California and Alaska, and over the Canadian Pacific railway

Front matter

ND

EBB i

^vi^

Introduction

IN accordance with a time-honored custom, 1 must, at the outset, explain in a few words why this work is given to the pubHc. In the winter of 18SS-9, I determined upon taking a trip with my family across the continent to the Pacific coast, and from thence to the city of Mexico. A few friends were invited to accompany us on our journey. The Intention was to be absent about three months and a half, and the ist of March, 1889, was agreed upon as the starting-day. But the severe illness of my daughter, which began but a few days prior to our time for leaving, disarranged all our plans, and the day of departure was postponed until the first week in April.

The more I thought of this proposed journey, the more interesting and important it seemed to me in the prospective. For, to me

VI

Jntrodnctioii.

at least, it was something more than a trip of pleasure, as, indeed, it could not but be to any business man. The journey would cover the most interesting portion of our country — a stretch of territory that is not only the pride of every native of the United States, but the subject of never ceasing wonder on the part of the countless number of educated foreigners who come to our shores with the special purpose of journeying over the same ground. Following up this line of thought, I determined that an expedition of such interest, in which I should enjoy the society not only of my own family but of some of my most valued friends, was worthy of special and unusual preparation. Then it was that I conceived the idea of organizing a private train for the party, to include a baggage-car. a dining-car, and two special cars.

This train was to run what railroad men call "special" from start to finish, i.e., it was to be entirely independent of time-tables, starting when we wished and running at any rate of speed we might elect. Of course, under such a scheme the party would be relieved of any anxiety they might otherwise have had in regard to making connections.

Introduction. vii

There were twelve in the party, to wit : Mrs. Webb, Frederika, Watson, and "Toots"; Mr. and Mrs. Purdy, Dr. McLane, Julian Kean, George Bird, my brothers Louis and Frank, and myself.

The unavoidable delay caused by the illness of my daughter, already referred to, found the season so far advanced when the time came to start that we were obliged to omit our visit to the city of Mexico. We decided, however, that immediately after leaving Omaha we would travel to the southward and eventually reach the warm climate of Southern California.

A journey like this, interesting under ordinary conditions, would seem to be especially noteworthy for the manner in which it was performed, and, on that account, worthy of beinpf chronicled. Hence it is that I have seen fit to give an unpretentious and, I trust, not entirely uninteresting story of our travels, supplemented by illustrations which will be found helpful as interpreters of the text.

The literature on the subject of the western part of our country is quite large, and I am indebted to several writers for the verification and amplification of certain facts, which came to my notice generally during the journey — viii Introduction.

more particularly to the excellent works of Brace, Bowles, Harper, Nordhoff, and Simpson. It is said that " travelling is no fool's errand to him who carries his eyes and itinerary along with him." We certainly took good care to carry our eyes with us, making the best use of them that we could, and our itinerary was practically laid out months before we commenced our undertaking, which, at the close, we found to have been full of wisdom and pleasure. It is to be hoped that the reader will receive, at least, a reflection of these pleasant experiences in a perusal of the following pages.

William Seward Webb.

CHAPTER I. How Wk Travelled

PAGE I

CHAPTER n.

From New York to Omaha

CHAPTER HI.

Denver anj) Colorado Springs i6

CHAPTER IV The Parks ov Colorado

CHAPTER V.

CHAPTER VI.

Santa Monica

X Cojiteiits.

CHAPTER VII.

I'AGE

Los Angeles. ..... 45

CHAPTER VIII.

Monterey ...... 53

CHAPTER IX.

The Missions . . . . 68

CHAPTER X.

The Yosemite Valley . . .81

CHAPTER XI San Francisco ..... 103

CHAPTER XII.

San Francisco ; The Chinese Quarter i 18

CHAPTER XIII.

Northern Calii'ornia and Mount

CHAPTER XIV.

Montana .... . . 140

Cojiteiits. xi

CHAPTER XV.

I'AGE

" The Garden OF Montana " . .154

CHAPTER XVI.

From St. Paul to Manitoba . .162

CHAPTER XVn.

Mountains and Gorges on the Canadian Pacific Railway . . .181

CHAPTER XVHI.

From Kamloops to Vancouver . .198

CHAPTER XIX.

