CHAPTER IX.

BUILDINGS OF THE STATES OF THE GREAT INTERIOR.

Horace Greeley's Advice Abundantly Taken — Many Millions Go West — The Noble Structure of the
Centennial State — The Wyoming and Montana Buildings— Headquarters of the Young State of
Idaho — The Two Dakotas Pretentiously Represented— Utah Takes a Place Among Its Full-Grown
Sisters.

ft

ORACE GREELEYgotrid of many a young man by ad vising
him to "Go west." But neither that philosopher, nor Fre-
mont, nor Marcy, nor Kit Carson, nor Brigham Young,
dreamed the hundredth part. Why, there are geographies
now that have the words "The Great American Desert"
inscribed across the delineation that contain the bound-
aries of the great States of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado
and others. Colorado is the oldest of the interior States,
and was admitted into the Union just one hundred years
after the Independence Bell sounded its notes of freedom
to a listening world. Its building is in the Spanish renais-
sance, and cost $35,000. The exterior of the building is in
staff of an ivory color, and in the salient features of the
design profusely ornamented, the ornamentation comparing to fine advantage
with the broad, plain surfaces of the building. The striking feature of the design
is two slender Spanish towers, 98 feet high, rising from either side of the main en-
trance, on the east. The tower roofs and the broad, overhanging roof of the build-
ing are covered with red Spanish tiles. The building is 125 feet long, including
the end porticos, with a depth of 45 feet, and 26 feet to the cornice line. The
front vestibule opens to the main hall of the building. On either side of the en-
trance are stairways to the floor above. At the rear of the hall is a large onyx
mantel, flanked by glass doors, leading to offices. At the ends of the hall are a
men's smoking room and a women's reception room, each opening into an un-
covered terrace, surrounded by a balustrade. On the second floor is the assembly
room, extending the entire length of the building in the center. This room has a
high vaulted ceiling, rising above an ornamented cornice. Over this cornice are
rows of electric lights, giving a diffused light, by reflection from the vault above.
On the ends of this assembly room are a reading and a writing room, which open
to the hanging balconies on the ends of the building, forming one of the most at-
tractive exterior features. Broad, low casement windows open from the assembly
rooms to the front and rear balconies, the front one extending between the towers,

49*

HISTORY OF THE WORLD'S FAIR.

COLORADO BUILDING.

24 feet, ana over the main entrance. The rear balcony extends along the entire
length of the building. Staircases lead to the lanterns in the tower, where a fine
view of the grounds is had.

The Wyoming building, which cost $20,000, is in style a modern club house.

The dimensions are 70 feet in
length, by 60 feet in width. It
is located in the extreme north
end of the grounds, command-
ing an interesting view across
the parklike portions of the
grounds reserved for State
buildings. It is also convenient
to the steamboat landing. The
interior arrangement consists of
a main hall 24x40 feet, with two
offices on the first floor, which are
used for the reception and enter-
tainment of visitors, while the
collective exhibit is placed in the
main hall. From here a circular
stairway ascends to the second

story, where the toilet rooms, are located. The gallery around the hall and
doors leads out upon the balconies on each of the four sides. The building is in
the French chateau style, and the panels of the main frieze exterior contain
elaborately wrought hunting and
pastoral scenes. The people of
Wyoming realize that the Ex-
position offers an unusual oppor-
tunity to make known to the
world the varied material re-
sources of their State; her coal
lands, wells of oil, soda deposits
and rich mines of iron and
precious metals. The exhibit is
arranged with the object of show-
ing forth the advantages of the
State, both to home-seekers of
limited means and capitalists
seeking fields of investment. To
this end the classification in-
cludes Wyoming's best specimens of wheat, corn, oats, barley, rye, buckwheat,
native and cultivated grasses and forage plants. Irrigation methods are illus-
trated with maps and diagrams. The live stock exhibit includes the best speci-
mens of blooded horses and cattle, and illustrations of methods of handling

WYOMING BUILDING.

HISTORY OF THE WORLD'S FAIR.

499

range horses, cattle and sheep. The committee on horticulture and floriculture
have made their departments as complete as possible, representing all perishable
articles by fac-similes in wax or plaster. Specimens of the present and extinct
animal life of the State petrefactions, Indian implements, dress and ornaments

have been carefully collected by
the committee on scenic exhibits,,
and form a most interesting feature
of the State's contribution. The
committee also endeavors by
means of paintings, photographs
and models, to illustrate other
striking features of Wyoming and
its leading industries.

The Montana building is in the
. Romanesque style of architecture,
one story in height, and cost
$16,000. It has a ground area of
62 feet front by 113 deep. The
MONTANA BUILDING. structure is frame, covered with

staff, the interior being ornamented

with heavy, projecting pilasters, with Roman caps and bases and Roman arches.
The roof is of tin and canvas, and the building is surmounted by a glass dome 22 feet
in diameter and 38 feet high. The front of the building, facing the south, pre-
sents two side wings, with a large
arched entrance in the center.
The fronts of the wings are
ornamented with heavy, scrolled
pediments. The entrance arch
is 12x12 feet, supported by heavy
columns. Within is the vesti-
bule, with marble floor and
ceiling paneled in staff. It pre-
sents a series of three arched
doorways, the center one opening
into the rotunda under the dome,
the side doors leading to the
men's and women's parlors. On
either side of the entrance arch
are balustrades, enclosing the
vestibule. Flanking the arch are
two panels, 4x5 feet in size, one bearing the State motto, "Oro y Plata" — gold and
silver — and the other, "1893," 'n Roman figures. These panels are in pure sheet
gold. Above the entrance arch, and practically on the roof of the building, is the
figure of an elk, of heroic size, cast in staff. The interior is finished in Georgia

82

IDAHO BUILDING.

