CHAPTER VII.

_Among the Mountains_ (continued).

The Parks of the Rocky Mountains.--San Luis Park particularly.--The Backbone of the Continent.--The Rio Grande and its Bottoms.--Fine Trout-streams.--Snow Squalls.--Sierra Blanca.--Russell's Ranch.--Good Specimen of a Colorado Pioneer.--Homan's Park.--Kerber's Ranch.--A Dairy in the Heart of the Rocky Mountains.--Hospitable Germans.--Camping-out on the Summit.--Poncho Pass and Creek.--Absence of Game.--A Bad Road.--The Arkansas again.--South Park.--Leutze's Painting in the Capitol.--Mexican _vs._ Yankee.--Salt Works.--Duck Shooting.--Fair Play.--South Platte.--Placer Mining.--Buckskin Joe.--Judge Costello and his Hotel.--The Newspapers again.--Elections of 1866.--Rocky Mountain Eagle.--Down the South Platte.--A Good Road.--Bradford's Hill.--The Plains again.--The Mule Kate.--A Gold and Silver Mining Company.--A Little Fun! 95-113