to  take  charge  of 
such  a  business  ? — A.  Yes,  most  certainly.  Tiie  writer  is  personally  cogni- 
zant of  a  case  where  some  gentlemen,  about  ten  years  ago,  made  up  the 
sum  of  $7000  for  the  purchase  of  cattle,  and  put  the  herd  in  the  hands 
of  a  practical  man.  It  was,  of  course,  done  wdien  cattle  were  somewhat 
cheaper  than  they  are  now;  and  they  did  not  buy  much  land,  but  sent 
their  herd  to  range  at  a  distance ;  but  they  have  gotten  their  money  back, 
and  are  offered  $125,000  for  their  present  holding.  They  gave  their  man- 
ager one-quarter  interest  for  his'  services. 

Q.  What  amount  of  capital  is  needed? — A.  It  would  hardly  be  advisa- 
ble to  begin  an  independent  business  with  less  than  $5000,  of  which  $3000 
would  be  invested  in  stock.  It  is  common  for  men  employed  by  owners 
to  have  a  few  cattle  of  their  own,  which  range  with  their  employers',  and 
in  this  way  they  sometimes  get  cjuite  a  little  property  together,  and  are 
enabled  to  start  on  their  own  account.  On  the  other  hand,  the  profits  on 
a  large  herd  increase  in  a  greater  ratio  than  the  expenses,  and  the  figures 
t«)  be  given  herein  will  be  based  on  an  investment  large  enough  to  secure 
this  benefit. 

Q.  What  profits  may  be  expected  in  the  stock  business? — A.  The  fol- 
lowing may  be  pronounced  a  fair  and  reasonable  commercial  estimate,  and 
it  is  put  forward  with  only  the  remark  that  while  the  figures  apply  to  cir- 
cumstances as  they  are  now,  and  there  are  cliances  and  contingencies  and 
possible  disasters  attending  money-making  adv^entures  of  all  kinds,  the 
margin  here  is  so  large  that,  after  making  all  allowances  which  caution 
may  suggest,  one  has  still  the  promise  of  great  results. 


44  NEW  COLORADO  AND  THE  SANTA  FE  TRAIL. 

"We  will  suppose  an  individual  or  a  firm  to  have  found  a 

ranch  to  suit  him  or  them  in  Southern  Colorado,  and  to 

have  bought  it.     The  cost  is  hard  to  fi.\  ;  but  one  of  10,000 

acres,  in  complete  order,  could  not  stand  in  at  more  tiian...  $50,000 

A  herd  of  4000  good  cows  could  be  bought  at  $18  each,  or...     73,000 

And  80  good  short-horn  and  Hereford  bulls  at  an  average  of 

$50  each,  or 4,000 

Making  a  total  investment  of $126,000 

By  careful  buj-ing  in  the  spring  one  should  get  70  per  cent, 
of  calves  with  the  cows,  or  say  2800  calves.     Of  these,  on 
the  average,  one-half,  or  1400,  will  be  heifer  calves. 
At  the  end  of  the  first  year  aft'airs  should  stand  as  follows: 

The  1400  heifer  calves  will  be  yearlings,  and  worth $14,000 

There  will  be  ako  1400  yearling  steers,  worth  $10  each,  or. ...     14,000  $28,000 
With  a  herd  of  this  size  expenses  may  be  put  at  not  more  than     $5,000 
And  for  contingencies,  sundries,  and  ordinary  losses  it  is  safe 
to  take  4  per  cent,  on  capital  invested  in  stock,  say,  on 

$76,000 3,040       8.040 

Profit  at  end  of  first  year $19,960 

At  the  end  of  the  second  year  the  1400  heifers  are  two  years 

old,  and  worth  $5  more  apiece,  or  say $7,000 

And  of  the  2800  (70  per  cent,  of  4000)  new  yearling  calves, 
an  average  of  one-half,  or  1400,  will  be  heifers,  and  worth 

$10  each,  or 14,000 

1400  two-year-old  steers  are  worth  an  additional  $6  each,  or...       8,400 

And  the  1400  new  yearlings  are  worth  $10  each,  or 14,000  $43,400 

Deduct  expenses $5,000 

And  4  ijer  cent,  on  $76,000+$19,960=$95,960 3.838       8,838     34,563 

At  the  end  of  the  third  year  the  original  1400  heifers  are 

three  yeai-s  old,  and  worth  an  additional  $3  per  head,  or...     $4,200 
The  yearling  heifers  of  last  year  are  two  years  old,  and  worth 

an  additional  $5  each,  or 7,000 

There  are  1400  yearlings  from  the  original  stock,  worth 14,000 

And  of  the  offspring  of  the  three-year-olds  (70  per  cent,  of 

1400=980)  one-half,  or  490,  are  heifers,  and  worth 4,900 

The  original  1400  steers  are  three  years  old,  and  worth  an  ad- 
ditional $10  each,  or 14,000 

The  1400  steer  calves  of  last  j^ear  are  two  years  old,  and  wortli 

an  additional  $6  each,  or 8,400 

And  there  are  1400  yearlings,  offspring  of  original  stock,  and 
490,  oflfspring  of  new  three-year-olds— in  all,  1890— at  $10 

each 18,900  $71,400 

Deduct  expenses  on  5400  cows,  say $6,050 

And  4  per  cent,  on  ($95,960+$34.562)  $130,522 5,221      11,271 

Profits  at  end  of  third  year 60,129 

Total  net  profits  for  three  years $114,651 


THE   CATTLE   EAN'CHES.  45 

1.  Ko  allowance  need  be  made  for  depreciation  of  stock,  as  the  cattle 
can  witli  proper  care  always  be  sold  for  beef. 

2.  If  the  prolits  be  invested  in  cattle,  they  will  be  lai'gely  increased. 

3.  Ko  account  is  taken  of  interest  on  profits. 

4.  Xo  account  is  taken  of  the  gradual  improvement  in  the  (quality  of 
the  stock. 

5.  Profit  can  often  be  made  by  buying  cattle  and  keeping  them  for 
a  year. 

6.  During  the  latter  part  of  the  winter  and  the  spring  the  food  is  of 
course  poorer  than  before,  and,  as  the  cattle  are  not  then  in  the  best  con- 
dition, there  is  nnicli  demand  for  good  beef  for  local  consumption.  By 
feeding  cattle  during  those  months  for  sale  in  Colorado,  excellent  gains 
should  be  realized.  Good  beef  on  the  hoof  was  worth  four  and  a  quarter 
cents  per  pound  in  Pueblo  in  the  spring  of  1S79. 

7.  A  ranch  ]>urchased  in  Southern  Colorado  at  present  prices  is  almost 
sure,  in  view  of  the  great  increase  in  the  business  and  the  decrease  of  suit- 
able land,  to  appreciate  considerably  in  value — say,  at  least  ten  per  cent. 
per  annum. 

It  will  be  plain  to  any  one  who  will  examine  carefully  into  the  matter, 
that  under  ordinary  and  favorable  circumstances  profits  will  mount  up 
each  year  in  an  increasing  ratio,  and  he  can  readily  make  figures  for  him- 
self.    In  the  mean  time  Ave  have  a 

BALANCE-SHEET  AT  END  OF  THIRD  YEAH. 

ASSETS. 

Ranch,  with  tliiee  years'  appreciation,  at  10  per  cent |G5,000 

5400  cows,  at  $18 97,200 

80  bulls,  at  $50 4,000 

1400  two-year-old  heifers,  at  $15 21,000 

18!J0  yearling  heifers,  at  $10 18,!)00 

1400  three-year-old  steers,  at  $30 3(),400 

1400  two-year-old  steers,  at  $1G 23,400 

1890  yearling  steers,  at  $10 18.900 

Total $283,800 


I-IAIill.ITIKS. 

Capital  put  ill  I'linch $50,000 

Capital  put  in  stock 70,000 

C'ai)ital  used  in  expenses 28,149 

Profits  on  stock,  three  years $114,051 

Profits  on  ranch 15,000  $129,651 

Total ~.7. .;.. $283,800 


46  NEW   COLORADO  AND   THE   SANTA  FE   TRAIL. 

A  risk  to  be  taken  into  account  would  be  a  possible  outbreak  of  dis- 
ease at  some  time,  but  out  of  profits  as  shown  an  insurance  fund  could 
readily  be  created.  That  so  many  cattle  will  be  raised  that  prices  will 
greatly  fall  need  not  be  a  matter  of  present  fear ;  for,  leaving  out  two 
most  important  factors — the  great  and  increasing  demand  for  our  beef  in 
Europe,  and  the  new  uses  to  which  it  is  put  in  this  country — our  jjopula- 
tion  has  hitherto  increased  faster  than  the  supply  of  good  meat. 

Q.  Where  had  I  best  go? — A.  You  must  decide  for  yourself,  after  ob- 
taining all  possil)lc  information  to  guide  you, 

Q.  Can  I  obtain  trustworthy  information,  not  only  about  this,  but  also 
about  all  details  of  this  business? — A.  You  most  certainly  can. 

Let  no  one  hastily  imagine  that  the  foregoing  answers  have  been  for- 
mulated, and  the  foregoing  figures  comj^iled,  under  the  seductive  influ- 
ences of  a  region  where  people  ride  a  day's  journey  on  their  own  lands, 
and  give  away  a  few  hundred  thousands  of  acres  with  "  lightness  and  free- 
dom," or  that  they  have  not  passed  through  the  crucible  of  sober  second 
thought.  It  is  the  aim  and  determination  of  the  writer  to  state  things,  as 
far  as  in  him  lies,  exactly  as  they  are,  and  he  would  even  quote  that  excel- 
lent though  unrecorded  saying  of  the  wise  man :  "  Blessed  is  he  that  ex- 
pectetli  nothing,  for  he  shall  not  be  disapi3ointed !" 

It  is  perfectly  certain  that  the  life  of  a  cattle  ranchman  jjossesses  the 
utmost  fascination  for  men  thorouohlv  accustomed  to  the  resources  and 
habits  of  the  highest  and  most  refined  civilization,  and  presumably  liable 
and  likely  to  greatly  miss  them.  One  may  meet,  sitting  in  tlie  door-way 
of  the  hotel  at  Pueblo,  surrounded  perhaps  by  "honest  miners"  in  over- 
alls, and  railroad  hands  out  of  employment,  gentlemen  who  will  talk,  with 
faultless  Piccadilly  accent,  of  the  last  gossip  from  London,  and  ex-ofiicers 
of  "  crack  "  regiments,  not  unknown  to  fame.  ]^o  one's  felt  hats  have 
broader  brims,  no  one's  flannel  shirts  are  rustier,  and  no  one's  boots  more 
thoroughly  covered  with  adobe  dust ;  and  every  one  will  tell  you  that  he 
is  as  happy  as  a  king.  May  it  not  occur  to  more  than  one  young  man 
anxious  to  do  good  work  in  the  world,  and  conscious  of  the  drawbacks  of 
business  life  in  great  cities,  with  its  fierce  competition  and  unavoidable 
risks,  that  life  on  the  plains  might  give  him  ample  occupation,  comfortable 
gains,  and  a  sound  mind  in  a  sound  body  ? 

And  there  is  another  class  of  men  to  whom  this  life  should  aj)peal 
with  the  greatest  force  —  those  unfortunates  to  whom  the  doctors  each 
winter  talk  about  Aiken  and  Florida,  and  "  coming  north  with  the  straw- 
berries." Perhaps,  in  wandering  about  this  region,  you  may  meet  an  ac- 
quaintance, remembered  in  Kew  York  or  Boston  as  a  thin,  jjale  man,  of 


THE   CATTLE   RANCHES. 


47 


whom  people  used  to  speak  as  "  poor  fellow,"  and  to  wliom  eacli  winter 
was  a  new  terror.  You  will  hardly  recognize  him  in  the  brown-bearded 
horseman  who  has  come  in  thirty  miles  that  mornino;,  and  M'ill  think  noth- 


CATTLE  aoiA\r;  to  watkr. 


iiig  of  ridijig  out  again  befoi-c  nigiit,  witli  liis  letters  and  a  few  ))inTliased 
necessaries  in  his  saddle-bags.  It  is  ncit  ])leasant,  witlioiif  (Kuiht,  to 
lounge  in  the  old  fort  at  St.  Augustine,  or  to  frequent  iSice,  and  Cannes, 


48 


NEW  COLORADO  AND  THE  SANTA  FE  TRAIL. 


and  Pan,  but  it  is  more  efficacious,  and  far  more  manly,  to  "  slum  deliglits, 
and  live  laborious  days,"  and  to  be  doing  yeoman's  work  and  gaining 
health  at  the  same  time. 

These  were  our  cogitations  as  we  sat  in  the  evenings  in  front  of  the 
house,  drinking  in  what  our  host  happily  called  ozone,  and  Avaiting  for 
the  mail,  which  came  semi-occasionally  from  Pueblo  in  a  bag  hung  to  the 


THREE  DAYS  LATER  FROM  PUEBLO. 


saddle  of  a  small  boy  mounted  on  a  tall  horse — a  primitive  fashion,  no 
doubt,  but  endurable  for  the  last  twenty  miles,  since  our  welcome  letters 
came  the  preceding  two  thousand  in  fast  express  trains. 

But  all  pleasant  things  must  come  to  an  end,  and  after  breakfast  one 
morning  the  large  wagon  came  to  the  door,  and  we  drove  out  through  the 
gate,  and  past  the  end  of  the  bluff,  and  over  the  rolling  plain,  dampened 
by  the  welcome  rain  of  the  night  before,  in  the  direction  of  Pueblo.  It 
was  a  drive  to  be  long  remembered,  with  its  accompaniments  of  a  deli- 
cious and  invigorating  air,  the  sight  of  all  the  mountains,  and  glimi^ses 
of  the  Arkansas  flowing  to  the  eastward,  miles  and  miles  away.  As  we 
neared  the  town,  musing,  as  one  must  under  such  circumstances,  on  the 


THE    CATTLE   EANCHES.  49 

days,  not  long  gone  by,  of  the  fierce  Indian  and  tlie  roving  trapper,  a 
change  came  o'er  the  spirit  of  our  dream,  for  we  saw  in  turn  the  smoke 
of  a  smelting-works,  a  China  ''  waslunan's "  shanty,  a  derrick  by  means 
of  which  some  one  hoped  to  "strike  ile,"  a  saloon  where  there  had  been 
a  first-class  shootino-  affair,  a  stand  for  the  sale  of  lemonade  and  cheM-ino- 
gum,  and  an  advertisement  of  //.  M.  S.  Pinafore.  The  Commodore,  who 
is  nothing  if  not  romantic,  was  greatly  disturbed  at  this  abrupt  transition, 
and  relapsed  into  a  troubled  silence.  It  was  only  after  some  time  had 
passed  that  a  happy  idea  seemed  to  strike  him.  He  departed  in  the  direc- 
tion of  a  telegraph  office,  and  on  his  return  seemed  quite  himself  again, 
and  threw  out  hints  of  a  pleasant  snrprise  preparing  for  us  at  Colorado 
Springs.  And  then  the  little,  imjjudent,  noisy,  narrow-gauge  train,  which 
had  left  the  San  Juan  conntry  that  morning,  and  come  over  the  Sangre  de 
Cristo  at  an  elevation  of  10,000  feet,  came  puiffng  up  to  the  platform,  and 
took  ns  in ;  and  we  rolled  out  throngh  a  cutting,  and  away  from  the  river, 
and  np  the  Fountain  Valley,  and  a  boy  came  into  the  car  and  offered  ns 
books  and  magazines  and  figs,  just  as  if  we  were  going  from  New  York  to 
Yonkers  or  Paterson  instead  of  along  the  base  of  the  Sierra  Madre. 

"  Is  it  not  a  shame,"  asked  the  writer,  in  a  thoughtless  moment,  of  a 
well-known  pioneer,  "that  the  train  should  be  so  delayed  by  'wash- 
outs?'" 

"  That  is  not  my  view  of  the  matter,"  replied  he.  "  I  am  rather  inclined 
to  continual  wonder  and  gratitude  at  what  has  been  accomplished  in  put- 
ting these  roads  here  at  all  in  the  face  of  such  obstacles." 

Some  distance  above  Pueblo  the  valley  grows  greener  and  greener,  and 
the  railroad  nears  the  great  mountains.  We  stood  on  the  platform  watch- 
ing the  lights  and  shades  on  the  range,  and  thinking  how  beantiful  they 
were,  when  a  long  whistle  came  from  the  engine,  and  we  saw  that  we  were 
nearing  the  station  at  Colorado  Springs. 

And  then  on  tlie  face  of  the  Commodore  there  appeared  a  novel  ex- 
pression, 'w\  which  a  species  of  embarrassment  struggled  with  a  fiendish 
delight.  The  cause  was  not  long  in  making  itself  known.  In  front  of  a 
curious  log-cabin,  devoted  to  the  display  of  curiosities,  stood  a  veiw  tliin 
and  feeble  boy,  almost  extinguished  by  a  gigantic  hat,  and  holding  the 
bridles  of — the  two  wretched  l)urros.  And  then  the  deep  design  all  came 
out.  The  Commodore  (Iroi)ped  all  pretences,  and  said  that  if  any  one 
thought  that  a  burro  was  going  to  get  the  better  of  him,  he  would  soon 
show  liim  that  he  was  mistaken;  that  hu  would  fight  it  out  on  tlmt  line 
if  it  took  all  summer;  and  that  he  had  liad  the  two  brutes  (and  tlic  ig- 
nominious 2)cst8,  according  to  him,  bore  the  singularly  inappropriate  names 

4 


50 


NEW  COLOEADO   AND   THE   SANTA   FE   TRAIL. 


of  Esmeralda  and  Montezuma)  sent  up  to  the  Springs,  and  telegraphed 
from  Pueblo  to  have  them  at  the  station. 

At  almost  any  other  place  in  the  world  a  deep  dejection  would  have 
settled  on  the  Colonel,  but  at  Colorado  Springs  one  has  at  hand  a  panacea 
for  greater  troubles  than  the  forced  j)os8ession  of  a  burro,  for,  like  old 
King  David,  he  can  "lift  up  his  eyes  unto  the  hills."  It  was  impossible 
to  tliink  lung  of  anything  that  afternoon  but  the  majestic  appearance  of 
Pike's  Peak,  as  it  towered  above  the  line  of  mountains  before  it. 

The  first  stage  of  our  journey  ended,  as  it  had  begun,  on  the  platform 
of  a  railway  station,  and  the  bustle  and  confusion  brought  to  mind  the 
morning  at  Kansas  City,  and  caused  the  Colonel,  remembering  his  inter- 
locutor there,  to  remark  to  a  friend,  just  as  the  sun  came  out  from  behind 
a  cloud,  and  gave  a  new  glory  to  the  range,  "  The  old  fellow  was  right ; 
it  is  a  white  man's  country." 

And  then  an  aged  stranger,  with  a  brown  and  wrinkled  face  and  gray 
beard — his  clothes  and  shoes  looked  as  if  he  had  walked  all  the  way  from 
Leadville  down  through  the  Ute  Pass — who  had  come  close  up  to  the 
si:)eaker,  quietly  remarked,  "  You  bet  that's  just  everlastingly  so.  Colonel, 
and  doiTbt  you  forget  itP'' 


EL  PASO  COUNTY  AND  COLORADO  SPRINGS.  51 


CHAPTEK  ly. 

EL  PASO   COUNTY   AND   COLORADO   SPRLVGS. 

AS  I  sat,  on  a  summer  afternoon,  on  the  balcony  of  El  Paso  Club,  at 
Colorado  Springs,  I  found  myself  inclined  to  meditation.  Before 
me,  and  not  far  away,  rose  that  beautiful  Cheyenne  Mountain  {Chy-ann, 
they  call  it  in  the  West)  of  which  poor  Fitz  Hugh  Ludlow  said :  "  Its 
height  is  several  thousand  feet  less  than  Pike's,  but  its  contour  is  so  noble 
and  massive  that  this  disadvantage  is  overlooked.  Tliere  is  a  unity  of 
conception  in  it  unsurpassed  by  any  mountain  I  have  ever  seen.  It  is  full 
of  living  power.  In  the  declining  daylight  its  vast  simple  surface  be- 
comes the  broadest  mass  of  blue  and  purple  shadow  that  ever  lay  on  the 
easel  of  Nature."  I  felt  that  I  quite  agreed  with  Mr.  Ludlow,  even  if  I 
failed  to  put  the  matter  cpiite  so  expansively ;  and  then  my  attention  was 
diverted  by  a  mule  team,  with  the  driver  lying  on  his  load,  and  just 
over  it  a  sign,  on  which  was,  "Wines  and  Liquors"  —  very  large  —  and, 
"for  medical  purposes"— very  small;  and  I  thought  that  it  would  betit  a  man 
to  be  on  good  terms  with  his  doctor  in  this  place,  even  if  he  belonged 
to  the  "  Moderate  Drinkers'  Association."  Next  it  came  forcibly  to  my 
mind  that  a  wandering  writer  might  think  himself  exceptionally  fortunate 
to  find,  at  the  base  of  the  Kocky  Mountains,  a  capital  club  with  sage-green 
paper  on  the  wall,  if  you  please,  and  a  gilt  dado,  and  Eastlake  furniture ; 
and  then  I  could  not  help  thinking  how  little  our  people  really  know  of 
tlie  history,  or  geography,  or  resources,  of  this  part  of  their  great  countr}-. 
In  1540  Coronado  was  sent  into  this  region  by  those  old  fellow-Span- 
iards of  his  who  were  consumed  witli  the  auri  sacra  fames^  that  tierce 
hunger  for  gold  which  induced  them  to  scour  the  earth  in  search  of  it, 
just  as  it  has  sent  a  good  many  people  who  are  not  Spaniards  into  regions 
wild  and  desert.  Eighty  years  before  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  landed  at 
Plymouth  he  was  perilously  traversing  the  San  Luis  Park,  and  ])erliai)s 
seeing  the  AVet  Mountain  A^alley  lying,  as  it  does  to-day,  green  and  fertile 
between  the  two  ranges;  and  he  went  away  disapi)ointed,  after  :ill.  I'licn, 
in  Isoi;,  when  Mr.  Jefferson  was  President,  and  Aaron  Ihirr  was  engaged 


52  NEW  COLORADO  AND  THE  SANTA  FE  TRAIL. 

in  his  treasonable  conspiracy  to  found  a  new  empire  west  of  tlie  AUe- 
g-lianies.  General  Wilkinson  ordered  Lieutenant  Zebulon  Pike,  an  advent- 
urous and  pei'severiug  officer  of  the  United  States  army,  to  proceed  west- 
M-ard,  and  explore  tlie  region  between  tlie  Missouri  and  the  frontier  of 
Mexico.  Tie  left  St.  Louis  on  the  24tli  of  June,  and  camped  in  the  foot- 
hills at  this  point  on  the  25tli  of  November.  Now  I  had  made  the  same 
journey  in  1879,  and  beaten  Pike  hollow,  for  1  left  St.  Louis  at  9.15  p.m. 
on  a  Thursday,  and  arrived  at  the  same  place  as  he  at  5  p.m.  on  Saturday, 
and  I  would  not  camp  for  the  world,  but  was  assigned  a  room  by  a  hotel 
clerk  with  eye-glasses.  I  sympathized  with  Pike  in  one  thing,  however,  as 
must  many  travellers,  including  the  Englishman  who  wouldn't  jump  the 
three-foot  irrigating  ditch  because  he  "•  couldn't  tell,  by  Jove !  you  know, 
that  the  l)lasted  thing  wasn't  three-quarters  of  a  mile  wide,"  Pike  saw 
the  great  peak  on  the  15th  of  November,  when  he  says  that  it  "  appeared 
like  a  small  blue  cloud."  On  the  17th  he  "marched  at  the  usual  hour, 
pushed  with  the  idea  of  arriving  at  the  mountains ;  but  found  at  night  no 
visible  difference  in  their  appearance  from  yesterday."  And  on  the  25tli 
he  again  "  marched  early,  with  expectation  of  ascending  tlie  mountain,  but 
was  only  al)le  to  camp  at  its  base."  Poor  Pike !  he  was  modest,  for  he 
called  it  Mexican  Mountain,  and  left  others  to  give  it  his  name ;  and  he 
was  a  brave  patriot,  for,  after  serving  his  country  faithfully,  he  laid  down 
his  life  for  her  at  Toronto  in  1813. 

Again,  in  1843,  Fremont,  the  "Pathtinder"  —  now  living  quietly  in 
Arizona  as  Governor  of  "  the  Marvellous  Country  " — reached  the  base  of 
this  peak,  and  wrote  about  it ;  but  still,  in  the  imagination  of  the  average 
American  citizen,  it  lay  beyond  the  "  Great  American  Desert,"  as  remote 
as  Greenland,  as  mystical  as  the  Delectable  Mountains.  Of  white  men 
only  a  few  saw  it — the  scattered  trapj)ers  and  fur  traders,  camjjing,  per- 
haps, on  the  Fontaine,  and  drinking  from  the  Soda  Sj^ring,  as  they  passed 
down  from  their  little  forts  to  winter  on  the  Arkansas ;  and  perhaps  it 
was  some  of  them  who  gave  utterance  to  the  sentiments  which  a  Western 
poet  has  paraphrased  as  follows : 

"  I'm  looking  at  your  lofty  head 

Away  up  in  the  air, 
Eiglit  thousand  feet  above  the  plain 

Wliere  grows  the  i:)rickly-pear. 
A  great  big  thing  with  ice  on, 

You  seem  to  be  up  there. 

''Away  above  the  timber-line 
You  lift  your  frosty  head, 


EL  PASO  COUNTY  AND  COLOKADO  SPRINGS. 


53 


"Where  lightnings  are  engendered, 
And  thunder-storms  are  bred ; 

But  Tou'd  be  a  bigger  tract  of  land 
If  YOU  were  thin  out-spread." 

It  was  the  "old,  old  stoiy" 
wliicli  turned  the  tide  of  migra- 
tion in  this  direction.  People 
probably  never  wanted  gold 
more  than  after  the  panic  of 
1857,  and  the  reports  of  its  iind- 
ino^  here  in  185S  caused  such  a 
stampede  across  the  plains  as  has 
never  been  equalled,  except  in 
earlv  Californian  davs.     Events 


KL    I'ASO    CLLIi-llOUM. 


moved  rapidly,  and  in  tlie  winter  of  1800-'61  a  Territorial  Legislature, 
numljering  some  twenty-five  devoted  patriots,  met  at  C^olorado  City,  just 
about  where  Pike  and  Fremont  liad  camped.  Camlor  conqiels  one  to 
state  that  the  surroundings  were  not  those  of  grandeur  or  pomp;  rather 


54  NEW   COLORADO   AND   THE   SANTA   FE   TRAIL. 

of  a  stern  and  Spartan  simplicity.  Tlie  State-house  is  still  standing.  Tra- 
dition states  that  it  contained  three  rooms :  in  one  the  members  met,  in 
one  they  slept ;  the  third  contained  the  bar !  In  the  course  of  the  proceed- 
ings a  motion  was  made  to  transfer  the  seat  of  government  to  Denver. 
"  And  "we  carried  our  point,"  said  a  most  entertaining  pioneer,  with  whom 
it  was  our  good  fortune  to  converse,  "  because  we  had  the  best  wagon,  and 
four  mules,  and  the  iinost  whiskey.  In  fact,"  he  added,  sententiouslj,  "  I 
rather  think  that  we  had  a  kind  of  a  wcujoii  ccqrttal  most  of  the  time  in 
those  days." 

The  Colonel  and  the  Commodore  rode  into  Colorado  City  from  the 
north  one  l)right  moonlight  evening,  musing  on  its  departed  glories.  In 
the  i^ale,  glimmering  light  the  rear  view  of  a  pretentious  brick  and  adobe 
building  brought  faint  suggestions  of  Syria  to  their  minds,  and  the  flat- 
roofed  dwellings  of  Palestine.  The  Commodore  with  a  pensive  air  drew 
his  pencil  from  his  pocket.  Alas  !  another  moment  dispelled  our  visions  : 
in  this  Oriental  dwelling  they  bottle  lager-beer ;  in  a  wooden  building  op- 
posite they  drink  it  (largely).  I  believe  that  "  Hay  and  Feed  "  are  sold  in 
the  ancient  Capitol.  A  young  lady,  accomi^anied  by  a  gentleman  in  a 
linen  duster  and  wide  felt  hat,  passed  in  a  buggy,  and  was  heard  to  ask, 
"  Oh,  ain't  this  real  pleasant  V  and  a  stray  burro,  emerging  into  the  road, 
lifted  up  his  voice  in  a  wail  that  sounded  like  a  dirge  for  the  departed 
statesmen  and  lost  greatness  of  Colorado  City.  The  Commodore  mur- 
mured, " /S'{<?  transit  gloria  mundi;  I  know  that  amount  of  Latin,  any- 
how ;"  and  struck  the  horse  viciously  with  the  whiji.  Later  on,  he  was 
seen  drawing,  with  a  savage  expression  on  his  face — an  expression  alto- 
gether indicative  of  vanished  illusions. 

But  if  Colorado  City  be  a  thing  of  the  past,  Colorado  Springs  is  a  bright 
and  flourishing  little  city  of  the  present.  When  one  conceives,  however, 
the  intention  of  describing  it,  he  is  fain  to  ask  himself,  "  What  shall  the 
man  do  that  cometli  after  the  king?"  Not  only  has  the  special  corre- 
spondent bankrupted  himself  in  adjectives  long  ago,  but,  as  is  well  known, 
a  charming  lady  writer,  whose  praise  is  in  all  the  book  review  columns, 
has  established  her  home  in  a  pretty  vine-clad  house  on  a  pleasant  street 
in  the  to^vn  itself,  and  made  due  and  varied  record  of  her  im23ressions  and 
experiences.  The  colony  (for  such  it  is,  and  containing  now  some  ■iUOO 
souls)  lies  on  a  little  narrow-gauge  railroad,  starting  at  Denver,  running  at 
present  to  Southern  Colorado  and  San  Juan,  and  destined,  and  confidently 
expected,  say  its  friends,  to  establish  its  ultimate  terminal  station  in  one 
of  those  "halls  of  the  Montezumas"  of  which  we  so  often  hear.  It  is  a 
charm  of  this  country  that  its  residents  are  filled  with  a  large  and  cheer- 


EL  PASO  COUNTY  AND  COLORADO  SPRINGS. 


55 


ing,  if  somewhat  vague,  hopefulness, 
and  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  sta- 
tion agent  at  Colorado  Sj^rings  be- 
guiles his  leisure,  when  not  selling 
the  honest  miner  a  ticket  for  El 
Moro  or  Alamosa,  with  roseate  vi- 
sions of  despatching  the  "  City  of 
Mexico  Fast  Express,"  and  clieck- 
ino;  luffo-ao-e  for  Chihuahua  and 
Guajmas.  The  little  city  is  unde- 
niably growing,  and  it  has  pleasant 
residences,  well  -  stocked  stores,  wa- 
ter from  the  mountains,  and  a  col- 
lege and  gas-works  in  prospect. 
An  inspection  of  the  forms  of 
deeds  of  property  and 
of  the  municipal  regu- 
lations  will   satisfy  the 


56 


NEW  COLORADO  AND  THE  SANTA  FE  TRAIL. 


UNDER    THE    ROSE. 


most  sceptical  inquirer  tliat  tlie  sale  of  beer,  wines,  and  liquors  is  most 
strictly  prohibited,  unless  "for  medical  purposes,"  and  on  the  certificate  of  a 
physician.     Xow  the  Colonel  knew  that  the  town  was  founded  by  some 

worthy  Pennsylvania  Quakers,  and 
he  told  the  Commodore  all  about 
these  regulations,  and  how  rigid  and 
effective  they  were;  but  he  re- 
gretted to  notice  a  tendency  on  the 
part  of  the  latter  worthy  to  disbe- 
lieve some  of  the  statements  made 
to  him,  especially  since  his  visit  to 
Colorado  City.  He  made  a  remark, 
common  to  naval  men,  about  "tell- 
ing that  to  the  marines,"  and  went 
out.  In  a  short  time  he  returned, 
and  with  a  growing  cynicism  of 
manner  proceeded  to  demonstrate, 
with  as  much  mathematical  exact- 
ness as  if  working  up  his  longitude 
or  "  taking  a  lunar,"  that  the  support  of  the  number  of  drug  stores  which 
lie  had  seen  would  involve  the  furnishing  to  each  able-bodied  inhabitant 
of  a  ])er  diem  allowance  of  two  average  prescriptions,  one  and  one-half 
tooth-brushes,  three  glasses  of  soda  (with  syrup),  five  yards  of  sticking- 
plaster,  and  a  bottle  of  perfmuery.  He  also  muttered  something  about 
this  being  "too  thin."  During  that  evening  he  was  missed  from  his  ac- 
customed haunts,  and  in  the  morning  placed  in  the  Colonel's  hands  a 
sketch,  which  he  said  was  given  him  by  a  bad  young  man  whom  he 
had  met  in  the  street.  It  purported  to  represent  a  number  of  people 
partaking  of  beer  in  a  place  which  bore  no  resemblance  to  a  druggist's 
shop ;  but  as  the  Colonel  knew  very  well  that  such  j)ractices  were  pro- 
hibited in  the  town,  he  assured  his  friend  that  it  must  have  been  taken 
in  some  other  place. 

Colorado  Springs  it  was  that  killed  poor  Colorado  City,  only  about 
three  miles  to  the  westward,  and  all  that  is  left  to  the  latter  is  the  selling 
of  lager-beer  in  serene  lawlessness,  while  the  former  is  the  county  town, 
and  has  a  court-house,  and  a  fine  school  building  of  light  -  colored  stone, 
and  a  hotel  very  pleasantly  situated  in  view  of  the  mountains.  Down 
from  the  Divide  comes  the  Monument  Creek,  joining,  just  below  the 
town,  the  Fontaine  cjui  Bouille,  which  we  shall  by-and-by  see  at  Manitou, 
and  away  up  in  the  Ute  Pass.     Along  the  wide  central  street  or  avenue 


EL  PASO  COUNTY  AND  COLOKADO  SPRINGS. 


57 


(and  what  fine  names  tliey  have!  —  Cascade, Willamette,  Tejon,  K'evada, 
and  Huerfano),  and  up  the  grade  toward  the  pass  and  the  South  Park  go 
the  great  canvas-covered  four-nmle  teams,  bound,  "freighting,"  for  Fair- 
play,  Leadville,  and  "  the  Gunnison."  But  we  must  go  five  miles  north- 
west (the  Commodore  would  ride  his  burro,  Montezuma,  and  the  Colonel 
positively  refused,  and  took  a  horse),  and  climb  Austin's  Bluffs,  and  look 
out.  To  the  north  rises  the  Divide,  nearly  as  high  above  the  sea  as  Sher- 
man, on  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad.  Westward  the  great  mountains 
seem  to  have  taken  on  thousands  of  feet  in  height,  and  to  loom  up  with 


.  r- 


sP^^^W^^^^^^^. 


FI.OCK    ON    AUSTIN  S    HLUFFS. 


added  gnuidour.  Away  at  the  soutli,  whither  the  coui'se  of  the  Fontaine 
is  marked  by  the  line  of  cotton-wood-trees,  are  seen  the  Sierra  Mojada,  and, 
on  a  clear  day,  the  Spanish  Peaks :  and  to  the  eastward  stretch,  across  two 
States,  and  afar  to  the  Missouri,  the  great  "plains." 

It  was  to  this  pleasant  region  that  the  Colonel  mid  flic  ( 'ouniKxhirc, 
after  their  researches,  already  clii-duicled,  among  the  cattle  ninclK's  farther 


58  NEW  COLORADO  AND  THE  SANTA  FE  TRAIL. 

south,  had  come  in  search  of  "  fresh  fields  and  pastures  new ;"  and  tliey 
were  not  long  in  discovering  that  El  Paso  County  was  famed  for  its  sheep, 
and  the  quality  of  its  wool  product.  It  stretches  from  a  point  well  over 
the  range,  out  toward  the  Kansas  line  some  seventy-two  miles,  and  from 
the  Divide  on  the  north  well  down  toward  Pueblo ;  and  there  are  between 
15(1,000  and  200,000  head  of  sheep  returned  as  held  last  year  within  its 
borders.  Although  in  many  respects  the  sheep  business  is  less  attractive 
than  that  of  cattle-raising,  it  deserves  attention  as  an  important  and  grow- 
ing industry,  and  it  is  doing  very  much  for  the  prosperity  of  the  country. 
Tliere  is,  to  be  sure,  something  exciting,  and,  in  a  sense,  romantic,  about 
the  steer  and  his  breeding,  while  the  sheep  is  a  quiet  and  modest  animal. 
One  can  fancy  the  broad-hatted  "  cow-boy  "  on  his  fleet  horse,  and  throw- 
ing his  lasso  at  full  gallop,  as  feeling  himself  a  kind  of  Si^anish  toreador^ 
and  perhaps  imparting  a  spice  of  danger  into  the  chase  by  flaunting  a  red 
scarf  in  the  eyes  of  the  lordly  bull.  The  Mexican  herder,  on  the  other 
hand,  plods  monotonously  after  his  flock,  and  all  the  chasing  is  done  by 
his  shepherd  dog,  while  Ave  know  of  but  one  man  who  was  ever  able  to  And 
anything  alarming  in  the  nature  of  this  simple  animal.  This  worthy,  de- 
siring a  supply  of  mutton  for  his  table,  shot  one  of  his  neighbor's  sliee23, 
and  was  overtaken  by  the  owner  while  carrying  it  away  on  his  shoulder. 

"  !N"ow  I've  caught  you,  you  rascal,"  said  he.  "  What  do  you  mean  by 
shooting  my  sheep  'f 

Sternly  and  grimly  rej^lied  the  accused :  "  I'll  shoot  any  man's  sheep 
that  tries  to  hite  me  f' 

But  the  gentle  sheep  does  not  lack  friends  and  adherents,  especially  in 
El  Paso  County.  It  may  here  be  stated  that  between  tlie  flock  and  the 
herd  there  is  an  irrejDressible  conflict.  The  sheep  puts  in  a  mild  plaint  to 
the  efiiect  that  when  he  is  nibbling  away  at  the  grass,  in  company  with  his 
relations  and  friends,  the  steer  comes  in  with  a  party  and  "  stampedes " 
him,  and  sets  him  running  so  far  away  that  sometimes  he  cannot  lind  his 
way  back ;  also,  that  the  steer  stands  a  long  time  in  the  water,  and  tram- 
ples about  there,  and  makes  it  so  muddy  that  he  (whose  cleanly  habits  are 
Avell  known)  is  debarred  from  drinking.  He  further  deposes  that  while 
he  stays  at  home,  on  his  master's  range,  the  steer  is  a  first-class  tramp,  and 
roams  about,  trying  to  get  meals  from  the  neighbors.  To  this  the  steer 
disdainfully  replies  that  no  well-bred  cattle  can  associate  with  such  mud- 
sills as  sheep,  and  that  the  latter  gnaw  the  grass  so  close  that  there  would 
be  nothing  left  for  him  in  any  case.  It  is  a  clear  instance  of  "  incomj^ati- 
bility  of  temperament,"  and  a  separation  has  generally  to  be  effected. 

Sheep  are  kept  in  many  parts  of  Colorado,  but  they  have  a  special  hold 


EL  PASO  COUNTY  AND   COLORADO  SPRINGS. 


59 


1  Mile 


Stream". 


on  tins  county,  and  have  done  a  good  deal  in  the  way  of  dispossessing  the 
cattle,  the  taking  up  and  enclosure  of  water  privileges  tending  materially 
to  that  end.  This  connty  affords  a  favorable  opportunity  for  studying  the 
life  and  M'ork  of  the  shepherd,  for  although  there  may  be  more  sheep  in 
some  of  the  others,  the  wool  from  this  neighborhood  commands  a  high 
price,  and  it  is  claimed  that  the  growth  of  grass  and  weeds  here  is  particu-, 
larly,  suitable  for  food. 

The  public  lands  of  the  United  States  are  divided  into  two  classes — 
those  held  at  the  usual  price  of  $1  25  per  acre,  and  those  which  lie  in  sec- 
tions alternate  with  railroad  lands,  and  are  consequently  put  at  $2  50.  It 
is  on  the  cheaper  ones  that  the  prospective  sheep-owner  wishes  to  settle, 
and  his  first  object  is  to  find  that  one  great  and  important  requisite  — 
water.  lie  examines  the  county  map,  and  finds  the  pul)lic  domain  laid 
out  in  "townships"  measuring  six  miles  each  way.  Each  township  is 
divided  into  thirty-six  "  sections  "  of  640 
acres  each,  and  these  again  into  "  quarter 
sections  "  of  IGO  acres.  Of  a  quarter  sec- 
tion the  whole,  three-quarters,  one-half, 
or  one-C[uarter  (the  minimum)  can  be 
had  in  one  of  various  ways.  The  sheep 
man  finds  a  stream,  which  we  will  sup- 
pose to  run  in  one  of  the  two  courses 
shown  on  the  diagram,  which  rejiresents 
a  section  of  640  acres.     In  the  case  of 

the  lower  stream  his  plan  is  simple.  The  law  requires  that  his  plots  of 
forty  acres  each  shall  touch  along  one  side,  and  j^lots  IS^os.  13,  14,  15  and 
16  will  give  him  160  acres  and  a  mile  of  water  frontage.  In  the  former 
case,  after  taking  Xo.  1,  he  must  take  either  No.  2  or  No.  8  (containing 
no  water)  in  order  to  secure  Nos.  6  and  T.  This  land  can  be  had  in  dif- 
ferent ways.  Ill  the  first  place,  there  are  sales  held  by  the  government,  at 
which  any  amount,  great  or  small,  down  to  the  mininnnn,  and  within  the 
offerings,  can  be  taken  by  the  highest  bidder ;  and  portions  offered  and  not 
sold  can  be  taken  subsequently  at  $1  25  ])er  acre.  Next,  each  man  can 
"pre-em])t"  160  acres,  i.  e.^  give  notice  that  he  is  going  to  take  it  uj),  and 
receive  patent  at  the  end  of  either  six  or  thirty  months,  for  $1  25  per  acre 
and  fees.  Next,  again,  he  can  occupy  160  acres  under  the  Homestead 
Law,  and  having  actually  lived  on  it  for  five  years,  secure  title,  paying  only 
fees — a  fact  wliicli  is  i-espectfully  connnended  to  the  attention  of  Socialist 
orators.  I>ut  tliere  may  not  be  "offered  lands "'  which  suit  our  iViL'ud; 
and  althougli  he  may  have  his  320  acres,  aixl  he  <lel)arri'(I  tVoni  singing, 


Stieam- 


1     \ 

•2 

4 

,^ 

7 

(iVj 

5 

0 

10 

n 

12 

ir, 

15 

u 

n 

60  KEW  COLORADO  AND  THE  SANTA  FE  TRAIL. 

"  No  foot  of  land  do  I  possess, 
No  dwelling  in  this  wilderness," 

lio  may  require  iniich  more,  and  find  no  man  who  wants  to  sell  ont  to  liim. 
Now,  Uncle  Sam  gave  the  soldiers  in  the  Civil  War  the  right  to  160  acres 
each,  only  requiring  them  to  take  them  np  and  live  thereon  five  years, 
from  which,  nj)  to  four  years,  was  deducted  the  time  of  their  military 
service.  Some  of  the  boys  in  blue  only  took  up  j^ortions,  and  the  Solons 
at  AVashington  then  said  that  they  should  not  sulfer  for  this,  and  that 
"  scrip  "  should  issue  to  each  one  for  the  forty,  eighty,  or  120  acres  which 
he  had  failed  to  take  up.  The  beauty  of  this  and  other  scrij),  such  as 
"Louisiana,"  "Sioux  half-breed,'-  etc.,  is  that  it  can  be  bought,  and  the 
purchaser  can  locate,  in  forty-acre  parcels,  where  he  pleases.  Thus,  by 
2)aying  perhaps  at  the  rate  of  $3  50  per  acre  for  scrij),  our  sheep  maa  can 
secure  plots  Nos.  11  and  12,  and  more  in  that  direction,  also  perhajjs  a  nice 
spring  near  by,  and,  what  he  most  wants,  land  along  another  water-course 
three  to  five  miles  away.  Between,  therefore,  his  two  water  frontages  his 
sheej:)  can  roam,  for  no  one  will  take  up  this  waterless  tract.  Between 
him  and  his  next  neighbor  there  is  a  courteous  understanding  that  each 
shall  use  half  the  space.  Then  up  go  his  wire  or  post  -  and  -  rail  fences 
around  the   springs ;   perhaps   some  more   divergent   water  -  courses   are 

secured ;  and  now 

"  He  is  monarch  of  all  he  surveys, 
His  right  there  is  none  to  dispute." 

Next  our  shepherd  must  jiurchase  his  sheep ;  and  here  come  in  a  good 
many  honest  differences  of  oj^inion  as  to  the  kind  which  will  give  the  best 
results.  Some  will  buy  cheap  "  Mexicans,"  expecting  to  breed  a  better 
quality  of  lambs,  and  then  dispose  of  the  original  purchase.  Others  affect 
the  California  stock,  which,  of  late  years,  has  come  into  favor  in  some 
quarters.  The  weight  of  opinion,  however,  would  undoubtedly  incline 
our  enterprising  young  rancliero  to  buy  sheep  on  the  spot  in  good  condi- 
tion, and,  what  is  very  important,  thoroughly  acclimated.  His  "  bucks  " 
(say  about  three  to  each  hundred  ewes)  will  generally  be  Merinos.  In  the 
autumn,  we  will  say,  then,  he  begins  operations  under  favorable  auspices. 
His  cabin  is  very  plainly  furnished,  and  his  "  corrals,"  or  yards  and  sheds, 
properly  constructed  and  in  readiness.  For  feeding  in  stormy  weather  he 
has  enough  hay  safely  stored  away  ;  and,  after  due  care  and  inquiry,  he  has 
secured  an  experienced  and  competent  herder — better  an  American.  At 
daylight  all  hands  are  called  to  breakfast,  and  soon  after  the  bleating  flock 
are  moving  over  the  range,  and  the  herder,  with  his  canteen  slung  over  his 
shoulder,  and  probably  a  book  in  his  pocket,  has  whistled  to  his  shepherd 


EL  PASO  COUNTY  AND  COLORADO  SPRINGS. 


61 


dog  and  started  after  tliem.  During  the  whole  day  they  graze  on  tlie 
short  grass,  going  once  to  water ;  and  afternoon  sees  them  brought  back 
near  to  the  corrals,  in  which,  later  on,  thev  are  asrain  confined  for  the  nio-ht. 
Day  after  day,  week  after  week,  month  after  month,  pass  in  monotonous 
round ;  and  then  the  cold  weather  comes,  and  the  herder  puts  on  a  thick- 
er coat,  and  reads  less,  and  walks  about  rapidly,  and  stamps  his  feet  for 
warmth.  And  then  some  day,  when  he  is  far  away  from  the  ranch,  there 
comes  on  that  dreaded  enemy  of  sheep  -  raising  —  a  prairie  snow-storm. 
With  but  little  warning  the  clouds  have  gathered,  and  the  snow  is  falling 
in  thick  and  heavy  flakes.     The  sheep  hurriedly  huddle  together,  and  no 


OFF    FOR   THE    UANGE. 


power  can  make  them  move.  The  herder  may  have  had  time  to  get  them 
into  a  gulcli,  or  under  a  bank ;  failing  in  this,  tliere  is  nothing  for  it  but  to 
stay  with  them,  sometimes  a  day  and  a  niglit,  and  trust  to  getting  them 
home  when  the  storm  is  over.  Not  far  from  Colorado  Springs  is  a  gulch 
called  the  Ijig  Corral,  in  which  more  than  one  thousand  sheep  were  lost  a 
year  or  two  ago,  having  followed  each  other  uj)  to  the  brink,  and  fallen 
over  into  the  deep  snow.  Nor  did  the  Mexican  herder  ever  return  to  tell 
the  tale,  for  he  shared  their  fate.  It  is  with  the  snow-storm,  indeed,  that 
the  dark  side  of  the  Colorado  shepherd's  life  is  associated,  and  the  great 
tempest  of  the  spring  of  1878  left  a  sorrowful  record  behind  it.  It  must 
be  mentioned  that  sheds  are  an  innovation,  that  some  ranches  have  none 


G2 


NEW   COLORADO   AND   THE   SANTA  FE   TRAIL. 


even  now,  and  tliat  before  they  were  built  the  sheep  were  exposed,  even 
in  the  corrals,  to  the  fury  of  the  elements.  Per  contra^  it  should  be  said 
that  no  such  storm  as  that  of  March,  1878,  has  been  known  since  there 
were  any  sheep  in  this  part  of  the  country.     On  this  occasion  thousands 


-'\^■::?t-:v^'---■^s  — — 


THE  TRAGEDY  OK  THE  BIG  CORRAL. 


and  thousands  of  sheep  perished.  The  snow  was  eleven  feet  deep  in  the 
corrals,  and  sheep  were  dug  out  alive  after  being  buried  for  two  and  even 
three  weeks !  Tlieir  vitality  seems  very  great,  and  many  perish,  not  from 
the  pressure  of  the  snow,  but  from  suffocation  caused  by  others  falling 
or  crowding  upon  them.  It  is  asserted  that  they  sometimes,  while  still 
buried,  work  their  way  down  to  the  grass,  and  feed  thereon.  But  our 
shepherd  has  taken  care  to  have  plenty  of  sheds,  and  he  knows,  too,  that  by 


EL   PASO   COUNTV  AND   COLORADO   SPRINGS. 


63 


the  doctrine  of  chances  he  need  not  connt  on  such  a  storm  more  than  once 
in  ten  years,  so  he  faces  the  winter  with  a  stont  heart.  Whenever  it  is 
possible  to  send  tlie  sheep  out,  the  herder  takes  them,  despite  the  weather ; 
but  when  that  is  impossible  or  indiscreet,  they  are  fed  at  home. 

In  May  comes  "lambing,"  and  the  extra  hands  are  busily  occupied  in 
taking  care  of  the  young  lambs.  With  theh-  mothers  they  are  separated 
from  the  rest  of  the  flock,  first  in  small  "  bunches,"  then  in  larger  ones ; 
and  in  October  they  are  weaned.  In  June  conies  shearing — an  easy  and 
simple  operation ;  and,  if  need  be,  "  dipping,"  or  innnersing  the  stock  in 
great  troughs  containing  a  solution  of  tobacco  or  lime,  cures  the  "  scab," 
and  completes  the  year's  programme.  Our  shepherd  sells  his  wool,  counts 
the  increase  of  his  flock  after  weaning,  and  if,  as  is  to  be  hoped,  he  be  a 
good  book-keeper,  he  sits 
down  and  makes  up  his  ac- 
counts for  the  year.  It  is 
hard  to  picture  a  greater  con- 
trast than  that  which  exists 
between  the  sheep  and  the 
cattle  business,  the  freedom 
and  excitement  of  the  latter 
Ijearing  about  the  same  rela- 
tion to  the  hmndruni  i"ou- 
tine  of  the  former  as  does 
the  appearance  of  the  great 
herd  of  often  noble -looking 
animals  widely  scattered  over 
the  plains,  and  roaming  some- 
times for  months  by  them- 
selves, to  that  of  the  timid 
flock  bleating  in  the  corral, 
and  friglitened  at  the  waving 
of  a  piece  of  white  ])a])('r. 
And  tlien  to  think  of  the  dif- 
ference between  the  life  of  the  "  cow-puncher  "  (as  lie  calls  himself),  riding 
his  sj)irited  horse  in  the  company  of  liis  fellows,  and  that  of  the  herder,  on 
foot  and  in  solitude,  is  enough  to  make  us  wonder  how  men  can  be  found 
for  the  one,  while  there  is  the  slightest  chance  of  securing  the  other.  And 
yet  there  are  many  such  men,  and  the  Colonel  and  the  Commodore  saw 
and  talked  with  them. 


SlIKAIUNG. 


04  NEW   COLORADO   AND   THE   SANTA  FE   TRAIL. 


CIIAPTEE  V. 

THE   SHEPHERDS   OF   THE   PLALNT. 

IT  was  through  the  courtesy  of  Mr.  J.  F.  Atherton,  of  Colorado  Springs, 
tluit  we  were  first  enabled  to  see  soniethinff  for  ourselves  of  the  life 
and  operations  on  sheep  ranclies.  We  drove  out  of  the  town  on  a  bright 
morning,  and  north  and  east  over  the  prairie.  On  the  front  seat  sat  our 
guide,  philosopher,  and  friend — a  young  man  of  a  dry  humor,  and  gifted 
with  a  faculty  of  forcible  and  incisive  expression.  Far  off  in  the  direction 
in  which  we  were  going  rose  a  high  ridge,  which  we  must  surmount  before 
reaching  our  destination,  and  twenty-two  miles  must  be  scored  off  before 
we  could  hope  for  dinner  at  a  small  roadside  ranch.  Had  the  road  been 
twice  as  long,  the  flow  of  anecdotes  from  our  friend  would  have  nuide  it 
short  enough.  First  we  had  a  sprightly  account  of  some  of  the  manners 
and  customs  of  the  colony  which  we  had  left  behind  us. 

"  Temperance  town  ?  Not  much.  If  a  man  wants  his  beer,  all  he's 
got  to  do  is  to  sign  his  name  in  a  book,  and  get  a  certificate  of  member- 
ship in  a  beer  club,  and  then  he's  a  share-holder — blamed  if  he  ain't — and 
they  can't  stop  him  from  drinking  his  own  beer !" 

"  You've  seen  old ,  haven't  you  ?     Didn't  you  know  that  they 

run  him  for  Senator — just  put  up  a  job  on  him,  you  know.  Blamed  if  he 
didn't  think  he  was  going  to  be  elected.  The  boys  got  a  two-wheeled 
cart,  with  a  little  runt  of  a  burro  in  the  shafts,  and  an  everlasting  great 
hmg  pole  sticking  out  in  front  with  a  bunch  of  hay  tied  to  the  end.  (You 
see,  the  burro  was  just  a-reaching  out  for  that  hay,  and  that  was  the  only 
way  they  could  get  him  to  go.)  Blamed  if  the  old  chajJ  didn't  ride  round 
in  that  outfit,  all  dressed  up  in  a  kind  of  uniform  with  gold  e^oaulets,  and 
two  fellows  behind,  one  beating  a  big  drum,  and  the  other  blowing  away 
at  a  cornet.  He  was  the  worst-looking  j^ill  that  you  ever  saw,  and  dog- 
goned  if  he  didn't  put  it  up  that  he  was  going  to  be  elected  sure.  AVell, 
that  niglit  the  boys  hired  a  hall,  and  when  he  come  out  to  address  them, 
they  made  such  a  noise  that  you  couldn't  hear  a  word;  and  tlien,  in  about 
five  minutes,  there  come  a  cabbage,  and  took  him  alongside  of  the  head, 


THE   SHEniERDS   OF   THE   TLAIX. 


