File:Marvels of the new West - a vivid portrayal of the stupendous marvels in the vast wonderland west of the Missouri River - comprising marvels of nature, marvels of race, marvels of enterprise, marvels (14578425657).jpg

Identifier: marvelsofnewwest1889thay (find matches)
Title: Marvels of the new West : a vivid portrayal of the stupendous marvels in the vast wonderland west of the Missouri River : comprising marvels of nature, marvels of race, marvels of enterprise, marvels of mining, marvels of stock-raising, and marvels of agriculture, graphically and truthfully described
Year: 1887 (1880s)
Authors: Thayer, William Makepeace, 1820-1898
Subjects:
Publisher: Norwich, Conn. : Henry Bill Pub. Co.
Contributing Library: Harold B. Lee Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Brigham Young University

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rs crossed the Missouri, to die bysavage violence or starvation on the * Great Plains or in the moun-tains. The tragic end of individuals and companies who miserablyperished on their way to the Golden Gate, less than forty yearsago, would fill volumes with tales more harrowing than fiction. The MARVELS OF ENTERPRISE. 233 known starvation or massacre of one company of emigrants did notdeter another from the hazardous undertaking. A continuous streamof men, wild with the gold-mania, poured over the plains and throughthe mountains, — some of them to success, but more to death. Freighters called these baggage-wagons prairie-schooners.*Oxen, mules, and horses were used to draw them, from two to tento each team. It was not unusual for oxen, horses, and mules to behitched to the same schooner. Emigrants travelled in caravans asmuch as possible, well armed, to protect themselves when savagesattacked them. Wild blasts, wilder Indians, and Latter-DaySaints made the journey extremely perilous.
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OVER THE PLAINS THEN. The discovery of gold in Colorado, in 1858, created even greaterexcitement throughout the country than did its discovery ten yearsbefore in California. Emigration rolled towards the new Eldoradowith unexampled rapidity. A more motley tide of humanity neverset in, north, south, east, or west. The year 1859 will ever be memo-rable for the number and miscellaneous character of travellers toPikes Peak. Old men and mere boys, educated and ignorant, saintsand sinners, philanthropists and robbers, professional and lay, — alldefied hunger, cold, nakedness, and Indians, in their red-hot enthu-siasm for gold-digging. The Great Plains swarmed with all sortsof animals and vehicles, conveying men, and some women, with goodsand chattels, to the gold region. It was not unusual for an ox, mule, 234 MARVELS OF THE NEW WEST. donkey, and even cow, to appear in the motley cavalcade, heavilyloaded with the property of its enthused proprietor. The illustrationis no fancy sketch : it

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