Journey to the Great Northwest
As Described by Mrs G J Crook
So many of my friends have asked
me about tny trip of last summer and
asked for a description in detail, that
by the kindness of the editor of
The Tribune 1 can give litem, and
others, olso, descriptions which might
help someone else contemplating a
trip of that kind
l had long desired to see tile great
West, its plains and rivers, valleys
and mountains, and the great Pacific
ocean. I had relatives in the north
and the west and added to these
reasons, and greater than all,to re
euporate my health. So I was hidden
by niy better half to go to the west
among our folks and stay where and
as long as 1 wished, only to get well
Though I did not find the "fountain
of perpetual youth" I found several
such fountains of health, and of
course good health brings baek the
•youth to some extent.
My ticket wii over till' Hurliiigton
from Falls City to Hillings, Montana;
from Hillings to Seat tit* over the
Northern Paeifii : from Seattle lo I .os
Angeles ovci the Southern Pacific;
from I .os Angeles to Salt
Fake City o\ i the Salt l.ako Route,
San Pedro, l.os Angeles and Sail
l.ako railroad; from Salt Lake to
Denver over the Denver and Rio
Crimd System: and from Denvit to
Falls City over the grand old Hurling
ton again Though there was good
service and kind treatment on all
the railroad lines over which I travel
ed, my preference is for the Hurl
ington,
Well, I left our town about in Id
o’clock |t tic, dune I.V We only had
ii few minutes in Lincoln and no
change of cars.
When I waked tip next morning we
were ill the beautiful valley of the
Hig Hlue, over 100 miles from Lin
coln,
Our stale is surely in tho garden
spot, of the world, for beautiful scenes
were on every hand Fine farms,
beautiful homes, good stock, etc
Later we crossed the Platte river and
came to the city of (Irantl Island
still beautiful farms with all the grow
ing grains and different varieties of
hay of our great stale
Then we'struck the valley of the
Loup river and crossed Sherman
i wniity, where so many el our friends
and neighbors settled about 20 years!
ago. ’TIs a beautiful county and the
towns and villa rs all show signs of
enterprise and thrift Then Custer
county, where more of our friends
kiivc beautiful homes and health and
wealth. If my relatives ahead had
not boi'ii apprised of my coming I
should havi stopped off ai Litchfield
or Merna and visited with the old
friends and neighbors. Hut wo Went
ou and on, over beautiful farming
and grazing country, until at I Alt)
we arrived at Alliance, Neb it is
• uite a city and lias one of the finest
•spots which we saw while away
There was a llerdiiten’s convention
in session there and a prominent
speaker was aboard our train, so a
committee met him. accompanied by
tlu1 baud, and things were lively for
some twenty minutes Then we went
on our way over the hills and by
beautiful small streams, until between
four and five o’clock, when we came
to the Nebraska Had Lands first a
succession of forests or stunted
pines and cedars, cut up by very
deep canyons; then a gradual ris
ing or the hflls Into ipiei'r shapes
and a lessening of vegetation, until
they seemed to be pure sandstone
and frail at that. They looked like
houses with the outbuildings and
fences tumbled down With others
it seemed like old ruined castles
with turn and chtmu toppling
over, then you would see one away
in the distance which looked so per
feet that you almost looked for the
smoke from the chimneys or a light
from the windows. I was told than
the action of the winds upon them I
kepi them constantly changing in
size and shapes. They were won
Serfud and wen id in the i\treme.;
extending for some twenty or thirty j
■tiles along the northwestern bound
»:'jr of Nebraska and into South
ttakota
Soon we were in Wyoming and it j
w
"
wit
shed- Hut soon it grew too dark
to see so we went to sleet) and awak
ened next morning refreshed and in
vigorated h\ the lo.i
high, dry country
Soon after daylight we were shown
the monument which marks the
ground of the Custer Mnssa :•
which oca urred within h. an mot >
of many of us.