05 


and  tlien  eggs,  and  potatoes,  and  I  don't  know  what ;  and  when  the  elec- 
tion come,  he  had  just  one  bhmied  vote,  and  lie  cast  that  himself  I"' 

"  Eain  ?  No ;  I  gness  not.  But  when  I  was  in  Pueblo  last  time — 
that's  the  blamedest  town,  ain't  it  ( — I  was  caught  in  a  storm,  and  it  turned 
into  hail,  and  before  I  got  to  the  hotel,  blamed  if  I  didn't  turn  round 
three  times  to  see  who  was  throwing  stones  at  me  f 

With  quaint  narrations  of  this  kind,  made  doubly  comical  by  that  man- 
ner of  telling  which  the  hearer  must  despair  of  reproducing,  the  miles 
slipped  away,  until  the  earth -roofed 
loff-cabin  came  in  sii>'ht  at  which  din- 
ner  was  to  be  had.  At  a  short  dis- 
tance therefrom  we  saw  the  white 
tents  of  a  party  from  the  United  States 
Geodetic  Survey.  In  one  of  them  we 
found  the  cook  hard  at  work  bakin<)i: 
bread  and  cake,  and  enc^asred  him  in 
friendly  converse.  lie  informed  us 
that,  in  the  matter  of  pay,  he  came 
next  to  the  chief;  and  from  the  ac- 
count which  he  gave  of  the  appetites 
of  the  party,  we  were  disposed  to  think 
that  he  was  earning  his  stij)end.  It 
may  be  that  it  was  only  because  our 
charioteer  judged  all  occupations  by 
contrast  with  the  hardships  of  sheep- 
raising,  but  we  found  him  inclined  to 
underrate  the  labors  of  the  surveyors, 
and  he  told  us  that  they  "had  a  soft 
thing." 

AVliile  we  were  dining,  a  man  who  was  sitting  near  us  quietly  re- 
iiiai-kcd  tliat  he  had  just  lost  twelve  hundred  sheej).  With  the  most 
l)erfect  nonchalance  he  went  on  to  say  that  he  and  his  "pai'd"  had  only 
just  come  to  the  country  and  bought  the  sheep;  that  he  was  driving  the 
wagon,  and  that  his  pard,  who  was  behind  with  the  Hock,  was  ill,  and  lay 
down,  and  missed  them.  To  those  who  know  what  a  showing  a  body  of 
twelve  huiulred  slice])  will  make  on  the  plains,  this  will  so(>m  rather  like 
a  fish  than  a  sheep  story,  but  it  was  (|uite  true.  Our  (•()nq)ani<)ns  made  a 
show  of  offering  sympathy  aiul  advice,  l»nt,  in  contidcntial  ciinvcrse  with 
us,  sj)oke  with  a  certain  lofty  disdain  of  tlic  '' tcmler-feet"  (Ooloi'adoan  foi- 
iK'w-comers),  and  tiicii'  cH'oi-t-  to  lind  llicir  lost  stock.     Nor  did  tlicy  change 

5 


THE    PRAIUIE    POST-OFFICE. 


QQ 


NEW   COLORADO  AND   THE   SANTA  FE   TEAIL. 


their  tone  when  tlie  poor  man  said  that  he  was  too  tired  to  search  any 
more,  but  would  pay  men  to  do  it  for  him ;  and  it  was  left  for  the  Colonel 
and  the  Commodore — painfully  conscious  as  they  were  that,  despite  their 


SUPPKR    WITH    THK    HERDER. 


exalted  military  and  naval  rank,  they  were  also  "  tender-feet  " — to  feel  for 
the  sufferers. 

Resuming  our  journey,  and  after  passing  a  notice  of  the  lost  sheep, 
and  a  primitive  prairie  post-office,  consisting  of  a  small  box  on  a  pole,  in 
which  the  "  cow-punchers' "  letters  were  quite  as  safe  as  in  any  of  Uncle 
Sam's  iron  receptacles,  we  met  the  pard,  his  long  legs  dangling  on  each 
side  of  a  small  broncho,  and  a  calm  and  happy  smile  on  his  face.  We 
made  sure  that  he  had  found  his  little  flock,  and  his  assurance  that  he  had 
not  seen  anything  of  them  elicited  the  remark  from  our  companions  that 
he  "took  it  mighty  easy."  It  may  give  some  idea  of  the  character  and 
sparse  population  of  this  country  to  mention  that  these  slieej^,  lost  on 
Thursday  night,  were  found  on  Sunday,  thirty  miles  away,  less  some  sev- 
enty killed  by  gray  wolves  and  coyotes. 

A  few  hours  later,  ascending  the  hill  which  had  loomed  up  before  us 
all  day,  we  entered  a  little  valley,  and  came  to  Mr.  Atherton's  ranch — a 
representative  one  for  this  region.  There  were  a  small  cabin,  a  stable, 
sheds,  a  pump  at  the  sj)ring,  three  corrals  connected  by  "  shoots,"  or  nar- 


THE  SHEPHERDS   OF   THE   PLAIX. 


07 


ro-^  passages,  witli  a  curious  swinging  gate  for  throwing  the  sheep  into 
ahernate  divisions.  A  more  lonelj  place  it  is  hard  to  imagine.  The 
sliort  greenish-yellow  grass  stretched  to  the  horizon  on  all  four  sides,  and 
not  even  a  tree  or  a  shrub  was  to  be  seen.  Before  long  a  few  sheep  came 
in  sight,  then  more,  then  hundreds,  and  then  the  herder,  in  a  long  dingy 
canvas  coat,  walking  with  a  swinging  stride.  Smoke,  meantime,  was  com- 
ing out  of  the  iron  stove-pipe  in  the  cabin  roof,  and  the  herder  was  Inisy, 
as  soon  as  the  sheep  were  safe  in  the  corrals,  in  preparing  the  supper. 
The  ranchman  does  not  feel  inclined  to  say,  with  the  late  Mr.  JMotley, 
"  Give  me  the  luxuries  of  life,  and  I'll  dispense  with  the  necessaries." 
On  the  other  hand,  he  treats  luxuries  with  a  pronounced  disdain,  but  is 
not  without  certain  comforts.  Of  the  herder's  home-made  bread  and 
roast  nnitton,  on  this  particular  occasion,  no  one  could  complain ;  nor  is 
"apple-butter"  to  be  altogether  despised.  Que  voidez-vous  f  If  you  sigh 
for  the  flesh-pots  of  Delmonico,  you  ought  to  have  stayed  in  New  York, 
or  at  least  gotten  into  the  good  graces  of  the  cook  of  the  Survey  party. 
And,  after  all,  these  things  are  a  matter  of  taste  and  habit.  A  genial  trav- 
eller, the  late  lamented  J.  Ross  Browne,  once  remarked  to  the  writer,  when 
engaged  in  the  discussion  of  a  particularly  good  dinner,  "  But  you  know 


^: 


MORNING    AT   THE    RANCH. 


that  this  formality,  this  elaborate  cooking,  these  courses,  are  all  barbarism. 
True  (nvilization  is  to  be  found  in  the  Colorado  Desert,  M'here  one  fries 
his  salt  pork  on  a  ramrod,  and  goes  his  way  rejoicing." 

We  heard  rumors  of  ranch  cabins  wherein  a  tliii-d  room  was  added  to 
the  one  in  which  tlie  occupants  eat  and  sleep  and  the  kitchen  ;  but  M'e  saw 
them  not,  and  were  yet  content.      And  after  the  knife  had  been  duly 


68 


NEW  COLORADO  AND  THE  SANTA  FE  TRAIL. 


COUNTING    THK    SHEEP. 


sharpened  on  tlie  stove-pipe,  and  tlie  mutton  carved,  and  the  tin  porrin- 
gers of  tea  served  out  to  all,  we  cultivated  the  acquaintance  of  the  herder, 
and  a  remarkable  character  he  proved  to  be.  The  first  words  that  we 
heard  him  speak  settled  his  nationality,  for,  on  being  told  that  the  owner 
of  the  twelve  hundred  sheep  wanted  a  man  to  search  for  them,  he  senten- 
tiously  remarked,  "  Hi'm  'is  'uckleberry,"  Then  his  conversation  flowed 
on  in  a  steady  stream  : 

"  I  was  in  the  British  harmy.  Left  there '(  Yes  ;  deserted.  Then  I 
was  in  the  United  States  harmy  twice.  Used  to  shoot  two  or  tln-ee  II in- 
dians  every  day,  me  and  two  other  good  fellers.  I  didn't  'ave  no  'ard 
duty  :  was  the  pet  of  the  regiment.  Then  I  was  brakeman  on  a  rail- 
road. Oh  yes,  I  have  been  in  hall  kinds  of  business.  Hi'm  the  champion 
M-alker  for  five  hundred  yards.     Lost  $700  of  my  own  money  on  a  bet  last 

winter.     Leadville  ?    Yes ;  I've  worked  in  the mine.     You  bet  hit's 

the  best  one  there.  Lively  place  ?  That's  so.  I  used  to  work  hall  day  in 
the  mine,  and  spar  in  the  theatre  at  night  for  twenty  dollars  per  week. 
You  bet  they've  got  the  fattest  graveyard  in  the  country  in  Leadville. 
A  pard  of  mine  saw  twelve  fellers  dragged  hout  in  one  night.     Been  to 


THE   SHEPHERDS   OF  THE   PLAIN. 


()!> 


Ilengland  lately?  Oh  jes.  Made  81600  in  two  weeks.  Why  do  I  V-rd 
sheep  at  twenty  dollars  per  month  i  Oh,  just  for  my  'ealth.  System's 
kind  of  run  down.  I  tell  you  a  feller  can  jnst  make  money  in  this  coun- 
try, but  hes  got  to  have  sandP  (It  must  be  explained  that  "sand" — one 
of  the  happiest  and  most  forciljle  expressions  in  the  whole  vocabulary  of 
AVestern  slang — means  dogged  resolution,  or  what  we  call  "■  grit.") 


TIIK    SI.KKPY    STOUK-KKKPKU   OK    BIJOU    BASIN. 


Xeithei"  the  Colonel  nor  the  Commodore  approved  of  very  early  rising, 
l)Ut,  the  next  morning,  determining  to  "assume  a  virtue  if  tlioy  had  it 
not,"  they  said  that  it  was  very  pleasant  to  breakfast  at  5,3(».  Then  they 
saw  the  sheep  run  through  the  shoot  to  l)e  counted,  giving  h»ng  leaps  as 
they  cleared  it,  and,  as  soon  as  tlie  gates  of  the  corral  were  opened,  tum- 
bling over  each  (jther  as  they  rushed  out  to  find  the  grass;  aiul  their  last 
sight  of  tlie  herder,  as  he  stepped  off,  vividly  recalled  the  feats  of  Rowcll 
and  O'Leary. 


TO  NEW   COLOKADO  AND   THE   SANTA  FE   TRAIL. 

Tlien  again  -we  went  to  visit  the  ranch  of  a  resident  of  Bijon  Basin — a 
IH'ctty  valley  on  the  Divide  —  with  a  pleasant  honse  in  the  village,  and 
8000  sheep  in  ample  corrals  jnst  over  the  first  hilly  ridge.  As  we  drove 
into  this  curious  little  village  it  seemed  steeped  in  a  sleepy  atmosphere, 
most  strongly  suggestive  of  Rip  Yan  Winkle.  Two  stores  out  of  three 
were  closed  as  we  passed  them ;  and  when  we  came  back,  and  found  one 
o])en,  the  proprietor  rose  from  his  bed  to  make  a  small  sale.  The  keeper 
of  the  second  also  reclined  on  a  couch  of  ease,  and  the  third  store — Dick's 
— remained  obstinately  closed. 

"Blamed  if  I  ever  see  a  day  seem  so  like  Sunday,"  said  our  cicerone. 
"  If  I  had  to  live  here,  I'd  just  bottle  tip  and  die  /" 

"Dick's  got  some  beer  in  his  shop,"  charitably  suggested  the  second 
store-keeper,  again  gracefully  stretched  on  his  counter.  "  He  ain't  there  a 
great  deal,  but  he  'most  always  leaves  the  key  at  the  blacksmith's." 

With  a  singular  unanimity  a  move  was  made  to  the  establishment  of 
that  artisan,  whose  sturdv  blows  on  an  iron  wedge  were  the  first  simis  of 
life  in  the  place.  Two  villagers  were  watching  him ;  the  three  new- 
comers joined  them ;  then  three  residents  came  up  on  horseback,  and 
swelled  the  throng.  The  blacksmith  had  no  key,  and  Dick  had  gone 
away.  The  Colonel  and  the  Commodore  felt  the  sonmolent  influence 
coming  on  them ;  in  connnon  with  six  other  able-bodied  men,  their  sole 
interest  in  life  seemed  to  be  the  completion  of  that  wedge,  and  only  the 
ring  of  the  hammer  saved  them  from  the  fate  of  the  sleepers  of  Ephesus. 
Suddenly  there  was  a  cry,  "  Dick  is  coming !"  and  everything  was 
changed.  The  blacksmith  remarked  that  he  "must  wash  down  that 
wedge  before  he  made  another,"  and  when  Dick  arrived  he  took  the  key 
from  him  and  opened  the  door.  Then  somebody  said  "Beer,"  and  the 
majority  of  the  residents  of  Bijon  Basin  held  a  town-meeting  in  the  store. 
Dick's  coming,  like  that  of  the  prince  in  the  tale  of  the  "  Sleeping  Beau- 
ty," had  completely  broken  the  spell. 

After  a  talk  with  our  new  host,  and  an  inspection  of  his  flocks,  and 
corrals,  and  some  of  the  operations  in  progress,  we  concluded  that  no  bet- 
ter place  could  be  found  than  Bijou  Basin  (where,  as  an  exceptional  thing, 
the  family  home  has  replaced  the  cabin,  and  the  school-house  is  close  to 
the  ranch)  Avherein  to  rest  awhile,  and  carefully  compile  some  figures, 
which  the  reader,  unless  he  intend  becoming  a  shepherd,  can  readily  skip. 
They  apply  to  the  case  of  a  man  with  capital  coming  out,  not  to  take  uj) 
or  i^re-empt  land,  but  to  buy  a  ranch  ready  to  his  hand. 

Such  a  one,  capable  of  accommodating  5000  head  of  sheei^,  could  be 
had,  say,  for  $4000,  comprising  at  least  three  claims  three  to  five  miles 


THE    SHEPHERDS   OF   THE   PLAIN.  71 

apart,  also  proper  cabins,  corrals,  etc,  A  flock  of  2000  assorted  ewes,  two 
to  three  3'ears  old,  should  be  bought  at  an  average  of  $3  each,  say  $6000 ; 
and  ()<)  bucks  at  an  average  of  $30,  or  $1800.  A  pair  of  mules  and  a  sad- 
dle-horse will  cost  $275 ;  and  we  allow  for  working  capital  $1925.  Capi- 
tal invested,  say,  October  1st,  $14,000. 

Under  ordinarily  favorable  circumstances,  and  with  great  care,  one 
may  expect  his  lambs  during  May,  and  estimate  that  there  will  be  alive 
of  them  at  tiiiie  of  weaning  a  number  equal  to  seventy-five  per  cent,  of  his 
ewes,  or,  say  1500  on  the  1st  of  October,  a  year  from  time  of  beginning 
operations. 

His  gross  increase  of  values  and  receipts  will  then  be,  for  that  year,  as 
follows : 

1500  lambs  (average  one-lialf  ewes,  one-half  wethers),  at  $2  each $3000  00 

lu  June  he  will  shear  his  wool,  and  get  from 

2000  ewes,  5  pounds  each,  or  10,000  iiounds,  at  21  cents $2100  00 

GO  bucks,  17  pounds  each,  or  1000  pounds,  at  15  cents 150  00       2250  00 

15250  00 
Expenses : 

Herders,  teamsters,  cook,  and  i)rovisions |1835  00 

Shearing  2000  sheep,  at  G  cents 123  60 

Hay  and  grain 275  00 

$2233  60 
Losses  (all  estimated  as  made  up,  in  money) : 

E\ves,4  per  cent,  on  6000 $240  00 

Bucks,  5  per  cent,  on  $1800 90  00     330  00 

Depreciation  : 
On  bucks,  5  per  cent,  on  $1800 00  00       2653  60 

Net  profits  for  first  year $2596  40 

SECOND  YEAR. 

The  1500  laml)S  will  be  a  year  older,  and  worth  an  additional  15  per  cent. 

(or  15  per  cent,  on  $3000) $450  00 

1500  new  laml;s  will  ])c  worth,  as  before 3000  00 

And  there  will  be  of  wool  Irom 

2000  .sheep,  5  pounds  each,  or  10,000  pounds,  at  21  cents $2100  00 

1500  lambs,  4  pounds  each,  or  GOOO  pounds,  at  21  cents 1260  00 

GO  bucks,  17  pounds  each,  or  1000  ])ounds.  at  15  cents 150  00       3510  00 

$6960  00 
Expenses  : 

Herders,  etc $2060  00 

SIh  aring  3560  sheep,  at  0  cents 213  60 

Hay  and  grain 350  00 

$2023  GO 


72  KEW   COLOKADO  AND   TFIE   SAMTA  FE   TRAIL. 

Tjmes  : 

On  ewes,  4  per  cent,  on  $G000 $240  00 

On  bucks,  5  per  cent,  on  $1800 90  00 

On  lambs,  7  per  cent,  on  $;J000 210  00  $540  00 

Depreciation  : 

On  ewes,  5  per  cent,  on  $0000 $300  00 

On  bucks,  5  per  cent  on  $1800 90  00     390  00     $3553  60 

Net  i^rofits  for  second  year $3406  40 

THIRD  YEAR. 
The  second  year's  lanil)s  will  be  worth  an  additional  15  per  cent.,  or,  say 

(15  per  cent,  on  $3000) $450  00 

There  will  be  1500  lambs  from  original  2000  ewes,  and,  say,  from  new  750 
ewes  (one-half  of  1500),  not  more  than  60  per  cent,  in  first  lambing,  or, 

say  450— in  all,  1950  lambs,  at  $2 3900  00 

Wool  will  be: 

From  3500  ewes,  51  pounds  each,  or  19,250,  i^ounds,  at  21  cents.  .$4042  50 
Prom  1950  lambs,  4  pounds  each,  or  7800  pounds,  at  21  cents....  1638  00 

From  60  bucks,  17  pounds  each,  or  1000  pounds,  at  15  cents 150  00       5830  50 

$10,180  50 
Expenses: 

Herders  and  fodder $2970  00 

Shearing  5510  sheep,  at  6  cents 330  60 

New  corrals,  etc... 300  00 

$3600  60 
Losses : 

On  ewes,  4  per  cent,  on  $6000 $240  00 

On  new  sheep,  4  per  cent,  on  $4500 180  00 

On  lambs,  7  per  cent,  on  $3000 210  00 

On  bucks,  5  per  cent,  on  $1800 90  00     720  00 

Depreciation  : 

On  old  ewes,  10  per  cent,  on  $6000 i^OOO  00 

On  bucks,  20  per  cent,  on  $1800 360  00     960  00       5280  60 

Net  profits  for  third  year $4899  90 

KEC.\PITULATION. 

First  year's  profits $2596  40 

Second  year's  profits 3406  40 

Third  year's  profits 4899  90 

Total $10,902  70 

This  statement  would  probably  meet  with  scant  favor  from  an  "old- 
timer,"  who  w^ould  coniidently  assert  that  he  can  "  run  "  a  flock  of  5000 
sheep,  year  in  and  year  out,  at  an  average  cost  of  fifty  cents  per  head. 
Such  a  one  (and  there  are  many  of  them)  has  jierhaps  lived  twenty  years 
in  this  part  of  the  country,  and  tried  many  kinds  of  business.      He  is 


THE   SHEPHERDS   OF  THE   PLAIN.  73 

deeply  attached  to  the  soil,  and  knows  no  other  home.  lie  has  spent 
years  and  years,  it  may  be,  in  the  monntains,  prospecting  and  mining,  and 
while  he  may  like  a  soft  bed,  and  a  tight  roof,  and  a  good  dinner  as  well 
as  his  neighbor,  there  have  been  epochs  in  his  life  when  they,  or  any  one 
of  them,  wonld  be  no  nearer  his  reach  than  the  joys  of  a  Mohammedan 
paradise,  and  "he  eonnteth  none  of  these  things  dear"  when  his  mind  is 
set  on  the  accomplishment  of  any  object.  When  this  man  takes  np  the 
business  of  sheep -raising,  he  is  in  dead  earnest.  At  the  beginning,  at 
least,  he  knows  nothing,  thinks  of  nothing,  but  sheep ;  lives  among  them, 
studies  and  masters  every  detail  of  their  management,  and  institutes  a 
rigid  and  searching  economy.  lie  will  have  good  sheep,  good  corrals,  and 
probably  good  sheds ;  Init  he  will  care  little  for  comforts  in  his  cabin,  and 
it  is  well  known  that  one  of  the  most  successful  sheep  men  in  this  region 
began  by  living  in  a  cave  in  the  bluffs  near  Colorado  Springs.  To  loneli- 
ness the  old-timer  is  a  stranger,  and  very  possibly  early  habits  have  made 
him  prefer  a  solitary  life.  His  herder  will  most  assuredly  give  good  value 
for  his  wages,  and  will  do  exactly  as  he  is  told,  and  know  that  the  master  s 
eve  is  on  him. 

"  Yes,  he  was  a  good  herder  when  he  wanted  to  be,"  remarked  an  old- 
timer,  "but  he  liked  to  be  boss,  and  so  did  I,  and  there  couldn't  very  well 
be  two." 

His  pencil  would  be  busy  with  the  foregoing  estimates,  and  if  such  as 
he  were  the  only  ones  to  engage  in  the  business,  then  indeed  might  they 
be  modiiied. 

On  the  other  hand,  we  will  suppose  the  case  of  the  young  man  in  the 
East  whose  health  will,  he  thinks,  be  improved  by  a  residence  in  Colorado, 
or  who  fairly  Ijelieves  himself  inclined  and  suited  to  face  a  life  on  the 
plains,  "with  all  that  that  implies."  This  ideal  })ersonage,  //"(and  that 
word  must  be  italicized  in  mind  as  well  as  on  })a]ier)  he  is  wise,  and  wisely 
advised,  will  come  out  on  a  preliminary  visit.  lie;  will  live  for  some  time 
on  a  ranch,  and  make  uj)  his  mind  how  tlie  life  and  the  business  will  suit 
him  ;  also,  if  an  invalid,  will  he  most  carefully,  and  with  good  medical  ad- 
vice to  aid  Inm,  notice  the  effect  on  his  health,  lie  will  not  underrate  the 
monotony  of  the  existence,  the  isolation,  the  dead  level  of  the  year's  i>rog- 
ress ;  and  unless  he  be  exceptionally  constituted,  small  blame  to  him  if  he 
invite  his  hosts  to  a  good  dinner,  propose  their  veiy  good  health  and  o\ cr- 
tiowing  prosperity,  bid  them  good-bye,  shake  off"  the  dust  of  his  feet  on 
sheep  ranches,  and  betake  himself  either  to  some  other  avocation  in  Colo- 
rado, or  to  the  nearest  railway  station  where  he  can  catch  the  l^;l^t(^ll  ex- 
press.     Uiit,  })erhaps,  wisely  counting  the   cost,  he   remains  niitil   he   Ikis 


74  NEW  COLORADO  AND  THE  SANTA  FE  TRAIL. 

tlioroiiglilj  learned  tlie  business,  then  leases  before  he  buys,  and  then 
launches  boldly  out  as  a  fuU-liedged  shejiherd.  It  will  not  be  necessary 
to  recall  to  him  or  his  kind  the  old,  old  truth,  the  cardinal  axiom,  tliat 
there  is  no  royal  road  to  business  success  of  any  sort ;  and  that  in  Col- 
orado, just  as  in  ISTew  York,  or  London,  or  Calcutta,  or  Constantinople, 
there  is  no  hope  for  him  without  economy  and  industry,  and  strict  per- 
sonal attention,  and  that,  even  with  them,  the  fates  may  be  sometimes 
against  him. 

To  such  a  one,  then,  are  these  figures  respectfully  submitted,  showing 
returns  of  something  like  twenty-five  per  centum  per  annum.  Compar- 
ing them  with  those  previously  given  in  these  pages  about  cattle,  he  sees 
that  the  latter  promise  him  larger  but  more  tardy  returns,  while  the  for- 
mer show  smaller  requirements  in  the  way  of  adequate  capital,  and  his 
wool  is  a  yearly  cash  asset.  As  regards  variety  and  attractiveness,  and  in 
any  aesthetic  sense,  the  poor  sheep  must  clearly  go  to  the  wall  in  the  com- 
parison, and  the  steer  be  elected  to  the  place  of  honor  "by  a  large 
majority." 

It  may  here  be  properly  remarked  that  good  men  can  almost  always 
find  employment  as  subordinates,  and  ought  to  learn  the  business  'quickly, 
and  perhaps  do  w^ell  for  themselves. 

"  I  wanted  a  man  to  herd  sheep,"  said,  for  instance,  an  old-timer  in  the 
hearing  of  the  writer,  "and  I  met  one  coming  out  of  Pueblo.  He  said 
that  he  would  like  to  work  for  me.  '  Look  here,'  said  I,  '  I  won't  pay  you 
any  wages,  but  I'll  give  you  250  lambs,  which  you  must  herd  as  part  of 
mine.'  He  agreed  to  that,  and  w^orked  for  me  three  years  and  a  half,  and 
until  he  had  to  go  away  and  be  married,  and  then  I  bought  him  out.  The 
wool  had  paid  all  expenses,  and  he  had  $2250  coming  to  him  in  cash." 

Nor  would  it  be  impossible  for  a  hard-working  man,  with  a  very  much 
smaller  sum  at  his  command  than  that  assumed  in  the  figures,  to  purchase 
a  few  sheep  and  make  a  beginning  for  himself ;  but,  with  the  gradual  ab- 
sorption of  the  streams  and  springs,  this  is  becoming  daily  more  diflicult. 

For  the  Colonel  and  the  Commodore  there  was  small  need  to  conjure 
lip  ideal  shepherds,  for  they  found  them  in  El  Paso  County  in  every  con- 
ceivable variety,  and  heard  niost  entertaining  and  veracious  narratives  of 
their  manners  and  experiences.  Successful  old-timers,  enjoying  the  results 
of  their  past  labors,  and  clad  in  the  sober  garb  of  civilization,  laid  down 
the  law  over  social  cigars ;  while  youthful  beginners,  with  doubtful  pros- 
pects, sported  hats  with  an  enormous  breadth  of  brim,  and  seemed  to  de- 
light in  garments  of  dubious  cut  and  texture,  and  extreme  antiquity.  In 
this  connection,  indeed,  there  is  room  for  a  homily,  for  it  may  surely  be 


THE   SHEPHERDS   OF  THE   PLAIN.  75 

said  that  in  a  new  conntry  the  incomers  who  have  enjoyed  the  blessings  of 
an  advanced  civiHzation  in  their  former  homes  owe  it  to  themselves  to  do 
all  in  their  power  to  translate  said  blessings  to  their  adopted  residence. 
And  so,  when  water  has  come,  and  gas  is  coming  to  the  county  town  of  El 
Paso,  it  would  be  well  for  youthful  rancheros  to  cease  emulating  the  attire 
of  Buifalo  Bill,  and  make  the  acquaintance,  when  they  come  thitlier,  of  a 
tailor  and  a  boot-black.  One  of  two  gentlemen  from  the  Eastern  States, 
visiting  Colorado  Springs,  and  calling  upon  a  lady  to  whom  the  conve- 
nances of  life  were  traditionally  dear,  apologized  for  the  absence  of  his 
companion,  whose  clothes  suitable  for  such  an  occasion  had  been  delayed 
by  tlie  expressman. 

"  Only  hear  that  I"  she  delightedly  cried.  "  Why,  I  have  been  meet- 
ing the  sons  of  dukes  and  earls  with  their  pantaloons  tucked  in  their 
boots."  To  which  the  very  natural  reply  was :  "  So  much  the  worse  for 
the  sons  of  dukes  and  earls.  They  would  not  presume  on  such  liberties 
in  their  own  country,  and  it  is  high  time  that  they  were  eifectually  tauglit 
that  they  shall  not  take  them  here."  Indeed,  there  are  features  of  the 
curious  irruption  into  Colorado  of  scions  of  the  nobility  and  aristocracy  of 
Great  Britain  which  are  extremely  intei'esting  and  amusing,  and  which 
may  justly  claim  future  attention;  but  at  present  it  may  simply  be  re- 
marked that  sheep  have  no  regard  for  noble  birth,  and  that  Piccadilly 
seems  to  furnish  an  inadequate  preparation  for  a  successful  ranchman. 

Then  before  our  observant  eyes  there  passed  other  figures  and  faces — 
two  gentlemen  from  jS^ew  England,  in  from  a  distant  ranch ;  one.  after 
some  months'  hard  work,  to  desipere  in  loco  at  Manitou,  another  to  drive 
sheep  to  Las  Vegas,  in  New  Mexico,  at  the  rate  of  Un  iniles  ]>er  day, 
through  the  sage-brush !  Next  came  an  Englishman  l)earing  the  name  of 
a  noble  family — a  university  man  of  remarkable  culture,  and  manners  be- 
titting  his  birth  and  education,  l)nt  in  garb  and  general  ap})earance  a  veri- 
table figure  of  fun.  Learning  that  after  abandoning  a  sliecp  ranch  of  spe- 
cial squalor,  where  he  had  toiled  to  little  purpose,  he  had  l)een  engaged  for 
four  months  in  driving  horses  up  from  Texas  in  comjjany  with  some 
Mexican  herders,  a  gentleman  engaged  him  in  friendly  converse,  and  tinal- 
ly  asked  point-blank  what  possessed  him  to  lead  such  a  life.  With  great 
gentleness  and  courtesy  he  rei)lied  that  lie  was  one  of  Mattlu'W  Arnold's 
"  Philistines."     And  thus  the  procession  went  on. 

We  were  indebted  at  the  last  to  a  very  li\ely  and  outspoken  resident 
for  some  illustrations,  given  us  "in  dialect,"  of  the  unfavorable  side  of  the 
shepherd's  existence.  Ilis  ex])erience  of  nicn  had  not  liccn  an  agreeable 
one,  and  an  officer  of  thi'  law  a])peared  with  unpleasant  fiv(juency  at  the 


76 


NEW  COLORADO  AND  THE  SANTA  FE  TRAIL. 


end  of  the  vistas  of  raneli  life  wliicli  he  portrayed ;  but  the  shepherd  of 
Colorado  is  not  the  only  man  who  finds  fatal  enemies  in  whiskey  and 
cards,  extravagance,  inattention,  and  laziness  and  stupidity. 

"Didn't  you  never  hear  of  V  asked  our  friend.     "lie  was  the 

worst  pill  you  ever  see.  High-toned  Englishman ;  always  '  blasting  this 
bloody  counti-y,  you  know.'  Come  here  with  $50,000 ;  went  away  owing 
$20,000.  J  low  is  that  for  high?  Blamed  if  he  cared  what  he  paid  for 
anything  I     (Jtfer  him  a  horse  worth  $-iO,  and  charge  him  $150,  and  he'd 


MILOR    IN    FLUSH    TIMES. 


give  you  a  check.  You  bet  he  lived  high ;  always  set  up  the  drinks. 
Didn't  take  long  to  bust  /n7n.  He  didn't  care  what  he  paid  for  his  sheep. 
Had  2500  of  them,  and  you  used  to  see  thirty  or  forty  Englishmen  loaf- 
ing on  him.  You  bet  he  didn't  have  the  trouble  of  selling  them  sheep. 
Sheriff  did  that  for  him.'''' 

"  Then  there  was -. .     He  just  put  on  heaps  of  style.     Flew 

liigh,  you  know — regular  tony.  He  started  in  with  600  sheep — just  think 
of  that ;  wouldn't  pay  for  his  cigars.  He  used  to  come  into  town  in  great 
style — four  horses  to  his  buggy.     Then  lie  come  down  to  three ;  then  two  ; 


THE   SHEPHERDS   OF  THE    PLAIN.  77 

then  one.  Then  he  had  none,  and  had  to  stay  on  the  ranch.  Sheriff  sold 
him  np  shar]\  Then  he  kept  a  billiard  saloon.  You  bet  he  busted  on 
that,  because,  you  see,  he  used  to  play  with  the  boys,  and  always  got  beat. 
Then  he  was  a-going  about  the  streets,  just  everlastingly  played  out ;  and 
the  last  I  see  of  him  he  was  a  kind  of  rostabout,  or  dish-washer,  to  a  camp- 
ing outlit.  Wouldn't  that  Just  get  some  of  his  hiyh-toned  relations  up  on 
their  ear  V 

We  thought  that  it  undoubtedly  would,  and  we  thought,  too,  with  a 
certain  wonder,  of  the  habit  of  some  parents  and  friends  of  sending 
young  men  to  this  country  who  are  either  mauvais  sujets,  and  bet- 
ter out  of  their  sight,  or  incapacitated  for  competition  with  the  keen 
souls  whom  they  must  meet,  [ ]  and  then  letting  them  shift  for  them- 
selves. 

But.  like  the  recent  writer  on  Colorado  in  an  Eno-lish  mao'azine,  we  are 
giving  '•  the  dark  side  of  a  bright  picture ;"  and  it  was  only  M'ith  kindly 
and  i:)leasant  impressions  and  memories  of  the  gentle  shepherds  of  the 
plain  that  the  Colonel  and  the  Commodore  bade  them  good-bye,  and  turned 
their  steps  toward  the  grim  canons  and  lofty  mountains  holding  in  their 
remote  fastnesses  those  silver  and  golden  treasures  for  which  most,  of  the 
dwellers  in  this  land  so  eagerly  strive.  They  are  kindly  and  hospitable, 
these  lonely  ranchmen,  and  no  one  goes  hungry  from  their  doors,  or  lacks 
a  sheepskin  on  which  to  sleep ;  nor  are  the  lighter  graces  altogether  neg- 
lected. We  had  heard  much  from  one  of  our  friends,  the  proprietor  of  a 
large  and  successful  ranch,  of  the  extraordinary  gifts  and  quaint  peculiari- 
ties of  his  chef  de  cuisine,  and  had  the  honor  of  making  the  acquaintance 
of  this  gentleman.  His  appearance  suggested  the  Wild  Hunt  of  Lutzow 
rather  than  the  surroundings  of  a  peaceful  kitchen;  but  we  were  bound  to 
credit  his  assertion  that  if  we  "would  come  out  to  tlie  i-anch  he  would  treat 
us  kindly.  You  bet  he  could  cook.  He  was  just  on  it.''  This  worthy 
had  run  tln-ough  his  cash,  and  desired  to  negotiate  a  snuill  loan.  This 
being  effected,  he  proceeded  to  invest  the  funds  in  a  ])ouquet,  which,  with 
great  courtesy  and  gravity,  he  presented  to  his  "boss"  just  l)efore  he  gal- 
loped off.  We  had  understood  that  he  resembled  the  ]H'is(»n  of  whom  Mr. 
Harte  says, 

"He  was  a  most  sarcastic  inan,  this  quiet  Mr.  Brown, 
And  on  several  occasions  lie  liad  cleaned  out  tlie  town  ;"' 

and  we  therefore  made  record  of  this  hrth'  incident  as  ti'iily  |);i>torah 

And  so,  as  we  looked  back  from  the  \'tr  i'ass  onct  thi-  phiiiis,  dotted 
with  ranches  away  out  to  Kansas,  the  lo\i'ly  liglits  and  sha<lo\vs  were  alto- 


78 


NEW   COLORADO   AND   THE   SANTA   IE   TRAIL. 


gether  suggestive  of  tlie  vicissitudes  of  their  occupants'  career ;  and,  as  an 
abrupt  turn  shut  them  out,  we  recalled  admiringly  the  herder's  epigram- 
matic saying:  "A  man  can  make  a  lot  of  money  in  the  sheep  business,  but 
he's  jud  (jot  to  have  sand!" 


GRUB-STAKES   AND   MILLIONS. 


79 


CHAPTER  VI. 

GRUB-STAKES   AND   MILLIONS. 

ONE  might  indeed  call  it  providential,  that  the  vast  deposits  of  the 
precious  metals  in  the  Rocky  Mountain  region  remained  practically 
unknown  to  the  citizens  of  this  country  until  a  time  when  they  were 
never  more  needed  by  said  citizens.  Old  Mendoza,  the  Spanish  viceroy, 
had  a  shrewd  idea  about  them,  and  it  was  he  who  sent  Vasquez  Coronado, 
with  three  hundred  and  fifty  Spaniards  and  eight  hundred  Indians,  from 
Culiacan,  the  capital  of  Cinaloa,  in  IS-iO,  to  confirm  the  correctness  of  his 
suspicions ;  but  Coronado  does  not  seem  to  have  been  a  success  as  a  jDros- 
pector.  If  he  had  only  had  a  keen  eye  for  "  blossom  rock "  and  other  in- 
dications, or  if  there  had  been  a  Diamond  Drill  C^ompany  in  Cinaloa,  how 
differently  history  might  have  read !  More  than  two  centuries  and  a  half 
later,  again,  when  tremendous  changes  had  taken  place  in  the  map  of  the 
world,  and  a  young  and  independent  nation  was  building  itself  u])  and 
pushing  its  borders  westward,  one  James  Pursley,  a  Kentuckian,  found 
gold  at  the  "head  of  La  Platte."  Even  the  Cherokee  Indians  had  a  hand 
in  turning  the  attention  of  our  i)eople,  and  no  one  else,  to  the  rich  inher- 
itance locked  up  for  tliem  in  the  coffers  of  the  Snowy  Range;  for  they 
brought  shining  samples  to  Ivansas  and  Nel)raska  in  1857,  and  soon  after 
that  time  the  emim-ation  l)ej'aii  to  what  is  now  Colorado.  Of  this  exodus, 
and  some  subsequent  ])has('s  of  life  in  tlic  new  land,  it  was  our  good  lorr- 
uiie  to  hear  some  account  IVom  one  of  the  old  jiionccrs — a  line  s|)c'('inien 
of  the  men  who  made  this  country  what  it  is  hy  their  courage  and  nu-rgy: 


80  NEW    COLORADO  AND   THE   SANTA   FE   TRAIL. 

"Notliiiig  ever  seen  like  that  rush  to  the  mountains,  gentlemen — noth- 
ing, 1  assure  jou.  California^  Why,  that  was  an  agricultural  country, 
while  -here  there  'svas  nothing  but  gold  and  silver,  or  the  chance  of  getting 
them,  which  isn't  the  same  thing  by  a  long  sight.  What  brought  men  out 
here  was  that  they  were  just  dead  hrohe  at  home — just  dead  broke,  I  tell 
you !  '57  had  done  that.  These  men  were  ready  for  a  new  country — ^liad 
to  find  something — and  they  came  out  across  the  j^lains  when  there  wasn't 
a  thing  here  but  Indians.  Why,  we  old  fellows  have  a  round  up  'most 
every  year  in  Denver,  and  talk  and  laugh  over  those  times.  We  were  all 
alike — nobody  had  any  money — all  cleaned  out  before  we  ski2:)ped  out  from 
home.  No  one  had  done  anything  to  be  ashamed  of ;  but  it  was  a  regular 
amalgamation  of  busted  j)eople,  who  left  their  country  for  their  country's 
good — and  their  own.  If  you'd  meet  a  man,  and  be  introduced  to  him  as 
Mr.  Jones,  it  was  all  right  to  ask  him,  '  What  was  your  name  in  the  States, 
Mr.  Jones  ?'  But  you  bet  it  was  because  the  boys  had  pluck  and  grit  that 
they  stuck  to  it,  and  got  the  ores  out,  and  got  the  country  going  ahead. 
What  do  you  say  to  bacon  one  dollar  a  pound,  and  flour  iifty  dollars  a 
sack  ?  I  tell  you,  when  the  sulphurets  came  along,  and  we  couldn't  hold 
the  ores,  and  things  were  pretty  blue,  a  good  many  would  have  left,  but 
tliey  conldii't  get  aioay.'''' 

It  took  the  "honest  miner"  a  long  time  to  learn  that  "placer"  opera- 
tions— ^the  washing  of  metal  from  the  sands — were  not  a  certainty  and  a 
permanency,  and  the  capitalists  who  came  in  after  him  also  a  long  time* 
to  make  exj^ensive  experiments,  and  equally  expensive  mistakes,  and  to 
come  down  to  what  is  technically  and  happily  called  "  hard  pan,"  aiid  op- 
erate to  some  extent  with  proper  means,  skill,  and  common-sense.  There 
was  one  collapse  about  1804,  and  of  course  the  panic  of  1873  affected  the 
progress  of  the  State,  and  it  may  fairly  l)e  said  that  the  real  "  flush  times " 
in  Colorado  are  these  in  which  we  are  now  living.  In  spite  of  all  disap- 
pointments and  drawbacks,  steady  progress  has  undoubtedly  been  made, 
and  great  results  accomplished.  Mining  is,  beyond  all  question,  as  has 
been  said,  the  foundation  of  the  growing  greatness  of  the  State,  and  it  is 
most  interesting  to  learn  from  an  elaborate  calculation,  coming  recently 
from  a  responsible  source,  that  after  making  full  allowance  for  the  labor 
of  all  the  men  employed  from  the  beginning,  and  all  the  money  sunk,  the 
residue  shows  a  better  return  than  any  other  investment  in  this  country. 
It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  this  is  an  average,  and  that  the  fortunes  of 
two  or  three  bonanza  kings  balance  the  losses  of  thousands  of  poor  men ; 
and  against  the  results  of  this  calculation  should  be  set  the  assertion — 
for  which  ample  supjDort  can  be  obtained — that  at  least  up  to  1871,  vrhcn 


GRUB-STAKES   AND   MILLIONS.  81 

railroads  cheapened  living  and  introduced  greatly  improved  facilities,  the 
proportion  of  miners  avIio  conld  be  called  successful  was  one  in  five  hu7i- 
dred. 

It  is  to  be  noticed  that  here,  as  in  other  similar  regions,  public  inter- 
est is  continuallv  attracted  to  new  discoveries,  and  a  tioating  population 
at  once  drawn  thither ;  and  events  move  so  rapidly  that  an  account  of  the 
state  of  affairs  in  the  mining  regions  may  be  stale  before  it  is  in  type. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  may  be  said  that  even  if  some  of  the  people  go 
away,  the  mines  remain,  and  the  silver  and  gold  come  out  just  as  surely 
and  easily  as  before.  A  larger  area  than  ever  is  now  the  scene  of  active 
oj^erations. 

Starting  from  the  north,  we  come  to  the  mines  of  Boulder  County,  not 
far  from  Long's  Peak,  where  there  was  an  excitement,  some  three  years 
ago,  about  tellurium  veins.  Then  come  those  of  Gilpin  (Black  Hawk, 
Central  City,  etc.)  and  Clear  Creek  (Georgetown,  etc.)  counties ;  the  for- 
mer noted  for  gold  product,  and  both  containing  what  are  called  ''  true  fis- 
sure veins,"  where  the  rocks  have  been  broken  or  torn  asunder  by  earth- 
quakes or  volcanic  disturbance.  In  this  neigliborhood  some  of  the  earliest 
discoveries  were  made,  and  the  bullion  product  of  the  two  -  counties,  is 
large  and  steady.  Tlien  come  various  points  in  the  South  Park,  and  just 
between  the  Park  and  Main  Ranges,  California  Gulch,  now  known  from 
one  end  of  the  world  to  the  other,  for  here  is  Leadville.  South  again,  and 
between  the  Sierra  Mojada  and  the  Sangre  de  Cristo  lie  Rosita  and  Silver 
Clilf,  and  south-west  again  of  this,  the  great  San  Juan  district.  Discov- 
eries have  also  been  made  in  the  Gunnison  and  Elk  Mountain  country, 
away  west  of  the  Snowy  Range,  and  only  time  can  show  what  other  now 
hidden  treasures  are  to  come  to  light  in  these  regions.  It  is  needless  to 
say  that  several  quarto  volumes  could  easily  be  written  al)0ut  these  mines 
and  tlicir  operation,  and  still  much  be  left  unsaid  ;  and  perhaps,  indeed,  in 
view  of  the  rapid  movement  of  events,  the  writer  of  such  a  work  stands  in 
greater  danger  of  being  behind  the  age  than  ln'  wlio  attempts  some  ran- 
dom sketches  of  the  liaunts  and  ways  of  the  "lionest  miner"  —  so  first 
called,  it  is  said,  by  aspiring  patriots  who  sought  liis  suil'rages.  Mr.  1 1  arte 
declares  that  when  sets  of  pictures  portraying  tlie  contrasted  careers  of  the 
lionest  and  dissolute  miner  were  first  sent  out  to  California  they  utterly 
failed  of  their  efl^ect,  for  the  reason  that  the  average  miner  refused  to  rec- 
ognize himself  in  either  capacity. 

A  man  may  oomo  to  Cohu-ado  witb  resolutions  worthy  of  Leonidas; 
lie  may  treat  gold  and  silver  \\\\\\  a  lofty  disdain;  lie  iii:iy  lie  ddctor,  law- 
yer, parson,  school-teaclier,  l)(^(jk  agent,  lightning-rod  iiiaii,  or  dealer  in  sew- 

G 


82  NEW   COLORADO   AND   THE   SANTA   FE   TRAIL. 

ino--machines — anytliing  but  a  miner :  all  in  vain,  for  sooner  or  later,  if  he 
stays  in  Colorado,  the  mania  for  the  precions  metals  will  make  an  easy  vic- 
tim of  him  ;  he  will  seek  a  "  claim,"  and  fondly  see  a  bonanza  in  the  small- 
est and  shallowest  of  his  "  prospect  holes." 

The  Colonel  and  the  Commodore  were  nothing  if  not  strong-minded, 
and  the  latter  had  been  particularly  cynical  about  the  sordidness  of  a 
thirst  for  wealth,  but  his  downfall  dated  from  the  time  that  he  acquired, 
with  strange  ease,  some  share  in  a  mine  of  great  possible,  if  small  actual, 
value  (there  are  so  very  many  of  this  kind).  lie  hinted  more  than  once 
that  we  had  better  look  for  ourselves  into  this  mining  business,  and  started 
on  the  tour  of  inspection  with  unwonted  alacrity.  He  even  showed  some 
inclination  to  "  grub-stake  "  some  men — a  simple  and  easy  process,  by-the- 
bye.  One  can  acquire  an  interest  in  mining  property  in  many  w\ays.  He 
can  find  a  mine  himself ;  he  can  supply  another  man  with  food  and  tools, 
and  give  him  a  share  in  what  he  may  find  (and  this  is  "grub-staking"); 
he  may  buy  a  mine  when  found,  or  a  share  of  it,  bearing  in  mind  the 
Western  saying,  that  "  a  prospect  hole  is  not  a  mine  ;"  or  he  can  invest  in 
stocks.  Grub-staking  a  good  man,  and,  if  possible,  accompanying  him  on 
his  search,  may  be  called  the  best  way — for,  said  an  old  hand,  "  you  make 
your  loss  at  the  start."  Buying  a  claim  or  claims  is  not  infrequently  satis- 
factory ;  but  said,  with  quaint  gravity,  another  "  old-timer,"  "  If  I  was  a 
capitalist,  and  I'd  see  a  mine  worth  half  a  million,  I'd  want  to  buy  it  for 
about  twenty-five  thousand  dollars,  and  have  some  advantage  on  my  side. 
A  man  can't  see  very  far  into  the  ground." 

It  is  stated  that  no  geologist  ever  yet  found  a  valuable  mine — the  hum- 
ble prospector  being  always  at  the  front — and  even  then  owing  much  to 
accident.  With  his  burro  laden  with  a  little  bacon  and  flour,  perhaps  a 
little  coffee  and  sugar,  a  frying-pan  and  a  c»fi:ee-pot,  and  with  his  pick  and 
shovel,  this  hard-working  pioneer  traverses  the  length  and  breadth  of  the 
mineral  region,  undergoing  many  and  great  hardships,  often  facing  danger, 
often,  indeed,  laying  his  bones  on  some  desolate  hill-side  or  in  some  lonely 
caiion  ;  and  then — only  to  think  of  it — one  in  five  hundred  finds  fortune ! 
We  hear  of  late  years  that  mining  has  become  as  regular  and  legitimate  an 
occupation  as  manufacturing;  and  it  is  undoubtedly  true  that  method  and 
system  have  been  largely  introduced,  and  that  the  strong  owners  of  j^aying 
mines  and  successful  smelting-works  may  rightly  claim  that  they  are  en- 
gaged in  sober  and  industrial  pursuits ;  but  with  the  great  bulk  of  modern 
Argonauts,  from  our  poor,  sanguine  pick -user  and  burro -driver  to  the 
New  Yorker  who,  without  the  slightest  real  knowledge  of  what  lie  is  do- 
ing, "  takes  a  flyer  "  in  Wall  Street,  it  is  as  certain  as  the  sun  rises  and  sets 


GRUB-STAKES  AND   IMILLIONS.  83 

that  tlie  gambling  and  not  the  commercial  instinct  predominates.  A  bank 
was  pointed  out  to  the  writer  in  a  large  mining  town  which,  with  a  capital 
of  850,000,  had  deposits  of  from  8T00,000  to  $800,000,  and  which  had 
made  8^3,000  net  profits  in  nine  months. 

'•But  they  say  that  there  is  no  money  in  banking,"  was  added— '"I 
mean,  no  money  as  compared  with  what  some  of  them  can  make  in  min- 
ing. When  a  fellow  can  go  out  and  make  a  forty  or  lifty  thousand  dollar 
strike,  hanking  seems  pretty  slowT  Could  anytliing  better  illustrate  what 
has  just  been  said  \ 

But  if  we  did  not  grub-stake  anybody,  or  make  large  investments  for 
ourselves,  we  had  ample  opportunities  of  seeing  those  who  did. 

Of  all  mining  camps  in  Colorado  (and  a  centre  of  mining  operations  is 
always  called  a  camp)  Rosita  is  one  of  the  prettiest  and  most  interesting. 
There  nmst  have  been  a  vein  of  sentiment  in  the  honest  miner  who  save 
it  that  charming  name.  Little  Eose.  When  he  made  his  first  "  strike,"  he 
must  have  thanked  his  stars  that  nature  had  put  the  silver  in  such  a  pictu- 
rescpie  place,  and  even  the  operations  carried  on  for  seven  years  have  not 
been  able  to  spoil  it.  We  went  thither  from  Cailon  City,  taking  the  stage 
on  a  pleasant  morning,  and  driving  over  the  foot-hills  of  the  Sierra  Mo- 
jada,  and  into  and  up  Oak  Creek  Canon.  From  the  head  of  this  the  sum- 
mit was  easily  crossed ;  and  then,  when  we  had  scored  our  thirty  miles,  a 
beautiful  and  striking  scene  met  our  eyes.  In  the  foreground  were  dome- 
like hills,  the  upper  ones  bare,  and  the  lower  ones,  as  well  as  the  gulches 
between  them,  showing  great  numbers  of  pine-trees.  On  these  hill-sides 
and  in  these  gulches  were  scattered  the  houses  and  other  buildings  wliicli 
make  up  the  genuine  little  Alpine  town  —  so  Alpine,  indeed,  that  one 
might  expect  to  hear  at  any  moment  the  echo  of  the  Ranz  des  Vaehes  or 
the  tinkling  of  the  bells.  Then  came  a  valley  lying  a  thousand  feet  below, 
and  beyond  rose  with  wonderful  and  unusual  abrui)tness,  and  in  a  solemn 
majesty  which  must  have  impressed  the  Spaniard  when  he  associated  it 
in  name  with  the  sufferings  of  the  Divine  Redeemer — the  great  Sangre 
de  Cristo  Range.  Tlie  peaks  are  sharp  and  jagged,  and  some  attained 
the  height  of  about  14,000  feet.  What  Nature  can  do  here  in  the  way 
of  grand  and  glorious  effects  with  light  and  shade,  at  earl}'  morn,  at  sunset, 
or  when  the  moon  is  sending  her  rays  down  on  the  grassy  meadows  in  this 
peaceful  Wet  Mountain  Valley,  cannot  be  described,  nor  should  the  sug- 
gestion thereof  l)e  pul)licly  named,  l)ut  whispered  to  those  true  worship- 
pers whom  she  so  surely  rewards.  TTappy  the  honest  miner  whose  ]u-(»s- 
pect  hole  lies  in  this  chai'incd  region  I  and  well  might  sonic  conirndc  wlio 
liad  toiled  in  such  a  j)lacc  as  those  parts  of  Nevada  where  the  sage-brush 


84 


NEW   COLORADO   AND   THE    SANTA  FE   TKAIL. 


surrounds  him,  and  tlie  Po-go-nip  (icy  wind)  chills  him  to  the  bone,  ex- 
claim, '*  This — and  silver  too  V 

This  little  town  was  founded  in  1872,  and  led  a  quiet  existence,  with 
occasional  episodes  of  what  is  here  called  "booming,"  until  about  two 
years  ago,  when  occurred  one  of  those  striking  and  romantic  episodes 
which  do  so  much  to  clothe  mining  with  a  strange  fascination.  One  Mr. 
E.  C.  Bassick  had  been  a  gold-seeker  in  Australia  in  old  days,  and  there 
lost  his  health.  In  1877  he  was,  as  happily  reported,  thoroughly  "busted" 
— "  dead  broke."  He  prospected  in  a  vague  way,  and  passed  over  a  good 
deal  of  space,  with  no  success ;  but  one  day  was  sitting  on  the  ground  on 
a  spot  over  which  he  had  previously  gone,  and,  with  his  pick  between  his 
knees,  was  striking  aimlessly  at  a  l)owlder.  One  of  his  blows  chipped  off 
something  from  its  surface  which  looked  to  him  like  good  ore,  and  he 
picked  it  up  and  carried  it  into  the  town.  Telling  a  gentleman  (well 
known  to  the  writer)  of  his  discovery,  he  offered  him  one-half  interest  for 
twenty-Jive  dollars.  And  here  comes  in  a  striking  illustration  of  mining 
life,  and  a  curious  comment  on  its  uncertainties,  for  the  gentleman  de- 
clined. The  reader,  whose  imagination  has 
been,  perhaps,  fired  by  lurid  descriptions  of 
the  colossal  fortunes  reported  during  the  past 
year,  may  ask,  "  How  could  he  be  so  foolish  ? 
It  was  such  a  small  amount  to  risk !''  Ah ! 
friend,  when  a  man  takes  one  of  these  small 
risks  and  wins,  the  telegraph  parades  his 
name   and  quintuples  his  gains ;   the  inter- 


ROSITA. 


GRUB-STAKES   AND   MILLIONS.  85 

viewer  "  seeks  "  him,  and  the  chanty  letter-w^riter  and  the  book  agent  gird 
up  their  loins  and  take  fresh  conrage.  But  when  he  does  it  and  loses,  he 
generally  keeps  quiet ;  and  when  he  has  done  it  and  lost,  perhaps,  scores  or 
even  hundreds  of  times,  he  remarks  to  himself,  like  Mark  Twain's  patient 
friend,  that  "  this  sort  of  thing  is  getting  monotonous."  Perhaps  on  tliis 
occasion  our  friend  had  slept  badly,  or  he  had  on  a  pair  of  tight  shoes ;  at 
all  events,  he  declined  sending  twenty-five  dollars  more  where  so  many  had 
gone  before.  And  that  is  the  reason  that  he  is  not  building  a  "palatial"' 
residence  on  Fifth  Avenue,  or  visiting  the  eifete  kingdoms  of  the  Old 
"World.     Rouge perd.     Fa'des  Je  jeu,  Messieurs. 

On  the  side  of  the  street  which  runs  up  the  southern  hill  in  Rosita- 
stands  an  assay -office,  and  when  the  prospector,  minus  the  dollars,  ap- 
proached it,  he  saw  a  load  of  wood  thrown  off  at  the  door.  Venit,  vid'd — 
he  ran  in  and  made  a  hurried  bargain — vied.  He  sawed  the  wood,  and 
the  assayer  made  the  assay,  and  the  results  of  this  division  of  labor  were 
simple  and  striking.  He  took  out  of  this  property  some  $450,000,  and 
then  sold  it  for  $300,000  in  money  and  $1,000,000  in  stock. 

"When  he  come  into  this  place,  sir,"  said  a  genial  resident  of  the 
pretty  town,  "all  he  had  warn't  too  much  to  pack  on  one  burro  ;  but  when 
he  lit  out,  it  took  a  four-mule  team  to  freight  his  trunks." 

