ec i
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR F ‘ T Y,
ALBERT B. FALL, Secretary LJ Ss -
UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY bf 2
GEORGE Otis Situ, Director 4
Bulletin 707
GUIDEBOOK
OF THE
WESTERN UNITED STATES
PART E. THE DENVER & RIO GRANDE
WESTERN ROUTE
BY
MARIUS R. CAMPBELL
WASHINGTON
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
1922
MISBQURI BOTANICAL
GARDEN LIBRARY
PRINCIPAL DIvIsIons oF GEOLOGIC TIME.?
Duration, accord-
Era. Period. Epoch. Characteristic life. ing to various
estimates.
reser Millions of years.
ecent.
Pleistocene | ‘‘Age of man.” Animals and plants of
Quaternary-| “(Great | modern types.
io ( Ice Age).
Cenozoic (re-
cent life). 1to5.
Pliocene. te ”
: Miocene. eee of (eile. Possible first appear-
Tertiary. ise and development of
a hishest cee of plants.
Cretaceous. b “Age of reptiles.” Rise and culmination
~ < @) af ne res ea mena genom
y part: coi
— shells ( onites), and of erent flyin:
Mesozoic (in- : tiles. First appearance of birds de
termediate Jurassic. (6) — ier Faraasie): of 6 eads, an 4 to 10.
* peal 2 palmlike plants (in Triassic
haierpecisous plants, among
es aa are palms and hardwood tree:
Triassic. (>) (in Cretaceous).
“‘Ageofamphibians.’”’ Dominance ofclub
Periian. ego = ie “Primitive *fdowering
Carbonifer- P enpp he lants an
ous. Mississip- fore backboned land animals
= th naztilgadilegapligd-ahelie tanmor-
ites) and sharks abundant.
fe: Age offishes.”’? Shellfish (mollusks) also
Devonian. (2) undant. Rise ofamphibians and land
Paleozoic Shell-forming sea animals dominant, espe-
(old life). cially those related tothe naenititis (ceph-
salap eds). Ri culmin 1 of the
Silurian. (>) e animals sometimes ‘po mas sea | 17 to 25.
lilies (crinoids) and of giant scorpion-
like crustaceans (eurypterids). Rise of
fishes and of reef-building corals.
Shell-forming sea: ceph-
ae alopods and goo gee em id
Ordovician. (>) abun pret sige Culmination of by bupiks
as trilobit
Fuect trace of insect life.
Trilobites and Picbiopcas wm
Cambrian. (>) teristic animals. Seaweeds algae) abun- ey a
dant. Notrace ofland animals foun
i ee life that has left distinct record.
__ | Algonkian. *) rustaceans, brachiopods, and seaweeds.
Prot erozoic
a
: ‘Avelionn: = No fossils found. 50+.
deposition! = = area Ley agro there what geologists t an unconformi
“ y such une onformities—that i is, the dividing lines in the table re veprepett local
an.
ir
he geologic record consists mainly of sedimentary beds—beds deposited in water. Over large areas
ste setleae of uplift and erosion. reervonat between —— of deposition. ptt such Peete ption in
tree depclidtens ol the cirtts ta: nen
ao omitted; in less common use than those given.
of the tim
ivisions
CONTENTS.
py Geurge Oe Smits 2) sis sk erty ci sae toe
Preface,
chy ds cog a PORE T GE ASN OO, OE ts
Georgetown. and Mognt Sictmeuas, on ee ee
Wouth Platte. CAnvOn ce ee ee oe
Other trips of interest___— 7 ee
Main line of railroad from Denver to Colorado POD A oe a
One-day trips from Colorado Springs .
Manitou and the Garden of the Gods i
Pikes Peak aan
Cripple Creek by way of the “Short Line”. 2) =
South Cheyenne Canyon a
Main line of railroad from Colorado Springs to Canon ‘City =.
One-day trip from Canon City to the top of the Royal Gorge. 0
Main line of railroad from Canon City to Salida___...-
Main line of railroad from Salida to Malta
loop
Leadville
Main line = railroad from Malta to Grand Junction
e line from Salida to Montrose
Narrow
Mandell exes line from Montrose to Grand J
Main line of railroad from Grand Junction to pater Lake City
One-day trips from woh pens 2:2 a SRE ie
Saltair bathing b
Parleys Canyon hea nae City
Bingham, the great copper camp
Index
ILLUSTRATIONS.
ROUTE MAP.
For the convenience of the traveler the sniping of the route map are so folded and placed
that he ae unfold them one by one and kee
relating to i
ch one in view while he is reading the text
A reference in parentheses Po given in the text at each point where a new
sheet aoe ‘be unfolded.
SHEET 1. Denver to Husted, Colo
Edgerton to Parkdale, Colo sf
3. teic th Piié Crock and Doyle, Colg.2 2s eee
‘rans ta Brice Creek; Colo.
5. Shoshone to De Beque, Colo
6. Parlin to seating Colo
7. Escalante and Akin, frat aed Cisco, Utah
8. Whitehouse to Cedar, Ut
9. Verde to Mapleton, Utah Len
10: Springville to Salt Lake City; Went =
PLATE I.
It.
18 8
IV.
XII.
aA:
XV.
XVI.
XVII.
XVIII. Pikes
XIX.
xX.
Iv
: mes Peak
. “Mother Grundy ”
E posiaditc ss rato Creek canyon
PLATES.
Relief map on Colorado and part of Utah, showing main lines
of ver & Rio Grande Western Railroad and areas
ered oy sheets of route map
tosis Capitol, Denver
A, Wheat field in Clear Creek valley; B, Mountain front on
the “Moffat road”
A, Tunnels on the “Moffat road”; B, State flower of
Colorado
. Silver P pe
Mount ss cintias
Platte Canyon
. A, Castle Rock; B, Dome Rock, Platte Canyon____________
. A, Result of a recent forest fire; B, Result of an old forest
fire
A, Marking merchantable timber; B, Engelmann spruce____
A, A forest nursery ; B, Old charcoal kilns; C, Yellow pine__
~ oe for artificial reforestation; B, Fire-lookout sta-
Pe epsEee Rock”; B, Palmer Lake.
A, B, Capped Sram in Monument Park; C, The “ Major
Domo,” Glen Eyri
Pea
pegotoe to the Garden of 2 Gods
, The “ Siamese Twins”; B, “ Balanced Rock ”__-________
Se eee a ee Se ae ee ee
ILLUSTRATIONS, Vv
Page.
PLATE. X-XI. 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 —____ sTjia xclls¥ baer) tty. 40
XXIV. A, Pikes Peak and the Rocky Mountain peneplain; B, Ute
SB irre etiettsmneen ne dR Dithott 41
XXYV. A, Point Sublime; B, Devils Slide... 2 46
XXVI. Silver Ongem@Oibeelie ct sryh colin ih aint fell tee) a
XXVII. A, The old and the new in railroading; B, Cathedral Rocks__ 48
XXVIII. A, Bull Hill, Cripple Creek district; B, Anaconda and Mary
McBinney mines sacl ceisi) 2 ec det po oye y 49
2OSEX,; Pillars of Herculese 2000 oe oe mee bey 50
pM RIG ls coats sds antes ge 51
XXXI. Map showing Denver & Rio Grande Railroad as originally
BODOG men vicmmnestninigtit Lat aet ed ates 56
XXXII. A, An armored dinosaur ( Stegosaurus) ; B, Triceratops, the
last of the dinosa FE nm eerecsntrim eimai fae — bh acer TEE 70
XXXIII. A, Dinosaur tracks ; B, Portal of the Royal Gorgée_.___-__ 71
XXXIV. A, Top of the Royal Gorge; B, Rim of the Royal Gorge_____
XXXV. Skyline Drive, Canon Oly eee Ws
XXXVI. A, Massive walls of the Royal rge; B, Lodgepole pine
forest; C, Grand canyon of the Arkansas........... 76
XXXVII. View looking down into the Royal Goes jiccscits tos
XXXVIII. Hanging Bridge, Royal Gonge. 1), sean-bocst 78
XXXIX. Upper end of the Royal Gorge. a 79
XL. A, Grand canyon of the Arkansas below Texas Creek; B,
Tunnel on Rainbow SRN WA Yk ee 80
XLI. A, Gold dredging ; B, Rainbow a a EE 81
XLII. A, Summer home in a national forest; B, Game in the
I ice tte 82
XLITI. Howard and the Sangre de Cristo Mountains... | 83
XLIV. Salida and the VETERE GE the AP iinet ii ces 90
XLV. A, Summit of the Sawatch Range west of Salida ; B, Cirque
van S SOUICRE WG a ee te ee 92
SLVE. Moust Princobia2 02 De are. a 93
XLVII. A, Natural granite monument; B, Potholes in granite
apa ca CE SEES tl oll 98
XLVIII. Mount Elbert and Mount .MAMIGE wg ee oe 99
XL Castonate HOl Leadville 104
L. A, The patient burro; B, Tunnels in Eagle River canyon; Cc,
Mvarert GROMNON CON mIG ee 105
LI. A, Wild animals in a national forest; B, Stocking a stream
with fish in a national forest._______ “a cen » 312
LII. Map of Homestake Glacier, Colo ae
LIII. Mount of the Holy ee 116
LIV. Mines in Eagle River canyon. 117
LV. A, Roches moutonnées ; B, Eagle River canyon...-...... 118
LVI. A, Eagle Valley near Edwards; B, Recent yoleano in Eagle
Valley ; C, Edge of recent lava flow___ ' 119
LVII. A, Mountain sheep; B, Upper end of canyon of Colorado
BWR 505 — 182
LVIII. Canyon of Colorado River. 133
LIX. Lower part of canyon of Colorado River... 136
LX. Glenwood Springs 137
VI ILLUSTRATIONS.
Prate LXI. Hanging Lake
LXII. A, Grand Hogback; B, Palm-leaf fan grown in Colorado____
LAD. Grand. Valley cliffs. est ails ene sty 3
LXIYV. A, Bare hills opposite De Beque; B, Stock fenced in a na-
tional forest
LXY. A, Nature’s lacelike sculpture; B, Palisade Canyon at Cameo_
LXVI. High Line diversion dam in Palisade Canyon
LXVITI. Colorado River valley SR Palisade
LXVIII. Little Book Cliffs at Palisad
LXI
LXX. A, Spires of volcanic rock near Sapinero; B, Intricate ero-
sion of volcanic rock; C, Sheep in the Gunnison country__
LXXI. A, B, Black Canyon of the Gunnison from above; C, Rough
water in Black Canyon
LXXII. Upper part of — Canyon
LXNXIII, Curecanti
LXXIV. Gunnison ee a the ‘United States Reclamation Service:
Diversion dam; B, Interior of tunnel; C, West portal
of tunn ae
LXXYV. A, Uncompahgre Valley in its native state; B, pe same
valley irrigated
LXXVI. A, Canyon between Delta and Grand Junction; B, Brilliantly
co — spur of the canyon wall; C, Cross-bedded sand-
ston
A, ort crops on irrigated ground; B, Method of itasiine
Rr ee eS Re ee
LXXVII
LXXVIII. A column e need in the Colorado National Monument__
EXECS: EB
LXX
. Ruby Can
: A, Pie taietas walls of Ruby Canyon; B, Thick coal bed;
0, Colorado-Utah State line
LXXXI,. State flower of Uta
LXXXII. A, Plateau near Moab; B, Shale badlands at foot of Book
Cliffs; C,-Gunnison Butte-.2220% 2 eee Se oe
LXXXIII. Green River ES
LXXXTV. Apple trees in bloom
ER eV Demet Pin teenth
LXXXVI. A, Band of sheep; B, Coke ovens at Sunnyside; C, Cliffs
above Helper
LXXXVII. A, Inclined =e fault; B, Vertical normal fault; C, Castle
Gate, side v
LXXXVITI. Castle Gate
LXXXTIX. A, Bonneville sated line; B, Hydroelectric plant of the
eget y reclamation project
XC. Timpanogos
XCI. Wasatch M
XCII. A, State aa i aX B, ae Gate and Lion and Bee-
hive houses of Brigham
XCIIT. Temple Square
XCIV. A, Sea Gull Monument; B, Bathing in Great Salt Lake ___
XCV. A, Bingham Canyon; B, Bingham mine of Utah Copper Co__
XCVI. A, Magna mill of the Utah Copper Co.; B, Bonneville shore
on Wasatch Mountains.
ILLUSTRATIONS.
FIGURES.
Fiaure 1. Map of Colorado and part of Utah, showing areas covered by
United aoe Geological Survey topographic maps and
eologic fol
becom EEN, and Seti front north of Plainview, as
seen from the “ Moffat road”
Ny
3. Arch of the Front Range ue a
4. Diagrams showing effect of stream and glacial erosion______
5. Dakota hogback south of South Platte River
6. Section ee of Platte Canyon
7. Castle Rock from the north
8. Sketch section Ted, Palmer Lake, showing fau
9. Section at Pikeview, showing the fault pont separates the rocks
of the plains from those
10. Section through Garden of the
11, Profile section through Pikes Peak and Cascade, showing the
rene on of the mountain peak to the lower land (peneplain)
n either side
; Sections showing supposed outline of the Cripple Creek vol-
x
ano
i dastlaes showing fault at foot of Cheyenne ae gare
. State of Jefferson, as it was proposed in 1
. Sandstone bed at base of coal- pum formation at crossing of
Arkansas River near mouth of Oil
16. Section from Canon City to P ae pera former extent
of the Dakota and Morrison tiinetiie and the pinching out
westward of the lower formations
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
18. Lava-capped hill south of Howard
9. Section of the Sangre de Cristo Range _ the valley on its
east side, through Hunts Peak and Howa
20. aon mea from Sawatch Range to ea Cany on, show-
e deep gravel filling in the old channel of the Arkan
fob fk
im CO
a
|
sas
21. Sketch map of Brown Canyon, showing its relaticn to the
23. Great cirque on Mount Harvar
24. Mountain peaks of Sawatch fer at the head of Lake Creek,
aS seen from milepost 265
25. The Mosquito Range as seen from milepost 269, at the mouth of
Towa Guich
26. Mineral production of Lake County from 1877 to 1918, inclu-
ve
27. Section through some of the workings at Leadville, showing the _
relation of the ore to the limestone, porphyry, and quartzite_
28. grag across Eagle Park, showing the thin cap of quartzite
e west and the pene Ree, ene ee ee ee
ads on the east :
29. Meanders of Eagle River in Eagle Park ok ne ton
30. Sketch map showing old and new moraines above Minturn_.
Vil
Page.
Be
B
SES BB
VIII
Fieure 31.
32
33
24
35.
TLLUSTRATIONS.
Anticline and syncline
Sketch section across the syncline at Wolcott on a line from
east to west
. Canyon cut by Hagle ial threugh west rim of the syncline,
as seen from Wolco
. Section across canyon =e Colorado River at Shoshone________
. Top of red sandstone (Triassic) forming crest of hill below
South Canon Coal Co.’s coal tipp
Section through Grand Hogback at Newcastle
Section across Uinta Basin from Newcastle to Palisade_____
Relation of oil, gas, and water to ° Bnrctines
Map of High Line Sar eta projec
oh aie = a rock terr
‘orm a gravel terrace
Alluvial — in Poncha Canyon
Overturned eastern rim of the syncline at Crookton
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 sudeaty and sedi-
men ary TOCKS
Section showing the effect of hard and soft rocks on the form
of a canyon
46. Section across Black Canyon at Cimarro
. Rocks forming the canyon
ron
on wall near Bridgeport
48. Sketch section across the valley at Fruita, Colo
Method of measuring the flow of a river at a cable station__
Short fold in massive sandstone opposite Ruby siding, belo
Mack
Different types of anticlines ae
ngular profiles of the a province Ee
Mountains carved from a lacco
Projecting point of the lower anc of the Book Cliffs____
Profile of front of Beckwith Plateau
Terraces at head of rien? Minis valley
Geologic section at Castlega
Sketch section at Gilluly, a relation of the northward-
dipp red Wasatch to the white Green River formation____
Map of Strawberry Valley reclamation project
Map of Lake Bonneville.
Provo and pene lake terraces at the Narrows of Jordan
Valley
Fluctuation in level of Great Salt Lake from 1850 to 1914___
Map showing old trails for Oregon and California_____.______
E
Page.
3
et eerie
PREFACE,
By Groree Orts Smiru.
_ 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, Phe 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 Canyon of the Colorado (Bulletin
613); Part D, The Shasta Route and Coast Line (Bulletin 614). These bul-
letins are for sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C., at
50 cents a copy.
7 *
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 & Rio Grande Western Route 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
Reclamation 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.
pare) 5 Cees Ao eee ra
.
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GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
PART E. THE DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE.
By Marius R. Campseni.
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 Jess 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 parched 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 mounitains.
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 day.
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
Beer Slee Te thee
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
BULLETIN 707 PLATE I
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RELIEF MAP OF COLORADO “AND. UTAH
Showing main lines of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad and areas covered by sheets of route map
Z- ~ “2 i ann,© fo.
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE 3
by private irrigators and irrigation companies and py the Goy-
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. at
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 sprung 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, Ss hotels and residences, and beautiful
boulevards and.
The carer ies thst 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 a
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 Rocky 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 Russell party, went to Cherry Creek, where the Indians
had found some gold on their previous visit. They prospected along
Cherry Creek and South Platte River, 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 siteof 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 at-
rived there and rechristened it Denver City, in honor of Gen. J. W.
Denyer, the governor of the Territory of Kansas, which then in-
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 5
cluded 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 Rocky
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 Il. 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.
Bp oS aie a ai
Another excellent vantage point from which to view the mountains
is the dome of the Capitol (Pl. 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 Glenwood Springs. Another public building that attracts at- ‘
tention is the great auditorium, built to accommodate ibed tic
national convention of 1908. It seats 12,000 perso: i”
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 av erage |
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
“Ry
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city. 4
The residential part of the city is very attractive. The houses are
substantial and are surrounded by velvety lawns diversified me H a
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 ©
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U. 8. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN (07 PLATE HI
A, WHEAT FIELD IN CLEAR CREE
Water has ip ena fig ch Clear Creek
Photograph by L. C. McClure,
EK VALLEY.
valley from a barren waste to rich agric cultural
2
Dekeracs furnished by the Colorado &
—
and.
B. MOUNTAIN FRONT
The Denver & Salt Lake
slabs
ON THE “ MOFFAT ROAD,”
Railroad, in climbing the steep mountain front, tunnels through great
of da rk-red sandstone upturned against the —. con een tunnels the traveler
i f ains stretching mney © the farther than the eye can see, and
of the low ridges that skir t the mountain his feet. “p hotozraph copyrighted by L. C
McClure, Denver; furnished by the Beaver. x 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
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 enjoyable on account of the scenery, 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 setats that have made this region
famous, and to behold the magnificent exposures of rock along the
canyon 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 Pl. ITT, 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 1. No
coal beds can be seen from this railroad, but a few miles to the north
there are extensive mines.
ne aha a ie -
*Coal has been mined in Colorado
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-
rison, Golden, and Boulder, but the
eastern rim is not conspicuous, as the
beds dip very gently westward ait
formation) and
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-
Plainview,
dash east —— the gece ae ee, the Morrison formation
and the Carboniferous sandst
Figure 2.—Dakota hogback and mountain front north o w, as seen from the
“ Mord tr oad.” The
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 Pl. III, 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 | breaks up or “ slacks ”—the lumps fall
h
bed m shafts which are sunk value. Notwithstanding
nearer the center of the basin and se defects, subbituminous coal is
which reach the coal at different | extensively mined d a ready
depths. market aaa the Denver region.
The coal is what is now generally
furious, a rank which is
ast. I
peels lignite,” cece 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
* 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
V (p. 78).
<9 enagsameptanmec ace eeapriict
DENVER & RIO GRANDE 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 Pl. IV, A). This red sand-
stone is tilted up against the gneiss (pronounced nice) 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 coy-
MIDDLE PARK :
ae GREAT PLAINS
SSS
Bey Kota me Ce ad ats
Horizontal scaie
10 20 Miles
Figure 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
PAR re grec ee ER
2
ne ee the crystalline rocks of
mountains are referred to in this
guide they are called granite, though
they really
they may be different forms of the
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 (Pl. IV, &), 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 Rollinsville. 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 and o dates
reciica nti the gneisses are holo-
crystalline [entirely crystalline] granu-
are arranged in eS parallel
Bees or layers.
width and texture these sara
vary “indetitely It is common to
and oarsely yeaa
quartz several sities in width, alter-
nating with others of feldspar, or feld-
rnblen
é ent
mica laminae [layers
vary from finely and ‘prealy qutis
through all grades of coarseness and
ome at times so massive as to be
indistinguishable in baud am speci-
mens from granites.
“The origin of elses 2 ae
in many cases somewhat obscure, the
banded or ified structure being con-
sidered by some as representing the
original bedding of the sediments, the
different bands representing layers 0
varying composition. This structure
is now, however, besarigree to be due
to mechanical causes and in no way
dependent upon peer stratification.
he name, as commonly used, is made
Pe include rocks of widely Nae
ucture, which are beyond doubt i
nage sedimentary and in part aria
in all ses altered from their
s been
brought about not by heat and cryntie
lization alone, but in many cases by
folding so comple
od
= fe the present state of our knowl-
edge it is in most cases impossible to
separate what
ding and which may or may not be ~
altered eruptives.
rant the SPER eon of she term knead- —
may be true metamor- —
phosed sedimentary gneisses from those _
in which the foliated or banded struc- 3
ture is in no way connected with bed- .
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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 which 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
Fieurn 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-
gineers 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 Pl. 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 united. 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 aoniiaada 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 clim
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
as a a
Se ee ee ee ee a ee
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 off the
inequalities of the land. Where 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
Neste EE Reh EE EI ig SE EY
4
Flat-topped hills are named mesas because of their resemblance to a table
(Spanish mesa, pronounced may’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 precipitous walls, it
varies greatly in width. At some places, as shown in Plate VIT, it is
merely a cleft sufficient to accommodate the stream that carved ‘ts at
others it is so broad that the stream has built flood plains upon which
the railroad has little difficulty in finding its way. Thecutting 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, ang the railroad branch to the
right runs to Central City and Blackhawk, two of the most im-
portant and oldest gold-mining centers of Colorado. Central City
ip Rhee
U. 8S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 707 PLATE VI
“MOTHER GRUNDY.”
ts. t . =e m all
‘. a re from her position overlooking Clear _—_ ke pati a sharp — gp i sais
Phe t hs Che massive granite and the tortuous streé ell shown in M xe p
Mograph by L. C. McClure, De “nver; furnished by the ‘ ia ake & Southern was:
U. 8S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 707 PLATE Vil
NARROWS OF CLEAR CREEK CANYON.
In places the gorge isso narrow and nye bends are so abrupt that both the stream and the ré cg
seem to disappear i in some rocky cavern, but on rounding the ber id a ey may be seen pur-
suing their tortuous course ‘Spee in by vertical or overhanging cliffs several hundred feet
high. Photograph by L.C. McClure, Denver; furnished by the Calnbade & Southern Railwa
DENVER & RIO 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 oo as fol-
lows by E. S. Bastin
In romantic intehost and as a record
of this region can
by any 0o
h rpassed ther
chapter in the history of the “ win-
Ss decade after
di
quantities near
of the richer veins of the region had
been discovered and many new de-
5
o
and early growth
precious metal from the counties of
twi Ag
metals to the value be more than
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
ores are gold a
nue he veins
de or
than that of the waters w Pa
brought up the gold and silver he
from lower levels. oe
_ (See Spurr, J. E., and cares, G. ae a
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. When 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 cheat 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
ey
| RRO a ao a nee are en
i ea aa
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 mountain
side and in the fine views he obtains during the ascent. After
‘According to Bastin, the discovery
of a gold-bearing vein near the presen
*
or
covered. One of the most productive
of these veins was discove by
George Griffith in the vicinity of Eliz-
Aneiee (now Sergey on
capped by the lack of
Means of trans-
portation, both for bringing in sup-
nike and for sending out the products
of the mines. This lack was supplied
will have no opportunity to
to a great extent in 1870 by the build-
ing of what is known as the George-
town branch of the Colorado & South-
ern Railway. from Denver to Golden,
but it was not until 1877 that this line
reached Georgetown, and it was sev-
eral as! later before it reached Sil-
ver Plum
Clear Heat County, of which George-
town is the county seat, reached the
peak of its metal production in 1894,
since which time its output has
steadily declining until in 1914 it was
worth only $884,615. In the next year
the district began to feel the effect of
Be: ibe war, and the value of its
metals jumped to $1,124,225.
9 an pe metal output was valued
at $1,631,219, in 1918 at $1,126,440, in
and
g
/1919 at $644,332, in 1920 at
Since the description of the trip to
Mount McClellan was written the line
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
TX: Mount McClellan is not on the Continental Divide but ona
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 peaks,’ 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 Mount 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 River 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”
day. If he is content with seeing the lower part of the canyon onl:
"The altitude of Grays Peak is 14,341 feet; Evans Peak, 14,260 feet; Torrys "7
Peak, 14,336 feet; and Mount McClellan, 14,007 feet,
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[PAT BIS BAOGE 199F 200 FL ys ayy uo) WeDo PL Pano Py jo eaung
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“NVTTHIDON LNNOW
XI GLWId 202 NILATING LGHAUAS ITVOIDOIONUD ‘8S ‘A
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 Junction 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
= es
ei eo
Secs '
Ath
ng <4]
Yi i iM hy
A
ay) y
Us 4 y be
/ ia
bugs * i's
y / PP ae:
3 LZ A hava
7Nv Lhe,
FicuRe 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
tiver 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 valley 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 WESTERN 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 reservoirs 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, showing 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 ravines 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 Pl. 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
PLATTE CANYON.
i ‘ iL.
Narrow part of Platte, tanyon, where even a narrow-gage 1 vilroad can hardly f ne F foothok
Photograph by L. ( “Met ‘lure, Denver; fupaiahed pt the Colorado & Southern Railway
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 707 PLATE XI
CASTLE ROCK.
A well-known a. about 300 feet high, 33 miles south of Der It was tot noted and
named by the Lo xpedition in 18 20. The cap rock, 60 or 70 feet thick, is made up of
boulders of | vasion sus sizes cemented together (conglomerate) and stands aie Semen
because it is harder than the underlying rock. Photograph by L. C. McClure, Denver.
i
,
B. DOME ghee: PLATTE CANYON.
— picture illustrates the manne — even the most massive granite may yield to the F
ction of the we aaa It pee “sy off i ccessive curved layers much like the layers of an iq
onion, leaving round or dome-shap aks ainies 3 of rock — x tee out in striking contrast to é
ae" towers and pinnacles that generally occur on the walls of the canyon. Ph otograph by :
ilway. :
. McClure, Denver; furnished by the Colorado & Sonthern Ra
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 autumn, 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
Pl. XI, B.) Such a feature is well shown on a large scale at the
station of Dome Rock. 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
harrow, rugged defile. This canyon, like the one below it, has
several aspects, which depend upon the character of the rock and
upon the vosition 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 Rocky 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 will 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
a or no water runs in it at the surface, but when
‘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
Denver.
Elevation 5,19% feet.
Population 256,491.8
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.
gures given for population [| erties of radium and secondarily to
throughout this book are those of the | show that radium can be produced
t tes census for 1920; for | here at a much lower cost than abroad. |
places that were not incorporat When the institute was organized
ven represent the population | radium was selling for as much as
vate gain but for the purpose pri-
marily of studying the curative prop-
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 & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 23
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-
Littleton. cultural district and has become popular as the
Elevation 5,372 feet. suburban home of many of Denver’s business men.
Dein’ 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 hy 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 United States Senator Edward Wolcott, is farther
along on the right, just beyond milepost 13. After the death of
Senator Wolcott 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 | by the bureau. The work has been
radium within the reach of hospitals | successful, and the bureau has pat-
throughout the country. which radium was
The Bureau of Mines had already | produced at a cost of about $40,000
reached the conclusion that such a re- | per gram, or one-third its selling pic
duction in cost was possible, and an | This patent may be used free of
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 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,
94 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
parallel with them. The men were eager 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 summit 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 &
Rio 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 Plum Creek and may be seen to good advantage from milepost 17,
about 14 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.
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
The only railroad
* 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 ent nf
of quartz and feldspar, is know
geologists as arkose. The fo seat
is called the Tewaen 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. chardson, in the Castle
Rock soe (No. 198) of the Geologic
Atlas of the wee States, describes
the rock as follow
Dawson arkose, derived from
r *
continental conditions, chiefly as wash
and fluviatile [stream] deposits accom-
panied by local ponding. During the
accumulation of the arkose this region
may be conceived of as a piedmont
rea
in which the vegetation was character-—
ized by the presence of man
palms, Magnolias, poplars,
oaks, maples, etc., and which was occu-
ed by Triceratops
horned dinosaurs)
and other reptiles and by primitive
mammals,”
Km}
te
In other words, the material derived
from the mountains was carried out on
a nearly flat surface and deposited by
the streams in much the same way 45
the streams of to-day are carrying the
waste of the mountain rocks and
spreading it over the low parts of the
plains. :
*
a i
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 25
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
paerstion: sei feet. of the great downfold of the rocks east of the
e Front Range. 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. Sedalia. The upland on the east is here nearer the
Elevation 5,835 feet. track than it is farther north, and it stands out as
Denver sen. @ 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
Louviers.
DANO R GW
mie formation
Montana group
Os Colorado group
2. Purgatoire and Morrison
4000 6000 Feet
acs ab aca sche
Figure 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 When
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 ata 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 the report of the 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 70 feet thick.
Castle Rock. This mesa is shown in Plate XJ, A, and in figure 7.
Elevation 6,218 feet. The lower part of the mesa is composed of soft, fri-
Sears oaTte es 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
Figure 7.—Castle Rock from the 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 boen first quarried
about 1876, and it is reported that up
to 1914 about 30,000 carloads had been
marketed. The stone has been exten-
sey used for building in Denver, Colo-
prings, and Pueblo, where it has
Saat 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.
ue See ee ee ce ne eee ee
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. ce
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 conglomerate 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
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
plateau. This rugged mountain, known as Devils Head, is utilized
by the Forest Service as a lookout station for the detection of forest
fires. (See Pl. XV, B, 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
overnment is attempting to do for the conservation of the forests 1s
given below by Smith Riley, former district forester.
“Colorado lies in the zone of slight | and the supply of water for this pur-
precipitation and hence of irrigation, | pose comes from the 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.
Elevation 6 a feet. west.
Denver 43 mil
line runs to the resorts in Perry Park, 4 miles to the
This is a natural parklike area at the foot of
e mountains, made picturesque by natural monu-
the moisture falls as snow during the
inter. 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 differen aa 5 sa of
trees, and the range in elevation of
thene species is si pias _by
e the zone of yel-
low pine is the zone <a lodgepole pine
Pl, XXXYI, B, p. 76) and above this,
extending to timber line, is the zone
in which Engelmann spruce (PI. XIII,
fi j
aspen oc
This tree, which
‘presents a wonderful richness of au-
a marked tend-
fers that require more moisture start
to grow and ultimately take possession
_ found in the moist stream bottoms, in
the zones of the yellow pine and pifion,
and out on the plains,
One e, the white * i Sra toote pines
grows on exposed s eee Zt bak
zone of ota ay ie.
which is called limber pine, go bony
commercial value but is very pic-
turesque because of its gray-green
foliage and whitish bark. Its pal
yellow cones are larger than those of
by the severe climatic conditions un-
der which they grow
In the zone of the lodgepole pine
rives its names from the recurv
prickles or thorns at the extremity of
and from the exuda-
tions of — on the surface of the
es, which when dry look
very si eit particles of
To maintain a cover for an even ~
stream flow and protect the supply of
timber all the more extensive drainage
asins 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
i="
50,000 to Such districts
lice
taining to the national f
Pike National Srey ‘includes : :
000,
their domestic water supply. In addi-
Pal pc ae 2 is ne ei
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 707 PLATE XII
A. RESULT OF A RECENT FOREST FIRE.
Scarred and blackened tree heal and half-burned logs mark the path of a recent fire through
the national fores Photograph by the U. S. Forest Service.
B. RESULT OF AN OLD FOREST FIRE.
‘ : » dead
An old “burn” ina national forest. Its pathway is marked ict the white pte ale ee crenh
trees, which are ready to . res in a hopeless tangle when struck by a hard wine
by the U. S. Forest Se ervie
*IITAIOG YSVOY “SG "Fy, OY Aq YdesZ0jOYg “*BOIAING YSOIOT “GS "FE, oy Aq
‘sopnynye YSty 7B AyuO SMOIZ Yor ‘oonads WuBUpsUG] JO puvys peordA. V ydeisojoyg ‘eyes Joquir) {ses0J-;eUOT] BU B JOJ JOPUTMpPLUL UL soos], Surye yy
‘AONUdS NNVWITHONA *@ “MAAWLL WAV OINVHOUAW ONIMUVA OV
i
}
a
WX GALVId OL NILATIOd ARZAUOS TVOIDOTONUD ‘*S “DO
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE.
ments of tilted and highly colored sandstone.
29
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 nefleek
soe to this supply its streams furnish
water for irrigating 4 acres of
rich agricultural land at the foot of
the ns,
region now included in this for-
est Fates an immense amount of
timber during the early development
of local industries, about 000,
eet b. m. having been cut prior to its
establishment as a national forest. In
the re
In Gilpin County considerable areas
of forest land were practically denuded,
for trees
the detriment of the timber stands of
gions.
the
then permitted a rapid run-off of wa-
ter after heavy rains, which caused
considerable destructive erosion. Sim-
pa
and owing to generally favorable con-
aie, many areas have naturally
become reforested.
In the early days all eget build-
put up their own buildings of logs ob-
tained from the national forest under
hed r
ere
built, and ERE, all wiggt aegg?
was done wit tim Most of
the cutting was te by — oper-
ators, with sawmills of 6, to 10,
feet b. m. daily capacity, who would
locate or purchase s tract of
tumpage
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
the Forest
m
eral allowance for profit to the
ator.
The amount of timber cut in the Pike
National
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,
¢
e
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 age bora of timber in the
forest is estimated to be 1,100,000,000
eet b. m., = which 620,000,600 feet
. m. is considered to be in ae
jsut «Mate ft Bangs |
pues list gives the species
in as order of their ane in the
d
Of these,
railroad ties and lumber for other pur-
poses, and yellow pine secon
When an application for a timber
sale is receiv y the Forest Service
it is first necessary to determine
whether the timber applied for should
stand by the removal of t
and defective trees, which are grow-
ing very slowly, and to thin crowded
with plenty of growing space and per-
mitting young trees to come in wher-
ever there is not already a sufficient
nd
each green tree to
nated by blazing and Sra it with
a U323." sta This marking is
-necessary in order that the trees which
are to form the basis of the future
stand will not er destroyed, (See Pl.
ATIT, =A.) Aft the marked trees
are cut and seidane or ha clas to a
central point, the material is scaled
a forest e
the brush so that it will lie close to
the ground, where it will absorb mois-
ture and decay rapidly. The proper
|
|
§
:
U.
8S
PLATE XIV
BULLETIN 707
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
A, A FOREST NURSERY.
the oo nursery of the U. S. Forest Se e, in which young trees are grown from the
a ea is nursery contains 9 000 seein anc oe transplants, whic h | rages will
ache used for reforesting some of the burned-over areas. Photograph by the U. Forest
The
Photo-
B. OLD CHARCOAL KILNS
s these much of the forest of the Rocky Mountains has disappeared.
was us i before coke became available for smelting ores.
Into such kiln
chi arcoal whie 7 af made
y the [ . Fores
st Ser
graph by
C.
Photograph by the U. 5 Forest
z
ypical stand of yellow pine in the Pike | oo Forest.
Ser
YELLOW PINE.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 707 PLATE XV
A. A PLACE FOR ARTIFICIAL REFORESTATION.
A tract on the mountain back of Palmer Lake burned so sev erely that artificial reforestation is
necessary. Pi kes ha in in the
distance, rises nearly a mile above its surface. Plcceecont by i U.S. Forest Servi
B. FIRE-LOOKOUT STATION.
On Devils Head Mountain, in the Pike National Forest. The observer states here is on
the a for i ill for rest fir res occurr ring in an area of 600,000 acres. In case wd i he notifies
by telephone t at Denver and the local forest rangers, w a once endeavor
to put out the fire be lo it come meal destroys valuable timber. Photo; sl by the U. 5.
Forest Servic
ie
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
Greenland.
eration ss feet.
Denver 47 es.
toward the low gap which separates the headwaters
of Kast Plum Creek on the north
of Monument Creek on-the south.
from those
This gap is at
the foot of the mountains and is marked by Palmer Lake, the highest
Palmer Lake. :
Elevation 7,237 feet.
Population 160
Denver 52 miles.
de
Grande Railroad.
point on the line between Denver and Pueblo.
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-
nt, and inspiring genius of the Denver & Rio
A more extended account of Gen. Palmer and his
This
disposal of brush is the most neces-
In the early days of settlement in
this country the forest suffered con-
siderably from fires.
A and
er
fire started by
hunters on Pikes Peak is said to have
urned intermittently for.
months d
have ex-
Similar fires covered
250,000 acres in the Pike Na-
tional Forest, and of this area 60,000
acres is not restocking but must be
reforested.
While visiting Colorado Springs the
traveler will notice burned-over areas
continuation until tree growth has
established upon the entire area suited
to the purpose. In making the trip
to Pikes Peak over the automobile
highway the traveler eat Ss through
several of these plantation
In order to accomplish a planting
ta ed
At the present time over
1,500. ree seedlings and 600,000
transplanted trees are growing in this
nursery. These trees will be planted
area thus reforested comprised 738
acres and the planting required 570,000
rees.
Forest fires still cause great de-
struction in the national forest. (See
Pls. XII, A, B, and XV, A.) The pos-
sibility of fires in the Pike National
Forest is great, ,because eight rail-
roads traverse it, 5,000 people live in
t, and 250,000 tourists seek recrea-
tion within its borders the sum-
mit of Devils Head Mountain the 3%
est Service has esta a k-
out station (Pl. XV, “a at aac an
officer is detailed to watch for fires
ete
by telephone with the
fice nye
that the rangers can
es ee
ee eee
}
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 New York, is
about a mile from the station. The mountain front west of the lake
rises abruptly, as shown in Plate XVI, 2, 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
W. E.
FRONT RANGE &
seat
We ZMXZNTZ,
y GAT
PAAR
<I! IIS
Af
pele cA
EERE
eure eS En iPS
+z vis Tat Seon
FicureE 8.—Sketch section through Palmer Lake, showing fault. The granite on the
West has moved up (see Pl. 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 LX X XVII, 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, where a mass of the sandstone has
bac ors weathered into a form resembling an elephant.
See Pl. 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 scan
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 pot of departure for those who wish to visit Monument
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 an
files supplied by the Denver & Rio Grande Weste
Railroad Co., and fro eSaeoomegie information a
lected with the aiemncd of that company
PREPARED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF
GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR
VID WHITE, Chief — C. H. Ler Piste Chief Topographic Engineer
DA
M. R. CAMPBELL, Geologis ROBERTS, Topographer
1922
EXPLANATION
Age Thickness
in feet
B Gravel on mesas and terraces Pleistocene
Conglomerate deposited by streams
CG "(Castle Rock conglomerate) Tertiary (Oligocene) 300
Arkosie (fragments of granite) )
D pea nan = (Dawson arkose) | 2,000
oe hose ang = beds on page iced to = betula |
a (Denver formation)
Conglomerate, atc iy and shale |
D. (Arapahoe formation) = 700
Sandstone and shale with coal beds :
G (Laramie fi ‘ormation) 1.200
i Dark marine shale with sandstone { bp gn sandstone 8,000
at top (Montana group) Upper Cretaceous
|
ce ort are —_ and limestone 1,000
ua. Dakota sandstone
M separated by shale ipees formation Lower Cretaceous °°”
N payer rig ia sandstone Cretaceous? 200
White and red sandstone, red ‘Lykins formation a i
r shale and gypsum at top Lyons sandstone | ¢ bonif. yf
Mainly white arkosie sand- | Pen )
stone (Fountain formation) a;
rs Carboniferous
i Mibu Hrentne (Mississippian
quartzite Manitou limestone Ordovician
sandstone Cambrian
X Granite Pre-Cambrian
Y Lava fiows (basalt and rhyolite) Tertiary
ae Fault :
' U. 8. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
707 SHEET No. 1
105°30'
COLORADO
ie
sor
Scale
Arrocinatly 8 yoru to | “~
> 0 Miles
_ : ee 10 2 Kilometers
Elevations in feet above mean sea level
ee od amid - spaced | mile apart.
eee shading by A. W. Berry
39 : 26 ae ees
105 30° Sheet No.2
ENGRAVED wher om
707 ~=PLATE XVI
BULLETIN
S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
A. “ELEPHANT ROCK.
guide on the train will call attention to the “ Elephant,”
arkose which has weathered into a form
ust after passing Palme ar Lake the
mi of the grotesque remnants of the rg a:
resembling an elephant. Photograph by G. B. Richardson.
PALMER LAKE.
1y in summer one of the mos freshing sights between Denver and Colorado
‘the pees sheet of — known as runes Lake. It lies on the divide between the
he Platte sully so at the foot of the Front Range, which shows on the right.
On a hot
Springs
Arkansas pends
Arkansas a furnished by the cease & Rio Grande Western Railroad.
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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
by the rocks as they are cut away by the elements.
Ree ’t A few of the columns in which iron oxide has
enver 66 miles.
cemented certain layers, forming 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,
and the Laramie, or underlying formation, is ex-
posed. Its 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
iew Sta.
MONUMENT VALLEY
- <==
Edgerton.
Pikeview.
Elevation 6,199 feet.
nver 70 miles.
1 ° 1 2 3 4 5 Miles
rn n ab Na as
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
(Pl. 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, which 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 mountiins rise majes-
tically a short distance to the west. Colorado
Colorado Springs. Springs is at the point where Monument Creek joins
pei a 5 rs: 05. Fountain Creek, or Fontaine qui Bouille (bubbling
Heh ver %5 nities 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 year that the first railroad—the Denver & Rio
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 which 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 latidacapes: 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 the
far southern 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
of cottonwood trees, dark green in summer, and in winter of a soft, clear cot
more beautiful still They are broken here and there by sudden resesa of
lands, sometimes abrupt, sharp-sided, and rocky, looking like huge
lines of fortifications; sometimes soft, moundlike, and imperceptibly wanda
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
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DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 35
ONE-DAY TRIPS FROM COLORADO SPRINGS.
As most travelers on the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad
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 GARDEN OF THE GODS.
The place that is first visited by most travelers stopping at Colo-
rado Springs is Manitou, 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 Territory 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 palmy days 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 many 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 ee)
and some contain, it is said, lithia, lime, sulphur, potash, and other
“The cyanide process of treating | of potassium. After standing for
gold ores was discovered in 1890 and | several days the solution containing
is now used all over the world. It | the gold is passed over zinc Oh ie
is best adapted to free-milling ores, | which precipitate the gold with other
especially after the bulk of the gold | metals as a black slime. Similar re-
has been removed by amalgamation.
The ore is first broken and ground as
fine as flour. It is then carried to
great vats, where the gold is dis-
Solved by a weak solution of cyanide
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.
minerals.1* 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 saat 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
. Parts per million.
“An analysis of Manitou table wa- | Oxygen to form man-
ter, made by the Bureau of Chemistry gano-manganic oxide
of the Department of Agriculture, is (Mo) 5S 0.7
as follows: Bicarbonate radicle
Parts per million. (HCO,) 2, 664. 6
Silica (SiO2) 47.2 | Sulphateradicle (SO,)_ 219.2
Iron and aluminum Chlorine (Cl) _--____ 250. 0
(Fe+Al) 1.8 | Bromine (Br)--__-___ Small! amount.
Manganese (Mn)_____ 1.7 | Metaborate radicle
Caktiw (06). 457.9 (BO,) Faint trace.
Magnesium (Mg)-_____ 79.2
Sodium (Na)__-___- 551.0 4,344. 83
Potassium “(K)2 22: = %1.3
Lithinun (85). 528 The water is supersaturated with
.05 | carbon dioxide (CO,).
Ammonium (NH,)_--_
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 707 PLATE XX
A. THE “SIAMESE TWINS
The “Siamese Twins” are still oeany, bound together by solid rock, but close i —— tion
shows a crack along Beng h the weather ss — hing its work of destructic
few grains of sand may be loose see can blo away each day, and this process oneivet
ree mibelivite a Ww ‘il finally = the connec ction and on i columns will stand separate
and « pe Piulograph by L. “C. McClure, Denver: furnished by the Denver & Rio
Grande Western Railroad.
>
B. “BALANCED ROCK.”
his strange monument of nature’s handiwork attracts the attention of m« rs travelers. It
was once — conn —- “ec =~ pe rioetal on which it -y a = but a soft layer near the
bottom has been worn aw: y until t mass seems to be ready nble at any moment. tom
10-
red sandstone ecekaben many Sabine and might properly 7 ee sailed a conglomerate. P
tograph furnished by the Denver & Rio G *rande Western Railroad.
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DENVER & RIO GRANDE 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 , under the waters of shallow seas that
of the Gods and Glen Eyrie are more | from time to time invaded this part of
fully rasa by Prof. George I. Fin- | the continent.
lay as follow si
Few ragioe in the United States | connected with the oceans that sur-
in At one
:
aes feng
io]
Maxie and the Arctic Ocean were con-
ected by a sea that extended across
with a bold front. At some places, Be ft:
owing to Page or breaks in the beds | then reduced to a number of islands,
of rock, the old, strong granite of the | many of which were nearly continental
ence stands in direct contact with | in size. The shallow water between
the young, weak rocks of the plains; | them became the settling ground for
foo em T NMJ oI
wee al N : ¥.
“A
RA . .
ei Ses Katt ose “ye?
y,* LAY ~ ‘ Ms -
pa Sos Ne ete er ESS owl : a FE eS
hrough Garden of the Gods. The
are carved in the atemitas block of sandstone, and oh block is se
rocks on both sides by faults. For explanation of 1
at others, as at Manitou and in the ; the sand, mud, and gravel which the
streams b:
Fieurr 10.—Section spires and ps. of 2th ines
Garden of the Gods, the sedimentary rought down from these great
upturned in a narrow belt | islands.
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.)
ese
| o
ocks lie in distinct layers
because most of them were laid down
80697" —22 4
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
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-
s 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 Satie acer
T k
h 1 kinds of eta e,
ndstone, congl cleat an
stone—a imentary Seah aes
are so well hueGocnbea near Colorado
Springs, where their total thickness is
over 10,000 feet. T
were not originally vertical or inclined
but ss horizontal, and it was the up-
lift of the mountains, which occurred
long rack they had been formed, ne
eel So Their edges are now
e way from antinit to
Austin fee. east of peel The
oldest of these re those which
lie upon the granite ie ins 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.
e formations into which the sedi-
ich 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 m. The term
formation is generally applied to a
istinctiv
r limestone, that were formed
prem ais 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 srs to such
assemblage of beds may
grouped together as a es for con
venience in mapping. The deposits
made in a single geologic epoch or
period are een represented b y sev
~~ formatio t
Ciba ceoul epoch, for instance;
other
mation there are no ter deatativas
k wi
vonian periods. Nor is th
to represent the eae division of
the Daihen therisia The ab-
sence of these beds means ‘athe er
during these long peri m
Colorado Springs region was dry ie
pos
posited there were later
Between the Lykins and the Morrison
formations no representative is found
of the Triassic period, whose rocks
— another of the geologic sys-
Hot all the sedimentary rocks of the
which eo ee quatttietee of pine?
e and cane el down from
high ‘ai on the As these
streams shifted from ‘ade to side over
the country they spread gravel some-
what evenly over the slope until they
had thus deposited considerably more
on
ees a Vie eee Sy
(oh, ST ReS nee STM ES SSeS CORE Agen ne AAG ae nea
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 707 PLATE XXII
———
04°55’ Se 67 W. Be EXPLANATION
Gravel on mesas Pleistocene
B and terraces and Tertiary
\ Fox Hills sandstone
and Pierre shale
J; Colorado group aaa
Dakota sandstone
M { Deete se formation Lower Cretaceous
Morrison formation Cretaceous?
Lykins formation
a ia:
L (Permian ? and
yons sandstone Pennsylvanian )
uM Carbonif:
U ao —— \ (Miasinsinpion)
Harding sandsto: Ordovician
Manitou tnnaakenne
Sawatch sandstone Cambrian
xX Granite Pre-Cambrian
Fault
—_—— ———
=~
at iG
Scale 48000
*' > Ss P
2 o
Contour interval 50 teet. (
Patum is mean sea level By
BNETO® | )y =e
ba TS 9 BY THE US.GEOLOGICAL suncny
ENGRAVED ANG PRINTE
i i
aS 104°65 R. 67 W.
GEOLOGIC MAP OF MANITOU AND THE GARDEN OF THE GODS,
COLORADO
By G. I. Finlay
bp el
St A ee ere ne Reena = SS. LE
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 as e, and much of
it was no doubt ents deposited,
The Lykins larsikeesh is made up of
beds which were laid down in land-
locked bodies of water in
vee had an arid climate.
e formation is made up of beds of
endeisl e and shale between which
there are layers of coal that repre-
sent a ee of vegetal matter
in swamps. When a tree dies in the
eae it quickly decays, but when it
great measure from decay, so that its
carbon is stored up and accumulates
as ¢
Colorado Springs is built on the
e h
y
shown in Plate XXII and the cross
section forming figure 10.
On leaving Manitou a walk of less
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
t
are co rs)
formations, overlying the granite.
The Cave of the Winds, in the Man-
itou limestone, compares favorably
with the Mammoth Cave of perrarid
no oe so Sees
h it in small streams.
ast of Manitou and north of the
railroad track there are fi ures
7) ountain formation, which
stretches over to the Garden of the
Gods. The red rock up
of the Fountain formation, the Lyons
sandstone, and the Lykins formation—
is about 5,000 feet thick. Near
Manitou the Fountain beds dip G8 3
In the Garden of the Gods they
were tilted until they stand vertical,
ntervening ground they
stand at intermediate angles. (See
fi ) Interesting erosion forms
may be seen in the Fi
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 3 it the “Grand Peak.” He was fired with
Just to the east of the gateway to
the Garden of the Gods the gypsum
layer of the Lykins formation is prom-
inent. (See Pl. XIX.) This gypsum
ration ypsu
that it can be scratched by the finger
ed in making wall plaster
and as a fertilizer. The Morrison for-
mation, which is made up chiefly o
seen near Colorado City in the rail-
road cut just east of Quarr
This formation, which g
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 were found west of Denver
and north of Canon City. (See Pl.
AAAI, Bp. 10.)
To observe the outerops 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 velar pig ie
associa with it. e 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
Pierre shale in the V between Monu-
ment and Fountain creeks. The is
but one of many remnants, all sloping
away from the mountains at much the
eight, of a great deposit of
Same he
gravel which has been cut through by .
v
outh the flack crest of
aces beets rises more than
2, sed tary be
thrust forward about 4 miles, s
faulting movement the sedimentary
rocks between suet and the south-
ern end of Cheyenne Mountain were
ey oe block of granite were car-
ried up with
Rg sae of the rocks in
Mountains, which were b
being by them, are therefore recent
features in the geologi
were probably raised up after the
deposition of the Dawson arkose.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 707 PLATE XXIII
WILLIAMS CANYON, MANITOU.
Ss gz od roads
The rugged scene ry about Manitou i is well illustrated by the view, which vee wet od
that make all th PLomanl by L. eClor
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 707 PLATE XXIV
A.
f Pikes
& olorado Springs it seems to be
ates in t the main pea uk
PIKES PEAK AND THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN PENEPLAIN
The appearance of
s | baer de ope snds largely upon the point of view and the
V
se ee Fro
mass of mountains piled one peg another until it culmi-
iste? pees the north, as in this picture s clearly a cache moun-
ain (Rocky Mountain penser left by “the nent of the surround:
ing rocks. The plain has an elevation of about 9,200 feet, and this peak rises nearly
feet abies it. Pickeer aph by G. B. Richardson.
This view is _ n from a point near the falls, looking south to Manitou, which may be seen in
the distanc <a stiy the sons automobile road over which the traveler passes on his way to
the surnmit ‘of | kes Pe “ak are beds of quartzite (hardened sandstone) oe — y on th
granite tact is not due to a fault but to the fact that th
on the granite surface which then formed the floor of the sea.
Denver & Rio Grande ‘ estern Railroad.
nd was deposi
Vhetavenh farnichedl by the
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
they were but little more than halfway to the dbp: 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 peas: fixed as the most
appropriate one that could have been chose
Pikes Peak stands at an altitude of 14, 109 feet, or more than 14
miles (7,920 feet) above Colorado fiprinks: Its summit may be
reached by the Manitou & Pikes Peak Railway, better known as the
Cogwheel 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 | the afternoon. In their descent they
region over practically the same route
that the traveler on the Denver & Rio
Grande Western has followed south
from Denver. ng camped at
the mouth of Monument Creek (Colo-
rado Springs) to allow Dr. James an
opportunity to climb the mountain
called by Pike the “ Grand Peak.” On
July 13, 1820, Dr. Herat and two com-
panions started for mountain.
After dining at the dig spring ”
ing note in his journal
“A large and much frequented road
passes the springs and enters the
running to the north of the
(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 ¢limbing the party
reached the summit about 4 o’clock in
ati vb penetrate here to the
Columbia
Evidently Ute Pass was used as a
thoroughfare long before the white —
man was cress with the region.
The geo use of this low pass is
stated on pb > 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 & RIO 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 railroad 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 Road. The length of the road is 18 miles ;
its average grade is 370 feet to the mile, and its maximum grade is
554 feet. The view from the automobile road is even more impressive
than that from the Cogwheel Road, 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 Ute
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 erade from the head of the valley to the divide between Cas-
cade and Catamount creeks. 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, A, 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 1s
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
SW.
GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
Pikes Peak
Figure 11.—Profile section through Pikes Peak and Cascade, showing the relation of the mountain peak to the lower land (peneplain) on either side.
surface of this plain is the deep
and perfect disintegration of the
granite rock which composes all
this country. No ledges of rock
can be seen, and the soil is made up
largely of small fragments of gran-
ite broken up by the action of the
weather. This even surface is
well shown in Plates XV, A (p.31),
and XXIV, A, and its relation
to Pikes Peak is shown in fig-
ure 11.
This plateau can be traced north-
ward at least as far as Denver. It
is the result of long exposure to the
action of the weather and the cut-
ting of the streams when the entire
region was at a much lower level
than it is to-day—so low, in fact,
that the streams could cut no
lower—and it remained in this
position so long that most of the
hills and other inequalities of the
surface were worn away and the
region was reduced to a plain as
truly as the country about Denver
and Colorado Springs is a plain to-
day. That was long, long ago, as
man measures time, even before
man was there to see any of
the operations that produced the
change.
Then came a slow but steady up-
lift of the mountain region and
probably also of the plain, until
the land reached its present height
above sea level. Such an uplift
accelerated the streams, and they
soon cut deep canyons—such as Ute
Pass and the canyon of Cascade
Creck—in the surface of the pla-
teau, until to-day it is level only as
one looks across broad tracts of its
old surface and at a distance so
great that the details fade and the
plain looks as it once did before
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 45
the uplift came. At that time, owing to the fact that the rocks of
Pikes Peak are more resistant than those of other parts of the region,
the mountain stood nearly 5,000 feet above the surface of the plain,
just as to-day it stands nearly 5,000 feet above the surface of the
plateau.
From the plateau the slopes of the mountain above appear to be
unscalable by a road, and it is only by constant turning and looping
back upon itself that the road finally reaches what appears from
below to be the summit but what is really a long spur of the moun-
tain that branches off to the northwest. The northern slope of
this spur, up which the traveler came, is very steep, but the opposite
slope is so gentle that it scarcely can be considered mountainous.
The difference in the appearance of the two slopes is well shown at
a place called “the Bottomless Pit.” Here the traveler may stand
in his automobile and gaze down on the north into a jagged pit about
1,700 feet deep, whereas on the other side the slope is very gentle.
As the rocks are the same on both sides of the ridge there must be
some cause other than rock texture for this great difference in ap-
pearance. Geologists recognize that the steep, jagged slopes on
the north side are the result of the action of moving ice, but the
traveler may inquire: Where is the ice? The climate here is now so
mild that practically all the snow which falls in the winter is melted
away during the succeeding summer, but ages ago the climate of
all the United States was much more severe than it is to-day, and
large glaciers were formed on almost every mountain peak. The
most favorable place for the snow to accumulate was on the north
and east sides, for it was not blown away by gales coming from the
west, and it was protected from the heat of the sun more than it
would have been on the other sides. Thus the glaciers were re-
stricted to the north and east sides, or at least they were more nurner-
ous and larger there than they were on the other sides. — :
In that far-off time fairly large glaciers lay on the side of Pikes
Peak, and they gouged out great amphitheaters or cirques, as they
are generally called, in the mountain side. In this manner the
original more gentle slope was converted to nearly vertical walls.
The rocky material that was removed from these cirques was carried
down by the glacier and deposited at its extremity as a ridge or mo-
raine or was washed down Fountain Creek. If the traveler wishes to
see how steep are the cliffs produced by a glacier he has only to walk
to the end of the Cogwheel Road and look down a thousand feet or
so into the rocky basin that the ice has cut.
46 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
CRIPPLE CREEK BY WAY OF THE “SHORT LINE.’™
The trip from Colorado Springs to Cripple Creek over the “ Short
Line” affords the traveler an opportunity to see some fine and ex-
tremely diverse mountain scenery and to visit one of the active gold-
mining districts of Colorado.
The route extends directly west from Colorado Springs, past some
cf the big mills that were built to reduce the Cripple Creek ores, and
then passes up along the right side of Bear Creek canyon. Here the
sedimentary rocks are upturned so steeply that they stand on edge
‘and make great hogbacks across the country. (See p. 40.) The
train passes the limy outcrop of the Niobrara and then goes through a
projecting point of the Dakota sandstone. Just beyond this ledge
the railroad crosses Bear Creek canyon and swings back on the other
side. At the point where it crosses the canyon the Dakota sand-
stone abuts “end on” against the granite of the mountain. Such a
contact is not normal, and it means that the two diverse kinds of
rocks were brought into contact by a great break, or, as the geologists
call it, a fault, in the rocky crust of the earth, the granite having been _
thrast up out oe place until it rested against the broken edges of the
beds of sandstone. This fault is the one that separates the granite
from the red sandstone a few rods below the station of the Cogwheel
Road in Manitou, and its course is marked by Ute Pass, which it pro-
duced and through which the Midland Terminal Railway (formerly
the Colorado Midland) finds a way to Woodland Park. South of
Bear Creek the fault is marked by the base of the mountain, and to it
is due the abrupt change from steep mountain slope above to flat-
lying plain below.
The “Short Line” climbs the mountain front, gradually attain-
ing higher and higher altitudes, until it rounds Point Sublime, from
which the traveler can look down nearly a thousand feet into North
Cheyenne Canyon. The view from this point is shown in Plate
V, A. Beyond this point the railway winds in a serpentine
course around spurs and ravines as it adjusts its course to the contour
of the slopes. But here and there a mountain spur is so large or so
rugged that the cost of grading the roadbed around it would be
very great, so the train plunges through the spur by a tunnel that
reaches its very core, and in some places it crosses on high trestles
rushing torrents that cascade down the steep granite walls, as shown
in Plate X XVI. In this manner the train circles around the slopes
*2 At the time this guidebook goes | resumed and that the traveler will have
to press the Cripple Creek Short Line | the opportunity of taking the trip here
is not in nig ha no trains having | described. Otherwise his best substi-
been run on it for two years. It is | tute is a trip by automobile to this
hoped, however, mut operation will be | world-renowned camp.
U. 8. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 707 PLATE XXV
A. POINT SUBLIME.
The Cripple Creek Short Line, after climbing the east pont of the mountain to an ele svation of
1,000 feet, turns abruptly into North Cheyenne Canyon. From this turn, called she int
Sublime, the traveler may look — nes rie l, a inte the rocky canyon and fa ir out over
the le wide expanse of plains to the east. 1otograph by L. C. McClure, Denver; furnis hed by
the Cripple Creek Short Line.
B. DEVILS SLIDE
he Cc pyr Creek ye rt Line curves agienaors the heads of ravines, tunnels throug « yo hf il
cting spurs, and sses great bare inded granite masses that have re« hess fanc o
ve ames The doanelike mass shown in this view is known as the Devils Slide. Photograph
furnished by the Cripple Creek Short Line.
BULLETIN 7
S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
U.
ATE XXV
I
SILVER CASCADE,
i
When this photograph was taken but litt
ason, when the
sheets of lacy band
gran
wing over the
por sp r
is
sof te
rOc&S
pes (
by L.
McClure
, Denver;
se
slides down the rocky slopes ins
tops show clearly ls readily the sin massive
furnished by the Cc alae ree a Short Line.
but earlier
eS an
e water was flo
tp on the mount - is melting the w foi? le peak from ledge to ledge anc
round po
Lex Photogr aph
in
the
1
d mountain
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 47
of North Cheyenne Canyon far above the rugged scenic part and then
tunnels through the dividing ridge and circles around the slopes of
South Cheyenne Canyon, all the time climbing so as to cross the
divide at its head.
In this. long climb the traveler may obtain many beautiful views
of rugged mountain slopes covered with a stately forest of evergreen
trees, of foamy cascades that plunge down gulches and ravines, of
great bare rock slopes, such as the one shown in Plate XXV, B, and
of far-off Colorado Springs, spread out on the level prairie like a
miniature garden.
The crest is passed at the station of Summit (altitude 9,913 feet),
and the train then begins the descent of the west side. This side is
much less steep than the one up which the train has laboriously
climbed, and along it the roadbed winds about from one valley to
another as it crosses the headwaters of a number of mountain
streams. Many of the valleys of these streams contain ranches, but
some are mere Pais in the rugged granite, such as is shown in
Plate XXVII, B
The train finally arrives at Goldfield Junction, in the midst of
some of the largest gold mines of the Goldfield district (Pl. XXVIII,
A). If the traveler wishes to see the big mines and mills to the best
advantage he should here transfer to the “ High Line” trolley, which
carries him around mountain tops, among mines, mills, and dump
heaps of waste rock, and finally lands him in the once famous town of
Cripple Creek, the center of one of the best-known mining districts
in Colorado. Returning he can see most of the low-lying part of the
Cripple Creek-district from the steam cars, especially the great mines
at Victor and Goldfield. The district was prospected at several
periods, but it was not until the autumn of 1890 that Robert Womack
discovered gold in place at what is now the Gold King mine, or in
the flank of Poverty Gulch, just southeast of the town of Cripple
Creek. Since then the dtc has produced more than $300,000,000
in gold, and its present yield is about $350,000 a month. A more
detailed account of the discovery, development, and present con-
dition of the district is given below by F. L. Ransome.” Further
information concerning the district is given in the Geological Sur-
vey’s Professional Paper 54.
“The Cripple Creek district is one | cant rather because it was the first de-
of the most interesting, productive,
and thoroughly studied gold districts
in the United States. ‘The historic
rush of prospectors to Pikes Peak in
1859, with its well-known slogan of
“Pikes Peak or bust,” resulted in no
important discoveries and is signifi-
tion with the history of Cripple Creek.
It was not until 1874 that the region
adjacent to Cripple Creek began to at-
tract the attention of pr
The report that gold bad been found
48
GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
SOUTH CHEYENNE CANYON.
One of the most romantic as well as most beautiful places in the
region about Colorado Springs is South Cheyenne Canyon, immor- ’
talized by Helen Hunt Jackson and for some years the resting place
of her body.
This beautiful canyon lies 3 miles southwest of Colorado Springs
and can easily be reached by trolley or _—_ conveyance.
