r
Scuotcl to fltolttics, literature, CJlgrtaiJture, Science, illoralitij, auir eucral Intelligence;
VOL 18.
STE.OUDSBUEG, MONEOE COUNTY, PA. AUGUST 4, I35D.
Piihlisiir1 hv Tli-irwln.'- Shnh. crae depth cannot now exceed six inch- beds of creeks running
' . 1 J 1 1 liit.lt nrm Mnu i ran ? a tnliinh t n VV tnfni
down from -the publican a small but steady stream, aided
hu wlllMl thn ridAP linrrina fr rn onnnnr
TERMS. Two dollars per annum in advance
HolUrs
fore the end
No papers d
P.. t . I.
Au(iir evi, upiiun ui in; Liiiii'i morning
irjAilrrtispmfints of one snuare ften lines) or less. "'"h
bne or thrpe insertions, $1 00. Eaoli additional inser law this mornin;.
fc:.. ftp i - . . aM , . ....
nun, -J cents. J.illl-I uuua 111 inuiiuiii-ii
.,., . . ea. Ud ever? nana, ana lor man? mi cs ui"ii prmi; creeps wuiuu iu niua-i i uy wuiuu. mu river uenn 10 reappear,
lis. Two dollars per annum m advance Two tn vyu ttlJ u"u -uuujr e r .!; i i -n . . ' 1
and a quarter, hair ycariv ami if not paid be above and below, the country above the and early oprmg are sweeping torrents, lirst in pools and soon in an insignificant!
Jp'cw dUcoSe paid, bluffs is such as wo have passed over this . but now are wastes of thirsty sand. Thus ( but gradually increasing current. At the
at the option of the Editor. ' morninc A dead mule bitten in the has it been for ninety miles thus is it i head of this 'sink,' the stream disappears !
ilrarlicnmonlcnrino cniinrn Mfn linns) or Ipss. . . . 1 . ... rr
by a rattlesnake lies
here as if to complete the scene. Off the
lor many miles aeovo ana i presume ' in iiKe manner to that ot its emergence.
many also below. The road from Leav-' Here is station 22, and. hero are a so- !
track to Pike's Peak, all is dreary, soli-, enworth to Denver had to be taken some i called spring and one or two considera-
solved by tho warmer suns of the Spring
months, and thus give rise to an after
growth of grass which contracts, strongly
with the surrounding sterility.
At Beaver Greek, we saw for the
first time in many weary days for more
than 200 miles at the least a clump of
low but bturdv Cottonwood fhirtv or
W -TV arm W n r V HP W 1T
iiavin-a ircncrai assortment of iarce. plain and or- tude and silence. . 50 miles north of its due course to obtain , blc pools, not visibly connected with the fortJ 10 number part of them laid low
iiamenlalType, ie arc prepared to execute every de : Qnni,L-;n of TCnff.lcnjiL-os T hnsr.on even such a nassarre through the Ameri- ! tiukin river, but doubtless sustained bv '. "J the devastating ax. but Still pinn?
- - . . - . - - r n c i o i j . , ,
"l ' . .. 't i- r t i: r i J : AJi it. - ii ' hnnn (hut thn sine n,a n -1 ..
to retract tuesKt'ptlcism afOWCu in a iorui-;i:au oyeaeri, ou a uiiuci nuu uuai iuu uuuu it. auu ujje iuu tuirdiy mua auu ie;iui3 , t " " uumij past.
of bolomon s Iork, it must nave passed , wnicn have been twenty-five miles with- fluu or seven muos auerjustas nibt
over some 200 miles of entire absence of, out water on the Express Company's j falling, wecamo in sight of the Pines,
wood and water. I Road, are met by those which have come g'v'ng double, asuraneo that the moun
tains were at band. Tik
scriplion
Card., Circulars, Kill Heads. Notes, filank Receipts,
Justices. Legal and other Htnnks, Pamphlets, tec., prin
ted with neatness and despatch, on ro;isuii,tlilc terms
nt this office.
JOHN IIA.YN.
J. Q. DUCKWORTH.
To C!itrr
DUCKWORTH & MAYN,
wnoLusALn di:ali:rs in
Groceries, Provisions, Liquors,&Ci
No. 60 Dcy street, New York.
