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[Illustration: GARFIELD PEAK.]
THE CREST OF THE CONTINENT:
A Record of a Summer's Ramble in the Rocky Mountains and Beyond.
by
ERNEST INGERSOLL.
"We climbed the rock-built breasts of earth!
We saw the snowy mountains rolled
Like mighty billows; saw the birth
Of sudden dawn; beheld the gold
Of awful sunsets; saw the face
Of God, and named it boundless space."
Twenty Ninth Edition.
Chicago:
R. R. Donnelley & Sons, Publishers.
1887.
Copyright,
By S. K. Hooper,
1885.
R. R. Donnelley & Sons, The Lakeside Press, Chicago.
TO
THE PEOPLE OF COLORADO,
SAGACIOUS IN PERCEIVING, DILIGENT IN DEVELOPING,
AND WISE IN ENJOYING
THE
RESOURCES AND ATTRACTIONS OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS,
THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED
WITH
THE HOMAGE OF
THE AUTHOR.
PREFACE.
Probably nothing in this artificial world is more deceptive than
absolute candor. Hence, though the ensuing text may lack nothing in
straightforwardness of assertion, and seem impossible to misunderstand,
it may be worth while to say distinctly, here at the start, that it is
all true. We actually _did_ make such an excursion, in such cars, and
with such equipments, as I have described; and we would like to do it
again.
It was wild and rough in many respects. Re-arranging the trip, luxuries
might be added, and certain inconveniences avoided; but I doubt whether,
in so doing, we should greatly increase the pleasure or the profit.
"No man should desire a soft life," wrote King Ælfred the Great.
Roughing it, within reasonable grounds, is the marrow of this sort of
recreation. What a pungent and wholesome savor to the healthy taste
there is in the very phrase! The zest with which one goes about an
expedition of any kind in the Rocky Mountains is phenomenal in itself; I
despair of making it credited or comprehended by inexperienced
lowlanders. We are told that the joys of Paradise will not only actually
be greater than earthly pleasures, but that they will be further
magnified by our increased spiritual sensitiveness to the "good times"
of heaven. Well, in the same way, the senses are so quickened by the
clear, vivifying climate of the western uplands in summer, that an
experience is tenfold more pleasurable there than it could become in the
Mississippi valley. I elsewhere have had something to say about this
exhilaration of body and soul in the high Rockies, which you will
perhaps pardon me for repeating briefly, for it was written honestly,
long ago, and outside of the present connection.
"At sunrise breakfast is over, the mules and everybody else have been
good-natured and you feel the glory of mere existence as you vault into
the saddle and break into a gallop. Not that this or that particular day
is so different from other pleasant mornings, but all that we call _the
weather_ is constituted in the most perfect proportions. The air is
'nimble and sweet,' and you ride gayly across meadows, through sunny
woods of pine and aspen, and between granite knolls that are piled up in
the most noble and romantic proportions....
"Sometimes it seems, when camp is reached, that one hardly has strength
to make another move; but after dinner one finds himself able and
willing to do a great deal....
"One's sleep in the crisp air, after the fatigues of the day, is sound
and serene.... You awake at daylight a little chilly, re-adjust your
blankets, and want again to sleep. The sun may pour forth from the
'golden window of the east' and flood the world with limpid light; the
stars may pale and the jet of the midnight sky be diluted to that pale
and perfect morning-blue into which you gaze to unmeasured depths; the
air may become a pervading Champagne, dry and delicate, every draught of
which tingles the lungs and spurs the blood along the veins with joyous
speed; the landscape may woo the eyes with airy undulations of prairie
or snow-pointed pinnacles lifted sharply against the azure--yet sleep
chains you. That very quality of the atmosphere which contributes to all
this beauty and makes it so delicious to be awake, makes it equally
blessed to slumber. Lying there in the open air, breathing the pure
elixir of the untainted mountains, you come to think even the
confinement of a flapping tent oppressive, and the ventilation of a
sheltering spruce-bough bad."
That was written out of a sincere enthusiasm, which made as naught a
whole season's hardship and work, before there was hardly a wagon-road,
much less a railway, beyond the front range.
This exordium, my friendly reader, is all to show to you: That we went
to the Rockies and beyond them, as we say we did; that we knew what we
were after, and found the apples of these Hesperides not dust and ashes
but veritable golden fruit; and, finally, that you may be persuaded to
test for yourself this natural and lasting enjoyment.
The grand and alluring mountains are still there,--everlasting hills,
unchangeable refuges from weariness, anxiety and strife! The railway
grows wider and permits a longer and even more varied journey than was
ours. Cars can be fitted up as we fitted ours or in a way as much better
as you like. Year by year the facilities for wayside comforts and short
branch-excursions are multiplied, with the increase of population and
culture.
If you are unable, or do not choose, to undertake all this preparation,
I still urge upon you the pleasure and utility of going to the Rocky
Mountains, travelling into their mighty heart in comfortable and
luxurious public conveyances. Nowhere will a holiday count for more in
rest, and in food for subsequent thought and recollection.
CONTENTS.
I--AT THE BASE OF THE ROCKIES.
First Impressions of the Mountains. A Problem, and its Solution.
Denver--Descriptive and Historical. The Resources which Assure
its Future. Some General Information concerning the Mining, Stock
Raising and Agricultural Interests of Colorado. 13
II--ALONG THE FOOTHILLS.
The Expedition Moves. Its Personnel. The Romantic Attractions of the
Divide. Light on Monument Park. Colorado Springs, a City of
Homes, of Morality and Culture. Its Pleasant Environs: Glen
Eyrie, Blair Athol, Austin's Glen, the Cheyenne Cañons 26
III--A MOUNTAIN SPA.