The
near Mount Rs ras drew a number of
no valuable deposits were uncovered
e district was gra aii deser
e reported dis-
f placer a ee near
tose vackh but the suppo dis-
covery appears to have prac fraudu-
lent, and the grassy hills of the Crip-
ple Creek region, now thoroughly.
discredited in the eyes of minin
were given over to the grazing of cat-
tle. For a long time the only habita-
tion in the region was the log house
of Bennett & Myers’s Broken Box
ranch, which still stands in the south-
ern part of the town of Cripple Creek.
rk
cess, but the event that was destined
to transform a lonely cattle ranch
into one of the greatest gold-producing
districts of the world was the discov-
ery by W. S. Stratton, on the Fourth
of July, 1891, of the Independence vein,
pment of the district was extra-
ordinarily rapid. Before the opening
of the spring of 1892 the hills swarmed
with ii reg and on February 26
the town of Cripple Creek was in-
corporated. The main route into the
district at this time was from the
north, by init road from Florissant.
In the autumn of 1893 the list of
producing mines included the Blue
Bird, .C. O. Dead Pine, Doctor,
Eclipse, re a "Gold Dollar, Granite,
e
ngha gan, Mary McKinney,
Moose, Morning Glory, Portland,
Rav tton’ Independence
other well-known properties. (See Pl.
ie B.
e Colorado Midland Railway oy
re or dland Terminal), which
nects ipple Creek th agua
ngs by way = Divide, was com-
pleted December 1893, and :
Florence & sai Creek Railroad
wR
Ko)
men, | was opened to traffic July 2, 1894.
The year 1894 is memorable on ac-
eount of a strike, during which the
miners resorted to arms, property was
destroyed, and liv were lost.
spite of these sot eatin the develop-
ent of e district made notable
strides, and the Independence mine in
Toe which at this time was only
70 feet deep, revealed bodies of ore
that were the marvel of ane <a mp.
In 1895 th
lying property.
ment was caused by the d
the remarkably rich ore shoots in the
Moose, Raven, and Doctor mines on
Raven Hill. About this time several
of the mines reached water and had-
to begin pumping.
During the next few years the nunl-
ber of eerieY mines continued to
increase, and in 1900 the district made
its maximum output, $18,000. The
Victor and att mines ear highly
to 1898 and 1900, re-
BULLETIN 707 PLATE XXVII
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
U.. 8.
AND THE NEW IN RAILROADING
& Rio ——— when it was
1 Py a comparison of the st loc omotive
1e present on
THE OLD
applied in deri ision to Denver
* baby railroad,’
vas not
That the term
irst pul in operation, v
used on the road with a standard freight ati tie ot
1 by the Denver & Rio Grande W ante Railroac
she
CATHEDRAL ROCKS
are
hering
yasses a shor t distance e west 0 of the pd
in layers resembling t
“ripple Creek Short ‘Line.
Curious forms pe h the granite assumes in weat
which the tra
sealing (exfoliation) of the —— curvec
Photograph furnished by the (¢
ywn in the Cathedral
These forms are produced a the
the layers on an
onion.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 707 PLATE XXVIII
A. BULL HILL, CRIPPLE CREEK DISTRICT
This view in the heart of the district shows how thorough y the rocks near the surface have
been prospected for gold. Most of the prospects have yielded little or no return, but
some have been developed into large mines. Photograph furnished by the Cripple Creek
Short Line.
B. ANACONDA AND MARY McKINNEY MINES.
There is scarcely room between the mine dumps for the towns in the Cripple Creek district.
Photograph furnished by the Cripple Creek Short Line.
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE.
49
canyon (see Pl. XXIX) is attractive not only on account of the
beauty of its magnificent granite walls—a miniature Yosemite—but
also because the cut in the massive granite is the enduring record of
events that took place long before the white man saw this country
and in all probability before man existed on the globe. All the
mountains, hills, valleys, and plains constitute records of similar
events, but here the record is so clear and distinct that anyone may
decipher it after he has had a slight training in the alphabet Nature
uses, —
spectively, and ae large anes
tities of very Four
drainage hag ae Tiga Good
Will, Ophelia, and Standard, were be-
gun about this tim Another notable
event of the yea was the sale
of Stratton’s Independence, the mos
famous mine in the district, to the
Venture Corporation (Ltd.), of Lon-
don, for $10,000,000.
In 1901 the Colorado etl
Cripple Creek District Railw
(“Short Line”) was built into the
district.
reduction works in Colorado City, and
for about two years the district was
the scene of many deeds of violence.
With the deepening of the mines the
the porous volcanic rocks
drain mines
long.
The Cripple Creek hills lie near the
eats border of a lofty and deepl
sected pti which slopes gently
Rep 40 miles from the
southern end of nie Colorado Range,
pa nated by Pikes Peak, to the rela-
tively low De connecting the Mos-
During Terti ev
tions broke through these ancien
pl
rocks of the Cripple pee sieves: are
the products of one of the sm
lated volcanic vents of this sree a
vent that erupted phonolite, a kind of
rock that does not occur elsewhere in
this general region. The most abund-
ant products of the Cripple Creek vol-
cano now preser are tuffs
breccias, which cover a aida ellipti:
in
Hill, to Stratton’s ee ee mine,
places actually overhang the breccia.
tire southwest contact repre-
sents a part of the wall of the great
pit formed by the volcanic
that produced the breccia, In most of
\
50 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
South Cheyenne Canyon and the form of the mountains in this.
™ part of the State indicate to the geologist, as already explained, that
at a time long, long ago this part of the earth’s crust was much nearer
sea level than it isnow. The mountains of Colorado were not then the
magnificent spectacles they are to-day but were more like the Ap-
palachians. Pikes Peak of that time was probably not more than
5,000 or 6,000 feet above sea level, and the plains reached back many
the other parts of the contact the
walls are also steep. e general con-
clusion reached is that a tremendous
e
gern including bits of
granite litt sch and pieces of the
trees that were pieces on the plateau
groups of closely mg narrow fis-
—o eeted zon
thPoteH masses of altered granite near
; g
= =
Feet 3
* SE.
_ped eee 3 ieamic COne--- Eee é r
1,000 sours Seo eed Prete =
a : rl EPI)
10,0004 | Ae ok eee , 7 rai T
9,000 - 7 as
¢
&
=
¢ 2
-
et eM Se ne 3 NNE.
12,000 2 joaaic Sots ~~, 9 ;
o Ff VOCS Bl Cliff ~~~. c
11,000 2 eaeoe ts ou oy te a
tk Se oe 6.6, Py = faery
10,000 + __-su. Te a Breccia? ve }
9,000 LEZ 23 ers iy ae 3EF wh e,
2 _ 3Miles
Figur 12.—Sections showing supposed outline of the Cripple Creek volcano.
at that time. To these materials were
added, probably by later eruptions and
shown in figu
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. ks 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
fo Hah which the keen eyes of pros-
pectors afterward detect
The gold ores of Cripple Creek oc-
eur partly aS narrow veils or as
and tellurium, associated with quartz
and purple fluorite. Native gold is
rare, except in the uppe xidized
parts of the veins.
ton, but the gold content varies
wile and comparatively small bodies
of very much richer ore have been
mi
ned.
In this district, as in most others,
the ore is not uniformly distributed
along the veins but is limited to what
the one found in the C
like the well-known Pivaan. depend
mainly upon large shoots of ore of
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 707 PLATE XXIX
PILLARS OF HERCULES.
: to a height
2 i
phere heyenne Canyon is a miniature Yosemite with massive grani and to the
700 or 800 feet. This view shows the road leading up to the Ji 1 by the soft
Seana grave of Helen Hunt Jackson. Here and tl the rocky wi nthe sar eve beneath
cis ige of trees that grow in clefts in nag rocks, and the - rippling stream — ish rt anyon &
tangle of 2 bs Sal cree ping vine Photograph furnished by the Cheyenne Cany
Se sven Falls De eaboiunnains Ce
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 707 PLATE XXX
SEVEN FALLS.
South Le ve snne Canyon =< abruptly at Ags Sev ren Fall s, as shown in this viev The re mee
lis
1
h > z Cc s
on the eft. » stream comes in rads pat i er tine tion where the granite is massive and es
made little he adwi ay in cutting a cany on. Eventually it will wear away the hard granite, and
then the Seven F; oy will become a series of cas oe ssorrapids. Photograph furnished by the
Cheyenne Canyon & Seven Falls Development Cx
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
Sa at ray grade. The great
f veins and the ever-present
posits of ‘iit a rich shoot at
some erto overlooked junction of
ee ous eis has made the
district a favorite field for lessees, and
ma oN prizes ie 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 erection f of the ag Creek
district is shown by
son, of the Geological Survey:
Gold and silver produced in the Cripple Creek district, Colo., 1891-1920.
Silver.
Ore Lode gold Total
Year. (short evelao). 14 Quest value.
tons). Gas} Wale.
ounces).
1891... $1, | 1,930
1802. 6297 557, poe 557, 851
oe pee iis, 2,021, 088 5, 680 4,430 | 2,025, 518
WS: a 2,618, 383 25, 335 15,961 | 2,634,349
198.2200 | see) Sas] ity) Pas
ee ee Se ?
— 10, 131, 855 59,879 35,927 10/167, 782
ee 13, 507, 349 67, 799 40,001 | 13,547,350
ae 16,058, 564 82, 299 49,379 = 507, ae
ier eto. 18,149, 645 80, 792 50, 091 , 199,
oR es 17, 234, 294 89, 560 53, 736 17, 288, 080
Ws = 4: 16, 932, 416 62, 780 34,273 16, 985,090
a oe ccd 11, 840, 272 41, 605 22, 467 He
1994s backs 7,819 | 14, 456, 536 47,817 | 71, 738 14, 494, 970 ;
| 6,358 | 15,641, pes peste 137978. 727
1906. _ | 702,069} 13,930, 67,943 o 3, ropes
1907. . 451,082| 10,370, 51, 630 34,076 | 10, » 300
1908... ==, 173 | 13,031,917 52,270 27, 703 ‘18, 050, 690
eae 575,670 | 11, 466, 63, 204 32, 866 ao
1919. . 688,941 | 11,002, 253 54, 263 = eG =
1911__ 756,900 | 10,562, 653 57, 733 30, Lp
1912. 849,172} 11,008, 362 66,117 40, 662 | 11,049, 024
1913. 917, 406 0,905, 003 71,349 048 | 12, 364
314. . 939, 423} 11,996,116 | 89,056 49,248 | 12,049,308
1915. 948,082 | 13,683, 494 87, 767 rant | 12172001
1916. 945,820} 12,119, 550 79, 804 ea rere
WIZ... 1,084,656 | 10,394, 64, 568 oy ees | 8170 412
1919. 996,328 | Bagisio | gaui2| 397605 | | 5,867,511
oD . , ? ,
Ey 448, 61 "998| 33,789 36,830) 4,360,828
pis th Soe? 311,474,372 | 1,678,192 | 1,066,658 | 312,541,030
Formerly a considerable part of the
ore from the district was sent directly
0 the smelters at Pueblo and Denver,
Colorado Springs. The common prac-
has been roasting and cyanida
tion, but in the modern Victor mill
of the
Portland Gold Mining Co. con-
centration is effected by
the concentrates are treated by the
process.
cyanide
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 will 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 & RIO 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 dark-green oasis in the yellow dis-
tance; now the majestic peau bien still more castle-like, framed in the dark
foreground lines of pine boug We are in shadow. The sun has wi for et
but it is yet early afternoon on tne plain and it is brilliant with su
The brilliance slowly fades, and the lower sunset light casts soft small on
every mound and hill and hollow. The whole plain seems dimpling with
against the sky, lines of ae blutfs gleam whe as city walls; close at the
base om the mountain the foothills seem multiplied and transfigured into count-
less velvet mounds. The horizon line seems to curve more and more, as if
= the twilight were — the world up for the night, and we were on
some outside shore watching i
MAIN LINE OF RAILROAD FROM COLORADO SPRINGS
TO CANON CITY.
On leaving Colorado Springs the Denver & Rio 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
Cheyenne Mtn.
DAND daddies
re) SMiles
tL 1 i. i eI
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 saitoad Soames 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.**
- apnea difficulty was ex-
ced early days of Colo-
rado in conte mone eyed men inter-
The Denver & Rio Grande ‘dasa
be
Railroad under the presidency of J.
Edgar He served with
distinction in ) ‘ivil jar an
me man-
aging director of the oe Se
Railroad and was placed jn e of
the struction ot the ae waned
most saints task of building 150
miles of railroad in the same num-
ber of days csi having materials
of any kind to begin with. It is
dope iss if i record in railroad con-
empire builder that he was, foresaw
wonderful aenraaersly in creating a
system of transpo ore that should
cover the en sr re pts speaking
of him, William J. pases, founder and
for a aes doe editor of the Rocky
Mountain News, says:
“The Denver & Rio Grande
road, with its numerous bra
the mountains, was Gen. Palmer’s con-
tio: It was a comprehensive
scheme, regarded as Utopian,
b e it contemplated the construc-
tion of hundreds of miles of railroad
through a country practically unin-
banited and 2 aie ere: unfit
for habitati from few
white settlers at aan site: teats
ean settlements at Trinidad, a village
of aus rs at Colorado City, small
bands of Cheyenne and Arapahoe In-
dians, ae scattered settlers at some
other points, there were not enough
inhabitants for the nucleus of a com-
munity anywhere on the pro pete =
But Gen. Palmer’s prevision
trated dest than the ane "of
others who looked with doubt and sus-
gigantic, a daring proposition, but not
visionary, for the man who conceived
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 55
Near milepost 85 the Santa Fe Railway crosses the Denver & Rio
Grande Western by an overhead bridge, and a short distance farther
on it crosses to the right bank of Fountain Creek.
Fountain.
evation 5,577 feet,
Popatation 595.
er 88 inttyn.
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
it was able to procure the necessary
capital to complete the State
No single agency: has done more
establish mining camps and open acta:
able mines in Colorado than the pro-
jection and completion of this vast and
complex system of mountain 1
roads,”
In 1870 only one road, the Union
¢€, had been built across the con-
tinent, and this road was north of
Colorado, where the low passes pre-
he idea of orth and south
vate following the eastern base of
t y Mountains from the prin-
sitveri gold, lead, copper, iron, and
other m
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
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
sas to Salida,
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
ec
mountains at many ints, fi)
which had Salt Lake City as their
e ap o system
vide cory planned is given in Plate
XXX
Cen? 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
which seems singularly
when the rolling stock of that day is
pont ee with the rolling stock of the
time. (See Pl. XXVII, A,
D. "48.)
Track laying was begun at wuesubies
treet 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
GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
upon the amount of precipitation, which, according to the Weather
Bureau, is only about 11.6 inches annually. In time of drought the
Buttes.
Elevation 5, eit feet.
Denver 93 mil
valley is brown and desolate, but when showers are
abundant all the plains are green and smiling. On
a clear 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
Eden.
rhage: 4,882 ~—
Denver 112 mile
eak, fading into the blue and hazy distance; on
the west he may be able to distinguish the outline
of the Wet Mountains, showing 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
1872. It is interesting to note in
etween 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 the Colorado & Southern rail-
roads. =
As the road needed fuel, and as it
an
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 ethan
for the extension of the Den ver & R
Grande Railroad to Mexico City, sh Z
they were not successful, though later
the plans for this extension found ex-
pression in the Mexican National Rail-
way.
By the time the Rio Grande road
reached Pueblo, the Arkansas Valley
began to attract the attention of ee
i st
railway companies, and man
were conceived to build Fo 454
nothing came of them, the R
Grande was left in supposed ia
puted on of the field. A little
later the Atchison, Topeka & — Fe
Rai
Be and
ches entered this field without re-
ard to any assumed prior rights of
ie Denver & Rio Grande.
Bs 1872 ie Santa Fe was in opera-
Arkansas Valley. It was understood
that the Santa Fe proposed to make
Pueblo the principal commercial center
of the species region and to build
several extensions beyond Pueblo,
especially to Goa City and through
the Royal Gorge to the mining camps
in the mountains, as well as to Denver
and other places along the mountain
vee: It was rumored that the Santa
heading for Raton Pass, south
of aie which was claimed by the
Rio nde as a part of one of its
souther All t plans
threatened seriously the very existence
of th
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
un
oO
=]
try. :
Four or five years later, as confi-
dence was restored and money
plentiful, work was pushed ahead on
all the lines entering the Rocky Moun-
ing Alamosa July 6, 1878.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 707 PLATE XXXI
109° 107°
wy
4
FE is Ny) Ee 4 f y N
On, Le V ~— i O)| f MRK) >
he aa ee oe
ESET a
—41°|} |
eee
& 2)\ =4
(ae “pe
MAP SHOWING DENVER AND RIO GRANDE RAILROAD
AS ORIGINALLY PLANNED |
Seale 700006 poo ines |
|
Toe ™ o ay |
> Contour interval 1,000 feet
1922
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE,
57
Peaks but which might more properly be known by their poetic
Indian name Wahatoya (meaning twin breasts).
first indication of an actual
therefore practically Neca by that
road. undreds of and teams
were suddenly rushed rn the pass by
the Santa Fe, which built its line
through the pass before the i
Grande could stop its progress.
‘sudden move created consternation in
the offices of the Rio Grande, and for
a time it seemed impossible to avoid
arm 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.
€ 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
Dp
Go
_to defend = own property.” The Rio
rge on April 20, 1878. The gen-
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
heck 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 Oe ais = the Santa Fe
raised a force of men at
was due to the tet that
Grande had become very un a
through its satiudaets 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 pes
e
work in the canyon, and it is not sur-
prising that fights were frequent and
t many men were arrested. The
Santa Fe obtained an injunction re-
straining the Rio Grande from con-
tinuing its work, and the Rio Grande
reventing the Santa Fe
rt
from working in the disputed section
and placed each under a bond of
June 1, 1878, Federal yn Hal-
lett and Dillon rendered a co eurrent
opinion as the Santa Fe pene City
& San Juan Co.) be permitted to re-
sume Spach in the canyon until the
ease could be more thoroughly ex-
amined in July. The was ably
argued in July by both sides yer was
again 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
which granted to the Canon City &
San Juan Co. (Santa Fe) the right
to construct its line as surveyed—
might, on ecmlieg-
ici ge to u
ailing to the Supreme Court of the
United an ©
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
rogating the lease, which had become
In the spring of the next year (1879)
the great struggle for the posses-
sion of the Royal Gorge was resumed.
Arm parties from both sides re-
entered the canyon in anticipation of
ple, exasperated to the fighting point,
began preparations to retake and hol
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 sige instructions or
orders except thos
There was — i il at sev-
the line; sta
eral places along tions
were broken into and
property was destro,
While the Rio Grande and the Santa
Fe were waging their contest over the
ee nan of the Royal Gorge, Con-
Ss passed an act which specified,
caging other things,
“That any railroad company whose
right of way, or whose track or road-
bed upon such right of way, passes
through poe canyon, —_ defile
shall not prevent any other railroad
company from the use se occupancy
said canyon, pass, or defile for
with the law sd 1875, quoted above, it
recognized that the Santa Fe could not
be prevented pe building a line also,
peat 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 overhangs 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 rig o the canyon but being
estopped from occupying the roadbed
of having its mnie system under
lease oP the rival ro
these points were being con-
wen
f San Luis, in cna
papiee Bowen enjoined the
e from operating the Rio
Grande Railroad and from exercising
COFpOrate rights within the State. This
ity to regain control its n
road under judicial authority, and
accordingly th ri n-
that were attacking the Santa Fe men
at several points along the line. The
offices of the Santa Fe at Denv
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, offic
Santa Fe; then, if the Rio Grande so
desired, it might institute Proce
for the cancellation of the lease. He
also decided that the ig Grande
might take possession of the narrow
part of the Royal Gorge by paying to
the Santa Fe the cost of construction.
July 14 the Federal court ordered
all work stopped in the canyon pend-
examination by a commission of
engineers to determine the cost of con-
struction. While these court proceed-
ings were in progress the Rio Grande
engineers erected fortifications and
stopped the Santa Fe gra t
preme Cou ae long-ex-
pected Pasig as Rin fee
“That from the ge “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
to be cael and set tlle and
of prior location.
Soon after ae mae long fight be-
tween the two roads was termi-
nated by a ee agreement in
was sat to build to Leadville, the lease
was to be canceled, and the Rio Grande
was to pay the Santa Fe for all grad-
ing it had done in the canyon ‘Thus
ended one of the longest and most bit-
terly contested railroad wars that were
ever fought in this country. In the
legal battl of the most noted
lawyers of the West were employed,
and the encounters in the
60 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
facturing community and is the largest town of this kind in the
ocky 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.
Pueblo.
Elevation 4,668 feet.
Population 43,050.
Denver 119 miles.
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 by deeds of heroism and blood-
shed that were worthy of a better
cause.
S we see that the Denver & Rio
the Rio TAG oi! with its main line, it
failed to
After vile "eihugltdasltse construction
was carried forward rapidly, and the
ee gage line reached Leadville in
July, 1880. The first line across the
Continental Divide—the line over Mar-
State line in esas ber,
About this time the Pleasant Valley
Railway of Utah, extending from Provo
to Clear Creek, was purcha y Gen.
Palmer and the Denver & Rio Grande
ilroad and extended eas to th
Colorado line under the name Rio
laying of a third rail to give standard
gage between Denver and Pueblo was
completed on December 1881, and
the main line from Denver to Ogden
was perc to standard gage by the
autumn o
Several ss the branch lines of this
system are still narrow gage, and the
traveler who wishes to see Marshall
ass and the Black Canyon of the
Gunnison will have ample opportunity
to compare the narrow, cramped cars
with the modern equipment of a stand-
ard-gage lin
Recently “ pre: s been re-
organized, and the name eae &
Rio Grande Western Satins has been
pein for there entire system.
e 3-5, 1921, a succession of
Waves occurred in Arkansas
River as a result of heavy rains of
“ cloud-burst ” violence in the drainage
basins of several small streams tribu-
ary to the Arkansas above or near the
igh
flood
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
nearly $20,000,000. The flood is de-
scribed in detail in U. 8S. Geol. Survey
Water-Supply Paper 487, The Arkansas
River flood of June 3-5, 1921.
DENVER & 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 county 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 occupation 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 1n 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 City. 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 THE 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
ranges 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 i ed as the present gener-
ation are aw that a Territory,
called the aastity of Jefferson, s
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-
vigorous action tney could compel
Con to recognize and legalize
their actio
When nin Territory of Kansas Noe
organized, in 1855, it included all o
what is now known as nor aseapes int
lies east of the crest o e Rocky
Mountains. Thus the se - ae city
of Denver as well as all of east
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 tes pay little attention to its
authorit
Mion. ‘old was reported in the Pikes
k region, late in 1858, the few
aiall here became imbued with the
7
idea that this was the richest part of
the continent and that when its won-
derful stor precious metal
became known ck here
in numbers so great that some sort of
government other than that afforded
by far-off Kansas would be necessary
for the protection of life and pr
erty. These pioneers, although they
were but recent arrivals, did not be-
lieve in waiting for action by the Ter-
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
Purchase, which included most of this
region. This convention wis in Den-
ver City in April, 1859, and passed
a series of resolutions wi einee 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 issued 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 | propositions to the voters.
of delegates to a State convention to
organize the State of Jeffer
tion was held
The elec-
on September 5 and
resulted in the decisive defeat of the
elegates met in Hii nver City | proposal for statehood and in favor of
June 6, 1859, and appointed commit- | a Territorial form of government.
mW 1039 10 105° 103° 101
x ae O fe ES oe : ‘Ss —4s
]
i
TDjan'
Figure 14.—State of Jefferson, as proposed in 1858.
tees to frame a State constitution and
to report at an adjourned m g 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
resolution to submit both
On October 3, 1859, a call was sent
Many of the partici-
pants in this movement fully realized
| its illegality, so in order to be on the
they
safe side 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 low, broad folds 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
Mountain News of October 6, 1859,
says:
oes; one day we understand
that we are eut off from ence the
next we have cut ourselves
pay no regard to rae legislation
but have an independent government
of our own; and the very next, when
there is a chance for a
eli
te. election are dry in
pockets. you will hear them
Lats advocating ‘independent gov-
ernment’ and ‘let Kansas go to the
dogs.’
ready
ne peal teed
we go, a regular triple
headed government machine. South
of [parallel] 40 we hang on the skirts
. Kansas; north of 40 on those of Ne-
raska. Straddling the line, we have
ie elected a Delegate to Congress for
the Territory of Jefferson; and ere
long we shall have in full blast a pro-
visional government of witinsds Moun-
tain growth and manufacture,
The eee Frente on Oc-
tober 10 and formed a Territorial con-
stitution, sek was ratified by the
an election held on October
made the following glowing prediction
of the future of the Terri :
“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
red, en
whistle of locomotives and the rattle
of trains arriving and departing on
their w 608 a the Atlantic and Pa-
cific. The future of Jeffer-
son Territory, soon to be a =
State, is glorious with promis
Th rst session of the Rleaicire
was marked by the enactm
general laws and special act:
members seemed rt have been imbued
with the idea that were building
a great mountain commonwealth, but
in the following year interest in the
= wean government of Jefferson be-
as the people sont
to be
Not entirely disheartened,
v. Steele issued a proc tude for
the annual election of officers i
autumn of 1860, as prov in the
constitution, but in this proclamation
all wadds tes that they
0 serve without
warning’ was
given because of the growing be
that the local Territorial government
would not be recognized by Congress
and that all acts of a legislature
would be declared in
The second g
1
the wits to the
legislative farce, nas
vember 27 to Golden
ducem
offered at $6 a week—wood and lights
and hall rent free.’ The members,
however, lost interest in its proceed-
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 Nio-
brara, which in many places consists largely of limestone but here
consists mostly of calcareous shale and thin beds of limestone having
a total thickness of 600 or 700 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 caiten of the dome near milepost 126 the beds dip up
the river in the direction in which the train is moving, an 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 soon disappears, and then the beds he
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
lawmaking the last Jefferson legis- | tery of Colorado under the act of
lature passed away. According to | Congress signed by President Bu-
a Statement in Smiley’s History of | chanan February 28, 1861. .
Denver, Thus ended the most interesting and
“Jefferson Territory made its last
gasp in June, 1861. On the sixth day
of that month Goy. Steele issued from
Denver a proclamation announcing the
arrival of Gov, Gilpin and the insti-
tution of the Government of the Terri-
eicinreann endeavor of an isolated
community to establish and maintain
within Ra a government of and by
law that the student of self-govern-
ment will find in the history of this
country.”
66 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
down in the sea, and as these rocks are widely distributed through
the United States and Canada the sea must have covered most of
the continent, or at least a wide area extending from north to south.
It certainly extended eastward into Iowa and westward as far as
the Wasatch Mountains. The Rocky Mountains were not then in
existence, for this region was occupied by a shallow sea in which
animal life swarmed, much as it does in the warm, shallow seas of
to-day, and many of these forms were covered with mud and almost
perfectly preserved.
About three-quarters of a mile beybritl milepost 132 Turkey Creek
enters the valley from the north (right). Up this creek there are
extensive sandstone quarries from which much stone
has been taken for constructing buildings at Pueblo.
The quarries are connected with Pueblo by a branch
railroad. At Swallows the Denver & Rio Grande
Western crosses to the north side of Arkansas River and about a mile
farther on it passes under the Santa Fe, which a short distance be-
yond crosses to the south side of the stream.
West of milepost 142 the railroad crosses Beaver Creek, a large
stream that joins the Arkansas from the north, and a little farther
on is the station of Beaver. A short distance to the northwest is
Beaver Park, which is noted for its apples, cherries,
and small fruits. The land is irrigated from Beaver
Creek, which derives its supply of water from the
mountains on the north. At Beaver most of the
formations already described or mentioned have disappeared, and
the Pierre shale lies at the surface. The Niobrara formation rises
again farther west, and at the towns of Cement and
Portland it is used extensively in the manufacture
of Portland cement.*° The first cement mill to be
seen is that of the United States Portland Cement
Co. on the north (right) of the railroad, and a mile
farther on, at Portland, the Colorado Portland Cement Co. has an
extensive plant on the south side of the track.
A short distance beyond milepost 147 the Denver & Rio Grande
Western crosses the Arkansas and remains on its south side for 8
miles. West of Portland the rocks dip gently toward the west,
Swallows.
Elevation 4,887 feet.
Denver 135 miles.
Beaver.
Elevation 4,996 feet.
Denver 143 miles.
Portland.
Rlevation 5,051 feet.
Population 473.
Denver 146 miles,
* Portland cement is an artificial ; materials, provided the mixture has
product consisting of 60 to 65 per cent
of lime, 20 to 25 per cent of silica, and
5 to 12 per cent of oxide of iron and
alumina, and it has the useful property
of hardening or “ setting” under water.
It is obvious that Portland cement may
manufactured from a variety of raw
the chemical composition noted above.
The most successful plants, however,
are those which obtain all the neces-
raw materials from the same
quarry. Thus, limestone is needed for
the lime and a sandy shale for the
silica, iron, and alumina, but com-
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 67
the formations seen in the dome below Swallows are all below water
level, and the surface of the country is composed of the Pierre
shale. This shale is soft and does not form steep cliffs, and conse-
quently the traveler here may see more of the surrounding region
than he could farther east. Soon after passing milepost 147 he may
see far on the right, if the atmosphere is clear, the summit of Pikes
Peak, towering high above the surrounding plateau. The peak is
frequently obscured by clouds which gather about its summit and
stream off to the east in long banners of misty white. In the sun-
shine of a clear day it shows yellow or rosy red, but when the evening
shadows fall or the mountain is partly obscured in the distance it is
blue and hazy. The mountain is more than 30 miles from this
point.
As the harder rocks disappear from view and the softer Pierre
shale takes its place, the surface of the country becomes more nearly
Wikeiticd: level and the hills less prominent. In this shale
Elevation 5,199 feet,
Population 2,629.
Denver 152 miles.
oil was discovered before Colorado was admitted
to statehood. Florence is the natural center of
the oil field, which was developed by sinking a
great many wells and to-day produces more oil than any other oil
field’ in the State.24
Refineries at Florence convert the crude oil into many marketable
products. As the train approaches the town oil-well derricks and oil
monly an impure limestone may fur-
nish all the materials
tion are used
heat of a material that has the proper
chemical composition. First, the raw
materials must be ground to a fine
powder, dried, and mi Rarey mixed ;
secon mixture
repared
must be burned at a es intetarace
until it unites chemically and physi-
cally into a clinkered mass; and third,
the clinker must be ground very fine.
The fine mixture of the raw materials
is burned in large steel cylinders that
are slightly tilted and rotated by ma-
chinery. The fuel generally used i
powdered coal, which is forced see
‘mixture is fed
the cylinder at its lower end. The
into the cylinder at its
upper end and in the intense heat of
e burning coal is fused into a clinker,
which falls out at the lower end of the
cylinder. This clinker when
very fine forms the Portland cement of
enters Arkansas River a few miles
east of Canon City. A small still was
put in operation that year, and the oil
that flowed from the gravel in the
stream bank was distilled for local use.
It is said that this spring is still flow-
ing at the rate of about 20 gallons
a day.
The first deep well was drilled in the
field in 1876 and struck oil at a depth
of 1,187 feet. From this beginning the
field was developed in and around the
town of Florence. It extends south-
ward for about 4 miles and westward
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 én field,” a basin of Laramie
for about 3 miles, ae sy: of oil
produced in this field 918 was
134,895 barrels, is the load ‘ae
produced since the field was developed
se been more than 10,500,000 barrels.
araffin -base and is a
oil
r oil, vials a large percentage.
f gasoline
She wisbende 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 syncline. The oil does
not come from sands, as the drillers
eall 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
> erevices. 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 discareree more recently, does
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
b
and the oil is piped
from different parts of the field as well
as shipped in from other fields in the
State for refining.
anon City coal field is a
small structural basin, or syncline, in
e
2
Denver & Rio Grande Western
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 Western 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 beyond 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 overlying 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 eandetone 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
than a quarter of a mile wide.
The coal beds that are worked ra range
in thickness from 2 to 6 feet. The coal
is a high-grade domestic fuel, bitumin-
from 10,500 to
12,000 British thermal units,
80697 °—22_¢
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, ton
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 ee streams and where the crops are protected from frost by
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 per cent of the State’ S apple
formation at crossing of Arkansas River near crop is raised in the vicin-
mouth of Oil Creek. Sandstone dips southward. ity et Cation City. Near J Near =
milepost 157 apple orchards can be seen from the train, and they c 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, A, 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 7riceratops,
shown in Plate XXXII, B, a skeleton of which was found years ago
in the vicinity of Denver.
st i i ae
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 70
a5
‘
PLATE XXXII
A. AN ARMORED DINOSAUR (STEGOSAURUS).
Stegosaurus (plated ri lived ane. Jong before man existed on the globe.
His bones were
The
found in the Mor 1 formation in Garden Park, 6 miles north of Canon City.
0 0 feet hick at ‘ 1e hips, and protected from the onslaughts of other
equ nity powerful a ‘carnivorous liza s by great bony plates along the ba
consisted of the vegetation that grew on ie low marshy land of that time.
ck. His food
Tricerat
s the last of the great dinosaurs. Bones
B. TRICERATOPS, THE LAST OF THE DINOSAURS.
of this animal have
fehl
ind in the vicinity ¢ t De enver ‘A mounted skeleton in the National Museum, Wash-
been for
ington, i rs 20 feet long and 8 feet high at the hips. The most peculiar thing _— this animal
is the great bony “ is
y “frill”’ covering and protecting his neck. From painting
made under the direction of A B. Ha eoher =
g by
. R. Knight,
94) uO UMOYS
syjem uodkueo <
possed st Kemo
ydeaso0.0ug ‘opeul DIOM
Seta Sse jsoulye MOYS Sy
UO u
2 POSsL
W
Wd sty
Joep pig 07 sulv—s
J YY YO yeoss OUT,
‘ADUOD TVAOU AHL AO IWLHOd “7 ‘SMOVUL UNVSONIG ‘F
WIXXX GULVId 202
AGAUNS TVIIDOTOUD ‘8S ‘0
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 XX XIII,
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 the 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. Frémont, who in re-
th er 5,344 feet. turning from his second expedition in 1842 followed
opulation 4,551. :
Denver 160 miles. 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
taountains 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
€amp 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 river. 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-
hence, 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
rauch, 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 Bt ing CANON CITY TO THE TOP OF
E 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
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 te:tms 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
asses beneath great projecting ledges of the sandstone. (See
Pl. 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-
denly 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, &) 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 variety 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.
After 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 be surprised to — tha yo Pics
yore: is really a plateau and that the ‘automobile may be driven to the very edge of the
org Photograph furnished by the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroac i
B. RIM OF THE ROYAL GORGE.
Who ce
an describe the awful ¢ grandeur of the chasm that yawns before the trave ler wh
reaches the rim of the , canyon? The walls are Hocape ene for a de pth - a nek feet, and the
ch: ism seems
ss it
Oo narrow that he ¢ st belie that he could cast a st cross i
character of he rocky walle i sige wall ake abies in tie whe ture Ccaameanh ‘furnished by the
enver & Rio Grande Ww. eterna, ‘Auee d,
“prose ;
Bib Je sulin J tea el Seah 210 Sate ae MOTA yuo grasee
any nee
{} I9A0
1) UL SUTRyU ul oy) pun Aq
mppoe, Acvnoy oy raya ut
i SMOTJO] GANIC] SUTLARS Snot
i
“ALID NONVD ‘HATHA ANITAMS
AXXX WLVId 202 NILUTING AMAUNS TVIIDOTONDS °S “1
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTER. 13
one sees to-day is the deep, narrow cut it has 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, B, 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 cdo when it is working on highly contorted rocks like eas
and cutting downward only, with little or no broadening.
The view from the top of the Royal 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
physiography 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 in the
open-top car is prepared to see and enjoy 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 | its lower course, and the cutting pro-
have a bearing on its history or mode
of origin ahd 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
when it was flowing on top of what is
peat occupies it, but not all rivers,
_ ¥en in mountain regions, have carved | now the plateau are perpetuated in the
So deeply, so some special condition | canyon. Cutting has not ceased in
here must have made it capable of | this yrs mie a is still
producing
condition was either an uplift of the
land or an inerease 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-
t 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
going on. Thes ill carries sand
and in times a oars iat boulders,
which scratch and grind the rocks over
which it flows. To-day it is able to
it is unable to carry the sand eigphanel
ting will cease and the stream may
even fill its bed instead of eutting eel
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 “tks 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. poe the
summit of the hogback, which in places is wide enough ‘only for a
road, the famous Skyline Drive (shown in Pl. XX XV) has been
constructed.
From the Dakota sandstone és 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 Range. 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 Royal Gorge. (See Pl. XXXITI,
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-
hess of the gorge. Where the rock is massive granite cut by few
jomt planes the gorge is narrow, but where the rock is intricately
banded and composed of many layers of diverse appearing rocks it
1S 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. ~
Berane aN aa
™A dolomite is generally regarded | lime and magnesia, containing 55 to 65
"Sa limestone, but a limestone con- | per cent of carbonate of lime and 35
sete essentially of carbonate of lime, | to 45 per cent of carbonate of mag-
and a dolomite of double carbonate of | 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-
Gorge. ing a passage, but immediately above the old station
Elevation 5,494 feet. : -
Denver 163 miles, Darely 50 feet. The walls are massive and rise
nearly vertically to heights of 1,000 to 1,200 feet.
(See Pls. 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. — |
the walls close in until the stream has a width of
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?
ied
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IAXXX ALVId 204 Ni
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 707 PLATE XXXVII
VIEW LOOKING DOWN INTO THE ROYAL GORGE.
hen ones n the rim above the old station of Gorge and looks down into this great cha
the railre ny weve like a thread stretched beside the foaming stream. The po int of the rims
ordinarily reached by spt sep? is around the bend to the right. The — sh in the distance
is at Parkdale, and the the range beyond is the mouth of the river canyon that exte —
upstream to Cotnas paagcareat: furnished by the Denver & Ri io Grande Weste
Railroad.
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 17
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 aibal 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 Poin 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 (Pl. XX XVIII)
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
through 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 yall 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
__ erashing 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 figures have been given for | cordingly, D. E. Winchester, of the j
the depth of this canyon, but all ap- | United States Geological Survey, with — 4
pear to be only guesses. The favorite | telescopic alidade and plane table,
figure seems to have been 2,600 feet, or | measured the vertical distance from E
approximately half a mile. The writer, | the base to the top of the cliff and *
believing that the public is entitled to | found it to be approximately 1,100 feet.
know the truth about such striking | This measurement may be in error as
scenic features, requested that the | much as 4 feet but probably not more
height of the cliff be determined. Ac- |} than that.
78
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.” f
GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
** Doubtless many persons who have
passed through the Royal Gorge have
wondered what agent produc
deep and narrow cleft. The question
‘pe
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 sauhtlaas 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 nes gneiss and Bom the
gorge is due great e that
S opened sy an earthqu ena 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.
t is comparatively easy to prove
that the Royal Gorge was not formed
y an earthquake, for, first, the gorge
this |
is too crooked to be the result of a
and, second, the bands of rock
ean be traced practically from wall to
ch
wall across the canyon. There is
possibility of a break aves as would
be required by the earthquake hypothe-
yp
sis. Altogether the evidenss is con-
clusive that the Royal Gorge and most
other canyons are not earthquake fis-
sures a were cut by the streams
that oce them.
The soe power of water depends
n the amount of sand and gra
ing action of the grains of sand on the
ocks over which the water flows. It
acts much like a sand blast, and no
rock is so hard that it can withstand
peration, d
and night, and Mauch it will pe
its work apparent.
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 707. PLATE XXXVIII
GORGE.
HANGING BRIDGE, ROYAI
e Hanging Bridge, in the narrowest part of the canyon, is a striking feature. When the i
was built there was not room = this point for a th river and reiicond on by side, so a bridge
was necessary. The easiest way to construct such a bridge was to us the i st of the
canyon as abutments hacige he con e the ha iy fr rom tru — as show
joints in the granite are ne varly vertical, and consequently the walls haces Mitte ‘beckwi od
slope. Photograph furnished by the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad.
. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
BULLETIN 707 PLATE
XX XIX
UPPER END OF THE ROYAL GORGE
The traveler on the rim of the canyon
alr noun 6 on the left.
they pared through
Sd e se s her
ran climb down, if he has a steady head, to the jagged
Here he can — on the 2 ae = = ‘ allroad rthern as
the canyon, pire! hoy y angle mighty walls.
e are much more hig! ne er ‘they are lower dow wn, pag as a result the
alls begin to have an appreciab ie doe and to decrease in height. Photograph
furnished Se the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad.
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 79
A short distance above the Hanging Bridge, as shown in Plate
XX XIX, 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 rapidly, so that the
canyon is wider and has smoother and gentler slopes.
Just beyond 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 Webster 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 they 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 Morrison 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
Mette fo Eien
80
GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
—
=
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
S=
—S
S —
S
SSS
SSS:
SSS
SSIS
SS
WS
ed
Ss
WSs
TSS
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or
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SSS
NSS
SS
WS
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Sk
WS
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
eek
Se Se
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uoreuLloy UOSIJIOW] ~/
F
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SS
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Bel a
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4 Miles
Ficure 16,—Section from Canon City to Parkdale showing former extent of the Dakota and Morrison formations and the pinching out westward of the
a
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n 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. the
point where the railroad crosses Tal-
lahassee Creek the Morrison outerop
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.
e rock in the middle of the val-
ley is concealed by a deep cover
of gravel, which the river has ev!-
dently brought down from the high
“Ny
ery ys \
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CAZIN SC
“NYS
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ae
a a
Horizondal scale
ps0
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pew al
SERA
LANE ALOENSIN
~—N ie
DINO A Nip ee
4\7y a Me, Re ei
COL Sie es
if
There are two faults near Parkdale, as shown.
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ag ed
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pape ath vay
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U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
ULLETIN 707 PLATE XI
A. GRAND CANYON OF THE ARKANSAS BELOW TEXAS CREEK.
Below Texas Creek the canyon in many plac y rough and rugged, the m sive granite
projecting : from ie walls on either side seems ph to bar the pathway 0 es river, and
these spurs are crowned with crags and pinnacles. Photograph by Marius re Campbell.
B. TUNNEL ON RAINBOW HIGHWAY.
“ale a the tion of the Rainbow Hig ghway mduobrg engineering difficulties : those which
thr ag railroad engineers in 1881. Mu 2 cutting was done, and eve ge mine ahs were driven
roug
ugh the projecting points of massive granite. Photograph by Marius R. Campbell
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 707 PLATE XLI
A. GOLD DREDGING.
ess i like those used in deepening harbors and in excavating the Panama Canal are
t to work in the heart of the Rocky Mountains, degiee up and washing gravel for the pa i
it cc nite 1ins. This view shows the great heap of wz ashed gravel that is left in the wake of the
dredge. P hotogr: uph by F. L. Ransome.
B. RAINBOW HIGHWAY.
a now traverse the grand canyon of the Arkansas as readily as railroad trains, owing
to the recent completion of the Rainbow bichon oo Parkd: le 4 to Leadville. In many
places the cost of cons ares tion was as Ba eat as tha the railroad on the opposite ban k.
Phctosceih by the U.S. Forest Servie
DENVER & 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 canyon 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** 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 Pls. XXXVI, (; 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
iphone: 5,800 feet. find good summer pasture upon the mountain slopes.
Dencrecligs ai. 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
Royal Gorge is cut. (See Pl. XXXIV, 4, 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,
for 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, 2.)
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 XLIT, A.
The canyon above Parkdale, although it is generally considered
with the Royal 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
U. 8. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 707 PLATE XLII
A. SUMMER HOME IN A NATIONAL FOREST.
The United States Forest Service leases ground, under tain. restrictions, for
summer omen in her nation: a bas iis is such a eels in the San Isabel
Forest, south of Arkansas Rive Photograph by the U.S. Forest Service
B. GAME IN A NATIONAL FOREST.
Deer soon become plentiful when they are protected. was
photographed in the San Isabel National Forest by nh . S Forest Boas e.
“epyes ‘Key * YW Kiuo Lf kq ydessoi0y4,g “JOALL OY} JO Ops Joys yout uo 90R,
‘sureyUunoUL oy ulody PAG In que peg Ajdoop 9000 SBM Agyea OU ‘ommy nid ou jo qya ayy Ve SMOYs qorg a *POas]
Jo Javed sty} ur qurod yseysry oy, “MOUS YIM pes9A09 are sdo} UTEyUNOUT oy} WOT Ayjeroodse ‘e8ueyy oVstT)
oa suo] ey ul
S PAOGE Joo} ove
ep a17uRg ey. jo MOTA
Os om t You jo si
“yeod syuny St o7uri aut
use ue SI Woy) psemoy wo. A
“SNIVINOOW OLSTHD Ad AHYONVS WHHL GNV GHVMOH
IIITX ALVId 202
ies AMAUAS TVOIDOIOND ‘8 “A
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 83
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
Texas Creek. surface of which was originally gently rolling.
ee oo: feet. At Texas Creek a branch of the railroad turns to
Denver 184 miles, the south (left), crosses the river, and after run-
ning up a small valley for a short distance i 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 (P1. XLIIT)
d at a point 3 miles above Texas Creek swings abruptly to the ©
an
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 canyon, 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 imrnred classify the | may differ considerably in age, so
Surface features of the earth accord- | there are young canyons and old can-
ing to their sod or ecanaltie to the | yons. In canyons of these two classes
length of time they have been in the | that are cut in essentially the same
tains, young valleys and old valleys, | toms, which are generally but little
and young streams and old streams. | wider than the channel of the stream,
Where the rocks are fairly uniform | and by having walls that are commonly
i aaa the youngest type of valley | steep and in many places precipitous.
on and the oldest is the | Old canyons, on the other hand, are
Ry valley with slopes so gentle that | generally wide’ enough, at least in
it almost resembles a plain. A can- | places, to have narrow strips of flood
yon is considered young because it | plain; their walls are less precipi-
marks the first stage in valley cut- | tous, and their rocks are generally
ting; a broad valley is considered old | more irregular in outline owing to
it marks its last stage. | the fact that they have been longer
Although all canyons are young, they | 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 in 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.
mall quantities of the precious metals as well as
Cotopaxi. some copper have been found near the town, but
Elevation Bats feet. none of the mines are now in operation. Limestone
Pehvel'208 aes was once quarried here in 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 Pl. XL, A), but the valley bottom is generally
wide enough to afford ams accommodation for the railroad and
for the Rainbow 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 194 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
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
BULLETIN 707 SHEET No. 2
fics 30°
3
se
_!04/30° COLORADO
i No.1
GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP
OF THE
RIO GRANDE ROUTE
From Denver, Colorado, to Salt Lake City, Utah
Compiled from United States Geological Survey sy
s
1
Scale 500,000
Approximately 8 miles to | “age
5 10 Miles
15 Kilometers
i 1
0 5
Elevations in feet above mean sea Jevel
10
i
The di: nh ris ae ‘. nian
The crossties on the railroads are spaced ! mile apart.
n ee information col-
lected with the Nantatadics of that company
Relief shading by R. W. Berry
PREPARED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF
GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR
DAVID WHITE, Chief Geologist C. H. BIRDSEYE, Chief Topographic Engineer
M. R. CAMPBELL, Geologist A. C. ROBERTS, Topographer
1922
EXPLANATION
Age Thickness
“ in feet
8B Gravel on mesas and terraces d pm oy ee and
L late Tertiary
Arkosic (fragments of granite) conglomerate Tertiary
D Dewon arkose) (Eocene) =
G Oa i shale with coal beds (I —" Pre 1.200
|
Dark marine shale with |
| sobdvtone at top (Montana {Box Hie andetone| 8,000
Ji Dark 1
marine shale and limestone (Colorado or y seme 1,000
K (a) Cal 1 (Wink 600+
| Carlile shale
- = E> 400
M Two ae conaetenes separated by! Dakota sandstone 400
ee formation Lower Cretaceous
N ie ie es ee a a £ + Cc : ? 205+
White red , red shale fi Lykins formation | :
Carbonif:
T het eee, eed e and con- Lene ee a mian (2) and 5,000
z (Fountain formation) | Pennsylvanian)
Millsap limestone Carboniferous |
i f ove : (Mississippian)
Limestone and pee, ey mt come 15 ; \ 490+
} Maatten Nesestona./ Ordovician = [
| Sawatch sands Cambrian J
Xx Granite Pre-Cambrian
La
Y a. init mpd and en — Tertiary
ee nee ae Fault
* The Colorado group is cpr gir _ two parts, (a) and (b), in the south-
eastern part of the area; in other parts the outcrop is too narrow to make
such a jentncceen pratibehie
CRIPPLE a ~~
CREEK “AX
eS
)
ZA wv row
Ora :
——
8m
ERGGAvED ANG PRRTED Sr TE U.S GRCIORION Saver
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. the village of Pleasanton and hugging the granite
Elevation 6,481 feet. cliffs that border the valley on the northeast (right).
Denver 196 miles. The contact of the soft rocks 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-
canse recent disturbances in the earth’s crust have raised one part
of the crust with relation to another; or they may be formed by
4
e
aes
¢ t
PEGG AE
Ficurp 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.
voleanic 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-
80697°—22__7
86 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN 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 yailiwad 3 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
white valgania tuff ** about 40 feet thick and that both the lava and
rd. The h
sandstone dipping steeply to the northwest and is capped
horizontal sheet of tuff and lava
Ficurp 18.—Lava-capped hill south of Howa
is composed of red
ill, which is opposite mea 200,
by a nearly
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. ese
*Voleanic tuff is a name applied to
material blown out of a voleano 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. Remnants of the gravel filling may be
seen in the extensive terraces opposite Howard, as shown in Plate
XUIT.
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
en oer land on both sides of the river is irrigated and
"yields abundant crops of alfalfa and the more hardy
grains. Near the station there are kilns in which charcoal was for-
merly made. (See Pl. 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
, 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
Pee valuable timber that might have been reserved for a more use-
ul pu :
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 WESTERN UNITED STATES.
this section (see fig, 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. West 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-
Ficurs 19,—Section of the sey a de Cristo Range 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 Meare material that it constitutes hills rather than a valley.
Lean’ the railroad is built upon a broad gravel-covered
ri nce of exposures of hard rock is due largely to this
fact and ae the fact that the flat, or rather terrace, is composed o
i the Weber shale and sandstone, which underlie the
raghrntdec os eet POU Sandstone that is so conspicuous farther east.
Dene 208 wike 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
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 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 effectually 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 1s
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 feet. time the railroad was being built up the Arkansas |
teste mites, alley, 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 Pl. 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 Rai
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 branch 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. Narrow-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 pf 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.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 707 PLATE XLIV
ae ee ait A ENE a we ome,
i. om. — oe we
SALIDA AND THE VALLEY OF THE ARKANSAS.
From the hill across the river the town of Salida and the neighboring parts of » Send: r e spread out as on a map. Hunts Peak, marking the = yeth end of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, is on the le clagh a =
Tount Ouray, the oath a of the Collegiate Range, is near the middle of t 5 iol re. gnes Chipeta shows to the right of Ouray, and Mount Shavano at the extreme right of the picture. The narrow-
line over Marshall Pass crosses the bridge i in the foreground and ascends = Dh canyon in front iP Mount Ouray. Photograph by Henry R. Hay, Sal litila.
‘3
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 91
The railroad ascends this canyon for several miles and then climbs
the mountain slopes on the west, finding a way, after many turns and
loops, over the range through Marshall Pass, which lies’just beyond
Ouray Peak (00’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 252-254. <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 scenery 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 mountains, as exhibited in
Plate XLV, A, 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 terrace 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,
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. 4 ¢ this great delta fan and, naturally, as it reached
Elevation 7,324 feet. the open country, lost its transporting power and
ball eed ae abiuiad its load. The station of Brown 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
\
BROWN CANYON
N\
BAND RGWRAR
x4
rea
=<]
7
V,
“1
Lik
Fievure 20.—Ideal section from Sawatch Range to Brown Saeare showing the deep
gravel filling in the old cremal of the Arkans:
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 thillepost 32 223,
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 course 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
se = see on the left before he reaches the rift in the
Fieurr 21.—Sketeh canyon wall is a large dike, which was once
oilers Re PE. rock that was forced up from below
tion to the granite through some great fissure in the crust of the
and the gravel. earth. It is now solidified into a mass more
resistant than the surrounding granite, so that it stands up as a nearly
vertical wa
At some iis in this canyon there are great granite boulders,
around which the water surges furiously when the river is above the
NWA ye
NANA >
1
=|
$~
te
t)
ta
\
4
SNA
Le,
* 7
i pectis
ates!
IPAM?
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ARS
—.
ee
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
BULLETIN 707
SUMMIT OF THE SAWATCH RANGE WEST OF
From the automobile road le: ding to — and Montrose the t
— summit of a
but the s r fF
er
es
°
=
a
Z
Z
rep
SB
sre
v
3
3
SALIDA.
raveler has a good view of the
make a persistent effort to creep pee toward the crest,
npert rifting snow prevent them from reaching the top.
> hc the for sade many of the trees grow horizontally on the surface, and thos se thi ut
Salida aan are severely handled by the snow and wind. Photograph by Henry R. Hay
‘SR ee
B. sei ON A MOUNTAIN SIDI
picture gives a good idea
e by the old glaciers. The
sowsed the observer and d<
in time produced the cirque
great amphitheaters or c shcgares scooped out of a mountai
4 i acier sg seen d at the head of : vine, and the ice flowec bat
own the ravine to the left. It cut ice the slopes on all sides and
shown here. Sloseevenk by Henry R. Hay, Salida.
MOAT YL UI09IS9 AA OpPULAD OF ac] * K
-010Ud Rg uO VIStA VUONG JO pUS JaMO] OY} SBpNpUt pus pros yoosry INOIT, out WOIy VOR. wan "uso Ys Mokioq Beh ey 7 acre Sow 8g win o a te
ey} uO sands jeaId 9914) EY] SMOYS UOJOULIG NOP, JO MOTA SIYT “sesuBysy oy JO AoTwA Joddn oy oPeUTWOpP 9FULY oVLFaYOD JO YOYRMEg yy Jo eued pest OUD,
“NOLAUONTHd IINAOW
IATX HLVId OL NILATIO AGAUAS TVOIDOTORS ‘S ‘0
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 93
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 XLVII, 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
granite 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. ; 3
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
tbat 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.
vy st after emerging from the canyon the traveler may get, on the
t (left), a magnificent view of a part of what is frequently
walled 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 peculiarly 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
Gi.
<< We NE
v\
Ficurs 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 | mann’s Mitteilungen (1871). The
peaks is given below in the words of | highest summit that he found (14,399
Prof. W. M. Davis, of Harvard Uni- | f
versity :
In the summer of 1869 Prof. J. D. | was named Mount Harvard, after
Whitney visited the gate annie the university in which he was then
of Colorado with a small party, in-
eluding four of his on (Archi-
bald R. sc ne, Henry Gannett,
Joseph H. Bridges, and William M.
Davis) Ss the mining school at Har
vard. object was chiefly to deter-
mine i aus of the loftiest ranges
that he could reach, regarding which
a brief report was published in Peter-
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
befo The Mount Princeton
was atin a few years later to the
fine mass nae feet) ake: south of
Mount Yale.
oaehiicricailiainc1i ijl didiiimiiaemnaaimimibniiiiiig
i aeperesitnnarinerieeai: SB,
see ee
Se
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 Nathrop 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 Railway 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 Marshall 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 Nathrop.
The gorge that Chalk Creek has cut through the mountains has
been scoured by a great glacier, which has greatly 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 ga © 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 | This question can be be
Arkansas River from Salida to Buena | by giving a brief sketch of the prae-
Vista the traveler sees the Collegiate | tices and customs of the mining com-
Range on the west and the Trout
east. These hills and mountains are
all in the Leadville National aa
Which covers an area o
The celebrated Leadville and eae
mit County mining districts of Colo-
the Lea
questi
arises, t effect has the
pret of these national forests
had upon the mining industry—are
they beneficial or detrimental to it?
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
possi
sequent to the discovery. No effort
was made to conform with the require-
96
GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
Frem 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.
Population 196.*
Denver 233 miles
This 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
When an ecto for mineral
patent is now received for a piece of
land in a national forest the land is
®
a |
S
B
o
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 Sttction is given by the
Forest Service to the preservation and
protection of timber in regions where
it may be needed for prospecting and
mining. A prospector can obtain tim-
ber to dev Sede his claim from the na-
is
sufficient timber for its exploitation
as mineral land should mineral de-
posits he found on it.
Roads, trails, and telephone lines are
built by ms Government through na-
ts to make them accessible
ro
sistance he is able to render in report-
ing fires or the misuse of forest prop-
erty. Very little of the timber, h
ngpa
e Sopris ean Forest,
and fh the Eagle River country, in
on freight cars at Mitchell, Pando,
Red de of
Cliff, 0: other si
Continental Divi are destined for
e Leadville m
ile forests aha Leadville
composed almost anied of easel
pine (see Pl. XX I, B), and the city
oe in the pee ate of the zone of
this tree. The veler will note the
large unas a young trees scattered
over stump areas or areas in W
thout opening,
though the seed continues fertile. In
this way large quantities of fertile seed
accumulate on the trees, so
is scattering the fire may have been so
severe that it burned up a large num-
ber of the cones, or favorable weather
DENVER & RIO 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 light is
just right, may see faintly in the distance on the side of Mount
Princeton a wagon road that zigzags up the south spur of the moun-
tain to some old mines, from which it has been extended to the top.
This road may soon be so improved that automobiles can reach the
top of the mountain, from which an even wider view may be ob-
tained than that from Pikes Peak, for Mount Princeton is sur-
rounded by range after range that can be seen only from some com-
manding eminence. The height of Mount Princeton is 14,177 feet.
Its relation to the Arkansas Valley is well shown in Plate XLVI.
Near milepost 237 the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad
again crosses Arkansas River, and a short distance beyond this cross-
ing the traveler may see Trout Creek Pass on the east (right). The
Colorado Midland Railway formerly operated a line through this
pass. At a lower level he may see the Colorado & Southern Rail-
way, which crosses through the same pass. This road formerly con-
nected the lines of this system in South Park with the line that runs
southward from Buena Vista, but it is not now in operation.
About 2 miles north of the river crossing just mentioned, on the
east side of the track, is the State Reformatory, to which juvenile
offenders are sent. After crossing Cottonwood Creek, at fine, swift,
clear mountain torrent, the railroad reaches Buena Vista (“good
view”), a town embowered in a beautiful grove of cottonwood trees
and one of the most attractive places in this part of
Buena Vista. the Arkansas Valley. It stands at the intersection
Elevation 7,968 fect. of two of the most noted automobile roads in the
rie ok mins ‘State—the Rainbow Highway from Canon City up
the Arkansas and the road from Colorado Springs
Dy way of South Park. These roads, after uniting, continue north-
ward through Tennessee Pass and westward to Glenwood Springs and
tand Junction. Cottonwood Creek, which furnishes an abundance
of pure water for domestic use and for irrigation, comes down in a
deep canyon between Mount Princeton and Mount Yale from the »
Continental Divide, which is some distance west of these high peaks.
Long ago a great glacier occupied the canyon and scoured it out, ie
it came down only to the point where the canyon opens out into
ES cise iad tae ER ae cas A catalase 12 cin
may not h owever, he can be almost certain that
only a eit atti: feuareallies neh - fire has swept over that tract and
Seeds could survive. Where the tray- | was followed by a heavy fall of seed
eler sees a dense patch of these pine | and. favorable weather during the sub-
trees in a tract on the mountain side, | sequent growing season,
98 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
valley, and the traveler on the railroad has no opportunity of seeing
the results of its work.
The attractions of Buena Vista consist of an admirable climate and
beautiful surroundings for summer visitors; the ascent of Mount
Princeton, which is a little higher than Pikes Peak; and Cottonwood
Hot Springs, at the mouth of the canyon 6 miles above Buena Vista.
It is proposed to lay a pipe line down to the town and establish bath-
houses so that more visitors may be able to bathe in the mineral
water. Buena Vista was established in 1879 and is the seat of gov-
ernment of Chaffee County.
Immediately north of the station at Buena Vista the traveler
may notice on both sides of the track huge boulders that are arranged
in the form of a fan, similar to the great fan of boulders at the
mouth of Brown Canyon. The boulders at Buena Vista may not
be so large as those at the mouth of Brown Canyon, but many of
them measure from 12 to 15 feet in their longest diameters.
Nearly 2 miles from the station the Printed & Rio Grande Western
Railroad enters Wildhorse Canyon, a small canyon cut in the massive
granite. The automobile road does not follow the river in this part
of its course, but keeps to the west (left) on the unconsolidated
gravel that fills the old valley. This canyon is not so deep nor so
continuous as Brown Canyon, and for some distance in its middle
part the granite in the west wall gives place to gravel. At its upper
end, on the right (east) side of the track, a great block of granite
stands like a sentinel. This block is shown in Plate XLVIT, A.
Here the traveler may look back and see that the gravel terrace on
the west side of the river stands at about the same level as the top
of the granite wall that bounds the canyon on that side. From this
fact it is apparent that at one time the old valley was deeply filled
with gravel, which was brought down from the high mountains on
the west, and that the stream was crowded eastward upon the rocky
slope of the valley. Later, when the stream had removed some of
this gravel and resumed the work of cutting its valley down, it
again flowed on the hard granite, but far to the east of its former
course. However, a stream has no power of itself to alter a course
it once establishes, and so Arkansas River persisted and cut the —
canyon in the hard rock.
On emerging from Wildhorse Canyon the traveler may obtain a
much better view of Mount Yale (14,172 feet) than that which he
obtained near Buena Vista. Here it appears as a single peak directly
across the valley, with the sharp summit of Mount Princeton on the
left and the great rounded mass ‘of Mount Harvard (14,399 feet) on
the right. A little farther along he may see a great hollow that
apparently has been scooped out of the east slope of Mount Harvard
on the side facing Arkansas Valley. This hollow is semicircular in
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURV
SY BULLETIN 707
PLATE XLVITI
‘hi peed remnant of n
ad of the tracks and i
which show in the pic ture:
: kant 60 ) feet hig 1. The monte is cut by
Photograph by Marius R. ipbell
NATURAL GRANITE MONUMENT.
granite at “anyon stands to the
the upper end of Wildhorse
zt dikewor other material,
B. POTHOLES IN GRANITE BOULDERS.
In Br hd ©
anyon there are mat a
and bo ils but whic h i in
boulders « soln in eye of the larger blocks, cutting great circular pits calle .
Photograph by Marius R.
rgze granite boulders around which in ordinary the w
sods ce cenplebeds submerged. The rushing current trolls round
Campbell.
~peospry yf ws0I1se M ®puRty ony 3 soaueq ey? Aq poystusny ydessoogd “Sesueyry oy} Jo Ao]PVA 9Y} OJUT UMOP PeMOY doU0 sx NoVps 7V9IF YOM wuosy ‘senbsro Kueut
Aq JNO St asuvs GY JO VOR] JSve OUT,
“punOssoIOJ ay ut UMOYS St ys o[ny) Bru Joye ul 404.9 UIs O18] Vv ‘OTA pea y woay JOVI ut yeodde Kouy sk syee ad ysouAry Ss opRrsojor
“AAISSVAL SENONOW GNV Luda LNAOW
= te %
ms *
Biv HHaiges
ora La.
WIATX GALVId 204 NILATIAL
AGAUNS TVOIDOTORND ‘8S
-_
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 99
outline and has a nearly flat floor. From the train it looks like a
very small feature, but its walls are probably several hundred feet
high, and it is not less than half a mile across. (See fig. 23.) To
such a semicircular hollow as that on Mount Harvard or the one on
the Continental Divide west of Salida (Pl. XLV, B) geologists
have applied the French term “ cirque,’ meaning circle. It was
produced by a small glacier that was formed in a ravine far up on
the mountain slope.
As far as milepost 246 the valley has a general width of 5 to 8
miles, but on looking ahead the traveler may see that it becomes
narrower and finally seems to close in completely. The old and
rather broad valley doubtless continued to the head of the stream
near ‘Tennessee Pass, but a little distance above Riverside it is so
Bese fe
Figure 23.—Great cirque on Mount Harvard.
much filled with gravel and boulders that it is scarcely recognizable.
