FLORISSANT; A MIOCENE POMPEII 115 



expense, the fact that the latter were of no obvious value to the mining 

 or kindred interests led to a withdrawal of financial support. That the 

 restoration of the past — the discovery of the conditions which obtained 

 in Colorado perhaps a million years ago — is of no value to mankind 

 is a proposition which would scarcely be endorsed by any scientific 

 man ; but the fact remains that our present-day public makes a stronger 

 demand for cash than for philosophic illumination, and the latter must 

 often wait. 



In the summer of 1905 the Florissant work was taken up anew by 

 the University of Colorado, and Judge J. Henderson and Dr. F. 

 Ramaley, of that institution, went there and collected a quantity of 

 material. In 1906 a new expedition, consisting of Dr. W. M. Wheeler, 

 of the American Museum of Natural History, and Mr. and Mrs. Cock- 

 erell and Mr. S. A. Eohwer, of Boulder, Colorado, spent a considerable 

 time excavating fossils; and in 1907 the work was carried on still more 

 extensively, with the financial cooperation of the American Museum 

 of Natural History, Yale University, the British Museum and the 

 University of Colorado. As a result, there has accumulated an almost 

 embarrassing amount of material, and many remarkable things have 

 been discovered. 



Florissant is to-day a small town on the Midland Railroad of Colo- 

 rado, about as far west of Pikes Peak as Colorado Springs is east of 

 it. It is situated in an open valley or "park," surrounded by low 

 hills, and consisting mainly of rather barren grass-land, with moister 

 and even swamp areas along the creeks. The altitude is about 8,000 

 feet, and is far above the zone of oak bushes which forms such a con- 

 spicuous feature in the vicinity of Manitou. The hills are clothed with 

 an open forest of conifers, mostly pines, and owing to the dry and sunny 

 character of the locality, some of the southern plants, such as the 

 Spanish Bayonet or Yucca, grow in abundance, The town itself is 

 small, and exists principally for purposes connected with the railroad; 

 it is a shipping point for a certain amount of lumber, but in no sense 

 a mining center. 



In ancient times — say about a million years ago — the valley was the 

 site of a beautiful lake — Lake Florissant. This body of water was 

 perhaps about nine miles long, but very narrow, and strongly indented 

 by wooded headlands at every point. Here and there were small 

 islands, upon which grew tall redwood trees and other vegetation. It 

 was just such a place as would have delighted the heart of Fenimore 

 Cooper and his hero of the Leatherstocking tales. The climate was 

 very different from that of modern Colorado; mild, warm and damp, 

 not unlike that of the uplands of our southern states. Yet the hills 

 were probably rather dry. for we find remains of plants suited to diverse 

 ecological conditions, from semi-arid uplands to swamps. Not far away 



