DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Albert B. Fall, Secretary United States Geological Survey George Otis Smith, Director Bulletin 707 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES Part e. the Denver & rio grande WESTERN route BY MARIUS R. CAMPBELL WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OPPIOB 1922 From the collection of the n o Pre|inger fi a ibrary p San Francisco, California 2008 DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Albert B. Fall, Secretary United States Geological Survey George Otis Smith, Director BuUetin 707 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES Part E. the DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE BY MARIUS R. CAMPBELL WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1922 Principal Divisions of Geologic Time." Era. Period. Epoch. Characteristic Ufe. Duration, accord- ing to various estimates. Ceno7,oic (re- Quaternary. Recent. Pleistocene (Great Ice Age). "Age of man." Animals and plants of modern types. Millions of years. lto5. cent life). Tertiary. Pliocene. Miocene. Oligocene. Eocene. ' ' Age of mammals . ' ' Possible first appear- ance of man. Rise and development of highest orders of plants. Cretaceous. C) "Age of reptiles." Rise and culmination of huge land rep tiles (dinosaurs), of shell- fish with complexly partitioned coiled shells (ammonites), and of great flying reptiles. First appearance of birds and mammals (in Jurassic); of cycads, an order of palmlike plants (in Triassic); and of angiospermous plants, among which are palms and hardwood trees (in Cretaceous). Mesozoic (in- termediate Ufe). Jurassic. W 4 to 10. Triassic. C) Carbonifer- ous. Permian. Pennsylva- nian . Miss i s s i p- pian. "Age of amphibians." Dominance of club mosses (lycopods) and plants of horsetail and fern types. Primitive flowering plants and earliest cone-bearing trees. Beginnings of backboned land animals (land vertebrates). Insects. Animals with nautilus-like coiled shells (ammon- ites) and sharks abundant. Devonian. m "Age of fishes." Shellfish (moUusks) also abundant. Rise of amphibians and land plants. Paleozoic (old life). Silurian. C) Shell- forming sea animals dominant, espe- cially those related to the nautilus ( ceph- alopods). Rise and culmination of the marine animals sometimes known as sea lilies (crinoids) and of giant scorpion- like crustaceans (eurypterids). Rise of fishes and of reef-buildmg corals. 17 to 25. Ordovician. (6) SheU-forming sea animals, especially ceph- alopods and mollusk-Uke brachiopods, abundant. Culmination of the buglike marine crustaceans known as trilobites. First trace of insect life. Cambrian. (b) Trilobites and brachiopods most charac- teristic animals. Seaweeds (algae) abun- dant. No trace of land animals found. Proterozoic AlgonMan. C) First life that has left distinct record. Crustaceans, brachiopods, and seaweeds. life). Archean. Crystalline rocks. No fossils found. 50 -h. a The geologic record consists mainly of sedimentary beds— beds deposited in water. Over large areas long periods of uplift and erosion intervened between periods of deposition. Every such interruption in deposition in any area produces there what geologists term an unconformity. Many of the time divisions shown above are separated by such unconformities— that is, the dividing lines in the table represent local or widespread uplifts or depressions of the earth's surface. I> Epoch names omitted; in less common use than those given. CONTENTS. Page. Preface, by George Otis Smith ix Introduction 1 Denver, Colo 3 One-day trips from Denver 7 Continental Divide at Corona in Rollins Pass 7 Georgetown and Mount McClellan 13 South Platte Canyon IS Other trips of interest 21 Main line of railroad from Denver to Colorado Springs 22 One-day trips from Colorado Springs 35 Manitou and the Garden of the Gods 35 Pikes Peak 38 Cripple Creek by way of the " Short Line " 46 South Cheyenne Canyon 48 Main line of railroad from Colorado Springs to Canon City 53 One-day trip from Canon City to the top of the Royal Gorge 72 Main line of I'ailroad from Canon City to Salida 73 Main line of railroad from Salida to Malta 90 Leadville loop 104 Main line of railroad from Malta to Grand Junction 109 Xarrow-gage line from Salida to Montrose 158 Standard-gage line from Montrose to Grand Junction 179 Main line of railroad from Grand Junction to Salt Lake City 185 One-day trips from Salt Lake City 244 Saltair bathing heach 244 Parleys Canyon and Park City 245 Bingham, the great copper camp * 251 Index *261 m ILLUSTRATIONS. ROUTE MAP. For the convenience of the traveler the sheets of the route map are so folded and placed that he can unfold tliem one by one and keep each one in view while he is reading the text relating to it. A reference in i>arenthe»es is given in the text at each point where a new sheet should he unfolded. Page. Sheet 1. Denver to Husted, Colo 32 2. Edgerton to Parkdale, Colo 84 3. Echo to Pine Creek and Doyle, Colo 100 4. Granite to Spruce Creek, Colo 134 5. Shoshone to De Beque, Colo 1.50 6. Parlin to Roubideau, Colo 182 7. Escalante and Akin, Colo., to Cisco, Utah 198 8. Whitehouse to Cedar, Utah 210 9. Verde to Mapleton, Utah 232 10. Springville to Salt Lake City, Utah 244 PLATES. Plate I. Relief map of Colorado and part of Utah, showing main lines of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad and areas covered by sheets of route map 2 II. State Capitol, Denvei' 6 III. A, Wheat field in Clear Creek valley ; B, Mountain front on the "Moftat road" 7 IV. A, Tunnels on the "Moffat road"; B, State flower of Colorado 10 V. James Peak 11 VI. "Mother Grundy" - 14 VII. Narrows of Clear Creek canyon 15 VIII. Silver Plume ^ 18 IX. Mount McClellan 19 X. Platte Canyon 20 XL A, Castle Rock; B, Dome Rock, Platte Canyon 21 XII. A, Result of a recent forest fire; B, Result of an old forest fire 28 XIII. A, Marking merchantable timber; B, Engelmann spruce 29 XIV. A, A forest nursery ; B, Old charcoal kilns ; C, Yellow pine-_ 30 XV. A, A place for artificial reforestation ; B, Fire-lookout sta- tion 31 XVI. A, " Elephant Rock " ; B, Palmer Lake 32 XVII. A, B, Capped pinnacles in Monument Park ; C, The " Major Domo," Glen Eyrie 33 XVIII. Pikes Peak 34 XIX. Gateway to the Garden of the Gods 35 XX. A, The " Siamese Twins " ; B, " Balanced Rock " 36 IV ILLUSTKATTONS. V Page. Plate XXI. Gateway and spires of the Garden of the Gods 37 XXII. Geologic map of Manitou and Garden of the Gods 38 XXIII. Williams Canyon, Manitou 40 XXIV. A, Pikes Peak and the Rocky Mountain peneplain ; B, Ute Pass 41 XXV. A, Point Sublime; B, Devils Slide 46 XXVI. Silver Cascade 47 XXVII. A, The old and the new in railroading ; B, Cathedral Rocks— 48 XXVIII. A, Bull Hill, Cripple Creek district ; B, Anaconda and Mary McKinney mines 49 XXIX. Pillars of Hercules 50 XXX. Seven FaUs 51 XXXI, Map showing Denver & Rio Grande Railroad as originally planned 56 XXXII. A, An armored dinosaur (Stegosaurus) ; B, Triceratops, the last of the dinosaurs 70 XXXIII. A, Dinosaur tracks ; B, Portal of the Royal Gorge 71 XXXIV. A, Top of the Royal Gorge ; B, Rim of the Royal Gorge 72 XXXV. Skyline Drive, Canon City 73 XXXVI. A, Massive walls of the Royal Gorge; B, Lodgepole pine forest; C, Grand canyon of the Arkansas 76 XXXVII. View looking down into the Royal Gorge 77 XXXVIII. Hanging Bridge, Royal Gorge 78 XXXIX. Upper end of the Royal Gorge 79 XL. A, Grand canyon of the Arkansas below Texas Creek ; B, Tunnel on Rainbow Highway 80 XLI. A, Gold dredging; B, Rainbow Highway 81 XLII. A, Summer home in a national forest ; B, Game in the national forest 82 XLIII. Howard and the Sangi-e de Cristo Mountains 83 XLIV. Salida and the valley of the Arkansas 90 XLV. J^, Summit of the Sawatch Range west of Salida; B, Cirque on a mountain side 92 XLVI. Mount Princeton 93 XLVII. A, Natural granite monument ; B, Potholes in granite boulders 98 XLVIII. Mount Elbert and Mount Massive 99 XLIX. Carbonate Hill, Leadville 104 L. A, The patient burro ; B, Tunnels in Eagle River canyon ; C, Earth erosion columns 105 LI. A. Wild animals in a national forest; B, Stocking a stream with fish in a national forest 112 LII. Map of Homestake Glacier, Colo 116 LIII. Mount of the Holy Cross 116 LIV. Mines in Eagle River canyon 117 LV. A, Roches moutonnees ; B, Eagle River canyon 118 LVI. A, Eagle Valley near Edwards ; B, Recent volcano in Eagle Valley ; C, Edge of recent lava flow 119 LVII. A, Mountain sheep; B, Upper end of canyon of Colorado River 132 LVIIL Canyon of Colorado River 133 LIX. Lower part of canyon of Colorado River 136 LX. Glenwood Springs 137 VI ILLUSTRATIONS. Page. Plate LXI. Hanging Lake 138 LXII. .1, Grand Hogback ; B, Palm-leaf fan grown in Colorado 139 LXIII. Grand Valley cliffs 148 LXIV. A, Bare hills opposite De Beque; B, Stock fenced in a na- tional forest 149 LXV. A, Nature's lacelike sculpture ; B, Palisade Canyon at Caraeo- 152 LXVI. High Line diversion dam in Palisade Canyon 153 LXVII. Colorado River valley below Palisade 156 LXVIIL Little Book Cliffs. at Palisade 157 LXIX. A, Marshall Pass; B, Ouray Peak 162 LXX. A, Spires of volcanic rock near Sapinero ; B, Intricate ero- sion of volcanic rock ; C, Sheep in the Gunnison country 163 LXXI. A, B, Black Canyon of the Gunnison from above ; C, Rough water in Black Canyon 172 LXXII. Upper part of Black Canyon 173 LXXIII. Curecanti Needle 174 LXXIV, Gunnison tunnel of the United States Reclamation Service : A, Diversion dam ; B, Interior of tunnel ; C, West portal of tunnel ; 175 LXXV. A, Uncompahgre Valley in its native state; B, The same valley irrigated 178 LXXVI. A, Canyon between Delta and Grand Junction ; B, Brilliantly colored spur of the canyon wall ; C, Cross-bedded sand- stone 179 LXXVII. A, Two crops on irrigated ground ; B, Method of irrigating orchards 188 LXXVIII. A column of sandstone in the Colorado National Monument 189 LXXIX. Ruby Canyon 194 LXXX. A, Overhanging walls of Ruby Canyon ; B, Thick coal bed ; C, Colorado-Utah State line 195 LXXXI. State flower of Utah 196 LXXXII, A, Plateau near Moab ; B, Shale badlands at foot of Book Cliffs; C, Gunnison Butte - 197 LXXXIII. Green River 204 LXXXIV. Apple trees in bloom 205 LXXXV. Beckwith Plateau 210 LXXXVI, A, Band of sheep; B, Coke ovens at Sunnyside; C, Cliffs above Helper 211 LXXXVII. A, Inclined normal fault ; B, Vertical normal fault ; C, Castle Gate, side view 216 LXXXVIIL Castle Gate 217 LXXXIX. A, Bonneville shore line; B, Hydroelectric plant of the Strawberry Valley reclamation project 228 XC. Timpanogos Peak 229 XCI. Wasatch Mountains 238 XCII. A, State capitol of Utah; B, Eagle Gate and Lion and Bee- hive houses of Brigham Young 239 XCIII. Temple Square 242 XCIV. A, Sea Gull Monument ; B, Bathing in Great Salt Lake 243 XCV. A, Bingham Canyon ; B, Bingham mine of Utah Copper Co.— 254 XCVI. -4, Magna mill of the Utah Copper Co.; B, Bonneville shore line on Wasatch Mountains 255 ILLUSTRATIONS. VII FIGURES. Page. Figure 1. Map of Colorado and part of Utah, showing areas covered by United States Geological Survey topographic maps and geologic folios xr 2. Dakota hogback and mountain front north of Plainview, as seen from the " Moffat road " 8 3. Arch of the Front Range restored 9 4. Diagrams showing effect of stream and glacial erosion 11 5. Dakota hogback south of South Platte River 19 6. Section at mouth of Platte Canyon 25 7. Castle Rock from the north 26 8. Sketch section through Palmer Lake, showing fault 32 9. Section at Pikeview, showing the fault that separates the rocks of the plains from those of the mountains 33 10. Section through Garden of the Gods 37 11. Profile section through Pikes Peak and Cascade, showing the relation of the mountain peak to the lower land (peneplain) on either side 44 12. Sections showing supposed outline of the Cripple Creek vol- cano .50 13. Section showing fault at foot of Cheyenne Mountain .53 14. State of .lefferson, as it was proposed in 1858 63 15. Sandstone bed at base of coal-bearing formation at crossing of Arkansas River near mouth of Oil Creek 70 16. Section from Canon City to Parkdale, showing former extent of the Dakota and Morrison formations and the pinching out westward of the lower formations 80 17. Cross section of the Sangre de Cristo Range and the valley on its east side, at Pleasanton, showing the anticline of the moun- tain and the syncline on the east 85 18. Lava-capped hill south of Howard 86 19. Section of the Sangre de Cristo Range and the valley on its east side, through Hunts Peak and Howard 88 20. Ideal section from Sawatch Range to Brown Canyon, show- ing the deep gravel fiUing in the old channel of the Arkan- sas 92 21. Sketch map of Brown Canyon, showing its relation to the granite and the gravel 92 22. Mount Yale from Nathrop— 94 23. Great cirque on Mount Harvard 99 24. Mountain peaks of Sawatch Range at the head of Lake Creek, as seen from milepost 265 103 25. The Mosquito Range as seen from milepost 269, at the mouth of Iowa Gulch 103 26. Mineral production of Lake County from 1877 to 1918, inclu- sive 107 27. Section through some of the workings at Leadville, showing the relation of the ore to the limestone, porphyry, and quartzite_ 108 28. Section across Eagle Park, showing the thin cap of quartzite on the west and the same bed dipping into the base of the slope on the east 114 29. Meanders of Eagle River in Eagle Park near Deen 114 30. Sketch map showing old and new moraines above Minturn__ 120 VIII ILLUSTRATIONS. Page. FigubeSI. Anticline and syncline 121 32. Sketch section across tlie syncline at Wolcott on a line from east to west 124 33. Canyon cut by Eagle River through west rim of the syncline, as seen from Wolcott 127 34. Section across canyon of Colorado River at Shoshone 135 35. Top of red sandstone (Triassic) forming crest of hill below South Canon Coal Co.'s coal tipple 139 36. Section through Grand Hogback at Newcastle 140 37. Section across Uinta Basin from Newcastle to Palisade 148 38. Relation of oil, gas, and water to an anticline 150 39. Map of High Line reclamation project 153 40. Formation of a rock terrace 159 41. Formation of a gravel terrace 160 42. Alluvial fans in Poneha Canyon 161 43. Overturned eastern rim of the syncline at Crookton 167 44. Section through Tomichi Dome, showing the great mass of crystalline rock that has forced its way upward, while in a molten condition, through the older granite and sedi- mentary rocks 168 45. Section showing the effect of hard and soft rocks on the form of a canyon 170 46. Section across Black Canyon at Cimarron 175 47. Rocks forming the canyon wall near Bridgeport 182 48. Sketch section across the valley at Fruita, Colo 185 49. Method of measuring the flow of a river at a cable station__ 189 50. Short fold in massive sandstone opposite Ruby siding, below Mack 192 51. Different types of anticlines 192 52. Angular profiles of the Plateau province 198 53. Mountains carved from a laccolith 199 54. Projecting point of the lower salients of the Book Cliffs 200 55. Profile of front of Beckwith Plateau 209 56. Terraces at head of Grassy Creek valley 211 57. Geologic section at Castlegate 215 58. Sketch section at Gilluly, showing relation of the northward- dipping red Wasatch to the white Green River formation 221 59. Map of Strawberry Valley reclamation project 225 60. Map of Lake Bonneville 228 61. Provo and Bonneville lake terraces at the Narrows of Jordan Valley 235 62. Fluctuation in level of Great Salt Lake from 1850 to 1914___ 245 63. Map showing old trails for Oregon and California 249 PREFACE. By George Otis Smith. The United States of America comprise an area so vast in extent and so diverse in natural features as well as in characters due to human agency that the American citizen who knows thoroughly his own country must have traveled widely and observed wisely. To " know America first " is a patriotic obligation, but to meet this obli- gation the railroad traveler needs to have his eyes directed toward the more important or essential things within his field of vision and then to have much that he sees explained by what is unseen in the swift passage of the train. Indeed, many things that attract his attention are inexplicable except as the story of the past is available to enable him to interpret the present. Herein lie the value and the charm of history, whether human or geologic. The present stimulus given to travel in the home country will encourage many thousands of Americans to study geography at first hand. To make this study most profitable the traveler needs a handbook that will answer the questions that come to his mind so readily along the way. Furthermore, the aim of such a guide should be to stimulate the eye in the selection of the essentials in the scene that so rapidly unfolds itself in the crossing of the continent. In recognition of the opportunity to render service of this kind to an unusually large number of American citizens, as well as to visitors from other countries, the United States Geological Survey has pub- lished a series of guidebooks^ covering four of the older railroad routes west of the Mississippi. The present volume is an addition to this series and covers one of the finest scenic routes of the con- tinent. These books are educational in purpose, but the method adopted is to entertain the traveler by making more interesting what he sees from the car window. The plan of the series is to present authorita- tive information that may enable the reader to realize adequately the ^Guidebook of the western United States: Part A, The Northern Pacific Route, with a side trip to Yellowstone Park (Bulletin 611) ; Part B, The Over- land Route, with a side trip to Yellowstone Park (Bulletin 612) ; Part C. The Santa Fe Route, with a side trip to the Grand Can:, on of the Colorado (Bulletin 613) ; Part D. The Shasta Route and Coast Line (Bulletin 614). The.se bul- letins are for sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C, at 50 cents a copy. IX X PREFACE. scenic and material resources of the region he is traversing, to com- prehend correctly the basis of its development, and above all to appreciate keenly the real value of the country he looks out upon, not as so many square miles of territory represented on the map in a railroad folder by meaningless spaces, but rather as land — real estate, if you please — varying widely in present appearance because differ- ing largely in its history, and characterized by even greater variation in values because possessing diversified natural resources. One region may be such as to afford a livelihood for only a pastoral people; another may present opportunity for intensive agriculture; still another may contain hidden stores of mineral wealth that may attract large industrial development; and, taken together, these varied resources afford the promise of long-continued prosperity for this or that State. Items of interest in civic development or references to significant epochs in the record of discovery and settlement may be interspersed with explanations of mountain and valley or statements of geologic history. In a broad way the story of the West is a unit, and every chapter should be told in order to meet fully the needs of the tourist who aims to understand all that he sees. To such a traveler-reader this series of guidebooks is addressed. To this interpretation of our own country the United States Geo- logical Survey brings the accumulated data of decades of pioneering investigation, and the present contribution is only one type of return to the public which has supported this scientific work under the Federal Government — a by-product of research. In the preparation of the description of the country traversed by the Denver & Eio Grande Western Koute the geographic and geologic information already published as well as unpublished material in the possession of the Geological Survey has been utilized, but to supplement this material Mr. Campbell made a field examination of the entire route in 1915-1916. Information has been furnished by others, to whom credit is given in the text. Cooperation has been rendered by the United States Forest Service and the United States Keclamation Service, railroad officials and other citizens have generally given their aid, and other members of the Survey have freely cooperated in the work. For the purpose of furnishing the traveler with a graphic presentation of each part of his route, the accompanying maps, 10 sheets in all, have been prepared, with a degree of accuracy probably never before attained in a guidebook and their arrangement has been planned to meet the convenience of the reader. The special topographic surveys necessary to complete these maps of the route were made by W. O. Tufts. PREFACE. XI Mil ! I ^ % Guidebook of the Western United States. PART E. the DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. By Marius R. Campbell. INTRODUCTION. The traveler who crosses the United States from east to west passes over many belts of country, which are different in types of surface features, such as plains, plateaus, and mountains; in climate, espe- cially in amount of rainfall; and in the occupations of the inhab- itants, which are largely determined by their environment. He is likely to be more or less familiar with the eastern part of the country, which will therefore not be described here, but as soon as he crosses Missouri River, either at Kansas City or at Omaha, he enters a region that may be to him almost entirely unknown. In this region he grows accustomed rather slowly to the sight of the level, unbroken stretches of the vast plains that extend from Missouri River to the foot of the Rocky Mountains, but at last he becomes reconciled to the treeless landscape and begins to enjoy the freedom of the ap- parently boundless plain below and the limitless expanse of sky above. He may have expected to see traces of what was once called " The Great American Desert," but the region so named was long ago proved to be a desert only in the imagination of some of the early explorers. As he goes westward, however, he observes that the crops decrease in abundance and that the density of the popula- tion decreases correspondingly, but that the country is nowhere free from signs of habitation. In years of drought the plains be- come j)arched and brown, but even then they do not resemble the true deserts that lie west of the Rocky Mountains. In Denver the traveler is still on the plains, but he is so close to their western edge and so near to the commanding peaks of the Rocky Mountains that he naturally regards Denver as a mountain city. He should rather regard it as the gateway to the mountains, for he will find that it is the natural entrance to much of this interesting region and that it enjoys the advantages of both the agri- cultural resources and transportation facilities of the plains and the mineral wealth and scenic beauty of the mountains. 1 2 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. The great sprawling ranges of the " Rockies " west of Denver con- stitute one of the most formidable barriers to travel between the East and the West. These mountains extend from the Arctic Circle across Canada and the United States as far south as Santa Fe. In the latitude of Denver the mountainous belt is only about 80 miles wide, but the ranges are rugged and the 'principal peaks are high, some of them rising more than 14,000 feet above sea level. Moun- tains of this height that can be seen from the level of the sea are very imposing, but these mountains stand upon a broad platform that is itself 6,000 to 10,000 feet high, and they are consequently less impressive, for their height above their bases is scarcely more than a mile. The route of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad across the mountains of Colorado and the plateaus and deserts of Utah, shown in Plate I, is particularly noted for the variety of its scenery, as it traverses a region that presents an almost bewildering display of nature's handiwork. In this display the canyons cut by the streams and now followed by the railroad are perhaps the most wonderful features, for they give a very vivid impression of the great activity of the processes going on around us all the time and of the vast amount of excavation that has been done by the streams. Mining is the principal industry in the mountains, and in his jour- ney westward from Denver the traveler has opportunity to see or to visit some of the best-known mining camps in this country. Many of these camps are of recent development, but some date back to the time when gold was first discovered in the West, and about them still cling the glamour and the romance of that time, when law was unknown and fortunes were made or lost in a single d^y. West of the Rocky Mountains, extending to the west face of the Wasatch Range, lies what is generally known as the Plateau Pro- vince, called by Powell the " Canyon Lands " — a region of high plateaus and deep canyons, which in this respect has no peer in the world. In this region there are few mountain peaks, and the pre- vailing type of upland is the plateau with nearly level top and steep or even vertical sides. The slopes in these dry lands are gen- erally angular; they have not the smooth, flowing curves of those in more humid regions. In the plateaus streams have carved deep canyons, the most remarkable of which, the Grand Canyon of the Colorado, reaches in its deepest part a depth of 6,000 feet. The entire surface of the country is so intricately seamed with can- yons that it can be crossed only at certain places and even there only with great difficulty. The precipitation in the region is very small, probably not more than 5 or 6 inches in a year on the lower lands, so that these lands are veritable deserts. They can be successfully cultivated by irrigation, however, and much money has been spent BULLETIN 707 PLATE I 3ts of route map U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 707 PLATE I RELIEF MAP OF COLORADO AND UTAH Showing main lines of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad and areas covered by sheets of route map 50 0 50 100 150 Miles DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE 3 by private irrigators and irrigation companies and oy the Gov- ernment in carrying the waters of the rivers onto the thirsty land. The climate at the lower levels is generally mild, and Avhere the lands have been thus watered crops of various kinds, including fruits, are raised in abundance. Agriculture and coal mining are the principal industries, but they are restricted to certain tracts near the railroads. Beyond the Wasatch Mountains lies what is known as the Great Basin, which stretches westward from them farther than the eye can see. This is really an immense surface basin, rimmed about by higher land that prevents the streams within it from reaching the ocean. If the rainfall were heavy the streams would find outlets, but as it is only a few inches a year the evaporation equals the rain- fall and the region is a desert ; so little water is available that enough can not be had for irrigation except near its margin and in small areas where the conditions are exceptional. Near the border of the basin there are a few fresh- water lakes, but most of the lakes within it are saltj^, like Great Salt Lake, which the traveler will see at the western terminus of the Denver & Kio Grande Western Rail- road. In the interior of the Great Basin there were once many lakes, but they dried up ages ago, leaving their bottoms snow-white with deposits of soda, borax, and common salt. The principal occu- pation in this region is metal mining, and the mines are in the isolated mountain ranges that corrugate the floor of the basin and break the monotony of its surface. West of the Great Basin are the Sierra Nevada and the great in- terior valley and coastal features of California. DENVER, COLO. The traveler who is unfamiliar with the West will find much to interest him in and about Denver. The city has sprimg up in a short time ; it is, indeed, but little more than 50 years old. Its popu- lation, according to the census of 1920, was 256,491. The traveler Avho may have thought of Denver as a city in the center of a great mountainous empire may be disappointed in finding, when he arrives there, that it is a city on the plains, 15 or 16 miles east of the foot- hills and 50 to 60 miles east of the Continental Divide, or the main crest of the Rocky Mountains. (See Route map, sheet 1, p. 32.) Although it is on the plains, Denver, in common with many towns in and near the mountains, owes its first settlement to the discovery of gold, which was found in the sand of Cherry Creek by a band of prospectors who were bound to the mountain region. The sand was not commercially productive, but the camp established for the purpose of working it has grown and is to-day a fine city with DENVER & EIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE 3 by private irrigators and irrigation companies and oy the Gov- ernment in carrying the waters of the rivers onto the thirsty land. The climate at the lower levels is generally mild, and where the lands have been thus watered crops of various kinds, including fruits, are raised in abundance. Agriculture and coal mining are the principal industries, but they are restricted to certain tracts near the railroads. Beyond the Wasatch Mountains lies what is known as the Great Basin, which stretches westward from them farther than the eye can see. This is really an immense surface basin, rimmed about by higher land that prevents the streams within it from reaching the ocean. If the rainfall were heavy the streams would find outlets, but as it is only a few inches a year the evaporation equals the rain- fall and the region is a desert ; so little water is available that enough can not be had for irrigation except near its margin and in small areas where the conditions are exceptional. Near the border of the basin there are a few fresh-water lakes, but most of the lakes within it are salty, like Great Salt Lake, which the traveler will see at the western terminus of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Rail- road. In the interior of the Great Basin there were once many lakes, but they dried up ages ago, leaving their bottoms snow-white with deposits of soda, borax, and common salt. The principal occu- pation in this region is metal mining, and the mines are in the isolated mountain ranges that corrugate the floor of the basin and break the monotony of its surface. West of the Great Basin are the Sierra Nevada and the great in- terior valley and coastal features of California. DENVER, COLO. The traveler who is unfamiliar with the West will find much to interest him in and about Denver. The city has sprimg up in a short time ; it is, indeed, but little more than 50 years old. Its popu- lation, according to the census of 1920, was 256,491. The traveler who may have thought of Denver as a city in the center of a great mountainous empire may be disappointed in finding, when he arrives there, that it is a city on the plains, 15 or 16 miles east of the foot- hills and 50 to 60 miles east of the Continental Divide, or the main crest of the Rocky Mountains. (See Route map, sheet 1, p. 32.) Although it is on the plains, Denver, in common with many towns in and near the mountains, owes its first settlement to the discovery of gold, which was found in the sand of Cherry Creek by a band of prospectors who were bound to the mountain region. The sand was not commercially productive, but the camp established for the purpose of working it has grown and is to-day a fine city with 4 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. broad streets, great manufacturing plants, large stores, numerous business blocks, commodious hotels and residences, and beautiful boulevards and parks. The exploration that led to the founding of the city of Denver, like those that led to the founding of many other cities, is shrouded more or less in mystery. Gold was certainly the lure that brought the explorers here, but when and where gold was first discovered in what is now Colorado are not certainly known. There are many legends that the precious metal was found in the foothills and the mountains of Colorado prior to 1850, but most of these legends are vague and unreliable. What appears to be the first authentic ac- count of an exploration in this vicinity is a story that a party of Cherokee Indians, in the spring of 1849, went to the Pacific coast by way of the old trail up the Arkansas Valley across the Squirrel Creek divide (just east of Palmer Lake), and down Cherry Creek to the South Platte at the site of the present city of Denver. The story goes that the Indians found some gold in the Rocky Mountains but not enough to deter them from continuing their trip to Cali- fornia. When they reached the coast they did not find gold as abundantly as they had expected, so they returned to Georgia, fully convinced that there were opportunities in the Eocky Mountains just as promising as they had seen in California. In 1858 the Cherokees again organized a gold-seeking expedition, which was joined by many white men. This party, which was known as the Green Eussell party, went to Cherry Creek, where the Indians had found some gold on their previous visit. They prospected along Cherry Creek and South Platte Eiver, and many people flocked to their camp. Little gold was found, but the camp persisted, and sev- eral settlements sprang up on or near the site later occupied by the city of Denver. The first town established in this vicinity was on South Platte River 6 miles above the mouth of Cherry Creek. It was called Montana and consisted of about twenty log cabins, but it did not survive a year. The first town on the actual site of Denver was called St. Charles. It was organized September 24, 1858, and, like most towns of this period, it existed at first only on paper; it was not until October that the first structure was erected. This struc- ture consisted of a few logs piled up and surmounted with a wagon cover, and this was probably the first building on the site of Denver. About the middle of October Georgians established a town on the west side of Cherry Creek which they called Auraria, after a small mining town in Georgia. The town of St. Charles made no progress until the 17th of No- vember, when Gen. William Larimer and Richard E. Whitsett ar- rived there and rechristened it Denver City, in honor of Gen. J. W. Denver, the governor of the Territory of Kansas, which then in- DENVER & EIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 5 eluded that part of the present State of Colorado which lies east of the crest of the Rocky Mountains. The first house in Denver is said to have been erected by Gen. Larimer on the banks of Cherry Creek, between what are now Blake and Wazee streets. The towns of Mon- tana and Auraria soon disappeared or were swallowed up by the more rapidly growing " City of Denver," as it was known in the early days. Denver, though not a mining city, has long been the financial and distributing center of an immense mining region, including the Eocky Mountains from northern Wyoming to southern New Mexico. It has become also a great railroad center, partly because it is a center of distribution and partly because most tourists making a trip to the Far West desire to pass through or stop in this flourishing city. The city has the wonderful health-giving climate of the mountain region, and many who have found the humid, heavy atmosphere of the East depressing have each year sought and been benefited by the dry, exhilarating, and rarefied air of Colorado. Denver is now the metropolis of the Rocky Mountain region. It is noted for its broad, clean streets, its handsome residences, and the beauty and number of its public parks. Grass and trees are not nat- ural to Denver, so the people there take the greatest interest in them and are willing to spend time and money freely for a beautiful lawn and a growth of trees. Farther east, where such things are abundant, they are not prized so highly and are generally neglected, so that they do not grow in the perfection that they attain in the semiarid region, where irrigation is possible. One of the best known of Denver's parks is the Capitol Grounds and Civic Center, shown in part in Plate II. The Civic Center has recently been acquired by the city and made into a beautiful park. The largest of Denver's playgrounds is City Park, which contains 320 acres and has been beautified by trees, flowers, lakes, and fountains until it is the equal of almost any other artificial park in the country. In it is a zoological garden and a museum of natural history. Washington Park also is becoming one of the beauty spots of the city. Cheesman Park is noted for the magnificent view of the mountains which may be had from its pavilion. Here on a clear day the traveler may obtain a sweeping view of the great Front Range from Longs Peak, 60 miles away on the north, to Pikes Peak, 80 miles to the southwest. To assist the traveler to recognize the more prominent peaks a brass plate, upon which are engraved the names of the peaks and the lines of sight pointing toward them, has there been set on a pedestal. This diagram, together with a fairly good map of the State, enables one to place accurately all the more strik- ing mountain features in the vicinity. 80697"— 22 2 6 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. Another excellent vantage point from which to view the mountains is the dome of the Capitol (PI. II). This fine building, which is constructed of native granite and marble, stands on a commanding terrace facing the west. The dome is 276 feet high, and from its balcony on a clear day a vast extent of the mountain front may be seen. Fronting the Capitol is the Public Library and the United States Mint, both constructed of Colorado granite and both massive build- ings, which serve as a fitting setting for the State Capitol. The library is interesting as a piece of Grecian architecture and the mint as the place of manufacture and the storage of vast sums of Gov- ernment coin. The new Federal post office, a beautiful building, which occupies an entire city block, is built of Colorado marble. This stone is just becoming well known and is being used in many parts of the country, notably in the new Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D. C. It is taken from quarries about 40 miles south of Glenwoocl Springs. Another public building that attracts at- tention is the great auditorium, built to accommodate the Democratic national convention of 1908. It seats 12,000 persons and contains one of the finest theaters in the United States, seating 3,500 persons. Denver is an active industrial city, and its manufacturing plants make many and various articles ranging from railroad cars to radium salts. Perhaps the most interesting plant to the average traveler is the smelter for the reduction of the ores of the precious metals. A description of a smelter is given on pages 252-254. There are also brick and clay works, railroad shops, and other works. Denver is noted for the excellence of its public schools and for the beauty and serviceableness of its school buildings. It is a center of higher education also, for the State University is at Boulder, less than 20 miles northwest of the city; the State School of Mines is at Golden, 16 miles west of it; and Denver University is in the city. The residential part of the city is very attractive. The houses are substantial and are surrounded by velvety lawns diversified and beautified by flowers and shrubs. No frame buildings can be erected within the city limits. Although the extremes of temperature at Denver are rather great, the summer temperatures reaching 95° F. or more and winter tem- peratures touching the zero point, the climate is not hard to bear, for the air is so dry that the extremes of either summer or winter are not felt as they are in a more humid climate. According to seven years' records of the Weather Bureau the mean annual precipitation is 13.7 inches and the mean annual temperature is 50°. The dryness of the air may be better appreciated by comparing it with that of U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN- 707 PLATE III A. WHEAT FIELD IN CLEAR CREEK VALLEY. Water has transformed Clear Creek valley from a barren waste to rich afrricullural laud. Photograph by L. C. McClare, Denver; furnished by the Colorado & Southern Railway. B. MOUNTAIN FRONT ON THE " MOFF.VT ROAD." The Denver & Salt Lake Railroad, in climbing the steep mountain front, tunnels through great slabs of dark-red sandstone upturned against the mountains. Between tunnels the traveler mav obtain views of the plains stretching away to the east, farther than the eye can see, and of i:ie low ridges that skirt the mountain at his feet. Photograph copyrighted by L. C McClure, Denver; furnished by the Denver & Salt Lake Railroad. DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 7 the Atlantic coast, where the mean annual precipitation is 45 to 50 inches. The description of the scenery along the line of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad begins on page 22. ONE-DAY TRIPS FROM DENVER. As most of the westbound travelers who pass through Denver stop over a few hours or a few days, it is desirable to call their attention to many side trips that may be made in one day by trolley, railroad train, or automobile. Most people are attracted by the mountains, and the excursions that are generally of the greatest interest are those made into their narrow canyons or over their snowy summits. Not only are the mountain trips enjoj^able on account of the scener}'^, but they enable the traveler to have the pleasure of tramping over snow banks under the hot rays of a midsummer sun, to see something of the mines of gold and silver and other metals that have made this region famous, and to behold the magnificent exposures of rock along the canj^on walls and in the highest peaks and thus to learn some of nature's hidden mysteries regarding the earth upon which he lives. CONTINENTAL DIVIDE AT CORONA IN ROLLINS PASS. Corona is reached by the Denver & Salt Lake Railroad, or " Moffat road," as it is generally called. It is the objective point of most travelers who wish to enjoy the pleasure of snowballing on a hot summer day and of experiencing the sensation of standing on the backbone of the continent. On leaving Denver for this trip the traveler sees first the fine irrigated farms of Clear Creek valley (see PI. Ill, A) and then the upturned beds of sandstone and shale which carry the coal of the Denver Basin. These rocks, which are called by geologists the Laramie formation, are of Cretaceous age, and their position in the geologic column is shown on page ii. No coal beds can be seen from this railroad, but a few miles to the north there are extensive mines.^ *Coal has been miued in Colorado continuously since 1864, 12 years be- fore the Territory became a State. One of the first fields to be developed was that of Boulder County, which lies in the northem part of what geolo- gists call the Denver Basin. This basin, though not a surface basin, is so called because the beds of rock in it dip toward and under the city from all directions, so that any one bed of rock, if it could be followed below the surface, would be found to have the form of an irregular basin. The west- ern rim of the basin is formed of the rock beds that are upturned along the mountain front in the vicinity of Mor- ri.son. Golden, and Boulder, but the eastern rim is not conspicuous, as the beds dip very gently westward toward the center of the basin. The coal is contained in sandstone and shale of Cretaceous age (Laramie formation) and probably underlies 8 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. At the loop which the railroad makes before it climbs the eastern front of the mountains there is exposed a dark shale (Benton shale or lower part of the Colorado group), which lies near the base of the Upper Cretaceous series. At Plainview the road cuts through a hogback ^ formed of the upturned edge of the underlying Dakota sandstone and shows some of the variegated sandstone and shale of the Morrison formation, which lies directly below the Dakota sand- FiGURE 2. — Dakota hogback and mountain front north of Plainview, as seen from the " Moffat road." The dash line indicates the boundary between the Morri.son formation and the Carboniferous sandstone. stone, or toward the mountains. The succession of rocks in the hog- back and the mountain front is shown in figure 2. Beyond the valley formed in the soft rocks of the Morrison formation the red sandstone (Fountain formation) lies upturned against the mountain front in great triangular slabs like the teeth of a gigantic saw. (See PI. Ill, B.) The railroad in climbing the mountain front pierces the projecting points of this hard layer by many short tun- Denver itself, but here it is so far below the surface that it has been reached in only the deepest drillings. The coal is mined from slopes which go down on the outcrop of the coal bed or from shafts which are sunk nearer the center of the basin and which reach the coal at different depths. The coal is what is now generally called subbituminous, a rank which is below that of the bituminous coals of the East. It is frequently called " black lignite," because of its color and because it has some of the proper- ties of a lignite, or woody coal. The subbituminous coal does not soil the hands and is a desirable domestic fuel, but upon exposure to the weather it breaks up or " slacks " — the lumps fall to pieces and the coal becomes a heap of fine fragments. It contains a much higher percentage of water than the eastern coals, and this gives it a much lower fuel value. Notwithstanding these defects, subbituminous coal is extensively mined and finds a ready market throughout the Denver region. * A name applied in the Rocky Moun- tain region to a sharp-crested ridge formed by a hard bed of rock that dips rather steeply downward. One of the best examples of this kind of surface feature can be seen at Canon City, where the Skyline Drive follows the sharp crest of a hogback of Dakota sandstone for miles, as shown in PI. XXXV (p. 73). DEN^^R & EIO GRAiSTDE WESTERN ROUTE, 9 nels, and the traveler has ample opportunity to study its character-, istics as the train turns and twists around the ravines or dives head- long through the rocky tunnels. (See PI. IV, A). This red sand- stone is tilted up against the gneiss (pronounced 7uce) or granite- like rock that forms the bulk of the Front Range. When these beds of sandstone were formed they consisted of hori- zontal layers of sand, which were laid down along the shore of a body of water, just as sand accumulates to-day along the shore of the ocean or of a large lake. The rocks upon which the sand rested were granite and gneiss, from which some of it was derived, and the sand lapped onto the shore irregularly, some beds extending much farther inland than others, the distance inland reached by them at one place or another depending on the form of the surface and the height of the water. Finally, after the entire region had been cov- Oakota Grand Lake .'