way to a slaughter-house in the neighbourhood of Bozeman, where he was
discovered amusing himself by tearing about the offal. Two butchers in
town armed themselves with a couple of rusty old rifles, and starting
off on a moonlight night, kept watch for Master Bruin's appearance.
Eventually they spied him on the top of the roof of the slaughter-house
(a by no means easy roof to get on). They put two balls into him, and he
rolled over dead. His skin was being exhibited in Bozeman as we passed
through.
While I am on the subject of bears, I may as well tell you another tale
just as an eyewitness told it to me.
A few weeks ago a party of miners, returning home after prospecting all
summer, were encamped in a fine hunting-ground, up in the mountains near
Ross's Peak, lately the favourite resort of Flat-head Indians. They
started one morning on a deer and elk hunt, and having separated to
scare out the game, one of them suddenly came upon a great grizzly
basking in the sun in front of his den. The bear allowed him to approach
within a few yards, being apparently in a drowsy state, and the hunter,
being a "tenderfoot" (new-comer), did not take the ordinary precautions
which experience teaches; but thinking all the bear stories he had ever
heard were mere twaddle, imprudently fired in the animal's face,
breaking his jaw. This at once aroused the fury of Bruin, and he rushed
on the hunter, who succeeded in planting another ball in his shoulder,
but this failed to stop him. Being now at such close quarters that
another shot was impossible, he tried to jam his rifle down the bear's
throat; they then became locked together in a deadly struggle. After
wrestling for a few seconds, both hunter and bear fell over a log and
down a steep ravine. At this juncture, a dog belonging to one of the
party, hearing the row, came up barking, and distracted the bear's
attention; the hunter thus succeeded in escaping from the deadly hug and
regained his rifle, the stock of which had been split in the first
struggle. The bear then started off, feeling, no doubt, that with a
broken jaw and a dislocated shoulder the odds were against him. The
hunter renewed the chase, and being now joined by the rest of his party,
they followed the quarry in this wounded state for eight miles, and
eventually killed him.
A short time prior to this incident a man and a boy were up in a cañon a
few miles to the north, cutting cordwood. The man saw a cinnamon bear,
and fired at him, wounding him in the shoulder. The bear turned on him;
and the man having no more ammunition—it being in the boy's charge—threw
down his rifle and scrambled up the nearest tree; the bear rushed up
after him, caught hold of his leg, and tore his boot off, at the same
time tearing the flesh of his leg open to the bone. The man then
succeeded in getting beyond the bear's reach.
[Illustration: "THE BEAR TORE HIS BOOT OFF."]
Bruin then turned his attention to the boy, who was manfully engaged in
reloading the rifle. He seized and hugged the lad, and, being on a steep
incline, the two rolled over and over till they came to the bottom of
the mountain, where the bear left his victim for dead, and then returned
to the man, who was still treed. Probably feeling some stiffness from
the wound in his shoulder, he could no longer climb, but having amused
the man in the tree by leisurely walking round and round it for three or
four hours, he then quietly departed.
It fortunately turned out that the boy was not killed, but terribly
shaken. He eventually recovered from the fearful ordeal he had
undergone.
These bear stories may be taken as facts, and as substantial proofs
that, although we luckily did not encounter any bears, there are plenty
of them up in the hills just above us.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
LETTER No. XIV.
Saying "Goodbye"—Departure in a heavy snowstorm—Gallatin
Valley—Helena—Garrison—Butte City—Salt Lake City—Polygamy—Articles
of faith—Trial of a murderer—Trial of polygamists.
_Cheyenne, Wyoming, Oct., 1885._
On Saturday morning we found the ground covered with snow, and it was
bitterly cold. It seemed as if this sudden change had come upon us
opportunely to prevent our carrying away a too favourable impression of
the climate. Truly, the day was a rough one, and we had to drive twelve
miles across the prairie to Bozeman in a blinding storm of snow and
sleet, and over a road smooth and level a week ago, but now full of
holes and deep ruts up to the axles. Our progress through the sludgy
snow was very slow.
I had hoped to make some calls in Bozeman, but the weather prevented my
doing so.
We reached the station only just in time to catch the train for Helena,
and we were not sorry to get under cover from the pitiless storm.
Now the time had arrived for saying goodbye to the boy I had gone so far
to see, a great lump came into my throat as I thought of the years that
may pass before we meet again; of his rough journey back, and of the
poor little leaky shanty he had to winter in, and to which he had
voluntarily exiled himself.
But for this taste of wintry weather, I should have left Frank's ranche
with a more cheerful heart, yet with a false impression of the country
and climate.
Unquestionably the life on a ranche such as Frank's is a rough and hard
one, and I should be sorry if I have said anything throughout this
narrative that might induce any aspiring youth to adopt a similar mode
of life under a contrary impression. But for a young fellow who is
willing to banish himself from all society and to work as Frank has
done, I can certainly commend this country.
We left Bozeman in the afternoon for Helena and Garrison, the junction
where we turn to the south on the Branch Line of the Union Pacific.
As I felt a special and peculiar interest in the beautiful Gallatin
Valley, it was some disappointment to me that my latest view of it was
in the midst of a heavy snowstorm. Our railroad route ran for thirty
miles through this valley, and had the afternoon been clear, we might
have caught a last glimpse of the little log cabin ten miles away up
yonder, at the foot of the Eastern Hills.
At the head of the valley we came to "Gallatin City." Here "The
Gallatin," "The Madison," and "Jefferson" rivers are lost in the great
Missouri. After crossing the Missouri, the road passes down the Missouri
Valley to Helena. No sooner had we got out of the valley than the storm
cleared off, the evening sun shone out brightly, and by the time we
arrived at Helena, just 100 miles from Bozeman, we found ourselves again
in the same mild, genial atmosphere we had experienced previous to the
storm. No snow had fallen at Helena.
Helena, the capital of Montana, has a population of 8,000, is situated
at the eastern foot of the main chain of the Rockies, and close to the
famous "Last Chance" gold mines, out of which $10,000,000 worth of gold
has been taken, and which still yields a considerable amount annually.
This circumstance, and the fact that it is the nearest point in the
mining region to the head of navigation on the Missouri river at Fort
Benton, gave Helena a great start in earlier days, and it is certainly
likely to maintain its position as the chief commercial town of Montana
territory. It is surrounded by mountains, rising one above the other,
till the more distant are lost in the clouds, forming a view of striking
beauty and grandeur.
The town itself, so far as we had time to observe, is not well built;
the streets are narrow, crooked, and steep; but it has all the
appearance of wealth and prosperity. It has four national banks, a fine
opera house, seating 1,200, and two daily papers. The shops are large,
and full of attractive-looking "stock." The city is lighted by the Brush
electric light system.
The hotel we stopped at is very large and very comfortable, but they
won't black one's boots. If you wish to indulge in this luxury you must
descend to the boot-black's quarters, and mount on his stool. He will
polish you off in five minutes, and scorns anything less than a shilling
for doing it. Why should he take less when he finds full employment all
the day long at this rate of pay? I reckoned that fellow was making
thirty shillings a day by his blacking.
Next morning we started for Garrison. The route from Helena to "The
Mullan Pass" is most picturesque, taking us through the charming valley
of "Prickly Pear," and past great masses of craggy rocks and boulders.
"The Mullan Pass" takes us over, or rather through the main range of the
Rocky Mountains by a tunnel 3,850 feet in length, and at an elevation
above sea-level of 5,547 feet.
Now we are at Garrison, where we leave the Great Northern Pacific
Railway, on which we have travelled so pleasantly over 1,200 miles of
country, through scenes as tame and scenes as wildly picturesque as are
probably to be found in any other part of this great country.
Our route now lies due south for a distance of nearly 500 miles to Ogden
and Salt Lake City.
The cars being narrow gauge, we did not find them so pleasant as those
we had just left; but as we secured sleeping compartments, and the
passengers for part of the way were few, we had nothing to complain of.
On this line there are no dining-cars, so we had to descend at various
stations for scrambling meals, at not by any means nice hotels.
