732 



TERRITORIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



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According to returns made by county as- 

 sessors to the Territorial Auditor, the assessed 

 yalue of property in 1873 was $35,582,438; in 

 1872, $81,2607257; and in 1871, $24,112078. 

 " These assessment returns," says one of the 

 local press, "show probably the real value of 

 property in the Territory; and since their 

 total (in 1873) is $35,582,438 it is safe to assert 

 that the actual wealth of Colorado is $53,373, 

 657, exclusive of mines and mining^property, 

 which is neither assessed nor taxed." 



In the construction of railroads in Colorado 

 the progress has been remarkable in recent 

 years. The first railroad was begun in 1869, 

 and at the end of 1871 the Territory contained 

 892 miles of completed railroads. At the end 

 of 1873 about 600 miles were in operation, and 

 many miles of new roads were in progress. 

 The lines in operation were : the Denver Pa- 

 cific, from Cheyenne, Wyoming Territory, to 

 Denver, 106 miles; the Kansas Pacific, from 

 Kansas City, Mo., to Denver, 639 miles; the 

 Denver & Boulder Valley, from Hughes, on 

 the Denver Pacific, 18 miles from Denver, to 

 Boulder City, 27 miles ; the Colorado Central, 

 which will open a line of communication be- 

 tween Denver and the mountain towns and 

 cities, completed to Black Hawk, 38 miles, with 

 branches fr..m Fork's Creek to Floyd Hill, 4 

 miles, and from Golden City to Longmont, 41 

 miles; the Arkansas Valley, from Kit Carson 

 on the Kansas Pacific to Pueblo, completed to 

 West Los Animas; and the Denver & Rio 

 Oronde Railroad, which will connect Denver 

 with El Paso in Mexico, completed to Pueblo, 

 118 miles, with a branch to Coal Banks, 88 

 miles. The Denver & Rio Grande was tin- 

 first narrow-gunge railroad built in the United 

 States. The gauge is three feet, and the maxi- 

 mum grade 75 feet to th- mil-. The length 

 of railroad in operation in the Territory in 

 1878, with the capital stock and cost of con- 

 struction of the entire linos, so far as asoer- 

 tainable, was as follows : 



UNO. 



, ...... 



* Boulder 



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Kn4 Purlflr 



, lo Citntral.... 

 DonTer * Rio Onnile 

 ArkUMu Vallejr .. 



Total. 



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1M 



1M 

 M 



$UBOO.OOO 



1.474.00(1 

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. I M) 



43n.nno 

 Xi.747.sno 

 J.MO.OOO 



Of the above,112 tnileswcre completed dur- 

 ing the your. In addition to this, according to a 

 local authority, enough grading has been done 



to render almost certain the construction of the 

 following during the ensuing twelve months: 

 Arkansas Valley, 96 miles : Denver A Uio 

 Grande, 90; Golden & South Platte, 17; Den- 

 ver <fc South Park, 30; Julcsburg, 17<>; At- 

 chison, Topeka <fc Santa Fe, 100. Total. 

 The Territory is supplied with 180 sch' 

 attended by 4,75r, pupils; about 90 elm- 

 of various denominations, and seven daily. :'! 

 weekly, and five monthly newspapers and pe- 

 riodicals. It contains nearly 1100 miles of tele- 

 graph, six national banks with an : 

 capital of $400,000, and agencies of about 40 

 insurance companies. 



The present Territorial government of Colo- 

 rado is as follows: Governor, Samuel II. El- 

 bert; Secretary, Frank Hall; Chief-Jotl 

 Moses Hallett; Associate Justices. EbenezerT. 

 Wells, James B. Belt'ord; United States At- 

 torney, H. C. Alleman ; United States MarsWal, 

 Mark A. Schaffenburg; Surveyor -General, 

 William H. Lessig; Assayer United States Mint, 

 J. F. L. Schirmer ; Superintendent of Public 

 Instruction, Horace M. Hale; Auditor, James 

 B. Thompson ; Treasurer, George T. Clark. 



During 1873 the explorations of the United 

 States Geological and Geographical Survey 

 were prosecuted with great success under Dr. 

 F. V. Hayden. The area authorized by Con- 

 gress to be explored comprised the moun- 

 tainous portion of the Territory which was 

 divided into three districts of about 7,000 or 

 8,000 square miles each; each 'district being 

 about 130 miles long, and 58 broad. The 

 northern district included the Middle Park, 

 the middle district the South Park, and the 

 southern the San Luis Valley. To each of 

 these districts was assigned a distinct party, 

 consisting of two topographers, a geoh 

 two packer*, and a cook, with sometimes ono 

 or two additional assistants. The whole area 

 con-titnted a section about 160 miles broad, 

 embracing within its limits some of the grand- 

 est ranges of the Rocky Mountain system at 

 their point of greatest elevation, and the most 

 remarkable as well as the most extended 

 groups of high peaks to be found anywhere on 

 the continent. 



"The Territory of Colorado," says Dr. Hay- 

 den, "comprises one of the most Interacting 

 areas on the continent, both in a geological 

 and a geographical point of view. It forms 

 the centre of greatest elevation in the Rocky 

 Mountain chain. In Central Colorado, the 

 chain proper is about 120 miles broad, made 

 up of three lofty parallel ranu'cs running near- 

 ly north-northwest, flanked on the west by 

 great plateaus nd groups of peaks. Between 

 the ranges lie the crest elevated basins known 

 as ' the Parks.' The Front or Colorado_range, 

 which rises abruptly from the plains, i- 

 from Denver in a grand panorama 140 miles 

 long. From its snowy, serrated crest rise, 

 many peaks between 12,000 and 18,000 bet 

 hleh, nnd six that reach above 14,000 feet. 

 The latter are Long's, Gray's, and Pike's Peaks, 