.■, ^ _ , '-flo/j^ MJODLE PARK GREAT PLAINS Horizontal scale FiGUEB 3. — Arch of the Front Range restored. After Lee. ered by layers that eventually became sandstone, shale, and limestone, the region on the west was lifted up hundreds or perhaps thousands of feet, and the red sand, which had hardened into sandstone, was bent upward in a great arch that may have extended entirely over the present Front Range. The streams probably cut away the upper part of this arch almost as fast as the land was raised, so that the mountains may never have been much higher than they are to-day. The work of the streams has been continued until all of the upper part of the sandstone arch has been removed, as shown in figure 3, and only the sharp upturn on the flanks, which can be seen so well from the " Moffat road," has been preserved. The train climbs steadily, affording here and there beautiful views far out over the plains to the east, and finally, when nearly above Eldorado Springs, it turns suddenly to the left and enters a tunnel that leads through the heart of the mountains. Beyond this tunnel the roadbed is in granite,^ and the banding of this rock gives little 'Wherever the crj'stalllne rocks of the mountains are referred to in this guide they are called granite, though they really consist of granite, gneiss, and schist. In some places the rock may be entirely granite, and in others it may be gneiss or schist; but at many places these three kinds of rock are intimately mixed, showing that they may be different forms of the same rock. G. P. Merrill describes gneiss (A treatise on rocks, rock weathering, and soils, pp. 142-145, New York, 1906) as follows : " The composition of the gneisses is essentially the same as that of the granites, from which they differ 10 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. indication of the real structure of the mountain range. The streams have cut deep canyons, and many interesting views may be seen on the right of the train as it passes from branch to branch of South Boulder Creek, here crossing a canyon on a high trestle and there plunging into the darkness of a tunnel through a spur. Where South Boulder Creek is first seen it lies far below the level of the road, but its bed slopes steeply headward and is finally crossed by the railroad well above the sharp canyon, which represents the latest period of stream cutting in this region. If the trip is made in July the traveler may have the pleasure of seeing in the foothills acres of the beautiful Rocky Mountain columbine (PI. IV, 5), which has been adopted as the floral emblem of Colorado. The plant grows about 3 feet high, and each stalk bears a number of delicate lavender- tinted blossoms which become white as the season advances. The first large village above the point where the railroad crosses South Boulder Creek is RoUinsville. Here the traveler sees no sug- gestions of mining, but if he could follow for a distance of 4 miles the road that climbs the hill on the north (right) he would find himself in a district that furnishes the metal for the filaments of most of the incandescent electric bulbs made in this country. This metal is tungsten, and a small percentage of it is contained in the steel from which most of the modern machine tools are made. only in structure and origin. * * * Stinicturally the gneisses are holo- crystalline [entirely crystalline] granu- lar rocks, as are the granites, but dif- fer in that the various constituents are arranged in approximately parallel bands or layers. * * * " In width and texture these bands vary indefinitely. It is common to find bands of coarsely crystalline quartz several inches in width, alter- nating with others of feldspar, or feld- spar, quartz, and mica, or hornblende. A lenticular structure Is common, pro- duced by lens-shaped aggregates of quartz or feldspar, about and around which are bent the hornblende or mica laminae [layers]. The rocks vary from finely and evenly fissile through all grades of coarseness and become at times so massive as to be indistinguishable in the hand speci- mens from granites. * * * " The origin of gneisses * * * is in many cases somewhat obscure, the banded or foliated structure being con- sidered by some as representing the original bedding of the sediments, the different bands representing layers of varying composition. This structui'e is now, however, considered to be due to mechanical causes and in no way dependent upon original stratification. The name, as commonly used, is made to include rocks of widely different structure, which are beyond doubt in part sedimentary and in part eruptive but in all cases altered from their original conditions. " This alteration * * * has been brought about not by heat and crystal- lization alone, but in many cases by processes of squeezing, crumpling, and folding so complex as almost to war- rant the application of the term knead- ing. * * * " In the present state of our knowl- edge it is in most cases impossible to separate what may be true metamor- phosed sedimentary gneisses from those in which the foliated or banded struc- ture is in no way connected with bed- ding and whicli may or may not be altered eniptives." -> "liil n g.^--* -j; ■=j:2 .a e i? -^ a » 55 o t 0 •' S » u ta CC ® 3 « ■^.2 UJ < mbin e mo ter J) e to &R o b ^— = 30 U ""s 0 - a < auntain many ( first til ley soo the Dc f^' li--^J 0:3 0 3 £ 2 £22.2 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H^^^^^ ■ HH^^l ^■^^ x^ ■ ^^HH ^M '' .''^^I^^H mSl HnnHiP^'w^^^iSIMB^^I ^^^L ^^]^^l 1 WrWS Am if^B "Ms -i ^■'s' r 3^ -a; "te DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 11 A few miles below Tolland the valley changes from a rocky V- shaped ravine to a broad valley having a U -shaped cross section. The meaning of such a change is shown in figure 4. The mountain valley shown in figure 4, A, has been carved only by the stream wliich occu- pies it. The walls slope gradually from the ridge on either side to the stream in its bottom, and the form of a section of such a valley, if cut directly across, would be a flat V. If after its excavation by the stream this same valley had been occupied by a glacier the ice would have ground away the projecting spurs on its sides and left it in the form shown in figure 4, B. The cross section of a valley is a nearly infallible indication whether the valley has been carved by running water alone or has been modified by ice. Thus the change •from a V shape to a U shape a few miles below Tolland marks the point of farthest extension of the old glacier that had its source near the summit of James Peak and filled this valley with ice to a depth Figure 4. — Diagrams showing effect of stream and glacial erosion. A, V-shaped valley cut by running water; B,. same valley after It has-been occupied by a glacier and reduced to a broad, flat U in cross section. of many hundreds of feet if not a thousand feet. Usually the foot of a glacier of this magnitude is marked by a terminal moraine — a ridge of loose material carried down by the ice — but if such a moraine was ever built in this locality it has been washed away by the stream swollen with the waters of the melting ice. Although the valley at Tolland and for some distance above that place is broad and the slopes are smooth, it soon terminates abruptly at the foot of the Continental Divide, and no railroad can ascend it much farther and succeed in crossing the range. Consequently the engineers were forced to turn aside from what seems to be an easy pathway up the valley and construct the road to the summit in a roundabout way by scaling the valley walls. The train makes this climb with many turns and twists, and the traveler is generally deeply impressed with the care and precision with which the en- gineei*s fitted the roadbed to the mountain slopes. To the railroad engineer no slopes are too steep for railroad construction, provided he can find ground sufficiently level to enable the road to curve 12 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. around and double back upon itself, thus zigzagging its way up the mountain slope. The train climbs steadily upward, and one by one the ridges that from below seemed to be of great height are sur- mounted and they are found to be only low spurs of the still higher mountains above. As the train nears the summit and encircles the little pond called Yankee Doodle Lake, the traveler may see some of the effects, other than the rounding of valleys, that the old glaciers have produced on the mountain scenery. In the canyons below, where the ice moved down in a great stream from the heights above, its effect was to smooth and round the slopes and to do away with much of the ruggedness that must have marked these canyons before they were occupied by the ice. Near the summit the ice scooped out in the side, of the mountain great amphitheaters, called cirques, making the tops much more rugged than they were before. The circular depres- sion that holds Yankee Doodle Lake is such a cirque, and all the vast rock slopes above the lake have been steepened by undercutting by the ice. Other cirques (such as those shown in PI. V) may be seen in the mountains ; indeed, the entire front above this place, up which the railroad finds its way to the summit, consists of the walls of cirques that have uaited. The steepness of this slope is due almost entirely to the action of ice. In places the road is constructed along the upper edge of one of these great cirque walls, and the traveler may look down on the right nearly 1,000 feet into the cirque below. Although the cliff has an appreciable slope, it appears to be vertical especially when viewed from the moving train. At last the traveler reaches the summit, at Corona, 11,680 feet above the level of the sea, but the great snowsheds through which the train passes have prevented him from getting a fair view of the mountain summit. As soon as the train stops at Corona he may pass from the confinement of the snowshed and enjoy to the utmost the boundless space of the mountain top. On the crest in any direction there are peaks higher than Corona, the most prominent being James Peak (13,260 feet) on the south and Longs Peak (14,255 feet) on the north, but they can be seen from only a few points. On the west the traveler can look down on the billowy surface of Middle Park, one of the surface basins in the midst of the mountains ; and on the east he can look over the wide expanse of spur and ravine up which the train has so laboriously climbed. The railroad beyond Corona descends the fairly smooth western slope of the Front Range by many loops and turns until it reaches the floor of Middle Park. It crosses this immense basin in the heart of the mountains, cuts through the Gore or Park Range beyond in a deep, rugged canyon, and then continues westward across the great plateau country of northwestern Colorado. The plateau contains DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 13 one of the great coal fields of the State, which has only recently been developed. The coal is better than that of the Denver Basin, and much of it finds a ready market in the towns on the plains between Denver and Omaha. GEORGETOWN AND MOUNT McCLELLAN. The journey to Georgetown is made on a narrow-gage line of the Colorado & Southern Railway and is confined entirely to the valley of Clear Creek, which joins South Platte River about 6 miles north of the Union Station in Denver. From Denver to Golden the general course of the road is up the broad, flat valley, which is irrigated by water taken from the creek higher up. This valley is highly cultivated, and many fields of grain (see PL III, A, p. 7) may be seen from the train. Near the mountains the bottom of the valley is composed largely of gravel and boulders brought down by the creek in times of flood, and crops grown on such soil are scanty even where water for irrigation is abundant. Just below Golden (named in honor of Tom Golden, one of the pioneers of this region) the valley narrows and is flanked on either side by flat-topped hills, or mesas,* as they are generally called in the Southwest, about 400 feet high. These mesas are remnants of a once extensive plain formed at this level by streams that planed oif the inequalities of the land. TVliere the beds of rock are horizontal, as they are about Denver, the surface of the plain corresponds to the bedding of the rocks, but where the rocks are upturned on the flank of the mountain, as they are at Golden, they were planed off just the same. • After the streams had reduced the soft rocks to a relatively smooth surface a great flood of lava that was ejected from some vent in the mountains rolled out over the plain and spread for a distance of many miles. When this mass of lava cooled and became consolidated it formed a rock called basalt, which is harder than the soft sandstone and shale upon which it rests, and for that reason it served as a protecting cap when the region was uplifted and streams began to cut the rocks away. Most of the basalt is now gone, and the parts seen from the train are doubtless mere fragments of a once extensive and continuous sheet. The rocks upon which the lava was spread are the Denver and Arapahoe formations, of Tertiary age, and the Laramie formation, of Cretaceous age. Behind these mesas, which are outliers or foothills of the moun- tains, is a beautiful valley, which has been eroded in the upturned edges of the softer and lower formations. These rocks can not be seen distinctly from the train, but in near-by localities they are well exposed as they bend upward and rest upon the granite that forms * Flat-topped hills are uamed mesas because of their resemblance to a table (Spanish mesa, pronounced maj'sa). 14 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. the mountain mass. In this valley is Golden, which for a time was the Territorial capital. Here is the Colorado 'School of Mines, some of the buildings of which may be seen on the left. Here are also smelters and mills for reducing the ores mined farther up the creek. Immediately on leaving Golden the train plunges into the narrow, tortuous canyon which Clear Creek has cut into the uplifted granite mass. When boarding the train at Denver the traveler may have wondered why this road was ever built narrow gage (3 feet), or, even if so built, why it was not changed years ago to the standard gage, but when he sees this canyon he no longer questions the wisdom of the builders of the road in adopting the narrow gage nor that of the management in retaining it. He soon realizes that only a single narrow-gage line could have turned and twisted its way through the canyon and that the change to standard gage would mean the building of extensive tunnels and many bridges. The little narrow- gage line, on the contrary, as shown in Plates VI and VII, winds around every bend of the creek and every projecting spur of the mountain and required almost no cutting of the solid rock. Although the canyon nearly everywhere has precij^itous walls, it varies greatly in width. At some places, as shown in Plate VII, it is merely a cleft sufficient to accommodate the stream that carved it ; at others it is so broad that the stream has built flood plains upon which the railroad has little difficulty in finding its way. The cutting power of the stream has been nearly uniform throughout, but the resultant form of the canyon depends largely upon the resisting power of the rock through which it has been cut. Thus, where the granite is ex- ceedingly massive — ^that is, without joints or fissures' of any kind to weaken its resistance — the stream has not greatly widened its gorge, but where the rocks are seamed with innumerable joints, or where they have been so much squeezed as to form schists, the stream has cut out a wide canyon. The rock in which the canyon is cut is generally called granite, but some of it is banded and is properly called gneiss. (See foot- note on pp. 9-10.) The bands of the gneiss show great contortions, which are the result of movements in the rocky crust of the earth. The gneiss is also seamed with dikes (rocky material that was once melted in the earth's interior and forced into fissures of the rock) and veins (mineral matter deposited from waters circulating through fissures in the rock) of great variety of color and texture. In places the rocks are nearly black with the mineral called hornblende; in other places they are composed largely of white or pink feldspar or are gray granites. At Forks Creek the canyon divides, and the railroad branch to the right runs to Central City and Blackliawk, two of the most im- portant and oldest gold-mining centers of Colorado. Central City U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BLTLLETIX 707 PLATE VI "MOTHER GRUNDY." "Mother Criindy" from her position ovprlookin;; Ch-ar Creek keej)s a sliarj) lookout on all travelers. The massive irraiiile and the lorliioiis stream are well shown in this picture. Photograph h> L. C. MiChire. Denver: lurnished l>y the Colorado \ Southern Railway. TT. ft. OKOI^OCilCAL SURVEY BULLETIN 707 PLATE VII INAHHOWS OF CLEAR CREKk CANY()I\. In places the gor{;eisso narrow and the bends are so abrupt that both the stream and the raihoad seem to disappear in some rocky cavern, but on rounding the bend they may be seen pur- suing their tortuous course hemmed in by vertical or overhanging cliffs several hundred feet high. Photograph by L. C. McClure, Denver; furnished by the Colorado & Southern Railway. DENVER & KIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 15 was built near the spot where, in 1859, John H. Gregory made the second great discovery of gold in this region.^ A few miles above Forks Creek the canyon becomes less rugged. The first level bottom land the traveler has seen since leaving Golden is occupied by the town of Idaho Springs (altitude 7,556 feet), which is noted both as a pleasure resort and as a mining center. The waters are mild solutions of carbonate and sulphate of soda and have tem- ■^This discovery is described as fol- lows by E. S. Bastin: In romantic interest and as a record of human achievement in the face of great difficulties the story of the dis- covery and early development of the mineral wealth of this region can hardly be surpassed by any other chapter in the history of the " win- ning of the West." A decade after the historic " rush " of the forty- niners to California a second great westward movement of gold seekers from the Eastern States was started by the discovery of gold in alluring quantities near the present sites of Idaho Springs and Central City. It was first found in gravel on the out- skirts of the town of Idaho Springs by George A. Jackson, early in 1859. A few months later the rich outcrop- pings of a gold vein were discovered on the present site of Central City by John H. Gregorj\ These two discov- eries precipitated a stampede of pros- pectors, and within a few weeks many of the richer veins of the region had been discovered and many new de- posits of gold-bearing gravel located. This discovery began an era of min- ing development that led to the foun- dation and early growth of Denver and of the State of Colorado. Up to the end of the year 1918 there had been added to the world's supply of the precious metal from the counties of Gilpin and Clear Creek alone approxi- mately $175,000,000. Although the period of maximum production was be- tween the years 1870 and 1900, the two counties still produce annually metals to the value of more than $1,000,000. The gold-bearing gravel was small in quantity and was worked out mainly in the early years of mining. Since then the gold has been taken mainly from veins. Most of the veins are steeply inclined and traverse schist, gneiss, and granite, with which are associated dikes and irregular masses of younger intrusive rocks — the " por- phyries " of the miners. The deepest workings are those of the California mine at Central City, whose shaft descends 2,250 feet down a steeply inclined vein. A few of the veins are traceable on the surface continuously for more than a mile, and most of them are between 1 and 5 feet wide. The principal metals won from the ores are gold and silver, but copper, lead, and recently zinc have also been obtained. From a few of the veins near Central City pitchblende or uraninite, one of the minerals from which radium is obtained, has been mined, and this is the only locality in the United States and one of the few in the world at which the mineral is found in commercial quantities. The ores are believed by geologists to have been deposited by hot solu- tions given off from buried masses of slowly cooling "porphyry." The hot waters at Idaho Springs have possi- bly a similar origin, though their min- eral content is probably much less than that of the waters which origi- nally brought up the gold and silver from lower levels. (See Spurr, J. E., and Garrey, G. H., Economic geology of the Georgetown quadrangle. Colo.: U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 03, 1908; Bastin, E. S., and Hill. J. M., Economic geology of Gilpin County and adjacent parts of Clear Creek and Boulder counties, Colo. : U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 94, 1917.) 16 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. peratures ranging from 75° to 120° F. Hotels and bathhouses make the place very attractive to the traveler who can spend a few days in the bracing atmosphere of this mountain resort. The first really noteworthy discovery of gold in Colorado is com- memorated by a monument at the mouth of Chicago Gulch, a canyon entering that of Clear Creek from the left of the railroad nearly opposite the station at Idaho Springs, This discovery was made by George A. Jackson in January, 1859. \yhen winter was over Jack- son returned to the mountains and on May 7 began placer mining on Jackson Bar. One of the most notable achievements of mining engineering in this region is the Argo (formerly Newhouse) tunnel, whose large waste dumps may be seen in the eastern part of Idaho Springs. This tunnel extends northward for 5 miles to a point beneath the town of Central City. It cuts many of the veins far below the surface, draining the upper workings and facilitating deep mining. Much ore is brought from the Central City district to Idaho Springs through this tunnel, and mining at or below its level has shown that rich gold ore persists in many of the veins at very great depths. In the vicinity of Idaho Springs the canyon, although wider than it is in the neighborhood of Forks Creek, is still narrow and the walls are studded with jagged or loose rock as they were left by the cutting of the stream and the action of the weather, but from a point a few miles above the town to the crest of the range the canyon bottoms are broad and the slopes are generally smooth and round, so that a cross section of the valley resembles in shape the letter U. This form of valley (shown in fig. 4, p. 11) is due to the scouring action of a glacier that originated near the summit of the range and flowed down the canyon to a point where the ice melted faster than it was supplied from above and where the forward movement of the glacier consequently stopped. Although all this happened ages and ages ago, the surface features above and below this point still present a striking contrast, for the work of the glacier has not yet been obliterated by weathering. The end of the glacier, which was only a few miles above Idaho Springs, is also marked by a moraine — a great accumulation of rounded and scratched boulders that were brought down by the ice and dumped at its lower end. Both active and abandoned mines and many prospects may be seen on almost every slope of the canyon wall above Idaho Springs. In Gilpin and Clear Creek counties, as in most old mining regions, only a small proportion of the mines are in operation at any one time. Some of those that are not operated are " dead " — that is, their ore bodies have been entirely worked out — but many are idle only tem- porarily because of inefficient management or insufficient funds with DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 17 which to make further explorations for new ore bodies. Few veins are rich through their entire extent, and one company may ex- haust its resources in exploring lean parts and its successor may continue the exploration for only a short distance and strike rich ore. A number of the mines that are now idle, especially those near Lawson, Empire Station, Georgetown, and Silver Plume, were worked mainly for silver and have produced fabulously rich ore. Its unusual richness was caused by a process termed " downward enrichment," by which the silver in the upper parts of the veins was dissolved by surface waters and redeposited farther down in the earth. The ores so enriched do not persist to great depths, and on their exhaustion the mines working them are forced to shut down, for the unenriched ore below is too lean to be mined at a profit. At Georgetown the train begins to climb the well-known " Loop " by which the railroad loops back over itself in ascending the steep mountain side. Above the Loop lies Silver Plume, shown in Plate VIII, which has been one of the most active mining camps in the State. It is reported that more than $29,000,000 in silver has been taken from the mountain north of the town.^ The traveler's interest in the things he sees above Silver Plume '^"■ centers mainly in the engineering feat of scaling the steep piountain side and in the fine views he obtains during the ascent. After 'According to Bastin, the discovery of a gold-bearing vein near the present site of Central City by J. H. Gregory in 1S59 stimulated prospecting through- out the drainage basin of Clear Creek, and many such veins were dis- covered. One of the most productive of these veins was discovered by George Griffith in the vicinity of Eliz- abethtown (now Georgetown) on August 1. 1859. In 1860 there was considei'able excitement around Em- pire, but most of it was due to the dis- covery of rich placer gravel. The first valuable deposit of silver ore discov- ered (iu September, 1864) was the Belmont lode, in Momit McCIellan. Thus, as early as 1864 all the terri- tory that the traveler will see on his trip to Mount McCIellan was pros- pected in a crude way and to a certain extent developed. The development of mines, however, was greatly handi- capped by the lack of means of trans- portation, both for bringing in sup- plies and for sending out the products of the mines. This lack was supplied to a great extent in 1870 by the build- ing of what is known as the George- town branch of the Colorado & South- em Railway from Denver to Golden, but it was not until 1877 that this line reached Georgetown, and it was sev- eral years later before it reached Sil- ver Plume. Clear Creek County, of which George- town is the county seat, reached the peak of its metal production in 1894, since which time its output has been steadily declining until in 1914 it was worth only $884,615. In the next year the district began to feel the effect of the European war, and the value of its output of metals jumped to $1,124,225. In 1917 its metal output was valued at $1,631,219, in 1918 at $1,126,440, in 1919 at $644,332, and in 1920 at $526,369. '» Since the description of the trip to Mount McCIellan was written the line has been abandonefl, and the traveler will have no opportunity to reach the summit of the mountain except by pri- vate conveyance. 18 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. zigzagging back and forth up the steep side of the valley the train passes around a point and runs up another valley to its head and then, after making several switchbacks, finds its way to the summit of Mount McClellan. The view from this point is shown in Plate IX. Mount McClellan is not on the Continental Divide but on a high spur that branches off from it toward the east. The water that falls on both sides of this peak finds its way into Clear Creek and eventually reaches the Gulf of Mexico, but that which falls on dif- ferent sides of Grays and Torrys peaksj which are on the Con- tinental Divide, runs into streams that flow in diverse directions, part of it reaching the Gulf of Mexico and part of it the Pacific Ocean. These peaks are all more than 14.000 feet in altitude and are prominent features that may be seen toward the west, but they do not appear to stand so high above their surroundings as Pikes Peak and some other well-known mountain summits. The slope on the east side of Mount McClellan is smooth and gentle, but that on the west side is precipitous, because the snow and ice that long ago lay on the west side, under the shadow of the towering summits of Grays and Torrys peaks, were more protected from the sun and wind than those on the east side, and consequently, during the great ice age, an enormous glacier lay in the angle between jMount McClellan and Grays Peak and cut out a great amphitheater in the rocks, which, because of its circular form, is called by geologists a cirque. If the traveler standing on the ragged crest of this old cirque and looking down 2,500 feet into it has a vivid imagination, he may still see the great glacier that once filled it and flowed down the valley nearly to Idaho Springs. The route followed by the traveler throughout this trip is practi- cally parallel with a high-tension electric transmission line of the Colorado Power Co. The power is developed at a large hydroelectric plant on Colorado Eiver above Glenwood Springs and is carried to most of the mining camps in the mountains, crossing the Continental Divide three times and finally descending on the east to Georgetown, Idaho Springs, and Denver. The line may be distinguished by the high steel towers and the strip of cleared land along its right of way. SOUTH PLATTE CANYON. The canyon of South Platte River southwest of Denver offers many attractions to visitors from other parts of the world. There are no regular one-day excursions to this part of the mountains, but the train service on the narrow-gage Colorado & Southern Railway is so arranged that the traveler may easily visit such parts of the canyon as he deems most interesting and return to Denver the same day. If he is content with seeing the lower part of the canyon only ' The altitude of Grays Peak is 14,341 feet ; Evans Peak, 14,260 feet ; Torrys Peak, 14,336 feet ; and Mount McCleUan, 14,007 feet. DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 19 he should go to the village of South Platte, 29 miles from Denver, but should he wish to see all its more rugged parts he should go as far as Estabrook, 52 miles distant. Many persons go to resorts far- ther up the canyon, even as far as Grant (66 miles), but this upper part of the canyon is not so rugged — it lacks the features that give to the lower part its peculiar charm. Those who go to the upper part do so on account of the fishing, which is reported to be un- usually good. On leaving the Union Station in Denver, the railway crosses South Platte River and runs up on the west side of the stream to the moun- tain front. At Sheridan Jvmction a branch line turns to the west (right) to Morrison, which is in the same valley as that in which Golden is situated. A mile up this line and on the main terrace that borders the river valley is Fort Logan, the largest military post in g|^^^^ie^y;;> Figure 5. — Dakota hogback south of South Platte River, looking south. Note the east- ward dip of the sandstone forming the hogback and also that of the red sandstone nearer the mountains. Settling reservoir of Denver waterworks in the middle distance. Colorado. The train passes some fine country places and goes through large areas of irrigated lands in a high state of cultivation. At a. siding called Willard, 17 miles from Denver, the traveler may see on his right a sharp-crested ridge, which is formed by the upturned edge of the Dakota sandstone, the same rock that forms the sharp hogback at Plainview, on the " Moffat road." At first this ridge seems to stretch along the entire mountain front, and from the river bottom it appears almost as large as the mountains themselves, but on nearer approach it dwindles into comparative insignificance. The railway runs nearly parallel with this ridge for some distance, and then in following the river A^alley it turns more toward the west and cuts through it directly toward the mountains. The Dakota hog- back on the south side of the river, as well as the outcrop of lower red sandstones, is shown in figure 5, 20 GUIDEBOOK OF THE \^ESTERISr UNITED STATES. The reservoirs of the Denver waterworks, in which all sediment is allowed to settle before the water is turned into the city mains, are at Willard. The reservoirs are tastefully arranged and beautified with flowers, so that they make a very pleasing appearance. After passing the settling resen'oirs beds of red sandstone similar to those which make so striking an appearance in the Garden of the Gods, near Manitou, may be seen across the river, dipping away from the mountains at an angle of about 70°. Most of the beds of rock on the mountain front have similar dips, shoAving that at the time the mountains were uplifted the beds of sedimentary rock were bent up in a great fold, the upper part of which has been worn away, leav- ing only the suggestion of the upfold in the steeply inclined beds. Before the train reaches the mountains the great steel pipe that carries the Denver city water may be seen at several places on the right, where it spans the ra^anes on steel bridges. Just above Waterton the train enters the mountains by a canyon cut in the hard granite. Here the city water main passes over the railway and then plunges into a tunnel through a projecting spur. A large flume carrying water for irrigation may also be seen on the opposite side of the river, and it passes through the same spur that is pierced by the water main. The canyon which the train is now following is narrow and tor- tuous, and its walls are generally rough and precipitous. It extends to the town of South Platte, at the junction of the two forks of the river. The course of the city water main on the opposite side of the stream may be followed by the white telephone poles up to the head gate. The canyon above this place differs in width in different lo- calities. In some places it has a flood plain, but in others (as shown in PI. X) it is so narrow that there is room only for the narrow- gage (3-foot) railroad beside the river, and this road has to curve as sharply as the stream. The one feature that differentiates this canyon from others in the mountain region is the great number of trees that dot the rocky slopes on both its sides, but more particularly on the southern. The soft verdure of the evergreen trees relieves the ruggedness and the barrenness of the rocky walls, giving the canyon a picturesqueness seldom seen in other canyons of this region. Pine and spruce are the most common trees, but here and there stand groups of aspen, with their ever-moving leaves, which in summer give a softness to the slopes and in autumn add a blaze of glory to the somber canyon walls. South Platte is at the junction of the South and North forks of the river. South Fork, which is much the larger stream, drains U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 707 PLATE X I'l.ATTE CANYON. Narrow part of Plulle Canyon, where even a narrow-frape railroad can hardly find a foolliold. Photograph by L. C. McClure, Denver; furnished by the Colorado & Southern Hallway. TJ. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 707 PLATE XI A. CASTLE ROCK. A well-known landmark about 300 feet high, 33 miles south of Denver. It was first noted and named by the Long expedition in 1820. The cap rock, 60 or 70 feet thick, is made up of boulders of various sizes cemented together (conglomerate) and stands out prominently because it is harder than the underlying rock. Photograph by L. C. McClure, Denver. B. DOME ROCK, PLATTE CANYON. This picture illustrates the manner in which even the most massive granite may yield to the action of the weather. It peels off in successive curved layers much like the layers of an onion, leaving round or dome-shaped masses of rock which stand out in striking contrast to the towers and pinnacles that generally occur on the walls of the canyon. Photograph by L. C. McClure, Denver; furnished by the Colorado & Southern Railway. DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 21 nearly all of South Park and furnishes most of the water for the city's use. In the early autiunn, when the snow has disappeared from the mountain tops, these streams are scarcely able to supply the city's needs. To remedy this deficiency a dam has been built some distance up South Fork valley to impound the water and hold it until needed. This dam has produced a fine body of water known as Cheesman Lake. From South Platte the traveler may easily return to Denver, or if he chooses to go farther he can continue his journey up the canyon, which in some places takes on the aspect of a common mountain valley and in others is bounded by rocky walls several hundred feet high and so steep that they appear to be vertical. The massive granite, on weathering, tends to peel off like the layers of an onion, leaving a curved surface, in places like that of a great dome. (See PI. XI, B.) Such a feature is well shown on a large scale at the station of Dome Kock. Where the granite is traversed by many fissures or joints it is so easily broken down that few ledges can be seen, and the surface is covered with a mantle of finely broken rock. The roughest part of the canyon above South Platte lies between Cliff and Estabrook, where the gneiss is again exposed and makes a narroAv, rugged defile. This canyon, like the one below it, has several aspects, which depend upon the character of the rock and upon the Dosition of the joints. OTHER TRIPS OF INTEREST. The 70-mile circle trip through the Denver Mountain Park covers the most remarkable municipally owned park in the world. Within an hour's ride from Denver are the foothills of the park, backed by the towering peaks of the Continental Divide, with wild flowers, whispering pines, and singing torrents. The park includes a game sanctuary for buffalo, deer, and other Rock^- Mountain animals, a free automobile camp, shelter houses, camping facilities, and hotels. The body of Col. W. F. Cody (Buffalo Bill), the noted scout and plainsman, rests on Lookout Mountain. Many other beautiful and interesting drives may be made from Denver, and many railroad trips may be made that wiU well repay the traveler for the time spent, but some of these would consume more than one day and will therefore not be mentioned. One exception worth noting, however, is a trip to the Rocky Mountain National Park, which lies just back of Estes Park and includes Longs Peak. This park should be visited by all who delight in rugged mountain scenery. 80697°— 22 3 22 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. MAIN LINE OF RAILROAD FROM DENVER TO COLORADO SPRINGS. Soon after leaving the Union Station at Denver, on the main line of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad, the train crosses Cherry Creek near the place where Gen. Larimer built the first house, in 1858. As this creek heads out on the plains it is intermittent in its flow ; in dry seasons Elevation o 19T feet \[ii\q qj. ^o water runs in it at the surface, but when ropulation 256,491. " cloudbursts occur on its upper course a tremen- dous volume of water comes down, engulfing everything in its way. Such a catastrophe occurred in May, 1864, when great damage was done. Recently the channel of the creek, where it passes through the city, has been cemented, so as to prevent the loose sandy soil from washing away, and a boulevard bordered by trees has been constructed along it, giving its banks here the appearance of a park. The Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad traverses the manu- facturing part of Denver, and at Burnham, 2 miles out from the city, it passes the shops of the railroad system. About half a mile beyond the shops is the interesting though unpretentious laboratory building erected by the National Radium Institute for experimental work in cooperation with the United States Bureau of Mines to devise a cheaper method of extracting radium salts from the ores found in Colorado. This work has been accomplished, and the plant has now passed into the hands of a private company to continue the work of extracting radium.^ A short distance farther along South Platte River may be seen on the west (right), and the railroad runs up its valley for a distance of about 15 miles. The valley is well irrigated and contains many fine farms and country places. Loretto Academy stands out clear and distinct as one of the landmarks of the upland on the farther side of the river. Fort. Logan, just beyond, is a regimental Army post established about 25 years ago. 'The figures given for population throughout this bool? are those of the United States census for 1920; for places that were not incorporated the figures given represent the population of the election precinct, township, or other similar unit; such figures are marked with an asterisk (*). *The National Radium Institute was organized by Dr. Howard A. Kelly, of Baltimore, and Dr. James Douglas, of New York, not for pri- vate gahf but for the purpose pri- marily of studying the curative prop- erties of radium and secondarily to show that radium can be produced here at a much lower cost than abroad. When the institute was organized radium was selling for as much as $120,000 a gram. As Congress had failed to reserve for public use the land containing radium ores or to fos- ter the development of the radium industry in this country, the National Radium Institute undertook to provide the ways and means for experimental work to determine whether or not the ores could be reduced at a smaller DENVER & EIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 23 Littleton. Elevation 5,372 feet Population 1.636. Denver 10 miles. Littleton is the county seat of Arapahoe (a-rap'a-hoe) County, so named from a tribe of Indians that formerly inhabited this part of the country. It stands in the midst of a rich agri- cultural district and has become popular as the suburban home of many of Denver's business men. Near Littleton are the W. F. Kendrick pheasantries, which are said to be the largest game preserve in the world. Here all kinds of wild fowl are raised, and golden pheasants may be seen wandering by the roadside like chickens on an ordinary farm. A short distance beyond Littleton the traveler may obtain a charm- ing view on the right, across the broad, well-tilled valley of the South Platte, studded with clumps of cottonwood trees, to the Front Range, towering in the distance. Wolhurst, a fine country place built by the late L^nited States Senator Edward Wolcott, is farther along on the right, just beyond milepost 13. After the death of Senator AVolcott the place was purchased by the noted mining man the late Thomas F. Walsh. It is now occupied as a country home by one of Denver's richest citizens. At the small station of Acequia the railroad crosses the High Line Canal, one of those great irrigating ditches that are characteristic of the semiarid regions, which takes water from the South Platte and carries it far to the northeast, irrigating at least 100.000 acres of land that would otherwise be arid and unprofitable. The railroad follows the valley of South Platte River to a point a little beyond milepost 15. where it leaves the main valley and turns to the south (left) up Plum Creek. This creek also flows in a broad, flat valley, and the traveler, unless he observes closely, may not realize that the railroad has turned from the main valley into that of a tributary. Near milepost 15 the entrance to South Platte Canyon may be seen in the mountain front, on the right. Here, in 1820, the explor- ing expedition of Maj. Long first came to the mountains, although it had traveled from the north for many miles in front of and nearly cost than abroad and thus to place radiura within the reach of hospitals throughout the country. The Bureau of Mines had already rea'ched the conclusion that such a re- duction in cost was possible, and an agreement was reached by which the bureau was to cooperate with the in- stitute for the benefit of the people. The institute leased claims in Paradox Valley, in southwestern Colorado, and the Bureau of Mines mined the ore and shipped it to Denver for treatment by the bureau. The work has been succes-sful, and the bureau has pat- ented a process by which radium was produced at a cost of about $40,000 per gram, or one-third its selling price. This patent may be used free of charge by anyone who cares to use it for the benefit of the American people. All this valuable work has been done in the unpretentious plant at Denver. For further information the reader is referred to Bureau of Mines Bulletin 104. 