James W. Buel

“ It was forty against nearly three hundred, and Quantrell knew that it was a fight to the death. Bleeding almost at every pore, the black-bannered bandit fought like the gladiators, until, blinded by his own blood, and with a score of gaping wounds, he fell mortally wounded, with an empty pistol in one hand and a bloody sword in the other. It was thus that the entire force of Quantrell's guerrillas died, excepting Frank James, whose life was spared for darker deeds. ”

“ Not far distant is Alexander’s Cave, which, though not so well known, is much grander in size and more curious with stalactite formations than those near Manitou, which have an undeserved fame. From the summit of a mountain just east of Glenwood, and reached by a walk of three miles, an immense expanse of charming scenery is viewable. For seventy miles towards the east extends the snow-crowned chain of the Continental Divide, while towards the north, like a babe sleeping to the lullabys of a brooklet’s voice, lies the White River plateau. ”

“ RAINBOW FALLS IN WINTER, ADIRONDACKS.
But when the sun is above the mountains and setting the landscape aglow with cheerful beams, these same fastnesses are a realm of romantic delight, for every peak is reflected in some lovely lake, while waterfalls appear to be pouring out of the sky and go chasing down the verdant slopes playing high-spy among the coverts and making the woods musical with their laughter. Near Ausable Ponds, guarded by Mount Marcy, are the beautiful Rainbow Falls, a very flood of opals, so iridescent does it appear when its waters catch the sunbeams. ”

“ As we pass the Toltec Gorge, Phantom Curve is approached, and from the grandeur and awesomeness with which the great abyss impressed us, our interest is quickened and spell-bound by objects that at once excite wonder and curious amazement. We are suddenly introduced to forms more strange than monstrous, more remarkable for their incongruity than significant for their grandeur. The chisels of nature’s sculptors, frost, water, storms, ice and decay have wrought many astounding things in stone, which rival in grotesque eccentricity the queer figures that render famous the Garden of the Gods. ”

“ Range behind range of great mountains lie below, like a Titanic ocean stilled by some mighty hand. From this supreme elevation it is possible to study the structural character of the region, and to count all the great chains that cross the country, while no words can express the varying and exquisite color that, like a glamour of heavenly enchantment, lies over the wide expanse. The whole earth, “and the beauty thereof,” seems to be spread out at one’s feet, and the airs that come to this high mountain crest are full of freshness and balm. ”

“ All the very large bergs rise from the bottom with a still grander commotion, rearing aloft in the air nearly to the top of the wall, with tons of water pouring down their sides, heaving and plunging again and again ere they settle and sail away as blue crystal islands; free at last after being held rigid as part of the slow-crawling glacier for centuries. And strange it seems that ice formed from snow on the mountains two and three hundred years ago, should after all its toil and travel in grinding down and fashioning the face of the landscape still remain so lovely in color and so pure. ”

“ The way led around the base of Pike’s Peak, passed Cascade Cañon, and along Bear Creek, the road doubling upon itself and twisting around in the most tortuous course imaginable in order to get through the mountain defiles. Every foot of the route is grand, for there is no point that does not offer a view of scenic splendors beautiful, awesome and sublime. So rugged, tumultuous and wonderfully aberrant is the way, that the road plunges through no less than eight tunnels in traversing as many miles, and thus the traveler is whirled through the heart and arms of the mountains. ”

“ Emerging from the stifling, half-artificial Cave-of-the-Winds, and passing down the hill a few yards, a magnificent view of William’s Cañon bursts upon the enraptured vision of the spectator, the contrast from the dismal and disappointing cave lending additional sublimity to the scene. The south entrance to this herculean gorge is within a short walk of Manitou, and at the very door-way the walls rise up perpendicularly to a stupendous height and in fantastic forms that positively bewilder with a grandeur and beauty almost unexcelled by any scenery in the world. ”

“ INTERIOR OF SNOW SHED, SIERRA NEVADA MOUNTAINS.
Beyond Chico, northward, the scenery becomes rapidly more rugged, until we plunge into the Siskiyou range, and apparently become tangled up, so tortuous is the way. Time and again the road overlaps itself in winding up the steeps, leaps across yawning chasms on lofty steel bridges, and dashes into tunnels that for a while appear to lead directly to the center of the under-world. But on every side, where daylight reveals the turbulent landscape, there is much to excite wonder and to lend surprise. ”