As we went onward to the north
west the country was more thinly
settled, except at the stations, yet
producing good short grass and wat
ered by streams, tributaries of the
Cheyenne and Powder rivers. Plen
ty of good land there to be taken
by settlers iu the near future. When
wo came to the beautiful town of
Ilardin, Mont , Mien I wished again
dial I had not heralded my eoniing
further on, for near the little city
resides Mr. and Mrs. Frank Norris,
our own townpeople | should have
enjoyed a visit with diem very
murh, but wo soon whirled away and
at ft 30 o'clock a. in , arrived at
Hallantine, where relatives met. me
and we went two miles into the
country. They live on government
land on what is called the Hunt
ley Project that is, the government
waters this vast tract of land situal
chI In Yellowstone count). south
of die Yellowstone river The val
ley Of the Yellowstone, wldeh is
under this project, is from five to
nine miles in width and from (won
ly In thirty miles in length. Tin
main canals are all finished anil
most of the laterals and have been
In use over two years, so it is prac
tical in every respect. The main
pumping slnllmis and gales nre at
naied at. tin' town of Huntley on
the Yellowstone river, lienee the
name "Huntley Project."
The land is taken by actual set
tiers and the Intels vary from eighty
acres down to twenty, according to
the way the ditches are cut, Hut no
one can have more than eighty acres
under the water right, so a few have
taken eighty acres under Hie water
right and eighty of high land or
above tile ditches, They drew I heir
land by lot (or lottery) and pay
$:;,()() per acre per year for ten
years, so you know it is no cheap
land, hut very valuable. They raise
all kinds of grain, except, corn, and
all varieties or hay, which we do,
hut the yields are enormous. If I
should tell you of some which were
told to me you could hardly believe
them So Hie whole valley was very
thickley settled; little new houses
on every small tract of land and so
new thill many were iinpaiuted. Hut
when I came In sight of my aunt's
house I picked it otil without any
trouble, knowing some of her indi
vidual traits of character and seeing
some things which I knew that she
would not lie without, even if it was
a new country. Hut oh! that pure,
bracing air cannot lie described. II
alone will bring strength to weak
lungs and rest to It red, worn bodies.
It was a very busy time of year
for farmers just In the irrigating
season Hut I went to the town of
Huntley and saw the great tunnel
and pumping stations, crossed the
Yellowstone river on the bridge,
'which was .>70 feet ill length. The
hanks of the stream Imre on the
soutli arc almost on a level with
the water, hut on the north they
rise almost perpendicular to a
height li of seventy or heigty feet,
and are as yellow as gold and solid
rock, thus the name Yellowstone riv
er Then I visited Pompey's Pillar,
which is down the river from Hunt
ley some eight or nine miles and on
the south side of the stream. It. is
a Initte rising abruptly from the lev
el valley along tli>* river. It's dimen
sinus are about I >0x200 feet and NO
or 100 feet in height li On only one
side can tourists gain the summit
The legend of history is, that it
was discovered bv Lewis of the
Lewis >Y Clark expedition in 1 SOI!.
That the Indians attacked them and
Lewis' old slave, l’otnpey, was
killed. They took his body to the
top of the butte, which Is level and
covered with grass, dug a grave and
burled him, and his monument is a
p h' of ihr granite rock from the
’>;!;>' of the butte Hut the name
i> sains "Pompey's Pillar." On the
1 u-e of tin* cim is carved ihe name
MemweaUHT Lewis, Mine -I, IMKi
!’!:en below, "Mwiii;' to dancer of
erasure, iliis Iran dale is Placed ov
ci insi liptioif Mine, IST'J." And
tin i ( • urely was danger of erasure,
for me whole face of the rock wall
next to the river is carved with
names of toil lists from all parts of
the world
Then 1 had my first lesson in ir
rigating With large straw hat.
covered with mosquito netting to
protect from the ever present mos
quito, and rubber hoots, 1 helped
irrigate the garden, I can't say
that 1 would care for it as a sum
mer’s job, but it was indeed great,
to see suffering vegetation revive
and grow after the watering. The
season is short, so the sun beats
down with power during the middle
of the day, so after the irrigating
you can actually see things grow.