In Alaskan Waters . . . .210

CHAPTER XX.

In Alaskan Waters (Concluded) . 224

CHAPTER XXI.

Victoria — Winnipeg — Hunting Experiences ..... 240

CHAPTER XXII.

From Winnipeg, Homeward Bound . 256

ILLUSTRATIONS.

YOSEMITE FALLS ....

THE SPECIAL TRAIN

A CORNER IN THE " ELLSMERE " .

OLD SAN MIGUEL CHURCH, SANTE FE, NEW MEXICO

SOUTH PASADENA, SIERRA MADRE MOUNTAINS, AND

HOTEL .....

A STREET IN LOS ANGELES A FARM TEAM, NEAR MONTEREY THE PALMS OF GLENANNIE ON THE COAST NEAR MONTEREY THE LAKE AT MONTEREY OLD MISSION CHURCH NEAR MONTEREY

MARIPOSA GROVE BIG TREES .

THE DEAD GIANT DIAMETER, 30 FEET S

GLACIER POINT, YOSEMITE

NEVADA FALLS ....

MANITOBA COWBOY

THE SPECIAL TRAIN AT FIELD

MOUNT STEPHEN, CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY

FROM THE TOTE ROAD NEAR MOUNT DONALD

STONY CREEK BRIDGE .....

SKETCH NEAR GREAT GLACIER

xiii

Frontispiece.

RAYMOND

Facins:

Fdcii

Faeii

Facii

Facint'

3 30

42 46

57 58 61

63 69

84 89 93 96 167

XIV

Illustrations.

CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY STATION AND MOUNT DONALD

GLACIER ........ Facing

CANADIAN PACIFIC STATION, FROM THE GLACIER HOTEL

THE NARROWS, BISCOTASING LAKE

SKETCH ON THE NORTH ARM, BISCOTASING LAKE

AT SAILOR BAR BLUFF, BELOW SPUZZUM

RED-SUCKER TUNNEL, CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY

ROADWAY IN STANLEY PARK, VANCOUVER

INDIAN KIVER CANYON, FROM " PINTA " ANCHORAGE, Facing

SCENE IN INDIAN TOWN, SITKA

INDIAN chief's GRAVE, ALASKA

RUSSIAN BLOCK-HOUSE, SITKA

FLOATING ICE, NEAR MUIR GLACIER

SKETCH ON THE CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY

CANYON SHOWING THREE TUNNELS

VIEW NEAR BANFF ....

ALASKAN GAME, KILLISNOO

NEPIGON BAY, FROM NEPIGON STATION

SKIRTING NEPIGON BAY .

JACKFISH BAY ....

Faciiii,

Facinx,

Facing

N FRASER

Facino

243 245

257 260 261

FROM NEW YORK TO CALIFORNIA AND ALASKA

CHAPTER I.

HOW WE TRAVELLED.

The special train of four cars in which we made our journey was probably the most thoroughly equipped and most luxurious one that has ever been used by a party of travellers. On that account the reader will be interested in a description of it.

The first car was what is called a " combination car." The forward part of it was used for the storage of baggage ; next to this apartment was a sleeping-room for the cooks and porters. After this a bath-room, and next adjoinuTg a large smoking- or drawing-room, at one end of which was a Chickering piano, and at the other a desk, a complete library, and proper compartments for guns, fishingrods, and sporting paraphernalia. This smoking-room was intended as a sitting-room for the gentlemen of the party during the evening or daytime. This car, called " Buffet No. 60," was kindly loaned to me by Mr. John Newell, President of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway Company.

The dining-car came next. All the tables had been taken from it, and in their places an ordinary dining-table, side-tables, etc., had been put in, the same as in a house. Next came a car I had formerly used as a special car, the " Mariquita," which had been remodelled into a nursery-car, and which was occupied by Mrs. Webb, the three children, two nurses, and a maid. Last of all was my new private car " Ellsmere." This w^as occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Purdy, Dr. McLane, Mr. Louis Webb, Mr. George Bird, Mr. Julian Kean, Mr. Frank Webb, and myself.