24 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. parallel with them. The men were eag^er to climb the mountains, explore their wonderful peaks and valleys, and see the country that lay beyond, but a few days of hard climbing up the rocky slopes satisfied them that they could not reach the siunmit of the range in a short time and that mountain climbing was not so easy as it appeared from a distance; so they were content to proceed south- ward along nearly the route that is now followed by the Denver & Eio Grande Western Railroad. The entrance to the canyon may be seen from the train, but, owing to its many bends, the canyon does not appear to be an open cut through the mountain front. In many places at the foot of the mountains the steeply dipping sandstone forms sharp hogbacks, which may be seen from the mov- ing train, and, as the sandstone is mostly red, the traveler will soon learn to associate red sandstone and hogbacks with the foothills of the mountain front. These beds are very prominent near the mouth of Pliun Creek and may be seen to good advantage from milepost 17, about 11 miles up the creek. The scenery of the lower part of the valley of Plum Creek is smooth and uninteresting. The surface is a rolling upland, which can not be irrigated from the South Platte because it lies too high above that river, and it consequently appears rather barren to those who are accustomed to a more humid climate. The only railroad station in this part of the valley is Louviers, which is merely a ship- ping point for the DuPont Powder Co., whose plant for the manu- facture of high explosives is on the west (right) of the track. Above Louviers Plum Creek swings eastward, and it is bordered on its east side by bluffs and mesas of white sandstone." Although ^" All the rock seen near the railroad track from Denver to a point beyond Palmer Lake is composed of fragments derived from the decomposition of the granite and gneiss of the mountains. This material, which consists mostly of quartz and feldspar, is known to geologists as arkose. The formation is called the Dawson arkose, and it is of the same geologic age as the forma- tions about Denver that have been called the Denver and Arapahoe for- mations. Richardson, in the Castle Rock folio (No. 198) of the Geologic Atlas of the United States, describes the rock as follows : "The Dawson arkose, derived from the Pikes Peak granite and associated rocks, was laid dowTi under various continental conditions, chiefly as wash and fluviatile [stream] deposits accom- panied by local ponding. During the accumulation of the arkose tliis region may be conceived of as a piedmont [foot of the mountain] area having a moist and temperate climate, an area in which the vegetation was character- ized by the presence of many fig trees, palms, magnolias, poplars, willows, oaks, maples, etc., and which was occu- pied by Triceratops (huge three- homed dinosaurs), crocodiles, turtles, and other reptiles and by primitive mammals." In other words, the material derived from the mountains was carried out on a nearly flat surface and deposited by the streams in mucli the same way as the streams of to-day are carrying the waste of the mountain I'ocks and spreading it over the low parts of the plains. DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 25 Louviers. but a short distance from the upturned rocks along the mountain front, these sandstones lie practically horizontal, a fact which indicates that they are near the middle Elevation 5,675 feet, of the great dowufold of the rocks east of the Denver 21 iniles. Front Eange. Figure 6 represents the edges of the upturned rock beds as they would appear if they had been cut by a giant knife at right angles to the trend of the mountain range. The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway, which has been on the east (left) side of the train since it left Denver, passes over the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad at the town of Sedalia. The upland on the east is here nearer the track than it is farther north, and it stands out as a plateau with a steep or even vertical front. Some of these steep slopes are merely projecting points of the highland, but others are parts of hills that have been isolated from Sedalia. Elevation 5,835 feet Population 365.* Denver 25 miles. 0 1.000 2.000 3,000 *.ooo 5,000 Feet I 1 1 1 ■ FIG0EB 6. — Section at mouth of Platte Canyon. it by the cutting of the streams. Such isolated remnants of a once ex- tensive plateau are very conspicuous on the west (right) of the road. A hill of this kind in the East would not be called by any special name, but in the West, and especially in the Southwest, a flat-topped hill is almost universally called by the Spanish name mesa, meaning table. Near Sedalia are the forks of Plum Creek, one of which comes from the south and the other from the east. The one that comes from the south offers the more direct course for the railroad, but the one that comes from the east is the longer and has the better grade, so it was selected, even though its course is more roundabout. The most prominent of the mesas is Castle Rock, which may be seen far ahead on the right soon after the train passes Sedalia. Wlien first seen it is so far away that it seems to be only a small hill, but as the train proceeds it becomes more conspicuous, until at a siding called Plateau it appears on the right as a very prominent conical 26 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. hill surmounted by a thick, square block of rock. This mesa was first mentioned in tlie report of tlie exploration of Maj. Long, in 1820, and on account of its resemblance to an old ruin was called Castle Rock. As the train approaches milepost 32 the traveler may see that the railroad is built around the foot of Castle Rock mesa, which is about 300 feet high and has a cap rock 60 or TO feet thick. This mesa is shown in Plate XI, A, and in figure 7. The lower part of the mesa is composed of soft, fri- able beds of the Dawson arkose, but the cap rock is a coarse conglomerate of pebbles and boulders of crystalline rocks of all sorts that have been washed out from the mountains and of a volcanic rock (rhyolite) which caps also some of the adjacent mesas. These materials were washed out of the moun- tains by streams of water and dropped as sheets of gravel and boul- ders upon the surface of the land. The county seat of Douglas Castle Rock. Elevation 6,218 feet. Population 461. Denver 33 miles. Figure 7. — Castle Rock from tiie north. County, named in honor of Stephen A. Douglas, stands at the base of the mesa and bears the name Castle Rock. It was formerly noted for its stone quarries, the remains of which still disfigure the mesas, but the increasing use of cement in construction work has so de- pressed the market for ordinary building stone that the quarrying industry has nearly disappeared. Samples of the stone may be seen in the Douglas County High School building, on the right as the train enters the town, and in the station building of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad." This stone was once molten lava "According to Richardson the rhyo- lite is said to have been first quarried about 1876, and it is reported that up to 1914 about 30,000 carloads liad been marlieted. The stone has been exten- sively used for building in Denver, Colo- rado Springs, and Pueblo, where it has given general satisfaction. The quar- ries, to which railroad spurs have been constructed, are near the town of Castle Rock. The stone is readily accessible, is easily worked, is of pleas- ing gray to pinkish color, stands the weather well, and is sufficiently strong for ordinary purposes, although the more porous varieties are not adapted for use where great strength is desired. In recent years the production of this stone has fallen off because of the com- petition of other building materials. DENVER & EIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 27 that was poured out as a thin sheet over the surface of the country, after the Dawson arkose was deposited but before the coarse mate- rials of the Castle Rock conoflomerate were spread over the plain. In following the valley of Plum. Creek from Sedalia to Castle Rock the railroad swings far to the east of a direct line from Den- ver to Colorado Springs. After passing Castle Rock it turns back toward the mountains, its course being nearly due south to Palmer Lake, and the prolongation of this course would lead almost directly to Pikes Peak. This majestic mountain is too nearly straight ahead to be visible at many points, but here and there as the train swings around some of the numerous curves it may be seen in the distance towering far above the surrounding summits. To those accustomed to the more humid regions of the East, with their dense cover of vegetation, the open spaces of the West, the red rocks, and the strong yellow light of the plains are here the most striking features. The wonderful color effects of this region are beautifully expressed by Helen Hunt Jackson, Colorado's most gifted author : Colorado is a symphony in yellow and red. And as soon as I had said the words, the colors and shapes in which I knew them seemed instantly to be arranged in my thoughts ; places miles apart began to knit themselves to- gether into a concerted and related succession ; spots and tints I had only vaguely recognized became distinct and significant, each in its order and force; and more and more as I looked from the plains to the mountains and from the mountains to the plains, and stood in the great places crowded with gay and fantastic rocks, all the time bearing in mind this phrase, it grew to seem true and complete and inevitable. Mesas composed of white arkosic sandstone are seen on both sides of the railroad, but one on the right, 2 or 3 miles beyond Castle Rock, is the most prominent. This mesa, which is known as Dawson Butte, furnished the geologic name of the formation — the Dawson arkose. Just beyond milepost 37 there appears, seemingly from behind this mesa but in reality far beyond it, a jagged mass of red granite, which towers 1,000 feet above the general level of the Front Range l^lateau. This rugged mountain, known as Devils Head, is utilized by the Forest Service as a lookout station for the detection of forest fires. (See PI. XV, 5, p. 31.) On its lonely summit is stationed, throughout the summer, an observer whose duty it is to scan con- tinually the surrounding mountain region for forest fires, and if he discovers one to notify at once, by telephone, the superintendent of the Pike National Forest, so that all the rangers can be called to- gether to fight the fire. A more extended description of what the Government is attempting to do for the conservation of the forests is given below by Smith Riley, former district forester.^- " Colorado lies in the zone of slight precipitation and hence of irrigation, and the supply of water for this pur- pose comes from tlie mountains, where 28 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. Above Dawson Butte the railroad continues up the valley of East Plum Creek, winding around a projecting spur of the plateau on the east to the village of Larkspur, from which a stage Larkspur. |jj^g j.^j^g ^^ ^^^^ resorts in Perry Park, 4 miles to the Elevation 6,668 feet. ^est. This is a natural parklike area at the foot of Denver 43 miles. . . the mountains, made picturesque by natural monu- the moisture falls as snow during the winter. The presence of trees con- trols and prolongs this stream flow by preventing erosion and retarding the melting of snow in the spring and early summer. The forest on the mountains is com- posed of many different species of trees, and the range in elevation of these species is controlled largely by moisture and temperature. The piiion or nut pine and cedar trees are found near the plains or in the zone of small- est precipitation. Above this zone, as the precipitation increas'es, is that of the western yellow pine (PI. XIV, C) and Douglas fir, with blue spruce on small tracts. Above the zone of yel- low pine is the zone of lodgepole pine (PI. XXXVI, B, p. 76) and above this, extending to timber line, is the zone in which Engelmann spruce (PI. XIII, B) and alpine fir are intermixed. Throughout the zones of yellow and lodgepole pine and even in that of Engelmann spruce quaking aspen oc- curs in abundance. This tree, which presents a wonderful richness of au- tumnal coloring, has a marked tend- ency to seed quickly areas that have been severely burned. As it grows rapidly it soon forms a cover and acts as a " nurse tree," under which coni- fers that require more moisture start to grow and ultimately take possession of the area and kill out the aspen. Several varieties of cotton wood are found in the moist stream bottoms, in the zones of the yellow pine and pinon, and out on the plains. One of the white or five-needle pines grows on exposed slopes high in the zone of the yellow pine. This tree, which is called limber pine, has little commercial value but is very pic- turesque because of its gray-green foliage and whitish bark. Its pale- yellow cones are larger than those of any of the other pines in this region, and many of the trees are distorted into curious and picturesque shapes by the severe climatic conditions un- der which they grow. In the zone of the lodgepole pine and on the more exposed ridges there is another five-needle pine called bris- tlecone or sugar pine. This tree de- rives its names from the recurved prickles or thorns at the extremity of the cone scales, and from the exuda- tions of resin on the surface of the needles or leaves, which when dry look very much like particles of sugar. To maintain a cover for an even stream flow and protect the supply of timber all the more extensive drainage basins of the United States have been included in national forests. There are seventeen such forests in Colorado, comprising over 13.000,000 acres of mountainous country. A forest, which is based upon nat- ural subdivisions and administrative lines, contains from 400,000 to 1,600,000 acres and is in charge of a forest supervisor and a coi-ps of assistants. Every forest is further divided into ranger districts, each containing from 50.000 to 200,000 acres. Such districts are in charge of rangers, who police them and look after all business per- taining to the national forest. The Pike National Forest includes the mountains west of Denver and Colorado Springs. It includes most of the drainage basins from which Den- ver, Colorado Springs, and many smaller towns, having altogether a population of about 350,000, derive their domestic water supply. In addi- U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 707 PLATE XII A. RESULT OF A I{i:Ci:NT FoKKST Kllilv Scarred and blackened tree trunks and hulf-burned logs mark the path of a recent fire through the national forest. Photograph by the U. S. Forest Service. B. RESULT OF AN OLD FOREST FIHI-:. An old "burn" in a national forest. Its pathway is marked by the wliite skeletons of the dead trees, which are ready to fall in a hopeless tangle when struck by a hard wind. IMiolograph by the U. S. Forest Service. ^ — , DENVER & EIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE, 29 ments of tilted and highly colored sandstone. Although less known than the Garden of the Gods, near Manitou, it is similar in general appearance and by many is regarded as fully equal to it in natural beauty. In these castellated rocks those who have a vivid imagina- tion can see mystic monuments and towers, battlemented walls, minarets and steeples, and the remains of vast cities that still reflect tion to this supply its streams furnish water for irrigating 400,000 acres of rich agricultural land at the foot of the mountains. The region now included in this for- est furnished an immense amount of timber during the early development of local industries, about 500,000,000 feet b. m. having been cut prior to its establishment as a national forest. In the mountains farther west, particu- larly at Howard, travelers may notice rows of domelike structures looking like large beehives of the old-fashioned wicker type. (See PI. XIV, 5.) These are charcoal kilns. They represent all that is left of the charcoal industry, which, before coke was available, fur- nished fuel for smelters, greatly to the detriment of the timber stahds of the regions. In Gilpin County considerable areas of forest land were practically denuded, for trees of all sizes and even stumps were removed and utilized. This cut- ting was followed, from time to time, by fires which fed upon the " slash " left on the cut-over areas and killed the remaining trees. The bare hills then permitted a rapid run-off of wa- ter after heavy rains, which caused considerable destructive erosion. Sim- ilar conditions mark other parts of the Pike National Forest, but erosion has not cut so deeply into the slopes, and owing to generally favorable con- ditions, many areas have naturally become reforested. In the early days all ranch build- ings were constructed of logs, and even furniture was made by the set- tlers. The trees also furnished the entire supply of fuel. In many locali- ties they serve the same purposes to- day— the ranchers and new settlers put up their own buildings of logs ob- tained from the national forest under free-use permits, or established ranch- ers can purchase at a low price, equal to the cost of administering the sale. From 1875 to 1895 most of the rail- roads of the mountain region were built, and practically all construction was done with local timber. Most of the cutting was done by small oper- ators, with sawmills of 6,000 to 10,000 feet b. m. daily capacity, who would locate or purchase a small tract of timber land and then cut not only that but the timber on adjoining Govern- ment land. The operators of that day paid little or no stumpage for their timber and cut only that which was the most easily obtained or which was best suited to their purpose. Since 1905, when the forests came under the jurisdiction of the Forest Service, the Government's timber has been sold to private purchasers at fair rates of stumpage, and cutting has been restricted to trees whose I'emoval would benefit the remaining stand. The stumpage price charged In each sale is the difference between the mar- ket price of the pi-oduct and the esti- mated cost of production plus a lib- eral allowance for profit to the oper- ator. The amount of timber cut in the Pike National Forest for the year ending June 30, 1921, was 3,420,000 feet b. m., for which $4,960 was paid the Govern- ment for stumpage. In addition, about 1.000,000 feet b. m., mainly of dead material, was granted free to settlers and miners for their own use. The area of the Pike National For- est is 1,256,112 acres, of which 162,956 acres is patented or privately owned, and 108,000 acres is above timber line. 30 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. in the massiveness of their ruins some of their former grandeur. To the geologist these buttes and plateaus are also the ruins of a former age, but instead of being carved by man and representing cities that have passed away they were carved by water and wind from an older and higher land surface that carried its own par- ticular types of plants and animals and that had a climate which may have been very different from the climate of to-day. Compared with these remnants of this old land surface the most ancient ruined cities are as the works of yesterday. Larkspur Butte on the east and Raspberry Butte on the west are small remnants of this old surface. Beyond them the upland has been cut away, leaving a rather broad valley in which stands the The present stand of timber in the forest is estimated to be 1,100,000,000 feet b. m., of which 620,000,000 feet b. m. is considered to be in commercial stands and 480,000,000 feet b. m, in protection stands. The following list gives the species in the order of their abundance in the present merchantable stands, the names in parentheses being those often used by local timbermen: Engelmaun spruce (white spruce), yellow pine (immature timber is called blackjack). Douglas fir (red spruce), lodgepole pine, white pine, limber pine (white pine or pinon). bristlecone pine (sugar pine or pinon), alpine fir (white fir), white fir (balsam or black balsam), Colorado blue spruce (water spruce), and aspen (quaking asp). Of these, Douglas fir is the most valuable for railroad ties and lumber for other pur- poses, and yellow pine second. When an application for a timber sale is received by the Forest Service it is fii-st necessary to determine whether the timber applied for should be sold. Where dead timber is avail- able and will answer the pui-pose its use is encouraged. The object of cut- ting green timber is to improve the stand by the removal of the mature and defective trees, which are grow- ing very slowly, and to thin crowded groups of trees, leaving a stand of younger thrifty saplings and poles with plenty of growing space and per- mitting young trees to come in wher- ever there is not already a sufficient stand. In order to improve the stand and keep it in the best of condition for future growth it is necessary to base the time and method of cutting on the needs of the forest rather than on the desire of the operators. In the slow-growing stands of this forest it will generally be from 30 to 50 years or more after the first cutting before the area should be cut over again. In a Forest Service timber sale each green tree to be cut is desig- nated by blazing and stamping it with a " U. S." stamp. This marking is necessary in order that the trees which are to form the basis of the future stand will not be destroyed. (See PI. XIII, A.) After the marked trees are cut and skidded or hauled to a central point, the material is scaled or measured by a forest ranger and there sawed into lumber by a small mill. Contracts for the sale of green timber provide for the disposal of the brush and debris resulting from the cutting. Where there is a serious menace of fire the purchaser is re- quired to pile the brush and burn it when there is no danger of the fire .spreading. Where the danger from fire is not so great, or where some protection of the soil is needed to in- duce reproduction, the purchaser is required to trim the tops and scatter the brush so that it will lie close to the ground, where it will absorb mois- ture and decay rapidly. The proper U. S GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 707 PLATE XIV A. A FOREST MiRSERI . The Momimeiil nursery of I lie U. S. Forest Service, in which younj; trees are firown from lie seed. This nursery contains l.TSO.OOO seedlings and 810,000 transplants, which later will be used for reforesting some of tlie burned-over areas. I'holograph by the 1 1. S. Forest Service. B. OLD CHARCOAL KILNS. Into such kilns as these much of the forjst of the Rocky Mountains has disappeared. The charcoal which it made was used before coke became available for smelting ores. I'holo- graph by the U. S. Forest Service. C. YELLOW PINE. Typical stand of yellow pine in the Pike National Forest. Service. Photograph by the U. S. Forest r. ?. GEOLOGirAL SURVEY BULLETIN- 707 PLATE XV A. A PLACE FOR ARTIFICIAL REFORESTATION. A tract on the mountain back of Palmer Lake burned so severely that artificial reforestation is necessary. The mountain top here is ahnost a perfect plain i a peneplain i. Pikes Peak, in the distance, rises nearly a mile above its surface. Photograph by the L. S. Forest Service. 4 s S- ' -f^ % ^f'^ ^^*- 1^^^5 '^^Jm -^* '^^ kA. '"' ^>' ,'tifllfl •4^^S^ -^-=^^J .-'■^9'^^:-'^f^J^f^:^. ■ ■■^i*^ >r;.T-'';'.- /:>g wmk *■ ^^^'-'^ - ■'" ' V^^ '«^ ■> -.".^ ' ' ?*»* "--^-C- ^'."W- ;•-'.•"-'/-- r -:. •• j>. .- ., ^■^K:^} V- '*-'■;• -•' -- "'^ -* *> ■•"*■;'" ■^r- ^ B. FIRE-LOOKOUT STATION. On Devils Head Mountain, in the Pike INationaJ Forest. The observer stationed here is on the lookout for all forest fires occurring in an area of 600.000 acres. In case of fire he notifies by telephone the superintendent at Denver and the local forest rangers, who at once endeavor to put out the fire before it spreads and destroys valuable timber. Photograph by the U. S. Forest Service. DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 31 hamlet of Greenland. After passing this village the train turns more toward the southwest and pursues a direct course toward the low gap which separates the headwaters of East Plum Creek on the north from those of Monument Creek on the south. This gap is at the foot of the mountains and is marked by Palmer Lake, the highest point on the line between Denver and Pueblo. This lake and its relation to the mountain front are well shown in Plate XVI, B. The lake and town were named for Gen. Palmer, the organizer, first presi- dent, and inspiring genius of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. A more extended account of Gen. Palmer and his Greenland. Elevation 6,919 feet. Denver 47 miles. Palmer Lake. Elevation 7,237 feet. Population IGO. Denver 52 miles. disposal of brush is the most neces- sary measure for the protection of a cut-over forest from fire. In the early days of settlement in this country the forest suffered con- siderably from fires. (See PI. XII, A and B.) The present fire-fighting methods and organization were un- heard of. In 1869 a fire started by hunters on Pikes Peak is said to have burned intermittently for eight months and to have covered many thousands of acres, though there were several times during this period when a small crew of men could have ex- tinguished it. Similar fires covered about 250,000 acres in the Pike Na- tional Forest, and of this area 60,000 acres is not restocking but must be reforested. While vi.siting Colorado Springs the traveler will notice burned-over areas on the slopes of Pikes Peak. Several cities and towns procure their water supply from the slopes of this moun- tain, so it is of great importance that the forest growth be extended and maintained. An agreement has been entered into between the Forest Serv- ice and the cities of Colorado Springs, Manitou, and Cascade that the service shall reforest these slopes as rapidly as the funds available will permit. Already about $100,000 has been ex- pended in this work, and complete plans have been formulated for its continuation until tree growth has been established upon the entire area suited to the purpose. In making the trip to Pikes Peak over the automobile highway the traveler passes through several of these plantations. In order to accomplish this planting a nursery has been established just west of the town of Monument (PI. XIV, A). At the present time over 1,1500,000 tree seedlings and 600,000 transplanted trees are growing in this nursery. These trees will be planted in the mountains when they are two to tliree years old at a distance of 6 to 8 feet apart. During 1920 the area thus reforested comprised 738 acres and the planting required 570,000 trees. Forest fires still caus'e great de- struction in the national forest. (See Pis. XII, A, B, and XV, A.) The pos- sibility of fires in the Pike National Forest is great, bec-ause eight rail- roads traverse it, 5,000 people live in it, and 250,000 tourists seek recrea- tion within its borders. On the sum- mit of Devils Head Mountain the For- est Service has established a fire-look- out station (PI. XV, B), at which an officer is detailed to watch for fires during spring, summer, and autumn. This officer is in direct communication by telephone with the supervisor's of- fice in Denver and with the rangers whose districts he overlooks. As soon as a fire is discovereil he gives its location promptly and accurately so that the rangers can start with men, tools, and supplies to tight it. 32 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. work will be found on pages 54-60. The town of Palmer Lake is com- posed largely of cottages for summer guests who come here for health and recreation. The railroad station is 1,957 feet higher than Denver and 1,248 feet higher than Colorado Springs. Glen Park, an assem- bly ground modeled after the famous Chautauqua of Xew York, is about a mile from the station. The mountain front west of the lake rises abruptly, as shown in Plate XVI, B^ to a height of 1,800 feet above the level of the lake. The summer cottages nestle in the ra- vines at the base of the mountain and afford the inhabitants the ad- vantages and attractions of both the plains and the mountains. The mountain front rises abruptly from the plain without foot- hills of any kind. The reason for the absence of foothills is that the rocks of the plains, when they were bent by the upthrust of the mountains, could not stand the strain to which they were subjected, and in many places they broke and the lower crystalline rocks of the Figure 8. — Sketch section through Palmer Lake, showing fault. The granite on the west has moved up (see PI. LXXXVII, p. 216) with reference to the rocks of the plains. mountains were forced up into direct contact with the broken edges of the soft, flat-lying rocks of the plains, forming what is called a fault. The positions of the rocks and their relations are shown in figure 8. The effect of this fault has been much the same as that of the small faults shown in Plate LXXXVII, A and B (p. 216). From Palmer Lake to Colorado Springs the railroad extends down the valley of Monument Creek, so named from the pinnacles and columns of white sandstone (Dawson arkose) that are left by the irregular weathering of prominent outcrops. The Monument. first conspicuous example is on the east (left) of Elevation 6,972 feet, the road. wherc a mass of the sandstone has DenverTe^mHes. weathered into a form resembling an elephant. (See PI. XVI, A.) On account of this resem- blance it is generally known as " The Elephant." The valley im- mediately south of Palmer Lake is narrow, but in a short distance it swings to the east and at the village of Monument is, broad, irri- gated, and well farmed. The next station on the railroad is Edgerton (see sheet 2. p. 84), which is the point of departure for those who wish to visit Monument BULLETIN 707 SHEET No. 1 COLORADO Sheet No. 2 U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 707 SHEET No. 1 GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP RIO GRANDE ROUTE From Denver, Colorado, to Salt Lake City, Utah Compiled from United States Geological Survey atlas sheets and reports, from railroad alinements and pro- files supplied by the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad Co., and from additional information col- lected with the assistance of that company PREPARED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR EXPLANATION Gravel Consrlomerate deposited by (Castle Rock conglomerate) ArkoBic (frasmenta of granite) conglomerate (Dawson arkose) " sar Denver the beds equ " irkose are divided into Shale and sand (&nde) (Denver formatdonl 1 Bhale and sandstone White and red aandBtone, red ! Lykina formation shale and gypsum at top | Lyons sandstone Mainly white arkoaic sand- stone (Fountain formation) Limestone and Millsap hmcEtone Age Thick nee in feet Pleistocene Tertiary iOW/ocene) 300 2,000 ,■ Tertiary (Eocene) ! 800± I 700 L200 Upper Cretaceous 1,000 Lower Cretaceous Cretaceous ? 200 Carboniferous ( MieaisBippian) Ordovician Cambrian Pre-Cambrian Y Lava flows ( basalt and rhyolite) Fault U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN" TOT PLATE XVI A. "ELEPHANT ROCK." Just after passing Palmer Lake the ftuide on the train will call attention to the "Elephant," one of the grotesque remnants of the Dawson arkose which has weathered into a form resembling an elephant. Photograph by G. B. Richardson. B. PALMER LAKE. On a hot day in summer one of the most refreshing sights between Denver and Colorado Springs is the little sheet of water known as Palmer Lake. It lies on the divide between the Arkansas and the Platte and also at the foot of the Front Range, which shows on the right. Photograph furnished by the Denver &, Rio Grande Western Railroad. U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN- 707 PLATE XVI A. "ELEPHANT ROCK. " Just after passing Palmer Lake the guide on the train will call attention to the "Elephant," one of the grotesque remnants of the Dawson arkose which has weathered into a form resembling an elephant. Photograph by G. B. Richardson. B. PALMER LAKE. On a hot day in summer one of the most refreshing sights l)cl ween Denver and Colorado Springs is the little sheet of water known as Palmer Lake. It lies on lh(> divide between the Arkansas and the Platte- and also at the fool of the Front Range, which shows on the right. Photograph furnished by the Denver &. Rio Grande Western Railroad. -cos- H -5„-Ho ^,M 1« 3 U OP a B Ws a; 0 a J 6t_0 n « » -*1 z z t-H ■5 -a u< x:^ Q «'? w Oi *l^i p , « 2 -»1 u " ° S *j S 3 •s-o 2T3 QjS ■^•E a a M 0 « H ■£« . "--?? 5-; c3 0 Sh, DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 33 Park, 2 miles to the west, near the foot of the mountains. This park is also noted for the fantastic forms assumed Edgerton. 1^^ ^j^^ rocks as they are cut away by the elements. Elevation 6,4iT feet. ^ fg^^ of ^]^g columns in which Iron oxide has Denver 66 miles. i , • i i- • . i - cemented certam layers, tormmg a cap that pro- tects the layers below from rapid decay, are shown in Plate XVII, A and B. In its course down Monument Valley the railroad is built on the Dawson arkose, but the lower part of that formation is composed of sandstone that decays easily, and the rocks do not form buttes or mesas. Near Pikeview the arkose is cut through, Pikeview. ^^^ ^j^^ Laramie, or underlying formation, is ex- Eievation 6,199 feet. pQggj j^g outcrop is not conspicuous in the valley, but it forms a line of white sandstone cliffs that may be seen for a long distance to the east (left). This formation is the same as that which carries coal northwest of Denver, and were overlying formations removed it would be possible to walk on Figure 9. — Section at Pikeview. showing the fault that separates the rocks of the plains from those of the mountains. this sandstone continuously from Pikeview to Denver. It also carries coal beds in the Monument Creek valley, and the principal business at Pikeview is mining coal. The coal is mined by a shaft about 250 feet deep, but a short distance to the south it comes to the surface. It is of low rank and slacks or falls to pieces quickly when exposed to the atmosphere. As it comes from the mine it carries a large percentage of water, which makes its heating power low, but despite its inferior rank it competes as a domestic fuel with coals which are of a higher rank but which have to be shipped a much greater distance. Pikeview was so named on account of the magnifi- cent view that may be had here of Pikes Peak, about 10 miles distant (PI. XVIII). On a clear day the smoke of ascending trains can.^be clearly distinguished, and even part of the " Cogwheel Road " to the summit can be seen. The position of the coal-bearing rocks beneath the surface, as well as the relation of the rocks of the plains to those of the mountain on the west, is illustrated in figure 9. Avhich shows that in the uplift of the mountains the rocks have broken and those of the mountains have moved up with relation to those of the plains. 34 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. Below Pikeview the valley is cut in soft shale (the Pierre) and for that reason it is broad and shallow, and the moimtiins rise majes- tically a short distance to the west. Colorado Colorado Springs. Springs is at the point where Monument Creek joins Elevation 5,989 feet. Fountain Creek, or Fontaine qui Bouille (bubbling Dcnve^ 75°miies. fountain), as it was first named by the French explorers, and the railroad runs directly down the valley to that city. Colorado Springs is the most noted health resort in Colorado and, indeed, in the entire Rocky Mountain region. It was organized by Gen. William J. Palmer as a model city on July 31, 1871, the same jenr that the first railroad — the Denver & Eio Grande, then a narrow-gage line — was built into the valley. It has far outgrown the ideas of its founder, however, and has become the great tourist center of the mountain region as well as an attractive residence city, a railroad point of considerable importance, and the site of Colorado College. The name Colorado Springs is somewhat of a misnomer, for there are no large springs in the city, but it is closely connected by steam railway and by trolley with Manitou, which has springs of different kinds that have a world-wide reputation. Despite its clean, wide streets and its wealth of green lawns and shrubs and trees Colorado Springs offers little of special interest to the tourist, but it is a stop- ping place from Avhich other and more interesting localities may be visited and a gateway to the attractive features of the mountains. It is built on the edge of the plains, which sweep away eastward farther than the eye can see. Few travelers who visit Colorado Springs think of the plains as worthy of their attention or as having any beauty that is at all comparable with the beauty of the moun- tains, but Helen Hunt Jackson, who is buried here in Evergreen Cemetery, saw beauty in all the landscapes, and she likens the plains about Colorado Springs to the wide expanse of the sea, ever chang- ing, yet always the same. Between it [Colorado Springs] and the morning sun and between it and tlie far soutliern horizon stretch plains that have all the beauty of the sea added to the beauty of the plains. Like the sea they are ever changing in color, and seem illimitable in distance. But they are full of tender undulations and curves, which never vary except by light and shade. They are threaded here and there by narrow creeks whose course is revealed by slender winding lines of Cottonwood trees, dark green in summer, and in winter of a soft, clear gray, more beautiful still. They are broken here and there by sudden rises of table- lands, sometimes abrupt, sharp-sided, and rocky, looking like huge castles or lines of fortifications ; sometimes soft, moundlike, and imperceptibly widening, like a second narrow tier of plain overlying the first. The continuation of the description of the country along the main line of the railroad will be found on page 53. S£ §1 c o o o 6=t 0^ > i H"^ O 03 ■8.C O 60 o8 (8 2 •s o C CO u S 2 o o 5 ■ DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 35 ONE-DAY TRIPS FROM COLORADO SPRINGS. As most travelers on the Denver & Rio Grande Western Eailroad stop here to sample the mineral waters of Manitou and to explore the peaks and canyons of the near-by mountains, the more interesting side trips that may be made in a single day will be described. MANITOU AND THE GAKDEN OF THE GODS. The place that is first visited by most travelers stopping at Colo- rado Springs is Manitoii, 6 miles to the west, at the foot of Pikes Peak. In order to reach Manitou from Colorado Springs the traveler must pass through the historic town of Colorado City, which sprang into existence as a result of the rush of gold seekers to the Pikes Peak region in 1859. A cluster of log cabins was built at the base of the peak, but no gold was found. In 1862 Colorado City again came into prominence, when the second legislative assembly of the Territorj'^ convened there, but after a four-day session it adjourned to Denver, the real capital of the State. It is said that the building in which the meeting was held is still standing but in a much dilapidated condition. In 1910 Colorado City had a popula- tion of 4,333; since then it has been consolidated with Colorado Springs. In the palmj^ daj's of the Cripple Creek camp it had four cyanide plants ^^ in operation treating the ores, but with the decline of that camp the mills have been allowed to fall into decay. At the present time only one of them is in operation. The town of Manitou has a permanent population (1920) of 1,357, but during the summer it has manj' times that number. It was originally called Villa La Font, but this name was later changed to Manitou, which is the Indian name for the Great Spirit. It is said that the Indians were familiar with the springs before the advent of the white man, and that they believed that the bubbling was caused by the breath of the Great Spirit. In Manitou there are 16 springs whose waters differ widely in the composition and quan- tity of the mineral matter they contain. Some of the waters are strongly impregnated with soda, others with iron and magnesia, and some contain, it is said, lithia, lime, sulphur, potash, and other "The cyanide process of treating gold ores was discovered in 1890 and is now used all over the world. It is best adapted to free-milling ores, especially after the bulk of the gold has been removed by amalgamation. The ore is first broken and ground as fine as flour. It is then carried to great vats, whei'e the gold is dis- solved by a weak solution of cyanide of potassium. After standing for several days the solution containing the gold is passed over zinc turnings, which precipitate the gold with other metals as a black slime. Similar re- sults may be obtained by electrolysis except that the gold is obtained in a purer form on lead plates. The slime or lead plates are then treated to sep- arate the gold from the baser metals. 36 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. mmerals.^* The principal springs are known as the Soda, Ute Iron, Ute Chief, Navajo, Geyser, Mansions, Soda-Iron, Twin Sho- shone, Minnehaha, Magnetic, and Magnesia. The second most attractive natural feature of the region is the Garden of the Gods, which can easily be reached from Manitou or from the trolley line that connects Manitou and Colorado Springs. This interesting bit of wonderland is now a part of the Colorado Springs park system, to which it was transferred in 1909 by the heirs of the late Charles Elliott Perkins with the stipulation that it should be forever kept open and free to the world. There are two entrances to the Garden of the Gods, but the traveler should by all means approach it from the lower entrance, the one nearest Colorado Springs, for he will there get his first view of it through the celebrated " Gateway," which is in itself one of its most striking features. Plate XIX shows the great upstanding ledge of red sandstone in which the " Gateway " has been cut by a small stream. The view here shown is not that which the traveler will get from the main road but is one he could get by climbing and walking a little distance to the north before reaching the deep cut. The white rock in the foreground is a thick bed of gypsum, which contrasts strongly with the deep-red sandstone beyond. After passing through the " Gateway " the traveler will find him- self in a wonderful array of tall spires of red and white sandstone and of many fantastic forms, which have been produced by the slow weathering of the massive rock. These features are shown in Plates XX and XXI. The rocks of the Garden of the Gods are of the same general character as the upturned red sandstones between Denver and Colorado Springs, but the forms are larger and more picturesque here than they are at any other place on the mountain front. These great natural monuments look as if they had been pushed up from below the surface by some giant force, but they are really mere remnants of great masses of red and mottled rock that were long ago tilted up "An analysis of Manitou table wa- ter, made by the Bureau of Chemistry of the Department of Agriculture, is as follows: Parts per million. Silica (SiOj) 47.2 Iron and aluminum (Fe-t-Al) 1.8 Manganese (Mn) 1.7 Calcium (Ca) 457.9 Magnesium (Mg) 79.2 Sodium (Na) 551.0 Potassium (K) 71.3 Lithium (Li) .23 Ammonium (NH4) .05 Parts per million. Osj'gen to form man- gano-manganic oxide (MnsOi) 0.7 Bicarbonate radicle (HCO3) 2,664.6 Sulphate radicle ( SO4) _ 219. 