Zigzag Journeys in the Western States of America, etc

Front matter

COMPANION VOLUME, NOW HEADY: ADVENTURES OF SIX YOUNG MEN IN the wilds of Maine and Canada; OH, The Knock-About Club. By C. A. STEPHENS HOLY CROSS MOUNTAIN. Zigzag Journeys IN THE WESTERN STATES OE A3IERICA. THE ATLANTIC TO THE PACIFIC. A SUMMER TRIP OF THE ZIGZAG CLUB FROM BOSTON TO THE GOLDEN GATE. BY HEZEKIAH BUTTERWORTH, AUTHOR OF "zigzag journeys in the orient," "zigzag journeys in classic lands," "zigzag JOURNEYS IN EUROPE,' "YOUNG FOLKS' HISTORY OF AMERICA," " YOUNG FOLKS' HISTORY OF BOSTON." FULLY ILLUSTRATED. ftontisju : DEAN & SON, PUBLISHERS, &c, i6oa, FLEET STREET, E. C. COPYRIGHT. Deax and Son, London. ALL RIGHTS RESERfKD.

Preface

. OMESTEADING! It is an American word, but one of wonderful meaning. It expresses the early history of those great empires, called States, now forming in the West. No doubt most of our readers are aware that "Orient" means East and "Occident" means just the opposite, West; it will also be understood that in this volume they allude to the East and West of the United States of America. It is the purpose of this ■ story-telling volume to explain Home steading, and to give a glance at the resources of the great Northwest and its opportunities for the emigrant. A great tide of emigration is pouring into the West, especially the Northwest, from Europe. Young men in the Eastern States are seeking the West in greater numbers than ever before ; and families from the Middle States, once called the West, are steadily crossing the Mississippi.

This volume, though in the main a book of stories, seeks to show the aim and possible results of the great emigration ; what the government's lands are, and how they may be obtained ; the

PREFACE.

. conditions of success of the Western homesteader, and the possible profits of his enterprise. Stories and pictures are profusely used, after the manner of the other Zigzag books. While these methods are open to criticism, they have not proved unpopular, as the Zigzag series of books have already reached a sale of nearly 100,000 volumes in America. The previous volumes of the Zigzag books have been considerably used in schools for collateral readings. As the subject of this is associated with one of the most promising and healthful features of American life and history, it is hoped that it may also be found useful for the same purpose. The author is indebted for helps to Miss Isabella T. Hopkins ("Jerry Slack's Money-Pot"); Mrs. Theodora R. Jenness, of Kansas, author of " The Young Homesteaders," (" How John Wyman obtained his One Hundred and Sixty Acres of Land"); Jeff.

L. Harbour, late editor of a Leadville, Colorado, paper, and several Western pioneers and writers on Western life and enterprises. H. B. CONTENTS. Chapter Page I. A Discovery 15 II. A New Journey Planned 44 III. Charlie Leland and Gentleman Jo . . 60 IV. A Meeting of the Zigzag Club 84 V. A Story-telling Journey 109 VI. The Story of Detroit 142 VII. The Story of Chicago .161 VIII. St. Paul . . . 181 IX. Minneapolis 197 X. Dakota 214 XL WONDER-LAND . 233 XII. The Story of Mormonism 255 XIII. San Francisco 281 XIV. Ancient America e ..... ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE PAGE Holy Cross Mountain . . . Frontispiece.

Crossing the Mountains 85 Grand Canon of the Colorado .... 14 Members of the Zigzag Club .... 88 A Dakota Town and Farm 16 Young Garfield at the Carpenter's Bench 89 Sweet William 19 Henry Wilson 50 Heroes of the Plains 23 On the Prairie 91 In Search of a Homestead 25 A Settler's Home in the Mountains . . 26 A Timber Claim 2S John Wyman crossing the Prairie . . 92 A Western Forest Home ..... 94 A Prairie Schooner 96 Stock-Raising in the Southwest ... 29 Rounding up a Herd 100 Gentleman Jo and the Club .... 33 The Herder's Home 101 " A Message for me .' " 36 Dalrymple Farm 103 The Message 39 Fargo, Dakota Territory ..... 105 Jerry finds the Money-Pot 42 State House, Boston no Statue of Edward Everett 1 1 1 Horseshoe Canon 45 Trees of the Yosemite 47 The Ossipee Stage 112 Giant Geyser 48 The People generally remembered the Parson 114 Aborigines 50 " Here, Parson " 116 Hoodoos 51 He shut his Eyes and threw the Pullet away 118 Mud Volcano 53 Seeding on the Prairie 54 Scipio's Flight from the Bear .... 5S He examined it carefully 120 Indian Burial Place 61 Chocorua 121 A Whooping Indian 63 White Mountain Railway 123 An Electrical Shriek ■ 65 Old Man of the Mountains 124 " Let go of me, Jane !

