At this altitude we look down upon floating clouds, and see in
the distance Long's Peak, 14,000 feet high, towering above them. All
along, at intervals, are portable fences, placed to catch the snow as it
drifts, to prevent it blocking the line; and also what are called snow
sheds, which are rough timber tunnels built up to protect the rails from
the great drifts arising out of heavy snowstorms. At the highest point
is a pyramid, commemorating a certain Mr. Oakes Ames, which looked 20
feet high and very near the line; it is however, 75 feet high and
half-a-mile off. The air is so rarefied that distances are most
deceiving.
As our descent proceeds, we catch sight, in the distance, of a herd of
wild elk, and where these rolling prairies have better herbage, we see
herds of horses with ranch buildings here and there. We pass the ranch
of William Cody, who, by virtue of his being a Senator of the State of
Nebraska, is called Honourable, but who was known in London, a short
time ago, at Mr. Whitley's "Wild West" show as "Buffalo Bill." As we
pass Fort Laraime, one of the forts erected by the United States
Government as a protection against the Indians, I was told some stories
of Cody's exploits against the Indians. In former days, emigrants
traversing these great prairies to found a home in this Wild West, were
often harassed by Indians, and the soldiers at the fort had to protect
them.
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