At a distance of about thirty miles from Garrison, we passed the great
mining city of Butte, on the west side of the main dividing range of the
Rocky Mountains; for an hour or two our car was crowded with holiday
people from that wealthy city, decked out very gorgeously, and proud of
their display of jewellery. Butte is a city of 18,000 inhabitants, and
is called "a mining camp." It is the county seat of Silver Bow county.
There are over 1,300 patented mines in this district, five smelters, and
nine quartz mills. The mines produce silver, copper, and gold, the
shipments of which amount to $6,000,000 annually. The adjoining city of
Anaconda, which two years ago consisted of two tents, has now 3,000
inhabitants, and boasts of having the largest smelter in the world. It
cost a million dollars, and the two owners are said to be worth forty
million dollars each—they own two mines. This smelter pays the Union
Pacific a hundred thousand dollars a month for carrying ore over a
little branch line of nine miles in length.
The train passes through the Cache Valley, which is fifty miles long and
ten miles broad; it is wholly occupied by Mormons. On the south-east
side of the valley is the city of Logan, where a fine temple overlooking
the whole of the valley has been built. There are seventeen separate
settlements in this most fertile valley, and these, seen from the
railway, look like green patches of verdure dotted over the great brown
prairie, each settlement being hidden in groves of green trees.
We reached Ogden at 5.30 p.m., and took train the same evening for Salt
Lake City, where we arrived at the Walker House Hotel at eight.
SALT LAKE CITY.
A residence of one day and two nights in Salt Lake City does not
constitute me an authority or entitle me to put forth any opinions on
the vexed question of Mormonism, but as I chanced to reach the city in
stirring times, I venture to give two or three quotations from the
current literature, which exhibit the question in its two aspects. The
first is an extract from a very well-written pamphlet by Mrs. H. M.
Whitney _in favour of_ POLYGAMY. She says:—
"I have been a spectator and a participator in this order of
matrimony for over thirty years, and, being a first wife, I have had
every opportunity for judging in regard to its merits. The
Scriptures declare, "By their fruits ye shall know them;" so I know
that this system tends to promote and preserve social purity, and
that this alone can remedy the great social evils of the present
day. When lived up to as the Lord designed it should be, it will
exalt the human family; and those who have entered into it with pure
motives, and continue to practise it in righteousness, can testify
to the truth of these statements. There are real and tangible
blessings enjoyed under this system which cannot be obtained in any
other way. Not only can the cares and burdens be equally distributed
among the members of the family, but they can assist one another in
many ways, and if blessed with congenial natures and filled with the
love of God, their souls will be expanded, and in the place of
selfishness, patience and charity will find place in their hearts,
driving therefrom all feelings of strife and discord."
The little _if_ in the last sentence seems to beg the whole question,
and reminds one of Cowper's epigram:—
"If John marries Mary, and Mary alone,
'Tis a very good match between Mary and John;
Should John wed a score, O, the claws and the scratches!
It can't be a match—it's a bundle of matches!"
Another enthusiastic lady says:—
"Shall we, the wives and daughters of the best men on earth, submit
to the dictation of unholy, licentious, and wicked men? No, never! I
feel that it is high time for the women of Utah to stand up and
defend this Heaven-revealed principle. I am a polygamous wife, and
am proud to say it. I regard those women who are my husband's wives
to be so as much as I am. Our husbands are virtuous and noble men,
and are the friends of all mankind."
The following is taken from the biennial message of W. M. Budd, Governor
of Idaho, and, I fancy, fairly represents the general feeling of the
United States Government on this very important question at this time:—
"POLYGAMOUS AND TREASONOUS MORMONISM.
"While the constitution of our nation guarantees to every person of
whatever birth, rank, or condition, past or present, a generous
freedom in his own thoughts and religious convictions, not only the
common law pronounces against adultery, bigamy, and polygamy, but
every consideration of safety urges against permitting a
self-proclaimed enemy to harbour within our fold while he gathers
strength to strike at our life with the venom he already possesses.
It becomes you to approach the discussion of this malignant
mischief, that has retarded the Territory in the past and threatens
such disaster for the future, with brave and grave deliberation. If
you decide after careful investigation, as I have decided, that
there can be no harmony between virtue and such monstrous vice; that
either—and that at no distant day—pure, moral Christianity, that is
such from fear of God, love of Christ and hope of heaven, or this
leprous legacy of barbarity and sensual riot must possess the land
to the exclusion of the other, then I say, it is not merciful to
temporize with the blow that must be struck to free this Territory
of this social plague and political curse. Polygamous and treasonous
Mormonism stalks wantonly, insolently, and blatantly through this
Territory, to the shame and degradation of every Christian woman and
every man with a love for law and a regard for decency. Crime under
the guise of religion is a hundred fold worse than under the banner
of Satan. The leaders, owners, and bidder of this unholy,
licentious, and treasonable institution are saints to glut their own
vile and selfish purposes. Selfishness, which sees in the world only
a mirror just large enough to reflect itself, writes in their case,
as it always has written, a story of cant, hypocrisy, falsehood,
deceit, fraud, and violence; and the inevitable logic of events,
which is stronger than all the sins that infamy, greed, and
selfishness are heir to, will write the invariable sequel:
detection, retribution, expiation, and the felon's cell. These
law-breakers mock and scoff the power of this great government,
abuse our free institutions, and bedraggle our flag in the muck and
mire of their offences. The guilty may be brought to bay and to
justice even at the time when they imagine themselves most strongly
entrenched. The Mormon leaders were never more defiant than at this
peculiar and particular time. I conjure you to do your utmost toward
destroying the polluting practices of this seditious organization.
Suppress these licentious saints with their plural marriages, and so
wipe away the fetid blotch upon this Territory, that is a stench in
the nostrils of all the honest humanity within our borders. I advise
the enactment of such laws and amendments as shall make effective
the laws of God and man regarding adultery, bigamy, and polygamy,
and compel loyalty to the nation and respect for the flag."
"ARTICLES OF FAITH OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS.
"1. We believe in God the Eternal Father, and in His Son Jesus
Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.
"2. We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not
for Adam's transgression.
"3. We believe that through the atonement of Christ all mankind may
be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.
"4. We believe that these ordinances are: first, Faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for
the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of
the Holy Ghost.
"5. We believe that a man must be called of God by 'prophecy and by
the laying on of hands,' by those who are in authority, to preach
the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.
"6. We believe in the same organization that existed in the
primitive church, viz., apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers,
evangelists, &c.
"7. We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation,
visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, &c.
"8. We believe the Bible to be the word of God, as far as it is
translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the
Word of God.
"9. We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now
reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and
important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.
"10. We believe in the literal gathering of Israel, and in the
restoration of the Ten Tribes. That Zion will be built upon this
continent. That Christ will reign personally upon the earth, and
that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.
"11. We claim the privilege of worshipping Almighty God according to
the dictates of our conscience, and allow all men the same
privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.
"12. We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and
magistrates, in obeying, honouring, and sustaining the law.
"13. We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous,
and in doing good to _all men_: indeed, we may say that we follow
the admonition of Paul, 'We believe all things, we hope all things,'
we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all
things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or
praiseworthy, we seek after these things.—JOSEPH SMITH."
This is all very well as far as it goes, but I find nothing about
polygamy here, and I learn elsewhere that—
"According to Mormon theology, God the Father, the Supreme Jehovah,
became man in the form of Adam, and thus became the father of the
human race. He is thus represented as a being of parts such as we
are. And all true and faithful Mormons who live up to their
privileges, who take many wives, and who beget many children, will
in the process of time become gods to all those who spring from
them. Brigham Young was regarded as God by some of his followers
even before his death."
In walking down Main Street I came to a great crowd opposite the
court-house. I was curious to know what was going on, and to see the
interior of a law court in a Mormon city, but the staircase was so
completely blocked that I could not get in. On inquiry I learned that a
murderer named Hopt was receiving his sentence, and that three Mormons
were being tried for polygamy.
The court, in passing sentence on Hopt, said "The penalty of the crime
for which you have been convicted is death, and must be inflicted by
hanging you by the neck, or by shooting you, at your discretion. Which
mode of death do you elect shall be inflicted upon you?"