We  had  the  privilege,  not  accorded  to  many,  of  seeing  this  bonanza, 
as  we,  of  course,  saw  many  others ;  and  it  may  l)e  hardly  necessary  to 
say,  once  for  all,  that  as  the  limits  of  this  book  must  preclude  the  men- 
tion of  any  but  what  may  be  called  representatives  of  the  different  classes, 
so  must  an  attempt  to  seize  on  some  interesting  and  picturesque  features 
of  mining  take  the  place  of  the  technical  description  wliich  can  readily 
be  had  elsewhere. 

Into  the  side  of  one  of  the  round  Rosita  hills  goes  tlie  Bassiek  tunnel, 
and  down  from  the  slope  above  comes  the  perpendicular  shaft,  while 
near  their  junction  is  a  large  chamber,  timbered  with  great  skill.  At 
one  corner  comes  in  a  faint  glinnner  of  light  from  the  tunnel ;  all  else 
is  from  the  scattered  lamps  of  the  workmen,  whom,  before  our  eyes 
become  accustomed  to  the  murky  dimness,  we  might  mistake  either  for 
gnomes  of  the  llartz  Mountains  or  familiars  of  the  Spanish  Inquisition. 
But  a  word  dispels  all  illusions:  "Arrah,  and  will  yez  lower  her  down 
the  laste  little  bit  in  the  wurruld,  Mike?"  It  is  only  the  new  steam- 
engine. 

This  mine  has  puzzled  the  geologists;  but  then  those  gentlemen  arc  in 
such  a  chronic  state  of  bewilderment  over  the  new  developments  in  iln' 
State  that,  in  happy  local  parlance,  "  they  have  to  take  a  l)ack  seat."    Con- 


86  NEW   COLORADO  AND   THE   SANTA  FE   TKAIL. 

ceive,  if  you  please,  a  crater  in  a  hill,  of  indefinite  and  undiscovered  size 
and  extent.  Conceive,  then,  some  mighty  power  to  have  taken  bowlders 
of  different  shape  and  size,  dipped  them  in  rich  molten  ore,  largely  chloride 
of  silver,  heajDed  the  crater  full  of  theni,  melted  up  a  giant  museum  full 
of  all  kinds  of  silver  ores  with  gold  in  considerable  quantity,  and  copper 
thrown  in,  poured  the  compound  in  so  as  to  fill  every  crevice,  heaped  on 
the  dirt,  and  left  the  whole  to  cool  for  indefinite  centuries,  and  you  have 
this  mine. 

As  a  contrast,  take  the  Humboldt,  round  the  corner,  which  may  stand 
for  a  specimen  of  the  thousands  of  silver  mines  on  true  fissure  veins  of 
quartz  mineral  in  the  old  camps  in  Gilpin  and  Clear  Creek  counties,  the 
new  and  wonderful  ones  in  the  San  Juan  country,  and  hundreds  in  the 
long  leagues  lying  between.  Entering  a  rough  wooden  building,  you  see 
a  steam-engine  turning  an  immense  drum,  around  which  is  coiled  a  wire 
rope.  On  a  chair  sits,  with  each  hand  on  a  lever,  the  bright,  watchful  en- 
gineer, his  eyes  fixed  on  the  drum,  now  nearly  covered  with  the  coil.  In 
another  minute,  click !  the  machinery  has  stopped,  and  out  of  an  opening 
in  front,  like  Harlequin  in  a  Christmas  pantomime,  has  come  a  grimy  fig- 
ure, who  stands  there  smiling  at  you,  with  a  lamp  fixed  on  the  front  of  his 
cap,  and  his  feet  on  the  rim  of  a  great  iron  bucket.  He  steps  off,  the 
bucket  is  emptied  of  the  load — not  of  rich  ore,  but  of  very  dirty  water, 
which  it  has  brought  up — and  there  is  an  air  of  expectancy  among  the 
workmen,  and  an  inquiring  smile  on  the  face  of  Mr.  Thornton,  the  super- 
intendent. Something  is  clearly  expected  of  you,  for  it  is  established  that 
you  are  not  what  is  called  by  the  miners  a  "  specimen  fiend,"  or  unmiti- 
gated sample-collecting  nuisance,  and  it  is  assumed  that  when  you  came 
hither  to  investigate  you  "  meant  business."  You  take  the  hint,  and  fol- 
low Mr.  Thornton  to  a  room,  where,  amidst  a  good  deal  of  joking,  you  put 
on  some  clothes — and  such  clothes !  If  you  have  one  sj^ark  of  personal 
vanity,  "  all  hope  abandon,  ye  who  enter  here,"  for  even  your  kind  guide 
has  to  turn  away  to  hide  a  smile  when  he  sees  you  in  overalls  which  will 
not  meet  in  front,  and  are  precariously  tied  with  a  ragged  string,  an  ancient 
flannel  shirt,  the  sleeves  of  which  hang  in  tatters  around  your  wristbands, 
and  a  cap  which  might  have  come  over  in  the  Mayfloioer,  and  has  a  smoky 
lamp  hooked  into  its  fast  decomposing  visor.  As  you  approach  the  mouth 
of  the  shaft  the  engineer  genially  remarks  that  there  "  ain't  much  danger," 
and  when  the  bucket  has  come  up  and  been  partially  emptied,  the  by- 
standers repeatedly  advise  you  to  be  careful  al)out  getting  in.  As  you 
climb  perilously  over  the  side,  you  think  of  the  Frenchman  who,  starting 
in  the  fox-hunt,  cried  out,  "  Take  noteece,  mes  amis,  zat  I  leafe  everyzing 


GRUB-STAIvES   AND   MILLIONS. 


87 


TllE    fOI-UNKL    INVKSTIGATES    THE    HUMBOLDT. 


to  my  vife !"  And  wlien  yoii  are  cronclied  do^vri  so  that  Mr.  Thornton 
can  stand  on  the  rim  above,  yon  do  not  tliink  at  all,  hut  know  that  you  are 
M'hat  Mr.  Mantalini  called  "  a  dem'd  moist,  unpleasant  body,"  Mr.  Tliorn- 
ton  makes  a  grim  remark  about  it  being  as  well  to  have  some  matches  in 
case  the  lamps  go  out,  gives  the  word,  and  down  you  go.  Understand 
that  tliere  is  just  about  room  for  the  bucket  in  the  shaft,  that  the  latter  is 
slightly  inclined,  and  that  you  catch,  and  jar,  and  shake  in  a  nerve-trying 
way ;  and  understand,  further,  that  a  person  should  carefully  study  his 
temperament  and  possible  disabilities  before  he  takes  a  contract  to  go  into 
a  deep  shaft. 

At  a  certain  depth — it  may  be  500  or  1000  feet  (in  some  Kevada  niiues 


68 


NEW   COLORADO   AND   THE    SANTA   FE   TRAIL. 


it  is  250<»)=— YOU  stop  at  side  drifts  or  cross-eiittings  in  wliicli  men  are  at 
work,  and  here  you  see,  walled  in  l)y  rock,  the  lissnre  vein.  Some  are 
"  stoping,"  or  cutting  pieces  away  with  the  pick,  otheis  holding  the  steel 
wedges,  and  others  striking  them  tremendous  blows  with  sledge-hammers. 
They  are,  by-the-way,  in  the  habit  of  accompanying  these  blows  with  gut- 
tural sounds,  tlie  ])earing  of  which  induced  a  special  correspondent  of  the 
gentler  sex^gnoring  tlie  fact  that  they  receive  three  dollars  per  diem, 
own  chronometer  watches,  and  have  fine  bank  accounts,  and  silver  spoons 


on  their  tables — to  write  a  soul-moving  description  of  the  poor  down-trod- 
den miner,  imprisoned  far  from  the  light  of  the  blessed  day,  uttering  ter- 
rible groans  as  he  toiled  his  life  away  for  the  enrichment  of  the  bloated 
and  pampered  capitalist !  Other  men,  again,  are  drilling,  loading,  and 
tamping  for  the  "  shots "  which  are  to  tear  the  rock  in  pieces ;  and  you 
will  probably  remember  a  pressing  engagement  to  "  meet  a  man  "  at  some 
distance  from  the  mine,  and  induce  Mr.  Thornton  to  ring  for  that  moist 
car,  and  take  you  up  before  they  light  the  match.  Emerging  from  the 
shaft,  clad  once  more  in  tlie  garb  of  civilization,  and  thinking  what  a  set 
of  fine  fellows  you  have  seen,  you  will  agree  with  the  sagacious  soul  who 
said  to  the  Colonel  and  the  Commodore,  "  Yes,  there's  a  good  many  of 
them  big-hearted  fellers  in  this  countrv.     You  see,  them  small -souled 


GRUB-STAKES  AND  BULLIONS. 


89 


cusses  takes  too  much  In'lgatloii  to  hring  thein  out.  They've  just  2:ot  to 
git  up  an'  git !" 

Our  route  lay,  one  pleasant  morning,  through  Hungry  Gulch.  On  one 
side  stood  Nebraska  Row,  a  curious  collection  of  cottages,  built  in  the 
early  days,  with  sunflowers  growing  out  of  their  mud  roofs,  and  recallino- 
to  a  fanciful  imagination  the  hanging  gardens  of  Babylon.  Behind  these 
cottages  a  lone  miner,  to  whom  steam-engines  and  modern  improvements 
lent  no  aid,  toiled  at  a 
small  claim,  to  which  at- 
tached the  sentimental 
cognomen  of  the  Ada. 
Mines  are  usually,  indeed, 
named  witli  more  regard 
to  forcible  significance 
than  to  poetry ;  and  the 
school  -  master  must  be 
frequently  abroad  in  the 
camps,  for  some  friends 
told  us  that  after  a  claim 
had  been  named  the  Cym- 
beline,  it  was  four  weeks 
before  its  owners  could 
ascertain  who  this  personage 
mio;ht  be. 

Then  our  road  wound  among 
the  hills,  where  only  a  short  time  - 
ago  the  mule -deer  roamed  in 
large  numbers,  and  soon  the  AVet 
Mountain  Valley  was  entered, 
and  the  curious  mining  camj:)  of 
Silver  Cliif  came  in  sight  —  an- 
other wonder  of  these  times. 
The  fnigal  and  prosperous  ranch- 
men of  this  pastoral  region  had 
gathered  in  their  hay  crops  in 
peace  for  years,  and  the  low  hill, 
ending  in  a  clilf,  seven  miles  from 

Kosita,  had  probably  never  struck  them  as  anything  else  than  a  contrast 
to  the  fertile  lowlands  near  it.  Not  many  years  ago  it  was  act  nail  v  ex- 
amined scientifically  but  unsuccessfully  for  Iron.     Some  prospectoi-s  tried 


MIMNCi    AT    SII.VKU    CI.IKF. 


90  NEW   COLORADO  AND   THE   SANTA   FE   TRAIL. 

their  fortune  here  in  the  summer  of  ISTS,  and  found  some  "pay  ore"  in 
the  shape  of  chlorides  of  silver.  The  first  house  was  built  in  September, 
and  in  ten  months  there  had  sprung  vp,  like  Jonah's  gourd,  a  wonderful 
town.  As  curiously  unlike  its  pretty  little  neighbor  Rosita  as  it  is  pos- 
sible to  conceive,  it  lies  like  a  checker-board  on  the  plain,  angular,  treeless, 
and  unpicturesque.  No  wise  man  will  accept  the  local  census  of  a  town 
which  is  "■booming,"  but  the  poi^ulation  has  certainly  run  in  less  than  a 
vear  from  one  or  two  tens  to  several  thousands.  We  had  an  excellent 
dinner,  and  can  state  that  it  was  not  here  that  the  scene  occurred  of  which 
a  friend  told  us. 

"What's  your  order,  stranger?"  asked  mine  host  of  an  inoffensive 
guest. 

"  Broiled  chicken  on  toast,  if  you  please." 

'^  Which  r 

"Broiled  chicken  on  toast,"  said  the  guest,  "if  it  can  be  had." 

"  Stranger,"  said  the  landlord,  impressively,  drawing  a  six-shooter,  and 
pointing  it  at  his  head,  "  you  want  hash,  and  you're  a-goin'  to  eat  it.  I 
don't  allow  no  tender-foot  to  go  back  on  his  victuals  in  this  place !" 

Saloons  appeared  with  painful  pertinacity,  and  a  variety  theatre,  in 
which,  on  a  certain  Sunday  night,  the  proprietor  invited  a  preacher  to 
ofiiciate,  listened,  in  company  with  "  the  boys,"  in  a  respectful  and  orderly 
manner,  with  a  view  of  "  giving  the  Gospel  a  show,"  passed  round  the  hat, 
handed  its  ample  contents  to  the  parson,  bowed  him  out,  and  in  ten  min- 
utes more  had  the  usual  miscellaneous  orgies  in  full  blast. 

The  prospectors  of  a  few  months  ago  have  given  place  to  a  great  ]^ew 
York  company,  with  a  capital  of  $10,000,000 ;  and  although  we  know  of 
none  of  the  signs  by  wdiicli  one  distinguishes  that  specimen  of  natural  his- 
tory called  the  "  capitalist,"  he  was  confidently  declared  to  be  on  the  spot 
in  great  force,  and  on  the  point  of  making  colossal  investments.  For  the 
rest,  we  could  assuredly  see  signs  of  prosperity,  and  more  than  a  few 
jjromising  mines ;  and  after  sinking  shafts  and  running  tunnels,  people 
were  clearly  getting  tired  of  such  slow  processes,  and  were  actually  cut- 
ting slices  out  of  the  hill,  as  does  paterfamilias  out  of  the  Christmas  plum- 
2)udding. 

A  very  kind  and  hospitable  lady,  proud  of  the  Colorado  town  which 
had  the  good  fortune  to  claim  her  as  a  resident,  asked  the  Colonel,  with 
great  courtesy,  if  he  had  prepared  accurate  descriptions  of  certain  streets 
and  buildings,  and  on  his  reluctantly  confessing  that  want  of  space,  etc., 
rather  petulantly  remarked :  "  Kow  I  really  believe  that  you  will  only  tell 
about  the  funny  side  of  things,  and  that  isn't  fair." 


GRUB-STAKES   AND   MILLIONS. 


91 


Filled  with  compunction,  the  Colonel  began  a  conrse  of  reading  in  the 
papers  of  the  place ;  and  having  insensibly  imbibed  a  measure  of  their 
style,  he  tried  to  write  about  Silver  Cliff  in  a  manner  different  from  the 
foregoing,  and  something  as  follows  : 

"  This  live  town  contains  at  least  eight  thousand  inhabitants,  and  is 
bound  to  see  that  figure  and  go  some  thousands  better  within  six  months. 
Our  esteemed  friend  the  Hon.  Charles  Bunker,  who  has  recently  estab- 


i,  mmit 


SUNDAY    EVENING    AT    THE    VAKIETIES. 


lished  an  excellent  peanut  stand  in  our  city,  reports  that  jjcople  are  ll<H'k- 
ing  to  us  from  the  effete  Denver  and  the  upstart  Leadville.  Charley's 
peanuts  can't  be  beat." 

"The  Hon.  Zechariah  Futtyplace,  Mend)er  of  the  State  Legislature  of 
Indiana,  from  tlic  lloiiiishing  town  of  Sandy  Plains,  and  rdatiah  Petten- 
gill,  Esq.,  a  prijijiiiicnt  undertaker  and  capitalist  of  the  same  place,  show  a 


92  NEW  COLORADO  AND  THE  SANTA  FE  TRAIL. 

preference  for  tlie  toothpicks  of  the  OrientaL  These  rej^resentative  gen- 
tlemen declare  that  New  York  is  played  out,  compared  with  this  place. 
We  need  just  such  citizens  as  these,  and  trust  that  they  may  be  induced  to 
cast  in  their  lot  with  this  magnificent  camp." 

"  The  genial  Pete  Starkweather,  who  so  efficiently  assists  Aleck  Smith- 
ers  in  mixing  drinks  at  the  Honest  Miners'  Home,  has,  we  are  glad  to 
hear,  struck  it  rich  on  a  lead  adjoining  the  Roaring  Cowpuncher  and 
Mary  Ann  Eliza,  in  Blue  Murder  Gulch.  A  prominent  gentleman  from 
Dakota,  who  came  in  on  Billy  Bullion's  boss  coach  last  night,  and  wrastles 
his  hash  at  the  Occidental,  says  that  he  knows  a  man  whose  cousin  told 
liim  that  leading  New  York  capitalists  liad  telegraphed  to  bond  this  claim 
for  a  million  and  three-quar — '*' 

But  here  the  Commodore  said  that  this  was  all  rubbish,  and  the 
Colonel  knew  it,  and  that  he  would  just  like  to  know  if  he  was  not  going 
to  write  soberly,  and  say  something  about  the  mastodon  found  thirty  feet 
below  the  surface  in  the  Cedar  Rapids  Mine,  which  might  have  been  of 
priceless  value  to  science,  but  which  was  ruthlessly  smashed  to  pieces — the 
mine  men  saying  that  they  were  after  pay  ore,  not  mastodons.  Why, 
even  the  society  upon  the  Stanislaus,  of  which  Truthful  eJames  relates  that 

"  Every  member  did  engnge 
In  a  ■warfare  with  the  remnants  of  a  paleozoic  age," 

would  have  done  better  than  that.  The  fact  was  that  the  Commodore 
had  heard  of  trout  in  Grape  Creek,  and  had  brought  forth  a  pair  of  brand- 
new  and  sportsman-like  leggings,  and  borrowed  fishing-tackle  from  a  too- 
confiding  native,  and  he  wanted  to  "  give  mining  a  rest,"  and  have  a  turn 
at  the  fish.  His  enthusiasm  infected  the  rest  of  the  party,  and  they 
pushed  out  toward  the  range.  Tliey  had  a  near  view  of  the  grim  sum- 
mits close  at  hand,  and  of  the  Moscas  and  Veta  passes,  and  the  Spanish 
Peaks  away  at  the  south,  but  the  poor  Commodore  came  home  very  low 
in  his  mind.  He  had  been  wet  through,  damaged  the  new  gaiters,  broken 
the  borrowed  pole  in  one  place  and  the  borrowed  line  in  two,  and  slaugh- 
tered thousands  of  grasshoppers  for  bait,  but  the  trout  in  Grape  and  Col- 
ony creeks  swam  untouched  in  the  clear  mountain  water.  It  was  only  in 
the  evening,  when  a  genial  old  resident  was  "  reminiscing  "  for  the  benefit 
of  the  company,  that  he  found  consolation  in  hearing  of  tile  misfortunes 
of  some  other  sjDortsmen.     Said  this  gentleman  : 

"  I  used  to  ride  the  Pony  Express.  Pretty  rough  grub  in  Pueblo,  you 
bet :  fried  cucumbers  and  water,  with  a  piece  of  fat  bacon  hung  uj)  to  tan- 
talize us.     Then  I  went  down  further  south,  and  couldn't  git  nothing  to 


GRUB-STAKES  AND  MILLIONS.  93 

drink  but  tarantula  juice  [bad  wliiskey],  and  I  strnck  a  kind  of  a  colony 
of  gruher-gr libbers  from  Georgia." 

"  What  are  o-ruber-o-rnbbers  ?" 

""Why,  peanut  diggers — worst  lot  you  ever  saw — come  there  expect- 
ing to  lind  houses  all  built,  and  irrigating  ditches  all  dug.  I  saw  an  old 
bell-wether,  and  asked  him  for  something  to  eat,  and  he  hadn't  a  thinff, 
and  I  knew  he  was  the  kind  that  live  on  snajjsy 

"  What  are  snaps  ?" 

"When  I  first  heard  it  I  didn't  know  myself — thought  the  man  meant 
ginger-snaps.  But  he  said  that  these  beats,  when  they  were  at  home,  had 
old  squirrel  rifles  about  as  long  as  a  mantel  -  piece,  and  with  flintlocks. 
They'd  go  out  and  .snaj)  at  deer,  and  if  they  killed  him,  all  right.  If  they 
didn't,  they'd  have  to  live  on  the  snaps  until  next  day !" 

"  Yes,  those  were  pretty  rough  times  in  Pueblo,"  remarked  another 
old  hand.  "  I  was  county  clerk,  and  when  we  wanted  bacon  or  flour  we'd 
issue  a  county  warrant  for  it.  Things  came  out  all  right,  though,  for 
when  we  wanted  to  square  up,  the  treasurer  burned  'em,  and  we  had  a 
new  deal." 


04  KEW   C0LCLR^9.^VXp    THE   SANTA  FE  TRAIL. 


CHAPTER  YII. 

THE   HONEST   MINERS   OF   LEADYILLE. 

WE  could  not  tarry  on  tlie  Rosita  liills,  and  we  sped  nortli,  reluctantly 
postponing  the  trips  to  San  Juan  and  the  Guiniison  country,  which 
promised  such  store  of  information  and  pleasure.  A  day's  staging  took  us 
to  Pueblo,  and  on  the  way  we  passed  a  new  little  camp  called  Silver  Hill. 
It  looked  picturesque  enough,  and  we  were  fancying  it  the  abode  of  a  gen- 
erous prosperity,  when,  just  as  a  young  and  hopeful  citizen  had  remarked 
to  us  that  "  the  boys  could  make  a  first-class  camp  out  of  this  if  they  only 
liad  the  fortitude,"  an  aged  person  exclaimed,  with  a  sort  of  growl,  "  There's 
fortitude  enough,  but  there  ain't  no  money,  you  see.  That's  what's  the 
matter,  you  bet !" 

It  was  our  lot  after  leaving  Pueblo  to  go,  not  as  goes  the  every-day  trav- 
eller, but  on  a  "  special,"  with  Billy  Reed,  of  the  Rio  Grande  Road,  on  the 
engine — or  rather  partly  on,  for  he  seemed  to  project  half  liis  length  out  of 
the  window  of  the  "  cab  "  as  he  rounded  the  curves  in  about  half  of  sched- 
ule time.  One  of  the  men  best  worth  knowing  in  this  world  is  an  Ameri- 
can locomotive  engineer ;  and  either  the  sight  of  the  great  mountains,  or 
some  less  perceptible  influence,  seems  to  develop  in  the  Colorado  brother- 
hood an  added  measure  of  simple  manliness  and  grave  courtesy.  The 
Colonel  found  a  worthy  successor  to  him  of  the  "sj^ecial"  in  Tom  Loftus, 
whose  guest  he  was  on  the  engine  of  the  Leadville  express,  two  hours  out 
from  Denver,  early  on  the  morning  of  the  day  of  all  days  in  his  mining 
pilgrimages.  Little  enough  do  the  passengers  in  the  comfortable  cars 
know  of  the  skill  and  caution  required  to  control  the  train  on  such  a  jour- 
ney; but  it  is  clear  to  a  careful  observer,  and  infinitely  interesting.  All 
roads,  it  is  said,  lead  to  Rome ;  all  railroads  in  Colorado  try  to  lead  to 
Leadville ;  and  from  the  force  of  circumstances,  and  through  the  energy 
displayed  in  its  construction,  this  line,  which  had  terrible  natural  obstacles 
to  overcome,  is,  at  the  date  of  writing,  well  in  the  van.  Not  very  far  south 
of  Denver  it  enters  the  canon  of  the  Platte  River,  up  which  it  winds  after 
the  manner  of  the  narrow  gauge  in  these  parts.     The  strong  little  engine 


THE   HONEST   MINEB^|||^|||k^|;AlLLE.  95 

laboriously  puffed  up  the  gfrade,  and  Toui  was  exactly  as  careful  in  econo- 
mizing ''her''  strength,  and  giving  "her"  rest,  and  food,  and  water,  as  if 
she  were  a  favorite  nnile.  The  frost  had  turned  many  of  the  leaves  yel- 
low, and  a  few  red,  lighting  up  the  canon  in  a  striking  manner.  At  cer- 
tain points  it  opened  out  into  little  parks,  and  graders'  cabins  and  campers' 
locations  were  frequent.  Tlien  came  one  of  those  grand  horseshoe  curves, 
and  Kenosha  Summit,  some  10,000  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea;  and 
then  a  scene  altoo^ether  wonderful,  and  something:  to  be  lono-  remembered. 
The  summit  was  a  kind  of  plateau,  and  was  quickly  crossed,  and  we  had 
hardly  taken  in  the  outline  of  the  great  peaks  on  the  north,  when,  witliout 
warning  of  any  kind,  we  glided  on  and  along  the  edge  of  the  sloping  wall 
of  the  great  South  Park,  and  saw  it  stretching  below  us  leagues  awav  to 
the  south,  and  across  to  the  Park  Range,  beyond  which  lay  our  goal ;  and 
now  Tom  shut  off  his  steam,  and  let  the  train,  controlled  by  the  air-brakes, 
scramble  down  the  slope  and  run  across  the  park  to  Red  Hill.  Here  M-ere 
the  Leadville  stages,  and  here  also  a  spring-wagon,  to  which  were  attached 
four  good  mules.  Climbing  into  this,  we  whii-led  along  the  dusty  road 
ahead  of  the  stages,  passed  the  old  mining  camp  of  Fairplay,  arrived  at  the 
foot  of  Mosquito  Pass,  and  began  to  ascend  the  road,  which  had  been  open 
but  about  two  months.  Two  extra  mules  toiled  away  on  the  lead,  and  foot 
by  foot  we  climbed  toward  the  summit,  rising,  bleak  and  bare,  some  13,80<> 
feet.  It  must  be  known  that,  not  among  careless  tourists,  but  among  ex- 
perienced drivers,  who  rightly  estimate  danger,  the  crossing  of  the  Moscpiito 
is  considered  what  the  life-assurance  companies  call  "extra  hazardous,"  and 
Sam,  who  had  held  the  reins  for  twenty-one  out  of  the  thirty-three  years 
of  his  life,  viewed  it  with  a  certain  gravity.  He  had  shaken  his  head  at  a 
loose  tire,  insisted  on  having  an  extra  brake-shoe  at  Fair])lay,  and  slnir 
his  lips  hard  together  when  he  saw  a  new  and  refractory  nuile  as  neai- 
wheeler. 

A  remarkable  character,  indeed,  was  this  driver,  and  we  listened  \v\t]\ 
growing  interest  to  his  hearty  utterances.  When  he  had  taken  the  trouble 
to  lean  over  and  point  out  to  the  inside  passengers  a  little  house  l)uilt  In* 
some  liardy  miner  away  up  on  the  crest  of  a  peak,  where  it  looked  a  wild 
bird's  nest,  and  the  person  addressed  had  assumed  a  7iU  admirari  manner, 
Sam  remarked,  "  I  come  out  a  small  shaver  twenty-one  years  ago,  aiT  / 
never  knew  the  time  when  1  couldn't  see  soincthin'  worth  lookin'  ;it  in 
them  great  mountains.  It's  a  pity  that  Smart  Aleck  in  thei'e  can't  cross 
them  once  without  bein'  bored.''  And  again,  after  a  jmuse,  ''  (tucss  if 
them  clouds  was  to  drop  on  us  when  we  get  to  the  toj^,  he'd  lind  ont  some- 
thin'  new.     Why,  Pve  had  them  clouds  gather  i-ound  my  coach  up  in  the 


96 


NEW  COLORADO  AND  THE  SANTA  FE  TRAIL. 


FREIGHTING    ON    MOSQUITO    PASS. 


pass  there  so  as  I  was  as  cold  as  Cliristmas — this  time  o'  year,  too — and 
vou  couldn't  see  a  foot.  All  I  could  make  out  was  a  slimmer,  like  a 
miner's  lamp,  hangin'  on  to  the  end  of  my  whip-stock — made  by  the  elec- 
tricity, you  know ;  an'  I  only  knew  where  my  team  was  by  the  pull  on 
the  lines." 


THE   HONEST   MINERS   OF   LEADVILLE.  97 

Tliat's  what  she's  afeered  of  [thus  did  lie,  witli  affectionate  persistence, 
designate  his  wife] — them  clouds  a-droppin'.  When  I  come  in,  on  t'other 
route,  last  winter,  with  both  arms  froze  half-way  up  to  the  elbow,  she  just 
beo:o:ed  me  never  to  take  the  lines  aii'ain — women  is  such  fools  about  a  fel- 
ler,  you  knoAv.  AVhen  I'm  out,  she  just  watches  the  mountains,  an'  if  a 
storm  is  a-comin'  on,  she'll  just  cry  an'  worry  all  night.  So  now,  if  it's 
bad  weather,  I  just  telegraph  her  when  I  get  to  Leadville.  'Tain't  any 
trouble,  you  know  ;  an'  then  she's  satisiied." 

He  had  expressed  himself  somewhat  strongly  at  the  station  where  we 
had  changed  teams,  because  the  wagon  had  not  been  repaired,  and  the  bad 
mule  had  been  thrust  upon  him. 

"She  never  lieerd  me  swear  but  once,"  said  he,  later  on;  "then  it  slip- 
ped out  at  a jayhawker  as  wouldn't  give  me  no  show  to  pass  him  on 

a  narrer  road  down  by  Fairplay." 

As  we  climl)ed  higher  and  higher,  little  animals,  hardly  squirrels  and 
hardly  rabbits,  ran  over  the  rocky  slopes,  puzzling  us  as  to  tlieir  identity, 
until  we  remembered  the  words  of  the  Psalmist,  "  The  high  hills  are  a 
refuse  for  the  wild  stoats,  and  so  are  the  stonv  rocks  for  the  con  tes  "  —for 
such  they  were.  As  the  wind  grew  colder,  the  passengers  buttoned  their 
overcoats  and  wrapped  their  heavy  blankets  around  them,  talking  and 
laughing  as  usual;  but  Sam  sententiously  remarked  that  "if  they  knew 
what  was  ahead  of  'em,  they'd  keep  quiet,  sure."  And  they  knew  in  a 
few  moments,  for  we  reached  the  summit,  from  which  stretched  downward 
with  sharp  turns,  and  on  the  very  edge  of  an  awful  precipice,  the  road, 
hardly  wide  enough  for  the  coach.  The  elderly  gentleman  who  had  seen 
nothing  to  surprise  or  })lease  him  in  tlie  lofty  miner's  cabin,  Jiervously 
dropped  the  canvas  curtain  after  his  first  glance,  and  in  a  few  minutes 
hastily  asked  to  l)e  allowed  to  change  his  seat  to  the  other  side.  ( 'crtain 
demonstrations  made  by  him  during  the  descent  induced  the  drivei-  to  i-e- 
iiiai-k.  latei"  on,  "I  guess,  l)y  the  way  that  Smart  Aleck  hollei-ed  wlieii  we 
swung  round  some  of  them  'cute'  cnrves,  he'd  seen  somethin'  new  tins 
tri]) ;"  and  in  fact  we  heard  the  next  day  that  he  had  indeed  seen  some- 
thing so  new  to  his  experience,  that  he  would  give  all  that  he  ]')ossessed  to 
be  safely  out  of  the  town,  and  once  more  on  the  home  side  of  the  ]);isses. 

Thit  the  drivel'  had  something  else  to  do  tlinii  talk,  now  that  thi'  descent 
h:id  hegnn.  Tlis  eyes  shone  like  diitmonds,  ami  there  was  a  bright  spot  on 
each  cheek,  for  he  saw  the  refractory  mule's  hehavioi-,  and  feh  the  loose 
brake.  The  angles  were  terribly  acute,  and  the  front  feet  of  the  k'ading 
mules  would  seem  to  be  over  the  (nVj^i^  hd'ore  they  wei'e  skilfully  swung 
rouiul.      l-'ortnnately  no  chnids  ''dropped"  on  us.  hut  night  was  fast  eoni- 


98 


NEW   COLORADO  AND   THE   SANTA  FE   TRAIL. 


ing  on,  and  the  wind  blew 
fiercely  over  the  lofty  sum- 
mits, and  each  turn  seemed 


"rocnd  one  ok  them  'cute'  curves." 


more  abrupt,  and  eacli 
stretch  of  road  nar- 
rower and  more  dan- 
gerous, than  the  last. 
It  was  rather  more  interesting  than  reassuring  to  see  the  only  passenger 
who  was  thoroughly  familiar  with  the  pass  quietly  clear  the  wraps  from 
his  feet,  and  make  ready  for  a  possible  spring.  The  situation  was  not 
agreeable,  but  it  was  worse  before  it  was  better ;  for  in  another  minute 
off  came  a  tire,  and  it  was  hardly  hammered  on  when  adverse  fate  again 


THE   HONEST   MINERS   OF   LEADVILLE.  99 


broiio-lit  ns  to  a  halt.  Tlirono-li  tlie  Avhole  drive  we  had  been  meetino- 
great  mule  teams,  the  drivers  riding  one  of  the  M'heelers,  one  hand  on  a 
string  leading  to  the  brake-lever ;  and  now  just  ahead  on  this  narrow  road, 
and  inside,  was  one  of  them. 

"  I  swear,  Jim,  I  believe  I'll  have  to  drive  right  over  je !"  cried  Sam, 
in  despair ;  but  after  a  moment's  deliberation,  and  urged  by  one  of  tlieir 
number,  the  passengers  descended,  and  literally  put  their  shoulders  to  the 
wheel,  not  without  a  mental  reservation  to  the  effect  that  their  contract 
with  the  stage  company  hardly  compelled  them  to  lift  for  dear  life  within 
a  few  inches  of  that  terrible  descent,  at  the  foot  of  which  a  slip  might 
cause  them  to  l)e  found  the  next  day  mangled  and  crushed  past  all  recog- 
nition. And  thus  we  went  on  from  Scylla  to  Charybdis,  for  we  were  be- 
hind time,  and  reached  only  after  dark  the  place  where  the  road  agents 
had  waylaid  the  stage  only  a  few  nights  before.  Well  might  Sam  say, 
"Xever  had  a  drive  like  that  before.  Everything  against  me:  the  l)rake 
bad,  and  the  shoe  not  workin*',  an'  the  tire  comin'  otf  on  the  same  side 
that  the  black  mule  was  on,  an'  the  wagon  draggin'  to  one  side  all  the 
time." 

AVe  had  reached  what  by  comparison  was  level  ground,  but  our  pace 
was  slow,  for  Sam  quietly  told  us  that  there  were  ''as  many  stumps  in 
the  road  as  hairs  on  a  dog's  tail."  The  stage  behind  us  was  actually 
caught  on  one,  and  remained  there  two  hours ;  and  as  we  finally  entered 
the  California  Gulch  of  old  days,  we  thought  of  Mr.  Ilarte's  heroine,  and 
her  pathetic  inquiry : 

"01i,?r^y  did  papa  strike  pay  gravel 
"When  drifting  on  Poverty  Flat?" 

for  although  great  are  Leadville  and  its  carbonates,  the  way  thither  is  in- 
deed a  hard  road  to  travel. 

And  now,  having  seen  this  famous  i)lace,  and  returned  to  a  lower  ele- 
vation, and  carefully  pondered  over  the  matter,  does  the  present  writer  lay 
his  hand  on  liis  heart  and  make  two  solenni  asseverations:  first,  that  tlie 
mines  here  are  extensive,  and  doul>tless  valuable,  and  easily  and  ])r(ifitably 
operated;  and  second,  tliat  Baron  Munchausen,  and  Marco  Polo,  and  tlio 
autlior  (tf  the  "Arabian  Xights,"  must  hide  their  diminislied  heads  in  the 
face  of  tlie  achievements  of  the  special  correspondents  who  have  "  w  rirten 
up  Leadville,"  for  as  romancers  the  last-mentioned  indisputably  caiTv  off 
tlie  ]ialni. 

J-'or  some  years,  begimiing  with  the  s])ring  of  IsCdi,  men  panned  the 
surface  dirt  for  gold  in  Califoi-nia  (iulch,  and  when  it  "petered  out"  they 


loo 


*NE\V   COLORADO   AND   THE   SANTA  FE   TRAIL. 


went  away.  In  1877  it  was  found  tliat  the  now  world-renowned  "  carbo- 
nate belt "  lay  among  tlie  wooded  hills  on  the  east  of  the  Arkansas  Valley. 
In  April,  1878,  an  important  discovery  was  made  on  Fryer  Hill,  and  re- 
sults niay  be  expressed  in  a  few  simple  figures :  In  eighteen  years  this 


RESIDENCE    AT    LEADVILLE. 


county  (Lake)  is  estimated  to  have  produced  in  gold  and  silver  about 
$7,300,000  ;  in  1878  it  produced  al)Out  $3,100,000  ;  and  one  well-informed 
writer  thought  that  in  1879  it  would  produce  something  like  $10,500,000! 
So  easily  handled  are  these  new-fangled  ores  that  this  is  pre-eminently 
the  "  poor  man's  camp,"  and  many  and  great  have  been  the  changes  from 
penury  to  affluence  in  this  region,  although  none  so  picturesque  and 
rounded  off  as  that  narrated  as  happening  at  Eosita.  The  small  store- 
keeper who  "  grub  -  staked "  some  prospectors  is  Lieutenant-Governor  of 
the  State,  and  credited  with  indefinite  millions ;  at  the  recent  wedding  of 


THE   HONEST  MINERS    OF   LEADVILLE.  llJl 

one  of  these  prospectors  Jenkins  fairly  revelled ;  and  a  right-minded  noa- 
veau  riche,,  whom  we  met  on  his  way  back  from  a  quiet  summer  on  the 
Eastern  seaboard,  informed  us  that  while  six  months  before  he  could  not 
iind  a  man  who  would  spare  him  live  dollars,  he  had  lately  been  "presented 
with  three  diamond  ring-s."' 

Mining  camps,  in  the  nature  of  things,  grow  to  towns  and  cities,  as 
boys  grow  to  be  men  ;  but  as  there  are  those  humans  whom  we  declare  to 
be  not  men,  but  overgrown  boys,  so  is  Leadville  not  a  city,  or  a  town,  or 
a  village,  but  an  overgrown  mining  camp.  And  when  one  reads  what  has 
been  said  about  its  actualities  in  this  regard,  he  feels  inclined  to  exclaim  to 
the  writers,  in  the  words  of  one  of  their  brethren,  "  Perhaps  you  fellows 
think  that  there  is  no  hereafter !"  Let  the  reader  picture  to  himself  a  val- 
ley, or  gulch,  through  which  runs  a  stream,  its  banks  rent  and  torn  into 
distressing  unshapeliness  by  the  gulch  miners  of  old  days.  Close  around 
are  hills,  once  wholly,  now  partially,  covered  with  trees,  which,  having 
been  mostly  burned  into  leafless,  sometimes  branchless,  stems,  furnish  sur- 
roundings positively  weird  in  their  desolation.  Around,  at  a  greater  dis- 
tance, rise  lofty  mountains,  and  between  the  town  and  one  of  the  ranges 
flows  the  Arkansas.  Along  a  part  of  the  length  of  two  streets  (six  inches 
deep  in  horrible  dust,  which  one  of  the  local  papers  declares  will  breed 
disease)  are  seen  rows  of  the  typical  far  Western  buildings,  some  large, 
some  few  of  brick,  one  or  two  of  stone,  very  many  small,  very  many  of 
wood.  Outside  of  these  are  mines  and  smelting -works,  smelting -works 
and  mines,  stumps  and  log-cabins,  log-cabins  and  stumps,  ad  infinitum. 

The  Commodore  had  heard  that  an  unfortunate  Eastern  "capitalist," 
dismounting  from  the  stage  some  time  l)efore,  arrayed  in  a  particulai-ly 
elegant  and  voluminous  duster  and  a  high  hat,  and  starting  '•  in  an  airy 
kind  of  way"  to  walk  to  the  hotel,  found  himself  followed  by  a  gradually 
lengthening  single  tile  of  jocular  residents,  all  keeping  step  with  him. 
Fearing  a  similar  fate,  he  had  reluctantly  doffed  tlie  new  leggings  before 
we  started  on  a  tonr  of  inspection.  Traversing  the  principal  street,  and 
ascending  a  liill,  we  came  to  one  of  the  great  mines  of  the  region — tlic 
celebrated  JJttle  Pittsburgh  Consolidated,  of  M'hich  all  the  world  has 
heard,  and  which  may  rightly  be  taken  as  an  exemplar  of  those  carbonate 
properties  which  iiave  puzzled  the  geologists  and  ex])erts,  delighted  the 
workmen  and  smeltei's,  and  eni'iched  the  findei's  and  owners.  Thert'  arc 
many  of  them,  but  one  speciman  may  stand  for  all.  Here,  at  a  very  mod- 
erate depth,  was  a  gj'eat  l)ody  of  mineral  through  which  shafts  and  horizon- 
tal levels  ran,  and  in  marked  contrast  to  the  following  wy  ^^'i  a  \cin  now 
three  feet  and  now  three  inches  wide:  hei'e  the  impiisitive  wanderer  could 


102 


NEW  COLORADO  AND  THE  SANTA  FE  TRAIL. 


■walk  comfortably  around  a  great  block  of  ore,  and  amuse  himself  by  ci- 
phering up  its  cubic  contents.  Only  a  portion  of  the  property  had  pre- 
sumably been  opened  up,  and  yet  of  the  dividends,  was  it  not  written  in 
the  iinancial  columns  ? 

''  But,"  says  the  doubter,  "  I  am  not  sure  that  this  will  all  last.*  Here 
we  are  at  the  bottom  of  the  deposit,  and  large  as  it  is,  there  are  limits 
which  must  ultimately  be  reached  in  four  directions.  Now,  in  the  San 
Juan  country,  you  can  look  wp  in  the  canons  and  see  true  fissure  veins 


A    WALL    STREET    MAN  S    EXPERIENCE    IN    LEADVILLE. 

stretching  for  3000  feet  on  their  sides,  and  know  that  they  go  through  the 
crust  of  the  earth." 

'"  Yes,"  says  another,  "  but  that  ore  is  harder  and  more  expensive  to 
work,  and  the  veins  '  pinch '  (or  contract  to  very  small  dimensions),  and,  as 
the  miners  say, '  you  can't  see  into  them  farther  than  the  end  of  the  pick.' 
I  am  not  sure  but  that  it  is  better  to  buy  a  barrel  full  of  pork,  than  to  buy 
a  barrel  with  the  hope  of  filling  it." 


*  Tlie  collapse  of  the  stock  of  the  company,  in  1880,  ofl'ers  a  curious  commentary 
ou  this  remark. 


THE   HOXEST   MINERS   OF  LEADVILLE. 


103 


And  so  went  on  the  discussion.  It  need  not  be  said  that  the  man  who 
could  solve  the  questions  raised  M'ould  l)e  the  deadliest  bull  or  bear  that 
ever  broke  loose  in  Wall  Street.  Wiser  was  tliat  clear-headed  niinino-  su- 
perintendent  who,  feeling  confident  that  the  deposit  which  he  was  work- 
ing was  underlaid,  at  a  greater  or  less  depth,  by  others,  ordered  a  dia- 
mond drill,  and  declared  that  he  was  "going  for  carbonates  or  China!"  It 
is  to  be  hoped  that  he  fared  better  than  the  Irish  shaft-sinker  who  said, 
when  asked  if  he  were  not  in  litigation,  "  Bedad,  no,  surr ;  sure  I'm  in 
porphyry." 

Amidst  all  this  treasure  the  Colonel  and  the  Commodore  wandered 
like  two  modern  Ali  Babas,  sometimes  talking  witli  the  miners,  and  rather 


SLlilKBAN    SCKNK,  I.KADVILLE. 


overwhelmed  with  the  profusion  of  ''other  ])eople's  money"  al)out  them; 
l)ut  when  tlie  mariner  heai'd  an  cxixM-f,  who  was  chipping  away  at  tlic 
wall  witli  a  little  hammer,  remark,  "Tiiat's  good  goods,"  this  purist  stop- 
j)ed  both  ears,  and  asked  the  way  to  the  nearest  shaft.  Tlicii  we  jour- 
n(,'yed  al)out  the  camp,  exchanging  the  sights  of  the  great  mines,  the  com- 
iModious  luiildings,  and  the  modern  niachinery  for  other  and  strange  oiii's. 
I'ui'suing  a  tortuous  course  between  stumps,  we  brought  up  against  cabins 


104 


NEW  COLORADO  AND  THE  SANTA  FE  TRAIL. 


of  different  degrees  of  newness.  Quaint  signs  invited  the  tliirsty  to 
"  Smile  twice  for  two  l)its,"  and  the  intending  purchasers  of  stores  to 
"  Cook  'em  yourself  !"  A  funeral,  consisting  of  a  hearse,  one  carriage,  and 
a  hrass  hand,  passed  down  the  main  street,  and  men  came  out  to  view  it 
from  the  ecclesiastical-looking  porch  of  a  saloon  actually  called  The  Little 
Church.  Following  another,  or,  ratlier,  the  other,  street  down  parallel 
with  the  gulch,  we  came  to  smelting  establishments  disgorging  red -hut 


LEADVILLE    (iRAVEYARD. 


crucibles  which  took  uj)  half  the  road,  and  compelled  the  teamsters  com- 
ing in  through  strata,  rather  than  clouds,  of  dust  to  turn  out  of  the  way. 
And  our  last  saunter  in  Leadville  brought  us  to  two  startling  sights,  about 
which  there  was  a  terribly  impressive  suggestion  of  cause  and  effect.  AVe 
liad  driven  to  the  point  where  the  picket-line  of  log-shanties,  shaky  and 
mud-bedaubed,  reared  chimneys  economically  constructed  of  old  barrels, 
and  had  hardly  passed  them  when  an  indescribably  dreadful  odor  l)rought 
us  to  a  sudden  halt,  and  it  was  from  a  safe  distance  that  we  looked  on 
multitudinous  heaps,  from  M'hich  blackbirds  were  rising  in  masses,  of  the 
reeking  garbage  of  the  town.  Farther  on,  in  another  direction,  we  came 
uj3on  a  graveyard  which  was  the  very  embodiment  of  grim  desolation.  It 
lay  between  two  frightfully  dusty  roads,  and  the  sulphurous  fumes  from  a 
smelter  near  by  brooded  over  it ;  the  fences  were  broken  down,  and  only 
an  occasional  rail  hung  by  one  end  on  a  tottering  post.  Within  were  a 
few  white-railed  enclosures,  and  only  a  few  inches  apart  rows  on  rows  of 
earth  -  mounds,  and  hundreds,  not  of  head -stones,  but  of  stunted  head- 
boards. It  was  the  very  saddest  of  sights — a  scene  for  the  genius  of  Dore 
himself.     One  could  fancy  the  disembodied  s^^irit  of  the  poor  miner  hov- 


THE   HONEST   MINERS   OF  LEADVILLE.  105 

ering  about  in  vain  longing  for  a  resting-place  for  the  clay  so  lately  ten- 
anted by  it — perhaps  on  some  grassy  slope  in  an  Eastern  State,  or  even  in 
the  wildest  canon ;  and  there  came  back  to  us,  with  strange  signiticance, 
the  words  of  the  herder  away  out  on  the  plains:  "  Leadvillc  ?  why,  that's 
the  fattest  graveyard  yon  ever  see !"' 

In  estimating  the  population  of  this  place,  one  should  remember  what 
John  Phcenix  said  about  that  of  Cairo,  Illinois — that  it  consisted  of  thir- 
teen, but  was  put  at  five  thousand,  because  they  took  the  census  just  when 
five  trains  of  cars  had  arrived  l)efore  a  l)oat  started  for  New  Orleans.  A 
deduction  of  fifty  per  cent,  from  the  average  newspaper  figures  might 
come  near  the  mark,  but  a  "■reliable  o-entleman "  residini>'  there  thouirlit 
even  this  too  high.  Nor  can  the  writer  refrain  from  an  expression  of 
wonder  and  disgust  at  that  morbid  spirit  which  has  wasted  such  power  of 
description  and  comment  on  the  alleged  wickedness  of  Leadville  ;  tlie  plain 
truth  being  that  it  is  just  aljout  as  much  worse  than  any  other  fi-ontier 
mining  camp  as  it  is  larger.  The  gist  of  the  whole  matter  is  that  this  is 
a  wonderful  aggregation  of  human  beings  about  a  wonderful  development 
of  mineral  wealth,  '*  with  all  which  that  implies ;"  that  with  a  little  leisure 
from  their  absorbing  occupations  its  respectable  residents  may  be  trusted 
to  greatly  improve  their  surroundings;  and  that,  besides  making  a  notable 
addition  to  the  wealth  of  the  country,  it  lias  done  good  service  in  advertis- 
ing Colorado  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.  Onr  last  recollections  thereof  are 
connected  with  the  conversation  between  an  honest  miner  and  a  pompous 
new-comer,  who  was  walking  down  the  street. 

"  Mister,  how  much  do  you  ask  for  it  ?" 

"For  what,  sir  f '  (in  a  deep  bass  voice). 

"  Why,  the  town.     I  supposed  you  owned  it." 

To  Leadville,  Central  City  and  adjacent  towns  are  as  the  old  to  the 
new.  To  reach  them,  one  goes  by  the  way  of  (lolden,  from  Denver, 
throngli  the  Clear  Creek  canon,  beloved  of  ])hotographers,  and  n\)  the 
north  fork  of  said  creek.  As  far  as  Black  Ilawk,  the  ini])udent  little  nar- 
row-gauge nnid  has  oidy  taken  a  stee])  ui)ward  grade,  and  wound  around 
curves  in  the  manner  conmion  to  these  parts,  but  here  something  else 
must  be  done.  Towering  on  hills  above  are  many  repetitions  of  the  mills, 
houses,  and  shops  below;  indeed,  they  seem  continuous  for  miles;  but  how 
to  reach  that  pai'ticulai-  division  thereof  which  is  called  CentraH     Clearly 

"  Facilis  descensus     *     *     * 
Scd  revocare  gnidiini 
Ilic  labor,  hoc  opus  est ;" 


106  NEW  COLORADO  AND  THE  SANTA  FE  TRAIL. 

a  statement,  however,  wliicli  Yirgil  would  liave  modified  could  lie  have 
known  a  Colorado  engineer.  Hoc  opus  est,  indeed.  The  train  runs 
tln'ough  or  by  the  station,  and  some  distance  up  a  gulch ;  then  a  switch  is 
changed,  and  it  is  pushed  back,  over  Black  Hawk,  at  a  considerable  height, 
and  up  the  side  of  the  mountain  at  the  south.  Once  again  it  runs  ahead, 
and  concludes  its  climbing  at  the  station  in  the  town  with  as  much  mod- 
esty as  if  it  had  not  made  its  way  up  3000  feet  in  twenty-five  miles.  At 
first  sight  Central  seems  set  amidst  unlovely  surroundings,  the  hills  having 
been  quite  stripi3ed  of  trees  and  covered  with  gray  "  dump-heaps  ;*"  but  a 
short  stay  develoj)s  a  home-like  sentiment.  The  hotel  is  of  brick ;  the 
churches,  the  schools,  and  opera-houses  of  granite.  Perched  fairly  on  top 
of  each  other,  on  the  almost  perpendicular  hill-sides,  are  comfortable  little 
houses,  in  which  dwell  not  only  "honest  miners,"  but  IT.  S.  Senators  as 
well.  Here,  twenty  years  ago,  John  H.  Gregory  found  the  first  of  that  gold 
which  has  poured  out  in  a  steady  and  increasing  stream  ever  since.  Fort- 
unes have  been  lost  as  well  as  made ;  unsuccessful  and  terribly  exjDensive 
experiments  have  been  tried,  and  many  wrecks  are  strewn  around ;  but  not 
only  does  the  Pactolian  flood  flow  on  more  freely  than  ever,  but  the  ground 
on  the  opposite  side  of  Xorth  Clear  Creek  has  been  found  to  be  rich  in 
silver.  Old  shafts,  abandoned  by  disappointed  Eastern  companies,  are  now 
successfully  woi*ked  by  local  lessees ;  the  stamp-mills  are  running  and  en- 
riching their  owners ;  and  people  have  come  down  to  "  hard  pan  "  or  "  bed 
rock."  New  findings,  "  lionanzas,"  and  "  lucky  strikes  "  in  various  quarters 
have  drawn  off  nearly  all  the  floating  and  most  of  the  rough  element ;  the 
revolver  is  put  away  in  its  case ;  and,  as  just  stated,  the  church  is  of 
stone. 

Driving  across  Bellevue  Mountain  and  down  Yirginia  Cailon  to  Idaho 
Springs,  one  may  take  the  train  for  Georgetown,  shut  in  on  South  Clear 
Creek  by  lofty  mountains,  and  "  solid  for  silver ;"  and  then  returning,  thread- 
ing the  famous  canon  of  the  Vasquez,  and  passing  between  the  Table  Moun- 
tains, approach  the  bustling  little  aggressive  metropolis,  Denver,  which  its 
inhabitants  proudly  call  the  Queen  City  of  the  Plains.  Its  distinctive 
character  is  fast  disajjpearing — as  the  street-cars  run  through  the  streets 
occupied  not  many  years  ago  by  ox -teams  and  bands  of  ration  -  seeking 
Indians — ^Ijut  progress  is  in  the  right  direction.  A  commercial  city,  and 
attracting,  from  the  first,  even  a  more  miscellaneous  jjopulation  than  the 
mining  centres,  there  have  been  times  when  it  was  by  no  means  a  jileasant 
residence  for  a  person  of  delicate  nerves,  but  now  law  and  order  are  as 
powerful  as  in  most  Western  cities  of  its  size. 

In  a  work  now  out  of  print,  but  written  with  a  delightfid  force  and  vi- 


THE   HONEST  MINERS   OF  LEADVILLE.  107 

vacity,  the  author,  a  Colorado  journalist,  says,  after  speaking  of  the  ^ood 
order  in  the  mining  regions  (italics  are  ours) : 

''In  Denver  it  was  not  so  quiet,  although  the  worst  days  of  that  town 
would  not  begin  to  justify  the  hideous  and  altogether  fictitious  jnctut-e 
given  of  it  by  William  Ilepworth  Dixon,  A.D.  1860." 

To  prove  this  assertion  come  the  following  statements :  "  Subsequently, 
ruffians,  gamblers,  and  thieves  overran  the  town,  and  no  mail's  life  or 
property  icas  safe.  *  *  *  There  was  a  man,  or  fiend,  named  Charley  Har- 
rison, who  boasted  that  he  had  a  jury  in  h — 1,  sent  there  by  his  own  hand ! 
He  was  the  king  of  the  desperadoes.  One  day  he  deliberately  shot  to 
death  a  negro,  we  suppose  for  being  a  negro.  *  *  -  It  may  interest  the 
gentle  reader  to  know  that,  on  the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil  War,  these 
th  ugs  ardently  embraced  the  Southern  cause.  Keturning  from  Richmond 
in  the  spring  of  1863,  with  Confederate  commissions  in  their  pockets,  they 
were  captured  l)y  a  band  of  wild  Indians  in  the  Osage  country  and  their 
lieads  cut  oif.  They  died.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  Harrison  is  having  a 
good  time  down  helow  with  his  jury  !  -  -  *  One  man,  named  Gordon, 
seems  to  have  taken  Harrison  for  his  exemplar.  ^'  *  *  He  fell  \\\^o\\  a 
barkeeper  named  Gantz  and  *  *  *  succeeded  in  shooting  hiui  through 
the  head.  Gantz  died.  Gordon  ran  away."  And  now  comes  the  turn  of 
the  tide,  for  "  Sheriff  Middaugh  followed  him  into  the  Cherokee  country 
more  than  five  hundred  miles,  caught  him,  and,  in  spite  of  the  most  frantic 
efforts  of  a  mad  Leavenworth  mob  to  release  him — inhether  for  the  piir- 
j)0se  of  hanging  or  letting  him  escape  we  have  forgotten — brought  liijn  back 
to  Denver.    He  was  tried  by  a  people's  court,  found  guilty,  and  hanged." 

In  the  face  of  these  and  other  sketches — by  a  local  artist,  be  it  remem- 
bered— Mr.  Dixon  must  stand  abashed. 