Manitou, and the Mineral Springs. The Ascent of Pike's Peak;
bronchos and blue noses. Ute Pass, and Rainbow Falls. The Garden
of the Gods. Manitou Park. Williams' Cañon, and the Cave of the
Winds. An Indian Legend. 36
IV--PUEBLO AND ITS FURNACES.
The Largest Smelter in the World. The Colorado Coal and Iron Company.
Pueblo's Claims as a Trade Center, and its Tributary Railway
System. A Chapter of Facts and Figures in support of the New
Pittsburgh. 51
V--OVER THE SANGRE DE CRISTO.
Up and down Veta Mountain, with some Extracts from a letter. Veta
Pass, and the Muleshoe Curve. Spanish Peaks. Beautiful Scenery,
and Famous Railroading. A general outline of the Rocky Mountain
Ranges. 60
VI--SAN LUIS PARK.
A Fertile and Well-watered Valley. The Method of Irrigation. Sierra
Blanca. A Digression to describe the Home on Wheels. Alamosa,
Antonito and Conejos. Cattle, Sheep and Agriculture in the largest
Mountain Park. 71
VII--THE INVASION OF NEW MEXICO.
Barranca, among the Sunflowers. An Excursion to Ojo Caliente, and
Description of the Hot Springs. Pre-historic Relics--a Rich Field
for the Archæologist. Señor _vs._ Burro. An Ancient Church, with
its Sacred Images. 81
VIII--EL MEXICANO Y PUEBLOANO.
Comanche Cañon and Embudo. The Penitentes. The Rio Grande Valley;
Alcalde, Chamita and Espanola. New Mexican Life, Homes and
Industries. The Indian Pueblos, and their Strange History.
Architecture, Pottery, and Threshing. 92
IX--SANTA FE AND THE SACRED VALLEY.
Santa Fe, the Oldest City in the United States. Fact and Tradition.
San Fernandez de Taos--the Home of Kit Carson. Pueblo de Taos
Birthplace of Montezuma, and Typical and Well-Preserved. The
Festival of St. Geronimo. Exit Amos. 106
X--TOLTEC GORGE.
Heading for the San Juan Country. From Mesa to Mountain Top. The
Curl of the Whiplash. Above the silvery Los Pinos. Phantom
Curve. A Startling Peep from Toltec Tunnel. Eva Cliff. "In
Memoriam." 115
XI--ALONG THE SOUTHERN BORDER.
The Piños-Chama Summit. Trout and Game. The Groves of Chama.
Mexican Rural Life at Tierra Amarilla. The Iron Trail. Rio San
Juan and its Tributaries. Pagosa Springs. Apache Visitors. The
Southern Utes. Durango. 120
XII--THE QUEEN OF THE CAÑONS.
Geology of the Sierra San Juan. The Attractions of Trimble Springs.
Beauty and Fertility of the Animas Valley. The Cañon of the
River of Lost Souls. Engineering under difficulties. The Needles,
and Garfield Peak. 129
XIII--SILVER SAN JUAN.
Geological Resume. Scraps of History. Snow-shoes and Avalanches.
The Mining Camps of Animas Forks, Mineral Point, Eureka and
Howardville. Early Days in Baker's Park. Poughkeepsie, Picayune
and Cunningham Gulches. The Hanging. 136
XIV--BEYOND THE RANGES.
Ophir, Rico, and the La Plata Mountains. Everything triangular.
Mixed Mineralogy, Real bits of Beauty. "When I sell my Mine."
An Unbiased Opinion. Placer _vs._ Fissure Vein Mining. 149
XV--THE ANTIQUITIES OF THE RIO SAN JUAN.
Rugged Trails. Searching for Antiquities. The Discovery.
Habitations of a Lost Race. Prehistoric Architecture, "Temple
or Refrigerator." "Ruins, Ancient beyond all Knowing." Guesses
and Traditions. Some Appropriate Verses. 156
XVI--ON THE UPPER RIO GRANDE.
Good-bye and Welcome. Del Norte and the Gold Summit. Among the
River Ranches. Wagon Wheel Springs. Healing Power of the
Waters. The Gap and its History. A Day's Trout Fishing. 166
XVII--EL MORO AND CAÑON CITY.
A Great Natural Fortress. Down in a Coal Mine. The Coke Ovens.
Huerfano Park and its Coal. Cañon City Historically. Coal
Measures. Resources of the Foothills. 177
XVIII--IN THE WET MOUNTAIN VALLEY.
Grape Creek Cañon. The Dome of the Temple. Wet Mountain Valley.
The Legend of Rosita. Hardscrabble District. Silver Cliff and
its Strange Mine. The Foothills of the Sierra Mojada.
Geological Theories. 185
XIX--THE ROYAL GORGE.
The Grand Cañon of the Arkansas. Its Culminating Chasm the Royal
Gorge. Beetling Cliffs and Narrow Waters. Running the Gauntlet.
Wonders of Plutonic Force. A Story of the Cañon. 193
XX--THE ARKANSAS VALLEY.
Entering Brown's Cañon. The Iron Mines of Calumet. Salida.
Farming on the Arkansas. Buena Vista. Granate and its Gold
Placers,--Twin Lakes. Malta and its Charcoal Burners. A
Burned-out Gulch. 201
XXI--CAMP OF THE CARBONATES.
California Gulch. How Boughtown was Built. Some Lively Scenes.
Discovery of Carbonates. The Rush of 1878. The Founding of
Leadville. A Happy Grave Digger. Practice and Theory of Mining.
Reducing the Ores. 209
XXII--ACROSS THE TENNESSEE AND FREMONT'S PASS.
