I thought some of you might be interested in this diary of a young girl named Edith Deischer from Monticello, Jones County, Iowa. I am not sure of her age at the time.
It was all written in pencil and some of the words are faded and hard to read.
I picked it up at a garage sale a couple years ago and just came across it again while I was cleaning and rearranging today. I hope you enjoy it.
Please join Edith on this Summer train excursion out west............
Note: Please keep in mind that this diary was written in 1915. There is some "terminology" used that we do not use today and it certainly is not meant to offend anyone.
"MY TRIP"
JULY 20, 1915
Tuesday 20: At 2:25 we started from Monticello for California. At Marion we stopped and mama got some things. At 6:00 we ate our supper. The porter, who was a negro, brought us a table where we could eat, but mama spilled vinegar on my silk dress. I washed my silk dress.
Near Woodward we saw a nice cottage that looked like a resort, it's children looked like specks we were so high. At Woodward there was a mammoth school building (just about sunset). In Perry there is a ball park (entered just at sunset). Very large city. We watched the porter make the births.
Wednesday 21: Aunt Anna came at 12:15. Merle and I slept together. I slept in the upper birth. When I got up, the porter helped me out. I saw the Buttes. We just passed Maxwell (not large). Saw the North Platte River, very wide (not very deep). Just stopped for 10 minutes at North Platte.
Near Sutherland we saw some sugar beet fields. Near Sutherland we saw a river with only a little water and all sand (very wide). The time has changed 1 hour since we left North Platte.
There are a lot of yellow butterflies in Paxton.
Julesburg, Colorado there is a large stone hotel and a pretty park. I saw some horse and cattle ranches. There are such little houses with only 1 or 2 houses as far as you can see (Nebraska).
At Julesburg, we saw an irrigated farm. Going through high altitude near the clouds. I saw an irrigation ditch. The pine bluffs are beautiful.
Sydney, 4102 feet above sea level.
At 2:00 we ate our dinner in the diner. It cost us $2.90. The negro porter showed us some prairie dogs. I saw 3. We saw some mountains in the distance. We are stopping at Cheyenne. There is a beautiful park and depot. There are flags all over the depot windows. We are 6210 feet high. They are having a big round up here today. We saw about half of the capitol.
We just passed through the highest elevation, 8010 ft. We went through a canyon. In the distance the mountains are seen. There are beautiful stones. One looked like a temple. Beautiful level country all for miles. Saw cattle near tracks and a cowboy. Horses running wild.
Stopped at Laramie we got off for 10 minutes. When people went to Calif. they got rest of supplies here. Got a little stove.
Near Rock River there was an irrigating ditch. I saw where they had irrigated it was about 50 feet apart. There is a great mammoth mountain that looms up in the distance.
to be continued......................
