[[1]]
La Veta Colorado
July 23/[18]77
Dearest Hyacinth *1
I wrote last from St Louis on the Mississippi on the 17th since which we have been
constantly on the move. We left St Louis on that evening at for Pueblo a long railway
journey lasting 2 nights & nearly 2 1/2 days. Mrs Gray was quite knocked up & Mrs
Leidy wearied out & homesick! The route was almost throughout across the prairies
that intervene[?] between the Mississippi & Rocky M[oun]t[ain]s & our course was
along the Arkansas river, probably this line is not down on any map being quite new.
Dr Lambourne our travelling companion is a Director of the line (or President, as
called here). The sleeping cars were as good as before & the rails being more
evenly laid, I slept comfortably & there having been rain on the prairie we had very
little dust or heat! In fact we have experienced no heat at all to speak of.
These prairies are not like what I
[[2]] I expected -- which was a sea--like horizon & long waving grass. -- they consist
of rolling plains varied with occasional moist parts & extensive crops of maize &
wheat in many places. Except in the wet places the grass (Buffalo grass) is
extremely short & slender -- very low hills are occasionally seen with a few Oaks on
them. When the soil is rich the grass is longer & the Compass plant, a tall sun-flower rears its'[sic] head above all -- its'[sic] leaves are quite distichous & the young
ones point N[orth]. & S[outh]. very truly. The common Sun--flower is native all along
& every where, or rather the smaller flowered parent of the garden Sun--flower,
which has been traced[?] to this. The Indian used to cultivate it for its seeds. You
know that it is now cultivated for oil seed over many parts of Europe. The ground
rises as we approach the Mts to 3000 ft, & becomes drier -- The Arkansas river flows
on the surface of the Prairie in a very shallow muddy winding canal--like bed, with a uniform
ripple & has a uniform fall of 12 ft per mile for 100 miles E[ast]. of the range.
Occasionally willows & a poplars mark its'[sic] course, a species very
[[3]] like our common black poplar -- but trees are rare any where. It is crossed
any[?] where by the emigrant waggons but its'[sic] bottom is treacherous, being full
of quicksand. We saw many Emigrant trains of waggons, drawn by bullocks,
accompanied by a few cattle, the women & children in the waggon & the men walking or riding.
Of villages proper there are none; occasionally one meets meets a small with a group
of low square flat roofed Adobe buildings (Adobes are built of sun dried clay) with cattle
enclosure & Pigstye attached & a huge board over it advertising it as a store. Buffalo
that once abounded are not to be seen for nearer than 200 miles to the S[outh].W[est]. in
the Indian reserves, their skolls skulls & bones with those of horses & cattle are
common enough: bare patches betray the vicinity of a marmot[']s (prairie dog's) hole,
which shelter also the small Owls. Birds are few, Antelopes are often seen & of
course a mirage[?]. The train whirls for miles & miles as straight as an arrow & the
heat is usually unsupportable at this season, but we were favoured.
The Rocky M[oun]t[ain]s are a very poor wet[?] looking range from the prairie -- are
neither exactly tame nor at all rugged, & one sees but few patches of snow, none are
snow clad.
[[4]] We arrived at Pueblo on the Prairie near the mountains 300 ft) in the afternoon of the third
day (about 40 hours from St Louis & there met Dr Bell, Director of a Railay Railway
that runs some 20 miles first further west to Cañon city, where the Arkansas leaves
the Mts through a grand Cañon -- Dr & Mrs Leidy & the child left us at Pueblo, to go
North to Wisconsin, where he will spend his vacation examining rhizopods & other
minute water animals of that region. Cañon city is a street of some 100 detached
wooden brick, or Adobe, houses of which one is a very tolerable brick Hotel where we
put up.
Dr Bell is a Cambridge MD, about 35, a very gentlemanly man I think he wrote a book on the
R[ocky] M[ountain]s *2 who came out for his health & was induced to stay by an offer of
lucrative employment on this line -- he has a nice house & property near Colorado city,
& another in the heart of the mountains S.W. from Cañon city, whither he was taking
his wife, an English Lady, & a niece, with 2 little children & a servant to stay a few
days at this property (in Wet Mountain Valley). After a good cleansing & sound sleep
[[5]] we started next morning from Cañon city to the top of the Mt to mountains above
the town to see the Cañon from above. The cañon is about 5 miles off, but it takes
12 to get there up to it by a waggon[sic] road, up a lateral valley of Poplars & bushes
of Rhus, wild cherry, Melea[Melia] & various willows, alder &c. The way up was wild
& rocky, & on surmounting it we came at 5--6000 ft on an extensive undulating trail
called "Eight Mile Park" through which the Arkansas flows till it meets the rocky outer
granite range of Mts which it appears to force its'[sic] way through for 2 or 3 miles. This
gorge is evidently a winding cleft or fault deepened by the river & is 1000 ft deep by
perhaps 1/6 of a mile broad at the top & 20 yards at the bottom. The view from the
top is extremely grand & the red colouring of the granite is beautiful.