June 16, 1859. 1 v.
cr letter as to the usual and welcome res
idence of tbce venomous serpents in the
Prairic-doir's burrow. The evidence of
the fact is too direct and reliable to be I have seen, during the last three or up the longer and more southerly route
painsayed. A credible witness testifies four days, several bands of wild Indians . by the Smoky Hill, and which navetrav
that he and others once tried to drown Arapahoes, Cheyenncs, Kioways. Si- eled sixty miles since they last found wa-
in out a Prairie-Dog in his domicil, and, oux, &., mainly the two former. Uf
iwhen sufficient water had been rapidly thesethc Arnpaboeshavo been tbemostnu-
AN OVERLAND' JOURNEY
IX.
THE AMERICAN DESERT.
Editorial Correspondence of The Tribune
Station IS. P. P. Express Co
i . y v . 1 mi 1 1
out came a rrairic-JJog, in Uwl and a merous and repuieive. Tueircnnarenswar
Rattlcsnake all together. In another mcd around us at Station 16 the men be-
Jcate a tremendous rain raised a creek so ing mainly absent on a marauding expe
itfiat it suddenly overflowed a Prairie-Dog dition against the Pawnees tho women
! town, when the general stampede of Prai- staying in their lodges. The young onos the time required being two days and the
rie-Deg", Owls and Rattlesnakes was a are thorough savages their allowance of ! intervening night. From this point, west-
ter or sfcfade. This is a sore trial for
weary, gaunt, heavy-laden cattle, and
doubtless proved fatal to many of them.
The Pike's Peakcrs from tho Smoky Hill
I met here with ox-teams, had driven
through the sixty miles at one stretch,
Juue 2, 1839.
The cloud?, which threatened rain at
sight to behold. It is idle to attempt clothing averaging six inches square of
holding out against facts; so I have pou- buffalo kin to each, but so uneqally dis
'dered this anomaly until I think I clear- tiibuted (as is the case with worldly goods
ly comprehend it. The case is much like in general) that tho majority have a far
that of some newspaper establishments, : scantier allowance. A large Cheyenne
whose proprietors, it is said, find it con- J village is encamped aroond Station 19,
ventent to keep their stall "a brotu ot a wuere wo stopped Jast ntebt; and we nave
bov" from Tinncrarv. standing six feet been meeting souads of these and dther
the btatiou on I'rame Dog Oreek, wlience tw0 .s stockings and measuring a yard tribes several times a day. The Kioways
i wrote two days ago, were tn.-sipatea uy or 1110re across the shoulder.-?, who stands are encamped some eicht miles from this
a violent gale, winch threatened to over- ready, with an illcgant brogue, a twinkle spot. They all profess to be friendly,
turn the heavy wagon in wnicn my iciiow ln Lis eje anfj a hickory sapling firmly though the Cheyenncs have twice stopped
nrrnrii in !! npvlpr nt tn rpr.nnn tn ami rifliivpil thft pvnroca tunrrnna nn nrd
all choleric, peremptory customers, who tense of claiming payment for the iniury
call of a morning, bet with wrath and done them in cutting wood, eating grass,
bristling with cowhide, to demand a par-'scaring away game, &c. They would
t . i . nil - .i -
lev with me euitor. lhe uavota is a sen-: an nue to uctr. and many or them are
creeks, where the Company s nations aro'temarj 0f an inquiring, investigating turn, j deemed not disinclined to steal. We an
located, this prcaution is deemed super- !wuo js an adept at excavation, and whose to pass through several more encamp
fluous. JLJut the wmds which sweep the foudncss for Prairie-Dog is more ardent t mcnts, but expect not rouble from them,
high prairies of this region are terrible; ,j,ai) flattering. To dig one out aud di- !fIhe CheycnncH arc better clad, and seem
the lew trees that grow thinly along tue ce. him would be an easy task, if he were! to have more self-respect than the Ara-
creek bottoms rarely venture to.raise their aone jD dt.n, or with only the Owl as j pahoes, but tbey are all low in the scale
passengers and t were-courting .lccp-
bad it t?tood broadnd. to the wind, it muft
Lave gone over. It is customary, I learo,
to stake down the wagons encamped on
the open prairie; in the valleys of the
heads above the adjacent bluffs, to which
they owe their doubtful hold on exist
ence. For more than a hundred miles back,
his partner; but when the hrm is known ol intellectual aud moral being, and must
i to be Prairie-Dog, Rattlesnake & Co , the ' fade away unless the' can be induced to
Cayota s passion forsubteranean research-. work. More of them hereafter.