Hay Meadows on the Upper Arkansas. Climbing Tennessee Pass. Mount
of the Holy Cross. Red Cliff. Ore in Battle Mountain. Through
Eagle River Cañon. The Artist's Elysium. Two Miles in the Air.
On the Blue. 222
XXIII--FROM PONCHO SPRINGS TO VILLA GROVE.
In Hot Water. A Pretty Village and Fine Outlook. Pluto's
Reservoirs. The Madame's Letter. Poncho Pass. The Sangre de
Cristo Again. Villa Grove. Silver and Iron. 225
XXIV--THROUGH MARSHALL PASS.
The Unknown Gunnison. A Wonder of Progress. Climbing the Mountains
in a Parlor Car. Four Hours of Scenic Delight. Culmination of
Man's Skill. On the Crest of the Continent. The Mysterious
Descent. 243
XXV--GUNNISON AND CRESTED BUTTE.
Tomichi Valley. Gunnison from Oregon to St. Louis. Captain
Gunnison's Discoveries. A Discussion with Chief Ouray. A
Beautiful Landscape. Crested Butte. Anthracite in the Rockies.
250
XXVI--A TRIP TO LAKE CITY.
Lake City. A Picture from Nature. A Hard Pillow. The Mining
Interests. Alpine Grandeur of the Scenery. The Home of the Bear
and the Elk. Game, Game, Game. 262
XXVII--IMPRESSIONS OF THE BLACK CAÑON.
The Observation Car. Gunnison River. Trout Fishing Again. The Rock
Cleft in Twain. A Beautiful Cataract. A Mighty Needle. The
Cañon Black yet Sunny. Impressions of the Cañon. Majestic Forms
and Splendid Colors. 266
XXVIII--THE UNCOMPAHGRE VALLEY.
Cline's Ranch. Montrose. The Madame and Chum Respectfully Decline.
The Trip to Ouray. The Military Post. Chief Ouray's Widow. The
Road on the Bluff. Hot Springs. Brilliant Stars. 273
XXIX--OURAY AND RED MOUNTAIN.
A Pretty Mountain Town. Trials of the Prospectors. A Tradition.
From Silverton to Ouray by Wagon. Enchanting Gorges and
Alluring Peaks. The Yankee Girl. A Cave of Carbonates.
Vermillion Cliffs. Dallas Station. 278
XXX--MONTROSE AND DELTA.
Playing Billiards. Caught in the Act. A Well-Watered District.
Coal and Cattle. A Fruit Garden. A Big Irrigating Ditch. The
Snowy Elk Mountains. A Substantial Track. A Long Bridge. 290
XXXI--THE GRAND RIVER VALLEY.
An Honest Circular. Grand Junction. Staking Out Ranches. The
Recipe for Good Soil. Watering the Valley. Value of Water. Some
Big Corn in the Far West. A Land of Plenty. Going West. 296
XXXII--THE COLORADO CAÑONS.
A Memorable Night-Journey. Skirting the Uncompahgre Plateau.
Origin of the Sierra La Sal. Crossing the Green River. Wonders
of Erosive Work. An Indian Tradition. The Marvelous Cañons of
the Colorado. 303
XXXIII--CROSSING THE WASATCH.
The Tall Cliffs of Price River and Castle Cañon. Castle Gate. The
Summit of the Wasatch. "Indians!" San Pete and Sevier Valleys.
"Like Iser Rolling Rapidly." Through the Cañon of the Spanish
Fork. Mount Nebo. 312
XXXIV--BY UTAH LAKES.
Rural Scenes Beside Lake Utah. Spanish Fork, Springville, Provo
and Nephi. Relics of Indian Wars. Pretty Fruit Sellers. First
Sight of Deseret and the Great Salt Lake. Ogden and Its
History. 317
XXXV--SALT LAKE CITY.
Sunday in Salt Lake City. The Tabernacle and the Temple. Early
Days in Utah. Shady Trees and Sparkling Brooks. Social
Peculiarities of the City. Mining and Mercantile Prosperity.
Religious Sects. Schools and Seminaries. 324
XXXVI--SALT LAKE AND THE WASATCH.
The Ride to Salt Lake. A Salt Water Bath. Keep Your Mouth Shut.
The Shore of the Lake. An Exciting Chase. A Trip to Alta. Stone
for the Temple. An Exhilarating Ride. 335
XXXVII--AU REVOIR.
