TI1E DAIL1 EVENING TELKGK-Aril PHILADELPHIA, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 0, 1867.
6
JVIJW PUB L1C A TlONh.
ltKTONT) THK MlflHISHIPPI. Hy Altiort V).
UtehBrclKoti. ft71i page octavo. riiUadcljhla:
Mationnl rubllsliiiiK Company.
Among our younger descriptive writers no
one is achieving a more extensive or deserved
popularity than Mr. Richardson. Long knowD
tn a versatile and fascinating correspondent
fur many public journals, his first venture
More the public as an author was in that
work of thrilling interest, "Field, Dungeon,
and Escape," in whiih he detailed his ex
periences as a war corespondent, as a pri
soner of war, au occupant of Rebel prison
houses, and an escaped fugitive, making his
tvay amid hair-breadth escapes, through hun
dreds of miles of Kebel territory, to the Union
lines. Tkat.story was well told, and the book
met with an immense sale.
Jn the work before ns, Mr. Richardson ha
gathered np the reminiscences of 'tea years'
life "beyond the Mississippi." lie gives ns
xnneh of the early history of Kausas and
Colorado; accounts of trips acrosB the con
tinent; visits of exploration to Idaho, Montana,
Utah, Washington, and Oregon; descriptions
of mines and mining in all our new Territories;
accounts of the conception and progress.,of the
I'acific Railway; and, in short, a general and
exhaustive history of the most interesting, yet
least known, portions of our great country.
We have dipped into the hook at random,
and have dipped here and there an extract for
cur readers. Ih the spring of 181)7, Mr.
Richardson sottled in Kausas, where, even at
that early day, the vanguard of freedom's
forces was entering upon the great campaign
"which soon after shook the whole country.
Governor Walker had just entered upon his
administration, and was busily engaged in
promulgating to the people those fair promises
cf President Buchanan which were destined to
le bo speedily and so ruthlessly violated. A
great convention at Topeka, on the 9th of
Jane, enabled our author to study "The Free
State Men of Kansas in Council."
It was held in the open air, and attended by
Jive hundred people. Their lntelliirence and
culture surprised me. Delegates in blue woollen
fikirts, slouched hats, aud rough boots, with
brenzed faces and unkempt beards, discussed
freshly-sprung questions with rare fluency and
prace. The standard ot speaking was higher
than I had ever found it in Congress, Legisla
ture, or national convention.
There was Robinson, the Free State Governor,
who had been held a prisoner, for months, by
the pro-slavery authorities tall, sinewy and
bald, cold, argumentative, and logical a walk
ing embodiment of serene common sense, the
brake and balunce-wheel of his party.
There was Lane, uncouth and unscrupulous,
aealous without convictions, pungent, ticry,
magnetic, his keen, eager eye steadfastly fixed
on the Seii ate of the United btates contorting
his thin, wiry lorm, and uttering bitterest de
nunciations in deep, husky gutturals, lie was
once Lieutenant-Governor of Indiaua. After
wards, while representative in Congress from
the same (State, he voted for the Kausas and
Nebraska bill. A dead politician at home, he
came to Kansas to help make it a slave State.
But his bread never fell on the buttered side; ho
viae soon an untl-Blavery leader and major-gene-ral
of Free State forces in the field. It common
leport was not a common liar, his domestic life
was shameless. The Border Ruffians declared
that he was heartily in sympathy with them
until the lirot "bous" Legislature refused to
grant him a divorce. He finally obtained the
decree in Court, but was afterwards remarried
to his divorced wile, and lived with her uutil
his death.
' A seemingly transparent demagogue, sooner
or later betraying every cause aud every
friend, he invariably claimed to embody some,
sreat principle, and made the sincere, the
honest, and the earnest, his enthusiastic sup
porters. In spite of his notorious personal
character, he was twice elected to the United
fctates Senate. For years lie controlled the
politics of Kansas; even when penniless carry
ing his measures against the influence, labor,
and money of his united enemies. His personal
magnetism was wonderful, aud he manipulated
zuen like wax.
Like John Wilkes, h had a sinister face, plain
to ugliness; like him, too, he could tilK
away his lace in twenty minutes, Dclj'mg
every recognized rule 01 riieionc ana oratory, at
will ne made meH roar with laughter, or melt
into tears, or clinch their teeth in passion. In
war times the Free State soldiers, hail-starved,
lagged and loot-sore, often grew weary of fight
ing the Mlssourians, and tbe power and tbe
patronage of the United States Government, and
declaring that they would go home to their suf
fering families and neglected cornfields, and
frave the great question to settle itself. Tbeu
Lane would mount the nearest barrel or dry
goods box. make a ten-minute speech, and con
clude amid a shower 9f cheer? tor free. Kansas,
The Topeka Government, and "Jim Lane," with
bis heareTB begging him to lead them against
the enemy.
Repeatedly the United States Marshal from
Lecomptou with an armed posse at his heels
galloped into Lawrence with a warrant for
Lane's arrest. Hut the Lawrence people were
miracles of heroic reticence. The first person
asked would perhaps reply that ho "never heard
oi any such man." Another would report him
"gone down South." A third saw him an hour
ago, but thought he,, was now over upon tbe
reservation. Then a young man with revolver
at bis side would Blep up and demand gravely:
"Hallo, Marshal, looking for Jim Lane V
"Yes; where is he."
"JuBt left town. I saw him start for Iowa
ten minutes ago with a tweive-pouuder under
his arm."
Amid the derisive laughter which followed,
ttie angry oflicer and his posse would ride homo
wards, llcfore they were lairly out of sight,
Lane would come strolling leisurely up Massa
chusetts btreets, wearing the old black bear-skin
overcoat which enveloped him winter and sum
mer, and asking il anybody had heard a gentle
man from Lecomptou inquiring for him !
