Seventy Years on the Frontier Part 22

"In 1880 our exports of fruit brought us probably about $700,000, while they now amount to about $20,000,000. This wonderful result has brought with it what is above all computation, to wit: the demonstration that fruit-growing in this State is very profitable, and is almost absolutely safe from frosts and other drawbacks, and has practically no limit."

CHAPTER x.x.xIX.

COLORADO.

It is a mistake to believe that, because Colorado has a high elevation, the mercury in the thermometer drops down below zero in the winter season and stops there, and that the snow mounts up with the alt.i.tude.

The fact is that the average precipitation of moisture at Denver during the entire year is only 14.77 inches. With such a slight precipitation there is practically no danger of snow blockades on the railroads, save at a few points exposed to drifts, and these points have been amply protected. This is especially true of the through line of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad from Denver to Salt Lake City and Ogden.

Facts speak louder than words, and the fact is that travel over "the Scenic Line of the World" has gone on with less interruption from snow during the last five winters than it has on the plains lines, which are popularly supposed to be more free from such delays than the mountain systems.

A winter's residence in Colorado will banish forever the false impression that this is a boreal region, given over to inclemency and snow-drifts. There is more suns.h.i.+ne in Colorado than in Florida; there is less snow than in any State east of the Missouri River. A single trip over the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad from Denver to Ogden, in midwinter, will disabuse the mind of the tourist or transcontinental traveler of the erroneous notion that mountain railroads suffer from delays by snow to any greater extent than do the trains upon the less attractive, and by far more bleak, plains.

The glories and pleasures of a summer trip by rail through the Rocky Mountains have been lauded _ad infinitum_, and, indeed, too much can not be said in this direction; but winter adds new grandeur to the scene, lends a new charm to the ma.s.sive bulwarks of the gigantic ranges, and introduces a new element of variety and beauty to these unsurpa.s.sed and unsurpa.s.sable wonders of nature. These sights can be enjoyed, these wonders witnessed, with no dangers of delay and no antic.i.p.ation of vexatious detentions. There are those, however, who, knowing that the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad climbs great pa.s.ses over the mountains, are apprehensive of snow blockades at these points. Here facts come to the rescue. The trains are not delayed, for the exposed places of this character have been amply protected, and the experiences of years prove that delay of trains from snow is a rarer event on this mountain-climbing system than on the level, and in fact more exposed, lines of the East.

For the benefit of those who are unacquainted with the peculiarity of the mountain-base climate, it may be well to mention some of its characteristics. In summer the days are seldom hot, and it is rare to see the thermometer reach 90 at Manitou. The farther one moves eastward from the foot-hills, the greater are to be found the extremes of temperature. Omaha, although much lower in elevation, experiences far greater extremes of heat and cold.

In the dry air of the Colorado plateau the feeling of heat and cold is much less marked. One is not oppressed at all by a temperature of 90, nor does almost any amount of cold produce the chilliness in the open air, which is really the distressing and objectionable feature of a low temperature. The nights in summer are always cool and refres.h.i.+ng.

It must not be supposed that the climate of Colorado is an equable one, or that there is a distinct dry and rainy season, as in California and on the Pacific Coast. The contrary is true. The diurnal range of temperature, as in all high countries, is great; and there are rains throughout the warm parts of the year and snows in winter, but both are moderate in quant.i.ty.

A glance at the reports compiled by the United States Signal Service shows the remarkable fact that 340 out of 365 were "sunny days" in Colorado.

It is not necessary to add an elaborate argument. The conclusion is self-evident and inevitable. The winter climate of Colorado, on the whole, presents advantages for the invalid and the pleasure-seeker that can not fail to command attention. The Denver & Rio Grande is not alone a summer road. Its trains run on schedule time all the year round, and give to the travelling public all the comforts, conveniences, elegancies, and luxuries to be found on any line, with the added attraction of scenery the grandest in the world.