At Last. On Jordan's Banks. Chum's Grandfather. Let Every Injun
Carry his Own Skillet. The Parting Toast. Good-Night. 342
ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
GARFIELD PEAK _Frontispiece._
DENVER 17
DEPOT AT PALMER LAKE 20
PHOEBE'S ARCH 21
MONUMENT PARK 24
IN QUEEN'S CAÑON 28
CHEYENNE FALLS 31
IN NORTH CHEYENNE CAÑON 34
A GLIMPSE OF MANITOU AND PIKE'S PEAK 37
THE MINERAL SPRINGS 40
PIKE'S PEAK TRAIL 45
RAINBOW FALLS 49
GARDEN OF THE GODS 53
ENTRANCE TO CAVE OF THE WINDS 57
ALABASTER HALL 62
VETA PASS 67
CREST OF VETA MOUNTAIN 69
SPANISH PEAKS FROM VETA PASS 75
SANGRE DE CRISTO SUMMITS 78
SIERRA BLANCA 83
OJO CALIENTE 86
EMBUDO, RIO GRANDE VALLEY 89
NEW MEXICAN LIFE 94
A PATRIARCH 98
MAID AND MATRON 99
OLD CHURCH OF SAN JUAN 102
PUEBLO DE TAOS 107
PHANTOM CURVE 112
PHANTOM ROCKS 118
IN MEMORIAM 119
TOLTEC GORGE 125
EVA CLIFF 130
GARFIELD MEMORIAL 131
NEAR THE PIÑOS-CHAMA SUMMIT 136
CHIEFS OF THE SOUTHERN UTES 141
CAÑON OF THE RIO DE LAS ANIMAS 146
ON THE RIVER OF LOST SOULS 152
ANIMAS CAÑON AND THE NEEDLES 157
SILVERTON AND SULTAN MOUNTAIN 162
CLIFF DWELLINGS 168
WAGON WHEEL GAP 173
UP THE RIO GRANDE 178
GRAPE CREEK CAÑON 181
GRAND CAÑON OF THE ARKANSAS 186
THE ROYAL GORGE 191
BROWN'S CAÑON 194
TWIN LAKES 199
THE OLD ROUTE TO LEADVILLE 202
THE SHAFT HOUSE 204
BOTTOM OF THE SHAFT 205
ATHWART AN INCLINE 206
THE JIG DRILL 207
FREMONT PASS 211
CASCADES OF THE BLUE 214
MOUNT OF THE HOLY CROSS 219
MARSHALL PASS--EASTERN SLOPE 223
MARSHALL PASS--WESTERN SLOPE 227
CRESTED BUTTE MOUNTAIN AND LAKE 230
RUBY FALLS 232
APPROACH TO THE BLACK CAÑON 235
BLACK CAÑON OF THE GUNNISON 241
CURRECANTI NEEDLE, BLACK CAÑON 247
A UTE COUNCIL FIRE 251
OURAY 255
GATE OF LODORE 261
WINNIE'S GROTTO 264
ECHO ROCK 267
GUNNISON'S BUTTE 271
BUTTES OF THE CROSS 274
MARBLE CAÑON 279
GRAND CAÑON OF THE COLORADO 283
GRAND CAÑON, FROM TO-RO-WASP 287
EXPLORING THE WALLS 292
CASTLE GATE 297
IN SPANISH FORK CAÑON 300
TRAMWAY IN LITTLE COTTONWOOD CAÑON 305
SALT LAKE CITY 311
MORMON TEMPLE, TABERNACLE AND ASSEMBLY HALL 325
GREAT SALT LAKE 331
I
AT THE BASE OF THE ROCKIES.
Old Woodcock says that if Providence had not made him a justice of
the peace, he'd have been a vagabond himself. No such kind
interference prevailed in my case. I was a vagabond from my cradle.
I never could be sent to school alone like other children--they
always had to see me there safe, and fetch me back again. The
rambling bump monopolized my whole head. I am sure my godfather must
have been the Wandering Jew or a king's messenger. Here I am again,
_en route_, and sorely puzzled to know whither.--The LOITERINGS OF
ARTHUR O'LEARY.
"'There are the Rocky Mountains!' I strained my eyes in the direction of
his finger, but for a minute could see nothing. Presently sight became
adjusted to a new focus, and out against a bright sky dawned slowly the
undefined shimmering trace of something a little bluer. Still it seemed
nothing tangible. It might have passed for a vapor effect of the
horizon, had not the driver called it otherwise. Another minute and it
took slightly more certain shape. It cannot be described by any Eastern
analogy; no other far mountain view that I ever saw is at all like it.
If you have seen those sea-side albums which ladies fill with algæ
during their summer holiday, and in those albums have been startled, on
turning over a page suddenly, to see an exquisite marine ghost appear,
almost evanescent in its faint azure, but still a literal existence,
which had been called up from the deeps, and laid to rest with infinite
delicacy and difficulty,--then you will form some conception of the
first view of the Rocky Mountains. It is impossible to imagine them
built of earth, rock, anything terrestrial; to fancy them cloven by
horrible chasms, or shaggy with giant woods. They are made out of the
air and the sunshine which show them. Nature has dipped her pencil in
the faintest solution of ultramarine, and drawn it once across the
Western sky with a hand tender as Love's. Then when sight becomes still
better adjusted, you find the most delicate division taking place in
this pale blot of beauty, near its upper edge. It is rimmed with a mere
thread of opaline and crystalline light. For a moment it sways before
you and is confused. But your eagerness grows steadier, you see plainer
and know that you are looking on the everlasting snow, the ice that
never melts. As the entire fact in all its meaning possesses you
completely, you feel a sensation which is as new to your life as it is
impossible of repetition. I confess (I should be ashamed not to) that my
first view of the Rocky Mountains had no way of expressing itself save
in tears. To see what they looked, and to know what they were, was like
a sudden revelation of the truth that the spiritual is the only real and
substantial; that the eternal things of the universe are they which,
afar off, seem dim and faint."
* * * * *
There are the Rocky Mountains! Ludlow saw them after days of rough
riding in a dusty stage-coach. Our plains journey had been a matter of a
few hours only, and in the luxurious ease of a Pullman sleeping car; but
_our_ hearts, too, were stirred, and we eagerly watched them rise higher
and higher, and perfect their ranks, as we threaded the bluffs into
Pueblo. Then there they were again, all the way up to Denver; and when
we arose in the morning and glanced out of the hotel window, the first
objects our glad eyes rested on were the snow-tipped peaks filling the
horizon.
Thither _Madame ma femme_ and I proposed to ourselves to go for an early
autumn ramble, gathering such friends and accomplices as presented
themselves. But how? That required some study. There were no end of
ways. We were given advice enough to make a substantial appendix to the
present volume, though I suspect that it would be as useless to print it
for you as it was to talk it to us. We could walk. We could tramp, with
burros to carry our luggage, and with or without other burros to carry
ourselves. We could form an alliance, offensive and defensive, with a
number of pack mules. We could hire an ambulance sort of wagon, with
bedroom and kitchen and all the other attachments. We could go by
railway to certain points, and there diverge. Or, as one sober youth
suggested, we needn't go at all. But it remained for us to solve the
problem after all. As generally happens in this life of ours, the fellow
who gets on owes it to his own momentum, for the most part. It came upon
us quite by inspiration. We jumped to the conclusion; which, as the
Madame truly observed, is not altogether wrong if only you look before
you leap. That is a good specimen of feminine logic in general, and the
Madame's in particular.