2 Chlorine (CI) 250.0 Bromine (Br) Small amount. Metaborate radicle (BO3) Faint trace. 4, 344. 88 The water is supersaturated with carbon dioxide (COj). U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN' 707 PLATE XX A. THE "SIAMESE TWINS. " The "Siamese Twins" are still apparently bound together by solid rock, but close inspection shows a crack along which the weather is slowly accomplishing its work of destruction. A few grains of sand may be loosened and blown away each day, and thLs process repeated almost indelinilely will hn;illy sever the coiniectioii and then the columns will stand separate and distinct. I'hotoi:raph by L. C. IMcChire. Denver: furnished by tlie Denver & Rio Granilo Western Railroad. B. "BALANCED ROCK." This strange monument of nature's handiwork attracts the attention of most travelers. It was once doubtless connected with the pedestal on which it stands, but a soft layer near the bottom has been worn away until the mass seems to be ready to tumble at any moment. The red sandstone contains many pebbles and might properly be called a conglomerate. Pho- tograph furnished by the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad. ^ _- o DENVER & EIO GRAlsTDE WESTERN" ROUTE. 37 on end and then were partly removed by the dissolving action of the atmosphere. This is a slow process, but it is always in operation, and each day a few grains of sand are loosened and carried away. Under this constant attack new and picturesque forms are being produced and the old pinnacles and towers are being worn away. All these interesting monuments of the activity of weathering proc- esses will at some time be worn down to the level of the plain, but that time will be so far in the future that the loss of the monuments need not give much concern to the present generation. The great ledges that give to the Garden of the Gods its pic- turesqueness extend to the north and are again strikingly exposed in Glen Eyrie, which for a long time was the chosen home of Gen, Palmer. Plate XVII, C (p. 33) , shows one of the more striking rocks in this well-known glen.^^ " The rocks in and about the Garden of the Gods and Glen Eyrie are more fully described by Prof. George I. Fin- lay as follows : Few regions in the United States offer so much to the traveler and to the student of rocks as the country about Colorado Springs. The Rocky Mountains here meet the Great Plains with a bold front. At some places, owing to faults or breaks in the beds of rock, the old, strong granite of the mountains stands in direct contact with the young, weak rocks of the plains; under the waters of shallow seas that from time to time invaded this part of the continent. Such seas were exten- sions of the Gulf of Mexico or were connected with the oceans that sur- rounded the continent. At one time, in the Cretaceous period, the Gulf of Mexico and the Arctic Ocean were con- nected by a sea that extended across North America. The continent was then reduced to a number of islands, many of which were nearly continental in size. The shallow water between them became the settling ground for SOOOfeet above sea level Figure 10. — Section through Garden of the Gods. The spires and walls of the gateway are carved in the upstanding block of sandstone, and this block is separated from the rocks on both sides by faults. For explanation of letters see Plate XXII. at others, as at Manitou and in the Garden of the Gods, the sedimentary beds are upturned in a narrow belt that offers the traveler an unusual op- portunity to examine and study them. The layers of rock that compose the foothills and plains are like books on a shelf which have fallen over toward one end, so that most of them lie at low angles, although a few are nearly vertical. (See fig. 10.) These rocks lie in distinct layers because most of them were laid down 80697°— 22 4 the sand, mud, and gravel which the streams brought down from these great islands. Along the shores the waves were cutting away the land and re- ducing it to mud and sand, and strong currents were carrying these materials widely over the sea floor. After this condition had prevailed for a long time the continent was uplifted and was restored to something like its old outline. During these changes sand was consolidated into sandstone, mud into shale, and gravel into conglomer- 38 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. PIKES PEAK. Manitou is the place from which the start is made on the Cogwheel Road for the ascent of Pikes Peak. Pikes Peak, the highest moun- tain in this part of the system (14,109 feet), was named for its dis- coverer, Lieut. Zebulon M. Pike, who was commissioned by Presi- dent Jefferson to explore certain parts of the western country ac- quired from France by the treaty of Paris, signed April 30, 1803, and generally known as the Louisiana Purchase. Pike had already ate, all being cemented and welded to- gether by the great weight of the lay- ers above. In the sea limy shells ac- cumulated in great beds and were in large part ground up by the waves and reduced to fine particles, which were cemented together by a part of their lime carbonate into beds of limestones. These several kinds of rock — shale, sandstone, conglomerate, and lime- stone— are the sedimentary beds which are so well represented near Colorado Springs, where their total thickness is over 10,000 feet. These beds of rock were not originally vertical or inclined but lay horizontal, and it was the up- lift of the mountains, which occurred long after they had been formed, that disturbed them. Their edges are now exposed all the way from Manitou to Austin Bluff, east of Pikeview. The oldest of these beds are those which lie upon the granite of the mountains ; the youngest are those which are ex- . posed in Austin Bluff and beyond; and the beds of intermediate age are those in the Garden of the Gods. The formations into which the sedi- mentary rocks of the Colorado Springs region are grouped by geologists and the names of the geologic periods in which they belong, as determined by the study of their fossils, are shown on sheet 2 (opposite p. 84) and in the general section on page ii. The term formation is generally applied to a distinctive bed or a series of distinc- tive beds of rock, such as sandstone, shale, or limestone, that were formed continuously or in close succession dur- ing a certain period of geologic time, or to a group of beds that are of about the same geologic age. It is thus frequently applied to such an assemblage of beds as may be grouped together as a unit for con- venience in mapping. The deposits made in a single geologic epoch or period are usually represented by sev- eral formations. In this region the Upper Cretaceous epoch, for instance, is represented by eight formations, though other periods are each repre- sented by only one formation. Be- tween the Manitou limestone and the shale at the base of the Fountain for- mation there are no representatives of the rocks that were formed else- where during the Silurian and De- vonian periods. Nor is there any rock to represent the earliest division of the Carboniferous period. The ab- sence of tliese beds means either that during these long periods of time the Colorado Springs region was dry land, upon which no material was being de- posited, or that the rocks then de- posited there were later worn away. Between the Lykins and the Morrison formations no representative is found of the Triassic period, whose rocks constitute another of the geologic sys- tems. Not all the sedimentary rocks of the Colorado Springs region were laid down on the sea floor. The Dawson arkose, for instance, at the top of the column, was spread out on the land by the many eastward-flowing streams, which brought quantities of disinte- grated granite and gravel down from high lands on the west. As these streams shifted from side to side over the country they spread gravel some- what evenly over the slope until they had thus deposited considerably more U. S. GEOLOGICAL SU 19 ■y-\t L^'^??^ .L' "S!^, Com L GEOLOGIC M U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY ''p2^^-''f;Jf^? BULLETIN 707 PLATE XXH R 67 W EXPLANATION J I Colorado g 1^ Morrison formation -J- Lykina formation 1 ' Lyons sandatone f y Millsap limestone |' Fremont limestone ; Harding sandstone Manitou limestone Sawatcb sandstone X Granite Fault Upper Cretaceous Lower Cretaceous Cretaceous ? 1 Carboniferous ' Permian ? and Pennsylvanian } Pre-Cambrian GEOLOGIC MAP OF MANITOU AND THE GARDEN OF THE GODS, COLORADO By a. I. Finlay DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 39 made a trip to the source of the Mississippi when he was directed to explore what was then known as the " Southwest." He and his party left Missouri in July, 1806, and went across the country to the Arkansas and up that valley to the site of Pueblo. At the mouth than a thousand feet of coarse mate- rial. The Fountain formation is simi- lar to the Dawson arkose, and much of it was no doubt similarly deposited. The Lykins formation is made up of beds which were laid down in land- locked bodies of water in a region that had an arid climate. The Lara- mie formation is made up of beds of sandstone and shale between which there are layers of coal that repre- sent accumulations of vegetal matter in swamps. When a tree dies in the forest it quickly decays, but when it falls into a pond of water, as in a swamp, the water protects it in a great measure from decay, so that its carbon is stored up and accumulates as coal. Colorado Springs is built on the nearly horizontal Pierre shale. The road from Colorado Springs to Man- itou leaves this shale just west of Colorado City and in the succeeding 3 miles crosses the steeply upturned beds of the Cretaceous formations. Beyond Quarry Spur it passes over the Fountain beds, which underlie Manitou. These relations will be un- derstood from a study of the map shown in Plate XXII and the cross section forming figure 10. On leaving Manitou a walk of less than a mile up Ute Pass as far as Rainbow Falls takes one past the sedimentary rocks into the granite. On either hand, resting on the granite, are the lowest white layers of the Sawatch sandstone, of Cambrian age, the oldest sedimentary rock in this region. Tlie contact between the granite and the sandstone is every- where so remarkably even as to indi- cate clearly that before the sand which formed the sandstone was de- posited the granite had been worn down to a smooth surface or a nearly perfect plain. About 50 feet above the granite the dove-colored Manitou limestone (Ordovician), over 200 feet thick, succeeds the sandstone and forms the bulk of the ridge between Ute Pass and Williams Canyon. In Williaftis Canyon (PI. XXIII) the walls are composed of the same two formations, overlying the granite. The Cave of the Winds, in the Man- itou limestone, compares favorably with the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky and the Luray Caverns of Virginia, though it is by no means so large. The limestone in which the cave has been excavated was honeycombed by the solvent action of rain water, which sank into it along cracks and passed through it in small streams. Later the streams left the caverns which they had made, and the dis- solved lime carbonate in the water that dripped from the cracks in the roofs of the cavern produced icicle- shaped forms known as stalactites. Water dropping on the floors of the caves similarly built up stalagmites. Queens Canyon, 3 miles north of Col- orado City, is in the same formation. East of Manitou and north of the railroad track there are fine exposures of the Fountain formation, whicli stretches over to the Gai'den of the Gods. The red rock series — made up of the Fountain formation, the Lyons sandstone, and the Lykins formation — is about 5,000 feet thick. Near Manitou the Fountain beds dip 11° E. In the Garden of the Gods they were tilted until they stand vertical, and in the intervening ground they stand at intermediate angles. (See fig. 10.) Interesting erosion forms may be seen in the Fountain forma- tion in Mushroom Park and just west of the great masses of Lyons sand- stone in the Garden of the Gods. Some of these forms rise 200 or 250 feet above the adjacent ground. DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 39 made a trip to the source of the Mississippi when he was directed to explore what was then known as the " Southwest." He and his party left Missouri in July, 1806, and went across the country to the Arkansas and up that valley to the site of Pueblo. At the mouth than a thousand feet of coarse mate- rial. The Fountain formation is simi- lar to the Dawson arkose, and much of it was no doubt similarly deposited. The Lykins formation is made up of beds which were laid down in land- locked bodies of water in a region that had an arid climate. The Lara- mie formation is made up of beds of sandstone and shale between which there are layers of coal that repre- sent accumulations of vegetal matter in swamps. When a tree dies in the forest it quickly decays, but when it falls into a pond of water, as in a swamp, the water protects it in a great measure from decay, so that its carbon is stored up and accumulates as coal. Colorado Springs is built on the nearly horizontal Pierre shale. The road from Colorado Springs to Man- itou leaves this shale just west of Colorado City and in the succeeding 3 miles crosses the steeply upturned beds of the Cretaceous formations. Beyond Quarry Spur it passes over the Fountain beds, which underlie Manitou. These relations will be un- derstood from a study of the map shown in Plate XXII and the cross section forming figure 10. On leaving Manitou a walk of less than a mile up Ute Pass as far as Rainbow Falls takes one past the sedimentary rocks into the granite. On either hand, resting on the granite, are the lowest white layers of the Sawatch sandstone, of Cambrian age, the oldest sedimentarj' rock in this region. Tlie contact between the granite and tlie sandstone is every- where so remarkably even as to indi- cate clearly that before the sand which formed the sandstone was de- posited the granite had been worn down to a smooth surface or a nearly perfect plain. About 50 feet above the granite the dove-colored Manitou limestone (Ordovlcian), over 200 feet thick, succeeds the sandstone and forms the bulk of the ridge between Ute Pass and Williams Canyon. In Williaftis Canyon (PI. XXIII) the walls are composed of the same two formations, overlying the granite. The Cave of the Winds, in the Man- itou limestone, compares favorably with the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky and the Luray Caverns of Virginia, though it is by no means so large. The limestone in which the cave has been excavated was honeycombed by the solvent action of rain water, which .sank into it along cracks and passed through it in small streams. Later the streams left the caverns which they had made, and the dis- solved lime carbonate in the water that dripped from the cracks in the roofs of the cavern produced icicle- shaped forms known as stalactites. Water dropping on the floors of the caves similarly built up stalagmites. Queens Canyon, 3 miles north of Col- orado City, is in the same formation. East of Manitou and north of the railroad track there are fine exposures of the Fountain formation, which stretches over to the Garden of the Gods. The red rock series — made up of the Fountain formation, the Lyons sandstone, and the Lykins formation — is about 5,000 feet thick. Near IManitou the Fountain beds dip 11° E. In the Garden of the Gods they were tilted until they stand vertical, and in the intervening ground they stand at intermediate angles. (See fig. 10.) Interesting erosion forms may be seen in the Fountain forma- tion in Mushroom Park and just west of the great masses of Lyons sand- stone in the Garden of the Gods. Some of these forms rise 200 or 250 feet above the adjacent ground. 40 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. of Purgatory Creek he caught sight of Pikes Peak, far to the north. Pike, in his journal, calls it the " Grand Peak." He was fired with Jnst to the east of the gateway to the Garden of the Gods the gjT)Sum layer of the Lykins formation is prom- inent. (See PI. XIX.) This gypsum undoubtedly crystallized out of a land- locked body of sea water which had been reduced by evaporation in an arid climate to a state of supgrsatu- ration. Gypsum, a mineral so soft that it can be scratched by the finger nail, is used in making wall plaster and as a fertilizer. The Morrison for- mation, which is made up chiefly of maroon and green limy shale, is best seen near Colorado City in the rail- road cut just east of Quarry Spur, This formation, which generally ex- tends along the Rocky Mountain Front, has yielded many bones of huge reptiles, such as the Ceratopsia. One skeleton was found in the Garden of the Gods. This is the same band of rock in which remarkable reptilian remains Avere found west of Denver and north of Canon City. (See PI. XXXII, B, p. 70.) To observe the outcrops of the for- mations of Cretaceous age as high in the column as the Niobrara forma- tion it is necessary to leave the rail- road track just west of Colorado City and climb about 100 feet to the level of the gravel bench. These outcrops form perfectly straight hogback ridges between Fountain Creek and Bear Creek, and the beds in them stand nearly vertical. The western hogback is made up of Dakota sandstone and the Lower Cretaceous rocks that are associated with it. The eastern hog- back carries along its crest the sand- stone member of the Carlile formation and the overlying Niobrara limestone, which are also well exposed. The traveler should visit the mesa, the large mass of gravel overlying the PieiTe shale in the V between Monu- ment and Fountain creeks. This is but one of many remnants, all sloping away from the mountains at much the same height, of a great deposit of gravel which has been cut through by such streams as Fountain Creek. One who restores in his mind's eye from mesa to mesa the gravel plain repre- sented by the surface of these rem- nants can get an idea of the former extent of this stream-laid gravel, which -was spread out by streams flowing from the mountains, and can understand the mode of formation of the Dawson arkose, which was simi- larly laid down millions of years earlier than this gravel. To the south the ragged crest of Cheyenne Mountain rises more than 2,0(X) feet above the sedimentary beds at its eastern base. This sudden change in the surface features is due to the different rate of weathering of the sedimentary beds and the great granite mass, which was upraised along the Ute Pass fault for more than a mile and at the same time thrust forward about 4 miles. By this faulting movement the sedimentary rocks between Manitou and the south- ern end of Cheyenne Mountain were sheared off as shown in figure 13 (p. 53). The detached masses of sedi- mentary rock that once lay upon the upthrown block of granite were car- ried up with it and were long ago worn away and lost by erosion. Plate XXIV, B, and figure 13 show the Ute Pass depression, which marks the fault-line break where it continues northwestward through the granite of the Front Range. This is the greatest fault or dislocation of the rocks in the Colorado Springs region. As these faulting movements took place in geologically recent time the Rocky Mountains, which were brought into being by them, are therefore recent features in the geologic sense. They were probably raised up after the deposition of the Dawson arkose. r. S. GEOLOGICAL SIRVEY BILLETIX 707 PLATE XXIII WILLIAMS CANYON, MANITOU. The rugged scenery about Manitou is well illustrated bv the view, which also shows the good roads that make all the interesting places accessible. Photograph by L. C. McClure, Denver. U. S. GEOLOOICAL SURVKY BULLETIN 707 I'LATE XXIV A. PIKES PEAK AND THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN PENEPLAIN. The appearance of Pikes Peak depends largely upon the point of view and the selliiiK. From Colorado Sprinfrs it seems to be a mass of mountains piled one above another until it culmi- nates in the main peak. Viewed from ihe north, as in tliis picture, it is clearly a single moun- tain mass standing on a plain (Rocky Mountain peneplain) left by the erosion of the surround- ing rocks. The plain has an elevation of about 9,200 feet, and this peak rises nearly 1,800 feet above it. Photograph by G. B. Richardson. B. UTE PASS. This view is taken from a point near the falls, looking south to Manilou, which may be seen in the distance. Above the fine automobile road over which the traveler passes on his way to the summit of Pikes Peak are beds of quartzite (hardened sandstone) resting directly on the granite. This unusual contact is not due to a fault but to the fact that the sand was deposited on the granite surface which then formed the floor of the sea. Photograph furnished by the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad. DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 41 the ambition to climb it, so he started off from his camp at the site of Pueblo, on Arkansas River, supposing- that he could easily reach its summit and return in the course of a few days. He was not accustomed to the clear air of the mountains and did not realize that the peak was 45 miles distant in an air line and about 9,500 feet above him. The party traveled directly toward the peak, and finally, on November 27, 1806, after great hardships, they reached the sum- mit of the plateau, at an altitude of probably 9,000 feet, far south of the peak. The mountain was covered with snow, and they saw that th^y were but little more than halfway to the top. As they were not prepared for such cold weather, they suffered severely and con- cluded that it was then impossible to reach the summit. They re- turned as they came and then pursued their way up the river toward the site of Canon City. The first person to climb to the summit of Pikes Peak was Dr. Edwin James, botanist, geologist, and surgeon of Maj. Long's expedi- tion, in 1820." On account of this ascent Maj. Long named the mountain James Peak, and it was called by this name for a number of years. Eventually, however, the name of its discoverer, Pike, was given to the mountain, and it is now firmly fixed as the most appropriate one that could have been chosen. Pikes Peak stands at an altitude of 14,109 feet, or more than 1^ miles (7,920 feet) above Colorado Springs. Its summit may be reached by the Manitou & Pikes Peak Railway, better known as the CogT\^heel Road, or by automobile over the road recently completed from Cascade to the top. The first part of the Cogwheel route "The Long expedition came to this region over practically the same route that the traveler on the Denver & Rio Grande Western has followed south from Denver. Maj. Long camped at the mouth of Monument Creek (Colo- rado Springs) to allow Dr. James an oppoxtunity to climb the mountain called by Pike the " Grand Peak." On July 13, 1820, Dr. James and two com- panions started for the mountain. After dining at the "boiling spring" (Soda Spring at Manitou) they began the ascent of the mountain, taking with them only a single blanket. They camped on their way up, probably before they got to the timber line, and spent a very uncomfortable night. After much hard climbing the party reached tlie summit about 4 o'clock in the afternoon. In their descent they lost their way and were obliged to spend another night on the mountain side mthout food or blankets. On the morning of July 15 they continued their descent to the boiling spring, where Dr. James entered the follow- ing note in his journal : " A large and much frequented road passes the springs and enters the mountains, running to the north of the peak. It is traveled principally by the bisons ; sometimes also by the Indians, who penetrate here to the Columbia." Evidently Ute Pass was used as a thoroughfare long before the white man was familiar with the region. The geologic cause of this low pass is stated on page 40. 42 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. through Engelmann Canyon, which is nearly filled with large granite boulders, is very picturesque. The small stream tumbles over the great blocks of rock in continuous cascades, and overhead and around is the deep green of the native forest. Near the upper end of the canyon is the intake of the main that supplies Colorado Springs and Manitou with pure, cold mountain water. The water supply of these towns is derived not only from this particular valley but is gathered by a system of tunnels and canals from a number of rocky basins whose natural outlet is to the west. After passing through the rough part of Engelmann Canyon the road emerges onto a comparatively level terrace of the mountain side at an elevation of about 9,000 feet. On this terrace the ancient glaciers that came down from the high peak above dumped great quantities of loose fragments of rock in ridges that are called mo- raines. The ice has disappeared, but the moraines still testify to the existence and the extent of the ice. The most conspicuous moraine to be seen from the Cogwheel Road is that which encircles and holds in place Lake Moraine, on the left. The moraine had formerly been breached by a stream, but it has been artificially restored to its original condition, and it now holds a lake of considerable size. The surface of the mountain above timber line consists of granite, which is bare except where it is covered by snow. After circling around a long spur that projects to the south the train arrives at the summit. On the east are Colorado Springs and Manitou, which look like small villages or gardens spread at the foot of the moun- tain, and still farther east are the plains, which stretch like a carpet as far as the eye can see. On the west and southwest the mountains roll like the billows of the sea far into the hazy distance. The Sangre de Cristo and the great Sawatch ranges tower like giant rollers high above the others, as if the sea had been consolidated at the very moment of its greatest agitation. On the north is the Rampart or Front Range, but in this direction, instead of rugged mountains, one sees only a gently undulating plateau, which from this great height looks much like the plains on the east except that it is dark with a growth of evergreen trees. To the traveler who is unfamiliar with high altitudes one of the most striking features here is the effect of weathering on the rocks. The summit and the slope on the southwest side for some distance down are covered with blocks of granite that have been broken from the massive rock that forms the top of the mountain. The rocks on the summits of all high peaks are broken and thrown down in the same way, evidently through the rigors of the climate in such high and exposed places. The warm rays of the sun during the DENVER & EIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 43 day expand the rocks and melt some of the snow, and the water so formed sinks down in cracks and crevices and during the ensuing night freezes. The expansion and contraction of the rocks due to changes in temperature and the freezing of water in joints and fissures soon break to pieces even the most massive granite, as shown on the summit of the peak. The first raih-oad that was projected up Pikes Peak was an ordi- nary steam road. It was planned to follow a circuitous route with a maximum gradient of 250 feet to the mile and to reach the summit in a distance of 30 miles. Construction was started in 1884, and about 8 miles was graded when the scheme failed through lack of financial support. Surveys for the present road were begun in 1888, and the golden spike was driven on October 20, 1890. The maximum gradient of this road is 1,320 feet to the mile, and the length is 9 miles. The automobile road reaches the same point on the summit that is reached by the Cogwheel Eoad. The length of the road is 18 miles ; its average grade is 370 feet to the mile, and its maximum grade is 654 feet. The view from the automobile road is even more impressive than that from the Cogwheel Koad, for, owing to the numerous bends, the traveler can see the ever-widening landscape on all sides. The route passes through Manitou and up the narrow defile of L"te Pass, at first over the edges of the eastward-dipping quartzite and then over the underlying granite. The road as well as the contact between the quartzite above and the granite below is well shown in Plate XXIV, B. At the village of Cascade the new road turns and climbs the west wall of the canyon, and as it rounds the point directly above Cascade the traveler can look down the pass to Manitou, far in the distance. The road follows Cascade Creek for some distance in a canyon hemmed in by granite walls, but these grow less and less steep as the automobile moves on until finally the road passes by a gentle grade from the head of the valley to the divide between Cas- cade and Catamount creaks. At this height, about 9,250 feet, the traveler gets a wide view, particularly to the north, and he may note that the sky line, as shown in Plates XV, A, and XXIV, 4, is as level as that of the plain about Colorado Springs, except that here and there low knobs rise island-like above the level surface, and far away in the hazy distance he can just make out the blue outline of Tarryall and Mosquito ranges. Could the traveler, however, cross the ap- parently level plain at which he is looking he would find that it is smooth only in appearance from a distance, for it is really cut up into numerous ravines much like the one followed by the automobile road. Another feature which the traveler will probably notice on the 44 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. q.uojj. uieq.ui cj, o o_ c>. .o_ o o_ CJ -^ O fff (0 f~ \0 surface of this plain is the deep
"''A'"§"JJ-.^'<
^.
B
Vertical and horizontal scale
Figure 12. — Sections showing supposed outline of the Cripple Creek volcano.
at that time. To these materials were
added, probably by later eruptions and
explosions, fragments of phonolite and
related igneous rocks. Finally, as
shown in figure 12, a volcanic cone,
consisting chiefly of fragments of rock
was built up above the breccia-filled
abyss.
After the eruptions had ceased the
rocks adjusted themselves to the new
conditions. Cracks were formed in
them and in these cracks the gold ores
were deposited by hot solutions that
rose from deep volcanic sources. Rain
and streams gradually wore away the
cone and exposed the veins thus
formed, which the keen eyes of pros-
pectors afterward detected.
The gold ores of Cripple Creek oc-
cur partly as narrow veins or as
and tellurium, associated with quartz
and purple fiuorite. Native gold is
rare, except in the upper oxidized
parts of the veins. The ores average
from 1 to 2 ounces of gold ($20 to .$40)
a ton, but the gold content varies
widely, and comparatively small bodies
of very much richer ore have been
mined.
In this district, as in most others,
the ore is not uniformly distributed
along the veins but is limited to what
are known as shoots and occurs par-
ticularly where veins cross one an-
other. Some of these shoots, such as
the one found in the Cresson mine a
few years ago, have been extraor-
dinarily rich, but the larger mines,
like the well-known Portland, depend
mainly upon large shoots of ore of
r. S. GEOLOGICAL St'RVEY
BfLLETIX 707 PLATE XXIX
South Cheyenne Canyon is a miniature Yoseniite with massive fjranile walls rising to a height
of_700 or 800 feet. This view shows the road leading up to the Seven Falls and to the
original grave of Helen Hunt Jackson. Here and there the rocky w alls are relieved hy the soft
foliage of trees that grow in clefts in the rocks, and the rippling stream wanders along beneath
a tangle of shrubs and creeping vines. Photograph furnished by the Cheyenne Canyon &
Seven Falls Development Co.
V. S. GEOLOr.KAL SURVEV
Bn.I.ETIX 707 PLATE XXX
SEVEN FALLS.
South Cheyeane Canyon ends abruptly at the Seven Falls, as shown in this view. The reason
for the deep cuttinf; up to this point is the presence of a zone of crushed rock, which is shown
on the left. The stream comes in from another direction w here the fxranite is massive and has
made little headway in cuttin;; a canyon. Eventually it will wear away the hard granite, and
then the Seven Falls will become a series of cascades or rapids. Photograph furnished by the
Cheyenne Canyon iV Seven Falls Development Co.
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE.
51
miles into what is now the heart of the mountains, with isolated low
ranges here and there projecting above their even surface. Then
came a great uplift which finally raised the mountains to their present
positions. On this uplifted mass of rock the streams, on account of
their increased slope, were very active and at once began to cut deep
trenches ; these in time were widened where the rocks were soft, and
finally all the higher land on the plains was cut away, but in the
comparatively low grade. The great
number of veins and the ever-present
possibility of finding a rich shoot at
some hitherto overlooljed junction of
inconspicuous fissures has made the
district a favorite field for lessees, and
many prizes have been won by men
working small blocks of ground leased
from their owners. The great Inde-
pendence mine, which made a fortune
for Stratton and whose history consti-
tutes one of the romances of mining,
is now worked entirely by the leasing
system.
The production of the Cripple Creek
district is shown by the following
table, compiled by Charles W. Hender-
son, of the Geological Survey:
Gold and silver produced in the Cripple Creek district, Colo., 1891-1920.
Ore
(short
tons).
Lode gold
(value).
Silver.
Year.
Quantity
(fine
ounces).
Value.
Total
value.
1891
$1,930
557, 851
2,021,088
2,618,388
6,166,144
7,413,493
10,131,855
13,507,349
16,058,564
18,149,645
17,234,294
16,932,416
11,840,272
14,456,536
15,641,754
13,930,526
10,370,284
13,031,917
11,466,227
11,002,253
10,562,653
11,008,362
10,905,003
11,996,116
13,683,494
12,119,550
10,394,847
8,119,747
5,827,816
4,323,998
81,930
1892
557 851
1893
5,680
25, 335
68, 428
63,617
59,879
67, 799
82, 299
80, 792
89,560
62, 780
41,605
47,817
56,951
67,943
51,630
52,270
63, 204
54,263
57, 783
66,117
71,349
89,056
87, 767
79,804
64, 568
50,665
35,442
33,789
$4,430
15,961
44, 478
43,260
35,927
40,001
49,379
50,091
53, 736
33,273
22, 467
27,734
34,740
46,201
34,076
27 703
2,025,518
2,634,349
6, 210, 622
7,4.56,753
10,167,782
13,647,350
16,107,943
18,199,736
17,288,030
16,965,689
11 862 739
1894
1895
1896
1897
1898
1899
1900
1901
1902 i .
1903
1904
1905
1906
1907
1908
597,819
716,358
702,069
451,082
601,173
14,484,270
15,676,494
13,976,727
10,404,360
^•^ nM fi9r>
1909
575, 670
688, 941
756,900
849, 172
917,406
939, 423
948,062
945,820
1,084,656
936,326
775,986
448,618
32 866 1 ' '**W 103
1910
29,302
30,625
40, 662
43,095
49, 248
44,498
52,511
53,204
50,665
39,695
36,830
11,031,555
10,593,278
11,049,024
10,948,098
12,045,364
13 727 992
1911
1912
1913
1914
1915
1916
121172^061
10,448,051
8 170 412
1917 y.-
1918
1919
5^867^511
4,360,828
1920
311,474,372
1,678,192
1,966,658
312,541,030
Formerly a considerable part of the
ore from the district was sent directly
to the smelters at Pueblo and Denver,
but about 9G per cent is now treated
in mills in the district, chiefly near
the town of Victor or in mills near
Colorado Springs. The common prac-
tice has been roasting and cyanida-
tion, but in the modern Victor mill
of the Portland Gold Mining Co. con-
centration is effected by flotation and
the concentrates are treated by the
cyanide process.
52 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
hard rocks of the mountains the streams have succeeded in cutting
back only a short distance and have formed canyons like that of
South Cheyenne. At some places in South Cheyenne Canyon this
backward cutting has proceeded rapidly because the granite is shat-
tered, but at the Seven Falls the joints and fissures in the rock ex-
tend to one side, as shown in Plate XXX, whereas the stream tumbles
over a wall of the most massive rock imaginable, and the canyon ends
so abruptly that it seems almost as if it had been the work of
man. If the rock were not of this character the stream would prob-
ably have cut considerably farther back, and in that event the Seven
Falls would probably have been replaced by a series of cascades. In
time this cutting Avill doubtless be accomplished, for the stream is
always at work — it knows no cessation from its labors — and, although
the work of cutting the granite is extremely slow when compared with
human standards, it is continuous, and if conditions remain the same
as they are to-day the canyon will be cut far back into the mountain,
until, in even more remote time, the mountains themselves may be
worn down and a plain may be found where now we have our grand-
est scenery. The regularity and smoothness of the walls of South
Cheyenne Canyon are due largely to the massiveness of the granite
in which the canyon is carved.
The traveler should climb to the top of the falls, where he can ob-
tain a much better idea of the magnitude of the gorge, and then he
will doubtless be impelled to climb still higher, to Inspiration Point,
which is said to be the spot most beloved by Helen Hunt Jackson,
the place where she wrote many of her most noted works of fiction.
One can hardly imagine a more inspiring sight than that of Colorado
Springs and the broad stretch of plain seen from this point; and
here, amid the grandeur of the mountains, the romantic imagination
of so ardent a lover of nature would readily be quickened into new
life. She pays this tribute to Inspiration Point :
Beautiful cradle of peace! There are some spots on earth which seem to
have a strong personality about them — a charm and a spell far beyond any-
thing which mere material nature, however lovely, can exert; a charm which
charms like the beauty of a human face; and a spell which lasts like the
bond of a human relation. In such spots we can live alone without being
lonely. We go away from them with the same sort of sorrow with which we
part from friends, and we recall their looks with the yearning tenderness with
which we look on the photographs of beloved absent faces.
Although Helen Hunt Jackson died in California, her last request
was that her body be brought back and laid to rest in this spot on
Cheyenne Mountain that she so dearly loved and that the place be
marked only by the boulders which nature had provided. This was
done, and many thousand travelers still visit the grave annually
and pay tribute to the gifted author, though her body now lies in
Evergreen Cemetery, Colorado Springs.
DENVER & EIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE.
53
If the traveler returns from the canyon late in the afternoon he
may see some of the beauty of the plains as it appeared to her poetic
imagination :
Between the pines and the firs are wonderful vistas of the radiant plain.
Each glimpse is a picture in itself — now an open space of clear sunny distance ;
now a belt of cottonwood trees making a dar-k-green oasis in the yellow dis-
tance ; now the majestic bluffs, looking still more castle-like, framed in the dark
foreground lines of pine boughs. We are in shadow. The sun has set for us;
but it is yet early afternoon on the plain and it is brilliant with sun, * * *
The brilliance slowly fades, and the lower sunset light casts soft shadows on
every mound and hill and hollow. The whole plain seems dimpling with
shadows ; each instant they deepen and move eastward ; first revealing and then
slowly hiding each rise and fall in the vast surface. Away in the east, sharply
against the sky, lines of rocky bluffs gleam white as city walls; close at the
base of the mountain the foothills seem multiplied and transfigured into count-
less velvet mounds. The horizon line seems to curve more and more, as if
somehow the twilight were folding the world up for the night, and we were on
some outside shore watching it.
MAIN LINE OF RAILROAD FROM COLORADO SPRINGS
TO CANON CITY.
On leaving Colorado Springs the Denver & Eio Grande Western
"Railroad follows down the valley of Fountain Creek, which is irri-
gated and under intensive cultivation. For a number of miles Chey-
enne Mountain is the most conspicuous object on the west (right),
and the abruptness with which the mountain ends and the plains
begin is striking. As explained before, this abrupt junction of plain
and mountain is due to a great fault, which bounds the mountain
w. C
Cheyenne Mtn.
D.AND /?.G.Wff.R.
L
SMIIes
Figure 13. — Section showing fault at foot of Cheyenne Mountain.
on the east and brings its hard rocks into contact with the soft,
flat-lying rocks of the plains. (See fig, 13,) Consequently there are
no hard sandstones to form foothills, as there are about Manitou and
many other places along the Front Range.
The railroad continues its southerly course down Fountain Creek,
and the traveler whose destination is the Pacific coast or some inter-
mediate point is apparently getting no nearer his destination than
he was at Denver or Colorado Springs, He may have wondered why
it is that the Denver & Rio Grande Western, an important link in one
80697°— 22 5
54
GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
of the great transcontinental railway systems, should, after starting
from Denver, go due south 119 miles, to Pueblo, before attempting
to cross the mountain range in a westerly direction. It is generally
assumed that the road was built southward in order to reach the
valley of the Arkansas and that this valley affords the best route
through the mountains. This can hardly have been the reason for the
southward extension, however, for other roads cross north of Pueblo
and Canon City, and hence there must have been some other reason
for the course pursued by this road. The explanation of this southerly
course is bound up in the general railroad history of this mountainous
region, a brief account of which is given in the footnote below.^^
"Considerable difficulty was ex-
perienced in the early days of Colo-
rado in getting moneyed men inter-
ested in the construction of railroads
in or across the mountains, but by the
persistent efforts of those who had
become identified with the movement
to develop the natural resources of
the State capital was obtained and
the building of railroads was begun.
The Denver & Rio Grande Railroad
was incorporated October 27, 1870.
The leading spirit in the organization
and building of the road was Gen.
William J. Palmer, a Philadelphian
by birth, who had received his early
railroad training on the Pennsylvania
Railroad under the presidency of J-.
Edgar Thompson, He served with
distinction in the Civil War and
earned the rank of brigadier general
in the Army of the Tennessee under
Gen, George H, Thomas, Upon the
conclusion of the war he became man-
aging director of the Kansas Pacific
Railroad and was placed in charge of
the construction of the last division,
extending from Kit Carson to Den-
ver, Here he accomplished the al-
most impossible task of building 150
miles of railroad in the same num-
ber of days without having materials
of any kind to begin with. It is
doubtful if this record in railroad con-
struction has ever been equaled. When
this road was completed. Gen, Palmer
became interested in the mountain
region of Colorado and, like the true
empire builder that he was, foresaw
wonderful possibilities in creating a
system of transportation that should
cover the entire region. In speaking
of him, William J. Beyers, founder and
for a long time editor of the Rocky
Mountain News, says:
" The Denver <& Rio Grande Rail-
road, with its numerous branches in
the mountains, was Gen, Palmer's con-
ception. It was a comprehensive
scheme, by many regarded as Utopian,
because it contemplated the construc-
tion of hundreds of miles of railroad
through a country practically unin-
habited and generally considered unfit
for habitation. Aside from a few
white settlers at Pueblo, small Mexi-
can settlements at Trinidad, a village
of pioneers at Colorado City, small
bands of Cheyenne and Arapahoe In-
dians, and scattered settlers at some
other points, there were not enough
inhabitants for the nucleus of a com-
munity anywhere on the proposed line.
