128

CROFUTI’S NEW OVERLAND TOURIST

 

further, making of tramway 41¢ miles;
whole length of road 2014 miles.

The tramway is built on the south side
of the canyon, away up on the side of the
mountain.
fine view of the canyon, Bingham, the
mines and mills in the neighboring ravines
and on the opposite mountain side, and the
miners atthe bottom ofthe canyon, working
over the old “placer diggings.”

At the end of this tramway is located the
old Telegraph mine, one of the richest in
the Territory, from which over 200 tons o
ore a day is shipped, down over the tram
and railroad to the smelters in the valley.
The cars are hauled up by mules, and low-
| ered down tothe “iron horse” below Bing-

ham by the car brakes.

The mines are numerous in and around
Bingham, but we have not the space for a
description of them, but will return to the
| junction on the Utah Southern, and one
mile further arrive at

Sanpy—This station is 13 miles south of
Salt Lake City, and one of considerable im-
portance.
| At Sandy is to be seen immense quanti-
| ties of ore—ore in sacks, ore loose by the
car load, ore in warehouses 500 feet long,
with a train unloading on one side and an-
other loading on the other; in fact, this is
the greatest shipping, smelting and sam-
pling point in all Utah.

At Sandy are three sampling works, and
| twosmelting works, and a lively town of
700 inhabitants, the greater portion em-
ployed in the handling and manipulation
of ores. Here we find another railroad
branching off; this time itis the

Wasatch & Jordan Walley.

Principal offices at Salt Lake City.

GC. W.. SGHOPTBIAD...... nna - cen encin sere President.
Ezra Humpueey.... Treas. and Superintendent.

This road isa threefoot narrow-gauge,
16 miles in length, running to Alta, at the
head of Little Cottonwood Canyon. Itis
operated by narrow gauge steam engines
for 8.5 miles, and the other 7.5 by broad

gauge mules. The road was commenced |

in 1870, finished to Wasatch in 1872, and to
Alta in 1876. Letus take a trip over it and
note a few of the sights.

From Sandy the train runs north a short
distance, and then turnsto the east, directly
for the Wasatch Mountains, leaving the old
Flagstaff smelter on the left-hand side of
the track, just above the station. The
grade is heavy, the soil is stony, and cov-

From the cars can be had a

ered more orless with sage-brush, and
traversed by irrigating ditches conveying
the water toa more productive and less
stony soil below.

Nearing the mountains, about six miles
from Sandy, we come to a deep gorge on
the left, through which Little Cottonwood
Creek has worn its way tothe valley. From
this point we bear away to the southward
around a low butte, then turn again to the
east and northward and run along on an
elevated plateau where a most beautiful

f| view can be had. On the west, the Jordan

Valley, in all its magnificent shades of
green and gold, is at our feet, with the
brown old mountains bordering the hori-
zon in the distance. To the north, fifteen
miles away, over as beautiful asuccession of
little streams, well-cultivated fields, white
cottages, orchards and gardens, as are to be
found within the same number of miles in
this sce! Fig “Zion” in full view,
embowered in green, with the dome of the
monster Tabernacle glistening like some
half-obscured “silver moon,” sinking at
the mountain base; while far beyond, and
more to the westward, lays the Great Salt
Lake—a mysterious problem. Away to
the south, is Utah Lake, looking like one
large sheet of burnished silver, surrounded
by a net-work of green and gold, while to
the east looms up towering granite walls,
cleftfrom summit to base, forming a nar-
row gorge only sufficiently wide to allow
our little road to be built beside a little
rippling creek of crystal water.

lling along, our train rounds the head
of a ravine, through « deep cut, passes the
old Davenport Smelting Works on the
left, enters the mouth of the canyon be-
tween great walls of ite, crosses and re-
crosses the little creek, and soon stops at

Wasatcu—the end of the steam road,
8.5 miles from Sandy Junction. This isa
smal! station with postoffice, store, and a
few dwellings ee a population of
about 100, more than half of whom are en-
gaged in the stone quarries on the north
side of the station.

At Wasatch all the granite is got out and
shaped for the Temple in Salt Lake City.
The stone is the best yet discovered in the
Territory, being of close, fine grain, of
light gray color, and of beautiful birds-eye
appearance. The granite on the south side
appears much darker than that on the
north side of the canyon.

From almost every nook and crevice of
these mountain cliffs—from the station away