COLORADO. 



129 



principal industrial pursuits are stock-raising, 

 farming, and mining. 



The pastoral area of Northern Colorado, east 

 of the mountains, is about 20,000 square miles, 

 and of Southern Colorado even greater. The 

 Platte, Arkansas, and tributaries, and the parks, 

 all afford splendid grazing-fields. 



Experience shows that cattle can be herded, 

 ia large droves, for $2 a head per year, and 

 horses for $4 per head. In the winter, sheep 

 need some protection, but cattle generally go 

 without shelter. One herder can take care of 

 300 cattle. 



The soil of Colorado is generally loam, very 

 friable, no hard sub- soil, surface soil one and a 

 half to four feet deep. All grains do well, ex- 

 cept in Northern Colorado, where the nights 

 are too cool for corn. Vegetables grow abun- 

 dantly and large. All shrubs, plants, and flowers 

 thrive. The most of fruits do well. The aver- 

 age yield of grain in the Territory is : wheat, 

 28 bushels per acre ; oats, 40 bushels ; potatoes, 

 150 bushels ; corn, 25 bushels ; and barley, 35 

 bushels. 



Irrigation is required in Colorado farming. 

 The expense on large tracts does not exceed 

 $1.00 per acre per year. There is an irriga- 

 tion law regulating the matter. There are 

 many canals and ditches owned by private 

 parties, who charge for the use of water $1.50 

 to $4.00 per cubic inch for the year. 



The minerals most extensively produced are 

 gold, silver, and coal. 



The principal gold and silver mines lie about 

 Central City, Black Hawk, and Nevada, in Gil- 

 pin County; Georgetown, Idaho, Argentine, 

 and Silver Plume, in Clear Creek County; Fair- 

 play and Mount Lincoln in Park County ; Cari- 

 bou, Gold Hill, Ward, in Boulder County ; head- 

 waters of the Cache a la Poudre, in Larimer ; 

 Breckinridge, Montezuma, and St. Johns, in 

 Summit ; Granite, and headwaters of the Ar- 

 kansas, in Lake ; Rosita and the Hardscrabble 

 region in Fremont ; Antelope Park in Hinsdale ; 

 VOL. xv. 9 A 



Summit District in Rio Grande. The yield in 

 1873 exceeded $4,000,000. 



The area of land known to be rich in coal de- 

 posits in Colorado is about 7,200 square miles, 

 lying in various parts of the Territory, on both 

 sides of the main range. There are twelve ex- 

 tensive coal-banks in operation in Northern 

 Colorado: St. Vrains, Erie, Baker, Davidson, 

 Barber, Marshall, Fullerton, Murphy, Mineral 

 Land Co., Johnson's, Eulner's, and Towsland ; 

 and three in Southern Colorado: Cafion, Tri- 

 nidad, and Conejos. 



The annual yield of coal is about 200,000 

 tons, value $775,000. The Erie and Cafion 

 banks are the most extensive in the Territory. 



The following is an analysis of the leading 

 banks : 



The exploration of the remarkable prehis- 

 toric ruins of Southern Colorado, glimpses of 

 which were obtained the preceding season, was 

 continued with great success during 1875. 

 They were traced down the cafions to the Col- 

 orado River in New Mexico, Utah, and Arizona, 

 and their connection established with the cliff- 

 cities of the Moquis of the latter Territory. 

 Hundreds of cave-dwellings, of curious archi- 

 tecture and many miles from water, were 

 found in the sides of the gorges, and the ruins 

 of extensive towns discovered in the adjacent 

 plains, indicating the former existence of a 

 people far more numerous and advanced in 

 the arts of civilization than their supposed de- 

 scendants of the present day. Of these ruins 

 many interesting sketches, plans, and photo- 

 graphs, were made ; and a valuable collection 

 of flint weapons, earthenware, and other spe- 

 cimens, was gathered. 



The scourge of grasshoppers visited the Ter- 

 ritory during the spring. But the effects of 

 their visit were not so destructive as was an- 

 ticipated. One writer thus describes their ap- 

 pearance : 



Ordinarily, the grasshoppers are not hatched out 

 of their eggs until the first of June. Before this pe- 

 riod the ground is so wet and .cold in consequence 

 of the spring rains that the insects are not hatched 

 out. This year we had no spring rains to speak of, 

 hence the ground was warm and dry, and the insects 

 appeared about the 25th of April. At this time the 

 wheat was just starting, and the insects ate it as fast 

 as it grew. Our wheat is sown in February and 

 March, and it is of a superior quality, better than the ' 

 winter wheat of the* Eastern States. If there had 

 been the usual spring rains it would have been at 

 least a foot high by the time the grasshoppers ap- 

 peared. 



Wheat that is starting is greatly injured "by being 

 irrigated, and usually it does not need irrigation. 

 If the soil is light the water quickly cuts gulches 

 which constantly deepen, and flooding the ground 

 all over is impossible, especially if the land inclines 

 any way. But after the grain has grown to some 



