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CROFUTT’S NEW

OVERLAND TOURIST

 

Gray’s PHak—is reached by carriage-
road, and easy bridle trail from George-
town. The road passes through Silver
Plume and Brownville, both important as
silver mining towns. The scenery on the
route is very beautiful, and after reaching
the summit, one of the grandest mountain
views in the world lies before the tourist.
Should you see sunrise from the summit
of this grand old mountain, you would
feel like exclaiming with the poet:

‘The hills—the everlasting hills—
How peerlessly they rise!
Like earth’s gigantic sentinels
Discoursing in the skies!”

Mipp.ie ParkK—with its celebrated hot
sulphur springs—bathing in which, it is
said, “restores health to the invalid and
gives beauty to the homely,’—is reached
by stage, which leaves Georgetown every
other day.

In the park, trout are caught in all the

streams, and elk, deer, bears, and small

game are plentiful among its hills.. This
is a trip that tourists who are fond of hunt-
ing game worthy o-< their best efforts to ob-
tain, or catching the shining trout for their
morning sport, will not fail to make, and
when made, will never be forgotten.

To the southeast of the town, the road
leads over the mountains to Breckenridge,
in the South Park, crossing the range at
an altitude of 138,000 feet.

Georgetown is the home of some of Col-
orado’s oldest and most esteemed pioneers,
among whom is Stephen Decatur, Esq.,
late: Commissioner from the State, to the
Centennial Exposition, at Philadelphia.

The “Commodore,” as Mr. Decatur is
more commonly called, has become widely
known and respected throughout the State
as a correspondent for many of the Eastern
papers, and as editor, for a long time, of the
Georgetown Miner, as well as for his course
in the legislative halls of the State.

In conclusion—as we have advised the
tourist in regard to the carriage routes from
the city, it would seem quite proper to
state that there are several livery stables in
the city; but the one where the tourist
will get the most complete outfit at the
most reasonable price, is Known as the
“Metropolitan Livery Stable and Omnibus
Line,” by 8. W. Nott.

We now return to Golden, and start down
the creek between the Table Mountains en-
route for the capital of Colorado.

JUNCTION—is two miles east, near the

 

 

site of: the old town of Arapaho—where |

b ccobhees

gold was discovered in 1859 and . over fifty
houses erected, none of which are now
standing.

The Junction is a small station where
passengers—while the road from Ralston
to this point, on the east side of the Table
Mountains was in operation—‘ changed
cars’? for different points, the same as is
now done at Golden.

From the junction our course is along
down the north bank of Clear Creek—
passing the mouth of Ralston and many
irrigating canals—through some fine farms
and well cultivated fields. We pass
many cosy farm houses, and a_side-track,
six miles from the junction, called

Arvapsa—where we cross the creek to the
southeast, and—after gaining the high
rolling prairie four miles further—arrive
at the

Summir—another station only in name.

On this “Summit,” had we time to look
around, the view would be most beautiful.
The city of Denver lies to the southeast,
the “Divide,” to the south, the great
Platte Valley close in the foreground, and
to the right and left, the broad plains in
the far east limitless apparently to the
eye, while in the background, are the
Rocky Mountains, the base of which is
near, but the peaks, and the “range,” to
the north and south, is only bounded by
the horizon. But, we must away! Down-
ward, over the rolling prairie, two miles
further brings us to a broad, beautiful
piece of bottom land, containing a few
hundred acres, where—in 1860—was the
old race-track.

In 1874, the writer had as fine crops on
one hundred acres of ‘this land, as
could be seen in the country, but, the
great flood of May “came as the waves
come when navies are stranded,” and took
the “boy’s” last 15 cents to the Missouri
River.

From the Summit it is 314 miles down
to the Platte River, where the train crosses
it, and another half-mile stops us at

Demver—the capital, and great rail-
road and commercial center of the State of
Colorado. The population of this re-
markable city is 20,000; an annual average
increase—commencing at 0, nineteen years
ago—of over 1,000 people.

Denver is the county seat of Arapaho
county, fourteen miles east, in a direct
line, from the base of the Rocky Moun-
tains. It is situated in the valley of the
South Platte River—on the eastern bank—