There was Phillips, resident Tribune corres
pondent, of Scotch birth, restless-eyed, acrile as
a deer, able to out-travel any horse In the Terri
tory, an invaluable scout, calm, with suppressed
earnestness, integrity personified, whose tcre
compact words exploded from his lips like oY-'
cusBion caps, while hearers stood with beads
bent forward and ears strained h-bt they lust a
Dingle sentence. Years ulterwarus, in the creat
truggle of which this was prelude and epitome
be did gallant service at the bead of a briuaae
flghtiiig for the Union.
There was Conway slender, boyish in face,
red haired, of Baltimore birth and South Caro
lina education, yet the warmest abolitionist or
all a man of books, a student of fcmerson, now
at twenty-einht a Judge of tbe Supieme Court
slider the Topeica Constitution a speaker of
flowing rhetoric and sonorous periods. In those
arly days when I believed slavery tnrough tbe
booth would ultimately die a natural death, he
aid:
"Yon are wrong. It is a thing of violence,
and can only go out in Violence, with blood and
Uve clash ot arms."
lal in 18013, when representing Karisus in the
national Congress, ha alone among Republicans
openly advocated tbe recognition of the fc utt
rn Confederacy, and the abandon mut of the
war, at the thortesl way to abolrtioa. The
Kansas Legislature passed a unanimous vote of
condemnation; and at the next election his con
fttitaenu kit him at home. There 1b a legend
plamt was made ot the drunkenness ol au army
otlicer, to which be n pl.ed:
"Rir, ihe rolonel'a ptilinnt rondnct in the war
of 1812 Justifies him In keeping drunk diinr.g
the rest of bis lllo, 11 ho sees lit!"
Cpoo the same prii.elple Conway's faithful
and rfficiont services In the early days might
exruKc all later aberrations.
There wh Leonhardf, a Hungarian refugee,
with splendid frame, noble head, and soul-full
eye a born orator, Making KnelUh like his
niotlier-toti';ur with flowing brown beard, a
voice like Niagara, mid u, heart like Vesuvius.
At the lates-t lul tiis he was a soldier in our war
for the Union. Whither ho has since gotic I
know wot; but s'orni nre IiIh native element,
and he is Himcivlicre un actor In the world's
tumult.
There v.k-1 Daniel Poster, n new comer, a
Unitarian eleicvmaii, full ol lire and earnest
ness, believiim in an nun-slavery church and nn
anti-slave ry tied, lie loops in the valley ol the
James, whom ho led hi Massachusetts company
when a Rebel bullet picrcd his brain.
'lucre was T. Dwigln, Timelier, editor of the
Lawiencc livb!icin, a young man eloquent
frmn the. State of No v York. A'ter emiinc
ruling the successive Ilnnsits executives who
had sided hgaiu.-t tlv Free Stale majority, he
added:-
'And next comes Governor Walker"
A voice in the crowd Interrupted:
"Hero ho dors come :md no mistake,'' ai.d nn
open carnage containing the Governor, his
Secretaries, and two ladles, returning tram a
orive, hailed wi'hin a lew feet of the speaker.
In no vise discooceitcd for Kansas Governors
wore never held in awe, anil seldom in r"spoci
Thucher continued, and the representative of
Buchanan hoard sentiments which he regarded
as tevolutionary.
The KiUnc cveuiDK a crowd gathered at Gor
vey's Hotel and clammed lor a speech from
Walker. Bniall in stature, with a squeaking
voice, and wi' bout that mysterious something'
which we nil presence, the new Governor did
not imprc-R them in a gun of heavy metal.
When he spoke in "the big bow wow strain" or
wielding the power cf the nation, he seemed
"A ptiinlHU Jove,
Willi kite tnuaiUir iu his lilted bund."
But he spoke piausibly and fairly, plcdgim;
his honor to resist any incursions or interference
wi b the rights of the settlor. ( in the ta ques
tion he wrt:! profoundly silent. And here I may
explain how this was finally settled. Missouri
papers and Democratic jourualf, both In the
Territory and throughout the Itorth, urrred the
collection of the taxes, even by the strong arm
of the National Government. But the people
were inflexible. In Lawrence when the assessor
asked one man for a list of his property, a mob
began to gather, and he departed abruptly.
Upon his arrival in Topeka he heard a party of
young men step into an adjacent store and in
quire: "Can you loud us a roj'e?"
"For what purpose!''
"There Is a bogus asscsor in town, and we are
goiriL' to hang him."
The ollicer absconded again in what Choa'.e
used to call "terrific and tumultuous haste,"
fully convinced that tho post of safety was a
private station. No iarther tax cil'orts were
made.
Those were the days of violence and blood
shed in Kanisas, and our author gives us the
following incidents ol' "Life in Leavenworth
in 1857:"
I visited Leavenworth again on the 20th of
June, believing that the municipal election of
that day could not pass without armed collisiou.
Nor did it.. Late at uight, when our steamer
landed, watch fires blazed on the levee, drinking
saloons were crowdcit, excited men bearing
guus aDd revolvers were gathered In little knots,
or walking to aud fro. A friend whom i met
pacing tbe sidewalk with a Sharpe's lille upon
nis shoulder, explained the cause.
Most ot the Pro-Hlavcry men, mit'infied thut
their rule was over, retrained from voting. The
entire l-'ree tate ticket was elected bj a voic of
three hundred and eighty-live to seventy. James
T. Lyle, the city recorder, was a younir Georgian
who during the early troubles assisted In tarring
anil leathering and shavingthe head ol Phillips,
a Free Soiler afterwards wantonly killed in
Leavenworth, He w:s also present at the
atrocious murder of Captain K. P. Brown, who
was literally chopped to pieces with hatchets,
at Kastou, Kansas, in January, 185U, and hi
bleeding corpse fiung before his young wile,
who was made a maniac by the. horrible
tragedy.
