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Show 112 TALES OF THE COLORADO PIONEERS. rolls round, is graphically shown by the following sketch of the somewhat ludicrous, but none the less patriotic manlier in which a little band of "tender feet" (there were no barnacles in those days) celebrated the "glorious Fourth" in '59. The particulars of which were furnished me by one of the participants, Hon. A. E. Pierce. "The sun rose clear and brignt upon the morning of the eighty-third anniversary of the discovery of fire crackers, sky rockets, lemonade with-a-stick-in-it, soda water, and the 'Great American Eagle.' None of these things are supposed to have been known or in use prior to 1776, at which time the Boston people resolved that 'lemonade and soda water should take the place of 'tea!'" My informer was rather reticent about what the early pioneers of Colorado drank in lieu of lemonade and soda water, but it is surmised that they took the "stick" straight-there being no lemonade in the land. "Well, on this occasion, when 'old Sol' got up before breakfast, in order to be on hand when the first gun was fired-he peeped over the tops of the surrounding hills and mountain peaks and smiled benevolently upon a little band of prospectors in Russell Gulch, who were successfully panning out sufficient of the glittering dust to enable them to pay fifty cents postage on letters back to 'America,' giving glowing descriptions of the hidden Wealth of the rugged mountains. " There were ten young men in this little camp, and they determined that the day should not pass without proper observance. So they called a mass-meeting of themselves to consider the subject. "John D was appointed Chairman, and Henry G Secretary. |