"I am at length in the land of the Mormons in the city of the Saints by the dead sea of America. I have been well received, and am pleased beyond measure with what I have seen and heard.
"It is a wonderful West. Our country as a whole surpasses the inexperienced conception of Europeans, and places their cramped-up districts, and tiny, although beautiful nations, in the position of play-things when compared with the vastness of America—rustic, rough, and rude as even its oldest places appear. Then what shall we say of the wide West—until recently an unknown region—with its variety of natural wonders, its wild mountains, appalling peaks and lonely valleys, industries, mines of wealth, gorges, streams, plains! It is grand, notwithstanding its development is yet in its infancy. Its possibilities for future greatness are inconceivable even to the hardy pioneer.
"We came over the Chicago Rock Island and Pacific Railway from Kansas City, via Denver. The State of Kansas, with its beautiful eastern cities, and its wonderful plains and new and thriving settlements in the western part, was presented to our view from the comfortable palace coaches of this well-equipped road.
"From Denver, where one sees the Rocky Mountains, cloven with fantastic ravines, and horrible chasms, dressed with rough and shaggy woods, and capped with everlasting ice and snow, we proceeded to Pueblo, and thence over the Denver & Rio Grande Railway, to Grand Junction, Colorado. It is no exaggeration to say that the mountain scenery along this route is the most magnificent in the world; while the mid-continent region, which this road traverses, is doubtless the most picturesque portion of our country. Very appropriately, this road, with its western connection—the Rio Grande Western—has been named, 'The Scenic Line.'
"Having passed Grand Junction, we soon enter Utah, and find ourselves in a country of bluffs, cliffs, wonderful formations, and deserts, which become wearisome in spite of the novelty of the scene. Nothing, however, could be more romantic than the worn battlements and rocky tablets, between which, for miles and miles, the road winds its way. Nearing Castle Valley, we attained a higher level, where the cliffs came nearer and were more precipitous, with the spaces between more green.
"We are climbing towards the heights of the Wasatch—the western bulwark of the Rockies just passed. Ahead is the Castle Gate, 'the most inspiring as a single object, of all the marvelous scenes between the plains and the Salt Sea.' We soon entered fairly into the Spanish Fork Canyon, the sides of which are neither rough nor cliff-bound, but, rather, are steep and rounded, covered with soft walls of greenery, and groves of aspen and oak. Nearing the valley, we beheld Mt. Nebo, over-topping other pyramids of the Wasatch range. Westward lies the volcanic mountain ranges and the arid deserts of Utah and Nevada; but at our feet, stretches forth a lovely valley, with the fresh, clear waters of the Utah Lake in the center.
"We passed on through miles of fertile farmland, and between us and the pretty lake were fine meadows, upon which sleek herds were grazing. A semi-circle of Mormon settlements lie at the feet of the encompassing hills, except upon the western side, where no water is found. Provo is the largest of the cities in this valley. A short ride, and we crossed the summit of a low mountain range, separating the valley, we had just passed over, from the the Great Basin. The train followed along the Jordan river which empties the waters of the Utah Lake into the Great Salt Lake. Salt Lake Valley lies before us, with the city of the Saints, and the wonderful saline sea to the north, the peaks of the Wasatch, to the north and the east; and about us, on every side, the marks of industry, thrift and prosperity, set in a framework of surprisingly beautiful scenery.
"The valley is extremely pretty when seen at the best season of the year. In autumn, when Nature, by the early frosts, has delicately tinted the leaves with brilliant hues, the mountains and the hillsides are very attractive; the contrast between the vegetation of the hills and the colors of the valley, is an interesting feature in the panorama spread before the delighted observer.
"Utah contains a population of about 200,000; it has an area of 85,000 square miles, much of which is mountains. The Great Salt Lake is about forty by ninety miles in size, and contains several islands. Fish abound in the numberless small streams that flow from and through the picturesque canyons of the Wasatch.
"The sterility of the country was removed by a system of irrigation from the mountain streams which fertilized the earth, causing it to yield in abundance, and to 'blossom as the rose.'