But the nights are cool and refresh
ing; you can sleep under a blanket
with great comfort But nicer,
crisper vegetables 1 never ate The
, time came all to soon when 1 had
to resume my journey, so I left this
beautiful valley of the Yellowstone
| the 1st day of July and went to Bill
ings, twenty miles away, having to
change railroads there, A visit of
four hours enabled me to see con
J siderable of this beautiful town.
; They have a grand court house, Ub
1 rary building, chamber of commerce,
a grand union depot, churches and
iimiK. etc. One unique feature in
ing, some of the lovely yards were
fenced w it h deer and antelope horns
I tn .line acquainted with some love
ly people while Waiting, who were
going through the National Park, so
1 applied to them for a plate in
their party and they look me, so
we all went together to the town of
i Livingston to prepare for oui trip
i in file Park of which I will tell
you in my next, letter.
Dissolution Notice.
Tli" corporaiwn heretofore existing
in the name of the Kails Kity Park
and Improvement company- wherein
John Liehty, VY A Greenwald, John
Powell, W. W Jenin and T .1 (list,
all of Kails Pity and state of .Nebras
ka. Tills corporation is disolved by
millual consent
The affairs of said corporation are
all adjusted and set I h d
IOIIN Uf'IITV,
\\ A CiUKKNWAUt,
JOHN VV. I'OWKU..
W W. I KNNI
T. .1. HIST.
Subscribed and sworn to tliis IL‘tIt
day of February, Id I ft.
dolin \V. Powell. Notin'.' Public.
My < ommission expires No. ' 15.
—We have some fresh Red Seal
♦ lour in now. Come and get a sack.
—C. A. Heck.
i
Your Easter Suit's Ready!
■mw«w» mmmmmBmmmmmmamemsmammam* win”iwf,yft4wwra ■■■■■■■—■■■ 'in i
We have a new Spring Suit ready for
you that will fit as though built espec
ially for you. You've no idea how well <
we can fit you in Kaufman Pre-Shrunk
Ready-to-Wear Clothes. Come in and
let us show you.
Easter Suits
Remember, satisfaction guaranteed or
your money back.
©
CLOTHIER AND SHOES FALLS CITY, NEBRASKA
As I have sold my farm, I will sell at public auction at my residence, one
block north of Public High School, Falls City, Nebraska, on
V
f\A
B dvfey /
Consisting of one span draft mares, in foal, wt. 3200, ages 5 and 6 yrs.
One black mare, 0 yrs. old, wt. 1300, in foal by jack; one mule, coming
one year old in June; one trotting bred stallion, 9 years old. We reserve
the right to sell tfie two draft mares at private sale prior to public sale.
Also Four Head of Good Jacks
of the Mammoth breeding, and three Jennets of same breeding, two to
bring colts from one of my best bred jacks; one trotting bred stallion.
High Class jacks and Stallion
SUNRISE—Jet black, snow white points; 15'^ hands high, wt. 1100 lbs.
Foaled Nov. 4, 1901. Was sired bv Sunlight 467, weighing 1250 lbs.
TWILIGHT, JR., 1689. Foaled July, 1905; 16 hands high, wt. 1200 lbs.
DAVY LOGAN, No. 40898. Jet black, 16^hands high, wt. 1310, foaled
May 11, 1901. Allerton 5128==Record 2:09'^.
8 Head of Cows and Heifers 8
Consisting of three full-blood Swiss Cows, all safe in calf; one coming two-year old half blood Swiss
heifer; two coming yearling half blood Swiss heifers; one full blood Swiss bull.
A "FEW" HEAD~ OF GOOD HOGS
Farming Implements
One wagon, one new hay rake, one cultivator, one harrow, road wrgon with automobile seat and rubber
lire; one top buggy, one cart, new; set of work harness, set of double buggy harness, two sets single har
ness. one cream separator good as new, one refrigerator, one kitchen table, and many other articles.
Tpp nra ^ All sums of $10 and under, cash. On sums over that amount a credit of nine months ^
I It 1,1 w"~wi|| be given at 6 per cent interest from date of sale. 3 per cent off for cash.
J. C. WHITAKER. Auct. I ET Cr AD| ETTT
J. H. MOREHEAD. Clerk. OUrtiXLL 1 1