In the Buffet car and the " Ellsmere," respectively the first and last cars of the train,

How Wc Travelled. 3

were laree eones, which could be runo- from any of the cars ; these were used In the daytime to call servants from one part of the train to the other, and were to be used at night in case of an attack by highwaymen. There have been cases heretofore where trains, like stage-coaches of old, have been " held up " and their occupants compelled to deliver up their valuables at the urgent request of some desperate border ruffian. Such instances are, of v^ course, not very common in the present advanced state of Western civilization, but we thought it advisable to follow the Irishman's suo-o-estion — " it is better to be sure than sorry," — and we were consequently well prepared to give any such intruders a warm reception. Our crew of men on the train during the daytime was in charge of Colonel Oscar Eastmond, who had served in the United States army during the war, and since then had been holding the position of conductor. On our road to the Pacific coast we had one of Pinkerton's best detectives, who took charire of the train at ni2:"ht. After leavintr the Pacific coast, Colonel Eastmond took charge of the train at night, and slept in the daytime.

The cookinof on board our train v/as in the hands of two of the oldest and best-tried cooks on the road, and eight of the best porters were selected for the part)^ The train was also so arranged as to be heated by steam from the engines.

Through the kindness of Mr. Van Home, of Montreal, a new steel steamship, belonging to the Canadian Pacific Steamship Company, and which, about this time, had just arrived on the

How We Travelled. 5

Pacific coast, was chartered for a two weeks' cruise in Alaskan waters. She was entered as the writer's yacht in the Yacht Chib, and carried his yachting colors during the cruise.

Our start from under the 45th Street bridge at the Grand Central Depot, in the great metropolis, was marked by more than the ordinary excitement which usually attends events of that kind. A large number of friends had gathered there to see the party start out, and to wave their parting salutes as they called out " a pleasant journey and a safe return " — a journey which was to take us four times across the continent, up into the land of seals, and through the British dominions.

Chapter II. From New York To Omaha

We arrived at Niagara Falls on Sunday morning, the 7th of April. We spent some time in admiring the scenery, which was of course not new to us, and with which the reader is probably familiar. The Falls of Niagara are beautiful at all times, but there was something in the rich, golden sunrise of that lovely April morning which lent an additional beauty to the view. The sight of such a sunrise recalled our early reading of " Childe Harold":

The morn is up again, the dewy morn, With breath all incense, and with cheeks all bloom, Laughing the clouds away with playful scorn, And living as if earth contained no tomb, — And glowing into day.

We Started for Detroit at a few moments past five in the morning, our first stop being

From New York to Omaha. 7

at St. Thomas, one hundred and fifteen miles from the Falls, where we changed enofines. The distance from St. Thomas to Windsor, one hundred and eleven miles, we ran in one hundred and seven minutes.

At Windsor, where the transport was in waiting and where we were transferred to the Detroit side, our first mishap occurred. In taking the train off the transport the coupling between the " Mariquita " and the dining-car was broken. This caused a delay of three quarters of an hour. From Detroit to Chicago our running time was faster, if anything, than on the Canada Southern division, the indicator at one time registering a speed of sixty-nine miles an hour. Between Niles and Michigan City, a distance of thirty-six and a half miles, we covered in the remarkable time of thirty-two minutes, including one stop for grade crossing, which occupied at least two minutes. We arrived at Kensington, near Chicago, at 5.6, having made the run from Suspension Bridge to Kensington, four hundred and ninety-seven and a half miles, in eleven hours and eleven minutes, not including the delay of three quarters of an hour at Detroit. All switches were spiked, and all freight and passenger trains side-tracked to enable us to make this fast run. Notwithstanding the remarkable speed at which we travelled, none of the party realized the rapid rate at which we ran all day.

In thinking over these wonderful performances of locomotive speed we are reminded of the phenomenal growth and development of the railway in the last century. It seems almost incredible that the first locomotive, invented in London only eighty-five years ago, could not make steam, and could neither travel fast nor draw a heavy load. The first locomotive in this country was run in 1829, and operated by the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, connecting the coal mines with the canal. That same year Peter Cooper experimented with a little locomotive, and once related, with great glee, how, on the trial trip, he had beaten a gray horse attached to another car.

On our arrival at Chicago our division superintendent, Mr. Spoor, and a number of railroad men were waitinor to meet us. The party, with the exception of the children, went to the Richelieu Hotel, where we dined. In the meantime the train was sent on the

From Neio York to Omaha. 9

belt line to the Chicago and Northwestern Depot.