Near this constricted part of the valley large boulders abound, form-
ing a fan similar to the boulder fans observed at the mouths of the
canyons below. The change in the character of the valley is due to
the fact that in the Great Ice Age, when glaciers were active, they
formed mainly on the mountain slopes at or above an altitude of
11,000 feet and flowed down the side canyons or gulches for
distances that depended on the grade of the canyon and the size
of the glacier. In the Arkansas Valley below Riverside the glaciers
that headed in the Sawatch Range reached only to the mouths of
i the side canyons, but farther north the altitude of
Riverside. the valley is so great that they not only reached the
pcration 8,374 feet. mouths of the rock-bound canyons but pushed out
ead sm into the river and filled the main valley with the
rocky débris that they had carried on their surfaces or that had been
embedded in them. This condition prevails above Riverside, and for
this reason the valley is much narrower here than it is lower down.
The glacial material brought down from the mountains crowded the
river to the east side of the valley and even forced it over on the
granite of the east wall, as it did in the other canyons below. The
large blocks of rock that were derived from this granite were carried
down the canyon and for some distance out on the flat valley floor.
100 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
The canyon which the railroad enters at’ milepost 252, although
short, is rather picturesque and has a steep granite wall on the east
side, against which the stream has been crowded by the glacial drift
that was brought down Pine Creek from the west. Through this nar-
row passageway the river boils and surges over and around the great
boulders that obstruct its course. The glacial drift is first seen as the
railroad bends sharply to the left, a little above milepost 252. At
first sight it may not be apparent that this material differs from the
gravel that composes the terraces below, but careful inspection will
show that the boulders are all composed of fresh rock and that their
surfaces are generally smooth and unweathered. It also shows that
many of them are scratched, or striated, as the geologist calls it, as
they were brought down by the glacier and held like a giant rasp
against the rocky sides of the canyon. Such scratches are regarded as
reliable indications that the boulders have been transported by ice.
At milepost 254 the railroad crosses the river to the east side and
follows the east bank for a long distance. In some places the west
wall of this canyon is composed of granite and in others of glacial
drift, but the traveler on the railroad train can not determine the
reason for the presence of the drift until the train has rounded the
broad curve above the bridge and he is able to see on the west (left)
up the open valley of Clear Creek. As this view up the creek,
which is well worthy of attention, can be had only while the train
is running a quarter of a mile the traveler who wishes to see it clearly
‘should be ready to look this way as soon as it becomes visible. By
looking up Clear Creek he will see that the stream issues from the
high mountains in a canyon that has a broad U-shaped cross section,
and that outside the mountains it is walled in by parallel ridges
of broken rock and gravel that was deposited or heaped up by the
ice. Such ridges along the sides of a valley are called by geologists
lateral moraines. The moraine on the north side of Clear Creek,
at the point where the stream emerges from the mountains, is 700
feet high, and its front, which is composed of loose material, is as
steep as it can stand. The moraines run parallel with the creek until
they reach the river, where they curve around and nearly meet,
forming a loop that originally inclosed the mass of ice. The glacier
not only reached the river, but at times pushed a little farther and
heaped up the loose gravel on its east side. Naturally when such
a glacier melts away the part of the valley it occupied will be left
relatively free from boulders, and it therefore generally forms a
swampy tract or a lake surrounded by a ridge or ridges of gravel.
The stream quickly cuts a trench in this bounding ridge, so that the
valley is thus drained through a narrow cleft. The users of water
far down the Arkansas have taken advantage of this natural site
eas 335 : .
a iN rd
Cc if 2 2.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 707 SHEET No. 3
3g 106 30° si Sheet No. + COLORADO 105 30
GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP Approximately Ser nk '
OF THE Ponsa ee ep
0 5 10 15 Kilometers
RIO GRANDE ROUTE ee 3
From Denver, Colorado, to Salt Lake City, Utah "Tas eens te aa terete oe oaae tame ee
Compiled from United States Geological Survey atlas
sheets and reports, from railroad alinements and pro-
files supplied by the Denver & Rio Grande Western
Rellet shading by R. W. Berry
PREPARED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF
GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR
DAVID WHITE, Chief Geologist C. H. BIRDSEYE, Chief Topographic Engineer
M. R. CAMPBELL, Geologist A. C. ROBERTS, Topographer
1922
EXPLANATION
Age Thickness
in feet
Mountain glaciers as they were during the Great Ice Age Pleistocene
eet i oe cer a
Dark marine shale (Mancos shale) 2,500-+
i Upper Cretaceous
Brown sandstone (Dakota sandstone) } 50
Variegated shale and sandstone (Gunnison formation) Gretnenons = and = 490+ Be
: 6S
Red sandstone and shale (Maroon formation) 1,500 ia] =
. Carboniferous ‘At
: | (Pennsylvanian) >.
Red sandstone, conglomerate, and shale (Weber formation) J 2,300 “4 &
if ;
Blue limestone (Leadville limestone, Ouray limestone) Cael) 200
ra : j : and Devonian
{ Parting quartzite 40 PISS
Limestone and | White limestone 160’ Fan 375
btsilorueagt es (Poe quartzite (Sawatch
quartzite) 175’
Granite Pre-Cambrian
Lava flows | ,
\ Tertiary
Intrusives J
————— Ss lS se Sr
*
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 101
for a storage reservoir and have built a dam across the lower end
of the valley and thus connected the two parts of the moraine, so
that the swampy area has become a reservoir for the storage of water
until it is needed in the valley far to the east for the irrigation of
crops.
Just above the mouth of Clear Creek the Colorado Midland Rail-
way formerly crossed the Denver & Rio Grande line by an over-
head bridge, and a short distance farther on it crossed the river and
continued on the west side of the stream nearly to Malta. Just above
the crossing the river and railroads enter a granite canyon, which is
very narrow but of slight depth, and continue in the canyon to and
beyond the village of Granite. (See sheet 4, p. 134.)
This village has been the center of large gold-
dredging operations,** but this industry is now a
thing of the past, and the village is known prin-
cipally as the stopping point for those who wish
to visit Twin Lakes, a noted local resort, reached by stage from this
station. Lakes are not numerous in the mountains of Colorado, so
that even small ones such as Twin Lakes are highly prized.
Above Granite the railroad continues in the canyon, but the walls
are low and at many places the traveler may catch glimpses of the
surrounding country. About 2 miles from Granite he may see on the
west (left) and ahead the ridge of gravel which bounded the glacier
that once occupied the valley of Lake Creek and which now sur-
Granite,
Elevation 8,943 feet.
Population 79,
Denver 257 miles.
“In the days of 49 gold was ob-
f
use of the cradle, both slow and crude
methods that do not appeal to the gold
hunter of the present day. The cradle
n
by the process so choked the
streams below the
greatly interfered with the growing
of crops that laws were passed prohib-
iting its use.
Now dredging has replaced all other
methods of handling placer deposits,
e@ most
to only a few cents to the ton of ma-
terial handled.
80697°—22__-§
Dredging is practicable wherever the
placer lies in the bottom of a valley or
on a fairly level surface where water
is available and where the placer is
extensive enough to provide for several
aboard the dredge, is washed for the
gold, and then the refuse is dumped
back into the hole from which it was
is shown in Plate XLI, A (p. 81).
102 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
rounds the lakes that fill the depression once occupied by the ice.
The gravel brought down by this glacier contains considerable gold,
and it has been washed extensively along the river by hydraulic
methods and by dredges. The washed gravel now lies in great heaps
and ridges that greatly disfigure the landscape.
The railroad emerges from the canyon a short distance beyond
milepost 262, and the traveler finds that the valley above this point
consists of flat, marshy ground which extends nearly to the head of
the stream below Tennessee Pass. This upper part of the valley is
probably in the same condition as the lower valley was ages ago,
before the stream had cut its present canyon, and at a time when
it was flowing at the top of the uppermost terrace that the traveler
has seen. At that time the lower part of the valley was filled to a
great depth with sand and gravel, and all the former inequalities in
the surface were obliterated. The upper valley appears to be in that
stage to-day. It has doubtless been filled with sand and gravel
brought down from the ranges on either side until almost all the
inequalities of the bedrock have been concealed, and on this level!
floor the stream meanders, not exactly sluggishly, for there is con-
siderable slope to the surface, but the quantity of loose material
furnished to the stream is much more than it can carry away, so
that it is being continually dropped and thus obstructs the channel of
the stream and forces it to shift its course to one less direct. If
conditions were changed so that Arkansas River had a sharper
descent or a greater volume of water, it would have more cutting
power, and it would then soon trench this flat bottom, and the cut
edges of the valley filling would stand up as terraces just as the
terraces stand above the stream lower down.
On emerging from the canyon the traveler again has an unob-
structed view of the mountain range on the west, and its aspect is
very different from the view which he had below Riverside. The two
’ most prominent peaks visible from the upper end of the canyon are
Mount Elbert, which stands just above the moraines of Lake Creek,
and Mount Massive, which stands farther up the range.
The altitude of the valley is so great that few plants except grass
can be grown to advantage, but the hay crop is luxuriant, and stock
raising is the principal business. As the train departs more and more
from ‘the great moraines that bound Lake Creek on both sides the
mountain peaks back near the head of the creek come into view.
These peaks are more rugged than most of those that have been in
sight from the railroad. The accompanying sketch (fig. 24) shows
the most prominent peaks that can be seen from milepost 265 by one
looking to the southwest. These peaks all appear to the left of Mount
Elbert, some of them showing from behind the projecting spurs of
that mountain. La Plata Peak (14,332 feet) appears in the center,
-
en REE SE ee eae ae Re i aati iil
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 108
and Grizzly Peak (14,020 feet) in the distance, with the great
lateral moraine of Twin Lakes in the foreground.
On the east (right) the side of the valley for some distance is very
hummocky, and on first sight it seems to be a moraine, but closer
study shows that the glaciers which once came down the gulches on
La Plata Grizzly
Peak Reak
a 2
Figure 24.—Mountain peaks of Sawatch Range at head of Lake Creek, as seen from mile-
post 265. Moraines of Lake Creek in foreground.
this side of the main valley did not extend to the area that is within
sight of the railroad, and the hummocks are therefore not the result
of the action of ice but of landslides and peculiarities of drainage.
At milepost 267 Mount Sheridan (13,700 feet) is the most conspicu-
ous feature of the Mosquito Range, on the east (right), but generally
the peaks of this range are not so rugged nor so high as those of the
Sawatch Range, on the west.
After passing milepost 268 the traveler may see on the east (right),
by looking up the gulch past the white wooden schoolhouse, the first
indication of the presence of the great mining camp of Leadville—
® smoke of the smelters that may be seen over the top of the ter-
Trace or the tops of the smokestacks and some of the surface build-
Mt.Sheridan
foalinde
viz, ST AS ike ta ac ES
Lt: =
1-2 oS SS
. Sn,
et
ibis 25.—The Mosquito ‘enas as seen from milepost 269, at the mouth of Iowa Gulch.
gs of the mines. No adequate idea, however, of the extent and
‘mPortance of Leadville can be obtained from the main line of the
railroad,
_‘At milepost 269 a good view can be obtained of the Mosquito Range,
known also as the Park Range, on the east. The view from
this point is represented in the accompanying sketch (fig. 25),
104 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
which shows the relative positions of the different peaks and their
names.
The scenery on the other side is dominated by the great bulk of
Mount Massive and Mount Elbert. Plate XLVIII shows them as
they appear from the vicinity of Leadville. Mount Massive (14,404
feet) is on the right and Mount Elbert (14,420 feet), the highest
mountain in Colorado, on the left. Mount Elbert may not appear
so high as Pikes Peak, but the traveler must remember that he is
looking at Mount Elbert from a much higher position than the one
he occupied at Colorado Springs when looking at Pikes Peak, and
that the summit of Mount Elbert is only 4,800 feet above him.
Near Malta, the junction point for Leadville, the level marshy
valley is more than 2 miles wide. On the east it is bordered by a
terrace fully 150 feet high, which was formed by the trenching by
the stream of an older flat-bottomed valley. At Malta some of the
town of Leadville may be seen. By day the cloud of smoke from
oe mines and smelters marks the location of the
Malta. wn, and'by night the lights of the streets and
ois Sed Cala a smelters may be seen 600 or 700 feet up the
slope of the valley on the east (right). As some |
trains of the main line run by way of Leadville, a brief description
of this interesting mining camp will be given. The description
of the country along the main line north of Malta begins on
page 109.
LEADVILLE LOOP.
On leaving Malta for Leadville the railroad turns sharply to the
east and winds about the gently rolling slopes of the valley side
in order to get distance in which to make the ascent without climbing
too steep a grade. At first the road winds up the slope among the
pine trees, but farther on it comes out upon the edge of a terrace
that overlooks a small ravine or “ gulch,” ** as all such features are
called in this region, and the traveler may look down upon one of
the smelters which is engaged in extracting valuable metal from
the ore that is mined in the famous Carbonate Hill, a picture of
which is shown in Plate XLIX.
Leadville is one of the highest towns in the world, standing 10,200
feet, or nearly 2 miles, above sea level. It is also one of the oldest
towns of Colorado, dating back to 1860, the year in
Leadville. which the site of Denver was first occupied by white
Elevation 10,200 feet. men. In 1859 gold is said to have been discovered
eee ein a Tittle guleh that enters the Arkansas Valley
from the east at the site of Malta by a party of gold
seekers on their way to California, who on that account called it Cali-
“This ravine is California Gulch, in which gold was first discovered in this
region in 1
ee aera es
na as . : “wAUaC ‘OINPDoP “9 *T Aq udvasojor ‘90unys
pa Mate Joiqenyea AJOA OUTBOOg JEM DY} SuLINp Inq popseosip APIOULIO] SUM JLY} VIO OUTZ JOT POYIOMOI UBdG OAKY teen cena — re ) Id. t at cea oat be.
2 OFIRT B F > gken Lin ; 5 [ -ou ; een 0 ‘ Pa
? doeIVT B SUIpPPVIA JOA SI pue SAep A[Ivd ay] UL S1OJRIIdO BY} JOJ SOUNIIOT OPLUL Jf =“ POUTUL JOAV JO JOATIS [SOYA BY} JO OOS OUIOD sey ond uo § ene on .
; h I 1 I ‘ 9 sv ty St soul ‘ jo wg
TATTIAGVAT “TH ALVNOPUVO
pa 4 &.4 UW Tc 204 NILATINS
7 alee Mane AMAUDS 'IVOIDO'1OND “Ss ‘A
yo Use ge M «
Mud
HUE) ‘yo uUMO?T i OAISSE
» Sooo YBYY POU) B WIODy “a
10 UTR PUTO Py
ae ¥ a peypeo Us i mp4 uy
iT, re Issu }SOAA & eee 1 UIT S< Jeaep oy)
AY PUDOG SBS BY} UO MOTA ot eso epeul }38 yh capt ‘jo }Svoeq Oya CLL
“Mm Aq yd
aut 4 RG . i 90701. 2.
-[09 9seyy, "yoo. uye
SeuUIODIG, Yio Pa = et RtnoD pennies Be uy
“SNANTOD NOISOWH HLYVH 9 “NOANVD YWHAIY ATOVA NI STUNNOL ‘ff ‘OUNNEA LNYULLVd HHL “V
TTA AMAUNS TVOIDOTOAD ‘S ‘1
TaLviId 204
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 105
fornia Gulch. This discovery was made late in the autumn, and the
party was not prepared to spend the winter there, so they left but
they returned the next year and established a mining camp Wich
they christened Oro City (meaning Gold City) and which before
the end of the year had a population of 5,000. Its fame spread, saps
in 1861 it was the most populous town in Colorado Territory. In
few years more than $5,000,000 had been washed from its aide
sands, but like that of all white placer deposits the life of this one
was ephemeral, for in a few years the town was nearly abandoned by
the gold seekers, and for several years it played only a small part
in the history oF the mining region,
From 1874 to 1877 there was a revival of interest in the Leadville
region, for silver-lead ores were found at several places in the vi-
cinity of California Gulch, but no development was undertaken until
1878. Before that year the camp consisted of only a cluster of log
cabins, but in 1878 a “rush” to the new workings began and the
camp at once sprang into prominence as the greatest silver camp in
the world. The Denver & Rio Grande Railroad was completed to
the gulch in 1880, and the camp soon had a population of 30,000.
During the first decade of its existence the silver and lead produced
is reported to have been worth more than $120,000,000. Silver min-
ing was the chief industry until the slump in the price of silver in
1893. For a time there was great stagnation, and then the miners
turned their attention to the production of gold, silver, copper, lead,
and zinc. In 1920 the value of the output of the mines of Lake
County, which includes some mines outside the Leadville district, was
$4,320,510. The total metallic output up to the end of 1920 is val-
ued at a . little more than $419,000,000.** aS
The following more detailed ac- | later over the same route with the
count of the history of the Leadville | device significantly altered to the single
B
and mining industry of Leadville, | lutely up through the narrow rocky
Colo.: U. S. Geol. Survey Mon. 12
1886; The Downtown district of Lead- | streams. Some wandered across the
ville, Colo.: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. | mountains during the same season into
ys ;
During the summer of 1859, at the | gravel on Tarryall Creek and in the
time of the great Pikes Peak excite- | neighborhood of Fairplay.
Wagons stretched across the plains, fol- | the prospectors found gold in the gravel
lowing Arkansas River up to the base | at the site of the _ of Granite,
summer, carrying the triumphant de- | Malta, where the most valuable dis-—
vice “Pikes Peak or bust,” returned ! covery of the season was niade,’ News
106
GUIDEBOOK OF THE. WESTERN UNITED STATES,
Leadville, like most other mining camps, was built around mills
and mine dumps, and much of it is therefore not beautiful.
Any description of mining operations in a mountainous region
like that surrounding Leadville, particularly of those of the early
of the finding of gold in this gulch
spread with PES anaes and
eager miners flocked in
Large papers of a oe
metal were obtained from the e
Estimates of the gold pro-
r differ widely, some
being as high as $10,000,000 a“ others
as low as $3,000,000, rich
habitants.
d
hundred. Some prospect-
ing was done for the veins which sup-
plied the gold of the placers, and sev-
eral mines that gave a fitful gleam of
the camp were located,
7)
xpe
fornia, and to these men silver ore was
comparatively unknown and worthless.
e d the value of th
osperity
the settlement consisted of a few log
cabins on the edge of California Gulch,
with an estimated population of 200;
its business houses consisted of a “ ten
ve groce
almost SS difficult road to Colo-
d s. In petitioning for a
names Cerusite (the
mineralogical name for lead =
nate) and Agassiz were proposed bu
rejected as being too scientific. ced
City was suggested, but finally a com-
promise was reached on Leadville,
three years ors the city
°
bt
n
roe
ot
53
or
wR
©
oS
Qu
B
@
jen)
business houses, constructed of brick
and stone. Its assessable property is
estimated to have been $30;000,000,
and $1,400,000 was expended in
in new buildings and improvements.
production of gold, silver, and lead
amounted to $15,000,
This burst of development was con-—
a little more than $9,006,000
The value of the total yearly metal-
lie output of the district from 1877
to and including 1917 is shown in
figure 26. This diagram shows also
the values of the different metals that
make up the output. The total pro-
duction, as shown by the diagram, is
=
mk
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE.
107
or prospecting stage, would be incomplete without mention of the
humble burro (see Pl. L, A), that patient beast of burden which has
at
ANA
KORN
Rk
NN
x
WA)
=a
AN
“
WAN
M7]
AAAS
AAs
7
4
Y
Lift
|
|
|
GOLO
Peria tit
a
as
~™
~~
= o fo)
o of
© Ww
SuvTIOG 30 SNOITIIW
fairly eieiie, except for two marked
ODS |
L168
16)
Fiavre 26.—Mineral production of Lake County from 1877 to 1918, inclusive.
was due to a strike, which caused
flooded,
/ many of the mines to
and the second to the generally low
108 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
been the prospector’s constant companion in his lonely wanderings
over these bleak ranges and his main dependence for the transporta-
price of the metals. One of the most j years it w ras small, After 1901, how
striking features shown by the dia- ; ever, it increased rapidly until Me
gram is the remarkable increase in the | 1915 it was more than ae of
value of the output of this district | the total output of the distr
since 1902, with the exception of 1908, Thus Leadville, which ial in 1860
the total has been due largely to the | greatest atlver-lead district this coun-
marketing of great quantities of zinc. | try has ever produced and in 1915 be-
In 1915 the zine amounted to $8,989,154 | came tote a ae az = rae
out of a total of $13,839,401. The n and occurrence of t
Figure 26 shows the: gradual de- | ores of gid bear little resem-
cline in the production of silver from
that at first gold formed only a small
Sw.
<< —
0 500 1,000 1500 Feet
1
FIGURE 27 nial eres through some of the workings at Leadville, showing the oo of
the ore to the limestone, rg ey quartzite. wp, White porphyry ; por-
phyry ; coh Leadville lim eee: parting quartzite; wl, white Sse Ait qtz,
lower quartzite; gr, granit a Jon bodies are indicated by cross hatching. he
straight heavy lines se cease faults, and the arrows show the direction of movement.
percentage of the whole but that in | from deep in the interior of the earth
it began to oe and that in | through fissures in the breccia that
1900 it attained maximum of | filled the throat of an old yoleano. At
$2,500,000. Since ner time it has | Lea he ores repla stone,
wee
put has been very regular, its value | an adjacent ecectalte. ‘This re
amounting to about beige a year. | lation is shown in figure 27, which
tesbetie district. _ production of | were brought to Pf place by waters
this metal first noticeable in | ascending from great depth or by
the returns for seg aA for a few | waters sinking down through cracks
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. ° 109
tion of supplies while he has been driving tunnels in search of ore;
which has carried lumber and other material for building mine
works and even heavy machinery up the steep mountain trails.
MAIN LINE OF RAILROAD FROM MALTA TO GRAND
JUNCTION.
Soda Springs and Evergreen Lake, two resorts of local interest,
are 23 miles west of Malta. Evergreen Lake is said to be very attrac-
tive, and Soda Springs is much visited by those who hope to be bene-
fited by the use of the waters.
A little north of Malta, at the crossing of a strong stream from the
east known as the East Fork of the Arkansas, the north end of the
Leadville loop connects with the main line. The East Fork heads in
the Mosquito Range, on the Continental Divide, northeast of Lead-
ville. The pass between the head of this stream and Tenmile Creek,
the head stream of Blue River, has been named Fremont Pass, on the
supposition that Frémont crossed the range at this place in his ex-
pedition of 1845, bps the “ Pathfinder ” probably crossed at Tennes-
see Pass.
in the rocks from the surface has not
Ascending from great depth or by
The ores are generally most abundant
beneath the layers or “sills ”of por-
detect. Geologie work in the district
has shown that the ores were deposited
after the intrusion of the gray por-
rede into the limestone and before
the rocks were broken by the faults
shown in f Aft
and the ores were brought within the
zone of weathering by surface waters.
When the sulphides were thus ex-
a
se pink surface waters in a rather
narrow zone, which has yielded most
e ores mined up to the present
time. The extreme richness of the sil-
ver ore mined when the camp was at
the zenith of its fame was due to =
great increase in the value of the zine
in 1915 was due both to an increase in
the production of ore and to a great
inerease in the pri
Thi
working 0
ore that had been thrown away in the
earlier and more prodigal exploration
of the ore bodies. It is perhaps for-
tunate that zinc was so nearly worth-
less in the early days, for that led to
its conservation until the World War,
when the demand for it was unprece-
dented.
110 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
Long ago, in the Wisconsin stage of the glacial epoch, a great
glacier came down East Fork to a point within a mile and a quarter
of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad. This great river of
ice scoured the valley clean and left it with a broad, flat bottom and
a gentle grade. Most of the loose material scoured from the rocky >
sides of the valley by the moving mass was carried away by Ar-
kansas River, but some was dumped near the lower limit of the ice.
Another glacier came down Lake Fork from the high mountains on
the west, and this one was so strong that it pushed out across the
broad, flat valley of the Arkansas, crowding the stream against the
bluffs on the east side. This glacier dumped a great mass of loose
material in semicircular form (called a terminal moraine), which
the traveler may see on the west (left), but he is so far below its
summit that he can not realize its shape. A glance at the map
(sheet 4) will show its semicircular shape, which conforms to the
curved margin of the tongue of ice that laid it down.
About halfway between mileposts 274 and 275, a mile beyond the
crossing of East Fork, the railroad is crossed by a high-tension elec-
tric transmission line, which is carried on steel towers. This line
carries the power generated in a hydroelectric plant on Colorado
River,** which the traveler will see at Shoshone, 10 miles east of
Glenwood Springs. As the transmission line for such a plant is very
expensive, it follows as straight a course as possible without regard to
mountains or canyons. For this reason it does not follow the Denver
& Rio Grande Western Railroad eastward from Shoshone but turns
to the south and passes up Roaring Fork and Fryingpan Creek to
Hagermann Pass. From this point it descends Lake Fork and
crosses the Denver & Rio Grande Western, as noted above, and thence
goes to Leadville, where much of the power is utilized in the mines
and mills. The line then turns northeastward toward Denyer and
crosses Fremont Pass to Tenmile Creek, which it follows to Dillon.
From Dillon it runs due east and crosses the Continental Divide for
the third time at Argentine Pass. It then descends Clear Creek,
serving Idaho Springs, Central City, Blackhawk, and finally Denver.
The traveler who visited Mount McClellan while at Denver probably
noted the steel towers and the wide swath cleared of timber for this
line along the mountain slopes.
Near milepost 275 Arkansas Valley regains its normal width of
about 2 miles. The constrictions lower down are due entirely to the
moraines of the glaciers that flowed down from the mountain valleys
on the west. Another glacier from the west filled the valley above
milepost 278 with a great moraine, which also crowded the stream
*8 The name of Grand River, in ae and Utah, has recently been changed
to Colorado River by act of Congre
i ed
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. lll
against the east bank. As the roadbed is cut in the hillside it ex-
poses some quartzites and limestones, the beds of which are parallel
with the railroad and dip to the east. These beds probably rest on
the granite that forms the foundation of the earth’s crust in this part
of the country, and they are visible for some distance along the rail-
road track. On the south side of Tennessee Pass, however, the beds
are so poorly exposed that the traveler on a passing train can get
only momentary glimpses of them.
At milepost 281 the slopes of the valley are gentle, and it seems but
a little way to the Continental Divide. When the narrow-gage rail-
road was first built it climbed over the summit of Tennessee Pass,
but now it saves about 250 vertical feet of this climb by a tunnel
2,572 feet long. The station of Tennessee Pass is at the south end
of this tunnel. After running a short distance into
Tennessee Pass. the tunnel the engine ceases tc labor and finishes
rebar feet. the long steady climb from Pueblo. So far as the
~ " vailroad can carry him toward it the traveler has
now attained the crest of the continent.
The heaviest grade on the main line on the east side of the Con-
tinental Divide is 1.42 per cent, or 75 feet to the mile. This grade
extends with few interruptions from Buena Vista to Tennessee Pass,
a distance of 41 miles. The heaviest grade on the west side is 3.3
per cent on the westbound track. This grade is maintained for a
short distance above Minturn, but throughout most of the distance
from Minturn to the summit the maximum grade is 3 per cent, or 158
feet to the mile.
After emerging from the tunnel the traveler may look back and
see the apparently low summit of Tennessee Pass. If it were not at
the backbone of the continent and the parting of the waters of the
Atlantic and Pacific it would not attract attention, for it is only a
low, flat cross ridge against which the streams head that flow in
opposite directions to the two oceans. The Arkansas drainage has
become familiar to the traveler, and now the drainage of Eagle
River and Colorado River will become equally familiar as the train
descends these streams on its way to the western border of the State.
Some travelers may find the Continental Divide disappointing, for
they may have pictured it as the sharp summit of a single mountain
ridge; but the Rocky Mountains form a great system of interlocking
and parallel ranges, only a few of which have sharp, nar row crests,
most of them having rounded summits that are not particularly
imposing, ;
North of the tunnel the railroad is at the headwaters of Piney
Creek, down which it winds and twists to maintain an easy grade
to the main stream, which heads on the flanks of Homestake Peak,
on the west. This valley is generally covered with forest except
112 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
near the railroad, where the trees have been cut for use in building
the railroad and in working the mines. It is now a part of the Holy
Cross National Forest, which is described by Smith Riley in the foot-
note.**
Like most mountain valleys that stand at a high altitude the valley
of Piney Creek is broad and has gentle slopes. The old roadbed
of the narrow-gage line, which crossed the summit of the pass, may
be seen on the left of the present road, several hundred feet above it.
The old line made a great detour to the west into the main valley,
and its bed joins that of the present line at the station of Mitchell.
Few rocks can be seen in place, but the tunnel at the pass was driven
in granite, which is exposed also from place to place in cuts on the
railroad. Just below Mitchell the stream has cut a
Mitchell. rugged trench in the granite on the east side of its
Elevation 9,925 feet. valley, upon which it had been crowded by a great
Cee mass of boulders and clay pushed out by a glacier
that came down from the west. This glacier came
at least as far as the creek, and at times the ice probably turned north-
ward and followed the creek for several hundred.yards. The condi-
tions here resembled those that prevailed in Wildhorse Canyon,
already described.
elow this point the stream has cut a deep gorge in its rocky floor,
and its descent is so rapid that the railroad can not follow it, but
climbs down more gradually along the west wall of the canyon. The
* After passing through the tunnel
at Tennessee Pass the traveler enters
the Holy Cross National Forest. This
forest, which covers 577,634 acres and
includes 2 of the drainage basin of
Eagle River, takes its name from the
furnished with timber from the dead
trees on the large tracts that. were
Swept by fires before the national for-
country, and some is shipped westward
and made into crates for the fruit that
is jeg in the vicinity of Grand
Cy
=
nctio:
The pus fishing in the waters of
the Holy Cross Forest is pip ir one lade
the Bureau of Fisheries and the
ce keep the streams and att
well cicomee by yearly “ od nts” of
young fish. (See Pl. LI, B.) Game
animals and birds of all kinds are con-
is severe and food is scarce, the wild
thorities are informed and steps are
taken to feed them. Wild deer and
mountain sheep (see Pl. LVII, A,
. 182) feed each winter in Glenwood
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 707 PLATE LI
A. WILD ANIMALS IN A NATIONAL FOREST.
The United States Fore vice is making vigorous efforts restock the national forests with
— animals, This picture ang a he eal of elk rece satly shipped fom bil sone , and turned
oose in the Holy Cross National Forest. Photograph by . Fores vice
&. STOCKING A STREAM WITH FISH IN A NATIONAL FOREST,
The st
Vis it re a in the Holy Cross National Forest are stocked with trout fry so Sa at eg rs “0
S region will be rewarded for casting a fly, Photograph by the U. S. Fe vic
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 113
old narrow-gage track swung to the east, making a broad loop up
the East Fork of Eagle River, and then went northward to Pando, on
the level floor of the old lake basin, now called Eagle Park. This
grade is now utilized by the automobile road that in a general way
parallels the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad from Leadville
to Grand Junction.
In the vicinity of Eagle Park the granite is overlain by sedimentary _
bedded rocks that were laid down countless ages ago as sand on the
shore of a sea. Since that time they have been crushed in the move-
ments in the crust of the earth that have raised up the mountains.
They have been permeated by waters bearing silica in solution until
all the pores of the sandstone have been filled with silica or quartz
(quartz is a form of silica) and the rock has become a glassy white
quartzite. This rock crops out nearly parallel with the railroad and
dips from 10° to 20° E. It may be seen in the mountain side on the
left nearly 400 feet above the railroad, and its nearly horizontal beds
are on the opposite side of the valley about 150 feet above the creek.
This mountain side is really the eastern slope of the great Sawatch
uplift, or, as it is frequently called, the Holy Cross Mountains,
which lie west of the railroad. The sbintaiti slope on the other side
Canyon, and it is no uncommon sight | migrate in winter to areas that have
to see large herds of these animals near | exposures to the south and west, where
the railroad.
Before the white man came to the
mountains of the West game animals
of every kind were abundant in them.
Now, even in the national forests,
which are their natural habitat, there
hey can not
however, ‘wild animals of many kinds
could no doubt be pronase and
made a source of revenue. The Fore
is restocking such ar
shipping game animals to nie fi
shipping these animals care
g
vA
State has cut off wild animals from the
valleys, where there is only a light fall
of snow during the winter, and has
limited their range to the higher coun-
rg of this
country, however, must have winter
feedi unds where the snow is com-
D, Which duringsthe summer in-
habit exposed regions near timber line,
the sun and wind keep the grass free
from sn
Plate rei A, shows a number of elk,
part of a herd of several hundred that
were shipped to Colorado by the Forest
Service and turned loose in the moun-
tain region. Recent reports show that
these animals are contented and a
increasing rapidly.
State law was passed pro-
hibiting the killing of elk several herds
f native elk still remained in the
mountains. There are 2,000 or more in
the White River National Forest north
of Glenwood Springs, 50 on Williams
River in the Leadville National For-
est, 250 on the south fork of the Rio
Grande in the Rio Grande National
Forest, 200 in the Gunnison National
F
plentiful near tim
tailed deer throughout the mountains.
Having so large a stock of wild ani-
mals to ca with, Colorado can again
e of the foremost “big
West,
beco
game” piesa of the
114 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
of the valley is composed mainly of rocks that overlie the quartzite,
and if a trench were cut from the top to the bottom of the slope the
rocks would appear as shown in figure 28.
Fo
: g
« v
W. < £ E
o o
rs =
>
> 3
NAIF < ©
re oF oat " Vv
AT SN Prd 9 a
ANUS =z ;
nets | oy Gh LN is me a as
AZIZ NIN pe AY
NT NTN he TENS DIAN RS
NAVEUS ean tee tp tN ANSE INN > VSN INE CL
SR aS P-L RUS Siew ot ONS Shy ERS Wt NST.
7— [FN iio ras pe airy jd = Sie y aan J en 7 = 7 — ts
Sistas A Me Ng Sai ag ole rns ES CES
Fiecure 28.—Section across Eagle Park, showing the thin cap of quartzite on the west
(left) and the same bed dipping into the base of the slope on the opposite side. The
beds dip eastward, away from the Sawatch or Holy Cross anticline.
Near milepost 286 the traveler has an unobstructed view to the
east (right) up the valley of the East Fork of Eagle River almost
into Fremont Pass. The width of this valley suggests that it has
een occupied by a great river of ice that origi-
nated in the high summits of the Mosquito
Range north of Leadville and fiowed down |
Eagle River valley to a point where the melt-
ing exceeded the supply of ice from above,
but the region has not been examined carefully
enough to determine this point.
In descending the west wall of the valley
the traveler may look down upon the level sur-
face of Eagle Park, and one of the features
that may attract his attention is the crooked
.
course of Eagle River, which wends its way
down the valley in many bends or meanders.
These bends, as seen from a point midway be-
tween mileposts 286 and 287, are shown in the
accompanying sketch (fig. 29). Courses so
crooked are not limited to streams in mountain
regions but are characteristic of streams that
Figure 29.—Meanders of flow on flat surfaces with a grade insufficient,
pase River in Eagle to enable them to straighten their channels.
ark near Deen.
The cause of the flat surface here was a dam
formed by a glacier in the valley at Pando. In the pond above this
dam mud accumulated, and when the ice disappeared the valley was
left with a flat mud bottom, which has since been covered with a thick
layer of turf. .
| ee
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 115
A little below this point, at the signal tower of Deen, is the be-
ginning of the double track that extends from that place through
Eagle Canyon to Minturn.
The railroad follows the outcrop of the bedded rocks, which main-
tains, at least as far as Pando, about the same relative position as
when first seen—that is, about 500 feet above the valley floor on the
west and 100 to 150 feet on the east. Just after passing milepost
288, half a mile above Pando, the traveler may see on the east (right)
a low ridge of gravel, which extends across the valley and which is
thought by some geologists to have constituted the terminal moraine
of a very old glacier that once came down Home-
Pando. stake Valley from the southwest, though the writer
Pievation 9,209 feet. thinks that it was more probably the terminal
enver 289 miles. : .
moraine of a great glacier that came down to
this point from Fremont Pass; but, as already stated, the region
has not been examined with sufficient care to justify a definite state-
ment on this subject. The trench that the stream has cut in the
moraine has been filled by an artificial dam, and the pond above the
dam is utilized for making ice.
At Pando the railroad turns abruptly to the right and follows the
river across the broad valley to its eastern wall. The reason for this
abrupt change in the course of the railroad from one side of the
‘valley to’ the other is that half a mile below Pando the valley,
although broad, is almost completely blocked by a great mass of
gravel and boulders, which was brought down by a glacier that once
descended Homestake Creek, on the west, but pushed a tongue of
ice into this valley. (See Pl. LIL.) The material brought in by
this glacier obstructed the drainage of the valley so much that the
river was forced against the east side, and the railroad has followed
the pathway kept open by the stream. The course of Eagle River
has been greatly affected by this glacier and by the morainic material
which it deposited.*5
* A critical observer will see clearly
find its outlet down its present canyon
below Pando, which is too narrow for
a am of its volume, but that it
once flowed westward across the low
divide to Homestake Creek. (See Pl.
S25) Th other words, Eagle River
here once
The interesting question then
arises, What could have happened to
Cause a stream like Eagle River, firmly
/ intrenched in a deep valley, to change
ts course and carve for itself a new
valley? Manifestly a stream can not
make such a change unless it is com-
pelled to do so by some obstruction.
What could have been the obstruction?
As there is conclusive evidence that
the valley of Ho k was
once occupied by a great glacier it
seems obvious that ice was the bar-
rier which prevented Eagle River from
pursuing its original course and fore
it to seek a new outlet toward the
north, The conditions as they were
be
116 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
As the railroad curves about the terminal moraine that marks the
lower limit of the glacier the traveler may catch, far to the west
(left), a fleeting glimpse of the Mount of the Holy Cross (13,986
feet), so named because the snow on its east slope clings throughout
the summer in a great vertical cleft that extends nearly the whole
height of the mountain and in a horizontal cleft that crosses the
vertical cleft, the two together having the form of a cross. The
Mount of the Holy Cross is familiar to many persons through
Moran’s painting, which has been reproduced extensively in colored
prints and postcards. It is doubtful whether from Pando the trav-
eler can see, even in the best weather, more than the crest of the peak,
but farther along the road, near Minturn, he may obtain a somewhat
better view of this well-known mountain. The cross and the moun-
tain that bears it are well shown in Plate LITI.
In some places the rock beds are bent-upward and the underlying
granite appears in great irregular masses, but beyond such bosses,
which continue only for short distances, the quartzite takes its ac-
customed place at railroad leve
The course of the river is ‘nearly due north to the pediation with |
Weary Man’s Creek, which comes in from the east. The combined
stream turns abruptly and flows west until it joins Homestake Creek
and is again in its rightful valley. At the sharp turn from north to
west is situated the mining camp of Redcliff, which
is also the county seat of Eagle County. This val-
ley was the route of an A ae party under the
command of Capt. (afterward Gen.) John C.
Frémont, and a flag on a rocky eminence on the
siigbih of the railroad in Redcliff i is said to mark the site of an en-
gagement with the Ute Indians in one of his expeditions between
1842 and 1845.
Several mines are in operation in the vicinity of Redcliff, and
others may be seen in the canyon between Redcliff and Minturn.
(See Pls. L, B, and LIV.) Some of these mines have found gold
in the dranits near the railroad track, but most of them are operat-
ing in the Leadville limestone at the top of the canyon wall and the
Redcliff.. -
Elevation 8,608 feet.
Population 34
Denver 294 miles
at that time are shown on the accom-
panying map (PI. LIT)
on the west side of the valley, is here
at creek level on the right; and a at
The contrast of the broad valley
above Pando and the narrow rocky
gorge into which the stream plunges
near milepost 290 is striking. To add
to the ruggedness of the scene the
Rink which up to this point has
been high up on the slopes, especially
milepost 290 the base of the quartzite
crosses the stream and makes cliffs
on both sides of the gorge. The gorge
is so narrow that it can accommodate
only the stream and the railroad, but
even in order to build the ra
much rock cutting was necessary.
4
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 707 PLATE LII
89° : ; 106°20/ due
30 i SS x r - NL y \ \ | 77 N ) i 30/
\\ WAN A Afr Nit YAN; Me \ g
! MAP OF HOMESTAKE GLACIER, COLORADO
i Showing how it dammed Eagle River and forced that
stream to follow a new course below da
Scale 12800
1 2 3 4 Miles
|
me
Contour interval 50 and 100 feet.
‘uosyoer “HM Aq y
S010OUd ‘aq Anul jouruins ay? JOY MOY pu suo] set
MOUS POL “HOLSTOL I
shIyT) 9Yz Jo joqmds surerys B ssRoqg ‘JAOABI] JO Se »yNOT
vur ou ‘sreoddestp JOAoU YI Jey. yoos ayy Se kq po Jo1d Os st ssou9
IT pso oy mos J Je ‘sessenysy } ureyunouw é i ul RMP UE oppry * yur Ta [ti fc | TOM su]
‘SSOUD ATOH AHL AO LNOOW
Wit @ivid LoL NELATIOg AZANAS TWOrDOTOMD “gs “A
yRHoOIIe uso 1so 3 UB Ar or » IOATIOCT 94 HOTVOL ZyannbD oan BM TOATIBO OI Ul Ses pez a1
| wey M ) OL 2% 1 Kq poystuing ydeaso oy, I it R n 1 WL,
“Q0UBTSIP VY} UT SMOL okurs YVYY JO und eH uo “UBUI[IF) Jo UMO}] 3 SIpPp Vy. jo doy eu 1 oO VSO]
pue ‘peo] ‘soaps pue JOA oY} JeoU 9IIUeID VY} UL pjos —s) yodsoad pue si yuu ya poy sae uOKURO JOATY
v1 jo wei oy
iL
“NOANYVO YHoALYH WTOVA NI SHNIW
AIT @LVId 20L NILUTING AZAUOS TVOIDOTIOND ‘8S *11
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 117
products are silver, lead, and zinc. At the station at Redcliff the
granite may be seen on the right, and above the granite towers a
great cliff of quartzite, making an imposing entrance to Eagle River
canyon, which begins at this point and extends down the stream for
a distance of 4 miles. Overlying the quartzite, but hardly visible
from the station, is the outcrop of Leadville limestone, marked every-
where by mines and prospect pits. Above the limestone may be
seen here and there ledges of red rock belonging to the upper part
of the Carboniferous—the same formation that is so conspicuous
about Howard and Salida.
After leaving the station at Redcliff the traveler has just about
time to turn in his seat and see the mouth of Homestake Creek on
the south (left). Eagle River once occupied this valley, as already
explained, but was turned out of its course by the glacier that came
down the creek valley from the high mountains on the south. The
glacier did not quite reach the site of the railway below Redcliff, but
at the time of its greatest extension its front was only a few hun-
dred yards away. Below the mouth of this creek the railroad fol-
lows the river through Eagle River canyon, which is not so deep
as Many gorges cut by Arkansas River on the other side of the Con-
tinental Divide, though for narrowness and picturesqueness it is
excelled by few.
The stream, which has here become a river, tumbles down through
the narrow gorge, dashing its spray over the great boulders that
obstruct its pathway. The walls of the canyon rise in jagged pinna-
cles to a height of 400 or 500 feet and on the east are capped by
banded quartzite, the projecting points of which look like ruined
castles perched on the rocky walls. Mining has been carried on in
this canyon and on the surrounding mountain slopes for many years,
and the walls are honeycombed with old prospects and tunnels driven
in search of gold. The ores obtained in the limestone above the
canyon were lowered to the railroad on inclined tramways or aerial
cable lines, the remains of which may be seen along the east wall at
points where an unobstructed passageway could be obtained from
the head-house, which seems to have a precarious footing on the
tocky slope, down to the railroad. For some distance all the mines
seem to have been abandoned, but near milepost 296 the river swings
to the east and the sedimentary rocks, which dip in that direction,
are much lower than they are farther up the stream. Here there
are several large mines (see Pl. L, B, p. 105), and the mining town
of Gilman has been built on a rocky point that projects into the
canyon from the east at a height of several hundred feet above rail-
road level. The mines are in the Leadville limestone, which lies
above the precipitous walls of quartzite and granite, and the traveler
$0607°—22-._.9
118 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES,
may be able to see some of the ore being lowered to a mill in the
bottom of the canyon.*® The ore is crushed in this mill and partly
separated from the rock with which it is associated and is then
shipped to some smelter for reduction to the metallic
Belden.
Blevation 8,304 feet. above the railroad and has a thickness of 250 to
Peet iis, 300 feet. It is overlain by the Leadville limestone,
which shows at the top of the canyon wall.
Eagle River canyon isso narrow that in building the second track the
Denver & Rio Grande was forced to use both sides of the river and
even there had to tunnel through many of the projecting points of
rock. (See Pls. L,B,and LV, B.) The westbound track follows the
east side of the canyon and the eastbound track the opposite side.
For a short distance below Belden the canyon continues narrow and
rugged, but its course is more and more toward the east, and the
*A. H. Means in Economic Geology, vol. ad p. 4, 1915, gives the following
section of the rocks in the Eagle River canyon
Section of rocks exposed in Eagle River canyon, Colo.
—
- Thick-
Age. Character. Formation. pee
© us: Feet.
Pennsylvanian...........| Sandstone. Maroon formation...........-- 1,900
Sandstone Weber sandstone.............. 3,950
I dan Weis oo ay ok t-- <> Weber shale | 50
Le a Bs eee ee eee | 100
Mississippian ........-.-.. omelet gray and white... .| Leadvillelimestone........... 150
Cambrian Qua awatch quartzite............. 270
state. At Belden the quartzite is about 100 feet -
song t ae ores and the mines
Mr. Mean
Redcliff and Gilman, a distance ue
miles. The deposits may be
divided as follows:
“(1) Fissure veins in the granit
carrying principally gold and et
with some copper, lea Zin
“(2
) Replacements in the quartzite,
consisting of bodies of zinc blende and
galena, apes narrow veins carrying
gold and sil
“43 } slot Biot in the limestone,
comprising large bodies of zine blende
and considerable deposits of chalcopy-
rite and pyrite.”
According to Henderson the value
of all the metals produced in Eagle
County from 1880 to the end of 1920
is — say ores ibe here
are the same those produced in
fat Leave sti and the field
E
sil fives toad: camp,
nes a little gold also has been mined.
The mines produced about $1,500,000
a year in 1883 to 1886. In rey copper
began to be mined, and i
zine mined became of sainctaie valde
s
zinc sprang into prominence in 1914,
and in 1915 it led all other metals in
to §. tT.
the value of its output, which amounted oat
a 7 >
ween ee
,
GEOLOGI(
BULLETIN 707 PLATE LV
URVEY
; 7
¢
=>
*
‘AL S
AL.
MOUTONNEES.
loly Cross flowed down Cros s Creek,
Such rock forms, owing
‘roches moutonnée
A. ROCHES
he Mount of the H
rounding and poli projecting point of the granite rock.
ied resemblance to the backs sheep, are ci alled by the French
rk sc
H. Jac
The great glacier that originated near t
shing every
of
their fanci
Hee graph by W.
RIVER CANYON.
from a point near Belden looking
— wall in the
1ew
B. EAGLE
An eas
pohiccrsscctromnge train passing through Eagle Rive cany¢ Vi
P ednigh The remains of old mines are hea le peng below the top of the
ance. Photograph furnished by the Denver & Rio Grande Western Ri rileoc ad
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 707 PLATE LVI
A, EAGLE VALLEY NEAR EDWARDS.
Although most of the valley of Eagle River between Minturn and we ucott is more than
7 _ iss set tae » sea level, good crops ‘of alfalfa, the more hardy grains, and potatoes
i
isec The ranch buildings a usually substantial and the ranches a ll kept.
a ahe soft light “ot ag evening the fields of waving grain make a very pretty pic ture.
Phitcerant by . Leighton.
B. RECENT VOLCANO IN EAGLE VALLEY.
From the dark hill i = the middle background came the | volcanic outburst in this part
of the country. Fragments of dark lava still cling to the slopes, showing that the lava
ree down to he bottom of the ak ey. Photograph by Marius R. Campbell.
C. EDGE OF RECENT LAVA FLOW.
The lava flowed out from the volcano shown in B until it reached the ee; there it
stopped. This is a view of the edge of the flow ne e it is washed by Eagle River.
Photograph by M, O, Leighton,
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 119
result is that the quartzite steadily approaches railroad level down-
stream. About half a mile below milepost 297 the quartzite reaches
railroad grade, and a short distance below it passes beneath the
stream and is lost to view.
Just before reaching Rex siding the traveler may see on the west
(left) a ridge of loose boulders, which seems almost like a dam
thrown across the valley of Eagle River. Doubtless he has already
learned to recognize such an accumulation of boulders as a moraine
that was pushed out by a glacier from some side valley. This moraine
was built by a large body of ice which descended Cross Creek from
the high peaks of the Holy Cross group of mountains. The boulders
were carried entirely across the valley of Eagle River, showing that
the ice filled the valley to the foot of the slope on the east side. The
glacier expanded when it reached Eagle River, so that its extremity
must have resembled a fan, and it covered the area on which the rail-
road has been built for a distance of 24 miles. One of the great blocks
of gneiss which it carried to the foot of the slope on the farther side
may be seen on the east (right) of the track near Elk Creek. It
is 40 feet long and 25 or 30 feet wide, and its top stands 12 feet above
the ground.
Cross Creek is noted for the peculiar forms that were produced
along it by the passage of the glacier over its granite bed. As the
glacier found the floor of the granite canyon somewhat irregular its
principal work was to round off and polish the projecting knobs.
The rounded masses of granite in this canyon, called “ roches mouton-
nées ” (rdsh moo-ton-nay’), are shown in Plate LV, A. This name
has been applied by French geologists to such rounded rocks on
account of their fancied resemblance, when seen at a distance, to the
backs of sheep.
' At Rex siding the top of the quartzite is at railroad level, and the
Leadville limestone may be seen on the left, where it forms
knobs. Its color is light blue, and it is easily distinguishable from
the quartzite, which has a yellowish tone. As the railroad swings
to the east and the rocks dip in the same direction the Leadville
limestone soon disappears below the bottom of the valley, and the
only hard rocks in sight are the Carboniferous sandstones and shales,
which give to the slopes on the east (right) their banded appearance.
One of the most noteworthy features of this part of the Denver &
Rio Grande Western Railroad is the Mount of the Holy Cross
(Pl. LIT). This peak stands near the head of Cross Creek, but
unfortunately no good view of it can be obtained from the train.
Near the mouth of Elk Creek, however, a fleeting glimpse of
the mountain may be had, if the traveler is on the alert and looks in
the right direction. As the train swings eastward and approaches
120 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
the mouth of Elk Creek the traveler, by looking back on the
west (left) may see high rugged peaks coming one by one into view.
Mount Jackson may be seen by looking up Cross Creek, but the one
peak which he desires to see more than all others is hidden for a long
time by the high plateau on the south side of the canyon. Finally,
however, after crossing Elk Creek, which comes in from the
east, when the train is near milepost 300 and just before it passes be-
hind a ridge on the left, the traveler may catch a glimpse up the creek
valley of the Mount of the Holy Cross (see Pl. LIIT), but even
here the cross itself is not well shown. Very few persons who have
passed over this road have been able to identify this famous peak,
but if the traveler will look as directed he can certainly see it unless
the atmospheric conditions prevent a view of
any of the high mountains.
Just after milepost 300 is passed the moraine
glacier appears across the river as a sharp and
distinct ridge which curves parallel with the
railroad, and a good view of its tree-covered
slopes may be had from the train. This moraine
is composed of sand, clay, gravel, and boulders
brought down by the ice from the high moun-
tains on the west, and the glacier that brought
this great mass of material marked the last
stage of glaciation (Wisconsin) that affected
North America; but half a mile beyond mile-
seca eure aE post 300 there is on the west (left) another ridge
moraines above Min. OF Moraine that is rudely parallel to the other
ridge just described, but sharply distinct from
it. This outer moraine was evidently formed
long before the last glacier occupied the valley, for its slopes are
more affected by the weather, and as it is outside of the other moraine
it must have been formed earlier or else the ice would have de-
molished the inner ridge, which now is the more conspicuous of the
two. The relative position of the two moraines is shown in figure
30. The existence of this older moraine shows clearly that glaciers
were formed in these mountains in at least two distinct epochs of
time, one of which was much earlier than the other.
The rocks that are so well shown in the mountain slope on the east
(right) are supposed to belong to the lower part of the upper Car-
boniferous or, in other words, to have been formed at the same time
as the earliest of the great coal beds in the Appalachian region and
the Mississippi Valley. In the Rocky Mountains some coal beds have
been found in these rocks, but most of them are too small or too im-
that marks the other limit of the Cross Creek —
jo epee
Be. a :
3 Sie aS ee .. ie
t
Se Te
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 121
pure to be worked profitably. The lowermost of these formations
is the Weber shale, which lies directly above the Leadville limestone
but which is so soft that it makes no showing at the surface. Above
the Weber shale lies 200 or 300 feet of sandstone and shale that have
a strong reddish tint, and above this for 1,000 feet or more the rocks
consist mainly of light-colored sandstone separated by layers of
shale. On account of this alternation of rocks the hillside appears
to be ribbed horizontally by beds of white rock.
As the railroad curves back toward the west the river cuts into
the Leadville limestone. The rock is first seen near milepost 301,
but it rises steeply and at the milepost is 30 feet above the track,
Here the direction in which the beds of rock trend or strike begins
to be affected by the northward plunge of the Holy Cross anticline,”
so that the Leadville limestone, instead of becoming higher and
Ficurn 31.—Anticline (at left) and syncline (at right). Perspective views and vertical
sections showing the half-cigar-shaped mountains of hard rocks on the anticline and
the canoe-shaped point of the syncline. After Willis.
higher as the train descends the valley, dips down the stream, and
before the train reaches Minturn the beds are below water level.
The town of Minturn is built on a broad, flat valley bottom in
which no hard rocks are exposed, but a mile below the station the
same beds of rock which before were seen only
Minturn. in the cliffs on the east form the mountain side
Flevation 7,825 feet. on the west, showing that the beds of rock are
opulation 298. (ee
Denver 302 miles, swinging more toward the west than they do
farther up the river. The red sandstone that was
SO conspicuous above disappears on the right about the mouth of
Gores Creek. This creek is a clear mountain stream that heads in
the high peaks of the Gore Range on the east, some of which may
be seen by looking directly up its valley. The stream is noted for
“An upward bulge or fold of the | circular in outline it is called a dome.
rocks is termed an anticline; if it is | The corresponding downfold is called
long and narrow it is frequently called | a syncline. These folds are repre-
an arch, but if it is short and nearly ! sented in figure 31.
122 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
the fine fishing that it affords and that tempts many anglers to come
here to try their luck. The double track which begins above Red-
cliff ends just below the bridge over Gores Creek.
At the point where the red sandstone and shale pass below railroad
level near Gores Creek the cliff on the right is composed of the over-
lying light-colored sandstone and interbedded darker shale. At the
mouth of the creek these beds dip about 30° NE. <A short distance
below the mouth of the creek the river bends sharply toward the east,
and in so doing it cuts more directly across the hard ledges of sand-
stone which compose the bulk of the formation. As these rocks are
harder than those either above or below, the canyon cut by the river is
narrower and more rugged than it is in the vicinity of Minturn or
below that place, where the beds are much softer. After making a
great curve to the right the sandstones (Weber formation) abruptly
come to an end. As the train passes this point the traveler may not
fully realize why they terminate at this place, but the map will show
him that their disappearance from the east side of the river is due to
the fact that they swing across the stream, although they do not show
in the hillside on the west. If the traveler looks back after passing
down the valley a mile or so he will see these beds on the east side of the
valley dipping about 45° NE. and reappearing on the west side, as de-
scribed above. The beds that overlie the sandstone are very soft and
consist mostly of clay or shale with here and there a more sandy layer
that makes a ledge along the hillside. The beds are so soft that they
have been worn down into comparatively low hills, at least near the
river, and the slopes are everywhere round and gentle. These rocks
are the same as the variegated sandstone and shale at Leadville, which
have been called the Maroon formation.
Immediately below the mouth of the canyon the river bottom, which
expands to a width of about half a mile and holds it for a distance of
several miles, is strewn with boulders brought down by the stream.
These boulders extend for about half a mile, and below that point the
valley, although narrow, is well irrigated and farmed. The hills on
the west side of the valley bear no resemblance in form or color to those
on the east. They are dark and their surfaces are hummocky, as
if composed of soft material that has slid down the hillside until
it resembles a gigantic moraine. The reason for the peculiar appear-
ance of this hillside is not apparent until the trav-
- eler has passed the little village of Avon and has
Elevation 7,465 feet. looked back on the other side of the hill. The rocks
nver 308 miles,
here are well exposed by the cutting of the stream
that comes down out of the high mountains on the west. At the base
they consist of the ordinary country rocks with which the traveler is
already familiar, Above these rocks lie some darker ones, com
Avon.
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE, 123
of volcanic material that was long ago washed down to this position
from a lava flow. This material, which is soft and easily washed by
the rains, has slumped down the hillsides until it has given the surface
a general hummocky appearance.
The valley at Avon is nearly a mile wide, and in summer it pre-
sents a beautiful appearance, with field after field of grain rippling
in the wind and here and there a well-kept farmhouse peeping from
a grove of cottonwood trees. The farms extend about a mile below
the village to a point where the bluff on the east side swings in
against the river, cutting off the farming land and rendering the
valley rough and broken. The railroad, which has been forced to
follow the river along the west (left) side of the valley, swings to
the right in a broad curve at Edwards siding, just beyond milepost
312, and continues on that side for some distance. As the railroad
is high above the river and skirts the bluffs along the east side, the
traveler has an unobstructed view of the full sweep of the valley.
(See Pl. LVI, A.) A large valley comes in from the southwest
(left), and soon the high peaks of the Holy Cross Range burst into
view. The view near milepost 313 is one of the most attractive on
the road, especially in early summer, when the summits are still cov-
ered with the snow of the previous winter, or in early autumn, when
they are white with the first snow of the season, One can look
across the grassy bottom of Eagle River, dotted with herds of cattle,
to the ranches on the opposite side, where field after field of grain
or hay stretches up the side valley as far as the eye can see and
even climbs the opposite slape to the highest terrace, Here and
there ranch houses are embowered in groves of trees, and the white
schoolhouse, with its bright-red roof, gives a touch of color to the
pastoral scene. The green fields, especially when the afternoon
shadows begin to lengthen, look like velvet, and one would have to
travel far to find a landscape more beautiful. ‘
In the movements that have raised the mountains the soft rocks
have been crumpled and folded or crushed and broken in a very
complex manner. Just beyond Allenton siding, beyond milepost
314, the beds of rock are magnificently exposed on the east (right),
for here an old bend in the river threw it against the foot of the
bluff, where it washed away all loose material. Here the beds of
rock stand nearly vertical, but within a short distance they ane ;
tendency to flatten and pass with slight dips under the river, w mi
here swings sharply to the right. The traveler can see that re
rocks here are prevailingly soft and that only here and there =
beds of sandstone stand out like giant ribs on the face of the cliff.
The colors of the rocks are variegated, but there is enough red and
deep brown in them to give the hills a warm tint.
124 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
Half a mile beyond milepost 315, at the crossing of a small creek
which enters the river from the ibis: the base of brilliant light-
red sandstone is exposed. This sandstone is Triassic in age and is
much more showy in color than any other rock which the traveler has
seen since he left Canon City. On account of its striking color
attempts have been made to utilize it as building stone, but gener-
ally it is so easily affected by the weather that in a few years the
corners are rounded off and even great holes are etched in the solid
blocks. Where first seen these beds dip about 45° W., but the dip
flattens in a short distance to about 25°.%* Beyond wide poet 316 the
top of the bright-red beds may be seen on both sides of the river.
On the right they extend down the hillside in a great curve, but on
the left eid run along the face of the bluff with only a slight dip
downstrea
The sos that overlie the bright-red sandstone are variegated
in color but are predominantly green and maroon. ree make up
w. E.
—
==
SS
—- ss i= = . sak
7,000 == ~ RAILROAD = ime greiner =e
fare a = =
“eos formation === = =~
Ficure 32.—Sketch section across the syncline at Wolcott on a line from east to west.
what is called the Gunnison formation, so named from its outcrop
in the valley of Gunnison River. The upper part of this forma-
tion is without doubt the same as the Morrison formation on the
east side of the mountains, but its lower part probably includes
rocks that are not found on that side. The Gunnison formation
here contains much soft shale and clay but includes also some beds
of resistant sandstone. At this place the formation has been so
much crushed that its thickness can not be estimated, but at other
outcrops in this vicinity, where it is undisturbed, it is about 220
feet thick. The discovery of the remains of some very wonderful
“The peculiarities and irregulari- ; stand on edge, as shown by the ac-
ties of the dips in this part of the | companying diagram, but they flatten
valley can be best understood by refer- | rapidly as they pass below water level,
ence to the map on page 134. This map | and as seen farther on they lie nearly
shows that the river here cuts di- | flat along its axis.
agonally across the rim of a sag or The meaning of the dips is well illus
basin in the rocks (not a surface ba- | trated in the accompanying sketch (fig-
sin), the lowest part or axis of which | 32), which shows the rocks as they
is crossed by the railroad a mile or | would appear in a deep trench cut vel-
so farther north toward Wolcott. On | tically from east to west through the
the eastern rim of this basin the rocks | fold,
7m Se ”
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 125
animals in the upper part of this formation north of Canon City
is described briefly on page 70.
Above the Gunnison formation lies the Dakota sandstone, which
crosses the track near milepost 317. This sandstone marks the base
of the Upper Cretaceous and is one of the most persistent and wide-
spread formations of the Rocky Mountain region. It extends from
northern Wyoming to central New Mexico and from Omaha to cen-
tral Utah. In the valley of Eagle River it consists of a single layer
of brownish-yellow sandstone 30 to 40 feet thick. It slopes up the
hillside on the right and forms the crest of a ridge that runs nearly
parallel with the railroad for a mile or more. Across the river it
forms the northeastern slope of the hill in what geologists call a
“dip slope.” %°
The formations so far described are fairly hard, and consequently
they form the walls of a rather narrow canyon, but immediately over
the Dakota sandstone lies the Mancos shale, which is one of the
softest rocks in this region. It is so soft that it readily wears away
under the action of the weather and the streams, and consequently it
seldom or never forms high or large hills. Where Eagle River
crosses the outcrop of the Dakota sandstone and cuts into the shale
the valley immediately expands to a width of nearly a mile and con-
tains several ranches. In fact, nearly all the shale on the left side of
the river has been removed and the valley takes the form of a rock-
rimmed basin. The beds of rock on the east side of the basin are
steeply upturned, but those on the west side dip toward the middle
of the basin at a very low angle, which can hardly be detected but
which may be seen in the cliffs of shale almost directly ahead. This
little basin or downfold of Cretaceous rocks forms the extreme south-
ern tip of the great syncline or basin of Cretaceous rocks which car-
ries the valuable coal beds of Routt and Moffat counties, in the
northwestern part of the State, and which underlies most of south-
western Wyoming.
As the train passes milepost 317 the traveler, by looking back the
way he came, may obtain another glimpse of the high peaks of the
Holy Cross Range, which, if they are covered with snow, are still
Conspicuous objects above the horizon. After the traveler passes the
axis of the syncline, between mileposts 317 and 318, he can see the
gentle rise of the rocks on the west (left) of the railroad in a great
cliff of shale, which is nearly ahead but which may be seen on the
left from milepost 318. Some bands of white, impure limestone can
*A dip slope is formed by a bed of | surface is the same as the dip of the
hard rock from which overlying soft | bed that controls the surface it is
material has been removed by rains | known as a dip slope,
and streams, and as the slope of the
126 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
be followed by the eye, and these indicate clearly the rise of the beds
toward the west, but a still better marker of their rise is the Dakota
sandstone, which lies below the surface in the central part of the .
basin but which rises from stream level just below the station at
Wolcott and from that place westward forms a battlemented wall
along the canyon.