Xear  Denver  are  the  Boston  and  Colorado  Smeltino:-works,  the  estab- 
lishment 7J>ar  excellence  of  its  kind  in  the  United  States;  here  in  the  nu- 
merous and  busily  occupied  banks  does  the  successful  miner  deposit  his 
gains ;  here  does  the  hirsute  mountain-dweller  don  the  garb  of  civilization, 
and  procure  a  "shave"  and  a  "shine;"  and  here  does  the  whilom  grub- 
staker  and  present  milliomiaire  purchase  his  corner  lot,  and  rear  his  lofty 
business  l)l(K.'k  and  connnodious  dwelling.  The  successful  prospector, 
when  the  horizon,  so  long  contracted  for  him,  at  last  expands,  is  generally 
content  with  less. 

"I'm  goin'  to  have  my  first  real  square  meal,  l)oys,"  said  oui'.  exhiliit- 
\Vi%  seven  hoxes  of  sardines  ^  and  then,  wiili  his  eyes  kindling,  "  You  l)et 
1*111  a-going  to  New  York,  and  Til  have  a  carriage  driv'  by  a  nigger  with  a 
hug  on  his  hat .'" 


lOS  NEW   COLORADO   AND   THE   SANTA   FE   TRAIL., 

As  the  Colonel  and  the  Commodore  sat,  after  the  manner  of  the  place, 
in  chairs  on  the  sidewalk  of  Larimer  Street,  in  front  of  the  hotel,  the 
former  asked,  "  Do  you  not  find,  oh  Commodore,  an  answering  chord  in 
your  breast  to  the  emotions  which  stir  yon  sturdy  man  whom  we  met 
last  night,  who  had  unloaded  on  the  gentle  capitalist,  and  sees  vistas  of 
wealth  and  luxury  before  him  ?" 

"  To  me,"  replied  the  Commodore,  sententiously,  "  the  hardy  gold- 
seeker  appeals  more  powerfully  than  the  gold -tinder.  About  him,  what 
wealth  of  rugged  picturesqueness  ^ — what  symmetry  —  what  intensity  — 
Hello !  by  Jove,  there  are  our  burros,  after  all !  I  was  afraid  that  scamp 
had  gone  back  on  us." 

The  Colonel  sadly  rose  to  his  feet  and  walked  around  the  corner, 
whereon  stood  a  lemonade  stand. 

"Wherefore  lemonade  f  he  asked  of  the  attendant.  "Surely  this  is 
at  variance  with  the  traditions  of  the  Far  West." 

"  Oh,"  replied  the  native,  half  apologetically,  half  contemjituously, 
"it's  a  kind  o'  hahit  they've  got  into." 

A  little  farther  on  a  gentleman  in  a  wire  hat,  nankeen  trousers,  and 
cloth  shoes,  accosted  him,  and  softly  asked,  "AVas  you  a-thinkin',  sir,  of 
investin'  in  mines  ?"  His  hand  fumbled  nervously  at  papers  in  his  coat 
pocket ;  but  the  Colonel  looked  him  kindly  in  the  eye,  and  deliberately  an- 
swered, "  My  friend,  I  am  not  a  tender-foot.     I  have  '  been  there  before  I'  " 


THE   TOURIST.  109 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE   TOURIST. 

T"  MET  the  Maiiitou  stage  one  pleasant  morning  on  its  way  from  the 
-■-  train  to  the  Springs  and  tlie  hotels,  and  had  several  minutes'  view  of  a 
number  of  travel-worn  linen  dusters  and  expectant  faces. 

"  To  how  many  of  those  people,"  I  asked  of  my  veiy  intelligent  com- 
panion, "will  their  first  impressions  on  alighting  be  of  disappointment, 
pure  and  simple  V 

"  To  at  least  nineteen  -  twentieths,"  was  the  re])ly  of  this  gentleman ; 
and  he  was  undoubtedly  quite  right. 

It  is  a  misfortune  to  a  region,  great  or  small,  to  have  been  overpraised 
and  too  much  "  written  up,"  and  it  is  this  which  has  happened  to  Colo- 
rado. In  some  cases  people  have  undoubtedly,  for  one  reason  or  another, 
said  that  about  the  country  and  its  characteristics  which  they  knew  to  be 
untrue  or  exaggerated ;  in  others,  some  of  those  who  are  gifted  with  a 
keen  and  absorbing  appreciation  of  its  peculiar  and  subtle  delights,  and 
rare  power  in  descril)ing  their  own  impressions  thereof,  have  given  vent 
to  their  feelings.  The  latter  might  say  that  they  must  not  be  held  re- 
sjionsible  for  the  deficiencies  of  their  readers,  l)ut  tlicy  Ikivo  undoubtedly 
aided  in  making  up  that  unliap])y  nineteen-twentieths.  ( )f  tliese  disap- 
jjointed  people,  again,  it  nnist  clearly  be  said  tliat  many  may,  after  all,  timl 
the  country  growing  upon  them — but  the  fact  of  the  original  tlisappoint- 
ment  is  an  unmistakable  one. 

In  (»nc  of  the  following  cases  persons  may  be  advised  and  encouraged 
to  expend  the  time  and  money  needful  to  make  the  journey  to  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  and  remain  long  enough  in  the  (V'ntennial  State  to  enable 
them  to  study  it : 

J.   If  they  have  pi'esent  oi*  prosjK'ctive  business  interests. 

2.  If  they  are  in  ill-health,  and  if  (let  the  ])roviso  be  heeded)  liny  haxc 
inrelligently  satisfied  themselves  tliat  tlu^  ])robabilities  are  in  la\or  of  the 
climate  proving  beneficial  to  them. 

3.  If  the\-  an;    enthusiastic  devotccs  of  some    of   the   .•sciences  for    the 


110 


NEW  COLOKADO  AND  THE  SANTA  FE  TRAIL. 


study  of  whicli  there 
is  here  such  a  grand 
Held. 

4.  If  they  are  gen- 
uine lovers  of  moun- 
tains. 

5.  If,  "witliout  be- 
ing  altogether   such 

overs,  they  sincerely 
desire  to  study  this 
great    country,    and 


may  expect  to  experience  a 
ffrowine:  decree  at  least  of  the 
fascination  which  the  very  at- 
mosphere of  the  Far  West  has 
for  some  people. 

If,  as  is  often  the  case,  one 
can  combine  two  or  more  of 
these  conditions,  the  induce- 
ment to  go  will  be  propor- 
tionately increased. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  j^eople  will  not  intelligently  inquire  about  a  pos- 
sible destination  ;  if  they  will  delude  themselves  into  expecting  to  discover 
paradise,  or  the  gardens  of  the  Hesperides,  or  the  fountain  of  Ponce  de 


MAMTOC — PIKE  S    PEAK. 


THE  TOURIST.  Ill 

Leon,  between  the  thirtj-seventli  and  forty-first  degrees  of  north  hititnde, 
and  the  tAventy-fifth  and  thirtj-second  meridians  of  longitude  west  from 
Washington,  they  will  find  out  their  mistake.  If  they  want  the  pleasures 
of  Xewport  and  Saratoga,  by  all  means  let  them  go  to  those  well-known 
and  charming  places,  and  not  look  for  such  things  in  a  State  where  there 
are  probably  less  than  two  inhabitants  to  the  square  mile.  And,  finally, 
if  they  be  grumbling,  discontented,  imperfectly  deyeloped  trayellers,  let 
them,  in  the  name  of  common-sense,  stay  at  home. 

IS^ow  the  Colonel  and  the  Commodore,  already  so  conspicuous  in  these 
pages,  had  mounted  their  ridiculous -looking  burros,  Montezuma  and  Es- 
meralda, and  were  trayersing  a  certain  canon,  when  the  Colonel  deliyered 
himself  of  the  sentiments  just  laid  down,  and  was  going  on  to  explain  how 
much  he  himself  admired  the  country,  and  how  it  grew  upon  many  people, 
even  if  they  were  not  enthusiastic  at  first,  when  the  Commodore,  Aylio  was 
as  yet  unacclimated,  and  breathed  with  difficulty,  and  was  generally  out  of 
sorts,  said  that  "  he  couldn't  see  it."  And  then  the  Colonel  quoted  the 
Autocrat,  and  serenely  replied,  "  I  know  that  you  can't,  mj-  dear  Connno- 
dore ;  hut  you  jyi'ove  it.'''' 

And  so  it  was,  for  a  few  days  saw  this  nayal  worthy  restored  to  his  ac- 
customed spirits,  and  the  one  glass  fitted  to  his  eye  with  its  wonted  jaunti- 
ness,  and  his  appetite  as  much  a  terror  to  landlords  as  eyer.  He  began  to 
show  a  keen  appreciation  of  the  picturesque,  and  it  was  only  his  antipathy 
to  hard  work  which  induced  him  to  spitefully  rei)ly,  \\\\q\\  some  one  re- 
marked that  after  his  inyestigations  among  sheep-owners  he  knew  enough 
to  carry  on  a  sheep  ranch  himself,  "I  know  enough  not  toT 

Of  course  we  went  to  Manitou,  for  eyery  one  goes  thither.  It  is  called 
the  "Saratoga  of  the  West" — an  appellation  wliich  pleases  Manitou  and 
does  not  hurt  Saratoga.  There  are  some  baths  and  some  mineral  springs 
there;  and  the  qualities  of  the  latter  can  be  learned  by  the  curious  from 
the  pamphlet  written  by  Dr.  S.  E.  Solly,  of  Colorado  Springs.  Tlie  re- 
sponsibilities of  the  place  seemed  to  be  shared  by  a  colored  brother  of  ya- 
ried  accomplishments  and  great  command  of  language,  and  a  fine  specimen 
of  the  great  Xortli  American  hotel  clerk.  Wishing  to  realize  the  repro- 
duction of  the  gay  life  of  Saratoga  at  the  foot  of  Pike's  Peak,  we  asked 
the  former  about  the  prospects  of  a  "■hop;"  and  his  reply  reminded  us  of 
the  man's  statement  that  he  had  a  match,  aiul  if  he  only  had  a  ]>ij)e  and 
tobacco,  he  could  haye  a  smoke,  for  he  exclaimed,  with  great  enthusiasm, 

"  Oh  yes,  boss — yah,  yah  ! — dat's  easy  enough.  We'll  have  lots  of  fus'- 
rate  hops.  Jus'  you  get  de  music,  an'  de  ladies  an'  gen'lemcn,  an'  1  can 
call  de  dances  bully — you  hct !" 


112 


NEW   COLORADO   AND   THE   SANTA   FE   TRAIL. 


The  latter,  with  a  lof tj  su])eri- 
ority,  stigmatized  lis  as  "  tender- 
feet,"  but  we  found  that  he  was 
only  sayino;,  "  You're  another,"  for 
his  own  stay  in  tlie  country  liad 
been  brief  in  the  extreme. 

Ev^erybody,  or  nearly  everybody, 
ascends  Pike's  Peak,  but  we  did  not 
do  so,  because  the  Commodore  dis- 
covered that  Montezuma's  spirit  was 
willing,  but  his  flesh  was  weak. 

Manitou  is  a  "health  resort,"  as 
are  several  other  places  in  Colorado  ; 
and  it  may  briefly  be  said,  and  with 
all  seriousness,  that  the  Centennial 
State,  while  it  is  no  more  of  a  cure- 
all  than  the  j^atent  nostrums  of  the 
period,  can  indeed  afford  relief,  ami 
life  itself,  to  many  a  forlorn  and  de- 
spairing sufferer.  "  Words,"  says 
the  Chinese  proverb,  '*  may  deceive, 
but  the  eye  cannot  play  the  rogue  ;" 
and  one  may  see  men  and  women 
walking  about,  and  using  and  enjoy- 
ing life,  who  long  ago,  if  they  had 
stayed  in  the  East,  would  have,  in 
Western  parlance,  "gone  over  the 
range,"  or  joined  the  great  major- 

"  Why,  they  keep  me  here  for 
an  example  of  the  effects  of  the 
climate,"  said  a  worthy  and  busy 
man  at  Colorado  Springs.  "  I  came 
here  from  Chicago  on  a  mattress." 

And  so  did  many  others,  and  so 
may  many,  many  more,  if  they  will 
only  display  ordinary  connnon-sense, 
and  heed  a  few  plain  Avords  of  advice,  which  will  surely  have  the  endorse- 
ment of  those  who  know  tlie  country  well. 

They  should,  firstly,  on  no  possible  account  (and  this  caution  is  disre- 


AN    ILLUSTRATIVE    POKM. 


THE   TOURIST. 


113 


TUK    MI.S.-1U.\A1;V    Ul-     MKKO.NKMA, 


garded  every  day),  think  of  coming  until  tliey  have  sent  to  sonic  respecta- 
ble, responsil)le,  and  experienced  physician,  resident  in  Colorado,  not  their 
<»\vn  cniik-  ideas  of  their  condition,  l)nt  a  diagnosis  pre})ared  l>y  a  doctor 
who  knoM's  them  well.  They  should,  secondly,  make  up  their  minds  tliat 
the  climate  may  arrest  disease  without  curing  it,  and  tliat  a  [ici-maiu'iit 
residence  may  Ije  indispensahle. 

Tlioy  should,  thirdly,  he  prepared  for  a  careful  life,  lai'gi'ly  oiit-door, 
and  abandon,  once  for  all,  any  ideas  of  the  working  of  mirack's  in  their 
cases,  or  of  the  propriety  of  disregarding  the  great  laws  of  health  in  Colo- 
rado any  more  than  in  New  York  or  iMempliis.  This  subject  will  be 
found  treated  at  length  in  a  later  cha})ter. 


114  NEW  COLORADO  AND  THE   SANTA   FE  TEAIL. 

If  we  did  not  go  np  Pike's  Peak,  we  did  go  to  Cheyenne  Canon  and 
over  the  Cheyenne  Mountain  ''toll-road."  There  are  canons  and  caiions, 
and,  especially  as  the  country  is  explored  and  opened  up,  the  difference 
between  many  of  them  is  largely  in  the  matter  of  accessibility ;  bnt  Chey- 
enne holds,  on  all  accounts,  a  high  place.  At  the  level  spot  where  one 
leaves  his  horse  or  burro  we  found  a  poetical  sign,  and  complying  with  the 
invitation  thereon  contained,  entered  a  neat  tent,  and  engaged  the  family 
who  furnished  the  refreshments  in  familiar  converse.  They  had  left 
Massachusetts  not  very  long  ago,  and  the  young  girl  who  attended  to  the 
egg -boiling  department  seemed  contented  enough,  and  took  kindly  to 
canon  climbing ;  but  paterfamilias,  when  asked  if  he  liked  Colorado  better 
than  his  old  home,  replied,  with  vehemence,  " Better?  I  rather  guess  not. 
I'd  sooner  live  on  red  herrings  there  than  stay  here." 

The  Commodore  seemed  rather  loath  to  leave  this  domestic  scene,  but 
when  once  off,  he  crossed  and  recrossed  the  canon  on  narrow  and  preca- 
rious logs  with  the  skill  bred  of  his  profession.  Reaching  the  "  seven 
falls,"  one  can  feel  rewarded  for  the  fatigues  of  the  ascent,  and  see  a  strik- 
ing vista  of  the  plains,  framed  by  the  abrupt  walls  of  the  gorge.  Then 
we  ascended  the  remarkable  toll-road  constructed  over  the  end  of  Chey- 
enne Mountain,  and  away  up  and  back  among  the  peaks.  How  far  it  goes 
we  failed  to  discover,  but  we  had  on  our  trip  an  experience  worth  record- 
ing. Stopping  at  a  very  rough  log  -  cabin,  we  asked  a  plainly  -  dressed 
woman  if  she  could  give  us  something  to  eat.  She  cheerfully  assented; 
and  while  preparing,  watli  some  pleasant  apologies  for  its  scantiness,  a 
meal  wdiich  we  thought  must  have  nearly  exhausted  her  supplies,  she 
talked  to  us ;  and  it  was  with  a  curious  realization  of  a  strange  and  sharp 
contrast  that  we  heard  her  quiet  statement  that  she,  with  no  companions 
but  another  woman,  who  had  "  gone  berrying,"  and  a  little  boy,  was  camp- 
ing there  for  her  health,  and  that  she  was  a  missionary  fpom  Micronesia^ 
resting  on  her  long  vacation  journey  to  Illinois !  Her  husband  was  still  at 
his  post,  and  she  had  come  alone  all  the  weary  distance — across  the  Pa- 
cific, from  San  Francisco  to  Cheyenne,  and  down  to  Colorado — and  we 
could  see  the  patient,  enduring  look  in  her  eyes,  suggesting  a  concentra- 
tion on  the  straight  line  of  Duty,  rather  than  day-dreams — away  up  in  the 
Sierra  Madre,  9000  feet  above  the  sea — of  the  tropical  verdure,  and  the 
sunlit,  dancing  waves  of  the  blue  Pacific,  and  the  coral  reefs  far  off  on  the 
equator.  When  we  offered  to  pay  for  our  refreshments,  she  declined,  with 
a  kindly  dignity,  and  asked  us  to  do  something  for  the  next  person  whom 
we  might  find  in  need  of  helj). 

Facilis  descensus — which  means  that  the  Commodore  made  better  time 


THE  TOURIST. 


115 


GKANU    CANON    OF    TllK    AKKA.NSAS. 


down  the  road  than  np,  T>nt  it  was  a  terrihlc  j)u11,  and  Idiind  liiin  tiitd 
and  lii]nfi;ry  enoiigli  at  the  close;  and  it  was  witli  nioi'e  than  his  usual  <'yni- 
cism  that  he  turned  to  tlie  Colonel  at  the  liotel  tnliic  and  said, 

"Saratoga  of  the  West,  do  you  call  it  ^     How  is  this  for  an  cntrtc — 


IIG  NEW  COLORADO  AND  THE  SANTA  FE  TEAIL. 

'  Mush  and  Milk  V  And  I  wonder  wlio  superintends  the  French  depart- 
ment.    Look  here  !" 

But  the  Colonel,  remembering  the  old  Salem  merchant  and  the  name 
of  his  ship,  softly  asked,  "  If  m-o-r-a-n-g  don't  sjDell  meringue,  what  on 
airth  do  it  spell  ?" 

As  we  stood  at  the  railway  station  in  the  morning,  and  our  colored 
brother  saw  two  or  three  tall  men  between  him  and  the  trunks  on  the  one 
side,  and  the  baggage-car  on  the  other,  we  heard  him  cry  out,  "  Don-  look 
so  large  dere,  gentlemen.     Look  small — yah,  yah  ! — look  small,  please." 

On  another  pleasant  afternoon  our  train  rolled  slowly  up  the  valley  of 
the  Arkansas,  and  came  to  a  halt  at  Caiion  City.  ILilf  an  hour  later  we 
sat  on  a  platform-car  away  up  in  the  Grand  Canon,  or  Koyal  Gorge.  Two 
thousand  feet  above  us  rose  the  mighty  rock  barriers  (they  call  them,  for 
the  beneiit  of  tourists,  and  with  a  curious  nicety  of  exaggeration,  three 
thousand  and  nineteen).  The  train  was  backed  into  just  the  position  to 
giv^e  the  Commodore  the  view  which  he  desired ;  and,wliile  he  was  draw- 
ing, the  rest  of  us  made  an  attempt  to  attain  to  some  adequate  concejDtion 
of  the  grandeur  and  majesty  of  those  great  red  walls,  seamed  and  furrow- 
ed from  top  to  bottom.  Li  certain  places  trees  grew  on  the  top,  and  down 
to  the  very  edges  of  the  chasm,  and  at  intervals  immense  lateral  gorges 
opened  out.  As  we  turned  back  the  moon  appeared,  and  her  pale  light 
streamed  down  only  far  enough  into  this  pathway  of  the  mammoths  to 
emphasize  the  deep  shadows  below.  As  we  finally  emerged  into  the  open 
valley  we  perceived  that  the  authorities  had  chosen  this  very  spot  for  the 
erection  of  a  fine  penitentiary — perhaps  to  enforce  the  contrast  between 
the  works  of  ]S^ature  and  those  of  men,  or  to  qualify  the  tourist's  pleasure 
l)y  reminders  of  what  comes  (adopting  the  Western  standard)  to  fiends  in 
human  shape  who  steal  mules,  and  poor  fellows  who  only  send  their  fel- 
low-men into  the  next  world. 

Through  this  great  canon  comes,  from  its  birthplace  away  up  in  the 
mountains,  the  Arkansas.  Up  to  within  a  few  months  no  human  being 
had  passed  through  it  except  on  the  ice  in  winter ;  the  workmen  were 
actually  lowered  down  from  above  to  drill  the  holes  for  blasting ;  and  in 
one  place  a  longitudinal  bridge  has  been  hung  from  strong  iron  beams, 
stretched  like  ridge-timbers  across  the  chasm ;  but  Leadville  is  near  the 
valley  of  the  upper  river,  and  this  is  one  of  those  longest  roads  around 
which  are  the  shortest  roads  home.  Probably  before  these  pages  are  in 
type  the  Grand  Canon  will  be  shnply  Section  Xo.  So-and-so  of  Division 
Ko.  Such-a-one,  and  the  Express  Train  ]^o.  1  will  have  the  right  of  way 
through  over  Local  Freight  No.  17,  and  passengers  will  be  thinking  more 


THE  TOURIST.  117 

of  tlieir  chances  of  "striking  carbonates"  than  of  "what  God  hath 
wronght "  around  and  above  them. 

The  observant  vacation  tourist  will  naturally  interest  himself  in  the 
growing  industries  of  the  new  State,  aside  from  those  connected  with  the 
absorbing  demands  of  gold  and  silver  mining.  lie  may  not  see  much  of 
the  business  of  stock-raising,  already  described  in  these  pages,  but  without 
leaving  the  main  routes  of  travel  he  will  observe  collieries,  lire-brick  works 
(Golden,  on  Clear  Creek,  is  quite  a  miniature  Pittsburgh),  grist-mills,  saw- 
mills, paper-mills,  cheese  factories,  and  other  enterprises,  and  he  will  in- 
quire about  farming.  Knowing  what  prices  are  paid  in  the  mining  camps 
for  food  for  those  thousands  of  busy  and  hungry  men,  and  their  equally 
busy  and  hungry  beasts,  and  hearing  about  the  surety  and  adaptability  of 
in-igation,  he  will  very  likely  think  the  Colorado  farmer  a  person  to  be 
envied.     Let  him  listen,  then,  to  the  story  of  an  "  old  tinier :" 

"  I  was  mining  up  Central  City  way  one  day,  and  there  come  along  an 
old  chap  with  onions  to  sell.  You  bet  we  was  glad  to  get  vegetables  about 
then.  They  were  as  small  and  mean  onions  as  you  ever  saw,  but  I  was 
bound  to  have  a  dozen,  and  he  charged  me  a  dollar  and  a  half.  Well,  sir, 
I  didn't  say  nothing,  but  I  just  allowed  that  farming  must  be  an  everlast- 
ing sight  better  business  than  mining,  and  I'd  better  go  into  it  myself. 
So  I  quit  my  claim  and  struck  a  likely  kind  of  a  ranch,  and  hired  a  Dutch- 
man at  one  hundred  dollars  a  month  to  take  charge,  and  I  skipped  out 
East  for  seed.  It  took  a  long  time  then  to  go  and  come,  and  when  I  come 
back,  first  thing  I  saw  was  an  old  fellow  ploughing  in  my  field.  Then,  when 
I  com.e  to  the  house,  I  saw  some  one  had  jumped  that.  There  was  a  widow 
woman  from  Georgia  had  moved  in  and  was  living  there,  and  I  sung  out 
that  that  was  all  right,  and  I  hoped  she'd  take  her  time  and  make  herself 
quite  at  home,  but  that  I  had  a  sort  of  an  idea  that  that  was  my  house. 
AVell,  I  got  things  all  straightened  out,  and  my  vegetables  began  to  come 
up.  And  one  day  Jim  Ewell,  a  sort  of  inai'kct-nian,  come  along  and  stop- 
ped to  dinner,  and  had  a  cigar  on  tlic  ])iazza,  and  I  knew  that  la*  was  count- 
ing the  cabbages  in  one  of  my  fields;  and  tlu-n  says  lu", '  Joe,  I  must  have 
them  cabbages,'  and  he  offered  me  ^1800  for  the  lot,  and  I  took  him  up. 
and  he  pulled  out  a  bag  of  gold-dust;  but  I  didn't  want  it  in  the  liousi". 
and  I  told  him  to  put  it  in  tlie  bank,  and  give  me  a  check  when  he  liked, 
and  to  send  for  those  cabbages  any  time.  And  when  he'd  gone  I  sat 
smoking,  and  with  the  fumes  of  the  tobacco  came  visions  of  wealth.  AVIiy, 
at  that  rate,  there  was  $30,<»0<t  good  in  that  ci-oi),  and  1  hegan  t(»  i'ei'l  taii;/, 
tonij,  sir,  I  tell  you.  And  as  I  kej)t  on  suioking.  tlu'  sun  was  kind  of  ob- 
scured, and  I  looked  up  over  Table  ^lountain,  and  saw  a  (pieer  kind  (•! 


118  NEW  COLORADO  AND  THE  SANTA  FE  TRAIL. 

a  cloud ;  and  wliile  I  was  looking,  ont  come  the  sun,  and  the  air  was  full 
of  millions  of  diamond  points,  just  shint'dlating,  sltinfillating,  sir,  I  tell 
jou.  And  what  was  it  ?  Grasshoppers'  wings  !  And  they  settled  down, 
some  inches  deep,  on  my  ranch,  and  the  next  day,  out  of  my  $30,000  worth, 
I  had — one  hatful  of  lettuce  that  was  under  glass!  And  when  I  went 
down  to  Denver  some  time  afterward,  the  boys  asked  me  to  supper ;  and 
they'd  put  uj^  a  job  on  me,  and  got  a  jeweller  to  help  them,  and  the  chair- 
man made  a  speech,  and  give  me  a  coat-of-arms,  and  it  wasn't  nothing  but 
a  grasshopper  rampantP 

Rampant  indeed  was  this  terrible  insect,  and  a  most  effective  "  evener 
up  "  of  jjrofits  and  losses.  It  is  understood  that  he  is  not  as  much  feared 
as  formerly,  and  that  the  crops  can  be  protected  —  a  consummation  de- 
voutly to  be  wished. 

A  part  of  one's  vacation  can  be  profitably  employed  in  observation  of 
the  social  and  domestic  life  of  the  State.  Colorado  homes  are  of  many 
kinds,  from  the  handsome  brick  or  stone  house  of  the  Denver  banker  to 
the  adobe-plastered,  earth-roofed  log-cabin,  the  hut  of  boughs,  the  tent, 
even  the  caves  of  the  miner  or  the  poor  stockman.  Of  comfortable  and 
often  aesthetic  residences  there  are  more  in  proportion  in  Colorado  Springs 
than  in  an}"  other  place,  owing  to  the  facts  that  many  cultured  people  liave 
come  thither  for  their  health,  and  that  the  colony  organization  has  done 
much  to  improve  and  adorn  the  town.  The  "  little  rift  in  the  lute,"  in 
the  line  character  of  the  average  "  old  timer,"  is  his  indifference  not  merely 
to  some  of  the  con'oenances  of  life,  but  also  to  those  sanitary  precautions 
and  regulations  which  are  becoming  indispensable  in  this  age ;  and  he  is 
too  apt  to  say  that  things  "are  good  enough  for  him,"  and  to  put  too 
much  faith  in  the  power  of  the  dry  air.  That  a  fine  old  pioneer,  for  in- 
stance, whose  horse  had  fallen  and  died  in  the  road,  should,  because  the 
carcass  was  inoffensive,  lay  out  new  wheel  tracks  at  the  side,  rather  than 
move  it,  must  surprise  most  peoj)le.  Nor  is  the  cuisine  all  that  can  be 
desired ;  and  this,  too,  from  apparent  carelessness  rather  than  the  want  of 
ample  facilities  for  good  living ;  and  in  some  places  the  water,  alkaline  or 
otherwise  unpleasant,  will  not  prove  satisfactory.  Churches  abound,  and 
worshippers  too,  and  some  faithful  early  leaders  have  sown  good  seed. 
Clergymen  adapted  to  the  country  find  their  hands  held  uj),  and  have 
many  interested  and  intelligent  parishioners. 

"Do  you  know  the  Rev.  Mr.  X ?"  was  asked  of  a  sta^e  -  driver. 

"  X V  delightedly  cried  he,  "  Why,  that's  my  preacher.     /  hang  my 

hat  on  him  every  time.'''' 

Cities  abound  to  a  greater  extent  than  is  agreeable  to  the  fastidious 


THE  TOURIST.  119 

visitor ;  and  fewer  of  them,  and  more  towns,  or  even  villages,  would  seem 
to  be  needed,  for  a  mayor  and  council  prove  cumbersome  machinery  for  a 
collection  of  some  two  or  three  thousand  people.  Of  colonies,  there  are 
the  well-known  "  Fountain  "  organization  at  Colorado  Springs,  now  cpiite 
a  cosmopolitan  place ;  Greeley,  an  agricultural  one,  between  Denver  and 
Cheyenne,  on  the  plains ;  Colfax,  a  collection  of  Germans  in  the  Wet 
Mountain  Yalley ;  and  a  very  prosperous  little  Welsh  settlement  at  Gwill- 
imville,  on  the  Divide. 

Of  the  people  of  Colorado  in  general  no  right-minded  vacation-spender 
can  fail  to  form  an  exalted  opinion.  Among  the  "old  timers"  may  be 
found  men  who  are,  in  the  truest  and  fullest  sense,  nature's  noblemen,  and 
whose  acquaintance  is  a  pleasure  and  a  profit.  Strong,  brave,  cool,  gener- 
ous, and  truly  kind,  those  who  know  them  well  cannot  fail  to  pronounce 
them.  The  influx  of  later  years  has  been,  on  the  whole,  of  fine  material, 
and  the  Centennial  State  has  no  cause  to  be  otherwise  than  proud  of  her 
citizens.  Hospitality  is  spontaneous  and  hearty,  and  one  is  sure  of  a  kind 
welcome  in  house  or  hovel,  and  alike  of  a  seat  at  the  table  of  the  Denver 
banker  or  mine  owner,  and  a  share  of  the  prosj^ector's  last  biscuit. 


i.-v 


120 


NEW   COLORADO  AND  THE   SANTA  FE  TRAIL. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

OVER    THE    RANGE. 

PEOPLE  come  to  Colorado  from  all  quarters  of  the  world — Asia  (tlie 
laundries  of  Soe  Long,  Lee  Bow,  and  Sam  Sing  abound),  Europe,  the 
Eastern  States,  and  M'liat  we  used  to  call  the  West.     Thej  do  not  always, 

liowever,  retain  the  outward  ap- 
pearance which  characterized  them 
in  other  climes. 

An  old  gentleman  from  the 
East,  of  a  clerical  aspect,  took  the 
stage  from  Denver  south  in  ante- 
railroad  days.  The  journey  was 
not  altogether  a  safe  one,  and  he 
was  not  reassured  by  the  sight  of  a 
number  of  rifles  deposited  in  the 
coach,  and  nervously  asked  for 
what  they  were. 

"  Perhaps  you'll  iind  out  before 
you  git  to  the  Divide,"  was  the 
cheering  reply. 

Among  the   passengers   was   a 
particularly    (it    seemed    to    him) 
fierce  -  looking  man,  girded  with  a 
belt    full   of   revolvers    and    cart- 
ridges, and  clearly  a  road  agent  or 
assassin.     Some  miles  out,  this  jjer- 
son,  taking  out  a  large  flask,  asked,  "  Stranger,  do  you  irrigate  ?" 
"  If  you  mean  drink,  sir,  I  do  not." 
"  Do  you  object,  stranger,  to  our  irrigating  ?" 
"  jSTo,  sir."     And  they  drank  accordingly. 

After  a  farther  distance  had  been  traversed,  the   supposed  brigand 
again  asked,  "  Stranger,  do  you  fumigate  ?" 


"  STRANGER,   DO    YOU    IRRIGATE  f 


OVER   THE   RANGE.  121 

"  If  yon  mean  smoke,  sir,  I  do  not.'' 

"  Do  jon  object,  stranger,  to  onr  f nniigating  V 

"  'No,  sir."     And  they  proceeded  to  smoke. 

At  the  dining-phice,  when  onr  friend  came  to  tender  his  money,  the 
proprietor  said,  "  Your  bill's  paid  !" 

"  Who  paid  it  F 

"  That  man  " — pointing  to  the  supposed  liighwayman,  who,  on  l)eing 
asked  if  he  had  not  made  a  mistake,  replied,  "  Not  at  all.  You  see,  when 
we  see  that  yuu  didn't  irrigate  and  didn't  fumigate,  we  knew  that  you  was 
a  parson.  And  your  l»ills  are  all  right  as  long  as  you  travel  with  this 
crowd.  We've  got  a  respect  for  the  Church — you  bet !"  It  was  no  hii>-h- 
wayiuan,  but  a  respectable  resident  of  Denver. 

This  reminds  us  of  another  traveller,  who  displayed  such  verdancy  on 
the  top  of  a  Leadville  stage,  not  long  ago,  that  he  gave  some  practical 
jokers  too  good  an  opportunity  to  be  neglected. 

"We  must  be  gettin'  pretty  nigh  where  them  road  agents  be  —  eh, 
Jim  ?"  asked  one  of  another,  at  a  particularly  safe  stage  of  the  journey. 

'•  What,  gentlemen,  do  you  have  road  agents  here  f '  asked  the  tender- 
foot. 

"  Yes,  indeed  ;  we're  attacked  'most  every  day,"  was  the  cheerful  re- 
ply. It  was  but  a  few  minutes  before  the  unfortunate  man,  having  l)een 
tirst  induced  to  conceal  his  watch  in  one  of  his  boots,  was  jolting  liDrri- 
bly  about  on  the  baggage-rack  in  the  rear,  covered  by  the  large  leather 
flap.  Crouched  here,  he  heard  with  terror  the  reports  of  the  pistols  dis- 
charged in  the  air  by  the  worthies  on  top,  and  cries  of  ''Bully  for  you. 
Bill  I — guess  you  plugged  t/xd  fellow."  (Crack  I)  "There's  another  of 
them  down."  (Crack !  crack !)  "  Guess  they  won't  attack  no  mure 
coaches."  When  released,  some  time  later,  from  his  nncouifurtable  posi- 
tion, he  proceeded  to  present  a  sum  of  money  to  a  (piiet  man  on  the  box. 
who  was  pointed  out  to  him  as  having  saved  the  lives  of  the  party  by  his 
bravery  and  sharp -shooting.  This  money  was,  of  course,  afterward  re- 
turned to  him,  witli  tlie  hint  that  he  had  Iteen  badly  "sold." 

The  holiday  tourist  can  come  hither  by  several  routes,  as  hereafter 
speciiied.  Local  railroads  afford  him  considerable  facilities,  and  withonr 
fatigue  or  annoyance,  and  with  ladies  in  his  party,  he  can  visit,  in  addition 
to  the  places  to  which  allusion  has  been  made,  Estes  Park,  near  Long*.- 
Peak  (the  property  of  tlie  Earl  of  Dunraven),  Bowlder  and  Clear  Cr  k 
Canons,  Bellevue  Mountain,  Idaho  Springs,  the  cafion  of  the  Platte,  tlie  I'te 
Pass,  and  the  crossing  of  the  Sangre  de  Cristo  Range  into  the  valK-y  ot 
the  Ilio  Grande.     Xext,  eschewing  the  flesh-pots  of  the  hotels,  and  the 


122 


NEW   COLORADO   AXD  THE   SANTA  FE   TRAIL. 


''  Delmonicos  of  the  West,"  or  "  of  the  Mountains,"  or  what  not  (there  are 
several  of  them),  he  may  procure  tent  and  general  "  outfit "  (oh,  expres- 
sive and  most  compre- 
^    hensive    word  !),    and 
proceed  to  camp  out, 


perhaps  in  one  of  the  great  parks 

Korth,  Middle,   South,   or    San 

Luis ;  the  smaller,  Estes,  Mani- 

tou,  etc.,  etc. ;   or  on  Bear  and  camping  out. 

other  creeks,  where  the  trout  do 

mostly  congregate  ;  bearing  in  mind  that  the  average  camper  of  this  decade 

will  require  fresh  meat,  mails,  and  telegrams  twice  a  week,  and  choosing 

accordingly.     Eemembering  the  time  and  expense  involved  in  transporta- 


OVER   THE   EANGE.  123 

tioii  from  the  Atlantic  sea-board,  he  buys  his  tent  and  stores  at  Denver  or 
Colorado  Springs,  puts  them  on  a  wagon,  and  then,  arrayed  in  the  seediest 
of  flannel  shirts,  the  broadest  of  hats,  and  the  tallest  of  boots,  and  with 
gun  in  hand,  and  large  revolver  and  cartridges  in  belt,  he  casts  off  the 
trammels  of  civilization.  lie  can  live  just  as  economically  or  just  as  ex- 
pensively as  he  pleases — can  buy  fat  salt  pork  and  tlour,  and,  as  the  Lead- 
ville  sign  suggests,  "  cook  'em  himself ;"  or  he  can  hire  a  fine  cook,  order 
fresh  meats,  vegetables,  and  fruits,  which  will  keep  wonderfully  well  at 
these  altitudes,  and  find  his  camp  a  "  Saratoga  of  the  West " — in  expense  if 
not  in  other  respects.  »In  the  morning  he  may  discover  ice  near  his  tent 
in  August,  and  at  noon  be  enjoying  a  refreshing  bath  in  tlie  stream.  For 
the  rest — horse,  dog,  gun,  and  rod,  with  a  good  supply  of  magazines  and 
papers,  help  him  pass  the  time.  Some  come  simply  for  economy's  sake, 
and  secure,  at  all  events,  an  out-door  and  rustic  life,  such  as  it  is,  for  a 
small  sum ;  others  are  ordered  to  live  in  just  this  way  for  the  benefit  of 
their  health,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  in  certain  eases  it  proves  a  cure ; 
others,  again,  think  it  novel  and  interesting  and  romantic,  and  if  they  are 
disappointed,  do  not  say  anything  about  it.  The  Colonel  was  sceptical, 
and  made  objections.  ' 

"Why,  O  rover  of  the  mighty  deep,"  said  he  to  the  Commodore, 
"  seekest  thou  to  abandon  the  delights  of  the  El  Paso  Club,  tlie  post  and 
telegraph  offices,  and  the  flesh-pots  of  this  civilized  town  ?  Why  hast  thou 
thy  head  cropped  like  unto  the  gentlemen  who  serve  the  State  in  striped 
suits  at  Canon  City  ?  And  why  incasest  thou  thy  manly  form  in  the  flan- 
nel of  the  backwoods  and  the  overall  of  the  miner,  instead  of  the  gay 
tweed  of  the  latest  Regent  Street  cut  ?     Speak,  I  entreat  thee !" 

"Learn,  then,  O  warrior,"  replied  he,  with  dignity,  "  that  my  soul, 
long  inured  to  communion  with  nature  on  the  vast  ocean  expanse,  seeks 
longingly  a  return  to  the  primitive  delights  of  the  dweller  far  from  the 
haunts  of  men.  It  will  none  of  these  effete  luxuries  and  demoralizing 
dainties ;"  and  the  Commodore  helped  himself  to  a  third  portion  of  the 
gooseberry-pie. 

"But,"  rejoined  tli^e  Colonel,  "hast  thou  not  read  in  the  journal  of  the 
l)eriod,  unjustly  called  venal,  what  words  of  wisdom  have  fallen  from  the 
lips  of  the  Frondes  and  Macaulays?  Is  it  not  written  that,  when  pe()i)U!! 
desire  to  imitate  the  ancients,  they  forget  that  the  ways  of  our  ancestors 
were  but  the  choice  of  Ilobson,  and  that  if  they  lived  in  caves  and  tuiits, 
it  was  but  because  co-operative  building  associations  were  the  iniieri- 
tance  of  their  posterity,  and  the  brown -stone,  high -stoop  dwelling  was  a 
dream  ?" 


124 


NEW   COLORADO  AND   THE   SANTA  FE   TRAIL. 


"  The  Frondes  and  Macaulays  be  blowed !"  said  the  Commodore. 
"  Shiver  my  timbers  if  I  don't  go  camping — you  bet !"' 

And  he  went — a  comical  figure,  indeed — coercing  the  rehictant  Mon- 
tezuma on  the  dusty  road ;  and  he  camped  ;  and  he  returned,  and  said  that 
he  "had  a  boss  time."     Only  from  contemporaneous  history  were  vivid 


EXPEDITION    OF   THE    COMMODORE    AND    MONTEZUMA. 


accounts  gathered  of  his  first  dinner,  when  he  gazed  pitifully  through  his 
one  eye-glass  at  the  ants  crawling  over  his  plate,  and  sprung  up  in  distress 
when  a  large  yellow-jacket  stung  him  on  his  close-cropped  head ;  and  of 
his  last  night,  when  he  awoke  from  fitful  slumber  to  see  a  steer  with  his 
head  through  a  hole  in  the  tent,  and  a  coyote  snuffing  under  the  flap,  and 
to  hear  the  howl  of  the  door  ensconced  at  a  safe  distance. 

"With  the  approach  of  cold  weather  the  camper  sells  his  outfit  as  ad- 
vantageously as  he  can,  and  inscribes  his  name  on  the  nearest  hotel  reg- 


OVER   THE   RANGE.  125 

ister ;  and  lie  who  has  chartered  a  wagon,  and  combined  camp  life  with 
travelling,  emerges  from  the  Ute  Pass  or  one  of  the  canons,  and  becomes 
like  nnto  his  fellow-men.  But  for  one  thing  how  shall  they,  and  even  the 
residents  of  Colorado,  answer  —  the  strewing  of  the  whole  country  with 
the  ffreat  North  American  tin  can  f  From  the  Wvomino-  line  to  the  Veta 
Pass,  from  the  White  River  Agency  far  out  on  the  plains,  lie  terrilile  de- 
posits, daily  increasing,  and  rivalling  gold  and  silver,  in  extent  if  not  in 
value,  of  the  whilom  receptacles  of  egg-plums  (whatever  they  may  be),  to- 
matoes, and  succotash, 

"  Do  you  not  think,"'  gently  asked  a  clever  friend  of  the  writer,  as  they 
drove  past  one  of  these  shining  piles,  "  that  when  the  New  Zealander  is 
quarrying  out  the  remnants  of  our  civilization,  he  will  come  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  the  tin  can  contrasts  unfavorably  with  the  pottery  of  Etruria  V 

If  the  Colonel  would  not  camp  out,  he  willingly  acceded  to  the  Com- 
modore's wishes  when  the  latter  wanted  to  "  be  on  the  move,"  and  go 
where  he  would  not  see  the  perennial  and  conventional  verdant  tourist, 
open-eyed  and  duster-clad ;  and  it  was  when  our  Colorado  sojourn  was 
drawing  to  a  close,  and  our  wanderings  and  investigations  had  far  pro- 
ijressed,  that  we  took  a  trip  combiniirg  more  of  rare  attraction  than  it  is 
easy  to  describe,  but  not  to  be  recommended  except  to  the  experienced 
traveller,  and  to  him  only  when  in  robust  health.  Given  these  conditions, 
let  him  speedily  go  and  do  as  did  we. 

We  had  "seen  Leadville"  by  day  and  by  night,  l)ut  never  before  at 
the  hour  just  preceding  daylight.  From  tlie  hotel  we  went  to  a  restau- 
rant for  coffee.  It  had  apparently  not  been  closed  during  the  whole 
night.  A  sleepless  proprietor  presided,  and  a  sleepy  waiter  served  us; 
and  as  the  former  saw  us  counting  thirty-three  empty  champagne  bottles 
on  the  table,  he  cheerfully  remarked  that  "that  warn't  the  half  of  'em." 
Then  we  emerged,  and  saw  a  shadowy  stage  coming  up  the  street,  and  a 
shadowy  driver  confirmed  our  claim  to  outside  seats.  Then  there  climbed 
up  by  our  side  a  quiet  man,  courteous  of  manner  and  gentle  of  speech,  and 
one  might  have  thought  him  a  mild  Eastern  capitalist ;  but  he  was  some- 
thing very  dilferent.  Connected  with  the  transmission  of  the  United 
IStates  mails  are  certain  ofhcials  called  "  special  agents."  Matters  may  be 
going  a  little  wrong  in  an  office,  and  one  of  them  appears  just  in  the  nick 
of  time.  AVhen  one's  registered  letter  has  not  come,  he  may  have  a  call 
from  another;  and  let  a  highwayman  make  .i  iiii>t:ikc.  and  choose  for  Ins 
operation  a  coacli  with  "  U.  S.  M."  on  it,  nnd  the  whole  power  and  |.nrst- 
of  the  govcnnncnt  are  against  him;  and  wlicii  lie  is  brongiit  to  bav  in  a 
gulch,  and  tlii-<-w>  nj)  his  hands  as  tlic  rilles  of  the  posse  are  covering  him. 


126 


NEW  COLORADO  AND  THE   SANTA  FE  TRAIL. 


it  is  some  such  mild-mannered  gentleman  as  tliis  wlio  rides  ahead  and  j^nts 
his  hand  on  his  shoulder.  The  writer  has  met  three  of  them  in  company, 
playing  a  quiet  game  of  tenpins  before  starting  on  a  quest,  and  noticed 
one  in  particular  who  wore  gold  spectacles,  and  looked  like  a  German  pro- 
fessor. This  man  alone  took  two  mail  robbers  from  the  Korth  to  Texas, 
quietly  informing  them  that  while  the  intending  rescuere  could  undoubt- 
edly kill  him,  they  might  be  entirely  sure  that  the  lirst  motion  would  send 


THE    SPECIAL    AGENT  S    WORK. 


both  of  them  into  eternity ;  and  such  was  his  fame  that  no  man  in  all  the 
crowd  moved  a  finger. 

Just  about  as  the  clock  struck  five,  the  stable-man  who  had  brought 
the  stage  to  the  office  door  descended  from  the  box,  and  "  Purley,"  one  of 
the  oldest  and  most  celebrated  drivers  in  the  country,  drew  on  his  gloves, 
turned  up  the  collar  of  his  long  brown  overcoat,  and  looked  up,  shaking 
his  head. 

"  Don't  know  about  so  many  on  top,  gentlemen.  Bad  road  ahead,  you 
know,  and  light  load  inside.  I  bring  three  people  into  Leadville  for  one 
that  I  take  out.  But  never  mind  ;  I'll  risk  it.  If  we  go  over,  we'll  all  go 
together." 


OVER   THE  RANGE. 


1:^7 


"  All  ready !"  And  receiving  tLe  mail  from  a  sleepy  clerk,  we  rolled 
out  of  the  rows  of  shanties,  past  the  saw-mills  and  lime-kilns  and  charcoal 
ovens,  and  into  and  np  the  valley  of  the  Arkansas — here  as  mean  a  little 
stream  as  ever  ran  through  some  Massachusetts  meadow. 

"  I'll  show  you  where  it  rises  in  a  few  minutes,"  Purley  told  us ;  and 
he  did.  This  is  what  is  usually  called  summer,  and  yet  he  was  beatino-  his 
arms  to  warm  his  hands,  and  we  wore  extra  thick  clothing,  and  were 


MOUNTAIN    OF    TIIK    HOLY    CROSS. 


wrapped  in  great  miners'  blankets.  The  road  is  cut  through  the  woods, 
and  we  dodged  sharp  branches  with  some  difficulty.  Eleven  miles  out 
came  Chalk  Ranch  and  breakfast,  and  then  we  climbed  uj)  to  the  Tennes- 
see Pass,  the  ascent  being  picturesque  in  the  extreme.  AV^ith  the  s])ring 
pointed  out  to  us,  we  had  <lone  with  not  only  the  Arkansas,  but  all 
streams  and  rivers  which  alliliate  with  the  Atlantic,  and  beyond  us  \\;is 
the  Pacific  slope;  for  we  were  about  X\)  traverse  the  great  continental 


128  NEW  COLORADO  AND  THE  SAXTA  FE  TEAIL. 

DiA-ide,  tlie  backbone  of  America.  This  road  is  confidently  stated  to  be 
an  improvement  on  the  old  one ;  but  neither  is  very  kind,  if  a  brolcen  and 
abandoned  wagon  told  a  true  tale.  Nevertheless,  it  leads  to  the  to]),  and 
over  it  we  went,  the  Commodore  fancying  that  he  snuffed  the  breeze  from 
Japan  and  China.  A  dead  broncho  lay  on  one  side — perhaps  he  had  been 
attached  to  the  broken  wagon,  and  thought  his  occupation  gone  when  it 
came  to  grief  —  and  some  grim  soul  had  put  a  whiskey  bottle  between 
his  stiffened  jaws.  Xow  we  came  to  Ten-Mile  Creek,  into  which,  if  you 
drop  a  nautilus  shell,  it  will  float  away  west,  make  the  mysterious  journey 
through  the  great  canon  of  the  Colorado,  pass  Callville  and  Fort  Yuma, 
and  finally  be  swej)t  into  the  Gulf  of  California.  When  one  passes  Cres- 
-ton,  on  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad,  it  is  his  guide-book  which  tells  him 
that  he  is  on  the  Cordilleras  and  the  great  Divide.  Here  he  sees  it  for 
himself ;  and  he  sees,  a  mile  or  two  farther  on,  and  if  the  weather  be  clear, 
something  else — a  sight  worth  the  whole  journey — the  famed  Mountain  of 
the  Holy  Cross,  rising  up  at  the  westward,  and  saying  to  a  fanciful  imagi- 
nation, with  the  great  white  cross  lying  on  its  sloping  crest  away  above 
the  lonely  range.  In  hoc  signo  vinces.  And  one  looks  at  this  noble,  this 
stupendous  sight  from  Carbonateville  —  store  and  post-oifice.  Then  we 
passed  the  Ten-Mile  mining  district,  and  in  due  time  came  to  Kokomo— a 
mining  camp  supposed  to  be  "  booming,"  but  giving  no  marked  evidence 
of  the  process ;  surely  is  it,  however,  one  of  the  queerest  and  quaintest 
places  that  was  ever  seen.  One  very  narrow  street  is  caiwed  out  of  the 
side  of  a  steep  hill,  and  below  it  are  numbers  and  numbers  of  skeleton 
houses — mere  wooden  frames — the  very  morbid  anatomy  of  architecture. 
Along  we  came  from  a  higher  level,  and  Purley  saw  the  wistful  look  in 
the  Commodore's  face,  and  obligingly  pulled  up  just  where  the  buildings 
began  ;  all  of  them,  above  and  below  this  one  preternaturally  narrow  street, 
having  the  air  of  hanging  perilously  on  the  hill-side.  Nothing  could  pos- 
sibly pass  us,  as  a  woman  discovered  who  rode  up  the  slope  in  front,  neat- 
ly dressed,  hatted  and  gloved,  as  some  women  would  be  in  a  Sioux  village 
or  on  the  Jornada  del  Muerto. 

"  Can't  you  give  me  a  chance  to  pass  ?"  she  asked. 

"  "Well,"  sai(i  Purley,  "  this  gentleman's  taking  a  sketch  of  the  town, 
and  just  you  keep  still,  and  he'll  have  you." 

"  Picture  ?"  cried  she.  "  Well,  then,  just  put  me  in  as  a  coiv-hoi/,  for 
I'm  hunting  stray  cattle ;"  and,  with  a  laugh,  she  guided  her  surefooted 
broncho  to  one  side,  and  over  half  a  dozen  stumps  and  rocks,  as  we 
touched  our  hats,  and  Purley  set  his  foot  hard  on  the  brake  and  drove  up 
to  the  little  inn.     The  "  loafei-s  "  hung  around  as  if  this  were  a  sleepy  ag- 


OVER   THE   KAXGE. 


i-2d 


ricultural  town  on  a  '•  lean 
streak,"  in  Xew  llaiiip- 
sliire,  and  "we  concluded 
that  "boomino;"  is  a  mis- 
nomer  for  Kokonio. 

This    road,    only    very 
recently  constructed,  is  just 
wide    enough    to    let    the 
wheels  pass  between  stumps 
and  rocks,  and  no  more,  and 
the  strain  on  the  driver  is 
tremendous.     To  travel   it 
at  night  Avould  be  impossi- 
1»Ie,  and  it  is  lonely  enough 
by    day.      Up    and    down 
steep  hills  it  goes,  through 
desolate  Ten -Mile    Canon, 
over   stretches    of   terribly 
dusty  levels,  and  anon  across 
an   attempt   at  a  meadow, 
while  mighty 
peaks  are  seen 
on    all    sides. 
Leaving     the 
stage,  we  took 
a   large   wag- 
on, and,  after 
passing      the 
Ten-Mile,  the 
Snake,    and 
tlie  Blue,  and  stopping  for 
dinner,  two  wagons  instead 
of  one.      To  the  east  lies 
Brecken>ridge ;    to    the 
south  -  east,    grim    Mount 
Lincoln  ;  to  the  north-east, 
( Tray's  Peak   and  the  Ar- 
gentine Pass  ;  and  here  we 
were  ag;iin  at  tlie  foot  of 
the  continental  Divide  and 


K()K(J.M(J. 


130  NEW  COLORADO  AND  THE  SANTA  FE  TRAIL. 

must  climb  it.  Symptoms  of  fatigue  were  not  wanting  among  the  pas 
sengers,  and  there  was  much  ground  still  to  be  traversed  before  they  could 
hope  for  rest.  The  road  runs  up  through  a  timber  belt,  and  our  jjrogress 
was  slow  enough  to  make  our  drivers  conversation  very  welcome.  lie 
told  of  old  days  when  he  rode  the  Pony  Express,  springing  from  horse 
to  horse,  and  making  his  hundred  miles  per  diem ;  and  then  of  the  over- 
land stages,  and  of  the  time  when  the  murderer  escaped  from  Denver, 
and  took  the  coach  at  an  outside  station,  and  he  heard  a  hail,  and  saAV  the 
vigilantes  in  full  gallop  after  him — stern  Nemesis  herself,  in  the  shape  of 
three  quiet  citizens  armed  to  the  teeth,  who  took  their  prisoner  out,  and 
then  let  the  stage  go  on.  There  comes  a  time,  he  also  told  us,  when  an 
old  driver  "  loses  his  grip,"  and  cannot  keep  up  the  pace,  and  must  "  take 
a  back  seat ;"  and  all  this  time  we  were  still  climbing,  and  here  at  last  we 
were  on  the  summit  of  Loveland  Pass,  and  saw  two  little  posts  with 
"Tunnel  Line"  on  them,  and  another  giving  the  elevation  as  11,784  feet. 
For,  strange  to  say,  these  Colorado  railroad  builders,  who  joke  at  grades 
and  speak  disresjjectfully  of  elevations,  propose  carrying  the  Colorado 
Central  through  the  ridge,  and  in  some  mysterious  manner  over  the  "  high 
line  "  by  which  we  came. 

Xow  for  the  last  time  we  descended ;  and  here  our  nautilus  shell 
would  be  whirled  down  that  roaring  South  Clear  Creek,  the  Platte,  the 
Missouri,  and  the  Mississippi,  and  float  out  between  Captain  Eads's  jetties 
into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Soon  we  again  took  a  stage ;  and  then,  when 
the  sun  was  well  below  the  horizon,  and  we  seemed  to  have  passed  our 
whole  lives  in  those  seats,  and  never  known  what  it  was  not  to  have  our 
spines  brought  at  intervals  into  violent  collision  with  the  sharp  edges  be- 
hind us,  the  valley  narrowed,  and  the  great  dump-heaps  appeared  on  the 
side  of  the  hills,  and  M'e  passed  Brownsville  and  Silver  Plume,  and  finally 
rattled  down  into  the  main  street  of  Georgetown.  AVe  ached  in  every 
bone,  and  thought  of  supper  as  a  hollow  mockery,  Ijut  we  would  not  have 
missed  that  drive  of  sixty-five  long  miles  for  all  the  world.  This  was  all 
the  Great  American  Desert  when  some  of  the  youngest  of  us  studied  ge- 
ography. Pathfinder  Fremont  came  to  grief  on  one  of  the  creeks  along 
wliicli  we  passed ;  the  fires  causing  the  smoke  hanging  over  the  mountains 
were  set  by  Ute  Indians ;  and  yet  not  only  had  we  crossed  and  recrossed 
the  range,  and  enjoyed  all  this  grand  scenery,  in  fourteen  hours,  but  the 
locomotive  may  soon  do  it  in  four  and  a  half. 