We left Chicago a little after eight o'clock Monday morning, April 8th, and arrived in Council Bluffs, four hundred and ninety-three miles from Chicago, in about twelve hours, the quickest time that has ever been made between these two points. As on the Michigan Central, the road was cleared, and the switches were spiked the entire distance. We had only one engine with the same engineer all the distance from Chicago to Council Bluffs. This circumstance is remarkable, for the distance has never been covered before in one run by one engine. The officials of the road, however, had spare engines at different points, fired up with crews in waiting to take the place of ours should anything give out. A master mechanic was also sent all the way through with the train, in order to be in readiness should any accident occur to the engine. Our enorineer, not beine accustomed to the last three divisions of the road, had a pilot over each division, and was thus enabled to keep up his high speed.

On our arrival at Council Bluffs, through some misunderstandinor, the Union Pacific lo To California and Alaska.

Railroad had an engine and crew ready to take us throucrh "special" to Ogden, they having conceived the idea that it was our intention to go directly through to the Pacific coast via the Union and Central Pacific lines, and had arranged to give us a very fast run to the coast. There is no doubt that had we gone by their line we should have made the quickest time from ocean to ocean that has ever been made, or is likely to be made for years to come. Mr. Orr, their representative, met us at the Union Depot, and taking special engine and car we went with him to see the city of Omaha, returning late in the evening.

Council Bluffs is one of the oldest towns in Western Iowa. As early as 1846 it was known as a Mormon settlement and called Kanesville, a name which it retained until 1853, when the Legislature granted a charter designating the place as the City of Council Bluffs. The city includes within her corporate limits about twenty-four square miles, and the surrounding country is rich in farming- land.

From the appearance of the country we passed through at this time we were reminded that springtime was at hand. In various sec-

From Nezv York to Omaha. i i

tions we saw the farmers ploughing-, and the erass startino- out of the crround. The soil

o o o

was of a dark color, evidently of sufficient richness to be independent of a fertilizer. One does not wonder that farmers in this section of the country can raise from forty to forty-five bushels of corn to the acre.

When we entered the State of Iowa, which we did after passing Fulton, the large amount of stock, especially cattle, seen on every farm, was particularly noticeable.

At every town between Chicago and Omaha there were groups of people at the various stations, ranging in numbers from fifty to five hundred, waitincr to see our train otq throuo-h. For it was known all along the line of the road that our excursion party was coming, from the fact that the switches at all stations had been spiked, all trains side-tracked, and employes of the road near the several stations had been placed with white flags at the different crossings just previous to the passage of the train. These peculiar preparations, of course, brought an inquiring crowd about, who waited to see our train pass through.

The city of Omaha, to which point our special train was taken on the morning of the

9th, furnishes a striking example of Western growth and enterprise. Each time that the visitor stops here he finds some new evidence of improvement. Portions of the town that, but a few months before, were barren plains, are laid out in streets and lined with substantial houses of fine appearance. The railroad terminals and properties near the depot serve to indicate that this city is one of the most important railroad centres of the West.

Omaha was settled in 1854, when a few squatters fixed upon this section for their residence, the country at that time being a part of the Territory of Nebraska. The situation of the town commands for it an extensive trade with the West. The shops of the Union Pacific Railroad, the smelting works for refining silver ore from the mountains, and manufactories of various kinds give employment to many mechanics and laborers. The bridge across the Missouri, built by the Union Pacific Company, and costing over a million dollars, is one of the finest structures of the kind in the country. It stands sixty feet above high-water mark, and has, besides a railroad track, a street-car track and a wagon way.

From New York to Omaha. 13

The ride from Omaha to Kansas City was through a part of the country which was new to most of us, and full of interest. We followed the river route the whole distance to Kansas City, passing the city of Leavenworth, one of the largest and most flourishing towns in the State, surrounded by one of the richest agricultural regions in the valley of the Missouri. In 1853, only thirty-six years ago, the site of this city was covered with hazel-brush, and wolves roamed about the country unmolested. Now it has schools, churches, academies, and theatres. It is the headquarters for outfitting government supply trains for Western posts, and has a very large trade with the Territories. The government farm, located here, is one of the largest and most productive in the country. Fort Leavenworth, two miles from the city, is situated on a bluff one hundred and fifty feet high, and was established in 1827. Connected with the fort is stabling for eight thousand horses and fifteen thousand mules.

