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Letter - Robert Leroy
Parker to Mrs. Davis
| Cholila,
Chubut |
| Argentine
Republic, S.Am. |
| August
10, 1902 |
| x |
| Mrs. Davis |
| Ashley, Utah |
| x |
| My dear friend, |
| x |
| I suppose you have
thought long before this that I had forgotten you (or was dead) but
my dear friend I am still alive, and when I think of my Old friends
you are always the first to come to my mind. It will probably
surprise you to hear from me away down in this country, but U.S. was
too small for me. The last two years I was there, I was restless. I
wanted to see more of the world. I had seen all of the U.S. that I
thought was good, and a few months after I sent A---- over to see
you, and get the Photo of the rope jumping of which I have got here
and often look at and wish I could see the originals, and I think I
could liven some of the characters up a little, for Maudie looks
very sad to me. Another one of my uncles died and left $30,000.
Thirty Thousand to our little family of 3, so I took my $10,000 and
started to see a little more of the world. I visited the best Cities
and the best parts of the countrys of South A. till I got here, and
this part of the country looked so good that I located, and I think
for good, for I like the place better every day. I have 300 cattle,
1500 sheep, and 28 good Saddle horses, 2 men to do my work, also
good 4-room house, wearhouse, stable, chicken house and some
chickens. The only thing lacking is a cook, for I am still living in
Single Cussedness and I sometimes feel very lonely, for I am alone
all day, and my neighbors don’t amount to anything, besides, the
only language spoken in this country is Spanish, and I don’t speak
it well enough yet to converse on the latest scandals so dear to the
hearts of all nations, and without which conversations are very
stale, but the country is first class. The only industry at present
is stock raising (that is in this part) and it can’t be beat for
that purpose, for I have never seen a finer grass country, and lots
of it hundreds and hundreds of miles that is unsettled and
comparatively unknown, and where I am it is a good agricultural
country. All kind of small grain and vegetables grow without
Irrigation, but I am at the foot of the Andes Mountains, and all the
land east of here is prairie and Deserts, very good for stock, but
for farming it would have to be irrigated, but there is plenty of
good land along the Mountains for all the people that will be here
in the next hundred years, for I am a long way from Civilization. It
is 16 hundred miles to Buenos Aires, the Capital of the Argentine,
and over 400 miles to the nearest Rail Road or Sea Port in the
Argentine Republic, but only about 150 miles to the Pacific Coast
Chile, but to get there we have to cross the mountains, when it was
found that the Chilean Gov. had cut a road almost across, so that
next summer we will be able to go to Port Mont, Chile in about 4
days, where it use to take 2 months around the old trail, and it
will be a great benefit to us for Chile is Beef market and we can
get out cattle there in 1/10 the time and have them fat. And we can
get supplies in Chile for one third what they cost here. The climate
here is a great deal milder than Ashley Valley. The summers are
beautiful, never as warm as there. And grass knee high everywhere
and lots of good cold mountain water, but the winters are very wet
and disagreeable, for it rains most of the time, but sometimes we
have lots of snow, but it don’t last long, for it never gets cold
enough to freeze much. I have never seen Ice one inch thick. |
| x |
| Rest
of letter missing. |
| Mrs.
Davis is the mother of Maude Davis wife of Elzy Lay |
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