But Gen. Palmer's prevision pene-
trated farther than the vision of
others who looked with doubt and sus-
picion on the enterprise. He proposed
to lay tribute on the hidden treasures
of the mountains and to stimulate pro-
duction «f the precious metals by af-
fording facilities for shipment and to
encourage the farmer and ranchman
to occupy the plains for the purpose
of agriculture and stock growing by
affording the means of quick trans-
portation to distant markets. It was
gigantic, a daring proposition, but not
visionary, for the man who conceived
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE.
55
Near milepost 85 the Santa Fe Eailway crosses the Denver & Rio
Grande Western bj- an overhead bridge, and a short distance farther
on it crosses to the right bank of Fountain Creek.
Three miles below the overhead bridge is Fountain,
the largest village in the southern part of El Paso
County. The lower part of Fountain Creek valley
is not particularly interesting to the traveler. There
is little or no irrigation, and success with dry-land crops depends
Fountain.
Elevation 5,577 feet
Population 505.
Denver 88 miles.
it was able to procure the necessary
capital to complete the undertaking.
No single agency has done more to
establish mining camps and open valu-
able mines in Colorado than the pro-
jection and completion of this vast and
complex system of mountain rail-
roads."
In 1S70 only one road, the Union
Pacific, had been built across the con-
tinent, and this road was north of
Colorado, where the low passes pre-
sented no great difficulties. Gen. Pal-
mer's scheme was not to build an
east and west line but a north and
south one. As stated in the first an-
nual report of the board of directors :
" The idea of a north and south
railway, following the eastern base of
the Rocky Mountains from the prin-
cipal city of the new West — Denver —
southward to Mexico, arose from a
conviction that this belt of country
had especial advantages in its loca-
tion, climate, and natural resources."
It was urged that a railroad in this
direction would traverse a belt of
country having an excellent cli-
mate and well watered by mountain
streams ; that it would be closely ad-
jacent to the mountains, which contain
silver, gold, lead, copper, iron, and
other metals, as well as abundant sup-
plies of timber for manufacturing and
construction ; that it would tap sev-
eral fields of coal well suited for mak-
ing steam and for general manufac-
turing; and lastly, that it would con-
trol the freight business in this iso-
lated territory and would levy tribute
on any east and west road that might
be constructed through it.
The main line of the Denver & Rio
Grande, according to Gen. Palmer's
scheme, was to extend from Denver to
Pueblo, thence up through the " Big
Canon" (Royal Gorge) of the Arkan-
sas to ^Salida, thence southward
through Poncho Pass to Alamosa on
the Rio Grande, and thence down that
stream to El Paso and on to Mexico
City. A loop was to extend south of
Pueblo through La Veta Pass and
connect with the other line at Alamosa,
and still another line was to be built
through Raton Pass south of Trinidad.
Branch lines were projected into the
mountains at many points, two of
which had Salt Lake City as their
objective. A map of the system as
originally planned is given in Plate
XXXI.
Gen. Palmer was a great believer in
the economy of construction and opera-
tion, in a mountainous country, of a
narrow-gage road, so after careful
consideration and investigation of such
roads abroad, a 3-foot gage was de-
cided upon for the new road. This
did not meet with general approval,
and for a long time it was referred
to as the "baby railroad," a name
which seems singularly appropriate
when the rolling stock of that day is
compared with the rolling stock of the
present time. (See PL XXVII, A,
p. 48.)
Track laying was begun at Fifteenth
Street in Denver on July 27, 1871,
and the road was completed to Colo-
rado Springs, 75 miles away, by Octo-
ber 21 of the same year. Construc-
tion was pushed southward rapidly.
and the road reached Pueblo June 29,
56
GUTDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
Buttes.
upon the amount of precipitation, which, according to the Weather
Bureau, is only about 11.6 inches annually. In time of drought the
valley is brown and desolate, but when showers are
abundant all the plains are green and smiling. On
DirvJr 9°3 muTs.^'^*' » clcar day the traveler may obtain glimpses of the
distant mountains. Toward the northwest he can
see Cheyenne Mountain, dominated by the towering summit of Pikes
Peak, fading into the blue and hazy distance; on
the west he mav be able to distinguish the outline
Seu7e*r n-'mife?^*' ^^ ^^^ ^ct Mountaius, showiug faintly in the dis-
tance; and far away to the south he may catch the
faint blue of two peaks which are commonly known as the Spanish
Eden.
1872. It is interesting to note in
the first report of tlie company that
an estimate "of the passenger traffic
between Denver and Colorado Springs
(then just organized) was 13 persons
each way daily. To-day the road
handles during the summer season an
average of nearly 1,500 persons a day
between these places, to say nothing
of those who travel over the Santa Fe
and tlie Colorado & Southern rail-
roads.
As the road needed fuel, and as it
had not penetrated any field of coal
suitable for use in locomotives, a
branch line was built up the Arkansas
Valley to the coal field near Florence
in the same year (1872), and this line
was extended to Canon City in 1874.
In 1872 negotiations were under-
taken with the Mexican Government
for the extension of the Denver & Rio
Grande Railroad to Mexico City, but
they were not successful, though later
the plans for this exteaision found ex-
pression iu the Mexican National Rail-
way.
By the time the Rio Grande road
reached Pueblo, the Arkansas Valley
began to attract the attention of other
railway companies, and many plans
were conceived to build railroads, but
nothing came of them, and the Rio
Grande was left in supposed undis-
puted possession of the field. A little
later the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe
Railway, a Boston corporation with
apparently unlimited capital and
energj% entered this field without re-
gai'd to any assumed prior rights of
the Denver & Rio Grande.
In 1872 the Santa Fe was in opera-
tion as far west as Fort Dodge, Kans.,
and a subsidiary of that road, the Kan-
sas & Colorado Railway Co., was in-
corporated to build a line up the
Arkansas Valley. It was understood
that the Santa Fe proposed to make
Pueblo the principal commercial center
of the mountain region and to build
several extensions beyond Pueblo,
especially to Canon City and through
the Royal Gorge to the mining camps
in the mountains, as well as to Denver
and other places along the mountain
front. It was rumored that the Santa
Fe was heading for Raton Pass, south
of Trinidad, which was claimed by the
Rio Grande as a part of one of its
southern routes. All these plans
threatened seriously the very existence
of the Denver & Rio Grande, which
accordingly made preparations for a
vigorous defensive campaign, but the
panic of 1873 stopped nearly all con-
struction work on the Rio Grande as
well as on most other roads in the
country.
Four or five years later, as confi-
dence was restored and money became
plentiful, work was pushed ahead on
all the lines entering the Rocky Moun-
tains. The Rio Grande resumed work
on one of its branches through La
Veta Pass into San Luis Park, reach-
ing Alamosa July 6, 1878.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
BULLETIN 707 PLATE XTYT
109°
107°
105°
103°
MAP SHOWING DENVER AND RIO GRANDE RAILROAD
AS ORIGINALLY PLANNED
•jno MILCS
Contour Interval 1,000 feet
1922
DENVEB, & EIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE.
57
Peaks but which might more properly be laiown by their poetic
Indian name Wahatoya (meaning twin breasts).
The first indication of an actual
clash between the rival roads occurred
in February, 1878, when the Santa Fe
plotted to occupy Raton Pass, through
which one of the surveys of the Rio
Grande had been run and which was
therefore practically occupied by that
road. Hundreds of men and teams
were suddenly rushed into the pass by
the Santa Fe, which built its line
through the pass before the Rio
Grande could stop its progress. This
sudden move created consternation in
the offices of the Rio Grande, and for
a time it seemed impossible to avoid
armed conflict. Although much bad
feeling was created by this action of
the Santa Fe no actual bloodshed oc-
curred, and that road was allowed to
retain possession of the pass.
The great contest between the two
systems, however, was that for the
right of way through the Royal Gorge.
As the Santa Fe had been successful in
its sudden move in Raton Pass, it
planned a similar attack on the Royal
Gorge before the Rio Grande had time
to defend its own property. The Rio
Grande, however, had possession of the
telegraph lines and so was apprised
of the proposed attack. Accordingly,
the Rio Grande planned as a defensive
measure to begin grading in the Royal
Gorge on April 20, 1878. The gen-
eral manager of the Santa Fe heard
of this plan and wired an engineer at
La Junta to proceed to Canon City
immediately and occupy the canyon
before the Rio Grande forces ap-
peared. The engineer arrived at
Pueblo at 3 o'clock on the morning of
the expected move. He tried to char-
ter a train on the Rio Grande to carry
him to Canon City but of course was
refused ; then he hired the best horse
he could obtain and started at break-
neck speed to ride to Canon City, 45
miles distant. He had to reach the
canyon before the engineers of the Rio
Grande, so he spurred his horse to
top speed, but when he was within 3
miles of his destination it fell dead.
The engineer ran on into Canon City,
raised a force of several hundred men,
proceeded to the mouth of the canyon,
which is admirably suited for such *a
purpose (PI. XXXIII, B, p. 71), and
fortified his position before the Rio
Grande force appeared. The ease with
which the engineer of the Santa Fe
raised a force of men at Canon City
was due to the fact that the Rio
Grande had become very unpopular
through its autocratic habit of ignor-
ing the wishes of the citizens of the
region, so the people were glad to have
an opportunity to assist the Santa Fe
in order to " get even " with the Rio
Grande.
The Santa Fe was operating through
a subsidiary corporation, the Canon
City & San Juan Co., which had a
charter for a line in the canyon ex-
tending for 20 miles from the lower
entrance. Both roads had graders at
work in the canyon, and it is not sur-
prising that fights were frequent and
that many men were arrested. The
Santa Fe obtained an injunction re-
straining the Rio Grande from con-
tinuing its work, and the Rio Grande
obtained one preventing the Santa Fe
from grading any more of its road-
bed. About the last of May, 1878, the
cases came up before Judge Hallett, of
the United States court at Denver,
but the judge postponed them and in
the meantime enjoined both parties
from working in the disputed section
and placed each under a bond of
$20,000.
On June 1, 1878, Federal Judges Hal-
lett and Dillon rendered a concurrent
opinion that the Santa Fe (Canon City
& San Juan Co.) be permitted to re-
sume grading in the canyon until the
case could be more thoroughly ex-
amined in July. The case was ably
argued in July by both sides but was
again postponed. On August 23
58
GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
As the train approaches the point where Fountain Creek joins
Arkansas River the traveler is made aware of the presence of Pueblo
Judge Hallett handed down a decision
wliieh granted to the Canon City &
San Juan Co. (Santa Fe) the right
to construct its line as surveyed — up
the gorge for 20 miles. The Rio Grande
A^'as restrained from interfering in any
way with this work but might proceed
(if it could do so without interfer-
ence) to build a pai-allel line, and if
it became necessary might, on applica-
tion to the court, be allowed to use
the tracks of the rival road.
The Rio Grande appealed from this
decision to the Supreme Court of the
United States and began constniction
above the 20-nule limit of the Santa
Fe, but as its financial condition was
desperate and as it had been denied
the right to the Royal Gorge there
seemed to be no other course but to
bow temporarily to the stronger road.
Accordingly, on December 2, 1878, the
entire Rio Grande system, embracing
337 miles of road, was leased to the
Santa Fe for 30 yeai-s, the Santa Fe
engaging to proceed with the work of
constructing the line through the can-
yon to Leadville while awaiting the
decision of the United States Supreme
Court. Altliough the lease was rati-
fied by the stockholders of the Rio
Grande, it was ratified under pressure,
and from the beginning it was a con-
stant source of irritation.
As soon as the Santa Fe obtained
control of the Rio Grande it proceeded
to carry out its plan of concentrating
business at Pueblo, and in so doing it
used the Rio Grande merely as a
feeder for its main line. This policy
naturally aroused the opposition of the
old officers of the Rio Grande, and
charges of irregularities by both com-
panies were freely made. The Rio
Grande officials were trying in every
Avay to find some valid reason for ab-
rogating the lease, which had become
to them almost intolerable.
In the spring of the next year (1879)
the great struggle for the posses-
sion of the Royal Gorge was resumed.
Armed parties from both sides re-
entered the canyon in anticipation of
an early decision of the Supreme
Court. In April the Rio Grande peo-
ple, exasperated to the fighting point,
began preparations to retakte and hold,
at the muzzle of the rifle if necessary,
the entire system, which they claimed
was being operated in violation of the
principal condition of the lease. The
Santa Fe learned of this contemplated
action and issued strict orders to its
men not to obey any instructions or
orders except those of its own officers.
There was trouble, however, at sev-
eral places along ' the line ; stations
were broken into and considerable
property was destroyed.
While the Rio Grande and the Santa
Fe were waging their contest over the
occupancy of the Royal Gorge, Con-
gress passed an act which specified,
among other things,
" That any railroad company whose
right of way, or whose track or road-
bed upon such right of way, passes
through any canyon, pass, or defile
shall not prevent any other railroad
company from the use and occupancy
of the said canyon, pass, or defile for
the purpose of its road in common
with the road first located."
This act was approved March 3,
1875. On May 6, 1879, the Supreme
Court of the United States rendered a
decision which gave to the Rio Grande
the prior right to construct its road
through the Royal Gorge according to
the first survey made through the
canyon in 1871-72, but in accordance
with the law of 1875, quoted above, it
recognized that the Santa Fe could not
be prevented from building a line also,
and where the canyon is too narrow
for both roads from using the tracks
of the Rio Grande. Although this de-
cision was a victory for the Rio
Grande, this road had not succeeded in
having the lease annulled and was in
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE.
59
by the pall of smoke that oA'erhangs this " Pittsburgh of the West,"
as the citizens like to have it called. Pueblo is essentially a manu-
the anomalous position of having the
first right to the canyon but being
estopped from occupying the roadbed
on the north side of the canyon that
had been graded by tlie Santa Fe and
of having its whole system under
lease to the rival road.
While these points were being con-
sidered, the attorney general of the
State entered a suit to enjoin the
Santa Fe from operating a railroad
in the State of Colorado. This case
was heard by Judge Bowen at the
obscure town of San Luis, in Costilla
County. Judge Bowen enjoined the
Santa Fe from operating the Rio
Grande Railroad and from exercising
corporate rights within the State. This
decision gave the Rio Grande oppor-
tunity to regain control of its own
road under judicial authority, and
accordingly the sheriffs of the coun-
ties in the State were instructed to
take possession of the property and
turn it over to the Rio Grande officials.
Wild rumors were afloat that the Rio
Grande had organized fighting forces
that were attacking the Santa Fe men
at several points along the line. The
offices of the Santa Fe at Denver were
broken open and occupied by Rio
Grande men. The governor was pe-
titioned to call out the militia to stop
bloodshed, but he left the matter en-
tirely in the hands of the sheriffs of
the counties.
Counsel for the Santa Fe appeared
in the Federal court at Denver and
moved to quash the " Bowen injunc-
tion." In the meantime the Rio
Grande had retaken most of its sta-
tions, ofl!ices, and rolling stock. Great
excitement prevailed, and some blood
was shed. On June 12, 1879, Judge
Hallett declared Judge Bowen's de-
cision to be null and void, and on June
23 he decided that the Rio Grande had
unlawfully retaken property and
should immediately restore it to the
Santa Fe ; then, if the Rio Grande so
desired, it might institute proceedings
for the cancellation of the lease. He
also decided that the Rio Grande
might take possession of the narrow
part of the Royal Gorge by paying to
the Santa Fe the cost of construction.
On July 14 the Federal court ordered
all work stopped in the canyon pend-
ing an examination by a commission of
engineers to determine the cost of con-
struction. While these court proceed-
ings were in progress the Rio Grande
iengineers erected fortifications and
stopped the Santa Fe graders at the
20-mile limit specified in their charter.
On January 2, 1880, the Federal Su-
preme Court rendered its long-ex-
pected decision as follows :
" That from the mouth of the can-
yon to the mouth of the South Arkan-
sas River [Salida] the Rio Grande
was to take and hold the prior right
of way ; that it might take the road-
bed of the Santa Fe in that part by
paying for it at the rate determined
by the commissioners ; when paid for,
all injunctions and restraining orders
to be dissolved and set aside, and the
Santa Fe was perpetually enjoined
from interfering. From South Arkan-
sas River to Leadville the prior rights
belonged to the Santa Fe by reason
of prior location."
Soon after this the long fight be-
tween the two railroads was termi-
nated by a compromise agreement in
Boston by which the Rio Grande was
not to build its contemplated line to
El Paso, Tex., nor its proposed line
eastward to St. Louis, the Santa Fe
was not to build to Leadville, the lease
was to be canceled, and the Rio Gi'ande
was to pay the Santa Fe for all grad-
ing it had done in the canyon. Thus
endetl one of the longest and most bit-
terly contested railroad wars that were
ever fought in this country. In the
legal battle.^ some of the most noted
lawyers of the West were employed,
and the encounters in the field were
60
GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
Pueblo.
Elevation 4,668 feet.
Population 43,050.
Denver 119 miles.
facturing community and is the largest town of this kind in the
Rocky Mountain region. Indeed, it is generally considered the
greatest manufacturing center between Missouri
River and the Pacific coast. Pueblo is in the Ar-
kansas Valley/*^ which is well watered and capable
of supporting a large population. Already the
valley is well farmed, but with the construction of
storage reservoirs to hold the water in the upper courses of the river
and deliver it as it is needed below for irrigation the valley would
support many times its present population. Pueblo has abundant
railroad connections, both for the receipt of crude material to be
manufactured and for the distribution of the manufactured products.
Coke can readily be obtained from the Trinidad field, on the south,
marked liy deeds of heroism and blood-
shed that were worthy of a better
cause.
Thus we see that the Denver & Rio
Grande, originally planned as a north
and south line, was compelled to be-
come an east and west line, much to
its ultimate advantage, and although
it made a most vigorous effort to reach
the Rio Grande with its main line, it
failed to do so.
After the compromise construction
was carried forward rapidly, and the
narrow-gage line reached Leadville in
July, 1880. The first line across the
Continental Divide — the line over Mar-
shall Pass — ^Nvas completed to Gunni-
son in August, 1881. The line over
Tennessee Pass — the present main
line — was completed in the following
year. The line from Marshall Pass
was pushed westward, reachin'g Grand
Junction in November and the Utah
State line in December, 1882.
About this time the Pleasant Valley
Railway of Utah, extending from Provo
to Clear Creek, was purchased by Gen.
Palmer and the Denver & Rio Grande
Railroad and extended eastward to the
Colorado line under the name Rio
Grande Western Railroad. This made
a through narrow-gage line from Den-
ver to Salt Lake City, which was
completed to Ogden a year later. The
laying of a third rail to give standard
gage between Denver and Pueblo was
completed on December 23, 1881, and
the main line from Denver to Ogden
was changed to standard gage by the
autumn of 1890.
Several of the branch lines of this
system are still narrow gage, and the
traveler who wishes to see Marshall
Pass and the Black Canyon of the
Gunnison will have ample opportunity
to compare the narrow, cramped cars
and small engines of the narrow gage
with the modern equipment of a stand-
ard-gage line.
Recently the company has been re-
organized, and the name Denver &
Rio Grande W^estem Railroad has been
adopted for the entire system.
'^^ On June 3-5, 1921, a succession of
flood waves occurred in Arkansas
River as a result of heavy rains of
" cloud-burst " violence in the drainage
basins of several small streams tribu-
tary to the Arkansas above or near the
city of Pueblo. The highest flood wave
and the one that caused the greatest
damage reached Pueblo during the
evening of June 8, when a stage 6i
feet above the tops of the levees was
reached. At this time water 10 to 15
feet deep flowing through the lower
parts of the city drowned many people
and wrecked scores of buildings. The
property losses caused by the flood in
the Arkansas River valley aggregated
bearly $20,000,000. The flood is de-
5cribed in detail in U. S. Geol. Survey
Water-Supply Pai^er 487, The Arkansas
River flood of June 8-5, 1921.
DEN^^R & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 61
which is the greatest field of good coking coal in the West, and coal
for fuel can be obtained from the same field or from the Canon City
field, on the west. Iron ore is available in southern Wyoming and
possibly in other parts of the mountain region, and altogether Pueblo
is remarkably well located to become a large and prosperous manu-
facturing city.
At Minnequa, a suburb of Pueblo, on the mesa to the south, is the
great plant of the Colorado Fuel & Iron Co. There also are smelters
for the reduction of the gold and silver ores of the mountain region,
as well as other manufacturing plants. Pueblo is the countj^ seat
of Pueblo County. Here is the State Asylum for the Insane, a
" palace " for the display of the mineral resources of the county, and
numerous business blocks, hotels, and amusement parks.
Pueblo is one of the historic places of Colorado. The first record
of occui^ation of this region by the white man is that of the explor-
ing party of Lieut. Zebulon M. Pike, which camped at " The Forks,"
as he called the confluence of Fountain Creek and Arkansas River,
in November, 1806, and built a log breastwork for defense. The
party made this camp before they attempted to scale the great peak
which they saw far off and which is now known as Pikes Peak. The
next American party to visit the site of Pueblo was that of Maj.
Long, in 1820. After this time it was visited by many explorers
and hunters, and James Beckwourth — a mulatto who had lived among
the Indians — claimed the honor of establishing in 1842 the first
permanent settlement where Pueblo now stands. Here was built an
adobe fort, called Fort Napeste, which is said to have been the Indian
name for Arkansas River. In 1859 a settlement was begun on the
east side of Fountain Creek, which was called Fountain City. A
year or two later a rival town was laid out on the banks of the
Arkansas and named Pueblo. For a number of years the growth
of these pioneer settlements was slow, and it was not until the
Denver & Rio Grande Railroad reached the Arkansas in 1872 that
the settlements consolidated and began their phenomenal growth.
On leaving the station at Pueblo the train begins its real west-
ward journey. From Denver to Pueblo its course has been nearly
due south along the mountain front, but when it turns west at
Pueblo it must travel 41 miles before it again comes to the foot of
the mountains, for the range that forms the mountain front from the
north line of the State to Colorado Springs terminates in Cheyenne
Mountain, a few miles south of Colorado Springs, and here the
mountain front is offset to the west 25 or 30 miles, to a point west of
Canon Cit3^ This southern range, which is the Wet Mountains,
continues southward for some distance and dies out, and still farther
south there is another westward offset, the Sangre de Cristo Range,
which extends as far as Santa Fe, N. Mex.
62
GUIDEBOOK OF THfe WESTERN UNITED STATES.
The course of the railroad from Pueblo is directly up Arkansas
River to its headwaters at Tennessee Pass, near Leadville. East of
Canon City the river has cut for itself in the plain a valley which
ranofes from half a mile to a mile in width and from 50 to 150 feet in
depth. As the railroad is generally only a few feet above water level
the traveler has few opportunities of seeing the country through
which he is passing, except at places where the hills recede or their
height is less than usual. The principal views that he gets will be
those of the valley bottom and of the cliffs that bound it on either
side.
The region through which the train is now passing, as well as that
which it has traversed since it left Denver, was once included in the
fanciful Territory of Jefferson,^^ which was fully organized and car-
ried on for a number of years but which failed to be sanctioned by
^''Few persons of the present gener-
ation are aware that a Territory,
called the Territory of Jefferson, was
organized in the mountain region of
Colorado and Wyoming at the time of
the great " rush " to the Pikes Peak re-
gion, and that not only was the Ter-
ritory organized but a serious attempt
was made to organize a State without
the preliminary steps of passing
through a Territorial form of govern-
ment. Such a statement now reads
like fiction ; but when this attempt
was made the people were in deadly
earnest and imagined that by taking
vigorous action t'ney could compel
Congress to recognize and legalize
their action.
When the Territory of Kansas was
organized, in 1855, it included all of
what is now known as Colorado that
lies east of the crest of the Rocky
Mountains. Thus the site of the city
of Denver as well as all of eastern
Colorado was within the jurisdiction
of the Territorial government of Kan-
sas. The control by that government
was merely nominal, and as its seat
was far off and difficult to reach the
people of the mountain district were
inclined to pay little attention to its
autliority.
AVlien gold was reported in the Pikes
Peak region, late in 1858, the few
pioneers here became imbued with the
idea that this was the richest part of
the continent and that when its won-
derful stores of the precious metal
became known people would flock here
in numbers so great that some sort of
government other than that afforded
by far-off Kansas would be necessai-y
for the protection of life and prop-
erty. These pioneers, although they
were but recent arrivals, did not be-
lieve in waiting for action by the Ter-
ritory of Kansas or by Congress ; they
proceeded to organize a government
which they hoped Congress might ap-
prove and legalize. In the autumn of
1858 a few men from the settlements
about Cherry Creek (the site of Den-
ver) assembled for the purpose of cre-
ating a new State or Territory in the
Pikes Peak region. This new political
division was to be considerably larger
than the present State of Colorado, as
shown by the accompanying sketch
map (fig. 14), and was to be called
Jefferson, in honor of the President of
the United States, who had been in-
sti-umental in executing the Louisiana
Purchase, which included most of this
region. This convention met in Den-
ver City in April, 1859, and passed
a series of resolutions preparatory to
the organization of the State of Jeffer-
son, hoping by this action to start it
full-fledged upon its career of state-
hood. The convention also is^sued a
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE.
63
the United States Congress and consequently never had any legal
status. The episode is interesting as giving an early indication of
that " push " which is generally regarded as characteristic of the
people of Colorado.
call for a general election on May 9
of delegates to a State convention to
organize the State of Jefferson.
The delegates met in Denver City
June 6, 1859, and appointed commit-
propositions to the voters. The elec-
tion was held on September 5 and
resulted in the decisive defeat of the
proposal for statehood and in favor of
a Territorial form of government.
101°
Figure 14. — State of Jefferson, as proposed in 1858.
tees to frame a State constitution and
to report at an adjourned meeting on
August 1. Before the time for this
adjourned meeting the people began
to realize the great expense of a State
government, and many decided to favor
a Territorial form. The result of this
difference of preference was a com-
promise resolution to submit both
On October 3, 1859, a call was sent
out for an election of delegates to a
convention to organize the Territory
of Jefferson. Many of the partici-
pants in this movement fully realized
its illegality, so in order to be on the
safe side they prepared a county
ticket, to be voted on at the same time,
providing for the election of officers of
64
GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
In the disturbance of the earth's crust that produced the moun-
tains the rocks of the plains were thrown into k)W, broad fokls or
were sharply broken where the stresses were most severe. Folds of
this kind may be seen by the traveler between Pueblo and Canon
City, but they are so slight that he can hardly recognize them with-
Arapahoe County, Kans., and also of
a delegate to the Kansas Territorial
legislature. An editorial in the Rocky
Mountain News of October 6, 1859,
says :
" So it goes ; one day we understand
that we are cut off from Kansas; the
next we have cut ourselves off and will
pay no regard to Kansas legislation
but have an independent government
of our own ; and the very next, when
there is a chance for a petty office un-
der Kansas laws, there are hundreds
ready to enter the lists, and before
their certificates of election are dry in
their pockets you will hear them
lustily advocating ' independent gov-
ernment' and 'let Kansas go to the
dogs.'
" Here we go, a regular triple-
headed government machine. South
of [parallel] 40 we hang on the skirts
of Kansas ; north of 40 on those of Ne-
braska. Straddling the line, we have
just elected a Delegate to Congress for
the Territory of Jefferson ; and ere
long we shall have in full blast a pro-
visional government of Rocky Moun-
tain growth and manufacture."
The convention assembled on Oc-
tober 10 and formed a Territorial con-
stitution, which was ratified by the
people at an election held on October
24. The name Jefferson was retained
for the proposed new Territory.
Although the leaders recognized the
illegality of their actions. Territorial
officers and a legislature, the " First
General Assembly," were elected. The
legislature began its first session in
Denver City November 7, 1859. The
Rocky Mountain News was an ardent
supporter of the Jefferson Territorial
government and in its issue published
after the meeting of the legislatui-e
made the following glowing prediction
of tlie future of the Territory ;
" We hope and expect to see it
stand until we can boast of a million
people and look upon a city of a hun-
dred thousand souls having all the
comforts and luxuries of the most
favored. Then we will hear the
whistle of locomotives and the rattle
of trains arriving and departing on
their way from the Atlantic and Pa-
cific. * * .* The future of Jeffer-
son Territory, soon to be a sovereign
State, is glorious with promise."
The first session of the legislature
was marked by the enactment of many
general laws and special acts, and the
members seemed to have been imbued
with the idea that they were building
a great mountain commonwealth, but
in the following year interest in the
Territorial government of Jefferson be-
gan to wane, as the people realized
that their efforts were likely to be
fruitless. Not entirely disheartened,
Gov. Steele issued a proclamation for
the annual election of officers in the
autumn of I860, as provided in the
constitution, but in this proclamation
he warned all candidates that they
would be expected to sers^e without
compensation. This warning was
given because of the growing belief
that the local Territorial government
would not be recognized by Congress
and that all acts of its legislature
would be declared invalid.
The second general assembly con-
vened in Denver City on November 12,
1860, but on account of opposition by
the city to the continuation of the
legislative farce, it adjourned on No-
vember 27 to Golden. The principal
inducement for this action, according
to the News, was that "board is
offered at $6 a week — wood and lights
and hall rent free." The members,
however, lost interest in its proceed-
ings, and after 40 days playing at
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE,
65
out following closely the rocks outcropping in the cliffs. Thus, a
short distance west of the station at Pueblo the traveler may notice
on the south (left) that the cliffs are composed of a dark shale, which
is the bottom bed of the Pierre shale, of Cretaceous age. A little
farther along a chalky rock rises from below the river, and the dark
shale can be seen only in the upper part of the cliff, and within a
short distance it disappears altogether. The chalky rock is the Xio-
brara, which in many places consists largely of limestone but here
consists mosth'^ of calcareous shale and thin beds of limestone having
a total thickness of 600 or TOO feet. Farther west the Niobrara also
rises to the tops of the cliffs, and near milepost 122, it gives place to
the Carlile shale, which is about 210 feet thick. Half a mile farther
on this shale is replaced by a bed of massive limestone (Greenhorn),
which like the others rises gradually westward in a great fold, de-
scribed below. Below the Greenhorn limestone lies the Graneros
shale, which in its upper part contains considerable sandstone in thin
layers. This formation is 200 feet thick.
The fold in these beds, which is here cut directly through by
Arkansas River, has lifted them into a broad, flat dome. The center
of this dome is marked by a thick bed of sandstone (Dakota) , which
is just brought to the surface near milepost 126 but which the
river has not yet succeeded in cutting through. The rocks dip
slightly in all directions from this central part. If the traveler has
been following the formations from Pueblo he has seen at least 1,200
feet of rocks rise from below river level. Originally these rocks may
have formed a large hill at this place, but the river has kept them
washed away possibly as fast as they rose, and to-day, except for the
dip of the rocks, there is no evidence on the surface of such a dome.
From the center of the dome near milepost 126 the beds dip up
the river in the direction in which the train is moving, and they
disappear beneath the river in reverse order from that in which they
appeared on the east. At Livesey siding the Greenhorn limestone
has reached water level. It soqn disappears, and then the beds lie
nearly flat for a long distance.
All the rocks thus far exposed along Arkansas River except the
Dakota contain marine shells, which indicate that they were laid
lawmakinsr the last .Tefferson legis-
lature passed away. According to
a statement in Smiley's History of
Denver,
"Jefferson Territory made its last
gasp in June, 1861. On the sixth day
of that month Gov. Steele issued from
Denver a proclamation announcing the
arrival of Gov. Gilpin and the insti-
tution of the Government of the Terri-
tory of Colorado under the act of
Congress signed by President Bu-
chanan February 28, 1861. * * *
Thus ended the most interesting and
picturesque endeavor of an isolated
community to establish and maintain
within itself a government of and by
law that the student of self-govern-
ment will find in the history of this
country."
68
GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
tanks may be seen on both sides of the railroad. From Florence a
branch railroad turns to the south (left) and runs through the heart
of the oil field and to Coal Creek, where there are coal mines that
ship their product both east and west over the Denver & Rio Grande
Western Railroad.
During the early days of mining in the Cripple Creek gold dis-
trict the entire output of ore was refined at Florence. Nine enormous
reduction mills were operated in this vicinity until the Golden Cycle
mill was built in Colorado City, when trouble with labor caused the
ore to be sent to Colorado City and Denver. The mills continued to
operate for a number of years but were finally closed. One of these —
a million dollar plant — is still standing on the north side of Arkansas
River about half a mile north of Florence.
About three-quarters of a mile west of the station the railroad
crosses Oak Creek, and from this crossing the traveler may see off
to the southwest (left) the distant slopes of the Wet Mountains and
nearer, but still 3 or 4 miles distant, the white-banded hills that
mark the outer rim of the Canon City coal field,^^ a basin of Laramie
for about 3 miles. The quantity of oil
produced in this field in 1918 was
134,895 barrels, and the total quantity
produced since the field was developed
has been move than 10,500,000 barrels.
The oil has a paraffin base and is a
light oil, yielding a large percentage
of gasoline.
The Florence oil field is apparently
different from any other field in this
country, as the oil is found part way
down on the east side of a large struc-
tural basin or syncUne. The oil does
not come from sands, as the drillers
call any coarse-grained rock that car-
ries oil, but from the fine Pierre shale.
It does not, however, appear to be in
the pores of the shale but in cracks
and crevices. In drilling wells in this
field the tools often drop several feet,
and sometimes the bailer — a long tube
by which the oil or water is bailed out
of the well — has been lost in one of
these crevices. Altogether, this field
is an anomaly and is not well under-
stood by geologists.
Another curious fact is that the oil
which flows from the spring noted
above, as well as from others that have
been discovered more recently, does
not come from the outcrop of this
shale but from the Morrison forma-
tion, which underlies the shale and is
beneath the Dakota sandstone.
The Florence oil field is the largest
field of its kind in Colorado and has
been a steady producer for a long
time. Tw^o refineries are in operation,
and the oil is piped to the railroad
from different parts of the field as well
as shipped in from other fields in the
State for refining.
*^The Canon City coal field is a
small structural basin, or syncline, in
the Laramie formation south of the
Denver & Rio Grande Western Rail-
road and extends from a point a short
distance west of Florence to the foot
of the Wet Mountains. The coal-bear-
ing beds on the east side of this basin
dip westward at angles of 2° to 5°
except at the northern margin, where
the dip ranges from 5° to 15°. Their
outcrop here, which is broader than it
is on the west side, is 2 to 4 miles
wide and about 12 miles long. It con-
tains all the large mines of the field,
eight in number, that ship their prod-
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE.
69
rocks which lies almost entirely south of the railroad and which
furnishes fuel for many of the industries of Colorado. At a point
1^ miles beyond the station at Florence the Canon City branch of
the Santa Fe Railway crosses the Denver & Rio Grande Western
Railroad by an overhead bridge. This branch, which is one of the
principal outlets for the coal of the Canon City field, runs to Rock-
vale, one of the large mining centers. Just beyond the bridge the
Chandler branch of the Denver & Rio Grande AYestern Railroad
turns to the left and enters the same field, for both roads depend
upon this coal for use in their locomotives, and they also distribute
much of it throughout the country for domestic and manufacturing
uses.
Near milepost 154 two prominent cliffs may be seen across the
river. The lower 110 feet of these cliffs consists of dark-green shale
(the upper part of the Pierre shale), and this is capped by about 40
feet of massive sandstone. This sandstone may be the lowermost
member of the Laramie or it may represent the Fox Hills sandstone
of the north. Which sandstone it is has not been definitely settled.
Nearly half a mile beA^ond milepost 154 is Brewster, a signal tower
at the point where the Santa Fe crosses the Denver & Rio Grande
Western to the left and continues to Canon City on the south side of
the river. On the south (left) is the dump of an abandoned mine on
a coal bed directly overlj'ing the sandstone described above. Old
prospect entries on the same bed show on the north (right) a little
farther on, and a quarter of a mile beyond milepost 155 the Denver
& Rio Grande Western crosses Arkansas River and remains on the
north side to a point beyond Canon City.
Just before reaching milepost 156 the railroad makes a cut through
a cliff of sandstone that projects from the right. This sandstone,
which dips about 10° S., as shown in the accompanying diagram
(fig. 15). is the lowest sandstone of the coal-bearing rocks and forms
uct by rail. The west side of the
basin is formed by a narrow belt of
nearly vertical or overturned rocks
less than a quarter of a mile wide.
The coal beds that are worked range
in thickness from 2 to 6 feet. The coal
is a high-grade domestic fuel, bitumin-
ous and noncoking. The moisture in
the coal as it comes from the mines
ranges from 9 to 15 per cent, and the
heat value ranges from 10,500 to
12,000 British thermal units.
80697°— 22 6
Mining was begun in this field in
1872 to supply fuel for the locomotives
of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad.
The production of the field grew stead-
ily, and in the last four years it
has averaged about 850,000 tons a
year. The total quantity of coal mined
to the end of 1920 was about 23,300,000
short tons. It is estimated that the
quantity of coal still remaining in the
field in beds 14 inches or more thick is
992,000,000 short tons.
70 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
a part of the northern rim of the basin. The younger rocks near
the middle of the coal field terminate to the south in the high ridge
or escarpment of light-colored sandstone, which is a conspicuous
feature of this field.
After passing the point of sandstone described above the railway
runs through a broad valley, which has been cut in the same shale
as that seen at Florence. This shale (Pierre) and the soft under-
lying formations extend to Canon City, and to them is due the
breadth of the valley at and below that town. Here in the valley,
where an ample supply of water can be had from Arkansas River and
its tributary streams and where the crops are protected from frost by
the mountains on the
west, fruits — particularly
apples — are grown in abun-
dance. It is said that 50
Figure 15.— Sandstone bed at base of coal-bearing- P^r CCUt of the State's apple
formation at crossing of Arkansas River near crOp is raised in the viciu-
mouth of Oil Creek. Sandstone dips southward. ., p r^ r^- , -ht
ity 01 Canon City. JNear
milepost 157 apple orchards can be seen from the train, and they con-
tinue in almost unbroken masses to Canon City.