HOPT—"I choose to be shot."
[Illustration: MAIN STREET.]
Shortly afterwards, going down the same street, I came upon another
great crowd round a photographer's, and I was told that immediately
after Hopt had received his sentence he had been conveyed here to have
his portrait taken. Whether this was at his "own discretion," or by
order of the authorities, I could not ascertain.
Salt Lake City has a population of 30,000 inhabitants, of whom 25,000
are "Latter-day Saints," and 5,000 Gentiles, and just now the Gentiles
seem to be making the city too hot for the saints. I was told that
several of the leading men, including President Taylor, were wanted by
the city marshals on the score of polygamy, but could not be found; and
that one hundred polygamists are now in "The Pen," undergoing six
months' imprisonment (and a fine of 300 dollars and costs) for refusing
to part with their surplus wives.
Of the three men sentenced this day, the first was a policeman named
Smith, who stood to his colours, as will be seen.
"THE COURT—Your name is Andrew Smith, I believe.
"MR. SMITH—Yes, sir.
"THE COURT—You have been found guilty of the crime of unlawful
cohabitation, and this morning was fixed upon for your sentence.
Have you anything to say why this sentence of the law should not be
pronounced in accordance with the verdict—have you anything further
to say?
"MR. SMITH then said, in a firm, clear voice—If your honour please:
I have been placed on trial here for living in the practice of my
religion, which I do not intend to relinquish, under any
circumstances whatever, and I have no promises to make. Therefore, I
am prepared to receive the judgment of the court. I cannot under any
circumstances give up any principle of my religion. My religion is
worth everything to me, or it is worth nothing, and I am prepared to
receive any judgment you may see fit to pronounce. That is about
all, I believe.
"THE COURT—I understand you to state by inference that you
understand your religion authorizes you and makes it your duty to
practice polygamy and unlawful cohabitation?
"MR. SMITH—That is a part and portion of my religion.
"THE COURT—Yes, and I suppose from what you state also that it makes
it your duty to advise others, so far as you give any advice at all,
to practise that?
"MR. SMITH—I have not been an adviser, sir, but that is my feeling.
I am not much of a preacher; but my religion is worth everything to
me. As I said before, I could not sacrifice that under any
consideration whatever.
"THE COURT—Well, I have so often stated here from this bench that
polygamy and unlawful cohabitation are crimes under the laws of the
United States that it is hardly worth while to state it again. I
presume you understand that they are both defined as crimes, and you
must realize that you are not to determine what the laws of the
United States are for yourself, contrary to the tribunals selected
to interpret and construe the laws and to enforce them. In view of
your statements the law makes it my duty to impose upon you such a
penalty as may possibly reform you and may tend to deter others from
like crimes against society. The object of this law is to protect
society, and it is my duty to enforce that law so far as the law
gives me my discretion, and use the discretion which I possess so as
to accomplish the purpose and to reach the end intended by the law.
You are sentenced in the penalty of a term of six months, and to pay
a fine of 300 dollars and costs. You will also stand committed until
the fine and costs are paid."
The next defendant was evidently a gentleman of considerable standing in
the city.
"As the name of John Nicholson was called, there was a buzz of
interest which subsided into a breathless silence as that gentleman
stood up under the judge's gaze.
"THE COURT—Mr. Nicholson, I suppose it is hardly necessary for me to
state to you—you are already advised that the jury found you guilty
of the crime of unlawful cohabitation. Have you anything further to
say why sentence of the law should not be pronounced against you?
"MR. NICHOLSON—If your honour please: I will take advantage of the
privilege that the court affords me of stating my position before
the court from my own standpoint. I have been connected with the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for about a quarter of a
century. I accepted its doctrines, including the law that is called
in the church 'celestial marriage,' which includes plurality of
wives. At the time that I entered upon that relationship I had not
the slightest idea that I was infringing upon or acting in
contravention to any law made in pursuance of the constitution of
the country, the supreme law of the land. I entered into that
relation in 1871, and, to give the court an idea of my position in
reference to the law, I will illustrate it by stating that when the
Reynolds case was offered in order to test the constitutionality of
the statute of 1862, enacted against polygamy, at the request of the
defendant in that suit I went upon the stand and testified for the
prosecution that a conviction might be obtained. There is no need
for me to state to your honour that the essence of a crime is the
intent to commit it. There could be no intention on my part to
commit a crime in entering into the relationship which I have
mentioned.
"Years afterwards the Edmunds' law was enacted, which made my status
criminal—that is to say, from my standpoint—my conduct was made by
it _malum prohibitum_, because in my opinion it cannot be made
_malum in se_. That law requires that I should give up a vital
principle of my religion, and discard at least a portion of my
family, and consequently disrupt my family organization.
"This places me, as your honour will perceive, in a very painful
position: because I have a large family, and the ties which bind
them to myself are sacred, and the affection which I entertain for
them is deep, and I do not think that these ties can possibly be
severed by any law of whatever character it may be, or from whatever
source it may spring; because there are sentiments and feelings that
are engendered in the human heart that the law cannot touch. I will
say here, also, that the lady who would have been the principal
witness in this case, had I not testified against myself, stated to
me that she would decline to testify against me, or do anything that
would have the effect of sending me to prison. And now, after such
an exhibition of devotion to me on her part, the bare contemplation
of cutting her adrift is revolting to my soul, and I could not do
it.
"People's ideas differ in regard to what constitutes religion. Some
hold that it is merely sentiment and faith, and does not necessarily
embody action. I differ from this view; and I have always been bold
to express my opinions on every subject without fear, favour, or
hope of reward. I am of the opinion expressed by the Apostle James,
who stated that faith without works is dead. The religion that I
believe in is a religion that finds expression in action.
"I am aware of the attitude of the court, and I presume of the
country, towards the peculiar institution of religion in the Church
with which I am identified, and which I have honestly accepted and
have honestly practised. It is held that this conjugal relationship
threatens the existence of monogamous marriage. must say that,
judging from the attitude of this court, which represents, I
presume, the attitude of the nation, and in view of the assaults
that are made on plural marriage, it appears to me that there is not
very much ground for apprehension of danger in that respect.
"It is also true that some people hold that my relations in a family
capacity are adulterous. From my point of view, however, I have the
consoling reflection that I am in excellent company, including
Moses, the enunciator, under God, of the principles which constitute
the foundation of modern jurisprudence.
"Not to weary the court, I will simply say that my purpose is fixed,
and I hope unalterable. It is, that I shall stand by my allegiance
to God, fidelity to my family, and what I conceive to be my duty to
the constitution of the country, which guarantees the fullest
religious liberty to the citizen.
"I thank your honour for bearing with me, and will now simply
conclude by stating that I am prepared to receive the pleasure of
the court.
"MR. NICHOLSON spoke in a low, but clear and deliberate tone, which
was maintained without variation to the close. The manner, as much
as the matter of his speech, clearly prepossessed all hearers in his
favour, and even the judge was impressed by it."
It will be seen from these examples that there is a strong determination
on the part of the United States' government to root out polygamy, and
there also seems to be an equally firm determination of the Mormons to
stand by this, which they regard as an essential article of faith.
After a long address from the judge, Mr. Nicholson and the other
polygamists received the same sentence as Smith, and were all driven off
to the Penitentiary.
It may be added that a Bill now before Congress is of a still more
stringent character. I quote the following from a recent evening paper:—
"The Bill provides that all marriages in the Territories shall be
certified in writing by the minister and contracting parties,
compels the testimony of the husband or wife of the accused in
prosecutions for polygamy, prescribes punishment for adultery in
Utah, and abolishes the present limitation of prosecutions for
adultery to the complaint of husband or wife. It also abolishes
female suffrage, takes away the general jurisdiction of the Utah
probate courts, and annuls the territorial law about the capacity of
illegitimate children to inherit property. The Bill further attacks
the Mormon Church by giving the President of the United States
authority to appoint trustees to take charge of its temporal
affairs, and annuls the Mormon emigration fund, prohibiting the
re-establishment of any such corporation for importing Mormons, all
funds being forfeited for the benefit of a school fund in Utah."
