The train was due at Chicago (December 2nd) at 9.45 a.m., being exactly
a 23 hours and 45 minutes' run from New York.
Having crossed Chicago
from one terminus to another, I found that three trains left Chicago by
which I could travel to San Francisco - two were slow trains, and one a
fast train; but, by whichever train I went, it would make no difference
as to the time I left Omaha, and consequently no difference to the time
I should arrive at San Francisco, so I went on by one of the slow
trains, as I wanted to see Council Bluffs. This train was similarly
fitted to the other, except that it had no drawing-room car, nor
stenographer, etc., nor were the platforms connecting the carriages
enclosed; so that, in passing to the dining car, or any other car, the
sudden change from a hot car to a shower of snow was not pleasant. The
distance from Chicago to Omaha is 492 miles, and the country between the
two places formed a part of the great prairie region, which, 50 years
ago, had no other inhabitant than the Indian and the trapper, but now is
a succession of homesteads, villages, and towns, bearing evidence of
prosperity. At Creston, and many other stations, I noticed that there is
no protection whatever from the railway; the line is unfenced, and the
train runs through the town as openly as a coach would; there is
generally a rough board put up here and there with the words, crudely
painted on them, "Look out for the cars!" We were due at Council Bluffs
the next morning (December 3rd) at 7.23, but we arrived some half-hour
late. Council Bluffs Station is four miles from Omaha Station, but the
towns adjoin. The former has a population of over 35,000, and the latter
of over 110,000. They are divided by the great Missouri River, which is
crossed by two bridges, one being 2,750 feet long, and the other 2,920
feet long. Having had breakfast at the station, I went up to the town by
the "motor," that is, the electrical tram-car. The motor cars, like the
railway cars, are heated. I noticed a large number of detached wooden
cottages, "standing in their own grounds," of about one-eighth of an
acre, and I learned that these are owned by labourers. Mr. Day, an agent
there, told me that the cottage would cost 500 dollars, and the land 400
dollars, i.e., L100 for the house, and L80 for the land. An eighth of
an acre for L80 would be L640 per acre, and this quite out in the
suburbs; and I was told that good business blocks in the town itself
would fetch L32,000 (not dollars, but pounds) per acre. In the large
cities, such as New York, Chicago, etc., prices in the principal streets
would compare with prices in the City of London. Returning to the
station, I joined the express train, and crossing the Missouri River to
Omaha, we proceeded west. The river was frozen at its sides, and
presented no attractions worth notice. On we go through hundreds of
fields of maize, always called "corn" in America; other grain crops,
such as wheat, etc., are called by their own names, but the crop known
only as "corn" in America is maize. The rich clusters of corn are
gathered, and the stalks, something in appearance between a wheat stalk
and a sugar cane, are left standing for the cattle to pick over. Forty
years ago this part was uninhabited by white men, and was the home of
countless buffaloes; now these animals are extirpated, and everywhere we
see nothing, for mile upon mile, but corn, corn, corn. One of my fellow
travellers was Mr. H.C. Jacobs, of Chicago, whose father-in-law was one
of the pioneers, and who gave me much information. The next day
(December 4th), we traverse the great rolling prairies of Nebraska, and
see many herds of horses and cattle, and here and there ranch homes and
cowboys.
Having run through Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska, we commence the State
of Wyoming as we pull up at the City of Cheyenne, where, in the far
distance, we see, with its peaks well clothed in snow, the grand range
of the Rocky Mountains. Soon after leaving Cheyenne, we commence the
ascent of the Rockies - not, of course, the actual summit range itself,
but the foot hills and high lands stretching away from, and forming part
of it - and as we climb the ascent terminating at Sherman, where we have
gained an elevation of 8,247 feet, we pass through very wild, grand
scenery. At this altitude we look down upon floating clouds, and see in
the distance Long's Peak, 14,000 feet high, towering above them. All
along, at intervals, are portable fences, placed to catch the snow as it
drifts, to prevent it blocking the line; and also what are called snow
sheds, which are rough timber tunnels built up to protect the rails from
the great drifts arising out of heavy snowstorms. At the highest point
is a pyramid, commemorating a certain Mr. Oakes Ames, which looked 20
feet high and very near the line; it is however, 75 feet high and
half-a-mile off. The air is so rarefied that distances are most
deceiving.
As our descent proceeds, we catch sight, in the distance, of a herd of
wild elk, and where these rolling prairies have better herbage, we see
herds of horses with ranch buildings here and there. We pass the ranch
of William Cody, who, by virtue of his being a Senator of the State of
Nebraska, is called Honourable, but who was known in London, a short
time ago, at Mr. Whitley's "Wild West" show as "Buffalo Bill." As we
pass Fort Laraime, one of the forts erected by the United States
Government as a protection against the Indians, I was told some stories
of Cody's exploits against the Indians.
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