At the polls ou the day of my arrival, a Bjnler
Ruffian ballot was o tiered to a German, lie
tore il to tatters, a'-kmc:
"lo you supoo-e 1 would vote that Pro-
slavery' ticket?"
This hisiantly provoked an affray in which all
Ihe bystanders took pait ; and upon bath sides
several revolvers were fired. Williarn Haller, a
young Ohioan whose property had once been
burned by Pro-flavery men, urged the German
to s-taud Uis ground, Lyle turned upon Ilallcr,
nskine:
"vVIi".l is it to you ?" and raised a knile. But
before he could strike Haller stabbed htm to
the heart, and he fell dead.
Haller was arrested, aud strongly guarded by
the police; but they were intensely pro-slavery,
and Lyle's friends were, arming and threatening
to lynch the prisoner. So the free State men,
with rifles and revolvers, were on duty to pro
tect their comrade and watch the oflicers. The
pro-slavery party- was also gathering and bear
ing weapons.
Through the long night streets resounded
wHh tramping feet, and five hundred were
under aims, in drinking saloons, at street cor
ners, in front of the guarded building in which
Haller was confined, and around the little oflice
where rested the white, fixed face and rigid
form of Lyle. But no further outbreak oc
cmred. The nest moining a preliminary in
vestigation was held before a relic of border
ruflian rule, who bad risen from a livery stable
to the justice's bench. It was in the unfinished
stone court-house, with unhewn walls, roue;h
benches, and a single table. The cigars of the
lawyers darkened this temple of justice, and
the magistrate beard the testimony while read
ing a newspaper.
Many witnesses were examined, aud, as in
all ulfrays, persons who looked on from
the same point at tbe same moment, swore to
ejraotly opposite statements. Once an attorney
for the defense took his cigar from his mouth,
and behind a huge puir of smoke, objected to
certain testimony on the other side as inadmis
sible. The justiee gravely replied:
"The court sustains tbe objectiou and rules
that the question cannot be usked at this stage
of the game,"
The inference was that "the court" played
poker. Haller was held for trial. Application
lor hiB admission to bail was arcued before
Judge Lecoinpte, Chief Justice of the Supreme
Gourt ot the Territory. Uis decisions nan Deeu
so uniformly and llaurautly partisan, ' that he
was nicknamed "Jothies Lecompte." Under
the "bogus code" framed by his own party, all
deirieesol homicide were bailable; and Lecompte
hud released notorious criminal chargui with
the murder of Free State men, upon their giving
bonds for their appeal a nee at trial.
But this was his o vn ox which had been
gored. In summing up the testimony, he
called Lyie's bowio "a smau auiie widen
he did notj purpose to use offensively,"
though witnesses hail sworn that it was from
eight to twelve inches long, and that deceased
had raised it to Btiike when he received the
mortal wound. He relusod to admit Haller to
bail, ordering him to fort Leavenworth for safe
keeping. The prisoner was taken from the
courl-room iu the cus'ody ot six United States
soldiers, umij the Hashing eyes and suppressed
breathing ot the free State lookers-ou, who,
despite their reverence for the Federal uniform,
wanted onl, a leader to have rescued him by
force. (At l.awrciieft one morning the follow
ing winter. 1 encountered several raud-Btained
men who durum the previous night had escorted
Ha lor from the tort, whence he escaped by
bribing the guards. n rettcued ijuio nafely,
and six months later resumed hi residence in
Leavenworth, wb-r he was never a"ain dis
turbed.) "
Leavenworth was the scene of frequent vlo.
leuee. On a July evening upoa th river buuk,
a stranger named James (Stephen was inur
Imd, febd but VqOj jofcbeU of cu liHiiaied A4
e'ht dollar. Quarlo aud Bays, two of his
friends residing in the city, tcstifed before
tbe coroner's jury that thev were walk
ing with him, when roobciH attack".!
the party and murdered him, whll-j
they run lor their lives. But "conpclence is a
thousand witnesses;" their ftatomentn weie so
contradictory and improbable, that the jury re
turned a vcnliet chargmg Memwith the murder,'
and they weie at once taken Into custody. Thou
Queries made a full confession.
Hitherto, every homicide in Kansas had re
sulted lroni fhc slavery controversy. Accord
ing to historians, the remorseless Ma-ats nnd
Robep picrres of the Fundi Revolution, who
shed blood like water, did not take a piece ol
money or a watch lroni llirir butchered victims.
They even guillotined their own wretched agents
detected in phmdei ing. They would have life,
not gold, ho the Kansas conflict Iih'I wltnes-cd
no moiconnry clement in all its atrocious crimes.
But here was a cold blooded murder lor money.
Free State and I'ro-t-lavcry men, alike hopeless
ol ihe laws, mount to punish it.
Two ihousnnd people gathered at the j til.
Jiiduc Lecompte addrcsod the mot), d"i)re
cating violence, and assorting that all who on
Meed in it would be liable to indictment tor
tiiunlir. Thi.s tus answered with the howls
"Indict and be dd !" Li oomptu attempted to
po on but ho only elicited hoots, and at l ist
ominous Miggc-tiotis about, making nn example
of him li r permitting and ail in;; criuiinuls to
cfcupc; (-0 he wisely withiliew. Then ano lier
spi iiker tp'ting upon a box and coiiimiai le I the
pence, announcing himself ns the Uni'eil States
Marshal lor Kansas. Instantly aroe a storm of
cues:
"Down with li'm !" "He's the a real est scoun
drel in the Territory." "Lei's hang Atm."'
The oltioei's voice grew husky, and his face
bloodless; and be, too, diBappeatea iu the crowd.
The mob picked up the city marshal and
police a il they had boon children; carried them
a few yards, and there held them; battiT'.'ddown
the iron dour of the 1 ail with a stick of timber:
drugged forth Quarles, and hung him Iro n a
cottonwooa tree overlooking the city. For a
moment L.e oor wretch clutched tho rope
above his hea l, lifting himself up; but a heavy
roflian caught him by the loot, his grasp gave
way, and he never struggled again.