We paid a visit to the Tabernacle, the Temple, and Assembly Hall. We
were politely received by the superintendent, who showed us round in the
usual way. The wonderful acoustic properties of the Tabernacle, by which
a pin dropped at one end of the great building can be distinctly heard
at the other, were pointed out. I quote the following brief statistics
about these buildings, only remarking that, judged by present
appearances, the Temple is not likely to be completed for many years:—
Tabernacle: This building is 233 feet long, 133 feet wide, and 70
feet high. It has 20 doors of 9 feet wide. In case of an accident an
audience of 10,000 people can be cleared out in a few minutes.
Seating capacity, 12,000.
Temple: The corner-stone was laid April 12th, 1853, and amount
expended in construction to March 12th, 1884, $2,500,000. It is 200
by 800 feet. Height of walls, 100 feet. Middle tower on either end
will be 200 feet high.
Assembly Hall: Dimensions of building, 120 by 68 feet. Seating
capacity, 2,500. Cost, $150,000. Services every Sunday at 2 p.m. The
ceiling is divided off into sixteen panels of different shape and
design, each panel having some fresco painting; one of them is a
rather gaudy-looking historical painting of "The angel Moroni
showing the prophet Joseph where the plates were hid in the hill
Cumorah."
Bee-Hive, Lion, and Gardo Houses: One block east of the Temple, the
latter block now occupied by President John Taylor.
Streets: There are nearly 100 miles of streets in Salt Lake City.
They run with the four points of the compass. Each street is 132
feet wide, including the side-walks, and nearly all are bordered
with shade trees. A small stream of water also flows down each side
of many streets.
Total population of Utah in 1880, 143,965. Population of Salt Lake
City is about 30,000.
Value of Utah's mineral production in 1884 is estimated at
$9,301,508.
Great Salt Lake is nearly 100 miles long by 60 miles wide, with
average depth of 40 feet.
In the afternoon we drove round the city and suburbs, and up to Fort
Douglas, a well-built full-regiment post, situated on a plateau three
miles east of the city. It is well laid out, and the officers' quarters,
in charming little villas embowered in creepers and green foliage, are
exceedingly pleasant to look at.
Our driver was an Englishman, a thirty-years' resident, who had married
a Mormon wife (now dead), but he was careful to tell us that he was and
always had been a Gentile, though for the sake of peace and quietness,
and, in the early days, personal safety, he had duly paid his "tithing."
He prided himself in having driven Hepworth Dixon during his stay here,
and in having "introduced" Lord Carrington to President Taylor! The
stories he volunteered to tell us were perhaps more facetious than
veracious.
I will only add that the city in its outward appearance has left a most
favourable impression on me—it is pleasantly situated at the foot of the
Wasatch Mountains, which rise on the east to a height of from 10,000 to
12,000 feet, and are covered with snow nearly all the year. The city
occupies a series of terraces, and, with its houses half hidden in shade
and fruit-trees, it presents the appearance of a beautiful green oasis
in the midst of a desert.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: CLIFFS OF ECHO CAÑON.]
[Illustration]
LETTER No. XV.
Leave for Cheyenne—"Rock Springs"—Murder of Chinese—Mr. Black's
"Green Pastures" and bottle of champagne—"Hell upon Wheels"—Big
Horn Cowboy and Milord.
_Cheyenne, Oct., 1885._
We left Salt Lake City by the Union Pacific Railway on Wednesday at 7.50
a.m., and we reached Cheyenne at 10.30 a.m. on Thursday. It is
impossible for me to describe or even to mention the many objects of
interest and points of beautiful scenery through which this line passes.
How can one describe in a few hurried words such scenes as those to be
found in "The Echo Cañon," "The Devil's Gate," "The Devil's Gate
Mountain," and "The Devil's Slide"?[6] The makers of this road, or the
early pioneers, seem to have had a great liking for his black majesty,
or they would not have given his name to such splendid scenery.
Footnote 6:
It will be remembered that the Devil has another slide in the
Yellowstone Park.
[Illustration: "THE DEVIL'S SLIDE," WEBER CAÑON.]
About two hundred miles east of Ogden we passed a place called "Rock
Springs," where a number of Chinamen had been brutally massacred by
white miners a week or two before.
Two Chinamen had taken up a white man's "chamber," and when ordered out
the Chinamen went at them with their picks. A general battle ensued, in
which two men were shot. At night their village was set fire to, and it
was said that several Chinamen in trying to escape from the fire were
shot down by the miners, and about fifteen others perished in the
flames.
Soldiers from the nearest fort were sent for, and several miners were
arrested, but it was found impossible to get sufficient evidence to
convict them. The Chinese Consul from Washington had just been there
investigating the brutal affair, and was returning in the same train
with us.
In Mr. William Black's "Green Pastures and Piccadilly" there is an
interesting description of Cheyenne as it was some twelve years ago.
There was a time, not long previous to Mr. Black's visit, when this now
thriving little city had earned for itself the name of "Hell upon
Wheels," and I was told by an inhabitant who lived there then, when the
Union Pacific Railway was being made, and the city comprised a long row
of saloon tents, that bowie knives and six-shooters were freely used in
the settlement of disputes, and that three or four murders a week were
the average, to say nothing of fights with Sioux Indians.
Cheyenne had settled down from these exciting times when Mr. Black
arrived there, and he found "nothing about its outward appearance to
entitle anyone to call it 'Hell on Wheels.'"
"Certainly," he says, "the Cheyenne we saw was far from being an
exciting place; there was not a single corpse lying at any of the
saloon doors, nor any duel being fought in the street."
Of the outskirts of Cheyenne, he says:—
"The odd fashion in which shanties and sheds—with some private
houses here and there—are dotted down anyhow on the plain; their
temporary look; the big advertisements; the desolate and homeless
appearance of the whole place, all serve to recall the dismal scene
that is spread around the Grand Stand on Epsom Downs on the morning
after Derby Day, when the revellers have all returned to town.... We
drove out to a lake which will no doubt form an ornamental feature
in a big park, when the Black Hill miners, gorged with wealth, come
back to make Cheyenne a great city."
Mr. Black will be pleased to know that his prophecy has been, to some
extent, fulfilled.
Cheyenne is now a most pleasant city. The big park has been formed; the
streets are broad, and lined with trees; the houses are well-built;
there are stores there which would almost rival Whiteley's or
Shoolbred's in the magnitude and variety of their contents, and perhaps
surpass them in their outward appearance. The outskirts are now dotted,
I might rather say crowded, with very charming "Queen Anne" villas,
surrounded by well-laid-out lawns, flower-beds, and creeping foliage,
reminding one not so much of Epsom Downs, as of that æsthetic suburb of
London known as Bedford Park, only that the houses are larger and better
built, and in their furniture display an exuberance of wealth and good
taste. There are two fine hotels, several churches and chapels, and a
delightful little club-house, where we were most hospitably entertained.
I may add that the place has none of the appearance of vulgar show which
"Black Hill miners, gorged with wealth," might be supposed to have given
to it; on the contrary, it has an air of quiet respectability not to be
seen in many other western cities. The inhabitants are well-educated
people, musical and social, and amongst them is a large community of
well-bred English people.
As I have a personal interest in the matter, I will venture to give
another extract from "Green Pastures and Piccadilly."
Mr. Black says that—
"As he was unanimously requested by his party to pay a tribute of
gratitude to the clean and comfortable inn at the station, he must
now do so; only he must also confess that he was bribed, for the
good-natured landlord was pleased, as we sat at supper, to send in
to us, with his compliments, a bottle of real French champagne. Good
actions should never go unrewarded; so the gentle reader is most
earnestly entreated, the first time he goes to Cheyenne, to stay at
this inn and give large orders. Moreover, the present writer not
wishing to have his conduct in this particular regarded as being too
mercenary, would wish to explain that the bottle of champagne in
question was, as was subsequently discovered, charged for in the
bill and honestly paid for too; but he cannot allow the landlord to
be deprived of all credit for his hospitable intentions merely on
account of an error on the part of the clerk."