The  changing  leaves  on  the  mountains  reminded  the  Commodore, 
shortly  after  this  last  trip,  of  what  he  was  to  see  of  gorgeous  yellow, 
brown,  and  gold  on  the  familiar  slopes  of  the  Hudson  Valley  and  in  the 


OVER   THE   KAXGE.  131 

IS'ew  England  woods ;  and  the  day  came  when  our  effects  were  packed, 
and  he  exacted  one  last  test  of  the  Colonel's  devotion  in  u  ride  to  the  sta- 
tion with  him  on  the  backs  of  Montezuma  and  Esmeralda.  It  was  accom- 
plished with  a  large  degree  of  exasperation  on  his  friend's  part ;  but  the 
obnoxious  burros  had  become,  through  the  Connnodore's  mistaken  devo- 
tion, pampered  and  overfed,  and  miscliief  looked  out  from  their  eyes  as 
we  dismounted.  The  train  moved  off,  the  engineer  blew  his  whistle,  the 
burros  raised  their  voices  and  their  heels  simultaneously,  the  horses  heard 
and  speedily  saw  them,  and  we  looked  back  from  a  curve  in  the  track  at  a 
scene  of  havoc  and  devastation.  A  small  donkey-boy,  a  colored  porter, 
and  an  old  woman  lay  prostrate  in  the  dust ;  the  driver  of  the  Xorth-west- 
ern  Company's  stage  was,  with  strange  and  angry  exclamations,  endeavor- 
ing to  hold  his  frightened  horses  witli  rein  and  brake;  and  the  burros 
were  well  up  the  Manitou  road,  and  making  the  best  time  of  the  season 
toward  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

With  the  departure  of  my  naval  friend  at  Pueblo,  I  droj^ped  all  sem- 
blance of  official  rank,  and,  still  lured  on  by  the  fascinations  of  the  country, 
ascended  the  Veta  Pass  by  night,  favored  by  the  wondrous  sight  of  a  freight 
train  far  above  our  heads,  on  the  track  wliere  we  were  soon  to  follow  it, 
and  thrown  into  a  lurid  illumination  by  the  sparks  from  the  smoke-stack, 
and  the  frequent  opening  of  the  furnace  door  of  the  panting  engine.  I 
visited  the  valley  of  the  Eio  Grande,  ate  trout  cooked  to  perfection,  saw 
the  stage  of  the  Southern  Overland  Mail  Company,  with  its  splendid  East- 
ern horses  (at  one  point  they  put  twelve  on  the  coach),  start  for  the  South- 
west, and  then  came  again  across  the  Sangre  de  Cristo,  and  around  the 
Muleshoe  Curve.  Just  before  we  approached  it,  and  as  the  engineer  was 
telling  me  M'itli  what  extreme  caution  he  was  compelled  to  run  ("  If  a 
stone  should  liappen  to  drop  on  the  track,  look  where  we'd  go,"  said  he), 
we  saw,  winding  along  the  stage -road  far,  far  below,  what  seemed  to  be 
pack-mules,  and  one  bit  of  bright  red  color  lighting  \\\)  tin-  line.  Five 
minutes  brought  us  to  a  l)an(l  of  Ute  Indians  bound  over  the  range,  ami 
tliey  were  a  sight  not  to  be  lightly  viewed  by  any  reader  of  the  novels  of 
J.  Fenimore  Cooper.  All  were  on  lean  ])onies,  leading  and  drix  ing  others; 
braves  with  their  guns  across  their  knees,  s<{uaws  \vir1i  tlnir  |)ap})ooses 
bound  on  their  backs  in  receptacles  which  exactly  resembled  bai'k  (piivers, 
and  diminutive  children.  Drawji  u]i  on  the  hill-side,  they  gazed  stolidly 
at  the  train,  and  the  eiii^ineer  said  that  "•he'd  a  o-ood  tnind  to  wliistlc,  ;ind 
see  those  ponies  juinj),  if  he  didn't  tliink  tlic  Indians  niiulit  tii'"'  into  us." 
When  we  came  on  the  plain  there  were  looming  up,  to  gladden  the  heart 


132 


NEW   COLORADO   AND   THE   SANTA   FE   TRAIL. 


of  the  mountain-lover,  the  Leautifiil 
SPANISH  PEAKS.  WahatoyR.    Fusiyama,  in  Japan,  is 

beyond  all  question  the  finest  single 
mountain  known  in  the  world ;  tlie  Holy  Cross  is  awe-inspiring ;  but  for 
two  lofty  and  splendid  hills,  side  by  side,  and  forming  a  spur  thrown  out 
into  the  level  like  these,  I  know  of  no  match.  I  sing  their  praises  at  all 
times,  and  eagerly  strain  my  eyes  for  them  when  there  is  a  possibility 
that  they  may  be  seen  on  the  distant  horizon.  We  were  a  little  doubt- 
ful about  them  once  on  a  Ions'  drive ;  but  a  friend  who  had  been  scan- 
ning  the  misty  distance,  and  who  knew  that,  as  far  from  IS^ew  York  as 
this,  he  might  paraphrase  Pinafore  without  fear  of  actual  personal  vio- 
lence, softly  said, 

"For  tliey  are  the  Spanish  Peaks: 

For  they  might  have  been  Lii  Veta, 

Or  peaks  of  otlier  nntur, 
Of  which  tlie  guide-book  speaks; 

But  in  spite  of  all  temptations 

To  belong  to  other  nations 
They  remain  the  Spanish  Peaks." 

I  had  them  again  before  me  as  I  sat  writing  the  last  lines  of  this  chapter 
at  a  lonely  station  in  the  sage-brush,  with  the  rattle  of  the  telegraph  in- 
struments in  my  ears.  On  this  side  was  the  newest  and  most  vigorous 
American  civilization ;  on  the  other  were  the  remnants  of  effete  Spanisli 
rule,  and  the  wonderfid  and  'tantalizing  records  of  a  prehistoric  race.  Past 
them  lay  my  road,  and,  with  the  "  All  aboard  !"  of  the  conductor,  I  stepped 
on  the  train  and  turned  my  back  to  the  New  and  my  face  to  the  Old. 


THE   SANTA    FE   TRAIL.  133 


CHAPTER   X. 

THE   SAXTA   FE   TRAIL. 

TT^ETV  citizens  of  tliis  country  are  aware  liow  lately  begun,  and  how 
-^  rapidly  accomplished,  has  been  the  development  of  coniiimnieatidlis 
throughout  what  we  call  the  Great  West,  but  which  is  more  properly  des- 
ignated the  Heart  of  the  Continent ;  especially  since,  if  we  are  guided  by 
the  meridians  of  longitude,  our  domain  now  extends — strange  as  it  may 
seem — as  few  to  the  west  of  San  Franoism  as  it  does  to  the  east.  The 
average  layman  may,  indeed,  rightly  claim  that  when  as  astute  and  expe- 
rienced a  traveller  as  General  William  T.  Sherman  could  state,  in  1865, 
that  he  "would  not  l)uy  a  ticket  for  San  Francisco  for  his  youngest  grand- 
child," and  then  ride  thither  liimself  by  rail  only  four  years  later,  he  (the 
layman)  can  hardly  be  blamed  for  not  keeping  pace  with  the  graders  and 
track-layers. 

It  is,  actually,  only  about  thirty  years  since  parties  of  any  considerable 
size  began  to  cross  the  continent,  and  only  about  twenty  since  the  first 
emigration  to  tlie  Rocky  Mountain  region.  In  two  and  one-quarter  cen- 
turies after  the  landing  at  Plymouth  Rock  the  descendants  of  the  Pilgrims 
had  made  their  way  in  force  only  to  the  Missouri ;  and  it  seems  curious 
that  the  Spanish  race,  so  far  behind  the  Anglo-Saxon  in  enterprise,  slmnld, 
starting  from  tlie  South,  have  made  so  mucli  earlier  progress  toward  tlie 
great  central  domain,  where  the  miner  and  the  ranchmen  now  find  c(»n- 
genial  homes.  Yet  in  1527,  only  thirty -five  years  after  Cohnnbus  Imd 
given  a  new  world  to  Castile  and  Leon,  Alva  Xiiilcz  Cabeza  (h;  \'aca 
sailed  from  Spain,  and  landed  in  what  is  now  Fldrida;  thence  he  made  a 
wonderful  overland  journey,  occupying  nearly  nine  years,  and  after  ]>ass- 
iiig  through  the  region  known  at  ])resent  as  New  Mexico,  arrived  at  the 
city  of  Mexico  in  the  sunnner  of  153(!,  more  than  eiglity  years  liefore  thi* 
Mayflov:er  dro]i])ed  her  anchor  off  the  American  coast.  J*i-evi(>ns  to  his 
coming,  wonderful  stories  had  reached  the  Spanisli  autliorities  of  the 
"Seven  Cities  of  Cibola;"  and  liis  accounts  induced  the  sending  of  expedi- 
tions to  the  North,  which  finally  resulted  in  the  compiest  of  the  country. 


134 


KEW  COLORADO  AND  THE  SANTA  FE  TRAIL. 


In  1539  Niza  laid  claim  to  Cibola  in  the  name  of  the  King  of  Spain ;  and 
while  the  actual  date  of  the  founding  of  the  city  of  Santa  Fe  is  in  doubt, 
it  probably  antedates  Leadville  by  some  three  centuries.     Into  the  field  of 


<^5el-^ 


■  ftpe 


ALVA    NUNEZ    CABEZA    DE    VACA    CROSSING    THE  GREAT    AMERICAN    DESERT. 

fascinating  inquiry  and  speculation  as  to  the  pre-Columbian  inhabitants  it 
is  not  permissible  here  to  enter.  The  Pullman  car  now  bears  the  enter- 
prising antiquarian,  in  ease  and  comfort,  to  the  banks  of  the  Rio  Grande 
del  Norte,  and  his  learned  lucubrations  will  soon  be  sj^read  broadcast  over 
the  land. 

It  was  at  about  the  beginning  of  this  century  that  it  dawned  upon  our 
people  that  there  were  good  markets  as  well  as  cities  and  people  in  and 
near  this  same  Rio  Grande  Valley,  and  under  Mexican  rule.  There  is  said 
to  be  in  the  ancient  palace  at  -Santa  Fe  a  Spanish  document  proving  the 
existence  of  a  trail,  in  the  last  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century,  from  the 
old  French  settlements  in  what  is  now  Illinois  to  some  of  the  towns  in 
New  Mexico ;  and  from  one  of  them — Abiquiu— to  California.  General 
KeariiiyT§"said  to  have  desj^atched  a  courier  over  thelatter;  but  all  efforts 
of  the  writer  have  failed  to  prove  the  authenticity,  or  secure  a  proper 
translation,  of  the  document  in  question.     Mr.  Gregg,  in  his  interesting 


THE   SANTA  FE   TRAIL.  135 

book,  '•  The  C'oiniiierce  of  the  Prairies,''  now  out  of  print,  and  from  whieli 
much  information  could  be  collated,  stated  that  a  merchant  of  Kaskaskia 
named  ]\Iorrison  heard,  about  ISO-t,  through  some  trappers,  of  the  stories 
which  the  Indians  had  told  them  of  this  ancient  land,  M'here  Spanish  pomp 
and  civilization  went  hand  in  hand  with  royally  high  prices  for  merchan- 
dise. He  despatched  one  La  Lande,  a  French  Canadian,  on  an  adventure 
to  Santa  Fe,  and  La  Lande  went  thither  with  alacrity,  but  omitted  the 
trifling  formalitv  of  coming  back  as-ain.  The  los:  huts  of  Kaskaskia 
knew  him  n.o  more ;  he  lived  in  opulence  in  a  one-story  adobe  house,  while 
the  excellent  Morrison 

4 

"Looked  for  the  coming  ■nliicli  miglit  not  be;" 

and  finally  La  Lande  died  in  the  odor  of  sanctity  and  was  gathered  to  his 
fathers,  without  having  rendered  any  account  sales,  or  made  any  remittance 
to  his  principal. 

Xext  there  comes  to  the  front  again  that  splendid  patriot.  Lieuten- 
ant Z.  M.  Pike,-soldier,  explorer,  and  high-minded  gentleman,  whose  fame 
deserves  far  more  enduring  record  than  it  has  received.  It  was  in  the 
course  of  the  expedition  on  which  he  started,  in  ISOG,  that  he  met  James 
Pursley  (whom,  for  his  refusal  to  show  the  Sj^aniards  where  he  had  found 
gold,  a  Colorado  writer  laconically  calls  "  good  boy  ") ;  and  this  worthy 
man  seems  also  to  have  been  allured  by  the  tales  of  the  Indians,  and  to 
have  gone  to  end  his  days  in  the  land  of  Montezuma;  and  when  Pike 
himself  came  back,  and  told  his  manly,  straightforward  story,  great  inter- 
est was  excited  in  the  strange  places  which  he  had  visited,  and  in  the  al- 
luring prospect  of  a  profitable  trade.  Considering  ^that  Santa  Fe,  Taos, 
and  other  towns,  and  the  country  in  their  vicinity,  liad  depended  entirely 
upon  supplies  from  Mexico  and  the  other  provinces  under  her  (-(tntrol, 
there  was  every  reason  for  this  interest,  and  for  a  vigorous  opening  iij)  of 
the  business.  First  essays  were  not  promising.  Four  men,  starting  with 
their  goods  in  1S12,  and  manfully  pushing  their  way  to  Santa  Fe,  returned 
only  in  1821,  Laving  been  imprisoned  during  nearly  all  tlie  intermediate 
time.  The  next  year,  however,  niiulved  the  opening  of  the  Santa  Fe  Ti'ail — 
that  wonderful  road,  some  eight  hundred  miles  in  length,  rising  so  impei'- 
ceptibly  for  three-quarters  of  this  distance  as  to  seem  absolutely  level,  and 
withont  bridije  from  end  to  eml.  There  it  stretched  awav  toward  tlic  sun- 
set  half  a  century  ago,  and  there  it  stretches  to-day;  and  \\li;it  poet",-  (Ircam, 
what  prophetic  vision  of  the  ardent  pat i'i(tt,  steadiest ly  bclic\ing  in  tlic 
fnture  greatness  of  his  country,  can  afford  a  measiu'e  (»i  i-itlicr  the  i-omancc 
or  the  reality  of  the  march  over  and  I)esidc  it,  during  those  fifty  years,  of 


136  NEW   COLORxVDO   AND   THE   SANTA   FE   TRAIL. 

the  pioneer,  tlie  trader,  the  soldier,  tlie  Free-State  champion,  the  settler, 
and  the  railroad  engineer,  and  its  resnlts,  as  seen  to -day?  We  listen 
complacently  to  Fonrth-of-Jnly  orators,  ajid  read  with  uninstructed  enthu- 
siasm of  the  development  of  the  Great  West ;  bnt  to  really  know  some- 
thing about  it  one  ought  to  study  for  himself  the  region  through  Mdiich  is 
defined,  now  clearly,  now  faintly,  this  pathway  of  empire.  It  is  to  the 
doings  of  this  worshipful  brotherhood  of  nation-builders  and  their  achieve- 
ments that  the  writer  would  offer  his  meed  of  tribute. 

I. THE    PIONEER. 

With  only  misty  and  imperfect  records  to  guide  us,  we  cannot  tell  by 
what  route  stout  Cabeza  de  Yaca  toiled  through  the  wilderness,  or  how 
far  Coronado  journeyed  toward  the  Missouri,  but  it  is  only  fair  to  give 
them  the  place  of  honor.  For  two  hundred  years  after  their  time,  as  far 
as  can  be  gathered  from  accessible  data,  the  Indian  and  the  buifalo  were 
undisturbed,  and  it  was  perhaps  after  Bunker  Hill  and  Yorktown  that 
the  Jesuit  or  the  Franciscan  took  up  his  pilgrim's  staff,  and  turned  his 
face  to  the  sunset.  Mr.  Parkman  has  told  with  graphic  power  the  story 
of  the  followers  of  Ignatius  Loyola  in  the  Northern  wilds,  and  the  ]3eople 
of  Illinois  are  about  to  erect  a  monument  to  goocl  old  Pere  Marquette  ;  so 
in  time  the  world  may  learn,  from  the  pen  of  some  investigator  and  histo- 
rian, of  heroic  and  lonely  missionary  journeyings  across  the  great  plains. 
The  people  of  Kansas,  already  claiming  Coronado  as  the  discoverer  of  their 
State,  may  also  find  room  for  a  reminder  of  some  self-denying  pilgrim 
priest ;  and  perhaps,  too,  the  poet  may  discover  herein  an  engaging  theme, 
for  as  well  in  the  lonely  valley  of  the  Arkansas  as  elsewliere  one  can  im- 
agine a  dying  exile  murmuring, 

"As  God  shall  will.     What  matters  where 
A  true  man's  cross  shall  stand. 
So  heaven  be  o'er  it — here,  as  there 
In  pleasant  Norman  land  ? 

" '  Uris  Sion  mystica,''  I  see 

Its  mansions  passing  fair. 
'  Condita  cmlo.''     Let  me  be, 
Dear  Lord,  a  dweller  there." 

II. THE    TRADER. 

The  first  adventurers  carried  their  merchandise  on  pack-horses  or 
mules,  and  it  was  in  182-1  that  it  was  decided  to  use  wagons,  a  number 
of  which  reached  Santa  Fe  with  much  less  difficulty  than  might  have 


THE    SANTA  FE   TEAIL. 


137 


been  expected.  The  practicability  of  this  method  being  established,  the 
trade  began  steadily  to  increase,  and  in  a  few  years  a  large  amount  of  Ciipi- 
tal  was  embarked  therein.  Its  initial  point  was,  first,  Franklin,  some  one 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  west  of  St,  Louis,  then  Independence,  then  West- 
port— all  tliese  towns  beino;  on  the  Missouri  Kiver,  and  thus  easily  reach- 
ed  during  the  season  of  navigation.  Here  were  found  motley  crowds — 
traders,  outfi^tters,  dealers  in  supplies  of  all  kinds,  tourists,  iuvalids  hoping 
to^-egain  their  health  by  a  trip  on  the  plains,  drivers,  and  '^  roughs  •'  in 
abundance.  The  covered  wagons  were  drawn  first  by  horses,  then  by 
mules,  then  by  both  mules  and  oxen,  and  were  carefully  loaded.  Besides 
the  merchandise,  su]r|2lies  for  the  men  were  carried — say,  bacon,  fiour,  cof- 


PKAIKIK    SCHOUNKKS    AT    THK    DOCK. 


fee,  sugar,  and  a  little  salt — it  being  expected  that  enough  buffaloes  would 
l)e  killed  U)  furnish  fresh  meat.  Starting  off  in  detached  ])arties,  the 
wagons  would  rendezvous  at  Council  Grove,  on  a  branch  of  the  Neosho 
River,  twenty  miles  north  of  tlic  })resent  town  (»f  Kin|»()ri:i,  and  licrc  an 
organization  would  be  effected  for  mutual  aid  and  |tiotc('tinii  duiMiig  the 
long  journey.  In  such  a  caravan  thei'e  would  be  ]H'i-lia])s  one  Inindicd 
wagons,  and  a  "captain  of  the  caravan"  would  divide  tlniu   into  foui-  di- 


138  NEW  COLORADO  AND  THE   SANTA   FE   TRAIL. 

visions,  witli  a  lieutenant  to  each.  Every  individnal  in  the  caravan  was 
compelled  to  stand  his  watch  at  night,  and  this  guard  must  have  presented 
a  motley  assortment  of  clothing  and  arms.  AVhen  all  was  ready,  the  start 
was  made.  Every  night  a  hollow  square  and  temjDorary  corral  were  made 
with  the  wagons,  and  the  camji-iires  lighted  outside  of  this  square.  Across 
swamps,  quagmires,  and  even  rivers,  the  teams  were  driven,  men  being  sent 
ahead  to  make  temporary  bridges  over  the  first  two,  of  brush  or  long 
grass  covered  with  earth,  and  sometimes  to  fabricate  "buffalo  boats"  of 
hides  stretched  over  frames  of  poles  or  empty  wagon  bodies. 

The  main  route  to  Santa  Fe  will  be  described  later  on ;  but  the  trains 
sometimes  left  the  Arkansas  Yalley  near  what  is  called  C'imarron  Cross- 
ing, about  one  hundred  and  twenty -five  miles  east  of  what  is  now  the 
Colorado  State  line,  traversed  an  arid  desert  for  some  fifty  miles,  reached 
the  Cimarron  Yalley,  and  jjassed  on,  striking  the  main  trail  somewhere 
near  the  present  site  of  Fort  Union. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  great  troul^le  was  experienced  with  the  Indians 
from  time  to  time,  and  that  while  they  might  dread  interference  with 
strong  parties,  they  were  glad  enough  to  attack  weak  ones  ;  but  Mr.  Gregg, 
writing  in  1844,  expresses  the  fear  that  the  earlier  traders  were  not  guilt- 
less of  instigating  the  hostilities  of  later  days,  and  says  that  "  many  seemed 
to  forget  the  wholesome  precept  that  they  should  not  be  savages  them- 
selves because  they  dealt  with  savages."  He  adds,  "In  the  course  of 
twenty  years,  since  the  commencement  of  this  trade,  I  do  not  believe  there 
have  been  a  dozen  deaths  upon  the  Santa  Fe  route,  even  including  those 
who  have  been  killed  off  hj  disease  as  well  as  by  the  Indians." 

When  the  caravans  were  within  a  moderate  distance  of  Santa  Fe,  run- 
ners were  sent  ahead  to  send  back  supplies,  engage  storehouses,  and  make 
arrangements  with  tlie  customs  ofiicers — arrangements  not  unlike,  prob- 
ably, those  made  with  (some)  customs  officers  in  other  parts  of  the  world 
and  in  later  days.  And  then,  at  last,  the  long  valleys  traversed  and  the 
high  hills  crossed,  the  goal  appeared  in  sight.  Loud  cheers  rang  out, 
guns  were  discharged,  and  demonstrations  of  the  greatest  joy  abounded 
on  every  side.  I  must  quote  once  more  from  Mr.  Gregg's  enthusiastic 
description : 

"  It  was  truly  a  scene  for  the  artist's  pencil  to  revel  in.  Even  the  ani- 
mals seemed  to  participate  in  the  humor  of  their  riders,  Avho  grew  more 
and  more  merry  and  obstreperous  as  they  descended  toward  the  city.  I 
doubt,  in  short,  whether  the  first  sight  of  the  walls  of  Jerusalem  were  be- 
held by  the  Crusaders  with  much  more  tumultuous  and  soul-enrapturing 

joy. 


THE   SANTA   FE   TRAIL. 


139 


''The  arrival  iiroduced  a  orreat  deal  of  bustle  and  excitement  amons: 
the  natives.  '  Los  Americanos  !'  '  Los  earros !'  '  La  entrada  de  la  cara- 
vana  I'  were  to  be  heard  in  every  direction ;  and  crowds  of  women  and 


ENTRAXCK    OK    TIIK    CARAVAN    INTO    SANTA    FE. 


boys  flocked  around  \n  see  the  new-comers,  while  crowds  of  leperos  hnnc^ 
about,  as  usual,  to  see  what  they  could  pilfer.     The  wagoners  were  ])v  no 


140  NEW   COLORADO  AND   THE    SANTA   FE   TRAIL. 

means  free  from  excitement  on  this  occasion.  Informed  of  the  '  ordeal ' 
they  had  to  pass,  they  had  spent  the  previous  morning  in  '  rubbing  up,' 
and  now  they  were  prepared,  with  clean  faces,  sleek-combed  hair,  and  their 
choicest  Sunday  suit,  to  meet  the  '  fair  eyes '  of  glistening  black  that  were 
sure  to  stare  at  them  as  tliey  passed.  There  was  yet  another  preparation 
to  be  made  in  order  to  '  show  oif '  to  advantage.  Each  wagoner  must  tie 
a  brand-new  'cracker'  to  the  lash  of  his  whip,  for,  on  driving  through  the 
streets  and  the  Plaza  Publica,  every  one  strives  to  outvie  his  comrades 
in  tlie  dexterity  with  Avhich  he  flourishes  this  favorite  badge  of  his  au- 
thority." 

Then  were  sold  the  domestic  cottons,  calicoes,  cotton  -  velvets,  silks, 
hardware,  etc.,  which  had  been  brought  across  the  plains ;  and  the  founda- 
tion of  many  a  large  fortune  was  laid  in  the  handsome  profits  coming 
from  this  business.  It  suffered  at  times  from  the  capricious  and  despotic 
behavior  of  the  Spanish  or  Mexican  authorities,  and  was  closed  in  18-13 
by  them,  only  to  be  reopened,  however,  in  the  ensuing  spring.  In  181:1 
the  Texans,  being  at  war  with  Mexico,  sent  an  expedition  into  the  coun- 
try, which  resulted  most  disastrously ;  and,  ostensibly  in  reprisal  for  the 
treatment  of  their  countrymen,  gangs  of  men,  under  Warfield  and 
McDaniel,  made  attempts  to  raid  some  of  the  trains  as  well  as  attack  vil- 
lages. One  of  these  gangs  was  also  guilty  of  the  rol^bery  and  dastardly 
murder  of  Don  Antonio  Jose  Chavez,  in  April,  181:3,  and  the  criminals 
were  pursued,  and  most  of  tliem  captured.  JS^or  was  the  trade  seriously 
interrupted  by  the  Mexican  war,  for  Santa  Fe  was  taken  by  our  troops 
in  1840,  and  an  American  governof^  soon  replaced  the  haughty  Dons. 
Then  it  progressed  steadily,  and  only  the  Indians  seem  to  have  interfered 
with  it ;  and  when  the  great  iron  roads  began  to  push  out  from  the  Mis- 
souri, the  starting-place  moved  farther  and  farther  west.  The  forwarding 
establishment  at  the  head  of  which  is  Don  Miguel  Otero,  a  highly  re- 
spected citizen  of  Xew  Mexico,  and  uncle  of  the  territorial  delegate  to 
Congress,  has  made  seven  jumps  in  eleven  years.  It  was,  in  1868,  at 
Hays  City,  Kansas;  thence  it  went  to  Sheridan,  Kit  Carson,  Granada, 
La  Junta,  El  Moro,  Otero,  and  Las  Yegas. 

Of  interesting  incidents,  sometimes  pleasing,  often  tragic,  there  is  a 
large  store  from  which  one  has  but  to  choose.  In  either  1850  or  1851, 
F.  X.  Aubry,  a  young  man  of  Canadian  descent,  rode,  on  a  wager,  from 
Santa  Fe  to  Independence  in  five  days  and  sixteen  hours ;  his  own  beauti- 
ful mare,  Xelly,  having  carried  him,  it  is  said,  over  one  hundred  and  fift}' 
miles.  It  is  sad  to  relate  that  a  man  possessing  the  courage  and  endurance 
for  such  a  feat  was  killed  in  a  brawl  in  Santa  Fe,  September  lltli,  1854. 


THE  SANTA   FE  TRAIL. 


141 


In  1850  a  United  States  mail  party  was  cut  off  by  the  Apache  and  Utali 
Indians,  not  a  man  surviving ;  and  at  abont  this  time  Mr.  and  Mrs.  White 
and  party  were  attacked,  and  all  at  once  killed,  except  the  lady  and  her 


SUDDKN    ATTACK    l!Y    INDIANS. 


child,  who  were  taken  j)ris  nicrs.  A  party  of  dragoons,  Avith  the  famed 
Kit  Carson  as  guide,  started  in  pursuit,  and  overtook  tlu^  miscreants,  l)ut 
the  unfortunate,  captives  were  murdered  during  the  light.     To  this  splen- 


14:2  NEW  COLORADO  AND  THE  SANTA  FE  TRAIL. 

did  old  pioneer,  also,  a  friend  of  the  writer  owes  liis  life.  A  discharged 
soldier  asked  permission  to  join  him  in  his  homeward  trip  over  the  trail, 
having  formed  the  fell  design  of  robbing  and  murdering  him.  This  leaked 
out  after  the  departure,  and  before  the  time  had  come  for  consummation, 
the  traveller  saw  dust  behind  him,  and  before  long  Kit  and  his  men  gal- 
loped up,  seized  the  murderous  villain,  and,  bidding  him  god-speed,  departed 
with  their  prisoner.  This  is  only  one  of  the  achievements  of  such  grand, 
modest  old  heroes  as  Carson,  Pf eiffer,  and  others,  whose  names  will  be  held 
in  reverence  on  the  border  "  as  long  as  water  runs  and  grass  grows." 

When  I  myself  visited  ^ew  Mexico  in  1879,  less  than  a  hundred  miles 
of  rail  (since  completed)  remained  to  be  built,  and  the  Santa  Fe  trade  has 
now  passed  completely  out  of  the  realm  of  the  romantic,  and  into" that  of 
the  commonplace.  All  honor  to  the  stout  hearts  who  inaugurated  and 
carried  it  on,  and  who,  as  they  neared  the  Missouri  on  the  return  from 
their  earlier  trip,  might  well  have  said  with  the  poet, 

"  I  hear  tlie  tread  of  pioneers 
Of  nations  yet  to  be, 
The  first  low  wash  of  waves,  where  soon 
Shall  roll  a  human  sea." 

III.— THE    SOLDIER. 

Fort  Leavenworth,  on  the  Missouri,  between  Kansas  City  and  Atchi- 
son, was  established  in  1827.  In  1829  MajorJBriley,  with  four  companies, 
escorted  a  caravan  as  far  as  Sand  Creek,  Caj^tain  AVharton,  with  a  smaller 
force,  was  on  the  trail  in  183-4 ;  and  large  escorts  under  Captain  Cook  were 
there  in  1843.  In  1846,  liowever,  the  iirst  grand  march  waSTnade  (almost 
exactly  where  the  railroad  runs  to-day),  by  the  celebrated  "  Army  of  the 
"West,"  under  command  of  that  fine  old  soldier.  Colonel,  afterward  General, 
Stephen  W.  Kearny,  of  the  First  Dragoons.  His  force  consisted  of  just  1658 
men,  includmg  the  First  Regiment  of  Missouri  Mounted  Yolunteers,  com- 
manded ])y  tlie  famous  Colonel  Doniphan.  It  is  curious  to  read  in  these 
days  of  the  difficulty  which  the  troops  had  in  reaching  the  trail  from  Fort 
Leavenworth,  there  being  no  road ;  and  then  of  the  long  march  conducted 
in  detachments,  each  day's  progress  being  recorded  by  Captain,  now  Gen- 
eral, AV.  H.  Emory,  the  engineer  officer.  The  army  was  rather  scantily  sup- 
plied with  provisions,  and  many  of  the  inexperienced  soldiei^s  fell  ill  and 
died ;  but  the  survivors  pushed  bravely  on,  and,  having  marched  out  of 
Fort  Leavenworth  on  the  26th  of  June,  arrived  at  Bent's  Fort,  then  in  its 
glory,  on  the  1st  of  August.     Now,  the  passenger  who  has  left  "the  Mis- 


THE   SANTA   FE   TKAIL. 


143 


souri  River  at  9.45  a.m.  of  one  day,  passes  the  ruins  of  this  fort  at  noon  on 
the  next ! 

Still  exactly  on  the  old  trail,  the  army  turned  south,  crossed  the  Eaton 
Mountains  (being  often  obliged  to  draw  the  wagons  up  with  ropes  on  one 
side,  and  let  them  down  on  the  other),  and,  reduced  to  one-half  and  then 
one-third  rations,  proceeded  to  Las  Yegas,  where  the  general,  standing  on 
the  flat  roof  of  a  building,  administered  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  prin- 
cipal Mexican  residents.  It  was  understood  that  Governor  Armijo  would 
meet  the  Americans  some  twenty 
miles  from  Santa  Fe,  and  "  welcome 
them  with  bloody  hands  to  hospita- 
ble graves."  The  Don  assembled 
7000  men  by  proclamation,  marched 
out,  threw  up  some  earthworks,  and 
cut  down  some  trees  in  this  strong- 
position,  and  then  —  marched  away 
again !  "When  Kearny  came  on, 
with  his  little  army  in  battle  array, 
he  went  into  Santa  Fe  without  fir- 
ing a  shot !  thus  brino-ino-  to  a  close 
a  most  brilliant  military  achieve- 
ment, and  one  of  the  most  romantic 
and  remarkable  journeys  over  the 
old  trail.  A  second  force,  under 
Sterling  Prica^ afterward  a  noted 
Confederate  leader,  came  over  the 
same  route  later.  lie  took  com- 
mand   in    New    Mexico,   and    had 


more  or  less  fighting  until  he  re- 
turned in  the  summer  of  1847 ;  an 
Illinois  regiment  and  another  from  Missouri  having  replaced  his  men, 
after  traversing  the  now  somewhat  familiar  track.  Kearny  went  to  Cali- 
fornia ;  and  Doniphan,  with  a  verj^  moderate  force,  made  a  magnificent 
march  through  New  and  Old  Mexico,  fought  a  number  of  l)attles,  capt- 
ured Chihuahua,  joined  the  main  army,  returned  to  his  home  by  the  way 
of  the  (julf.  New  Orleans,  and  the  Mississipj)i,  and  was  pul)licly  crowned 
with  a  laurel  wreatli  in  Independence,  Missouri,  lie  is  still  living.  In 
punishing  thf  Indians,  wlio  declared  publicly  that  they  would  cut  off  tlie 
East  from  tlic  AW>t,  many  troops  Avere  em])loye(l,  and  a  considerable 
force   was  sent   out  late  in  1847   for   the    protection    oi    the   trail.      Ihe 


THK    HON. 


144         NEW  COLOKADO  AND  THE  SANTA  FE  TRAIL. 

present  forts  along  its  length  are  of  comparatively  recent  construction ; 
bnt  without  chronicling  any  other  startling  or  romantic  events,  it  may  be 
said  that  the  soldier  has  had  more  or  less  duty  between  the  Missouri  and 
Santa  Fe  for  the  last  twenty  years,  and  has  done  it  bravely  and  faithfully. 

IV. THE    FREE-STATE    CHAMPION. 

In  taking  up  this  department  of  his  subject  the  writer  is  approaching 
very  modern  and  well-known  history  too  closely  to  admit  of  more  than  a 
brief  reference  to  the  men  who,  if  they  marched  but  a  comjDaratively  short 
distance  west  from  the  river,  were  as  surely  the  pioneers  of  the  great  army 
of  peaceful  conquerors  of  the  soil  next  to  -receive  attention,  as  they  were 
the  standard-bearers  of  liberty.  It  is  but  a  quarter  of  a  century,  as  only 
recently  commemorated  at  Lawrence,  that  the  bill  for  the  organization  of 
the  Territory  of  Kansas  passed  Congress,  and  to  read  of  that  same  Law- 
rence being  sacked  two  years  later  is  like  a  sudden  plunge  backward  into 
the  Dark  Ages.  Secure  in  a  united  country,  purged  from  the  stain  of 
slavery,  we  can  strive  to  forget  the  horrors  of  "  Bleeding  Kansas ;"  but  we 
must  not  forget  the  honor  due  to  the  Free-State  chanipions.  "We  owe  it 
to  them  that  the  wagoner's  and  not  the  overseer's  whij)  has  been  cracking 
on  the  Santa  Fe  Trail  for  the  last  twenty-iive  ||^ars,  and  that  the  whistle 
of  the  engine  is  heard  there  to-day.  The  slave  power  died  hard  in  Kan- 
sas, as  it  did  at  Vicksburg  and  Gettysburg  and  Richmond ;  and  on  our 
country's  roll  of  honor  there  should  be  a  high  place  for  the  men  who 
fought  and  bled  for  freedom  on  this  soil. 

V. THE    SETTLES. 

He,  to  quote  the  motto  of  the  State  of  Massachusetts — Ense  petit  pla- 
cidam  suh  Uhertate  qidetem — seeks  with  the  sword  liberty  and  tranquil 
peace ;  and  then  he  hangs  up  the  sword,  and  beckons  to  thousands  from 
all  over  the  world  to  follow  him,  and  proceeds  to  jjusli  the  limit  of  the 
agricultural  belt  farther  and  farther  West.  Starting  on  a  recent  and  ex- 
tended tour  in  these  regions,  with  the  impression  of  knowing  something 
■about  them,  I  have  been  an  amazed  learner,  and  unless  my  readers  have 
had  equal  advantages,  what  will  be  told  them  will  be  a  surprise ;  and  they 
should,  if  sufhciently  interested,  follow  my  statements  with  a  good  map 
before  them.  There  has  been  doubt  as  to  whether  this  j^art  of  the  gi-eat 
march  should  be  described  as  that  of  the  settler  or  of  the  moist  and  fertil- 
izing atmosphere,  which  we  in  the  East  have  been  inclined  to  deny  to 
our  brethren  on  the  plains.     But,  in  any  case,  simple  facts  will  be  given. 

In  1S6G   Oliio   produced   10,200,000   bushels   of   wheat,  and  Kansas 


THE   SANTA   FE   TRAIL.  145 

260,000;  in  1872  Ohio  produced  18,200,000,  and  Kansas  2,100,000;  in 
1878  Ohio  produced  32,000,000,  and  Kansas  32,300,000!  I  have  not 
ventured  to  take  these  astounding  round  numbers  from  any  less  authorita- 
tive source  than  the  Report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  State  Board  of  Agri- 
culture of  Kansas. 

Let  us  further  notice  that  Kansas  stands  at  the  head  (in  1878)  of  the  list 
of  wheat-producing  States.  Two-thirds  of  these  32,300,000  bushels  were 
grown  in  that  part  of  the  State  which  has  been  settled  and  cultivated  dur- 
ing the  last  ten  years.  Of  these  32,300,000  bushels,  again,  the  western 
tilled  half  of  the  State  produced  23,300,000.  Ford,  Edwards,  and  Pawnee 
counties,  the  first-named  being  intersected  bv  the  one  hundredth  meridian 
(the  western  boundary  being  about  three  hundred  and  eighty  miles  west 
of  Kansas  City),  and  tlie  other  two  just  on  the  east  of  it,  produced  587,000 
bushels  in  1878. 

In  1845  vegetables  could  not  be  growm  at  Topeka,  and  the  missionaries 
there  were  compelled  to  send  to  the  river  for  them ;  in  1870  they  could 
not  be  grown  at  Newton ;  in  1872  they  could  not  be  grown  at  Larned. 
In  1879  they  could  be  grown  at  Dodge  City. 

Some  winters  on  this  subject  of  the  increasing  fertility  of  the  so-called 
"plains"  have  been  com](||)Iled  to  construct  facts  to  suit  their  theories. 
One  finds  Imnself  in  a  far  more  agreeable  position  when  he  is  only  called 
upon  to  offer  sometliing  in  the  shape  of  a  scientific  theory  to  account  for 
facts  which  any  observer  can  studv  for  himself.  Assumino;  that  this  fer- 
tility  is  within  the  general  western  limit  of  the  region  of  farms,  and  that 
it  is  not  claimed  for  solitary  out-pickets,  it  would  seem  tliat  when  such 
limit,  extending  for  a  considerable  distance  north  and  south,  is  pushing 
steadily  on,  the  breaking  up  of  the  soil  has  done  the  work,  and  there  is 
strong  scientific  authority  in  suj)port  of  this. 

The  turning  of  the  sod,  tlien,  introduces  two  modes  of  action  tending 
to  increase  locally  the  moisture  of  the  atmosphere.  Perhaps  the  more  im- 
portant is  that  of  simply  parting  with  its  own  natural  moisture,  slowly  but 
surely,  until  it  arrives  at  a  certain  stand-point,  balanced  by  the  greater  or 
1^  dryness  of  the  air  meeting  it.  The  other  source  of  continued  local 
moistening  of  the  atmosphere  is  that  of  the  gradual  decomposition  of  the 
organic  constituents  of  the  turf,  tlius  giving,  at  the  ])oints  needed,  moist- 
ure prepared  to  assist  vegetation.  These  two  modes  of  action  are  produc- 
tive of  relatively  large  amounts  of  humid  atmosphere  as  compared  with 
the  whole  weight  of  the  turf  displaced.  Ivaiii,  being  always  due  to  an 
oversaturated  atmosphere,  follows  in  the  train  of  agricnltiii-al  progress,  and 
is  liinited  to  or  most  active  at  the  vei-y  ])()ints  where  it  can  contribute 

lU 


146  NEW  COLOKADO  AND  THE  SANTA  FE  TKAIL. 

most  essentially  to  tlie  germination  and  growtli  of  the  crops.  Thus  it  is 
clearly  the  settler's  march  over  the  trail,  for  the  rain  is  incident  on  tlie 
labor  of  his  strong  hands. 

Settler,  too,  if  not  farmer,  is  the  stockman  who  is  pushing  his  ranches 
and  flocks  and  herds  out  along  the  Arkansas,  in  competition  with  his 
l)rethren  in  other  parts  of  Colorado,  in  New  Mexico,  and  in  Wyoming. 
Both  contribute  largely  to  the  wealth  and  prosperity  of  the  region  in 
which  they  dwell  and  labor.  Who,  in  the  face  of  what  has  been  stated, 
shall  boldly  predict  how  far  west  and  south  they  sliall,  in  friendly  alliance, 
push  on  ?  The  farther  the  better,  may  all  true  patriots  heartily  say,  even 
if  they  meet,  as  Governor  Gilpin  thinks  that  they  will,  the  eastern  sweep 
of  hordes  from  Asia  somewhere  in  the  Parks.  (It  is  to  be  trusted  that  he 
will  pronounce  this  correctly  stated.)  We  might  well  like  to  see  farms 
and  ranches  stretching,  as  the  old  skip2:)er  said,  "from  Caj^e  Horn  to  the 
llorj  Borealis." 


/ 


THE    SANTA   FE   TRAIL.  14; 


CHAPTER  XL 

THE    SANTA    FE    T RAIL— Coniinued. 
VI. THE    RAILROAD    ENGINEER. 

WIIEX  the  train  M-as  niniiing-,  one  pleasant  day  last  siimnier,  over  a 
certain  Western  line  of  railroad,  a  distinguished  British  olhcial,  of 
great  experience  in  the  constrnction  and  management  of  lines  of  various 
descriptions,  asked,  with  much  interest,  who  had  planned  and  l)uilt  the 
section  which  he  had  just  traversed.  Being  told  that  it  was  a  regular 
enqDloje  of  the  corporation,  of  modest  demeanor  and  small  pretensions,  he 
expressed  the  greatest  surprise,  and  said  that  if  such  work  had  been  done 
in  Great  Britain,  or  any  of  her  possessions,  the  engineer  would  have  been 
knio^hted  or  made  a  baronet.  Indeed,  there  is  no  doubt  that  few  things  in 
our  country  have  excited  greater  admiration  from  the  "•  hearts  of  oak " 
across  the  Atlantic  than  the  manner  in  which  the  surveyors  and  track- 
layers have  pushed  their  way  into  the  primeval  wilderness,  and  across  the 
continent.  The  oxen  that  drew  some  of  the  first  teams  were  excellent  en- 
gineers, and  the  iron  horse  of  the  West,  in  more  than  one  instance,  has  fol- 
lowed where  they  led.  Rarely,  however,  in  thus  doing,  have  the  tracks 
]'un  over  and  toward  such  scenes  of  romance  and  historic  interest ;  and  it 
is  indeed  curious  to  tliiidc  that  already  the  whistle  of  the  locomotive  has 
startled  the  sleepy  Mexicans,  and  echoed  across  the  Plaza  in  the  ancient 
City  of  the  Holy  Faith. 

Jt  was  alike  with  a  vivid  interest  and  a  curious  realization  of  the  ex- 
treme discrepancy  between  my  modes  of  travel  and  those  of  my  predeces- 
sors that  I  traversed,  during  the  summer  and  autunni  of  1879,  the  Santa 
Fe  Trail,  and  one  finds  it  hard  to  believe  that  the  journey  over  it  is  now  but 
an  every-day  duty  of  the  brakeman  and  the  baggage-master.  Kansas  City, 
but  a  few  miles  north  of  Westport,  is,  albeit  not  in  Kansas  at  all,  but  in 
^fissouri,  a  bustling  and  thriving  town.  Three  com])eting  lines  connect  it 
with  St.  Louis,  and  the  same  number  with  Chicago,  and  the  Union  Depot 
presents  a  busy  scene.     Starting  thence,  the  train  ran  swiftly  along  the 


148 


NEW  COLORADO  AND  THE  SANTA  FE  TRAIL. 


banks  of  tlie  Kaw  or  Kansas  River  to  Topeka,  passing  tlirongli  Lawrence, 
witli  its  tine  brick  buildings  on  a  high  bhitf.  Topeka  is  the  capital  of  the 
State,  contains  al)ont  12,C(H}  people,  and  boasts,  besides  wide  avenues,  tine 
business  l)locks,  and  comfortable  private  residences,  a  very  handsome  State- 
house  or  Capitol,  and  a  Female  Seminary  which,  for  strength  and  thor- 
oughness of  building  and  convenience  of  arrangement,  surpasses  many  of 
the  most  pretentious  ones  of  the  East.  Moreover,  it  may  be  mentioned 
with  satisfaction  that  there  is  here  a  Historical  Library,  which,  if  managed 
as  it  has  been,  and  now  is,  will  be  of  great  value  to  the  future  historian. 
While  many  "West-bound  parties  doubtless  travelled  along  the  banks  of  the 
Kaw,  the  old_San.ta_FejrraiLprQper  took  a  somewhat  different  course  as 


^     I 


'^'''  t$^^ 


■^v- 


\ 

'^^U 


Kearny's  soldiers  crossIiNG  the  range. 


far  as  the  Arkansas,  which  is  reached  by  the  rails  near  the  town  of  New- 
ton. Thence  T  sped  on,  the  old  wagon-road  being  in  sight  or  close  at  hand 
nearly  all  the  way  along  this  famed  valley.  Instead  of  herds  of  buffaloes, 
and  occasional  bands  of  Indians,  and  long  lines  of  canvas-topped  wagons,  I 
saw  farms,  and  school-houses,  and  churches,  and  National  Banks.  Yankees 
from  New  England,  Scotchmen  from  the  Highlands,  Germans  from  the 
banks  of  the  Kliine,  Mennonites  from  Russia,  and  a  motley  crowd  from  all 
parts  of  the  earth  "  dwelt  together  in  unity "  where  the  wagons  were 
"parked,"  and  the  weary  patrol  trudged  through  the  night,  not  many 
years  ago.     One  feels  just  a  shade  disappointed  at  the  absolute  peaceful- 


THE    SAKTA   FE   TRAIL.  149 

ness  of  his  transit,  and  as  the  verdant  vovao-er  sometimes  longs  for  a  storm 
at  sea,  so  might  one  in  his  inmost  soul  hope  for  a  sight  of  a  savage  Indian, 
at  a  safe  distance.  Alas !  we  conld  hear  of  but  six,  and  they  were  in  jail. 
And  on  what  does  the  reader  suppose  that  we  had  to  fall  back  for  a  tinge 
of  excitement?  ISTot  on  the  painted,  tomahawk-brandishing  warrior ;  not 
on  desperate  Mexicans  and  still  more  desperate  American  bandits;  not 
even  on  a  set  of  drunken,  pistol-shooting  *'  cow-boys,"  but  (and  this  in  the 
Far  AVest  and  on  the  great  plains)  on  that  hot-house  freebooter,  that  dis- 
tinctive product  of  Eastern  civilization,  the  original,  impudent,  worthless 
tram^ !  Exit  the  wild  rover  of  the  prairies;  enter  the  bummer!  In 
1830  or  18-40  the  Cheyennes  fiercely  attacked  the  lines  of  wagons ;  in  1879 
the  tramps  captured  a  freight  train !  It  was  a  short  one,  and  there  were 
only  two  or  three  men  on  it,  who  were  told  that  they  had  better  keep 
quiet,  if  they  did  not  Avant  to  be  shot  l)y  some  of  the  twenty-five  seedy, 
second-class  rufiians,  who  proposed  to  travel,  as  they  say  in  the  West, 
"  with  their  hats  chalked,"  or  free.  Their  journey  was  a  short  one,  for 
they  shortly  met  the  express,  and  the  trainman  told  liis  tale  to  a  worthy 
Master  of  Transportation  who  happened  to  be  thereon.  This  quiet  Massa- 
chusetts man  said  little,  but  acted  promptly. 

"  He  told  the  boys,"  said  my  informant,  "  just  to  git  them  rifles  out  of 
the  baggage-car.  '  We'll  clear  'em  out  for  you,'  says  he  to  the  freight  con- 
ductor; and  then  we  just  went  for  'em.  We  could  'a'  had  fifty  good  re- 
volvers to  help  us,  out  of  the  passenger-car ;  but  there  warn't  no  need  of 
'em.  When  them  tramps  see  us  a-comin',  they  knew  we  was  on  the  shoot, 
and  they  just  give  three  cheers,  and  lit  out.'''' 

Shade  of  Kit  Carson !  has  it  come  to  this  ?  We  luiy  a  new  revolver, 
and  take  out  an  accident-insurance  policy,  and  go  forth  to  meet  the  wild 
warrior  of  the  West;  and,  lo  I  the  modern  kind  would  flee  from  a  police- 
man's club,  and  would  not  make  a  hero  for  a  juvenile  "  blood-and-tlmn- 
der"  weekly.  Resuming  my  seat,  I  am  reminded  of  the  Briton  who  left 
his  native  shores  on  a  quest  for  the  typical  American  of  the  border — the 
mighty  Leather  Stocking  or  Davy  Crockett  of  these  latter  days.  In  vain 
did  he  search  tlirough  town  aftei'  town,  farther  and  farther  from  the  East- 
em  seaboai-d.  Wearied  and  (lisa})])ointed,  he  was  about  to  retrace  his 
steps,  M'hen  I'(j]'tuiie  smiled,  and  he  saw — the  first  glance  brought  convic- 
tion to  his  soul — the  real  thing!  Nothing  could  be  more  conventionally 
correct  —  the  suit  of  buckskin,  the  leggings,  the  large  felt  hat,  the  long 
hail",  the  lilK',  the  revolver,  and  the  l)owie-knife. 

'"'•  Eureka r  he  mnttered,  as  he  hiii'i-icdly  crossed  the  street. 

"My  dear  si)-,"  said  he,  '*  would  you  —  aw  —  excuse  the  liljcrty,  you 


150  NEW   COLORADO   AND   THE    SANTA   FE   TRAIL. 

know,  and  have  the  kinclnefs  to — aw — tell  me,  you  know,  from  whence 
you  come  ?" 

He  doubtless  expected  to  quail  before  the  eagle  eye  of  this  Wild  Bill ; 
perhaps  to  be  greeted  with  strange  imprecations ;  but  the  man  answered, 
in  mild  tones,  and  with  familiar  accent,  "  Hoot,  mon ;  aw'm  just  three 
months  from  Inverness !" 

And  now  the  school-houses  and  churches  began  to  decrease  in  size, 
and  the  houses  were  farther  apart,  as  we  ran  swiftly  on  to  Dodge  City. 
Thence,  or  from  a  point  not  far  distant,  diverged  the  old  alternative  trail 
l)y  the  Cimarron.  Thence,  to-day,  one  travels  by  stage  to  Camp  Supply, 
and  (less  than  two  hundred  miles)  to  Fort  Elliott,  south  of  the  Canadian 
River,  and  in  the  "  Pan  Handle  "  of  Texas.  Near  by,  too,  is  Fort  Dodge  ; 
and  we  drove  thither,  and  saw  the  neat  quarters  and  the  storehouses  and 
the  corral,  and  talked  with  some  of  the  officers  who  are  stationed  at  these 
lonely  points.  Several  of  them  were  rejoicing  at  orders  for  a  post  farther 
east,  but  in  twenty-four  hours  after  we  parted  with  them  all  was  changed, 
and  they  were  sent  with  speed  to  the  front,  perhaps  to  lay  down  their  lives 
in  a  tight  with  Indians  armed  with  rifles  of  the  newest  patterns,  and  sup- 
plied with  provisions  of  the  best  quality — all  from  one  of  those  centres  of 
wretched  corruption  and  chicanery,  an  Indian  agency. 

From  this  same  Fort  Dodge  went  to  his  death,  not  many  months  ago, 
that  l)rave  and  chivalric  man,  Major  William  H.  Lewis,  U.  S.  A.  His  ca- 
reer affords  an  excellent  comment  on  the  weak  points  of  our  republican 
system.  Gaining  distinction  among  his  comrades  for  services  in  the  early 
part  of  the  Civil  War,  which  in  another  land  would  have  earned  both  higli 
military  rank  and  public  fame,  he  lived  to  tind  himself,  six  years  later,  a 
major,  and  to  see  his  pay  and  allowances  gradually  cut  down  by  a  Con- 
gressional majority  hostile  to  the  army  ;  and  then  he  was  shot,  fighting 
heroically  against  the  Cheyennes — and  why  i'  Because  that  wicked  and 
powerful  organization,  the  Indian  King,  successfully  maintaining  itself  by 
its  unnatural  alliance  with  the  sentimentalists  of  the  East,  cannot  rol)  and 
plunder  without  desperate  outbreaks  on  the  part  of  its  victims.  While 
the  former  is  fattening  itself  at  a  safe  distance,  and  the  latter,  untaught  by 
the  ghastly  doings  of  year  after  year,  are  whining  platitudes,  Lewis  and 
Thornburgh  and  Custer,  and  many  more  brave  men,  are  dying  at  the  front. 
Some  of  us,  who  "  speak  what  we  do  know  and  testify  what  we  have  seen  " 
on  this  subject,  do  most  imj^licitly  believe,  and  would  have  our  fellow-citi- 
zens believe,  that  the  nation  which  permits  such  things  to  be,  stands  in 
danger  of  an  unerring  retribution  ;  and  this  saddest  of  all  aspects  of  West- 
ern life  cannot  be  ignored  in  any  truthful  sketch  of  that  region. 


THE    SANTA   FE   TRAIL. 