Our stop at Omaha was made particularly agreeable and noteworthy from the fact that, soon after our arrival. Bishop Worthington of the Episcopal Diocese of Nebraska called upon us, and took the ladies of the party for a drive around the city. We did not have such a pleasant experience at Kansas City. Through some misunderstanding on the part of the railroad officials, our train, instead of being taken into the depot, was left in the freight yards. As a result of this arrangement, the ladies were deprived of the pleasure of visiting various points of interest in the city. Some of the gentlemen of the party, with considerable difficulty, managed to find their way to the passenger depot, and rode about town in the well-known cable cars. Though Kansas City was settled in 1830, it was twenty-five years before it began to improve and increase in population. After the breaking out of the war its commerce was almost ruined, but with peace came prosperity, and since 1865 its advance has been marvellous. Kansas City has the honor of having built the first bridge across the Missouri, which it did at a cost of one million dollars.

Soon after our arrival at this place the Pinkerton night-watchman reported for duty — his services being considered necessary from Kansas City to San Francisco.

When passing through Topeka, on the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad, Mr.

Frovi Neiv York to Omaha. 15

Robinson, the General Manager of the road, called upon us and, on behalf of the President of the company, extended to us the use of his company's line on our Western trip, courteously adding that arrangements had been made to make our trip as pleasant as possible.

The country through which we passed at this time, though very flat and sparsely populated, seemed admirably adapted to farming. The appearance of the farms and buildings showed that the people enjoyed more than the usual degree of prosperity peculiar to pastoral life.

A notable sight served to recall the past history of this country, and place it in sharp contrast with the present — this was the old cattle trails used by ranchmen in driving their cattle from Texas and the South into Montana, Wyoming, and Dakota, before railroads had been built to perform such service quickly and cheaply. Sitting in our luxuriously appointed palace-car, and noting this point of interest, together with the overland wagon roads used in former years, we could not but recall the vast progress that has been made of late years in furnishing transportation facilities for a journey across the continent.

CHAPTER 111.

DENVER AND COLORADO SPRINGS.

We reached Pueblo, the chief city of Southern Colorado, on the evening of April loth, where we were delayed for two hours, owing to a wash-out. The Spanish-speaking people and the French hunters and trappers who lived in this section before the march of improvement began, gave queer-sounding names to the mountains, streams, and the small settlements as they began to be formed. Pueblo is a sample ; but when the early settlers came they soon changed all this, and the brakemen on the Western roads certainly have cause to be thankful that plain Anglo-Saxon names have replaced the queer titles that were common in the early days.

It was so cold coming up the grade over the mountains that we had to build fires in all the cars, but when we reached Denver we found the weather warm and pleasant. Our stop at

i6

Denver aiid Colorado Springs. i 7

this point was made more agreeable from the fact that we received our mail, which had come over the Union Pacific line from Chicago. We sent a mail-bag East with letters from all parties to relatives and friends at home. The chronicler of the expedition had talked into a phonograph a diary of the experiences that had befallen the party since starting from New York. The cylinders containing this material were included in the outeoine mail, and were in such a shape that they could be transcribed by a clerk into *' every-day English."

Denver has a right to lay claim to the title " Queen City of the Plains " ; it is to-day one of the largest and, in many respects, one of the handsomest towns in the West. Twenty years ago its population was only fifteen hundred ; to-day it has over eighty thousand inhabitants. Thirty years ago the inhabitants formed an odd social mixture. There were refined and educated men fi'om the Eastern towns, and there were rough and disreputable characters, hailing from the purlieus of our great cities and the rough settlements of the far West, all animated with one purpose — the search for gold. In 1873 Denver suffered from the financial disaster which had been felt in the East, and in 1875 and 1876 it was visited with the grasshopper plague, which resulted in a great loss of crops and the withdrawal of a large amount of capital from the banks. After these clouds of adversity came the sunshine of prosperity, only two years later, in 1877, when the export of beeves was the largest ever known. Two years ago the real-estate sales amounted to $29,345,451, an increase of eighteen millions over those for the year 1886.