Just before I left England, and knowing that I contemplated a visit to
the Rockies, Mr. Black was good enough to request me to look into his
book and to see, from the circumstances, as quoted above, whether I was
not fairly entitled to have that bottle of champagne produced: he also
desired me to present his compliments to a "very pretty Scotch lassie"
at the hotel.
Of course I pursued the inquiry; I had by chance stayed at this very
hotel, but I ascertained, alas! that poor old Jones, the good-natured
landlord, had long since made his pile in the good old times when he
could charge crowds of passengers a dollar and a half for their meals
instead of (as now) seventy-five cents only: had retired to a farm
somewhere in Idaho; had died, and left an enormous fortune to his widow.
I may also inform Mr. Black that "the pretty Scotch lassie" is now the
mother of a large family somewhere up in the mountains.
The inn has become the property of the Union Pacific, and is, in fact,
one of the dining stations of that enterprising company. I regret to say
that the intelligent and civil manager, though perfectly acquainted with
the circumstances (through having read "Green Pastures" in a ten cent
edition), did not feel it to be a part of his duty to his employers to
hand over to me the bottle of champagne, notwithstanding the credentials
I presented. He did not, however, raise the slightest objection when I
invited him to join me and my friend M. in drinking to the health of the
writer of "Green Pastures," to the wealthy widow of the departed Jones,
and to "the pretty Scotch lassie," wherever she may be.
A local newspaper thus, somewhat erroneously, recorded our visit to this
city:—
"A. B. and C. D., two Englishmen who have been travelling around the
world, stopped off yesterday morning, and are guests at The Pacific.
They had letters of introduction to Jones(!), the former landlord of
the hotel, and had been told that Cheyenne was 'Hell on Wheels.'
They are disappointed."
In these western parts it is a dangerous thing sometimes to refuse a
"drink," and to offer to pay for it is a mortal offence. I was told that
in Cheyenne even the cowboys, with their big whips, broad-brimmed felt
hats, and hip-joint boots, were a superior, well-educated class, who had
a large reading-room, crowded of an evening with men who could hold
their own on any subject, political, social, or literary; and that there
were among them good mathematicians, and even classical scholars.
The following cutting from "The Cheyenne Democrat" exhibits the cowboy
in another light:—
"HE DRANK.
"MILORD HAS AN ADVENTURE WITH A BIG HORN COWBOY AND A BIG HORN.
"Editor Becker, of the Big Horn 'Sentinel,' tells a good story of a
nobby and snobby milord, of British extraction, who travelled from
Big Horn with him and Abe Idelman on the stage-coach early this
week. Milord was excessively exclusive. He wouldn't be social, and
spoke to no one except the two 'John Henry' servants he had with
him, and was altogether as unpleasant as his snobbishness could make
him. At a dinner station there were a lot of jolly cowboys on a
lark, and one of them 'treating' everybody asked the Englishman to
drink. Of course, milord haughtily refused. The cowboy displayed a
dangerous-looking six-shooter, and very impressively insisted on his
drinking.
"'But I cawn't, you know. I don't drink, you know,' was milord's
reply.
"Mr. Cowboy brought the muzzle in dangerous proximity to the knot in
which milord's brains were supposed to lie hidden somewhere, and
then he said he'd drink—he'd take soda water, you know.
"'Soda water nuthin,' said Mr. Cowboy. 'You'll take straight
whiskey.'
"'But, aw, this American whiskey, I cawn't swallow it, you know.'
"'Well,' said the cowboy, 'I'll make a hole in the side of your head
so that we can pour it in,' and he began to draw down on milord, and
milord said—
"'Aw, that'll do; I'll drink it.'
"Then the cowboy invited milord's servants to drink, which horrified
him.
"'They don't drink, you know,' he said.
"'Well, we'll see whether they do or not,' said Mr. Cowboy. 'The
chances are you don't give 'em a "hopportunity." Come up here, you
fellows, and guzzle some,' and the two 'John Henrys,' with a little
show of reluctance, but really glad to get a drink, came up, and the
cowboy passed a tumbler full of torchlight procession whiskey for
milord, and the servants poured for themselves. Then the cowboy made
the 'John Henrys' clink glasses with milord, and all drank, and
there was great fun. Milord tried after that to be very jolly, and
the stimulant assisted him decidedly. But in the coach he fell back
into his exclusiveness and retained it throughout, and has probably
got it yet.
"Now the fact is that, abstractly, the cowboy was wrong in forcing a
man to drink who had no desire to do so. But, on the other hand,
snobbishness is not the proper thing in this country, and sensible
men generally try, while in Rome, to do as Rome does. At any rate,
they don't make themselves offensive to the country in which they
are travelling."
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
LETTER No. XVI.
We leave Cheyenne—Arrival at Omaha—The barber's shop—Narrow escape
from having my head shaved—Arrival at Chicago—Niagara Falls.
_New York, Nov., 1885._
I have already told you that I am not writing a book of travels, but
merely recording my impressions by the way; these have already occupied
far more space than I had ever contemplated, and as we are now
approaching the more beaten tracks of civilization, I will hasten on to
a conclusion.
We left Cheyenne on Friday morning at 10.30, and after a continuous run
of 516 miles, we "stopped off" at Omaha for a few hours at 10.30 on
Saturday morning. Omaha is a great rambling city of 60,000 inhabitants
on the western bank of the Missouri. Council Bluffs is an equally
flourishing city on the eastern bank.
My chief recollection of Omaha is the barber's shop whither I went to
get shaved. I had tried to shave myself in the train, but had contrived
instead to gash my cheek sufficiently to cause much bloodshed. When the
barber had finished shaving me, I asked him just to trim my hair the
least bit in the world. He was an hour and a quarter over the job, and
as I had been travelling continuously for twenty-four hours with little
or no sleep, I fell asleep under his hands. Luckily, I was woke up by an
unusual tickling at the back of my head; he was lathering me there, and
I am quite sure he meant to shave the whole of my head.
"Confound it," I shouted; "what are you doing?"
"I was only going to shave the back of your head," he said.
I found to my horror that my whiskers had entirely disappeared, and he
had not only cut my hair as closely as it could be cut with a pair of
scissors, but he had run it over with a sort of small horse-clipper. I
caught him in time to stop the further operation of shaving. Judging by
the many naked polls I afterwards saw in the hotel, I concluded that it
is the fashion in Omaha to go about with your head shaved. It is a
compliment, I suppose, which those who have hair pay to the bald-headed
ones.
The Omaha barber has quite destroyed the youthful appearance which I
flattered myself I had acquired since I have been travelling on this
Continent.
My friend M., when I came out of that terrible barber's hands, passed me
by without knowing me; and when at last he began to have a suspicion
that the bald individual before him was I, he exclaimed, "What on earth
have you been doing? An hour and a quarter of our precious time have you
wasted in that barber's shop, and you come out like a bald-headed boiled
lobster. Our friends in Chicago, Boston, and New York certainly won't
know you."
Time the destroyer is also a happy restorer, and now while I am writing,
a fortnight after the event, my whiskers have already given indication
of a returning crop, and my hair has grown long enough to enable me to
identify myself. I trust that after the sea voyage, and when I get home,
my wife will also be able to identify me. The rascal charged me
seventy-five cents (three shillings) for this personal disfigurement.
I was very glad to get away from Omaha the same day at 5.30 p.m. We
travelled by the Chicago and Rock Island line, and we reached Chicago, a
distance of 500 miles, the next afternoon at three o'clock.
On Monday it rained in torrents all day, and Tuesday was not much
better. On Tuesday night at 8.40 I started for Boston, leaving my friend
M. behind for two or three days. This was the first time we had
separated since we started together from Euston on our outward journey.
The line I now travelled on was "The Michigan Central." About seven
o'clock next morning we reached Niagara, where the train stopped a few
minutes to give us a look at "The Falls."
As I have no more superlative adjectives left in my vocabulary, I will
tell you what the "Michigan Central" has to say about Niagara. It far
surpasses my most sublime efforts.
