| Show SAN LUIS VALLEY A Grap graphic ide wen well written and readable gietter march marcheel editor deseret Desei ct news sunny san luis Is i the attractive beading of an advertisement now going the rounds of many eastern pape s then follows a happy description ir in which the magic words sunshine 11 clear skies verdant mesas mesa sol sparkling streams I 1 11 speckled trout abundance ce of game I 1 fl snow capped mountains fertile soli and many other jewels from our werd ward mines are exhibited in their br brightest test hues blues with kaleidoscopic effect upon the enchanted fancies lan cies of smoke and mist be grimed dwellers of the atlantic seaboard sea board what follows brings brines the soaring imagination down avin again to the teira fairma of ugly facts rae colorado land and loan company by building extensive canals one ot ol them over afif fifty ty miles long obtained from froin the state the tive title to every alter alternate pate q quarter section irrigable by streams thus diverted I 1 land will be sold cheaply to actual settlers aiex right can be obtained fora for 1 to 2 per acre annually and jibe company guarantee to every settler immunity from higher rates for at least lease five years it is this last assurance that prove an eye opener to the thoughtful would be emigrant most men feel rather to trust in the MERCIES OP OF providence than in the benevolence of a grasping stock corporation for the water they need aeed to drink and use and abol they have not read the story of Ir elands wrongs s to be unable to recognize land ahans sharks on american soil As our people have three flourishing towns inthe in the sunny valley and a large emig emigration ration was thither bound the writer determined to visit the saints and ana at the same time see gee tile chusit country the ride across the at gaa veta pass into the charming valley was taken while the silvery fullmoon full moon stood guard in the celestial watchtower tie tae scenery now is doubly enchanting here a few broad sl slanting ahting acres of g glistening 1 snow yonder the awful shadow of a deep tavine be tween tweena a clamp of gr graceful pines nines partially hidden by a deep snowdrift snow show drift abo abai and glimmering through their icy Manch esthe shining dome of snow clad majesty over au all a pall of weird spectral light gives an effect not unlike the red fed light of the stage were it not for the rattle of car wheels and the puff on laboring engines one might readily imagine himself transported ratio into the land of DEPARTED SPIRITS such an effect may surely purely be realized to the imaginative shen pien aerial navigation is perfected the train came to rest about midnight at alamosa alamona the chief city of the valley five hours before thle the moon and and stars shone with a blurred uncertain light through an atmosphere of mist and smoke now their position to 16 as clearly cut cat as the linis lines in M a steel engraving and so ch do cef ear look like liked lamond diamond points set in an unfathomable deeply drinking or fleeting blue that one is led to wonder where so much light comes from so clear is the that night might though it be thie the most delicate contour of mountain or dale invisible is visible even fifty aw miles ahead so delightful is the change and such sli is tha ense of freedom one feels that we w cannot resist a moonlight walk before curling de U up OU on the abe uncomfortable car seats to take a nap day daws finally and qa alt the i of SKY and landscape landsea lands ca e are accordingly accod enhanced wg while the train it ii getting ready to starts start we take a 4 stroll to survey the city of alamona alamosa one mance glance takes it all in there is nothing mormon about it it resembles all other gentile railroad towns to the right a smoky round house to the left a saloons saloon a billard hall a drug drag sho shop a store these form a nucleus houses places vo to linger to in now crowd as closely around this nucleus va tapering 1 0 off ff I 1 in u s size ize as they radiate from afe the center then appear here and there a few and adobe shanties like struggling gling satellites revolving at lonely distances A signboard notifies the enquiring tourist that he be is now on state I 1 avenue a happy bit of information three minutes walk up the avenue brings us to where the rabbits still court marry and raise prolific families in undisturbed fell felicity Y state avenue we leand OUTWARDLY TOO we cannot help but contrast the birth and development of a mormon I 1 and a gentile Gen tUe town la abe case of the former a efurd sturdy colony of honest Jarm larm firs pra with hard bard shands hands and rugged virtues a appear ap pp ar la in covered wagons squat quat d down w A in the sagebrush b and build their first r ude rude log or er adobe huts according to that tha splendid india gospel rule of architecture t are give us room that we may dwell Ayea A year relapses elapse and the outlines of a town faintly come into view the cowherd cowherd and the farmers wagon we have marked the streets af fences and straw stacks are prominent features trees bead to the wind along the sidewalk sand green gheen patches surrounding abe houses bouses mark embryo gardens and orchards ten years later a picture of uniform comfort and prosperity prospera pro