The Rocky M[oun]t[ain]s for the most part consist of ridges of rocky Mt ridges 10-14300 ft high, enclosing these vast downs or Parks. The Mts from 5000--11000 ft
are clothed with scattered trees of Pinus Edulis two Junipers & stunted oak, with
[[6]] Poplars only in the ravines. On the Parks no trees & very few bushes are found.
The usual Park plants are a splendid white flowered Argemone, a purple Cleome,
Aenotheras, grasses, dwarf very dwarf bushy yellow--flowered Compositae, white
Artemisias, Chenopodiaceae & Amaranthaceae, Mentzelias, & the common
Helianthus. The Pines are confined to the rocky hill & Mt slopes. P. Edulis the Piñon
of the Americans, begins at 5000 ft, & ascends to 10,000: it is a dwarf tree, much like
an oak in habit!
At 6500 or 700 Pinus ponderosa begins, a rather stately tree with a rich yellow red
bark, like Scotch fir, & at above 8000 ft are Abies Douglasii, Concolor, Menziesii &
Engelmanii. The vast park--like treeless downs without water, but which would be
fertile with irrigation, & which look like pices areas of the prairie elevated 5--9000 ft
are the most curious features of the country. The rocks are very various,
cretaceous, abound with their characteristic fossils. The mines rich in copper &
silver & lead, are chiefly in the granite mts. Here & there one meets with a small
excavation
[[7]] close to which is a stick with a piece of paper. This is the result of some
"prospector" who has discovered a metal lode & put his name to it on the paper, & gone to
the State Office at Cañon city or elsewhere to purchase a claim & work for Ore upon
it. This simple mode of securing your claim is universally respected!
On the following day Dr Hayden, the Grays & Dr Lambourne returned to Pueblo by
train to go thence South to La Veta, & up a valley there & form a camp at 9000 ft to
botanize above that elevation. The Stracheys & I took an over mountain route to the
same place (100 miles from Cañon city) in a waggon & pair, intending to visit Dr Bell
en route, as he had invited us. This would enable us to see one of the finest valleys
in the interior of the R[ocky]. M[ountains]., called Wet M[oun]t[ain]. Valley, 60 miles
long by 8--10 broad, flanked on the S.W. by the sun streaked Sierra, called the Sangre
de Christo the waters of which make this vast valley very fertile. Our route was
amongst rocky or stony ridges loosely clothed with Pinon & P. ponderosa, or through
short water courses with poplars, & over vast parks
[[8]] we saw hardly an inhabitant till we reached the valley, the view from which of the
Mt Sierra range is very fine, though far inferior to Alps, Pyrenees or Maritime Alps. Dr
Bell[']s hut is in the midst of swampy meadows on the vast flat floor of the valley
which is intersected by posts & rails enclosing allotments of 100acres & more. It is a
"balloon hut" that is one of simple plants planks of P. Ponderosa of the rudest description.
He has large barns close by plenty of cows, Potato, & Hay field. Not a tree is to be
seen for miles nor any where but on the Mt slopes around & scarcely a shrub. The
elevation of the floor of the valley is 7800 ft about, the character is dry, air crisp &
clear, hardly any snow falls in winter! & the grass is green all the year round.
Mrs Bell received us very kindly, & we had dinner of soup, excellent mutton beef,
Potato, firm Mushrooms, Lettuce & stewed apples & pears with rice pudding.
Spoons & forks were iron & there was a parcity of glasses &c. -- Dr Bell slept in the
barn & we had beds in the hut, my mattress was stuffed with maize husks, which
made a curious crackling
[[9]] sound from the silex[?] in the epidermis of the leaf, but I slept sound enough.
Mrs Bell knows a good many Cambridge people & Miss Kinsley staid[sic] with her at
Manitou their property near Colorado city.
Next morning we came on 60 miles to this place arriving at 10pm, & are in a balloon
Adobe 2 storied house, with wee bed rooms upstairs divided by loose rough planks
across which mustic tiffany[?] is strained. This is another city quite like Cañon city,
but the population is half Mexican & Spanish.
This evening we go by rail 20 miles to the West up into the mining district of the
R[ocky]. M[ountains]. where Prof Dr Hayden is camped at 9000 ft & where we shall
find Dr & Mrs Gray.