But what was the inspiration--the conclusion--the decision? You are all
impatience to know it, of course. It was this:
Charter a train!
Recovering our senses after this startling generalization, particulars
came in order. Spreading out the crisp and squarely-folded map of
Colorado, we began to study it with novel interest, and very quickly
discovered that if our brilliant inspiration was really to be executed,
we must confine ourselves to the narrow-gauge lines. Tracing these with
one prong of a hair pin, it was apparent that they ran almost everywhere
in the mountainous parts of the State, and where they did not go now
they were projected for speedy completion. Closer inspection, as to the
names of the lines, discovered that nearly all of this wide-branching
system bore the mystical letters D. & R. G., which evidently enough
(after you had learned it) stood for--
"Why, Denver and Ryo Grand, of course," exclaims the Madame,
contemptuous of any one who didn't know _that_.
"Not by a long shot!" I reply triumphantly, "Denver and Reeo Grandy is
the name of the railway--Mexican words."
"Oh, indeed!" is what I _hear_; a very lofty nose, naturally a trifle
uppish, is what I _see_.
Deciding that our best plan is to take counsel with the officers of the
Denver and Rio Grande railway, we go immediately to interview Mr.
Hooper, the General Passenger Agent, among whose many duties is that of
receiving, counseling, and arranging itineraries for all sorts of
pilgrims. An hour's discussion perfected our arrangements, and set the
workmen at the shops busy in preparing the cars for our migratory
residence.
The realization that our scheme, which up to this point had seemed akin
to a wild dream, was now rapidly growing into a promising reality, did
not diminish our enthusiasm. Indeed we experienced an exhilaration which
was quite phenomenal. Was it the very light wine we partook at luncheon?
Perish the suspicion! Possibly it was the popularly asserted effect of
the rarefied atmosphere. But kinder to our self-esteem than either of
these was the thought that our approaching journey had something to do
with our elevation, and we accepted it as an explanation.
But we had yet a few days to spare, and we could employ them profitably
in looking over this Denver, the marvelous city of the plains. We
studied it first from Capitol Hill, as our artist has done, though his
picture, so excellently reproduced, can convey but the shadow of the
substance. Then we nearly encompassed the town, going southward on
Broadway until we had passed Cherry Creek, and _détouring_ across Platte
River to the westward and northward, on the high plateau which stretches
away to the foothills. The city lies at an altitude of 5,197 feet, near
the western border of the plains, and within twelve miles of the
mountains,--the Colorado or front range of which may be seen for an
extent of over two hundred miles. In the north, Long's Peak rears its
majestic proportions against the azure sky. Westward, Mounts Rosalie and
Evans rise grandly above the other summits of the snowy range, and
Gray's and James' Peaks peer from among their gigantic brethren; while
historic Pike's Peak, the mighty landmark that guided the gold-hunters
of '59, plainly shows its white crest eighty miles to the south. The
great plains stretch out for hundreds of miles to the north, east and
south. Near the smelting works at Argo, we retrace our way and re-enter
the city.
It is the metropolis of the Rocky Mountains, and a stroll through these
scores of solid blocks of salesrooms and factories exhibits at once the
fact that it is as the commercial center of the mountainous interior
that Denver thrives, and congratulates herself upon the promise of a
continually prosperous future. She long ago safely passed that crisis
which has proved fatal to so many incipient Western cities. Every year
proves anew the wisdom and foresight of her founders; and I think her
assertion that she is to be the largest city between Chicago and San
Francisco is likely to be realized. Most of her leading business men
came here at the beginning, but their energies were hampered when every
article had to be hauled six hundred miles across the plains by teams.
It frequently used to happen that merchants would sell their goods
completely out, put up their shutters and go a-fishing for weeks, before
the new semi-yearly supplies arrived. Everybody therefore looked
forward, with good reason, to railway communication as the beginning of
a new era of prosperity, and watched with keen interest the approach of
the Union Pacific lines from Omaha and Kansas City. These were
completed, by the northern routes, in 1869 and 1870; and a few months
later the enterprising Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe sent its tracks and
trains through to the mountains, and then came the Burlington route, a
most welcome acquisition, adding another link to the transcontinental
chain, which now binds the East to the West, the Atlantic to the Pacific
coast. At Pueblo, the Denver and Rio Grande, meeting the Atchison,
Topeka and Santa Fe, was already prepared to make this new route
available to Denver and much of Colorado, and adopting a liberal policy,
at once exerted an immense influence upon the speedy development and
prosperity of the State.
Thus, in a year or two, the young city found itself removed from total
isolation to a central position on various railways, east and west, and
to its mill came the varied grist of a circle hundreds of miles in
radius. Now blossomed the booming season of business which sagacious
eyes had foreseen. The town had less than four thousand inhabitants in
1870. A year from that time her population was nearly fifteen thousand,
and her tax-valuation had increased from three to ten millions of
dollars. It was a time of happy investment, of incessant building and
improvement, and of grand speculation. Mines flourished, crops were
abundant, cattle and sheep grazed in a hundred valleys hitherto tenanted
by antelope alone, and everybody had plenty of money. Then came a shadow
of storm in the East, and the sound of the thunder-clap of 1873 was
heard in Denver, if the bolt of the panic was not felt. The banks
suddenly became cautious in loans; speculators declined to buy, and sold
at a sacrifice. Merchants found that trade was dull, and ranchmen got
less for their products. It was a "set-back" to Denver, and two years of
stagnation followed. But she only dug the more money out of the ground
to fill her depleted pockets, and survived the "hard times" with far
less sacrifice of fortune and pride than did most of the Eastern cities.