en is materially cooled. The Rattlesnake The unusual dullness of this letter is
the soil has been steadily degenerating, . :s ta ,he concern what the firrhtinrr EJitor ' nartl v accounted for bv an nceidenh. Two
.-.- I. -. . 1 , r . w a -!-. ln 1? t I. ... . r i .
uuiu uci-, ucu -iMBu hjc iir ..uii- ,g tf. .Quma istic ortramzations atore-1 evenmirs since, lust as we were nearm?
my faith is enlarged , Station 17, where we were to stop for the
. 11. 1 11 iTtt
is my reason saiisneu. inicur, my ieiiow-passenucr and.l had a
A word now on tho Ank'lone. l!iocular discussion on tho frullies into
of barrenne-e and desolation. Ve left- j liked him when I fir. t saw him, days ago;; which we were so frequently plunged, to
this morning Station 17 on a little cre-k j j tben wi5ied for a better acquaintance, j our personal discomfort. He premised
entitled Gouler, at least 30 miles back. , w b i c fa wish has since been gratified: and 1 that it was a consolation that t'he sides of
Republi-;is (0 tuc iournalistic organizations afon
can, which has been far to the north of SSL And thus, whila my faith is enlarge
us since we Jell it at i?ort lviley, oUU tniies
we seem to have reached the acme
We left!
back,
tree afid but one bunch
ince I diued with him (that is. off him") I the-e sullies could not be worse than Der-
in a dry watercourse j ,uv estcem has ripened fitto affection. jpendicular; to which I required with the
Of the many antelopes L have seen, I judge i assertion that they could be and were
a majority considerably larger than tbe j for instance where a gully, in addition to
deer of our Eastern forest- not so tall ' its perpendiculardesent had an inclination
uor (perhaps) so long, but heavier in body, ' of 45 degrees or so to one side the track,
while hardly less swift or less graceful in ; Just then a iolent lurch of the wagon to
motion. lie is the only anim'al I have seen I one side, then to tho other, in descending
here that may justly boat of either grace ; one of these jolt, enforced my position,
or beauty. His fle."h i. tender and deli-'Two minutes later, as we were about to
oate tbe choicest eating I have found iu j to descend tho steep bank of the creek in
Knnas. Shy and fleet as be is, he is thejtervale, the mules acting perversely, my
chief sustenance at thi. soason of the In- friend fctepped out to take them by the
and did not sec a
of low shrubs
throughout our dreary morning ride, till
we eame in sight of the Republican, which
Las a little a very little scrubby Cot
tonwood nested in and along its bluffs
just here, but there H none beside for
wiles, save a little lurking in a ravine
which makes down the river from th
north. Of gra-s there is little, and that
little of mi-erable quality either a scan
ty furze of course alkaline sort of rush,
less fit for food than physic. Soil there
is none but an inch or so of intermittent
grass-root tangle based on what usually
seems to be a thin stratum of clay, ofteu
"Washed off so as to leave nothing but a
a slightly argillaceous sand. Along the
larger water-courses this one especially
this sand cems to be as pure as Sahara
can boast.
The dearth of water is fearful. Al
though the whole region is deeply seam
ed and gullied by water-courses now
dry, but in rainy weather mill-streams i
no springs burst from their steep - ides.
We have not passed a drop of livinj; wa-
our morninji s
ride and but a ibis caution; he makes toward the strange
tcr in all
few pailfull- of muddy moi.-ture at the - object, and keeps d
bottoms of a very fi-w of fast drying
sloughs or sunken holes in the beds of
dried up creeks. Yet there has' been
much rain here thin reason, some of it not
long ago. Rut this is a region of sterili-
dians out of tbe present Ruffalo range.