151 


Speeding  on  again,  we  passed  Lakin  (in  which  enterprising  town  the 
store,  established  in  a  "  dng-out,'"  contrasts  curiously  with  the  new  railroad 
dining-hall),  then  across  the  line,  and  into  Colorado.  From  Las  Animas 
we  went  to  another  military  post — Fort  Lyon — situated  just  where  the 
Purgatoire  enters  the  Arkansas.  The  moon  was  shining  down  on  the  neat 
square,  with  its  plank  walks,  and  trees,  and  tall  Hag-staflf  (in  these  Western 
posts — forts  only  by  courtesy — there  are  no  stone  or  earth  works).  A 
''  hop ''  was  progressing  at  the  barracks,  and  the  soldiers'  wives,  who  were 
dancing  to  the  music  of  a  violin 
and  guitar,  had  brought  with  them 
the  children  whom  they  could  not 
leave  at  home,  so  that  one  saw  the 
pretty,  chubby  little  things  sleep- 
ing as  quietly  on  rugs  on  the  iloor 
as  if  miles  away  from  the  noise  and 
the  lights.  And  if  any  further  hu- 
manizing iniluence  were  wanted  by 
the  pilgrim  on  the  old  trail,  he 
found  it  in  the  gathering  of  cult- 
ured ladies  and  gentlemen  who  had 
not  heard  Pinafore,  but  wIkj  could 
and  did  sing  it  on  the  far  Arkansas. 
Then,  not  very  much  farther  on, 
we  went  down  to  the  l)ank  of  the  river  to  get  a  sketch  of  Bent's  Fort — a 
famed  post  in  the  old  days.  The  main  structure  was  one  hundred  and 
eighty  l)y  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  feet,  and  the  walls  were  fifteen  feet 
high  and  four  feet  thick.  It  is  now  deserted  and  in  ruins;  and  the  only 
information  which  we  had  to  guide  us  in  our  search  for  a  foi'tification  (it 
cannot  l)e  seen  from  the  train)  which  was  in  its  glory  when  the  Army  of 
the  AVest  marched  to  Mexico,  was  the  statement  that  it  was  near  the  549tli 
mile-post  on  the  Atchison,  Topeka,  and  Santa  Fe  Railroad.  And  now  the 
droves  of  cattle,  and  the  buffalo  trails  strc^tching  over  the  plains  and  down 
to  the  water,  as  straight  as  if  laid  out  with  a  theodolite,  grew  more  fre- 
quent, and  we  came  to  La  Junta  ('])rononnce  it  La  /foontah,  if  you  please), 
tiie  junction  of  the  Timpas  with  the  Arkansas.  Here  the  four-footed  en- 
gineers turned  ofi!  to  the  south-west,  and  their  two-legged  successors,  leav- 
ing the  main  Colorado  line,  l)y  which  one  reaches  Pueblo,  Colorado  Springs, 
and  Denver,  followed  exactly  in  their  steps.  The  laud  is  barren  to  the  eye, 
and  the  route  louclv  for  nwliije;  hut  soon  \vv  saw  the  S]ianisli  Peaks,  and 
the  >no\v-to])j)e<l  Sangre  dc  ('I'i^to  on  the  hoi'izou,  ami   then   it   was  only 


FIRar    STOKK    IN    LAh.lN. 


152  NEW  COLORADO  AND  THE  SANTA  FE  TRAIL. 

eiii'litj  miles  to  Trinidad.  Directly  tlirougli  this  town,  in  wliicli  one-story 
adobe  huts  and  Mexican  mescals,  or  hovels  of  mud  and  straw,  are  curiously 
mingled  with  United  States  Hotels,  and  National  Banks,  and  saloons,  runs 
the  trail,  and  on  the  banks  of  the  Purgatoire,  which  we  have  again  reached, 
runs  the  iron  road. 

And  here  let  me  stop  to  record  the  corrnption  ^a/"  excellence  of  a  name 
which  I  have  encountered  in  all  my  wanderings.  The  pious  Spaniards 
called  this  stream  Las  Animas  (the  Souls),  the  French  called  it  Purgatoire 
(Purgatory),  and  the  freeborn  American  calls  it  the  Pichetioire.  We 
crossed  the  bridge  to  take  the  train,  musing  on  what  they  call  in  California 
the  "  pure  cussedness  "  of  such  a  transformation ;  and  then  we  saw  Fisher's 
Peak  on  the  east,  and  to  the  south,  rising  up  against  the  sky,  the  Raton 
(Rat)  Mountains,  which  first  compelled  the  trail  to  follow  a  heavy  grade. 
In  starting  to  cross  them,  and  enter  a  land  which  came  to  us  by  right  of 
conquest  only  about  thirty  years  ago,  I  experienced  a  curious  feeling  of 
expectancy  and  adventurous  enthusiasm,  unknown  in  long  and  distant 
wanderings  in  four  continents,  and  which,  if  worth  analysis,  I  should  trace 
to  the  fact  that  the  passage  from  youngest  America  to  older  Si:)ain  and 
oldest  kingdom  of  Montezuma,  and  from  the  exj^ress-ofRce  and  the  "  rnm- 
mill "  to  the  vice-regal  palace  and  the  ancient  ])ueblo^  is  effected  so  speed- 
ily, and  without  the  crossing  of  any  portion,  however  small,  of  the  mighty 
deep.  At  all  events,  the  feeling  is  there,  and  it  is  respectfully  commended 
to  the  attention  of  the  sensation-seeker.  The  trail  went  over  the  toll-road 
owned  by  Uncle  Dick  Wootten,  a  veteran  j^ioneer,  and  many  stories  are 
told  of  the  long  lines  of  teams  and  otlier  vehicles  which  paid  tribute  at 
his  gate ;  but  the  railroad,  first  using  a  very  bold  and  ingenious  "  switch- 
back," now  runs  through  a  tunnel,  approached  on  either  side  by  a  heavy 
grade,  and  showing  curious  seams  of  coal  in  its  inner  walls.  We  saw  it 
from  the  rear  platform  of  a  single  passenger  car  at  the  end  of  a  long 
freiglit  train,  and  also  looked  at  the  "  DeviPs  Gate,"  through  which  the 
trail  passes  after  crossing  the  mountain,  and  which  might  have  joroved  at 
any  time  a  terrible  place  for  an  ambush.  Then  came  supper  at  Otero,  and 
a  cot  in  the  baggage  car,  in  which  car,  besides  many  trunks  and  some  amia- 
ble officials,  we  noticed  several  crates  suggestive  of  poultry.  Wrapped  in 
my  l)lankets,  and  with  my  head  on  an  ancient  mail-sack,  I  slept  soundly 
until  morning,  and  then  only  faintly  heard  the  following  colloquy : 

"  Who's  that  feller.  Bill  ?     Is  he  alive  ?" 

"  Oh,  he's  a  passenger.  Blamedest  feller  to  sleep  that  /  ever  see. 
There's  them  cocks  been  a-crowin'  and  them  ducks  a-quackin'  by  the  hour, 
and  blame  me  if  he's  stirred.     You  bet  he's  a  hoss  sleeper  /" 


THE   SANTA   FE   TRAIL.  153 

Assuming  this  as  a  compliment,  I  rose  from  my  couch,  and  was  rnb- 
bino;  iiiv  hands  to  warm  them,  as  the  train,  which  had  run  down  the  trail 
in  the   night,  through  a  pleasant  valley,  and  many  herds  of  sheep,  and 
across  the  edge  of  the  great  "  Maxwell  Grant  "  (some  one  and  three-quarter 
million  acres),  stopped  at  Watrous,  the  station  for  famed  Fort  Union,  only 
about  six  miles  from  the  track.     Then  we  ran  on  to  the  south,  and  in  due 
time  reached  the  then  terminus  of  the  road — Las  Yegas  (the  meadows) — 
where  the  plain  is  clearly  seen  to  come  to  an  end.    There  is  a  '"new  town" 
about  the  railroad  station,  and  a  large  number  of  saloons  and  gambling 
dens  are  to  be  seen ;  but  the  old  Plaza,  a  short  distance  off,  looks  just  about 
as  it  did  when  General  Kearny  stood  there  to  make  his  address  to  the 
Mexican  people.     The  most  striking  buildings  are  an  ancient  church,  with 
a  rude  cross  in  front,  and  an  enormous  edifice,  three  stories  or  more  in 
height,  erected  by  a  Mexican,  who,  having  travelled  to  some  cities  of  the 
Eastern  States,  was  fired  M'itli  a  noble  ambition  to  emulate  the  lofty  struct- 
ures in  jSTew  York  and  Boston.     The  accommodations  will  doubtless  im- 
prove, but  they  were  described  to  us  by  a  witty  friend  as  not  yet  equal  to 
those  of  Paris  or  Yienna.     He  assured  us  that  he  was  given  the  same  bed 
which  Montezuma  occupied'  in  prehistoric  days,  and  said  that  when  he  was 
taking  his  leave  the  landlord  told  him  that  he  was  going  to  put  a  new 
story  on  the  hotel.     "  I  told  him,"  added  he,  "  that  he'd  better  put  a  new 
story  on  the  kitchen,  and  another  coat  of  lohitewash  on  those  slats  I  slept 
ow."     Kear  by  are  some  famed  hot  springs,  which  the  future  traveller  can 
visit  with  ease  and  comfort,  and  for  which  manifold  virtues  are  claimed. 

At  an  early  hour  in  the  morning  I  climbed  beside  "  Dick  "  on  the  box 
of  the  Southern  Overland  Mail  Company's  stage,  and  settled  myself  for 
an  interesting  drive  on  the  trail  itself.  Between  Las  Yegas  and  Santa  Fe 
lie  mountains  which  it  would  be  impossible  to  cross,  and  we  made  a  long 
detour  to  the  south.  All  around  us  were  hills  covered  M'ith  dwarf  cedar 
and  jjifion,  and  presenting  rather  a  desolate  appearance  from  the  trail, 
wliicli  wound  around  and  among  them.  At  Tecolote  we  first  changed 
horses;  and  although  nearly  every  writer  who  has  visited  New  Mexico  has 
described  this  and  other  native  villages  as  resembling  Z/m^  IvY//*-,  the  fitness 
of  the  comparison  is  so  ol)vious  and  complete  that  no  one  could  suggest 
any  improvement  on  it.  And  now  we  were  brought  into  contact  with  an 
experience  of  the  Santa  Fe  Trail  M-liich  Avas  of  anything  but  an  agreeal)le 
nature.  To  be  sure,  the  otHcials  on  the  ti-ain  from  Trinidad  C()nq)lained 
that  the  rifles  furnished  on  their  end  of  the  liiu',  wlicrc  they  were  most 
likely  to  lie  needed,  were  not  so  good  as  those  on  the  Eastern  Division, 
where  only  the  semi-occasional  tiMiii|i  was  encountered.     To  be  sure,  too, 


154 


NEW  COLORADO   AND   THE   SANTA   FE   TRAIL. 


tliey  spoke  in  cheerful  local  parlance,  at  Las  Yegas,  of  "■  having  had  a  man 
for  breakfast "  (euphemism  for  a  murder  during  the  previous  night),  and 
the  existence  of  a  powerful  vigilance  committee  was  made  known ;  but  it 
was  certainly  just  a  little  novel  and  exciting  to  have  a  genial  resident  of 
Santa  Fe,  sitting  on  the  seat  behind  us,  quietly  mention  the  fact,  as  we 
were  lighting  our  cigars,  that  the  road  agents  had  "■  gone  through  "  all  the 


ROAD    AGENTS    AT    WORK. 


passengers  of  the  stage  on  which  he  had  come  in  the  opposite  direction, 
and  which  they  had  attacked  at  a  spot  which  he  would  show  me.  We 
reached  it  before  long,  and  concluded  that  the  "  agents,"  or  robbers,  had 
an  excellent  eye  for  position.  The  trail  turned  to  the  right  at  a  sharp 
angle,  and  around  a  2:»oint  on  which  were  rocks  of  considerable  height. 
On  the  left  were  high  trees,  among  which  lay  a  burnt  log. 

''Here  it  was,"  said  our  friend.     "The  first  tiling  that  I  saw  was  four 
masked  faces  and  eight  revolvers  belonging  to  men  behind  those  rocks. 


THE  SANTA  FE  TRAIL.  155 

Of  course  tliey  '  had  the  drop '  on  ns,  and  we  liad  to  throw  up  our  liands. 
And  then  they  made  us  all  get  out,  and  they  put  the  lady  passeno'cr  on 
one  side,  and  then  made  the  rest  of  us  sit  down  on  that  log-;"  and  he 
pointed  at  it  with  a  cool  laugh.  "  One  man,"  he  went  on,  "  kept  the  re- 
volvers pointed  at  the  party,  and  the  others  just  'went  tlirouglr  us,  and 
took  everything  that  we  had  in  the  world.  I  mean  the  men.  The  lady  had 
some  money,  but  they  let  her  alone.  One  fellow — a  doctor — walked  about, 
and  the  man  with  the  revolver  told  him  just  to  sit  do%vn  on  that  log  again. 
'  Is  it  any  of  your  business  whether  I  sit  or  stand  V  asked  he.  '  Oh  no,' 
said  the  man,  pleasantly,  'none  at  all,  onlf/  FU  let  dayrxjht  tliromjh.  ye  if 

ye  doiiH  sit  down quick  f     And  he  sat  down.     When  they'd  taken 

everything,  even  fifty-seven  dollars  of  the  driver's  hard  earnings — and  they 
generally  let  them  alone — they  told  us  to  keep  still  for  twenty  minutes  at 
peril  of  our  lives,  and  took  the  horses  and  a  buggy  that  they  had  up  there 
among  the  trees,  and  went  off." 

And  this  was  a  fair  specimen  of  the  doings  of  the  "  road  agents."  If 
anything  can  be  conceived  more  exasperating  to  a  strong  red-blooded  man 
than  to  sit  with  a  pistol  at  his  head,  and  have  a  villain  take  his  watch  and 
money,  I  have  not  yet  discovered  it ;  and  yet  the  "  agents "  are  almost 
universally  successful.  The  Western  man,  l)old  and  resolute  as  he  is, 
shrugs  his  shoulders,  and  asks  what  you  are  to  do  when  they  "get  the 
drop  on  you ;"  this  "  getting  the  drop  "  being,  of  ccnirse,  the  certainty  of 
l)eing  able  to  kill  you  (which  they  will  surely  do)  before  you  can  harm 
them  in  any  vv^ay.  On  tliis  occasion  it  was  intimated  that  while  the  one 
man  was  standing  with  his  two  revolvers  pointed  at  the  unfortunates  on 
the  log,  and  with  his  back  to  the  woman  passenger,  the  lattei-  bitterly  la- 
mented the  fact  that  she  had  no  pistol ;  and  that  there  are  plenty  of  women 
in  the  AVest  with  nerve  enough  to  have  disposed  of  him,  is  perfectly  true. 

"Were  you  not  greatly  alarmed?"  asked  a  visitor  of  a  stern-looking 
woman  who  had  been  telling  of  an  Indian  attack  on  the  stage  in  which 
she  crossed  the  plains. 

"Not  m?^cA,"  she  replied,  and  the  sfxrj)  in  her  eyes  told  how  well  she 
must  have  handled  the  rifle.     "1  was  too  tjiad  to  be  frightened." 

One  of  the  most  celebrated  government  detectives  in  the  West  was  on 
a  stage  which  was  attacked  by  two  masked  men,  and,  to  his  iniinite  rage 
and  disgust,  was  coinpelle(l  to  give  u])  his  watch  and  mom-y.  Ahnost 
mr-fhanically,  he  put  liis  liniid  ddwn  in  tlic  "  boot,"  as  they  divtvc  on, 
and  t<j  liis  great  dfliglit  I'omid  a  carhiiiL'  under  the  seat,  which  {\\c  i'(»bbers 
liad  forgotten.  AV^itli  a  gi'ini  smile  he  asked  tlie  driver  to  go  on  a  little 
liii'lhcr,  and  tiien   stoj)  and  wait   I'oi-   him;  and  hi'  went  hack  alone,      fl  list 


156  NEW    COLORADO  AND   THE   SANTA   FE   TRAIL. 

as  lie  expected,  the  two  men,  unsusjiicious  of  danger,  were  "  divvying  up  '^ 
the  spoils  in  the  middle  of  the  road.  In  another  moment  they  heard  the 
words, 

"Now,  you  scoundrels,  it's  my  turn.  Throw"  up  your  hands,  or  I'll 
blow  your  brains  out !"  The  game  was  up,  and  they  knew  it  well.  To 
make  them,  covered  by  the  repeating  carbine,  step  on  one  side  with  their 
hands  held  up,  to  pick  up  their  revolvers,  and  to  sternly  tell  them  to  move 
on,  was  simple  work ;  and  it  was  not  long  before  the  astonished  and  de- 
lighted passengers  saw  them  meekly  coming  down  the  road,  with  their 
cool  captor  behind  them.  Their  j^rincipal  solicitude  would  now  be  as  to 
whether  they  could  be  gotten  into  the  shelter  of  a  jail  before  some  of 
"  the  boys  "  strung  them  on  a  tree.  It  may  not  be  amiss  to  state  that  the 
hero  of  this  little  affair  was  the  General  Charles  Adams  who  went  boldly 
among  the  Utes,  and  secured  the  surrender  of  the  women  captives  from 
the  AVhite  River  Agency.  [Another  story  of  a  dramatic  repulse  of  such 
ruffians  will  be  found  in  Chapter  XIII.] 

To  digress  further,  I  may  mention  my  good  fortune  in  seeing  the  sequel 
of  the  attack  in  wdiich  my  fellow-passenger  figured.  The  robbers  went 
back  to  Las  Vegas,  where,  of  course,  they  had  plenty  of  friends  ;  and  the 
United  States  Marshal  for  New  Mexico,  Mr.  John  Sherman  (nephew  of 
the  General),  who  resides  at  Santa  Fe,  thought  that  they  would  be  agree- 
able and  witty  people,  and  that  he  would  like  to  make  their  acquaintance, 
and  to  present  to  them  two  associates  and  deputies  of  his  own  —  Mr. 
Charles  Jones,  of  Kansas,  who  had  come  to  the  Territory  for  that  purpose, 
and  Mr.  Thomas  Barrett,  of  Santa  Fe,  both  gentlemen  of  very  taking 
ways.  As  the  robbers  did  not  seem  anxious  to  be  presented,  tlie  marshals 
concluded  to  waive  ceremony,  and  make  the  first  call ;  and  they  took  a 
few  broad-shouldered,  quiet-looking,  heavily-armed  friends  with  them. 

"  I  see  Charley  and  Tom  that  night,"  said  a  loquacious  citizen  of  Las 
Yegas  to  us ;  "  an'  I  knew  somethin'  was  up  when  I  see  'em  turnin'  up 
their  coat-collars,  an'  lookin'  at  their  percussion-caj)s ;  but  I  didn't  know 
what  it  was." 

The  "  agents "  were  enjoying  social  games  of  chance  and  skill  in  a 
hall  of  the  gay  town,  when  each  one  saw  men  on  both  sides  of  him,  appar- 
ently interested  in  the  game,  while  several  others  had  strolled  into  the 
room.  In  another  minute  there  was  a  grip  of  iron  on  each  arm ;  half 
a  dozen  shining  barrels,  with  resolute  faces  behind  them,  covered  the 
crowd,  and  all  was  over. 

"  The  chief  of  the  Yigilantes  come  to  me,"  said  one  of  the  captors, 
"  and  sez  he,  '  John,  do  ye  want  'em  hung  to-night  V  and  I  sez  '  No  !' '' 


THE   SANTA   FE   TRAIL. 


157 


I  -shall  always  prize,  as  one  of  the  strange  and  original  experiences  of 
my  life,  the  sight  of  the  examination  of  these  men.  It  took  place  in  a 
hall  in  the  old  palace  at  Santa  Fe,  in  which  Spanish  viceroys  reigned 
some  two  centnries  ago.  A  low  studded  room  was  divided  by  a  counter, 
the  spectators  taking  up  one  side,  and  the  other  being  occupied  by  the 
court.  Behind  a  square  table  sat 
a  kindly  -  looking,  weather  -  beat- 
en United  States  Connnissioner. 
At  one  end  were  the  marshal  and 
the  counsel  for  the  defence,  at  the 
other  the  United  States  District 
Attorney.  In  the  corner  was  a 
-Mexican  fireplace,  in  front  of 
which  sat  tln-ee  men,  with  their 
ankles  chained  together.  Two  of 
them  had  as  villanous  faces  as  I 
have  ever  seen ;  and  one  was,  as 
we  were  told  by  a  by-stander, 
''  Flapjack  Bill,  the  Pride  of  the 
Pan-handle"  (!)  They  were  ad- 
dressed as  "gentlemen,"  shook 
liands  with  their  friends,  and  deluged  the  palace  floor  with  tobacco-juice. 
My  friend  of  the  stage-coach  entered,  and  was  sworn ;  and  then  ensued  a 
remarkable  scene. 

"Do  you  know  those  men?"  he  was  asked.  lie  looked  at  them  stead- 
ily, and  said, 

"  I  should  like  to  hear  them  talk.'''' 

"  AVell,  I  don't  know  about  that,"  said  the  District  Attorney.  "  I  am 
afraid  that  their  counsel  would  object.  I  don't  believe  we  can  make  them 
talk." 

Flapjack  Bill  instantly  ejaculated,  "I'll  talk  to  yer  all  day;"  and  so 
called  out  another.  And  then  my  friend,  looking  quietly  at  one  of  these 
ruitians,  said, 

"If  I  am  not  mistaken,  that  is  the  man  who  held  tht;  pistol  at  my 
head."  The  magistrate  committed  the  scoundrels,  and  we  made  up  our 
minds  that  although  the  grave  surroundings  of  the  courts  of  the  old  States 
were  not  found  in  Santa  Fe,  Mr.  Commissioner  Ellison,  avIio  was  in  Mex- 
ico with  General  Scott,  had  a  correct  idea,  of  sul)staiitial  justice.  "Char- 
ley" Jones,  standing  at  my  side,  made  pleasant  and  juthy  remarks.  I  fan- 
♦•ied  that  I  saw  Iiiin  smile  as  one  of  the  witnesses  for  the  defence  was 


THE    CAPTURED    ROAD    A(iKNTS. 


158  NEW  'COLORADO   AND   THE   SANTA   FE   TRAIL. 

lianded  over  for  cross-examination.  The  District  Attorney  settled  his 
spectacles,  looked  over  some  notes,  which  probably  came  from  Charley's 
veracious  pen,  and  began,  in  a  voice  vtdiich  was  thoroughly  "  childlike  and 
bland."  The  witness  had  sworn  that  he  had  seen  one  of  the  prisoners  in 
his  "  place  of  business  "  on  the  day  of  the  robbery. 

''  Your  business,  Mr.  C,  is  what  V 

'■'Dealing  I'eno,  sir !" 

"  Ah,  yes.     And,  by-the-way,  Mr.  C,  did  you  not  reside  in  Kansas  in 

187- r 

-  Yes." 

"  Yes ;   and  wasn't  there  a  little  unpleasantness  about  your  stealing 
some  mules,  and  serving  four  years  in  State-prison  f 
Charley  turned  to  me  and  quietly  remarked, 
"  I've  got  'em,  sure,  if  onlf/  the  old  Jail  ivill  hold  .^" 

Leaving  Tecolote,  we  soon  saw  Bernal  Peak,  with  its  cap  of  stone,  on 
which  are  three  crosses.  At  our  left  were  those  welcome  signs  of  progress 
and  enterprise,  the  cuttings  and  embankments  for  the  railway. 

"  I  don't  want  to  lose  sight  of  tlietn,"  said  a  hopeful  Santa  Fe  man  on 
the  stage.  "  There's  what  has  been  railroads  and  steamboats  and  everything 
else  in  the  Territory,"  and  he  pointed  to  a  poor  little  burro — with  a  stolid 
Mexican,  stick  in  hand,  walking  behind  him.  "  Hang  me,"  he  went  on, 
''  if  I  don't  believe  that  those  fellows  undergo  metempsychosis,  and  turn 
into  burros  themselves  when  they  die !" 

At  San  Jose,  a  second  lime  -  kiln,  we  crossed  the  Pecos,  a  fine  stream 
running  through  a  fertile  valley,  and  at  Pajarito  (little  bird)  we  dined,  and 
"Dick"  gave  place  to  "Jim."  The  former  was  a  man  of  force,  and  I 
wished  that  I  could  have  seen  more  of  him,  and  made  note  of  some  other 
of  his  quaint  sayings,  such  as  the  statement  that  the  distance  to  a  certain 
place  was  "  a  mile  and  six  hits  "  (seventy-five  cents,  or  three  quarters).  We 
saw,  not  far  from  San  Jose,  a  sign,  in  which  a  name  which  I  have  never 
encountered  elsewhere  was  given  to  stimulating  beverages.  This  sign  was 
''''Nosepaint  and  Lunch^ 

Stories  and  songs  helped  to  pass  the  time  as  we  drove  up  and  down 
hills,  now  by  lonely  ranch-huts,  and  again  by  graders'  camp  and  supply 
teams,  and  then  the  old  Pecos  church,  and  ruins  of  a  pxiehlo.  Want  of 
space  precludes  interesting  speculations  as  to  the  age  and  history  of  these 
relics  of  the  past.  Then  came  La  Glorieta,  "  Pigeon's  Ranch,"  and  Apache 
Canon.  At  the  station  first  named,  and  around  the  ranch  where  old  Mr. 
Valle,  or  "Pigeon,"  as  he  is  called,  planted  the  corn  wliich  he  wanted,  as 


THE   SANTA   FE   TRAIL.  loi) 

lie  said,  to  sell  "  on  foot "'  (on  the  hoof  or  ''  standing "' ),  raged,  in  March, 
1862,  the  battle  between  the  rebels  under  Scnrry,  of  Sibley's  connnand, 
and  the  Colorado  troops  and  some  United  States  regulars,  which  will  be 
described  later  on.  Here,  too,  was  Armijo  to  have  annihilated  (reneral 
Kearny,  bnt  for  the  unfortunate  circumstance  of  his  troojjs  declining,  as 
they  say  in  the  West,  "  to  take  the  contract." 

It  was  nearly  dark  when  we  last  changed  horses  at  Rock  Corral,  and  the 
stars  were  shining  brightly  as  we  looked  down  from  the  heights  from  which 
Mr.  Gregg's  wagoners  saw  with  delight  the  goal  which  they  Avere  seeking ; 
and  then  we  rattled  down  the  hill,  and  across  the  bed  of  the  creek,  and 
through  a  narrow  street,  and  up  to  the  door  of  theyonda. 

Our  seventy-live  miles'  journey  had  "been  so  pleasant  that  we  felt  but 
little  fatigue ;  the  air  was  balmy,  the  supper  was  good,  and  the  residents 
sitting  in  and  about  this  sa.me ^fonda  seemed  glad  to  see  some  new  pilgrims 
arriving  at  the  shrine  of  St.  Francis.  One  felt  fully  the  fascinatino:  influ- 
ences  of  the  place;  and, /b^*  d''un  vieux  voi/ageur,  they  should  not  light- 
ly be  missed.  Early  in  the  new  year  the  branch  line  of  the  Atchison,  To- 
peka,  and  Santa  Fe  Railroad  was  completed  to  this  ancient  city,  and  the 
whistle  of  the  locomotive  frightens  the  burro  whom  it  is  to  supersede. 
In  18()4  a  merchant  of  Santa  Fe  paid  thirty-two  cents  per  pound  for 
freight  on  his  110,000  pounds  from  the  Eastern  States ;  to-day  it  will  cost 
from  three  to  live.  From  Albuquerque  a  line  is  t(^  be  built  direct,  and 
nearly  on  the  thirty -fifth  parallel,  to  California.  A  second  Pacific  line 
will  be  afforded  by  a  connection  between  the  Atchison  road,  now  rapidly 
pushing  down  the  Rio  Grande,  and  the  Southern  Pacific. 

What  is  to  be  the  future  of  Xew  Mexico,  now  that  General  Lew  Wal- 
lace, of  zouave  fame,  sits  in  the  chair  of  Armijo,  and  General  Hatch  can 
telegraph  direct  to  Washington  for  instructions,  and,  most  important  of  all, 
M'hen  it  is  bisected  by  this  tremendous  agent  of  civilization,  elfevro  carr'd,, 
the  iron-horse?  He  would  be  a  rash  man  who  would  in  thouii'ht  or  word 
narrowly  limit  the  scope  of  its  progress ;  and  if  Cxeneral  Sherman  did  say 
that  he  wanted  to  have  a  new  war  with  Mexico,  to  make  her  take  back 
this  Territory,  he  had  probably  forgotten  how  fast  the  graders  were  work- 
ing. As  is  the  republican  government  of  the  United  States  to  the  des- 
potic decrees  of  Spain  and  Mexico,  and  as  is  the  swift  train  of  1880  to  the 
slow  wagon  of  1841,  so  may  be  the  New  Mexico  of  this  great  Confedera- 
tion to  the  colony  of  Armijo. 


160         NEW  COLORADO  AND  THE  SANTA  FE  TRAIL. 


CHAPTEE  XII. 

AN   UNWRITTEN   EPISODE   OF   THE   LATE   WAR. 

HARDLY  so  long  ago  as  1800,  California  was  "trodden  'only  by  the 
.wild  Indian  and  the  Franciscan  missionary,"  and  for  many  years 
after  its  capture  in  the  Mexican  War  it  had  more  the  characteristics  of  an 
outlying  colony  than  the  member  of  a  homogeneous  sisterhood  of  States^ 
Nevada  became  of  importance  only  after  the  great  mineral  discoveries  on 
the  Comstock  lode.  Utah,  with  its  Mormon  population,  was  long  a  source 
of  weakness  rather  than  strength.  All  these  and  Colorado  were  essen- 
tially new  regions ;  while  south  of  the  latter  were  vestiges  of  a  civilization 
flourishing  before  the  settlement  of  'New  England,  which  had  yet  been  in 
its  turn  preceded  by  the  sway  of  races  of  the  greatest  interest  to  the  an- 
tiquarian. From  the  entry  of  General  Kearny  into  Santa  Fe,  in  1816, 
dated  the  American  possession  of  New  Mexico,  and  the  inhabitants  were 
for  a  long  time  regarded  as  a  conquered  and  perhaps  secretly  hostile  peo- 
ple. On  the  east  and  south-east  lay  the  State,  formerly  the  Republic,  of 
Texas,  from  which  was  despatched  northward  in  the  days  of  its  indepen- 
dence, and  under  the  presidency  of  Mirabeau  B.  Lamar,  the  "  Texan  Santa 
Fe  Expedition,"  for  purposes  ostensibly  of  trade,  but  really,  without  doubt, 
of  conquest ;  an  expedition  ending  in  scenes  of  defeat,  captivity,  and  death, 
and  leaving  in  New  Mexico  memories  which  had  an  important  effect,  as 
will  be  hereafter  seen,  on  subsequent  events.  When  admitted  as  a  State, 
Texas  claimed  so  much  of  New  Mexico  as  lies  east  of  the  Rio  Grande ; 
and  on  this  claim  there  was  a  design  to  base  an  attempt  to  precipitate  a 
collision  between  the  North  and  South  ten  years  before  it  actually  came. 
It  was  the  purpose  of  Jefferson  Davis,  if  successful  in  securing  his  elec- 
tion as  Governor  of  Mississippi  in  1851,  to  bring  on  a  conflict  between 
Texas,  supported  by  Mississippi  and  other  Southern  States,  and  the  Fed- 
eral Government  on  this  very  matter.  Resident  then  in  Mississippi,  and 
deeply  interested  in  Davis  and  his  plan,  was  one  Alexander  M.  Jackson, 
who  felt  so  assured  of  success  as  to  tell  friends  from  the  North,  before 


AN  UN^YEITTEN  EPISODE   OF  THE  LATE  WAR.  161 

the  election,  that  when  he  and  they  next  should  meet  it  wonld  l)e  on  op- 
posite sides  on  the  battle-Held.  Davis,  however,  was  defeated  at  the  elec- 
tion by  Foote,  and  the  plan  came  to  nanght.  Congress  paid  a  large  sum 
on  account  of  the  territory  claimed  by  Texas ;  then  the  struggle  to  inflict 
the  "  peculiar  institution ''  on  Kansas  demanded  the  attention  of  the  sedi- 
tious, and  events  moved  inexorably  on  to  the  fii'ing  on  Sumter  and  the 
battle  of  Bull  Eun. 

The  year  1861  closed  gloomily  for  the  cause  of  the  Union.  The  army 
of  the  Potomac  under  McClellan  had  not  made  the  expected  move ;  Ma- 
son and  Slidell  had  been  surrendered ;  Congress  was  surrounded  with  the 
gravest  difficulties.  Early  in  1862  Burnside's  fleet  was  wrecked;  and 
Cameron's  resignation  made  room  for  a  new  Secretary  of  War,  of  whose 
capacity  and  energy  the  people  had  no  accurate  knowledge.  Great  expec- 
tations were  entertained  of  important  movements  and  successes  in  what 
was  popularly  called  the  West ;  but  of  what  miglit  be  planning  or  hap- 
l^ening  in  the  far  West,  in  those  remote  Territories  which  were  not 
even  correctly  laid  down  on  the  maps,  not  one  person  in  one  hundred 
thousand,  from  the  President  down,  had  a  thought  or  a  care ;  though  a 
most  anxious  solicitude  would  not  have  been  misplaced,  as  shall  forth- 
with appear. 

Glancing  at  the  map,  the  reader  will  see  that  south  of  a  line  drawn  di- 
rect from  El  Paso  to  the  eastern  shore  of  Maryland  the  rebels  held  al- 
most  complete  sway,  and  north  thereof,  notably  in  Arkansas,  Missouri,  and 
Kentucky,  they  had  much  J30wer.  Yet  the  Federal  navy  shut  them  in 
from  all  the  world.  In  their  condition,  what  would  not  an  unblockaded 
coast-line  have  been  worth !  Into  the  secret  councils  of  the  Confederate 
leaders  we  cannot  yet  penetrate,  nor  discover  who  conceived  a  scheme  de- 
signed to  meet  this  want,  and  worthy  of  the  genius  of  both  statesman  and 
soldier.  Xor  can  we  surely  tell  what  connection  there  may  have  been  be- 
tween this  scheme  and  the  resignation  by  the  aforenamed  ardent  Secession- 
ist, Mr.  Jackson,  of  his  position  as  Secretary  of  the  Territory  of  New 
Mexico,  and  his  departure  for  the  "solid"  and  sunny  South.  Were  these 
simply  contemporaneous  events,  or  did  he  bear  a  leading  part  in  the  inau- 
guration, as  he  certainly  did  in  the  subsequent  management  of  the  enter- 
prise '{     Palmam  qui  meruit  ferat ! 

Surveying  further  the  situatirtii  in  the  far  Soutli  and  AVest,  we  And  in 
the  first  place  that  the  rel^els  had  (•()inj)lL'te  possession  of  the  great  State 
of  Texas.  Twiggs  had  traitorously  surrendered  all  the  ti'u()])s  under  his 
command,  with  forts,  arms,  ammunition,  and  supplies  of  all  kinds,  and 
many   of  the   men   had  been   ])ai-(»l(_'d.      This  vast  region  alforded  an  ad- 

11 


162         NEW  COLORADO  AND  THE  SANTA  FE  TRAIL. 

mirable  base,  for  extended  inilitary  operations,  and  it  was  not  long  be- 
fore advantao;e  was  sono;lit  to  be  taken  of  it.  It  was  somewliat  as  fol- 
lows  that  tlie  Confederate  leaders  argued  the  matter  in  the  autumn  of 
1861 :  Assuming  that  they  could  hold  their  own  east  of  the  Mississippi, 
a  move  could  be  made  westward  of  that  river  w^hich  promised  extremely 
well,  and  which,  if  successful,  would  give  immense  material  and  moral 
advantages  to  the  South.  The  plan  was  nothing  less  extensive  than  the 
capture  of  California^  and  the  subjection  of  five  other  States  and  Ter- 
ritories, 

The  poj)ulation  of  ISTew  Mexico  was  composed  of  Indians,  a  few  thou- 
sand Americans,  and  some  tens  of  thousands  of  Mexicans.  These  last 
were  considered  a  miserable  race,  but  could  probably  be  made  of  service, 
for  they  were  a  conquered  people.  Trusty  friends  of  the  cause,  lately  re- 
turned thence,  reported  that  the  "  greasers  "  w^ere  ready  to  cast  in  their  lot 
with  the  South,  At  least  they  could  be  dejiended  on  for  commissariat 
supplies,  mules,  and  teams.  Even  among  the  few  Americans  many  were 
of  Secessionist  proclivities.  Canby  had  just  been  placed  in  command  of 
the  Federal  troops,  but  was  insufficiently  supjjlied  with  men.  Arizona 
would  give  no  trouble,  for  the  Apaches  were  killing  the  Yankee  miners 
as  fast  as  the  rebels  could  have  done ;  no  resistance  to  the  march  of  troops 
through  that  region  could  be  anticipated.  In  Colorado  there  were  many 
Secessionists.  The  flag  of  the  Confederacy  had  already  been  raised  in  Den- 
ver ;  and  since  there  was  no  proper  military  organization  there,  all  seemed 
ripe  for  the  capture  of  the  Territory.  Xext  lay  Utah ;  and  here  also  all 
was  well.  The  Mormons  were  supposed  to  be  heartily  with  the  rebels, 
and  ready  for  vigorous  hostilities  against  the  Federal  Government.  AVith 
their  aid  there  could  be  no  formidable  opposition  in  JSTevada;  and  thus 
two  roads  to  California  lay  open.  In  that  State  all  appeared  in  train  for 
a  rising ;  a  part  of  the  population  had  always  been  supposed  to  be  re- 
belliously  inclined,  and  friends  would  liock  to  the  standard. 

For  the  execution  of  this  brilliant  enterprise  the  programme  was  sim- 
ple, A  powerful  column  would  march  by  El  Paso  into  New  Mexico,  de- 
feat or  flank  Canby  at  Fort  Craig,  and  occupy  Santa  Fe,  ]Rext  would 
come  Fort  Union,  containing  an  admirable  arsenal  and  supply  depot,  fitted 
in  good  season  by  Floyd*  with  a  most  convenient  stock  of  arms,  ammuni- 
tion, and  stores.     Thence  the  march  northward  would  be  easy,  and  the 


*  If  the  reader  will  study  the  history  of  these  times  in  the  light  of  later  develop- 
ments, he  will  find  his  blood  fairly  boiling  with  rage  at  the  manner  in  which  Federal 
officials,  while  still  on  duty,  traitorously  played  into  the  hands  of  the  South. 


AN   UNWRITTEN   EPISODE   OF  THE   LATE   WAR.  1-63 

prizes  would  fall  rapidly  into  the  hands  of  the  troops.  Indians*  and  Mor- 
mons were  probable  and  valuable  allies.  The  result  could  hardly  fail  to 
be  the  complete  and  speedy  control  of  a  rich  State,  a  splendid  sea-coast, 
and  ports  from  which  men-of-war  and  privateers  could  issue  to  sweep  the 
Pacilic.  This  would  hasten  recognition  by  European  nations,  and  lead 
to  the  breaking  of  the  Atlantic  blockade  by  England  and  France,  and  then 
the  end  would  soon  come. 

It  was  indeed  an  admirable  plan,  and  many  of  the  premises  were  cor- 
rect. The  roads  were  well  defined ;  the  Indians  and  Mormons  were  not 
relied  upon  without  good  reason,  and  much  sympathy  could  be  fairly  ex- 
pected in  the  settlements  along  the  route.  In  the  Golden  State,  too,  the 
Southern  and  foreign  element  was  large,  and  the  Custom-house  had  fur- 
nished occupation  and  resultant  bread  and  whiskey  to  so  many  natives  of 
that  State  which  is  called  the  "mother  of  statesmen,"  that  it  was  known 
as  the  "  Virginia  Poor-house."  The  Pacific  Eailroad  finished  the  work  of 
binding  California  fast  in  the  great  sheaf  of  States ;  but  Starr  King  spoke 
wisely  when  he  said,  "  The  Union  sentiment  is  strong,  but  the  Secessionists 
are  watchful,  and  not  in  despair."  Certainly  not,  if  they  knew  of  this  at- 
tem.pt  soon  to  be  made,  and  with  such  fair  promise  of  success. 

AVhat,  then,  were  the  weak  points  in  the  plan?  They  were  three. 
First,  the  rebels  made  the  mistake,  which  they  rej^eated  over  and  over 
again,  of  attaching  importance  to  the  support  to  come  from  disaffected 
people  and  districts  where  the  general  sentiment  was  loyal ;  second,  they 
were  hopelessly  misled  about  the  sentiments  of  the  Mexican  population  of 
Xew^  Mexico,  and  forgot  or  ignored  the  animosity  born  years  before  of 
tlie  Texan  Santa  Fe  expedition,  and  still  deeply  rankling;  third,  they 
made  a  fatal  miscalculation  in  underrating  the  stern  patriotism,  the  un- 
flinching courage  and  the  fierce  energy,  of  the  men  who  were  laying  the 
foundation  of  our  "  Centennial  State "  of  Colorado  while  braving  priva- 
tion and  hardshii)  in  the  search  for  gold.-  Through  Gregory,  Georgia, 
and  California  gulches,  and  in  other  places  in  the  mountains,  were  scat- 
tered these  hardy  pioneers,  not  only  open-hearted  and  generous,  but  pos- 
sessing to  an  eminent  degree  a  peculiar  and  desperate  courage.  Xor  did 
they  lack  a  suital)le  leader. 

In  May,  ISOl,  there  came  from  AVashington  to  Denver,  charged  with 
the  governorship  of  the  new  Territory,  William  Gilpin,  a  man  of  remark- 

*  Like  our  red-coated  invaders  in  revolutionary  daj's,  tlie  Confederates  "called  to 
their  aid  the  tomahawk  and  the  scalping-kuife  of  the  savage."  Some  of  our  men  at 
Pea  Ridge  were  scalped  ! 


164  NEW  COLORADO  AND  THE  SANTA  FE  TRAIL. 

able  strength  of  character,  courage,  and  intelligence.  An  old  army  officer, 
he  had  traversed  and  studied  for  years  the  great  Dome  of  the  Continent. 
He  had  been  the  major  of  Doniphan's  noted  regiment.  An  enthusiastic  ad- 
mirer of  the  mountain  region,  he  would  doubtless  have  found  his  account 
in  directing  the  peaceful  development  of  its  resources ;  but  there  was 
sterner  work  for  him  to  do,  and  it  is  difficult  to  imagine  how  a  better  man 
could  have  been  raised  up  to  do  it.  Before  his  vigorous  measures  the  Se- 
cessionist movement  shrivelled  up,  and  its  instigators  slunk  out  of  sight. 
Not  afraid  of  responsibility,  the  governor  organized  two  companies,  and 
sent  S.  S.  Curtis,  son  of  tlie  general,  to  distant  Fort  Laramie  for  arms. 
These  companies  were  carefully  drilled,  and  amply  able  to  meet  local  re- 
quirements. But  the  governor  decided  to  form  an  entire  regiment ;  and 
did  so  in  time  to  nobly  respond  to  the  earnest  cr}^  for  lielj)  of  the  sister 
Territory.  Like  the  flaming  brand  in  the  "  Lady  of  the  Lake,"  the  call  met 
ready  response,  and  from  gulch  and  caiion,  hill-side  and  arid  plain,  mine 
and  ranch,  came  quickly  and  gladly  as  fine  material  as  ever  gathered  around 
a  battle  standard.  The  colonel  was  John  P.  Slough,  a  lawyer  and  "  AYar 
Democrat."  Lieutenant  -  colonel  Tappan  was  a  New  England  man.  To 
John  M.  Chivington,  the  Presiding  Elder  of  the  Methodist  Church  in 
Denver,  Governor  Gilpin  otfered  the  chaplaincy ;  but  this  worthy  told 
him  that  if  he  went  with  the  regiment  he  wanted  to  fight;  so  he  was 
made  major.  Among  the  captains  were  several  of  the  present  good  and 
modest  citizens  of  Denver ;  and,  thanks  to  their  exertions,  the  comjDany 
drill  was  excellent. 

Leaving  these  brave  fellows  ready  in  sjDirit  for  the  word  to  march,  l)ut 
very  ill-supplied  with  arms,  ammunition,  and  clothes,  and  with  not  enough 
blankets  to  give  one  to  each  man,  let  us  turn  to  the  state  of  affairs  in  New 
Mexico.  Here,  again,  we  see  the  devilish  ingenuity  with  which,  long  be- 
fore the  loyal  people  of  the  country  had  come  to  any  realization  of  ap- 
proaching hostilities,  Floyd,  while  a  trusted  department  officer,  solemnly 
pledged  to  the  service  of  the  United  States  Government,  had  made  his 
dispositions  to  facilitate  the  carrying  out  of  the  purposes  of  the  rebels. 
In  the  spring  of  1860  this  traitor  had  sent  Loring  from  North  Carolina  to 
command  the  Department  of  New  Mexico ;  and  he,  in  turn,  sent  on  an  ex- 
pedition (a  year  later)  against  the  Apaches  a  kindred  spirit,  Colonel  G.  B. 
Crittenden,  who  attempted  to  corrupt  his  command,  and  induce  them  to 
enter  the  rebel  service  in  Texas.  But  Lieutenant-colonel  B.  S.  Roberts,  a 
brave  and  loyal  Vermonter,  fortunately  assigned  to  duty  with  Crittenden, 
met  that  officer's  suggestions  with  indignant  scorn,  declaring  himself  de- 
termined to  disobey  any  orders  to  march  to  Texas,  and  ready  to  resist  any 


AN  UNWRITTEN  EPISODE   OF  THE   LATE  WAR.  165 

sucli  movement  with  all  tlie  force  at  his  command.  He  reported  the  mat- 
ter to  Loring  at  Santa  Fe,  and  being  repnlsed  by  him,  sncceeded  in  warn- 
ing Captain  Hatch  at  Albnqnerqne  and  Captain  Morris  at  Fort  Craig.  To 
the  lasting  fame  of  the  gallant  regnlar  soldiers  be  it  recorded  that,  without 
help  from  head-quarters,  without  money  or  supplies,  and  exposed  to  great 
temptations,  only  one  out  of  twelve  hundred  deserted,  and  it  is  not  certain 
that  he  joined  the  rebels.  The  traitorous  officers  left  the  Territory,  suc- 
ceeding, while  at  Fort  Fillmore,  near  the  Texas  line,  in  inducing  one  Major 
Lynda  to  surrender  his  whole  force  to  an  approaching  Texan  detachment. 
The  captured  men  were  paroled,  and  sent  on  a  terrible  march  to  Albu- 
querque. 

After  Loring,  there  was  assigned  to  the  connnand  of  the  department 
General  Edward  E.  S.  Canby,  a  native  of  Kentucky,  then  about  forty-two 
years  old,  and  one  of  those  noble  souls,  pure  patriots,  and  chivalric  soldiers 
who  are  the  bulwark  and  pride  of  a  country.  Few  men  were  so  loved  in 
the  army,  and  when  he  started  on  the  expedition  in  Oregon,  which  proved 
fatal  to  him,  there  was  not  an  old  comrade  but  would  have  exclaimed, 

"  Quis  desiderio  sit  piulor  aut  modus 
Tarn  cari  capitis  ?" 

His  second  in  command  was  the  brave  Eoberts,  a  liery  soldier  and  veteran 
lighter ;  and  the  subordinate  officers  were  worthy  of  such  leaders. 

The  Territory  was  shamefully  neglected  at  Washington ;  indeed,  Gen- 
eral Eoberts,  in  his  testimony  before  the  Committee  on  the  Conduct  of  the 
War,  July  15th,  1862,  said  (the  italics  are  ours) :  "  It  appears  to  me  to  be  the 
determination  of  General  Thomas  (Lorenzo  Thomas,  Adjutant-general)  not 
to  acknowledge  the  services  of  the  officers  who  saved  the  Territory  of  Kew 
Mexico ;  and  the  utter  neglect  of  the  Adjutant-general's  department  for 
the  last  year  to  cmmnimieate  m  any  loay  with  the  commanding  officer  of 
the  Department  of  ISTew  Mexico,  or  to  answer  his  urgent  appeals  for  re- 
enforcements,  for  money  and  other  supplies,  in  connection  with  his  repu- 
diation of  the  services  of  all  the  army  there,  convinces  me  that  he  is  not 
(jratified  at  their  loyalty^  and  their  success  in  savin r/  that  Territory  to 
the  Unio?i.^^ 

The  militia  had  l)een  called  out,  luit  tlieir  services  were  naturally  of  lit- 
tle account.  The  numl^er  of  regulars  of  all  arms  in  the  spring  of  1862  was 
put  by  General  Eoberts  at  nine  hundred.  Tliere  were  two  regiments  of 
New  Mexico  Volunteers,  the  first  having  notable  officers.  Tlie  nominal 
colonel  was  Cerin  St.Vrain,  the  (•<mitly  French  pioneer,  frontiersman,  and 
trader,  whose  name  has  been  familiar  loi-  Imll'  a  century  on  the  border,  in 


166  NEW   COLORADO   AND   THE   SANTA   FE   TEAIL. 

the  nomenclature  of  the  mountain  region,  and  in  hooks  of  travel  and  ro- 
mances. The  lieutenant-colonel,  and  actual  commander,  was  Kit  Carson ; 
the  major,  J.  F.  Chaves  ;  and  one  of  the  captains,  Alhert  H.  Pfeiiier,  a  very 
paladin  of  the  frontier — a  mild-mannered,  blue-eyed,  kindly  man,  and,  in  the 
estimation  of  his  fellows,  probably  the  most  desperately  courageous  and 
successful  Indian  fighter  in  the  West.  The  colonel  of  the  second  was 
Miguel  Pino, 

General  Canby  was  well  aware  that  the  rebels  were  coming,  and  he 
made  every  preparation  possible,  in  his  crippled  and  neglected  condition. 
Even  food  was  most  difficult  to  obtain,  and  great  privations  were  borne  by 
the  men.  In  the  mean  time,  H.  H.  Sibley,  a  Louisianian,  graduated  from 
AVest  Point  in  1838,  had  been  appointed  to  command  the  rebel  brigade 
which  was  to  form  the  invading  army,  and  was  organizing  it  with  the  re- 
sources of  Texas  at  his  command.  In  the  beginning  of  1862  he  was  ready 
to  march  northward  a  short  time  before  Governor  Gilpin  set  his  force  in 
motion  southward  from  Denver.  The  latter  had  intended  to  personally 
command  his  valiant  little  army,  but  the  Government  seemed  to  care  far 
more  about  some  irregularity  in  his  drafts  on  Washington  than  for  the 
safety  of  two  Territories,  and  summoned  him  to  the  cajiital. 

Canby,  with  about  nine  hundred  regulars,  the  two  regiments  of  volun- 
teers, two  extra  companies  from  Colorado,  and  some  militia,  was  at  Fort 
Craig,  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Pio  Grande,  in  February,  1862,  when  Sib- 
ley approached,  coming  up  from  Fort  Bliss  by  Mesilla  and  Fort  Thorn. 
The  latter  had  a  formidable  force  of  some  twenty-five  hundred  men,  in- 
cluding a  body  of  efficient  "  Texan  Rangers,"  and  no  doubt  deemed  this 
ample  for  his  purpose.  In  his  view  there  were  many  men  prepared  to 
flock  to  his  standard,  and  his  friend  Floyd  had  attended  to  the  quarter- 
master's and  ordnance  departments  at  Fort  Union,  so  that  by  the  time  he 
would  reach  his  allies  in  Utah  he  would  have  a  large,  well-equipped,  and 
disciplined  force. 

It  was  on  the  afternoon  of  February  19th  that  Sibley,  having  deter- 
mined that  he  was  in  no  condition  to  make  an  assault  on  the  fort,  forded 
the  Pio  Grande  below  it.  Canby  then  threw  detachments  of  the  Fifth, 
Seventh,  and  Tenth  Pegular  Infantry,  and  Carson's  and  Pino's  Yolunteers, 
across  the  river,  to  j^revent  his  adversary  from  occupying  an  eminence 
commanding  the  fort.  The  next  afternoon  the  cavalry  under  Major  Dun- 
can, and  a  light  battery  commanded  by  Captain  M'Pae,  a  gallant  soul,  were 
also  sent  across,  and  the  Texans  immediately  opened  a  heavy  artillery  fire 
on  them.  According  to  the  account  published  at  the  time  in  a  Santa  Fe 
paper,  Pino's  regiment  exhibited  much  confusion,  in  spite  of  the  efforts  of 


AN   UNWRITTEN  EPISODE   OF   THE   LATE   WAR.  167 

tlieir  colonel,  Major  Donaldson,  and  otlier  officers ;  but  it  is  known  that 
Carson's  men  behaved  extremely  well.  General  Canby  deemed  the  panic 
amons:  the  volunteers  a  sufficient  reason  for  returnino-  that  niirht  to  the 
foi-t.  The  Texans  had  been  without  water  for  a  whole  day,  and  that  night 
tlieir  mules  broke  away  from  the  guards,  and  our  scouts  captured  some 
two  hundred  of  them  wandering  about  in  search  of  means  of  quenching 
their  thirst.     The  scouts  also  burnt  a  number  of  wagons. 

About  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  21st  General  Canby  ordered 
Colonel  Roberts  to  proceed  seven  miles  uj)  the  river,  on  the  west  bank,  and 
keep  the  enemy  from  reaching  the  water  at  the  only  point  where  the  slop- 
ing banks  allowed  of  their  so  doing.  He  began  the  action  with  two  hun- 
dred and  twenty  regular  cavalry,  brought  up  M'Rae's  battery,  planted  it  at 
the  ford,  supported  by  two  companies  of  regular  infantry  and  two  of  Car- 
son's Volunteers,  and  opened  a  destructive  fire  on  the  enemy.  At  half- 
past  eleven  the  rest  of  the  infantry  came  up,  were  thrown  across  the  river, 
formed  in  line  of  battle,  repulsed  a  charge  from  the  Texans,  and  made  a 
brilliant  one  themselves.  Then  Roberts  sent  over  M'Rae's  battery  and 
two  twenty-four  pounders  under  Lieutenant  Hall,  and  the  battle  of  Yal- 
verde  was  fought.  The  artillery  tire  was  continued  until  a  (piarter  before 
three,  when  General  Canby  came  upon  the  field  with  his  staff  and  Pino's 
Volunteers.  He  was  about  to  order  a  general  advance,  when  a  demonstra- 
tion made  on  the  dismounted  cavalry  on  our  extreme  right  drew  off  a  part 
of  the  infantry  siipporting  M'Rae's  battery.  Immediately  it  was  charged 
by  a  thousand  Texans  under  Steele,  who  had  been  drawn  up  in  a  thick  wood 
and  behind  sand-hills.  This  charge  was  most  desperate,  the  men  relying 
principally  on  revolvers  and  bowie-knives,  and  being  maddened  by  thirst. 
The  battery  had  been  moved  up  to  the  edge  of  the  wood,  and  M'Rae,  with 
his  men,  made  a  most  gallant  and  determined  resistance,  but  in  vain.  It  is 
clear  that  while  Carson's  men  and  some  other  infantry  stood  firm — one 
company  having  tAventy-two  killed — the  rest  behaved  badly.  The  battery 
was  captured,  after  all  the  horses  were  killed  or  wounded ;  Captain  M'Rae, 
sitting  astride  of  a  gun  firing  his  revolver,  and  disdaining  surrender,  was 
shot ;  Lieutenant  Michler  was  killed,  and  Lieutenant  Bell  twice  wounded. 
Canby  recrossed  the  river,  and  conducted  his  force  to  the  fort. 

Sibley  then  marched  on  to  Albuquerque,  and  thence  to  Santa  Fe, 
which  he  entered  without  resistance.  But  he  now  began  to  see  a  portion 
of  his  programme  miscarry. 

A  few  Mexicans,  including  one  of  tlie  wealthy  Armi jo  families,  threw 
in  their  lot  with  the  C<jnfederacy ;  but  the  great  bulk  of  the  ])e<>plo  not 
only  adliered  to  the  rnioii,  but,  with  a  vivid  memory  of  the  past,  hated 


168  NEW  COLORADO  AND  THE  SANTA  FE  TRAIL. 

tlie  Texans  with  an  lionest  hatred,  which  must  have  been  sadly  disappoint- 
ing and  infinitely  annoying  to  Sibley  and  his  adjutant,  the  same  Jackson 
wlio  was  Davis's  partisan  in  1851,  and  late  Secretary  of  the  Territory. 
We  are  much  in  the  habit  of  speaking  contemptuously  of  the  Mexicans, 
or  "  greasers,"  as  they  are  called,  who  live  under  our  flag,  and  it  is  time 
that  some  justice  should  be  done  them,  and  that  it  should  be  made  known 
that  they  brought  money,  mules,  and  provisions,  and  placed  them  at  the 
disposal  of  the  National  troops,  greatly,  no  doubt,  to  the  gallant  but  de- 
luded ex-secretary's  suri^rise.  Still,  Sibley  doubtless  reasoned  that  this 
was  but  a  small  matter,  and  that  all  would  be  well  when  he  should  be 
safely  in  possession  of  the  booty  at  the  Fort  Union  arsenal ;  and  he  knew 
well  the  road  thither  through  Apache  Canon — just  as  the  Persian  Hy- 
darnes,  in  b.c.  480,  doubtless  knew  well  the  road  to  some  Grecian  Fort 
Union  through  the  Pass  of  Thermopylae.  The  only  obstacle  was  a  few 
of  those  brave  men  wdio  in  every  age  and  country  are  in  the  best  sense 
Spartans. 