Two hours later the crowd again' surroundo.l
the jail and demanded Bajs. In vain the tree
Slate mayor and other leading citizens so lght
to restrain them. The prisoner's wife, a vigor
ous young Irish womau, fought like.a tiger, but
they took her away as gently as possible, again
used the battering ram, brought out the crimi
nal, und ran with him to the gibbet. He
reluscd to confess; held his own hands behind
him to be tied; and cast on the crowd a half
scornful, half-triumphant exmession, while he
was swung off from the limb. To what base
uses may come the stuff ol which martyrs are
madel
In travelling backwards and forwards
through the Territory, Mr. Richardson was
frequently thrown in contact with the Indians,
several half-civilized tribes of whom inhabited
certain portions of it. He gives us the fol
lowing account of
A MUUT WITH THE INDIAN "l-'OUK MILE."
On a dark December evening I left Lawrence
fur Quindaro. Fifteen miles out on the louely
road, the clouds gathered themselves into au
unbroken dome of black; aud the darkness
grew so dense that I could hardly see my open
hand two inches before my eyes. Then tue rain
poured in torrents. Fortunately I was in a
l.ttle strip of lorest, where my horse could not
leave the track without lunning against tue
trees. In this extremity I joyfully detected
lights, shining through the chinks of a log
cabin, liidii'g up and pushing-open the door, I
was greeted with the clamor ol halt a dozen
noisy dos. 11 was the only dwelling within
ten miles; aud its interior conveyed a certain
suppestion ot comfort. I asked:
"Can 1 find lodgings here to-night?"
There were ihrce lndluim upon ntoolH nrouud
the rude supper table. Tho oldest and nio3t
stolid grunted Hn aflirmative, bcckonetl me in.
Mid tent one of his companions to care for my
hoi so.
XuiOiviug off my dripping overcoat, I
stretched myself before tho log tiro, which, from
the irreat hearth, lighted up the whole cabin.
H was a single room, ten or twelve feet square.
The three men, oressed in coats and pantaloons,
had long, coarse, black ha;r, sinister eyes, and
brooding, suspicious countenances. A stout
squaw, cheery and open-faced, who wore zinc
oar-rings as large ns silver dollars, sat humbly
waiting for the nobler sex to finish their repast.
Crouching beside her was a girl of tight y eats,
also wearing the metallic car-rinjrs.
Boiore 1 had completed this inventory, a vigo
rous squall drew my attention to a distant cor
ner. Theio, from a s winging hammock, au lu
dian papoose of American descent screeched so
lustily that his dusky mother seized him,
dandled him on her knee, and soothed him with
the sweetest babv-taik of the Delaware tongue.
Ho looked like an inlant mummy. He was on
his back, bandaged so tightly to a board that he
could only scream, roll his head, and wink; but
ne performed an mese nincuons at one with
miraculous vehemence. Ili.i lips were at last
silenced by application to "thcniHternal fount,"
and then he was set up agaiust the wa l like a
lire shovel, to inspect the company.
Supper over, the little girl filled and lighted
an earthen pipe with iced stem a loot long.
Smoking a few whiffs, she handed it to her
mother. That stolid matron finished it; and we
all sat staring silently into tho lire. The girl,
true to ber sex, found courage to scrutinize my
gold sleeve-buttons, watch and chain, and every
other glittering article she could find pbottt me,
greeting each with some fresh ejaculation of
delight. Then she kissed the papoose, and crept
to her straw uest iu another corner. Mine host
knew a few English words, and I a-ked him:
"What is your name V
"Uroph. Four Miles."
"And his?"
"Umph. Fall Leaf."
"And the little girl's?"
"O-kee au-kee. No English."
And Four Miles was again overcome by one of
his brilliant Hashes ot silence.
At bed-time, as I unbuckled ray revolver, he
glanced inquiringly towards it, took it with
nervous care, turned it over and over, stared
solemnly into the barrels, and then returned it.
"umph. Good. Howmuchr"
"Twenty dollars."
And with another grunt. Four Miles relapsed
into speechlessness.
My bed was of plank, well covered with blau-
kels. Through the whole ni.eht 1 had a dreamy
consciousness or shivering; aud when daylight
appeared I noticed the absence ol a log in tho
cabin wall beside me, which left an aperture
suuicientiy largo to admitr euner a man or
enough cold air to cover him. A generous style
of ventilation lor which I was not adequately
grateful.
Upon the stone hearth blazed a bright log fire,
and around it were grouped the family, all with
colds iu the head, and all in fearful coutiguity
to the open cooking utensils. I forced down a
low moisels ot breakfast; but it was a signal
triumph of mind over matter. My horse was
brought to tho door, and I aked:
"How much?"
"Umph two dollars."
Which I paid and departed, while the noble
savage grunted a friendly adieu.
Our author is generally very correct in Lis
Kansas history. We observe, however, that
he has fallen into the error of ascribing the
rescue of Ir. John Day from the St. Joseph
jail to John Brown. Urovvu had nothing to do
with it. The rescuing party was made up in
Lawrence, and wai led by Major James Abbott.
John Brown at that time was not In Kansas.
During the summer of 1809 Mr. Greeley
madj Ids overland trip to California, and Mr.
Piehardson accompanied him from Kansas to
Colorado. The following are some of the inci
dents be relates of Thb PuiLosoPHisa or tux
TimiuNE on thk Plains:
Thus far I had been the solitary paaseuaer.
' Dm a l&kUtt llgrav C'mltsj wur. ft Vvus
Ihrouch tbe interior to (ratify the clamorous
fottleis with tppoche. jolnrd mc for tho rest of
the journey. Hlsovenand trip attrnctod ronch
attention. A farmer asked me if Horace Gree
ley had failed In business, and was eoing to
Pike's I'csk to ltg cold I Another inquired il
he was about to start ar.cwspapcr in Manhattan.