Climate and health go together so closely a.s.sociated that they have become almost synonymous terms. So beneficial have been found the climatic influences of Colorado that her fame as a sanitarium has become world-wide, and this reputation has been so well-founded in recent years that thousands of people from all parts of America and Europe--from many parts of the world, in fact--are now coming annually to Colorado for recuperation or permanent residence. The dryness and lightness of the air, and its invigorating character, together with the almost constant prevalence of suns.h.i.+ne, impart new energy to the well and a fresh lease of life to those whose const.i.tutions are impaired. All the conditions of life to the newcomer in Colorado are fresh and inspiring, and even wasted and shattered const.i.tutions are restored to vigor. This is ill.u.s.trated daily by the experiences of thousands who have sought the benign influences of Colorado climate with scarcely a hope, in the beginning, of recovery. These climatic influences are especially beneficial to persons suffering from all kinds of lung diseases, except to those in the last stage of consumption. That the climate itself is a preventative of consumption is evidenced in the fact that phthisis does not originate here. The places of peculiar advantage in seeking health are the towns and cities on the plains, and parks and pleasure resorts on the mountains. The plains in some instances are the most beneficial for a permanent residence, while in other cases the mountains are preferable. There are not exceeding an average of sixty-five cloudy days per year in Colorado, while there are scarcely twenty days that the sun is all the day invisible at any given point. Summer weather usually continues till October, and the autumn till January. Usually the winters are mild, followed by an early spring. In summer the temperature rarely reaches 90 and is normal at 70. Colorado climate is beneficial not to consumptives alone, but persons of kidney and liver and kindred diseases are benefited both by climate and the mineral waters which everywhere abound in the State, and are especially numerous and available on the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad lines.

The supply of coal in Colorado is inexhaustible, the lignite or brown coal area extending from St. Vrains on the north to the Raton Mountains on the south, about 220 miles in length and varying from twenty to twenty-five miles in breadth, along the eastern base of the mountains.

Large portions of this field have been swept away by floods resulting from melting glaciers. The princ.i.p.al developments of this vast field have been made in the vicinity of Trinidad and Walsenburg, Canon City, Coal Creek, Colorado Springs, Golden, Loveland, Erie, and Boulder.

Lignite also exists in North Park and at various points on the divide between North and Middle parks. Jet, or the black variety of coal, occurs in seams from one-half to six inches in width in the shale about Canon City and Little Fountain Creek. The most important mines of bituminous coal are the Trinidad group and the mines at Crested b.u.t.te.

Anthracite coal appears to be confined mainly to the coal basins in the Elk Mountain. Native c.o.ke is found near Crested b.u.t.te, where a d.y.k.e of lava has intruded the coal strata. Official geological surveys give a coal-bearing strata of 40,000 square miles, or one-third of the entire area of the State. In 1873, when coal-mining began to take shape as an industry, the output was 69,977 tons; to-day the output is 2,373,954 tons, which comparison gives the reader some idea of the rapidity of its growth.

It has been said, with a great deal of truth, that all of Colorado is a health resort. With its gorgeous peaks and lovely valleys, its beautiful cities on the plains, its forests and its streams, its broad green parks and charming crystal lakes amid the mountains, with its suns.h.i.+ne and pure air, it is certainly a land for man's health and pleasure. The most desirable resorts in the world are upon the lines of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. Only eighty miles from Denver, or five miles from Colorado Springs, and nestling at the foot of Pike's Peak, is situated Manitou, that delightful resort for health and pleasure seekers, as popular to-day as Newport or Saratoga, attracting tourists from all parts of the United States and Europe. It has wonderful effervescent and medicinal springs, and is surrounded by more objects of attraction than any other spot in the world, including the Garden of the G.o.ds, Glen Eyrie, Red Rock Canon, Crystal Park, Engleman's Canon, Williams Canon, Manitou Grand Caverns, Cave of the Winds, Ute Pa.s.s, Rainbow Falls, and Bear Creek Canon, all places of great attraction to the visitor. Palmer Lake is a local pleasure resort. Poncha Springs, five miles from Salida, are the noted hot springs--alt.i.tude, 7,480 feet--a great health resort. Wagon Wheel Gap, in the picturesque San Luis Valley; hot springs of great curative qualities. It is a favorite health and pleasure resort; the best place in the West for trout fis.h.i.+ng. Glenwood Springs is a fine town and a watering place and health resort, having extensive hot springs of great curative properties. Formerly the Mecca of the Indians. Elevation 5,200 feet. Twin Lakes, a beautiful body of crystal water, a pleasure resort and place of entertainment; fine boating and fis.h.i.+ng; near Leadville, and reached by the Denver & Rio Grande. Trimble Hot Springs, nine miles from Durango; hot springs noted for remedial qualities. Ouray, hot and cold mineral springs; summer resort. The Great Salt Lake, the famous hot springs of Albuquerque, and numerous other attractions are reached by the Denver & Rio Grande.