An old hunter assures me that, with all
his timmidity, he is ca.-ily takeu by the
knowing. To follow bim is absurd, his
sceut is too keen, bis fear too great; but
go upou a high prairie, to a spot whence
you can overlook fifteen or twenty square j
miles; there crouch iu a hollow or in the j over, hitting the ground a most spiteful
grass, and hoist your handkerchief, or: blow. I of course went over with it, and
some red, Guttering scarf on a light pole, ' when I rose to my feet as soon as possi
wbich you wave gcutly and patiently in ' bio, considerably bewildered and disbev
the air; soon the Antelope, if there be one; eled, the mules had been di?enged by the
within sight, perceives the strange apari-j upset and were making good time across
tion; his curiosity is excited: it masters 1 the prairie, while the driver, considora-
head, leaving me alone in the wagon. Just
then, we began to descend the steep pitch,
the driver pulling up with all his might,
when the left rain of the leaders broke,
and the team was in a moment sheared
out of the road and ran diagonally down
the pitch. In a second, the wagon went
I ran i no- nearnr and
I j . ---r- e
nearer till he is within utieen or twenty
rods. Tbe rest requires no instruction.
ty aud thirst. If utterly unfed, the grass
j ibly hurt, was getting out from under the
carriage to limp after them. I bad a
slight cut on my left cheek and a worse
one below the left kneo, with a pretty
smart concussion generally, but not a bone
started nor a tendon straiued, and I walk
ed away to the Station as firmly as ever,
ward, tbe original Smoky Hill route is
abandoned for that wo had been travel
ing which follows the Republican some
twenty-five miles farther, its bed is often
dry, or only moistened by little pools
from tbe meagre curront which filters
slowly through the deep sands below.
Where the bed is narrow and the channel
under one bank, tbe petty stream is seen
creeping away to the Kansas, the Missou
ri, the Mississippi, the Gulf of Mexico.
Of course, there are seasons when the riv
er runs above ground throughout, and
others when the kink is far longer than
now.
Tho face of the country remains as I
have already described it, save in the
greater scarcity of wood and water. The
bluffs are usually low, and the dry creeks
which fiopcrate them are often wide reach
es of heavy sand, most trying to the ill
fed teams. There is little grass on the
rolling prairie above the bluffs, and that
little generally thin, dead, worthless.
Some of the dry creek valleys have a lit
tle that is green but thin, while the river
bottom often half a mile wide is some
times tolerably grassed, and sometimes
sandy and sterile. Of wood, there is
none for stretches of forty or Sfty miles:
the corrals arc made of earth, and con
sist of a trench and a mud or turf wall:
one or two station-houses are to be built
of turf if ever built at all; and at one sta
tion the fuel is brought sixty miles from
W W
tho pineries further west. Even the
grasses are often coarse and rushy, or so
alkaline as to be injurious to cattle; the
moro common plants seem to -be wild
.
sage and wild wormwood; the Uactus
which had begun to appear some 200
miles back grows common, but is dwarf
ed by the prevading sterility: the Span
ish Nettle and Prickley Pear are abund
ant further on. Rut little rock is seen,
and that looks like a volcanic conglomc-
rate, let the river, such as it is. is the
X
ue h reak. m the
west-south-west, and Long's P$ak in the
west north-west (tho latter nearly the
direction of Denver) had stood revealed
to us hours before by tho gleani of their
snowy diadems, as the moruing sun dis
pelled the chill mists of the preceding
night; but their majesty was a bleak and
rugged one; while the Pines, though but
scattered clumps of the short and scrubby
variety known in New-England and the
South as Pitch Pine, lent a grace and
hospitality to the land icape which only
the weary and way worn who have long
traversed parched and shadeless deserts
dropping into Denver, would convey a
salutary lesson to many a sanguine aoulr
Nay; I have in my miud's eye an indi
vidual who rolled out of Leavenworth,
barely thirteen days ago, in a satisfactory
rig and d spirit of adequate self-compla
cency, but who though his hardship
have been nothing to theirs came iota'
Denver this morning in a sobered and
thoughtful, frame of mind, in dust-begrimed
and tattered habiliment9, with a patcl.
on his cbeek, a bandage on his leg and a
limp in his gait, altogether constituting
a fpectaclc most rueful to bobold. It is
likely to be some time yet before our
fashionable American 8pas and Summer
resorts for idlers will be located among
the Rocky Mountains.