And as we were leaving one station an Iu Ban
girl said to a new-comer:
"Horace Gicrlev in his old white coat is sit
ting in flat conch!"
Twenty mics beyond, after passing three
laiec farn p based on "a horizontal rather than
a 1 rrrei ttieular agiioullurc," we renchc I Fun
Kilry, ore of our tnnst benut'lul military posts,
and in the geographical centre of our na ional
possessions. All the bulidlrigs are t vo siories
hi,"h, rd lipht limestone resembling marble.
Just bcTond. WC crossed the UoouMican river.
which, nsdiie urar the pocky Mountivns, winds
eastward lor six hundred miles and here unites
wilh the Smoky Hill l rk to form the Kan-ns.
The el. ra, conical, smoky hills from which tne
chief tnmitary is named are visible on tt"" hori
zon though a h n.drcd miles distant. Titnocr
abounds ncur the fort; acottonwnod ree Dine
f i t in diameter was recently cut bore. We
ftopr-cd lor ihe nirrht at Junction City (Station
Sevt n), the frontier post ollicft ad settlement
ot Kmisns. The editor ol IU weMtly newspaper,
an old Cnliforiiiim, f oko. with great eiulius asm
ot'ttio Goh.cn t-t.'oe. Mr. Gnvii y replied:
"I have, heard some hundreds of retimed
CalifuinniiiH use the same txprc-sions; but ore
thiv.i! I cannot understand, It you liked Cali
fornia so well, why didn't yon stiy there ?
"Because I wn" a fcol!" replied the roving
journalist.
Jn ti e evrnlnf, by invitation of the citizens,
Mr. Gneley addrtssnd an attentive audience in
the t-ntii is'hed stone church. Theme, "ltopub
licantem." Pay's travel foity miles.
Nay at). At Vtntir-n Twelve, where wo dined,
the cni cusses of seven butlaloes were hMlfsub
nieiL.ed in the creek, yesterday a herd of thrcj
thousand crossed the stream, leapii g elown the
steep banks, a lew broke their necks by the
fall;' others were trampled to death by those
pressing ou from behind.
This 'afternoon our conch was stopjird at a
ereck-crossing bv a mired wagon which blocked
the road. Several Ohio emigrants, with their
weiirv cattle, were endenvoring to extricate it.
Mr. Greeley assisted them in their elletrts to litt
tho wheels lroni out the Slough of Despond.
While they paused a moment, one inquired of
the stranger his business. He replied that he
was connected with a New York daily joum.d.
"What journal?"
"The 2'i&wne"
"Ah ! that's old Greeley's paper, isn't it?''
"Yes sir."
Just then another of the party who had been
absent returned, and recognizing the ablest
editor and most influential American of our
gcni ration laboring at the wheel, said to his
comrades:
"Gentlemen, this is Mr. Greeley, of New York."
The curious Interrogator was dumb with
amazement and chagrin,
Nearly every train we pass contains some emi
grant who stops the coach atd remarks:
"Mr. Greeley, my name is . I heard you
lecture fourteen years ago."
Aud the veteran journalist invariably replies:
"Oh, yes! How are my old friends A., B., and
C. ?'' naming hall'-a-soore of citizens in the re
gion whether of Maine or Minnesota from
which the stranger hails. But to-day on the
outskirts of a crowd a stolid-looking gold-seeker
asked me earnestly:
"Stranger, is that John Greeley those fellows
talk so much about?"
"No Horace."
"Horace Horace Greeley who is he?"
"Kditorof the Tribune."
"Which?"
"Editor of the New York Tribune."
"What's that?"
I enlightened my interlocutor, who seemed to
feel that he had pained valuable information,
and explained that he was "born and ruised" in
Missouri.
And In this connection we may as well give
our author's account of
THE ldllE DOWN TUE S1EKRA NEVADAS.
Crossing the summit seven thousaud feet
above the sen. we looked back upon a grand
paiorania. Fur below us glittered Tahoe,
bnuhtest gem in the mountain coronet of those
twin queens, the Golden and thebiiver State.
We saw every variety of fcroi and color, moun
tain and valley, the deepest green and the
pmest snow. 'ihen we began to descend.
Here, where the turnpike in winter is sometimes
obstructed by twenty feet of snow, pass three
teh'traph wiies and eight daily coaches.
The winding road is graded like a railway
the finest of turnpikes for the perfection of
sinking. In eaily days the ride was very
peulous along rocky sidling roads, upon the
edge of dizzy precipices, where cne looked do wn
lor a thousanrt feet upon patches of greensward
and silver streams.
When the editor of the TrUiune crossed In
IBM, he was driven by Hunk Monk, a famous
Jehu, who like the son of Ninishi, driveth
furiously. An apocryphal story of this ride is
current ulllover the c.ieat plains and among the
mountains. The editor had a lecture engage
ment in I'lacervine, and as the horses climbed
slowly up the eastern side he feared he would
bo too late. Twice he urged the driver forward,
but the rccticent Monk paid not the slightest
heed. Soon, they reached the summit and
began lo descend. Then cracked the long-idle
whip; and the horses at full run tore along
beside precipices where a single stone or mjs
step might send them rolling over, in which
case the passenger was sure that, upon reach,
ing the bottom, coach, horses, and men would
not be worth twenty-five cents a bushel ! Tossed
about in the bounding vehicle, he assured the
driver that such hasto was unnecessary; that
half an hour sooner or later would make no
material difference.
"Keep your seat, Mr. Greeley," replied tho
imperturbable Monk, with a fresh crack of the
whip; "keep your seat; I'll get you to Placerville
in time !"
Through that overruling Providence which
cares for the careless, the journey was accom
plished in safety. But the fanciful legeud so
pleased certain Californians, that they presented
Monk with a handsome gold watch, bearing the
inscription: "Keep your 6eat, Mr. Greeley
I'll get you to Placerville in time."