The north side of the valley is marked by a high cliff of the Mancos
shale, but the other side is nearly flat and can be cultivated, so that if
makes an agreeable break in the line of canyons and narrow valleys
through which the traveler has been passing. Until the building of
the “ Moffat road,” in 1906, Wolcott, although but a small village,
was one of the principal distributing points for the
Wolcott. region to the north as far as the Wyoming line, and
Elevation 6,975 feet. a stage was run daily between Wolcott and Steam-
eee wie, boat Springs. At that time the region now in-
“cluded in Routt and Moffat counties was noted
chiefly as a stock-raising country and thousands of cattle were annu-
ally shipped east over the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad from Wol-
cott and Rifle. Since the completion of the “ Moffat road” Steam-
boat Springs and the region round about receive their supplies
directly from Denver, but a stage line is still maintained from Wol-
cott to State Bridge, 14 miles distant, the nearest point on the
“ Moffat road.”
On leaving Wolcott the train plunges into another canyon, which
extends for a distance of about 5 miles. The Dakota sandstone forms
the cap rock of the walls of this canyon, especially on the north side,
but the surface back of the rugged cliffs rises gradually to much
greater heights. The sandstone appears above railroad level just
below the station at Wolcott, where it consists of a brownish-yellow
sandstone, about 80 feet thick. It abounds in impressions of stems
and leaves of plants, which show that at the time it was deposited
the country was covered with trees, many of them similar to those
living to-day in the more humid regions of the United States. At
that time there were no Rocky Mountains, and the deposition of this
sand, which has since been hardened into sandstone, was followed
a great invasion of salt water, which formed a sea that
stretched from Iowa to Utah and entirely across the United States
from north to south. In that sea lived animals that produced shells
much like the shellfish of the present day, and on the death of the
animals the shells dropped to the bottom and there became embedded
in fine mud. To-day that sea bottom has been elevated thousands of
feet above its former position, the sea water has drained away, and
the limy muds have been hardened into shale in which the shells are
preserved with all their beautiful ornamentation. The traveler can
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 1e7
verify this statement for himself by finding well-preserved fossil sea
shells in the railroad cut just east of the station at Wolcott.
The station at Wolcott is built on the Dakota sandstone, which in
a short distance to the west rises above track level, so that the under-
lying variegated shale and sandstone (Gunnison formation) and the
rocks still lower in the geologic column come into view as the tray-
eler pursues his way down the river bank. As the train rounds the
first sharp curve below the station the variegated beds of the Gunni-
son formation may be seen on the north (right), where they have
been exposed by the cutting for the railroad track. , About a mile
below the village the Dakota lies about 300 feet above the level of the
track and the light-red sandstone of the Triassic makes its appear-
ance at that level, but it is so poorly shown that the traveler may not
be able to identify it. A view down the river valley from this point,
however, shows that the bright-red sandstone is very conspicuous in
the cliffs—it is, in fact, the most
prominent rock to be seen. The
profile of the cliff on the north side
of the canyon is represented in
figure 33. In this part of the can-
yon the red sandstone is so bril-
liant that the outcrop looks like a Lh @aLa
flame or a mass of red-hot iron pe Li eae
on the hillside. At Kent siding, >)
just beyond milepost 321, the val- SE ZE
ley is somewhat wider than it is Frovre 38—Canyon cut by Eagle eed
farther upstream, and the traveler perenee i Maiote SORE
may obtain, on the north, an ex-
cellent view of the canyon wall, which is about 175 feet high and is
capped by Dakota sandstone and the brownish-red sandstone that
marks the top of the Triassic system of rocks.
Although the canyon is in general very narrow there are at some
places along the river level lands and small farms. The stream, like
all others in this region, is fringed with cottonwood trees and wil-
lows, but among these are interspersed dark spruce trees, which give
a pleasing contrast. In summer there is a decided difference between
the dark-bluish tint of the spruce trees and the soft green of the
cottonwoods and the willows, but the color effects are at their best
in early autumn, when the leaves of the cottonwoods and the willows
are a brilliant yellow.
Owing to the westward rise of the rocks the canyon walls grow
higher and higher, but near Ortega siding (mileposts 323-324) the
Triassic red sandstone rises above track level and the canyon ends,
because as soon as the hard beds rise above drainage level they are
undermined by the cutting away of the soft shale of the lower (Ma-
128 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
roon) formation. The canyon is in places rugged and picturesque,
but generally it will be remembered for its brilliant coloring rather
than for the configuration of its rocky walls.
The valley below the canyon resembles the valley cut in the same
rocks near Avon, but the hills here are lower than those about Avon
and are cut more deeply by the tributary streams. The main valley,
however, contains few striking scenic features, but it is interesting
for its many fine farms and comfortable residences. :
Near milepost 327 the band of bright-red rock on the higher hills
across the river is very conspicuous. As shown on the map, it does
not extend far to the west, for it loops around and connects with the
exposure that was crossed a few miles above Wolcott. Toward the
north the Triassic rocks extend for a long distance, but they are not
visible from the train. The traveler may be able to trace the Dakota
for some distance, but it eventually fades from sight, and then the
most prominent rock is a dark basalt that caps the highest hill 6 or
8 miles to the north. This rock is a remnant of what was once prob-
ably a continuous sheet of lava that was poured out on a nearly level
surface before the present canyons were cut, when the general sur-
face of the country coincided with the tops of the present highest
hills and plateaus. It should not be supposed, however, that the sur-
face at that time was higher above sea level than it is to-day; indeed,
it may have been not nearly so high, for it may have been raised
to its present level since the lava was poured out. Other remnants of
this sheet of lava may be seen farther down Eagle River.
The thriving village of Eagle stands at the junction of the valleys
of Brush Creek and Eagle River, in the midst of a rich agricultural
‘district, which presents a pleasing contrast to the
Eagle. bare rocks of the canyon walls and to the badlands
kde 6506 feet. that the streams have produced in the bluffs border-
Denver 329 miles, ig the main valley. Although the general altitude
of the valley is rather high, good crops of hay,
grain, and potatoes are raised, and much live stock finds pasturage
on the surrounding uplands. The railroad crosses Eagle River just
before reaching Eagle and remains on the south side of that stream as
far as its junction with Colorado River.
After leaving Eagle the traveler may obtain another glimpse of
the Holy Cross Mountains on the left, up the broad valley of Brush
Creek. For some distance below this point the bluffs of the river
are so high that they shut out from view the country on the south
(left), but farther west the bluffs recede from the river and grow
lower and lower until the upland on the south is clearly visible.
This upland now takes on the aspect of a broad, sloping plateat
that culminates in the Holy Cross Mountains, which form a most
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 129
striking feature, especially when they are covered with snow and
the intermediate country is still clothed in its summer verdure.
The Holy Cross Mountains are usually regarded as the western-
most range of the Rocky Mountains. The traveler who is pursuing
his way along the bottoms of these canyons may not be aware that
he has passed out of the Rocky Mountains and has entered a province
marked by very different surface features, but if he could obtain a
comprehensive view of the country from some high point he would
see at once that the great ranges of the Rocky Mountains lie en-
tirely to the east, and that although mountain ranges are visible
to the west they are neither extensive nor continuous. The region
into which he is now entering is a land of plateaus, some low and
some high—nearly as high as the peaks of the Rockies. It is also
called a land of canyons, for it includes most of the canyons of the
Colorado River system. Country of this type extends westward
from the Holy Cross Mountains to the west side of the Wasatch
Plateau in the vicinity of Provo, Utah.
For about 6 miles below the town of Eagle the valley of the river
continues much the same as it is about the town. The railroad is
built on a terrace that stands 60 to 80 feet above the river, and in
places this terrace is surmounted by another about 50 feet higher.
The bluffs on the north side of the valley become conspicuous be-
cause of their barrenness and because they are being rapidly dis-
sected by rivulets produced by every shower. Gypsum Creek, an-
other large stream, enters the main valley from the
Gypsum. south at the village of Gypsum. The creek and the
Elevation 6,325 feet. town are so named because of the occurrence in
Deguation 470.* bundance of the mineral gypsum in the neighbor-
' hood. The village of Gypsum is a supply point for
large districts both to the north and to the south. The region near
the village is devoted largely to farming, but beyond the farms there
is a large area of open range, upon which a great number of cattle
are fattened each year. :
e red sandstone of the Triassic comes into the tops of the hills
below Gypsum, and as it is the hardest rock in the series exposed
here it tends to form a canyon that has high and apparently esi si
tous walls. Near milepost 337 the railroad enters the canyon, which
1S not so narrow as it at first appears. This canyon is not so pictur-
sque as the canyon in similar beds below Wolcott, for in the canyon
below Gypsum the hard red sandstone lies high in the hills and is
underlain by soft clay and shale, which wear away rapidly, so that
the harder sandstone above breaks down, forming a long, gradual
slope back from the stream, whereas in the canyon below Wolcott
there are no soft beds exposed below to be eroded and to undermine
130 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
the harder rocks above, so that the red sandstone cliffs rise almost
directly from the water.
As the traveler enters the canyon below Gypsum he may see that
the bright-red beds lie in the form of a downfold (syncline)—that is,
they are higher at the ends of the canyon than in the middle. This
structure may not be apparent to him at first, but at a point between
mileposts 338 and 339 he may easily see that the red beds directly
opposite the train are lower than the same beds are either to the right
or to the left. This lowest point is called the axis of the syncline; it
is the line toward which the beds dip from both sides. The layer of
rock at the extreme top of the hill on the right is dark brown and not
red like the underlying beds, and it does not lie parallel with the
other beds but caps the hills without conforming to the dip of the
beds beneath. The dark rock is so far away that the traveler can
not distinguish its character, but if it were nearer he would see that
it is basalt, similar to the sheet of basalt that caps the canyon walls
below Wolcott.
In passing down the canyon, before he arrives at the junction of
Eagle River and Colorado (Grand) River, the traveler has spread
before him one of the finest examples of a recent lava flow that can
be found in this country. He can first see this lava flow in the dis-
tance on the right soon after he passes milepost 340, in a low, dark
hill in the bottom of the valley. The rock of this hill may not at first
attract his attention, but on approaching it nearer he can see that it
is nearly black and presents a striking contrast to the light-colored
rock of the sides of the valley. This rock can be seen at close range
at a point about half a mile farther along, where it forms a terrace
across the river bottom which suggests that the valley was at one
time filled up to a certain level with this black rock. On closer in-
spection this black rock is seen to be very rough and broken (see
Pl. LVI, B), and those who are familiar with lava flows will at once
recognize its character, though others may have difficulty in realizing
that this mass of rock was once molten matter that was forced up
from the interior of the earth through some vent in the solid crust
and that flowed down into this valley much as thick molasses flows
in cold weather. This fiery mass could not flow rapidly, for its outer
part was continually cooling and being “frozen” into solid rock.
The crust thus formed would hold the lava for a time, but it would
finally burst and the fiery flood would once more roll along until it
was again held up by the cooling of the surface. This drawing off of
the liquid lava produced caverns beneath the solid crust, which in
time broke and fell in, so that the surface is now very rough. The
edge of the flow, shown in Plate LVI, C, can be seen from the train
as it follows the bank of Eagle River on the opposite side.
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 131
The traveler has now seen the lava flow, though he has probably
not seen the vent or volcano from which it must have come, but if
he scans closely the hills across the valley he will see that some of
them are littered with fragments of the same dark rock that com-
poses the flow and that others consist wholly of that rock. The
volcano must have been near the top of the first series of hills, as
shown in Plate LVI, &, but its crater is now obscured by the lava
that consolidated in its throat. The vent was small, but it has all
the essential features of a true voleano. The ravine down which
the fiery flood rolled into the valley, leaving some of the melted
rock adhering to its sides as it passed, may be seen from the train.
(See Pl. LVI, 2B.)
This eruption seems to have been the last expiring gasp of forces
that long before poured out immense floods of molten material in
this region. The material erupted at this place was only enough
to fill the valley to a depth of 50 or 60 feet but not enough to turn
the river from its course. The lava extends down the valley half a
mile beyond milepost 341.
As the train rounds the bend, just below the limit of the lava flow,
the valley of Colorado River is visible on the north (right), and
Eagle River unites with this stream a few hundred yards farther
on, but the junction is not near enough to be seen from the train.
Colorado River has its source on the east slope of Mount Richthofen,
in the northern part of Middle Park, and those who went to the
summit of the mountains (Corona) on the “ Moffat road” could
look down on this west side into some of the head tributaries of
this river. After flowing westward across Middle Park the river
escapes from that natural basin in the mountains by Gore Canyon,
a rugged gorge which it has cut through the Park Range—the same
range which the traveler saw on the east (right) at Tennessee Pass.
Gore Canyon is cut in granite, but below the Park Range the valley
is much like that of Eagle River, consisting of a succession of nar-
row canyons with stretches of broad valley between. This alterna-
tion is repeated many times along the river before it is joined by
Eagle River at the siding of Dotsero. At the point of junction there
is visible far to the north a high plateau, which is locally called The
Flattops or the White River Plateau, from the stream that drains
its western slope. It has an altitude of 11,000 to 12,000 feet and is
hoted as the greatest hunting ground of western Colorado. It was
here that Theodore Roosevelt made one of his famous hunting trips
while he was President of the United States. The preservation of
the plateau at this high altitude is largely due to the fact that soon
after its even surface was formed it was covered from some vent in
this region with lava, which afterward cooled and consolidated into
a basalt that has successfully withstood the action of the elements
132 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
and still preserves its nearly level surface. The lava sheet that caps
the high hill on the north side of the canyon below Wolcott was prob-
ably once a part of this same flow or flows but has been separated
from it by the canyon cut by Colorado River.
After passing milepost 342 and a small cut a few hundred yards
beyond the railroad track reaches the bank of Colorado River, which
it follows to the western border of Colorado. This
Dotsero. art of the country is noted for its cattle and
Nate te, feet. horses, and the siding of Dotsero is maintained
largely for their shipment. There are no red rocks
in the valley of Colorado River just below the mouth of Eagle
River, but the rocks there exposed are about as hard as the soft
red and green shale and sandstone above. At first the traveler
may not be able to identify any of the dull-gray and slate-colored
rocks below Eagle River with those he has seen farther upstream,
but a comparison of the section and of the order of the formations
may show him that these beds are the same as the heavy cliff-making
sandstone and shale which he saw just below Minturn. It might be
supposed that the same formation should show the same composition
and hardness wherever it is exposed, but as these formations con-
sisted originally of sand, clay, and limy materials that were de-
posited in some body of standing water, either a lake or the sea, it
is apparent that the character of the formation at any place must
depend largely upon the kind of material there swept into the body
of water by the streams, and as the land near by was probably com-
d of various kinds of rocks, which furnished various kinds of
material, it does not seem strange that at one locality a formation
may consist largely of sandstone and at another of shale. Changes
from sandstone or shale to limestone are more rare, but such changes
are observed in many parts of the country. The soft materials, in-
cluding some coal beds that are exposed below Eagle River, belong
to the Weber formation, which is in the lower part of the upper Car-
boniferous rocks.
The rocks rise gently westward, and at milepost 345 the massive
layers of the Leadville limestone rise from river level. This point
marks the beginning of one of the most noted canyons on the line
of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad, the canyon of Colo-
rado River that stretches in unbroken beauty and grandeur from
this point to Glenwood Springs, a distance of 15 miles. (See Pls.
LVI, 2, LVI, and LIX.) This great canyon was trenched by the
river in an immense upfold of hard beds, which include all the sedi-
mentary rocks that the railroad has crossed in the canyons above,
and into the underlying granite, to a total depth of 800 to 1,000 feet.
The first appearance of the Leadville limestone, noted above, neat
milepost 345, is marked by a warm sulphur spring, very similar to
BULLETIN 707
Occ: asions uly during the
anyon.
A. MOUNTAIN SHEEP
winter mou sheep m seen on the cliffs in the Colorado River
c The deep snow drives chen mM goods n from the Re her pn = they find pi aariak on the nar
row ledges along the canyon wall, from which they may gaze on the passing tra
The re
gular m: ‘sonry- like wi
picture sque ci
bee “n dres
B. UPPER END OF CANYON COLORADO RIVER
lls are the striking end of this beautiful and
The beds of quar event andl contentious that they seem to have
sed and. laid by man. ralls rise abruptly from the river, so in building the auto-
> D ighway iS necessary to tunnel taioials these beds at some points. Photog raph
etroit P ublishing Co.; furnished by the io Grande Western Railroad.
Denver & Ri
WAKO Ydeasopou,
ost OUL “op
stp JAYS rn
> AA
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ay] UdIM r jos 4 I a J i
qT eur Aq ps
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DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 133
the warm springs which gush from the same formation at Glenwood
Springs and give that place its reputation. Why the water should
be warm at both these places is a question that can not yet be an-
swered, for neither spring has any apparent connection with a fault
that would permit the hot waters to rise from great depths, or with
old volcanic flows or vents in which circulating water would come
into contact with rocks that still retain some of the heat they had
when they were ejected from the earth’s interior. However, there
may be some underground connection with one or the other of these
features which is not apparent at the surface but which would
account for the temperature of the waters carried in this limestone.
The limestone rises toward the west at an angle of about 15°, and
within a distance of half a mile the underlying quartzite appears
at the level of the track. As the river cuts deeper and deeper into
the rising rocks the canyon becomes more and more rugged, and the
short bends give rise to many towers and pinnacles upon the pro-
jecting points. As the rocks continue to rise in the direction in
Which the train is going, lower and lower rocks come into view.
Next below the upper quartzite, which is about 100 feet thick, lie
Shale and thin-bedded sandstone, about 40 feet thick, and upon these
lies white quartzite, about 270 feet thick. So far the section in this
canyon is almost identical with that seen in the deeper canyons up
Eagle River, but here there is still another member, which seems not
to be present farther east. This member is a coarse quartzite whose
chief characteristics are its rich pink or maroon color and the re-
markable regularity in the thickness of its various beds, as well as
the evenness of the bedding planes which separate them. These
characteristics are well shown in Plate LVII, B. The full thick-
hess of this quartzite can not be seen here, for within a short dis-
tance the beds dip sharply in the other direction and the quartzite
disappears below water level. Farther down the river, however, |
where the quartzite rests on the granite, its thickness is about 80
feet. The highest point on this arch in the rocks is reached about
half a mile beyond milepost 346. Beyond this point the beds dip
rather steeply downstream until the Leadville limestone is at track
level on the left, and then the whole series is broken by a great fault,
Which, as shown on the map, crosses the railroad at milepost 347.
Beyond the fault the land on both sides of the river 18, COMMpars-
tively low and smooth, and then the Leadville limestone rises again
from track level. Where it is seen by the roadside it is much broken,
having evidently been greatly disturbed and crushed. The rise of
the formations downstream is gradual but steady, so that near mile-
~ post 349 all the sedimentary rocks are again above water level and
the granite makes its appearance. Plate LVII1 isreproduced from
80697°—22-__10
134 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
a photograph taken at this point, looking downstream. The first
tunnel near milepost 350 is cut in the massive granite, which con-
tinues to rise higher and higher in the canyon as the train proceeds.
The part of the canyon in which the base of the quartzite is only
a few score or few hundred feet above water level is its most inter-
esting and picturesque part, which is all too soon passed by the
trains. The canyon walls are nearly vertical, and the cliffs formed of
the quartzite stand up like immense architectural structures and
present great variety of form and color. The joints, which cut the
rocks in at least two directions, give rise to smooth vertical faces of
rock and to buttresses and minarets almost without number, The
eanyon here is narrow and tortuous, and many magnificent vistas
ean be had of the swiftly flowing river and the dark walls, which
even at midday seem to envelop the deeper parts with a somber haze.
From this apparently interminable narrow labyrinth the traveler
at length emerges into a more open part of the canyon, where he
may well be surprised to find dwelling houses and the station of
Shoshone. (See sheet 5, p. 150.) Here is the intake of the great
hydroelectric plant of the Colorado Power Co., whose transmission
lines the traveler may have seen near Leadville and near Idaho
Springs, west of Denver. The river is dammed at
the small railroad tunnel just below Shoshone, and
the water is carried through a tunnel cut in the sonid
rock to the power plant, “whieh is 34 miles farther
down the canyon.*t The traveler may not realize the quantity of
water carried in this tunnel, but if he is making his journey in
summer he is soon aware that practically all the water of the river
has disappeared into the open mouth of the tunnel.
The general attitude of the rock beds in this canyon and the adja-
cent plateaus on the north and south is shown in figure 34, which rep-
resents them as they would appear in a deep trench cut across the
canyon at Shoshone. The beds dip to the south, and the Leadville
limestone forms the surface of much of the plateau on the north,
but the limestones and sandstones on the south are covered by a great
Shoshone,
Elevation 6,119 feet.
Denver 350 miles.
“In the canyon near Shoshone the
Colorado Power Co. has built a large
plant for generating electricity by wa-
ter power—a hydroelectric plant. By
mense steel tubes called penstocks,
into which it is dropped to river level,
175 feet below. In its fall it drives
two large turbine wheels with a total
r,
smitted at a voltage of 100,000
through wires carried on high steel
towers for a distance of 180 miles to
earries it } tran
along the north wall of the canyon
for 33 miles. When flowing at its full
capacity this tunnel will deliver 1,250
cubic feet of water every second to im-
Denver and is used also at several in-
termediate points.
’
ne et Satie a) atin aft ath ns Serer tliat Beene 6ST 2SUL OES oar
GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP
RIO GRANDE ROUTE
From Denver, Colorado, to Salt Lake City, Utah
ee from United States Geological Survey atlas
shee ;
files supplied by the Denver & Rio Grande Western
d
ets and reports, from railroad alinements and pro-
i Co., and from sentbeape Roo agaryy col-
any
lected with the assistance of that c
DAVID WHITE, Chief Geologist
M. R. CAMPBELL, Geologist
PREPARED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF
GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR
C. ROBERTS, Topograp
C. Hi. en ae Chief Topographic Engineer
her
1922
EXPLANATION
Age Thickness
in feet
| ae hey were during the Great Ice Age Pleistocene
BG Pleistocene or
ravel, sand, and clay late Terti
J Dark marine shale (Mancos shale) 2,300+
Upper Cretaceous
M Brown sandstone (Dakota sandstone) | 80+
N Variegated shale and sandstone (Gunnison formation) Cretaceous (?) and =. 25
Jurassic
P Brick-red sandstone Triassic 1,200+
R Red sandstone and shale (Maroon formation) ) 1,900
i ors sates )
S Red sandstone, conglomerate. d shale( Weber f: ti )| hapa en 4,000
U Blue limestone (Leadville li Ouray li ) apa se 08 w
le limestone, Ouray limestone (Mississippian) 150
d Devoni
(Parti g quartzite |
V Limestone and hicepanae ag estone | Ordovician and =
quartzite | Lower quartzite (Sawatch seas ~
quartzite)
X Granite Pre-Cambrian
Y Lava flows (basalt) Tertiary
owe Fault
The limestone of lower Garboniferous ( oneness and Devonian age in the
me as the Leadville limestone
pe on of Golorado River is called Ouray limestone, but it is approximately
e
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
39'-—_—__
2” Basalt Mins”. //feg
a
10600
06°30"
BULLETIN 707 SHEET No. 4
COLORADO 106°
ye iz ee * e
eas Sd
scat 8 pi to
4 Em, ?
1 -
10 Miles
0 . 10
L
3 Kilometers
aoa
eae: in feet above mean sea level
Colorado
Relief shading by A. W. Berry
7S crossties on the railroads are oo ? mile apart.
P
j at
AW" it
2. SS
4s : "
Aap
e & IIs
‘a
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE, 135
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 may 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, perhaps millions, of years—even
these hard rocks will be worn into a broad
valley, bounded by the moderate slopes Of sary opesojoy {i/o
low hills. No rocks are hard enough to re- Suysous 4)
sist erosion for all time, and it is evident AE
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 NS
of the rocks and also on the narrow benches §82$888838
on the precipitous slopes. Plate LVII, A 8 |
(p. 132), shows 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,
ae LL ee
mestone
:)
Ouray li
5 Miles
Figure 34,—Section across canyon of Colorado River at Shoshone.
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
formations 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,4? 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.
Beyond 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 Noname 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 the
“As the term “fault” means a | faults seen from the Denver & *G
break in the rocky strata of the earth
and as the breaking is always accom-
panied by slipping and erushing, one
might expect to find the surface of the
ground disturbed along a fault. It
undoubtedly is disturbed when the
movement takes place, but all the
Grande Western trains :
long ago that any break or msearhe
ance of the surface they caused has
been obliterated by the streams and — a
the weather. Examples of the lack of
evidence of faults on the surface are
shown in Plate LXXXVI, 4 and B.
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auc
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 the 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 rocky 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 Pl. LX) is at the
junction of Roaring Fork with Colorado River.
Glenwood Springs. Roaring Fork flows in a broad valley that it has
Elevation 5,758 feet. eroded in the soft Carboniferous shale—a valley
iin cipend so broad that 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 Pl. LXI), which lies high up the slopes of the
canyon of Colorado River, 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-
hects 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
country.
At a point a short distance west of the station at Glenwood Springs
the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad 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 curve 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: count
The mountain sida 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 is
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
“peospreyy U191S9 AQ VPURLD OL ZW JOAUaCT oY? Aq poystusmy Ydessoj0yg
‘ssundg poo Muaypy WOd) SoU ZL Jnoqe jvAY Opesojory Jo UOAUBS OY JO UNI oY UO JapuOM yeinjeU VY
‘AMVT ONIONVH
Vid 02 NILATIING AZAYUAS TVOIDOTOUD ‘8S ‘2
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 707 PLATE LXII
A. GRAND HOGBACK.
View of the Grand Hogback where it is trenched by Colorado River Newcastle. ig vee
heaps show where coal has been mined, but all the mines have been abandoned The V hee “as
mine, at the extreme right, was abandoned on account of fire, and the coal is still _oyr pe i “y
this hill the workable coal beds have an aggregate thickness of 109 feet. Photograph by Hoyt >
G rr ale.
B. PALM-LEAF FAN GROWN IN COLORADO.
Long ago in geologic time palms grew luxur riantly in all parts of Colorado, and the —_ miners
about Newcastle when dis ~y want a fan merely quarry One out of the rock. He = iS er group
of miners and a fossil palm-le fat fan they have just found. Photograph by Hoyt 8. Gale.
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 139
rocks here are the red sandstone and the Gunnison formation, neither
one of which contains coal. 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
=
a
Pare
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
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
the bright-red sandstone (Triassic) is well shown in a hill across
the river. (See fig. 35.)
140 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
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 Gunnison 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
© river on the left there
sw. Gtana F Ne, are some small conical
E hills composed of this
formation, which are
capped on the far side
by massive beds of the
Dakota sandstone,
which marks the base
Horizontal sca of the Upper Creta-
. ceous series and is one
of the most persistent
and widespread formations in the Rocky Mountain region. It is
generally thin, 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-
a Shnet sh ee es ae
o.
ae
as
re ;
he AEE A
ee es
1 SN a ay
ee aR ee eee ee ghee UE en a! Oe es IW ERO ct, eg ee a aE me
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 14]
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 (Jnoceramus) 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 Coloradd 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 moe
escaping from an opening nearly on the same level as the mouth o
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 years 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
Newcastle. great hunting ground of the White River Plateau
Flevation 5,562 feet. to the north. It was to Newcastle that Theodore
sine me 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 Wheeler 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 Pl. LXIT, 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
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
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 LXIT, 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 Denver & 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 14 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
places 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 Rifle 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- | The highest rank Eos aires rae
cause the coal is so low in rank that { found near Crested Butte, a
The quality of the coal differs greatly | manufactured south
in the different parts of the basin. | 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
ence 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
aca — 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
te re — feet. from those that are raised about Glenwood Springs,
Denver 387 mites, 10 the land here 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 River 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 Railroad (“Moffat road Hb
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 boundary 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 pifion 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 tablelands 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
bere ite tre aaa ied
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
the less densely wooded parts
of the forest, furnish excellent sum-
mer pasture. '
146
When Battlement Mesa is first seen from the railroad, near Rifle,
no hard rock can be discerned on its surface, but near the village 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-
GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
the national forest and the valleys
ing of stock. Such, in brief, is the
character of the Sad that furnish
pasturage for more than 43,000 cattle
and horses every year.
The natural Re aerse advantages of
this part of Colorado attracted cattle-
lations,
had everything their own y, “run-
ning” as a eattle and sheep a
they wished, idly ove azing e
others.
of more live stock than the co
could properly maintain, and during
unfavorable seasons it produced severe
losses,
In those early days the market was
Prices
tween 1890 and 1892 several encoun-
ters occurred in which at least one
man was killed and thousands of sh
use had become overgrazed, the range
depleted, and the water-supply con-
aminated and diminished. The strug-
gle therefore took on a new phase—it
became one for the control of range
and water. Homesteads and water
n up in such a way
as to control large areas, some home-
steaders aa enti aS many as 10 sec-
tions oe grazing d
After this struggle for supremacy
as started and
ot
fe valley lands in and adjacent to
the forest. For a time this new in-
stry
ed a
eit 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 ther eis now a
revival of the cattle b ess.
ince the Battlement reeset? For-
stopped, and the forest
se
t Most
— of all, the uvestacs busi-
as been placed on a secure
probable basis, and pias sie have
ook upon the Forest Service
as mit 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.
Beyond 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 the establishment of “ grazing
periods ” consistent with the protection
of the forage plants. Under the super-
vision of the Forest Service the periods
ted t
so ady.
This permits the full utilization of the
forage w nie overgrazing or denuda-
ion. A ful study is also made of
the ae ebyiaig capacity ” of each indi-
vidnel icesssact is, of the ape of
a given tract to sustain stock in good
condition without pee at of the
orage.
The construction and maintenance
of drift fences (see Pl, LXI for
properly handling nee on the range
of pastures for gathering stock
and for weaning calves; the establish-
Ment of salt grounds, for salt is as
lecessary for beasts as for man; the
construction of wagon roads and trails
done by the Forest Service in
Cooperation with the stockmen
All grazing privileges in iaticnnl for-
ests, except for 10 head f
Tvis
increasing demand for range, the equi-
table allotment of these privileges is
oming more difficult. In its grazing
policy the Forest Service takes the
position that it would rather help the
mall 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-
even to the extent of ucing the
privileges of those who have
: in a large number of cattle
O e other hand, the s
b
z
R
&
a
fa)
~]
=)
eu
ins
5
ss
my
=)
a
5
f
om
sith
“ protective limit,” which is the 1 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 wi reduced
unreasonably by the demands of the
small man.
As the live stock that is grazed on
the national forests furnishes a con-
ea part of the meat supply of the
untry, the Forest Service feels that
ye should promote the use of our graz-
resour as fully as the proper
care and ection 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 ina 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
ae
—
|
—_—
———
——
— =
—
——
—S
aM } Grand Valley. Valley, is irrigated by streams
iE ili Elevation 5,104 feet. that come down from the higher
BE: h I! dame ea ata: parts of Battlement Mesa, and
—
the scene here is a pretty picture
of rural peace and prosperity. The principal
scenic feature isthe great white cliff (Pl. LXTII)
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 bee?
—
fell gt
See eee ee
——
SS
Figure 37,—Section across Uinta Basin from Newcastle (on the right) to Palisade (on the left).
res
——
i
a
——
— =
—
Se
—
——
— =
——
jo doy oy) zwou oso) Inq “YorESe AY ore Spoq 1s9 MO] 94] M -atoaquiet out ce mr i a ae i : Sie oa rian Id on a eee = Brig Biting: ie aie need oy}
AIG SCY IQAQT Opesojay yor wae EEE, : jeu pen 4 3 ‘ : ca ets Or ed 000 & JO ITNGop BO} AaTfea syt
t { yy OF 19D Yorqa ar ne yey ISBA B St AlyUNOD sty 7, JOATY OpeBsOjOr) JO vptls YNOS ey} Wor] uses sr “AQYEA puvsay jo (you) youg ore euiecha id ous
‘SAMITO AUTIVA GNVUD
NILATIONA
AHAYNAS IWOIDOTOAD ‘ss *A
U. S. GEOLOGICAL 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 bear very
— timber or in fact vegetation of any kind. They - “ig aaa Lt same kind of material
that shown in Plate LXV, A. Photograph by the U. S. Fc
aed
eo er ee ee
al : .
B. STOCK FENCE IN A NATIONAL FOREST
A drift fence for controlling the pasturage of stock in the Battlement National Forest. To one
ace ——e to a humid climate the v vegetation on this land does not appear ecg er but the
t Photograph by the U.S rest Service-
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE.
149
studied, tested, and mapped by Dean E. Winchester, of the United
States Geological Survey, 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,
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
45 Before ie was discovered
n Pennsylvania, in 185 e Mormons
Dittics it, in an Bees * way,
from shale of ha orma-
b, Utah, where the ruins
tion to find how many gallons of oil
onservative cal-
one-tenth as much, and with a little
added se 300,000. of am-
monium Sulphate would be obtained
The oe ates 2 an
r and wou be
highly valuable to the farmers ad this
— regions.
reen River srinsiaiee which
is so oes exposed in the great white
cliffs at Grand Valley, consists pre-
antly of shale, but in places it
80697 °—22—11
includes beds of sandstone, oolite, and
2 ge emg The general white color
: ae weathered outcrops is varied
near ae top of the big cliffs by hard
bluish beds, which when freshly
broken are dark brown or black and
a valuable source of crude oil and its
refined products, such as gasoline and
— well as of nitrogen com-
n d 2 shale is tough and
i
shale contains a
ganic matter, largely vegetal, which
appears to ree of the crude
oil that may be produced from it by
destructive distillation.
The average oil shale mined in
Seotland will yield about 25 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.
Ferling nts are now in progress
1]
most successfully produce a emai
this region in northwestern wn Fi
will probably be the scene of a
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 railroad 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
valley, with its band of trees fringing the river and its patches of
arm 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
Freon Si Relnon of th ane band gold.
forced to the top of the arch, oil will come next, The hills across the val-
and water will lie in the lower part. 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 Pl. 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. De Beque, which is flanked on the north by the high
pasos A945 tet turrets, towers, and minarets of the White Cliffs.
Denver 417 miles, “8 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.
S
&
5
e
=
ae Se ee ee Oe age TO Pe ee we
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 707 SHEET No. 5
108 107"30 _COLORADO
I eT =
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 re , from railroad alinements and pro- 2
files supplied by the Denver & Rio Grande Western ee
Railroad Co., and from additional information col- i
lected with the assistance of that company
PREPARED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF
GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR
DAVID WHITE, Chief Geologist Cc. H. BIRDSEYE, Chief Topographic Engineer
i er
Sheet No.
M. R. CAMPBELL, Geologist A. C. ROBERTS, Topograph
1922
EXPLANATION
Age Thickness
in feet
E White shale and sandeteme (Green River formation) Tertiary (Eocene) 2,600 |
F Red shale, sandstone, and gl (W: h f ion) Tertiary (Eocene) 3,400 |
H Sandstone, shale, and coal beds (Mesaverde formation) } 5,000
|
| N
J Dark marine shale (Mancos shale) >Upper Cretaceous 5,000 ss P
M Brown sandstone (Dakota sandstone) J 100+ %
<=
G
N Variegated shale and sandstone (Gunnison formation) Cretaceous (?) and = 95)
Jurassic
P Brick-red sandstone Triassic 1,200+
R Red sandstone and shale (Maroon formation) Carboniferous 1,900
(Pennsylvanian)
S Red ; Carboniferous
sandstone, conglomerate, and shale (Weber formation) (Finmaniionatan’ 4,000
F rf " Carbonif Scale 500,000
U Blue limestone (Leadville limestone, Ouray limestone) ( Gdlcaiosignian) 150 Approximately 8 miles to | inch
and Devonian 0 5 10 Miles
VY Quartzite, shale, and some limestone Cambrian 490 0 5 10 15 Kilometers
ae a
X Granite ; Pre-Cambrian Dida’ fond
Ys Lava flows (1 it) Terti The distances from Denver. Colorado. h 10
jis
The crossties on the railroads are spaced i mile apart.
———— Fault
Relief snading by PR. W. Berry
The limestone of lower Garboniferous (Mississippian) and Devonian age is
called Ouray limestone, but Ouray and Leadville proximately th
J ap
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 151
A short distance west of the station at De Beque the railroad crosses
Roan Creek, and beyond for some distance it runs through a rolling
country, most of which is irrigated and contains good farms. The
river bottom on the east (left), which occasionally may be seen from
the train, is also largely under cultivation, and beyond it the high-
land rises, terrace above terrace, up to the crest of Battlement Mesa.
The intricate lines of sculpture that are carved by the rains in the
soft shale or clay where it is not protected by a cover of vegetation
or of broken rock are well shown in some badland buttes composed of
maroon shale and clay of the Wasatch formation, a little more than
2 miles west of De Beque. (See Pl. LXV, A.) If the light is just
right to bring out the minute lines the entire surface of the buttes
will appear to be made up of a series of rill marks that resemble the
delicate fretwork of an artist. (See route map, sheet 6, p. 182.)
The rocks across which the traveler has been passing since he left
Newcastle are bent into a great downfold or troughlike depression
(syncline) whose east rim is composed of the coal-bearing sandstone
(Mesaverde) that forms the Grand Hogback. Figure 37 (p. 148)
represents the section across this trough as it is exposed by Colorado
River. The other rim of the trough is crossed by the railroad be-
tween De Beque and Palisade, and through this rim the river has
cut a deep and narrow canyon very different from the gap through
the hogback at Newcastle. It is here called Palisade Canyon.** As
the rocks are the same at both places the explanation of the difference
in the appearance of the gaps cut by the river must be sought in the
difference in the attitude of the beds, or, in other words, in the
amount of their dip. At Newcastle the thick bed of sandstone dips
steeply toward the west, and as it is underlain by softer rocks it
weathers into a sharp ridge, which can be traced for 50 miles to the
north and is known as the Grand Hogback. The dip of the beds on
the other rim of the trough is very slight, generally not over 10°,
and the river cuts through the rim for 16 miles in a canyon that
increases in depth as it approaches the outer margin of the sandstone.
Figure 37 (p. 148) represents the rocks as they would appear in a
deep trench cut along the line of the railroad. Above the coal-bear-
ing rocks lies the maroon Wasatch, and in the middle and overlying
all the other beds, and consequently younger than the others, are
the white beds of the Green River formation, but these do not appear
near Palisade Canyon.
“So far as the writer is aware this | ridge of slightly dipping rocks across
canyon has been called by no name | which the canyon is cut is not a typical
except “ Hogback Canyon,” which ap- | hogback, and as the name has never
Dears several times in the Hayden re- | become current it seems appropriate to
ports, printed about 1875. That name | give the canyon the name of Palisade
was never strictly appropriate, for the | Canyon, from the town of Palisade.
152 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
South of De Beque the railroad is built on a low terrace at some
distance from the river, but near the entrance to Palisade Canyon,
44 miles south of De Beque, halfway between mileposts 48 and 49, it
reaches the river (on the left) in a shallow canyon cut into one of
the thick beds of sandstone near the top of the coal-bearing Mesa-
verde formation. As the beds rise gradually downstream the canyon
slowly increases in depth from its head to Palisade, where it ends.
At Akin siding (milepost 51) the canyon walls are about 300 feet
high, and they show well the alternate bands of resistant sandstone
and soft, easily eroded shale. Here and there some of the beds of
sandstone are thick and massive and form cliffs 40 or 50 feet high,
but. on the whole the alternation of shale and sandstone gives rise
to sloping banded walls which have a sameness in appearance that
soon becomes monotonous.
At Tunnel siding (milepost 55) the walls of the canyon have in-
creased in height to 600 or 700 feet, but they have the same general
character. A mile west of this siding the train passes through a
tunnel which pierces a long spur (shaped in plan like a beaver’s tail,
hence the name Beavertail tunnel) that projects from the right
wall of the canyon and then comes to a diversion dam which turns
some of the water of Colorado River into a canal on the other
side of the river. This canal is in sight throughout the length of
the canyon below this point, and its effects may be noted in the
crops and orchards on the high bench lands east of the river.
Milepost 57 marks the largest diversion project in the canyon,
known as the Grand Valley or High Line project of the United
States Reclamation Service, which is intended to furnish water
for the irrigation of the high bench lands on the north side of the
river from Palisade as far west as the western boundary of the
State. The diversion dam, shown in Plate LXVI, is completed, and
the canal is constructed as far west as Loma (see p. 153) and in the
near future will be extended to the State line.*?
“The Grand Valley project of the ; tending to a point 6 miles northwest
United States Reclamation Service, | of Mack.
usually spoken of as the High Line
eanal, provides for the irrigation of
45,000 acres of land in M County,
Colo., comprising, as shown in figure
39, a strip along the northern border
of the valley above the old private
canals from 2 to 6 miles wide and 40
miles long. The water is taken from
Colorado River (formerly called Grand
River) by a diversion dam (shown in
Pl. LXVI) 8 miles above Palisade, into
a main canal 65 miles in length, ex-
plied by gravity, and 10,000 acres lies ~
above the level of the main canal and
will be supplied by electrically oper-
ated pumping plants.
e most interesting engineering
works in this project are the diversion
dam and the first 6 miles of main
canal, which are in the canyon of
Colorado River. The dam, which is
unique in American engineering, CoD
sists of a concrete weir, 546.5 feet im
phe Se 3k
U. 8. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 707 PLATE LXV
A. NATURE’S LACELIKE SCULPTURE.
Fine sculpturing by the rain on a butte of red and w clay on the right of the track 2 miles south
- De Beque. Every part of the beak is Hes say drained, and each rivulet has carved for
self a distinct channel. Photograph by Marius R. Campbell.
—
i
B. PALISADE CANYON AT CAMEO.
~ des lls of the canyon back cof Cameo are ——o 1,500 feet high and are composed of s: —
iat “eyes of the M These weather into castle-like cliffs and slopes, as shown
n
P ‘erect . Marius R. C Sanepbell.
up) o10un
JOJ IOVOM
WS JBoss Sy,
‘NOANVD AGYVSITVd NI WVd NOISHHAIG UNIT HOT
AMAUAS IVOIDOIORD ‘8S “1
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DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 153
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length, resting on a gravel foundation | in height, and the seventh is 60 feet
and provided with seven steel roller | long and 15 feet 4 inches in height.
crests for regulating the height of | During the period of low water,
backwater. Six of these roller crests | when practically the entire flow of
are 70 feet long and 10 feet 3 inches | river will be diverted, these roller
154 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES,
The great High Line canal is crossed by the railroad a short dis-
tance below the dam and may be followed by the eye on the right
until it is hidden in a tunnel that carries it through a projecting
rocky point. It is carried as high as possible, and though it has
descent enough to enable the water to flow readily, it is soon above
the level of the railroad and can be identified only by the regularity
of its banks and the new rock dumps that mark the portals of its
tunnels.
Half a mile below the High Line dam Plateau Creek enters the
river from the side opposite the railroad. This creek heads on the
mesa far to the east and flows in a narrow valley between Battlement
Mesa on the north and Grand Mesa on the south. The main auto-
mobile highway down the river is carried over the low plateau
east of the river, but at Plateau Creek it descends to the river and
for the remainder of the distance to the lower end of the canyon it
crests will rest on the weir and force
the water into the canal headgates,
but at times of flood they will be rolled
n
io Grande Western
ad.
The first 6 miles of main canal el
allels the railroad track, and i
row parts of the one ts in this sf ia
three tunnels have been built to avoid
hese
section, and the third is 11 feet by 11
eet 6 inches.
The main canal has a capacity of
be used for developing power and will
r
lands that lie above the main canal.
The last 60 miles of the main canal
consists of open ditch, involving about
2,600,000 cubic yards of ——
and numerous flumes, siphons, eul-
verts, made to cross natural por ov
urses.
Laterals will be constructed to de
as needed to remove
prevent the rise of the ground-water
level,
Water for seasoning the works was
turned into the main canal in June,
mie
soils under the project are of
ypes e
adapted to fruit culture, apes eur
tically all crops do well in it;
sandy loam is an alluvial soil ‘ee i
adapted to growing certain varieties of
fruit as well as alfalfa, agen re a-
vegeta
falfa, cereals, sugar beets, and ves
tables.
The cost of the works is advanced by
the Government under the terms of the
Reclamation Act, which provides
the actual cost shall be repaid by the
landowners in 20 years without im
terest, and that they shall pay the
of operation and maintenance.
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 155
follows the opposite bank. The walls of the canyon here are about
1,000 feet high and are therefore very imposing, especially where the
beds of sandstone are particularly thick or resistant.
At the little coal-mining town of Cameo the canyon attains its
maximum depth, about 1,500 feet. Its sides generally present the
appearance of gigantic walls of masonry, the beds
Cameo. of sandstone forming the courses and the soft shale
Elevation 4,774 feet. filling in between them like the mortar in an arti-
Denver 433 miles. ; ‘ ‘ ;
ficial wall. On the projecting points between the
main canyon and the canyons of the tributaries the sandstone seems
to form most of the wall, as it stands in gigantic pyramids that
tower far above the bottom of the gorge. The pyramid on the
projecting point just north of Cameo is shown in Plate LXV, &.
Although the Mesaverde is the great Cretaceous coal-bearing for-
mation in this region, it contains very few coal beds in Palisade Can-
yon. At Newcastle it contains more than 109 feet of coal in beds
_ thick enough to work, but in Palisade Canyon it contains only two
beds. The upper of these beds is mined at Cameo and is gen-
erally known as the Cameo coal bed. Mines may be seen just south of
the station on both sides of the track. The coal from the mine on the
left is brought across the river on a high trestle, which serves as a
tipple for screening the coal and loading it into railroad cars. The
coal mined here is of medium grade and satisfies the local demand,
but it is not equal to that which is mined south of Newcastle, or in
the Crested Butte region, on the east, or at Sunnyside and Castle-
gate in Utah, on the west. At the Cameo mine the coal bed has a
thickness of 10 feet 11 inches, of which 9 feet 8 inches is clear coal.
About a mile below Cameo the High Line canal passes through the
plateau by a long tunnel which brings it out on the high bench land
west of Palisade.
Nearly 2 miles below Cameo the river makes a big curve to the
right, and on the opposite side there is a low terrace not more than
150 feet high. This terrace has been built up by material brought
down by a small creek that heads on Grand Mesa, to the east. This
material is so abundant and so indestructible that it has crowded the
river gradually against the opposite (west) side, so that the river
has been forced to cut under a great cliff, several hundred feet in
height. From the train the traveler may see that this terrace 1s com-
posed almost entirely of boulders of a dark rock, which close exami-
nation would show to be basalt, or hardened lava. Grand Mesa,
which here and there may be seen on the east (left) and which over-
tops all other features in this region, has been preserved almost en-
tirely because it is protected by a cap of this basalt.
Below the terrace two small water-power plants have been con:
structed for pumping water to higher levels to irrigate land that
156 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
could not be reached by the existing gravity lines. One of these
plants supplies enough water to irrigate 2,300 acres of land and the
other enough to irrigate 6,000 acres. The canals and pumping plants
which the traveler has seen in Palisade Canyon are more extensive
than any that he has seen heretofore on this journey, and he may
wonder why so much money has been spent to obtain the water of
Colorado River, but when he has passed out of the mouth of the
canyon and has seen the wonderful change that the water has made
in the one-time desert plain he will no longer question the wisdom
of the expenditure.
As the railroad makes a great bend to the west at the mouth of
the canyon the traveler may notice some small coal mines that are
operating on the lowest or Palisade coal bed. This coal bed, which
ranges from 3 to 7 feet in thickness, overlies the sandstone that is
regarded as forming the base of the Mesaverde formation. The coal
bed and the sandstone are well exposed across the river, where a
number of small mines have been opened to supply the local demand
for fuel. Another small mine is also in operation just above the
station at Palisade. The rocks here rise more rapidly than they do
farther up in the canyon, and the lower slopes of the cliffs are com-
posed of the marine shale (Mancos) that underlies the coal-bearing
formation. :
Near milepost 63 the canyon opens, and here begin the orchards
of peaches, pears, apples, and other fruit that have made the town
of Palisade famous. Its situation at the foot of the
Palisade. Book Cliffs protects it from late frosts in spring
Elevation 4,739 feet. and from early frosts in autumn, so that almost
population °°. every foot of the land is under irrigation and has
been planted with fruit trees. (See Pl. LXVII.)
Every year hundreds of cars of fruit are shipped from this place.
Here begins the great southward-facing cliff which in the early
days was named Book Cliffs because of the fancied resemblance of
the sandstone cap and the curved shale slope below to the edge of a
bound book. A typical view of the Little Book Cliffs as they appear
back of Palisade is given in Plate LX VIII. The Book Cliffs begin
at Palisade and stretch westward to Castlegate, Utah, a distance of
about 190 miles. They everywhere form the southern rim of the
great trough of rocks on the north known as the Uinta Basin. Just
west of Palisade the cliffs are formed and protected by a few beds of
sandstone at the top, below which the slope consists of shale (Mancos)
that was deposited there before the Rocky Mountains were in ex-
istence, when the entire region was below the waters of the sea.
These shale slopes have been intricately sculptured by the rain,
and the traveler has many opportunities to examine them, for they are
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DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 157
visible on the north from the train most of the way from Palisade to
Castlegate. The appearance of these slopes, like that of most of the
land forms in a semiarid climate, depends largely upon the light
under which they are seen. When the light is strong and strikes
squarely against the face of the cliffs the slopes are expressionless
and dead. One slope is like another as they shimmer in the hot rays
of the sun, but when the sun is low the shadows show every detail of
the slopes, and thus revealed in black and white the surface of the
cliffs looks as seamed and wrinkled as the face of an old man. Each
slope is then full of individuality—it shows intricate and wonderful
sculpture. °
The valley that the railroad enters at Palisade is broad because
the soft Mancos shale, in which it is carved, is about 3,000 feet thick,
and its erosion has produced flat or rolling lands except where ter-
races have been cut by the streams into badlands or steep slopes.
Although the shale contains considerable alkaline material, which
is objectionable in farming, it makes in general some of the best
farming land in western Colorado. Near the river it forms flat
valley bottoms, as at the village of Clifton, but by proper under-
draining even such flat lands may be made very productive. Orchards
abound in this valley, and much fruit is shipped
Clifton. from Clifton. Before the water of Colorado River
eipeation 4,713 feet. was diverted and carried onto this land it was a
Bye ts a waste desert, inhabited only by jack rabbits and
coyotes, but irrigation has transformed it into nt
fertile land, figuratively “flowing with milk and honey.” Is it any
wonder that millions of dollars have been spent in diverting water
from Colorado River in the canyon above Palisade and in construct-
ing great canals for delivering it to the thirsty land? But even after
all our great irrigation works have been completed there will still
be millions of acres of waste land, which could be converted into
sites for homes of peace and plenty if water were available. The
great problem of the future is to conserve all the water that is pro-
duced by the melting of snow in the high mountain regions, by hold-
ing it in storage reservoirs until it is needed, and then to distribute
it to the desert land. Such work will require enormous sums of
money, but it will in return supply homes to many thousands of
people and bring immense wealth to the country. |
General views of the valley may be obtained from places near
Clifton. On the east tower the wooded slopes of Grand Mesa; on
the south, far in the distance, may be caught glimpses of the gently
swelling surface of the Uncompahgre Plateau—a surface composed
of the massive sandstones which at some places underlie the Mancos
shale and which everywhere overlie the granite that forms the base-
ment upon which all this country is. built.
158 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
The railroad traverses the flat land of the river bottom to the point
where Colorado River is joined by Gunnison River, which heads in
he high mountains near Marshall Pass and which
Grand Junction. ig followed throughout most of its course by the
Elevation 4,583 feet. narrow-gage line from Salida to Montrose and by
een i, the standard-gage line from Montrose to Grand
Junction, At the junction of these roads stands
Grand Junction, a division point on the railroad and the largest
town in western Colorado. Grand Junction is the center of a vast
irrigated district whose climate is favorable to the growth of almost
all kinds of grain, as wel] as forage crops, sugar beets, garden truck,
and fruit. Itis particularly noted for its beet-sugar industry and for
its fruit.
The description of the country along the main line west of Grand
Junction is continued on page
NARROW-GAGE LINE FROM SALIDA TO MONTROSE.
The description of the country along the main line east of Salida
ends on page 90. -
The part of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad that
runs over Marshall Pass was a part of the main line built with a
3-foot gage in 1881, and because of its steep climb over the moun-
tains and its tortuous course through the Black Canyon of the Gun-
nison it has not been changed from its original gage. To the
traveler who has never ridden in a narrow-gage coach the name
“baby railroad,” which was given to this system in the early days,
seems eminently proper; but after traveling over the mountains and
turning and twisting through the narrow canyons he gains respect
for the narrow-gage road, which in this part of the country was the
pioneer of railroads and led to the development of the mineral re-
sources and the agricultural wealth much earlier than if the road
had been built standard gage. In Colorado, however, the day of
the narrow-gage road seems to have nearly passed, and all such lines
will probably be abandoned or changed to standard gage.
The country about Salida is well watered, and much hay and grain
is grown for the herds of cattle that may be seen from the train.
Some fruit is raised, but the altitude here is so great that only the
more hardy varieties will ripen. On leaving the station the rail-
road runs southwestward, directly toward the great mountain wall
that bounds the valley. (See sheet 3, p. 100.) It ascends the valley of
South Arkansas River, in which no rock can be seen in place
except at a distance until the train enters the mountains. The im-
mediate valley is excavated in gravel and boulders, which may be >
Se ee Ee ey ee
/
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 159
seen on the right in the cut edge of a well-developed terrace.*® The
top of this terrace, when seen from a high point, appears to be a part
of what was once the floor of the valley.
Remnants of a similar
though higher terrace may be seen in the foothills on the left at a
much greater elevation.
(See Pl. XLIV, p. 90.
The traveler is now near the high mountains, and he may look up
on the left to lofty peaks on which the snow banks of the preceding
winter linger well into the
summer and on which a
fleecy mantle falls dur-
ing the first snowstorms
of early autumn, or even
occasionally during a
cold midsummer storm.
The commanding summits
which may be seen from
time to time are Ouray
Peak (altitude, 13,955
Ficurs 40.—Formation of a rock terrace.
feet), near Marshall Pass (altitude, 10,856 feet), and Mount Chipeta
on the left, and a group of peaks known as Mount Shavano (altitude,
“The mode of formation and hence
the meaning of terraces is of great
interest to the geologist who is at-
tempting to unravel the history of the
a
sd very little by lakes, so that most
f the terraces here were formed by
cach water.
treams may form terraces of two
kinds, known as cut terraces and built
terraces. A stream may flow against
a bluff of solid rock and cut it away
ed a terrace or ben uch a
terrace is represented in figure a3
a, has cut a vy:
stream, alley in
a , represented by the sank
. After the stream has form
flood plain it begins to meander or
Swing from side to side acrosg the flood
Plain. In the course of such a swing
it may flow against the slope on the
right and then, if the stream is ac-
celerated by uplift, it will clean out
its old valley and cut a trench (c) in
its rock floor, leaving the part at 6 un-
touched. The part at b is then a rock
terrace on the side of the valley and
merely a remnant of the old yalley
formed when the stream was
at a higher level. Such terraces are
called cut terraces and are rather rare.
The second kind of terrace is known
A terrace is generally not built up di-
y by a stream but is the result of
the filling or partial filling of the val-
ley and of its partial excavation by the
taries, should be dammed by
lava or other obstruction, it would be
e load of this ma-
terial, which would be dropped in the
pond above the obstruction. In time
160 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
14,179 feet) on the right. The lower slopes are more or less covered
with timber, which becomes scanty as the height increases, until
finally even the stunted balsams disappear (see Pl. XLV, A, p. 92)
and at the summits there is nothing but wind-swept rock. The slopes
vary in color according to the light, at times being rich red or bright
yellow in the strong sun-
light and at others deep
purple or a steely blue.
The color of the lower
slopes depends largely on
the vegetation, but that of
the upper slopes depends
on distance and light. In
spring and summer the
shrubs and trees present
many shades of green and yellow, but they are most brilliant in Sep-
Fieurk 41,—Formation of a gravel terrace.
tember, when the first frost touches them and tinges them with red _
or gold.
The railroad follows the valley up to the village of Poncha, where
the road to Marshall Pass turns to the south (left), but a branch
Poncha.
keeps straight ahead to the mining town of Mon-
Elevation 7,480 feet, arch, 15 miles distant, where it ends. From Monarch
Fopulstion ba the principal highway between Salida and the Gun-
a
ngs) 3
Denver 220 miles,
nison Valley is an automobile road across the range.
The Marshall Pass line turns to the south in a
broad curve and begins to climb the range. For half a mile it cuts
the material would fill this pond and
form a plain that would stretch ed
e
at ¢, far above bedrock. If the stream
then succeeds in cutting through the
dam of lava it quickly trenches the
sand and gravel laid down in the pond,
except the parts that lie at some dis-
tance back from the middle of the
channel. The result is shown by sec-
tion B, in figure 41, in which the
stream has cut the trench d-f-e, leav-
ing d@ and e as terraces on the sides of
have had such an origin, except that
the ponding has generally been due
not to lava flows but to the sinking
ch
water flowing in the stream, and al-
though at first thought this may not
seem to be comparable to the lava flow
in its effects, a careful study will show
that the carrying power of a stream
is directly affected by its volume and
grade, so that if its volume or its
grade is reduced its carrying power
will be reduced—it will not be able to
sweep along the boulders that it had
before handled readily. A stream thus
reduced in volume or grade silts up its
bed, and if later its flow or grade is in-
creased it cuts away ‘all this material
except the remnants that form terraces.
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 161
through ridges and spurs of gravel and boulders which constitute a
part of the high terrace already mentioned. Near milepost 222 it
enters the canyon which Poncha Creek has cut in the hard rocks that
compose the mountains.
A quarter of a mile above milepost 223 the railroad swings to the
left in a broad curve around a mass of loose material which has been
swept down from a small gulch on the right, and almost immediately
after swinging back into its normal position it has to make another
curve in order to pass a
second mass of similar
loose material. Such
masses, if fairly flat, are ©
known as alluvial fans,
but if steep they are
called alluvial cones.
The fans in Poncha
Canyon are shown in
the accompanying dia-
gram (fig. 42). On the
first fan the radial lines
occupied by the streams Ficure 42. ee fans in » Ponda Canyon,
ma.
ioral that has been swep t of vines in the
at different times can ountains is pees out fs semicircular fans, which
easily be seen from the
fhe railroad is obliged to pass around in two sharp
. urves.
train, as they are marked
by straight depressions and by ridges of boulders and angular pieces
of broken rock which have been swept down by the stream.
The canyon is narrow and V-shaped as far as Mears Junction,
where it abruptly changes to a rather broad valley with a flat,
SrAnDE bottom, which bears all the marks of hav-
Mears Junction. g been occupied by moving ice—that is, by a
Elevation 8,431 feet. ilroad
Denver 226 miles ate #° At Mears Junction a branch railroa
turns to the right and after circling about over the
Main line turns back on the left and climbs the mountain slope to
a moraine in a narrow valley may be
the
“A glacier that occupies a rather
Af ost in- | more or less washed away by
Variably builds q ridge at its lower | stream after the isa
end, composed of fragmen it examination of, the side of
; the valley below Mears Junction shows
Died by ice it should contain some
trace of a terminal moraine, although
(left) wall of the valley and causes
e stream and the d to curve
to Tae right in order to pass 1. A
the point where the railroad rounds
162 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
Poncha Pass, which stands at an altitude of 9,059 feet, and then
descends into San Luis Park. Curiously enough, this branch line,
in the heart of the Colorado mountains, has one of the longest
stretches of straight track in this country—52 miles without a curve.
Poncha Pass is much lower than Marshall Pass, and the traveler may
look down into it when he is part way up the mountain.
Above Mears Junction the character of the valley is different in
different parts, making the answer to the question whether it was
occupied by ice somewhat dou
About 2 miles above Mears Junction the valley is again wide and
flat-bottomed and has all the features generally attributed to occupa-
tion by ice. In this wide part of the valley the railroad crosses to
the east side, where it runs for nearly a mile, and then swings across
the creek and returns on the opposite slope. As the road curves
across the creek the traveler may see by looking upstream that this
branch of the valley is not broad or U-shaped and was therefore
probably never occupied by ice. As the train climbs the west wa
of the valley many interesting views of the features described spore
come into sight. It turns in around the head of every ravine and then
out around every projecting point, as shown in Plate LXIX, B, until
finally it comes to the top of the hills that face the valley. On one
the outermost point, of the moraine
there is a sign marked “ Yard limit.”
Here, then, is a fragment of a terminal
moraine, which indicates that the
valley above has been broadened and
that a great glacier long ago gathered
on some of the high peaks that border
the headwaters of Poncha Creek and
flowed down to this point.
About a mile above Mears Junction
the valley changes from a broad, flat-
omed swale to a narrow rocky
tion and built the terminal moraine a
short distance below? It is not appar-
ent from the train where this body of
ice could have originated, but if the
traveler could climb some of the low
hills on the right he would find that
they are composed of gravel and sand,
and that instead of being the foothills
of the mountain they are only low hills
that separate Poncha Creek from the
wider valley of a tributary on the
bes sae, drains the valley between
peaks and joins
built and ‘that it extended vais otis
main valley to the terminal moraine
already described and then r Boies
After a long interval it readvanced
valley broadens a short distance far-
ther up and has all the appearance of
having been occupied by ice. This
glacier came down the valley of the
east fork, which has been scoured out
until fs cross section is a symmetrical
U. s glacier originated near Pon-
cha eal and extended only a few hun-
dred feet into the main yalley.
~~~‘ nls PMC Neen me :
RR Rpm =
U. S. GEOLOGICAL
SURVEY
BULLETIN
707
PLATE LXIX
A. MARSHALI
View from the hills on the south. Th
Its striking = ture is the
through the ocky Mountains.
PASS.
is pass was discovered in
Photograph
1873 by Lieut. William L. Marshall.
lack of the oa ota that yh —— many of the other passes
y Whitman C
wah. ag
2 a
B. OURAY PEAK
This view shows
: S the tortuous route followed by the
wey, forthe le left, be hind the — of the mountain
Saline PI} nountain looks like a crater, and o
Western ia by the De atroit Publishing Co.;
railroad in its climb to Marsha
The great glacia
on that account the
. Pass, which
cirque in he northe< 3
mountain has “wl called «
furnished by the Denver & Rio
Gra a
BULLETIN 707 PLATE LXX
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SUR\
Last
SPIRES OF VOLCANIC ROCK NEAR SAPINERO.
Much of this countr 4S once covered with ink anic tuff consisting of fragments of
lava of all sizes, whic ‘h is bedded like shale or cl It is soft and is re adily cut by
rain and streams into beautiful and fantastic “Seni . Photograph by Willis T. Lee.
B. INTRICATE EROSION OF VOLCANIC ROCK.
This mass of volcanic tuff is so dissected by rain erosion that it consists only of numbe =
pe 28s s and pinnac sth It makes ‘pic turesque cliffs that are — tc pounabs Similar shee
of tuff cover the hills on both sides of Gunnison Valley hotograph by Willis T. Le
C. SHEEP IN THE GUNNISON COUNTRY.
Many sheep are pastured in the Gunnison country. In midsummer they reach the
higher slopes of the mountains, as shown in this view. Photograph by J. F. Hunter.
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 163
of the last bends the traveler may look down upon Poncha Pass, but
from a distance so great that good eyesight is needed to distinguish
even the telegraph poles that mark the line of the railroad. The
chain of high peaks which lies behind the pass and which is known
as the Sangre de Cristo Range here begins to loom up, and as the
journey continues it grows steadily in apparent magnitude until it
is lost to view over the summit of Marshall Pass.
As the train continues to climb upward the traveler will observe
that the slopes become less and less rugged, and he soon begins to
realize that the mountain masses about him, which looked so formid-
able when seen from below, are really only the foothills of the higher
range and that many of these foothills have a nearly common height
and are relatively flat topped. These flat tops stand at an altitude of
9,300 to 9,500 feet and may correspond with the rolling plain at the
north foot of Pikes Peak and with the tops of the Front Range
as seen from Denver. Their equivalence with those features can not
be regarded as proved, but they suggest that at one time much of
the mountain region of Colorado was a rolling plain above whose
generally even surface only a few high knobs projected. Later this
surface was upraised to its present position, and the mountains as
we know them to-day were carved from the uplifted mass.
