Frank's Ranche; Or, My Holiday in the Rockies: Being a Contribution to the Inquiry into What We Are to Do with Our BoysMarston, E. (Edward)
General
Frank's Ranche; Or, My Holiday in the Rockies: Being a Contribution to the Inquiry into What We Are to Do with Our Boys
Marston, E. (Edward)
Rocky Mountains -- Description and travel
Soldiers from the nearest fort were sent for, and several miners were
arrested, but it was found impossible to get sufficient evidence to
convict them. The Chinese Consul from Washington had just been there
investigating the brutal affair, and was returning in the same train
with us.
In Mr. William Black's "Green Pastures and Piccadilly" there is an
interesting description of Cheyenne as it was some twelve years ago.
There was a time, not long previous to Mr. Black's visit, when this now
thriving little city had earned for itself the name of "Hell upon
Wheels," and I was told by an inhabitant who lived there then, when the
Union Pacific Railway was being made, and the city comprised a long row
of saloon tents, that bowie knives and six-shooters were freely used in
the settlement of disputes, and that three or four murders a week were
the average, to say nothing of fights with Sioux Indians.
Cheyenne had settled down from these exciting times when Mr. Black
arrived there, and he found "nothing about its outward appearance to
entitle anyone to call it 'Hell on Wheels.'"
"Certainly," he says, "the Cheyenne we saw was far from being an
exciting place; there was not a single corpse lying at any of the
saloon doors, nor any duel being fought in the street."
Of the outskirts of Cheyenne, he says:—
"The odd fashion in which shanties and sheds—with some private
houses here and there—are dotted down anyhow on the plain; their
temporary look; the big advertisements; the desolate and homeless
appearance of the whole place, all serve to recall the dismal scene
that is spread around the Grand Stand on Epsom Downs on the morning
after Derby Day, when the revellers have all returned to town.... We
drove out to a lake which will no doubt form an ornamental feature
in a big park, when the Black Hill miners, gorged with wealth, come
back to make Cheyenne a great city."
Mr. Black will be pleased to know that his prophecy has been, to some
extent, fulfilled.
Cheyenne is now a most pleasant city. The big park has been formed; the
streets are broad, and lined with trees; the houses are well-built;
there are stores there which would almost rival Whiteley's or
Shoolbred's in the magnitude and variety of their contents, and perhaps
surpass them in their outward appearance. The outskirts are now dotted,
I might rather say crowded, with very charming "Queen Anne" villas,
surrounded by well-laid-out lawns, flower-beds, and creeping foliage,
reminding one not so much of Epsom Downs, as of that æsthetic suburb of
London known as Bedford Park, only that the houses are larger and better
built, and in their furniture display an exuberance of wealth and good
taste. There are two fine hotels, several churches and chapels, and a
delightful little club-house, where we were most hospitably entertained.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account