None of her banks went under, nor even certified a check, and most of
her business houses weathered the storm. The unhealthy reign of
speculation was effectually checked, and business was placed upon a
compact and solid foundation. Then came 1875 and 1876, which were
"grasshopper years," when no crops of consequence were raised throughout
the State, and a large amount of money was sent East to pay for flour
and grain. This was a particularly hard blow, but the bountiful harvest
of 1877 compensated, and the export of beeves and sheep, with their
wool, hides and tallow, was the largest ever made up to that time.
[Illustration: DENVER]
The issue of this successful year with miner, farmer and stock-ranger,
yielding them more than $15,000,000, a large proportion of which was an
addition to the intrinsic wealth of the world, had an almost magical
effect upon the city. Commerce revived, a buoyant feeling prevailed
among all classes, and merchants enjoyed a remunerative trade. Money was
"easy," rents advanced, and the real estate business assumed a healthier
tone. Generous patronage of the productive industries throughout the
whole State was made visible in the quickened trade of the city, which
rendered the year an important one in the history of Denver's progress.
So, out of the barrenness of the cactus-plain, and through this
turbulent history, has arisen a cultivated and beautiful city of 75,000
people, which is truly a metropolis. Her streets are broad, straight,
and everywhere well shaded with lines of cottonwoods and maples,
abundant in foliage and of graceful shape. On each side of every street
flows a constant stream of water, often as clear and cool as a mountain
brook. The source is a dozen miles southward, whence the water is
conducted in an open channel. There are said to be over 260 miles of
these irrigating ditches or gutters, and 250,000 shade-trees.
For many blocks in the southern and western quarter of the town,--from
Fourteenth to Thirtieth streets, and from Arapahoe to Broadway and the
new suburbs beyond--you will see only elegant and comfortable houses.
Homes succeed one another in endlessly varying styles of architecture,
and vie in attractiveness, each surrounded by lawns and gardens
abounding in flowers. All look new and ornate, while some of the
dwellings of wealthy citizens are palatial in size and furnishing, and
with porches well occupied during the long, cool twilight characteristic
of the summer evening in this climate, giving a very attractive air of
opulence and ease. Even the stranger may share in the general enjoyment,
for never was there a city with so many and such pleasant hotels, the
largest of which, the Windsor and the St. James, are worthy of Broadway
or Chestnut street.
The power which has wrought all this change in a short score of years,
truly making the desert to bloom, is water; or, more correctly, that is
the great instrument used, for the _power_ is the will and pride of the
intelligent men and women who form the leading portion of the citizens.
Water is pumped from the Platte, by the Holly system, and forced over
the city with such power that in case of fire no steam-engine is
necessary to send a strong stream through the hose. The keeping of a
turf and garden, after it is once begun, is merely a matter of watering.
The garden is kept moist mainly by flooding from the irrigating ditch in
the street or alley, but the turf of the lawn and the shrubbery owe
their greenness to almost incessant sprinkling by the hand-hose.
Fountains are placed in nearly every yard. After dinner (for Denver
dines at five o'clock as a rule), the father of the house lights his
cigar and turns hose-man for an hour, while he chats with friends; or
the small boys bribe each other to let them lay the dust in the street,
to the imminent peril of passers-by; and young ladies escape the too
engrossing attention of complimentary admirers by busily sprinkling
heliotrope and mignonette, hinting at a possible different use of the
weapon if admiration becomes too ardent. The swish and gurgle and
sparkle of water are always present, and always must be; for so Denver
defies the desert and dissipates the dreaded dust.
Their climate is one of the things Denverites boast of. That the air is
pure and invigorating is to be expected at a point right out on a
plateau a mile above sea-level, with a range of snow burdened mountains
within sight. From the beginning to the end of warm weather it rarely
rains, except occasional thunder and hail storms in July and August.
September witnesses a few storms, succeeded by cool, charming weather,
when the haze and smoke is filtered from the bracing air, and the
landscape robes itself in its most enchanting hues. The coldest weather
occurs after New Year's Day, and lasts sometimes until April. Then come
the May storms and floods, followed by a charming summer. The barometer
holds itself pretty steady throughout the year. There is a vast quantity
of electricity in the air, and the displays of lightning are magnificent
and occasionally destructive. Sunshine is very abundant. One can by no
means judge from the brightest day in New York of the wonderful glow
sunlight has here. During 1884 there were 205 clear days, 126 fair, and
34 cloudy, the sun being totally obscured on only 18 days; and yet this
record is more unfavorable than the average for a number of years.
Summer heat often reaches a hundred in the shade at midday; but with
sunset comes coolness, and the nights allow refreshing sleep. In winter
the mercury sometimes sinks twenty degrees below zero; but one does not
feel this severity as much as he would a far less degree of cold in the
damp, raw climate of the coast. Snow is frequent, but rarely plentiful
enough for sleighing.
Denver is built not only with the capital of her own citizens, but
constructed of materials close at hand. Very substantial bricks, kilned
in the suburbs, are the favorite material. Then there is a pinkish
trachyte, almost as light as pumice, and ringing under a blow with a
metallic clink, that is largely employed in trimmings. Sandstone,
marble and limestone are abundant enough for all needs. Coarse lumber
is supplied by the high pine forests, but all the hard wood and fine
lumber is brought from the East. The fuel of the city was formerly
wholly lignite coal, which comes from the foothills; but the extension
of the railway to Cañon City, El Moro and the Gunnison, have made the
harder and less sulphurous coals accessible and cheap.