"THE NIAGARA FALLS ROUTE.
"'So long as the waters of that mighty river thunder down to the
awful depths below, so long as the rush and roar, the surge and
foam, and prismatic spray of nature's cataphractic masterpiece
remain to delight and awe the human soul, thousands and tens of
thousands of beauty-lovers and grandeur-worshippers will journey
over the only railroad from which it can be seen. _There is but one
Niagara Falls on earth, and but one direct great railway to it._'
"Trains stop at Falls View, near the brink of the Horseshoe Fall,
where the finest view is obtainable without leaving the cars, cross
the gorge of Niagara river on the great steel, double-track
Cantilever Bridge, the greatest triumph of modern engineering, and
connect in Union Depots, at Niagara Falls and Buffalo with the New
York Central and Hudson River, the only four-track railroad in the
world."
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
CONCLUSION.
_Home, Dec. 9, 1885._
There is no place like home, after all. On reaching Boston, I felt more
like being at home than I had ever felt since I left my own country.
Boston resembles an old English city more than any other town I have yet
visited in America.
It is, however, no part of my plan to describe the "Hub." I think it is
Benjamin Disraeli who says somewhere that "description is always a bore
both to the describer and the describee," and I have sinned enough in
this direction already; nor have I any desire to make intrusive and
impertinent remarks about the inhabitants. I will only say that the few
days I spent in Boston were made very pleasant by the most courteous and
unostentatious hospitality.
From the classic city I passed on to the Empire City, as New York is
sometimes called. I was told long before I left England by warmhearted
friends in New York that if I ever visited that city their utmost should
be done "to impair my digestion!" They did their best, and I hereby
declare my gratitude to them for their generous intentions. Suffice it
to say that I eventually got away from them with no more serious injury
than could be cured by a few days' tossing and rolling on the broad
Atlantic.
Our passage was even rougher and more trying on the whole than the
outward passage had been, but we did not mind that; for were we not
homeward bound?
I have now been at home about three weeks, and I am already beginning to
doubt whether it is an actual fact that such a stay-at-home old fixture
as I have always been, could, within the last four months, have
travelled something like fourteen thousand miles by land and sea! I am
inclined to regard that great land of my pilgrimage as altogether
"The land of vision; it would seem
A still, an everlasting dream!"
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
APPENDIX.
The following information is supplied by the Northern Pacific Railroad
Company.
HOW TO OBTAIN GOVERNMENT LAND.
There are over 40,000,000 acres of the best Government lands in America
located in the extremely fertile regions of Minnesota, North Dakota,
Montana, Northern Idaho, Washington, and Oregon, and traversed by the
Northern Pacific Railroad, open for occupancy by actual settlers. The
laws of the United States provide that citizens of the United States, or
persons who have declared their intention to become such, can obtain
lands as follows:
PRE-EMPTIONS.
Heads of families, widows or single persons (male or female) over the
age of twenty-one years, who are citizens of the United States, or who
have declared their intention to become such under the naturalization
laws, may enter upon any "offered" or "unoffered" lands belonging to the
United States, or any unsurveyed lands to which the Indian title has
been extinguished, outside of the limits of any land grant, and purchase
not exceeding 160 acres under the pre-emption laws. If the tract is
"offered" land, the settler must file his "declaratory statement" in the
United States District Land Office within thirty days after making
settlement; and within one year from the date of settlement he must make
proof of actual residence on and cultivation of the land, and thereupon
purchase the same at $1.25 per acre, if outside of the limits of a
railroad land grant, and at $2.50 per acre if within railroad land grant
limits. If the tract is "unoffered" land, the settler must file his
"declaratory statement" within three months from the date of settlement,
and make final proof and payment within thirty-three months from the
date of settlement. If the tract is unsurveyed land, the declaratory
statement must be filed within three months after the approved plat of
the township is received at the United States District Land Office, and
final proof and payment must be made within thirty months after the
expiration of the said three months. A pre-emptor may submit proofs of
continuous residence at any time after six months from the date of
settlement, and obtain title to his land. The settler in possession of a
valid pre-emption claim may, at any time, convert his pre-emption claim
into a homestead. No person who abandons his residence upon land of his
own (not a town lot) to reside upon public lands in the same state or
territory, or who owns 320 acres of land in any state or territory, is
entitled to the benefits of the pre-emption laws.
HOMESTEADS.
Any person who is the head of a family, or who has arrived at the age of
twenty-one years, and is a citizen of the United States, or has filed
his declaration of intention to become such, is entitled to enter
one-quarter section, or less quantity of unappropriated public land,
under the homestead laws. The applicant must make affidavit that he is
entitled to the privileges of the homestead act, and that the entry is
made for his exclusive use and benefit, and for actual settlement and
cultivation, and must pay the legal fee and that part of the commissions
required as follows: Fee for 160 acres, $10; commission, $4 to $12; fee
for eighty acres, $5; commission, $2 to $6. Within six months from the
date of entry, the settler must take up his residence upon the land, and
reside thereupon and cultivate the same for five years continuously. At
the expiration of this period, or within two years thereafter, proof of
residence and cultivation must be established by four witnesses. The
proof of settlement with the certificate of the Registrar of the Land
Office is forwarded to the General Land Office at Washington, from which
patent is issued. Final proof cannot be made until the expiration of
five years from date of entry, and must be made within seven years. The
Government recognizes no sale of a homestead claim. A homestead settler
may at any time purchase the land under the pre-emption laws if desired,
upon making proof of settlement and cultivation for a period of not less
than six months from the date of entry to the time of purchase. The law
allows only one homestead privilege to any one person.
TIMBER CULTURE CLAIMS.
Under the timber culture laws, public lands naturally devoid of timber
may be acquired by planting trees thereon, and keeping the same in a
healthy, growing condition for eight years. Not more than 160 acres in
any one section can be entered, and no person can enter more than 160
acres or make more than one entry under these laws. An applicant must be
the head of a family or twenty-one years of age, and a citizen of the
United States, or he must have filed his declaration of intention to
become a citizen, as required by the naturalization laws. The Land
Office fee for an entry of more than 80 acres is $14; and for 80 acres
or less, $9; and $4 when final proof is made. Land to be entered must be
entirely devoid of timber. In order to acquire 160 acres of land, 10
acres must be cultivated and planted with trees; 5 acres must be
cultivated and planted with trees to acquire any legal subdivision of 80
acres; and 2½ acres to acquire any legal subdivision of 40 acres or
less. The person making entry of 160 acres is required to break or
plough five acres during the first year, and five acres during the
second year. The five acres broken or ploughed during the first year
must be cultivated to crop or otherwise during the second year, and be
planted to timber during the third year. The five acres broken or
ploughed the second year must be cultivated the third year, and planted
to timber the fourth year. For entries of less than 160 acres, a
proportionate number of acres must be ploughed, planted, cultivated and
planted to trees. These trees must be cultivated and protected for not
less than eight years; and at the expiration of that period, or within
five years thereafter, proof must be made by the claimant and two
credible witnesses, showing that there were at the time of making such
proof at least 675 living, thrifty trees on each of the ten acres
required to be planted; also that not less than 2,700 trees were planted
on each of the ten acres. Fruit-trees are not considered timber, within
the meaning of this act. Title cannot be obtained prior to the
expiration of eight years, and final proof must be made within five
years after the expiration of the said eight years.
DESERT LAND.
Any person who is a citizen of the United States, or any person of
requisite age who may be entitled to become a citizen, and who has filed
his declaration to become such, may file his oath with the Registrar and
Receiver of the Land Office in the district in which any desert land is
located, that he intends to reclaim, not exceeding one section of said
land, by conducting water upon it, within three years; and by paying to
the Receiver twenty-five cents, per acre for all the land claimed, such
person may enter said land under the desert land act. At any time within
three years a patent can be obtained by making proof that he has
reclaimed said land, and paying the additional sum of $1 per acre. No
person can enter more than one tract of land, and not to exceed 640
acres, which shall be in a compact form. This act applies to desert
lands in Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon.