" 67 Half the Lashes fell upon me ... . 69 Young Men's Christian Association, Montreal 126 A Prairie on Fire 71 Post Office, Montreal J 27 The Indians drew near 74 Row, Brothers, Row 128 Niagara 129 The Child's Appeal for Mercy .... 75 The French Cathedral 131 " Faster, Faster, Boy ! " 77 Mary Bosomworth inciting the Indians to Violence 79 Garfield Presenting himself at Hiram College 132 " The Light is warm on Newton's Hills " 82 Statue of Commodore Perry . . . . ILL USTRA TIONS.

PAGE PAGE Philip Cascade ....... ° • 24T James Abram Garfield 135 Assassination of Garfield ..... 139 Yellowstone Lake .....•.•• 242 Mud Volcanoes .....••• 243 Merry-making 143 Yellowstone Lake ....... • 244 Gladwyn and the Indian Girl .... 145 "Old Faithful" ....•••• 245 Early Emigrants and their Captors . . 147 Geyser Land ....-•••• 247 La Salle Claims the Mississippi for France 151 Indian and his Bride ...-••• 249 Hoodoos 251 First White Men on the " Great River" 155 " It 's a Bear/" • 254 Death of Marquette 157 Indian Mounds 2S6 Jesuit Fathers 159 The Treaty 162 Relics from Mounds 257 Pretended Finding of the Plates ... 258 Union Depot 163 Translating the Bible 260 Tower of Water-works 166 Brigham Young at the Great Salt Lake . 261 Palmer House 167 The End .263 The Little Faces seemed to Blossom with Delight 170 Mormon Temple 265 '5- Chamber of Commerce 171 Grand Canon, Looking East .... 268 Marble Canon 269 The Lincoln Monument 175 In the Grand Canon 270 Lincoln Resting 17S Climbing the Grand Canon 272 The State of Lakes 179 Lake Como 182 Grand Canon of the Colorado .... 273 Perils of Frontier Life 1S5 Indigenous to the Soil 275 "It is n't a Bird" 189 Mu-koori-tu-weap Canon ..... 276 At the Foot of the Gray Canon . . . 277 Chit-to 192 Emigrants on the Missouri 195 Island Monument . 278 Falls of St. Anthony 198 On the Colorado River 279 Short Line Bridge 199 Palace Hotel at San Francisco . . . 282 Falls of Minnehaha 201 In Asia . 2S3 Hanging the Robe 203 Giant Trees of California 287 Fable Land 205 A Section 2S9 The Picard's Dream 206 Big Tree Tunnel 290 Land full of Ruins 207 Exhausting the Poison ...... 291 The Spanish Cavalier 209 Prairie Dogs 293 Lake Minnetonka 210 The Yosemite Valley 295 Coureur de Bois 211 The Long Lost Brother ...... 297 Fountain of Youth 215 Nevada Fall 2qc\ Restoration of Pueblo Bonito .... 303 " Three Cheers for Massachusetts !

