The Western Echo / A Description of the Western State and Territories of the United States. As Gathered in a Tour by Wagon

by George W. Romspert

We had better success in our fishing after this lesson; but we also learned that it took ingenuity and lots of experience to catch speckled trout. Finding the grasshoppers few, and the best jumpers we ever saw, we concluded that the fish we could catch would not satisfy the hunger engendered in capturing the baits; so we gave up the sport to look at the mountain curiosities.

The walls upon either side of the gulch tower several hundred feet high, and in some places are almost perpendicular. The gulch is very narrow here and there, and the stream takes up nearly the whole pass. In these places the way has been worked and walls of stone have been built. We thought the people of Denver had done this through necessity, and never even dreamed of a toll-gate. But in the morning, as we came near the mouth of the gulch, we found a fair tree suspended in the way; and were asked one dollar, or ten cents per mile, for the privilege of passing under. Well, there was but one thing to do, for even the best-trained burro could not climb round the gate, and the man who stood in the door of his little cabin with his belt of six-shooters on, looked as though he meant to collect his toll, so we paid the bill and drove out from the mighty walls upon the pretty level prairie.

It was Sabbath morning, and the sun shone brightly. The tolling of the church-bells could be distinctly heard, while the spires rose high and glittered in the sunlight. It was a delightful morning, and we passed merrily along, anxious to stand in the beautiful streets of the western Jerusalem. We soon met the folks from the city riding out in their fine carriages, enjoying the soft, pure, morning air, and we thought of home. We had a white cover upon our wagon, and as the little ones passed by they would excitedly call out to pa and ma to look at the gypsies. When near the city we met two young men on horseback who were disagreeing as to the distance of the mountains that hung upon the edge of the prairie in the direction from whence we came. One was acquainted with the country and knew the distance; but his comrade was insisting that it was but three miles at most. So, standing as he was between the great confidence he had in his friend, and his own judgment, based upon real observation, he came to us acknowledging his fresh arrival from the East and inexperience in the country, and asked for the truth. We had been in his fix at Pike’s Peak, and though realizing his position, we told him it was full fifteen miles, and drove on.

We at length came to the city and camped in a pretty grove upon the banks of the South Platte that rolls along the edge of the corporation. It was a cool, delightful spot, and there was a wagon beneath almost every tree, while great numbers of children were playing in the cool shade. Some had come here to spend the summer and had large tents up, and cooking-stoves, and other household furniture. They live comfortably in the pure, soft, open air. We went into the city, and were greatly pleased with its fine, large buildings, and pretty, dry streets. The principal hotels are the American, Interocean, and Grand Central. These are very fine houses, and are usually crowded to their utmost during the summer by persons who come here to spend their vacations for their health. There are persons in Denver who say they came here hopeless invalids, and to-day they are stout and hearty. The population is said to be forty thousand; but from the fact that there are so many transient persons, it is hard to estimate. The post-office is large, and has three general deliveries, each taking charge of the mail under certain letters of the alphabet. These deliveries are opened for a short time whenever a mail arrives; and persons looking for mail have to be on time. There are so many persons here from the East, and who have no boxes, that to avoid rushing and confusion they are made to form rows and march up in regular order—the little one standing an equal show. These rows sometimes reach clear out of the house and far down the sidewalk, and persons often stand at the delivery fifteen minutes before it opens so as to be first; for sometimes the window is closed before all are served. The city is very thrifty; and at the time we were there fifteen hundred houses were said to be in process of erection. All kinds of business is flourishing, and workmen appear to be encouraged. Law is excepted, for there are more lawyers here than would be necessary to do three times Denver’s legal business. Just south of the city is located the largest gold and silver smelter (it is said) in the world. By miners, farmers, stock-raisers, and tourists the city is supported. North and east of the city there are several hundred acres of good farming-land; and the very best crops of wheat, potatoes, oats, etc., and some splendid fruit also, are raised. Of course it is all done by irrigation; but the mountain-streams are near, and the broad, level fields are easily flooded.

Our next place was Cheyenne, Wyoming, which lay about one hundred and ten miles to the north; so taking a last look we left the beautiful city behind and journeyed up the Kansas Pacific Railway. There was a well-broken road all the way, and we glided smoothly along, crossing over the Little Thompson Creek, and near by Fort Collins, and soon entered the city. It is situated upon the north bank of a branch of the South Platte, called Crow Creek, and is surrounded by barren hills. The great Union Pacific Railroad runs through the place, and the Colorado Central and Kansas Pacific roads terminate here. There is a great deal of mining-machinery manufactured here, and this, with the railroad shops, stock-raising, and the government fort near by, is what supports the town. The town is somewhat scattered, and the buildings are mostly old and very common. There are many saloons and gambling-houses; and though there are undoubtedly some good citizens here, the people generally are pretty rough characters—the female portion not excepted. However, the place is not nearly so notorious as years ago, when it is said they used to have a man every morning for breakfast. We paid here four cents per pound for potatoes, three cents for corn, five cents for flour, and for other things in proportion.

Our young friend William Gray here concluded that things were not like they were in old native Nebraska,—to which he was fervently attached; and not wishing to experience any more changes, see any more Indians, or get any farther from home, he concluded to go back where father’s chimney helped make the morning fog. So, mounting his pony, he bid us good-by, and loped out of sight down the railroad with a light heart, and the determination to live and die and be buried in blessed old Nebraska.

Will had hardly gone when two young men named June and Hugh Goodrich came to our camp; and finding that we were on our way to California, and that we wanted company, they made application, and we concluded to go together. They were brothers, and were then on their way from Missouri to Oregon. We were in camp together but a few days until we found that though they were inexperienced, they were nevertheless good, honest boys; and we were proud of our new companions.

We now started for the notorious Black Hills that lay along both sides of the line between Wyoming and Dakota, and one hundred miles to the north. There was a wagon-road leading from Cheyenne directly to the hills, and taking this we crossed over the Platte River. In a few days we were in sight of the hills. They are high, rugged, and perfectly barren, and the surface is so dark as to have the appearance of burnt prairie. Hence, the name Black Hills. We pushed on up to Camp Bradley, and then visited some of the mines. The miners say that this is undoubtedly the richest mining-district in the West; but for mining there is much water needed, and this they lack. The artesian experiment is being tried, but thus far with poor success. But should this eventually succeed, mining-stock in the Black Hills will be at a premium. Work is going on, however, but the pannings are light.

The Indians have been a reigning terror to the miners here, and whole outfits have been murdered on the way, while men were every day shot down with picks in their hands by the hidden foe. The little camps that stick here and there among the hills are made up of men who care not for man or devil; and a rougher set I never saw. They beat cow-boys badly. There is a saloon and gambling-house in every camp; and could the hills but speak, they would tell of crimes as black as the sands upon their slopes. The hills can be seen from one or two points on the Union Pacific Railroad. There is a branch railroad being now built from the Union Pacific a little west of Cheyenne to the hills.

We now came down the north fork of the Cheyenne, then over on the Powder, and then down the Platte to the Union Pacific Railroad again, and started west. We soon came to Rawlings, a place spoken of in connection with the White River agency massacre as where the troops left the railroad to go to the scene. We now opened into a dry, sandy desert, and were compelled to make forty and fifty mile drives, with the wheels rolling deep in the soft surface, to reach water.