As to Gold, Denver is crazy. She
has been low in the valley of humiliation
and is suddenly exalted to the summit of
glory. Tbe stories of day's works ancT
rich leads that have been told me to-day
by grave, intelligent men are absd
lutely bewildering. I do not discredit
them, but I shall state nothing at second
hand where I may know if I will. I have
come hero to lay my hand on the naked.
j indisputable facts, and I mean to do it.-
, rill mm 1 -
can appreciate, l ney grow here mainly I Though unfit to travel, I start for tho
in steep ravines, and often show marks of J great diggings (50 miles hence nearly duo
,.vm vuiauvra ui iuu sunuuuu- j westiu tne glens ot the Itocky iuountains)
uiuriutr
tug prainu- sicrne as -pine plains,, are
apt to be renders to me inexplicable.
Possibly, tbe fires that scorched them
were kiudled in the leafy carpet spread
beneath them by the trees themselves.
This is but the uorthern outskirt of the
Pine region, which stretches far south,
through Arkansas and beyond, and oon
tbickcuing into forests and winding to a
breadth of some sixty miles. Scattered
as it is, I could hardily repress a shout
And
to-
-norning.
Horace Greeley.
Extraordinary ExhibitionA Man of
Leather.
An exhibition of a very remarkabld
and unnatural character attracted a small
but highly respectable audience at tho"
Melodeon on Thursday evening last.
A young man by the name of James
Steavens, had advertised that be would
on meetinr it. And it was a n easnro to
see last evening the many parties of way-1 do many wonderful thing3 in the way of
worn gold-seekers encamped besido our ! culting himself up with knives, nailing
after their long journey through a
way
bid feet, arms and
lens
to chaire
iling
to the
and solaciuz
privation by
themselves for their loos
the amplest allowance of
blane and warmth. For the climate of
the American de.-ert is terrible. Re the
day ever so hot in the suu's unsoftcned
glare, the night that follows is sure to be
chill and piercing, driving the musketoes
aud buffalo-guats to their hiding-places
directly after sunset, ihe fierce prairie-
woodless recion. surroundin" ereat. rud- wat &c-. which astounding exploits he
dy, leaping fires of tho dead pitch wood, proceeded to exhibit at tbe appointed
nour in tue presence or a number or phy
sicians of celebrity, including members of
the Medical Faculty of Trausylvania Uni
versity, and other learned Profe-sorshtf
were invited to the stand that they mTgbfc
detect any fraud or deception, if practised.
He began by sticking a handful of pins,
up to the head, in his legs, he drove an
awl through the middle of bis wrist into
wind searches to tbe marrow (ice froze a a cnair5 drovc a knife through the mus-
quarter of an inch thick on the Plains on . cle 01 n,s leK5 nailed his foot to a wooden
tbe 2Gth of May), and a shower at this suoe tfac naiI or awl passing through thd
season is very apt to be accompained by 'ddle of tbe foot, and so walked about
hail a. well as thunder and lightening. thc staSe5 cut bis dexter finger through
I trust our country has no harshercli- tbe fleshy part exb;biting,the naked bone,
mate, save high among her grandest a?(1 concluded by passing a knife through
mountains. , D'9 cheek, the blade protruding from his
From the Rijou to Cherry Creek-some ' moUth' Iq a11 thU but littIe blood was
40 miles I can say little of tbe country, , rWD', tr j . j , .. .
save that it is high, rolling prairie, deep- ; Y i i l- , r c . "??
lv cut hv sflvpral tramS rcMnl, rn each leg and hang himself from the wall,
ly cut by several streams, which
! north-eastwardly to join the Platte, or
one of the tributaries just named. We
lifo of this region: the Ground Squirrel passed it in the night, hurryiug on to
of the prairies digs his holes profusely in 1 reach Denver, and at sunrise this morn
its yiciuago; the Hawk and the Raven i"g stopped to change mules on the bank
circle and swoop in pursuit of bim; tbe of Cherry Creek, twelve miles south of
Antelope often looks down from the ridges, this place (which is situated at thejunc
and is hunted with succcs: the bark of tbe tion of the creek with the south fork of
the Platte.) The "foot hills" of the
Rocky Mountains seemed but a few miles
west of us during our rapid ride down
the smooth valley of the Cherry Creek,
' which has a fiue belt of Cottonwood only,
but including trees of immense size not
less thau three to four feet in diameter.
i Tbe soil of the adjacent prairie seems
Station, 21, June 3, (evening.) 1859.