" . 220 Early Settlers in Dakota 221 Room in the Moki House ?04 The Railroad crept to the Regions of the Plymouth 223 A Trestle on the Northern Pacific . . 226 Sun. .•••••• • .... 305 A Blizzard 229 Restoration of Pueblo Hunijo Pavie . . 306 Mary's Veil Cascade 236 Zunis •_ ' . 307 The Grotto and Fan Geyser .... 237 Mining in Colorado ,IO Tower Fall 239 Room in Pueblo of Taos ->Ir Yellowstone River 240 Garden of the Gods . . . . . . . 3I7 VTAP OF ZIGZAG JOURNEYS IN THE WESTERN STATES OF AMERICA. rand canon of the Colorado. 6,200 feet deep Zigzag Journeys in the Western States of America. chapter I. A DISCOVERY. The Golden Empire. — A Good Uncle offers a Farm to all. — A Geography Lesson. — The Story of Jerry Slack's Money-Pot. HREE lads — Charlie Leland, William Clifton, and Herman Reed — were sitting in the portico of the schoolhouse for boys at Yule.

It was a day full of September sunshine. In the distance, — like a jewel hung in purple, — the gilded dome of the State House at Boston shone against the sky ; the gray shaft of Bunker Hill Monument rose behind it ; in the opposite direction lay the Newtons, embowered with trees that displayed all the pomps of autumn fruits and foliage. At the foot of the hill where the schoolhouse stood, the river Charles wound in and out of breezeless woods and sheeny woodland pastures. Charlie Leland was playing carelessly with a railroad map, an advertisement of one of the great lines in the West, printed in gay colors, and covered with statistics. He laid down the map on the floor of the portico and folded it. The fold was not even, and he opened it again, casting his eye aim lessly over the bright colors of the States and Territories.

He started up suddenly. "Boys!" "Well?" " I 've made a discovery." " What ? " " I folded the map on the line of the Mississippi River." " Well ? " " When I opened it I saw — why, it is \ " What That the territory west of ■the Mississippi is as large as the east of it, — larger." | " Why should n't it be ? " asked ■ William Clifton. | " But only a small part of it is settled. There is almost room enough A DAKOTA TOWN AND FARM. to build up another United States as large as the States of the Union. Look at Dakota," continued Charlie, pointing at the map, on which statistics were printed ; " four hundred miles square ! " " How large would that be compared with other States or other countries ? " " Four times as large as the great State of Ohio ; as large as Great A DISCOVERY. 17 Britain and Ireland ; larger than most European countries.

Look at little Massachusetts. Why, Dakota is an empire in comparison. Then see Montana sweeping off, as broad as Germany and with no more inhabitants than are found in a German town. Why," continued Charlie, his eye still running over the statistics printed on the map, " Montana is larger than all New England and the State of New York. It contains 92,000,000 acres. It has 150,000 square miles. Great Britain has only 89,600 square miles." " What does the government intend to do with all this land ? " asked Herman. " Give it away." " To whom ? " " To the world. It will give you a farm when you are twenty-one years of age if you want it." " That interests me," said Herman. " I think there is something noble in being a pioneer; in founding schools and churches; in grow ing up with a new place, and feeling that you are a part of it.

It seems to me a more manly life than that of a book-keeper or clerk. I never enjoyed any visit to art rooms so much as I did the watching of the cloud shadows on the Franconia mountains a few years ago, and my idea of pleasure is to own a horse and carriage and to be able to ride at will among noble scenes of nature. I have no wish to be a society man." " That sounds very fine," said Charlie ; " but I prefer a suite of rooms on Columbus Avenue (Boston) to a sod house with a big snake to make his bow to you as he comes crawling through the roof in the morning. I prefer slippers to cowhide boots big enough for canal boats, and Philharmonic concerts to the howling of wolves on a win ter's night. I certainly prefer a church with stained-glass windows and full of the music of Handel, Beethoven, and Mendelssohn, to a churchless meeting in a dug-out.

And asl for society, I like such a reception asl I attended last week. There was al young fellow there from the college I who was dressed so chawmingly that^^B all the girls called him ' Sweet William^H and he bowed so genteelly that every | one sighed a deep sigh, and I would much rather be a gallant knight like him than a hero of the plains. So I shall never go West to inflict any misery on I the Indians. The wise general in Blutarch said lat the rams might and croak, ley should lave his car cass, and he marched home and left his ene mies to battle among themselves. No exas perated Indian will ever adorn his belt with my head of hair. I was not born to found towns, churches, and schools. Some people are adapted to make machinery and others to keep it running : I belong to the latter class.