“ Descending Alder Hill on the east, by way of a tortuous route, we at last reach Merced Valley, beautiful as a poet’s inspiration, and crossing this low-lying strip of meadow land, climb another hill, where wonder compels us to pause upon its crest. Away yonder in the misty west, where the horizon drops down like a curtain on the world to hide the mysteries behind, are the dim outlines of the Coast Range, nearly 200 miles distant. But more bewildering sights are near at hand, for there to the left a little way are noisy cascades playing leap-frog over giant stones ”

“ Towards the west and south and north is a mighty army of mountains, in companies and battalions, bold, rugged, majestic; always standing in review before the Captain and Creator of worlds who seems to have halted His regiment for inspection before an impending battle; while away towards the east spreads the fading prairies, losing themselves in the horizon; and down below, in a long stretch of landscape, is Colorado Springs, with its intersecting streets looking like a corn-field, and its smoke-stacks like scare-crows. ”

“ The region is wondrously diversified and marvelously beautiful, holding within its compass not only a valley of paradisaic charms, but also mountains of startling grandeur, with crystalline lakes reposing on their bosoms, range breaking beyond range, snowy crests gleaming with sunlight splendors, forests tinted with softest hues, streams that murmur and cascades that roar, while the valley is aflame with the richest colorings of daisies, buttercups, bluebells, heather, wild pinks, anemones, and brianthus, a symphony of beauty, a colossal bouquet decorating the marriage-bed of nature. ”

“ THE GREAT GLACIER, CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY.—This fine photograph shows the front wall of the glacier as it plows its way down the mountain side, grinding the rocks into powder and cutting seams and cañons that will stand for centuries as records of its resistless powers. Those who have never seen one of these immense rivers of ice, ever moving and never failing, can hardly appreciate the feeling of awe that is aroused by a near approach to them. There is no other force of nature that so distinctively manifests its irresistible powers. ”

“ Ouray lies at peace with the world, in a basin whose sides are like a giant’s punch-bowl, only that the confinement is by a succession of mountain ranges piling up behind each other until the highest attain an altitude of 14,235 feet, and hold perpetual carnival with the snow-storm. That little basin seems to be the paint-pot of the Titans, and the mountains their mixing-boards. Letting our sight travel slowly up the soaring slopes, every step of the way is one of beauty. ”

“ Imagine a chasm that at times is less than a quarter of a mile wide and more than a mile deep, the bed of which is a tossing, roaring, madly impetuous flood; winding its way in a sinuous course along walls that are painted with all the pigments known to nature! What an imposing spectacle; what a scene of awesome grandeur; what a sublime vision of mightiness! But the geologist sees in the crags and precipices, the strata and bed of that brawling stream, the handwriting of nature, the easily decipherable physical history and geology of the land. ”

“ The landscape is a dreamy haze of incomparable loveliness, where a feast of flowers is perpetually spread, and the voice of peris may be heard down under the green waters of a murmuring sea. Only a thin stretch of golden beach lies between the mainland, on which Ormond is located, and the ocean, so near that the billows are distinctly heard beating against the shore. Along this water-front of lagoon and sea are gleaming sands so hard that step nor wheel make any impression, and so inviting that nymphs might make it a playground. ”

“ CASTLE GATE IN PRICE’S CAÑON, UTAH.—We observe in this photograph not only a castle gate but the castle itself, with its battlements and buttresses, as natural and picturesque as any of the ruins that lend their attractions to mediæval Europe. The scene is a grand one as we observe it from the railroad tracks, and to this grandeur there is added a vision of indescribable loveliness when the surrounding country is viewed from the dizzy heights of the castle walls. Such a view is one that never can be forgotten; it impresses itself upon the mind as a permanent and lasting memory. ”

“ Stairs lead to the brink, under overarching trees that provide a delightful nook, but a more entrancing view is obtainable from the bottom of the charming dell into which the waters fall. There is neither grandeur nor sublimity in the sight afforded, but a soft witchery, a gentle soul-rapture that is kin to inspiration in the monody of the stream as it pours over the ledge in a rhythm that is as musical as April rain upon a cottager’s roof, and shimmers in its fall like a lace curtain stirred by the wind. Eagle Falls is plainly a misnomer, for the name suggests a thing of prey. ”