Though Denver is a thorough, go-ahead, practical city, where money and business enterprise are highly appreciated and made the most of, it is claimed that the town contains more resident college graduates than any other town of the same size in the United States. It makes no pretensions to be a literary centre ; the class of literature found in its wholesale and retail book-stores, however, shows it to be abreast of the culture of the day.

Denver may be called the commercial centre of Colorado, and, in some respects, resembles the thriving town of Springfield, Massachusetts, It is situated on a series of plateaus, fifteen miles from the foot of the Rocky Mountains. The selection of the site was

Denver and Colorado Springs. 19

made by accident. The early gold-hunters who went into the State found a few grains of gold in the sandy bed of Cherry Creek, a small stream that flows into the South Platte River near the town. The hunters called the place Auraria, a decidedly appropriate cognomen. When it became known that gold had been found in this vicinity, hunters came from all parts of the States as well as New Mexico, and it became, even for those times, a thriving settlement, where hunters and miners could replenish their stores and complete their outfits for expeditions into the mountains. As a matter of fact very little gold was found here, but the adventurers kept up the delusion of the fabulous richness of the mountain placers as long as they could. When the bubble finally burst, the town was named Denver, in honor of Col. }. W. Denver, who was then the Governor of Kansas, in which all this mountain region was at that time included. Fifteen railroads to-day centre in Denver. The Union Depot would be a credit to any of our well-developed Eastern cities. It is constructed almost entirely of stone quarried in the State, and is 503 feet long by 69 feet wide. The central tower is 165 feet high, and contains an illuminated clock. An idea can be formed of the immense amount of railroad traffic carried on in this structure when it is stated that over two hundred thousand pieces of baggage are handled within its walls in the course of a year.

Denver is practically supported by the three great industries, mining, agriculture, and stock-raising. Though silver was not found until 1870, the yield of that metal in 1886 was nearly $17,000,000. Ore is sent to the city not only from Colorado but from New Mexico and Old Mexico, Montana, Arizona, Idaho, Oregon, Nevada, and South America. Of six million acres of agricultural land in Colorado, two thirds have been taken up, and millions of dollars are invested in raising cattle and sheep.

The city itself has a very inviting appearance. We drove through Its handsome streets, and admired the beautiful residences and buildings to be seen on every hand, not forgetting that this wonderful development was the growth of the last twenty-five years.

After seeing everything of interest in the city, and obtaining certain necessary supplies, we left for Colorado Springs. This is a beauti-

Denver and Colorado Springs. 2 1

ful city, charmingly situated at the toot of Pike's Peak. When Lieutenant Zebulon Pike was ordered, in 1806, by General Wilkinson, to explore the region between Missouri and the frontier of Mexico, he described the great peak, saying that it "appeared like a small blue cloud." He named it Mexican Mountain, but afterwards, in honor of his bravery, it was given the name of Pike's Peak.

It may not be generally known that we owe the existence of Colorado Springs to a railroad company — or rather, to the National Land and Improvement Company, which was started by the Denver and Rio Grande Railway Company. This organization purchased a tract of land, five miles distant from the Springs, and spent large sums in laying out broad streets and planting along their sides rows of cottonwood trees. It expended forty thousand dollars for the construction of a canal so that water could be brought to the town. In order to develop the place, it gave a valuable building lot for church purposes to each of the Christian denominations. Each deed of land provided a heavy penalty in case liquor should ^ be sold, or otherwise disposed of, on the / premises. •

How far these temperance principles are carried out at the present time, we do not know. We have heard, however, that when a man wants his beer, he gets a certificate of membership in a "beer" club, thus becoming a shareholder, and the law cannot prevent him from usine the beverage.

Colorado Springs is noted, far and near, as a health resort, and, durine the summer months, its hotels are crowded with healthseekers from Western Kansas and Southern California. In the winter season many New Yorkers and residents of our large Eastern cities are seen on its streets. According to competent medical authority, the climate and waters are good in cases of nervous exhaustion, bad circulation, defective nutrition, and malaria. The climate is also said to be good for consumptives, setting the healthy processes of life going with increased vigor. Persons who are affected with heart trouble, however, are not advised to visit this section of the country.