90

CROFUTT’S NEW OVERLAND TOURIST

 

—one going East for light, the other West
for knowledge.

We are now 6,724 feet above the sea, and
the traveler should note the rapid rise
made from this point, in surmounting the
Black Hills. Here the heavy grading
commences, and snow fences will be nu-
merous till we get over the “Hills.” To
the north of this place, at the base of the
Hills, is a fine valley, where Crow Creek
finds its source in many finesprings. The
valley contains very superior grazing
land, and in conjunction with the adja-
cent hills, affords ample game for the
hunter.

Fifteen miles from this station, to the
north, at the eastern entrance of Cheyenne
Pass, is the site of old Fort Walbach,
now deserted. Near this fort are the head
waters of Lodge Pole Creek.

Granite Canyon— is five miles west
of Otto, and 574 feet higher. At this point
are extensive stone quarries, whence was
taken the rock for the company’s build-
ings in Cheyenne, also for the stone ware-
houses. Limestone abounds in this vicin-
ity, and many kilns have been erected. To
the left of the road, and down the canyon
a few hundred yards, is a fine spring, from
whence the water is elevated to the tank
by the roadside. Half a mile to the south
are a number of fine springs, which—with
others to the westward—are the head-wa-
ters of Lone Tree Creek, a tributary of the
South Platte River. Along the road now
is heavy rock-work, and on the exposed
portions of the road may be seen the snow-
sheds and snow-fences, built of plank or
stone.

Buford—is a small side-track, 6 9-10
miles further. Heavy rock-work, and
snow-sheds and fences mark the road.
Water for the station is elevated from
springs down the ravine, on the southward.

The country here presents a wild, rug-
ged and grand apearance. The level
ground or little valleys are covered with a
fine coat of buffalo grass, and now and
then clumps of stunted pine appear by
the roadside. On either hand, near by,
high, bold masses of granite rear their
gray sides, piled one on the other, in wild
confusion. Up, up, still higher, in the
background are the rocky, pine-clad peaks
of the Black Hills. The scene is pecu-

liarly impressive as we near Sherman,
especially if it chances to be one of those
days when the clouds float low down the
horizon; then the traveler looks over the

intervening space between him and the
mountain range beyond, and sees naught
but floating masses of vapor; no moun-
tains, no valley, no forest, only these fleecy
shapes, and a long, dark line rising above
them, o’ertopped by the glistening sides of
Long’s Peak. The altitude gained, we
see on the north side of the road,a sign-
board—“Summit of the Mountains;’’ then
seem to move along a level plain, covered
with grass, rocks and shrubs, until we
reach

Sherman— Hight thousand two hundred
and forty-two feet above the level of the sea.
It is named in honor of General Sherman,
the tallest general in the service. This
station is 549 miles from Omaha and 1,365
from San Francisco.

Sherman, as a town, is not noted for its
size. The trains stop here but a few min-
utes: The company’s buildings consist of
a comfortable station, a sntall repair shop,
and a round-house of five stalls. <A post-
office, telegraph and express offices, one
store, two hotels, two saloons, and about
twenty houses of all sorts, constitute the
town.

Seventy miles to the southwest is Long’s
Peak, and 165 miles to the south is Pike’s
Peak, both plainly visible. To the north-
west, about 100 miles distant, is Elk Moun-
tain, another noted land-mark. The maxi-
mum grade from Cheyenne to Sherman is
88.176 feet per mile. The freight taken on
at this station for the Hast and West is
quite extensive, consisting of sawed lum-
ber, telegraph poles, and wood obtained in
the hills and ravines but a few miles dis-
tant tothe northward. On many of these
hills, and in the canyons, are found a
dense growth of hard spruce pine, which,
as to quality and adaptability for being
dressed, resembles the hemlock of the
Eastern States.

The winters are not as severe at Sherman
as many think, neither is the snow-fall as
deep as many would suppose from seeing
the great number of snow-sheds and fences ;
snow seldom falls more than a few inches
in depth. It is not the depth of snow that
causes any inconvenience to the working
of the road, but it is the drifting of it into
the cuts during the heavy winds. For the
purpose of preventing this, the sheds,
fences and walls are erected along the
road, the latter a few rods away from the
banks of the cuts. The fences cause an
eddy or current of air, which piles the
snow along in huge drifts, keeping it, ina