The  Colorado  Volunteers  marched  from  Denver  on  February  22d,  1862 
(the  day  after  the  battle  of  Yalverde)  through  snow  nearly  a  foot  deep,  and 
reached  the  base  of  the  Eaton  Mountain  on  March  7th.  This  march  is  de- 
scribed in  the  journal  of  a  gallant  officer — Captain,  afterward  Major,  Jacob 
Downing  —  as  very  distressing,  on  account  of  "snow-storms  and  wind- 
storms, accompanied  by  sand  and  pebbles,"  which  impeded  progress.  But 
after  crossing  the  mountains  these  fine  fellows  actually  accomjjlished  six- 
ty-seven miles  in  a  single  day;  they  arrived  at  Fort  Union  on  the  11th, 
and  were  thoroughly  armed  and  equipped  by  Major  Rene  Paul,  U.S.A. 
They  started  thence  on  the  23d,  and  arrived  next  day  at  San  Jose  on  the 
Rio  Pecos.  The  old  trail  to  Santa  Fe  from  this  point  passes  through  the 
grim  and  narrow  gorge  called  Apache  Canon.  Just  where  the  canon 
widens  at  the  east  end  was  (and  is,  as  has  been  previously  stated)  the 
ranch-house  of  Alexandre  Yalle.  Past  it,  on  March  26th,  marched  Major 
Chivington,  with  two  hundred  and  ten  cavalry  and  one  hundred  and 
eighty  infantry,  and  a  lively  skirmish  ensued.  "  Zat  Chivington,"  said 
the  excellent  M.  Valle  to  the  writer,  "Ae  poot  ''is  ^ead  down,  and  foight 
loike  unahd  hull  /" 

This  seems  to  have  been  a  drawn  battle.  The  great  fight  was  on  the 
28th,  when  the  Texans  had  come  up  in  force,  and  Colonel  Slough  had  ar- 
rived with  the  rest  of  his  regiment,  two  howitzer  batteries  under  Captains 
Ritter  and  Claflin  ("  as  brave  men,"  says  our  diarist,  "  as  ever  wore  uni- 
form "),  and  some  regular  infantry,  prominent  among  the  ofiicers  of  whom 
were   Captains  W.  H,  Lewis,  5th  Regiment,  previously  mentioned,  and 


AN   UNWRITTEN   EPISODE   OF  THE   LATE   WAR.  169 

A.  B.  Carey,  IStli  Kegiment.  At  an  early  Lour  in  the  morning  was  con- 
ceived and  put  in  execution  a  strategical  movement  of  great  merit.  A 
brave  Kew  Mexican,  Manuel  Chaves,  led  a  detachment  of  about  four  hun- 
dred men,  commanded  by  Chivington,  and  comprising  two  battalions  of 
regulars  and  volunteers  under  Lewis  and  Carey,  up  a  steep  ascent  and 
along  a  terribly  difficult  path  toward  the  rear  of  the  Texans,  where  were 
their  wagons  and  supplies  of  all  kinds  under  a-  guard. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  Texans  surprised  the  force  left  under 
Slough  to  tight  them  in  front.  Sibley  was  not  in  command  —  a  fact 
which,  after  the  fiercest  recrimination  among  his  informants,  the  author 
only  ascertained  beyond  a  doubt  by  an  interview  with  the  barber  who 
shaved  him  that  very  morning,  twenty  miles  away  from  the  scene  of  ac- 
tion. He  seems  to  have  been  supplied  (perhaps  for  medical  purposes!) 
with  whiskey.  The  actual  commander  was  Colonel  W.  R.  Scurry,  who 
was  not  killed,  but  lived  to  fight  again  (a  fact  which  the  author  commends 
to  the  thoughtful  consideration  of  the  friends  in  Santa  Fe  who  proposed 
to  show  him  the  grave  where  Scurry  was  buried  in  the  town  cemetery). 

M.  Valle,  or  Pigeon,  says,  "  Gooverment  malms  vas  at  my  ranch,  and 
fill  'is  cahnteen  viz  my  viskey  (and  Gooverment  nevaire  pay  me  for  zat 
viskey);  and  Texas  malms  coom  oop,  and  soorprise  zem,  and  zey  foight 
six  hour  by  my  vatch,  mid  my  vatch  vas  slow  .^" 

As  to  the  details  of  the  battle,  which  unquestionably  deserves  to  be 
ranked  among  the  notable  ones  of  the  war,  accounts  dilfer  hopelessly.  It  is 
clear  that  the  volunteers  were  forced  back ;  and  it  was,  indeed,  too  much 
to  expect  that  a  Denver  lawyer,  without  military  experience,  would  handle 
a  large  force  to  great  advantage ;  but  it  is  equally  clear  that  companies 
and  individuals  fought  "witli  desperate  courage,  and  their  fire  was  terrible. 
M.  Valle  describes  the  men  as  fairly  raging  when  ordered  back,  and  they 
did  not  hesitate  to  upbraid  their  commander.  Meantime,  however,  the 
grand  coup  had  been  struck.  Chaves  did  his  <luty,  and  led  the  clinibing 
force  (the  detaching  of  which  had  of  course  greatly  weakened  Slough 
numerically)  to  the  edge  of  the  hill  at  the  back,  and  showed  them  the 
rear-guard  below,  some  six  or  seven  hundred  men.  Chivington  was  brave 
enough,  but  this  was  new  work  for  him.  lie  paused  a  moment,  and  then 
lo(jked  at  his  battalion  commanders.  In  the  eyes  of  Lewis  and  Carey  he 
read  plainly.  Vestigia  nidla  retrorsuiii.  lie  nodded  to  Chaves,  who  coolly 
pointed  out  the  path,  and  then  down  rushed  the  little  band.  This  brilliant 
exploit  resulted  in  a  complete  victoi-y,  and  the  destruction  of  sixty-four 
wagons,  two  hundred  luiiK-s,  and  everything  in  the  shape  of  sup])lii's,  am- 
munition, even  surgical  stores,  m1i id i  tlic  id )els  possessed.     A  messenger 


170  NEW  COLOKADO  AND  THE  SANTA  FE  TRAIL. 

rushed  liiirnedlj  to  their  front  with  the  news ;  the  result  was  obvious ;  a 
llag  of  truce  was  sent  to  Colonel  Slough,  and  the  battle  of  Apache  Caiion, 
La  Glorieta,  or  Pigeon's  Ranch,  was  over.  The  ofhcial  despatch  puts  the 
Union  loss  at  one  hundred  and  iifty  killed,  wounded,  and  missing,  and  the 
rebel  loss  was  acknowledged  by  themselves  to  be  three  to  four  hundred 
killed  and  wounded,  and  ninety-three  ^^risoners,  including  thirteen  officers. 
Sibley  saw  that  all  was  lost,  and,  evacuating  Santa  Fe,  pushed  southward. 
Slough  fell  back  to  Fort  Union,  where  supplies  were  ample.  But  his  men 
were  soon  on  the  march  again,  and  on  April  13th,  after  a  hard  tramp  of 
forty  miles,  joined  General  Canby  in  the  held,  forty-seven  miles  from  Per- 
alta,  on  the  Rio  Grande,  whither  they  marched  next  day.  Roberts  had 
already  come  up,  and  next  morning,  April  15th,  the  troops  fell  on  Sibley's 
rear,  capturing  a  large  train  and  a  number  of  prisoners,  and  killing  many 
of  the  escort.  Next  day  the  town  was  bombarded,  and  during  the  follow- 
ing night  Sibley  escaped  across  the  river  under  cover  of  the  darkness,  and 
in  a  sand-storm  of  long  duration.  His  rear  was  again  attacked,  and  more 
damage  done.  "  After  a  close  pursuit  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles," 
says  General  Roberts,  "  he  was  obliged  to  break  up  his  force  into  small 
parties,  having  left  all  along  the  line  of  his  retreat  his  ambulances,  and  tlie 
private  and  public  stores  of  his  entire  command."  General  Canby  offi- 
cially reported  him  as  having  left  behind  "  in  dead  and  wounded,  and  in 
sick  and  prisoners,  one-half  of  his  original  force."  Concerning  these  same 
prisoners,  a  remarkable  affair  occurred  at  Fort  Union.  Some  of  them 
were  in  the  guard-house,  where  were  also  confined  two  I^avajo  Indians. 
A  sergeant,  under  sentence  of  death  by  a  court-martial,  having  been  exe- 
cuted, the  Texans  told  the  Indians  that  they  were  to  suffer  the  same  fate. 
Thereupon  they  began  to  shoot  with  bows  and  arrows  from  the  windows 
of  the  guard-house,  wounding  a  number  of  men ;  and  they  were  only  put 
fiors  de  combat  by  a  shell  with  ignited  fuse  dropped  down  the  chimney. 

One  cannot  write  the  history  of  this  remarkable  camjiaign  without 
mentioning  the  strong  opinion  of  some  of  Carson's  fiery  fighters,  and  even 
at  least  one  officer  of  distinction  and  experience,  that  victory  was  within 
their  grasp  at  Valverde,  and  lost  by  mismanagement ;  but  no  suggestion 
of  what  "  might  have  been  "  can  be  allowed  to  weigh  against  the  splendid 
reputation  of  Canby.  Nor  can  one  entertain  any  animadversions  against 
him  for  not  capturing  the  whole  rebel  force  after  Peralta,  inasmuch  as  it 
is  perfectly  well  known  that  he  had  no  desire  to  take  prisoners  whom  he 
could  not  feed;  and  inasmuch,  also,  as  his  judgment  in  this  regard  was 
more  than  borne  out  by  the  subsequent  reduction  of  his  own  men  to  quar- 
ter rations. 


AN  UNWRITTEN  EPISODE   OF  THE   LATE   WAR.  171 

That  these  events  were  not  known,  and  have  not  since  been  known  in 
the  East,  is  hardly  surprising,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  other  matters  of 
transcendent  importance,  far  nearer  home,  were  contemporaneous  with 
them.  Fort  Henry  was  taken  on  February  6th,  Roanoke  Island  on  Feb- 
ruary Sth,  and  Fort  Donelson  on  February  16th.  The  battle  of  Pea  Ridge 
ended  on  March  Sth,  the  Monitor'  fought  the  Merrlmac  on  March  9tli, 
and  the  great  engagement  at  Shiloli  occurred  on  April  6tli  and  7th.  Prob- 
ably not  one  in  ten  thousand  suspected  that  such  a  threatening  movement 
was  making  in  the  rear  of  our  armies ;  and  it  would  have  been  equally 
surprising  and  terrible  to  have  heard  suddenly  that  a  junction  had  been 
effected  by  the  rebels  with  the  Mormons,  and  that  mischief  had  already 
been  done  wliich  could  be  repaired,  if  at  all,  only  at  the  cost  of  hundreds 
of  lives  and  millions  of  money.  Instead  of  this,  the  bright  days  of  May 
saw  Sibley,  disheartened  and  demoralized,  resting  at  that  same  Fort  Bliss 
from  which  he  had  marched  with  fell  purpose  four  months  before.  The 
valley  of  the  Rio  Grande  would  know  him  no  more,  and  he  doubtless 
sought  his  accustomed  consolation  in  the  flowing  bowl. 

Thus,  in  confusion  and  disaster,  ended  the  great  scheme  for  the  "  re- 
demption "  of  five  States  and  Territories  "  from  the  heel  of  the  tyrant ;" 
and  it  was  the  end  of  the  rebels  in  that  region.  The  Spartan  band  from 
Colorado  had  done  its  w^ork,  and  for  a  long  time  was,  to  quote  from  our 
oflicer's  journal,  "  in  camp  at  Valverde,  on  the  Rio  Grande,  one  mile  from 
Fort  Craig,  Xew  Mexico,  *  *  *  surrounded  by  tarantulas,  scorpions,  centi- 
pedes, and  rattlesnakes ;  living  on  rotten  bacon  and  wormy  crackers,  until 
the  scurvy  nearly  destroyed  those  who  had  escaped  the  perils  of  war.'' 

General  Carleton,  witli  a  force  of  California  Volunteers,  soon  occupied 
the  Territory,  and  the  Colorado  troops  returned  to  the  North,  via  Santa 
Fe,  in  October.  Before  parting  company  with  them,  as  they  march  off  to 
be  reorganized,  and  sent  to  fii»:ht  Indians  and  bush-whackers,  let  us  read  a 
quaint  and  concise  account  of  their  achievements,  contained,  with  other 
most  curious  reading  matter,  in  a  work  (now  out  of  print)  by  a  Colorado 
journalist : 

"  They  were  not  recognized  and  paid  as  United  States  troops  until 
eight  months  after  their  enlistment.  It  is  perhaps  doubtful  whether  or 
no  they  would  then  have  been  recognized,  had  they  not  marched  nearly  a 
thousand  miles,  and  in  one  hard-fought  battle  and  two  l)risk  skirmishes 
broken  and  driven  from  Xew  Mexico  all  those  lean  and  hungry  Texans 
who  called  themselves,  with  a  delightful  humor,  '  Baylor's  Babes  ;'  who  had 
left  San  Antonio  for  the  Pike's  Peak  gokl  region  idxiut  three  thousand 
strong,  swallowed  Fort  Fillmoi-e  without  winking,  rather  l)i'atcii  Canby  at 


172         NEW  COLORADO  AND  THE  SANTA  FE  TRAIL. 

Yalverde,  and  liad  since  that  event  been  coming  nortliward,  covering  the 
country  as  the  frogs  did  Egypt,  and  wearing  it  out.  They  had  got  twenty- 
five  miles  north  of  Santa  Fe,  when  they  were  met  by  the  '  Pet  Lambs ' 
[the  Colorado  troops].  The  Babes  and  the  Lambs  each  rebounded  some 
five  miles  from  the  first  shock,  which  was  more  like  the  shock  of  liirhtnino: 
than  of  battalions.  The  reserves  of  both  sides  having  come  up  the  next 
day,  the  Babes  and  Lambs  each  went  forth  to  mortal  combat  again.  The 
ground  was  not  unlike  the  roof  of  a  house ;  the  Babes  reached  the  ridge- 
pole first,  and  by  the  weight  of  numbers  and  the  advantage  of  position, 
during  a  seven  hours'  fight,  forced  the  Lambs  back  off  the  roof.  Kight 
fell  upon  the  scene,  and  the  Babes  and  the  Lambs  each  sought  their  own 
corner.  The  Lambs  found  theirs  all  right,  but  the  Babes  did  not.  It  ap- 
peared that  a  part  of  the  Lambs  had  been  there  during  the  fight  and  de- 
stroyed their  commissariat  and  transportation  totally.  There  being  no 
grub  in  ]^ew  Mexico  in  a  general  way,  there  certainly  was  none  now,  since 
armies  had  been  sustained  by  her  during  the  winter,  so  that  the  Babes  had 
to  go  home  to  get  something  to  eat.  The  Lambs  accompanied  them  to 
the  door,  and  wished  them  a  safe  journey.  And  so  ended  the  war  of  the 
Babes  and  the  Lambs  in  the  Kocky  Mountains.  All  this  occurred  in 
March  and  April,  1862,  when  Logan  was  storming  Donelson,  and  Grant, 
or  Sherman,  or  Buell,  or  somebody  was  winning  or  losing  or  drawing  the 
bloody  game  of  Shiloh.  Governor  Gilpin  always  insisted  that  his  Pet 
Lambs  broke  the  far  left  wing  of  the  Bebellion — that  they  led  off  in  the 
march  of  victory  organized  by  the  great  War  Minister." 

In  this  view  the  reader  of  the  foregoing  pages  will,  it  is  to  be  hoj^ed, 
fully  concur. 

Poor  Canby,  a  Bayard  of  this  century,  fell  a  victim  to  the  results  of  the 
villanous  treatment  of  Indians  by  white  civilians.  General  Roberts,  after 
long  and  brilliant  service,  has  also  "  gone  over  to  the  majority."  Governor 
Gilpin  resides  in  Denver,  a  respected  veteran,  and  a  prophet  not  without 
honor  in  his  own  country,  since  the  predictions  in  regard  to  a  Pacific  Rail- 
road, for  which  he  was  ridiculed  years  ago,  have  come  almost  literally  true. 
Kit  Carson  died  some  years  since ;  and  Pfeiffer,  whose  wife  and  children 
were  killed  by  the  Apaches,  is  living,  an  invalid,  on  a  ranch  near  Del  ISTorte. 
Colonel  Slough,  when  Chief-justice  of  New  Mexico,  was  killed  in  a  brawl 
at  Santa  Fe.  Chivington,  the  ex-Methodist  elder,  brought  on  himself  dis- 
honor in  the  East  and  glory  in  the  West  by  commanding  in  the  "  Sand 
Creek  Indian  Massacre,"  so  called ;  and  he  has  since  been  under  a  cloud 
for  some  other  reason.  Major  Carey  is  in  the  Paymaster's  Department  at 
Washington ;  and  Major  Lewis  met  his  death  as  previously  described. 


AN   UNWRITTEN   EPISODE   OF   THE   LATE   WAR.  173 

Awav  in  tlie  West  these  brave  officers  and  men  fouo;]it  like  heroes  for 
their  country  (from  what  they  saved  her  let  the  reader  form  his  own  con- 
clusions), and  what  was  their  reward  i  Practically,  nothing ;  for  a  two- 
penny pohtical  general,  who  dined  and  wined  reporters  and  issued  cotton 
permits,  could  win  more  fame  in  a  day  than  these  patriots  ever  received. 
When  prize-money  was  withheld  during  the  nnitiny  in  British  India,  a 
private  scribbled  on  the  walls  of  Delhi, 

"  "When  war  is  rife,  and  clanger  's  nigh, 
'  God  and  the  soldier'  's  all  the;  crj-. 
When  war  is  o'er,  and  danger  righted, 
God  is  forgotten,  and  the  soldier  slighted/' 

If  this  be  true  in  a  monarchy,  nay,  in  an  empire,  how  doubly  true  is  it 
in  a  republic,  the  traditional  ingratitude  of  which  is  never  more  manifest 
than  in  its  treatment  of  its  soldiers !  In  the  oration  on  General  Meade 
the  speaker  made  a  careful  comparison  between  Waterloo  and  Gettysburg 
— the  principles  and  momentous  results  at  stake ;  the  numbers  engaged ; 
the  fighting  and  the  losses ;  and  sunmied  up  somewhat  as  follows :  "  The 
British  Government  gave  their  commander  a  dukedom,  a  magnificent 
estate,  and  a  million  of  dollars.  The  United  States  Government  made 
Meade  a  brigadier-general  in  the  army,  with  four  thousand  five  hundred 
dollars  a  year !" 

But  it  is  not  with  gloomy  reflections  that  one  should  bring  a  record 
like  the  foregoing  to  a  close.  It  is  a  story,  rescued  from  obscurity,  not 
only  of  the  defeat  of  a  scheme  of  momentous  potency  for  evil,  but  also  of 
duty  nobly  and  unflinchingly  done ;  and  that  there  is  somewhere  and  at 
some  time  a  recognition  of  such  devotion,  he  must  be  sure  who  believes  in 
the  moral  government  of  the  universe.  It  has  a  rightful  place  in  a  work 
l)earing  on  the  mountain  region,  for  it  chronicles  some  grand  deeds  of  the 
mountaineers.  And  one  can  never  despair  of  his  country,  knowing  that 
there  were  in  these  remote  corners,  and  would  be  again,  men  so  ready  to 
shed  their  blood  in  her  defence. 


174  NEW   COLORADO  AND  THE   SANTA  FE  TRAIL. 


w 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

TOLD    AT    TRINIDAD. 

E  had  driven  over  from  El  Moro  only  to  find  that  the  daily  train 
for  the  South  had  started,  and  that  we  had  a  lona;  nio-ht  and  dav  on 
our  hands.  We  soon  exhausted  the  sights  of  the  town,  and  sat  down  on 
the  hotel  piazza  in  company  with  rather  a  motley  group.  "We  talked  in 
a  languid  way  about  various  subjects,  and  drifted  after  awhile  to  the  old 
staging  days ;  then  a  quiet  New  Yorker  took  his  cigar  out  of  his  mouth, 
and  said, 

"  Gentlemen,  I  should  like  to  tell  you  a  storv.  Those  of  vou  who  saw 
the  New  York  Herald  of  July  — ,  1876,  may  have  noticed  a  rather  unintel- 
ligible account  of  a  crime  committed  by  the  scion  of  a  wealthy  and  dis- 
tinguished family  long  resident  in  the  city.  It  was  supposed  to  be  a  heavy 
forgery,  but  one  soon  saw  that  extraordinary  measures  and  powerful  in- 
fluence had  suppressed  details  and  prevented  further  publicity,  and  the 
matter  passed  off  as  a  nine  days'  wonder.     "When  I  myself  first  saw  the 

item,  I  felt  sure  that  I  knew  who  the  culprit  was.     James  AV and  I 

were  schoolmates  at  Geneva,  and  once  great  friends.  He  was  the  son  of 
one  of  the  finest  gentlemen  of  the  old  school  that  I  have  ever  seen — 
who  had  married  rather  late  in  life,  and  been  a  most  aifectionate  and  in- 
dulgent father.  James  was  a  boy  of  most  attractive  appearance,  with  very 
dark  complexion,  hair  and  eyes,  and  the  figure  of  an  athlete.  There  was 
apparently '  nothing  in  feature,  expression,  or  manner,  to  cause  susi^icion 
that  he  was  not  a,  very  fine  fellow ;  and  yet  there  came  to  me  before  long 
the  positive  conviction,  first,  that  under  that  attractive  exterior  a  desper- 
ate power  of  evil  was  at  work ;  second  (and  I  am  no  more  able  to  explain 
this  than  those  other  spiritual  mysteries  which  so  many  of  us  encounter 
in  our  lives),  that  it  would  be  my  fate  to  come  into  contact  with  him  in 
after  years  when  this  power  had  developed  itself. 

"  Through  certain  channels  then  open  to  me  I  easily  ascertained  that, 

after  a  career  of  deej)  dissipation,  James  W had  committed  a  bold 

forgery ;  that  in  some  way  the  money  had  been  paid,  and  the  affair  quash- 


TOLD   AT   TRINIDAD.  175 

ed.  Otlier  things  came  to  my  ears,  all  strongly  confirmatory  of  my  expec- 
tations abont  liim.  About  eighteen  months  later  his  mother  died,  and  his 
father  settled  all  his  business  and  went  to  Europe ;  nearl}'  every  one  sup- 
posing, in  the  mean  time,  that  the  son  had  suddenly  started,  when  he  was 
first  missed  from  his  accustomed  haunts,  on  a  journey  to  Central  Asia, 
and  that  it  would  be  months  before  he  could  hear  this  sad  news. 

"  Later  again,  as  the  Union  Pacific  train,  on  which  I  was  a  passenger, 
stopped  at  the  Green  River  station,  I  saw  on  the  platform,  evidently  wait- 
ing to  join  us,  a  father  and  daughter.  The  former  was  a  fine  specimen  of 
the  better  class  of  plainsmen — six  feet  two,  and  of  powerful  build — his 
eyes  large  and  blue,  his  long  hair  and  full  beard  light-colored,  and  his  ex- 
pression kindness  itself.  The  young  girl  was  about  eighteen,  slender  and 
delicate,  and  altogether  charming — one  of  those  beautiful,  tender,  clinging 
young  creatures  sometimes  found  on  the  frontier,  like  the  delicate  wild 
flowers  in  the  canons.     They  were  going  to  Chicago ;  and  having  been 

commended  to  Major  G by  some  mutual  acquaintances,  I  passed  much 

time  in  his  company,  and  we  became  excellent  friends.  He  had  been  a 
widower  for  a  number  of  years,  and  was  deeply  devoted  to  his  pretty 
Anita,  who  in  her  turn  seemed  to  adore  him.  I  could  not  help  thinking 
that  she  was  ill-fitted  to  meet  the  cares  of  life,  and  that  there  was  a  look 
in  her  lovely  eyes  that  suggested  a  rare  capacity  for  suffering.  She  had 
never  been  east  of  the  Missouri  before,  and  the  major  told  me  that  after 
a  short  stay  in  Chicago,  they  were  going  to  live  on  a  ranch  which  he  had 
bought  in  the  Wet  Mountain  Valley.  He  had  been  a  noted  hunter  and 
Indian  fis^hter  in  the  West,  and  bore  the  scars  of  more  than  one  struggle 
with  wild  beast  and  wilder  man.  I  remained  with  them  one  day  in  Chi- 
cago, and  remember  Anita's  childish  delight  in  a  bouquet  of  flowers  which 
I  gave  her,  when  I  called  at  the  hotel  to  say  good-bye,  and  her  waving 
her  handkerchief  to  me  as  I  drove  off  to  the  station,  and  she  stood  on  the 
balcony  leaning  on  her  father's  shoulder. 

"  Chance  lu'ought  me,  within  six  or  eight  months,  to  the  region  south 
of  the  Arkansas,  and  I  took  a  trip  on  the  Wet  Mountains  witli  an  old 
Mexican  called  Manuel.  <Jne  day  it  occurred  to  me  that  we  could  not 
be  far  frojn  my  friend's  location  ;  so  I  asked  Manuel  if  we  could  not  cross 

the  range  and  go  down  into  the  valley,  and  if  he  knew  where  Major  G 

lived. 

"'Oh  si,  sefior!'  he  quickly  replied,  'we  easy  come  over  the  mountain 
and  to  the  Rancho  San  Jose,  where  live  the  major.  Oli,  it  is  a  place  so 
beautiful!  the  valley  wliich  the  seilor  will  see  wlieii  we  pass  the  Sierra 
and  go  down  the  canon.'     'And  the  major  and  his  daughter,  are  they 


176  NEW  COLORADO  AND  THE  SANTA  FE  TRAIL. 

well  V  I  asked.  '  The  major,  yes,'  said  Manuel ;  '  but  the  senorita ' — and 
his  voice  changed — '  she  is  not  well.  The  sefior  does  not  then  know — but 
ah  !  how  could  he  'I  —that  she  have  so  great  trouble.' 

"  Much  surprised  and  shocked,  I  gradually  elicited  from  him  a  narra- 
tion of  what  had  occurred  after  the  father  and  daughter  took  up  tiieir 
abode  in  the  valley.  It  seemed  that  a  young  man,  bound  ostensibly  on  a 
hunting  trip,  once  asked  for  a  night's  lodging  at  the  ranch,  and  was  evident- 
ly struck  by  the  beauty  of  Anita;  that  he  had  returned  again  and  again, 
and  finally  expressed  his  intention  of  taking  up  a  homestead  in  the  vicin- 
ity. Anita  seemed  attracted  by  him  from  the  first.  They  were  finally 
betrothed,  and  the  major  had  the  comfort  of  knowing  that  they  would  re- 
main near  him.  He  had  apparently  given  his  full  confidence  to  the  young 
man,  and  talked  freely  to  him  of  his  affairs ;  and  notably,  on  one  occasion, 
of  his  intention  to  keep  quite  a  large  sum  of  money  in  the  house  for  two 
days,  contrary  to  his  usual  custom,  but  for  the  purpose  of  paying  for  a 
mine  which  he  had  bought.  The  next  morning  the  money  was  gone  !  The- 
young  man  was  never  seen  again. 

''  I  heard  this  tale  with  great  regret,  and  said  to  myself  that  the  poor 
2-irl  would  never  bear  such  a  blow.  When  I  asked  Manuel  about  her  con- 
dition,  he  broke  into  distressed  and  almost  incoherent  utterances  about  la 
pobrecita  (the  poor  little  one),  for  whom  might  the  Madre  de  Dios  inter- 
cede. I  began  to  dread  the  visit  to  the  ranch,  and  would  have  turned 
back  but  for  a  desire  to  ofiier  my  sympathies. 

"When  we  entered  the  corral  the  sun  was  just  sinking  behind  the 
Sangre  de  Cristo  Kange,  and  flooding  the  valley  with  light.  The  major 
came  out  when  he  heard  our  horses,  and,  recognizing  me,  at  once  bade  us 
welcome.  When  I  saw  his  poor  daughter  I  was  shocked  beyond  measure. 
She  lay  on  a  sofa  looking  at  the  western  mountains.  She  knew  me  and- 
gave  me  her  poor  little  hand,  so  thin  that  it  seemed  almost  transparent. 
Her  face  was  pallid,  and  deep  purple  rings  were  under  her  eyes.  I  said  a 
few  commonplace  words  of  sympathy,  and  then  turned  away.  The  major 
followed  me  into  the  house,  and,  coming  up  and  taking  my  offered  hand, 
said,  '  They  call  it  quick  consumption.  I  know  better  than  that — it  is  a 
broken  heart !'  His  grasp  tightened  painfully  on  my  hand.  '  My  God  !' 
he  cried,  '  how  can  I  bear  it !'  The  scene  was  painful  in  the  extreme.  I 
found  Manuel  and  told  him  that  we  must  go  on,  and  that  he  had  best 
lead  the  horses  outside  of  the  corral,  where  I  would  join  liim.  The  ma- 
jor's life-long  instincts  of  hosj^itality  flashed  out  in  a  momentary  protest  at 
my  departure,  but  he  did  not  press  me  to  stay.  I  knew  that  he  had  kind 
neighbors,  and  the  ranch  seemed  no  place  for  us.     I  went  to  say  farewell 


TOLD   AT   TRINIDAD.  177 

to  the  dying  girl,  Ijut  lindiiig  her  lying  with  closed  eyes  and  folded  hands, 
I  dared  not  distnrb  her,  although  I  knew  that  I  saw  her  for  the  last  time. 

Major  G walked  mechanically  to  the  gate,  and  bade  us  o^ood-bye.     I 

saw  the  tears  in  old  Manuel's  eyes  as  we  mounted  and  rode  some  distance 
in  silence.  Two  weeks  after  this,  coming  from  Fort  Garland,  I  bought  a 
Denver  paper  from  the  newsboy  on  the  train,  and  saw  that  I  had  rightly 
judged  of  the  poor  child's  inability  to  bear  a  rude  shock,  for  I  read  that 
she  had  '  entered  into  rest,' 

''  Xow,  gentlemen,  I  am  afraid  that  you  will  think  I  am  spinning  a 
sensational  yarn,  Init  it  is  only  a  few  months  since,  just  as  we  are  sitting 
here,  I  was  sitting  with  a  party  of  gentlemen  at  the  door  of  the  fonda  at 
the  corner  of  the  plaza  in  Santa  Fe.  AVe  were  admiring  the  gorgeous 
sunset,  and  listening  to  the  band  playing  under  the  trees,  when  the  '  buck- 
board'  of  the  Transportation  Company  arrived  from  the  South.  It  was 
with  a  start  that  I  rose  to  salute,  in  the  only  passenger,  my  poor  friend 

Major  G .     lie  had  changed  sadly ;  his  hair  had  grown  white,  and  his 

cheeks  were  sunken.  Then  he  had  a  habit  of  pressing  his  hand  to  his 
forehead,  which  gave  one  a  vivid  impression  of  despair. 

"  He  greeted  me  warmly,  as  of  old,  and  mentioned  that  he  had  come 
from  Mesilla,  and  was  going  on  to  Fort  Garland  in  the  morning,  but  he 
said  little  more  at  first,  and  I  dreaded  any  recurrence  to  the  past.  In  the 
evening  I  induced  him  to  take  a  cigar,  and  to  drink  a  little  from  my  flask. 
Soon  he  seemed  restored  to  a  temporary  animation,  and  after  asking  me  if 
I  proposed  accompanying  him  on  his  journey,  and  expressing  gratification 
at  my  willingness  so  to  do,  he  went  on  as  follows : 

"  '  I  have  heard  something  which  leads  me  to  think  that  the  road  agents 
are  going  to  try  to  rob  the  stage,  which  will  have  some  treasure  freight. 
The  only  passengers  besides  us  will  1)e  a  couple  of  greasers,  who  can't  help 
us  if  they  would.  You  know  the  boys  say  that  the  agents  always  have 
things  their  own  way,  Kow,  as  I  feel  at  present,  I'm  not  inclined  to  give 
up  without  a  try.  I  don't  want  to  ring  yon  in  unless  you  are  for  it;  but, 
with  all  the  trouble  I've  had,  a  bullet  more  or  less  is  of  no  account  to  me; 
but  I  have  a  notion,'  he  continued,  "that  1  can  block  their  game.  It  was 
done  once  by  an  old  pard  of  mine,  and,  if  you  say  so,  I'll  try  it,  and  you 
just  follow  my  lead.  Will  you  take  the  chances?'  I  knew  him  to  be  a 
man  of  desperate  courage  and  fertile  in  resource,  and  I  assented.  '  AVliat 
kind  of  shooting-iron  have  you  ('  lie  asked,  '  Navy  Colt?  No,  that's  good 
in  its  way;  but  I'll  lend  you  a  self-cocker  like  niiiie.  IMiiid  aiui  take  :it 
least  a  strong  cup  of  coffee  before  we  start ;  aii<l  imiw  you'd  better  tuiii  in.' 

'•  In  the  morning  we  took  oui-  places  in  the  coach,  the  major  sitting  on 

12  ' 


178  NEW  COLORADO  AND  THE  SANTA  FE  TRAIL. 

tlie  front  seat,  and  left-hand  side ;  I  sat  opjjosite,  and  each  had  a  silent 
Mexican  next  hini.  We  drove  without  incident  to  the  place  where  the 
horses  were  first  changed  ;  but,  before  we  started  again,  my  friend  said  to 
me, 

"  '  I  allow  that  we'll  have  our  trouble,  if  at  all,  in  the  canon  four  miles 
ahead.  JS^ow  just  put  your  blanket  over  your  lap  and  hold  your  pistol 
under  it.  Keep  a  bright  lookout,  and  if  we  strike  'em,  just  have  your  wits 
about  you,  and  be  ready  to  fire  after  I  do.'  Soon  we  rolled  otf  again,  and 
I  saw  him  lean  back  for  awhile  and  then  sit  upright,  and  keep  his  eye 
fixed  on  the  road.  The  horses  were  good ;  we  soon  approached  the  canon, 
and  the  suspense  became  almost  unbearable.  I  could  not  help  thinking 
about  our  chances  in  the  case  of  attack.  Just  then — I  remember  that  I 
was  looking  at  a  group  of  cedars — the  stage  stopjjed,  and,  as  if  conjured 
up  by  the  hand  of  a  magician,  three  men  on  liorseback  appeared  on  our 
side,  two  close  to  us,  one  behind.  I  seemed  to  comprehend  the  whole  sit- 
uation in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye ;  the  figures — the  levelled  barrels — the 
major  sitting  before  me. 

" '  Throw  up  your  fiands, you  P    They  were  reckless  enough 

to  wear  no  masks — the  sjjeaker  lowered  his  head  to  look  in.  Heavens ! 
shall  I  ever  forget  that  scene  ?  On  my  part  there  was  a  startling  recogni- 
tion— on  the  major's  there  must  have  been  the  same,  for  never  have  I  seen 
a  human  face  so  transformed,  and  it  added  an  almost  demoniacal  force  to 
the  action,  which  all  passed  in  a  flash.  The  terror  of  the  sudden  start,  the 
throwing  out  of  the  left  arm,  the  frightened  glare  of  the  eyes,  may  have 
been  the  product  of  rare  dramatic  power;  but  there  was  something  far 
more  terribly  real  in  his  wild  cry, 

'-''^  Great  God!  who  is  that  hehind  youf  The  robbers  instinctively 
turned  their  heads.  Crack  I — crack  !  The  major's  right  arm,  rigid  as  iron, 
held  the  smoking  weapon,  as  two  riderless  horses  galloped  ofl',  and  I  me- 
chanically fired  at  the  third  man.  Then  my  friend  laid  his  revolver  down, 
and  put  his  hand  to  his  forehead.  We  drove  on  a  short  distance,  and  then 
made  one  of  the  frightened  Mexicans  hold  the  horses,  and  the  driver  and 
I  hurried  back.  It  was  with  a  sharp  shudder,  and  a  vivid  realization  that 
the  forebodings  of  earlier  days  had  come  only  too  true,  that  I  saw  my  old 
school-mate  lying  dead  in  the  dusty  road.  And  then  I  saw  one  of  those 
strange  phenomena  of  the  occurrence  of  which  there  is  am];)le  scientific 
evidence.  Gentlemen,  I  assure  you  that  there  had  been  mutual  recogni- 
tion, and  the  terror  of  it  was  in  those  dead  eyes. 

"  We  drove  back  to  Santa  Fe  almost  at  a  gallop,  the  major  sitting  like 
a  statue  in  his  seat,  and  never  speaking.     As  we  entered  the  plaza  and 


TOLD   AT   TRINIDAD.  179 

stopped  before  the  old  palace  a  crowd  gathered,  and  I  whispered  to  an 
army  officer  to  take  my  poor  friend  to  head-qnarters,  while  I  attended  to 
the  needful  formalities.  I  can  see  the  scene  before  my  eyes  this  moment : 
the  motley  gathering  of  Americans  and  Mexicans,  with  some  uniforms 
among  them ;  the  driver  eagerly  talking — the  hostlers  taking  the  horses' 
heads.  The  United  States  Marshal  and  Commissioner  came  out  of  their 
offices,  and  I  told  them  the  story.  The  marshal  stopped  me  for  a  moment 
after  the  first  ten  words,  and  ^nt  for  his  two  deputies  and  three  horses. 
Then  he  lighted  a  cigar  and  oiiered  me  one  as  I  went  on  with  my  brief 
narrative.  The  deputies  came  up,  the  marshal  went  to  his  office  for  his 
arms,  and  examined  the  percussion-caps  as  he  asked  me  a  few  questions. 
Then  they  all  three  shook  hands  with  me  and  galloped  down  the  narrow 
street.  They  were  fierce  pursuers,  and  when  I  saw  the  chief  deputy  that 
evening,  he  told  me  that  the  third  man  was  in  the  jail. 

" '  I  know  'em  all  well,'  he  added,  '  and  two  more  ungodly  ruffians  than 
the  dead  men  never  cheated  the  gallows.  I've  been  after  that  black-haired 
one  a  long  time  for  a  matter  in  Wyoming ;'  and  a  wolfish  look  came  for 
a  moment  over  his  pleasant  face.  '  I  knew  where  to  find  the  third  man. 
He's  a  mean  cur,  and  gave  in  without  the  show  of  a  fight.  To  be  sure,  you 
plugged  him  pretty  bad  in  the  arm.' 

''When  the  marshal  had  gone  to  his  office  the  commissioner  and  I  walk- 
ed to  head-quarters  and  found  the  major  (whom  the  surgeon  had  induced 
to  drink  a  composing  draught)  sitting  in  a  chair,  leaning  his  head  upon  his 
hand.  He  rose  as  we  aj^proached.  '  Sam,'  said  he  to  the  connnissioner, 
'  the  Lord  delivered  him  into  my  hands !     It  was  his  will.' 

"He  started  again  the  next  morning,  and  as  the  stage  turned  the  cor- 
ner he  waved  his  hand  to  me,  and  then  put  it  to  his  head  once  again  in 
that  sad,  weary  way  of  his.  Urged  by  the  spirit  of  unrest  which  had  seized 
upon  him,  he  joined  the  prospectors  at  Leadville,  exposed  himself  ivckless- 
ly,  and  died  of  pneumonia  in  three  weeks, 

"  Strangely  enough,  the  ncM^s  recently  came  that  old  Mr.  W was 

never  seen  after  taking  a  steamer  at  Vienna  to  go  down  the  Danube.  That 
is  the  reason  that  I  have  felt  at  liberty  to  tell  the  story.  They  say  the 
way  of  the  transgressor  is  hard;  but  in  this  case  it  seems  to  me  that 
there  is  a  good  deal  to  be  said  about  the  ways  of  those  against  whom  he 
transgressed.  Perhaps  many  of  you  have  come  across  curious  things  in 
your  lives,  but  nothing  niucli  stranger  than  what  you  have  just  heard." 

And  to  this  statement  no  one  took  exception. 


180  NEW   COLOEADO  AND  THE   SANTA  FE  TRAIL. 


CHAPTEK   Xiy. 

THE   HEALTH-SEEKER. 

^P^HERE  is  nothing  more  interesting  to  the  public  than  information  or 
-A-  suggestions  regarding  the  possible  means  of  regaining  lost  health ; 
and  residents  of  Colorado  have  for  years  been  flooded  with  inquiries  about 
the  advantages  offered  by  that  State  to  the  invalid.  It  is  with  a  view  to 
the  truthful  enlightenment  of  these  inquirers,  and  people  in  general,  that 
•  the  author  has  sought,  in  the  presentation  of  the  following  pages,  the  aid  of 
Dr.  S.  E.  Solly,  M.R.C.S.,  England,  member  of  tlie  American  Medical  As- 
sociation, and  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Medico-Chirurgical  Society.  Dr.  Solly 
went  from  London,  for  his  own  health,  to  Colorado,  and  has  resided  there 
for  a  number  of  years. 

What  is  "  change  of  climate,"  of  which  so  much  is  spoken  ?  It  is 
often  the  last  infirmity  of  a  baffled  doctor  or  a  bored  patient.  Wiiat  does 
the  wanderer  seek,  and  of  just  what  does  this  change  consist  ?  The  essence 
of  change  of  climate  is  undoubtedly  in  a  change  of  the  air  we  breathe,  and 
the  soil  we  move  upon,  and  also  in  the  amount  and  intensity  of  the  sun's 
heat  and  light  to  which  we  are  exjiosed.  These  three  embrace  all  the 
physical  conditions :  there  are,  of  course,  the  secondary  results,  more  or 
less  connected  therewith — such  as  the  change  of  scenery,  modes  of  life, 
thought,  food,  and  water. 

The  simj^lest  change  we  can  make  in  the  air  we  breathe,  is  to  remove 
from  the  vitiated  atmosphere  of  a  city  into  the  countiy  air.  It  is  a  si7ie 
qua  non  in  change  of  climate  that  the  atmosphere  shall  be  brand-new,  so  to 
speak ;  that  it  shall  not  be  the  second-hand  article  abounding  in  crowded 
places ;  and  that  it  should  have  abundance  of  oxygen  to  destroy  any  poi- 
sonous germs  which  may  float  in  it.  We  find  these  conditions  most  com- 
pletely filled  on  the  sea-shore  or  the  mountains.  In  both  situations  there 
are  vast  spaces  over  which  the  winds  of  heaven  blow  without  being  used 
by  man  or  beast,  so  that  there  is  always  plenty  of  the  genuine  article 
brought  to  one's  doors.  If,  however,  the  air  were  always  still,  we  would 
soon  use  up  the  atmosphere  around  us,  and  it  would  be  very  slowly  re- 


THE   HEALTH-SEEKER.  181 

placed.  One  of  tlie  chief  reasons,  therefore,  that  sea  or  mountain  air  is 
so  healthful,  is  that  there  is  constant  change  of  atmosphere,  giving  always 
pure  air,  and  stimulating  the  vessels  of  the  skin  and  lungs  to  hurry  the 
blood  along  its  course  and  renew  its  vitality  by  restoring  its  oxygen  at 
every  breath.  Let  no  man  speak  ill  of  the  "  stormy  winds  that  blow," 
even  if  he  lose  his  hat  by  the  same. 

IS^ext,  let  us  consider  the  quantity  of  the  air,  for  the  atmosphere  is  a 
ponderable  elastic  body,  and  as  that  which  is  at  sea-level  is  pressed  upon 
by  the  air  above,  it  is  much  condensed,  and  there  is  more  oxygen,  nitrogen, 
and  watery  vajior  to  the  cubic  inch  at  the  sea-shore  than  on  the  mountains. 

The  rarity  of  the  air  which  is  found  on  the  mountains  has  two  special 
effects.  It  compels  one  to  take  more  fresh  air  into  the  chest  at  each 
breath  to  procure  the  amount  of  oxygen  which  would  come  from  a  lesser 
quantity  of  air  at  the  sea-level.  Perhaps  it  would  be  well  here  to  refer 
briefly  to  tlie  mechanism  of  breathing.  The  reason  that  we  carry  on  this 
ceaseless  occupation  is  that  oxygen  may  be  absorbed  by  the  blood,  and  car- 
bonic acid  and  water  given  off.  This  process  is  effected  through  the  law 
of  osmosis.  If  a  most  permeable  membrane  be  interposed  between  two 
fluids  or  gases  of  different  density  they  ^vill  change  places.  The  lungs  are 
composed  of  innumerable  blood-vessels,  held  together  by  the  slightest  pos- 
sible membrane  in  such  a  way  that  cells  are  left  between  them,  into  which 
the  air  can  enter,  and  every  vessel  is  thus  practically  surrounded  by  air. 
The  walls  of  these  vessels  consist  of  such  a  membrane  as  this,  so  that  we 
have  all  the  conditions  for  osmosis — on  one  side  of  the  membrane  the 
blood  containing  carbonic  acid  and  -watery  vapor,  and  on  the  other,  air  con- 
taining oxygen.  The  air,  to  reach  the  lungs,  has  to  pass  through  the 
mouth  and  windpipe  into  the  chest,  where  the  tube  divides  up  into  smaller 
tubes,  called  bronchi ;  then  into  still  smaller  ones,  called  bronchides ;  ami 
so  Anally  into  minute  ramifications  which  end  in  an  air-cell.  The  lungs 
and  heart  are  contained  in  tlie  chest,  which  is  a  conical  expanding  box  ;  its 
floor  is  of  muscle — the  diaphragm  which  separates  it  from  the  abdomen. 
The  remilar  contractions  and  relaxations  of  tliis  nniscle  cause  the  floor  to 
go  up  and  down,  and  keep  up  a  constant  entrance  and  exit  of  air  into  and 
from  the  chest.  The  sides  are  made  up  of  ribs,  which  run  round  tli(> 
chest  like  hoops  cut  in  lialf — being  fixed  at  one  end  to  the  spine,  and  at 
the  other  end  able  to  be  lifted  up  and  down  by  muscles — thus  increasing 
and  diminishing  the  capacity  of  the  chest.  The  air  wliich  the  ehest  wn- 
tains  at  any  given  time  during  Hfe  may  be  divi<k'd  into  three  strata.  The 
lowest  is  never  directly  changed,  so  that  there  will  alwnys  be  some  aii-  left 
in  the  chest.     Then  comes  the  middle  stratum,  which  is  (Uih   changed  (.11 


182  NEW  COLORADO  AND  THE  SANTA  FE  TRAIL. 

violent  exertion,  and  the  upper  stratum,  wliieli  is  constantly  clianging. 
We  can,  therefore,  see  that  nnder  certain  conditions  we  take  in  more  air 
than  nsual.  And  the  breathing  of  rarefied  air  produces  increased  chest 
expansion. 

Then  comes  the  all-imj)ortant  element  of  moisture  in  the  atmosphere. 
The  variation  of  humidity,  in  different  climates,  has  most  to  do  with  their 
peculiarities.  The  effect  of  much  watery  vapor  in  the  air  is  to  retain  heat 
or  cold,  so  that  they  are  each  in  turn  more  acutely  felt.  It  is  known  that 
a  much  higher  temperature  can  be  endured  in  the  Turkish  dry  air  bath 
than  in  the  Russian,  or  vapor  bath.  This  element  of  moisture  in  the  air 
supplies  the  reason  why  we  often  fail  to  get  comfort  and  support  for  our 
sensations  on  applying  to  the  thermometer.  Although  heat  and  cold  are 
more  acutely  felt  in  a  damp  climate,  yet  the  changes,  being  slower,  are  less 
perceptible.  The  moisture  retains  the  one  or  the  other  for  a  long  time  af- 
ter the  cause  is  removed,  as  by  sunset.  In  a  very  dry  climate  the  change 
from  sunshine  to  shade  is  so  marked,  that  it  appears  as  though  divided  by 
a  knife.  Then,  as  regards  the  bodily  electricity  in  the  two  climates,  there 
is  a  marked  difference.  Without  going  into  the  why  and  wherefore,  suf- 
fice it  to  say  that  a  damp  air  is  constantly  robbing  the  body  of  its  elec- 
tricity, being  a  good  conductor ;  while  the  dry  air,  being  a  non-conductor, 
allows  it  to  be  retained  in  the  body.  Therefore,  in  a  dry  air  the  nervous 
system  is  kept  in  a  state  of  tension,  while  in  a  damp  air  it  is  relaxed. 
Consequently,  full-blooded  nervous  people  are  better  in  a  damp  climate, 
and  thin-blooded  lethargic  folks  are  happier  in  a  dry  one. 

Next  comes  tlie  question  of  perspiration.  This  is  a  process  fulfilling 
two  different  objects.  In  the  first  place  it  is  a  means  of  getting  rid  of 
waste  products  from  the  body  through  the  vehicle  of  water,  and  the  skin 
is  studded  with  innumerable  glands  for  secreting  the  fluid.  When  this 
function  is  checked  a  variety  of  ills  may  result.  The  other  function  is 
that  of  moderating  the  temperature  of  the  body  by  evaporation,  account- 
ing for  the  relief  sweating  affords  us  in  hot  weather.  This  evaporation, 
again,  is  governed  by  the  law  of  osmosis — and  when  there  is  an  atmos- 
phere filled  with  moisture  outside  the  skin,  and  inside  a  fluid  trying  to 
get  out,  the  water  on  both  sides  of  the  skin  will  not  change  places.  The 
air  has  a  natural  tendency  to  absorb  moisture,  but  it  can  only  take  up  a 
certain  amount.  Therefore,  we  find  that  in  a  damp  climate,  although  the 
perspiration  comes  through  the  skin  it  remains  on  it,  clogging  the  pores,  as 
the  air  cannot  take  it  iip ;  but  in  a  dry  climate  it  is  common  for  people 
to  declare  that  they  never  perspire.  The  fact  is  that  they  probably  per- 
spire more,  but  that  the  air,  being  without  water  of  its  own,  greedily  takes 


THE    HEALTH-SEEKER.  183 

up  what  passes  from  the  skin,  so  that  the  evidence  does  not  remain  upon 
the  surface  of  the  body.  This  rapid  and  constant  evaporation  of  moisture 
from  the  body  in  a  dry  atmosphere,  probably  accounts  in  most  part  for  the 
fact  that  persons  in  an  equally  good  condition  of  health  weigh  less  while 
residing  in  a  dry  climate  than  in  a  moist  one.  As  Avith  the  skin,  so  with 
the  lungs ;  where  there  is  much  moisture  taken  into  the  lungs,  the  watery 
vapor  and  gases  are  not  readily  given  off,  the  l)lood  does  not  get  suffi- 
ciently aerated,  and  the  circulation  is  slow.  ()ii  the  other  hand,  in  a  dry 
climate,  the  action  of  the  lungs  is  especially  active  and  complete. 

The  amount  of  moisture  in  the  air  also  influences  the  sunlight  in  two 
different  aa  ays ;  first,  because  the  light  cannot  shine  as  brilliantly  through 
an  atmosphere  charged  w^ith  vapor ;  and  secondly,  because  the  formation 
of  clouds  and  fogs  obscures  the  sun's  rays  more  frequently,  and  the  in- 
fluence of  sunlight  upon  the  body  is  quite  an  important  element  in  the 
proper  discharge  of  its  functions, 

"With  regard  to  the  effect  of  the  sun's  heat  upon  the  body :  the  direct 
rays  of  the  sun  shining  through  a  dry  clear  atmosphere  are  not  as  liable  to 
cause  injury  to  the  body  from  excessive  temperature  as  the  indirect  effect 
of  the  sun's  heat,  when  the  sun  itself  may  be  more  or  less  obscured  by 
clouds  and  vapor.  This  is  showji  by  the  rarity  of  sunstroke  in  dry  cli- 
mates, even  when  the  temperature  is  high,  as  compared  with  its  frequency 
in  moist  climates  at  a  lower  temperature.  The  power  of  enduring  heat 
varies  greatly  in  individuals ;  some  always  feel  better  in  the  summer,  and 
some  in  the  winter.  The  general  effect  of  moderate  heat  is  to  (piicken  all 
the  functions  of  life  and  stimulate  healthy  growth,  but  excessive  heat  re- 
laxes the  nervous  system  which  governs  those  functions ;  and,  therefore, 
great  irregularities  ensue — some  organs  acting  excessively,  and  others  being 
more  or  less  paralyzed.  Morbid  growth,  as  in  disease,  is  generally  stimu- 
lated, and  natural  increase  often  arrested.  The  general  effect  of  moderate 
cold  is  to  limit  growth,  but  make  its  quality  good;  to  strengthen  the  con- 
trol of  the  nervous  system  over  the  body,  and  to  check  morbid  processes. 
Excessive  cold  does  not  produce  irregularity  of  function,  like  heat,  but 
tends  to  paralyze  and  kill  all  life. 

We  know  how  important  is  the  (piestiou  of  soil  in  choosing  a  habita- 
tion. A  dry  soil  is  always  preferable,  and,  therefore,  gravel  is  the  best, 
aiul  clay  the  worst — apart  from  the  questions  of  dam])noss  and  drainage. 
There  is  now  arising  in  science  a  point  whii-h  may  in  I'liturt'  prove  of 
great  importance  to  the  sanitarian,  \  i/.,  that  of  the  (inality  of  underground 
air  (the  air  permeating  the  soil  f'oi-  some  distance  below  the  surface),  hut  at 
present  this  study  is  in  its  infancy. 


184  NEW  COLOEADO  AND  THE  SANTA  FE  TEAIL. 

In  connection  with  the  soil  there  is  the  question  of  vegetation.  On 
dry  soils  the  pines  are  apt  to  grow,  and  they  are  undoubtedly  a  help  to 
those  who  require  a  dry  climate.  In  moist  climates  the  luxuriant  decidu- 
ous foliage  increases  the  mildness  of  the  air,  and  in  hot  ones  it  gives  shade. 

The  purity  of  the  water  is  an  important  element  in  the  choice  of  a 
climate,  and  the  purest  water  is  usually  found  flowing  through  the  gravel. 
In  clay  the  soil  and  decaying  vegetation  are  apt  to  mingle  with  the  w^ater 
and  spoil  its  quality. 

With  change  of  climate  often  comes  change  of  food ;  and,  although 
the  changed  food  may  not  be  any  better  (or  as  good)  for  the  traveller,  when 
in  his  usual  health,  than  what  he  has  left,  yet  the  old  saying,  "  When  you 
are  in  Eome,  do  as  the  Komans  do,"  is  usually  a  good  dictum  to  follow. 
The  good  effect  of  a  climate  has  often  been  marred  by  the  visitor  import- 
ino;  with  him  the  cuisine  of  other  climes. 

Having  now  arrived  at  some  idea  of  what  is  meant  by  change  of 
climate,  let  us  consider,  in  a  general  way,  what  the  wandering  invalid 
seeks.  It  is  not  relief  or  cure  for  any  acute  illness  or  suffering;  for  the 
change  of  the  physical  conditions  which  we  have  been  considering  could 
only  act  slowly,  and  they  are  only  a  change  in  degree  from  the  conditions 
under  which  the  patient  is  at  home.  It  must  be  some  chronic  malady — 
some  bad  habit  of  the  body  (for  the  body,  like  the  mind,  is  prone  to  keep 
on  in  an  evil  course  if  once  started  in  it) — some  tendency  contrary  to  the 
stream  of  healthy  life,  which  drives  the  sick  man  from  home  to  seek,  not  a 
single  element  or  medicine  to  antagonize  the  evil  that  is  in  him,  but  some 
slow,  subtle  influence  which  will  in  time  bring  back  the  machinery  of  his 
body  once  more  into  gear. 