Oil Creek, so named because oil once seeped from the ground along
its course in Garden Park north of the railroad, is crossed a short
distance west of milepost 157.
About 8 miles up Oil Creek, in an open space at the foot of the
mountains known as Garden Park, the bones of some of the most
wonderful animals that the world has ever known have been found.
They were embedded in the Morrison formation, and a large quarry
was opened for the sole purpose of obtaining them. The skeletons or
the casts of the skeletons are exhibited in most of the museums of this
country. The most abundant remains are those of giant reptiles called
dinosaurs. Many of these animals were 20 feet long and resembled
no animal now living except possibly the diminutive so-called horned
toad of California. Plate XXXII, ^1, represents one of these lizards, '
called Stegosaurus^ as he is supposed to have appeared when he was
alive and roamed through the swamps that then covered much of this
region. This particular species was a vegetable feeder, but he needed
protection from other dinosaurs that were carnivorous, so he was com-
pelled to grow a bony plate of armor.
Dinosaurs inhabited the earth during Cretaceous time and con-
tinued to thrive on into Tertiary time, but they finally and suddenly
disappeared. The last survivor appears to have been Triceratops,
shown in Plate XXXII, B^ a skeleton of which was found years ago
in the vicinity of Denver.
V. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
BULLETIN" 707 PLATE XXXII
A. AN ARMORED DINOSAUR (STEGOSAURUS).
Stegosaurus (platod lizard) lived long, long before man existed on the globe. His bones were
found in the Morrison formation in Garden Park, 6 miles nortli of Canon City. The
animal was 20 feet long, 10 feel high at the hips, and protected from the onslaughts of other
equally powerful but carnivorous lizards by great bony plates along the back. His food
consisted of the vegetation that grew on the low marshy land of that time.
B. TRICKRATOPS. THE LAST OF THE DINOSAURS.
Triceratops (three-horned face) was the last of the great dinosaurs. Rones of this animal have
been found in the vicinity of Denver. ,\ mounted skeleton in the National Museum. Wash-
ington, is 20 feet long and 8 feet high at the hips. The most jjeculiar thing about this animal
is the great bony •" frill" covering and i)rotecting his neck. From ()ainting by C. R. Knight,
made under the direction of J. R. Hatcher.
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DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 71
Footprints of dinosaurs have been found also in sandstone that
was then the sandy shore of some lake or estuary. Plate XXXIII,
A, shows some of these tracks that were recently found in Arizona.
Similar tracks were found years ago in the brown sandstone of the
Connecticut Valley, and specimens may be seen in most museums.
At first these three-toed tracks were thought to have been made by
birds, but when the skeletons of the dinosaurs were found it was
realized that the supposed bird tracks were made by reptiles.
After crossing Oil Creek the traveler may obtain on the left a
general view of the mountain front back of Canon City — the moun-
tains through which t^e Arkansas has cut its wonderful canyon, the
Royal Gorge. In this view the gorge itself can not be readily dis-
tinguished, for it is so narrow and winding that from no point of
view can it be seen as an open cut. The low gap that is most promi-
nent from this point is the canyon of Grape Creek, which enters the
Arkansas from the south (left) just above Canon City. After pass-
ing through several miles of apple orchards the train arrives at the
station of Canon City.
Canon City is rightly named, for it stands at the mouth of the
greatest canyon penetrated by any railroad. It is the seat of Fre-
mont County, which was named in honor of the
Canon City. "Pathfinder," Gen. John C. Fremont, who in re-
Eievation 5.344 feet, turning from his second expedition in 1842 followed
Population 4,551. . . . i» • ■, ^
Denver 160 mUes. the Arkansas downstream from its headwaters
until he emerged from the mountains at the place
where Canon City now stands. The first recorded exploration of the
canyon was that of Lieut. Pike, who camped with his little party
near its eastern portal on December 5, 1806. They built a block-
house of logs on the north side of the river, wandered about in the
mountains to the north nearly a month, and on their return to their
blockhouse nearly lost their lives in the Royal Gorge. The next visit
of which there is a record was that of Dr. James and Capt. Bell, of
the Long exploration party. On July 18, 1820, these men left their
camp at the mouth of Fountain Creek (Pueblo) and rode up the
Arkansas to the foot of the mountains. The seven mineral springs
near the mouth of the Royal Gorge were named Bell's Springs in
honor of Capt. Bell, who discovered them on that trip. After this
visit the canyon was probably seen by many hunters and trappers,
for several trading posts were maintained on the riA'er. During the
" rush " of gold seekers in 1859 and 1860 a town sprang up near the
mouth of the great canyon and was named Canon City. Like most
of the towns of that time Canon City had a varied experience and
was at times nearly deserted. By 1868 it had achieved some promi-
nence, and the Territorial penitentiary was located here. The dis-
72 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
covery of petroleum in the county in 1872 helped the new town very
much, for thousands of gallons were collected and sold to the people
of other settlements. Since then its growth has been steady, for the
climate is agreeable, the region is well adapted to fruit raising, and
the town affords an outlet for the coal mines to the south. The
scenic features have heretofore been only slightly exploited but will
doubtless attract many visitors.
The description of the scenery along the railroad west of Canon
City begins on page 73.
ONE-DAY TRIP FROM CANON CITY TO THE TOP OF
THE ROYAL GORGE.
The chief attraction in the vicinity of Canon City is the Royal
Gorge of the Arkansas. The traveler passing over the Denver & Rio
Grande Western Railroad in an open-top observation car has an
exceptional opportunity to see this gorge from the bottom, but won-
derful as this view may be, it does not compare in awe-inspiring
grandeur with the view of the gorge from above. To obtain this
view the traveler goes by automobile from Canon City a distance of
10 miles over one of the most picturesque drives in the country.
Several years ago a trolley line was graded nearly to the top, but
the enterprise fell through and at present automobiles or teams form
the only mode of conveyance.
The road first climbs to the top of a steep hogback ridge formed
of the sharply tilted Dakota sandstone and then follows the crest of
this ridge for several miles. The top of the ridge is so narrow that
there is barely room for the road ; in fact, the road in many places
passes beneath great projecting ledges of the sandstone. (See
Pi. XXXV.) From this elevated position one can look down on
the town and on acres upon acres of orchards to the east and in the
other direction into the valley that separates the hogback from the
main mountain. The road finally crosses this valley, climbs grad-
ually to a high plateau, about 1,200 feet above the town, and sud-
denljT^ comes to the very brink of the Royal Gorge, as shown in Plate
XXXIV, A. When the traveler finally stands on the edge of this
mighty chasm (PL XXXIV, B) and gazes down more than a thou-
sand feet to the raging torrent that rushes through its shadowy
depths or to the thundering train that wakes the sleeping echoes from
all its cavernous recesses he can but feel that, though the Royal
Gorge may not be so deep nor display so great a variet}- of colors as
the Grand Canyon of the Colorado, it has a massiveness of wall and
a steepness and ruggedness that can not be matched even by that
" Titan of chasms." The canyon gives one the impression that
Arkansas River has here acted like a gigantic saw and that what
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
BULLETIN 707 PLATE XXXIV
A. TOP OF THE ROYAL GORGE.
Afler traversing the Skyline Drive the traveler may turn to the west and climb to the summit
of the mountain in which the Royal Gorge is cut. He may he surprised to find that this
mountain is really a plateau and that the automobile may be driven to the very edge of the
gorge. Photograph furnished by the D.mver & Rio Grande Western Railroad.
y;. HIM OF THE ROYAL GORGE.
Who can describe the awful grandeur of the chasm that yawns before the traveler when he
reaches the rim of the canyon!' The walls are nearly sheer for a depth of 1, 100 feet, and the
chasm seems so narrow that he almost believes that he could cast a stone across it. The
character of the rocky wails is well shown in this picture. Photograph furnished by the
Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad.
1"
o -:
a u
-gx
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE.
73
one sees to-day is the deep, narrow cut it lias thus made. The canyon
seems no wider than the stream that carved it. In places the walls
overhang, and one must have steady nerves to stand firmly on the
edge and look without dizziness down at a point 1.100 feet below.
The banding of the granite and the many dikes and veins that
cut it, as shown in Plate XXXIV, i5, give a variety of attractive
color effects. In places the soft layers have worn away until there
are deep recesses ; in others the massive rock has so well resisted the
scouring action of the stream that the walls are vertical or even
overhang.
On the whole, the canyon shows impressively what an active stream
can do when k is working on highly contorted rocks like gneiss
and cutting downward only, with little or no broadening.
The view from the top of the Eoyal Gorge will well repay one
who is interested in the canyon as a scenic feature for the trouble
he takes to reach it, and it furnishes the student of geology or
physiogi"aphy an almost ideal example of a newly cut gorge.-^
MAIN LINE OF RAILROAD FROM CANON CITY TO
SALIDA.
As the train leaves the station at Canon City the traveler m the
open-top car is prepared to see and enjoj' to the utmost the magnifi-
cent spectacle of the Royal Gorge. This gorge, however, forms only
a small part, as measured in miles, of the grand canyon of the
Arkansas, which stretches from a point a mile west of Canon City
"^The Royal Gorge presents to the
geologist several interesting aspects that
have a bearing on its history or mode
of origin and also on the history of
other features in this region. The
canyon, as has already been stated,
was carved in the rocks by the river
that occupies it, but not all rivers,
even in mountain regions, have carved
so deeply, so some special condition
here must have made it capable of
producing so immense a gorge. The
condition was either an uplift of the
land or an increase in the volume of
the river, which greatly increased its
cutting power, but as there are other
evidences of uplift it is safe to as-
sume that the cutting of the Royal
Gorge was made possible by a general
uplift of the region. A stream that is
being uplifted, or rejuvenated, as the
geologist would say, begins cutting in
its lower course, and the cutting pro-
gresses headward, but no matter how
the cutting took place, the important
fact is that the stream cuts its way
slowly but surely into the surface of
the land, and thus the bends and me-
anders that characterized the stream
when it was flowing on top of what is
now the plateau are perpetuated in the
canyon. Cutting has not ceased in
this interesting canyon but is still
going on. The stream still carries sand
and in times of flood great boulders,
which scratch and grind the rocks over
which it flows. To-day it is able to
remove all these fragments of rock and
its channel is being deepened, but
when its grade becomes so flat that
it is unable to carry the sand tlie cut-
ting will cease and the stream may
even fill its bed instead of cutting it
deeper.
74 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
westward to a. point about 3 miles beyond the small village of Coto-
paxi, a distance of 34 miles.
On leaving the station the traveler sees on the south (left) the
station which marks the end of this branch of the Santa Fe Railway.
He is now at the place where the great railroad war was waged from
1876 to 1879, and after seeing the canyon he will understand fully
that it is hardly possible for two roads to occupy this narrow gash
in the rocks, and consequently each road made its supreme endeavor
to be first to build through the canyon. In the 40 years that this
road has been in operation thousands of travelers from all parts
of the world have passed through the gorge and have admired its
awful grandeur.
About a mile from the station the traveler may see on the north
(right) the State penitentiary with its well-kept grounds, at the
extreme farthest point of which is Iron Spring, one of the attractive
features of Canon City. The pavilion that covers the spring may
be seen on the right, and just opposite is the power plant, which at
times fills the beautiful clear air with a dense pall of smoke. This
dense cloud of black smoke should not be permitted, for when the
wind is from the east it drifts up the track and conceals much of the
beauty of the Royal Gorge. The rocky ledge that is exposed a few
feet beyond the spring is the Dakota sandstone, which marks the base
of the Upper Cretaceous series. This sandstone is the most re-
sistant bed in the series of rocks here upturned, and it therefore
stands up as a sharp-crested ridge or hogback, which extends for a
long distance across the valley parallel with the mountain front.
About 2 miles south of the river there is a great break (fault) in the
beds of rock, separating those of the mountains from those of the
plains, and the Dakota hogback ends against this fault. Along the
sunmiit of the hogback, which in places is wide enough only for a
road, the famous Skyline Drive (shown in PI. XXXV) has been
constructed.
From the Dakota sandstone to the mountain front the beds are all
steeply upturned, but their position can not be made out very well
from the train. These beds of sandstone and limestone once doubt-
less extended at least as far west as Parkdale, and when the mountain
was uplifted they were bowed up in a great curve, as suggested in
figure 16 (p. 80), but the streams cut into these uplifted rocks very
actively and in course of time removed them and even cut down
hundreds of feet into the massive granite on which they rest. The
first formation below the Dakota is the Morrison, which forms the
west side of the hogback. It consists of variegated shale and sand-
stone, in which green and red beds predominate. It is in this forma-
tion that the bones of the giant reptile described on page 70 and
shown in Plate XXXII, A, were found.
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE.
75
West of the outcrop of the Morrison lies a red sandstone that is in
places at least a thousand feet thick. This sandstone is particularly
prominent about Manitou, in the valley of Fountain Creek, and for
this reason is called the Fountain formation. This sandstone is of
middle Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian) age. A limestone or gray
and pink dolomite -* about 100 feet thick and a sandstone of about
the same thickness lie below the Fountain formation. This sand-
stone rests on the granite of the Front Eange. All the rocks below
the Dakota sandstone are prevailingly red, and this color is well dis-
played in the valley west of the hogback.
At Burnito siding may be seen some of the canals that carry water
to irrigate the valley below, as well as the pipe line which supplies
Canon City with water. The pipe line is high up on the north
(right), and the water is carried by gravity into a settling reservoir,
which may be seen on a hill to the right. Below the city aqueduct
is a canal, which is taken by a tunnel through the hogback to irri-
gate the orchards on the north side of the valley. On the south there
are two canals, one high up on the hillside and one near the level
of the river bottom. The higher canal receives its water from Grape
Creek, which enters the river just at the edge of the mountain ; the
lower one takes water from Arkansas River near the mouth of this
creek.
A short distance above Burnito siding the traveler is face to face
with the imposing portal of the Koyal Gorge. (See PI. XXXIII,
B.) On the left is the old Hot Springs Hotel, now abandoned, and
on the right and considerably above the railroad are some small tun-
nels through which the city pipe line is carried. The passage seems
almost barred by the great slab of gneiss which projects from the
north and stands 400 or 500 feet high. The traveler may imagine
that the train will at once plunge into the shadowy depths of the
mighty gorge, but after passing the portal he finds that the canyon,
though rocky, is not particularly rugged or precipitous.
The observant traveler will soon notice that there is close connec-
tion between the character of the rock and the shape and narrow-
ness of the gorge. Where the rock is massive granite cut by few
joint planes the gorge is narrow, but where the rock is intricately
banded and composed of many layers of diverse appearing rocks it
is wider and the slopes are more gentle. The differences in the form
and width of the canyon are due to differences in the resistance which
the various kinds of rock have offered to the cutting power of the
stream and to the processes of weathering.
-*A. dolomite is generally regarded
as a limestone, but a limestone con-
sists essentially of carbonate of lime,
and a dolomite of double carbonate of
lime and magnesia, containing 55 to 65
per cent of carbonate of lime and 35
to 45 per cent of carbonate of mag-
nesia.
76 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
Although the rocks throughout the Royal Gorge are in general
similar, they differ greatly from place to place, their character de-
pending largely on the crushing stresses to which they have been
subjected at great depths in the earth. In some places the rock is
massive granite ; it has never been crushed or disturbed in any way.
In other places the rock (probably originally granite, or possibly
sandstone and shale) has been so squeezed and crushed that it has
been more or less changed. The minerals of the rock have been
recrystallized, and in the process of change the crystals have been
arranged in layers at right angles to the direction in which the
force was applied, and the rock has become a gneiss. In some places
the process has been carried so far that all the rock material has
been recrystallized, and the rock has become an exceedingly soft
mica schist, composed largely of small flakes of mica, and it can
be split like a slate. The structure is complicated also by dikes,
which cut across the other rocks, or irregular intrusive masses which
here and there break up the regularity of the banding. In places
veins of quartz have been deposited from mineral-bearing waters
that slowly circulated through open fissures. Finally all these masses
have been turned and twisted, folded back upon themselves, and
broken, until the result is a structure which is complicated almost
beyond description.
As the train moves on the canyon walls grow higher and some-
what steeper, and through a side gulch here and there the traveler
may catch glimpses of the most rugged towering pinnacles. Such
a view may be obtained about half a mile above milepost 164, up
a small canyon on the right to a wall of massive granite that stands
at least 1,000 feet high.
At the abandoned station of Gorge the Royal Gorge really be-
gins. Below this point the railroad has had little difficulty in find-
. ing a passage, but immediately above the old station
^"''^^' the walls close in until the stream has a width of
Elevation 5,494 feet. ^ gj^ 50 fget. The walls are massive and rise
Denver 165 miles. "J
nearly vertically to heights of 1,000 to 1,200 feet.
(See Pis. XXXVI, A, and XXXVII.) The train here plunges into
the vast depths of this narrow cleft, and the traveler is free to enjoy
the scene, without a thought as to how or where he is to emerge
from them. He knows that he will be through the canyon in a few
minutes, but the early explorers had no such knowledge. Lieut.
Pike, who visited the Royal Gorge about the first of January, 1807,
had serious difficulty in exploring its narrowest parts. Can anything
more difficult be imagined than that attempt to find a passage through
this unexplored gorge at a time of the year when the water was ice-
cold?
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U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
RULLETIX 707 PLATE XXXVII
VIEW LOOKING BONN N INTO THE ROYAL GORGE.
When one stands on the rim above the old station of Gorge and looks down into this great chasm
the railroad looks like a thread stretched beside the foaming stream. The pomt ot the rim
ordinarily reached by travelers is around the bend to the right. The lowland in the distance
is at Parkdale, and the gap in the range beyond is the mouth of the river canyon *,"»'. extenas
upstream to Cotopaxi. Photograph furnished by the Denver & Rio Grande Western
Railroad.
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE.
77
At Gorge the Canon City pipe line crosses the river. In rounding
the next point on the right the traveler may see above him one of
the most massive walls in the canyon. It is probably 1,200 feet high
and is nearly smooth as far as one can see. After passing around this
projecting mass into the next bend the traveler on looking ahead may
see people on the crest of the wall, for the automobile road from
Canon City leads to this point. The wall upon which they stand is
about 1,100 feet -^ above the railroad, but the rock is so massive that
it is difficult to appreciate its great height. At milepost 166 the
traveler is directly below the point reached by the automobile road,
and he may obtain some idea of the immensity of the gorge, but the
view from the bottom, though interesting, does not compare in
grandeur with the view to be obtained from above. One is more
accustomed to looking up at great heights than to looking down into
great chasms, and the canyon is therefore less striking when seen
from below than from above.
The train swings around the base of the overhanging walls of the
point on the right and crosses the Hanging Bridge (PI. XXXVIII)
in the narrowest part of the gorge. In places here the walls actually
overhang, but pictures of the gorge taken from this point have been
so widely circulated that almost everyone, even before reaching Colo-
rado, is familiar with them. The engineering feat of hanging a
bridge from the walls of the canyon instead of supporting it by
abutments is of course novel and attracts much attention, but few
who pass over the road think of the engineers who made the first
location for the road or of the workmen who hewed their way
througli the solid rock. It is reported that at some of the construc-
tion camps men and tools and mules and carts were let down the
canyon wall by ropes; that the engineers made their locations on
the ice or while struggling through the icy waters; and that the
rockmen were hung suspended in the air while they drilled the holes
in the granite and fired the blasts that sent tons upon tons of rock
crashing into the stream below. If the experiences of these men
could be written the story would abound in thrilling moments of
suspense and hairbreadth escapes that would rival the scenes shown
in the most realistic moving picture.
^ Many figrures have been given for
the depth of this canyon, but all ap-
pear to be only guesses. The favorite
figure seems to have been 2,600 feet, or
approximately half a mile. The writer,
believing that the public is entitled to
know the truth about such striking
scenic features, requested that the
height of the cliff be determined. Ac-
cordingly, D. E. Winchester, of the
United States Geological Survey, with
telescopic alidade and plane table,
measured the vertical distance from
the base to the top of the cliff and
found it to be approximately 1,100 feet.
This measurement may be in error as
much as 4 feet but probably not more
than that.
78
GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
As already stated, the narrower and more rugged parts of the
Royal Gorge are cut in the harder rocks. This fact is well illus-
trated near the Hanging Bridge, for here the walls are vertical be-
cause the great joint cracks that cut the granite are vertical. When-
ever a piece of rock is split from the walls it breaks off along one of
these vertical joints, and the stream has difficulty in undermining
a wall that is composed of huge blocks of rock set on end or rather
that have one end deeply buried below water level. The great open
fissures along some of these joints give picturesque detail to the
walls; the best known fissure is one on the right that can be seen
to advantage by looking back just after passing the Hanging Bridge.
This crack is 20 feet wide, and down it flows a stream of water which
in the driest season yields cool water to the thirsty traveler who may
be enjoying a tramp through this great highway. The traveler will
doubtless see many other cracks almost as strongly marked as this
one at different places in the canyon walls. Many of these fissures
have been cleaned out by small streams of water, leaving crevices
only a few feet wide, which in many places slope under the over-
hanging rock for long distances. ^^
'° Doubtless many persons who have
passed through the Royal Gorge have
wondered what agent produced this
deep and narrow cleft. The question
may not often have been voiced, but
scarcely anyone can see a chasm so
tremendous without wondering how it
was formed. The answer which the
traveler will get to such a question
depends upon the person making the
reply. If it is a geologist he will say
that the river has excavated the can-
yon, cutting away the rock grain by
grain ; but if the question is answered
by one who has not made a study of
such problems he will probably scout
such a proposition and say that it is
impossible for a river to cut a hard
rock like this gneiss and that the
gorge is due to a great fissure that
was opened by an earthquake. This
view is most commonly held by those
who are unfamiliar with the work of
streams and was even held by many
geologists less than a century ago.
It is comparatively easy to prove
that the Royal Gorge was not formed
by an earthquake, for, first, the gorge
is too crooked to be the result of a
fissure and, second, the bands of rock
can be traced practically from wall to
wall across the canyon. There is no
possibility of a break such as would
be required by the earthquake hj'pothe-
sis. Altogether the evidence is con-
clusive that the Royal Gorge and most
other canyons are not earthquake fis-
sures but were cut by the streams
that occupy them.
The cutting power of water depends
on the amount of sand and gi-avel
which the stream is able to carry or
to roll along on its bottom. Clear
water may dissolve the rocks, but it
has no cutting power. Water loaded
with sand cuts the rocks by the scour-
ing action of the grains of sand on the
rocks over which the water flows. It
acts much like a sand blast, and no
rock is so hard that it can withstand
the constant grinding of grains of
sand. According to human standards
the process is very slow, but it is
ahnost constantly in operation, day
and night, and eventually it will make
its work apparent.
U. S. nEOLOGICAL SURVEY
BULLETIN 707 PLATE XXXVIII
IIANGIiNG BRIDGE, ROYAL GORGE.
The Hanging Bridge, in the narrowest part of the canyon, is a striking feature. When the road
was built there was not room at this point for both river and railroad side by side, so a bridge
was necessary. The easiest way to construct such a bridge was to use the two walls of the
canyon as abutments and to swing the bridge froni trusses, as shown in this view. The
joints in the granite are nearly vertical, and consequently the walls have little backward
slope. Photograph furnished by the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad.
U. S. GEOLOnirAL SURVEY
nULLETIX 707 PLATE XXXIX
UPPER END OF THE ROYAL GORGE.
The traveler on tlie rim of the canyon can climb down, if he has a steady head, to the .jagged
point shown on the left. Here he can look on the Hansing Bridge and the railroad trains as
they thunder through the canyon, waking the echoes from every angle of its mighty walls.
The rocks here arc much more highly jointed than they are lower down, and as a result the
canyon walls begin to liave an appreciable slope and to decrease in height. Photograph
furnished by the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad.
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 79
A short distance above the Hanging Bridge, as/ shown in Plate
XXXIX, the walls diminish in height and the canyon opens and
bears little resemblance to the narrow gorge just below. About
three-quarters of a mile above milepost 166 the slopes are so gentle
that they can be scaled, and a trail leading to the top turns up the
slope on the north (right). In this part of the canyon the walls
are not composed of massive granite or even gneiss, as at most
places below, but the rock is a schist, composed largely of flakes of
mica that may be recognized by the manner in which they glisten in
the sunshine. This mica schist is very soft, compared with the
granite and gneiss, and therefore weathers more rapidh% so that the
canyon is wider and has smoother and gentler slopes.
Just bej^ond milepost 168 are the headgate and settling tanks of
the Canon City waterworks. In this vicinity the gray granite is
cut by a great many dikes of pink feldspar (pegmatite). The crys-
tals of feldspar are large, and their brilliant faces attract attention,
especially when the sun is shining on them. In some places these
dikes are so numerous and so large that they make up the bulk of
the rock and give it a strong red color. The pink feldspar is very
abundant in the rock from the siding called Sample to the edge of
Webster Park, near Parkdale.
Toward the west the hills grow smaller and the canyon less pro-
nounced, until finally, in making a sharp turn to the right just be-
fore reaching milepost 170, the traveler catches on the left a glimpse
of an open valley of considerable extent, which comes as a pleasing
contrast to the frowning walls of the deep canyon. This open valley
is Webster Park, one of the beautiful natural parks which diversify
the mountain scenery of Colorado. The surface of AVebster Park
is underlain by soft sedimentary rocks that have been downfolded
or dropped by some fault, thus being preserved from complete
destruction by erosion.
The first sedimentary rocks that can be seen from the train are on
the right. They are the variegated shale and sandstone of the Mor-
rison formation, and above them lie the more somber sandstones of
the Dakota. These beds of rock lie nearly horizontal, but doubtless
their contact with the granite, if it could be seen, would show that
they rise gently toward the east at about the same rate as the surface
of the granite on which thej' were deposited. The traveler may be
surprised to find the Morrison formation in Webster Park in con-
tact with the granite, whereas at Canon City several hundred feet
of beds lie between the ISIorrison and the granite. The absence of
these underlying formations in Webster Park is probably due to the
fact that the upper surface of the granite was for a long time a
land surface and upon this land the sedimentary beds were deposited
80
GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
Xjt^notreo
3AIJQ 3Ul|A>(g<
uoneuujoj uosijjo[^ '/
:aXBp3^JBjj(
as
II
•?! &^
at different elevations before the
granite was arched and broken by
faults, as shown in figure 16. Thus
the lowermost formation at Canon
City may have originally extended
onto the granite a mile or so and the
next one 2 or 3 miles, and so on, until
finally, when the Morrison was de-
posited, the entire area was low, and
the Morrison beds were laid down
continuously from Canon City to
Parkdale.
West of milepost 170 the beds dip
sharply toward the west, as shown in
figure 16, and the Dakota disappears
under the dark shale of the Benton.
About 1,500 feet beyond milepost 170
the shale is in contact with the gran-
ite, which shows that they must have
been brought into this abnormal re-
lation by a fault that dropped the
shale on the east as compared with
the granite on the west. This rela-
tion of the shale and the granite is
illustrated in figure 16.
Beyond this fault the hill on the
north (right) of the railroad is com-
posed entirely of granite, but on the
south the variegated shale of the
Morrison rests on the granite just as
it was deposited ages ago. At the
point where the railroad crosses Tal-
lahassee Creek the Morrison outcrop
swings to the north, and a hill com-
posed of this formation, capped by
Dakota sandstone, which dips toward
the west, may be seen half a mile
away. The sedimentary rocks can
not continue in this direction much
farther, for the granite, which can be
seen on the north, makes a high rim
completely around the valley.
The rock in the middle of the val-
ley is concealed by a deep cover
of gravel, which the river has evi-
dently brought down from the high
V. S. GEOLOnif'AI, SURVEY
BULLETIN- 707 PLATE XL
A. GRAND CANYON OF THE ARKANSAS BELOW TEXAS CREEK.
Below Texas Creek the canyon in many places is very rough and rugged, tlic massive granite
projecting from the walls on either side seems almost to bar the i)athway of the river, and
these spurs are crowned with crags and iiiiinacles. Photograph by INIarius R. Campbell.
B. TUNNEL ON RAINBOW HICHWAY.
The construction of the Rainbow Highway involved engineering dillicullies as great as those which
beset the railroad engineers in 1881. Much rock cutting was done, and even tunnels were driven
through the projecting points of massive granite. Photograph by Marius R. Campbell.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
BULLETIN 707 PLATE XLI
A. GOLD DREDGING.
Great dredges like those used in deepening harbors and in excavating the Panama Canal are
set to work in the heart of the Rocky Mountains, digging up and washing gravel for the gold
it contains. This view shows the great heap of washed gravel that is left in the wake of the
dredge. Photograph by F. L. Ransome.
B. RAINBOW HIGHWAY.
Automobiles now traverse the grand canyon of the Arkansas as readily as railroad trains, owing
to the recent completion of the Rainbow Highway from Parkdale to LeadviUe. In many
places the cost of construction was as great as that of the railroad ou the opposite banK.
Photograph by the U. S. Forest Service.
DENVEE & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 81
mountains farther west. One of the striking features of this gravel-
covered terrace is the great number of big boulders that litter the
ground around the station at Parkdale and for some distance to the
east. These boulders are composed of all sorts of rock from the high
mountains and range from mere gravel stones of the size of a marble
up to boulders 10 or 12 feet in diameter. These large boulders have
certainly been brought down the river valley, but by what agency?
Could water have transported them ? At first sight it would seem im-
possible for water to move boulders of this size through a canyon
and then spread them out in a great fan nearly a mile long, but
there seems to be no other agent by which they could have been trans-
ported. Some may suggest that possibly the glaciers of the Ice Age
may have extended down as far as Parkdale and carried the boulders
and dropped them where the ice melted. It is well known that gla-
ciers do carry such boulders, but a glance at the rugged walls of the
canyon above Parkdale (see PL XL, A) will soon convince the
traveler that no glacier has ever moved down this canyon. Water,
therefore, is apparently the only agent that could have transported
these boulders.
Just as the train emerges from the canj^on into Webster Park
it crosses the Rainbow automobile road, which was last seen at Canon
City. It was manifestly impossible for this road to follow the river
through the Royal Gorge, so it takes a more circuitous route to the
north and then returns to the river in Webster Park. Here it
crosses to the south side of the river and follows that side until the
river emerges into the broad valley at the foot of the Sangre de
Cristo Range 2^ above Cotopaxi. The construction of this road
through the canyon above Parkdale involved a large amount of rock
work, and the State and county deserve to be congratulated on its
completion. (See Pis. XXXVI, C ,• XL, B; and XLI, B.)
Webster Park is an oasis of valley land in a wilderness of moun-
tains. Near the river some of the soil is too gravelly for farming,
but back from the river there are good farms. Stock
Parkdale. raising is the principal occupation, and the cattle
Elevation 5.800 feet, fl^ J good summer pasture upon the mountain slopes.
Population 87.* 4 ,V • c t-> 1 i 1 i
Denver 171 miles. At the station of Parkdale the traveler, on look-
ing back, can see the low range of mountains, or
rather the plateau, in which the Royal Gorge is cut.
About Parkdale the dark shale of the Benton shows in a number
of places below the gravel, and the next rock that is seen in passing
westward is the granite at the mouth of the canyon. It is therefore
certain that no hard rocks, such as the Dakota sandstone, are present
** Spanish term meaning " blood of Christ," pronounced sahn'gray day cris'to.
82 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. '
between the Benton shale and the granite, and the shale and the
granite must be brought into contact by a fault, as shown in figure 16.
Above Parkdale the river is again confined in a narrow, rugged
canyon, which has been cut in a plateau similar to that in which the
Eoyal Gorge is cut. (See PI. XXXIV, J., p. 72.) Upon this plateau
there are several ranges of mountains, which rise to elevations of
12,000 to 14,000 feet above sea level and which are included in the
San Isabel National Forest. This forest furnishes excellent summer
pasture for a large number of cattle and sheep, which are driven into
the mountains each spring from ranches in the lowland on both the
east and the west. The forest is also an effective conserver of water,
f(;r in it lie the heads of a number of streams that supply water for
domestic use and irrigation to the cities, towns, and ranches of the
plains. It is a haven of refuge for wild animals, particularly deer,
which thrive upon its excellent pasture lands. The fawns are almost
as tame as the lambs which gambol about their mothers in the deep
grass. (See PL XLII, B.)
In the Greenhorn Mountains many summer homes have been built
by the citizens of Pueblo and connected with that city by fine auto-
mobile roads. The use of the national forests for recreation is en-
couraged by the Government, and in many localities sites suitable for
summer homes have been mapped and laid off in lots so as to be
available to those who wish to avoid the crowded cities during the
heat of summer. The charge for building permits ranges from
$10 to $25 a year, depending on the accessibility and attractiveness of
the site. Logs and poles for building and wood for fuel may be
procured free of charge under permit from the local forest officers.
One of these summer homes is shown in Plate XLII, A.
The canyon above Parkdale, although it is generally considered
with the Eoyal Gorge as constituting the grand canyon of the
Arkansas, is really a separate canyon. It has a length of about 24
miles, measured along the railroad, and may be divided, according
to its width and the ruggedness of its walls, into three parts, two^of
them narrow and rugged and the third, separating the more rugged
parts, broad and more or less smooth.
The first part of the canyon extends from Parkdale to Texas
Creek, a distance of 11 miles. This canyon is not so narrow nor
so deep as the Royal Gorge, but it is nevertheless picturesque and
well worthy of close attention, particularly as it can generally be
seen from an open observation car. The charm of this canyon
is the variety of its scenery. In places it is narrow and has steep
and rugged walls; in others it is relatively broad, though here and
there projecting points of rock have been cut by the stream into
nearly vertical cliffs. In other words, this canyon looks as if it
V. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
BULLETINT 707 PLATE XLII
A. SUMMER HOME IN A NATIONAL FOREST.
The United States Forest Service leases frround, under certain restrictions, for
summer lioraes in the national forests. This is such a home in the San Isabel
Forest, south of Arkansas River. Pholojiraph by the U. S. Forest Service.
n. (JA.ME IN A NATIONAL FOREST.
Deer soon become plentiful when ihey are protected. The wild faw n shown here was
photographed in the San Isabel National Forest by the U. S. Forest Service.
S ">
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE.
83
Texas Cieek.
Elevation 6,210 feet.
Population 63.*
Denver 184 miles.
had been occupied by the stream for a longer time than the Royal
Gorge.^^
The walls of the canyon from its mouth just above Parkdale to
Texas Creek are generally uniform in height, so that this canyon
also appears to have been cut in a plateau, the
surface of which was originally gently rolling.
At Texas Creek a branch of the railroad turns to
the south (left), crosses the river, and after run-
ning up a small valley for a short distance in order
to obtain grade, turns back and loops around a projecting spur con-
siderably above the bottom of the valley. After passing this spur
the road follows for a long distance the valley of Texas Creek on its
way to the mining district of Westcliffe, 25 miles distant.
Near the station of Texas Creek the canyon takes on a different
aspect. It becomes much broader than it is east of that place, and
though the walls may in places be precipitous, they are generally
smoother and gentler in their slope than they are farther east. This
part of the canyon looks older than the part below, and it is also
different from the part above. On leaving Texas Creek the train
heads directly toward the great Sangre de Cristo Range (PI. XLIII)
and at a point 3 miles above Texas Creek swings abruptly to the
right, following Arkansas River, which here leaves the broad valley
in which it has been flowing, and in a short distance it again enters
a canj'on, some parts of which are steep and narrow. If the traveler
looks to the left as the turn is made he will see that the broad valley
continues directly toward the high mountain peaks but is occupied
only by Oak Creek, a stream not at all commensurate in size with that
of the valley which it occupies. The meaning of these differences
^' Geologists generally classify the
surface features of the earth accord-
ing to their age or according to the
length of time they have been in the
process of formation. Thus there may
be young mountains and old moun-
tains, young valleys and old valleys,
and young streams and old streams.
Where the rocks are fairly uniform
throughout, the youngest type of valley
is the canyon and the oldest is the
broad valley with slopes so gentle that
it almost resembles a plain. A can-
yon is considered young because- it
marks the first stage in valley cut-
ting ; a broad valley is considered old
because it marks its last stage.
Although all canyons are young, they
may differ considerably in age, so
there are young canyons and old can-
yons. In canyons of these two classes
that are cut in essentially the same
rocks young canyons may be distin-
guished by the narrowness of the bot-
toms, which are generally but little
wider than the channel of the stream,
and by having walls that are commonly
steep and in many places precipitous.
Old canyons, on the other hand, are
generally wide enough, at least in
placets, to have narrow strips of flood
plain; their walls are less precipi-
tous, and their rocks are generally
more irregular in outline owing to
the fact that they have been longer
exposed to the weather.
84 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
in the character of the canyon of the Arkansas is not yet understood,
but it could probably be satisfactorily explained if the history of
the river were thoroughly known.
Above the mouth of Oak Creek the canyon of the Arkansas for
some distance is irregular in width and the sides are low, indicating
considerable age. though it is generally narrow, and farther on it
becomes more precipitous, until in the vicinity of Cotopaxi it is a
veritable canyon, though it is wider than the part of the canyon below
Texas Creek.
