January 26th, 1872. Fine.

We received a telegraph saying that heavy snows in the Rocky Mountains had made the Union Pacific Railroad tracks impassable, and we therefore postponed our departure. Several groups of students accompanying us, who had proceeded ahead, had run into blizzards and deep snowdrifts. The track was closed and the trains were halted for seventeen days. Because of the remoteness of the mountains, food was scarce and the passengers barely managed to avoid starvation by sharing bread, cheese and potatoes. After much effort the line was re-opened and we could proceed. Normally there is not much snow in the Rocky Mountains, and people say that such a heavy snowstorm occurs only once every ten years or more.

This afternoon, from ten minutes to one, there were horse races at the Agricultural Gardens, and the Embassy received a special invitation to the day's opening events. This park is in the southern part of the city and is surrounded by white sand-dunes and vacant land. The race-track was made by clearing the land and compacting the earth. Inside the grounds, wide lawns had been laid around a circular track; three circuits of the track made about one mile. Near the entrance, viewing-stands had been erected and men and women crowded into these. A few couples came riding up together. Some horse-loving women drove their own carriages and arrived whipping their horses.