[Illustration: DEPOT AT PALMER LAKE.]
And while she has been looking well after the material attractions,
Denver has kept pace with the progress of the times in modern
advantages. She is very proud of her school-buildings, constructed and
managed upon the most improved plans; of her fine churches, of her State
and county offices, her seminaries of higher learning, and of her
natural history and historical association. Her Grand Opera House is the
most elegant on the continent, her business blocks are extensive and
costly, and the Union Depot ranks with the best of similar structures.
Gas was introduced several years ago, and the system, which now includes
nearly all sections of the city, is being constantly improved and
extended. The Brush electric light has been in very general use for
nearly three years, and the Edison incandescent lamps are now being
employed. The telephone is found in hundreds of business places and
residences, the exchange at the close of last year numbering 709
subscribers. The water supply is distributed through forty miles of
mains, the consumption averaging three million gallons per day,
exclusive of the contributions of the irrigating ditches and the
numerous artesian wells. The steam heating works evaporate one hundred
thousand gallons of water daily, delivering the product through three
miles of mains and nearly two miles of service pipes; this being the
only company out of twenty seven of its nature in the country which has
proved a financial success. Street car lines traverse the thoroughfares
in all directions, and transport over two million passengers annually.
Two district messenger companies are generously patronized. The regular
police force consists of some forty-five patrolmen and detectives, aside
from the Chief and his assistants; and a distinct organization is the
Merchant's Police, numbering twenty men. A paid Fire Department is
maintained, at an annual expense of $56,000, and the alarm system
embraces twenty-six miles of wire and fifty signal boxes. There are
published six daily newspapers, one being in German, and a score of
weeklies. All are well conducted and prosperous.
[Illustration: PHEBE'S ARCH.]
A branch of the United States Mint is located here, but is used for
assays only, and not for coinage. An appropriation has been made by
Congress for a handsome building, the site has been selected, and work
is now being pushed forward. The post-office is a source of considerable
revenue to the Government. There are six National and two State banks,
with a paid in capital of $870,000, and showing a surplus of $754,000 at
the close of 1883. The deposits for the year amounted to $8,396,200, and
the loans and discounts approximated $4,500,000. The shops of the Denver
and Rio Grande railway are doubtless the most extensive in the West,
employing over 800 men, and turning out during the year 2 express, 8
mail, 4 combination, 522 box, 303 stock, 25 refrigerator, 197 flat, and
300 coal cars, together with 8 cabooses. In addition they have produced
350 frogs, 200 switch stands, and all the iron work for the bridges on
350 miles of new road, The year's shipments of the Boston and Colorado
Smelting Company aggregate, in silver, gold, and copper, $3,907,000; and
in the same time the Grant smelter has treated, in silver, lead and
gold, $6,348,868. Finally, from the statistics at hand it appears that
the volume of Denver's trade for the year referred to, apart from the
industries above mentioned, and real estate transactions, has exceeded
the snug sum of $58,856,998. In the meantime the taxable valuation of
property in Arapahoe county has increased $6,600,000.
These facts establish, beyond the slightest doubt, the truth that Denver
stands upon a firm financial basis. This the casual stranger can hardly
fail to surmise when he glances at her magnificent buildings, and
statistics will confirm the surmise.
Denver society is cosmopolitan. Famous and brilliant persons are
constantly appearing from all quarters of the globe. Five hundred people
a day, it is said, enter Colorado, and nine-tenths of this multitude
pass through Denver. Nowadays, "the tour" of the United States is
incomplete if this mountain city is omitted. Thus the registers of her
hotels bear many foreign autographs of world-wide reputation. Surprise
is often expressed by the critical among these visitors (why, I do not
understand) at the totally unexpected degree of intelligence,
appreciation of the more refined methods of thought and handiwork, and
the knowledge of science, that greet them here. Matters of art and
music, particularly, find friends and cultivation among the educated and
generous families who have built up society; and there are schools and
associations devoted to sustaining the interest in them, just as there
are reading circles and literary clubs. And, withal, there is the most
charming freedom of acquaintance and intercourse--the polish and
good-breeding of rank, delivered from all chill and exclusiveness or
regard for "who was your grandfather." Yet this winsome good-fellowship
by no means descends to vulgarity, or permits itself to be abused. After
all, it is only New York and New England and Ohio, transplanted and
considerably enlivened.
Returning to our consideration of Denver's resources, it will readily be
seen that she stands as the supply-depot and money-receiver of three
great branches of industry and wealth, namely, mining, stock-raising and
agriculture.
The first of these is the most important. Many of the richest
proprietors live and spend their profits here. Then, too, the machinery
which the mining and the reduction of the ores require, and the tools,
clothing and provisions of the men, mainly come from here. Long ago
ex-Governor Gilpin, worthily one of the most famous of Colorado's
representative men, and an enthusiast upon the subject of her virtues
and loveliness, prophesied the immense wealth which would continue to be
delved from the crevices of her rocky frame, and was called a visionary
for his pains; but his prophesies have aggregated more in the
fulfillment than they promised in the foretelling, and his "visions"
have netted him a most satisfactory fortune. About 75,000 lodes have
been discovered in Colorado, and numberless placers. Only a small
proportion of these, of course, were worked remuneratively, but the cash
yield of the twenty years since the discovery of the precious metals,
has averaged over $7,000,000 a year, and has increased from $200,000 in
1869 to over $26,376,562 in 1883. Not half of this is gold, yet it is
only since 1870 that silver has been mined at all in Colorado. These
statistics show the total yield of the State in gold and silver thus far
to exceed $154,000,000, not to mention tellurium, copper, iron, lead and
coal. Surely this alone is sufficient employment of capital and
production of original wealth--genuine making of money--to ensure the
permanent support of the city.