Cotopaxi is a small settlement, hemmed m on all sides by high
granite walls, but fairly good roads lead from it southwestward to
a rich agricultural region at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo Range.
Small quantities of the precious metals as well as
Cotopaxi. some copper have been found near the town, but
Elevation 6,385 feet, none of the mines are now in operation. Limestone
Population 252.* ■ -, ■, ■ ■, • , • ,.
Denver 192 miles, ^^^ oncc quamed here m large quantities for use as
flux in iron furnaces, but most of the limestone now
so used at Pueblo is quarried near Howard, farther up the valley.
The quarries near Cotopaxi were about 3 miles north of the rail-
road, at the southern end of the belt of Carboniferous rocks. (See
sheet 3, p. 100.) The limestone has been preserved here by being
downfolded into the granite, and on the east side of the downfold
the rock has been broken by a fault and replaced by the granite.
For some distance west of Cotopaxi the sides of the canyon are
composed of massive granite, which in places stands up in nearly
vertical walls (see PI. XL, A), but the valley bottom is generally
wide enough to afford ample accommodation for the railroad and
for the Eainbow Highway. The canyon maintains this width for
some distance, but beyond milepost 194 the river passes through the
narrowest and most rugged part of the canyon west of Parkdale.
About three-quarters of a mile beyond milepost 191 the railroad
emerges suddenly from the granite canyon into a broad valley at the
foot of the Sangre de Cristo Range. The course of the railroad,
which for a long distance has been nearly southwest, here veers to
the northwest along this valley. The change from seemingly end-
less vistas of rocky canyon walls to a broad valley in which there are
farms and green trees is striking and exceedingly restful and is one
of the surprises that are constantly awaiting the traveler in this
mountainous region.
The change in scenery and in the general character of the country
is due to a difference in the underlying rocks, but for some distance
this fact is not apparent, as the rocks are not visible from the train,
the land near the river being composed of sand and gravel washed
BULLETIN 707 SHEET No. 2
leei No. I
104 30- COLORADO
39'
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
BULLETIN 707 SHEET No. 2
GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP
RIO GRANDE ROUTE
From Denver, Colorado, to Salt Lake City, Utah
Compiled from United States Geological Survey atlas
sheets and reports, from railroad alinements and pro-
files supplied by the Denver & Rio Grande Western
Railroad Co.. and from additional information col-
lected with the assistance of that company
PREPARED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF
GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR
EXPLANATION
Gravel oo mesas and terraces
Arkosic I fragments of eranite) conglomerate
(Dawson arkosel
Sandstone and shale with coal beds (Laramie formation) I
Dark marine shale with
J I Dark marine shale and limestone (Colorado group) ^
K (a* Calcareous shale and limestone (Niobrara formation)
L ib) Shale, limestone, and sandal
Graneros shale
Upper Cretaceous
1000
600±
Red and green shEde and sandstone (Moi
Lower Cretaceoua
1 formation) Cretaceous ?
Carboniferous
iPer^ian (?) and
Pemtsylvanian)
Millsap limestone
Limestone and quartzite ' ^''^J??"* limestone ,
I Hardmg sandstone^
Granite
Lava flows (rhyolite and basalt breccia) I
Andesitic breccia and tuff
.Fault
* The Colorado group is
eastern pan of the a
such a subdivision practicable
Ordovician
Cambrian
Pre-Cambrian
DENVER & RIO GRAISTDE WESTERN ROUTE.
85
down from the high mountains at the back of the valley. The rail-
road follows the east side of the river, passing by
Pleasanton. the village of Pleasanton and hugging the granite
Elevation G,48i feet, cliffs that border the valley on the northeast (right) .
Denver 196 miles. ^j^^ contact of the soft Tocks of the vallcy with the
granite or gneiss is not a normal contact but is due to a fault, the
granite having been elevated or the other rocks depressed an un-
known distance.
In order to understand the meaning of the surface features along
the railroad from Pleasanton to Salida it is necessary to know the
geologic structure and the succession of hard and soft rocks.
Mountains are usually formed either because they contain rocks
that are somewhat harder than the rocks in adjacent areas or be-
cause recent disturbances in the earth's crust have raised one part
of the crust with relation to another; or they may be formed by
Figure 17. — Cross section of the Sangre de Cristo Range and the valley on its east side
at Pleasanton, showing the anticline of the mountain and the syncline on the oast.
volcanic action. In the Rocky Mountains the principal ranges and
peaks have been formed by one or both of the two causes first stated.
The great Sangre de Cristo Range, which towers on the left a mile
above the railroad, is no exception, but this range, unlike many others
of this general region, is very narrow, being at no point more
than 12 or 15 miles wide. At many places its crest is composed
of granite and gneiss, which, being harder than the surrounding
rock, have remained at their present height, while the softer rocks on
either side have been washed away to lower levels. In general, the
structure of the mountain at the north end is that of a great anti-
clinal fold (arch), mainly in Carboniferous rocks, though it affects
the lower rocks down to and including the granite. At a point
farther south the fold crosses the range at a low angle, and from
that point southward the structure is entirely different. The section
shown in figure 17 represents in a general way the structure of the
rocks at the north end of the mountain — the anticline in the moun-
80097°— 22 7
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE.
85
down from the high mountains at the back of the valley. The rail-
road follows the east side of the river, passing by
Pleasanton. tlie village of Pleasanton and hugging the granite
Elevation C.481 feet, cliffs that border the valley on the northeast (right) .
Denver 196 mi.es. ^j^^ contact of the soft Tocks of the Valley with the
granite or gneiss is not a normal contact but is due to a fault, the
granite having been elevated or the other rocks depressed an un-
known distance.
In order to understand the meaning of the surface features along
the railroad from Pleasanton to Salida it is necessary to know the
geologic structure and the succession of hard and soft rocks.
Mountains are usually formed either because they contain rocks
that are somewhat harder than the rocks in adjacent areas or be-
cause recent disturbances in the earth's crust have raised one part
of the crust with relation to another; or they ma 7 be formed by
Figure 17. — Cross section of the Sangre de Cristo Range and the valley on its east side
at Pleasanton, showing the anticline of the mountain and the syncline on the east.
volcanic action. In the Eocky Mountains the principal ranges and
peaks have been formed by one or both of the two causes first stated.
The great Sangre de Cristo Range, which towers on the left a mile
above the railroad, is no exception, but this range, unlike many others
of this general region, is very narrow, being at no point more
than 12 or 15 miles wide. At many places its crest is composed
of granite and gneiss, which, being harder than the surrounding
rock, have remained at their present height, while the softer rocks on
either side have been washed away to lower levels. In general, the
structure of the mountain at the north end is that of a great anti-
clinal fold (arch), mainly in Carboniferous rocks, though it affects
the lower rocks down to and including the granite. At a point
farther south the fold crosses the range at a low angle, and from
that point southward the structure is entirely different. The section
shown in figure 17 represents in a general way the structure of the
rocks at the north end of the mountain — the anticline in the moun-
80097°— 22 7
86
GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERT7 UNITED STATES.
tain and the syncline (trough) on its east side. From a point above
Howard to Pleasanton Arkansas River flows in the valley eroded in
this syncline, and the granite on the right of the railroad lies on the
east side of the fault, as shown in the section.
At Pleasanton the railroad is built on the Weber shale and sand-
stone near the fault, but in passing northward it diverges more and
more from the granite wall until it is on the Maroon sandstone
nearly in the middle of the trough. This sandstone makes its ap-
pearance a short distance above the siding of Vallie. It is very
conspicuous on the left, in the hill across the river, and dips about
70° W., or into the great syncline which lies on that side of the
railroad. This hill shows to good advantage not only the red Ma-
roon sandstone but a cap of lava, which gives some clue to the re-
cent geologic history of the valley. As seen from the train the lava
cap appears to be horizontal, but after passing it the traveler, upon
looking back, may see that the lava cap is underlain by a bed of
Avhite volcanic tuff ^® about 40 feet thick and that both the lava and
Ftgcre is. — Lava-capped hill south of Howard. The hill, which is opposite milepost 200,
is composed of red sandstone dipping steeply to the northwest and is capped by a nearly
horizontal sheet of tuff and lava.
the tuff slope to the west, or away from the railroad, as shown in
figure 18. This westward slope shows that at the time the tuff was
deposited and the lava was poured out upon its upper surface, the
deepest part of the valley lay considerably west of the channel in
which the river flows to-day.
The red sandstone crops out by the side of the railroad as far as
milepost 200. Here it is covered by a large mass of tuff and lava
which descends below river level and which shows on the northeast
side of the valley in places to points beyond Howard. Most of the
high hills near Howard are capped with white volcanic tuff and
with a sheet of lava, which invariably slopes to the west. These
^ Volcanic tuff is a name applied to
material blown out of a volcano by an
explosion of gas or steam. It is gen-
erally composed of fine particles of
glass but may include fragments of
rock of different sizes. The bed of
tuff here may have been formed of
dust and ashes that settled down on
the ground from the atmosphere or
were washed into a basin or valley.
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 87
rocks have been traced eastward to a point near the fault at the
edge of the granite. As the lava rises steadily toward the east the
volcanic vent from which it came was probably near the fault and
on high ground, thence it flowed westward down the slope to the
river, which was then farther west and somewhat lower than it is
to-day.
The volcanic matter doubtless partly filled the old valley of the
Arkansas, and then came a great wash of gravel and boulders from
the mountains, which must have filled the valley to a depth of sev-
eral hundred feet. No one yet knows what caused this great deposit
of gravel, but it has been assumed to have some connection with the
formation of great glaciers in the neighboring mountains. This in-
flux of foreign material dammed the river and forced it over to the
east side of its valley, entirely out of its former position. At present
the river is cutting away the gravel and lava, but it has not yet cut
down to its former level. Eemnants of the gravel filling may be
seen in the extensive terraces opposite Howard, as shown in Plate
XLIII.
At Howard a branch railroad turns to the left, crosses the river,
and disappears in the hills in the distance. This line runs to a stone
quarry at the station of Calcite, where limestone is being quarried
on a large scale by the Colorado Fuel & Iron Co. for use as flux in
its large blast furnaces at Pueblo. Howard is a
Howard. small village, but the well-cultivated farms across
Elevation 6,718 feet, the river indicate a prosperous community. The
Denve^r*203 mues. ^^^'^^ ^^ ^^*^ ^^^^^ °^ ^^^^ rivcr is irrigated and
yields abundant crops of alfalfa and the more hardy
grains. Xear the station there are kilns in which charcoal was for-
merly made. (See PI. XIV, B, p. 30.) These kilns are the only
traces that remain of what was once a large industry in these moun-
tains. The native timber was used in making charcoal, which was in
great demand by smelters in almost every mining town. The con-
centration of the smelting industry into the hands of large corpora-
tions and the consequent abandonment of most of the small plants,
together with the increased production of coke in the coal fields near
by. killed the charcoal industry. Although the decay of this indus-
try temporarily deprived many persons of the means of making a
livelihood, it was a blessing to the region as a whole, for the manu-
facture of charcoal is a wasteful process and one that has consumed
much valuable timber that might have been reserved for a more use-
ful purpose.
A little beyond Howard the railroad turns more toward the west
and crosses the bedded rocks, which show to good advantage. In
88 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTEBX UNITED STATES.
this section (see fior. 19) the syncline has been so squeezed by pres-
sure from the east that its sides have been pressed close together
or overturned, and consequently all the rocks dip toward the east.
The lava is prominent in this part of the valley, but it is limited
to the hills on the opposite side of the river. These hills at first
appear to be composed entirely of lava, but close scrutiny will show
that the red sandstone crops out here and there near the river level.
This low place in the sandstone evidently marked the middle of the
valley at the time the lava was poured out and filled the valley
to a depth of 300 or 400 feet. TTest of milepost 205 the railroad
crosses Badger Creek, which drains a large territory between the
Arkansas Valley and South Park. The red sandstones are well
exposed in the bend of the river a little farther on and in the ap-
Hunts Peak
5 Miles
FiGUEE 19. — Section of the San^e de Ciisto Ran^e and the valley on its east side, through
Hunts Peak and Howard.
proaches to the tunnel beyond milepost 206. They are fairly con-
spicuous in the river bluffs near milepost 207, but west of this point
the red color disappears from both sides of the valley. The last
lava-capped hill is nearly opposite milepost 207, and this hill marks
the western limit of the old valley, which is now so deeply filled with
the volcanic material that it constitutes hills rather than a valley.
At Swissvale the railroad is built upon a broad gravel-covered
flat. The absence of exposures of hard rock is due largely to this
fact and to the fact that the flat, or rather terrace, is composed of
the Weber shale and sandstone, which underlie the
Swissvale. pg^j sandstone that is so conspicuous farther east.
This relation is due largely to the effect of a cross
anticline, which trends in the direction followed by
the railroad. This anticline brings the Leadville limestone near
the surface, but it can not be seen from the railroad until the train
passes Wellsville Springs. Its position is marked on the river bank,
however, by numerous springs, which carry so much lime in solution
that as soon as they emerge from the bank they deposit the lime
Elevation 6,868 feel.
Denver 208 miles.
Denver & rio orande westeRjST RotiTE. 89
in the form of calcareous tufa, building up domes of this material
around the springs. A rather large spring of this kind is being
utilized at Wellsville as a bathing pool, making it a general pleasure
resort for the surrounding towns.
Long ago, when the river was flowing at a much higher level than
it is now, large springs issued along its banks much as the springs
issue along its banks to-day, and they built up immense masses of
tufa, which now stand several hundred feet above the railroad. This
tufa consists of nearly pure carbonate of lime, and it is now being
quarried in a large way for use in refining beet sugar and as flux in
iron furnaces.
West of Wellsville Springs the sides of the valley become steeper
and the railroad is crowded to the bank of the river under a high cliff
of Leadville limestone, which is the lowest formation of the Car-
boniferous system. The beds of rock in this cliff have been greatly
distorted by folding and in places stand nearly vertical, but the
bedding has been largely obliterated by the solution and redeposition
of the lime, so that the structure can not be determined from the
train. After passing the great bend of the river to milepost 210, the
synclinal structure may be plainly seen in the bluff on the far side of
the river.
The limestone is conspicuous on both sides of the valley almost to
milepost 211, where it rises and disappears in the tops of the hills.
It is underlain by thin-bedded quartzite. the age of which is not defi-
nitely known, though it is considerably older than the other sedimen-
tary rocks which the traveler has recently seen. The quartzite is so
much changed by movement and pressure in the crust of the earth
that at first sight it may not be recognized as a sedimentary rock. It
is cut off in a short distance by a great mass of intrusive rock, which
occupies a large area on the northeast side of the river valley and
extends up the river as far as the stockyards 2 miles below Salida.
Beyond this place the intrusive rocks are restricted to the northeast
side of the river, or if they occur on the other side they have been
dropped so low by faulting that they are effectuall}^ concealed by
the gravel in the bottom of the valley. The Arkansas Valley above
Salida has doubtless in many places been affected by faulting, so that
large tracts have been dropped hundreds and possibly thousands of
feet and the depressions so produced filled with sand, gravel, and
boulders brought down from the great Sawatch Range on the west.
About Salida in particular the evidence of such a dropped block
seems to be conclusive, for the river a few miles below the town is
flowing on bedrock and it would still be running on or near bedrock
at Salida had the bedrock not been depressed below its original level.
90 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
The largest town in the mountains west of Canon City is Salida
(from the Spanish word outlet; locally pronounced sah-lie'da), which
was so named because it stands at the outlet of the
Salida. upper Arkansas basin. It was settled in 1880 at the
Elevation 7,050 f.et. time the railroad was being built up the Arkansas
Denver 215 miles. Valley, and it is at the junction of the narrow-gage
road over Marshall Pass to Grand Junction and that
over Poncha Pass to San Luis Park with the main line of the Denver
& Rio Grande Western Railroad. Here are the repair shops of the
railroad and some other manufacturing plants, and a mile northwest
of the town there is a large smelter. It is a town of homes, but in
addition there are several hotels for the accommodation of travelers
who change from one route to another in order to see the beautiful
scenery for which this region is noted. The town lies in a basin that
is nearly surrounded by mountains. (See PI. XLIV.) The Sangre
de Cristo Range, which begins near Santa Fe, N. Mex., terminates
just south of the town in a prominent point known as Hunts Peak
(12,446 feet). The Sawatch Range begins in Mount Ouray (13,955
feet), a little west of the north end of the Sangre de Cristo Range,
and stretches northward, including Mount Chipeta, Mount Shavano
(14,179 feet), and other high peaks, shown in Plate XLIV. To the
north and northeast there is a jumble of lesser ranges without
special names.
As the braijch railroad lines that enter Salida are narrow-gage
all the freight originating on them and bound for the East must be
reloaded into standard-gage cars. This reloading entails consider-
able expense and loss of time and is a great handicap to the shippers
on the narrow-gage lines. Xarrow-gage cars can run, however, be-
tween Salida and Leadville, because here a third rail has been main-
tained for the benefit of the mining interests in shipping ores to
the smelter.
A description of the route over Marshall Pass and through the
Black Canyon begins on page 158.
MAIN LINE OF RAILROAD FROM SALIDA TO MALTA.
On leaving Salida the railroad runs up the right side of the valley,
but it leaves the base of the hills in a short distance and finds a route
near the middle of the valley. About a mile out of Salida the
traveler has on the west (left) an unobstructed view of the southern
part of the Sawatch Range, which at its extreme southern point
is crossed by the narrow-gage road over Marshall Pass. This line,
after passing westward from Salida about 6 miles, enters the range
by Poncha Canyon, which is indicated on Plate XLIV.
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 91
The railroad ascends this canyon for several miles and tlien climbs
the momitain slopes on the west, finding a way, after many turns and
loops, over the range through Marshall Pass, which lies just beyond
Ouray Peak (oo'ray), as shown in Plate LXIX, B (p. 162). Al-
though the line up the Arkansas Valley above Salida was completed
as far Leadville in 1880 and the line over Marshall Pass in 1881, the
latter was regarded as the main line and was the first to be finished
through to Salt Lake City.
Near milepost 217 a branch line turns to the left to a large silver-
lead smelter in Avhich much of the ore of this region is reduced. A
description of such a plant and of the process of smelting is given
on Images 252-254. A little farther on there is an abandoned mill
on the right of the track, one of the characteristic features of a
mining country that has seen its best days. The old mine that
supplied ore to be crushed and concentrated in this mill may be
seen halfway up the mountain slope on the right. The mill and a
single house constitute Belleview, which is merely a siding for
trains. A short distance beyond Belleview the railroad crosses the
Rainbow Highway, which for some distance beyond this point con-
tinues on the right of the track.
From Salida up to the Continental Divide and for some distance
down on the western slope the shape of the mountains has been
greatly modified by glaciers. There are no glaciers in these moun-
tains now, but long ago, during the great ice age, these ranges,
particularly their east sides, were covered by great masses of ice
which flowed down toward or into the valleys at their feet, scouring
out here and there basins from the solid rock. As most of the strik-
ing scener}^ in this region is due to the effect of these bodies of mov-
ing ice they are shown on the accompanying maps as they existed
at the time of their greatest development. The effect of high winds,
low temperature, and snow on the vegetation at high altitude is
also well shown at the summit of the momitains, as exliibited in
Plate XLV, J., which is a view from the automobile road where it
crosses the Sawatch Range west of Salida.
About milepost 220 there are many large boulders, like those at
Parkdale, on a low teri'ace near the river. As the railroad ap-
proaches the river the boulders may be seen at close range and at
higher levels, until they appear on the terrace above the one on
which the railroad is built. These boulders increase in size north-
ward until at a place about a mile from the mouth of Brown Canyon,
which is apparently the place from which they were swept, there
are boulders of great size; one on the left of the track measures
24 by 14 by 10 feet.
DEXVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 91
The railroad ascends this canyon for several miles and tlien climbs
the momitain slopes on the west, finding a way, after many turns and
loops, over the range through Marshall Pass, which lies just beyond
Ouray Peak (oo'ray), as shown in Plate LXIX, B (p. 162). Al-
though the line up the Arkansas Valley above Salida was completed
as far Leadville in 1880 and the line over Marshall Pass in 1881. the
latter was regarded as the main line and was the first to be finished
through to Salt Lake City.
Near milepost 217 a branch line turns to the left to a large silver-
lead smelter in which much of the ore of this region is reduced. A
description of such a plant and of the process of smelting is given
on pages 252-251. A little farther on there is an abandoned mill
on the right of the track, one of the characteristic features of a
mining country that has seen its best days. The old mine that
supplied ore to be crushed and concentrated in this mill may be
seen halfway up the moimtain slope on the right. The mill and a
single house constitute Belleview, which is merely a siding for
trains. A short distance beyond Belleview the railroad crosses the
Rainbow Highway, which for some distance beyond this point con-
tinues on the right of the track.
From Salida up to the Continental Divide and for some distance
down on the western slope the shape of the mountains has been
greatly modified by glaciers. There are no glaciers in these moun-
tains now, but long ago, during the great ice age, these ranges,
particularly their east sides, were covered by great masses of ice
which flowed down toward or into the vallej's at their feet, scouring
out here and there basins from the solid rock. As most of the strik-
ing scenery in this region is due to the effect of these bodies of mov-
ing ice the}' are shown on the accompanying maps as they existed
at the time of their greatest development. The effect of high winds,
low temperature, and snow on the vegetation at high altitude is
also well shown at the summit of the moimtains, as exliibited in
Plate XLV, J., which is a view from the automobile road where it
crosses the Sawatch Range west of Salida.
About milepost 220 there are many large boulders, like those at
Parkdale, on a low ten-ace near the river. As the railroad ap-
proaches the river the boulders may be seen at close range and at
higher levels, until they appear on the terrace above tlie one on
which the railroad is built. These boulders increase in size north-
ward until at a place about a mile from the mouth of Brown Canyon,
which is apparenth' the place from which they were swept, there
are boulders of great size; one on the left of the track measures
24 by 14 by 10 feet.
92
GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
The boulders are distributed in a fan-shaped, delta-like area, show-
ing that on emerging from the canyon the current that transported
them swung first to one side and then to the other
Brown Canyon. ^^ ^j^-g ^^.^^^ ^^j^^ ^^^ ^^d, naturally, as it reached
Elevation 7,324 feet, ^j^g open countrv, lost its transporting power and
Denver 222 miles. , ^,. , ",^1 ,.• p-o"' r^
dropped its load. Ihe station ot rsrown Canyon
is at the point where the stream emerges from the canyon which it has
cut in the hard granite. (See fig. 20.)
SAWATCH RANGE S *■
S§
'}:^^m:
FiGUHE 20. — Ideal section from Sawatch Range to Brown Canyon, showing the deep
gravel filling in the old channel of the Arkansas.
The canyon is not straight but, as shown in figure 20, winds about
in the hard rock, and at one place, half a mile beyond milepost 223,
it touches the very edge of the granite mass, so that the recent cutting
of the stream has exposed the gravel filling on
the west (left; see fig. 21), showing conclusively
that when the river established its present course
it was flowing on gravel of fairly uniform com-
position and that the slope of its bed was so
slight that it meandered over a broad, flat-
bottomed valley in great well-rounded curves.
When the uplift came that gave it power to
trench its valley, the stream cut directly down-
ward in its established course, and although in
some places its couree was on granite and in
other places on gravel, the river persisted in
following that course even to the present day.
The point of hard rock which the traveler may
see on the left before he reaches the rift in the
canyon wall is a large dike, which was once
molten rock that was forced up from below
through some great fissure in the crust of the
earth. It is now solidified into a mass more
resistant than the surrounding granite, so that it stands up as a nearly
vertical wall.
At some places in this canyon there are great granite boulders,
around which the water surges furiously when the river is above the
M-WM
mm
FiGCEE 21. — Sketch
map of Brown Can-
yon, showing its rela-
tion to the granite
and the gravel.
V. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
BULLETIX to: plate XLV
A. SUMMIT OF THE SAWATCH RANGE WEST OF SALIDA.
From the automobile road leading to Gunnison and Montrose the traveler has a pood view of the
bleak summit of a high range. The trees make a persistent effort to creep up toward the crest,
.but the strong winds, low temperature, and drifting snow prevent them from reaching the top.
As shown in the foreground, many of tlie trees grow horizontally on the surface, and those that
stand upright are severely handled by the snow and wind. Photograph by Henry R. Hay,
Salida.
B. CIRQUE ON A MOUNTAIN SIDE.
This picture gives a good idea of the great amphitheaters or cirques scooped out of a mountain
side by the old glaciers. The glacier formed at the head of a ravine, and the ice llowetl out
toward the observer and down the ravine to the left. It cut into the slopes on all sides and
in time produced the cirque shown here. Photograph by Henry R. Hay, Salida.
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. OS
normal stage. The traveler may be interested in the circular holes,
ranging in diameter from a few inches to many feet, that have been
carved in these boulders, and he may wonder how they have been
made. Some of these " potholes," as they are called, are shown in
Plate XL VII, B (p. 98). If he could look down into the potholes he
might see the " tools " by which they were carved. These tools are
small boulders, which the water, when it is high, whirls round and
round in the narrow space. This constant grinding wears the holes
deeper and broader and unites many adjacent holes, forming a chan-
nel in the rock.
About three-quarters of a mile beyond milepost 224, which is in
the narrowest part of the gorge, the railroad crosses a rather large
creek that enters the river from the east. A branch road once ran
up this stream nearly 6 miles to some iron mines, but the mines
were unsuccessful and the line has been discontinued, although it
is still shown on some recent maps. The point where this branch
joined the main line was known as Hecla Junction. The canyon
is near the western edge of the granite area, but the gravel filling
on the left can not be seen from the train.
About half a mile beyond milepost 230 the railroad crosses the
river and in a short distance emerges from the rocky reaches of
Brown Canyon. This canyon is extremely interesting from many
points of view. To the geologist it reveals a whole chapter in the
history of this region, a chapter that tells of its depression down
nearly to sea level, when the highest mountains of Colorado were
small ridges only 4,000 or 5,000 feet in height, and then of its eleva-
tion to its present position. To the lover of beautiful scenery it
affords a pleasing variety of landscape, for one tires of even the
finest scenery if it is without variety; but in passing from the open
valley above Salida, where the principal objects in sight are the
great mountain peaks of the Sawatch Range, to the confining granite
walls of Brown Canyon the traveler experiences a pleasing sensa-
tion of the nearness of the landscape and of being brought face to
face with the works of Nature. To the artist the canyon is beau-
tiful because of its ruggedness and of the many vistas that may
be obtained of the stream boiling and foaming through some narrow
part, or of some beautiful side ravine where the dull gray of the
gi'anite is enlivened by the deep green of the conifers and the soft
foliage of the aspens, or, if the season is autumn, by the gleam
of gold which the yellow leaves give to the landscape.
The general aspect of the canyon, as well as its relation to the
gravel filling on the west, may be seen to excellent advantage by
looking back from the train after it has cleared the granite walls
and crossed the river to the west side. Here the traveler can see
that the higher gravel terrace on the west, as shown in figure 20, is
94
GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
about level with the tops of the granite walls of the canyon. This
fact strongly corroborates the theory that the old valley was filled
with gravel that forced the river to the east, onto the granite upland.
Just after emerging from the canyon the traveler may get. on the
west (left), a magnificent view of a part of what is frequently
called the Collegiate Peaks or the Collegiate Range, from the fact
that the three most prominent summits visible from this part of the
valley are known as Princeton, Yale, and Harvard.-^ The view on
the left also includes Mount Shavano, which is the next high peak
south of Mount Princeton. These peaks are peculiarlj" situated, as
they do not form a part of the Continental Divide but stand dis-
tinctly east of that crest, and the larger streams heading in the range
cut through this outer line of peaks in great canyons that are very
Figure 22. — Mount Yale from Nathrop.
striking features. One of the deepest of these cuts, the canyon of
Chalk Creek, which the traveler may see on the left, separates Mount
Shavano on the south from Mount Princeton on the north. The
view of Mount Yale as seen from this point and represented in
the sketch (fig. 22) is the best to be obtained from the rail-
road, for north of this point the big shoulder on the east side
^ The history of the naming of these
peaks is given below in the words of
Prof. AV. M. Davis, of Harvard Uni-
versity :
In the summer of 1869 Prof. J. D.
"Wliitney visited the Rocky Mountains
of Colorado with a small party, in-
cluding four of his students (Archi-
bald R. Mai-vine, Heni*y Gannett,
Joseph H. Bridges, and William M.
Davis) in the mining school at Har-
vard. His object was chiefly to deter-
mine the altitude of the loftiest ranges
that he could reach, regarding which
a brief report was published in Peter-
mann's Mitteilungen (1871). The
highest summit that he found (14,399
feet), was in the Sa watch Range west
of the upper Arkansas Valley and
was named Mount Harvard, after
the university in which he was then
teaching ; while the next higher sum-
mit immediately to the south in the
same range (14,172 feet), was named
Mount Yale, after the university
from which he graduated 30 years
before. The name Mount Princeton
was given a few years later to the
fine mass (14,177 feet) next south of
Mount Yale.
• DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE.
95
conceals the main sharp peak, and the mountain looks like a great
round mass. Mount Harvard lies to the right of Mount Yale, and
this mountain, as seen from any point on the line, presents the ap-
pearance of a great mass without a definite or sharp top.
Just before reaching Xathrop the railroad crosses Chalk Creek on
a high bridge. The traveler may look up into the great canyon
which this creek has cut in the Sawatch Range, whose base is only
5 miles away, though the head of the creek is 20 miles farther back.
The Colorado & Southern Eailway has a narrow-gage road in opera-
tion up this creek to the mining region about St. Elmo ; it formerly
crossed the range to Parlin and Gunnison, on the Mai*shall Pass
branch of the Denver & Rio Grande '"Western, but the long summit
tunnel has caved so badly that traffic beyond Hancock has been aban-
doned. This road may be seen on the left just after the train passes
the village of Xathrop.
The gorge that Chalk Creek has cut through the mountains has
been scoured by a great glacier, which has greatlj- broadened its
bottom and smoothed its sides, but unfortunately the. railroad is so
far from the base of the mountains that the traveler can not see
how much the ice modified the shape and appearance of the canyon
nor the enormous terminal moraine, a mile long and several hundred
feet high, that it built. This moraine lies outside the mountains, but
it can not be seen from the train.
The mountains on both sides of Arkansas Valley are included in
the Leadville National Forest, in the administration of which the
Forest Service has come into close contact and, at first, into con-
flict with the miners regarding their right to cut timber on the pub-
lic domain. The manner in which this subject has been handled
and an outline of the results obtained are given by Smith Riley, dis-
trict forester, in the footnote.^"
"As the train goes up the valley of
Arkansas River from Salida to Buena
Vista the traveler sees the Collegiate
Range on the west and the Trout
Creek Hills and Buffalo Peaks on the
east. These hills and mountains are
all in the Leadville National Forest,
which covers an area of 935,566 acres.
The celebrated Leadville and Sum-
mit County mining districts of Colo-
rado are almost, wholly in the Lead-
ville National Forest. The question
at once arises, What effect has the
establishment of these national forests
had upon the mining industry — are
they beneficial or detrimental to it?
This question can be best answered
by giving a brief sketch of the prac-
tices and customs of the mining com-
munities in the State at the time the
forests were created as compared with
those prevailing at the present time.
In the early days, when " mineral "
was discovered, it was the practice to
stake as claims all the ground that
might become affected by the discov-
ery. One incentive for this action
was the desire to control the timber;
another was the desire to control all
possible mineral deposits found sub-
sequent to tlie discovery. No effort
was made to conform with the require-
96
GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
From the village of Nathrop the traveler, on looking back to
the east, may obtain a good idea of the kind of country the granite
makes somes distance back from the main drainage
Nathrop. lines. It forms a plateau or table-land that rises
Elevation 7,696 feet, from 1,500 to 2,000 feet above the level of the valley.
Denv'e^?33 mnts. "^^^^^ plateau is probably a remnant of a once
rolling surface that extended over most of the
mountain country and that has been described as a peneplain.
ments of the law as to what consti-
tutes a claim.
AVhen au application for mineral
patent is now received for a piece of
land in a national forest the land is
examined by an experienced, qualified
mining expert of the Forest Service to
determine the validity of the claim.
If the claim is found to be invalid
the evidence of its invalidity is sub-
mitted to the General Land Office,
where action on the application for
patent is taken. Such examinations
have done much to stop the exploita-
tion of other than mineral land under
the mining laws as well as the whole-
sale location of timber by an indi-
vidual or company to the detriment
of the lone prospector.
Particular attention is given by the
Forest Service to tlie preservation and
protection of timber in regions where
it may be needed for prospecting and
mining. A prospector can obtain tim-
ber to develop his claim from the na-
tional forest without charge, but a
paying mine must buy its timber.
Where forest land in a mining district
is sold care is taken to leave on it
sufficient timber for its exploitation
as mineral land should mineral de-
posits he found on it.
Roads, trails, and telephone lines are
built by the Government through na-
tional forests to make them accessible
for administration and protection.
These conveniences are open to the
prospector, who in turn is welcomed
by the forest officer because of the as-
sistance he is able to render in report-
ing fires or the misuse of forest prop-
erty. Very little of the timber, how-
ever, tliat is used in the tunnels, shafts,
and stopes of the Leadville mines has
been obtained from the basin of Ar-
kansas River. Practically all of it
has been obtained from Frjingpan
Creek, in tlie Sopris National Forest,
and from the Eagle River country, in
the Holy Cross National Forest. Most
of the round timbers that are loaded
on freight care at Mitchell, Pando, or
Red Cliff, on the other side of the
Continental Divide, are destined for
the Leadville mines.
The forests around Leadville are
composed almost entirely of lodgepole
pine (see PI. XXXVI, B), and the city
stands in the upper part of the zone of
this tree. The traveler will note the
large number of young trees scattered
over stump areas or ai*eas in which
dead standing trees give evidence of
forest fires. Lodgepole pine seeds
readily in the soil and ash of fire-
swept districts, for the cones that con-
tain the seed may remain on the tree
year after year without opening,
though the seed continues fertile. In
this way large quantities of fertile seed
accumulate on the trees, so that when
a forest fire occurs the cones are slowly
opened by the heat, and the seeds are
released and fall in great numbers to
the ground to sprout and grow, if the
weather is favorable. Where the
growth of lodgepole pine after a fire
is scattering the fire may have been so
severe that it burned up a large num-
ber of the cones, or favorable weather
DENVER & mo GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE.
97
About a mile north of Nathrop the Denver & Rio Grande Western
crosses to the east side of Arkansas River, and a short distance far-
ther on it crosses the Colorado & Southern Railway, which follows
the east side of the valley from this point up to Buena (bway'na)
Vista. After he crosses this railway the traveler, if the li «f .^- '«" "* -S>
IriBii
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE.
135
/""v^^'m
J/0£
sheet of basalt, which is not visible from the train but which com-
pletely conceals the underlying rocks. A few miles north of the river
there is a break (fault) by which the beds on the north are raised
higher than those on the south.
Below Shoshone the canyon is cut so deep in the granite core of
the great anticline that the sedimentary beds which overlie the gran-
ite can be seen only here and there. The trav-
eler may get occasional glimpses of the rim
of the canyon and may be surprised to see
that the country into which the river has
cut this deep gash is level or only gently roll-
ing. This region ma}'^ be regarded as the
southern part of the White River Plateau,
and the picturesque scenery of the narrow
canyon is due simply to the fact that the
plateau here is composed of hard rocks,
which wear back slowly into moderate and
subdued forms. If, however, the crust of the
earth remains stationary for a long time —
thousands. i)erhaps millions, of years — even
these . s- rocks will be worn into a broad
vallej^ bounded by the moderate slopes of
low hills. No rocks are hard enough to re-
sist erosion for all time, and it is evident
here that Nature has had abundant time at
her disposal, and there is no reason to sup-
pose that she will have less in the future or
that the future will be greatly different from
the past.
The walls of the canyon are rough and
rocky, affording excellent feeding ground
for mountain sheep when the surface of the
plateau is deeply covered with snow. Bands
of 40 or 50 sheep are said to be frequently
seen in protected places, quietly feeding on
the grass and shrubs that grow in the crevices
of the rocks and also on the narrow benches
on the precipitous slopes. Plate LVII, A
(p. 132). shoAvs the leader of such a band standing guard at the edge
of the cliff.
A short distance beyond milepost 353 is the hydroelectric plant of
the Central Colorado Power Co., with its great penstock through
which the water is dropped 175 feet to the turbine wheels beneath,
and also the spillway for the excess water to escape. Beyond the
plant may be seen the transmission line, strung on high steel towers,
J3Aiy opejo|03*
io uoAu90
auonsoLis
#.
o o o o
136
GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
spanning gulches, and finally scaling the south wall of the canyon.
The line takes a short cut for the valley of Roaring Fork, up which
it is carried to and across the Continental Divide at Hagerman Pass.
So far the geologic structure of the great upfold (anticline) is
comparatively simple, having been broken at one point only. The
highest point in the fold, the axis, is passed near milepost 354, and
beyond that point the quartzite rapidly approaches railroad level,
but it is broken by so many faults that few travelers can trace the
fomiations and understand the manner in which they appear and
disappear. By the aid of the map, however, those who are interested
in geologic structure may obtain a fairly good idea of what has
happened here and of the shape in which the rocks were left.