Since I wrote tho forei-oinrr. we have
travelod ninetv miles un the south branch ! 'caving tbe superintendent and my fellow-
of a season would hardly suffice, when j 0f tnc Republicau (which forks just above passenger to pick up the pieces and guard
dry, to nourish a prairie-firc. Station 18) and have thus pursued B; the baggage from tho Indians who in-
the animals have deserted us. 1 course somewhat south of west. In all stantlj .warmed about tbe wreck. I am
Even
No Ruffalo have been seen this year with-j these ninety miles, we have passed just soro yel and a ntt' lame, but threo or
in menv miles of us. though their old two live streams makinrr in from tho four days rest if I can ever get it will
ays
all right.
get
This is tho first and
on-
paths lead occasionolly across thin coun- South both together' ruunin? scarcely i w ae 1
try; I presume they pn.s rapidly through) water enough to turn a grind stone. In accident that has happened to the Ex
it, as I should urgently advise them to! all that ninety miles, we havo not seen ' Pr.e3S though it has run out some
do; not a Gray Wolf has honored us witblwood enough to make a descent pig-pen. j thirty passage-wagons from Leavenworth,
bis company to-day he prefers to lire Tbe bottom of the river is perhapslialf a ona perhaps half so many back from
where there is something- to eat the 'mile in average width; tbe soil is goodieDver- And tbis was thc result of a
Prairie-Dog also wisely shuns this laud ! pait clay and covered with a short thin ' casualty for which neither driver nor Cotn
of starvation; no animal but the Copper grass; tbe bluffs arc naked sand heaps ; j PaDJ was to blame.
(a little creature, between a mouse and a -the rock, in the rare cases where any isj Three days hence, I hope to bo at
ground-r-quirrel) abounds here; and hclexposed, an odd conglomerate of petrified .Denver (185 miles distant), whence our
burrows deep in tho sdnd and picks up a1 clay with quartz and some specks that re-jtct adiices are very cheering to tbe
living, I cannot guess how; while a fcw'semble cornelian. Reside tbis, some of the : hearts of the legions of faint and weary
Hawks and an occasional Prairie-Wolf ' bluffs, where clay overlies and is blended, ! gold-.eckers we have passed dtf the way.
under peculiar circumstances, with the:1 trust, lor their sakes, that this news
sand below it, a sort of rock seems to be
formed or in process of formation. Wa-
Coyote is heard, and the Gray Wolf
prowls fearless and ferocious, and does
not hesitate to rob cows of their young
calves in spite af the desperate maternal
resistance, and even to attack and disa
ble ponies. Tho harness of the mules
which draw the Express wagons have
been often gnawed aud iniured as they
hung up beside the tents, in which half a light and sandy, but well gra.sed, and
dozen men were sleeDincr. bv these imnu- likely to yield Oats, Potatoes, &c , but
. .. .. .. . . -
dent miscreants. I ney may easily be
the elevation (hardly less than fi,0U0 feet),
and tbe proximity of the Rocky Moun
! tains, whose enow-covered crests, gleam
ing between and over the foot hills, seem
hardly twenty miles distant, must ever
shot by any one who will bait and pa
tiently, skillfully hunt them.
A ride over a rolling 'divido' of some
t.irpnttr rriilns hrrmrflit n tn tn Titrr Sn.
. j --o"- '6 I j .1 .u f n j.-rn-.i. ti
dy,'runningsouthwosttobccome tributary "f"11 1 U.6W,U" u,1 wu ,U,1JJCUT11 11 UOi
(when it has anything to contribute) to ! Jutely impossible. "Wheat, I under
tbe Arkansas. Like the Republican, it st?,nd' ba3, befen, . 8r?n fi,ft? to eighty
is sometimes a running stream. Somfim8 Iu,,cs south of tll,s w,th moderate success.