As soon as the railroad reaches the top of the hills that front the
valley it changes its course to one directly toward Mount Ouray,
which is the most conspicuous feature in the landscape. The road
Winds considerably, but from time to time the peak can be seen
from either side of the train, though the best views are from the
left. The peak is not symmetrical, but looks as if some giant had
taken a great bite out of the side next to the traveler, as shown in
Plate LXIX, B. And, indeed, a giant has taken a bite out of the
Side of the mountain, but the giant was a glacier that once lay high
up on its slopes and that gradually ate out a great amphitheater or
cirque, as it is called by geologists.** This cirque looks large even
times, tends to produce a hole in the
51The exact method by which a t
. As the tendency is to
glacier excavates an amphitheater or
ee is not very well understood, as
all the work is done under the ice and
hence can not be seen. It can be | the point of outlet the cirque has a
udged only by the form of the cirque
after the glacier has melted away.
Weight and finally becomes so heavy
that it begins to move down the slope.
In doing so it takes with it some of
the underlying rock to which it has
frozen, and this action, repeated many
semicircular shape and the plucking
tends to cut’ back horizontally, so that
the floor of the cirque is nearly level
or it may be slightly deepened so as
to form a rock basin, The walls of
cirques in many kinds of rocks stand
nearly vertical, but the walls of the
cirque in Ouray Peak, which are com-
posed of granite, take on a more gentle
slope, as shown in Plate LXIX, B.
164 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
from the train, for it is about half a mile wide and probably 1,000
feet deep, but what must it look like when viewed from its rim!
Ouray Peak is supposed by some to be an extinct volcano, probably
because of the resemblance of this cirque to the crater of a volcano.
One of the best places from which to see this cirque is Grays siding,
at an elevation of about 9,673 feet. Here the locomotive may take
water, and the traveler may have an opportunity to step from the
train and obtain a view of the mountain and the surrounding
features.
A short distance above Grays siding extensive views appear on
the left at many places. The chief points of interest are the peaks
of the great Sangre de Cristo Range, and at their base the upper
end of San Luis Park. Farther up the railroad the slopes on the left
are very steep and are covered with a mantle of trees. The trees
are not very large or very thick, but they conceal and soften rocky
slopes that would otherwise be bare. Here the traveler may see the
blue spruce for which Colorado is noted. Only the young growth
has the characteristic bluish-green color, but when the cones have
reached their full growth the tree is one of the most beautiful in
the forest. In midsummer these slopes form a sea of green; but if
the traveler should cross the pass after the middle of September he
will see the aspens in a golden blaze, and even in the thick forest
he may see specks of yellow as brilliant as any of the “colors” in
the prospector’s pan in the early days when he struck “ pay dirt.”
Beyond milepost 239 the railroad runs along the side of a bouldery
ridge at the foot of the bare cone of Ouray Peak. The traveler is at
first so far below the summit of this ridge that he probably does not
realize that it is a moraine which was evidently formed by one of the
last glaciers that existed on the south slope of the mountain, but
when he is a little nearer the summit of the mountain he will be able
to see the small cirque which this glacier excavated, though he will
notice that it is not nearly so large as the cirque which he saw from
Grays siding. The reasons for the difference are that the glacier
which lay on the east side was in the lee of the mountain and received
more snow than the other one, which was exposed to the strong west
wind, and that the snow which fell upon the glacier that faced the
east was not readily melted, whereas the other glacier, which faced
the south, must have received the full warmth of the sun’s rays. AS
the glacier on the east side was thus favored in the accumulation of
snow and in the slight melting of the ice it grew apace, whereas the
one on the south side was always small and doubtless soon dwindled
away.
Te aE TL
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 165
Beyond the moraine the railroad passes through a swampy flat,
which is possibly the cirque of a much older glucie than those just
escribed. The traveler will see on the right the sta-
M ;
aad eae tion of a ranger who guards the national forest.
e i ion 1
Abeaag ie seats Although his station is desolate and the passing trains
are his only diversion this ranger must remain here
on duty to prevent forest fires and to look after the interests of the
Forest Service. At last the train stops in a small cut, and the traveler
is at the summit of Marshall Pass, more than 2 cifles above the level
of the sea. This pass as it appears from the hills on the south is rep-
resented in Plate LXIX, A. The view from the summit, like that
from many high moutiitaing; is not so striking as a view from a point
lower down, but it rachislas a vast expanse of country, especially on
the west. F ew real mountains can be seen in that direction, and the
high land in sight consists mostly of vast plateaus which lie at differ-
ent elevations.
The pass was named in honor of Lieut. William L.
Marshall, who was the first white man to cross it, in 1873.
™* Marshall Pass was discovered in
1873 by Lieut. William L. Marshall,
later chief of engineers in the United
ration in
find relief from toothache. The fol-
lowing account of the discovery is con-
ensed from a recent article on the
Subject by Thomas F. Dawson in “ The
Trail” (Sept., 1920), the official van
orai
untain explora-
tion and he decided to eg work
and go to Denver. It was arranged
that the party should etigia the regu-
ar route by way of Cochetopa Pass,
but as Lieut. Marshall had a very
Painful to. toothache, he decided to pros
of Twin Lakes but found the
80697° ———12
—
snow too deep; then he tried an en-
crossed. Lieut. 3
the pass he had aaseete d was one
over which a road or even a railroad
could easily be : Saliabeactatd so despite
t ey win
paring a pro
proaches on “both
When the observ ations were com-
pleted the party pushed on to Denver,
where a dentist soon relieved the tooth-
ache. In a short time the news of the
discovery of the pass became noised
about and Lieut. Marshall was waited
upon by a delegation of prominent
citizens who, with true western push,
organized the Marshall ai Pall Toll Road
Co. and in a few months completed a
wagon road through the pass
What would the traveler of t
think of ite a mule-back ces
of 300 mi n the snow across the
mountains of ‘Sanehe to find reliet
showing the ap-
des
166 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
The railroad cut at the summit of the pass is in a volcanic breccia
made up of bombs and other fragments thrown out by a volcano and
afterward consolidated and cemented into a bed of rock. The source
of this volcanic material is not known, but it probably came from the
south, where the eruptions were many and violent, though they did
not extend into this region. This breccia is much younger than the
rocks of Ouray Peak, and it therefore does not indicate that that
mountain is a voleano.
The steepest railroad grade on the east side of the summit is 4 per
cent, or 211 feet to the mile, a grade that is maintained from a point
not far above Mears Junction to the summit, a distance of 14 miles.
The grade on the west side is the same from the summit of the pass
to a point about a mile below Chester, a distance of 9 miles. As the
maximum grade on the standard-gage main line is only 3 per cent,
or 158 feet to the mile, a change in gage here would probably mean
an entirely new location, so as to avoid the steep grades and short
curves.
On emerging from the snowsheds at the summit the traveler has
spread before him on the left the long slope down which the rail-
road winds with many loops and turns. This side of the mountain
is more nearly treeless than the east side, because it is much drier, for
it is swept by dry winds that have passed over the arid plateaus of
southern Utah and Arizona. There are no indications that glaciers
ever existed on this side, for the entire slope is exposed to view and
nothing resembling a terminal moraine can be seen. This fact also
is due to the strong west winds and the drier atmosphere on the west
side and to the greater heat of the sun’s rays, which aided the melting
of the snow on the south and west sides. After the train loops back
directly under the pass there is little of interest to be seen; the slopes
are generally smooth, and the valley is without scenic attractions.
A short distance west of Marshall Pass the railroad goes from
voleanic breccia to granite and then onto quartzite and shale similar
to those seen below the Ouray or Leadville limestone in both Eagle
River canyon and the canyon of Colorado River above Glenwood
Springs. These rocks are not strikingly exposed and probably will
be detected only by those who look specially for them.
from a toothache! Such a trip would | Truly the “winning of the West”
be bad enough to make under present | called for courage and endurance of
conditions, but what must it have been | which the traveler of to-day, with all
through an unbroken wilderness and | the comforts and even luxuries of
across the backbone of the continent! | travel, can have little comprehension.
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 167
The railroad gradually descends the slope, and at Chester it is at
the level of Tomichi Creek. For some distance the valley is small
and narrow, but farther on it opens, and crops of
a hay may be seen on the flood plain. The chief
Deena industry of the country is stock raising, for the
high mountains afford excellent summer pasture
and the bottoms along the creeks produce hay for the subsistence of
the stock during the winter. Cattle may be seen on the range at
many places, especially in midsummer, and bands of sheep find pas-
ture at the foot of the highest mountains, (See Pl. LXX, @.)
Below Chester the valley expands, and at Sargent the stream,
which the railroad has been following, is joined by a large branch
from the north. Sargent is a busy railroad point
Sargent. which still bears the marks of a frontier settlement.
expt feet. Here “helper” engines are kept to assist the trains
Denver 257 miles, Up the heavy grade to the summit. The rock near
Sargent is mainly granite, but it is not conspicuous,
for most of the slopes are smooth and round and few ledges are visi-
ble. The granite ex-
tends as far as mile- PE
post 263, where it is £9
replaced by sandstone nw, “3 SE.
(Dakota), which forms Mancos shale <\ 2 — act
& pronounced hogback ) et eee ay
on both sides of the YY Ife sence
tracks. This hogback © gs LE Fee
forms one edge of a (=== OMe $235
broad, flat basin of pug ras ast ateiinieey ce Ue Ea es Gre re thine
Sedimentary rocks that
extends pr actically to Ficure 43.—Overturned eastern rim of the syncline at
Gunnison. Where first Crookton, Dakota sandstone dips steeply to
Seen the Dakota sand- nage? ;
stone is overturned, as shown in figure 48, showing that the down-
folding of the basin was accompanied by a strong thrust from the
east,
The Mancos shale forms the surface of the inner part of this great
basin for a long distance. This shale is so soft that it is seldom seen
in outcrop, but it has a decided effect in subduing the features of
the landscape. The valley has a width of 2 or 3 miles, the slopes
bordering it are gentle, and the hills are low. In the midst of the
broad valley, or rather on its north (right) border, is a promient
mountain called Tomichi Dome, which rises more than 2,000 feet
168 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
above the level of the valley. As shown in figure 44 this mountain
is a great stock or mass of granite, much younger than the granite
of the main mountains, that has been forced up through some crevice
from below. It is much harder than the surrounding shale and hence
stands up as an isolated mountain mass. The elevation of the valley
ere is so great that few grains will mature, but
Doyle. fine crops of hay are grown and the level valley
Elevation 8,062 feet, floor is dotted here and there with ranches. Doyle,
Population 122.* the center of much of this fine meadow land, is
Denver 270 miles. connected by stage with Waunita Hot Springs,
about 8 miles to the south, which is said to be a very beautiful health
and pleasure resort.
Below Doyle the valley grows narrower, and within about 3 miles
from the town the Dakota sandstone rises from the floor of the valley
and makes prominent ledges
on either side. This sand-
stone is underlain by the
variegated shale and sand-
stone of the Gunnison for-
mation, and this in turn
Tomichi Dome SE.
Bay 6 meee rests directly upon the
toe ke
granite, which forms the
ing the great mass of crystalline rock (a) that foundstion of this moun-
has forced its way upward, while in a molten tain region. The Dakota
condition, through the older granite (b) and sandstone rises onl a few
% hundred feet above the level
of the stream, and the underlying rocks are worn into fantastic
shapes, as can be seen on the north (right) side of the valley.
From the point where they first appear to a point a few miles be-
yond the town of Gunnison the Dakota and the underlying Gunnison
formation on the north side of the valley are continuously from 50
to about 300 feet above the level of the stream. In general, the
valley continues wide and includes many hay fields.
— ce the mouth of Quartz Creek (see sheet
Elevation 7,052 feet. 6, Dp. , is the principal town in this area.
hebraige pak {t was formerly connected with Buena Vista by a
_ harrow-gage line of the Colorado & Southern Rail-
way, but owing to the caving of the tunnel at the summit of the
range service on this line has been discontinued. This branch was
originally built down the valley to Gunnison, and the old track is
visible at several places on the right. On the south side of the valley
the sedimentary rocks can be traced to Parlin, but below this place
the granite that forms the lower slopes is overlain by a great mass
of volcanic rocks, These rocks cover every high point that projects
Parlin.
pane rite teen en ao St SN a BS NS
hie aa tare |
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTER. 169
into the valley from the south between Parlin and Gunnison. Two
miles below Parlin Tomichi Creek is joined from the south (left)
by Cochetopa Creek, down which in 1853 came the exploring party
which gave its name to this county. This party was one of several
authorized by Congress to explore for the best route for a Pacific rail-
road. The party, under the command of Capt. J. W. Gunnison,
entered the mountains by the pass now known as La Veta Pass,
through the Sangre de Cristo Range, and crossed the north end of
San Luis Park, reaching the Continental Divide at Cochetopa Pass
(altitude, 9,088 feet). (See sheet 3, p. 100.) They descended Coche-
topa Creek to its junction with Tomichi Creek, and this stream to the
Gunnison, and so continued down to Colorado River (then the
Grand). The party crossed Cochetopa Pass on September 2 and
reached the present site of the town of Gunnison about September
7, 1853.
The railroad follows Tomichi Creek to Gunnison, the county seat
of Gunnison County, which is at the junction of Tomichi Creek and
Gunnison River. The broad tract of level land on which it stands
affords an almost ideal site for a town, and Gunni-
Gunnison. son, which was founded in 1874, has now succeeded
Sebbemee ee ttt in spreading itself over so large a part of this tract
Denver 289 miles, that it should be known as the town of “ magnificent
distances.” It is a railroad junction point of consid-
erable activity, for a branch line extends from it to Crested Butte and
Baldwin, in the coal fields to the north.** Before the slump in the
price of silver in 1893 there were two smelters here, and the town
was a thriving supply point for a large mining district. Since then
its business activities are almost entirely due to the fact that it is
the division headquarters of the narrow-gage line and a railroad
junction point. The town is the center of one of the best fishing
regions of the State and the site of one of the State normal schools,
and, according to some of its inhabitants, it has the finest climate
and water in the world. ;
= The coal field of Gunnison County | tion, which is a formation in the upper
is the southernmost part of the great |} part of the Upper Cretaceous series.
synclinal basin of coal-bearing rocks | (See table on p. 11.)
which stretches from this place north- The number and thickness of the
ward to White River and then west- | coal beds differ greatly from place to
ward nearly to the Wasatch Moun- | place, and the coal they contain also
tains in Utah. This basin is crossed | differs in quality, ranging from sub-
by the main line of the Denver & Rio | bituminous to anthracite. The coal
Grande Western Railroad between | of highest rank, including anthracite,
Newcastle and Palisade. The coal | is found in the southern point of the
beds in this great structural basin | basin, near Crested Butte, only a few
are contained in the Mesaverde forma- of Gunnison, The coal in
170 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES,
As both the character of a country and its scenery depend entirely
upon the kind of rocks in it and upon their relations to one another
it is well, perhaps, to outline briefly the essential features of the
geology of this region before attempting to describe the valley of
the Gunnison. The most striking element of the scenery along both
lines of the Denver & Rio Grande Western is the very old granite
and gneiss that are exposed in the Royal Gorge, the Eagle River
canyon, and the canyon of Colorado River, on the main line, and
in the Black Canyon and adjacent parts of the Gunnison Valley.
These rocks, which are without true bedding, have been crushed
and folded until their structure is generally very complex. After
they were crumpled they were planed down by the action of the
weather and the streams until their upper surface was fairly even
and probably lay near sea level. The land sank somewhat irregu-
larly, and on the smooth slopes of the granite were laid down sand
and gravel, which later
became sandstone and
conglomerate. Upon
shale and limestone, were
afterward deposited.
Some of these rocks are
Figure 45.—Section showing the effect : i and of Cambrian age (see
soft rocks on the form of a can
the table, p. m), and
some are as late as Upper Cretaceous. These rocks then passed
through many changes caused by uplift and erosion and_prob-
ably during peveral: epochs were planed down by the streams
almost to sea level. The latest movement in the earth’s crust has
been one of elevation, which lifted the region to its present posi-
tion, many thousands of feet above the sea, where the streams are
vientoudls attacking the rocks and cutting broad valleys or deep
canyons, the results of their action depending on the kind of rock
they encounter. A stream may at first cut down through relatively
soft limestone and shale and may then encounter the massive granite,
so that the top of the canyon may be broad and have gentle slopes
(see fig. 45), whereas the bottom may be no wider than the stream
that has cut it and may have practically vertical walls. The planing
this part of the basin has been baked
ties of the past. Both bituminous coal
and anthracite are mined in this field
and find their way to market through
, Gunnison, The coal output of Gunni-
son ——— rose per to a maximum
f 640,984 t n 1910. The output in
1018 was 582.906 tons,
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 171
down of the granite has made the surface of the land adjacent to
the tops of most of the narrow canyons flat—in other words, the
streams have cut trenches in mesas or plateaus.
In the Gunnison Valley another chapter has been written as an
episode in the geologic history of the general region—a chapter re-
cording events of a time, after the sedimentary rocks had been de-
posited, when the region was covered with lava flows or with material
derived from them or from volcanic eruptions.
From the summary of the geologic history of the region just given
the scenery below the town of Gunnison, even including that in the
Black Canyon, may be more readily interpreted. The country for a
few miles below the station at Gunnison must have been at some time
long past flooded with lava. The volcanic rocks thus formed are now
generally soft, but in places, as on the upland southwest of the station,
they rise above the general level in great monuments or spires, making
a very rough country. (See Pl. LXX, 2.) The character of the vol-
canic rock—a breccia—which composes much of the surface where the
slopes are smooth, may be seen in the cut at milepost 290.
Wherever the granite appears above the level of the streams they
have cut into it narrow canyons, above which the slopes may be very
gentle up to some horizontal bed of sandstone, which generally stands
out asa mesacap. Where the slopes are gentle and the valley is broad
hay fields abound, but where the valley narrows down to a canyon the
bottom can not be cultivated.
The first large canyon below Gunnison begins at a siding called
Hierro (yay’rro; Denver 294.5 miles), where the top of the granite
stands at track level. The top of the granite rises downstream, and
within a short distance below the siding the train passes through a
pretty little winding canyon, whose granite walls range in height
from 100 to 150 feet. The scenery in this canyon is not grand and
striking, like that in the Black Canyon, farther down, but many
beautiful views may be obtained of the clear, sparkling river, the
fringe of willows and cottonwoods, and the gray canyon walls. The
canyon ends at Elkhorn (Denver 297 miles), a resort devoted entirely
to the followers of Izaak Walton. Below this place the canyon widens
out, the granite decreases in height above the stream, and the slopes
above the granite include horizontal beds of sand-
Jola. stone, so that they are made up of a number of
~ satcralipepg may mesas or terraces. Hay ranches abound in the
Denver 299 miles, | broad valley, and opposite the village of Iola even
the terrace formed by the granite about 50 feet
above the bottom of the valley has been irrigated and yields flourish-
ing crops.
A mile and a half below Iola another granite canyon begins, and
in a short distance its walls rise to a height of about 150 feet. From
172 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
the point of greatest height the walls decrease gradually and finally
disappear near the mouth of Elk Creek, a small stream that joins
Gunnison River from the north. The granite, however, does not
completely disappear but extends down to milepost 306, or 1 mile
above Cebolla (say-bo’yah), where it passes below water level.
Cebolla, which is one of the most noted resorts on the river for
fishermen, is in a wide part of the valley on the north side of the
river, at a mesa known as Tenderfoot Hill. The top
cohalls, ¢ of this mesa is 1,200 feet above the track at
inde iii ty Cebolla. The granite does not remain below river
level any great distance, for within a mile of Cebolla
it forms the walls of a narrow canyon, which, however, are not
more than 100 feet high. The smoothness and regularity of the
upper surface of the granite and the way in which it rises and
falls with reference to river level make it comparatively easy for
the traveler to understand how the Black Canyon has been cut. It
is evident that at the time the river established its course the granite
in neither of the small canyons so far described nor in Black Can-
yon was exposed, for the river was then flowing on the softer sedi-
mentary rocks that overlay the granite. As the river cut deeper
into its bed it uncovered the granite, but it could not shift its course
and thereby avoid the hard rock, so it had to keep at work laboriously
cutting its way into the granite. Although the granite canyons
about Cebolla are now shallow, they will become deeper and deeper
in course of time until the entire route from Gunnison to Cimarron
may be one granite canyon as deep and as impressive as the “ Black
Canyon.” It may be well to say that this great canyon will not be
seen by the coming generation nor the generation after the next,
nor even the one following that; but the geologist knows that unless
conditions change such a canyon will be formed, although the time
may be thousands or millions of years hence.
Below Cebolla the canyon is much the same as it is above that
place, except that the slopes above the granite become greater and
in places are composed of vast masses of volcanic breccia that
weather into fantastic forms. Where the granite is above the level
of the river the canyon is more or less rugged, but where it is below
the surface the valley is wide and the slopes are smooth and gentle.
Near milepost 313 the granite passes below the level of the river
-and remains concealed as far as the village of Sapinero (sah-pe-
nay’ro), which is a noted fishing resort and the
Sapinero. = junction of the branch railroad that runs south-
Denver $14 miles, | Sapinero the traveler, by looking back, may obtain
an excellent view of a great cliff of voleanic breccia
see Pl, LX-X, A), and by looking forward he may see the granite
6) “HAOPDVY WOU
IXXT G@LVId 208 NILGITOY AWAUAS TVOIDOTOND “8 ‘7A
Kr) OLY] WY JOATVC
eds ‘aeoyo Jo ur ny
pue doys 07 JepTPAr.
‘NOANYVO MOVIE AO LYUVd YWAddl
IX¥XT GALVId 202 NILATING AYAUONS 'IVOIDOTORS ‘8S ‘ND
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 173
rising athwart the pathway of the stream; but even this hard rock
has not prov ed to be an insuperable barrier to the stream, which has
trenched it in Black Canyon seemingly as easily as if it had been soft
shale.
The Lake City branch follows the main line for a mile and then
turns to the southeast (left) up Lake Fork. It was nearly to this
point that Capt. Gunnison followed the river in 1853, but finding
that the canyon below was apparently impassable, he turned to the
south, then struck westward across the mesas to the Uncompahgre
Valley, at the site of Montrose. The automobile roads also avoid the
canyon. The main road divides at ‘Sapinero, one branch following
the route of Capt. Gunnison and rejoining the railroad at Cimarron
(sim-ah-rrohn’), and the other climbing west of Sapinero to a
bench on the slope about 500 feet above the station and then follow-
ing this bench on the brink of the canyon for an air-line distance of
over 6 miles. Next it climbs to the top of the Black Mesa and avoids
the lower canyon by a long detour to the north. This road affords
one of the most striking and picturesque drives in the State. At the
point where it leaves the canyon it is fully 1,000 feet above the roar-
ing stream, and, as shown in Plate LX XI, A, B, the walls appear to
be vertical. Gunnison River is still actively engaged in cutting its
canyon deeper, as shown by the rapid current (see Pl. LX XI, @) and
the roughness of the water as it rushes down the rocky bed.
Black Canyon is noted for its awe-inspiring beauty. Of the can-
yons which the traveler sees on the lines of the Denver & Rio Grande
_ Western Railroad, the Royal Gorge easily holds first place, but the
Black Canyon as a scenic feature is a close second. The form of
this canyon, like that of the Royal Gorge, depends on the character
of the granite or gneiss. Where the rock is massive the walls are
unbroken and nearly vertical, but where the rock is banded and
composed of layers of different hardness, as it is in most places, the
walls may recede gradually and be very jagged and irregular.
Some irregular walls are shown in Plate LX-XITI.
_At the mouth of Lake Fork the canyon walls are about 200 feet
high, but their height increases downstream, until at the siding of
urecanti they are 1,000 feet high. Every curve and angle in this
distance presents a different aspect, and it is difficult to say which
view is the finest. One of the most striking scenes is that of a
pinnacle left standing at the mouth of Blue Creek, a small stream
that joins the river from the south. This pinnacle has been named
Curecanti Needle. It is nearly 1,000 feet high and is a striking
object as seen from the railroad siding. (See Pl]. LX XIII.)
The appearance of Black Canyon, like that of most features of
the kind, depends largely upon the light and the condition of the
174 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
atmosphere. When seen in bright sunlight, as it generally is, it
presents a view that is bright and lively The rocks of the walls
are full of color, and the trees and shrubs add to the beauty of the
scene. But in dark and stormy weather the canyon becomes for-
bidding; it loses its color and becomes terrible to look upon. It is
at its best in the evening, when the purple shadows that begin to
play behind each projecting buttress present a strong contrast to
the yellow sunlight on the westward-facing walls. Later the high
points alone are bathed in yellow light, and the canyon slumbers in
a mantle of blue light, steely above but denser in the seemingly
unfathomable lower reaches.
Below Curecanti the canyon is even more wonderful. In general
the walls are not so nearly vertical, but they increase rapidly in
height until at a point 2 miles above the mouth of Cimarron Creek
they are fully 2,500 feet high. The river, which is beautifully clear,
becomes rougher as it descends, as shown in Plate LX XI, @, until
it presents an almost continuous series of cascades.
A short distance above the mouth of Cimarron Creek the railroad
crosses the river on a high bridge and there oer = runs up Cimar-
ron Canyon, to the south, for this is as far railroad can be
carried in Black Canyon without going sitbieely Etcach the worst
part of the canyon, and such a course would entail an expense that
no ordinary railroad could meet.°*
If the traveler were not satiated with canyons he would doubtless
think that Cimarron Canyon is wonderful, but after traveling for 14
miles in the rocky depths of Black Canyon he longs for the free air
and for the larger view which the hilltops alone can give, and the
53 Although Black Canyon ero on low Cimarron, but most of them have
mouth of Cimarron Canyon is suffered shipwreck and disaster.
paratively oe in both depth eae About 1903 A. L. Fellows, an engi-
length, it is one of the most difficult to | neer of the Reclamation Service, and
traverse, aaa: very few travelers have | W. W. Terrence, of Montrose, made
succeeded in passing through it. the attempt. They were equipped with
The Black Canyon was first explored | a rubber raft, rubber bags for cameras,
by a ae of engineers of the Denver | and two silk life lines 600 feet long.
& ran
de ailroa who in| They lost their provisions but suc-
ihe made an instrumental survey capturing a mountain sheep,
of the entire Pisses even passing | upon which they lived during the rest
through the more difficult portion be- | of their trip. It took them 10 days te
low Cimarron. ee records of this trip, | traverse 30 miles of the canyon.
so far as the writer is aware, have More recently Ellsworth Kolb has
ver been published; all we kno a
about it is that the members of the | canyon, so that it seems probable that
party suffered great hardship and | the Gunnison has been tamed or that
peril. Since that time others have | man has learned how to circumvent
attempted to traverse the canyon be- | even this raging torrent.
4
5
a
®
be)
3
o
5
—
ot
te
et
bet J
&
ot
my
©
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 707 PLATE LXXIII
CURECANTI NEEDLE.
high, stz hic a at pa satus of san yoni Ph 1 by the Denver & Rio Grande
W estern Railroad.
1 Black ¢ aC i Needle, a py ramid of granite 800 or 900 feet
S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
BULLETIN 707
PLATE LXXIV
TUNNEI
water of Gunnison River
gg
nt erior of tunnel;
C.
. OF THE UNITED STATES
the Red -lamation Serv
RECLAMATION SERVICE
The driving of a tunnel 6 miles through the solid rock so as to t wring some of the mountain
to irrigate the
Ce a
Uv. S$ .
. es Valley is one of the great works
A, Diversion dam and intake in Black
C, We ny por rtal of the tunnel, Photographs by the
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 175
sight of the station of Cimarron nestling beneath the spreading
branches of giant cottonwoods is therefore most
Cimarron. welcome. From the station it is impossible to de-
Perunte 05 feet. termine why the canyon has come to an end and
i. .
Denver 329 miles. why one can look out through the trees into open
country beyond. This change, like many others, is
due to the geology, and it can be better understood by the traveler
when he is at least part way up the long grade to Cerro Summit. At
Cimarron the automobile road on the south side of the river joins the
railroad, and together they climb to the summit on their way to Un-
compahere Valley.
Immediately after leaving Cimarron the traveler will see that, so
far as the surface features are concerned, he is in an entirely differ-
ent world. He has just passed through a region of the hardest rocks,
where he could see little if any soil, but here he can see no rock, at
Ss. § N.
Tongue Mesa
STs
VA)
‘
‘
IN
Ficurs 46.—Section across Black Canyon at Cimarron. The rocks have broken along the
fault shown in the section, and the granite on the north has been forced up far above
its original position.
least nothing that resembles the rocks of the canyon, though on closer
examination he will see that the rock is the softest kind of shale—the
Mancos shale. He may also notice that the contact between the rocks
of the canyon and those of the plain is extremely abrupt, and if he
could follow that contact he would find that the same beds are not
in contact at all places. This variability in contact indicates that
the rocks of the plain and those of the canyon are separated by a
fault. In other words, the hard rocks of the canyon have been
broken away from their fellows down below and lifted until they
now stand actually higher than the shale, as shown in figure 46. This
fault has been traced for a long distance, and in all places the edges _
of the sedimentary rocks are in contact with the granite. (See rt 4
LXXXVII, A, B, p. 216.) ; 4
After leaving Cimarron the train begins its steep climb to the —
divide which separates the drainage of Cimarron Creek from that —
of Uncompahgre River. This grade, which is one of the steepest
grades on the road, is 4 per cent, or 211 feet to the mile. In making
a
176 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
this climb the traveler wil] notice that the hard rocks through which
the Gunnison has cut its canyon form a large, high mesa on the
north (right), considerably higher than the summit over which the
railroad passes. The shale was once probably at least as high as
the granite, but it is so much softer that it has been worn away
until it now lies distinctly below the hard rocks. It would thus seem
that Gunnison River has gone out of its way to cut its canyon
through the highest land and the hardest rocks in the region. This
statement, however, represents merely the conditions as they appear
to-day, but when Gunnison River first assumed this course it must
have been flowing on the lowest land or it could not have remained
there. At that time all this country probably stood at a much lower
level and was nearly a plain, the hard rocks having been worn down
as low as the soft rocks. Under such conditions the river found it
as easy to flow over the granite as over the shale, and so its course
was not in any sense abnormal.
In making the climb to Cerro Summit the traveler will see on the
south (left) the great mass of Tongue Mesa, which owes its preser-
vation to a protecting cap of hard rock that was originally lava
which came down from some of the numerous volcanoes in the San
Juan Mountains, to the south, which are visible from the open
valley near Montccae The traveler is now ap-
proaching one of the most arid parts of Colorado,
where water is the most valuable natural re-
source. In order to irrigate a part of the great
Uncompahgre Valley, which lies ahead, a long ditch has been dug
to take water from far up on Cimarron Creek, carry it across Cerro
Summit at a higher point than the railroad, and distribute it on
the slopes to the west. Where this ditch crosses the summit it forks,
and the right-hand branch, known as the Montrose and Cimarron
ditch, passes under the railroad at the summit and is carried a long
distance to the northwest to irrigate the broad terrace which the
traveler will see later.
From Cerro Summit and the slopes beyond an extended view to
the west may be obtained. across the broad Uncompahgre Valley to
the great Uncompahgre Plateau beyond. The ride down the slope
is not particularly interesting, except as the traveler unfamiliar with
the semiarid regions may see what it means to get water onto the
land. The effect of irrigation is well illustrated by the verdant ter-
race which the traveler may see on the right at an altitude of at least
1,000 feet above the middle of the valley at Montrose. Where water
is not available the surface is a desert, but where the land is supplied
with all the water it needs, it will support a luxuriant vegetation.
For a long time private enterprise was engaged in irrigating small
parts of the Uncompahgre Valley from such streams as Cimarron
Cerro Summit.
Elevation 7,968 feet.
Denver 335 miles.
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE, 177
Creek and Uncompahgre River, but these were found to be entirely
inadequate for the irrigation of the entire valley. It was then de-
cided to tunnel through Vernal Mesa (the granite mesa on the right)
and bring the waters of Gunnison River to the region. The attempt
was made, but funds could not be obtained to complete the project.
The Reclamation Service then took up the problem
Cedar Creek. eat
Flevation 6,752 feet.
Denver 341 miles.
a tunnel was started a mile below Cedar Creek
and continued to the river in the almost inaccessible
depths of Black Canyon, a distance of 6 miles.
Work was begun in 1905, and the tunnel was formally opened by
President Taft in 1909. Views of the two portals and the interior
of the tunnel are shown in Plate LX XIV. By this tunnel sufficient
water to irrigate 150,000 acres was obtained.**
From the west end of Gunnison tunnel the water is carried to
Uncompahgre River by a canal 11 miles long. It is turned into the
* The settlement of the Uncompah-
ts) from Uncompahgre River
prevailed, and 1884 ditches for irri-
gati large acreage had been pro-
e
proved that the water sippy was in-
adequate, and 20,000 acres out of the
00 acres that had been patented
nest
os
y local subscription. 1901 the
seo alliage edi and work
begun on the great tunnel. A
Nee ie when the appropriation
had been exhausted, the State and citi-
zens requested that the Reclamation
examina
found a better site for oe tunnel, and
on June 7, 1904, the retary of the
Interior ordered the construction to
begin.
The Gunnison tunnel, as_ finally
built, is 30,645 feet long (about 5.8
miles) and has a uniform grade of
10.7 feet to the mile. The bottom is
flat and is 10 feet wide, the straight
sides are 10 feet high and batter out-
ward 6 inches, and the roof is arched
24 feet. The flow of water that can
be cae through the tunnel is
t 1,300 ond-feet
1 mile from
the west portal. The tunnel complete,
with apps lining, was finished and
water for irrigation was flowing
through it on ges 6, 1910.
It is interesting to note that this
tunnel passes through the fault shown
(p. 175), at the contact of
the shale which constitutes the coun-
try rock in the western and the
granite in which the river canyon is
of
ad
feet tows a fault zone badly shat-
tered and tilted at widely divergent —
angles Pg a very ir manner,
High temperature, hot and cold water,
coal, marble, hard and soft sandstone,
limestone, and carbonic-acid gas in |
178 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
channel of the Uncompahgre at a point 9 miles above Montrose and
is diverted lower down for projects on both the east and the west
side of the valley.
At the end of 1920 water from the Gunnison tunnel was used in
irrigating 65,000 acres of land which, before the completion of the
tunnel, was a barren desert waste. The principal crops are alfalfa,
oats, wheat, potatoes, apples, and sugar beets, listed in decreasing
order of the acreage cultivated. Small fruits, onions, sugar beets,
apples, garden products, and potatoes, in the order named, gave the
largest returns per acre.
After passing the Gunnison tunnel, which, unfortunately, is not
visible, the train descends the sloping side of the broad valley in a
barren ravine, but at a siding called Fairview, half a mile beyond
milepost 346, irrigated farms are spread out on both sides of the
railroad. The crops that are growing here will, of course, depend
upon the time of year in which the journey is made. If the trav-
eler passes this place in midsummer he will see fine fields of oats and
wheat, some corn, and plenty of potatoes, sugar beets, onions, and
alfalfa. He will also see a few orchards, but this particular area is
not largely devoted to fruit raising. The valley has been trans-
formed, as shown in Plate LX XV, A, B, from a wilderness to a
region of prosperous farms, and the secret of the change is only
water,
Tn the journey down the long tangent to the middle of the valley
the most striking features of the landscape are the rugged peaks of
the San Juan Mountains, which are visible to the south (left). These
mountains are the most rugged in the State. Most of the peaks are
over 13,000 feet high, and many of them rise above 14,000 feet. The
highest point in the range is Uncompahgre Peak, which has an alti-
tude of 14,419 feet. The sawtooth top of this range is well shown
in the profile visible from the train.
After passing through miles of the finest farms in the West the
train reaches Ouray Junction, which is the point where this line
joins the one from Ouray, Telluride, and Durango.
marta ee, Here the railroad turns at a right angle and pro-
Population 3,581, ceeds a mile northward to the station in the growing
ver 352 miles, young city of Montrose. This city is the distribut-
: ing center and shipping point for a large district
that is under high cultivation. Cereals, fruits, and vegetables, to-
overwhelming quantities were encoun-
tered in this section, and tunnel exca-
vation was both difficult and dan-
gerous.”
This description shows how rocks
may be broken and jumbled together
in a fault zone where they have moved
hundreds or perhaps thousands of feet.
i cet
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 707 PLATE LXXV
‘
Re at, 4h Ded eo ea.
eae See tessa Cs Sedge
A. UNCOMPAHGRE VALLEY IN ITS NATURAL, STATE.
ado River valleys before water is turned upon it is a barren
he
The land in t i Color
expanse of a i hes soil on which there ee only a scanty growth of plants. It is svi only by
ong
ar abbits, a and other animals ee great & ndurance and ability to travel a]
istance for wat Photograph by the U. 5S. Reclamat
B. THE SAME VALLEY IRRIGATED.
~*~ transforming effects el the Gunnison water are seen in the fine farms and happy homes of ve
‘acompahgre Valley, where once there was nothing growing but sagebrush and greasewoo
Photogr, raph by the U, S. Reclamation Service.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 707 PLATE LXXVI
CANYON BETWEEN DELTA AND GRAND JUNCTION
General view looking upstream. The rocks dip to the left, away from the Uncompahgre
Plateau or arch. The shaly rocks in the top of the canyon walls are of ee. color,
and the massive sandstone at the base is brick-red. Photograph by Willis T. Lee.
B. BRILLIANTLY COLORED SPUR OF THE CANYON WALL.
One of the projecting spurs of the canyon wall ne: r Bridgeport consisting of alternating
bands of att deo and green sak here and there bawks of yellow —— The valley
bottom supports a fairly good growth of sage but when water i $ put on it grows almost
any kind of crop. Photograph by Willis T. Lee.
~y
é. ee ED SANDSTONE.
The aoe was once sand bank in water; the currents coming from the right
fre ashed layer after ca er of the ode over the crest of the ba = and down on its sloping
ront, making the cross-bedded layers. Photograph by J. K. Hillers.
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 179
gether with forage plants, grow here in abundance. Two miles
south of Montrose was the home of Chief Ouray, for whom the peak
north of Marshall Pass and the mining town in. the San Juan Moun-
tains were named. The main line and the branches of the railroad
north of Montrose were changed to standard gage in the summer of
906.
STANDARD-GAGE LINE FROM MONTROSE TO GRAND
NCTION.
From Montrose to Delta the railroad follows the valley of Un-
compahgre River in a general course a little west of north. The
country north of Montrose is more broken than that to the south, so
that a general view of the valley can not be obtained from the rail-
road. Throughout most of the distance from Montrose to Delta the
land near the river is well cultivated, but not far back from the
river there is generally a line of bluffs on both sides of it, which range
in height from 50 to 150 feet. These bluffs are but the fronts of
extensive terraces, many of which are well cultivated, but the trav-
eler can see only the barren shale underlying them.
For a short distance out of Montrose there is nothing to interfere
with the view to the east, and the great Vernal Mesa, through which
Gunnison River has cut its famous canyon, stands out in bold relief.
For some distance the fault noted near Cimarron is still present, but
apparently about halfway along the mesa the red sandstone beds of
the Carboniferous and Triassic systems may be seen from the train
as they lap onto the mesa in gentle curves. The mesa here is an arch—
an anticline, as it is called by geologists—but the middle of the arch
has been planed off by erosion, leaving the granite still at the sur-
face. North of this point there is no fault on the west side of the
mesa. oe
Along the railroad there is a high-tension electric transmission line,
which brings electric power from Telluride, in the San Juan Moun-
tains, for lighting Montrose, Delta, and other towns
Olathe. along the road. Olathe (o-lay’the), a place of
Blevation 5,365 feet. recent growth, by utilizing the water supplied i
l : { Fd,
eghar s02 pon the Gunnison tunnel is becoming a horticultura
center. In passing along the railroad the traveler
Will note that the farmers of the valley are troubled in places with
strong alkali, which makes the surface as white as if it had been wr
ered by snow. This alkali, which is brought to the surface by flood-
ing, due to overirrigation, makes farming difficult, but it can largely
be removed by subsurface drainage. es cali
One of the most promising parts of the valley for agriculture 1s
terrace called California Mesa, which the traveler may see on the west
SB ie et
180 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
(left) as he approaches Delta. This mesa is served with water by
canals which divert it from Uncompahgre River at a place far up the
valley. Delta is the county seat of Delta County
Delta. and was so named because it stands on the delta
paid asec ige formed where Uncompahgre River enters Gunnison
Denver Sti wiles. River. The south slope of Grand Mesa, the table-
land to the north, is one of the most noted fruit-
growing regions of western Colorado. The orchards on this south-
ward-facing slope are protected from frost in much the same manner
as those at Palisade, so that fine crops of apples, peaches, and other
fruit are produced here almost every year. The towns of Hotchkiss,
Paonia, Cedaredge, and Austin are particularly noted for their excel-
lent fruit, which is carried to Delta on a standard-gage branch road
and thence shipped to other markets. Considerable coal is mined at
Somerset, the terminus of this branch, and finds a ready market in
the Uncompahgre Valley.
From Cimarron to Delta the railroad runs entirely on the Mancos
shale, to which are due the breadth of the valley and the smoothness
of its sides. At Delta the shale lies in a great structural trough—a
syncline, as it is called by geologists—whose eastern edge rests on the
flank of Vernal Mesa and whose western edge rests on the Un-
compahgre Plateau. Below Delta the railroad changes its course
from west of north to almost due west, and it therefore soon reaches
the edge of this shale valley and enters a canyon cut in the underlying
sandstone.
A short distance from the station at Delta the railroad crosses Un-
compahgre River and then runs along the bank of Gunnison River,
which the traveler has not seen since he left Black Canyon. Here
the Grand Mesa is in full view to the north (right). All the lower
slopes of this mesa are composed of the Mancos shale, which is so
soft that it generally forms valleys wherever it is exposed, but the
shale in the mesa is protected by overlying sandstone that is capped
by a thick sheet of solidified lava (basalt). When this lava was
poured out the present lowlands had not been cut, and the whole
surface stood at the same level as that of the top of Grand Mesa.
The volcano or volcanic vent from which this great flow was ejected
has not been definitely located, but it may have been at a considerable
distance, for this sheet is probably a part of the great lava flow that
covered much of this general region, a flow whose remnants can still
be seen on Grand Mesa and Battlement Mesa, to the north, on the
Flattops, north of Glenwood Springs, and on other high mesas. If
these remnants are not a part of a single flow they are probably parts
of independent flows that occurred at about the same time. As the
West Elk Mountains, east of Somerset, were a center of great volcanic
°
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 181
activity at about this time the lava may have originated there. The
striking thing about these lava flows is the enormous amount of ero-
sion that has taken place since they occurred. The date of the flow
can be fixed only as some time in the Tertiary period, but it was long
enough ago to permit the removal from the valleys of rocks at least
a mile in thickness.
The sandstone and interbedded shale immediately below the lava
cap in Grand Mesa contain beds of coal and were formerly called the
Laramie formation, which belongs at the top of the Upper Cretaceous
series (see table, p. 11), but now they are known to be older and to
correspond with the heavy sandstones that form the Mesa Verde, in the
southwestern part of the State, and hence they are called the Mesa-
verde formation. The same formation carries the coal at Anthracite
and Crested Butte, northwest of Gunnison, At that place the coal
beds contain coal of high rank, but in the Grand Mesa, which is far-
ther from volcanic disturbances, the coal is of much lower rank, most
of it being subbituminous, or what was formerly called “black lig-
nite.” A large mine is operated at Somerset, but in that part of the
mesa which is visible from the river bank west of Delta coal is mined
only for local use.
On the left, but not visible in many places, is the broad upward
swell (anticline) known as the Uncompahgre Plateau, which is com-
posed of sandstones that underlie the shale seen about Montrose and
Delta. These sandstones will be seen in the canyon between Delta
and Grand Junction. Around the margin of the plateau the massive
red sandstones are deeply cut by the streams which flow from this
upland in rugged canyons that have nearly vertical walls. These
canyons are visible from the trains of the Denver & Rio Grande
Western Railroad from Delta to the Utah State line. The interior
of the plateau is unbroken and consists of a gently undulating up-
land without marked surface features.
Just after passing Roubideau siding, near milepost 378, the sand-
stone that underlies the shale makes its appearance. This sandstone,
which contains thin beds of coal, has been called the Dakota sand-
stone, but the best authorities now place it in the bottom of the
cos shale, and hence the Dakota may not be present. The rocks
rise rather steeply in the direction in which the train is egies and
soon variegated shale and maroon sandstone may be seen. These
rocks are in part the same as those which the traveler may have seen
at many places along the Front Range and which contain the huge
dinosaurs described on page 70. A skeleton of one of these dinosaurs
was once found across the river from Grand Junction in rocks of the
Same kind. :
80697°—22-18
+
182 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
At milepost 379 the railroad crosses the river, and from this place
to Grand Junction the best views of the canyon may be obtained on
the left. In the upper end of the canyon the walls are composed of
variegated shale and sandstone of the Gunnison formation, as
shown in Plate LX XVI, 2.
At first the only part of the Gunnison formation that is seen is the
upper shale, which gives to the canyon walls bands of rather strong
color, but after watching these colors
for several miles one would welcome
any change from the ever-present
maroon and green. Although the
canyon is fairly narrow and there is
not much land in it that can be irri-
gated, several attempts at irrigation
on a small scale have been made.
The method used employs no dams or
ditches but only a current wheel,
which is placed in the stream in such
a position that the current turns it,
and as it is provided with buckets,
a small quantity of water is at each
revolution lifted from the river to
the top of the wheel, where it is automatically dumped into a trough
that carries it to ag land to be irrigated. Although this is a primi-
tive arrangement it is excellently adapted to the irrigation of small
tracts of land. A number of these wheels may be seen in the canyon.
In general the canyon grows deeper downstream, and at Escalante
siding, milepost 385 (see sheet 7, p. 198), the second member of the
Gunnison formation—a hard pe dane wt cet near the railroad
. eF :
Gunnison formation
FIGURE ee tices ee ag canyon
l near Bridgepo
"The Gunnison formation here is
composed of three parts, as shown in
figure 47. The upper part, which prob- | fore stan
is composed largely of sandstone that
there-
ably corresponds to the Morrison for-
mation of the east side of the range, is
visible where the walls are low. It is
bo
stone. The colors are mostly maroon
and green, and in many places the
bands of color are very distinct. This
part is comparatively soft and conse-
quently forms slopes that lead down
from the more resistant sandstone
cliffs above. The middle part of the
formation is about 100 feet thick and
canyon wall with steep or precipitous
faces. Although not brightly colored,
it has many of the same tints as the
The lowest part of
shale, which in the upper part is of 4
dull slate color but near the bottom
has many bands of strong maroon.
It is generally soft and forms slopes,
but the slopes are steeper than those
formed on the uppermost part of the
formation,
*
U. 8S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 707 SHEET No. 6
o.
10730 ior COLORADO
_ Scale 500,600
Approximately 8 miles to | inch
0 5 10 Miles
Seea an ane ee Se Caen nna ence nieasiene |
0 5 10 15 Kilometers
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
DAVID WHITE, Chief Geologist Cc. H. BIRDSEYE, Chief Topographic Engineer
Elevations in feer above mean sea level
The di from De Color dais h 10 mit
The crossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart.
Rellef Shading by R. W. Berry
Sheet No #
M. R. CAMPBELL, Geologist A. C. ROBERTS, Topographer
1922
.
EXPLANATION
Age i
in feet
8 Gravel in river bottoms and terraces Quaternary i
F ee oe a ae Our. rane age a Tertiary (Eocene) 3,400
H Sandstone, shale, and coal beds (Mesaverde formation) 2,825
J Dark marine shale (Mancos shale) : Upper Cretaceous 4,000
M_ Brown sandstone (Dakota sandstone) 50
N vex 2 es i pcan’ Cie ce Sct gee eo) Cee T
f tion) and Jurassic 480
P _Brick-red massive sandstone Triassic 300
X Granite Pre-Cambrian
Lava flows (basalt, andesite, latite, rhyolite, and
7 tuff-breccia) =
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 183
grade. Within a short distance it rises above the grade, and below it
may be seen a dark shale. This shale also rises downstream, and at
milepost 388 the top of a brick-red massive sandstone (Triassic)
appears beneath it on the opposite side of the valley. Wherever it is
exposed this sandstone, on account of its deep and uniform color and
its massiveness, is the dominating feature of the canyon. As the
rocks dip toward the northeast (see Pl. LXXVI, A) and as the
general course of the stream and of the railroad is toward the north-
west, the rocks exposed on the two sides of the canyon are not neces-
sarily the same. Even if the stream followed a straight course the
beds at the same level on its opposite sides in the same stretch would
be different, but the difference is greatly exaggerated because the
stream swings from side to side in great meanders. At many places
a point on the outermost part of a bend to the left is more than a
mile from the outermost part of the next bend to the right. The
farther the stream swings to the left the lower or older are the rocks
in the canyon walls, and the farther it swings in the opposite direc-
tion the higher or younger are the rocks in the walls.
Wherever the brick-red sandstone rises 100 feet or more above the
water there is an inner box canyon with vertical walls, but where
this sandstone is below the water the canyon walls recede by slopes
and terraces. This compound character of the canyon is shown in
Plate LXXVI, A. At milepost 400, 2 miles beyond Bridgeport sid-
ing, the railroad enters a tunnel that is excavated entirely in the mas-
Sive brick-red sandstone, which is ideal material in which to drive
a tunnel, for the roof needs no timber to support it, and the portals
are equally durable. This tunnel is 2,256 feet long—nearly half
a mile. ;
In places the walls of the canyon are about 500 feet high, but they
lack both the ruggedness and the regularity that characterize the
other great canyons on this route. Finally they begin to decrease in
height, until, half a mile beyond milepost 410, the traveler begins to
see open country, and soon he finds himself back in the same shale
valley that he left a few miles below Delta. A mile farther along
the train reaches the station in the small village
Whitewater. of Whitewater. Here Grand erect looms up og
Elevation 4,665 feet. the right as the most conspicuous feature in the
pe hdieage On leaving Whitewater the railroad
again enters the canyon, which, however, 1s no-
where so deep nor so interesting as it is farther up. Its walls om
composed entirely of rocks of the Gunnison formation, or of rock
i above it, and at no place does the brick-red sandstone again
make its appearance. The river meanders broadly, swinging first
to one side and then, to the other in sharp curves which make the
184 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
mileage of the railroad much more than it would be if the course
were fairly straight.
As meanders like those in which the Gunnison flows in this canyon
could not have been begun while the river was cutting the canyon
they must have been there before the canyon was cut, and as geolo-
gists are agreed that such meanders can be formed only by a slug-
gish stream, the Gunnison of the time when these meanders were
young was not so rapid as it is to-day; it was a lazy river that flowed
slowly and wound about in the broad valley in which it was flowing.
The meanders were therefore formed when this part of the country
was essentially a shale plain, above which only here and there moun-
tains lifted their heads. As already stated, such a plain is supposed
to have been in existence when the lava that now caps Grand Mesa
was poured out, so that the meanders which the traveler sees to-day
in the river were probably formed when it was flowing at a level
a mile higher than it is now, before any of the sandstones that now
form the walls of its canyons were exposed. According to this in-
terpretation the meanders are very old and are simply inherited from
the former channel of the river.
Near milepost 420 the Gunnison formation disappears below the
river, and from this point down to the junction of Gunnison River
with Colorado River it appears only in places, and the canyon is cut
mainly in the sandstone, shale, and coal beds of the lower Mancos.
The height of the walls also declines, and finally, after skirting the
bluff on the right for a considerable distance, the train passes through
a small cut and crosses the bridge spanning Colorado River and is
soon at the station in Grand Junction.
Grand Junction is one of the largest towns of western Colorado.
If stands at the junction of the main line of the Denver & Rio
Grande Western Railroad and the line over Mar-
ET eee shall Pass, on the flat plain at the junction of Gun-
Population 8,665, Dison and Colorado rivers, and is therefore on the
Denver 424 miles (via natural route of railroad travel. Colorado River
Marshall Pass). : 2 :
especially carries a large volume of water, and as its
fall above Grand Junction is considerable it affords an excellent
supply of water for irrigation. Water has been taken from the rivet
for this purpose by many private companies, but generally it has been
taken out only a short distance above the land to be irrigated, and
consequently it has neither sufficient head nor volume to irrigate all
the land adjacent to the town. Recently the United States Reclama-
tion Service has dammed Colorado River 20 miles above Grand Junc-
tion and is carrying the water in the High Line canal (see p- 152) to
the terrace or bench land back from the river and near the foot of
the Book Cliffs.
Grand Junction.
an 5S ee
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 185
Grand Junction is the center of a great fruit-growing country
that extends up Colorado River nearly to De Beque, up the Gunnison
a short distance, and down Colorado River to Fruita and Loma.
Apples, pears, and peaches are the principal fruits raised. Views
of the orchards and the method of irrigating them are shown in
Plate LAXVIT, A,B. Besides fruits the valley produces vegetables,
principally sugar beets and potatoes. Sugar beets find a ready
market at the sugar factory at this place, and many beets are shipped
here from other parts of the two valleys.
The town has broad, well-paved streets, good business houses, and
a very attractive residence section, whose streets are well shaded by
trees that afford relief from the rays of the sun. These trees, to-
gether with the orchards, make this part of the valley look like an
oasis in a desert. A description of the scenery along the main line
east of this place ends on page 158.
MAIN LINE OF RAILROAD FROM GRAND JUNCTION
TO SALT LAKE CITY.
A short distance west of the station at Grand Junction the
traveler’s view of the valley is fairly unobstructed, and he obtains
y >
oO
3
3
B
a
fo.
0
zm)
D> &
: o
a o
: c
Colorado River
ff Fruita
ig Sie #
‘ ~
ee
X pe
Me.
a ie
Figure 48.—Sketch section across the valley at Fruita, Colo.
®*n attractive setting for the picture of the town, The existence of
this valley is due to geologic causes which can be easily understood
by a traveler who desires to know something of the character of the
rocks and of their attitude, or, as the geologist would say, the geologic
structure. The lowest and therefore the oldest rocks lie in the great
Uncompahgre Plateau or arch, which lies south of Grand Junction;
the youngest rocks lie in the basin to the north and are generally
known as the Green River formation. The dip of the rocks as they
would appear in the sides of a great ditch, if one were cut from the
top of the Uncompahgre Plateau to the middle of the Uinta Basin
to the north, is shown in figures 37 (p. 148) and 48. ; ‘
The Mancos shale is much softer than the rocks either above it
(to the north) or below it (to the south), and it therefore tends to
Weather away much faster and form a valley. As the formation
186 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES,
dips only slightly toward the north, and as it has a thickness of
about 3,000 feet, the valley which it occupies and which has been
formed by its erosion is of considerable width. To the north the
rocks above the Mancos shale cap the Book Cliffs, which were so
named becavise the beds of rock when seen from a distance suggest
the edge of a book lying on its side. To the south the underlying
variegated sandstone of the Gunnison formation makes the slope
that leads up to the great red cliffs on the Uncompahgre Plateau.
The traveler may see these rocks, as already stated, soon after leav-
ing the station at Grand Junction, and they are generally in sight
on both sides of the road as far as Mack.
The peculiar shape and structure of the Book Cliffs (see PI.
LXVIL, p. 157) gives them a striking resemblance to architectural
features. In their lower part they are composed of shale, which is.
capped by heavy beds of sandstone that lie almost flat. Nearly 1,000
feet of shale is exposed, and where it is not protected by blocks of
sandstone that have fallen from the ledges above it has been cut by
the rain into innumerable branching ravines separated by low ridges.
Viewed from a distance when the sun is low enough to cast a shadow
on one side of these dividing ridges the sculpture is marvelously
accurate and sharply defined, resembling the venation of a leaf.
The slope is steep, nearly 45°, and the profile of the slope and the
cliff above is well shown in Plate LX VITI (p. 157).
The cliffs on the south are composed of great beds of red sandstone
or white sandstone stained red by the overlying shale. At first sight
these beds appear to lie so nearly flat that if they were extended
they would reach entirely across the river valley and would lie far
above the head of the traveler. When they are studied closely, how-
ever, they may be seen to bend down sharply as they approach the
river, and in reality they pass under the stream instead of far above
it. The bend in the rocks may be seen by looking back after the
train has gone a mile or so beyond the station.
In this valley, as in most other irrigated parts of the West, the
railroad does not traverse the aréa that is most highly cultivated,
and the traveler may think that a large part of the valley below
Grand Junction consists of land so highly impregnated with alkali
as to be unfit for farming, but here and there he may catch a glimpse
of the terrace or bench lands, which support the finest ranches in
the valley. Along the railroad he may see some good ranches and
orchards, and in striking contrast to them he may see in many places
remnants of the original growth of sagebrush which covered the
whole valley before it was irrigated and cultivated. This valley
is the most arid part of Colorado, for, according to the records of
the Weather Bureau, its annual rainfall is only 7.7 inches. The
me
SS Oe 4 SE
Se Se ee ae Se ee ee ee
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 187
wizard that has transformed the scene here is water. This water
may first fall in the form of snow on the high peaks of the Rocky
Mountains, but early in June the warm rays of the sun reach the
snowbanks and convert the snow into water, a part of which plunges
roaring down the steep sides of the mountain to swell the torrents
in the streams below, and another part finds lodgment in the crevices
and open pores of the rocks and is kept stored there until the surface
water has almost disappeared. Then the rocks gradually give up
their stores, and this midsummer supply appears just when it is
most urgently needed by the growing crops. But how can this
water be gathered and spread out on the thirsty land; and if so
spread out, will it be sufficient, or if sufficient in midsummer, will
it be pe taesh 3 in September, when the driest part of the season is
reached? In the semiarid regions of the West these questions are
of the utmost importance, and several bureaus of the Government
have been for years making exhaustive studies of all the streams to
determine how much water they carry and in constructing engi-
neering works by which the water in them may be distributed over
the land. The work of measuring the quantity of water in the
streams has been taken up by the United States Geological Survey,
because water may truly be considered a mineral, and it is the duty
of the Geological Survey to take account of all the mineral resources
of the country. Most people of the West are familiar with this
work, but those who come from the East are perhaps unaware that
reports concerning the water supply of many regions or streams
may be obtained free on application to the Director of the United
States Geological Survey, Washington, D. C. The method by which
the quantity of water flowing, in a stream is determined is described
below by Robert Follansbee.*®
As the traveler goes westward he sees that the Book Cliffs recede
farther and farther from the river, and about 10 miles west of Grand
“Without a thorough knowledge of | flow of streams. From this small be-
the available water supply irriga- | ginning the work was expanded until
now there are in the United States
u ork of the United | more than 1,500 gaging stations at
States Geologie Sirs ey in measuring | which the flow of streams is measu
‘ ow of the larger — is espe- Records of stream flow are not only
cially “te to insure the p necessary in planning successful irri-
of the West and has been ant to | gation and water-power projects but
Meet the need. It was begun in 1888, | are being u Reclamation
When a camp of ‘etalon was estab- | Service in determining the inflow of
__ on the Rio Grande in charge of | the big reservoirs it is building, by the
- H. Newell, who later became the
nro of the United States Recla- | flow in the lower Colorado River at .
mation Service. Here were devel oped
an Ae pee she See ee
the methods which laid the foundation
for the present work of recording the
mining the available horsepower at un-
developed power sites in the national
188 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES,
Junction they begin to lose some of their picturesqueness on account of
their distance from the observer. The red cliffs on the south become
more prominent and are much more dissected into fantastic forms
than they are south of Grand Junction. About 11 miles west of
Grand Junction the pillars, towers, buttresses, columns, and domes
become so striking that an area including them, opposite Fruita,
has been set aside by the Federal Government as the Colorado
National Monument. By this means they will be preserved and
made accessible to the general public. One of these picturesque
forms is shown in Plate LX XVIII. Fruita, as its
name implies, is the center of an extensive fruit-
osteoma 510 feet. raising district, but the best part of this district is
Denver 461 miles. 0M the terrace north of the town. Much of this land
is devoted entirely to the raising of fruit; but, as
shown in Plate LXXVIT, A, other crops are raised between the
trees while the orchard is Mattes:
Just west of Fruita the railroad crosses Little Salt Wash and Salt
Wash, two streams that head at the base of the Book Cliffs, about
Fruita.
forests, and by irrigation and power | bed at the gage, as determined by
companies at critical periods, espe- | soundings made at several points in
cially during low water. a line across the stream, the area of
In determining the flow of a river | the cross section at the point of
the height of the water is first meas- | measurement is computed. The veloc-
reading. Ifthe record at the station is | of water flowing past the gaging sta-
likely to be of great value, or if the | tion can be determined. As the cur-
Station is in a remote place, it is de- | rent strikes against the cups of the
sirable to use an automatic gage, which | meter it causes them to revolve, and
draws a curve on a chart showing con- | the revolutions in a given time are
tinuously the height of the water, in- | counted by means of an_ electrical
cluding every fluctuation. In May and | make-and-break contact to determine
June the warm days and cold nights | the velocity of the current in fee
second.
at ae headwaters of streams that head In low water the meter is held on a
ak
;
distance downstream the highest stage
may be reached during the night and
the lowest during the day
gage height ‘ae the con-
tour or cross section of the stream
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 707 PLATE LXXVII
A. TWO CROPS ON IRRIGATED GROUND.
In the irrigated districts land and water are made to do double duty by providing a crop of sm: rs
fruit or vegetables between the rows of fruit trees. Photograph furnished by the Denver &
Rio Grande Western Railroad.
B. METHOD OF IRRIGATING ORCHARDS.
—_ care and judgment are required in properly irriga ting growing fruit t recs. Thi ; shows
ee the water is conducted to all parts of the ore ene and ' controlled in it o so “as te oa e :
est results. Photograph furnished by the Denver & Ric » Grande Western Railroac
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 707 PLATE LXXVII
+ ae,
A COLUMN OF SANDSTONE IN THE COLORADO NATIONAL MONUMENT.
Th:
hne th cc toagy er en set aside because of the wealth of detail in the carving and the
riches 1e ome of ~ e ir ion ‘auleonag of deep-red sandstone which have raicoeg
arate rom 1¢ parent cliff by weathering. P on 3 he Deny
Rio Grande Western Railroad. Photograph furnished by the
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE.
189
20 miles to the north. The term “ wash” is applied in the West to
a stream or to the bed of a stream that is generally intermittent and
that carries so much material that it clogs its own channel and is
thus compelled to wander over a wide area. In some places where
these streams are crossed by the railroad they have cut deep chan-
nels that have nearly vertical sides.
Ordinarily very little water
the stream is at the stage at which
e measurement is made
Large rivers or even small streams
at their flood stage can not be mea
ured by wading, on account not only
of the depth but of the swiftness of
the stream, which may make it almost
impossible to stand against the cur-
Tent, so that it may be necessary to
?
stream
meter is suspended and held at the
to the current-meter equipment it
always happens when the engineer is
suspended in midstrea i
raining or while a wind is blowing
what the loyal Westerner mildly terms
“just a stiff breeze.”
Discharge measurements are made
at different stages of the water. Per-
haps half a dozen will cover the range
between high and low water. These
measurements, when plotted on cross-
section paper, e a curve known as
the “rating curve” for the station.
,
Ficurn 49.—Method of measuring the flow of a river at a cable station.
t
The view shows
he section of the river and the car, gage, and other apparatus,
of lead weights. To swing a meter
Weighted with 20 or 30 pounds of lead
for several hours in measuring a swift
Tiver from a bridge is a form of exer-
t is a sure cure for insomnia.
If there is no bridge at the gaging sta-
tion, the stream must be spanned with
4 cable, and the engineer must work
$ an even
“ver Cure for insomnia than a bridge
measurement. In passing, it may be
hoted that if anything wrong happens
From this curve the discharge for any
stage of water can be estimated, and
e engineer can calculate with suffi-
cient accuracy for most purposes the
daily flow from the gage readings fur-
nished by the local observer.