500

HISTORY OF THE WORLD'S FAIR.

NORTH DAKOTA BUILD

pine. Tht, .rails are tinted in oil. All the main rooms open on to the rotunda,
under the central dome. In the rear is a banquet hall, 40x50 feet, covered by a
large skylight. In the center of this floor stands a group of three mounted elks.
A wide gallery extends around the hall, and in the gallery the State exhibit is made.

The territory embraced within the
limits of the young State of Idaho,
though traversed by many beauti-
ful and fertile valleys, is in the
main a mountainous region, its
mean elevation being about 4,700
feet. In fact, from the beauty and
grandeur of its mountain scenery
it was named, quite appropriately,
Idaho, "The Gem of the Mount-
ains." Its numerous streams are
bordered by dense forests of valu-
able timber, and the developments
of recent years have discovered
that its mountains are rich in
precious metais. Though the State

has made rapid strides in recent years in the matter of general improvement, the
log cabin of the pioneer is still a familiar scene, and the forests and hills still
abound in wild game. In designing and decorating Idaho's building for the Colum-
bian Exposition, an effort was made
to give some expression to the
characteristics above referred to, to
exemplify in a measure some of the
chief products of the State, and to
suggest some of its interesting
features. All of the materials used
. in the construction of the building
are products of Idaho, and nearly all
of the decorations were there ob-
tained. The general style of archi-
tecture is Swiss, modified in so far as
was necessary to adapt it to the
materials to be used in the construc-
tion and to illustrate local conditions
and cost $40,000.

The headquarters for North Dakota visitors is a pretty, hospitable-looking
building adjacent to that of Kansas and cost $18,000. The building is 70x50 feet.
A space 46x21 feet in front of the main assembly hall, between the two committee
rooms, is used as a court-yard. From this court-yard the main assembly room is en-
tered through a large stone arch, above which on the exterior is an elaborately carved

SOUTH DAKOTA BUILDING.

HISTORY OF THE WORLD'S FAIR.

panel containing the coat-of-arms of North Dakota. The main feature of the in-
terior is the assembly hall, which includes a space 24x56 feet. The room is spanned
by four broad arched beams between each of which is a wide window reaching from
near the floor to the roof. At either end of the room is a broad fire-place. Com-
mittee and toilet rooms are provided throughout the building. The structure is two
stories high, and on the exterior the walls of the main gable ends are built of brick.
The remainder of the walls are of timber, filled in between with plaster panels.
North Dakota pays great attention to the exhibit of her principal product, wheat,
but also making a good showing in several other departments. The educational
advantages of the State are fully presented, and her exhibit is among the best.

The South Dakota State building has a ground area of 70x126 feet, and is
two stories high and cost $15,000. The structure is frame, the exterior being

covered with Yankton cement, in
imitation of stone work. The
roof is corrugated iron and the cor-
nice and brackets are pressed zinc.
The main entrance is on the east,
along which front extends a wide
porch with heavy columns support-
ing a balcony from the second
story. On the left of the main
entrance is a women's parlor, on
the right a men's reception room.
In the main body of the building is
the exhibition hall, 44x58 feet. Six
feet above the main floor is an
entresol, having committee rooms
for the boards of commissioners.

In the northwest corner of the main floor is a room for press correspondents. The
rotunda in the center of the building extends through to the roof and is covered
with a skylight. The second floor is devoted to rooms for the women's exhibit
and special State exhibits.

Among the great interior states is the Territory of Utah, which has a building
that cost $10,000 to erect. It is two stories high, and has an area of 46x82 feet. In
style the facade is modern renaissance. The foundation, columns, pilasters, cornice
and other ornamental parts are made in imitation of the different kinds of stone in
Utah. The walls are lined off in imitation of adobes. On the first floor is an ex-
hibit hall, 41x45 feet, open to the roof and covered with a skylight. In the rear of
this hall is a circular bay, and in this is the main stairway. This building has chaste
and simple outlines, and is an ornament to the grounds, standing as it does among
the other state edifices, and lending its handsome exterior to the group. It is a
worthy illustration of the taste of the people of that territory, and will attract the
visitor by its novelty. Its interior is planned with a special view to the comfort of
those who make it their headquarters. The two stories are laid out in nearly the

UTAH BUILDING.

502

HISTORY OF THE WORLD'S FAIR.

same fashion, comprising on the first floor several rooms for the use of the commis-
sioners. A reception room is placed here, as also the secretary's office, and women's
parlor. The second floor is similar in arrangement to the first, there being an ex-
hibition room, 41x45 feet, and various office rooms.

SERVING COFFEE IN THE KIOSK OF THE BRAZILIAN GOVERNMENT BUILDING

HISTORY OF THE WORLD'S FAIR.

503