Description

Donan, Col. P. The Heart of the Continent: An historical and descriptive treatise for business men, home seekers and tourists of the advantages, resources and scenery of the Great West. Chicago, Ill.: Passenger Department of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, 1882. Copyright by Perceval Lowell, 1882. 18mo (4.5” x 6.5”), pictorial b&w upper and lower wrappers. 63 pp., numerous b&w illus., 1 map on last page. 

An attractive promotional pamphlet describing the route of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy railroad from Chicago to Denver, celebrating the natural wonders, resources, and business possibilities of the vast, vigorous, growing empire of the west and southwest. Compiled from the original manuscript of Col. P. Donan, (who narrates from the point of view of a passenger), he extolls the fertility of the river valleys, plains of grass, and grain in Kansas, Nebraska and Wyoming, suitable for sustaining herds and flocks; as well as the mining possibilities in the Rocky Mountains. “The surface dirt of Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, California, Montana mines is hardly broken: The glittering hoards are scarcely touched; the great bonanza fortunes are yet to be made.” Views of town scenes include: Michigan Avenue, Chicago; Bureau Creek and Peoria, Ill; St. Louis, Missouri; Burlington, Keokuk and Council Bluffs, Iowa; Lincoln and Massacre Canon, Nebraska; the Platte and Republican Rivers; and more; ending with The Gate to the Garden of Gods in Colorado. This account is rich in historical, geographic and economic descriptions, for example: “Eight miles west of Culbertson is Massacre Canon, where, about ten years ago, the Sioux surprised and slaughtered a large number of Pawnees. Skulls and bones of the victims are still to be seen strewn in the wild gulch.”; “The grass grows from one to six feet all over these might pampas, where scarcely more than ten years ago countless herds of buffalo found rich sustenance, summer and winter“; “Denver has completed this year (1882) at a cost of 100,000, a great international mining exposition building...” The 5.125” x 3.125” map is entitled Map of the Great Burlington Route, and ranges from Chicago to Denver, Minnesota to Missouri.

CONDITION: Very good, covers mildly worn, a few faint damp stains on wrappers and fore-edges of some pages.

Ref#: 4222
 

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