One night afterwards, when Monk's coach was
late for these stages run by time-table he
drove very hard, to the terror of a self-important
judicial personage who vainly expostu
lated again and again; and at last, with pompous
gravity, Ihundored: wsa
"1 w ill have you ttischarged before tho week
is out. Do vouknow who I am, sir?"
"Oh, yes 1" replied Monk, "perfectly well.
But 1 am going to take this coach into Carson
City on time if it kills every one-horse judge in
the State of California ! Vernal .,
Now, the broad, winding roads are beautifully
smooth, and in summer suriuklcd lroni .carts lor
sixty miles to keep down the all-enveloping
dust. The carts are supplied from great wooden
water-tanks two or three miles apart.
Down the narrow, winding shelf-road our
horses went leuping at a sharp gallop. Jt Is a
thrilling ride; lor, at many points, a divergence
of six inches from tho track would send the
coach rolling from five hundred to a thousaud
feet down tho mountain, into tho foaming
stream-bed of some yawning canyon. Here is
ihe iderl of staging. For weeks afterwards one's
blood bounds at the memory of its whirl and
rush. Twenty-four on the coach, with six
horses galloping down tho fclerri Nevada,
alon a winding, uarrow, dizzy road, at twelve
miles an hour! It is swift as Sheridan's ride
and stirriug as the Charge of the Six Hundred.
We must close our extracts from this
valuable and interesting book, and will do so
by giving Mr. Richardson's description of the
famed Yoseinite Valley, in California:
On the 7lh of August, after four days' hard
travel lroni San Francisco, we galloped out of
the pine woods, dismounted, stood upon the
rocky precipice of Inspiration Point, aud looked
down Into Xosemite as one from a housetop
looka dwn into his garden, or as he wouU vlow
the Interior ot some Btupendous roofless cathe
dral, lroni the top of one of its towering walls.
In the distance, across the gorge, were snow
ettcakd mountain. Ulgbt under ua wtu tU
nrrow, windiie bisln or meadow, grove, an. I
seining river, Bhut In by granite walls from two
thoupiind to five thousand leet high wails with
immense turrets of bare rock-walls so upright,
and perfect tha' an expert crag-man can ciimti
out of the vallev at only throe or four pomti .
limping a pebble from the rock upon which
we stood, ano lookine over the brink, 1 sur it
all moro thnn half a mile before striking.
Glancing across the narrow, profound
chasm, I survryrd an unhtoken, seamless
wall ol pranite, two-thirns of a mile high, and
more tlmn peipendicular the top projecting
one hundred and fifty feet over the base. Turn
ine towards the. tipp-r end ot' the v.iiley, 1 be
hrU a balf-denie of rock, one mile high, aud on
itt summit a solitary, gigantic cedar, appearing
!ike the merest twig. Origina ly a vast granite
mountain, it was riven from too to bottom by
some ancient con vnKon, which cleft asunder
tho eveilasting hillB and rent the great globe
ltfOll.
The measureless, inclosing walls, with these
leaning towns snd many other turret urey,
blown, anil white ruck, darkly veined lroni
sun rnlt lo base with Btrenks and ribbons ot
fulling water hills, almost uprigh', yet studded
with tcnncioiiR tirs and cedars; and the deep
down level fluor of gra-x, with its thread of
river end pisniy trees, nil burst upon me a;
incc. Nature bad ldicd her curtain to reveal
the vnM -Mid the infinite. It elicited no adjec
tives, no t xclnn.iiiions. Wit'p bewildering sense
of chine roer and human littleties, I cowl 1
only f.R-.c 1n silence, tiM the view strained my
b'am imd pained my eyes, compelling mo to
turn away and rest from its o,pre'ssivc magni
tude. Biding for two hours, down, dowi, among
sln.rp locks and dizzy zigzags, wheie the five
ladies of our party found it dilhcuU to keep hi
their saddles, and narrowly escaped pitching
over tin ir hors(' heads, we were m tho valley,
entering by the Mariposa trail. The length of the
vi llev or cleft is nino miles; i's average 'vi lih
three-fourths of a mile. The following dimen
sions ate in feet:
Av riiue wldtli of Merced river 60
J! eight of Yoseinite fulls. (Upper. lOUd;
luipiils, 4.11; Lower, (100) Jii3l
Width of tliese falls al upper summit., iu
August l",
Height ol Bridal Veil lull tun
llelctit of Houiu Fork fall M
ll lght of Vernal fall :t;o
Helttl t of Nevada lall 700
Wioth of Vernnl aud Nevada, al summits... 41)
Ilelpht of JOlCnpltnn rock suou
lleiulit of Tliree Brothers rock (tnree tur
rets) a It7
llelMht of North Dome rock !t70
lloiuhtof Inspiration Point rock 3000
Height of Cathedral rock (two turrets) IIOOi)
Height of Sentinel rock 3270
Height of Mount Colfax v 8100
Height of Mount Starr King 4)00
Height of South Dome rock G000
Biding up the valley for five miles, past Bridal
veil lall (en tue urooif entering tne Merced from
the south, above Inspiration Point), Cathedral
rocks and tne sentinel, we dismounted and
established our headquarters at llutchlngs',
Thia is a two-story frame house, with interior
wans 01 - son uiusu, a iocbi lerm, in contra
distinction to plastering of "hard finish," and
signifying only curtains of white muslin for
partitions. They compel guests who don't wish
to give mngic lanlern exhibitions to extinguish
their candles betore disrobing; but atlord rare6t
facilities tor general conversation alter every
one has gone to bed.
llutchmgs and bis family regaled us on the
fat ol the land and the fruit of the water sweet
milk and savory trout. In winter the sun rises
upon them at 1 o'clock P. M., and sets two
hours later. Then they receive mails and news
from the outside world once a week, through
adventurous Indians, who cross the dangerous
mountain snows, twenty feet deep, to Coulter
vitle or Mariposa.
