1865.] A FEW OF HER EARLY STANZAS. 471 Strongest arms were closely folded, Most impassioned lips at rest; In the nation's wounded breast. Yet there was a marble sorrow In each still face chiseled deep, Something more than tears could weep. Till its tear-drops inward bleed. This bold flight of fancy, all will appreciate who are familiar with the great mountains of Utah, torn and furrowed to the heart, and sometimes cleft asunder from head to foot: THE ORIGIN OF GOLD. The Fallen looked on the world and sneered; He stood on the hight when the sun went down, In flames of torture around him curled; And he dashed it down on the snowy hight In broken masses of quivering light. Ah, more than terrible was the shock Where the burning splinters struck wave and rock! 472 PAH RANAGAT SILVER REGION. 5500 F The green earth shuddered, and shrank, and paled; Measure the pain of that hour's despair. The Fallen watched while the whirlwind fanned The pulsing splinters that plowed the sand; Sullen he watched while the shining rills Lighted with gems shall its dungeon be; That splintered light in the earth grew cold, And the diction of mortals hath called it 'Gold.' [1865, A little volume of the lady's earlier poems, recently published in San Francisco, has been very favorably re ceived. The author, never in sympathy with the Mormon church, surreptitiously left Salt Lake in 1866, and is now the wife of an estimable ex-surgeon of our army, who formed her acquaintance while on duty at Camp Douglas, two miles from the Mormon capital. 1000-FT. A SECTION OF COLO- In the Latter-day Saints' metropolis I heard much of the Pah Ranagat (Indian-'water melon,') silver region, three hundred and fifty miles to the south west, and two hundred miles due south of Austin. It lies in the southeast corner of Nevada, and is now connected with Salt Lake City by a tri-weekly mail coach. Its climate, permitting work through the entire year, is a manifest advantage over the mountain regions of Idaho, Montana, central Nevada and Oregon, where the winters are often very severe. It is so remote that only a few mills are yet in operation; but the veins open very richly, and many believe the district will equal the great Comstock Lode. Thus far, miners obtain their supplies from neighboring Mormon settlements; but Pah Ranagat promises well for farming purposes, though it lies in the valley of the Colorado of the West, which, according to Horace Greeley, 'offers larger and more favorable 1865.] COLORADO RIVER AND BIG CANYON. 473 opportunities for suc- far BIG CANYON OF COLORADO RIVER, ARIZONA. 474 THE NOVELTIES OF ARIZONA. [1865. The Big Canyon is above the head of navigation. It crosses three degrees of longitude; by the windings of the river it is three hundred miles long. For this entire distance, the walls rise almost perpendicularly from three thousand to six thousand feet; and the width of the gulf at the top is often less than its depth. Three hundred years ago, Spanish explorers declared the walls of the canyon three leagues high. Only a few Indians, Mexican trappers and American explorers have seen it; but those can find no language extravagant enough to describe its wonderful scenery. The gorge is worn down by water-not torn open by natural convulsions. The top is an even plateau-not mountain peaks as in Yosemite. Our illustration is from the mouth of Diamond river. According to some authorities Arizona, signifies 'land of the sun.' Less poetic lexicographers assert that it means 'sand-hills.' This Territory, twice as large as the State of New York, is inhabited by about fifty thousand Indians, all fierce and hostile, ten thousand Mexicans and twelve hundred Americans. Its gold and silver resources are very great; but only three or four quartz-mills (in all, running less than fifty stamps,) are in operation. Protect ing the miners against the savages is almost impossible. The Territory is composed of sand wastes, with some green valleys; but enthusiastic residents declare it the best grazing country in the world. It abounds in ruins of ancient cities of stone, usually upon hills now far from water, or near dry stream-beds. Since the establishment of missions by Jesuits-who have the earliest trustworthy records-the Pueblos, to whom these ruins are attributed, have greatly diminished in numbers, and lost many of their early arts, including the curious manufacture of feather cloth. In addition to Big Canyon, the country contains hundreds of grand mountain scenes. The Cabazin Pass between San Berna dino and La Paz, is famed for noises more unearthly than those which disturbed the thane of Cawdor. They resemble sobs, whoops, and yells of agony. Indian tradition refers them to the perturbed spirits of a savage band once imprisoned and slaughtered there; but prosaic science attributes them to desert winds whistling and moaning through the canyon. 1865.] FROM SALT LAKE TO MONTANA. 475 CHAPTER XXXIX. FROM Salt Lake City, Virginia capital of Montana, lies four hundred and seventy-five miles north; Boise capital of Idaho, four hundred and fifty miles northwest. The road is like the letter Y; at Bear river, eighty miles out, the main stem forks, the right stroke leading to Montana and the left to Idaho. I started from the City of the Saints early in October; but already the white plumes of King Winter waved from every neighboring mountain. Most passengers, if provided with feather pillows, slumber quietly and refreshingly night after night, while the vehicle is in motion; and comprehend how the Esquimaux and some other nations sleep from choice in a sitting posture. But for a very few exceptional organizations this night-travel causes 'stagecraziness.' Passengers suffering from it have sometimes fled from the coach to perish in the desert. For hours along the Great Salt Lake, we viewed its shining mirror, broken by purple mountains of island, and bordered by violet peaks, spotted with white, gauzy clouds. We passed thrifty Mormon villages of dull brown adobe houses, with orchards, and shading cottonwoods, and streets watered by artificial streams; and valley farms with broad fields, great shocks of corn and huge stacks of barley. The Indian warrior indicates the number of scalps he has taken, by the notches on his tomahawk. The Latterday Saint advertises the number of wives he has secured by the doors to his house. With the poorer settlers rival spouses must occupy the same room; but in well-to-do families each has her own separate little tenement. Morrisville was built by Mormon followers of Morris, a strange fanatic, who out-Brighamed Brigham. Believing that the world with all its people except themselves was about to be destroyed, |