friend remaining in the Mountain City. We
boarded a Concord coach with six snow-white horses to wheel us on a
dead run over and around steep mountains and through dismal canyons,
first on four wheels, then three, then two and occasionally one,
keeping us constantly busy retaining our seats and fearing at every
turn that we would be dashed into eternity; and yet, it was one of the
most picturesque and thrilling rides one could take. Being tossed from
side to side in the roomy coach, now and then grabbing a fellow
passenger with desperation, gazing down from lofty peaks to yawning
chasms below, hearing the crack of the long-lashed whip urging the
noble steeds to faster speed, turning the rough, ragged,
serpent-shaped drive, thundering through clouds and mist with
lightning rapidity, and always in constant terror of a breakdown or
error on the part of the fearless driver, gave one a sensation that
would nearly make his hair stand on end. During the descent a slight
error on the part of the horses or driver, would have hurled all to a
horrible death; but those mountain drivers, strapped to their seats,
were monarchs of the Rockies and unerring in every move. From among
the snow-covered glaciers sparkling in the morning sun, emitting the
many tints of a midday storm-bow and presenting a sight of unsurpassed
grandeur, we emerged from the mouth of the last canyon and struck the
smooth rolling trail. All the way from Golden we were going, it
seemed, on the wings of the wind and were landed in Denver on
scheduled time.

CHAPTER IV

DENVER IN 1865

[Illustration: I] In that period Denver was appropriately called the
"City of the Plains." Situated sixteen miles from the base of the
nearest Rocky Mountain peak, and six hundred and fifty miles from
Atchison, Kansas, the nearest town to the East; while seven hundred
miles to the west loomed up as from the very bowels of the earth, the
beautiful city of the Mormons, Salt Lake City, Utah. The nearest
forts--two hundred miles distant--were Fort Cottonwood to the
northeast, Collins to the north and Halleck to the northwest. Its
northern limits extended to the South fork of the Platte River; Cherry
Creek running through one-third, dividing it into East and West
Denver. Its population numbered about five thousand souls. Here was to
be found the illiterate man--but a grade above the coyote--lawbreakers
of every kind and from every land, to men of culture and refinement.
Here i