All the formations are regular as far as milepost 355, near Grizzly
siding, where the quartzite has been abruptly dropped from a height
of at least 350 feet above the railroad to water level. This change
in the position of the rocks is the result of a fault,*^ which trends
slightly west of north, probably cutting the high bluff on the west
side of Grizzly Creek, which here enters the river from the north.
Be3'ond this fault the beds rise gradually until the white quartzite,
which is at water level at Grizzly, is above the railroad and the
canyon is rough and rugged, as shown in Plate LIX. Half a
mile beyond milepost 356 about 50 feet of the pink quartzite has
made its appearance. At this point the granite on the opposite side
of the river rises to a height of at least 300 feet. This discrepancy
marks another fault, which does not cross the railroad but trends
nearly east and west directly along the stream. The rocks on the
south side of this fault have dropped about 300 feet, or those on the
north have been lifted a similar distance.
Beyond the point where the railroad approaches the fault most
closely the rocks descend, and within a short distance most of the
quartzite has disappeared; but the road here enters Xoname Park,
and it is almost impossible from the moving train to determine the
structure. However, a little farther along the Leadville lime-
stone also dips steeply toward the south and is broken by a fault
that runs nearly parallel with the one just described. This fault
lies near the south wall of the park. The Leadville limestone is
dropped on the north side of the fault and may be seen topping the
^ As the term " fault " means a
break in the rocky strata of the earth
and as the breaking is always accom-
panied by slipping and crashing, one
might expect to find tlie surface of the
gi'ound disturbed along a fault. It
undoubtedly is disturbed when the
movement takes place, but all the
faults seen from the Denver & Rio
Grande Western trains occurred so
long ago that any break or disturb-
ance of the surface they caused has
been obliterated by the streams and
the weather. Examples of the lack of
evidence of faults on the surface are
shown in Plate LXXXVII, A and B.
IC
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DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 137
cliffs on the south. The stream cuts into the upraised block of strata
on the south of this fault, and its south bank is followed by the
railroad through many cuts in the quartzite and finally in the
underlying granite. About half a mile beyond milepost 358, at a
sharp bend of tlie stream around a narrow point that projects from
the south, at least 50 feet of granite is exposed, and the massive
layers of the Leadville limestone lie like plates on the hillside across
the river. As the Leadville limestone never rests normally on the
granite it follows that the fault must lie in the river and has caused
the formation of Noname Park.
This fault is the last of the series ; and, as the train swings around
the sharp bend toward the tunnel, the traveler may see the beds
descending rather steeply downstream. Here the stream turns once
more and cuts back toward the fault in a sharp curve, but the rail-
road pierces the rockj^ point, and when the train emerges from the
inky blackness of the tunnel the traveler finds himself passing
through the rock formations for the last time. The quartzites dis-
appear first below the stream, and finally the massive ledges of the
Leadville limestone; and then the train enters the open valley
formed by the erosion of the upper Carboniferous rocks and ap-
proaches Glenwood Springs.
Here, on the right, is a grove of cottonwood trees, which surround
the bathing pool of hot sulphur water that has made this a famous
health and pleasure resort, and one may catch glimpses of the towers
of the Hotel Colorado, which stands somewhat higher on the moun-
tain slope and overlooks the lower part of the valley.
Springs are also abundant in the river and beside the railroad track
just above the station. Glenwood Springs (see PI. LX) is at the
junction of Eoaring Fork with Colorado River.
Glenwood Springs. Eoaring Fork flows in a broad valley that it has
Elevation 5,758 feet, eroded in the soft Carboniferous shale — a valley
Denve^ 360 miles. ®^ broad tliat it seems like the principal valley.
The town is noted for its shade trees and its homes
and for its accommodations for the travelers who are attracted here
by the reputation of the springs. An added attraction is the famous
" Hanging Lake " (see Pi. LXI), which lies high up the slopes of the
canyon of Colorado Piver, about 12 miles from the town. Glenwood
Springs might also be called a coal-mining center, for although no coal
is mined at or near the town it furnishes an outlet for a great coal field
that lies to the south and west. A branch of the Denver & Rio Grande
Western Railroad turns to the south at Glenwood Springs and con-
nects with the coal-mining towns of Sunshine and Spring Gulch.
Forty miles south of Glenwood Springs and connected with it by
rail are the famous Yule marble quarries, which are now sending
their output to all the large cities of the East. A notable example
138 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
of the fine buildings constructed of Colorado Yule marble is the new
Lincoln Memorial at Washington. At the town of Marble, near
these quarries, there is said to be the largest marble mill in this
eountr.y.
At a point a short distance west of the station at Glenwood Springs
the Denver & Eio Grande Western Eailroad crosses Colorado River,
and here the mouth of Roaring Fork may be seen on the left. The
Ouray (Leadville) limestone, from which the hot sulphur springs
issue, may be seen extending to the right for about a mile to a point
where it passes into the hills and is lost to view. It is succeeded
by the soft shale and sandstone of the Weber formation. The Denver
& Rio Grande Western follows the right bank of the river.
When the train has passed through the railroad yards and is mak-
ing a rather sharp curs^e around an eastward bend of the river, the
traveler may see Mount Sopris away off to the south (left), framed
by the canyon walls of Roaring Fork. Mount Sopris is one of the
high mountains in this part of Colorado, and it is one of the most
beautiful, because it is a single mass that towers far above the sur-
rounding country.
The mountain side across the river has been gashed by rain and
frost, exposing the brick-red Triassic sandstone and shale. The
same red beds may be seen on the north side of the river, but be-
fore the train reaches them it must cross the maroon, white, and
green beds of the Maroon formation. These beds may be seen in the
low hills on the north (right) and also in places along the river,
where they have been exposed in the excavation made for the road.
The brick-red sandstones are the most resistant beds in this part
of the series, and the point where the river cuts across them i»
therefore marked by a canyon which, although not so rugged nor so
narrow as other canyons along Colorado River, has a richness and
brightness of color that is excelled by few. The base of the Triassic
beds is crossed near milepost 364, and the river here cuts nearly
through the formation before it turns to the right and follows the
strike of the rocks for several miles. At the sharp bend mentioned
above the top of the formation is not clearly marked. Usually
this formation contains rocks of no other color than brick-red. but
a short distance beyond the river there is a band of white sand-
stone nearly 100 feet thick and then about 300 feet more of a
brick-red color. As the brick-red color is generally regarded as the
distinguishing feature of this formation the line separating it from
the overlying Gunnison shale is drawn provisionally at the upper-
most bed that has the characteristic color.
On the river bank opposite milepost 365, which is about half a
mile beyond the sharp bend mentioned above, is the tipple of the
South Canon Coal Co. The coal is not mined at this place, for the
-; -B-^
^ >
to
O £>
c -
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
nULLETIX 707 PLATE LXII
A. GRAND HOGBACK.
View of the Grand Hogback where it is trenciied by Colorado River at Newcastle. Old dump
heaps show where coal has been mined, but all the mines have been abandoned. The Wheeler
mine, at the extreme right, was abandoned on account of fire, and the coal is still burninfr. In
this hill the workable coal beds have an aggregate thickness of 109 feel. Photograph by Hoyt S.
Gale.
li. PALM-LEAF FAN GROWN IN COLORADO.
Long ago in geologic time palms grew luxuriantly in all parts of Colorado, and the coal miners
about Newcastle when they want a fan merely quarry one out of the rock. Here is a group
of miners and a fossil palm-leaf fan they have just found. Photograph by Hoyt S. Gale.
DENVER & EIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE.
139
rocks here are the red sandstone and the Gunnison formation, neither
one of which contains coah The mine is about 1|- miles up South
Canyon, in the Mesaverde formation, the great coal-bearing forma-
tion of western Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. In the old geologic
reports this formation was called "Laramie," a formation at the
extreme top of the Cretaceous system, but it is now known to be
very much older than the Laramie and has been named the Mesa-
verde formation, from the Mesa Verde (may'sa vair'day, Spanish for
"green table"), in the extreme southwest corner of the State —
a mesa that has now been set aside as a national park on account of
its ruined cliff dwellings. The coal is brought from the mine in
tram cars.
For about 2 miles below the coal tipple the river follows in a gen-
eral way the outcrops of the formations, the alternating red and
Figure 35. — Top of red sandstone (Triassic), forming crest of hill below South Canon
Coal Co.'s coal tipple. Beds dip southwest.
white beds on the mountain side on the left and the beds of solid
red color on the right. The beds of sandstone dip steeply to the west,
and they stand above the railroad on the right in great slabs 20 or
30 feet high. The surface of these slabs is covered with ripple marks
identical with those now being formed in shallow water along the
coast, which indicates that the red sand forming these rocks was
washed into some shallow basin where it was distinctly rippled by
each passing wave. These ripples may have been made millions of
years ago, yet they are as perfect as if they had been made but
yesterday.
A little below the exposure of ripple-marked sandstone the top of
tne bright-red sandstone (Triassic) is well shown in a hill across
the river. (See fig. 35.)
140
GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
sw.
Near milepost 367 the valley opens and is irrigated, and the deep
red of the sandstone is relieved by the bright green of alfalfa, sugar
beets, and apple orchards, which are irrigated by water taken from
the creek that comes in from the right. Below this point the river
turns more toward the west, and it soon cuts through the red sand-
stone that has bordered the valley most of the way from Glenwood
Springs.
As all the beds here dip toward the southwest the river cuts
through a formation from bottom to top and then passes into the
overlying formation. The top of the Triassic system is crossed at
milepost 369, or about three-quarters of a mile beyond the siding of
Chacra. The Grunnison formation, the next formation in the series
above the Triassic, is only about 300 feet thick, and as it dips at an
angle of about 45° it is soon crossed. It is characterized by a variety
of colors, but maroon, green, and white predominate. Across the
4) river on the left there
are some small conical
hills composed of this
formation, which are
capped on the far side
by massive beds of the
Dakota sandstone,
which marks the base
of the Upper Creta-
ceous series and is one
of the most persistent
and widespread formations in the Rocky Mountain region. It is
generally tliin, at few places exceeding 80 feet in thickness. It was
deposited on the surface of the Gunnison formation. During the
deposition of the Gunnison formation the region was land, though
probably of low relief, but the deposition of the Dakota marks the
end of land conditions and the beginning of the occupancy of the
region by the sea, which continued during the deposition of the suc-
ceeding thick shale. The Dakota sandstone is generally massive and
very resistant to erosion, so that where it is upturned at any con-
siderable angle it makes hogbacks, such as those seen back of Canon
City. Although the Dakota is not exposed near the railroad its beds,
concealed beneath the surface, are crossed by the track about halfway
between mileposts 369 and 370. The relation of the Dakota to the
rocks above is shown in figure 36.
The rocks above the Dakota for a long distance are very soft shale
or shaly limestone, so they have been eroded into a wide valley that
lies between the little hogback formed by the Dakota sandstone and
the mountainous ridge on the left, which trends nearly parallel with
the line of the railroad and is composed of the Mesaverde forma-
Horizontal scale
Figure 36. — Section tJirough Grand Hogbac* at Newcastle.
DENVER & EIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 141
tion, also of Upper Cretaceous age. The first shale to be seen is
exposed in a cut in the side of a hill, but it is so close to the moving
train that its character can not easily be determined. It is, however,
very limy, and many of its layers consist of soft, white, impure lime-
stone. This formation is the Niobrara limestone, and it is charac-
terized by shells {Inoceramus) from 8 to 10 inches in diameter,
which occur in great abundance. These shells are of peculiar con-
struction, for the grain of the shell runs directly through it instead
of along or around it as in most shells, both fossil and living, and
this structure makes the shell very weak and easily broken. At the
time this shale and limestone were deposited there were, so far as is
now known, no mountains in this region, and the sea had an un-
broken sweep from the site of Missouri River on the east to the
site of the Wasatch Mountains on the west. Many persons may find
it hard to believe that changes so great have taken place in the face
of the earth, but one who diligently studies the rocks is impressed
more with its instability and change than with its stability. He
soon learns that change has been the rule rather than the exception —
that the rocky crust of the earth, which is so frequently referred to
as "everlasting," is not everlasting in the sense of unchangeable.
The earth's crust has been and doubtless is to-day like thin ice that
bends under the skater's weight but seldom breaks, and a depression
in one place gives rise to an elevation in another. Depressions in
the crust of the earth, if they were at all profound, have led to the
invasion of the sea, and elevation has caused the formation of dry
land and possibly mountains.
The shale over which the traveler is passing is known in most of
western Colorado and Utah as the Mancos shale, but toward the east
the middle part of the shale changes to limy shale and then to lime-
stone (Niobrara), and where this limestone is found the shale under-
lying it is generally called the Benton shale. That the rocks which
form the large ridge on the left are coal-bearing is shown by old pros-
pects and mine dumps that at many places scar the slopes. The first
old mine to attract attention may be seen on the left just before
the train passes milepost 370. This mine was near the top of the
ridge, and the coal was lowered to the valley by a long inclined
tramway, but Nature is fast removing the scars made by man, and
they will soon not be noticeable. The first active operation to be seen
is the Garfield (Vulcan) mine, opposite milepost 371, which is on a
coal bed 14 feet thick. Coal from this mine also is lowered to track
level over an inclined tramway, but this tramway is comparatively
short. Farther along the mountain side the traveler may see smoke
escaping from an opening nearly on the same level as the mouth of
the Garfield mine. This smoke comes from a fire in the mine that
142
GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES,
has been burning for several years. Such fires may be started in
many ways, but this particular fire is supposed to have started spon-
taneously in broken coal. Coal of comparatively low rank, such as
that mined at Vulcan, is subject to spontaneous ignition, especially
when crushed and undergoing alternate wetting and drying, by
which the carbon of the coal is oxidized or combined with the oxygen
of the air or the water so rapidly as to start a fire. In the old
Wheeler mine, which was opened 5'ears ago in the mountain point
on the north side of the valley, just beyond the village of Newcastle,
it was found impossible to prevent the coal from taking fire, and
many years ago, after repeated and unsuccessful attempts were
made to extinguish it, the mine was abandoned, and the coal is still
on fire. Spontaneous ignition of coal has occurred not only in mines
but on the outcrop of coal beds of rather low rank, and these fires
have burned as long as air was available, making the adjacent rocks
bright red and, where the heat was especially intense, melting them
to slag or clinker.
The railroad swings to the right along the banks of Colorado River
and enters Newcastle. This place is well known as a coal-mining
center and is one of the points for reaching the
great hunting ground of the "White River Plateau
to the north. It was to Newcastle that Theodore
Roosevelt came in 1904, while he was President of
the United States, on one of his famous hunting
expeditions. From the station may be seen the bottom layers of the
Mesaverde formation in the hills immediately back of the village, and
on the north (right) and ahead may still be seen the scars on the
mountain side and the dump of the old Wlieeler mine that was aban-
doned because of fire. The red color, due to burning, and possibly the
smoke of the fire may be seen from the train. The Mesaverde is one
of the greatest coal-bearing formations in the world. In the end of
the Grand Hogback, on the right (see PI. LXII, A)^ the aggregate
thickness of coal in beds over 4 feet thick is about 109 feet. One of
these beds — the Wheeler — is 40 feet thick, and several others are
more than 10 feet thick.*^ At the time these coal beds were formed
Newcastle.
Elevation 5.562 feet
Population 447.
Denver 373 miles.
^'The coal-bearing rocks (Mesaverde
formation) dip toward the west under
the overlying rocks and then reappear
between DeBeque and Palisade. These
two areas of sandstone constitute the
edges or rims of a great structural
trough known as the Uinta Basin. A
section across the trough is shown in
figure 37. This basin forms one of the
great reserves of coal in the Rocky
Mountain region. It extends from
Crested Butte in Gunnison County
nearly to the Wasatch Mountains in
Utah and is estimated to contain 160
billion tons of coal. The coal is mined
in the Crested Butte district, at New-
castle and for several miles to the
south, at Cameo and Palisade, at
Thompson, Utah, and at Sunnyside and
Castlegate, near the west end of the
field. Coal is not mined in other parts
of the basin either because the beds
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE.
143
the climate in this region was very different from that which pre-
vails there to-day, as is shown by the kind of plants which grew at
that time and furnished the material for the beds of coal. Palms
then grew here luxuriantly, and many fragments of impressions of
palm leaves have been found in the rocks that are associated with the
coal. Plate LXII, B^ shows an usually fine specimen found by the
miners at Newcastle.
From Newcastle the trains of the Colorado Midland formerly ran
to Grand Junction over the tracks of the Dlenver & Rio Grande West-
ern. On account of this double use the roadbed between these points
is treated as a distinct unit, and the mileposts do not conform to the
general scheme of numbering consecutively from Denver but are
independent, beginning at Newcastle and ending at Grand Junction.
About It miles below Newcastle the traveler passes out of the ]Mesa-
verde formation and into the overlying Wasatch. This formation is
of Tertiary age and is the first rock as young as Tertiary that the
traveler has seen since he left the vicinity of Denver and Palmer
Lake. It is characterized generally by coarse conglomerate and iu
l^laces is composed of boulders many inches or even several feet in,
diameter. It is reddish or pinkish in color, or it is made up of
bands of red alternating with bands of white or light green. It was
not formed immediately after the Mesaverde, on which it rests here,
but after the Mesaverde had been laid down, consolidated, raised
above drainage level, and remained a land surface for a long time.
At last the mountains were partly uplifted and great lakes were
formed, and into these lakes boulders worn from the older rocks, as
well as fine material, such as clay and sand, were washed, and the
whole mass was finally consolidated into rock. The time which has
elapsed since it was deposited and the pressure of the overlying rocks
have not been sufficient, however, to make it very hard ; it is much less
coherent than the Mesaverde and consequently gives a greater width
of valley than the older rock. The Wasatch beds near the out-
crop of the Mesaverde dip steeply to the southwest, or into the great
Uinta Basin, but at a greater distance from the hogback the beds
flatten and become nearly level as they approach the middle of the
basin. (See fig. 37, p. 148.) From Newcastle to Eifle the most promi-
nent surface features on the right are the sharp conical hills of the
Wasatch formation, in which the beds apparently stand on edge.
are not accessible by railroad or be-
cause the coal is so low in rank that
it could not be sold in competition
with the coal already on the market.
The quality of the coal differs greatly
in the different parts of the basin.
The highest rank — anthracite — is
found near Crested Butte, and the
lowest rank — subbituminous coal — at
points on the uptunied rim. Coke is
manufactured south of Glenwocd
Springs, Colo., and at Sunnyside, Utah.
144 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
The soft Tertiary and Cretaceous formations have been eroded
very rapidly, and vast quantities of clay, gravel, and sand have been
washed into the basin-like valley below the narrow canyon which
the river has cut through the Grand Hogback. This loose material
once filled the valley to a considerable depth, and the streams then
removed part of it, leaving the remainder as great sloping terraces,
which come down from the sides of the valley and would meet in
the middle were it not for the trench which the river has cut. The
presence of this fine material has given to one of
Silt. the villages the appropriate name of Silt. On the
Elevation 5,441 feet, old maps of this region this broad valley was called
Denver 380 miles. Cactus Valley, on account of the barrenness of the
region and the presence of many forms of cacti. To-
day the parts on which water has been taken bear little resem-
blance to a cactus valley, but the unreclaimed part is extremely
barren. Here for the first time on this journey the traveler is coming
into the real semiarid region, where precipitation is so slight that
crops can not be raised without irrigation and where the unreclaimed
tracts are either barren of vegetation or have the kind that is char-
acteristic of the more nearly desert regions. On the south (left)
the traveler may see the east front of Battlement Mesa, which is
capped by a layer of basalt that has preserved the even surface over
which it flowed as lava. Its east front, which is seamed and scarred,
presenting a very rugged face, is one of the highest points in the
vicinity, having an altitude of over 10,000 feet. The even surface
upon which this flood of lava was poured is probably a part of the
peneplain of which the White River Plateau is another remnant.
Those who have made no study of geology may think that all pla-
teaus are formed by the uplift of parts of the country to a greater
altitude than that of the surrounding regions — in other words, that
they are on anticlines or upfolds of the rocks, but this is not uni-
formly true. The White River Plateau is on such an upfold, but
Battlement Mesa is in a downfold, and generally upfolds and down-
folds have no necessary connection with the formation and preser-
vation of plateaus.
Rifle, on Colorado River at the mouth of Rifle Creek, although not a
large town, is one of the most important points on the railroad.
The irrigated land along the river near Rifle yields
Rifle. abundant crops, but they are somewhat different
Elevation 5,310 feet, from those that are raised about Glenwood Springs,
Denver*38°7mi^ies ^^^ *^^® ^^^^ ^^^'^ stands at a lower altitude and the
summer temperature is consequently higher. Po-
tatoes and grains are not large crops about Rifle ; sugar beets, alfalfa,
and fruits are more common. From Rifle a stage line, 42 miles long,
leads northward to Meeker, the largest town in the irrigated valley
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE.
145
of "White Eiver and a noted outfitting point for hunters of big game.
This road continues northward from Meeker to Craig, the present
terminus of the Denver & Salt Lake Kailroad ("Moffat road").
This part of Colorado has long been noted for the raising of horses
and cattle, and for many years Rifle was the shipping point from
which train after train of fine range cattle went to the eastern
markets. The dry-land farmer has materially cut down the extent
of the open range, so that the herds have been greatly reduced in
number and size, and many of the cattle that are now raised reach
the market by other routes, so that Rifle is no longer preeminently a
cattle-shipping point.
Opposite Rifle is a marked terrace about 400 feet high, which
forms a sharp boundaiy to the irrigated part of the valley. Like all
the terraces so far seen, this one is doubtless a remnant of the old
floor of the valley — a floor formed by the river when it was flowing
some 400 feet higher than it does to-day, or when the surface of the
land was that much nearer sea level than it is now. Remnants of
what appears to be this same high- terrace may be seen almost con-
tinuously below Rifle for a distance of 25 or 30 miles.
Beyond Rifle the great, broad swell of Battlement Mesa is the
most conspicuous feature on the south side of the valley, but the
reason for its name does not become apparent to the traveler until
he has reached a point farther down the valley. As seen near
Rifle Battlement Mesa is a great rounded mass in which very few
ledges of rock crop out at the surface. It also bears very few trees,
but parts of it, as well as of Grand Mesa, farther south, are covered
with a thick growth of timber, and these two mesas constitute the
Battlement National Forest. As the principal industry in this re-
gion is stock-raising one of the important features of the adminis-
tration of this forest is the treatment of the " range " and the adjust-
ment of grazing permits. For the information of those who wish to
learn more about the administration of the national forests and the
Government's method of dealing with grazing privileges, Smith
Riley, district forester, has given a brief description in the foot-
note.**
** The barren piiion and brush cov-
ered foothills seen from the train be-
tween Rifle and Grand Junction give
the traveler no idea of the fertile
interior valleys and table-lands that
comprise the Battlement National For-
est— the largest grazing forest in the
State of Colorado.
The forest proper, which lies some-
what remote from the railroad and
covers an area of 677,340 acres, com-
prises two great table-lands known as
Grand Mesa and Battlement Mesa.
Fully 50 per cent of the area of the
Battlement Forest is covered with tim-
ber. Wild grasses and weeds, which
grow in abundance in open parks and
in the less densely wooded parts
of the forest, furnish excellent sum-
mer pasture. The foothills between
146
GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
When Battlement Mesa is first seen from the railroad, near Rifle,
no hard rock can be discerned on its surface, but near the ^dllage of
Rulison small streams that come down from the mesa have made sharp
cuts through the terrace on the opposite side of the river and have de-
posited at the foot of the terrace a great quantity of boulders in the
form of alluvial cones. These boulders are composed of basalt, a dark
rock that is very unlike any others which are seen in this vicinity.
This basalt was once molten lava that was poured out over the even
surface and now caps the mesa and protects its from erosion. Battle-
the national forest and the valleys
also provide valuable winter range,
and the irrigated bottoms along the
streams are admirably adapted to
raising hay and to the winter feed-
ing of stock. Such, in brief, is the
character of the lands that furnish
pasturage for more than 43,000 cattle
and horses every year.
The natural grazing advantages of
this part of Colorado attracted cattle-
men long ago and led to the first de-
velopment of the country. Those were
days without laws or regulations,
when the more powerful cattle owners
had everything their own way. " nin-
ning" as many cattle and sheep as
they wishetl, rapidly overgrazing the
accessible tracts and getting little or
no benefit from the others. This
" open-range " system, as it was called,
resulted in the gradual accumulation
of more live stock than the country
could properly maintain, and during
unfavorable seasons it produced severe
losses.
In those early days the market was
very unstable. Prices were less than
half those of the present day, and
there was a great deal of animosity
between cattlemen and sheepmen. So
strong was this animosity that be-
tween 1890 and 1892 several encoun-
ters occurred in which at least one
man was killed and thousands of sheep
were wantonly butchered or driven
over precipices. Ultimately the cattle-
men proved to be the stronger and
drove the sheepmen from the range.
By this time the territory then in
use had become overgrazed, the range
depleted, and the water-supply con-
taminated and diminished. The strug-
gle therefore took on a new phase — it
became one for the control of range
and water. Homesteads and water
holes were taken up in such a way
as to control large areas, some home-
steaders controlling as many as 10 sec-
tions of grazing land.
After this struggle for supremacy
the friiit industry was started and ulti-
mately took possession of much of the
fertile valley lands in and adjacent to
the forest. For a time this new in-
dustry flourished, and the value of
land increased to a point that prohibit-
ed its acquisition for grazing. The
fruit industry in turn had its draw-
backs, and now many of the orchards
are being turned into fields of alfalfa.
To dispose of this crop properly live
stock is necessary, so there is now a
revival of the cattle business.
Since the Battlement National For-
est was established, in 1S92. the graz-
ing industry of this region has been
reduced to a science. Range privileges
have been equitably distributed by the
Government on the basis of the bona
fide development of permanent homes.
Control of the range by rule of might
has disappeared, overgrazing has been
stopped, and the forest ranges are now
used without injury to them. Most
important of all, the live-stock busi-
ne.^s has been placed on a secure and
profitable basis, and stockmen have
come to look upon the Forest Service
as their friend.
One of the first considerations in the
proper administration of a grazing for-
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE.
147
ment Mesa was so named because of the fancied resemblance of its
north front to the walls of some old castle, but the traveler can not see
these rugged points until he has passed the east end of the mesa.
Bej^ond Rifle the most conspicuous features on the north (right)
side of the valley are the great white cliffs of Mount Logan. When
the traveler first sees them, near Rifle, they are in the distance, but as
he goes westward he approaches them, and before the train has
covered many miles it is running at their bases. Many of the maroon
beds of the Wasatch, which came in so prominently on the west side
of the Grand Hogback west of Newcastle, have passed below the level
of the river ; only a few hundred feet remains in sight to form a red-
est is tlie establishment of " grazing
periods " consistent witli the protection
of the forage plants. Under the super-
vision of the Forest Service the periods
for grazing have been so adjusted that
the cattle are not allowed on the range
until the grass and soil are ready.
This permits the full utilization of the
forage without overgrazing or denuda-
tion. A careful study is also made of
the " carrying capacity " of each indi-
vidual range — that is, of the ability of
a given tract to sustain stock in good
condition without deterioration of the
forage.
The construction and maintenance
of drift fences (see PI. LXIV. B) for
properly handling stock on the range
and of pastures for gathering stock
and for weaning calves; the establish-
ment of salt grounds, for salt is as
necessary for beasts as for man ; the
construction of wagon roads and trails
to open up new and unused parts of
the range ; and the improvement of
springs and water holes — all this work
and much of other kinds that have a
vital bearing on the gi'azing industry
has been done by the Forest Service in
cooperation with the stockmen.
All grazing privileges in national for-
ests, except for 10 head or less of
milch cows or work horses, are granted
under a formal iiermit that can be
procured on application to the Forest
Supervisor, though each year, with the
increasing demand for range, the equi-
table allotment of these privileges is
becoming more difficult. In its grazing
policy the Forest Service takes the
position that it would rather help the
small man to make a living than the
big man to make a profit. The devel-
opment of local ranges and the produc-
tion of winter feed is therefore encour-
aged, and within certain limits gi'azing
privileges are granted to new settlers,
even to the extent of reducing the
privileges of those who have been
" running " a large number of cattle.
On the other hand, the so-called
" vested rights " of the large owner are
respected and his privileges main-
tained except where the small owner
is being unduly crowded or denied con-
sideration. Maximum limits as to the
number of cattle and horses that may
be " run " on the forest by the owner
have therefore been established in or-
der to prevent monopoly. The small
stockman is also safeguarded by a
" protective limit,"' which is the num-
ber of cattle the settler must have in
order to make a living on his property.
The small man is thus able to build
up his holdings to this limit, and stock-
men who claim larger privileges are
assured that they will not be reduced
unreasonably by the demands of the
small man.
As the live stock that is grazed on
the national forests furnishes a con-
siderable part of the meat supply of the
country, the Forest Service feels that
it should promote the use of our graz-
ing resources as fully as the proper
care and protection of the forests and
the water supply may permit.
148
GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
dish band about the foot of the white cliffs. The
relation of these beds to the Uinta Basin is shown
in figure 37.
In the vicinity of Rulison the cliffs are very con-
spicuous, and from Rulison to Grand Valley the
train runs practically at their feet. These cliffs,
which tower to a height of 3,500 feet above the
railroad, are but the points of long spurs which
far back from the river unite in a broad, *unbroken
plateau. The upper part of the cliffs is composed
of white shale and sandstone known to geologists
as the Green River formation. These rocks, al-
though originally dark, weather uniformly to a
dull white. The base of the cliffs is made up of
the maroon shale of the Wasatch formation, which
is exposed at several places between Grand Valley
and Salt Lake City. As shown in Plate LXIII,
the Green River formation makes prominent cliffs
on the north side of the valley and occurs also in
the high parts of Battlement Mesa, on the south.
Its presence is generally indicated by its white
color, which shows wherever the cover of brush
and trees has been removed. In such places it is
soon cut into castellated forms.
Most of the lower part of the valley is irrigated
and produces good crops and considerable fruit.
A sloping terrace on the south side of the river,
opposite the village of Grand
Valley, is irrigated by streams
that come down from the higher
parts of Battlement Mesa, and
the scene here is a pretty picture
of rural peace and prosperity. The principal
scenic feature is the great white cliff (PL LXIII)
immediately back of the village. All except about
600 feet at the base of this cliff is composed of
shale of the Green River formation, which, aside
from its striking color, is notable because it con-
tains a large amount of organic material, mostly
remains of plants, from which oil may be obtained
by destructive distillation. Oil has not yet been
produced commercially from this shale, but it
probably will be when crude oil from wells be-
comes scarcer and the demand for gasoline is
greater than it is to-day. This shale has been
i£ Grand Valley.
I Elevation 5,104 feet
C Population 257.
'^ Denver 404 miles.
O -v.
1^
"oVr.
c ■5"=:£
e s-o""
~ 5 = 5"
■s.^
V. S. GEOLOGICAT. SURVEY
BULLETIN" 707 PLATE LXIV
^ ';'
A. BARE HILLS OPPOSITE DE BEQUE.
Although these hills are in the extreme west end of the Battlement National Forest they near very
little timber or in fact vegetation of any kind. They are composed of the same kind of material
as that shown in Plate LXV, A. Photograph by the U. S. Forest Service.
B. STOCK FENCE IN A N.VTIONAL FOREST.
A drift fence for controlling the pasturage of stock in the Battlement National Forest. To one
accustomed to a humid climate the vegetation on this land does not appear promising, but the
cattle can find good pasture between the bunches of sage. Photograph by the U. S. Forest Service.
DENVER & EIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE.
149
studied, tested, and mapped by Dean E. Winchester, of the United
States Geological Siirve}', who describes it below.'*'^ A moderate
estimate, made by him. of the quantity of oil that may be obtained
from the Green River formation in Colorado alone is 40,000,000,000
barrels.
The oil shale is within view from the railroad for only a short
distance in Colorado, near Grand Valley, and is not seen again
by the traveler until he reaches Colton, Utah, but the two areas are
*5 Before petroleum was discovered
in Pennsylvania, in 1859, the Mormons
distilled it, in an experimental way,
from shale of the Green River forma-
tion near Juab, Utah, where the ruins
of their old still may yet be seen.
Experiments in other parts of north-
eastern Utah and northwestern Colo-
rado have confii'med the results ob-
tained at Juab. For many years oil
has been distilled from similar shale
in Scotland, where large plants have
been erected for this purpose, but the
supply of crude petroleum in this
country has been so great that no one
has been willing to invest capital in
such an enterprise. The growing de-
mand for gasoline, however, has made
it impei'ative to seek further supplies
of oil, so the United States Geological
Survey has been testing the so-called
oil shale of the Green River forma-
tion to find how many gallons of oil
it will yield per ton and mapping its
geographic distribution so as to be
able to make some estimate of the
total quantity of oil that may be
obtained from it. A conservative cal-
culation of the oil content of the shale
in Colorado shows that it will yield
at least 40,000.000,000 barrels of crude
oil. The yield of gasoline would be
one-tenth as much, and with a little
added expense 300,000,000 tons of am-
monium sulphate would be obtained
as a by-product. The sulphate is an
excellent fertilizer and would be
highly valuable to the farmers in this
and adjacent regions.
The Gi-een River formation, which
is so well exposed in the great white
cliffs at Grand Valley, consists pre-
dominantly of shale, but in places it
80697°— 22 11
includes beds of sandstone, oolite, and
conglomerate. The general 'white color
of the weathered outcrops is varied
near the top of the big cliffs by hard
bluish beds, which when freshly
broken are dark brown or black and
give off an odor of petroleum. This
hard, dark shale is destined to become
a valuable source of crude oil and its
refined products, such as gasoline and
kerosene, as well as of nitrogen com-
pounds. Good oil shale is tough and
remarkably flexible. Thin splinters
will bum and give off an asphaltic
odor when ignited with a match. Oil
shale contains a vast amount of or-
ganic matter, largely vegetal, which
appears to be the source of the crude
oil that may be produced from it by
destructive distillation.
The average oil shale mined in
Scotland will yield about 2^ gallons
of crude oil to the ton, but there is an
abundance of shale in Colorado and
Utah that will yield a barrel (42 gal-
lons) to the ton. The crude oil, when
refined by ordinary processes, will
yield from 10 to 15 per cent of gaso-
line.
Experiments are now in progress
both in the laboratories of the United
States Bureau of Mines and in many
private establishments to devise a
method of retort treatment that will
most successfully produce a distillate
that can readily be refined into stand-
ard products at a profit. Such a
method will no doubt be found, and
this region in northwestern Colorado
will probably be the scene of a great
industry in the production of artificial
petroleum by the distillation of these
deposits of oil shale
«
150
GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
connected north of the raih'oad by an almost unbroken outcrop, and
shale of sufficient thickness and richness to warrant mining is sup-
posed to underlie an area of at least 5,000 square miles in the Uinta
Basin of northwestern Colorado and northeastern Utah.
The features below the town of Grand Valley are much the same
as those above it. The same white cliffs, with the maroon band
about the base, rise above the railroad on the north, and the broad
swell of Battlement Mesa rises on the south. Between lies the open
valle}', with its band of trees fringing the river and its patches of
farm land where the sur-
face is sufficiently level for
irrigation. In midsummer
the valley displays beauti-
ful shades of green, but in
autumn, after the early
frosts have touched the
Cottonwood trees along the
river and the aspens on the
slopes above, it bears a
beautiful mantle of green
and gold.
The hills across the val-
ley, although they lie with-
in the Battlement Forest, are composed of the red and green shale
and sandstone of the Wasatch formation and are almost devoid of
vegetation. (See PI. LXIV, A.)
After being crowded close to the river by the high bluffs of the
maroon shale and sandstone, the railroad suddenly emerges into the
broad valley of Roan Creek at the little village of
De Beque, which is flanked on the north by the high
turrets, towers, and minarets of the White Cliffs.
As Roan Creek heads on the high plateau it con-
tains a never-failing supply of water, which is used
over and over again in irrigating the level land within its valley.
The pasture on the plateau is excellent, so that the principal indus-
try in and around De Beque is stock raising.
West of the river there is a slight arch in the rocks on which a
number of wells have been drilled in search of oil. Some of these
wells have found small quantities of oil, but most of them have been
" dry holes " — that is, holes that yield little or no oil. The slight arch
in the rocks is regarded as favorable for the accumulation of oil, for
oil and gas are generally associated with water in the rocks, and as
they are lighter than water they are forced up into the high places or
arches, as shown in figure 38. but in the region about De Beque there
seems to be little or no oil in the rocks to accumulate.
Figure 38. — Relation of oil, gas, and water to an
anticline. In a porous sandstone gas may be
forced to the top of the arch, oil will come next,
and water will lie in the lower part.
De Beque.
Elevation 4.045 feet
Population 292.
Denver 417 miles.
BULLETIN 707 SHEET No. 5
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
BULLETIN 707 SHEET No. 6
GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP
OF THE
RIO GRANDE ROUTE
From Denver, Colorado, to Salt Lake City, Utah
Compiled from United States Geological Survey atlas
sheets and reports, from railroad alinements and pro-
files supplied by the Denver & Rio Grande Western
Railroad Co., and from additional information col-
lected with the assistance of that company
PREPARED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF
GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR
1922
EXPLANATION
Age ThickTieBS
in feet
White shale and sandatone iGreen River formationt Tertiary lEocene) 2.600
Red shale, sandstone, and conelomerateCWaaatch formation) Tertiary iEocetie) 3,400
H Sandstone, shale, and coal beds (Mesaverde formation)
J Dark marine shale