| Show MANASSA MATTERS I A Glimpse of the Beauties of the Scenic Route BOUNTIFUL SAN LUIS VALLEY The Recent ConferencesA Large Attendance The Prosperity That Has Attended the Settlers From Utah MANASSA Conejos County Colo Dec 2 Special correspondence of THE HCRALD left Salt Lake on the regular Rio Grande Western train Wednesday morning the 20th ult for the purpose of attending the conference of the San Luis stake to beheld be-held at this point Sunday and Monday the 25th and 26th ult I was joined at Pueblo I by Elder John Henry Smith We arrived at La Jara station six miles north and west of here at noon Friday I have traveled from Salt Lake to Pueblo a number num-ber of times and also from Pueblo to Salt Lake and yet there was just as much pleasure in viewing the wonderful scenery to be found on this route as on any former occasion You need have no fears that shall attempt description of TIIB WONDERFUL SIGHTS TIIAT ABE TO DE SEEN along this line as I would not care to do this after the many letters that have been written to our Salt Lake papers on the subject sub-ject and the very fine descriptions that arc issued by the Denver Rio Grande people from the pens of those who make their living by writing Even if there had never been anything written to our papers on the scenery to be found on the route of the Denver Rio Grande I hardly think 1 i would say anything about it as it beggars i description for my limited abilities I do not think that there has ever been anything written that does the subject full justice have never had the pleasure of seeing any scenery with the exception of that in the mountains of Utah and the adjoining territories and states and that tr be found on the overland routes from Omaha to New York and to San Francisco and that on the Hudson river but none which have seen causes me to doubt the right of the Denver Rio Grande to claim that theirs is the Scenic Route of the World The chief delight to me at the time I visited the Niagara was to sit for hours and watch the wonderful body of water rolling over the falls I am sure that one of the greatest disappointments of my life would have been Niagara Falls if I had only seen them for a minute or two or even for an hour and I have ffnt wished that I could have the pleasure of passing through the Grand caflon of the Arkansas with a handcar lean think of no more delightful trip than a handcar ride with a party of friends through this truly Grand caflon NIAGARA GROWS ON A PERSON and sitting and watching it for half a day one rises with a feeling of profound awe at its grandeur I am confident that a day in the Grand caflon would have the same effect A trip through the Grand caflon I with a handcar or even on foot with a party of friends would be simnlv beyond description and I am confident that il t would be an incident in a mans life among the number never to be forgotten and one which would Recalled with unalloyed delight de-light in future years The conference meetings held here were all well attended and on account of the log house in which the meetings are usually held being completely packed there were overflow meetings in the school house Sunday Sun-day afternoon and Monday morning and afternoon af-ternoon Both meetings Sunday afternoon after-noon were very much crowded In addition addi-tion to the stake and ward authorities there were present Moses Thatcher John Henry Smith William Spry Robert Skel taD jrFW Chambers and William RLee so that there was no lack of visitors to address ad-dress the people The instructions given were listened to with marked attention and as near as I could judge all were well pleased with the conference Elders Spry Lee Chambers and Skelton arrived here Saturday afternoon the 24th ult with a company of immigrants from the southern states Elder Spry started from here with the other brethren the latter part of last week for Salt Lake he to pay a visit and then return to his labors at Chattanooga and the others to remain home after an absence ab-sence laboring in the missionary field of a little over two years SAN LUIS VALLEY is about fifty by one hundred and fifty miles in extent the greater length being from north to south It is located in southern Colorado adjoining New Mexico on the south The valley lies in three counties The average altitude is about seven thousand feet Antonito a place about ten miles west and south of here is 7600 feet elevation The mountains on the west of the valley look more like hills than mountains this being due to the height of the valley as in most places they would be considered very high In the east range of mountains and about forty miles from this point one comes to the foot of the celebrated I brated Sierra Blanca the highest in the Rocky mountain range It is said to be 14461 feet When I was a boy it was generally gen-erally supposed that the distinction belonged be-longed to Pikes Peak This valley is indirect in-direct communication with Denver as the Denver Rio Grande has a line entering it and running south to Santa Fe New Mexico There is considerable wind here and if it were not for the cold winds there would belittle be-little if any difference between the climate here and that in Cache Valley Utah There is less snow here than in Cache countyand as a rule the weather is very clear and pleasant Up to the present time there has been almost a failure in the raising of fruit and shade trees but it is thought that as the country settles up there will be a change in this respect A few of the hardier apples have matured It has been the history his-tory of all the colder valleys in Utah that as they settled up there was a change in the success that attended the raising of fruit trees For many years this valley was considered too