The second great source of revenue to Denver, is the cattle and sheep of
the State. The wonderful worthless-looking buffalo grass, growing in
little tufts so scattered that the dust shows itself everywhere between,
and turning sere and shriveled before the spring rains are fairly over,
has proved one of Colorado's most prolific avenues of wealth. The herds
now reported in the State count up 1,461,945 head, and the annual
shipments amount to 100,000, at an average of $20 apiece, giving
$2,000,000 as the yearly yield. Add the receipts for the sales of hides
and tallow, and the home consumption, amounting to about $60,000, and
you have a figure not far from $3,500,000 to represent the total annual
income from this branch of productive industry. The whole value of the
cattle investments in the State is estimated by good judges at
$14,000,000, nearly one-fourth of which is the property of citizens of
Denver. Yet this sum, great as it is for a pioneer region, represents
only two-thirds of Colorado's live stock. Last year about 1,500,000
sheep were sheared, and more capital is being invested in them. Perhaps
the total value of sheep ranches is not less than $5,000,000, the annual
income from which approaches $1,300,000.
The third large item of prosperity is agriculture, although it advances
in the face of much opposition. In 1883 the production of the chief
crops was as follows: hay, 266,500 tons; wheat, 1,750,840 bushels; oats,
1,186,534 bushels; corn, 598,975 bushels; barley, 265,180 bushels; rye,
78,030 bushels, and potatoes, 851,000 bushels. Add to this vegetables
and small fruits, and the yield of the soil in Colorado is brought to
over $9,000,000 in value. Farmers are learning better and better how to
produce the very best results by means of scientific irrigation, and the
tillage is annually wider.
Nor is this the whole story. Denver is rapidly growing into a
manufacturing center. Here are rolling mills, iron foundries, smelters,
machine shops, woolen mills, shoe factories, glass works, carriage and
harness factories, breweries, and so on through a long list. The
flouring mills are very valuable, representing an investment of
$350,000, and handling half the wheat crop of Colorado. I have dwelt
upon these somewhat prosy statements in order to point out fully what
rich resources Denver has behind her, and how it happens that she finds
herself, at twenty-three years of age, amazingly strong commercially.
Not only a large proportion of the money which gives existence to these
enterprises (nearly every householder in the city has a financial
interest in one or several mines, stock-ranges or farms), but, as I
have intimated, the current supplies that sustain them, are procured in
Denver, and a very large percentage of their profits finds its way
directly to this focus.
[Illustration: MONUMENT PARK.]
Denver thus becomes to all Colorado what Paris is to France. Through all
the enormous area, from Wyoming far into New Mexico, and westward to
Utah, she has had no formidable rival until South Pueblo rose to contest
the trade of all the southern half of this commercial territory. That
she advances with the rapidly thickening population of the State and
its increasing needs, is apparent to every one who has noted the
gigantic strides with which Denver has grown, and the ease with which
she wears her imperial honors. Every extension of the railways, every
good crop, every new mineral district developed, every increase of
stock-ranges, directly and instantly affects the great central mart.
This sound business basis being present, the opportunity to pleasantly
dispose of the money made is, of course, not long in presenting itself.
It thus happens that Denver shows, in a wonderful measure, the amenities
of intellectual culture that make life so attractive in the
old-established centers of civilization, where selected society,
thoughtful study, and the riches of art, have ripened to maturity
through long time and under gracious traditions. There is an abundance
here, therefore, to please the eye and touch the heart as well as fill
the pockets, and year by year the city is becoming more and more a
desirable place in which to dwell as well as to do business.
II
ALONG THE FOOTHILLS.
We've left behind the busy town,
Its woof and warp of care;
Our course is down the foothills brown
To a Southern city fair.
--STANLEY H. RAY.
While we were codifying our impressions of Denver, the workmen at the
shops had been busy. We were busy, too, in other than literary ways, and
badgered our new acquaintances at the railway offices at all sorts of
times and with every manner of want. The butcher and baker were
harassed, and jolly old Salomon, the grocer, came in for his share of
the nuisance. But it didn't last long, for one afternoon, just three
days from the birth of the happy thought, we were in our special train
and rushing away to the South.
Not till then did this haphazard crowd--for we had enlisted three
gentlemen into our company--inquire seriously whither we were going.
What did it matter? We were wild with joy because of going at all. Had
we not bed and provender with us? Why could we not go on always? have it
said of us when living, _Going, going,_ and written over us when
dead--_Gone!_
I have mentioned three companions besides the Madame. At least two of
the gentlemen you would recognize at once, were I to give you their
names. The Artist is famed on both sides of the Atlantic for the
masterly productions of his brush. He is a wide traveler and an
enthusiast over mountain scenery. The Photographer is likewise a genius,
and literally a compendium of scientific knowledge and exploration.
Connected for many years with the Geological Surveys of this region, his
practical experience renders him an especially valuable coadjutor. The
Musician is young in years, with the scroll of fame before him. But he
comes of good stock, and faith is strong. And there is still another,
our Amos, of sable hue, who has our fortunes, to a large extent, in his
keeping, for does he not preside over our commissary? We shall know him
better by and by.
Our train consisted of three cars; and when we had passed the great
works at Burnham, we resolved ourselves into an investigating committee
and started on a tour of inspection. We found our quarters exceedingly
well-arranged and comfortable, although in some confusion from the
hasty manner in which our loose supplies had been tumbled in. So the
committee postponed its report.
"How smoothly we bowl along!" remarked the Musician.
"And in what superb condition are the roadbed and track," added the
Photographer.