I would like to ride over the Northern Pacific Railroad in a palace car, but have no wish to face the hardships of Western life." AVEET WILLIAM A DISCOVERY. 21 c< The hardships of which you speak," said Herman, " lead to good health and good morals, and make a man feel that he is living for a purpose and so respect himself. Look at the reception of last evening of which you speak, and the half a dozen swells, weak in health, in mind, and morals, who figured there. I would rather wear a patch on both knees in a manly occupation than to pose as a tailor-made man on an occasion like that." " I did not speak of the West to advertise pioneering," said Charlie. " I prefer little Massachusetts, as I called the State, to all the vast Western territory. A little diamond is worth a mountain of glass."

The principal of the school, Master Lewis, had overheard the last part of the conversation and seemed interested in it. He approached the boys with a smile, and repeated some lines of Tennyson, which he meant to apply to the discussion : — Oil, who would fight and march and countermarch, Be shot for sixpence in a battle-field, And shovelled up into a bloody trench, Where no man knows ? — But let me live my life. " ' Oh, who would cast a balance at a desk Perched like a crow upon a three-legged stool, Till all his juice is dried and all his joints Are full of chalk ? — But let me live my life.' ' Several other lads belonging to the school had joined Charles, Wil liam, and Herman, and had become interested in the subject; and the janitor, Joseph Mickle, had taken his seat in the autumn sunshine within hearing.

" You seem to have made a discovery," said Master Lewis to Charlie. " Yes ; I 've heard that Uncle Sam is ' rich enough to give us all a farm ; ' but I never saw the import of it before." " Take a map of the world," said Master Lewis ; " draw from it a map of the United States, then draw upon the territory west of the ZIGZAG JOURNEYS IN THE OCCIDENT. 22 Mississippi in a colored pencil the map of Europe, except Northern and Eastern Russia." " Would there be room ? " asked Charlie. " Make the experiment." " Master Lewis," said Herman, " I wish you would tell us how young men may obtain government lands." "You would oblige me also," said William Clifton. " I would like to know what are the opportunities for a young man in the unsettled lands of the West." " What are the meanings of the Homestead Act, of Pre-emption, of Timber Claims ?

" asked Herman. " I am glad that you are interested in the subject," said Master Lewis, " and I will try to make the whole subject as clear and simple as I can. The time may come when some of you may like to take advantage of the liberal offers which the government makes under the acts of Congress that are associated with these names. I hope better opportunities may be open to you than those offered in the public lands ; but it will add to your intelligence and to your respect for your country to understand the subject, and also furnish you a good lesson in geography. " The laws in regard to homesteading," continued Master Lewis, " are briefly as follows : — " Any citizen of the United States or any emigrant who declares his intention to become a citizen, who is over twenty-one years of age, can secure one hundred and sixty acres of government land by filing an application and affidavit at a public land office, and by commencing settlement and making improvement upon it within six months after the application, and by continuing to live on it five years.

" Any soldier having served in the army or navy during the War of the Rebellion for over ninety days, can obtain one hundred and sixty acres of any of the public lands by filing, himself or by an attorney, a declaratory statement, and within six months thereafter filing his affiheroes of the plains, davit and application, commencing settlement and cultivation, and con tinuing the same for five years, less the time he served in the army or navy. His widow can take advantage of the above. In case of his death in the army, his term of enlistment is deducted. " By pre-emption, government lands are secured on very favorable terms, but under somewhat different conditions from homesteadinsc. IN SEARCH OF A HOMESTEAD. " The pre-emption law requires that payment for land at the gov ernment price shall be made by the settler.