If a river carried the same quantity
of water each year it would be neces-
sary only to maintain a gaging station
at a particular place for a year, but
o
my
| as the flow varies widely from year
to year it is necessary to maintain the
stations for several years in order to
determine the flow not only for an
average year but for the wet and the :
years,
190 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
flows in these washes, but occasionally heavy rains or cloudbursts
in the foothills send down a torrent that sweeps like a wall of water
down the valley. The flood crumbles the banks of soft shale and
clay, sweeps away bridges, uproots orchards and crops, and produces
general devastation, although the rain that caused all this destruc-
tion may have been limited entirely to the foothill belt, none having
fallen where the damage is done.
Near the village of Loma the river, which has been in sight in
many places on the south (left) at the foot of the upturned red
sandstone, turns to the left and enters a canyon in
the Gunnison formation. The High Line canal of
Elevation 4,525 feet. the Reclamation Service has been constructed far-
Population 7T08,* 5 othe .
Denver 466 miles, ther west than Loma and provides for the irrigation
of 35,000 acres by the gravity system and 10,000
acres by the pumping system. North of Loma several of the pro-
jecting points of the Book Cliffs are colored red and give to this
part of the cliffs a different color tone from that which they have
‘farther east. The red color is due to the burning of one or more
coal beds and the consequent baking and reddening of the adjacent
rocks. The Book Cliffs seem to have lost the abruptness that char-
acterizes them near Palisade. They are broken into a number of
terraces, which rise one above another until the height of the whole
mass is about equal to that of the cliffs farther east.
Although the river has entered the canyon in the pink rocks on the
south, the valley formed by the erosion of the shale and followed
by the railroad continues in a northwesterly direction. Some of the
land is irrigated, but most of it is in its original condition and the
general aspect of the country is not particularly promising until the
traveler reaches Mack, the terminus of the Uintah Railway, a nar-
ce row-gage line that leads from Mack northwestward
<< SRP es the Book Cliffs and down to Dragon and Wat-
Denear 80 nies Son, Utah. The region about Mack is barren and
uninviting, but the grounds around the hotel built
here by the Uintah Railway form an oasis in the desert. This quaint
bungalow is embowered in trees, and on a hot day it makes an in-
viting resting place for those who have been exposed to the scorch-
ing sun or who are changing from one road to the other.
The Uintah Railway is used largely to transport gilsonite from the
mines in the vicinity of Watson, Utah, to the main line of the Denver
& Rio Grande Western Railroad, for shipment to market. The veins
and mines are described below by D. E. Winchester.**
Loma.
eer) ae
* Gilsonite is a hard but brittle black ; places in northeastern Utah and i8
hydrocarbon with a glassy luster, which | being mined extensively near Watson
occurs in great vertical veins at many | and Bonanza. The pure gilsonite is
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 191
| Although the shale which forms the valley that the traveler has
been following from Grand Junction to this place, if he came over
the main line, or from Montrose, if he came over the narrow-gage
line, continues along the foot of the Book Cliffs to the region beyond
Green River in Utah, the railroad does not follow it because near
the State line it ceases to form a valley and the outcrop is rough and
is broken by stream valleys that cross it. In order to avoid this
rough country the railroad turns to the south (left) soon after leay-
ing Mack and follows the river through Ruby Canyon for a distance
of more than 18 miles. The gap in the ridge through which the rail-
road reaches the river can be seen on the left from the station.
Half a mile beyond Mack the railroad swings sharply to the
south (left) and leaves the shale valley. It cuts through the sand-
stone rim that bounds the valley on the south nearly at right angles,
disclosing the sandstones and variegated shale beds that underlie
the dark shale (Mancos) of the main valley. The first sandstone
to be seen is the Dakota, the lowermost formation of the Upper Cre-
taceous. Underlying the Dakota is the McElmo formation, equiva-
lent to the upper part of the Gunnison formation, which has already
been seen at a number of places. The McElmo formation has every-
where about the same character and when once recognized is easily
identified wherever it is seen. It includes an.upper member 150
feet thick—the one that is first seen after leaving Mack—composed
of variegated shale and sandstone, which on account of its relative
softness weathers back into gentle slopes. The underlying member
is about 60 feet thick and consists mainly of sandstone, which is more
resistant to weathering than either the overlying or the underlying
shale and therefore stands out and makes terraces or benches on the
hillsides. The sandstone is in turn underlain by a gray clay or
shale, which has a thickness of about 100 feet. These rocks form the
canyon walls for a distance of about 2 miles, but they are so soft
that in no place are the walls very steep. Owing to the red and
green tints, the color effect is rather pleasing, but it soon becomes
monotonous, and some other color or larger masses of color would
make a welcome change.
easily mined with a hand pick and is
Placed in large bags to be hoisted to
the surface ready for shipment to mar-
Ket. The veins are rarely more than
vent fire, for the gilsonite dust is ex-
tremely explosive. No artificial lights
are used in the mines, even at great
depths.
The entire gilsonite output of Utah
(about 20,000 tons annually) is hauled
over the narrow-gage Uintah Railway
to Mack, where it is reloaded to the
larger cars of the Denver & Rio Grande
Western Railroad.
Gilsonite is extensively used in the
manufacture of paints, varnishes, roof-
ing materials, and rubber substitutes.
192 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
The structure or attitude of the beds in this part of the canyon is
simple. The rocks rise abruptly at an angle of 30° from the shale
valley on the north, but they soon flatten and for some distance lie
flat or dip slightly toward the southwest. The railroad follows the
valley of Salt Creek, but the bends of the creek are so short that
they do not everywhere accommodate the railroad, and about a mile
erin Mack it cuts
through one of the
small bends by a
short tunnel in the
sandstone member of
the McElmo.
About a quarter of
a mile beyond mile-
post 472 the railroad
reaches the river, and
from this point to
Westwater it follows
the right bank. The canyon, because of its red color, is generally
called Ruby Canyon, but the most strongly marked red rocks do not
ager until the traveler is about half a mile below
e siding named Ruby. Here the massive sandstone
ates underlies the McEImo comes up suddenly in a
great fold,®® which may be seen on the opposite side
of the river. (See fig. 50.) The uppermost bed in this fold is not red
but nearly ae although are it is stained pink from the
overlying ——
shale. The hits
sandstone (La Plata)
has a thickness of
nearly 100 feet, but
below it is a bed o
somewhat softer sand-
stone, which is deep red. The fold is very short but steep, the beds
having a dip of about 45°. The angle of dip decreases, however, and
in a very short distance the beds lie practically flat.
Figure 50.—Short fold in massive sandstone (on the left
of the westbound train) opposite Ruby siding, below
Mack.
y-
oe + ite -
er 473 mil
Figure 51.—Different types of anticlines.
“The rock folds in the plateau dis-
trict of Colorado and Utah are differ-
ent from those which the traveler has
io:
are nearly equally diag in all parts,
aS shown in A, figu In the pla-
teau region the ae effect of an
anticline may be the same, but the
location and form of ai fold pati be
very different; as shown in The
beds are very strongly fe on the
flanks of the anticline, but the sh
affected by the fold is cad narr
The traveler may see many such yo
as that shown in B Se e he reaches
Salt Lake City.
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 193
The sandstone which rises above water level just below Ruby
siding is massive—that is, it is almost without bedding planes or
lines of separation—and consequently it makes a canyon which has
smooth, nearly vertical walls (Pl. LXXIX). The color, except in
the uppermost layer, about 100 feet thick, is decidedly red, so that
in general the canyon walls are a bright red, and the name Ruby is
quite appropriate. A close look at the sandstone will show that it
is not evenly banded like many of the sandstones in the region to
the east, but that the marks along the edges of the beds—which indi-
cate the form of the layers in which the sand was laid down—dip
at all angles, or rather are generally curved, showing that the sand
was carried into the place where it was deposited by strong currents
of air or water, which cut away much of the sand that had been
formerly laid down and in its place deposited layer after layer in
a curved position. This process is termed cross-bedding, and an
extreme example of it is shown in Plate LXXVI, ( (p. 179).
These beds were all laid down on the land, or at least no marine
fossils have been found in them.
The graceful swing of the river from bend to bend and the corre-
sponding curves in the smooth massive walls of the canyon are well
shown in Plate LX XIX.
he rocks rise gently downstream, and near milepost 477 the
canyon walls have a height of about 300 feet. Just a little below
this point dark granite *° appears in the bed of the river, and there-
fore 300 feet is about the full thickness of the sedimentary beds in
this canyon. The granite is exposed on the crest of a small anticline
or uplift, and in a few hundred yards it disappears. The upper sur-
face of the granite is smooth and doubtless once formed the land
surface upon which the sand was laid down.”
granite or gneiss is exposed, and the
stream has cut its channel in this rock
to a depth of 1,000 feet. The quartz-
ites, limestone (Ouray), and variegated
Carboniferous rocks above the lime-
stone, extending from the canyon just
entioned almost as far as Wolcott,
are not found in Ruby Canyon, As
many of these formations are of ma-
" The crystalline rock that censti-
tutes the foundation upon which west-
region but that later the sea bottom
j n canyon of Colorado River
ust above Glenwood Springs the same
was uplifted so as to form land and
then the streams and the weather
slowly cut the rocks away until in
places the formations mentioned were
removed before the red sands were laid
194 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
Although the river has been the principal agent in carving Ruby
Canyon it has not done all the work, for the moisture in the atmos-
phere and the sand blown by the winds are very active in wearing
away the rocks. The results of the work of both of these agents may
be seen at many places. The moisture in the atmosphere dissolves
the cementing material that binds the grains of sand together, and
the wind mechanically removes the loosened grains. These agencies
acting together eat out cavities in the canyon wall, most of them
small, though here and there one is excavated into an immense alcove
having an arched roof. Wind-driven sand cuts the hard rock like a
sand blast, and as the texture of the rocks differs from point to point
the cutting has produced grotesque, fantastic forms. At some places
the sand blast has cut the finest fretwork; at others it has simply
rounded off projecting points of rock so that they stand out as great
domes or circular minarets. Many such features cap the solid canyon
wall, but they are so far above the track that the traveler can see them
only as he looks ahead at some projecting spur or back at the disap-
pearing view. At one place a group of columns on a salient point on
the canyon wall resembles a procession of Egyptian figures, as show?
in the ornamentation of their temples, and consequently these are
known as “ The Egyptian Priests.”
Beyond the place where the granite appears in the river bed the
rocks dip gently downstream as far as milepost 479, where they are
again elevated in a fold similar to that which has exposed the red
sandstone just below Ruby. This fold is not so apparent from the
train as that just mentioned, but by looking ahead from a point near
milepost 479 the traveler may see it in the canyon wall on the right,
and he may note traces on the projecting point on the opposite side.
This fold raises the sandstone so high that the granite again appears
in the river bed, rising at least 20 feet above ordinary water level and
being visible from the train for about a mile. The river has had
much greater difficulty in cutting the granite than in cutting the
sandstone; the sandstone has been entirely removed, but the granite
forms a very effectual barrier in which the stream has been able to
cut only narrow channels, through which the water boils and tumbles,
so that the rock is scoured and polished by the sand that the water
carries over it. Pebbles accumulate in hollows of the rock and soon
grind out deep holes where they are given a rotary motion by the cur-
rent. Such holes, which are known as “ potholes,” are abundant 1m
the granite in this canyon.
In places the massive sandstone overhangs the railroad, as show?
in Plate LX XX, A, and the beetling cliffs afford ideal sites for the
Qn See age
down, although in other places only a | at different localities different forma-
part of them were removed. Hence | tions rest on the granite.
eq em
) ay) Jo opt
@ATSSRUEL
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DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 195
mud dwellings of swallows, which circle about such places in count-
less numbers. In other places the rocks assume fantastic forms,
especially on projecting points between the sharp bends of the
stream or between tributary canyons, as if mighty buttresses were
necessary to support the vertical walls, but a general and solid
massiveness and the nearly vertical character of the walls make a
stronger impression upon the mind of the traveler than any other
feature.
The granite disappears beneath the river bed near milepost’ 481,
and the rocks below that point dip gently southwestward and the
height of the walls gradually diminishes to the place where the
ee canyon is crossed by the boundary Tine between Colo-
a : : vn rado and Utah. The boundary is marked by a monu-
Denver 484 niles Ment at the left of the track and by a line painted
on the cliff at the right, with “Colorado” on the
east of it and “Utah” on the west. - (See Pl. LXXX, @.) The
canyon walls here are only about 200 feet high, and they decrease
in height and impressiveness until the red sandstone passes below
the level of the track near the point where the railroad crosses Bitter
Creek, close to milepost 488.
Below Bitter Creek the walls of the canyon are made up of the
softer beds of the McElmo formation, and they recede from the
river, leaving a broad valley which at one time was
Westwater, Utah. elected as the site of a town that was to be named
Elevation 4,340 feet. Westwater, but unfortunately for the founder his
Opulation 94, ‘
Denver 488 miles. | dreams were not realized, and the town to-day con-
sists only of section houses, a water tank, and one
or two farms. At this point the Denver & Rio Grande Western
leaves Colorado River, which the traveler will see no more on this
journey. By looking to the left (downstream), however, he will see
that the rocks rise again and that the canyon assumes large propor-
tions. Indeed, its vertical walls seem to be even more pronounced
than those that mark its course above Westwater.
About a mile from Westwater the railroad crosses Cottonwood
Creek, which heads in the foothills of the Book Cliffs. The road
extends up one of the branches of this creek to the divide between it
and some other small streams on the west. In climbing, however, the
traveler sees the same rocks at the level of the ety cee hoe rocks
rise toward the west in a great fo pdb cctelin les
iene Saas the red sandstone again below Westwater. So, when
steerer ein - ap the traveler reaches the siding of Cottonwood,
which is at the summit, the beds which he sees are
of the same age as those which he saw at the crossing of Cottonwood
Creek, 4 miles to the east. ,
196 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
After journeying through the canyon for about 20 miles the tray-
eler will probably be glad to leave it and to gain the upland, where
he may see something more than rugged rock walls and muddy river.
If the vegetation on the upland is not parched and dried by the sum-
mer’s heat, the sego lily, Utah’s floral emblem (Pl. LX X XT), may
be seen here and there lifting its delicate head, though it stands so
close to the ground that it is difficult to identify from the moving
train. The wide expanse of upland also enables one to see the larger
features of the surrounding landscape. One of the first objects to
catch the eye on the left is a distant group of mountain peaks—the
La Sal Mountains—whose highest point reaches an altitude of about
13,000 feet. One unaccustomed to judging distances in the clear air
of an arid country can not say whether these mountains when first
seen are 10 or 50 miles away, but careful measurement has shown that
the nearest peak is about 30 miles distant. This mountain group
was formed by the uplifting of the rocks in a great domelike mass,
and if the light is just right the traveler may see the great cliff-like
wall of red sandstone, with which he is now becoming familiar, on
the east side of the mountains, where it has been uptilted by the
movement. This group of mountains will be in sight for some time,
and a little farther west it can be seen to better advantage.
The railroad winds about in the low hills of the McElmo forma-
tion, which in places are somewhat picturesque on account of the
great variety of their colors, but in general the outlook is not par-
ticularly pleasing. The scene, however, may be of great interest to
one not familiar with it, for it gives him a good idea of the utter
barrenness of a region where the rainfall is as scanty as it is in Grand
County, Utah. In places the rocks are very dark, and the traveler
may think that they have been baked to this dark color by volcanic
fires and that many of the rock fragments are pieces of lava. The
geologist, however, knows that the rocks of this region are not yol-
canic. In fact, all the rocks composing the McElmo and Gunnison
formations were laid down as sediments in lakes or ponds or
the beds of streams, and the dark rocks are only those that contain
considerable iron, or those that have been coated by so-called “ desert
varnish,” a dark substance, probably in large part manganese, which
tends to cover all exposed rocks in the desert region and to give
them a black color. It is from the McElmo and La Plata formations
or their equivalent, the Gunnison formation,” that most of the ores
ee ay
“In the region between Denver and ; relations. Thus along the Front
Salt Lake City the formation immedi- | Range the Morrison is a well-marked
ately beneath the Dakota sandstone | formation of variegated shale and
ex ly confusing to anyone who is | Jurassic or lowermost Cretaceous. It
unfamiliar with the rocks and their | is a fresh-water formation and ca
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
EY BULLETIN 707 PLATE LXXXI
STATE FLOWER OF UTAH.
nuttallii, It gr but by bot it is called Calochortus
of the wild fl pba in ‘ab y»undance on the higher lands of = ate ary is one of the most beautiful
owers. Photograph by Shiplers, S: it cP ake Ci
his deli
icate =
ate flower is commonly known as the 5: e8D lily,
U. 8S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 707 PLATE LXXXII
A. PLATEAU NEAR MOAB
Some - the wonderful towers and walls that may be seen on the left from the railroad.
Ther are no curves in this ac ae straight lines and aga ee the
ccess. hoto-
hacer by Ww hitman Cross.
B. SHALE BADLANDS AT FOOT OF BOOK CLIFFS.
Between Cisco and T hompson, Utah, the railroad winds about in shale badlands similar
to one —— n = pe view. They are nearly barren of v 5 poi ae nd to many aes ns
= nay bu the lover of nature they are wonderful ex core of the delicate
“0 is going on during every shower. Photograph by G. B. Richardson.
€. anaes BUTTE.
— 1} thet he tc own of Green
Th t+ s
= rhe pir ned honor of PCat —. ger lyse the river at this
} th
place in g for Government a route for a Pacific railroad. Photo-
graph rae w. 3 pte de
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 197
of radium are obtained, and one of the most productive districts lies
in Paradox Valley, Colo., 15 or 20 miles east of the La Sal
Mountains.
The low hills of McElmo rocks seem endless, but finally they are
passed, and at milepost 501 the railroad cuts through the Dakota
sandstone, which dips about 30° W. Next it enters the Mancos shale,
which the traveler last saw at Mack, before he entered Ruby Canyon,
and the features of the surface now become more subdued and softer,
and he has a better opportunity to see what surrounds him. To the
north he will see the familiar Book Cliffs, but they are so far away
that their character is scarcely apparent. However, they swing to
the south around the great anticlinal point through which Ruby
Canyon is cut, and in 15 or 20 miles they will be so near the track
that they can be clearly seen.
At the place where the railroad crosses the Dakota sandstone, at
milepost 501, it is within a mile of the great bend which Colorado
River makes to the northwest, but despite its nearness the river lies so
deep in its canyon that it is not visible from the train. Three miles
beyond this point is the village of Cisco, which is
ae. one of the largest shearing and shipping points in
eaten ne feet. this great sheep-herding country. One unfamiliar
Denver 504 miles. | With this region might think that there was little
or no pasturage here for even a sheep, but when
rain falls the country is green with grass, and even in times of
drought there are forage plants that might not be noticed by the
unaccustomed eye. :
After the train passes Cisco the La Sal Mountains are in plain
Sight, and the traveler may see the great red wall on the east and also
ti nirnmerrepinseeneemeiininnioni
tains the remains of immense reptiles ; felt compelled to introduce the term
(dinosaurs). McElmo for rocks of nearly the same
West of the mountains a similar as-
Semblage of fresh-water sandstones
and shales lies immediately beneath
the Dakota. Undoubtedly this forma- | should perhaps be included in the G
tion is in part equivalent to the Mor- | nison. Recent
Tison, but as it is supposed to contain | names McElmo and La Plata north-
lower beds than the Morrison it can | west to Greenriver, Utah,
80 it was called the Gunnison forma-
tion
Later, in working out the succession
of formations in the San Juan Moun- | sheet 6 for rocks of about the same age.
. The reader should therefore remember
rado,
that beds nearly equivalent to | that the Morrison, Gunnison, and Me-
the Gunnison were greatly expanded, | Elmo include rocks that may be equiva-
especially in the lower part, and he | lent in age.
80697°—22-_14 :
198 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
the place where it is upturned and cut by the river between the rail-
road and the mountain. As seen from the train the country to the
right of the La Sal Mountains is exceedingly rough and rugged,
being cut into great canyons with vertical sides or Jeft in giant blocks,
also with vertical sides. In fact, the traveler is now approaching
a region in which the expression of the topography is different from
anything that he has yet seen, unless he is already acquainted with
the country that was called by Powell the “Canyon lands.” In
this region Hogarth’s “line of beauty” is unknown. The slopes of
the hills and mountains do not show gracefully curved lines from
summits to bases, but each slope forms a straight line and unites
with its neighbor in an angle and not a curve. The valleys are all
canyons, which either have vertical sides or sides composed of
straight lines, and the intervening spurs are mesas with flat tops as
ufo
Figure 52.—Angular profiles of the Plateau province.
\N
shown in figure 52. A glance at the country on the right of the La
Sal Mountains will show some of the angularity mentioned. This
characteristic feature of the land forms is illustrated in Plate
LXXXITI, A, which is a view taken near Moab. It also shows some
of the slender towers of rock which the traveler may see from the
train.
Although the La Sal Mountains have attracted much attention,
another group of mountains, which are even more interesting, are
slowly appearing above the horizon, far to the southwest. Where
first seen, in the vicinity of Cisco, these mountains, named the Henry
Mountains for Joseph Henry, the first Secretary of the Smithsonian
Institution at Washington, are fully 100 miles distant. They are
divided into three groups—the larger group at the north and two
isolated peaks farther south.** These mountains lie on the west side
of Colorado River, which in this region flows in a canyon 1,000
feet deep.
“ The study of the Henry Mountains
in 1876 by G. K. Gilbert led to the dis-
covery of a new f mountain,
which is indirectly of volcanic origin
but is not a voleano. It is now known
that the La Sal Mountains and many
other similar groups in the Plateau
province belong to the same _ class.
Gilbert found that the peaks of the
Henry Mountains are composed largely
of hardened lava, which, when it was
in a molten state, instead of ascending
to the surface through some fissure
in the rocks and then pouring out over
the surrounding country as a lava
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 707 SHEET No. 7
ag log 108 20 COLORADO - UTAH =|
30 ; = Clade oe a : ik j : on 7 : pega 4. 2 eh B30
ee Fa - te - i a a" P -e. BE «abe.
Tava} tags NEW bis De YS |) <eSeZ aN . 4
east
GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP
OF THE
From Denver, Colorado, to Salt Lake City, Utah
Compiled from United States Geological Survey atlas
sheets and rts, 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
Sheet No 5
“ya eey’
Crea,” _... .
* ee ae
DAVID WHITE, Chief Geologist C. H. BIRDSEYE, Chief Topographic Engineer
M. R. CAMPBELL, Geologist A. C. ROBERTS, Topographer
1922
EXPLANATION
Age Thickness
in feet
White shale and sandstone (Green River formation) | 2,600
Tertiary
(Eocene)
Red shale and sandstone (Wasatch formation) 3,400
29--
Sandstone, shale, and coal beds (Mesaverde formation) | 2,200 5
Dark marine shale (Mancos shale) \ Upper Cretaceous 3,000 %
9
=|
M Brown sandstone (Dakota sandstone) i 50 ry
@ he
£ Es
Variegated shale | (McElmo formation and La Plata Gy etaceous (7) and Oo]
N sandstone, equivalent to : 310 .
and sandstone \ Tanase Carnations) Jurassic
White sandstone at and brick-red massi re
Pp sandstone below Rag . = Triassic 350
Xx Granite Pre-Cambrian
Y Lava flow Tertiary aa: = os
1
Scale 500,000 ae
Approximately 8 miles to | inch ,*
ene 5 0 Mi
i L i
‘ 4; i,’ Calorade > w 4
The crossties on the railroads are spaced / mile apagl
shading by R. W. Berry ;
EN@RAVED AND PRINTED BYTHE U.S.q8OLOGICAL SUAVE
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 199
Beyond Cisco the railroad curves here and there over the shale
upland, steadily approaching the foot of the Book Cliffs, (See
sheet 8, p. 210.) As it nears the cliffs it seems to be lost in a maze of
smal] shale hills, as shown in Plate LXXXII, B, but in places one
may catch glimpses through them of the ragged front of the cliffs.
Viewed from a distance the Book Cliffs look like a regular mountain
front, but viewed near by they are seen to be made up of a series of
terraces or benches, each bench being formed by some hard bed of
sandstone more resistant to erosion than the beds above or below.
Each bench is cut by streams into a number of salients, or teeth,
which project far beyond the main mass of the cliffs. Behind and
above the lowest row of salients there may be a second row, formed
Ficurn 53.—Mountains carved from a laccolith. The block at the rear ee ; euuaailat
position of the sedimentary beds after they were forced upward by the in
the Java.
by a similar hard bed, and in places there is a still higher row of
salients, formed by a third hard bed. The resulting cliffs pete
® front that is very irregular in detail but very regular when view f
from a distance. A view along the front, showing the lower tier o
salients, is given in figure 54. The lowest bench of the pits Is
formed by the lowest sandstone in the coal-bearing Mesaver * This
mation, and the slope below is composed of Mancos shale. ae
le is very homogeneous in composition, and therefore oaakR of
Slopes it has been cut by many minute ravines, with a wea
: ” ; one cist . Lac-
the hardened lava is more resistant , lith”), meaning st ai i. the
t
On
of formation Gilbert p fo |
them the name “ laccolite” (which | has been carved from a laccolith is rep-
was afterward changed to “lacco- | resented in figure 53.
200 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
detail that is amazing to one unaccustomed to the effects of the erosion
of rocks in a semiarid region. What infinite pains Nature appar-
ently takes even in carving one of these commonplace hill slopes!
This carving is, indeed, a work of art comparable to that of the most
skillful ‘sculptor.
As the traveler goes westward he finds many shale ridges, which
form the divides between parallel stream valleys that head in the
Book Cliffs. These ridges have either flat tops or tops that slope
regularly away from the front of the cliffs. The tops of the ridges
stand from 80 to 100 feet above the general level of the plain and
doubtless represent the surface of a former plain that stood that dis-
tance above the present surface. When that plain existed the streams
Figure 54.—Projecting point of the lower salients of the Book Cliffs. View looking east
from Thompson, Utah.
could not cut deeper into it, and so the land was reduced to a gentle
slope, but later the streams acquired greater cutting power and they
have succeeded in eroding away most of the old plain except where
it is best protected on the divides. What caused the increased cut-
ting power of the streams is a difficult question to answer. It may
have been an uplift of the country, or it may have been a change in
climate by which the volume of water carried by the streams was
greatly increased.
After the train has passed through cuts made in two or three of
these shale ridges it reaches the village of Thompson, or, as it was
formerly called, Thompson’s Springs, a name ap-
oes 2 plied to it. because 5 miles up the canyon that opens
Population sé. this place there are several springs which have
Denver 528 miles. | been of great value. In a dry country all settle-
ment except on the railroad depends on the pres-
ence of water, and in the early days Thompson’s Springs were the
chief source of supply for those who were forced to make the trip
across this inhospitable country. When the railroad was built the
springs were equally valuable as a source of supply for the locomo-
Thompson.
Sie es a ee eee
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 201
tives, and water was piped from them to the line of the road. For a
long time Thompson owed its prosperity to the water from these
springs and to the business which it obtained as a supply and ship-
ping point for the sheep owners in the region about Moab, an old
Mormon town on Colorado River, 32 miles to the southeast.*4
Coal mines have recently been opened 5 miles up the canyon, and
the coal is brought to the railroad by a branch line. The coal is of
good quality but not quite so valuable as that which is mined in the
same formation farther west.
The many salients of the Book Cliffs show well from Thompson.
By looking east or west along the front one can see point after
point projecting from the plateau, as shown in figure 54. The intri-
cate sculpture of the shale that composes the lower slopes of the
cliffs is well shown about a mile west of Thompson. By contrast
with the curves in the sculpture of the shale the angularity of the
forms of the land impresses the traveler more and more as he gazes
off to the southwest while he is passing over the plain just west of
Thompson. ‘Seen from this plain the profiles of the distant plateaus
appear extremely angular and show no flowing curves. The land-
Scape looks as if it had been formed by the hand of a giant who
carved it with an axe, cutting here and there great angular chunks
out of the fiat-lying rocks. (See fig. 52, p. 198.)
A short distance west of a siding called Crescent the railroad cuts
through a low ridge of shale, which is one of the remnants of the
higher surface, and then begins the long descent to Green River.
Immediately after cutting through the ridge the road turns to the
north, and for about 10 miles it skirts the front of the Book Cliffs,
“It was the settled determination of ; pastoral people. Soon after the first
the early Mormon leaders to make their | settlement of the valley of Great Salt
followers an agricultural ple, for | Lake, in 1847, immigrants began pour-
they knew that those who till the soil | ing into Utah at the rate of several
ch more easily be held in an | thousand a year, and the leaders had
organization like that of the Mormon | to find these oases and see that pe
Church and are less likely to wander | newcomers were settled therein, a4
‘way after “strange gods” than those | this work they were pb fla,
who are engaged in other pursuits. A | Brigham Young directed the i smu 2
great empire was to be built, and its | of the valleys and even picked the —
secure foundation was a large | lies and the ieaders who gti sy
and prosperous agricultural popula- | them. Nothing was left to ¢ = :
tion, The proceeding was high-handed, on
The region in which they had settled | the results, as seen to-day, “ge pan
and which they regarded as the “ prom- | it was probably the best tha
ised land” was
uch like
Judea, in which the ancient Hebrews | these distant colonies, and niger a
flourished, a land consisting in large | established in southern Utah, oi
Part of deserts whose oases here and | and California, as W
there afforded fine opportunities for a | northern States.
202 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
running most of the way through badlands of soft shale that have
been cut by rain and running water. It passes so near the cliffs that
the traveler may see all the delicate fiuting and also the sharp points
of the salients which are protected by caps of heavy sandstone.
Although the variety of details is infinite, the general similarity of
the forms produced grows wearisome, and the traveler finally wel-
comes the emergence of the train from the badlands into the open
plain, which leads down to Green River. This change occurs at a
siding called Solitude, which indeed is rightly named. Here noth-
ing is in sight but the endless expanse of plain covered with the
stunted vegetation of the desert on the one side and the equally end-
less badlands on the other. To the eye of the sheep herder, however,
this region is not desolate, for it affords fine feeding ground for his
sheep. The impression of it, then, depends on the point of view; what
the stranger sees as desolation no words can describe one familiar
with the scene views without aversion and accepts at its real worth.
Immediately after the train rounds the curve beyond Solitude the
town of Greenriver comes in sight, although it is almost 12 miles
distant. At least the green trees in and surrounding the town can
be seen, but they are nearly straight ahead and the traveler may have
difficulty in locating them.
As the train passes down this even slope much of the surrounding
landscape is spread out before the traveler. The Book Cliffs on the
right swing far to the north in a great reentrant which Green River
has cut in their generally even front. Across the river there is 2
strong salient, which is known as the Beckwith Plateau, named for
Lieut. Beckwith, who was associated with Capt. Gunnison in his
survey of this route for a Pacific railroad and who crossed Green
River September 30, 1853. Capt. Gunnison lost his life in an en-
counter with a band of Indians after he had crossed the Wasatch
Plateau, and Lieut. Beckwith prepared the report of the explora-
tion. The most attractive features in the landscape are the wonderful
tablelands and the peaks resembling ruined cities, which can be seen
far across the river in the north end of what is known as the San
Rafael Swell. This region is described in greater detail on pages
207-208.
As the traveler descends the smooth shale slope he can make out
the point where Green River emerges from the mountainous country
to the north by the deep reentrant in the line of the Book Cliffs. By
close examination he may be able to see a butte on the west side of
the river, which is marked by a series of pinnacles and which is
known as Gunnison Butte, in commemoration of the survey of this
region by Capt. Gunnison. (See Pl. LXXXII,@.) This butte towers
2,700 feet above the river, but as seen from the train it seems to be
Se a ce ca eee
a ee ee a ee
oe epee ee
elie aati, sf
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 203
not more than 300 or 400 feet high. Very few published reports re-
garding the early exploration of this part of the country are avail-
able. Gannett °° refers to the early history as follows:
From a very early time this region was traversed by Spanish caravans,
traveling from Santa Fe, N. Mex., to Los Angeles, Calif. The old Spanish trail,
ed h R
which these caravans followed, bee Uta hi st near Do er,
crossed the Grand [Colorado] near the Sierra La Sal and the Green at the
present crossing o e Rio nde Western il It d the valley
ward, ranene out of the State near its southwest , corner. This traffic, which
The Sasihtedl recorded exploration of any part of Utah was a journey by two
Franciscan fathers, Escalante and Dominguez, from Santa Fe, N. Mex., to the
the route of bless between the Spanish settlements of New Mexico and those
of Californ
Thus its seems probable that while the original colonies on the At-
lantic seaboard were waging their war for independence, Fathers
Escalante and Dominguez were marking out the old Spanish trail
and even crossing Colorado River at or near the same point where
the travelers of to-day cross it on the trains of the Denver & Rio
Grande Western Railroad. The next notable journey of explora-
tion in this part of the country, at least by English-speaking people,
was that of Capt. Gunnison in 1853. He likewise crossed the river
at this point, but after reaching the west bank he veered off to the
south and followed the Spanish trail instead of the route now fol-
lowed by the railroad.
In its descent from the east the railroad runs into a shallow val-
ley, which conceals the view of the surrounding country, and finally
comes out on the east bank of Green River at a little village called
Elgin. The change from the barren slopes of shale to the beautiful
green of the cottonwood trees and the brilliant fields of alfalfa is very
grateful to the traveler, and he welcomes the sight of running water.
It is true that Green River is generally muddy, but even if it is he
looks upon it with pleasure and almost with reverence, because a
stream of this size that can persist through so many miles of semi-
arid land excites curiosity and admiration. The river is spanned by
a fine steel bridge (see Pl. LX XXIII), and a mile farther west is
“Gannett, Henry, A gazetteer of Utah: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 166, pp. 10-
11, 1900.
204 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
the station of Greenriver, an oasis in this inhospitable desert, at the
lowest point on the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad. In this
region the summer temperature is almost torrid and
Greenriver. the precipitation is slight, probably about 6 or 7 inches
2s fe gee feet. annually. Water has here been taken from Green
Denver 555 miles, iver for the irrigation of a small area that has been
made to produce almost all kinds of crops and fruit,
Fruit trees flourish here, as shown in Plate LXXXIV. A much
larger area could be irrigated, though at much greater expense, by
damming Green River in the canyon far above the town and con-
structing expensive canals to carry the water high up on the sur-
rounding slopes. Sooner or later this work will be done, and then
Green River valley will rival Grand Junction in the acreage under
cultivation and in the abundance of its products.
Where it is crossed by the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad
Green River is a quiet, peaceful stream, as shown in Plate LX X XIII,
flowing in a broad valley with low banks. It is hard to realize,
therefore, that above this place it is a roaring torrent, confined in
narrow walls hundreds if not thousands of feet high, and that 50
miles downstream it joins the Colorado, which there enters the grand-
est canyon in the world.
“Tt is impossible here, in describing ; hardy enough to attempt to ride the
iver, avoid mentioning the | current t mighty Colorado had
exploration of this wonderful stream | lived to tell the tale. Powe S
and its southward continuation, the | wa Indians that no one
Colorado, in by Maj. John W. | who ent t t and sac
Powell, who afterwar e the | precincts of the gods, as the Indians
Director of the United States Geologi- | conceived the canyon to be, could ex-
cal Survey. Although Maj. Powell t to come out alive. But such tales
t right arm on the battle | only whetted his curiosity and spurred
field of Shiloh, this loss did not deter | him on to increased In his
him from attempting the descent of | narrative (Exploration of the Colo-
the canyon he Colorado, an ex- | rado River of the West and its tribu-
ploit that few men physically perfect | taries, p. 7, Washington, 1875) Powell
lish. :
says:
For a number of years prior to 1869 “The Indians, too, have woven the
Powell had been doing geologic and jidmapiend of the canyon into the myths
Ui
he had many times looked down into | the death of his wife and would not
the swirling waters in the bottoms of | be comforted until Ta-ywwoats, one of
the unexplored canyons and longed to | the Indian gods, came to him and told
embark upon them and learn the secret | him she was in a happier land and
of the canyon land. He thus fell | offered to take him there that he might
under the spell of the Grand Canyon, | see for himself if upon his return he
and for many years he dreamed of | would cease to mourn. The great
exploring it, although up to that time | chief promised. Then Ta-vwoats made
no one who had been brave or fool- | a trail through the mountains that
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AGAUNS TVOIDOTORD *8
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 205
A few hundred feet west of the station at Greenriver the railroad
has cut through the dark shale at the base of the Mancos formation.
If the traveler could have the opportunity of leaving the railroad
coach and of walking through this small cut he would find that almost
every fragment of shale is covered with impressions of shells. Ex-
perts who have studied these shells say that at one time each was
inhabited by an animal that lived in the sea and that when the animal
died the shell was filled with the dark mud that has since been consoli-
dated into shale. The form and all the delicate markings of these
shells have been well preserved. The general distribution of this
shale in New Mexico, northeastern Arizona, eastern Utah, Colorado,
Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota shows that the
sea in which it was deposited must have been of great extent and that
the Rocky Mountains of to-day could not then have been in existence.
Geologic evidence over all the world shows that its surface has been
continually changing. At one time a region may be covered with
Meyr at another time it may have been a plain much like that which
the traveler crossed east of Denver; and at still another time it may
have been high land, with aaibhindaitie Such a succession of changes
has been repeated many times, with infinite variations, through all
the ages, and the present age is no exception. but is also a scene of
general change or transformation. Such a transformation is going
on to-day as in the past, but we are scarcely aware of it, for it is so
intervene between that beautiful land,
the balmy region in the great west,
and a the desert home of the poor
Nu-ma
se This trail was the canyon gorge of
the Colorado. Through it he led him,
that land lest, through discontent with
the cireumstances of this world, they
Should desire to go to heaven. Then
he rolled a river into the gorge, a mad,
raging stream that should engulf any-
so that might attempt to enter there-
y.
“ More than once have I been warned
by the Indians not to enter this can-
yon, They considered it disobedience
to the gods and contempt for their au-
thority and believed that it would
Surely bring upon me wrath.”
of tie hs Indians described to
Powell the fate of some members of his
tribe who attempted to run one of the
canyons of Green rigged in the follow-
ing graphic manner
“*The rocks,’ hes said, holding his
hands above his head, his arms ver-
tical, and looking between them to the
heavens, ‘the rocks h-e-a-p, h-e-a-p
high; the water go h-oo-woogh, h-0o-
wough; water pony [boat] h-e-a-p
buck; water catch ’em; no see ’em
Injun any more! no see ’em squaw any
more! no see ’em papoose any more!’ ”
ite these admonitions Powell
made preparations to undertake the
descent of the canyons, and on May 24,
1869, he floated away from the fron-
tier settlement of Green River, Wyo,
with a party of ten men in four boats.
One of the boats was wrecked in the
canyon of Lodore, where the river cuts
through the great mass of the Uinta
Mountains, but none of the party was
lost. The expedition passed what was
then called Gunnison’s Crossing, now
206 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
slow that even during the entire period of human history it has made
but little progress.
fter the train surmounts the slight rise out of the valley of
Green River the traveler will see spread wide before him one of the
most desolate landscapes that he has thus far passed in his western
trip. For miles the surface of the plain consists of bare clay or
shale without so much as a clump of sagebrush or greasewood to
break its monotony. The soil is the same as that about Green River
and at Grand Junction and Montrose, in Colorado, and all that it
needs to transform it from a scene of desolation to one of peace
and plenty is water. To-day it is desolate and waterless, far from
the homes of men, inhabited only by beasts and birds of prey. Even
these are not always seen, and the traveler who is unfamiliar with
the country may imagine that it is totally without animal life; but
should he camp here in the desert for a time he would find that at
morning and evening it is alive with birds and animals eagerly seek-
ing food and ready to fight for it.
West of the crossing of Green River, at what is now the town of
Greenriver, the old Spanish trail divided. The main trail, which
Greenriver, Utah, on July 18, and |] on the day following ae safely
thence went into the Grand Canyon of | at the mouth of Virgin
Colorad
canyon; but they had lost their | account by Dellenbaugh of Powell's
sre and had no means of esti- | seco i
the distance yet to be traveled i a fragmental
n settlements at the einai: a ehaaee recorded during
mouth of the Grand ir | some parts of his first trip. To-day a
progress was slow, too, and eetsita tinal
abandon the river and attempt to climb
out of the canyon. These men suc-
ceeded in reaching the plateau only to
be killed by the Indians, who did not
believe their story about coming down
through the canyon but thought they
were white men from across the river
reached the mouth of the eanyon, and
at Grand Canyon to commemorate his
exploration.
The pioneer trips thus made by Maj.
Powell in hardship and peril prepared
ey, who to-d
later, guide their motor boats with
confidence, though even yet not with-
out danger, over stretches of the river
irrigation and for generating
power, so that men can make homes
| in this still wild country
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 207
led to southern California, turned to the south and crossed the
Wasatch Plateau at Emery Canyon; the other branch of the trail
turned to the north and followed practically the present line of the
Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad. By crossing southern Utah
over the old Spanish trail the early travelers gained a general
knowledge of that country. It was soon settled by bands of Mor-
mons sent out by Brigham Young, and its settlement led to the
location of the first capital of the Territory of Utah in its southern
part.®7
The train pursues a westerly course through the barren wilderness
of clay flats, low shale hills, and dry beds of the desert watercourses.
Water is so scarce in this region that at each siding the railroad com-
pany has built cisterns to which it hauls water in tank cars for long
distances. The rainstorms here are generally violent; the water falls
in torrents, the desert becomes a sea of mud, and the rushing streams
cut deep channels and dissolve their banks as if they were made of
sugar. At times even the railroad trains have been engulfed by
streams which during more than eleven months of the year carry not
a drop of water.
The great south face of Beckwith Plateau, a point that runs off
southward from the main mass of the Book Cliffs, looms up promi-
nently on the north (right), as shown in Plate LX XXYV, but in the
other direction there is no prominent feature to attract attention; one
can look southwestward across the adobe plain as far as the eye can
see and distinguish nothing but the dim outline of the Henry Moun-
tains, far away in the hazy distance.
Six miles west of Greenriver, at milepost 561, the railroad curves
to the north and follows the shale valley on the west side of the Beck-
with Plateau. As the train goes around the curve the traveler may
get on the left an excellent view of the east side of the San Rafael
Swell, a great uplift of the rocks that involves all the geologic forma-
tions he has seen on his journey and even the underlying granite in
a large area in the middle of the uplift. The sedimentary rocks on
the east side of this elongated dome have been sharply upturned, and
the heavy beds of sandstone between the notches cut by the streams
Millard Fillmore, then President of
the United States. A State house was
begun but never finished. The legis-
“Tt was originally planned to locate
the capital of Utah at Salt Lake City,
but when the Territory was created
in 1850 it was decided that the capital
Should be more nearly in the center
lard was therefore created, and on
October 29, 1851, the city of Fillmore
Was laid out as the capital, both the
city and the county being named for
lature held but one full session at Fill-
more—that of 1855-56. Several suc-
ceeding legislatures met there in order
to comply with the law but did no
business except to adjourn to Salt
Lake City, which was finally made the
capital.
208 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
have been left standing as great tables tilted to the east at an angle of
30° or 40°, which as seen from the train resemble the teeth of a gigan-
tic saw. This line of tilted sandstone can be followed by the eye for
many miles, but in the distance it fades into the misty blue of the
desert. The beds nearer the traveler are upturned less steeply and
have not been removed by erosion, so they form a great swell, but
even where the rocks lie nearly flat the streams have cut into them
deep canyons, having nearly or quite vertical sides, which measure
hundreds or perhaps a thousand feet in height. The profiles are all
angular; they are composed of straight lines; and when viewed from
a distance these immense pinnacles of rock resemble the ruins of
some ancient city, and in imagination one can see in them the remains
of temples, pyramids, columns, and arches standing in grandeur amid
the wreck of the structures of which they once formed a part. Here
one can not resist the temptation to let the imagination have free
rein—to rebuild these ruins as wonderful habitations of ancient
giants and to picture the dramas that may have been enacted in
them. If the traveler is fortunate enough to see these ruins when the
sun is just setting behind their massive piles and suffusing their
domes and pinnacles with great golden halos he can readily under-
stand how a savage race might have here received the inspiration to
build a magnificent temple to the sun, which to our minds might
rival the most wonderful temples of the Egyptian kings.
At the point where the railroad makes the turn around the Beck-
with Plateau it is at a considerable distance from the front of the
plateau, but farther north it approaches the front more and more
closely, until near the siding called Desert it is so close that the
traveler may see, if the light is just right, all the delicate lines of
erosion that the rain has cut in the shale slope.
The great anticline called the San Rafael Swell extends far to
the north, and the rocks of the Book Cliffs bear the same relation
to those in the anticline as the rocks of the Book Cliffs at Grand
Junction bear to those of the Uncompahgre Plateau. The Book
Cliffs west of Green River look different from those with which the
traveler is familiar east of it. East of Green River the rocks weather
into many projecting points or salients of hard rock, and between
these points there are deep notches or reentrant angles. In addition,
the upper beds of sandstone have weathered back much farther than
the lower beds, but each layer is characterized by the same kind of
salients and reentrant angles. The result of this form of weathering
is a front that is extremely irregular and jagged. West of Green
River the front of the Book Cliffs is very regular; it shows no
tendency to weather into long points. This difference is probably due
ar a Re
<2 SRR rege
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 209
_ to the absence of streams and to the presence of a greater number of
beds of sandstone in the west than in the east, as well as to the more
massive character of these beds and to,the greater dips which pre-
vail in this part of the plateau, for all these characteristics would
give a very different result in the forms produced by erosion. The
Book Cliffs west of Green River are characterized by many bands
of sandstone, which may be followed by the eye for long distances
and which produce slight benches on the slope. <A profile of a part
of the front of the Beckwith Plateau is shown in figure 55.
A geologist accustomed to interpret the meaning of land forms
sees almost everywhere in these shale areas fragments of older sur-
faces of the land, preserved in terraces and benches. Some of these
remnants of an older surface were pointed out west of Grand Junc-
tion and again near Thompson. West of Green River they grow
more and more prominent as the traveler approaches the head of the
stream. They stand at
different heights above
the present general sur-
face, but commonly
some particular ter-
race—one that ranges
in height from 50 to RoC —
200 feet above the pres- Narieow latinte ————
ent surface—is more ——s =
prominent than the — —————
rest. The old surface ———SSS SS
in this region was er or ae cere
probably more nearl
smooth and regular than the surface of to-day, and its slope
was doubtless not so great as that of the present surface. After
this old:surface had been well developed, the lower country, though
it showed considerable differences in elevation between the higher
and the lower parts of its slopes, must have formed one general
plain. Then came a change, either an uplift of the land or an in-
crease in the rainfall. At any rate, the streams were able to cut
deep trenches in this old surface, and their work has been continued
So long that it has left, here and there, only remnants of the once
continuous surface, and these remnants are the terraces and benches
that we see to-day. Terraces are very prominent in places west of
Woodside, and the traveler may be interested in studying them, not
as terraces but as remnants of that old surface. Indeed, he may be
able in imagination to reconstruct from them the old surface as it
caine before the streams had cut into it and carved the valleys of
y- | )
Mesaverde formation
Ficurn 55.—Profile of front of Beckwith Plateau,
210 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
The railroad rises steadily until it reaches a local summit at Cliff
siding, between mileposts 574 and 575, and then begins a rapid de-
‘ scent to Price River, the master stream in the north
ich end of Castle Valley. This stream heads on the
prevation Pet) et Wasatch Plateau, far to the northwest, and flows
across the north end of the San Rafael Swell, be-
yond which it joins Green River through a deep canyon cut in the
Book Cliffs just north of the Beckwith Plateau. The traveler may
see the entrance to this canyon by looking ahead on the east (right)
after passing Cliff siding.
The line of cottonwood trees that marks the course of Price River
may be seen long before the train has reached the bottom of the valley,
and their soft green color is very refreshing to the eye that has been
gazing on the barren expanse of desert just crossed. At Woodside
the railroad crosses Price River, which the traveler
Woodside. unaccustomed to this region may not be willing to
Elevation 4,645 feet. call a river unless he remembers that most of the
eet inte, Water it normally carries is withdrawn for irri-
gation farther upstream, and then he may wonder
that any water at all is left in it at Woodside.
For a distance of about 3 miles the railroad follows the east bank
of the river through groves of cottonwood trees and small irrigated
farms. Its course here lies near the west margin of the belt of shale, and
the underlying sandstone (Dakota) and the red and green rocks of the
McElmo may be seen at many places across the river on the left.
Near milepost 583 the river ceases to follow the shale and swings 11
from the west, where it has cut a deep and narrow canyon in the
hard rocks across the north end of the San Rafael Swell. The rail-
road engineers sought to avoid this canyon by following the broad
valley that Grassy Creek has cut-in the shale. This valley is the
extension of the one that the train has followed ever since it left
Green River,
The valley was not formed by a downfold in the rocks but simply
by the erosion of the soft Mancos shale. ‘The traveler may under-
stand this easily by looking at the higher rocks in the face of the
Book Cliffs on the east and the lower rocks in the San Rafael Swell
on the west and noticing that they dip in the same direction—toward
the northeast. From time to time as the traveler may be able to
look ahead he can see that apparently the valley is filled and cut off
by terraces that rise 100 feet or more above the level of the track,
as shown in figure 56. These terraces appear to bar the further pas-
sage of the railroad, so it turns to the left a short distance beyond
Grassy siding and climbs out of the shale valley. In making this
climb the road turns and twists about some of the barren shale hills,
a gp ll cleo a
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 f
ag rom additional information col-
lected with the assistance of that company
PREPARED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF
GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR
DAVID WHITE, Chief Geologist
M. R. CAMPBELL, Geologist A. C, ROBERTS, T:
Cc. H. BIRDSEYE, Chief Topographic Engineer
‘opographer
1922
EXPLANATION
Age Thickness
in feet
E White shale and sandstone (Green River formation) 2,600
Tertiary
(Eocene)
F Red sandstone and conglomerate (Wasatch formation) 8,000
‘Sandstone, shale, and coal beds (Mesaverde oes: 2,200
Dark marine shale ‘Mancos shale) ; in lower part
a pec: one (Ferron sandstone member, Fer) > Upper Cretaceous 3,000
M_ Brown sandstone (Dakota sandstone) | 50
Variegated shale and sandstone (McElmo
N formation and La Plata sandstone)
Cretaceous (?) and
Jurassic 1,800
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
BULLETIN 707 SHEET No. 8
110’ 30
Sheet No.9
ite)
10
30°
109° 30° UTAH
iia Ea
cale 500,000
Approximately 8 miles to | inch
0 5 10 Miles Bd
bi a ) 30
or 9 10 a; Kilometers
el
The dj n Pius b
The crossties on the railroads are spaced
Relief shading by R. W. Berry
1 mile apart.
“peoryiny Usk \d JIO qniys vB
AQOIBOS ‘ 3 rs nyidjnos A[snoyaAseut ose
MOP 8 sus ? ‘SUIO] I Iq st } q “IOAT [ 9YT JO 9uO st NvOye[_d YAMyoog
>
AXXXI OULVWI1d 402 NILA ITAA AHAYAS TVOIDOTOND *s "0
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 707 PLATE LXXXVI
A. BAND OF SHEEP.
One of the important industries in this part of Utah is sheep rz - ing. The bands of —— 2
each band under the guidance of a fa 98 or two, range from the low gre ounds of the
desert in the winter and Me ae "spring to the highest ridges and plateaus in midsummer.
Photograph by Frank R.
B. COKE OVENS AT SUNNYSIDE.
fate cies
he S ; the Utah Fuel Co. is not on the main line of the railroad, but iti
served by a in inch y oA h connec ts at Mounds. The coal mined at Sunnyside is the pe,
coal in the State that will make commercial coke, Py hotograph by Frank R. Clark.
C, CLIFFS ABOVE HELPER.
he cliffs of sandstone nag ‘rlain by shale “ta e striking features as the traveler looks up at
them from He ap "7 bt when seen fsa e top they are equally interesting, for one can
follow, with the the ¥ arious pooe he note the form of sculpture of each particular
layer, P setiola, g by F: coal R. Clarke.
chat RIE os emesis
1 aera
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. Zhi
cuts through others, and finally, at Cedar siding, approaches the
margin of the shale and at the same time attains the level of the
great terraces that were so conspicuous from points near Grassy
siding. When seen from their own level these terraces are very
extensive and appear like a vast flat plain.
Fictre 56.—Terraces at head of Grassy Creek valley.
In the vicinity of Cedar siding the lower part of the shale con-
tains many beds of sandstone and some conglomerate. This part of
the formation thickens considerably toward the south for 20 or 30
miles to a place where it contains several valuable
beds of coal and is known as the Ferron sandstone.
About a mile west of Cedar siding a sharp upward
bend of the rocks terminates the outcrop of the
shale and brings to the surface the Dakota sandstone and, underlying
it, the maroon and green beds of the McElmo. The railroad at this
point is on the bank of a creek called Sunnyside Wash, and it fol-
lows the valley of this stream to the north until near milepost 600
the railroad passes from the varicolored beds of the McEImo into a
broad, flat valley cut in the Mancos shale.
On the right may be seen the branch line of the Denver & Rio
Grande Western that leads to Sunnyside, one of the largest coal
mines in the district and the only one that produces a merchantable
quality of coke.** Plate LX X XVI, B, shows the coke ovens at Sun-
nyside. The two lines run nearly parallel for some
distance but finally unite at the station of Mounds.
pak 442 feet. (See sheet 9, p. 232.) To the casual traveler the
country over which he has been riding, as well as
that which he can see about Mounds, probably appears to be bar-
ren and valueless, but should he pass this way in sheep-shearing time
Cedar.
Elevation 5,166 feet.
Denver 594 miles
Mounds.
“The following description of the Coal has been mined at Sunnyside
Mines at Sunnyside is given by Frank | since about 1900. The town, mine
R. Clark, who has made a careful geo- | tipple, and coke ovens are in the mouth
logic survey of the region: of Whitmore Canyon at the end of the
212 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
and have a few hours to examine the shearing plant which stands
just north of the station, he might change his mind, for this is the
center of a large sheep industry. It is said that 100,000 sheep were
sheared at this plant during the season of 1916 and that many sheep
were turned away.
It must be remembered, however, that the sheep sheared here do
not depend upon this immediate vicinity for their pasture, for the
sheep herder wanders with his flock during the summer into the
high country of the San Rafael Swell (see Pl. LXAXXVI, A) and
in the winter seeks the protection of the lower valleys. The sheep
would soon starve on a small area, but there is much open range—
that is, unfenced Government land—in this country and by constant
migration the sheep do well.
From the vicinity of Mounds the traveler may see that the Book
Cliffs, which he has been following, continue northward only a few
miles beyond the mine at Sunnyside, which generally can be located
by its smoke, and there swing to the northwest to the head of Price
River, near Helper, and there again change their course to a direc-
tion a little west of south—that is, they encircle the north end of
the San Rafael Swell. The name Book Cliffs, however, is applied
only to the part that lies east and north of the Denver & Rio Grande
Western Railroad; the part that lies south of the railroad is known
as the edge of the Wasatch Plateau. All these features can readily
be seen from the train in the vicinity of Mounds.
Sunnyside branch, about 18 miles east
of Mounds. Two beds of 0g ab
situs coal, separated by 5 to 25 fee
of sandstone and shale, are tots here.
The lower and thicker coal bed ran
in thickness from 5 to 14 feet and the
upper bed from 3 to 6 feet.
e development has been rapid
and continuous since the beginning,
nishes power for hoists and hauling
motors, and light for town and mines.
Power is also carried by a high-voltage
line eastward over the mountain into
nge Creek, a distance of 5 mil
where it drives pumps which deliver
ers. The daily output of the mines is
about 2,500 tons of coal, most of which
is converted into coke in beehive ovens,
The coke and coal are hauled by
“locals” from the mines to Helper,
where adres a oa trains are made
up. Most of the coke from Sunnyside
is shipped to the os at Anaconda,
Mont.
The coal at Sunnyside and through-
out the Book Cliffs has been generally
burned at the
more than
out areas, thus showing the extent of
the burning. The fire has penetrated
the coal farther on the points of ridges
tween drainage channels than it did
where the coal outcrop crosses the
stream courses,
Se
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 213
Just west of Mounds curious hard masses of rock which on ac-
count of their nearly spherical shape are frequently referred to as
“cannon balls” may be seen in the shale that forms the cut edge of
one of the terraces. These round masses of rock are known to
geologists as concretions,” and they were undoubtedly formed in the
shale after it was deposited as mud in the bottom of the ocean.
From the uplands at Mounds the road descends westward to Price
River, which it reaches at milepost 607. Here the traveler is once
more gladdened by the sight of green trees and small irrigated farms
in the river bottom. The valley becomes rather nar-
row, and at Farnham the bluffs of shale encroach
oP ol ee tag steely upon the river bottom. The shale hills are
and barren, but they form a background that
serves to heighten the color of the fields and trees.
From Farnham the railroad follows Price River practically to its
head. Irrigation is generally practiced in the valley, but the supply
of water is not sufficient to serve all the land that is
Wellington. otherwise favorably situated. Towns have sprung
pale ee feet. up along the railroad and are achieving more or
Denver 614 miles, | less success. The next town to be passed is Welling-
ton, which appears to be a thriving village, whose
most prominent building is a modern schoolhouse.
Northwest of Wellington the valley is more open, and well-irri-
gated farms are abundant. The country on both sides of the river is
served by canals that take their water from the river
Price. several miles above Price. Price is the county seat
pevetion 5 “pgs of Carbon County, which was so named because of
Denver ate ni the great beds of coal that are found in the Book
Cliffs. It is a general supply point for the ranches
in Duchesne Valley, north of the Book Cliffs, and in Castle Valley,
south of them.
For a distance of 4 miles above Price the course of the river is
southeastward and its bottom lands are fairly wide. The railroad
is in this bottom and affords good views on both sides of the best
part of the irrigated district. From this open valley the traveler may
see the shale terraces extending toward the river from both sides, like
long fingers, and at milepost 623 they approach so closely that the
river flows in a veritable shale canyon, with steep walls on either
hand that rise to a height of nearly 100 feet.
Farnham.
”The origin of concretions is not | a crystal. Concretions, however, are
well understood, but they are supposed | generally rounded, or at least they are
to be due to the collecting together in | without sharp co
the mud of certain mineral particles, | sides, though they may take on a
in much the same manner as the
Molecules of a mineral unite to form
80697°— 2215
variety of forms, some of which are
very complex and fantastic.
214 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
At this point the river also changes its course, coming out of the
Book Cliffs in a course nearly due south. The valley continues nar-
row, with shale bluffs and a narrow strip of irrigated bottom land.
Just beyond milepost 625 a branch line on the east (right) leads to
Kenilworth, a mining town that produces a notable part of the coal
shipped from this region. About a mile farther north, in a valley
so narrow as scarcely to provide room for a single
Helper. street, is the railroad town of Helper, which was so
Blevation 5,840 feet. hatiied because here are vs ts the reo engines that
Population
Denver 627 miles, | Serve the regular trains as “helpers” up the heavy
grade north of the town. The town is at the mouth
of the canyon that Price River has cut in the plateau of which the
Book Cliffs are the front. These cliffs loom up 1,500 feet above the
station and seem to interpose a blank wall against the further
progress of the railroad, but like many other things in this world
their appearance is deceptive, for the railroad has succeeded in fol-
lowing the stream through the narrow cleft. A view of the cliffs
from above is shown in Plate LXXXYVI, @.
The canyon above Helper shows at close range the character of the
coal-bearing (Mesaverde) formation. The lower part of the cliff
overlooking Helper is composed mainly of shale (Mancos), which
originated in the sea and therefore contains no coal. The rocks above
this shale are mainly sandstones, but there are also many beds of
shale, and in places there are coal beds, which range in thickness from
a few inches to as much as 20 feet. An old prospect in one of the thick
beds is shown in Plate LX XX, B (p. 195). The coal beds, however
thick they may be, can not generally be seen from the car windows,
for they are the softest members of the formation and consequently
weather back faster than either the shale or the sandstone, so that
their outcrop becomes covered with soil and broken rock. Sandstone
makes up the greater part of the formation, and its general color is
light gray or nearly white. It has been described as red, but this is a
mistake, as the formation contains no red sandstone, though a ledge
on weathering becomes a rusty brown, or if a coal bed below it has
been burned it may have become a bright red, but these are not the
inherent colors of the sandstone.7°
*The following description of the
coal beds and the associated rocks in
the vicinity of agar cee is given by
Frank R. Clark
At the mouth of Price River canyon
nearly vertical cliffs of sandstone
and shale rise 1,500 feet above
the river bed. These cliffs are capped
by beds of sandstone that form the
lower part of the Mesaverde forma-
tion. The beds that compose the cliffs
were laid down in fresh water or on
the land. They rest upon soft dark
pea (Mancos), which was laid down
a Shallow sea that covered most of
the The line between these
formations is generally drawn at the
base of the heavy ledge sand-
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 215
Half a mile above Helper a branch railrvad turns back to the left
up Spring Canyon to coal mines at Storrs, ‘Standardville, and other
towns where mines have recently been opened, and about 2 miles above
Helper the Utah Railway, a new line built to replace the one from
Price to Hiawatha, connects the mines at
Hiawatha, Mohrland, and Wattis with
the Denver & Rio Grande Western.
The scenery in Spring Canyon, as in
many others on the road, is dominated
by great sandstones. This dominance is
shown particularly by the narrowness
of the canyon. Where the base of the
cliffs is ee of shale the canyon
is wider, as can be seen in the first 2
miles above Halper. but where the can-
yon walls are composed largely of sand-
stone, as they are farther up, the canyon
is narrow, barely affording room for the
automobile highway, the railroad, and
the river. The walls of the canyon also
show the effect of the different rocks;
where they are mainly shale they have a
pronounced slope, but where they are
mainly sandstone they are precipitous
and in places vertical. Each spur that projects into the canyon is pre-
served by heavy sandstone, and therefore the characteristic feature
of the canyon is the many sandstone points which stand up like walls
or dikes.
2
Mesaverde formation
Mancos shale
0 500
Vertical scale
Figure 57.—Geologic section at
Castlegate.
stone or at the top of the main mass ; Cameron, aay miles northwest of Castle-
of marine shale. The upper part of | gate; Storrs, 34 miles northwest of
the Mancos shale in Price River can- | Helper; peanbacuy ale 43 miles north-
yon contains several prominent beds | west of Helper; and Hiawatha,
of sandstone (see fig. 57), which wedge | miles southwest of Price. The coal at
out toward the east. The lowest of | Castlegate was formerly coked, but as
hese beds crosses Price River about | the Sunnyside coal proved to be better
3 miles below (south of) Helper, and adapted to coking, the Castlegate cok-
ut
er
and the tipple a the Panther Coal Co. | upper and lower ones are 18 to 20 feet
The Mesaverde contains several coal | thick, and the middle one is 4 to 6
beds which differ in thickness from | feet thick
place to place but where thickest are The Castlegate group includes four
of great value. seed is mined on a | coal beds, which differ greatly in thick-
large scale along Price River canyon | ness from place to place but are locally
and its tributaries at “Ken ie orth, 2} | minable. At Cameron the coal does
miles east of Helper: Panther, half a | not come to the surface but is reached
mile south of Se atieestes se aii by a slope. The two beds that are
216 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
As the coal beds occur well up in the Mesaverde formation, they
lie near the tops of the ridges at the mouth of the canyon, and the
coal mines here must lower the coal by long inclined tramways to
the tipple,* which is at railroad level. This form of handling the
coal is well illustrated at the Panther mine, near milepost 629. Far-
ther up the canyon the coal beds lie nearer the creek level, and they
finally pass below water level and are seen no more.
The most prominent mine and mining town on the
Lik cet eaten main line is Castlegate, at the mouth of Willow
eae eo ming Creek, which enters the main stream from the east
feughh. The mines are on both sides of the valley
a few rods above the mouth of Willow Creek, and the coal taken
from them comes to a common tipple, which spans the railroad at
this place.
The name “ Castlegate” was taken from that of the peculiar gate-
like passage 2 miles above the town, the sides of which seem to be
walls or dikes of sandstone projecting from the sides of the canyon.