Desert lands are defined by this act to be all lands, exclusive of
mineral and timber lands, which will not without irrigation produce some
agricultural crop.
[Illustration]
The above is a diagram of a township, with sections numbered according
to government surveys.
A township is 6 miles square and contains 36 square miles, or 36
sections, each section being 1 mile square, and containing 640 acres of
land.
A quarter section is one-half mile square, 160 acres. An acre of land is
208.71 feet square, and contains 43,560 square feet. Sections 16 and 36
in Dakota, Montana, and Washington are reserved for school purposes.
GOVERNMENT LAND OFFICES
_In Districts tributary to the Northern Pacific Railroad and Allied
Lines._
─────────────┬─────────────┬─────────────┬─────────────┬─────────────
Minnesota. │ Dakota. │ Montana. │ Washington. │ Oregon.
─────────────┼─────────────┼─────────────┼─────────────┼─────────────
St. Cloud. │Fargo. │Miles City. │Olympia. │Oregon City.
Fergus Falls.│Grand Forks. │Bozeman. │Vancouver. │Roseburg.
Crookston. │Bismarck. │Helena. │Walla Walla. │La Grande.
Duluth. │—————————————│—————————————│Spokane │Lake View.
│ │ │Falls. │
Taylor's │ Lewiston, Idaho Ty. │North Yakima.│The Dalles.
Falls. │ │ │
─────────────┴───────────────────────────┴─────────────┴─────────────
The following diagram shows the difference of time on the American
continent:—
[Illustration: ☞ E before figures denotes time of Eastern trains W time
of Western Trains.]
INFORMATION FOR SETTLERS
IN THE
NORTHERN PACIFIC COUNTRY.
Giving Suggestions relating to Farming Implements, Fuel, Animals,
Household Goods, Lumber, Breaking New Prairie, Location of
Markets, and other valuable Information.
The best time to come to the NORTHERN PACIFIC COUNTRY is in the
spring, but farmers can come to this favoured region at any season,
properly outfitted, and in a short time acquire a comfortable and
prosperous home.
The breaking season extends from about May 15th to July 15th. Three
horses or mules, or two yoke of oxen, constitutes a good breaking
team for a sulky or walking plough.
Sowing grain commences as soon as the frost is out of the ground to
the depth of a few inches. The work is generally begun about April
1st, and completed in 10 to 15 days. Some years the grain can be put
in as early as March 20th.
Good farm horses can be bought at from $100 to $150, according to
size, &c. Cows are worth from $25 to $40 each, and working oxen from
$90 to $125 per yoke. Standard makes of farm wagons cost $60.
Breaking costs, usually, from .50 to $3.00 per acre, and
back-setting $1.50 to $1.75. The settler opening a new farm can
always find plenty of work among his neighbours, after he has done
his own breaking and back-setting, and cut his hay. He can raise an
abundance of vegetables from the sod the first year. From 150 to 200
bushels potatoes, and from 25 to 45 bushels of oats can be raised on
the sod the first year. Good common lumber ranges from $20 to $25
per thousand along the line of the railroad. Car load lots, for
settlers, are carried by the railroad at the same rates given to
dealers. A good house can be built for $350 to $700. Household
goods, farm implements and working stock can be bought at reasonable
prices at St. Paul and Minneapolis, and at various points along the
road.
Liberal provision is made by law for schools, and, in the towns and
country settlements, school-houses and churches of the several
denominations abound. The people who come to this country believe in
these institutions.
There is an abundance of cheap fuel supplied from the great
coalfields of North Dakota and Montana, and also from the extensive
forests of Northern Minnesota, Western Montana, Northern Idaho,
Washington, and Oregon. Good water abounds all along the line of the
Northern Pacific Railroad.
There is a combination of soil and climate in the Northern Pacific
country which makes it the most reliable and productive wheat region
in the world, and in no other section of the United States have
there been, for so many consecutive years, such bountiful crops. It
is as healthy a country as there is in America. There is always a
market for farm products at good prices. Quick and cheap
transportation is afforded by the lake port at Duluth, or by rail
direct, to the great markets of the world; while the numerous mining
camps in the RICH GOLD AND SILVER SECTION through which the Northern
Pacific Railroad passes, afford a western market at good prices. The
United States Government is also a large purchaser of oats, hay and
provisions in North Dakota and Montana for use at the various
military posts. The immense flouring mills at Minneapolis and other
points, which grind over 24,000,000 bushels of wheat a year, are
active bidders for the "No. 1 Hard" spring wheat grown along the
Northern Pacific. The great wheat belt which produces the celebrated
hard spring wheat—Scotch Fife—which is acknowledged to be superior
to any other variety grown, is traversed by the Northern Pacific
Railroad for a distance of over 600 miles, through Northern
Minnesota and North Dakota.
Reduced rates of fare are given land seekers, and reduced rates of
fare and freight to settlers in North Dakota.
Settlers will find people of their own nationality in the country
along the Railroad, and the Land Department employs Norwegian,
Swedish and German agents, who are ready to meet emigrants and give
them all needed information and assistance.
There are splendid openings in this new and rapidly developing
country for carpenters, painters, blacksmiths, plumbers, shoemakers,
tailors, harness-makers, and workers at all other trades.
It costs more per acre for manure, lime and other fertilizers
annually on many of the eastern farms than the best wheat lands in
the Northern Pacific country cost per acre.
* * * * *
=FREE!= For Maps and Descriptive Publications, SENT FREE OF CHARGE, and
for all information relating to lands and the Northern Pacific Country,
apply to or address
P. B. GROAT, or CHAS. B. LAMBORN,
General Emigration Agent, Land Commissioner,
ST. PAUL, MINN. ST. PAUL, MINN.
THE BEST HOMES
For 10,000,000 People now await occupancy in Minnesota, North Dakota,
Montana, Northern Idaho, Washington, and Oregon.
THE GREAT NEW NORTHERN PACIFIC COUNTRY.
[Sidenote: 2,000,000 Families
10,000,000 Souls!]
Of the Great Population—no man can predict how great it will
become—which will soon inhabit this vast region, the new comers from the
older States will become the first families, and leaders, socially and
politically, in this newly opened section of the United States. They
will all become prosperous, and many will acquire fortunes in a short
period, by turning the vast wheat-producing lands, ready for the plough,
into productive farms; by stock-raising, on the immense grazing ranges;
by developing the resources of the extensive forests and mineral
districts; by engaging in various trades and manufacturing enterprises;
and by investments in the thriving new towns and other property in the
vast region opened for settlement all along the line of the
NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD.
[Sidenote: =LANDS!=]
Millions and Millions of Acres of low-priced Lands for sale by the
Northern Pacific Railroad Company on Easy Terms, and an equal amount of
Government lands lying in alternate sections with the railroad land, are
offered free to settlers, under the Homestead, Preemption and Tree
Culture laws.
TERMS OF SALE OF NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD LANDS.
Agricultural lands of the Company east of the Missouri River, in
Minnesota and North Dakota, are sold chiefly at from $4.00 to $5.00 per
acre, Grazing lands at from $3.00 to $4.00 per acre; and the preferred
stock of the Company will be received at par in payment. When lands are
purchased on five years' time, one-sixth stock or cash is required at
time of purchase, and the balance in five equal annual payments in stock
or cash, with interest at 7 per cent.
The price of agricultural lands in North Dakota west of the Missouri
River, ranges chiefly from $3.00 to $3.50 per acre, and Grazing lands
from $2.00 to $2.50 per acre. In Montana the price ranges chiefly from
$3.00 to $5.00 per acre for Agricultural lands, and from $1.25 to $2.50
per acre for Grazing lands. If purchased on five years' time one-sixth
cash, and the balance in five equal annual cash payments, with interest
at 7 per cent. per annum.
The price of agricultural lands in Washington and Oregon ranges chiefly
from $2.60 to $6.00 per acre. If purchased on five years' time,
one-fifth cash. At end of first year the interest only on the unpaid
amount. One-fifth of principal and interest due at end of next four
years. Interest at 7 per cent. per annum.