The privilege is restricted to heads of families, widows, or single persons over twenty-one years of age, who do not own three hundred and twenty acres of land in any State or Territory. The lands are offered at a very low rate ; the settler is allowed thirty months to pay for his farm, and he must have lived upon it six months before he can receive his deed." " If you were to court a widow," said Charlie, " you might secure two farms to make your wed ding happy : she one and you one. Truly there are great opportunities in the West." " The so-called timber claim," continued Master Lewis, " is an act of the gov ernment to encourage the growth of timber on the West ern prairies. It provides that any person I or fe- 1 male) who is the head of a family, or who has arrived at the age of twenty-one years, and is a citizen of the United States, or who shall have filed his declaration of intention to become such, as required by the naturalization laws of the United States, who shall plant, protect, and keep in a healthy, growing condition for eight A SETTLER'S HOME IN THE MOUNTAINS. years, ten acres of timber on any quarter-section (one hundred and sixty acres) of any of the public lands of the United States, or five acres of any legal subdivision of eighty acres, or two and one half acres on any legal subdivision of forty acres or less, shall be entitled to a patent for the whole of said quarter-section, or of said legal subdivision of eighty or forty acres, or fractional subdivision of less than forty acres, as the case may be, at the expiration of said eight years, on making proof of such fact.

I have, I think, quoted the law correctly. " A second section of the law provides the method of making an application, and requires the payment of ten dollars on a quarter-section, and five dollars on eighty acres or less. It further specifies that ' the party making an entry of a quarter-section under the provisions of this act shall be required to break or plough five acres covered thereby the first year ; five acres the second year, and to cultivate to crop or otherwise the first five acres broken or ploughed the first year ; the third year he or she shall cultivate to crop or otherwise the five acres broken the second year, and to plant in timber, seeds, or cuttings the five first broken or ploughed, and to cultivate and put in crop or otherwise the remaining five acres ; and the fourth year to plant in timber, seeds, or cuttino-s the remaining five acres.' There must be six hundred and seventy-five thrifty trees to each acre when the patent is issued."

" Can a person who receives one hundred and sixty acres under the homestead law or by the pre-emption act secure one hundred and sixty acres more by planting and cultivating the required number of trees ? " " Yes." " Then a young man might secure three hundred and twenty acres of land." " I will tell you what one might do if he were going West," said Charlie, who, after exciting curiosity, seemed disposed to deaden the interest he had kindled. " He might set out his trees and get a timber claim, then he could pre-empt, then homestead, then marry a widow who had just pre-empted and made a timber claim, and what a lord of broad acres he would be ! The sun and moon would rise and set in his own cornfield, and he would figure in local histories as an original settler, and perhaps be sent to Congress.

I don't think I will be sent to Congress from the East." " " I fear not," said Master Lewis, smiling at Charlie's flow of go od humor. He added, " I have the greatest respect for Western pioneers, whether they be home steaders or preachers A TIMBER CLAIM. who ride from place to place on horseback. The future greatness and strength of our Republic are to come from such men and women. They will live in history, and ought so to live, over the mere followers of society." " Then you would advise a young man to go West and settle ? " said Charlie. " No, not unless his taste, his ambition, his sense of duty, or his circumstances impel him to do so. I would advise the young man who can do better and be happier in the East to remain there. I would advise those who see better opportunities and fields of useful ness in the West to emigrate.

Every man knows to what life he is best adapted, and I believe that every person should be true to himself STOCK-RAISING IN THE SOUTHWEST. and, as I have quoted, ' live his life.' The government lands are hardly intended for rich men's sons, though they are free to all." Master Lewis turned slowly away. " I did not know that I might be so rich," said Willie, " Nor I," said Herman. Other boys of the school had joined the three earnest talkers. " Well," said Charlie, " it seems as though a fortune had fallen to everybody, and I just begin to realize that this is a great country." Joseph Mickle, the janitor, had listened to the dialogue in silence, but, as soon as Master Lewis entered the building, seemed eager to give his views. He was a natural story-teller, had travelled in the West, and was a great favorite with the boys.

" Gentleman Jo " he was called by the scholars, on account of a poem which one of the boys recited for a declamation, which seemed like a picture of his warm, true life : — " In the years of youth, ere the years despoil, When death is a word we seldom say, When the Hebe of health pours wine all day, And the lamp of life burns odorous oil, Oh, sweet to clasp, and to clasp anew, One friend by the hand whose heart beats true, And glows with your own lost love's rare glow, Gentleman Jo ! Gentleman Jo ! " I see your eyes of a brown so warm, Your deep, sweet dimples, your tossed brown hair, Your easeful, gracious, courteous air, And the strong, fine curves of your manful form. Not a hint of the clever stuff you wrote In trick of collar, caprice of coat ; Not a touch of the false, the flippant — no !