When viewed from a point directly opposite it the rock wall on the
right looks like a thin finger, as shown in Plate LX X XVI, C, but
when seen from a point farther up the canyon the walls on the two
sides.seem to project so far into the canyon as almost to obstruct it
and to bar the railroad from further progress. This aspect of the
gateway is shown in Plate LXX XVIII. Asa matter of fact the two
walls are not directly opposite, though this fact is not indicated in the
illustration, but are offset a considerable distance, so that the opening
is not so narrow as it appears. It is, ROS a striking feature of
the canyon and well deserves the name “ Castlegate.” The spurs that
form the gate are not the only projecting ledges of sandstone, for each
point or spur, whether it is at railroad level or high on the mountain
side, is bounded by great cliffs of gray sandstone hundreds of feet
high. 7
Castlegate.
mined are probably part of the Castle-
gate group. On the north side of the
river, at Cameron, a massive sand-
stone crops out in a vertical cliff about
is |
cally known as the Castlegate “reef”
and crops out for many miles from east
to west. (See Pls. LXXXVII, C, and
LXXXVIII.) The sandstone grad-
ually becomes thinner toward the east
and at Sunnyside is only about 150
ipa ‘thick
satan shown in figure 57 in-
ate the rocks exposed from the di-
version dam on Price River 3 m
oan of Helper to the Cassa
¥ han ges oe at Camero!
Sipnd term “tipple” is abailsait' ti
the soft-coal regions of the United
States to the platform or building te
which the coal is delivered from the
mine. The tipple generally stands well
above the railroad so that when the
coal is dumped from the mine cars it
descends by gravity through screens
and is thus sorted into different sizes
or grades before it reaches the railroad
car in which it is shipped to market.
71
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 707 PLATE LXXXVII
A. INCLINED NORMAL FAULT. B. VERTICAL NORMAL FAULT.
Displacement, 8 fee As the Displacement, 60 or 80 feet. Photo-
surface is not offse Fs 4 mi ag the graph by M. A. Pishe i.
movement must have taken place
— before the ieee valics was
. Photograph by D. EF. Wine ‘ion
c. CASTLEGATE, SIDE VIEW.
The « a pillar on the east (right) side of the canyon. From this point of view it appear
— slender tower of the native rock almost ready to fall from the vibré ition | of. the passing
rains, but when looked at from the north after having passed throu s the “g oo Bans picture is
iafertae as shown in Plate LXXXVIII. Photograph by Shiplers, Salt La ke
*progiey us04
bl seer saeephr mp tab Aq poystuiny ydeasoroqd Ri qn pony A {1 pure ‘Xavoy St sures) punoq-jsoM a Soy peal out
OpISva pe plo eios Jo sjfem ay) UL keMaqes v Sut MOIIUU B AjuO Suravsy ‘Aoqpea oy I | \spues kuas jo sjutod Surjoofosg
TLV OU LLS VO
i ag ine
ge 0 8 ae
IWAXXXT ULVWId 202 NILA TIOg€ AMAUNS IVOIDOTORD ‘S ‘A
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 217
Throughout the main part of the canyon the railroad climbs steadily
in order to cross over the top of the Wasatch Plateau. For about 10
miles out of Helper the grade is 127 feet to the mile, and though such
a grade is not excessive it necessitates the use of extra engines on some
of the heavy trains to get them to the summit.
Northward the canyon gradually grows less and less rugged and the
walls decrease in height until just above the first tunnel, 14 miles above
Nolan, the thick ledges of sandstone give place to weaker beds of
muddy sandstone, shale, and fresh-water limestone. Although these
beds are in general gray, they belong to a different geologic forma-
tion from that which carries the coal beds at Castlegate. This forma-
tion, the Wasatch,’? which appears just above the first tunnel, is gen-
erally red, and in many places it is very coarse, but here it is light in
color and is composed of fine material. Where the less resistant rocks
form the surface the slopes become smoother and less steep and the
general aspect of the canyon is much subdued. These gray beds
continue to a point about halfa mile above the station of Kyune.
The upper part of the Wasatch is composed mostly of red clay or
shale and appears to contain only a few beds of sandstone. Some
of these beds have been quarried extensively above
Kyune, where this part of the formation first makes
its appearance. As the upper part of the Wasatch
ormation in this locality is composed largely of
soft material, the slopes are gentle and the immediate hills are
low. Here and there a harder or a thicker bed appears at the
surface, and at these places the valley becomes more like a canyon.
Kyune.
Elevation 7,013 feet.
Denver 639 miles.
land or at the bottom of a lake. Suc
a lake probably existed in the aetna
gate region, an it were deposited
the fresh- aii ernie and shales
which in this stitute 700 or
800 feet of she lower Tare of the for-
™=The Wasatch formation was one
of the first to be laid down in the
Tertiary period. At the beginning of
this period there was a wide uplift of
Many mountain ranges, and as soon.
as these ranges attained ‘cbauiliataitle
height above sea level were vig- | mation.
orously lng ked by streams, which From the very manner of its origin
rolled great boulders down the steep ape esis of transportation the Wa-
t
source of its material cad the distance
to which it has been carried. Such
differences will be seen by the traveler
oun s by the streams,
as similar material is Mn fiend earried
far away from the where it
originated, and was dsb thes
the fairly even surfac er |-
tends to drop coarse a AT ee "the however, is remarkably constant—its
r maroo r, whi ¢
boulders, gravel, and sand ere | red 0 m color, which is char-
dropped near the mountains, but the | acteristic of the formation generally
clay was carr npay ountain re-
ied farther off, an
finally all the earthy material found
a resting place on the surface of the
throughout the
gion and is the most reliable means
by which it can be identifi
218 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
The railroad follows the boundary between the gray and the red
parts of the Wasatch formations for some distance above Kyune,
cutting in places into the gray beds and in places into the red ones.
A short distance west of milepost 643 the railroad leaves the red
beds and for a mile it traverses the light-colored limestones and shales.
In these rocks the stream has cut a canyon, which bears off to the
southwest. On rounding the point of the spur that projects from
the north the traveler comes into an open valley that trends north-
ward, and on the farther (west) side of this valley lie the bright-red
beds of the upper part of the Wasatch formation. These beds are
brought down into view again by a northward-trending fault, which
has cut the rocks for a long distance on either side of the railroad and
has dropped those on the west side at least 200 feet. This fault, which
passes a few hundred feet east of the station at Colton, has caused
the formation of the north-south valley. From
Colton a branch railroad extends southward up
the valley of West Fork to the towns of Scofield,
Winterquarters, and Clear Creek, where coal of
about the same quality as the Castlegate coal is
mined. The surface of the plateau, being composed of soft rocks, is
not rugged, and it does not seem to be very high, yet several points
near Colton stand nearly 10,000 feet above sea level. The plateau
is a fine summer range for stock and affords pasturage for thousands
of sheep.
From Colton the railroad runs up a broad but short valley in the
Wasatch formation to the crest of the plateau at Soldier Summit,
where the main line of the Denver & Rio Grande
Western Railroad reaches its highest point in the
' State of Utah. The summit of this pass was so
named because some soldiers under Gen. Albert
Sidney Johnston, who were returning from the Salt Lake Valley
at the end of the “Mormon war,” were buried here. A brief account
of this “war,” taken almost wholly from Bancroft’s “ History of
Utah,” is given in the footnote.** Recently the railroad company has
built an extensive yard on the summit to facilitate the movement of
freight.
Colton.
Elevation 7,170 feet.
Population 49,*
Denver 645 miles.
Soldier Summit.
Elevation 7,440 feet
Denver 652 miles.
“The so-called “ Mormon war” was
thought they should be allowed to
the result of friction and misunder-
conduct their affairs as they saw fit.
Standing between the Federal judges
and other officers of the Territory of
Utah and the Mormon people. As the
Mormons had settled here before the
region had passed into the hands
of the United States, and as they had
increased greatly in numbers, they
Accordingly the legislature of the new
Territory proceeded to pass laws that
were acceptable to the church but that
were apparently obnoxious to some of
the Territorial officers. As the Mor-
mons regarded the Federal officials as
“carpet baggers” there was increas-
i es PN OS Sg oe) ee og el ee ae Pcp a | tsa
Uae Loe S eee Pe
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 219
On approaching the summit the traveler may notice on the north
side of the valley, only a short distance frem the track, a mine at
which considerable work has been
* north of Colton and some others on the west side of Soldier Summit,
one. ‘This mine, as well as one
se ill feeling on both sides. On one
sion the records of the United
ates district courts were taken from
a judge’s office during his absence and
a bonfire was made of his books and
He of course supposed that
8) 1
tions and excited much unfavorable
comment.
ter several years of friction no
pe pes cou be induced to accept
offi land where, according to
om belief, they could perform
‘hats tities only at the peril of their
lives. Bancroft sums up the situation
follow
up 0
the fede, tii, refus ence to
while his court was in session; an
that the records of the court had been
destroyed or concealed. With the ad-
vice of his cabinet, therefore, and
be supersed
as governor, and that a force should
be sent to the eb artdl ane, as
a posse comitatus, ah in the au-
thority of his successor.”
In July, 1857, hint i Gantialie was
eedgeam governor and at about a
force of about 2,500 m
was sent Ae Fort Leavenworth a
put down the rebellion in Utah. Thi
army was harassed by a band of Mor-
7]
mon forces, and when it reached Fort
ridger, Wyo., the n,
found itself with supplies sufficient
ly to ry it through the winter
and without stock to transport its
equipment into Utah even if the way
had been o he commander, Brig.
Gen, A. S. Johnston, decided that noth-
ing could be done until the next sum-
mer, so he went into winter quarters
near Fort Bridger
During this sueihected delay cpr
s him as
a commissioner to Utah to investigate
matters and see if a peaceable settle-
ment could not be effected. Kane
reached Salt Lake City in February,
When tters reached t appy
stage of adjustment the new governor
was sworn se the President’s procla-
mation of amnesty was read through-
out the wit heatl and it was agreed
that the army should hing Salt Lake
tered the valley by way of Emigration
Canyon on June 26, 1858, and marched
the
The soldiers under his ¢
sent in parties to 3 eRae ahinpe ab the
threatening cloud of rebellion grew
wr cker, and it was some of these par-
es that followed the trail eastward
over Soldier Summit and gave it its
name.
220 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
were opened on veins of ozokerite,’* but the operators have had dif-
ficulty in competing with ozokerite shipped into this country from
Galicia, and the mines have never been fully developed.
As originally built the railroad on the west side of the divide fol-
lowed Soldier Creek from its head to Thistle, where the creek
joins Spanish Fork. This route made necessary the exceptionally
steep grade of 4 per cent, or 211 feet to the mile. The operation of
the road over this steep grade was very expensive, for three or four or
even five locomotives were required to get a heavy train from Thistle
to the summit. Recently the railroad company has abandoned this
steep grade and has constructed an entirely new line which begins at
Soldier Summit and extends westward for a distance of 15 miles.
The new line has a grade of 2 per cent, or 106 feet to the mile, and
one locomotive can haul as many cars on it as three locomotives could
haul on the old line. The new line also gives the traveler a much
better opportunity to see the surrounding country than the old line,
which ran in the bottom of the valley.
The rocks exposed in the numerous cuts on the new line are gen-
erally red or at least are banded with red. These red rocks are the
continuation of those that were seen about Colton and are undoubt-
edly the upper part of the Wasatch formation. The rocks dip to the
north (right) at about the same angle as the slope of the mountain
side, but the rocks across the ravine on the north side of the old line
of the railroad are very white and carry no trace of red material. It
is therefore fairly evident, as shown in figure 58, that the rocks
in the cuts along the new line belong to the uppermost beds of
the Wasatch, and that the white shale and sandstone across the valley
are in an overlying formation which geologists have named the Green
River formation, from its wide distribution in the Green River Basin,
Wyo. This formation is especially prominent at the town of Green-
“ Ozokerite, or mineral wax, is a
mixture of various hydrocarbons, gen-
erally supposed to belong to the paraf-
n series. It varies in color from
black or dark brown to light yellow,
but some specimens are greenish,
may be as soft as tallow or as hard as
posits are of. different thickness, rang-
ing oe mere films to masses nearly
3 feet thick.
Ozokerite is used extensively for in-
sulating electric conductors, for mak-
The lighter-colored varieties
C;
melting point of ozokerite is consider-
ably above ue of commercial paraf-
fin. I rs in fissures in ‘the rocks
and is dieuet to have been deposited
from petroleum that formerly circu-
lated through these fissures. The de
polishes, to protect metal surfaces, and
for making wax figures and wax dolls.
It is reported that the Utah field has
produced 750,000 pounds | since 1886,
i this amount is in ificant when
mpared with We annual imports,
w Ghich from 1910 to 1920 have ranged
from 900,000 to more than 8,000,000
pounds.
asl
~f-
scree BP a Fe Sees
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 221
river, on the Union Pacific Railroad, and forms the picturesque buttes
back of the town.
The formations in this vicinity are the same as those that the
traveler saw in Grand Valley, Colo., between Rifle and De Beque—
variegated Wasatch shale at the base and white shale of the Green
River formation above it. (See p. 148.)
At the siding of Scenic, 5 miles west of Soldier Summit, the trav-
eler may look down on the north (right) and see not only the old
line of the railroad 439 feet below him but also
the loop over which he will pass in a few minutes.
The difference between a 4 per cent and a 2 per
cent grade is here brought out clearly, even to
those who are not familiar with the engineering problems of rail-
road construction. Two miles farther on the road makes a broad
Scenic.
Elevation 6,968 feet.
Denver 657 miles.
Figure 58.—Section at Gilluly, showing relation of the northward-dipping red Wasatch
. to the white Green River formation.
loop to the right, still in the Wasatch formation, and returns along
the mountain side at a lower level. A reverse
: loop is made under the old roadbed at the station
en ea of Gilluly, and from this point down through the
canyon the railroad follows the right wall, but
far above the level of the old line.
e rocks which form the mountain side above the tracks and
which have been deeply cut in order to provide a roadbed are all
in the Green River formation. They are naturally dark, but on
weathering they turn intensely white. Experiments have shown
at oil in commercial quantity may be distilled from many beds of
this shale, and it is possible that gasoline and other grades of oil,
Me well as fertilizer, may some day be extensively manufactured
ere,75
Gilluly.
Set a ee Oe a a
* As stated on p. 149, the Green River | this shale is available in Utah and that
Shale is continuous north of the rail-
Toad from Rifle, Colo., to Soldier Sum-
mit, Utah. The beds from which oil
May be distilled are not so thick in
Utah as in Colorado, but recent work
done in this region by D. E. Winches-
ter has shown that a great quantity of
/it may yet be a valuable source of
petroleum when the fields that are now
Summit will yield on distillation at
least 16.8 gallons of crude oil to the
ton.
222 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
Where the Green River formation is first seen it dips to the north
(right) 25° or 30°, but beyond the curve to the right, above the
abandoned station of Tucker, on the old line, the beds are somewhat
disturbed, and between mileposts 663 and 664 they are thrown into
a well-marked synclinal fold, which may be seen on the right.
The siding of Detour marks the junction of the old and new lines
and also the termination of this narrow part of the valley. Below
Detour the valley is more open, at least as far as Narrows siding,
where it is again constricted by the appearance of harder rocks.
Immediately below Narrows siding the lowest beds of the Green
River formation rise downstream, and half a mile beyond milepost
672 the red beds of the Wasatch make théir appearance beneath the
gray beds of the Green River. The Wasatch is bright red, and the
change in color is very striking. This outcrop of the Wasatch is
very different in composition from that east of Soldier Summit.
There it is generally clay or soft shale; here it is largely a mass of
conglomerate composed of boulders of all sorts of rock that occur
in the Wasatch Mountains. The presence of such masses of con-
glomerate made up of boulders of this size is a sure indication that
the material was derived from high mountains and that it was not
carried far by the streams before it was dropped to form great
boulder beds that now are consolidated into massive rock. It there-
fore seems certain that a high range of mountains once existed in
this region when the Wasatch formation was deposited in the early
stages of the Tertiary period. This range must have been old as
measured by the standard in this mountain region, whereas the
present Wasatch Range is supposed to be comparatively young.
These statements, however, are not so contradictory as they appear,
for most mountain ranges have a complex history, involving many
movements up and down, and the Wasatch may not be an exception.
It may have had its beginning as a mountain range in early geologic
time, but that old range may have been worn down to a rolling plain
and later it may have been uplifted into a range like the present
Wasatch. In fact, such changes may have occurred several times.
The conglomerate has been a formidable barrier in the pathway
of the stream, and it therefore forms a canyon which is scarcely
wider than the stream that occupies it and which has given rise to
the name “Narrows” for the siding at its upper end. The con-
glomerate is 700 or 800 feet thick and forms the sides of the valley
for several miles. The character of the rock, as well as its brilliant red
color, gives to the canyon an individuality that distinguishes it from
all the other canyons on the line.
Soldier Creek flows directly west, and the railroad takes a course
toward a high mountain peak, one of the southern points of the
a ee ey ae
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 223
Wasatch Range, which lies due west of Thistle. The most southerly
point of this range is Mount Nebo, a peak which lies so far to the south
(left) that it is obscured by the low hills in the foreground,
The appearance of the valley improves in its lower course; more
of the ground is irrigated, and there are indications that the train is
approaching a town or a railroad junction. Just before reaching
the station at Thistle there is a complete change from the soft rocks
of the Wasatch formation to the hard blue limestone and red and
gray sandstone of the Jurassic system, which form a decided con-
striction in the width of the valley.
The railroad turns abruptly north and is joined at Thistle by a
branch line which traverses the rich Sanpete Valley and extends as
far south as Marysvale. This valley was early
Thistle. settled by Mormon families sent out from Salt
Elevation 5,033 feet. Take City by Brigham Young for that purpose,
Population 417 Z a ‘
Denver 681 miles, and in 1849, in order to'protect these outlying set-
tlements as well as those in the Salt Lake Valley,
the State of Deseret 7° was organized. The organizers passed through
much the same experience as those who attempted to organize the
State of Jefferson in what is now Colorado, but their motives were
obviously quite different. The State of Jefferson was organized to
protect the people and their property from the lawless hordes that
would be attracted to the country by the discoveries of gold, whereas
the State of Deseret was organized to protect and strengthen the
Mormon Church by having the machinery of government controlled
by the dignitaries of the church.”
* The word “ Deseret” is taken from | head but as the source of law in tem-
the Book of Mormon and means honey- | poral matters. Disputes were settled
bee. It is written in the Book of | by the canted or, as they were also
Ether of the people who came over | termed, gistrates of wards, ap-
the great water from the old world to | pointed Cy ine presidency. The brother-
the new: “And they did also carry | hood discountenanced litigation, but
with them ‘deseret,’ which, by in- | the population did not entirely consist
terpretation, is a honeybee.’ The | of members of the church. Set) was
honeybee, or rather the beehive, is one | already in their midst a small per-
of the important symbols of the Mor- | centage of Gentile ithe gathered
mon Church, and the word “ deseret” | from nearly all the civilized nations of
is used as the name of the most in- | the earth. It was probable that, as
fluential mot newspaper, the Des- | the resources of the territory were de-
eret New; veloped, this number would increase
* Hatierott, in his History of Utah | in greater ratio, and it was not to be
. , describes the situation | expected that they would always re-
as follows: main content without some form of
“Until the year 1849 the Mormons | civil government. Not infrequently
garding the | between
Presidency not only as their spiritual | though strict justice may have been
224
GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
Soldier Creek, which the railroad has been following from Tucker,
is here joined by Thistle Creek, and together the two streams form
the Spanish Fork. The canyon at Thistle is narrow, and its walls
are composed of bluish limestone on the east and banded red and
gray sandstone or quartzite’ on the west.
tains marine shells which show that its age is Jurassic.
The blue limestone con-
It normally
belongs beneath the Cretaceous rocks, which are so conspicuous along
the railroad from Green River nearly to Kyune.
Near Thistle
the rocks ey steeply to the east, but toward the north the dip de-
creases un
they le nearly flat.
They also change in character,
for they Bork much softer downstream and ave composed almost
done by the bishops, it was difficult for
the — - riage that such was the
se, The Saints regarded
their courts as divinely commissioned
and inspired tribunals; but not so the
Mor
us ame advisable ie slat
for the benefit of all some judicial
authority that could not be questioned
by h
To accomplish this
tains” was called to meet in Salt Lake
City on March 4, 1849. A constitution
mbly co!
vened, and on the next diy Willard
Snow, being appointed speaker of the
“Thus did the brethren establish, in
t
on the part of the Saints, mustering
then little more than one-sixth of the
number required for the admission as
a State, Gs to constitute themselves
enden
calmly await the action of’ Congress
in the matter
“Al mon W. Babbitt was
adopted, a
and President Fillmore appointed
ba Young its first governor.
uartzite is a term applied to a
sandstone that has been changed into
SP ae
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 225
entirely of soft red shale with some beds of sandstone. Beyond
milepost 681 this sandstone has been extensively quarried for build-
ing stone in Salt Lake City, but the growing use of cement has led
to the abandonment of the quarries.
Spanish Fork is here joined by Diamond Fork, a stream coming
from the northeast (right), which, though Baie small, has been
utilized by the United States Reclamation Service to bring water
from Strawberry River, a tributary of Green River, through a divid-
ing ridge, to irrigate some barren land in Salt ako Valley.”? . The
o
es,
ds
THAR,
a
sake
3 awe IS,
af
;}GREEN RIVER
T. t DRAINAGE
2 ‘BASIN
s : aie
-s
y, * ~~ Sf
LF ys attaquin = ‘9 a
rd ~
(e) 10 20 Miles
Fiegurn 59.—Map of peri Valley reelamation project. = dash line shows the
oundary of the Green River drainage basi
water obtained by damming Strawberry River is carried through
the ridge by a long tunnel and discharged into one of the head
branches of Daamond Fork. From this point it flows by gravity
into Spanish Fork and is diverted lower down, where it is most
needed. The traveler may see the diversion canal near the lower
end of the canyon.
®The Strawberry Valley diversion River (du- shayne’), a stream that en-
ers G
(see fig. 59) is one of the large proj-
ects that the United States Reclama-
tion Service has carried to a successful
oacenaiy By this project water that
is n eeded where it falls is taken
vee tise another drainage basin and
given to the thirsty land. As shown on
the map (fig. 59) Strawberry River is
one of the head branches of Duchesne
reen River from the west.
Strawberry River heads in rather open
country near the Wasat
which has an tation elevation of
about 8,000 feet a level. At
that altitude the Sabeieel of any but
the most hardy grains and vegetables
is impossible, so that the water is of
little value where it falls, but over the
i eae a
926 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
The Triassic red beds extend nearly a mile west of the mouth of
Diamond Creek, to a place where they are probably terminated by a
fault which separates them from the Carboniferous and older rocks
that form the core of the Wasatch Range. The
rocks of the mountains are of Carboniferous age
but are so poorly exposed and so complicated in
structure that it is useless to attempt to describe
them. From some limestones of this formation comes the
sulphur water which has made Castilla (cas-tee’yah) Hot Springs a
noted resort.
The Wasatch Mountains, although not equal in height to the Rocky
Mountains of Colorado or the Sierra Nevada of California, are never
theless one of the dominating ranges of the continent, and their
peaks range in elevation from 10,000 to more than 12,000 feet. The
impressiveness of the range is due more to its situation than to its ele-
vation, but both unite to make it a noteworthy group of mountains.
Dusing the great ice age this range supported a number of glaciers
(see the map opposite p. 244), but the glaciers were neither so large
nor so numerous as those of the Rocky Mountains.
Since leaving Canon City the traveler has been either in the Rocky
Mountains or in what is generally known as the Plateau country, so
called because it is made up of a series of plateaus of different ele-
vations, but when he passes through this canyon and emerges on the
west front of the Wasatch Range he finds himself in a country that is
very different from any that he has yet seen on this journey. This
Castilla.
Elevation 4,912 feet.
Denver 685 miles
mountains on the west there is not | again diverted into a canal for utiliza-
sufficient water to irrigate all the land | tion, first for the development of elec-
that is well adapted to farming. The | trie power and later for irrigation.
problem, therefore, was to bring the | The hydroelectric plant is 34 miles be-
water of Strawberry River across the | low the diversion dam in Spanish Fork,
divide to the lands that needed it so | and the power is generated by drop-
1 © accomplish this feat a | ping the water to the level of that
dam 72 fi h was built across | stream, as s lat: XIX,
eae River at a place called the The water is then carried to the
B.
’ a constricted point in the | south end of Utah Lake and distrib-
valley pert a part that is open and | uted to the land at that place and also
well adapted to form a reservoir. A | on the east side. This land has been
“
°
R
=
oO
=
Ss
oO
S
xy
=]
ad
n
E
3
=
oS
°
B
fe)
“
i
mz
®
E
k=}
=
te
rtage of w
19,897 feet (nearly 4 miles), so as to | Strawberry Valley will be sufficient Aa
allow the water of ‘the reservoir to | irrigate about 54,000 acres of this land,
flow through and discharge into th
head of Diamond Creek, a tributary | ductive power of the State is made at
of Spanish Fork. The water flows | the expense of a very slight loss to
down Spanish Fork to the west side of | that part from which the water is
Ww taken.
®
=)
B
G
c
77)
i]
4
&
ot
2
=
for)
&
5
ct
°
-e
o
uo
qs
the Wasatch Mountains, where it is
en, eee
OE ee
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. oe7
region is known as the Great Basin, a land of desert basins and of
barren mountain ranges, which in general trend north and south.
The precipitation here is slight, ranging in this latitude from 5 to 8
inches, and that which falls finds its way into some deep basin in the
interior like Great Salt Lake, where the water, when it evaporates,
leaves the mineral matter that is carried in solution to form beds of
salt or soda.
The walls of the canyon, although steep, are generally smooth
and are covered, except in the higher parts, by brush and dwarf trees
of many kinds. In summer they are clothed in a soft, beautiful
green, with here and there an evergreen tree to accentuate the soft-
ness of the foliage of the other trees, but in September, after the
frost has touched the dwarf maples of the higher slopes, the color-
ing is magnificent. Many of the slopes are a blaze of scarlet from
top to bottom, and others show scarlet interspersed with brown and
green. The clumps of aspen give the landscape a touch of gold, and
the whole scene presents an unexcelled splendor of autumn colors.
The canyon grows broader to the west, and the railroad is built
along its north wall. On the opposite side, near milepost 687, is the
headgate where the water of Spanish Fork, including that from
Strawberry River, is diverted into a large canal, which is soon lost
to view as it follows the south wall of the canyon to the mouth and
there turns to the left to the area where its waters are most needed.
The outlet of the canyon is not like the outlets of most of the can-
yons that the traveler has seen but seems to be dammed or choked by
a great mass of gravel. Where first seen, a little below the intake
of the canal, the gravel is at railroad level, and its top is flat, as if
it had been washed down the canyon and deposited as a delta in stand-
ing water. An examination of the opposite slope shows a terrace of
similar material about 100 feet higher. This terrace also appears
to have had a similar history, except that as it is the older of the two
deposits most of its gravel was washed away when the second ter-
race was formed, and so only fragments remain where they have been
protected on the side slopes. These terraces are of the greatest sig-
nificance in the interpretation of the late geologic history of this
region; to the geologist they have much the same value that the cliff
dwellings or tables of cuneiform writing have to the archeologist.
They constitute the record of one of the most remarkable geologic
events in this country—the flooding of the basin of Great Salt Lake
during the ice age to a depth of more than a thousand feet. When
these terraces in the Spanish Fork canyon were formed the water
of Lake Bonneville, as it has been called to distinguish it from the
present lake, entered the mouth of the canyon at the level of the
highest terrace, and if a traveler had then attempted to make a west-
ward journey here he would have been confronted by an inland fresh-
228
GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
water sea that extended from the Wasatch Mountains to the west
line of the State.®° (See fig. 60.)
Some of the most prominent of these old shore lines have been
14
= named. The highest, the
one visible as a_ terrace
about 100 feet above the
track, is called the Bonne-
ville shore line. The one
l at railroad level, which has
not been named, represents
a later stage of water,
when the northern outlet
Be
had been cut down below
its first position but not so
low as it became later. It
probably records the posi-
tion of a harder bed o
+ rock, which the outflowing
‘waters encountered when
they had partly cut the
barrier that held them in
i} place, and this hard bed
ee %
Wy
ersisee
held the stream so lon
that it permitted Spanish
Fork to build at this
height a delta of consider-
able extent.
In its descent to the
lower level of the valley
fC) 20 40. 60 _ _—saBO MILES
FIGURE 60. —Map Lake
indi ented al diagonal shading
lower plain, which represents
waters.
reer Me area
and deeper into the delta,
ne" finally, near milepost
689, it comes out on a still
a later and lower stand of the
This plain is extensive, and from its even surface the
The Bonneville shore lines and
broad flats that the traveler has al-
ready seen at the mouth of Spanish
Fork canyon and the others that he
will see before he reaches Salt Lake
City thay doubtless convince him that
at Some time long ago the drainage
rate of which the present Great Salt
Lake occupies only the deeper part
was filled with water to the highest
shore line, or about 1,000 feet. This
old and vanished lake has been named
Lake Bonneville, in honor of Capt.
. L. E. Bonne 832
The late G. K. Gilbe
ognized as the leading authority on the
Bonneville, said, in
speaking of the highest shore line
(U. S. Geol. Survey Mon. 1, pp. 94-99,
890) :
“If the Bonneville shore line were
far less deeply engraved than it is it
ut the railroad cuts deeper.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 707 PLATE LXXXIX
A. BONNEVILLE SHORE LINE.
Lak marked on the west face of ape hapa h
of hob ble € ‘anyon, ‘. ack of hel ille. Above this line the rocks are ne re, and ad is no trace
of wave actic below it the eo $s are weal nang with mud w arises faves the lake when it stood at
this height. "Thoieeenh by G. B. Richardsor
HYDROELECTRIC PLANT OF ie STRAWBERRY VALLEY RECLAMATION
PROJECT
: long tunnel through the Wasatch Mountains
ad by
pa ‘dropped. several hundred feet to the plant shown
ns, and the water is then
After the water of Strawberry Valley is carriec
into Spanish Fork it is diverted into a canal
in this view. which it g 1 to near-by tow
used for irrigating — land. Photograph “by the U. S. Rect uation Service.
110189 AA
oy) jo q4S4 9y) UO Ueno oY) YSnosry) gyno ‘uIe9I1S meoyo T SIOALY AOA =“ JUSOTTUFeUI oq OF Pres St WLUTUINS S}T WOIy YOOT}NO oy} puw ‘ured out
jo espa 94} UWOd) JOYS JSOWUILe SOSLI FI yeod Soyld aOylT ‘OsURY Yovese MA 9} jo syeod yoyHneveqg pue juourosd {Sour oY} JO 90 SL Yeo sosouedui fy,
Vad SODONVdUWLL
OX ALWId 2OL NILATING AQAUNS IVOIDOTOND ‘8 ‘1
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE.
traveler may get his
-229
first general view of the Great Salt
Lake basin. Originally this plain was only a desert, but now it is
avis still be conspicuous. by reason
its position. As it is, no geologic
Bae is necessary to discover it, for
It confronts all. be-
insists on recognition.
The tourist dis visits Ogden and Salt
City by il on the
islands a —
note of rides... The farmer
who a nt sri eiriies is familiar
with it and knows that it was made
by water; and even the cowboy, find-
ing an easy trail along its terrace as
he ‘rides the range,’ relieves the mo-
by hazarding a
ri
Gilbert followed this shore line,
studied it in detail, and mapped it
throughout most of its sinuous course.
h copied from his report (see
fig. 60) shows the greatest éxtent of
Lake Bonneyille as tli ed with the
ot Great Salt. L
istory of pie Bonnevie oe
back of a time before man s know
on the globe, or possibly sho to “aa
time of his first appearance, but in
any event the conditions ie led to
man’s activities and hence must have
been the result of climatic change.
Gilbert ee = Geol, Survey Bull. 612,
pp. 96-97, 1915) gives the saaeudisie of
hake ‘od nto as follows
“The latest of
the see into
which geologists divide past time wit-
nessed a series of climatic changes
Which affected the whole earth, and
* * * the element. which recorded
its changes most clearly, was tempera-
ture. There were several epochs of
cold, and they were separa ated by
epochs of wa During the cold
epochs the high axis of the Wasatch
truded so far beyond the siacheote of
80697 °—22__16
the mountain canyons that they
the lake was largest it was comparable
in area and depth with Lake Michi-
gan; it had eleven times its present
extent. In attaining this great ex-
panse the water surface rose to a
sition more than 1,000 feet above its
present level. -
“To this great body of water geolo-
gists apply a distinctive name—lLa
Bonneville—and they have given much
istic to its history, which is writ-
en in shore lines, deltas, channels, de-
scone and fossils. The shore lines [PIls.
LXXXIX, A, and XOCVI, B]. appeal
most to the traveler and may be
Where it is eroded the limit of erosion
is marked by a cliff, and bel the
water is a fot of gentle slope.
Where additions are made they take
the form of beaches or bars, which rise
little above the water level and are
composed of sand or gravel. At some
places a bar spans a bay from side to
side; elsewhere it is incomplete, pro-
decting from a headland as a spit.
sont — of Lake paren were
las those of Lake igan
pete be the shore into an an.
rate system of cliffs, beaches, and spits,
and when the waters finally fell to the
s
230
GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
dotted with farms, each protected by a line of tall poplars that may
be seen far across the valley. Utah Lake, a body of fresh water 30
miles long and 6 to 10 miles wide, lies in the middle of the basin,
lower levels they left Ress the shapes
thei a ha The base of
h surviving beat cell is a hori-
zontal line, and so is the crest of each
beach, bar, and spit, and these features
mountains that were once islands in
the lake
“In rising and falling the waters
lingered at many levels, and so there
are many ancient shore lines, but two
h
est of all is the Bonneville shore line,
and 375 iil lower lies the Provo shore
line. The Bonneville line represents a
relatively on stand of the water and
th pper bo
All the slopes below it have been more
or less modified by the waves, but
the slopes above it retain the shapes
which had been given them by other
agencies. The Provo line represents a
long stand of the water and is conspic-
uous because it is strongly sculptured.
“Tn all the early history of the great
lake its basin was closed, like that of
the modern lake. The water surface
rose and fell in response to climatic
team like that of its modern rem-
oscillations by creating an outl
owest point of the basin’s rim was at
Red Pass [130 miles by rail
north of Salt Lake City], and when
the water rose above that level the
came part of the dra sae system of
the Pacific star
“The formation at the summit [of
ormed.
of the channel increased ‘aa yolume of
the stream by lowering the outlet =
the lake; the greater gs m was m
e cha peak sia
ve two causes reson Ne un the
a
rie volume of water discharged before
the flow became steady was enough to
supply Niagara ees for 25 years, but
e record of the torrent’s violence
leads to the belief eat it lasted for a _
much shorter period. * *
The draining of the lake down to
the Provo level reduced its area by |
op
was
outlet.
4
outlet channel ran dry, the lake basin
was again separated from the drain-
age system of the Pacific, and the lake
began to shrink. So long as there was
outflow the water was ie but when
accum
the water of the present lake a concen-
trated brine.
“At times in the history of the lake,
especially while the Provo shore line
gz t tributary
was being -fo , the
streams brought down
gravel, they pped at their
mouths, building deltas. When
wate deposits remained 2S
fan-sha nches having feep
be
The streams that built them
dug channels through them. * **
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 231
and beyond it are the barren slopes of the Oquirrh Mountains
(o’queer). Most of these desert ranges are not very high, but they
are striking features, for they rise, island-like, out of a wide expanse
of desert.
The plain upon which the railroad is built is another of the nu-
merous unnamed terraces that mark the shore line of Lake Bonne-
ville and represent pauses of longer or shorter duration in the grad-
ual lowering of the water in the basin. This is well
developed about the station of Mapleton. The view
from the railroad at this point is particularly fine
because it embraces what appears to be the bottom
of the valley, so wide is it and so completely culti-
vated. On the right stands the great blank wall of the mountains,
across whose front the Bonneville shore line (see Pl. LX X XIX, A)
can be seen as a mere thread separating the slopes above—char-
acterized by gashes cut by streams—from those below, in which all
roughness and angularity have been concealed by the material de-
posited in the ancient lake. Along the foot of the slope, within the
irrigated lands, stretches a belt of sloping plain on which most of
the homes of the region are built. Each house has its protecting row
of slender poplar trees, which give the scene an aspect so foreign that
one seeing it might almost imagine himself on the plains of northern
Italy looking at the slopes of the Alps, instead of in the Salt Lake
Valley looking at the slopes of the Wasatch Mountains.
The abrupt change from the steep slope of the mountain front to
the nearly flat surface of the desert plain, except where deltas and
bars were built in the waters of old Lake Bonneville, is very striking
and doubtless will attract the attention of many travelers. The
traveler sees no foothills, no indication of a mountain front, until
he reaches the foot of the slope. What does the abrupt change from
mountain to plain mean, and has it any connection with the geologic
history of the region? It assuredly has a meaning, and the processes
that produced these mountains have had a most striking effect in
determining not only the surface features of this region but its
climate and its arid conditions. Long ago, as man measures time,
the rocks composing the crust of the earth broke along a line that
now coincides with the west front of the Wasatch Range, and the
Mapleton.
Elevation 4,724 feet.
Population 586.
enver 691 miles.
“In quality of water and in temper-
ature Lake Bonneville was as well
fitted for abundant and varied life as
the Bear Lake to-day, and though the
only remains yet found in its sedi-
ments are fresh-water shells, we need
not doubt that its waters teemed with
We may confidently picture its
bordering marshes as fields of ver-
dure and its bolder shores as forest
clad; and we may less confidently
imagine primitive man as a denizen of
its shores and an eyewitness of the
spectacular deluge when its earthen
barrier was burst.”
232 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
part on the east side of that break or fault was forced up many
thousand feet, or the part on the west was dropped an equal dis-
tance, or both movements took place to a lesser degree. It matters
not which side moved, for in any event the part east of the fault now
forms mountains because it was uplifted relative to the other, or the
other is now a low basin because it was depressed relative to the part
on the east.*!. Although the principal movement probably took place
long ago, slight movements have occurred so recently that they have
broken across alluvial cones formed by small streams flowing out
of the mountains.
A short distance beyond Mapleton the railroad curves to the right
and approaches the edge of the plain. There it begins to descend to a
lower plain, which stretches away in the distance as
far as the eye can see. Before reaching the level of
the lower plain the railroad passes through the
flourishing town of Springville (see sheet 10, p. 244),
which is surrounded not only by fields of grain,
alfalfa, and sugar beets but by orchards that stretch out mile after
mile until they seem to be interminable. It is indeed a land of peace
and plenty, and an added beauty is given to the scene by the still
waters of Utah Lake shimmering in the bright sunshine. A branch
Springville.
Elevation 4,555 feet.
Population 3,010.
Denver 696 miles.
*'The entire Great Basin, which ex-
tends from the Wasatch Range on the
east to the Sierra Nevada on the west,
is characterized by faulted mountains
like the Wasatch.
broken into grea
blocks by the faults and later these
blocks have been tilted in different
directions. In the central part of the
In the tilting the edge of the great
block that was elevated produced a
mountain and the edge that was. de-
pressed
formed a deep basin, which —
later was phe a i by sand and
gravel washed in m the surround-
ing mana? In many pth the loose
rock filling has a depth of more than
a thousand feet.
y pe :
slight eraeimtts that. falls on the
surroundi lopes finds its way to the
lowest point, where it forms a shal-
low lake, but the water is soon car-
ried off by evaporation and there re-
mains in its place only a dry lake bed,
known in the Boum We st by the Span-
ish name of “playa.” The entire
basin is a frequently spoken of as
a “bol wl-sown’), a Spanish
that the water extends from one to the
large supply of water it receives from
the high ranges on the east,
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 707 SHEET No. 9
_ Sheet No 10 UTAH 10°30"
We a
GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP
OF THE
RIO GRANDE ROUTE
From Denver, Colorado, to Salt Lake City, Utah
Compiled “pare Se — Geological Survey atlas
sheets and reports, ailroad alinements and pro-
files eupplied by the I pane & Rio Grande Western
Railroad additional information col-
lected with ‘the assistance of that company
PREPARED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF
GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR
DAVID WHITE, Chief Geologist Cc. H. BIRDSEYE, Chief Topographic Engineer
M. R. CAMPBELL, Geologist A.C, noe. Topographer
1922
EXPLANATION
-)
ee
B iui sear at se pee repedaneen stage and the WMideisesiin
—E White shale and sandstone (Green River formation) 2,600
Tertiary
p Red shale, sandstone, and coarse conglomerate (Eocene) 500
(Wasatch formation) 1,
4s Sandstone, shale, and coal beds (Mesaverde formation) 1,400
y Dark ee Sertee ete (Mancos jrtonyaal Be —— part Upper Cretaceous 3,600
M_ Brown sandstone (Dakota sandstone) 40 [so
n° Variegated shale and sandstone (McElmo Cretaceous?) 1,800
formation and La Plata sandstone) and Jurassic :
Scale
© Limestone and sandstone Jurassic Approximately ce ah to 1 inch os
P Bright-red sandstone and shale Triassic 0 5 10 15 Kilometers
foe oe ) ee
Q Limestone, sandstone, and shale Carboniferous Siccuees dite bheee tite nse Bevel
oi The crossties , a me vote g pre apart.
cinet hada by &. W. Berry
Iso" WW
ee — a
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 200
railroad turns to the south (left) and runs to the Tintic mining dis-
trict, 43 miles distant. The town was named Springville because
of a large hot spring which issues from the base of the mountain in
Hobble Canyon just east of the town. This spring and the stream
into which it flows provide an unfailing supply of pure water for
the State fish hatchery, which is about a mile from the town on the
right of the track.
East of Springville the Bonneville shore line is beautifully de-
veloped on the mountain front (see Pl. LXX XIX A); above it
the normal mountain slopes appear, but below it all is covered with
the sediment deposited in the old lake.
In a short distance the railroad descends to the lower plain, which
it follows to the town of Provo. The shore line in this vicinity is
remarkably well preserved and has been named the
Provo. Provo shore line. At Provo a branch line of the
Beate sn feet. railroad turns directly through the town and the
Denver 701 miles, _Well-irrigated farms to the north and ascends Provo
Canyon, which cuts across the Wasatch Range. The
canyon winds about the base of Timpanogos Peak, on the north, and
here many views of this beautiful peak may be obtained. (See PI.
XC.) The branch line is 26 miles long and terminates at the Mormon
town of Heber, which is beautifully situated in one of the level moun-
tain valleys at an elevation of 5,559 feet above the sea.
Provo, one of the wealthiest of the Mormon towns, has large manu-
facturing industries. The following description of the town is given
by Stanley Wood:
This pretty little city belongs to the best type of Mormon towns, and a de-
scription will serve to give the reader a good idea of the characteristics of all
the towns built by the Mormons. The dwellings as a rule are comfortable but
any of
side of the streets, and shade trees in abundance and of luxuriant growth render
the walks cool and inviting. Gardens filled with fruit, flowers, and vegetables
are the rule, and bs poset aeap clean industrious, semirural life is the good fortune
of the residents et Provo River furnishes excellent water power,
while nas supplies of artesian water are to be found at a depth of
to 200 f he city has, in fact, the finest water supply in any section
of Utah. Proyo has an excellent public-school system and is the seat of the
Brigham Young Academy, which was amply endowed by the first president of the
Mormon Church, from whom the school takes its name. Its churches and public
buildings, including an opera house, are a credit to its people, who are of a
literary taste and inclined to liberality of thought.
One who is not familiar with the development of the Salt Lake
Valley can hardly realize that it was first settled little more than 70
years ago, when there were no green spots in the valley except where
the mountain streams first spread their waters out upon the valley
234 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
floor and when most of its surface presented to the eye only the dull
gray of the desert. To Brigham Young and the first Mormon set-
tlers must be given credit for far-sighted vision and steadfastness of
purpose in carrying out their plan of making this land, where the
conditions seemed so unfavorable, a rich agricultural region. Who
to-day, without capital other than brains and muscle, would care to
undertake the task of making homes in such a place?
In the vicinity of Provo the traveler may have many fine views of
the towering wall of the Wasatch Range, deeply cut by canyons and
crowned by some of the highest peaks in the region. A little to the
north stands the monarch of them all, Timpanogos Peak (Pl. XC),
whose barren rocky walls tower 11,057 feet above sea level, or nearly
14 miles above Provo station. In this western country mountains
of this height are not uncommon, and the traveler in his trip across
Colorado has seen many that are higher, but seldom can one look
from a plain at a wall-like mass such as Timpanogos, whose front is
unbroken by cleft, ravine, or spur. The great mass is awe-inspiring,
and whoever sees it can only wonder how it was uplifted and whether
the movement was rapid enough to have been perceptible had man
been there to witness the uplift. ,
At Provo the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad is paralleled
on the left by one of the lines of the Los Angeles & Salt Lake Rail-
road, which divides at Lynndyl; the main line keeps to the west
through Stockton and comes into Salt Lake City from the west, and
the other, a subordinate line, turns to the east through Nephi and
Provo and enters Salt Lake City from the south. Provo is also con-
nected with Salt Lake City by an interurban trolley line, which may
be seen on the right on the outskirts of the town.
The country between Provo and Utah Lake is not only well sup-
plied with water from the mountain stream but also has many flow-
ing wells, which are used extensively for irrigation. Many of these
wells may be seen from the passing train not only about Provo but
also as far west as Lehi.
Two miles out of Provo the railroad crosses Provo River, which
heads far to the east in the Wasatch Mountains and reaches the low
plains and Utah Lake on the west through Provo Canyon. About 5
miles from Provo the Los Angeles & ‘Salt Lake Railroad crosses the
Denver & Rio Grande Western and continues on the east side to Salt
Lake City.
From Provo to Lehi the railroad takes a northwesterly course,
following closely the shores of Utah Lake.*? At first the lake is @
“Utah Lake is 30 miles long and 6 | Peteetweet, and Hobble creeks. It is
miles wide at its widest point. Its | not salt like many of the desert lakes
supply of water is derived from the | that have no outlet, but its surplus
mountain streams, American Fork, | waters flow through Jordan River into
Spanish Fork, Provo River, and Salt, | Great Salt Lake.
—
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 235
mile distant, but farther to the northwest the railroad approaches
more and more closely, until at the siding of Geneva the waters come
to the right of way. The lake is very shallow, and consequently
bathers can go out a long distance without danger of entering water
beyond their depth.
From Provo to Lehi the railroad passes through some of the best
farming land in the valley, and orchards and fields of grain, alfalfa,
and sugar beets are on every hand. After passing the point of the
lake the next object of interest is the great sugar mill on the right
in the suburbs of Lehi. Not only are the beets
Lehi. crushed and the syrup extracted here but much
Pinnebe fe eee syrup is refined that is produced at other plants and
Denver 717 miles, | pumped here through long pipe lines. The town
abounds in shade and fruit trees, which give it a
very pleasing and restful appearance, especially when seen on a hot
midsummer day.
East of Lehi the foot of the mountain is 5 or 6 miles from the rail-
road, but north of the town the mountain bends suddenly to the west
and a long spur is thrust out into the middle of the valley. This
“toe oe Sees
Provo terrace
VEE By ae oS
Bees
FiGuRn 61,—Provo and Bonneville lake terraces at the Narrows of Jordan Valley, looking
southeast,
long spur on the west face of the Wasatch Range is matched by an
equally long, low spur which projects eastward from the Oquirrh
Range, nearly cutting off the valley of Jordan River. These-project-
ing points are merely remnants of a lava flow (andesite) that long
ago, in Tertiary time, probably filled the valley from the base of one
range to the base of the other. This flow may indeed have originally
dammed Jordan River, forming a large lake, but if so the river
later succeeded in cutting through the barrier a channel that is now
known as “ The Narrows.” During the existence of Lake Bonneville
these barriers of lava caused the currents in the lake to set in certain
directions, and large quantities of gravel and sand were deposited
around atid over them in the form of bars or beaches. These ter-
races, as they appear from the northwest, are shown in figure 61.
Just before reaching Mesa siding (milepost 716) the Denver & Rio
Grande Western crosses first the interurban trolley line, which spans
236 GUIDEBOOK OF THE: WESTERN UNITED STATES.
Jordan River and proceeds northward along the west side of that
stream, and second a branch of the Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad,
which connects the line running down Salt Lake Valley with the
main line at Boulder south of Stockton. The Denver & Rio Grande
Western Railroad descends at a steep grade, and at milepost 721 it
runs on the right bank of Jordan River, which has gravel bluffs
rising more than 100 feet on both sides. The top of the first terrace
(about 250 feet above the river), which is crossed by the Los An-
geles & Salt Lake Railroad, corresponds with the Provo shore line
and doubtless was a gravel bar built out across the channel when the
waters of the lake stood at the Provo level. The material composing
these terraces is well shown in the numerous cuts of the Denver & Rio
Grande Western Railroad and the trolley line across the river and
in an immense gravel pit open on the right at a siding called Nash,
at the lower end of the Narrows. At this place several large flumes
on the left take water from Jordan River and distribute it over the
low plain to the north.
The river valley below the Narrows is well farmed and makes
a pretty picture as the traveler catches glimpses of it here and
there, but the river swerves to the west away from the railroad and
the traveler sees it no more. Near the siding of Olivers the railroad
emerges upon the plain and the traveler has spread before him on
the right the south end of the broad valley in which Salt Lake City
is situated, bounded by the great wall of the Wasatch Mountains,
as shown in Plate XCI. Here again the shore lines of Lake Bonne-
ville are the most conspicuous features of the landscape. The trav-
eler may readily follow the uppermost or Bonneville shore line by
the slight horizontal line across the mountain front which separates
the more rugged slopes above from the smoother and more gentle
slopes below. Below the Bonneville is another shore line, which
in some respects is much more prominent, as it is represented by
the uppermost terrace or the great bar built out from the moun-
tains to the east. Below this bar is the terrace which was made when
the lake stood at the Provo level and which is crossed by the Los
Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad in its course from Salt Lake City to
Provo. These terraces are shown in figure 61.
On the left stands the Oquirrh Range in all its barrenness. The
traveler may think that this range is the very type of desolation
and of worthless barren rock, but if the atmosphere
is clear and he studies the mountain carefully, he
may see smoke arising from a canyon nearly oppo-
site the station of Riverton, and he may be surprised
to learn that in this canyon is the largest copper mine in Utah
and, when the method of mining is considered, probably the most
Riverton.
Eleyation 4,408 feet.
es.
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 237
wonderful mine in the world. This is the Bingham mine, in Bingham
Canyon, a description of which is given on pages 255-259.
North of Riverton the plain upon which Salt Lake City is built
stretches to the foot of the terrace at the base of Ensign Peak and
eastward to the foot of the mountains.
Everywhere in this wonder-
ful valley there are now fine farms, with trees, and in places there
are manufacturing plants of different kinds.
To-day it is a land
of plenty, but it was not so on that memorable 24th of July, 1847,
when Brigham Young and his band of faithful followers first looked
out over this same valley from the mouth of Emigration Canyon.*
* The early history of Utah is a his-
tory of the Mormon Church and people,
their endeaver to find a home where
oO erference and persecution, and
the resolute courage of their leading
aced the rdships o
“The first permanent settlement in
Utah was made a t Lake City by
a band of Mormon pioneers from the
State of Illinois. This was on July
“During the winter of 1845-46 the
Mormons were siaaae ugogus prep-
heir pte ous faith, gees con-
vinced that they could not make a
home in Illinois, Abs had ie one re-
course—they ou mONR to lands far-
ther west. The Mormons
collected all the be corn, bacon,
and potatoes that they could and ex-
changed their land for cattle, horses,
and wagons. On February 10, 1846,
the first team cr any the Mississippi,
and in a few weeks Nauvoo was
erted.
“The Mormons slowly wended their
way across the Territory of Iowa and
naanatese Winter quarters on the
banks he Missouri nearly oppo-
site aie: Bluffs. re
journed during the winter of 1846-47,
ng pants sate log cabins and 150 dug-
t W Bening gece and
ae ille, the two chief mps on
the Missouri, about 12,000 see were
gathered during the winter. Many
died of cold and hunger, for the season
was. severe. * *
“The first company of pioneers
Rh
They spe off due west and upon
Black se sec Fort Lara
here they followed the Oregon trail
through South Pass to Fort Bridger.
her
ae of the
btful. From Fort Bridger the
—— went through Eeho and
238
GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
Then it was a desert covered with stunted sagebrush and grease-
wood, except in places where the mountain streams furnished a sup-
ply of water.
The train runs along through the valley, with good farms on
both sides and the bare walls of the mountains as a background,
until it reaches the next station, Midvale, which is
Midvale.
Populat
Denver ish tifles
the junction point of branch lines running to
lara tion A. BG feet. Bingham, 14 miles to the west.
209.
idvale is a
large mill and lead smelter built for the codiiegeia
of some of the ores of the Bingham district. This
smelter is known as the smokeless smelter, for it was one of the
first smelters to recover and utilize the substances contained in the
tion canyons to the Salt Lake Valley.
Orson Pratt, Cosi Snow, and some
others were sent ahead and entered
the valley of the eek Salt Lake July
21. They explored some parts and on
the 23d staked off land and turned the
k onto Fags worl
under
Brigham Young, decdton on mid 24,
and it is out of respect for him and
the main company that this aay is
_ as Utah’s natal day. *
ake Ci e t
s made abo where the
Knutsford building [Auerbach’s de
pa ent store] now stands at the
co f Thi th [Broadway]
0 rd
and State — on the banks of City
Creek. At a conference held
on aadaed 22 it was aides to eall a
town Great Salt Lake Cit
Wilford Woodruff says in tite peters
“We have laid out a city 2 miles
square and built a fort of hewn
ber and of sun-dried bricks or adobe.
rods which ve ith
blockhouses.”’ [This was called Old
Fort and stood on what is now known
as Sixth Ward Square, or the park
near the Denver & Rio Grande Western
nitense road station, now called Pioneer
re.]
maces the first company, headed by
Brigham Young, left for the Rocky
Mountains, extensive preparations
im- | grants
were made for others to follow. The
‘First
e
aes se 19. ry ae end of the year
some 4,000 people had settled in the
valley of the gaat Salt Lake.
“One of the saddest episodes in the
history of Utah is the story of the
a
River points en route to
How to bring ae gies the plains
was a problem. There was
not enough money to provide trans-
to ed handonres and have the emi-
push them across the erat
with a cow or two for every
persons. ]
“The plan was put in operation in
the spring of 1856 and worked ceed for
tart
Iowa City to Salt Lake City, drawing
JPA] OY) Wosy UOyLy
SE MOIA SIWT, ‘ounjord Surylays Awoa voyeur Koy) Mous {WIM post9A09 oe sdoy oy] UOYM PUL ‘ysoaM 24} UO vony Ayood pue pjoq AoA u VAVY SUIBJUNOYY YOVEseAy OWT
NIVINQOW HO.LYS
IOX GALVId 202 NILATING AHAYNS IVOIDOTIOgD ‘s ‘a
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 707 PLATE XCII
A. STATE CAPITOL OF UTAH.
On the high terrace north of the city stands the beautiful new granite Capitol of Utah. It overtops
all the business — ous rah — and can be seen from almost all parts of the valley. Photograph by
Shiplers, Salt La
B. EAGLE GATE AND LION AND BEEHIVE HOUSES OF BRIGHAM YOUNG.
The most interesting features in Salt Lake City are the buildings and erg a of the Mormons.
This view shows the pons Eagle Gate, erected by Brigham Young in 1853, and the Lic n and
Beehive houses, where several of his wives lived. Photograph fur aisha by the Denver & Rio
Grande Western Railroa ‘*
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 239
gases, which usually go off into the air to poison and kill vegetation.
(For further information regarding smelters, see pp. 252-254.) At
several places along the line the traveler may obtain glimpses of
the Wasatch Mountains, and at almost every place he will see the
Bonneville shore line as a faint line across the mountain front or
the Provo shore line marked by great terraces or embankments of
gravel.
The smelting industry has for many years been an important one
in the Great Salt Lake Valley, and many smelters have been built
at or near the station of Murray. Many of these smelters have
been abandoned or consolidated, so that only one
now remains—the Murray smelter, of the American
Smelting & Refining Co., which may be seen on the
right from the train. This plant smelts only silver-
lead ores, and the great bulk of the copper ores
from the Bingham mines are being treated at the Garfield smelter,
the smoke of which may be seen rising over the extreme northern
point of the Oquirrh Range on the west (left).
The most prominent object seen by one approaching Salt Lake City
from the south is the new State Capitol (Pl. XCII, A), which
stands on a commanding terrace north of the city, daeaiy beneath
Ensign Peak. The tall buildings also attract attention, though they
are not particularly different from tall buildings in giher cities. A
little farther to the right the traveler may notice the large letter U
on the mountain slope far back of the city. This letter was put
there by some class of the University of Utah, which stands on the
terrace directly beneath it.
Mutray.
Elevation 4,310 feet.
Population 4,584.
er 739 miles
tween the Platte and the Sweetwater
in the latter part of October. Food
became so scarce that the marrowless
bones picked up stag ine prairies were
their supplies in handearts. * * *
For pluck and endurance this is a
ll undertook
the journey that first year, but the two
that started last had a dreadful time.
James G. Willie commanded one and
Edward Martin the other.
River and were caught in the piercing
parte oh winter a the Platte and
Sweetwater. * * Some of the
aheee broke meds ; Sickness and
lack of proper
marchers.
then they were put on half rations
when not more than half of the
journey was completed. Despair seized
them. The company under Edward
Martin made a camp in a ravine be-
a for soup.
“Brigham Young received word of
the sufferings of the emigrants on the
lains.
able condition, fed them, and brought
them to Salt Lake City. That is, they
brought the survivors, for 250 * *
had died on the plains.
During the four years extending
from 1856 to 1860 more than 4,000
Resta crossed
the plains in this
, and the total number of
Aeatha tnée WHE Hak OA
240 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
On the same terrace, but a little to the right, may be seen the build-
ings of Fort Douglas, which has been occupied continuously as an
army post since 1862. Still farther to the right is the rather insignifi-
cant Emigration Canyon, down which Brigham Young’s party came
on July 24, 1847, and took possession of the valley. (For a descrip-
tion of the route followed by the pioneers, see p. 248.)
Many travelers unfamiliar with this region imagine that Salt Lake
City stands on the shore of Great Salt Lake, but in fact the nearest
point of the lake is 10 miles distant. The site of the city was chosen
not because of its nearness to the shore of the lake, but because of the
abundance of fresh water which comes from the mountains. The
city, however, appreciates the value for recreation of such a body of
water as Great Salt Lake, and a pavilion called Saltair has been built
at the beach, which affords bathing facilities to those who wish to try
a dip in the heavy waters (Pl. XCIV, B). It is a popular resort,
easily reached by electric train during the season. Saltair is de-
scribed more fully on page 244.
The next stop in this journey is at the new passenger station of the
Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad in Salt Lake City, the
metropolis of the Great Basin and the home of the hierarchy of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, more commonly known
as the Mormon Church. Salt Lake City, the capital of the great
State of Utah, is in the eastern part of the Great
Salt Lake City. = Basin, at a point where several routes of travel
Pa theme erage 2 the Pacific coast converge into main eastern
Denver 745 miles. trunk lines. It has direct connection with Los
Angeles on the southwest by the Los Angeles & Salt
Lake Railroad ; with San Francisco on the west. by the Western Pacific
and Southern Pacific railroads; with Portland and Seattle on the
northwest by the Oregon Short Line and the Oregon Railroad &
Navigation Co.’s line; with Butte and Helena on the north by the
Oregon Short Line; and with the East by the Denver & Rio Grande
Western and Union Pacific railroads. The Union Pacific trains run
over the tracks of the Qregon Short Line to Ogden, and the Denver &
Rio Grande Western main line also extends to Ogden.
Salt Lake City is the center of a large and prosperous metal-min-
ing district ; it has almost unlimited fuel resources in coal fields that
lie 100 miles to the southeast, and it stands in the midst of a rich
agricultural region that can supply food for many times its present
population.
The general traveler, however, will find the chief interest in
Salt Lake City in the Mormon people, their mode of life, and the
peculiar institutions they have built up.$*
‘iannctamamtampcaieeet
“See footnote 838, p. 237.
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 241
On July 24, 1847, Brigham Young, at the head of the Mormon
pioneers who had traversed the plains and hewed a way through the
mountains, as he stood on the foothills after he had emerged from
the rocky walls of Emigration Canyon, uttered these memorable
words: “This is the place.” This statement determined the loca-
tion of Salt Lake City. Wilford Woodruff in his journal says:
We gazed in wonder and admiration upon the vast valley before us, with the
waters of the Great Salt Lake glistening in the sun, mountains towering to
the skies, and streams of pure water running through the beautiful valley. It
was the grandest scene that we had ever beheld till this moment. Pleasant
thoughts ran through our minds at the prospect that not many years hence
the house of God would be established in the mountains and exalted above the
hills; while the valleys would be converted into orchards, vineyards, and fruit-
ful fields; cities erected in the name of the Lord, and the standard of Zion
unfurled for the gathering of the nations.
The pioneers began at once to cultivate the land, but before any of
the land was assigned the city was laid out essentially as it is to-day.
As each square was planned to contain 10 acres the present city blocks
are very long, and one may walk a mile without crossing many of the
city streets
Until be oes 1871 Salt Lake Sits was strictly Mormon, but with the
development of the railroads and mines Gentiles began to flock in,
and to-day the city is thoroughly cosmopolitan.
The chief point of interest to the general traveler is Temple
Square (see Pl. XCIII), the center or nucleus around which the
eity was planned and built. This square contains the temple, the
tabernacle, and several other minor buildings. The exterior view of
the Mormon temple is familiar to most persons. The temple was
built of granite obtained in Little Cottonwood Canyon, about 20
miles southeast of the city. It was 40 years in building, and each
stone was selected with the greatest care, so as to avoid flaws that
might ruin the building in later time. The walls are said to be 9
feet thick and are built throughout of solid granite, and the height
to the top of the angel Moroni is 222 feet. As the construction was
begun before the days of the railroad most of the stone was hauled
by ox team. In view of the fact that it was built without the aid
of an architect, the result is surprising, for the temple is indeed an
imposing structure and one that would attract attention and com-
mand respect and admiration anywhere. No one save the elect of the
church is permitted to enter the temple, so that it has an air of
mystery which to most persons is an added attraction.
The tabernacle, designed as the assembly room for the church
conferences, is even more wonderful than the temple. It has a
seating capacity of 8,000, but occasionally 12,000 persons have been
crowded into it. It was built in the early days, when the people
242 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
were poor and before the advent of the railroad, and so perforce it
~was built with home-made materials and by the members of the
Church. The roof is the wonderful part of the tabernacle—it was
built entirely of wood and is without a single supporting column.
The wooden trusses are held together by wooden pins and in places
are bound by rawhide. The building is elliptical in shape, 250
feet long, 150 feet wide, and 80 feet high. The acoustic property
of the tabernacle is perhaps its most wonderful feature. The drop-
ping of a pin may be heard distinctly the entire length of the build-
ing—more than 200 feet. In the belief of the Mormons the archi-
tect of these buildings was God, and all their wonderful features are
directly due to His beneficent direction.
Many persons are attracted to the tabernacle each week day at
noon to hear the organ recitals, which are given free for the
entertainment of visitors in the city. The organ, like almost all
other parts of the tabernacle, was built before the days of railroad
transportation, and so most of its parts were manufactured on the
spot. Recently it has been rebuilt, without, however, changing the
architectural effect, and now it is said to be the largest organ in ~sii
world. The total rifimber of pipes is between 7,000 and 8,000.
Temple Square is a delightful park in the heart of the city, che
with its flowers, trees, and greensward it forms a beautiful setting
for the massive buildings: One of the most attractive and interesting
monuments recently added to this park is that of the Sea Gulls (see
Pl. XCIV, A), which was designed by Mahonri M. Young, a grandson
of the great pioneer leader. This monument commemorates an in-
cident in the experience of the early pioneers which shows their
implicit faith in the protecting power of God. The gulls which in-
habit the shores and islands of Great Salt Lake are held in high
regard, if not reverence, by the Mormon people, for the reason that
they saved the pioneers from starvation in the early days. As the
story is extremely interesting it is given in full, as narrated by those
who are supposed to know.