" io.Mi :f.i.-.i: i m i j at:
own, ii in- auju--u. uuiu luiuea reanzo
whioh the audience mercifully excused
him from doing, feeling satisfied that he
could accomplish whatever, he proposed.
About the whole procedure there was no
sort of humbug, as the eyes of divers gen
tlemen, who were upon tbe stand, werer
stcadly fixed upon him, and any "unbe
lieveing Thomas" had an opportunity tv
touch the knife blade on the opposite
side to that into which it had been thrust,
of the ler. wrist or hand. He used a
few galvanic rings about his person,
which was probably moro for show than
anything eNe, as tbey could effect noth
ing. Mr. Steavens looks to be not more
than 20 or 21 years of age. Refore clos
ing, he proposed to operate in a similar
manner upon any one of the audience,
agreeing to forfeit SI.000 if he inflicted
pain. This, however, they prudently de
clined. We saw tbis man of leather car
j ly yesterday morning, looking as fresh
j and whole as though knife or nail had
I never penetrated his clastic body. Lsz
! vigton. lii.. Observer.
tbe
sanguine
expectations now entcr-
a succession of shallow pools, sometimes
a uraeln of florin senroliinrr nnnrl A fntw
paltry cotton-woods, a few bunches of f.ained he '.bis ,rcioc ' wi" ' ro(la;ro Mil
;n o i,n a . v.i- lions on Millions' worth ofl'ood from tin
iu ii vwjjvn, u'uj uu gi uiiiu
(ayota) lives by picking here aud there a
Gopper. They must fiud him disgusting
ly lean.
I would match tbis Station and its sur- ter is obtained from the apology for a riv-,you
roundinga agaiust any other scene on our'er or bJ ID 'be sand by its side;
continent for desolation. From the high in default of wood, corrals (cattle.pens)
prairie over which we approach it, you are formed at the stations by laying up a
overlook a grand sweep of treeless desert, heavy wall of clayey earth flanked by
through thejniddle of which flows thei fiod, and thus excavating a deep ditch on
Republican, usually
will prove fully true. Rut you will bave-
heard by telegraph before tbis can reach
X-
-Good Bye to the Desert.
Denver, June 6, 1850.
My last, I believe; was written at Sta
tion 21. DO miles un the Renubliuan from
in several shallow , the inner side, except at the portal, which - ti,e DOint at which the Leavenworth Ex-
. . .. . . l , . l a . , - - I
Btre.ms separated by sandbars or islets is cioseu at mgnt ny running a wagon in- pres Company s Road strikes that river
its whole volume being far lees than that to it. Tbe touts are sodded ot their ba- jn tije gr(jat American dcBer$. SixmilSa
of the Mohawk at Utica, though it has Bes; houses of sods are to be constructed further up, the stream disappears in tho
drained above this point au area equal to as S00D as may be. Such are tho shifts Jeep, thirsty eands of its wide bed, and
that of Connecticut. Of the few scrubby f human ingonuity in a country which 9 DOt seen agaib for twenty.fiyo miles.