Gentleman Jo ! Gentleman Jo ! " Was there ever a man so prompt as you To strip all shame of its gaudy guise ? To aim your scorn upon social lies, And with shafts of laughter shake them through ? When your cheek flushed up with the circling cheer, What a happy thing was your voice to hear, In its rhythmic richness, loud or low, Gentleman Jo ! Gentleman Jo ! "Yet you dealt in nothing to flash or fade, No smart grandiloquence, mock-sublime, No dainty curse of the men, the time, No brilliant brummagem of tirade ; No flimsily dazzling cynic trope, Where the egotist hides in the misanthrope, Not the least word meant for mere bald show, Gentleman Jo ! Gentleman Jo ! "For the love was large in your breast innate, Your charity mild as a mother's tears ; When you hurled at the world your trenchant sneers, It was duty spoke, it was never hate.

And the blows were struck with a better nerve, Since the hand that gave them was fain to serve, Would have rather blest than have struck one blow ; Gentleman Jo ! Gentleman Jo ! " The boys also used to call him " That Reminds Me," at a re spectful distance. He was so accustomed to say, " That reminds me of a story," that a part of the remark became a nickname. The boys continued to discuss the map and the great West. " A rainbow rises in my mind," said Charlie, with mock serious ness; "and at the end of it, as it dips down into the West, is a pot of money." " That reminds me of a story," said Gentleman Jo. " It is one that will do you all good to hear, — applies admirably to the matter you are discussing." The boys gathered around Gentleman Jo. The sun threw its mel low light through the woodbine which hung from the portico in masses of crimson leaves ; afar were the villages woods, river, and mirror-like pond, and over all, the sky of a perfect September day, like an over-sea of gold.

The lads took easy attitudes, and, as the shadows lengthened in the lawn, listened to the story of Gentleman Jo. GENTLEMAN JO AND THE CLUB. JERRY SLACK'S MONEY-POT. jerry I can see him in fancy now as he used to sit on his fence swinging his heels through the broken pickets which he never found time to mend. He was a philosopher — Jerry. He dreamed golden dreams as he used to sit among the weeds in his garden. He wondered why the Roman wormwood over-topped the corn and sent to obliv ion the potatoes. " It is the mysteriousest thing in nature," he used to say, — " what a different kind of luck comes to different folks in the world, and where it comes from. I can plan, but I cannot turn my plans into gold like other folks who do not seem to me to have near as much sense. There is always a peaked look __ to things inside of my house and out of it, and yet there ain't a man in the town that likes to see things neat and trim and prosper ous better than I do.

This is a very mysterious world, and the poorer one grows, the more strange it all ap pears. Poorer, did I say ? I meant older. The fact is you can't calculate, as Shake speare says, you can't calcu late ; you ain't sure of any thing unless you get a bone in your throat and can't get it up nor down." The last remark was one of Jerry's favorite remarks, — one of his " wise saws," he called it. It was his way of saying that there is nothing sure but death and taxes. Samuel Dyer was a thrifty farmer. He used to join the other young farmers after his daily work in a room adjoining the post-office and there discuss agricultural affairs. These active young men, after talking over their own affairs, occasionally gave a thought or two to the concerns of their neighbors, and poor Jerry Slack's unthrifty ways not unfrequently furnished a point for a joke.

It was planting time, the first beautiful weather of spring. The hill-sides were growing green again ; the bluebirds were in the trees ; there were echoes from the fields that sounded strangely clear, and a warm light in the orchards that seemed signally bright. The doors of the cribs stood open ; boys were seen riding the work horses in the lanes. After one of the mild days when everything in the earth and air seemed to prophesy of the verdure about to appear, the young farmers met in the usual place, and discussed the best preparations for sowing the early grains. Old Farmer Martin sometimes met with the young men ; he was the patriarch of the company. " I do hate to see Jerry's land," said he suddenly, after most of the farms in the town had received due criticism. "There is his four-acre lot, it just grows up to white-weed and burdock, and it is as productive a piece of ground as can be found in the whole township."