Let  us  see  what  we  have  in  this  climate  of  Colorado  to  make  its  name 
so  great  as  a  sanitarium.  This  name  has  been  made — not  by  the  doctors 
discovering  and  testing  its  properties,  and  recommending  them  for  certain 
diseases,  but  by  the  sick  themselves,  coming  of  their  own  instinct,  as  it 
were,  over  the  great  plains  ;  many  falling  by  the  way,  but  many  more,  after 
much  privation,  finding  health  and  strength,  and  staying  to  build  up  a 
new  State  with  their  own  labors.  It  is  often  estimated  that  a  third  of  the 
population  of  Colorado  came  for  their  health  and  that  of  their  families, 
and  probably  the  estimate  is  not  excessive.  But  this  climate,  like  many 
other  blessings,  has  often  been  misused,  because  of  the  popular  idea  that, 
like  a  patent  medicine,  a  health  resort  must  be  a  panacea  for  all  ills.  On 
the  other  hand,  its  striking  qualities,  like  two-edged  swords,  cut  both  ways. 

We  have  in  Colorado  a  dry,  bracing,  cool  climate,  with  an  abundance 
of  sunlight,  and  a  septic  and  highly  electric  atmosphere,  at  an  elevation 


THE   HEALTH-SEEKER.  1S5 

varviiio^  from  four  to  eii^ht  tlionsand  feet.  Beautiful  mountain  scenery 
and  the  vast  plains  are  there  to  supply  us  with  unlimited  air,  untainted 
by  cities  or  vegetation.  The  rain  and  melted  snow-fall  for  the  year  along 
the  foot-hills  average  fifteen  inches,  while  those  of  'New  York  are  forty- 
four  inches,  Boston  forty-five  inches,  and  St.  Louis  forty-two  inches. 

As  regards  humiditj^ — by  comparing  the  actual  number  of  grains  of 
vapor  to  a  cubic  foot  of  air,  we  find  that  at  Denver,  which  may  be  taken 
to  represent  the  climate  along  the  foot-hills  of  Colorado,  the  average  for 
the  year  is  1.13  grains,  as  against  5.11  grains  at  New  Orleans,  3.98  grains 
at  Santa  Barbara,  and  2.35  grains  at  Philadelphia.  AYe  can,  therefore, 
without  further  question,  call  Colorado's  climate  a  dry  one.  In  looking 
over  the  maps  of  "  Lombard's  Medical  Geography,"  it  will  be  found  that 
wherever  the  shading  indicates  much  moisture,  there  is  an  excess  of  con- 
sumption among  the  inhabitants ;  and  the  two  things,  moisture  and  con- 
sumption, will  be  found  to  stand  in  the  same  relation  to  each  other  all  the 
world  over.  Then,  in  further  examining  these  said  maps,  it  will  be  found 
that  with  increasing  elevation  of  the  land  comes  a  decreasing  amount  of 
consumption ;  so  that  in  the  highlands,  where  the  climate  is  dry,  consump- 
tion is  a  disease  unknown  among  the  natives.  With  this  small  i-ain- 
fall  come  a  great  many  clear  days,  there  being  no  less  than  three  hun- 
dred and  two  in  the  year,  thus  allowing  of  much  out-door  exercise.  AV^ith 
regard  to  temperature,  the  mean  annual  of  1:7°  marks  this  as  a  temperate 
climate. 

It  has  been  pointed  out  elsewhere  that  cold  is  more  advantageous  than 
heat ;  and  this  is  esi^ecially  so  as  regards  pulmonary  disease.  Heat  les- 
sens the  number  of  respirations,  and  causes  them  to  be  more  shallow  ;  and 
one  of  the  great  causes  of  consumption  is,  as  it  has  been  aptly  called,  a 
consummate  stinginess  of  breathing.  The  great  troul)le  in  eonsumi)ti()n 
is  the  stagnation  of  imperfectly  aerated  blood  in  tlic  lungs,  giving  rise  to 
low  forms  of  inflamnuition,  and  consequent  pouring  out  from  the  blood 
of  mor])id  material,  such  as  tubercle,  into  tlie  air-cells  or  their  walls ;  or 
a  blocking  of  the  vessels  themselves  with  deposits  of  unhealthy  plastic 
matter;  or  else,  as  in  fibroid  phthisis,  a  thickening  of  the  lung-tissue,  so 
that  it  loses  its  elasticity,  and  the  air-cells  become  contracted.  All  this 
leads  to  consolidation  of  the  organ  ;  consequently  the  lung,  instead  of 
being  like  a  sponge,  into  which  the  air  can  freely  penetrate,  becomes  solid, 
like  the  liver.  The  first  objects  to  be  obtained  are  to  cause  tlie  hiug  to 
expand  again,  and  once  more  take  in  aif,  Mini  to  stiuiulatc  tlu'  circulation, 
so  that  these  objectionable  deposits  wliidi  cIu'j:  the  cllicicnt  working  of 
the  organ  may  be  absorbed  into  the  hlood  again.     This  is  largely  done  i)y 


186  NEW   COLOKADO   AND   THE   SANTA   FE   TRAIL. 

getting  rid  of  the  carbon  (wliich  forms  the  basis  of  these  deposits)  bj  ad- 
mitting oxygen  into  tlie  chest,  and  allowing  it  to  unite  with  the  carbon 
and  pass  off  in  the  form  of  carbonic  acid  gas.  Cold,  therefore,  by  stimu- 
lating the  pulmonary  circulation,  tends  to  repair  the  mischief  already 
done  and  prevent  the  further  development  of  the  process.  This  ques- 
tion of  heat  and  cold  is  one  of  degree,  however.  Cold  is  only  good  when 
it  produces  a  reaction.  This  is  exemplified  in  the  use  of  the  matutinal 
tub,  whose  praises  the  English  so  loudly  sing.  The  cold  sponging  is  good, 
as  bracing  the  circulation  of  the  skin  and  stimulating  the  nervous  system, 
when  the  bather  leaves  his  bath  in  a  glow  and  sits  down  to  breakfast  with 
warm  feet.  But  if  he  emerge  from  the  tulj  with  blue  skin,  and  eagerly 
seek  the  fire,  he  had  better  have  taken  a  warm  bath.  The  question  of  heat 
and  cold,  also,  is  not  so  much  a  matter  of  degrees  of  Fahrenheit  as  of  the 
amount  of  humidity  in  the  air ;  and,  therefore,  if  the  cold  be  dry  and  not 
extreme,  its  depressing  effect  is  absent.  So  it  is,  also,  with  the  individual 
exposed  to  it ;  he  must  have  sufficient  vitality  to  produce  a  reaction. 
This  point — that  cold  is  preferable  to  heat — is  the  reason  that  consump- 
tives do  better  in  winter  than  summer.  Dryness  also  improves  the  pul- 
monary circulation :  by  causing  a  greater  amount  of  watery  vapor  to  be  got 
rid  of,  it  lessens  the  distension  or  congestion  of  the  blood-vessels,  and  tends 
to  dry  up  the  excessive  mucus  which  may  be  secreted  in  the  bronchi  or 
air-tubes,  and  which,  in  consequence,  obstructs  the  free  passage  of  air  to  the 
cells.  It  was  explained  elsewhere  that  with  dryness  we  have  a  higher  de- 
gree of  animal  electricity ;  and,  therefore,  the  nerves  of  the  chest  would  re- 
spond more  vigorously  to  the  stimulus  of  the  air. 

It  is,  probably,  impossible  to  get  much  further  without  talking  about 
ozone.  The  latest  investigations  have  proved  that  pure  dry  oxygen  can  be 
converted  into  ozone  by  electricity.  It  is  therefore  probable  that  ozone  is 
"  electrified  oxygen."  Sclicinheim's  test — the  only  one  at  present  used — 
requires  the  presence  of  atmospheric  moisture.  ]^o  doubt  this  is  the  rea- 
son that  in  a  drv  climate,  such  as  Colorado,  where  the  indirect  evidence  is 
strongly  in  favor  of  the  presumption  that  there  is  considerable  ozone  in 
the  air,  this  test  fails  to  reveal  it.  Ozone  shows  that  there  is  an  excess  of 
oxygen  in  the  air,  and,  therefore,  that  the  atmosphere  is  specially  pure. 
Ozone  itself  is  a  powerful  antiseptic  and  disinfectant,  and  its  presence  in 
mountain  air  is  no  doubt  one  of  the  reasons  why  wounds  tend  to  heal  with 
a  minimum  of  suj)puration.  "When  the  Colorado  traveller  passes — as  often 
he  will — the  decaying  carcass  of  horse  or  cow,  he  may  bless  the  electrified 
oxygen  which  tempers  the  wind  to  his  olfactories.  Ozone,  being  absorbed 
through  the  lungs,  purifies  the  blood,  and  prevents  the  individual  from 


THE   HEALTH-SEEKER.  187 

being  poisoned  by  the  effete  material  arising  from  the  renewal  of  the  va- 
rious tissues.  The  reason  that  to  be  among  the  pines  is  good  for  invalids, 
is  supposed  to  be  because  the  turpentine  exhaled  from  them  has  a  special 
power  of  converting  oxygen  into  ozone. 

Let  us  now  return  to  a  brief  consideration  of  that  fell  disease,  con- 
sumption, which  is  computed  to  kill  annually  thirty-five  per  cent,  of  the 
inhabitants  of  this  country.  We  have  shown  that,  in  the  beginning  of  this 
disease,  there  is  a  deficient  amount  of  air  entering  the  chest.  This  may 
arise  through  the  individual  living  in  a  damp,  relaxing  climate,  and  taking 
very  little  exercise,  and,  therefore,  not  stimulating  the  muscles  and  nerves 
of  his  chest  to  expand  the  lungs ;  or,  though  lie  may  expand  them  suffi- 
ciently, the  air  he  breathes  ma.y  be  so  im})ure  that  he  cannot  absorb 
enough  oxygen  from  it.  For  instance,  a  workman  in  a  factory  may  use 
enough  exertion  to  expand  his  chest,  but  tlie  atmos})here  he  works  in  may 
])e  poisoned  by  overcrowding  or  the  effluvium  from  some  manufactory. 
Again,  it  may  happen  that  the  individual,  though  breathing  a  pure  air, 
may  fall  a  victim  to  inflammation  of  the  lungs,  or  some  other  acute  affec- 
tion of  the  chest ;  and,  as  he  has  a  scrofulous  tendency,  the  results  of  the 
inflammation  arc  not  absorbed  into  the  blood  but  remain,  ol)structing  the 
proper  expansion  of  the  lungs  and  degenerating  into  permanent  morbid 
deposits  which,  after  a  time,  by  becoming  a  source  of  irritation,  cause  the 
hiiig  to  consume. 

There  is  another  cause  of  consumption — next  to  foul  air  probably  the 
most  prolific — dyspepsia.  Dyspepsia,  which  is  an  imperfect  action  of  the 
digestive  powers  of  tlie  stomach  and  bowels,  nuiy  arise  when  there  is  gen- 
eral weakness,  or  what  is  called  anoemia ;  that  is,  when  the  blood  supplied 
to  the  organs  of  digestion  is  deficient  in  (piality  and  quantity,  and  the 
food  given  is  too  great  in  amount  or  too  rich  in  (piality.  Not  being  tlior- 
oughly  digested,  it  then  becomes  only  an  irritant  to  the  mucous  mem- 
Ijranes  and  sets  up  a  catarrh  or  chronic  inflammation  of  them ;  in  wliicli 
case  their  power  of  absorption  is  so  much  diminished  that  very  little  nutri- 
ment finds  its  way  into  tlie  1)1()()<1,  and  the  individual  is  starved.  Often 
the  same  result  is  reached  by  a  much  more  wilful  process.  The  victim  of 
dyspepsia  overworks  his  nervous  system  in  his  business — sits  down  to  his 
meals  so  exhausted  tliat  the  nerves  of  liis  digestive  canal  refuse  U>  answer 
to  the  stimulus  of  the  food.  He  probably  takes  this  food  not  in  strata  (be- 
ginning by  temi)ering  his  ap])etite  with  a  little  easily  digested  soup,  mid 
causing,  as  Hamlet  remarks, ''  increase  of  appetite  to  grow  by  wli:tt  it  W-c^h 
upon,"aiMl  building  iij)  gradually),  but  ])iles  it  all  in  pell-mell,  iiiid  liriiuiiihs 
his  already  too  lethargic  nerves  with  a  liberal  douciie  of  iced  wafer. 


188  NEW   COLOKADO   AND   THE   SANTA   FE   TRAIL. 

It  was  all  very  well  for  the  London  alderman  to  say,  in  tlie  course  of  a 
discussion  on  dietetics,  "  They  talks  a  deal  about  what  you  may  eat,  and 
what  you  mayn't  eat ;  but  I  eats  what  I  likes,  and  then  lets  'em  light  it  out 
down  below."  Some  favored  ones  are  blessed  with  the  digestion  &i  an 
ostrich,  but  the  man  who  drives  his  brain,  and  labors  hard  in  bad  air,  must 
have  method  in  his  eating.  A  little  wine  or  beer  taken  with  food  will 
often  help  him,  and  prevent  the  craving  for  a  stimulus  on  an  empty  stom- 
ach wliich  he  is  too  apt  to  hold  in  check  with  the  devil's  own  peculiar 
nectar — the  too  seductive  "  cock-tail."  After  such  a  meal  as  described — 
bolted  down  in  hot  haste — the  victim  returns  to  drive  his  unrested  brain 
with  an  indigestible  incubus  lying  in  his  stomach.  The  result  is  that  his 
blood  is  thin  and  scanty,  and  his  lungs  become  starved  from  want  of  good 
blood,  as  they  may  be  from  want  of  air.  There  is  a  notion  in  the  minds 
of  some  chemists  that  there  is  an  oil  present  in  all  healthy  blood,  and  that 
when  this  is  absent,  there  is  the  tendency  for  the  blood  to  form  deposits 
in  the  lungs  and  elsewhere.  Whether  this  be  so  or  not  is  unproved,  but 
it  is  a  fact  that  one  of  the  greatest  difficulties  in  dyspepsia  is  the  digesting 
of  fatty  or  oily  substances,  and  that  when  they  can  be  digested,  cod-liver 
oil  and  like  remedies  do  much  to  restore  the  consumptive.  Chronic  dys- 
pepsia, being  always  accompanied  by  poverty  of  the  blood  and  an  irregu- 
lar circulation,  as  might  be  expected,  is  greatly  relieved  by  an  improve- 
ment in  the  pulmonary  circulation,  and,  therefore,  is  benefited  by  a  dry, 
stimulating  climate  like  that  of  Colorado. 

In  continuing  our  consideration  of  consumption,  we  have  now  to  come 
to  that  stage  which  gives  the  disease  its  name.  After  the  lung  has  be- 
come obstructed  and  rendered  more  or  less  solid,  the  extraneous  matter 
thrown  out  will,  under  favorable  circumstances,  become  absorbed  into  the 
blood,  or  a  portion  may  become  contracted  into  a  close,  hard  mass,  and  re- 
main inert  for  good  or  bad,  for  a  certain  period,  as  for  life  ;  or,  it  may  be- 
gin to  soften  down  and  be  gradually  carried  off  in  the  expectoration,  leav- 
ing a  cavity  which  may  after  a  time  contract.  In  this  case  the  patient 
may  get  well  with  so  much  less  lung,  or  tiie  cavity  may  go  on  extending 
till  the  drain  of  this  consuming  process  brings  death.  The  eifect  of  quick- 
ening the  circulation,  and  introducing  an  abundance  of  oxygen  into  the 
blood,  is  to  increase  the  powers  of  absorj3tion,  and  to  burn  up  with  the 
oxygen  all  morbid  deposits.  This  is  why  such  a  climate  as  tliat  of  Colo- 
rado tends  to  cure  the  early  stages  of  consumption.  But  when  softening 
is  going  on,  it  will  also  tend  to  increase  that  destructive  process,  and  then 
come  in  the  questions  whether  the  patient  can  stand  the  strain ;  whether 
there   will  be   sufficient  sound  lung  left ;  and  whether  the  patient  has 


THE   HEALTH-SEEKEE.  189 

enongli  inlierent  vitality  to  react  under  this  stimulus — to  cast  off  tlie  old 
Adam  and  renew  his  life.  So,  also,  before  softenino-  has  beirun,  but  much 
of  the  lungs  are  solid,  it  becomes  a  question  whether  there  be  enough 
healthy  lung  left  to  breathe  witli  in  the  rarefied  air,  and  whether  the  soften- 
ing stage  may  not  be  precipitated  by  a  change  to  Colorado.  Dr.  Fotlier- 
gill,  in  his  hand-book  on  treatment,  speaks  of  a  process  of  levelling  up  and 
levelling  down ;  by  which  means,  when  an  organ  is  chronically  weak,  or  a 
function  imperfectly  discharged,  it  is  sometimes  well  to  grade  up  the  gen- 
eral health,  and  relieve  the  general  pressure  on  the  peccant  part.  On  the 
other  hand,  where  the  disease  is  far  advanced,  any  increased  excitement  of 
the  circulation,  or  any  effort  at  repair,  may  but  hasten  the  fatal  termina- 
tion ;  and  it  is,  therefore,  better  to  somewhat  lower  the  general  standard 
of  vitality,  and  be  contented  with  reducing  the  patient  to  more  of  a  vege- 
tative existence,  and  so  prolonging  life.  In  such  cases  an  equable  sedative 
climate  would  be  better  than  the  stimulating  air  of  Colorado. 

These  are  points,  however,  which  the  physician  can  alone  decide. 
When  Dr.  Solly  first  came  to  study  this  climate,  he  was  inclined  to  warn 
patients  against  seeking  it  wliile  their  fever  ran  high  and  the  disease 
seemed  rapidly  extending,  but  experience  has  taught  him  to  think  other- 
wise, and  he  has  since  found  that  if  the  other  conditions  are  favorable,  the 
fever  and  night-sweats  are  usually  speedily  arrested,  and  local  signs  also 
abate.  The  reasons,  no  doubt,  are  because  the  circulation  all  over  the 
lungs,  skin,  and  body  generally  is  stimulated,  and  therefore  equalized  ;  and 
the  congestion  which  necessarily  accompanies,  and  in  a  measure  causes,  the 
extension  of  the  local  mischief,  is  relieved.  Congestion  is  a  stagnation  of 
blood  in  one  part,  and  is  an  essential  condition  of  infiannnation.  Of 
course,  where  the  patient  is  much  disturbed  or  depressed  by  the  disease,  it 
is  best  to  rest  frequently  on  the  way ;  especially  once,  at  least,  while  as- 
cending the  slopes  of  the  great  plains. 

For  some  time  after  arriving  it  is  prudent  to  remain  quiet,  and  allow 
the  gymnastics  which  the  rarefied  atmosjihere  conij)els  the  chest  to  take 
to  supersede  the  bulk  of  the  accustomed  exercise.  As  might  be  expected, 
the  cougli  is  frequently  increased,  owing  to  the  stimulation  of  the  air,  and 
it  will,  perhaps,  remain  till  the  cause  of  it  is  removed.  The  cough  is  spe- 
cially apt  to  be  increased  when  it  is  mainly  due  to  an  irritable  throat,  for 
the  direct  local  effect  of  the  dry  air  upon  the  throat  is  of  itself  somewhat 
irritating.  The  effect  of  the  climate  u]>()ii  tlie  shortness  of  breath  from 
which  consumptives  suffer,  is  varial)lc.  AVlicii  tlie  amount  of  sound  lung 
is  small,  this  symptom  is  necessarily  increased  until  the  obstructed  portion 
clears  up.     This  increase  is  specially  marked  where  consolidation  is  e\ten- 


190  NEW  COLORADO  AND  THE  SANTA  FE  TKAIL. 

sive,  and  particularly  if  of  the  Hbroid  character ;  l)nt  often,  in  cases  in 
which  this  symptom  has  been  very  distressing  before  coming,  it  is  mucli 
relieved.  This  is,  no  donbt,  where  it  was  due  mainly  to  the  air-tubes  be- 
ing filled  with  mucus,  and  where  the  deposits  or  exudations,  being  of  re- 
cent date,  are  readily  absorbed.  The  stimulating  atmosphere  causes  the 
chest  to  expand,  and  an  abundance  of  highly  oxygenated  air  can  rush  into 
many  air-cells  Avhich  were  closed  before.  As  might  be  expected,  the 
amount  of  expectoration  is  usually  lessened.  There  is  a  point  on  which  a 
popular  fallacy  exists  not  only  among  patients,  but,  alas !  also  among  many 
intelligent  physicians.  It  is  that  the  tendency  to  hemorrhage  is  much  in- 
creased at  such  an  elevation  as  six  thousand  feet.  This  error  has  arisen 
from  the  observations  of  Humboldt,  who  found  that  bleeding  at  the  nose 
and  ears,  and  even  blood-spitting,  were  caused  by  ascending  mountains  six- 
teen thousand  feet  and  more  in  height.  Later  travellers  have  recorded  the 
same  eifects,  and  consequently  the  public  have  generalized  so  far  as  to  be- 
lieve that  all  elevation  will  more  or  less  increase  any  hemorrhagic  ten- 
dency whatsoever.  Now,  all  clinical  observations  in  Colorado  and  at 
other  similarly  elevated  health  resorts  go  to  show  that  a  patient  is  less 
liable  to  hemorrhage,  other  things  being  equal,  at  this  altitude  than  on 
lower  ground.  Strong  evidence  confirming  this  statement  has  been  re- 
corded by  Dr.  J.  Reed,  in  the  transactions  of  the  State  Medical  Society  of 
Colorado. 

If  we  consider  the  matter,  we  can  imderstand  the  reason  of  this. 
Hemorrhage  occurring  in  a  healthy  person  at  an  elevation  is  caused  by  the 
atmospheric  pressure,  outside  the  blood-vessels,  being  so  reduced  that  the 
pressure  of  the  blood  from  within  forces  it  through  the  walls  and  extremi- 
ties of  the  small  vessels  or  capillaries,  as  they  are  called,  and  naturally 
those  most  exposed  are  the  first  to  give  way,  the  blood  being  called  to  the 
surface  and  the  pressure  relatively  relieved  from  the  internal  organs  and 
somewhat  from  the  lungs  themselves ;  then  the  atmosphere  in  the  chest  is 
necessarily  different  from  that  in  the  throat  and  nostrils  and  on  the  skin, 
because  of  the  constant  exhalations  from  the  lungs  and  its  protected  situa- 
tion. This  is  why  blood-spitting  occurs  less  often  than  bleeding  from  the 
nose  and  ears  in  the  ascent  into  the  upper  air,  and  not  till  the  higher  ele- 
vations are  reached.  There  is  another  element  which  is  undoubtedly  the 
frequent  cause  of  blood-spitting  in  healthy  persons  while  ascending  moun- 
tains. This  is  the  increased  action  of  the  heart,  owing  to  exertion  in  the 
rarefied  air,  which  is  caused  in  the  srame  way  as  in  a  boat-race  or  any  other 
violent  manner  of  over-hurrying  the  heart  at  sea-level.  Now,  blood-spit- 
ting may  occur  in  consumptives  in  quite  an  early  stage  of  their  disease  or 


THE   HEALTH-SEEKER.  191 

in  a  late  one.  In  the  foiuner  ease,  the  deposit  or  exudation  of  niorhid  ma- 
terial into  the  Inng-tissne  or  air-cells  sets  up  irritation  in  the  lungs  them- 
selves, or  the  tubes  leading  to  them,  and  gives  rise  to  a  congestion  or  en- 
gorgement of  the  vessels  at  one  part,  so  that  the  pressure  in  them  finds 
relief  in  a  hemorrhage,  and  the  patient  generally  feels  better.  This  may 
occur  any  time  when  fresh  tissue  is  invaded,  and  this  kind  of  hemorrhage 
usually  stops  of  itself. 

Now,  as  we  have  shown,  the  tendency  of  dry  mountain  air  is  not  only 
to  check  the  morbid  process,  but  specially  to  equalize  the  circulation,  and 
so  relieve  and  prevent  congestion.  In  the  latter  case,  when  hemorrhage 
occurs  while  the  lung  is  breaking  down,  it  is  caused  by  the  ulceration  ex- 
tending through  the  wall  of  a  vessel  and  making  a  leak.  Therefore,  in 
the  one  case  the  cause  is  from  within  the  vessel,  and  in  the  other  from 
without. 

When  bleedino*  occurs  from  ulceration,  it  is  more  often  alarmino-  and 
uncontrollable  ;  but  even  in  this  case  the  climate  is  not  usually  found  to  in- 
crease the  chance  of  hemorrhage,  because  it  tends  to  arrest  the  progress  of 
the  ulceration  and  to  remove  the  cause.  Of  course,  where  the  danger  of 
hemorrhage  in  this  manner  seems  imminent,  any  change  combined  with 
the  fatigue  of  travelling  would  probably  precipitate  it ;  although,  as  be- 
fore said,  there  is  no  doubt  that  hemorrhages  from  the  lungs  are  in  this 
climate  more  infrequent.  When  they  do  occur  they  may  be  said  to  be 
more  copious,  the  patient  losing  more  blood  in  a  given  space  of  time ;  but 
there  is  less  liability  to  continual  oozing. 

The  gist  of  the  benefits  that  this  climate  confers  on  consumptives  is 
its  power  of  getting  rid  of  those  bad  habits  of  the  lungs  which  cause  the 
absorption  of  morbid  deposits,  and  of  setting  all  the  healthy  processes  of 
life  going  with  increased  vigor.  The  question  of  the  expediency  of  any 
special  case  coming,  depends  probably  little  on  the  particular  form  of  con- 
sumption, but  much  upon  tl>e  extent  of  the  mischief,  and  the  amount  of 
reserve  force  in  the  patient  to  stand  the  stinnilus.  When  a  patient  an-ives, 
it  is,  as  has  been  said,  specially  important  that  he  should  take  very  little 
exercise  for  the  first  few  weeks,  but  be  in  the  air  as  much  as  possible. 
Horse  riding,  after  the  patient  has  become  accustomed  to  the  air,  is  an  ex- 
cellent assistance  to  a  cure,  if  indulged  in  moderately.  In  tlie  sunuiier  a 
trip  to  the  mountains  is  often  beneficial,  especially  on  account  of  the 
sleeping  in  a  tent.  Even  where  the  patient  cannot  take  such  a  trip,  sleep- 
ing in  a  tent  close  to  the  house  is  almost  invariably  attended  with  benefit. 
An  ideal  year  for  a  consuniptive  is  best  begun  about  September  or  Oc- 
tober, thongli  a  patient  may  come  any  time,  as  the  seasons  are  such  that 


192  NEW   COLORADO   AND   THE   SANTA  FE   TRAIL. 

he  can  remain  all  the  year  ronnd.  This  is  a  matter  of  great  importance 
in  choosing  a  climate,  for  climate -cure  is  a  slow  process,  taking  at  least 
as  long  for  the  patient  to  get  well  as  it  has  taken  him  to  run  down  in 
health,  and  the  influence  ought  to  be  continuous.  This  is  not  so  impor- 
tant, perhaj)s,  in  sedative  climates,  or  where  the  effects  are  simply  nega- 
tive ;  but  where  they  are  positive,  as  in  Colorado,  it  is  of  the  greatest  im- 
portance that  the  residence  should  be  sufliciently  prolonged  to  give  rea- 
sonable assurance  that  the  disease,  if  still  present,  has  at  least  become  in- 
active, Abraham  Lincoln  used  to  say  it  was  "bad  to  swap  horses  when 
you  were  crossing  a  stream ;"  and  so  it  is  bad  for  a  consumptive  to  expose 
his  lungs  to  a  change  from  this  thin  air  to  a  denser  atmosphere  while  the 
process  of  cnre  is  still  going  on.  It  is  only  too  common  an  experience 
here  for  a  consumptive  to  resist  all  advice  and  go  home  soon,  only  to  re- 
turn worse  than  ever,  and  with  a  greatly  lessened  chance  of  cure. 

If  a  patient  comes  here  in  the  early  fall,  he  has  time  to  pick  up  strength 
to  enable  him  to  expose  himself  with  advantage  to  the  cold  of  winter, 
which  is  at  times  quite  severe.  The  days  are  for  the  most  part  bright 
and  warm,  but  the  nights  are  often  intensely  cold.  All  the  year  round 
they  are  cool.  There  is  very  little  snow,  and  it  falls  mostly  in  early 
spring.  On  at  least  a  third  of  the  days  of  winter  the  mid-day  meal  can 
be  taken  out-of-doors.  The  great  drawback  to  the  enjoyment  of  the  Colo- 
rado climate  is  the  winds,  which  blow  mostly  in  the  spring  months.  Ex- 
cept to  the  very  feeble,  however,  they  are  seldom  more  than  disagreeable. 
There  is  no  rain  to  be  looked  for  from  the  middle  of  September  to  the 
middle  of  April ;  but  there  are  f reqnent  thunder-showers,  lasting  seldom 
more  than  twenty  mimites,  in  the  summer  afternoons.  These  serve  to 
cool  the  air,  but  rarely  cause  sufficient  dampness  to  be  an  element  of  dan- 
ger to  the  consumptive.  In  a  climate  as  dry  as  this  has  been  pointed  out 
to  be,  the  changes  of  temperatnre  are  sudden  and  extreme,  and  it  there- 
fore behooves  the  visitor  to  be  always  prepared  with  extra  wraps ;  and  it 
is  advisable  to  qualify  the  effect  of  these  sudden  changes  on  the  body  by 
wearing  woollen  underclothing  and  stockings  in  the  winter,  and  also 
sleeping  in  flannel ;  and  in  the  summer,  wearing  merino  and  silk.  Al- 
though during  the  summer  the  thermometer  may  run  qnite  high,  the  thin 
dress  used  in  the  East  at  this  season  can  seldom  be  worn  with  impunity. 

In  deciding  the  question  of  coming  to  Colorado,  the  condition  of  the 
heart  has  often  to  be  considered.  As  the  effect  of  the  climate  is  to  stimu- 
late the  heart  to  increased  action,  it  is  dangerous  for  persons  with  any  or- 
ganic disease  of  the  valves  or  walls  to  come  here.  They  always  require 
that  the  rapidity  of  the  heart's  action  should  be  lessened,  although  at  the 


THE   HEALTH-SEEKER.  193 

same  time  it  may  be  well  to  increase  its  strength.  Of  coui-se  there  are 
cases  where  the  defect  is  congenital,  or  has  been  borne  so  long  without  its 
progressing,  that  nature  has  entirely  accommodated  itself  to  the  condition. 
Such  cases,  which  are  rare,  we  occasionally  tind  living  here  without  ajipar- 
ent  injury.  Cases  of  what  is  called  fatty  degeneration,  or  any  case  where 
the  muscle  of  the  heart  shows  signs  of  breaking  down,  should  stay  away ; 
but  where  the  muscle  is  simply  weak,  as  the  other  muscles  of  the  body  are 
weak,  a  visit  to  Colorado  will  often  prove  beneiicial.  Such  cases  on  tirst 
arriving  have  specially  to  avoid  exertion;  and  if  an  attack  of  irregularity 
of  the  heart's  action  comes  on,  it  is  liable  to  be  exaggerated.  The  tonic 
effect  of  the  climate  will,  however,  probably  remove  the  cause,  and  so  re- 
lieve the  trouble. 

In  neuralgic  affections  of  the  heart — angina  and  the  like — the  stimulat- 
ing effect  on  the  nerves  commonly  increases  the  distress.  Where  the  ner- 
vous system  generally  has  run  down,  and  the  heart  in  consequence  acts 
irregularly,  persons  will  receive  benefit.  Asthma  is  always  relieved  in  this 
air,  more  or  less  in  each  individual  case  according  to  the  elevation.  Heart 
disease  is  a  frequent  consequence  where  asthma  has  existed  in  a  severe 
form  for  some  years.  Such  cases,  if  they  observe  great  care,  are  often 
better  here  than  at  home,  since  the  cause  of  their  distress  has  been  re- 
moved. 

Cases  of  nervous  exhaustion,  from  whatever  cause,  are  almost  invaria- 
bly relieved ;  and  all  irregularities  of  the  nervous  system  dependent  upon 
a  bad  circulation,  defective  nutrition,  scrofula,  or  poison  (such  as  malaria), 
are  also  benefited ;  but  when  they  occur  in  j^ersons  of  good  circulation  and 
full  habit,  the  symptoms  are  increased.  Even  in  the  cases  which  are  ulti- 
mately cured  by  residence  in  Colorado,  before  the  cause  is  removed  the 
attacks  are  usually  more  severe  when  they  occur,  though  happening  less 
frequently.  Acute  organic  disease  of  the  nervous  system  is  made  rapidly 
worse  by  this  climate.  Some  stationary  chronic  cases  will  imjirove  in 
general  health  here,  but  it  is  not  well  to  advise  their  coming.  AVitli  re- 
gard to  rlieumatism  of  the  joints,  it  exists  liere  as  it  does  all  the  world 
over,  and  there  would  be  nothing  gained  by  coming  specially  for  that, 
were  it  not  that  scrofula  is  proljably  the  parent  of  the  bulk  of  cases  of 
rheumatism  ;  and  as  this  climate  is  its  deadly  enemy,  the  rheumatism  may 
indirectly  be  removed.  Then  again,  M'liero  there  is  much  dol)ility,  benefit 
is  gained.  But  in  this  disease,  as  in  all  others,  tlic  ty])e  of  individual  lias 
much  to  do  with  tin;  choice  of  climate;  the  fiorid  and  full-blooded  had 
better  seek  tlie  sea-shore;  the  dark,  ])ale,  and  nuicmic  clind>  the  uplands. 
When  gouty  or  rheumatic  deposits  exist  niouiid  \\\v  joints  or  elsewhere,  the 

13 


194  NEW  COLORADO  AND  THE  SANTA  FE  TRAIL. 

type  of  individual  must  again  decide  the  question ;  the  alkaline  waters  of 
Manitou  are  undoubtedly  a  great  aid  to  their  removal. 

In  liver  derangements,  the  ansemic  or  debilitated  sufferers  usually  im- 
prove, and  the  full-blooded  grow  w^orse.  In  actual  disease  of  the  liver  this 
country  should  be  avoided.  The  same  statement  holds  good  with  regard 
to  kidney  derangements  and  organic  disease. 

AVith  regard  to  throat  affections  and  nasal  catarrh,  the  direct  effect 
of  this  dry  air  upon  the  mucous  membranes  is  to  increase  the  irritation ; 
but  where  the  condition  is  largely  dependent  upon  general  want  of  tone, 
the  local  effect  can  be  modified  by  treatment,  and  the  beneficial  effect  on 
the  constitution  generally  obtained.  Most  skin-diseases  in  the  anaemic  are 
improved. 

Brief  mention  has  now  been  made  of  most  of  the  maladies  in  which 
the  question  of  change  of  climate  might  arise.  The  broad  principle  is  as 
follows :  send  the  thin-blooded  to  Colorado ;  keep  the  full-blooded  away. 
Send  those  on  the  up-grade  of  life,  and  not  on  the  down.  In  disease,  ex- 
cept in  that  of  the  lungs,  wdiere  there  is  actual  change  of  structure,  avoid 
the  too  rapid  life  which  this  climate  causes. 

Colorado  is  divided  toiDographically  into  three  divisions — the  plains, 
foot-hills,  and  mountains.  The  plains  present  little  or  no  vegetation  be- 
yond the  buffalo  grass,  and  are  only  watered  by  small  and  infrequent 
streams.  Their  elevation  varies  from  three  thousand  five  hundred  to  four 
thousand  five  hundred  feet.  There  are  no  accommodations  to  be  found  in 
this  portion  of  the  country  specially  for  invalids ;  but  when  a  patient  is 
able  to  stand  the  rough  living  of  a  sheep  or  cattle  ranch,  and  the  monot- 
ony of  the  life  does  not  pall,  he  is  often  cured  by  the  pure  air  of  the 
plains.  The  foot-hills  average  from  four  thousand  to  six  thousand  feet  in 
elevation,  and  have  several  towns  and  villages  among  them  which  attract 
the  bulk  of  the  invalids.  They  are  of  medium  elevation ;  best  adapted 
for  the  majority  of  patients,  and  most  suitable  for  residence  in  both  sum- 
mer and  winter.  The  chief  of  these  are  Denver,  Colorado  Springs,  Man- 
itou, Pueblo,  and  Canon  City. 

Denver,  the  northernmost  of  these  places,  stands  about  fifteen  miles 
east  of  the  base  of  the  mountains,  and  at  an  elevation  of  five  thousand 
two  hundred  feet.  It  is  a  rapidly  growing  city  of  about  thirty  thousand 
inhabitants ;  it  has  fine  streets,  good  hotels  and  boarding-houses,  and  cap- 
ital markets ;  it  possesses  places  of  entertainment,  and  its  society  is  pleas- 
ant ;  it  has,  however,  the  objections  to  an  invalid  which  attach  to  a  city. 
At  present  its  water-supply  is  by  no  means  above  suspicion,  and  its  system 
of  drainage  is  imperfect.     On  the  upper  ground  there  are  attractive  spots 


THE   HEALTH-SEEKER.  195 

for  residence,  but  the  soil  in  tlic  lower  part  of  the  citj  retains  moisture  to 
a  degree  that  in  any  other  climate  would  be  dangerous  to  health.  There 
are  some  small  places  around  Denver  which  are  good  resorts,  but  there  are 
no  objects  of  interest  in  the  immediate  vicinity  to  drive  or  ride  to,  thouo-h 
the  roads  are  good.  If  a  city  life  seem  indispensable  to  the  happiness  of 
the  invalid,  or  engaging  in  business  be  a  necessity,  Denver  is  the  best 
place  in  Colorado ;  but  even  in  this  pure  air  man  is  vile  when  you  get  too 
many  of  him  in  a  small  space. 

Colorado  Springs  also  aspires  to  be  a  city,  but  at  i3resent  six  thousand  is 
probably  a  liberal  estimate  of  the  number  of  its  inliabitants.  Unlike  Den- 
ver, however  (which  owes  its  origin  to  chance,  and  has  grown  up  by  force 
of  circumstances),  Colorado  Springs  was  laid  out  nine  years  ago  by  a  com- 
pany with  the  special  view  of  its  becoming  a  health-resort,  and  its  very  ex- 
istence to-day  is  dependent  on  its  attractions  as  a  sanitarium.  Its  altitude 
is  six  thousand  and  twenty-three  feet.  It  is  situated  on  a  plateau  five 
miles  from  the  base  of  the  mountains,  sheltered  on  the  west  bv  the  ranofe, 
on  the  east  by  bluffs,  on  the  north  by  a  spur  from  the  mountains  called 
the  Divide,  and  on  the  south-west  by  Chiann  JNlountain.  The  town  is 
spread  out  over  an  area  of  four  square  miles,  so  that  there  is  plenty  of 
ground  round  most  of  the  dwelling-houses.  The  streets  are  wide,  and 
lined  with  shade-trees.  The  plateau  on  which  the  town  is  built  has  two 
water  -  courses,  dividing  on  the  north  and  joining  on  the  south.  The 
ground  has  a  gentle  slope  from  north  to  south,  l)ut  is  otherwise  almost 
flat.  There  is  a  top  soil  of  about  two  feet,  beneath  which  are  sand  and 
gravel  to  a  depth  of  about  seventy  feet,  when  clay  is  reached  Avhicli  has  a 
good  slope  to  the  south — the  direction  of  the  water-shed.  The  gravel  is 
extremely  porous,  so  there  is  perfect  natural  drainage.  There  are  no 
springs  in  the  soil,  and  no  water  could  l)e  obtained  in  wells  until  it  was 
brouglit  on  to  the  plateau  througli  irrigating  ditches.  Before  the  town 
was  laid  out  noticing  but  Ijuft'alo  grass  grew  on  the  site,  but  now  a  variety 
of  trees,  lawns,  and  gardens  flourish.  Besides  the  water  conveyed  in 
ditches  for  irrigating,  pure  water  is  brouglit  in  iron  pipes  from  Iluxton's 
Creek,  six  miles  away  on  the  mountain  side,  wliere  it  is  free  from  all  con- 
tamination ;  the  supply  is  practically  unlimited,  and  the  pressure  is  m\Ai 
that  fire  can  be  extinguished  witliout  engines.  There  is  at  ])rcsent  no 
regular  system  of  drainage,  and  thus  far  none  has  been  needed.  As  no 
water  is  taken  from  the  soil,  the  system  of  earth  closets  mainly  pivvails. 
They  are  cleaned  out  l)y  the  town  scavengers  with  fair  regulai-ity.  'i'lie 
death-rate,  exclusive  of  deaths  from  consumption,  is  veiT  Inw,  ln'ing  dnly 
5.6  per  100  ;  from  zymotic  diseases.  1.0  per  1<)0. 


196  NEW  COLORADO  AND  THE  SANTA  FE  TRAIL. 

There  are  several  hotels  (but  none  lirst  class)  and  many  pleasant  board- 
ing-houses ;  and  comfortable  villas  can  be  rented.  The  food  is  good  (the 
farm  produce  especially),  and  moderate  in  price,  but  luxuries  are  dear. 
There  are  good  liveries,  and  the  rides  and  drives  are  numerous  and  inter- 
esting. Society  is  pleasant ;  entertainments  are  frequent ;  and  the  schools 
and  churches  are  excellent. 

Manitou  lies  five  miles  to  the  west  among  the  foot-hills,  close  under 
Pike's  Peak.  It  is  a  village  of  five  hundred  j)eople  ;  it  contains  four  first- 
class  hotels  and  several  fair  boarding-houses ;  and  a  few  cottages  are  to  be 
had.  The  horses  are  excellent.  The  village  is  thronged  with  visitors 
through  the  summer  months ;  it  is  somewhat  cooler  and  less  dry  than 
Colorado  Springs  in  the  summer,  and  warmer  in  the  winter ;  though,  ow- 
ing to  the  shadow  of  the  hills,  the  hours  of  sunshine  are  shorter.  It 
stands  about  two  hundred -feet  higher.  The  springs  from  which  Colorado 
Springs  derives  its  name  are  really  here.  They  all  contain  more  or  less 
soda  and  some  iron.  They  are  peculiarly  adapted  for  the  dyspepsia  of 
the  consumptive,  and  the  Iron  Ute  S23ring  is  specially  remarkable  for  its 
blood-making  properties. 

Pueblo  is  hotter,  dustier,  and  more  windy,  but  drier  than  the  Springs. 
It  has  very  few  attractions,  but  the  warmer  winter  weather  suits  some 
invalids. 

Canon  City  stands  about  fifteen  hundred  feet  lower,  and  is  warmer 
and  more  sheltered  than  the  Springs,  but  there  is  much  clay  in  the  soil, 
and  when  snow  falls  it  is  not  so  healthy.  It  is  well  suited  in  some  cases 
for  winter  residence,  but  an  uninteresting  place.  Here  also  are  springs 
resembling  those  of  Manitou.  They  are  not  efiicient  for  drinking,  but 
there  is  an  excellent  thermal  soda  spring  for  bathing. 

During  the  summer  there  are  many  places  in  the  mountains  open  to 
invalids,  such  as  Idaho  Springs,  and  Estes  and  Manitou  Parks,  where  good 
hotels  are  to  be  found ;  and  there  are  numerous  good  boarding-houses 
scattered  through  the  mountains.  A  change  to  these  elevations  is  gen- 
erally attended  with  benefit  in  the  summer ;  but  it  is  seldom  wise  for  an 
invalid  to  go  higher  than  the  foot-hills  till  he  is  thoroughly  acclimatized. 

The  general  bearings  of  this  subject  have  alone  been  treated,  and  for 
the  sake  of  brevity  and  jioint  this  treatment  has  been  somewhat  dogmatic, 
and  references  have  been  avoided ;  but  those  who  wisli  to  go  farther  into 
the  subject  will  find  much  information  in  the  following  books :  "  Rocky 
Mountain  Health  Resorts,"  by  Dr.  Charles  Denison ;  the  various  "•  Transac- 
tions of  the  State  Medical  Society ;"  "  The  Influence  of  the  Climate  upon 
the  K"ervous  System,"  by  Dr.  S.  E.  Solly  ;  and  "  Manitou :  Its  Mineral 
"Waters  and  Climate,"  by  the  same  author. 


ITINERARY,  AND   SUGGESTIONS  FOR  THE  TRAVELLER.  197 


CHAPTER  XV. 

ITINERARY,  AND   SUGGESTIONS  FOR   TUE   TRAVELLER. 

COLORADO  can  be  visited  at  almost  any  time  of  tlie  year ;  but  al- 
tliougli  miicli  has  been  said  of  the  deliglits  of  a  winter  sojonrn  in  the 
State,  the  majority  of  tourists  will  probably  continue  to  go  thither  in  sum- 
mer. Such  persons,  for  example,  as  will  remain  in  the  beautiful  region  of 
the  Hudson  Highlands  during  the  heat  of  July  and  August,  and  leave  it 
just  as  the  leaves  are  turning,  and  the  crisp  autumn  air  invites  them  to 
healthful  exercise,  will  hardly  listen  to  a  laudation  of  the  charms  of  Mani- 
tou,  and  the  gorgeous  aspect  of  the  mountains  in.  winter.  Even  they,  how- 
ever, should  be  persuaded  to  postpone  their  travel  in  New  Mexico  until 
autumn. 

Tourists  of  both  sexes  would  do  w^ell  to  wear  travelling  suits  of  gray 
color,  which  will  not  show  dust.  Overcoats,  wraps,  and  rugs  are  necessary, 
and  the  very  light  water-proof  overcoat  now  so  much  in  vogue  will  l)e 
found  very  useful.  Goggles,  or  glasses  of  neutral  tint,  often  relieve  the 
eyes  in  crossing  the  plains ;  and  ladies  must  have  plenty  of  veils.  In  the 
alkali  regions,  glycerine,  or  what  is  called  "  camphor  ice,"  should  be  used 
on  face  and  hands.  A  good  map  should  be  always  at  hand,  and  a  compass 
and  field-glass  are  not  amiss.  The  sportsman  will  of  course  take  his  fa- 
vorite gun  and  fishing-tackle,  and  perhaps  his  dog ;  but  those  who  insist 
on  carrying  revolvers  should  on  no  account  regard  them  as  otherwise  tlian 
conventional  and  ornamental  appendages.  Not  only  do  the  "•  hotel""  and 
"  dining "  cars,  and  the  gi-eatly  im])rovcd  railway  eating-houses  do  away 
with  the  need  of  lunch-baskets  on  the  journey  from  or  to  one's  home,  but 
there  is  a  certain  moral  obligation  to  contribute  to  the  support  and  encour- 
airement  of  those  who  have  done  so  much  for  the  comfort  of  tlie  traveller. 
In  local  trips  in  the  mountain  region  tlie  lunch-basket  is,  on  the  otlicr  liand. 
very  requisite.  Excellent  horses,  for  l)()th  riding  and  driving,  and  v^tv 
good  veliicles,  can  generally  be  had.  No  large  sums  of  money  need  1k' 
carried  on  the  person,  as  banks  and  bankers  abound.  ''Camping  outfits"" 
and  the  best  of  guides  can  be  had  at  short  notice. 


108  ITINERARY,  AND   SUGGESTIONS   FOR   THE   TRAVELLER. 

The  sportsman  can  obtain  full  information  on  the  spot  regarding  game 
and  fish.  Along  the  line  of  the  Atchison,  Topeka,  and  Sante  Fe  Railroad, 
both  in  Kansas  and  New  Mexico,  accounts  speak  of  rare  sport,  regarding 
which  it  would  be  well  to  apply  to  the  officials  of  that  road.  Fishing  can 
be  had  near  Denver,  and  some  shooting ;  but  those  who  go  to  this  region 
with  sport  as  a  main  object  should  make  up  parties  and  go  into  the  Parks, 
provided  that  the  Utes  have  not  been  goaded,  by  renewed  and  protracted 
ill-treatment,  into  fresh  hostilities.  A  friend  of  the  author  joined  such  a 
party,  and  found  the  trip  healthy,  enjoyable,  and  not  costly.  A  man  fur- 
nished team,  riding-horses,  and  such  food  as  was  not  sujjplied  by  the  guns, 
also  all  cooking,  etc.,  and  charged  the  participants  $2  00  per  diem  apiece. 
To  men  willing  to  "rough  it,"  such  an  arrangement  may  be  highly  com- 
mended. 

The  traveller  to  whom  time  is  an  object  can  save  twelve  hours  between 
New  York  and  Denver  by  taking  a  particular  train  on  the  Pennsylvania 
Pailroad,  which  leaves  the  station  every  morning  at  nine  o'clock.  He  sees 
the  beautiful  Juniata  Yalley  in  the  afternoon,  and,  in  summer,  the  "Horse- 
shoe Curve  "  in  the  Alleghanies  before  retiring,  Columbus  is  reached  on 
the  second  morning,  Indianapolis  about  noon,  St.  Louis  at  nine  p.m.,  and 
Kansas  City  next  morning.  He  is  due  at  Denver  by  the  Kansas  Pacific 
Railroad  at  half -past  three  o'clock,  and  by  the  Atchison,  To2:)eka.and  Santa 
Fe  Railroad,  vid  Pueblo,  Colorado  Springs,  and  Pike's  Peak,  at  eight 
o'clock  P.M.,  on  the  fourth  day.  The  journey  between  the  Atlantic  and 
the  Missouri  may,  of  course,  be  varied  in  many  ways,  and  the  following 
itinerary,  while  combining  much  of  curious  interest,  need  not  be  regarded 
as  the  best : 

N'ew  York  to  Chicago^  36  hours.  («)  New  York  by  Hudson  River  Rail- 
road, at  8.30  P.M.  (Boston  at  6  p.m.,  by  Boston  and  Albany,  or  Hoosac 
Tunnel  route,  connecting  at  Albany  and  Troy) ;  Albany  and  Troy  to  Chi- 
cago ; — by  Buffalo  and  Cleveland  (Lake  Shore  Railroad) ;  by  Buffalo,  Liter- 
national  Bridge,  and  Detroit  (Canada  Southern  and  Michigan  Central  Rail- 
road); and  by  Suspension  Bridge  (in  full  sight  of  the  Falls)  and  Detroit 
(Great  Western  of  Canada  and  Michigan  Central  Railroads),  (i)  New 
York  by  Pennsylvania,  and  Pittsburgh,  Fort  Wayne,  and  Chicago  Rail- 
roads, at  8.30  P.M.  (c)  New  York  by  New  York,  Lake  Erie,  and  Western, 
and  connecting  railroads,  at  T  p  m. 

Chicago  to  Omaha^  24  hours  (one  may,  of  course,  go  to  Kansas  City  in- 
stead). Chicago  at  10.30  a.m.,  by  Chicago  and  North-western  Railroad, 
via  Fulton  and  Clinton  ;  by  Chicago,  Burlington,  and  Quincy  Railroad,  via 
Burlington ;  or  by  Chicago,  Rock  Island,  and  Pacific  Railroad,  via  Rock 


NEW  COLOKAUO  AND  THE  SANTA  FE  TRAIL.  199 

Island  and  Davenport.  The  celebrated  Missouri  Bridge  is  seen  between 
Council  Bluffs  and  Omaha. 

Omaha  to  Cheyenne^  25  hours.  Omaha  at  12.15  p.m.,  by  Union  Paciiie 
Eailroad,  giving  500  miles  of  the  transcontinental  route. 

Cheijenne  to  Denmi\  6^  hours.  Chej-enne,  2.50  p.m.,  by  Colorado  Cen- 
tral Eailroad,  via  Longmont,  Boulder,  and  Golden.  The  trip  to  Estes 
Park  is  made,  easily  and  pleasantly,  by  stage  from  Longmont  in  about 
6  hours. 

Denver  to  Central  C'lty^  4  hours.  Denver,  7.30  a.m.,  by  Colorado  Cen- 
tral Eailroad  through  the  Clear  Creek  Cailon,  and  over  the  "  Switch-back." 

Central  City  to  Idaho  Springs^  by  private  conveyance,  over  Bcllevue 
Mountain  and  down  Virginia  Caiion,  taking  several  hours  to  view  the 
scenery. 

Idaho  Sjyrings  to  Georgetown^  \\  hours.  Idaho  Springs,  10.55  a.m.,  by 
Colorado  Central  Eailroad.  Eeturn  to  Denver  by  same  (5J  hours),  start- 
ing at  3.25  p.m.  ;  or  go  to  Leadville  by  stage,  65  miles  in  14  hours,  starting 
at  5  A.M.,  and  seeing  the  Mountain  of  the  Holy  Cross  {vide  caution  on 
page  127).  Make  excursion  from  Denver  to  Bear  Creek  (fishing,  etc.),  and 
other  points.  Go  to  Leadville,  if  not  from  Georgetown,  by  Denver  and 
South  Park  Eailroad, -y?'^  the  Platte  Canon,  and  perhaps  over  the  Mosquito 
Pass.     Going  to  Leadville  by  Georgetown,  return  this  way. 

The  larger  parks  can  be  visited  by  those  wdio  are  accustomed  to  rough- 
ing it.  The  trip  should  be  arranged  in  Denver,  but  it  is  not  recom- 
mended to  parties  containing  ladies,  or,  indeed,  to  any  but  sjjortsmen. 
Many  minor  excui-sions  and  detours  can  be  made  from  the  different  points 
named. 

Denver  to  Colorado  Springs^  4  hours.  Denver,  7.50  A.^r.,  by  Denver 
and  Eio  Grande  Eailroad.  Go  to  Manitou  (5  miles)  by  stage,  also  up 
Pike's  Peak,  and  to  the  Ute  Pass,  Manitou  Park,  Cheyenne  Canon,  etc. 

Colorado  Springs  to  Canon  City^  5^  hours.  Colorado  Springs,  1L4(I 
A.M.,  by  Denver  and  Eio  Grande  Eailroad.  Go  through  Grand  Canon, 
and  as  far  toward  Leadville  by  rail  as  may  be  practicable  or  desirable. 
Eeturn  to  Pueblo. 

Puehlo  to  Alamosa,  8  hours.  Puel)lo,  1.45  p.m.,  by  Denver  and  Rio 
Grande  Eailroad  over  Veta  Pass.  Go  as  far  as  desired  into  the  San  -luan 
country,  and,  if  not  willing  to  visit  New  Mexico,  return  to  Pueblo,  and  go 
home  by  Atchison,  Topeka,  and  Santa  Fe  Eaih'oad.  Otherwise,  stoj)  <iii 
return  trip  to  Pueblo,  at  Cucharas,  take  train  to  Kl  INforo,  and  drive  to 
Trinidad.  Go  from  Trinidad  to  Santa  Fe,  oi"  as  lai-  as  may  lie  <lc>in'il 
down  the  Eio  Grande  \'allcy,  by  Atchison,  Topeka.  and  Santa  l'\'  Kailroad. 


200  NEW  COLORADO  AND  THE  SANTA  FE  TRAIL. 

Return  by  same  railroad  to  La  Junta,  and  take  train  on  main  line  to 
Kansas  City. 

From  Kansas  City  go  to  St.  Louis  by  one  of  three  ways,  and  choose 
one  of  many  itineraries  thence  to  Xew  York.  A  tour  could  be  pleasanth^ 
rounded  off  by  taking  Cincinnati,  Washington,  Baltimore,  and  PJiiladelphia 
en  route. 


/ 

/ 


THE    END. 


/ 

1700 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  AT  LOG  ANG^^LES 

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