Cottonwood, lately cowering under the has probably not a cord of growing wood 'Even a mile or two below its point of dis
bluffs at this point, must have been cut to each township of land. appearance I learn that excavations in.its
for thc uses of the Station, though logs Six miles further up, tbis fork of the bed to a depth of eight feet havo failed
for its embryo bouso are drawn from a Republican emerges from its sandy bed, j to reach water. Its reappearance be
little clump, eight miles distant. Abroad in which it has been lost for the twenty- low this point is marked, and seems to
bed of sand indicates that the volume of five miles next abovp. Of course it loo-1 be caused by the 'timely junction of a
water is sometimes a hundred fold its se iu volume in passing through such a small tributary from. the,. south, which
Present amount Minn rli ir. will donhtlesB lnnr! of rlronth Probablv lliirtv limns 'sopms fo.flow over n less tbirstv hprl nnri ! 'winds, niid nillod unburn to a hinbfc of saillO eold-seekerS, Sober as, judges and
oon be far less than it now is. Its ar- to-day we havo crossed tlie broad saudy'pours into the dovouriug saud of the Re-, fifteen or twenty feet, to lo slowly dis- low-mouog ai their owu wonry oxen,
J 4 $
its banks
or those of some dry creek running into
it, in thc course of twenty miles or so that
we followed up its uorthern bank, but I
do not now remember any. I rcccollect
only that the grass at intervals along its
narrow bottoms seemod a little better
than on tho upper courso of the Republi
can. One peculiarity of tho Big Sandy
I bad not before observed that of a tbin
alkaline iucrustatiou mainly of soda, I
believe covering many acres of tho
smoother sands of itn dry bed. Of course,
the water of its stagnant pools must be
prejudicial to man or beast. At length,
we crossed its deep, trying sand and left
it behind us, passing over a high 'divide,'
much cut up by gullies through which
the water of the wet seasons flows and
tears its way to thc Arkansas on the south
or thc Platte on the north, until wc.struck,
at 5 last evening, tho firt living tributa
ry to the Platte a little creek called
Reaver, which I have not seen ou any
map. It is about ten miles east of the
Bijou, with which it probably unites be
fore reaching the Platte.
After leaving tho valley of Rig Sandy,
the grass of the uplands becomes better,
and is no longer confined to the water-
courses, it spreads in green luxunanco
thc
rich prairies and bottoms of Kansas pro
per, Nebraska, and Missouri, and wo
shall need but the Pacific Railroad to o
pen up a most beneficent Home Trade,
and give the rich valley of Ihe Missouri
and its immediate tributaries better mar
kets, than those of thc East.
. At a cattle show recently, a fellow who
was making himself ridiculously conspic
uous at last broke forth :
"Call these here prize cattle ? Why
they ain't nothing to what our folks rained.
My father raised the biggest calf of any
man 'round our parts."
'Dou't doubt it," remarked a bystand
er, "and the noisiest too."
We have had some days in our 'posses
sion, says The Evening JPost, a one dollar-
Aud I fervently trust that tho fond 1 bill on the City Dauk of Reaver Dam,
expectations of these gold-seekers, how-1 Wiscousin, which bears on its back a bur
ever chasteued, may not be disappointed, j den as follows :
For thc sake of the weary, dusty foot sore "This ouo dollar bill is all I received
thousands I havo passed on my rapid j for performing tbe marriago ceremony
journey from civilized Kansas to this i between Johu Gibbs and Mary Wallace,
point, I pray that Gold may be found of the town of Salem, Kenosha .County,
here in boundless extent and reasonable ' Wisconsin, after bavins traveled five
abundance. Throughout tho next six
weeks, they will bo dropping in here, a
hundred or more per day, and J trust
that they aro not to be seut home disap
pointed, spirit-broken, penniless. If they
iuuet recross the great desert wilh their
slow-moving teams, may they bo enabled
to do so with lighter hearts and heavier
purses.
For the very mothers who boro them
would hardly recognize their eoua now
toiling across the Plains, and straggliug
into tbis place, hideously hirsute, reck
lessly raggod, barefoot, sun-browned,
dust-covered, and with eyes shielded
'a
miles in the cold and paid
' up tho southward slopes of considerable ! (whore they havo them) by goggles from
hills, which seems to bo owinir to vast tho glare of tho prairie sun. A true pic-
drifts of snow in Winter, swept oyer and j ture of gold-seekers setting out.from home,
off the tops of hills by flic ficrco prairie j trim and jolly, for Pike's Peak; and those
cry.
JaVMES L.
S2 59 for iiv-SIDELL."
At
lady
much
lO"U0
a recent exhibition of paintings; a
and her son were regarding with
interest a picture which the,, cata
describe'd as "Luther at the Diet
of Worms." Having desuauted at some
length upon its merits, the boy remarked.,
"motherf I see Luther and the table but
whfere an: tho worms."
Siqco the 4th of July it has been un
lawful for any person to pass or receive
in the State of Arkansas, any bank bill
of a less denomination than ten dollars.
After the 4th of July, I860, no bill of W
less denomination thau twenty dollar.- caiT.
be put or kept. in circulation. TbiaisffSp-'
prosiiuating to a specie cuficucy.