cold to mature any kind of grain and it was almost destitute of in habitants When the other sections of S Colorado were settling up rapidly some i parts of which were not as productive as this valley this section was left severely 4 alone When the Mormon people located t their first settlement here the old settlers mostly cattle men laughed and said that t they would simply t I THROW AWAY THEIR SEED GIIAI Sand j S-and that the settlement would come to a sad end in one year These parties were I doomed to disappointment and they were not even willing to admit the evidence of their own eyes when at the end of a year the people had raised good crops but said l that it had been an unusually good year I and that next year would seal the doom of the settlement but such was not the case Manassawas located in 18j9 and soon thereafter there-after two other places Ephraim and Rich field About two years ago these last 1 named were combined in one under the c name of Sanford and a now location made t for a settlement it having been discovered that they were both on land too wet for permanent towns People have been coming com-ing here ever since the first location and there are now in the valley of the Mormon people something over two thousand This place has about a thousand inhabi tants most of the people here have come 1 from the southern state The majority of those at Sanford have come from Utah and a good share of them from Sanpete county Sanford is six miles north of here C there arc two stores at Sanford and a twos two-s story bnck schoolhouse 23x38 nearly completed com-pleted never saw such place as Manassa t fonts size forstores there are six or seven of them and a twostory adobe frame front building is now in course of erection for a general merchandise store Nearly all the houses at both places were built of logs bit these are fast disappearing and their j > laes are being filled with nice little frame 4iUclures as a rule although there are some adobe and brick houses the bricks being mainly at Sanford At Sanford they have succeeded in getting get-ting twenty or thirty flowing wells So far there has been no success attending the boring for wells here There is still some farming done at the old site of Richfield and the soil there is as good as any in this vicinity Sanford and Richfield are a little better for the raising of grains and vegetables than this place although all kinds of hardy small grains do well here and IT IS A WONDERFULLY GOOD COUNTRY for vegetables one party here claiming that out of a large crop of cabbage which he raised there was not a single head that would not weigh twenty pounds The first lands that our people purchased were sold to them by the state at 80 cents an acre and the lost lands purchasedat 5 This gives some idea as to the relative value placed on the land before and after it has been proven good for grains The same class of land as that owned by our people is now held by the state at 10 The state officials as a rule give our people the credit for demonstrating that the valley is really capable of maturing grains and raising vegetables If the great Colfax were alive I suppose all the credit in his mind would have to be given to Mr Water as to the water alone would be due the credit for taking out the canals plowing the ground etc The Utah l y htNr ulo ke people tell mo that they bole upon the land here as being equal to that at home Eras tus Snow was about the first of our leading elders to visit this valley Capitalists have purchased immense tracts of land hero and there have been made three canals that are forty feet wide on the bottom and will carry five feet of water That is they are forty feet at the head of course as the water is taken out they get less in size These canals are supplied from the Kio Grande and the Conejos rivers The country is I wonderfully level and all that is necessary neces-sary to run a canal is to scrape out the soil which can be used for a good share of the caaa bank I think it is safe to estimate that there is but three feet of excavation needed to make a canal that will carry five feet of water as the dirt from the ditch will answer for two feet of the bank The canal companies have been active in getting PEOPLE TO COME INTO THE VALLEY and there are vast farms being opened up The companies are selling their lands at from 10 to 24 an acre I never saw finer roads in any place than are to be found here I have visited this county a number of times and there are marks of progress to be seen on all hands There is here a fine stake house in course of erection it is a frame structure and will be capable of seating fifteen hundred when completed it will have a gallery and the total cost will be about ten thounsand dollars including the seats The Scandinavian Scandi-navian people are among the most succes ful of our Utah farmers and the same cane > can-e said of those of that nationality who have settled here A purchase of some 14000 acres of lamias lam-ias recently been made near the foot of the Sierra Blanca mountain This purchase includes the right to use 11000 acres of leased lands It is thought that the high mountains will shelter these lands and that success will attend the raising of fruits on this new purchase We should have been home before this letter is mailed to you if the writer had not been sick abed with cold and fever for a good share of the week just past Just when we will get home now is something we cannot tell As the years roll around I look for a goodman good-man more of the people from Utah to locate lo-cate in this valley There are two schools here One is held in the log meeting house and one in a frame school building There is a good brick schoolhouse in course of erection HEBER J GRANT |