The number of irrigable acres in Colorado is placed at 35,000,000 in round numbers, an area fully one-seventh larger than the State of New York. Ten years ago there were but 600 miles of irrigating ditches; now, including ca.n.a.ls and laterals, there are 34,000 miles, and $9,500,000 have been expended in their construction. With these figures one can not but be impressed with the possibilities of the future, and believe with the most enthusiastic in the ultimate reclamation of the so-called arid land. It has been by the aid of irrigation that agriculture has been made to vie with mining as the chief industry of the State, and in the future, through its agency, the waters of the mountains will be more generally distributed by reservoir systems. The first of these reservoirs is now being constructed on the line of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, between Castle Rock and Palmer Lake. It will irrigate a large portion of the divide country. Of so vast an extent is this reservoir that the projectors contemplate the erection of a hotel and the various appurtenances of a mountain resort. When the Government puts into execution its vast plan of irrigation the seed so modestly planted ten years ago will have its fruition. The number of square miles and the acreage under irrigation are found in the following table:

================================+============+============ Sq. Miles. Acres.

--------------------------------+------------+------------ San Luis Valley 3,096 1,981,440 Southwestern Colorado 1,080 691,200 Grand River Valley 360 230,400 Gunnison and Uncompahgre Valleys 720 460,800 Northwestern Colorado 1,980 1,267,200 North Central Colorado 720 460,800 Small areas 3,600 2,304,000 Eastern Colorado 41,868 26,795,520 +------------+------------ 54,000 34,560,000 --------------------------------+------------+------------

In addition to these irrigated lands may be placed the Arkansas Valley, from Pueblo to the Kansas State line, and the country between Cherry Creek and the foot-hills, and from Cherry Creek Canon to Denver. During the past twelve months there has been an increased activity in this sort of construction. It is a record unprecedented in irrigation, and taken in connection with the organization of new companies, this fact indicates no limit to this species of development.

Even the people of Colorado do not comprehend that in this State may be grown fruit of a superior quality to that raised in the orchards of California. The pears and peaches are more luscious, and all the boasted varieties of California grapes are here grown successfully. The truth of these statements was satisfactorily demonstrated at the recent State fair in Pueblo, and by the fruit exhibit made by the Bureau of Immigration and Statistics at Chicago last fall. The apple, for luxurious growth and flavor, is without a superior in any State, and the orchards of this fruit alone aggregate half a million trees. The success with which grape culture has been conducted indicates for the future a great vintage industry. Fruit-tree planting is progressing at an enormous rate. It is profitable. In 1891 the number of trees planted was 200,000, the yield of apples was 60,000 bushels, and the largest yield from a single orchard of 2,000 trees was 15,000 bushels. The yield last year almost doubled that of the year previous. Strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, gooseberries, and currants are prolific, and for size and flavor are unsurpa.s.sed. They grow on the highest mountain and in the lowest valley, and the yield is from 3,000 to 6,000 quarts per acre. One of the most profitable of the recent plantings, in the direction of fruit-plants, is that of the watermelon. In the Arkansas Valley they grow in great abundance, and are of superior merit to the Georgia melon. In fact most varieties of fruit indigenous to the temperate zone are successfully grown in Colorado. Fruit culture is no longer an experiment; it is a great success, and in the future will take its place as a distinctive and most profitable industry.

Colorado's future as a great manufacturing State is a.s.sured. In her hills, upon her mountain sides, on the plains, and in the valleys, her deposits of raw material abound, both in variety and richness, second to no other State in the Union. In fact she stands alone in this respect.

At present these resources are undeveloped; the surface has been merely touched, and yet this superficial view reveals to the observer possibilities beyond conception. As this empire, of which Colorado is the geographical center, becomes settled more thickly, the demand upon these resources will increase, and with this increasing demand manufactures will multiply, and soon every article known to the trade will be furnished direct from her vast deposits. Not only will she supply the wants of her own and contiguous territories, but in time markets remote will come to Colorado for supplies. The abundance of the raw material and the economy in manufacturing will level compet.i.tion, and the high quality of the product will place her supreme in the world's commercial marts. The results of last year, aggregating $50,000,000 in the reported values of the manufacturing product in eighteen cities, give some conception of Colorado's manufacturing future; and it has only been a very short time since, in the whole breadth of the State, when not a single article was manufactured, and everything used was s.h.i.+pped from eastern cities at enormous prices.

Within the past year the following manufactories have been added: A paper-mill, a match factory, a cotton-mill, a woolen-mill, a boot and shoe factory, an overall factory, and a knit-underwear establishment.

