Sword and Pen: Ventures and Adventures of Willard GlazierOwens, John Algernon
History
Sword and Pen: Ventures and Adventures of Willard Glazier
Owens, John Algernon
Glazier, Willard W., 1841-1905; United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives
Captain Glazier's main object now was to push on to Sacramento as fast
as his mustang would carry him. Kelton (Utah), at the northwest corner
of Salt Lake, was accordingly reached soon after leaving Ogden, where he
halted a few hours. This station is seven hundred and ninety miles from
San Francisco. Stock is extensively grazed in its vicinity, feeding on
sage brush in the winter and such grass as they can get; but excellent
grazing is found in the summer. The cattle are shipped to markets on the
Pacific coast in large numbers. Terrace (Utah) was the next
resting-place, seven hundred and fifty-seven miles from San Francisco,
in the midst of a desert with all its dreary loneliness. Continuing his
pace at an average of eight miles per hour--the temperature being very
low at an elevation of nearly five thousand feet--Captain Glazier
observed a few only of the salient features of the wild country he now
passed through, his position on horseback being less favorable for
topographical study than that of the tourist comfortably seated in a
palace-car.
Wells (Nevada) was duly reached by the lonely rider, who found on
inquiry that he was now only six hundred and sixty-one miles from his
destination. This place stands at an elevation of five thousand six
hundred and twenty-nine feet. Humboldt Wells, as they are designated,
give celebrity to the place, which was a great watering-station in the
days of the old emigrant travel. The emigrants always rejoiced when they
had passed the perils of the Great American Desert and arrived at these
springs, where there was always plenty of pure water and an abundance of
grass for the weary animals. Hence it was a favorite camping-ground
before the existence of the Pacific Railroad. The wells are very deep. A
Government exploring party, under command of Lieutenant Cuppinger,
visited the spot in 1870, and took soundings to a depth of seventeen
hundred feet without finding bottom.
Halleck (Nevada) was the next resting station, at an elevation of five
thousand two hundred and thirty feet. It is named from Camp Halleck,
about thirteen miles from the station, where two or three companies of
United States troops are usually kept. The land around is mostly
occupied as stock-ranges.
Elko (Nevada), twenty-four miles nearer his destination, supplied his
wants in the way of rest and food for the night. This is the county-seat
of Elko County, the northeastern county of the State. The town has a
population of 1500, and is destined to become an important city. The
money paid for freights consigned to this place and the mining districts
which are tributary to it, averages $1,000,000 per year. There are
numerous retail stores, and a few wholesale establishments, with a bank,
brewery, hotels, and three large freight depots for the accommodation of
the railroad business. Indians, mostly the Shoshones, of both sexes, are
frequently noticed about the town.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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