Hutchings is landlord and author; his illus
trated "Scenes of Wonder and Curiosity in Culi
loinia" is a creditable and valuable work. A
fiieDd, visiting here for the first time, found his
wile upon 1 ne river DanK, wun one nand vigor
ously turning the crank of a patent washing
machine, and with the other holding the latest
Atlantic Monthly, alsotbed in one ol its M'ticles.
Only Indian labor is attainable. If Eastern
Indies who stiller cotiBttiut martyrdom in respect
ot "help," were compelled to live on tho racilic
const a lew mouths, aud employ Chinamen and
Indians In I'eu of servant girls, they would
h-aro who is well otF.
In front ot Hutchings' runs the Morced, fresh
from the Sierras. Delightful aud exilaratiug,
though a little chilly tor the swimmer, it is
so perfectly transparent as to cheat the eye and
beguile beyond his depth any one attempting to
wade it. Crossiigitby a rustic log bridge,' we
are in a smooth, level meadow of tall grass,
variegated with myriads of wild flowers, in
cluding primroses of yellow and crimson, nnd
lily-sbiiped blossoms of exquisite purple, known
as the Ithuriel fpear.
The meadow is fringed with groves of pines
and spreading oak, and on one side bounded
by the everlasting walls. The pines, like those
of Washington Territory, are simply height,
slenderncss, symmetry. The delicate tracery of
the brunch is beautiful beyond desciiption;
but the truuk is comparatively small. I pro
cured a photograph of two wonder
fully regular and graceful, and more
than two kundred feet hiub, which dwarfed to
a child's block-house a large frame dwelling at
their leet. In the evening, illuminated and
softened by the full moon, the beauty of the val
ley was marvellous. The bright lights of the
distant house shone through the deep pines, and
the river's low gurgling faintly disturbed the
air. At times immense boulders, breaking from
the summits, rolled down thundering, aud tilling
the valley with their loud reverberations.
Tha rock mountains are the great feature;
indeed, they are Yosemite. The nine granite
walls, which range in altltute from three to six
thousard feet.Iare the mobt striking examples
on the globe ot the masonry of Nature.
Their dimensions arc bo vast that they utterly
outrun our ordinary standards of comparison.
One might as well be told of a wall, upright like
the side of a house for ten thousand miles, as
for two-thirds of one mile. When we speak of
a giant twenty-five feet high,, it conveys
Borne definite impression; but to tell of one
three thousand feet bigb, would only bewilder,
and convey no meaning whatever. So, at first,
these stupendous walls painfully coufuse the
mind. By degrees, day alter day, the sight of
them clears it, until, at last, one receives a just
Impression of their solemn immensity.
Cathedral rocks have two turrets, and look
like some Titanic religious pile. Sentinel tower
alone, grand and hoary. The South Dome, a
mile high, is really a semi-dome. Cleft from top
to bottom, one half of it went ou the other
side of the chasm and disappeared, when
the great mountains were rent In twain.
The gigantic North Dome 1s as round and per
fect as tbe cupola of the National Capitol. Three
Brothers is a triple-pointed massof solid granite.
All these rocks, and scores ot lesser ones which
would be uoticeable anywhere else iu the world,
exhibit vegetation. Hardy cedars, thrusting
roots into imperceptible crevices of their up
right sides-apparently growing out of un
broken stone have braved a thousand years
the battle and the breeze.
Kl t'apitan is grandest of all. No tutt of
beard shades or fringes its closely shaven faoci.
No tenacious vine even can fasten its tendrils,
to climb that smooth, seamless, Btupendous wall.
There it will stand, grandeur, maHslvcness, in
destructibility, till the heavens shall pass avay
with a great noise, and the elements melt with
fervent heat. Its Indian name is Tu-toch-an-tM-lah.
Both this and the Spauish won! signify
"the leader;" but were applied in the sense of
the Supreme Being. It ought to bo called
Mount Abraham Lincoln.
One noble mountain most appropriately com
memorates Thomas Stair Kin". Another, imme
diately in the rear of .Hutchings', our party
fouud nameless, and, excepting only 'be.?Pfa'rf
himself, unanimously voted to christen "n
Colfax. Whether the name sticks or not Jin
depend upon future writers. But I am lure
will be perpetual, if adhered to by all toaHats
and journalists friendly to that orphan Printer,
boy of not many yeaps ano, whose industry,
talents, and perfect integrity have , wot , tor his
early manhood the third place of civil rast and
honor in the gift of tbe American people.
Hutchings' afford, a perfect view ol Yosemite
falls, a mile distant. In Aprd and May, when
inciting snows swell the stream to a deep tor
mt, they we Pdj b thtB
Hooded. In late sumtnri their creek Bhrltifcn to
afKeleton; and they look small brcajse their
surrouiHiingA are bo vast. Niagara ltaclf would
dwnrt beside the rocks in this valley.
ret xoseniite u ttie lottiest water-tall in the
world. Think of a cataract, or cascade, of half
a mile with only a single break! It is sixteen
times higher than Ningaru. Twelve Ranker
Mill men tun rut standing upriuh' one nnon
another, would bareiy reach its summit. )ss
upon I'eliun beciduCB a tame and meaningless
comparison.
We did not climb to the Rapids and foot of
Ihe Upper full; that ditlicult. hazardous, and
exhausting. Nor did wo go to therxttcnie sum
mit; that requires a circuttouB ride ot twenty
hve miles out of the valley. But we spent much
time at the base of the Lower lall, shut In by
towering walls of dark pranite. The basin
abounds in rocks some as largo as a dwell
ing house which have tumbled down from
ihe top. Spreading my blankets upon
one of those almost uuder ihe fall, 1 found It a
smooth bed, troueh a little damp from spray ;
nnd spent tho night there to see the cataract in
tho varj log illuminations and shadows of buu
liuM, twiligi.t. staright, and moonlight.
