



Produced by Greg Bergquist, Charlie Howard, and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
file was produced from images generously made available
by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)







Transcriber's note: Italics text is denoted by _underscores_.


[Illustration]




             THE AWAKENING OF THE DESERT




                    THE AWAKENING
                    OF THE DESERT

                          BY

                   JULIUS C. BIRGE

                 _With Illustrations_

                    [Illustration]

                  RICHARD G. BADGER
                   THE GORHAM PRESS
                        BOSTON




        _Copyright 1912 by Richard G. Badger_
                _All Rights Reserved_


         _The Gorham Press, Boston, U. S. A_.




CONTENTS


   CHAPTER                                                    PAGE

         I  A Call to the Wilderness                            11

        II  "Roll Out"                                          18

       III  The Advancing Wave of Civilization                  24

        IV  A River Town of the Day                             38

         V  Our Introduction to the Great Plains                52

        VI  The Oregon Trail                                    64

       VII  Society in the Wilderness                           76

      VIII  Jack Morrow's Ranch                                 88

        IX  Men of the Western Twilight                        102

         X  Dan, the Doctor                                    118

        XI  Fording the Platte in High Water                   133

       XII  The Phantom Liar of Greasewood Desert              142

      XIII  The Mystery of Scott's Bluffs                      156

       XIV  The Peace Pipe at Laramie                          167

        XV  Red Cloud on the War Path                          186

       XVI  The Mormon Trail                                   196

      XVII  Wild Midnight Revelry in the Caspar Hills          211

     XVIII  A Night at Red Buttes                              223

       XIX  Camp Fire Yarns at Three Crossings                 237

        XX  A Spectacular Buffalo Chase                        252

       XXI  The Parting of the Ways                            267

      XXII  The Banditti of Ham's Fork                         281

     XXIII  Through the Wasatch Mountains                      290

      XXIV  Why a Fair City Arose in a Desert                  303

       XXV  Some Inside Glimpses of Mormon Affairs             324

      XXVI  Mormon Homes and Social Life                       342

     XXVII  The Boarding House Train                           359

    XXVIII  Some Episodes in Stock Hunting                     380

      XXIX  Adventures of an Amateur Detective                 393

       XXX  The Overland Stage Line                            409




LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS


    Trail Through Salt Lake Desert                    Frontispiece
                                                       Facing page
    Elk                                                         16

    Wild Cat                                                    48

    The Oregon Trail, Through Mitchell Pass                     64

    Chimney Rock, One of the Old Landmarks of the '49 Trail     74

    Grizzly Bear                                                96

    Cougar                                                     112

    Buffalos                                                   130

    Jail Rock and Court House Rock                             148

    Scott's Bluff, Showing Dome Rock in the Distance           155

    The Old Company Quarters at Fort Laramie                   184

    Sage Brush Growth                                          202

    The Rockies                                                252

    Fremont Peak and Island Lake on the West <DW72> of the
            Wind River Range                                   268

    Red Sandstone Cliffs, on Wind River                        280

    Weber River, Mouth of Echo Canyon                          294

    Joseph Smith                                               304

    The King of Beaver Island                                  308

    Brigham Young                                              316

    First House Built in Salt Lake City                        330

    Great Salt Lake                                            346

    Through the Wasatch                                        360

    Dead Man's Falls, Little Cottonwood, Utah                  386

    Sutter's Fort Before Restoration, Sacramento, Calif        406

    First House in Denver                                      420




THE AWAKENING OF THE DESERT


[Illustration: TRAIL THROUGH SALT LAKE DESERT]




THE AWAKENING OF THE DESERT




CHAPTER I

A Call to the Wilderness


"Will you join us in a camping trip to the Pacific Coast?" This alluring
invitation was addressed to the writer one cold, drizzly night in the
early spring of 1866 by Captain Hill Whitmore, one of a party of six men
who by prearrangement had gathered round a cheerful wood fire in a
village store in Whitewater, Wisconsin.

The regular business of the establishment had ended for the day; the
tight wooden shutters had been placed upon the doors and windows of the
store as was the custom in those times; and the key was now turned in
the lock to prevent intrusions. All the lights had been turned off,
except that of a single kerosene lamp, suspended from the ceiling near
the stove; the gentle glow revealed within a small arc on either side of
the room the lines of shelving filled with bolts of dry goods, but
toward the front and the rear of the long room it was lost in the
darkness. The conditions were favorable for a quiet, und