The manufactured product of 1892 will not fall below $75,000,000.

Colorado continues to be the paradise of the sportsman. Its myriads of streams teem with mountain-trout; the forests are, as ever, the domain of the elk, deer, and other game; and its many lakes, while abounding in fish, are the haunts for the wild feathery tribe, and offer great attraction for both rod and gun. Everywhere on the various lines of the Denver & Rio Grande the tourist and the pleasure-seeker at home may find a field of sport to his liking. Should he choose a day of recreation after small game, he may stop off in the valleys among the farms, and a bag of birds and rabbits will be his trophy. For elk and deer he may follow the valley of the Upper Arkansas, deploying to the near-by hills, or go to the valleys and mountains of Southern Colorado, or follow the line of the Denver & Rio Grande down to Gunnison, or cross the range to Glenwood, and search the wooded hills and the glens and valleys of the Yampa and the Grand; thence southward, via Ouray, he may follow the Dolores from the San Miguel to the San Juan and Muncos, following the footsteps of the Indians, now departed, upon their favorite hunting-grounds. For the angler, as has been stated, fish are abundant in all the streams and lakes reached by the Denver & Rio Grande; but for the best sport and most enjoyable entertainment Wagon Wheel Gap, on the Rio Grande del Norte, in Rio Grande County, is conceded to be the choice of all places. This is both a pleasure and a health resort, affording at the same time rest and recreation for the sick and weary, and rare amus.e.m.e.nt for the invalid and the tourist alike. At this point the finest of mountain-trout are always abundant, and the angler may enjoy himself with the speckled beauties to his heart's content. The Gunnison River likewise abounds in fine trout, and there are many points of advantage on this as many other streams along the line of the Denver & Rio Grande.

Ores are found under all conceivable conditions in Colorado, and, as a rule, in sufficient quant.i.ties to admit of their profitable extraction.

In the metamorphosed granite mountains of the main range the typical fissure veins, with well-defined and nearly perpendicular walls, are found often aggregated in great numbers, and universally mineralized to a profitable degree. In the trachytic and porphyric districts rich fissures also prevail, running very high in silver as a rule, while occasionally the precious metals are a.s.sociated with such quant.i.ties of lead or copper ore that the base metals more than pay all cost of mining and treating the ore. In other sections, again, where there have been large overflows of porphyry upon the carboniferous or silurian limestone, great deposits of silver lead ore are found, often covering many acres of ground like vast coal-beds. To this latter cla.s.s belong the mines of Leadville, which in the past ten years have yielded over $100,000,000. Also the mines about Aspen, Robinson, Red Cliff, Monarch, White Pine, and Rico. Wherever the deposits, however, and whatever the character of the mineral, the result is the same--an increase in the wealth of the State where developed. A number of valuable and important discoveries of gold and silver have been made this year (1892). The enormous deposits of silver at Crede promise to make it a rival of Leadville, while the immense gold-fields at Cripple Creek, near the line of this road, will add millions of dollars to the yellow metal wealth of the country. Rico, in the San Juan country, will produce millions of dollars more this year than ever before in its history. The quant.i.ty of the precious metal and the prosperity of the mining sections are only measured by the energy of the communities themselves and the extent of the capital employed. The record of the mining industry last year can be gleaned in the subjoined table:

1889. 1890.

Silver, ounces 21,119,613 25,788,819 Gold, " 194,908 4,016,229 Lead, tons 3,166,970 3,932,814 Copper, pounds 3,127,739 2,422,000

The estimate for 1889 does not include the metals contained in the ore s.h.i.+pped out of the State, while that for 1890 does include them.

Colorado has exceeded every other section in the growth of her farming industry. This growth has been phenomenal. In 1880 the State imported 500,000 bushels of wheat, 2,000,000 bushels of corn, 500,000 bushels of potatoes, 1,000,000 bushels of oats, and 100,000 tons of hay. Last year there were produced in the State about 10,000,000 bushels of cereals, and instead of importing, the State exports; and in eastern markets Colorado wheat and oats command a premium. So great has been the development that authorities on agriculture a.s.sert that the agricultural output exceeds that of mining, which a.s.sertion is contradicted by mining people. But be this as it may, no other section presents a parallel to the rapid advance of agriculture in this State. One-half of the 66,880,000 acres of land in Colorado is estimated as agricultural land, of which 12,000,000 acres can be turned to the plow. There are now 2,000,000 acres under cultivation. The remarkable feature of this progress is the success attained by the "rain belt," which only a few years since was considered irreclaimable land. All over the State farming has been profitable, and by the contiguity of markets prompt returns for the products are the rule. This has induced immigration, and is one of the contributory causes of the influx of settlers into every section where cheap lands may be obtained.

