This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: farwellwalter Surnames: Reel, Alexander, Mann, Brown, Copeland, Neeley, Ashton, Stockton, Linicum, Watkins, Lemon Classification: biography Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.iowa.counties.fremont/7448/mb.ashx Message Board Post: THE FREMONT COUNTY HERALD. January 28, 1892. "FROM THE WEST". Grand Junction, Colo., Jan. 18, 1892.--Dear Editor: I take this method of writing my many friends and acquaintances throughout Fremont county knowing that the Herald is the best means of reaching them. The Herald is a grand good paper and it was with many regrets I saw it turn its columns over the democrats. We, that is myself and family, except my eldest daughter Grace, who is a Boise City, Idaho, with my sister, left the home of our esteemed friend, W. R. Roberts, in Omaha, on the afternoon of Jan. 5th and took the Overland Flyer on the U. P. railway for the west. Owing to a heavy northwest wind we reached Julesburg one hour and forty minutes late. He here exhanged cars for Denver, arriving there at 8:20 the next morning. We were too late to eat on the Denver and Rio Grande train, so we had nine hours in which to take in this city. It was quite cold riding in the street cars without stoves or heat of any kind. Denver is in many respects ahead of Omaha but behind in others. In population Omaha claims 160,000 while Denver claims 140,000. Omaha has the best paved streets, which are the widest and cleanest, while Denver has the best uniformly neat appearing brick residences. Denver has one of the finest Methodist Episcopal churches in all the United States. The New York Life Co. is here duplicating their ten story building in Omaha and Kansas City. The state is building a handsome capitol, much ahead of Nebraska's at Lincoln, yet not to compare with Iowa's at Des Moines. Uncle Sam is putting up a substantial building for a post office, internal revenue and federal courts at Denver, while Omaha is just excavating for a very commodious building for this purpose, which is to cover an entire square, bounded by 16th street on the east, Capital avenue on the north, 17th street on the west and Dodge street on the south. They struck water in excavating for the foundation as was predicted and I should not wonder if they will find trouble in getting a solid footing to start on, and as Uncle Sam moves slow and never appears to hurry it may take ten years to complete his house in Omaha, which will probably reach $3,000,000 by the time it is completed. While I am writing about Omaha I must not forget the Bee building, northwest corner 17th and Farnam streets, which is conceded to be one of the best newspaper buildings in the world. This is saying a good deal I know, but I have the Hon. Ed. Rosewater's word for it, and editors are all much better than Ge! orge Washington for he could not tell a lie, which they can but will not. Well, I have digressed somewhat. We left Denver at 4:20 on the Denver & Rio Grande, stopping at Pueblo from 9 o'clock until midnight. We could not see much of the city, but Emer strolled up town and reported it quite a city, all nicely lighted up by electricity. Here we boarded the train again for the west, passing through Salida at 3 o'clock in the morning. We had intended making a stop off here and visit our old friends E. R. Alexander and wife, who is a daughter of Arch Mann's, but owing to our missing connection at Denver and reaching Salida at that early hour, we abandoned the idea and just at day light reached Leadville on the standard guage at the summit of the Rockies. We found snow here about five or six feet deep, although at Salida, back only 40 or 50 miles, there was none at all. Let me here say for the benefit of any contemplating coming west over the Denver & Rio Grande that at Salida you have the choice of two routes, the one a narrow guage leading over Marshall Pass via Gunnison and down the Gunnison river through the Black Canyon, the most beautiful scenery. I passed over the route last summer. This time we went over the standard guage and found nice scenery down the Grand river. We passed Glenwood Spring at 9 o'c! lock in the morning of the third day out and reached Grand Junction at 1:10 in the afternoon, lacking one hour and ten minutes of being 48 hours out from Omaha. We had a very pleasant journey considering the cold weather and the blizzard that was raging in Nebraska. Our household goods were shipped before we left OMaha for our visit to Iowa, hence they were in the car waiting for us, having reached here the 5th and we the 7th. Our old friend, A. G. Mann, had us a comfortable, neat and almost new house secured and we partook of his hospitality until we had our goods in our new house. Everything reached here in excellent shape. A. G. Mann came here three years ago and bought into a nice location in the grocery business and last summer and fall built himself a neat cottage, and I think he is doing very well and is unanimously liked by all, especially the railroad boys, of whom there are several hundred, there being four railroads centering here,three from the east and one from the west, besides a small narrow guage running twelve miles to the coal bank. Round houses, machine shops, etc., are all located here. Grand Junction has a polulation of about 3,000. Has electric lights, pure clear water from the Grand river, soft as cistern water, excellent water works. We find four or five inches of snow here, but the weather is pleasant for all that. No winds at all. The son shines out so clear and warm, yet the snow does not melt and when the sun goes behind the mountain it gets cool quick and darkness comes much more rapidly than to Iowa. This is going to be a grand fruit country. It is no longer an experiment with peaches, for the last three years peaches have been a success and