=On ten years' time.=—Actual settlers can purchase not to exceed 320
acres of Agricultural land in Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho,
Washington, and Oregon on ten years' time at 7 per cent. interest,
one-tenth cash at time of purchase and balance in nine equal annual
payments, beginning at the end of the second year. At the end of the
first year the interest only is required to be paid. Purchasers on the
ten-year credit plan are required to settle on the land purchased and to
cultivate and improve the same.
* * * * *
=FREE!= For Maps and Descriptive Publications, SENT FREE OF CHARGE, and
for all information relating to lands and the Northern Pacific Country,
apply to or address
P. B. GROAT, or CHAS. B. LAMBORN,
General Emigration Agent, Land Commissioner,
ST. PAUL, MINN. ST. PAUL, MINN.
AN AMATEUR ANGLER'S DAYS IN DOVE DALE.
BEING AN ACCOUNT OF MY THREE WEEKS HOLIDAY IN JULY AND AUGUST, 1884.
_Imp. 32mo. fancy boards, 1s.; limp leather-cloth, gilt edges, 1s. 6d._
⁂ _Also a Large Paper Edition, printed on hand-made paper parchment
binding, price 5s._ (_all sold_).
OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.
=The Athenæum= says:—"This is an amusing little book, written with
much brightness and considerable literary skill."
=The Standard=, _Dec. 24, 1884_:—"It is written in an exceptionally
bright and genial style ... his writings bespeak an intense love of
Nature and a keen power of observation. A strong vein of quiet
humour runs through the volume, mingled with thoughts sometimes
serious, sometimes playful. Altogether it is one of the most
pleasantly written little books which we have read for a long time."
=The Daily News= says:—"Herein is the charm of the book.... For an
amateur, he certainly saturates you thoroughly with true Dove Dale
flavour."
=The Pall Mall Gazette=:—"This is a pleasant book to read 'now that
the fields are dank and ways are mire.'"
=The World= says:—"Not merely by brethren of the rod, but by all who
appreciate Nature in her prettiest haunts it will be found pleasant
reading."
=The Illustrated News= says:—"This charming bit of personal
narrative ... will certainly be preserved on many a shelf where
Izaak Walton and Charles Cotton hold the most honoured place."
=The Graphic= says:—"Written in a charming spirit, with plenty of
quiet humour in it."
=Harper's Magazine=, _Jan. 1885_:—"He is _serus stud orum_, he is
only learning to fish, but he can write, and has made a very
charming though brief addition to angling literature."
=The Field= says:—"Anyhow, the result of 'The Dove Dale Holidays' is
a delightful pocket companion.... The principal charm of the little
work is that it will be equally interesting to anglers and
non-anglers."
=The St. James's Gazette=:—"Every page of it is good—a bright little
volume. Worthy of gracious acceptance from all sorts and conditions
of readers."
=The Daily Telegraph=:—"The fisherman, who must be as pleasant a
companion by the waterside, as he is genial as an author, tells us
how he spent three weeks' holidays, &c.... may employ very
pleasantly half-an-hour of any angler's time."
=The Guardian=, _Nov. 19_, says:—"Tells in a very pleasant fashion
how a delightful three weeks' holiday may be spent in beautiful Dove
Dale."
=Glasgow Herald=:—"Decidedly interesting and amusing. It is
gracefully and lightly written ... he tells the story ... with much
quiet and quaint humour.... No angler should be without this
excellent little book."
=The Whitehall Review=:—"This is one of the most charming little
books we have met with for some time."
=The St. Stephen's Review=:—"No more charming little work than this
has been published for many a day."
=Army and Navy Gazette=:—"A very pleasant little book."
=Daily Chronicle=:—"An entertaining little book."
=Civil Service Gazette=:—"This charming and interesting little
book."
=The Bookseller=:—"A dainty little volume.... The author tells in a
most charmingly simple style.... There is much quiet humour in the
book.... The dedication is a little gem in its way."
=The Literary World=:—"Others besides anglers will read with
interest this pleasant record of a holiday."
=The Sunday Times= says:—"One of those charming little
_quasi-extempore_ books.... We have enjoyed a very pleasant hour in
reading."
=The Publishers' Circular=:—"All lovers of this picturesque scenery
will welcome this fresh and natural tribute to its merits."
=Lloyd's Weekly=:—"A genial, pleasant little book, written in the
happiest vein."
=The Derby Mercury= says:—"We have read no pleasanter book of its
kind.... Always genial, sometimes humorous, sometimes thoughtful,
sometimes playful, and invariably readable, displaying, though
without parade, the signs of considerable culture."
=Exeter and Plymouth Gazette=:—"This is not the sort of bookmaker
that the critic impales upon his hook. We hail him as the pleasant
companion whose pleasant chat and merry companionship will beguile
the hot hours," &c.
=The Weekly Dispatch=:—"A dainty little book by a disciple of Izaak
Walton, who shows himself not unworthy to be named with his master,
alike for steady handling of a line and for rambling use of a neat
pen. He gossips pleasantly about the ins and outs of a corner of
Derbyshire."
=Land and Water=:—"This is a very charming little book.... One of
the brightest which we have read for many a long day, and we look
forward to the publication of some more letters from the author."
=Spectator=:—"He seems to have got a good deal of pleasure out of
his fishing; and something of this he is good enough to communicate
to his readers."
=The Banner=:—"Tells most charmingly his successes as well as his
failures."
=Decoration=:—"Out of very slight materials, by sheer charm of
style, the author has succeeded in making a very fascinating
book.... The author shows a cultured taste."
=Warrington Guardian=:—"An entertaining series of sketches."
=Bath Herald=:—"His descriptions of scenery and places of note are
forcible without being laboured."
=Western Daily Mercury=:—"He is a more skilled handler of the pen
than the rod, and his letters will be read with a great deal of
pleasure, whether by anglers or by lovers of the picturesque in
nature."
LONDON:
SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, SEARLE, & RIVINGTON,
CROWN BUILDINGS, 188, FLEET STREET, E C.
ON READING "DAYS IN DOVEDALE BY AN AMATEUR ANGLER."
I.
Cheery, chatty, breezy booklet,
Breathing scents of wilding flowers,
Cool and clear as mountain brooklet,
Yet diffusing warmth of sunshine
Thro' these wintry hours;
II.
Whence the power thy artless pages
Have to soothe my weary brain,
Killing cares that Wisdom's sages,
Plying philosophic maxims,
Reason with in vain?
III.
Hence:—because, like him thou ownest
With such modest grace, thy king,[7]
To the heart that's saddest, lonest,
Needing healing, thou dost simply
Nature's simples bring.
IV.
Nature's simples, God's specific,
Pure and sweet as Cana's wine,
Flowing from His hand benefic,
Fresh, by art left uncorrupted,
Living blood of vine!—
V.
Making glad man's heart and lifting
From it all its weight of care,
Till its sorrows seem like drifting
Clouds that fly before the rising
Of a mountain air.
VI.
Thanks for such a breeze, O writer,
Blown from thy pure page to-night!
Night without its darkness, brighter
Far than common days, for with thee
I have walked in light;
VII.
Shared thy hope whilst thou hast angled,
Nor could help a laugh, to see
All thy woes with line entangled,
All thy flyless whippings, and thy
Flight from angry bee!
VIII.
Felt a sympathetic sadness
With thy disappointments: seen
With delight that sight of gladness—
Age and infancy together
Romping on the green!
IX.
O, with Lorna and with Alice,
Far from stir and strife of men,
Rod in hand, refill thy chalice
In the dales of Dove, and often
Prythee write again!
COTSWOLD ISYS.
Footnote 7:
Izaak Walton.
_Jun 16th, 1885._
[Illustration]
CHISWICK PRESS:—C. WHITTINGHAM AND CO.
TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE.
TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES
1. Added missing PART I on p. 1.
2. Corrected quelch to gulch on p. 30.
3. Corrected cataractic to cataphractic on p. 201.
4. Silently corrected simple spelling, grammar, and typographical
errors.
5. Retained anachronistic and non-standard spellings as printed.
6. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.
7. Enclosed bold font in =equals=.