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From Caspar, Wyoming, to Rock Springs, a distance of some two hundred miles along the upper Platte, the Sweetwater, and over the mountains by way of South Pass there were no towns along the trail save the most primitive supply stations which were separated by intervals of, say, fifty or sixty miles. The ranches in that region sometimes neighboured as close together as five or six miles, more often ten or twelve, sometimes eighteen or twenty, and once it was necessary to travel forty miles in an afternoon in order to find food and lodging.
The journey, afoot and awheel, was tedious on account of sandy roads and strong, persistent head winds. Sometimes the length and steepness of the grades rendered the toil of travel excessive. Yet, for travellers equipped with bicycles there were no other hardships, for one journeyed day after day through a country which was "settled," albeit with only a sparse population.
The ranch houses encountered were genuine homes, representing the best traditions of American frontier life. They contained the usual comforts of farm homes and sometimes showed evidences of taste. Some good furniture, musical instruments, books, papers and magazines were customary accessories.
The rancher was commonly a man of much more than the average intelligence. He was likewise spirited, resourceful, self-confident—sometimes selfassertive and arrogant. He made a sharp as well as broad distinction between his own class and the c