The Yankee population that we meet every where are most civil & obliging, very
rough in exterior but never so in manners. Here on the verge of civilisation, there is
abundance of food & progress & every where in all directions. Today Dr Lambourne
came down from camp to meet us, & has taken us into the heart of the city! When
i.e. amongst the cabins of the prospectors -- a rough lot
[[10]] of stalwart brown & grizzled men of all ages & from all English speaking parts
of the world with their pockets full of samples of minerals, the names of which
D[octor]. L[ambourne]. good--naturedly tells them. Seeing we are strangers they are
most obliging & communicative. At dinner time some of them who are in luck they come to the
Hotel! i.e. those who can afford it, & sit down beside us & behave with perfect
propriety. Their manners are perfectly independent & they speak to you as they do
to one another always 'Sir'ing in Yankee fashion.
The meal--hours *3i.e. at the larger hotels, but at these cabins they are served only
once. are 7--9 for breakfast 12--2 dinner, 5--7 supper or thereabouts. The landlord &
family who serve you often sit down with you, & however rough the establishment
their hands are always clean. For dinner each has a plate of soup, after which there
is set before each little platters of Beef or Mutton or liver &c (as you choose)
potatos[sic], Peas, or dried beans, stewed tomatos[sic], followed by other messesto
each of apple or blackberry pie, rice or tapioca pudding, or stewed fruit you may eat
or leave what you please, & get a 2nd help of any thing. Iced water & Iced tea are the
drinks or iced milk at supper & breakfast, & you may
[[11]] have 2 or more tumblers if you please, besides with tea or coffee, porridge, toast,
steak, ham & all served in small portions. *4 Abundance of most delicate bread &
roles[sic], good butter here, Slapjacks, a rocky maize scone eaten with syrup, very
good! Trout abound in thehills, a boy yesterday caught 52 lbs! weighing from 1 lb -3 or 5 lbs. Insects sometimes devour the crops, but the Colorado beetle has done
little mischief here where however it is common on the wild species of Solaneae.
The Spanish Mexicans are a miserable wild looking lot, riding about on smart little
horses with the lasso on the saddle bow, huge stirrups & rowel 2--3 inches
diam[eter] -- They are not liked by the Yankees & will "I guess" be pushed down the
scale of civilisation. The Spaniard of old held Colorado, & the state of New Mexico,
on whose northern border I now am, was attached after the Mexican--American war to
the U.S. quite comparatively lately -- Mts are full of precious metals, but the plains are
dreadfully hot.
I find I have forgot the Cacti, with which all this country is covered up to nearly 8000
feet. First of all is Opuntia arborescens, which form a solitary much branched rounded
bush 4--6 feet high, bearing a crimson blossom as big as a rose at the end of every
branchlet a gorgeous show! Next are small flat Opuntias that grow in groups
[[12]] rarely more than a foot above the ground & studded with spines. These have
pink or golden flowers & the Mammillarias which grow in clusters often hemispherical
& 2--3 feet diam[eter]. Their flowers are comparatively insignificant.
The most lovely plant here is the Mirabilis multiflora, lately figured in Bot[anical]
Mag[azine]. that forms low banks of vivid green studded with purple flowers. It is
most beautiful.
The facilities of getting about this worlds' end of a country are wonderful, but
travelling is very fatiguing, as you have to go great distances & there is so much to
learn & see by the way & everything is rough & hard.
We have not yet fixed our plans for the future -- I am getting very anxious to hear
from home, & though the post is punctual the distance is great from the West!
The Education[,] intelligence & general propriety[?] of the people still impresses me
very agreeably, from all this wretched collection of scattered "balloon" cabins &
Adobe huts, I find Eight or ten journals & newspapers sold, & of the very latest date,
& there are several "balloon" churches -- the Baptist seems the largest. Not a few
English young gentlemen have farms & we constantly meet wagons driven by men in
buckskins & bearflap[?] hats with hatchets at their sides & the unmistakeable *5 ruddy
faces of English gentle who we familiarly call Sẽnor wrong men[?]". Now I must take
this to the post, that you may get it in about 3 weeks. Your ever affe[ctionate]
husband | J.D. Hooker [signature]
ENDNOTES
1. Lady Hyacinth Hooker, née Symonds later Jardine (1843--1921). Joseph Hooker's
second wife, they married in 1876.
2. This inserted sentence is written vertically up the left hand side of page four.
3. The wording from here to "once" is written vertically up the left hand side of page
ten.
4. The wording from here to "good!" is written vertically up the left hand side of page
eleven.
5. The wording from here to the end of the letter is written vertically up the left hand
side of page twelve.
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