sperl spreads out before the eye of 61 the vis vil ator the small log buts are hidden behind commodious and pleasant looking dwellings of brick lumber or stene atone theair Is laden jaden with the fra gm grance ace of 1 BLOOMING ORCHARDS that peace and contentment which can only come from the possession of a home seems to pervade the community none are very rich none very r poor all seem to tobe be pro prosperous a all I 1 dave to work for it is a part 9 f their air religion that there shall be mold it such is the history of a mormon settlement not so with the gentile town here driving parks squares college grounds theatres theartres the atres public buildings ban dings avenues and boulevards are con first ou on paper the actual of the town is as we have bare outlined and it at the end of a decade the extremes of riches and poverty meet nor is As this strange when we consider that the underlying principle of its aith is speculation specula lon A few fe w men get cont control rolof of all the real estate cutup put up houses to rent or sell their neighbors fabors lots with twenty or thirty feet front at fabulous prices in the course of a few years palatial mansions are built and fine carriages gold cold headed beaded canes and hothouse hot house politicians ornament the city then comes along some h howling bowlin bennett or baskin who see in y the glittering side bewails in moa ning accents the 1 priestly domina ti on that keeps cormon Wo rmon towns from a alike like prosperity and forth with turns loose with tongue and pen t to aa the Mw Mev mons 11 1 bow w nethe I 1 athe braying ofa or a do donkey niev all soon sound d As is sue each ta talk in A the tape face of the aw act t the that 4 for avery every prince in such towns or I 1 cities there re are a THOUSAND but to return tb oar subject agthe ag the if train speeds southward to td the I 1 mormon i part of the valley all eyes are open feasting on the new and delightfully strange scenery how far do you yon think it is to that mountain asks an old settler pointing to san antonito which majestically alone several thousand feet above the plateau in the southern end of the valley oh about fifteen miles m ales I 1 judges judge says is one fifteen miles why t taint more that than ten if im any judge 31 puts in another 1 I dont believe its that fir far ventures a third tile the old settler smiles complacently until atil the disputants become anxious to know new who is right when he quietly informs them that it Is over seventy five miles then you ought to have hav seen lem em stare he then proceeds to relate a number of amusing anecdotes bearing on the subject one of jf which will besa bear repeating here it seems that an old english gentleman an or of a benevolent turn of mind chanced to sum stop off it at one oti of the stations in the valley and walking to and fro ADMIRING THE R accosted a young bootblack anas i say bubby bobby will you yon tell me how lar far it is to that mountain I 1 I 1 bix sixteen teen miles sir air answered the by promptly which wyica was true A look of pain came over the old gen clemans tl emans fians face and be was heard to matter as he be turned away it beats all it beats all they learn to lie as qung here as they do in our coun aar pecullar though it may seem it is nevertheless a fact that distances are so deceptive that it is doubtful if any one ever yet guessed even ampro approximately at how far it was to any aay given point oa first entering the valley the explanation of this phenomenon is to be found in two tivo facts 1 tae plateau to is so level that very little of the intervening round ground to any prominent point is violable vio visible lible thus making the object ap pear to rise from grou ground much nearer than it really 71 1 does doe 2 the plateau being cesis feet above sea level the air is so perfectly clear that perspective is iq to a certain extent lost no blue mist envelopes any object the configuration of a mountain fifty miles away is almost as distinct as that of one ten aen miles distant it is claimed by scientists that without an atmosphere there would be absolutely no perspective it follows therefore that the rarer the atmosphere the less marked will be the perspective which seems to be true of gan an luis valley 1 if my readers are now prepared prel eared to take a leok ieok at the country in its entirety we will ascend quite an eminence south of manassa the principal lat ter day saint settlement in the valley we look first to the least against the blue sky is traced din ln a zig za zag out line the crest of a massive jarige range of mountains clad in snow almost frosa from base to summit why the mexicans should have called theia sangre de christo blood of christ we are unable to conjecture they form the eastern fortress of the valley and curve in an easterly direction two hundred miles north and one hundred mites miles south they are distinctly theoal the only apparent gateway from tha the east is at veta veta pass in about the centre of the curve immediately on the north like a massive gatepost rises mont blanco white mountain feet high tais anis without doubt is the watch tower of the highest habit ble plateau of north america this range of mountains is not unlike the wahsatch Wah satch in some respects it rises rise s very abruptly to halt