last season Grand Junction Valley, which is 15 miles wide and 35 miles long, has furnished the peaches bringing the highest market price in Denver. Apples do fairly well and one does not have to wait seven or eight years for them to bear, for within three years after setting out two year old trees they bare nicely. Apricots and prunes do well. Small fruit is excellent and there is a good market for all of it, there being six or seven good sized towns near that raise nothing. Vegetable, likewise do well and find ready sale. The soil is watered by irrigation , but there is an abundance of water. The Grand and Gunnison form a junction here and the water is taken from them and conveyed in ditches exactly where needed. Alfalfa is the principal grass, cut three times a year and each cutting produces 1 to 3 1/2 tons and per acre. My attention was called to one fruit farm I visited while here last summer, belonging to a Mr. Orr, who came here about two years ago with but $15 in cash. He settled on this twenty acres and has it all in fruit of various kinds, peaches, cherries, prunes, pears, apricots, and many kinds of small fruits. It is almost one mile from the city limits. He was within the last three months offered for this 20 acres $2,000 to manage it. That is a sample of the faith capitalist have in this valley. The sugar beet does well here and is the best thing to subdue the alkali in the soil. I understand a company proposes to put in a sugar plant here not to cost less than $3,000,000 if they can have a guarantee of 1,500 acres of beets planted this and each subsequent season and at a price of $4 per ton. Each acre will produce about twenty tons per acre. Also a smelting works is talked of. We have a fine roller mill producing the finest of flour. Wheat flour is retailed at $1.40 per 48 pound sack, cheaper than the same grade is sold in Omaha. Almost anything in the line of vegetables is raised here, pears, potatoes, cabbage, onions, etc. all retailed by the pound, and at fair prices. Coal is plenty and of the best quality, selling at $4.50 per ton. We get a better coal than Rock Springs or Kentucky lump, which is $4.50 to $7.00 in Omaha. We also get hard coal for our heatting stoves at Crested Butte, near Qunnison in this state and it is superior in many respects to the anthr! acite coal of Pennsylvania and costs about the same as the latter does on Omaha. We are surrounded by mountains on every side. One cannot look at any pointof the compass and not see the mountains, some of whilch are quite high, and we are told that snow may be seen on them until the of May or June. This is the county seat of Mass county, has two good brick school houses with a scholarship of over 600; the Methodists have an excellent chulrch edifice, in fact the largest of any christian organization, with a membership of over 400 having grown from 20 inside of three years ago. The Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Baptists and Catholics also have churches here. I want to say to my comrades of Joe Ross post that I ordered by transfer from the George Custer post, No. 7, of OMaha and will deposit it here at Grand Junction with Grand Junction post No. 35. The ladies here have a Womans Relief Corps, of which Mrs. H. and I attended a public installation last Tuesday evening. They had hot coffee and cake, Tonight Grand Junction Post has a public installation in Odd Fellows hall. We of course attend church and Sunday school with the Methodists, of whom we are now a part. We find the people very kind and sociable, western style, and that suits us as we were always country people until we went to Omaha, and that did not agree with us financially. A. G. Mann, wife and two children, Everett and Ollie, live here. Also John and wife, the latter formerly of Denver. Our old boyhood days friends Abner Mann, with whom we with my older brother, and Asa Mann, Hiram Brown, Abner Copeland and other hunted coons in the hills near old father Copeland's farm, since known as the Neeley farm at Spring Valley. Mrs. Abner Mann, nee Emma Ashton, who had taught more terms of school in Fremont county at the time she left than any other teacher in the county. Also Miss Nettie Stockton, sister of Judge Stockton, one of Fremont's old schools teachers, is teaching in this county. I understand wages are from one-third to one-half more here than in Iowa. William Linicum lives near here but I have not seen him yet. Senator Wilson, of Atlantic, Iowa, is making quite an investment here in grounds and trees. Freight Agent Atkins, of the U.P.R.R. said to me at Omaha before I left that they shipped more fruit and forest trees and hosehold freight to Grand Junction than any other point in Colorado outside of Denver. It is universlly claimed by all to be quite healthy and also that there is more snow now on the ground that at any time in the past eight years,and the coldest, which appears to us as quite mild winter weather, and no winds. Mercury goes down to 8 and 10 degrees below zero but when the sun comes out goes up to 40 or 50 degrees above. I had forgotten to mention we have an Indian school located here with about 80 pupils. Mr. Lemon is manager of the school and grounds and is very proficient. His wife is a sister of N. F. Watkins, of Sidney. I have not engaged in any business or labor yet, hence I have written more than I would had I been busy. I should not forget to mention that Grand Junction is blessed with numerous real estate agents who are eager to hunt up new comers, also has two weekly newspapers and one daily, two banks and many fine business firms with good banks and many fine business firms with good stocks of goods, and they act like prudent men and are not cutting the very life out of the trade. With kind wishes to all, I am ever yours, H. F. REEL. Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.