. The Catskill Mountains; . d or overcome by the scant fiicili-ties for accommodation and comfort then afforded on themountain. But this was the condition of affairs in the Catskills,with slight improvements, down to 1870, when the iron-horsebegan to sniff the air of the hills. Here was a charming sum-mer resort wholly undeveloped ; even the old Greene countysection, which was about the only part known at all. Thewildest and most charming region, lying in the counties ofUlster and Delaware, was largely unexplored and completelyinaccessible except to the sturdy hunters and bark-men. Thegreat ch
. The Catskill Mountains; . d or overcome by the scant fiicili-ties for accommodation and comfort then afforded on themountain. But this was the condition of affairs in the Catskills,with slight improvements, down to 1870, when the iron-horsebegan to sniff the air of the hills. Here was a charming sum-mer resort wholly undeveloped ; even the old Greene countysection, which was about the only part known at all. Thewildest and most charming region, lying in the counties ofUlster and Delaware, was largely unexplored and completelyinaccessible except to the sturdy hunters and bark-men. Thegreat chain of mountains had never been entered on this sidewhere the great popular and easy approach for the entire rangewas destined to be. The giant Slide Mountain crag, whichhad overshadowed every other peak for countless ages, waspractically unknown, and its superior height quite the varied magnificence of this entrancing region whichhas now so greatly enhanced the fame of the Catskills. was yetto be Di > Q O O So s o THE CATSKILL MOUNTAINS. 37 THE ULSTER &. ^^^ ^^^ having finally arrived P^-. «.^. ^1 ^ot ^ railroad, the men were DELAWARE RAILROAD, f „j , , , . , , . ., found to build it in spite of the unfavorable current of public opinion which then , the construction of the Ulster & Delaware line was begunin 1866. Proceeding slowly and cautiously for a time, theiron-horse did not really get very far into the mountains until fouryears later. Even then the project was generally consideredwild and ill-advised, with certain failure at the end. But theprojectors had faith in the final result and kept stretching outthe rails until they reached and crossed the mountains. Nature may never have dreamed that man would stretch arailroad through this lovely valley, and at times there has beensome question as to whether she had been fully reconciled tothe desecration. But the engineers found a natural pass heremost of the way. crooked a
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