The pioneers reached the valley in the summer of 1847 with few
personal possessions besides those which they carried on their backs.
They at once made preparations to plant, so that the colony might
have food for the coming year, but as they arrived in midsummer
little could be grown that year. The next spring 5,000 acres of wheat
were planted, and the prospects seemed good for an abundant crop.
During the last week in May, however, the black crickets began to
attack the growing wheat, as well as everything else that was green.
At first the crickets were confined to certain fields, but soon they
spread, and in a few days they had swept much of the valley.
As soon as the extent of the impending calamity was realized the
people began to fight the common pest at every point, They drove
) O¥V'T Meg ‘suopdiqg Aq ydeasoyoyg “Ayo ay Jo qaed SIY] UE MOTA OY} SOPLUIWOp ‘s19MO} [NJOORIS SyT YIN “YORAM Suipying ojlueis AvaF
oulospuey ® SI orci, aU], ‘espRruseqey, pue opd uk 9, UOULIOTA, 9Y} SutureyUuoD yaed joguine seq BSE YOIWM ‘orenbs oydms 7 SI Ayr) ) Oye] WBS jo upd oy) ut jutod Tesju90 ayy,
“ALIO GANVT LIVS ‘IHVYNOS ATH WAL
IoxX ALWId 2OL NituTiIng ATAUNS IVVIDOIOdD ‘S ‘a
Jaauacy 941 Aq pays
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or
SUL
‘ANVT LIVS LYAYD NI ONIHLVE “F£ "ASLIO HOV LIVS AWONOW TINS VHS ‘V
AIOX HLVId 14OL NILHTIO’ AUAUNS IVOIDO'IOND ‘S
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 243
them into ditches and upon piles of burning reeds, striving in every
way to stop the flood of destruction, but all in vain. The people
then became greatly alarmed lest their whole crop should be de-
stroyed and they should be left to starve, so a day of fasting and
prayer was appointed, as the people had great confidence in the
power and willingness of God to help the faithful.
The result has been regarded by all the people of Utah as a miracle
and as a direct answer to their supplications. From the shores and
islands of Great Salt Lake came myriads upon myriads of gulls
until the sky seemed dark with their wings and the air seemed to
pulsate with their wild cries. The people were fearful that a new
enemy of destruction was upon them until they saw the gulls alight
on the fields and begin to devour the crickets. As the gulls came
by thousands it was but a short time until the fields were cleared of
the pest, and then the gulls wheeled into the air and departed for
their island homes. It is no wonder that the people look upon the
advent of the birds as a direct answer to their appeal to God and
that even, to-day the gulls are regarded as the great protectors of
the Mormon people.
The gull has been selected as the emblem of the State, and the
monument recently erected in Temple Square (Pl. XCIV, A) is in-
tended to express the gratitude which the Mormon people feel for
the deliverance from the disaster that threatened the early settlers.
The gull also appears on the main piece in the handsome silver
service given by the State to the battleship Utah.
Temple Square is the center of the Mormon stronghold in the
city, for around it are clustered many buildings of historic interest
and also those used by the church at the present time. These build-
ings include the new Utah Hotel, built by the church, the church
tithing house, Lion House, Bethive House (the home ot Brigham
Young and kis many wives), Amelia Palace, and Eagle Gate,
erected by Brigham Young (Pl. XCII, B). Across the street is
the great Zion Cooperative Mercantile Institution or Z. C. M. L.,
as it is familiarly called. The Deseret News, founded in 1851, occu-
pies the other corner, and many other buildings belonging to the
church are scattered throughout the city. There are also fine club-
houses, a public library, and numerous skyscrapers and manufactur-
ing plants.
The city derives its water supply from the many canyons that
seam the front of the Wasatch Mountains. The first of these
streams to be utilized was City Creek, which cuts through the ter-
race east of the new Capitol Building. City Canyon has been made
into one of the most charming parks in the country, so that it serves
the double purpose of keeping the water supply uncontaminated
244 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
and providing an outing place for the people. The streams in the
other canyons have been requisitioned by the city, and now much
of the water comes from Big Cottonwood Canyon, more than 20
miles to the south.
The city is noted for its fine shade trees and for the beautiful
velvety lawns which abound almost everywhere, especially around
the public buildings and the handsome residences on Brigham
Street. There are some warm sulphur springs and bathhouses at
the foot of the terrace in the northwestern quarter of the city.
ONE-DAY TRIPS BY RAIL FROM SALT LAKE CITY.
A few one-day trips may be made by rail from Salt Lake City,
either for pleasure, for seeing the surrounding country, or for
studying some of the larger mines or mining districts.
SALTAIR BATHING BEACH.
As Great Salt Lake is the one natural feature which can not be
duplicated in any other part of the country, people are naturally
curious to see it and to have a chance to bathe in its waters. Many
are familiar with the salt water of the ocean, but a large lake con-
taining salt water is to most people a novelty. As the shores of
Great Salt Lake are 10 miles from the city, the trip is generally
made by rail. A large and ornate pavilion, called Saltair, has been
built at the water’s edge, and the traveler may enjoy bathing in the
salt water or dancing in the pavilion. The facilities for dancing are
not out of the ordinary, but the bathing, on account of the high
mineral content of the water and its consequent density, i is peculiar.
Only with difficulty can the bather keep his feet from rising to the
surface, and if he balances himself in an upright position oly the
lower part of the body is in the water and the head and shoulders
rise above it. On account of the heaviness of the water the traveler
may be interested in knowing something of the history of Great
Salt Lake, as it is known to geologists, and the reason for its intense
saltinesa*
“The following description of Great
Salt Lake was written by G. K. Gil-
bert, who made an exhaustive study of
the subject:
“Great Salt Lake has no outlet.
Jordan River, which enters it from the
south, is the outlet of Utah Lake. Bear
waters of Utah and Bear lakes and of
Jordan and Bear rivers are fresh, and
so is the water of Weber River, the
third great tributary of Great Salt
Lake, but the lake into which the three
rivers flow is saline. It is saline be-
cause it has no outlet. The fresh
waters of the rivers contain some saline
matter, but the quantity is too small
to be discovered by taste. As stated
by the Sema in parts per million, the
quantity seems minute, but when ac-
count is taken also of the total volume
of water brought by the streams to the
lake in a year their burden of saline
>
“a
°
v
<
¥
i
AMPBELL, Geologist A. C. ROBERTS, Topographer
1922
EXPLANATION
Age Thickness
in feet
tain glaciers as they were during the
5 Ice Age
Pleistocene
Lake aurea vd at its highest stage and the
sediments deposited in its waters
White shale and sandstone (Green River formation)
Tertiary
Red shale, sandstone, and conglomerate (Zocene)
(Wasatch formation) J
Shale and sandstone (Mancos shale) Upper Cretaceous
Limestone and sandstone Jurassic
Bright-red shale and sandstone Triassic
Carbonif
Red sandstone and fae oe formation) °
conglomerate quartzite) ans sr 9,000
f iferous
Limestone (Mississippian) 7,000
i Devonian
Shale and quartzite Cambrian 2,000
Quartzite, schist, and slate Pre-Cambrian 12,000
Lava flows (andesite) Tertiary
Igneous intrusive rocks (granite, diorite,
and porphyry)
— — Fault
GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP
OF THE
RIO GRANDE ROUTE
From Denver, Colorado, to Salt Lake City, Utah
a aos United States Geological Survey atlas
sheets and reports, from railroad alinements and pro-
files pis Ho py the Teves & 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
DAVID WHITE, Chief Geologist
M. R.C
The geology of the region. about Salt Lake Gity is very complicated, and it
C. H. BIRDSEYE, Chief Topographic Engineer
e@ map here fom
is based largely on that of os Fortieth Parallel Survey, modified to fit, as well
as possible, the present wo.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
BULLETIN 707 SHEET No. 10
UTAH.
ar 112°
II? 30°
0
FE},
Scale
Approsetiaa 8 prrics tol =
0)
5
F ee ae eae ok
—
|
=
0 Miles
10 15 Kilometers
rs
te pyc alah 25) / Sol t re é Pies ae The
: d ke
Gogorza
Kimbal!
Snyderville
The wigpeoon: | from Denver. Golorado. are shown ever:
jes on the railroads are spaced | pi ae
Relief shading by R. W. Berry
mPARK CITY
,
ar
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE.
245
PARLEYS CANYON AND PARK CITY,
An interesting trip from Salt
Lake City is that by way of the
Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad through Parleys Canyon
to Park City. This trip has much of interest to almost every trav-
eler, for the route follows for a
distance the old Mormon trail by
which many of the immigrants reached Salt Lake City, thus giving
it a historic interest, and it ends
at the mining town of Park City,
one of the great gold, silver, and lead camps in the State.
The route lies south along the main line of the railroad to Roper,
a distance of 24 miles from the station at Salt, Lake City.
road turns to the east (left) and
Here the
pursues a nearly direct course to
matter is found to be really great,
amounting annually to more than 500,-
000 tons.. Year by year and century by
century the water which they pour into
the lake is evaporated, but the dis-
solyed solids can not escape in that
the rivers are sabizcane by ‘the melting
of snows i untains. Each year
there is a en ll pom ning in summer,
when the hot air rapidly absorbs the
water, and continuing in autumn, when
the rivers are smallest. This annual
ag AS Ay
us A ~ o]
12 ~ ~
= oN / —— tc
t ab ; a Li a ™®
Bie Eh Pe Bouse rt 4
god foeaks Ta Ee Dea a
wi tebids bodich 4 boot bebab ola tak 3
" Lid chek shal bk dd beled tks
1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910
Figure 62. Bie snag in level of Great Salt Lake from 1850 an a as determined by
gage
eadings or computed
way and therefore remain. They have
accumulated until the lake water is
approximately saturated, holding
nearly as much mineral matter as it
mon salt and about 900,000,000 t
Glauber’s salt, or sodium chat as
“se as other mineral matte
“ Another consequence of “a lack of
outlet is that the lake varies from time
to time in size. Whenever the gain
from inflow is great cient the loss
from evaporation the cestl of the water
surface rises; when 'the loss is greater
it falls. eae roe there is a rise, be-
ginning , when the cool air
has aoa power sc absorb moisture,
and continuing through spring, when
80697°—22——_17
from precipitation r
oscillation amounts on the average to
about 16 inches,
“In some years the rainfall and
snowfall are greater than in others,
and then the lake usually receives more
water than it parts with, so that the
surface is left higher than it was be-
re.. In a series of wet years os lake
level progressively rises; in a se of
dry years it progressively mtr hii
as the rainfall is eat perbacd
tions of the la re conspicu
Since. definite sareaniigs of ‘the sands
fiv
S
crease. (See fig. 62.)
levels of 1868 and 1877 were more than
10 feet above the summer level of 1850,
and those of 1908 and 1905 were 4 feet
246
GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
the mouth of Parleys Canyon, so named in honor of Parley P. Pratt,
the leader of the “ First Immigration,” or handcart companies.
In
crossing the valley the traveler may obtain a good idea of its pro-
ductiveness, for here he sees all kinds of agricultural activities—
truck gardening, fruit growing, and live-stock raising. The area
passed through is largely suburban, with comfortable bungalows
embowered in shade.
Just beyond the station of Sugar House is
the State penitentiary, on the left.
rom time to time in passing across this low land the traveler can
see the terraces back of the city, the State Capitol, the University of
below that of 1850. The level of 1914
s 6 feet above that for 1905
“The land bordering the lake has
in many places a slope so gentle that
a small change in the height of the
water surface makes a great change
in the area of the lake. ma
interval between the two surveys the
lake had risen 10 feet and this rise
lating the size of the lake. The effect
of a long series of wet years is some-
what reduced by the resulting increase
of evaporation surface, and the effect
of a series of dry years is lessened by
the ager reduction of surface ex-
to evaporation. This natural
and ihe control limits the range
of oscillation and gives a certain per-
nence to what may be called a nor-
mal or average level. A change in
the normal can occur only when some
new factor is introduced.
“Both man and nature have intro-
duced chan in ormal level.
The occupation of the surrounding
n by white men has r ly
ecen
modified the face of the land in ways
that have a recognized influence on
the water level; and the ancient his-
tory of the lake includes enormous
pial in response to changes
of clim
*OF ae influences the most tell-
liz
is lost to the lake. With i gradual
enlargement of the irrigated area the
normal level of the lake is inevitably
ngineers are al-
ion there is a limit to the possi-
saet of ieee
“The fresh water brought by the
rivers mingles gradually with the
brine, and as the river mouths are on
or near the eastern shore the brine is
not so strong at the east as at the
west. nalyses of samples of the
brine gathered at different points and
in different years report the dissolved
solids as from 13.7 to 27.7 per cent by
per — — than that of fresh
water.
‘*The brine is pene in the north-
eastern arm, This arm has
been partitioned from the main body
——— et <
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 247
Utah, and Fort Douglas.
Parleys Canyon is the second one south
of the fort and the next one south of Emigration Canyon.
The canyon is narrow and somewhat winding and in its lower part
is rather rugged and rocky.
The red sandstone and quartzite which
form so conspicuous a feature of the Wasatch Range show on the
left, but in a short distance they are cut through by the canyon, and
then they make the great mountain slope on the right.
The rock
is resistant to weathering and stands out in great cliffs and ribs of
red that cross the slope nearly at right angles.
Farther up, the
by the embankment of the Southern
Pacific Co. and is fou pio pase sup-
plied with fresh water by Bear River.
Ice can form on the ibid brine
b this arm
is ozen from side to side every
winter, and sleighs have been driven
ross it.
“The only climatic element with
y any change of climate which affects
the rate of evaporation. As every
laundress well knows, evaporation is
favored by heat, by dryness of the air,
and by strength of wind and is re
tarded by cold, by moisture in the air,
may Sicnio fash lake to expand or con-
tract.
“The as permanent animal inhab-
itant of Great Salt Lake is a tiny
‘brine shrimp,’ a pai hee an inch in
its
place pote behind it the discarded
kin. se flies are so numerous in
their season ars even the passing tour-
ist should feel grateful that they do
rative denizens are gulls and pelicans,
which find safe nesting ground on some
of the smaller islands. There are no
shoal-water plants, and the salt spray
of the beach is fatal to all land vege-
tation along the shores
“When the lake is low its salt is
ydrated sodiu
salt) coat piles "aad other fixed objects
near the water surface, and the de-
posits bacon as the
alls. C
the mineral constituting estone
travertine, and chalk—is Bos
and permanently separated from the
water, which is unable to retain that
which is brought to it by the rivers
quite distinct om vit siliceous sand
impedimen than
vad pecs of initio er’s salts, whikt
it offers for the gathering, are neg-
lected because the world’s demand is
small and is cheaply met in other ways.
ed th
are easily excluded, and the work of
evaporation is performed by the sun.
e present annual output of 40,000
tons must be multiplied treo be-
fore it can commence the
man is snatatit to
realize a New sensation as he floats
upon its surface.”
248 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
canyon is cut entirely in gray limestone and calcareous shale, and
here the slopes are generally smooth and the canyon, though V-
shaped, has not particularly steep walls. The canyon continues to
widen and the surrounding hills to diminish in height until about a
mile above the station of Dale the valley is very broad and shallow.
Here the creek forks and the railroad follows the south fork to its
head. If the traveler will observe closely the slope north of the
stream at the point where it divides he will see an old road winding
up over the low ridge which separates it from Emigration Canyon.
This road is the old Mormon trail. It crossed the high mountain
that may be seen on the left, came down the north fork of the
creek, and then crossed the divide to Emigration Canyon, in which it
may still be seen at the point where it comes down to the creek. As
the traveler who makes the journey from Salt Lake City to Park
City has an opportunity to see some of the country crossed by the
ormon pioneers a more extended description of the route they fol-
lowed and the reasons for so doing are given in the following foot-
note, °°
* Although it is probable that be-
tween the years 1825 and 1840 most of
the streams, valleys, and passes of the
region about Great Salt Lake had been
their explorations, and the credit for
the discovery of new routes and the
making of new trails must be given to
was never published, and it was circu-
lated only from one trapper to another
by word of mouth.
e Main route ine this western
1846 ia
then turned sharply to the north and
passed through Idaho. Emigrants to
Oregon alifornia traveled to-
gether by the usual route up Platte
River, along the Sweetwater, an
through South Pass to Fort Oriduer
and then to Bear River valley. They
followed this stream as far as the soda
springs, where those for Oregon turned
north to Fort Hall, and those for Cali-
for nia followed Bear River southward,
pa
eden (Humboldt) River.
the region of Fort Bridger, which pre-
viously had been abandoned, by Lans-
ford W. Hastings and James M. Hud-
speth, guides, who induced the emi-
grants to try shorter routes than that
by the soda springs.
way. by Hudspeth and equip with
pac mules, followed wn Echo
Canyon and er River along the
Lake
party had little difficulty and was one
of the first of the season to reach Cali-
fornia. Two parties guided by Hast-
ings had much difficulty in finding a
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 249
The railroad climbs steadily and makes several loops in order to
decrease the grade and finally arrives at the summit at the siding
of Altus (6,900 feet), about 2,700 feet above the starting point at
Salt Lake City. By several loops and curves it descends on the east
to East Canyon Creek at Gogorza and then follows up that stream
1 a 5 113° 110° 10
Ledge Tze C
Zz £3 a S79
ate y m | /f REMON wr)
: lek .)
°o on Te }
Cc a 3s 7, a) a
| ONEID 4 f
Ad nth __ IDAHO | ‘fe Apa i,
12, ~ i
' foie” =e K yy
T° ore
<8 O : fe River
ee
' y DEEDS, »U I &)
tee a demas =
>
e wee Se 2S : om PF 4 sem ae ,
<< Y VS3X Beoaiville . 1. 7 Da
Pr. ir \ d JF . cs) as 4L Le az >
Too ££ xs ~ ; c © eae te r>
: nS ioe be
7 7! DUCHESNE =
i TooeleP | 5 aS pHeBer| aE UINTAH
14° 113° 112° 11° n0°
25 ° 25 50 75 100 Miles
Figure 63.—Map showi ving old trails for Oregon and California. 1, Weber Canyon route;
, East Canyon route; 3, Parleys Park route.
to Kimball. eit the original trail by which Brigham Young
and his party of pioneers entered the valley of Great Salt Lake came
up East Canyon Creek and crossed the crest of the mountains north
of Altus at nearly its highest point, this trail was used only a short
way for their wagons through Weber | Hastings a messenger was sent ahead
Canyon and were so much delayed that | to confer wi ith him. He advised the
they were the last to cross the Sierra | “cut-off,” and as a result the party
Nevada that season. On account of | proceeded down Weber River only to
the difficulty experienced in Weber | the head of the dreaded canyon, 6
Canyon, Hastings advised some of the | miles below the mouth of Echo Can-
parties NP YEBE to take a route | yon, at a point h i
farther south; passing around the south | of Henefer is now situated on the
end of Ga Salt Lake. This was | Union Pacific Railroad. Here they
partly explored the previous year by | turned to the left and crossed over @
iy and later became known as | divide and down a ravine to what is
“ Hastings cut-off.” no
ee ill-fated Donner party, which | route probably as rugged as the one
id y
As they were only a few days behind | about 8 miles through a yery rocky
250 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
time, for three years later the incoming bands of Mormons, instead
of following Weber River downstream from the mout cho
Canyon, turned up Weber River and were soon in the open valley
where Coalville now stands. They continued up the Weber to Wan-
ship, where they turned to the west, and after crossing a low, flat
divide reached Parleys Park at Kimball. From this point their
route practically followed that of the railroad, crossing the summit
at Altus and continuing down Parleys Canyon‘to the Salt Lake
Valley. Over this trail came the “handcart companies” of 1856
and most of the Mormon emigrants who entered the valley prior to
the building of the Union Pacific Railroad.
he Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad continues to the
southeast from Kimball through a wide flat known as Parleys Park,
crosses a divide so low that it is all but imperceptible, and then fol-
lows up one of the head branches of Weber River to Park City.
Parleys Park is at so high an altitude that the ordinary crops can
not be grown satisfactorily, so it is devoted almost exclusively to
stock raising. It contains fine fields of hay and pasture, and the
surrounding mountains afford ample range.
he Wasatch Mountains are noted for the brilliancy of their au-
tumn coloring, and should the traveler pass this way in the early
autumn, after the first week in September, he will doubtless see a
canyon and then turned to the right
and ascended a tributary stream which
heads in one of the dae summits of
the Wasatch Rang They crossed
this summit and Scateaded the north-
Many have wondered why the Mor-
seems almost certain that they had,
a rt i te
n, provided
the soil: was found to be suitable for
griculture. As the location was prac-
tically decided upon it was only nat-
cued by men sent out from the mining
camps of California, At any rate, 39
of the 87 persons in the party died of
cold and starvation
ural for them to take the most direct
route, which was evidently the so-
called Hastings cut-off, or the Emigra-
tion Canyon woken as it was known in
s, they knew that
which is one of the points of interest
about Salt Lake City.
er
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 951
riot of color on the mountain sides, the dwarf maples showing great
streaks and splotches of the most vivid scarlet and the aspens rivaling
them with a blaze of yellow.
The ores mined at Park City carry silver, gold, lead, zinc, and
copper. At the end of 1920 the camp had produced 142,490,000
ounces of silver, gold valued at $4,603,000, 661,000 tons of lead,
37,000 tons of zinc, and 17,000 tons of copper. This was marketed
for over $183,800,000. The ore occurs as vein fillings or in bedded
layers in the sandstone and limestone of the Carboniferous system.
BINGHAM, THE GREAT COPPER CAMP.
A visit to Bingham can hardly fail to interest the traveler, for
almost everyone enjoys seeing the wonderful things man is accom-
plishing, even though he may not be interested in them financially or
professionally, and nothing more spectacular than the mining in
Bingham Gulch can be imagined. In a visit to most mining districts
the traveler actually sees little of real interest. He may be told that
this or that mine has produced so many millions of dollars, but great
dump heaps and mine buildings are about all he sees, and he gen-
erally leaves the camp with a very hazy idea of what actually takes
place in the mine, for he can not see the work that is being done; but
in Bingham it is different. Here he can see the work actually in
progress, and he can almost watch the movement of the ore from the
time it is gathered up by the giant steam shovels until it is delivered
to the smelter. It is a wonderful sight that can be rivaled only at
some of the great iron-ore mines of Minnesota.
In order to reach Bingham the traveler has the choice of three
routes: He may go by train on the Denver & Rio Grande Western
Railroad or the Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad, or he may go
by automobile stage or private conveyance. As the camp should be
approached by the route that will give the best view with the least
effort, for the sake of first impressions, the writer would recommend
that the traveler take the Los Angeles & Salt Lake route, and then
he may return if he wishes by any other of the routes mentioned.
In going to Bingham by way of the Los Angeles & Salt Lake Rail-
road the traveler goes to Garfield on the main line toward Los
Angeles. In this part of his journey he has a good opportunity to
see the great flat plain at about the level of the lake, which stretches
from Salt Lake City to Garfield, a distance of 15 miles. Near Gar-
field he may see on the north (right) the pavilion at Saltair and
some of the salt-manufacturing plants in the vicinity, but they are
so far away that he may not be able to distinguish details. He
sees little or nothing of the lake, for it is far to the north. The
town of Garfield was built to accommodate the workers in the Gar-
252
GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
field smelter, which was put in operation in 1906. The smelter is
not visible from the train, but the high stack rises from behind the
sharp point of rocks on the right as the train makes the curve into
Garfield. As few travelers are familiar with the smelting of ores,
a brief description of the work carried on in the Garfield smelter, as
well as in those seen at other places along the railroad, is given by
C. N. Gerry in the footnote.*°
% A smelter is an establishment
where ores are reduced to the metallic
ti y
ng a furnace. is statement is
simple, wit the actual working out of
e process is often lengthy and com-
plex. There are many tila cr smelt-
ers—iron, zinc, copper, and lead smelt-
ers. in the East and principally fopae
and lead smelters in the West. Som
plants are equipped for smelting es
lead and copper and for producing at
the same time gold and silver and per-
haps the rarer metals in the base bul-
d
produces blister copper (crude pig cop-
blisters that
pe
ust from the
furnaces is also saved, and from it are
obtained gold, silver, a
r to separate one kind of ore from
patbiege:
In she early days some of the mines
were equipped with small furnaces,
but as these were generally crude the
losses in slag and fumes were great.
Mine smelters have been generally
crushed and
abandoned, and now it is mor
nomical and convenient to ship ree
ore to a centrally located custom plant,
y ith fro
whe it is smelted wi ores
other mines or even other districts.
hen received
earefully mixed, and a
e is taken that will repre-
ntire lot. This sample is
i :
panies called “ moochers
says of the owner and of the sical
do not agree closely an umpir
sayer is called upon to analyze a Sore
western sulphide ores frequently
tain much zinc, which is objectionable
in lead smelting and is ordinarily pe-
nalized by the smelters when above &
certain percentage. If the ore con-
tains much snipbar. as it commonly
oes, it receives a preliminary treat-
ment in roasters, Some of these roast-
5 “ei
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 253
From Garfield the route lies almost south along the eastern foot
of the Oquirrh Range. At Arthur and Magna there are large mills
for crushing.and concentrating the copper ores of the Bingham dis-
trict. The Magna plant (see Pl. XCVI, A) has a capacity of 14,000
tons daily of low-grade ore, and the Arthur plant of 10,000 tons.
From Magna southward the train runs over the tracks of the Bing-
ham & Garfield Railway, which was built in 1911 for the sole pur-
pose of transporting ore from Bingham to Garfield. This road is
said to handle a greater sowie an freight to the mile than any
other railroad in the United Sta
After leaving Magna the track Koes up the slopes of the moun-
tain, but as it traverses mainly the sand and gravel deposited in
ancient Lake Bonneville, there are few rock cuts. In this interval
the traveler has several excellent views of the terraces of Lake Bonne-
ville (see Pl. XCVI, #), and as the track enters the mouth of Bing-
ham Canyon the road has attained about the level of the highest or
Bonneville shore line.
ers are circular, about 22 feet in di- | the best results the charge must be
ameter, and have a number of hearths | carefully calculated and weighed. It
on which the ore is slowly “ rabbled ” ea consists of about 75 per cent
or raked by arms that extend from | of that has been previously
the center. After ee at the top Mirah mixed with coke, limestone,
and passing over the hearths it has | and old scrap iron or slag. After
been relieved of most * its sulphur spel.) as been in progress several
and is then dumped into cars. An- | hours lead bullion forms in the cru-
ites pe of roaster produces a co- | cible, bi the charge consisted of lead
herent mass called sinter, which natu- | ores, and slag and matte flow into
rally makes a less dusty charge for the | special cars. The bullion is skimmed
blast furnace. In some places a series | to remove the dross or impurities and
of pots are used in which the sulphur | then cast into bars, which are shipped
is burned off by the aid of a blast | to refineries where the gold, silver,
after the introduction of burning coal. | and lead are separated. he slag,
Years ago at Butte, Mont., the ore was | which contains iron, silica, and other
roasted in the open air on piles of | substances, is discarded, and the matte,
cordwood, but the farmers objected to | which contains gold, silver, copper,
a process which permitted the escap- | and lead, is either crushed and re-
ing gases to destroy vegetation. In | turned to the blast furnace or shipped
ies places, aia: e, the smoke and | to a refinery. Some plants use rever-
re now ete? ly diverted and | batory furnaces in smelting lead ores
is dr The i is that farms now | that contain pied tiga eee es
thrive close to smelter stacks, and the | naces are. hor
smelters make a much better saving | roasting with LB ib pe ee
of metal is lead bullion and a residue which
The blast furnace in common use is | may be treated in a blast furnace. In
upright and has a rectangular cross | all these operations, but especially in
section. It is cooled by a water jacket, | the operation of the blast furnace, the
and the charge on the hearth receives | draft of air takes up small particles of
an air blast, as its name implies, For | ore, and the intense heat volatilizes
954 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
By climbing steadily from Garfield the railroad is here about 200
feet above the bottom of the canyon, and the traveler may look
down on the left and note all the activities of a mining town. (See
Pl. XCV, A.) The canyon is very narrow, and the town consists of
a single street with scarcely room enough for houses on both sides.
The view from the train would be fine were it not that the road is
chiefly carved through the mountains. From time to time the train
emerges from the portal of a tunnel and crosses one of the side can-
yons on a steel trestle 200 feet or more high. The traveler may then
have a good view of the canyon, but the mines are mostly above the
town, so that they are not visible until the train stops.
When the traveler alights from the train he finds himself high up
on the side of the canyon and at its largest fork. He may well stop
here to look at the surroundings, for it is doubtful if he will find as
good a viewpoint without considerable climbing. He may look in
vain for the mines, but instead he will see the wall of the canyon
before him creased with horizontal benches and on each of these
benches an enormous steam shovel lifting the ore and its overburden
some of the metals, such as lead, zinc,
and arsenic. The fumes are therefore
turned down into long semicircular
flues, where the dust particles collect
aka
is driven to one pole of the field, where
it accumulates and is periodically col-
lected. Arsenic is also saved by pass-
ing the fumes through thousands of
woolen bags treated with zine oxide or
smelter stack, but now the smoke nui-
sance is largely abated.
Copper smelting to a certain e
is similar to lea
products must be treated somewhat
differently. Roasters, reverberatories,
and blast furnaces are used, but the
operation of the blast furnace, sa
of making copper bullion, resu in
copper matte, a product that dln
copper, sulphur, and iron. This matte
is again treated in converters whic
have an opening in the top to dispose
of the fumes and to receive the matte
e
intense b
the sides, allowing oxygen to combine
with the sulphur and form sulphurous
gases which are led away from the
Eien and after about 2 hours the matte
is “blown ” into the product known as
blister copper, which oa te about
98 per cent of pure cop if much
gold and silver is vteeni ‘the blister
copper is further refin
cars take the fiery material to the slag
i s of
ted matt
into large kettles. Traveling cranes
ing” changes the matte
to blister copper,
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 707 PLATE XCV
A. BINGHAM CANYON.
View of the canyon above the mouth of Carrs Fork from the station of the Los Angeles & Sal
Lake Railroad. The iii ore rs mined b ined shovels and loaded directly into railroad Poss
which are run on all the levels. It is ies “aiken to the mills for concentration, and the concen-
trate goes to Garfield for smelting. Photograph by Shiplers, Salt ‘Li ake City.
B. BINGHAM MINE OF UTAH COPPER CO.
howir ost a the levels upon which excavatir ork is
“er ie, ¢ the yi i ety the er eng to the top of the canyon wall, a vertical die ite nee of pa out
t. About 24,000 tons of material is headed daily in this mine. Photngregh by Ship-
re “ne Lake City
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 707 PLATE XCVI
A. MAGNA MILL OF THE UTAH COPPER CO.
The Magna mill, at the north end of the peared ping ains, was i ui a“ Y concentrate a eed rt of
the copper ore cage sac — Bingham. It ba eats e than 10,000 t of ore daily. Abo 1
mill may be seen s the terraces of old ints “Bonneville: te, iupeineet is the panei e
shore line. Phsscorenks| by Shiplers, Salt Lake City.
B. BONNEVILLE SHORE LINE ON WASATCH MOUNTAINS
Near view of the west face of the Wasatch
tain front that looks like a well- ii clr T his is ie me e cut = de waves of Toke Bowie e-
ville when it sieaa 1,000 feet a than the water stands to-day in Great Salt Lake. Photograph
by Shiplers, Salt Lake City
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE.
upon waiting cars.*?
255
(See Pl. XCV, B.) When the cars are full
they are drawn away and made up into trains to be sent to the concen-
trators at Magna and Arthur.
The side of the canyon in front of
the traveler is 1,600 feet high, and it is divided into 24 steam-shovel
levels, on each of which is a railroad track. At present about 60,000
N. Gerry gives the following ac-
count of the development of the mines
at Bingham and the aaa work
that is now being done ther
About 25 miles aes of, Salt
1900
producing metals valued at
more than a million dollars a year, and
that was regarded as a large output.
1901, to $39,000, in 1915, a to
$72,000,000 in 1917. In 1918 it fell to
$62,800,000, in 1919 to $27,900,000, and
in 1920 to $27,500,000. a spot of
beauty or a model of cleanliness the
place is not worth noting, but its
gigantic cer-
Be ee: operations are
tainly impressive.
The caus i" the first mineral dis-
covery is unusual, for ore was found
in sag td soldier “ei ah tp under
d
se . Connor, who was statione
pk Douglas. While rae Indians
were quietly hunting and the Mormons
were peacefully pase agriculture
and irrigation, the soldiers, who were
from California, were ois in the
search for minera alt
famous as a source 0
siderable placer mining was done about
1865 in the vicinity of the present
r se
pper ore,
n 1868, was hauled to a station
Gee tie thace: Be cific Railroad and
was shipped to Baltimore. Not until
1878 did railroad connection with the
outside world give an impetus to
genuine development. About this time
changed, hurch began to en-
ourage the mining industry en
riod lead mining,
oxidized zone was being exploited. ;:
were erected
mined until pio thie in the price of
silver in 1893. Thi riod was fol-
lowed by the development of the heavy
copper and iron sulphide ore, which is
a conspicuous ore of the
per cent of — 30 per cent
phur, and a few per cent of copper.
The certs of economically treating
t was not solved until 1899, when effi-
cient ee plants were constructed.
e deepe
~ de e began to appear, which
simple free-gold ore and oxidized cop-
256
GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN
UNITED STATES.
tons of material is being handled daily, of which 38,000 tons is cap
rock and 22,000 tons ore.
As seen from the station of the Bingham & Garfield Railway
the canyon resembles a fairy scene. Here and there on the mountain
side gnomes and dwarfs are digging their way along its front. Puffs
of steam show the location of tiny steam shovels laboring away to
peri and lead ores to difficult sulphides
ing specks of
e that constitutes the
the oe er ore mined at the
Sites tr tim
The saeniiiadt of the ore has kept
pace with discovery, Ra adually de-
veloping from the panning of placer
gold and the saad) on and cya-
nidation of gold and silver ores to the
value of over $1,500,000, and there was
a be consolidation of cared
in order to effect economy i
Patio on, and the building of thie
paiitiee plants to treat these ores
began
-In 1902 the United States Smelting &
g Co. constructed a
ant was
by the Bingham Copper &
re t
built near Murray. Both these plants
operated for years but were afterward
dismantled, Ore from the Yampa mine
was treated in a copper plant in the
eanyon below the town. e American
in Refining Co.’s lead plant
at Murray, with eight blast furnaces,
was erected in 1901; it had much to
do with the exploitation of lead ores
There have been sev-
lead-zine ore is now shipp
a maze of underground workings, miles
extent. Without a map or guide
traveling in the tunnels is dangerous.
Some years ago a Mexican eriminal,
by his knowledge of the workings of
the Apex mine, succeeded in eluding
How he got out and where he went is
one of the mysteries of Bingham.
In 1905 the 21 mines in operation pro-
duced more than a million tons of ore,
which was valued at nearly $10,000,000
necessary to
to use draneportution tunnels or aerial
tramways. Several tramways jead
down the canyon or e crest of
er
| the range to the Scant smelter
at Tooele (too-ell’y), which in October.
1916, was treating 1,200 tons of copper
charge and 1,500 tons of lead charge
aily.
Although the ores mentioned have
played an important part in the past
development of Bingham, they are now
of less relative value, for the great
trating, and smelting of copper ore,
which averages about 1.5 per cent of
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE,
257
help tear down the mountain. Locomotives with long lines of ore
cars shuttle back and forth across the face of the mountain, at times
directly above the spectator, then again far below. It seems to be
pandemonium let loose, but out of it comes the ore in a steady stream
that makes the spectator wonder.
metallic copper. This ore occurs as
grains of a crane disseminated
ina Hp ass of m ite
Fro ade to 1909 ee Boston Con-
cd Mining Co., which operated
on part of this ground, used steam
produced over 438,000,000
The ore averaged
1.65 per cent copper, or only 33 pounds
loss in milling reduced this figure to 23
pounds actually recovered.
In e Utah ins Co. built
creased in size until it could treat 900
tons of ore a day. same time
genie development was proceed-
906 it amounted to nearly
ie miles. The plan was to extract ore
by the caving system, but when some
idea was gained of the extent of the
ore b
be required to make a sufficient ton-
nage of commercial concentrate, steam
work. The
partly to load ores on cars for milling
and partly to remove the top or cap of
the deposit, a brown oxidized material
from which part of the copper has been
removed by natural leaching. <A photo-
906 show
capping. Trees s grew
on the hillside. where apparently slight
change had been made on the surface.
the property of the Boston
Co. was consolidated with that of the
could be successfully treat
d the amount that would
XCVI, A), 15 miles
notth of Bingham, was constructed,
section by section, until its eapacity
was 4,000 tons of material a day.
The ore was concentrated at the ratio
of 20 tons of ore containing less than
2 per cent to 1 ton of concentrate con-
pein about 25 per cent copper, leav-
5 per cent of the original win tesla’
es be discarded as tailing.
velopment proceeded so ra
the company was reorga
times. In ae it wa
$4,500,000, in 1910
talization Benge $25,000,000, To in-
Magna mill (PI.
uled mmense tonnage,
ae ene rae Copper Co. constructed
a railroad from Bingham to Garfield,
a distance of 20 miles, in order to meet
After the property of the Boston
Consolidated Co. was taken over the
Magna plant was shut down in Feb-
treated
tin
sized plant, but these mills require 12
trains a day hauling 40 cars of 50
tons of ore each. The Magna plant
alone covers 20 acres, and the com-
pany owns an immense acreage for the
disposal of the tailings. most
ESAT DOS ae
258
GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.
The town of Bingham may be as interesting to the traveler as the
great mines that give it life.
Through force of circumstances it is
a one-street town, and this street winds and twists with the winding
and twisting of the narrow canyon. The street is so narrow that
the traffic is accommodated with difficulty. By patience teams and
wagons are maneuvered so as to allow automobiles to pass, but even
these autocrats of the highway are sometimes involved in an almost
hopeless tangle.
Residences have been built wherever there was
space; if this space was on level ground so much the better, but it
plants of this character, it is built on a
an angle and partly covered with riffles
or strips of wood. machine is
agitated the debtes earries the lighter
m ial ov
fl n
site of this principle, ah re heavy.
Experiments with flotation are going
on at Magna and Arthur, and if this
system is used in conjunction with wet
concentration the saving from losses
in tailing will probably be increased
t
,000 to a
If flotation can
make a better saving on the sulphide
ore and the leaching process can be
used in treating the oxidized portion
the future will be bright, especially as
is 25 cents a pound ore is worth over
$4 a ton at the present rate of saving,
and all costs of mining and treatment
are less than
The great work of mining may be
observed from the station of the Bing-
m & Garfield Railroad. In the view
Stig south, as shown in Plate XCV,
B, the Denver & Rio Grande Western
oad circle the hills on several levels.
can be seen to better advantage if one
walks along the main canyon. The ore
body is about a mile in lengt
shovels (Pl. XCV, B) operate on a
great many levels, from the base of the
hill up to the very summit, where the
the old Jordan mine.
the steam shovel lifts 4 tons of the
ore into cars. The mining, handling,
and concentrating on a large scale by
the Utah Copper Co. of this great mass
of low-grade ore, which for a long time
was considered too poor to be of value,
has revolutionized Bingham. The out-
put of the Utah Copper Co. has grown
rom 3,000,000 pounds of copper in 1903
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 259
was not left vacant even if 1t was on the steep mountain side.
People live almost in the midst of the great excavation, and they
soon become accustomed to the rumble of the train above, below,
around, and in fact on all sides.
When the traveler has satisfied his curiosity regarding both the
mine and the town he can return by way of the Denver & Rio
Grande Western Railroad, which runs in the bottom of the canyon,
to Salt Lake City to resume his westward journey, if he has not
reached the end of his route.
to a maximum of 206,000,000 pounds in Several large low-grade deposits are
1917; in 1920 it was 106,600,000 | worked in other States—at Ely, Nev.;
pounds. The aggregate production for | Ray and Miami, Ariz.; and Chino,
the district to the end of 1920 has been | N. Mex.—but these do not compare in
ine of t
y
thirty times the output in 1900. | Col. KE. A. Wall always had implicit
Bingham should have celebrated its | faith that this grade of mineral would
fiftieth anniversary in 1915, but the | eventu ually become commercial ore.
ida
add to a record of metal alae? yee J. A. Bettles, worked out many of the
at nearly $280,000,000 in 50 mining and milling difficulties, and
e total value at the at ie es credit for organization and financ cin g
was $538,000,000. is due to Col. D, C. Jackling,
LA Res
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INDEX
OF PLACES AND SPECIAL FEATURES.
[Italic numbers are used for views.]
Page. Sheet.
A ge
Acequia, Colo 23 1
Adobe, Colo 2
Akin siding, Colo. 152 §
Allenton, Colo. 4
Utah 249 10
American hed Utah oe 10
3
ee mine, Colon nin 49
Animals 7 national forests_. 82, 112
Antlers, Colo 5
Apple trees in bloom________ 205
Arena, Colo 3
Arkansas River aitey and
sna 76, 80,90 2-4
Au ay os 6
Avon, ‘Q0lec 2d 122-123, 128 4
B.
Badger, Colo 3
Badger Creek, Colo__..-.--__ 88 3
Badlands ‘at foot of Book
Lie SE eee
bis Peter in' = Boek? Onlo. ao
win, Colo
argh Mesa, Colo_ 144, 145, Pd
147, 148, 150, 151, 180 5
Bear Creek aver Cole... 46
Bear Lake, t 244
Beaver, Colo 66 2
Beaveriail tunnel, Colo__--- 152
Beckwith Plateau, Utah._-_- z
207, 208, 209, 210 8
Beehive House, Salt
ity 239
Belden, lo 118 4
Belleview, Colo ..4.6os 23s 3
ingham, rah 251-259 10
Bingham Canyon, Utah __-_ 251, 254
ee ines teh ce 236—
237, 254, 255-259 10
Bitter. Creek, Utah. .0424 195 7
Black Canyon, Colo _-..~----~ ie a
172, 173, ee 175 6
f See als ng a n Rive
Black Mesa, 173
Blue Creek, — 173 6
k Cliffs, Colo. -Utah. 156, 186, 187,
190, 197, 199, 200, 201,
202, 207, 208-209, 210 7-9
Page. Sheet.
Brown Canyon, Colo._..-__~ 92, 93 3
Brosh Creag. Ce 128 es
Buena Vista, C ip dng Ramee 97-98 3
Bull Hill, Ciippte Creek dis-
49
Burnham, C 22
Burnito siete Cre ee 75
Burro, patient 105
Buttes, Colo 56 2
Buxton, Colo 3
na
Cactus Valley, Colo_.____.~. 144
Calcite, Colo 87 3
California Gulch, Colo___. 104, 105
California Mesa, Colo_____ 179-180
meéo, 155 7
Cameron, Utah 215, 216
Canon City, Colo 70,
71-72, 79, ee 2
Canon City coal field___-._
a a Leadville____ a
Carlile, 2
Castilla, h 226 a
Castlegate, Utah 155,
a aloe’ 216, 217 9
Castle Rock, Colo.__._~-. 25-26 i
Cathedral Baa, oP Sglaete e
Cebolla, Colo 172 6
Ce PO Be AIT 6
Cedaredge, Colo. 180
Cedar siding, Utah.o 222... 8
Summit, Colo___-__- 175, 176 6
Chacra aiding, Colo... 5
hal reek canyon, Colo. eer” 3
Charcoal kilns, old_..-_-.--
Cheesman Lake, Colo______- bg 1
Cherry Creek, Colom. os bs ne 22 1
Chester, Colo 167 3
Chipeta, Colo 6
Cimarron, CG 173, 175 6
Cimarron Creek = canyon,
nile eos ae, ee 6
Cirgue on a Proce side_
Cisco, Utah ier sg
City Creek, 243
Clear Creek, parm canyon of. Is 1
wheat field on_..___..-~ 7
ear k, Ut 218 9
ClOOTE ENG i peck 3
Cliff ane. Utah 210 8
Clifton, C 157 7
Coal bed, pone
262
Page.
Cochetopa Creek, Colo__---~ 169
Coke ovens at Sunnyside,
Utah ek
Collegiate Range, Colo-__-_~ 94
Colorado, relief map of__--~_ 2
Color State capitol______ 6
Colorado State flower__----- 10
Olorade City, Cold... 35
Colorado National Monument_ 188
column = sandstone in__ 189
8 iP TOT cr a ng he 110, 131,
ne 134, 135, 138,
152-154, 157, 158
valley and PBs 2 aieey 182.
136, 185,
190, 193, a68 om 203
See also Grand Canyon
Ruby Can-
on.
Colorado Springs, Colo_--_ 34, 39
Colorado-Utah State line ____ 195
Colton, Utah 149, 218
Consliiet — 110, 121,136
257
aon vs F312
Cotopatt Cole to22 00 ee
Cottonwood, Ut 95
Cottonw Creek, Utah __ 195
Cottonwood a Springs
rh, eB Se Se 98
Cc " o 145
Cra Park: Colee. Os
Crescent siding, Utah._-- ~~
pita a oe Coléccsech= 169, iad
carat Cre Cotes 46-47
Crookton; Colo 22 167
CreeabbAting in sandstone__ 179
Cros fig ped “oats ia ee 119, 120
cussed 173
ati ot ee Coloscets 173, 174
D.
Daly, U
canter Butte, _— Pease ei tt Be 27
De Beque, 150
bare Bigs pec oc el Li
seulptured ade near___ U9
Deen, Colo 115
un, Colo
DeltasCoele- 2 fo 179; resi ae
mver, Colowulees. ind 2.
State capitol at._.u____
Denver & Rio Grande Rail-
road as origi-
y planned,
map off.
Uta
Deseret State 223
Detour, Utah 229
Devil# (Head, .Colo____._222 ib 27
Devils ‘Slide, Colo___.__.__.
amond Fork, Utah.l_-_. 225, 226
Dillon, Co 110
Dinosaurs 70
tr: 71
Sheet.
6
e
ol Rt OO Do wrens Oe @ -1t i) Ot
o-
vs)
' Fruita, Sas mo
INDEX OF PLACES AND SPECIAL FEATURES,
Page.
Dome Rock, — Canyon,
| oh) (9 ne ape emer ce geo 21
. ice
Dotsero siding, Colo_._--- 131, 132
ougl lo
Doyle, Colo 168
Durango, Colo 178
Durham, Colo
E.
Eagle 128, 129
Hagle eve a Lake City_- 239
Hagle Park, Colosi.sssss= 113-114
Hagle River, ner ceuiteced we asec 114,
415—116,-° 317, * 299;
123, -125, -180; 7132
caHyon Of cacccsscz 117, 118
Valley. Of 22022420 2es 118
avactow id=.=so29 119
ecent aun ins2e 119
East Bingon Creek, Utah___ 249
East Fork of Arknones River.
Olds SES 109, 110
East Fork of BHagle River.
: M6 See 113, 114
Echo, Colo
en, “Golo. _<--<c2ceraseeces 5
Hdgerton, Coles. 225 -S==s5 32-33
Edwards siding, Colo------- 123
“ Dgyptian lest 194
‘* Blephant 1 Seeders ah ican ead $2
Higin, Utalsci -—. —- 4 203
Elk Creek, sg (near Bel-
oe 119, 120
Elk Creek, Coto: (mear Ce-
Ha) > 172
PRD C010. een 171
Elko, Colo.
Emigration Canyon, Cah 237
Englemann spruce__-------- 29
Ensign Peak, Utah_------__- 237
Eros intricate pil 132
Erosi oi columns, earth__---- 105
Hetalente, Colo oot 182
Wvergreen Lake, Colo <2. 2 as SUG
F.
Fairview siding, Colo-_.---- 178
Parnham: ‘Ota wo.nce.l Gl
213
wince Inlined and vertical_ 216
leaf, C
ima Rh S|
pana Di pri Se i oc eee 31
Fish, s a a stream with__ 112
Flattops, Col 180
mee, Col0tia. sels oai 67, 68
Forest fires, results of -..----
or nursery
Fort Douglas, Utah. _----+ 240, at
Fort Lo Cod 2c eh 9, 22
Fountain, Colo- 55
Fremont oso Colo... 109, 110, a
Front Ra 163, 1
185, =
G.
Game in national forests__._ 82, 112
Sheet.
wer
ad
ho bo &
OH
A Pde
Pa
INDEX OF PLACES AND SPECIAL FEATURES,
seapean Age ita a Si las
ee a spires of___ 37
geologic me Of Wutekece
Garfield, Uta 239,
251-253, 254, 257
Garfield eeoriar pean 239, 252-254
Geneva, Utah
Georgetown, Colo 18,17
Gilluly, Utah 221
Gilman, Colo 117-118
es Se 33
Glen Park,
Glenwood ete fohaginee 132-1338,
, 137-138, 144
Gold dredging.
Col 13, a
Goldfield Junction, Colo__.__ AT
ight,
Gore Canyon; Colo... 13
Gores Creek, | Fe eegeae ei 121-122
Gorge, Colo 76-7
Grand Canyor — 205023 04-206
Grand Hosback, Colo 39, 140,
142, 144, 147, 151
Gran@ Junction, Colo 43,
158, 181, 184-185
Grand Mesa, Colosow..u.-.5 145,
155, 157, 180, 181, 183
Grand River
Grand Valley, Colo_-_ 148, 149, 150
cliffs of. 48
Grand Valley irrigation ig eg
152-1
ee
Granite, Colo
Granite, natural deca bi of .
potholes pe! saga
Grassy Creek v: . veh “210, 21
Grassy rote Wehe srinaeen
Gravan,
Grays Peak, Bhp
Grays siding, ad owaMierits= 7 We
oncha 1 ee ee ee ee 229, ane
<eane Lake.
Green River _..._-_-.-
ols dc Utah
orn home Colo__ 82
ecaans. COG cont le 31
Grizzly Creek, es a al 136
Grizzly siding, Colo-.__-.-._- 136
nnison, 168, 16
Gunnison Butte, Utah 197, 202-203
Sees Colo saa arlene 129,
Gyps um Creek, Colo.uuu sc. ,,, 128
H.
Hagerman Pass, Colo____-
Hanging Lake, Cobos nos 137,
Page. Sheet.
36-40 2
ee
ae
~
to bt
nS
«1
tiie |
PhO A
a
Page.
Hecla Junction, Colo _______- 93
Helper, Utah 214
ete os 2i1
Henkel,
Henry Mountains, Utah__. 198, vac
Hiawatha, Uta 215
Hierro siding, Colo_..._____ 171
High Line irrigation eanal,
Cn 152-154,
184, 190
diversion dam of .iu_. B68
Hobble Canyon, Utah_._--_. 233
Holy Cross Mountains. ee
Sawatch Range,
Holy Cross we Forest,
Pghare Ratti 112-113
Homestake Cres and valley,
=~ 316; 436; sae
Homestake Whackee. map Of:
Homestake Peak, Colo___--_~ ‘9
Hotchkiss 180
Howard,Colo cescsecce22 83, 86-88
Husted,
Le
Idaho oe Colo..--aith 16
Tola, Col 171
Iron deviis. ee City,
Irrigation, be apt Of, 4 iy
rchards 188
resides. fren. es 178
two tropa from 188
Ives, Colo
Fe
James Peak, Colo... u
Teffexeon meay and State. 62—
65, 223
Jordan River, Utah__~- oe 244
Jordan River valley, Utah__ 235
K.
Kahnah, Colo
Keeldar, Colo
Kelker, Colo
Kenilworth, | learner 214, 215
Kent siding, Colo 127
ar, Co
Kimball, Utah 250
Kobe, Colo
Utah 217
Das
Lacy, C
Lake pulesliile and its shore
serdar 239, 228—
1, 235, 236, , 255
Take City; Celocsscealce 172,173
Creek, Colisccecl le 02,1
Take Fork, Coc) scan te 110,178
Take Junction, Coloic./----
Lakota, Utah .425-o2006 2
Plata Peak 102, 103
263
Sheet.
bt OO OR
_
CrRoOarPOnha
_
BSA
264
Page.
rkspur, Colo. 28
Larkspur Butt 3
La Sal Meese” aE 196, 197
Leadville, Colo... 103, 104-109, 110
ea coe a ahoaate Asa
Lehi 4,235
Dito Brey Salt Lake City__ 239
Little Book a Colo.ua 156, a
Littleton, Col
Livesey sidine, CON ees =
egg pine forest_______ 76
a, Colo 152,190
pear _oe Coloisn 22
Louviers, Colo: ici fs iawee 24, 25
Lynndyl, Utah : 2.
M.
Mack, Colo
a mg Sly cap ee 258, 257
Magna mig 22 is
bs Major. aad ” Glen Eyrie,
Oel6nacs se ‘83
Malta, Colo. 104
Manitou, Colo inne ce ks 35
geologic map of__-_____ 38
Mapleton, Utah 231
Marble, Colo 138
Marshall Pass, Colo._____ 158, 159,
160, 162, 163, 165-166
Mary McKinney whines’ Colo
Maxpevale, Utah
Maxwell,
tire Function, Coles 24! 161-162
Meeker, Colo 22202 522— 144-145
a, noken, ‘colo
ore eae Colo.2 5
Midvaie, Utal 2 io. 8 238, a
Midway, ‘Colo_222<- 2-0.
Mill Pork’ Ytalis2 22 064 ers.
Minneqta; Colo oo
Minturn, Golo! = _-- 115, 116, 121
Mitchell, Colo
Moab, Uta =F iti mi
Plateau near____..__
“Moffat road,” mountain
ge on 10
Monarch, Cold. 2 160
Moston, Cn 173, 176, 178-179
onum olo
Lo eae 33
More Ute oo a ae
Mormon trail, Utah —_______ 248
os ere poe
orriso:
opaaies. bt Colo Pear rice 103, 114
other ;Grumedy 7s
unds, Colo
Mounds, Utah 211, ais
Mount Chipeta, Colo______._
Mount Elbert, Colo ____ 99, 102, ne
Mount Harvard, Colo_ 94,95, 98, 99
Mount Logan, Col 147
Oi ete an arncican sin she
Sheet.
1
a
© ban |
He ie
es)
aworr OD Pe Ol
INDEX OF PLACES AND SPECIAL FEATURES,
Page.
Mount aie Colo -_ 18, 19, 110
Mount Massi Colo___ 99, 102, nits
Mount Nebo, tah
Mount of be nase ly Cross
112, 116, 119-120
a ‘Cole: _ 938,94, 98
te)
=
Mount Shavan
Mount Sheridan, Col
Mount Sherman, Pons eS aa sae
Mount, Sopris; Coto~22202--2> 138
Mount Yale, Colo 94, 98
Mountain sheep 132
Murray, Utah 239
N.
222
Narrows — Vitthe
Nathrop,
— forest ouhenis in== ‘68,112
ock fen n 149
112
see tN Se 82
National "neatum ena ha
Nephi,
Newcastle, “Caio 140, 142, 143, es
Nolan, , 2 1
Noname ert Colds... 136, 137
oO.
Oak Creek, Colo. (near Flor-
ence)—_----=£= 68
Oak Creek, Colo. — Texas :
eSeck) 22.
Oll Cred, C0l0 2.ca nse 70, 71
Olathe; €0ini isis o 52 ~_-= 17
Olivers,#Uteliai.....--_- LL
uirrh Range, Utah ~---- nb 236
Orchards, se et es irriga
Ingle Joe , 188
Oregon ~— MS inet wating 248
Oro City, 105, 106
—— ae Celie 127
Otte. 0 ele
pint Junction, Colo____---- 178
Ouray Pesk,'<Gio_____.__._-___ 91,
159, 162, 163, 164, 179
,.
Paonia, Colo
Palisade, Col 152, sik ser
Colorado ‘River valley be-
wise Sap BEE 156
k Cliffs at--.-- 157
Palisade ea, Colo 151,
152, 154, 155, 156
High Line diversion dam
Palm-leaf fan Paghtity in Colo-
139
Patmer take, on ALLE sett —32
Pande, Cole => 113, 114, 115
‘anther, Uta fb Saeco 215
Panther mine, Utah_--_-___- 216
Park City, Utah 245, 251
Park (Mosquito) Range, Colo. 103
Parkdale, Cole o.oo 81-82
Sheet.
4
Co ©
oO
ay
SSanw im)
oo me
we
HrROVORR
#
INDEX OF PLACES AND SPECIAL FEATURES,
Page.
Parleys Canyon, me --. 245-248
Parleys Park, Utah .-2- ob:
aflin, €6lo .=--s.+cceuen 168-169
Perry Park, 084 mma Od BE. 2
Petersburg, Colo 222222220
shone National “Porest aeecsace cae
a Ss Peak,
Pillars of Bakciien Colo en
Pine Creek, Colo
Piney Creek; Coléi__ 25 111-112
Pinnacles in Monument Park,
Ceo a
Pinto, Utah
Plainview, Colo 8
Plateau, Colo
Plateau Creek, Colo-u-_.~_- 154.
Platte Canyon
Pieasanton,;, Cole 20-2 85-86
rs ae Colo
Poco:
Rott “sabing CMO Soo 46
Poncha 160
Poncha_ tree Blea and ¢
yon, Colo_ eT. 161, 162
Poncha Pass, Celeccl 162, 163
ieee Cele 66
Price, Utah 213
Price oe Utah 210,
213-214, 215, 216
valley and canyon of--.__ 210,
213, 214-216, yen
Pring, Colo.
Provo, Utah 233-285
Provo River valley and can-
FOR. oS 233, 234
Pueblo, Colo. 58-61
¥.
Railroad locomotives, old and
new iso uscial
Rainbow Highway, Colo ---~ 81, <0
tunnel on
ap Bind THrahinc3
Redcliff, 116, uit
Reforestation, : — for
Rex — 19
Rhon
Rifle, “colo 126, 143, 144-145, 146
Rives, Sr 99
Rivert 236
Roa n Cres ce ons i naire 150, 151
sana Pork, Cole
136, 137, 138
Roches
Rocky ala i mona ese 41
conoid Colo. 10
245
Roubideaw wa Colts. es 181
Royal Gorge ve the Arkan-
vik
72 3
72, 76, Ti, 78, 78, 79, 79,17
Ruby Canyon, Colo. 191, 193, 194, 195
Sheet.
10
Oo WHO ar ow 2 bp bt OD
© bd to OO
8-9
10
bo
eH
sow cas
Oo
=
ao
Page.
Ruby siding, Colese2=-/22~_ 192
Rulison, Colo 146
8.
Sagers, Utah
Salida, ‘Colo... 89-90, im ii
MOAI. FE cay ee
Salt Creek valley, Colo_—_ 2 2
malt Lake City, Dian
Salt Wash, Colo.........>.--
Sandstone, cross- Pode ( Capipeipies te
Sangre de Cristo Range_____
eer Pik 163, 164, 169
an Isabel Nationa rest... 82
n Juan Pgpictmeeag “Cale a6,
178, 179
San Laig Park, Cold... 162, 164
San nena bean veb eee 202,
207-208, 210, 212
Sanpete Valley, Utah_-_-__-~-
Sapinero, Colo ale
rock spi: 51: 8 eeermpeee agent
sagas ces laser tal pe Sikes ea ior
watch sae ase arisse) 90, 91, 92, 113,
119, 123, 125, 128-120
a Pgsiied Wrists. ce
AG
Sealture “y a butte by a 152
a Gu n Monument Salt L
serena 25
go Colo 61
de Colo
p ba telage a cole lo
p in 163, 211
Sheridan Taneton, Cold. sax. 19
Shirley, C
oshone, yee 110, 134
* Siam DWE cee: 36
Silt, Colo 144
Silver Cascade, Colo...._.-- 5t
Silver Plume, Colo__..-_---. 18
Skyline Drive, Canon City, —
r peenncnatent 13, 74
pnowder, Colo 2.65
Soda Springs, Colo__._--__-. 109
Soldier Creek, Utah__---__ 220, 224
Soldier Summit, Utah_____ 218, 220
- seamen siding, Utah_....—< 202
Colo. 180, 181
ame fe sc River, Colo__ 158
139
atte, Colo... inl 20, 21
South Platte Canyon, Colo-_._ 18-21
anish Fork, U plies 225, 226
Spanish Fork cany 224,
26, 227
, Ttah
Spring Canyon, Utah_---~--- fo
Spring Gulch, Colo_-_-------
os Piano Sk jon aes
Colo.
aoe Cresk, Colo...
265
Sheet.
Oo
@®-
Qt os
Ore ae
266
Page.
a i Utah. 223 5as 215
State Bridge, Colo___-__----__ 126
ia capitol of Colorado__-~-
tate capitol of Recs 239
tate flower of Colorado____- 10
State flower of Utah_---__-_ 196
State line, Colorado-Utah____ 195
Steamboat Springs, Colo_-_-_ 126
Storrs, Utah 215
Strawberry River, Utah_--_~ 22
226, 227
Strawberry Valley diversion 22
hydroelectric pl C5 iit 228
Sugar (House, Utah — =
iy Utah: 155, 211, 212, 216
ovens
Banngetd Wash, Utahsa "211; 212
Sunshine, Colo 137
Swallows, C 66, 67
Swissvale, reat Peon ep LL el 88
T.
force Colo 178,179
mple Square, Salt Lake
A gee REE Uae Aaa 242
kn Fe OG es 172
e Creek, Colo_-____ 109,110
Ten a 5 Passe, Cows oS
eras Créck, (pie 22 83-84
aitows, Utah. 285, 286
Thistle, Utah 993 294
Thompson, Utiloc2oo con 200-2
; MIBPRING SS to ea
panogos Peak, Utah_ 229, 233, 284
mouanud, Colo spec toscctos st
Tomichi eek, Colocat2s: 167, 168
Tomichi Dome, Colo______ 167-168
Tongue Mesa, Colo. 76
Torrys Peak, Colo_-_.2_--__ 18
z 8 70
Packer; Utah ==2:22c20-0 8 223;
Tunnel ing;: Colecni:a<3 5% 152
Tunnels in Basle “Rive can-
OS 105
on the “ Moftat Proud”? 10
Twin Lakes, Colo-.._....___ 103
U.
Uinta Basin —___ 143, 148, 150, 156
Una, Col
Unaweep;: Colo... 23)
Tacomapitiege Peak,..Colouo2i)) 1
Uncompahgre Plateau, Colo__
157,
176, 180, obi 185
Uncompahgre River and
Erp aioe)" sik & 178;
175, angen 180
University of Utah _._____ 6-247
tah, relief map
ee ee ee
Sheet.
9
“i
oo bo
co
a0
INDEX OF PLACES AND SPECIAL FEATURES,
Page.
Utah Lake
_ 280, 232, 234-235, 24s
Btahhne; Coit 5. eee
Utah State capitol on
Utah State flower 196
Ute, Colo.
Ute Pass, Colo 41
Ae
Vallie, aS 86
Verde, Utah
Vernal “Mesa, Colo___._ 177; 179;-180
Vista,
bine rock intricately
Volcanic-rock spires - 163
Ww.
Waco, C
ara 9
Wasatch sain ie ais a 226, 235,
236, 238, 239,
pie: Bet oan
Springs, Colo_- 168
Man’s Creek, Colo_-__- 1
244
Webs
Wellington, Utah-__-------- 2
ag Springs, 88-89
t El orate ‘Co 180-181
of Pri R
West Fork iver,
eS Se 18
Westwater, U oA
Wheat field Clear Creek
valley, Colo--- 7
White Cliffs, > oe Bineece eteD 150
Whitehouse, Utah_--_------
ite River Piste, Colo__ 131, rae
Whitewater, Colo_____------
Widefi Sy
i ‘olo.
Wild ef tle. 5.
Wildhorse Canyon, Colo_-_-- 98
ard, Colo. 19, 20
Williams Canyon, se BP “a
illow Creek, Utah___-----
interquarters, ree Rea aa
Wolcott; Colo... 124, cist
Wolhurst; Colo...._.--.--2
Woodside, Utah 209, 210
ee Doodle Lake, sageorgpe 7
Yan
ae pine
Sheet.
©
10
q
DROW
whore Quan yon ©
mr moO
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