IRON.--The largest deposit of iron in Colorado is in Gunnison County, and when taken in connection with the fact that in this locality cheap fuel abounds, it is a deposit of magnitude unequaled anywhere in this country. By this fortuitous combination of deposits, No. 1 Bessemer pig iron can be produced at Gunnison for a cost not exceeding $12 per ton, or 50 per cent less than the price at Pittsburg. The deposit is near Sargent, on the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. With an outcrop that is enormous and high in grade, it extends at intervals for a mile on the mountain side. A number of openings have been made, one of which is a tunnel run across the vein ninety-seven feet and an open cut exposing a face of forty feet all in solid iron. There are about fifty acres in the five iron claims which compose the White Pine deposit. There are iron beds on Gold Hill and Cebolla rivers. At the latter place the iron lies in an immense ledge of unknown depth. Iron abounds in other portions of the State, especially in Chaffee County, where the Colorado Coal & Iron Company of Pueblo have been drawing material for the manufacture of railroad iron, merchant bar, and steel. Iron and steel can be manufactured as cheaply in Colorado as in any other section of the United States, and the advantages that contribute to the State's superiority in this respect are the increasing demands, which can not be affected by the overproduction of the East and South; no rival point west of the Rocky Mountains claiming compet.i.tive facilities and an advantageous position as the geographical center of a vast territory; an intelligent cla.s.s of labor; an abundance of building material and the most extensive fields of c.o.king and fuel coal, and the only anthracite found west of Pennsylvania.

The annual production of 1,000,000 tons of crude pig iron, representing a value of say $14,000,000, the evolution of that 1,000,000 tons of pig iron into its higher products of bar iron, and steel, and sheets, and plates, and machinery, and cars, and locomotives, and pipes, and plows, and other farm implements, and all the long list of appliances and commodities of iron and steel, aggregating in value, at a lower estimation than can be legitimately placed, more than $50,000,000, means more for Colorado than many of her most sanguine advocates have antic.i.p.ated.

CHAPTER XL.

THE SURGEON SCOUT.

While dwelling upon the scenes and incidents of my life upon the frontier, and speaking of those with whom I came in contact, I wish to refer to one whose meeting with me toward the latter days of overland travel began with a sincere friends.h.i.+p that has lasted until this day, and will continue to the end of our lives.

The person to whom I refer is Dr. D. Frank Powell, an army surgeon in those days, and whose gallant services as an officer and scout, as well as his striking appearance, gained for him the border cognomens of "White Beaver" (by which he is as frequently called to-day as by his own name) and "The Surgeon Scout," "Mighty Medicine Man," and "Fancy Frank."

Doctor Powell was the firm friend of Buffalo Bill, and his valuable services, rendered as a scout, guide, and Indian-fighter, made him famous as the Surgeon Scout.

His dash and handsome style of dress also gained for him the name of "Fancy Frank," while the other two appellations by which he was known were gained by his skill and service as a surgeon and physician.

When the Indians were stricken with an epidemic of smallpox, although at the time at war with the whites, Surgeon Powell conceived the idea of boldly entering their village and checking the dread disease.

Leaving the fort upon his perilous mission, Surgeon Powell made his way alone to the Indian country, and rode forward at sight of them, making signs of peace.

The astonished redskins received him with amazement, but, a.s.sured that he was in their power, they listened to the bold proposition he had to make them, and which was that he would check the epidemic then raging or forfeit his own life.

[Ill.u.s.tration: D. Frank Powell.

"White Beaver."]

Struck with the boldness of the man, whom they knew so well as the comrade of Buffalo Bill, and who spoke their language fluently, the chiefs listened to all he had to say and then put him to the test.

Then it was that the strange circ.u.mstance occurred of a pale-face foe and medicine man _vaccinating_ the Indians, young and old, all except the medicine men of the tribe, who would have nothing to do with him.

The result of Doctor Powell's work was that the dread disease was soon checked, and under his care many desperate cases of sickness were cured, and he became the ideal of his friends, who held a grand pow-wow, and presented him with a robe of sixteen white beaver-skins--the white beaver being a sacred animal among them.

Nor was this all, for they made him a mighty medicine man, or chief of their tribe, and bestowed upon him the name of "White Beaver," which he uses to-day in connection with his own name.