'Much 01 the water turns loMnist before
reaching the bottom ; yet looking up from
under tt the volume seems great. Six hundred
feet above, a body of nigged, snowy foam with
dishevelled tresses rushes over the brink, and
comes sins: it g down in sp'nder column, b waved
to and fro by tho wind like a long strand of
luce. For lour hundred teet the descent is
nnrull'.cd; then, sinking a broad, inclining rock,
like the roof of a house, tho water spcads over
it a thin, shinni!?, transparent apron, frinpod
with delicate jjauc auu glides swiftly to tha
bottom. By moonlight ihe whole looks like a
lonr white "ribbon, bunging against the browu
wall, with its lower end, widening and un
ravi l! d.
Bridal Veil full, unbroken, much narrower,,
nnd sotter.ed by a ilelh-ntc mist vyhich half hides
it, is a blrip ol w hite fluttering fOHai, which the
wind swings like a silken pendulum. It is
spanned by a rair.bow; and at some poiuts the
thin, f;las--like sheet reveals every hue of the
wall behind it. Before reaching the end of its
long descent, a rill no longer, it Is completely
tranrlovnic-d to tprny the Niobe of cascades
ditolved in tears.
Above Hutchings' the valley breaks into three
canyons aud the Merced iuto three torks. North
Fork passes through Mirror Lake tbe very soul"
ottrmspaiency. It rcllects grass, trees, rocks,
mountains, and sky with such perfect and
startling vividness that, oue cannot believe them
imiiges and shadows. He fancies the world
turned upside down, and thriuks back from the
lake lest he should tumble over tho edge lato
the inverted oonie of blue sky.
On the middle or main fork Is Vernal fall,
ditlicult of access. Leaving our horses three
miles from the bote;!, we climbed for two weary
hours along oizzy shelves and up sharp rocks,
where the trails rises one thousand feet to the
mile pine woods all around us; at our left and
fur below, tho river chafing aud roaring In its
stony bed. Then we slood at the foot ol Vernal
fall. Bridal Veil and Yosemite are on little
lateral creeks; Vernal is the lull, swelling tor
rent of the Merced. Those creep softly and
slowly down, as if iu paiu and hesitation. This
rushes eagerly over gloomy brown rocks, then
leaped headlong tor more than three hundred
feet, roaring like a miniature Niagara.
Bain bow s of dazzling brightness shine at its
base. Others ot the patty reported many; my
own eyes, defective a to colors, beheld only
two. But afterwards when alone, I saw what
to Hebrew prophet had been a vision of Heaven
or the visible presence ol the Almighty. It was
the round rainbow the complete circle. la
the afternoon sun I stood upon a rock a hundred
feet liom the base of the lall. aud nearly on a
level with tt. There were two brilliant rainbows
of usual foim the crescent, the bow proper.
But while I looked, the two horns of the
Inner or lower crei-cent suddenly lengthened,
emending ou each side to my feet an entire
circle, perfect as a fingor-riug. In two or three
seconds it parsed away, shrinking to the first
dimensions. Ten minutes later It formcdagain;
and again ns suddenly disappeared, livery sharp
gust of wind showeriug the spray over me
revealed for a moment the round rainbow.
Completely drenched, I Hood for an hour and a
halt, and Baw, fully twenty times, that dazzling
circle of violet and pcld, on a groundwork of
wet dark rock, gay dripping flowers and vivid
grass. I never looked upon any other scene iu
Nature so beautiful aud impressive.
Climbing a high rock-wall by crazy wooden
ladders, we continued up the canyon for three
charters of a mile to Nevada fail, where the
Merced tumbles seven hundred feet, iu, "white
and swaying mistiness." Near the bottom it
strikes an inclined rock, and spreads upoa it in
a sheet ol lloating silver tissue a hundred and
thirty feet wide.
Passing over a wide, gaping crack or chasm in
this rocky grade, the thin shoet of water breaks
into delicate, snowy network; then into my
riads of shining beads, and finally Into long
snarkliug threads au exquisite silk lriuge to
tne groat white curtain.
Those names are peculiarly fitting. Bridal Veil
Indeed looks like a veil of lace. In summer,
when Bridal Veil and Yosemite dwarf. Vernal
still pours its ample torrent. And Nevada is
always white as a snow-drift.
The Yosemite is height; the Vernal is volume;
the Bridal Veil is softness; but the Nevada Is
height, volume and soltness combined. South
Fork cataract, most inaccessible of all, we did
not visit. In spring each lall has twenty times
as much water as in summer.
The days we spent iu the valley were delight
ful and memorable. Eveumgs were devoted to
song and merry-making ; and the motto of the
party was: "If any man gets up before 8
o'clock in the morning, shot him on the spot."
But by day we wandered where we listed, and
viewed the great features ol the valley, as all
impressive things in nature should be viewed,
alone. Most heartily 1 envied Olmstead, who
with his family, with horses, tents, and books,
remained for several weeks, moving from day
to day, and encamping wherever fancy dictated.
On the whole, Yosemite is incomparably the
most wonderful leature of our contiueat.
European travellers agree that tranvatlantic
scenery has nothing at all approaching to it.
Unless the uuexplored Himalayas hide some
rival, there is no spot, the wide world, over, of
such varied beauty and measureless grandeur.
We must close our extracts. Our reader
will find this one of the most Interesting books
that has appeared for a long time. It Is
purely American, treating oily of American
scenes and events. It is also highly instruc
tive, containing as it does much very valuable
and rare information .concerning the great
West.
The admirable style iu which the book has
been issued, its clear open print, and its ex
cellent paper and binding, refleetgoredit upon
the enterprising house by which it has been
issued. This book is one of that class known
as subscription hooks, being sold exclusively by
agents, with whom it must Jie very popular.
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