hall its height and then recedes into many a fold of rich drapery as hill overlaps hill these mountains are mostly covered by ti timber lober which to is evidently difficult of acca access as though not necessarily more so than in our own mountains we turn to the west here also we see a continuous range ol of mountains the tae saguache but presenting quite a different aspect to the eastern range they are not dressed so continuously in a mantle of oi white neither are they so high the eastern ascent too is ia so 80 that judging irom from our standpoint a team can draw a wagon anywhere Luy where nor would a lock or chain be necessary here for miles and nilles miles up the slanting sf sides of the mountain moun taia grow heavy forests of ojue fur far and spruce ra a veritable SAWYERS rA some ol of the trees grow over three f feet in diameter and are so easy of access that be the wagon strong enough A a sip single team can haul to town to wn twelve miles from 1000 to 1800 feet lumber now sells here for about 12 per thousand 1 9 the saugie de christo and saguache ranges join jein with a sharp angle in the norths and gradually gradually diverge toward the south the he southern barf par of the valley to is open or er broken only by rolling hills having described its borders border fi we are now prepared to look at the valley itself it As miles long logg and about 60 60 miles wide at its widest point the southern athera so half is exactly divided b by a small 1 range of mountains li like L the the sma oquirrh q running south and north rhe eastern half thus made is drained by the rio eio grande proper the wei western teta by a number of its tribu carleo the chief of which is the cohe cobe jos As our keople le live exclusively inthis telo western half 1 we shall devote our time e specially especially t to 0 that but before leaving our point of observation we may as well see how things look we notice CLASSES of land the bottoms along the streams thousands of acres crea covered by wild hay with gnarled quaking asp interspersed sper sed vast tracts of bf level farming laud covered by rabbit brush and extensive mesas having a mottled a appearance pe arance caused by smal mounds and covered with gramma grasst grass an a excellent pasturage for animals all th the e year around A great many streams all that we are interested in flow from the western range the chief of these is the rio klo grande del norte the great river of the north dorth which enter about midway of th the valley two canals canali belonging to the stock company before named tap p this river at its mouth Q one n e skirting I 1 t N the e western range north f for or fifty miles the other running southeast wf half that dist distance alibe to the northern point of the small range of mountains dividing the valley it is a matter of congratulation that our people are safely located outside the laud land enclosed by these two anacondas for unless human nature changes it is sale safe to predict that they will wil I 1 squeeze to death and swallow up everything growing within their folds THE RIVER from which the people get their water rises also in the western range a few miles south of our point of observation five miles below its mouth it divides itself into two streams the one running north and the other south of the clump ot of hills bills on which we stand these streams then join gain below making a what elevated mud island in the C centre ore tr of th the valley it is this northern branch branc which holds about as much water as provo river biver that the canals of our people tap they have as yet by no means taxed the capacity of the stream in fact those acquainted with the circumstances declare that our people hold the key to land and water that will readily support people before leaving our eminence A t may be well to take note of the improvements made by man now for the first time the fact impresses us that the valley is almost naked the settlements ate are mere nuclei at magnificent ent distances from each other 19 fifty efty mi lesto the northwest nort is located del norte at the mouth of of the rio kio grande farther down this stream in the centre of the valley is alamosa alamona from this point the denver benver rio grande railroad divides the valley by a straight line to its southern extremity thirty miles south of alamona alamosa avd an d that way w ay to the western range nestles the little town of LA JARA on a stream of the same name hame south and west of us on OB the southern brauchi of the quite a number of mexican ranches and pueblos finally immediately in front of us on the north and within a radius adlus of fifteen miles are to be seen the most progressive of all the towns in the valley the mormon settlements blow below us and threes three miles to the north lies in all the spaciousness of aspel gospel design the young town of Ma manassa with its fine steam grist mill and its hundred neat lumber housed surrounded by patches of ef green lucern four miles further north is ephraim Ephr aira and about five miles northwest of this place is richfield within one mile of la jara station these towns were unfortunately located on very low ground so that it lias fias become necessary to abandon them they will accordingly both be merged into the new town of sanford now mow located |
