Unconsciously on the defensive now, he explained in detail the
undeniable advantages which would accrue to Heart's Desire on the
advent of this railroad and the carrying out of the plans that had been
outlined. He did not deny that he considered the opinion of his
counsel valid; that the valley was in effect open to settlement; that
they had taken steps to put the first legal possession in their own
names. Yet, he stated, although they had taken over a number of claims
to which there seemed to be no legal title, they did not propose to
interfere, if it could be avoided, with the holdings of any man then
living in Heart's Desire. The re-survey of the town would naturally
make some changes, but these should sit as lightly as possible upon
those affected. Of course, the railroad company could condemn and
confiscate, but it did not wish to confiscate. It desired to take the
attitude of justice and fairness. The gentlemen should bear in mind
that all these improvements ran into very considerable sums of money.
A hundred miles of the railroad below them must pass over a barren
plain, a cattle country and not an agricultural region, and hence
offering relatively small support to a railroad enterprise. As yet,
artesian water was unknown in that country, and might remain always a
problem. No natural streams crossed that great dry table land which
lay to the west, or the similar plateau to the east. All their hopes
lay in this one valley and its resources, and while without doubt those
resources were great, while the coal-fields upon the one side of the
valley and the gold claims upon the other had been proved beyond a
peradventure to be of value, the gentlemen should nevertheless remember
that all this road building and mine developing cost money, a great
deal of money. Of course, no capital could be invested except under
the protection of a stable and adequate system of the law.

These gentlemen before him, Ellsworth said in conclusion, had chosen
for their habitation one of the most delightful localities he had ever
seen in all his travels. He congratulated them. He looked forward to
seeing a prosperous city built up in this happy valley. The country
was changing, and it must change, the line of the frontier passing
steadily from the east to the west across the continent. They could
not forever escape civilization. Indeed, it had now come to them. He
hoped that they would receive it, and that they would receiv