“ JUPITER TERRACE, MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS.—This is a particularly fine view of this celebrated curiosity. The reflection of light and shade is admirable, and affords a good idea of the dazzling splendor of the formation when viewed in the light of the sun. We can but stand mute and dumb with admiration in the presence of such marvelous creations of Nature. No art can paint or imitate them. They are Nature’s own product, and stand unsurpassed even in human imagination. ”

“ From every point of view we see some new marvel to admire. The variegated and many-hued cliffs are as remarkable for their bewildering beauty as for the grandeur of their lofty heights. Everything is on the most colossal scale, except the little river itself, which goes dashing along in playfulness and glee with no intimation that it is the master workman by whose hands this stupendous wonder was wrought. ”

“ One of the chief objects which serves to further diversify the landscape of high-lifted peaks, jutting cliffs, meandering brooks, green coverts, sylvan solitudes and cloistral caverns, is Falling Spring, a sheet of rainbow-flecked water that dashes over a ledge seventy feet high, and which, seen from a little distance, may be likened in appearance to the white trailing trousseau of a bride, so delicate, graceful, and gossamer-like is its form, so joyous is its laughter. ”

“ Whether we visit North or South Cañon, the view is augustly sublime and awful in its grandeur. We stand in the bed of the gorge and gaze upward on either side to a dizzy height, where the eagles float lazily about, just below the level of the summit, and build their nest upon the breast of the escarpment because the apex is sky-piercing in its loftiness. ”

“ WITCHES’ GULCH, Dells of the Wisconsin.
But if Minnehaha is beautiful in spring-time, it is sublime when folded in the crystal arms of winter, a frozen cascade of puffs and snow-balls, hibernating after its season of sporting, awaiting the return of bird, flower and lover. Not far away are lakes of various sizes, like Minnetonka and Great Bear, to which thousands resort when sultry winds blow and the blazing sun of summer-time drives sweltering humanity to such cool retreats. ”

“ This great park, that covers an area equal to the State of Connecticut, was, in the early years of the world’s life, a vast inland sea, though its elevation is now more than 7,000 feet. The earth has absorbed nearly all its waters, though San Luis Lake still lies near its center, shining like a sheet of silver, and is fed by thirty mountain streams. All around this lake, whose length is sixty miles, is a waving savanna of luxuriant grasses, which form the frame of as pretty a picture as the eye of man ever wandered over. ”

“ The banks are low and flat, but bordered with a wealth of foliage to be seen nowhere else upon this continent. One passes for hundreds of miles through a grand forest of cypresses robed in moss and mistletoe; of palms towering gracefully far above the surrounding trees; of palmettos whose rich trunks gleam in the sun; of swamp, white and black ash, of magnolia, water-oak, poplar and plane trees; and where the hummocks rise a few feet above the water level, the sweet-bay, the olive, cotton-tree, juniper, red-cedar, sweet-gum, and live-oak shoot up their splendid stems ”

“ As our artist had made the ascent of Pike’s Peak by car, he concluded to take in the larger experience of gaining the summit of Mount Washington by stage, that he might be better able to report the contrast. Though the distance by rail is only three miles, by wagon-road it is ten, so winding is the way, and to add to the distress of the latter journey, the first four miles is toilsome without revealing any scenery worth the effort of a glance. But above the four-mile point the dreary, tame and desolate aspect is succeeded by a landscape that cannot be excelled for magnificence. ”

“ LITTLE RIVER RAPIDS, NORTH CAROLINA.—At this point the river flashes over a sloping ledge of rocks and boulders with irresistible power and a roar like that of thunder. At all seasons of the year the scene is splendid and inspiring, but when the river is swollen with the spring floods and the waters come with a mighty and irresistible flood, dashing over the rocks and carrying away trees and boulders with titanic force and rage, the view is awe-inspiring and grand beyond the power of human pen to describe. ”

“ Returning to Denver, our tour took us southward, across a plain that hugs the gnarled bosom of the Continental Divide, by the pearl of Palmer Lake, and on to Colorado Springs and Manitou, the twin cities that sit at the feet of Pike’s Peak. Here we are compelled to pause in a spell of mighty wonderment before the amazing prodigies of a riotously eccentric nature, that bursts into an exuberance of dashing cascades, top-lofty mountains, darkling cañons, gruesome formations, monolithic spires, babbling brooks and magnetic springs. ”