COLORADO. 



125 



mountains rising to an altitude of 14,000 feet. At 

 i'itv, where it leaves the mountain region, its 

 l.c.l luus descended to an altitude of 4,400 feet. It* 

 iipjMT course is in a narrow valley, lying, exoepl at. its 

 lower extremity, at too great an altitude for cultiva- 

 tion, its lowerooune is through close canons, having 

 walls sometimes rising nearly 3,000 feet above the wa- 

 ter's cdire. Tin 1 whole mountain region is one of great 

 precipitation, and is the principal, almost the only, 

 source of the v. at IT which the river bears to the plains. 



The area of forest growth containing merchantable, 

 timber or that fit for lumber is found entirely within 

 the mountain region, and occurs in bodies of consider- 

 able extent on the slopes of all the higher range. 

 The.-e areas have all been carefully noted, and com- 

 prise about 25 per cent, of the whole. The forest 

 growth is principally of pines and spruces, not eoyer- 

 iiiir the ground densely, as in a more humid region, 

 but scattered. Considerable areas of forest growth, 

 largely composed of cedar and pinon pine, and avail- 

 able only for pine wood, fencing, and other farming 

 purposes, occur throughout the mountain region, 

 usually at lower altitudes than the merchantable 

 timber, and extend partly over the area embraced by 

 tlie Pueblo, Walsenbtnv, and El Moro sheets. About 

 _'" p.-r cent, of the area is thus covered. The imme- 

 diate valleys of the streams in both mountain and 

 plain areas' often have a scattered growth of cotton- 

 woods. 



< >ne hundred and ten possible reservoir sites are 

 reported by the topographers of this division. Six of 

 them are existing lakes. 



In area- these reservoirs range from forty acres to 

 several square miles, and are situated at elevations 

 varying from 4..">i><> to 11,000 feet. They are usually 

 situated in the valleys of the streams by which thev 

 would be tilled, and would be formed by dams built 

 at eligible locations across the channels. 



Quite a number of cases are reported where set- 

 tling reservoirs might be first constructed and the 

 waters conducted to other reservoirs having smaller 

 drainage area, and where the danger of silting up 

 would ~b& less. 



Few reservoirs have been constructed throughout 

 this region, the waters of the streams used for irriga- 

 tion having simply been turned from their channels 

 by diverting dams. 



In the plains regions quite a number of sites have 

 been reported which would be filled by storm waters 

 only. 



classifyirtg these reservoir sites by the drainage 

 basins in which they are situated, and counting all 

 the small creeks having but one site each and flow- 

 ing direetlv into the Arkansas, and also reservoirs 

 which would be filled by canals from the Arkansas, 

 as (.(' the Arkansas drainage, there are : 



South 1'latte basin, 4; Grand River basin, 2; Ar- 

 kansas basin, 39; Fountain basin, 2; St. Charles 

 basin,.'!; Jluerfano basin, 6 ; Sangre de Cristo basin, 

 2; ( 'iichara basin, 3; Greenhorn basin, 3; Purgatoire 

 basin, 28; Apishapa basin, 9 ; filled by storm waters. 

 !' : makinir a total of 1 lo. 



No considerable bodies of lands susceptible of 



>ui ssful cultivation were noted in the mountain 



rt'trion except in the immediate neighborhood of 

 streams in the lower portion of the Arkansas basin. 



In the plains area large txxlies are reported, the 

 amount being far in excess of the water supply. 



Railroads. The figures of the State Bureau 

 of Labor Statistics give the number of miles of 

 railway, including projected lines partly finished, 

 at 4.546*61, and the assessed valuation at $30,- 

 035,215.64. The number of persons employed 

 in railway service is 13,252. and the annual 

 amount of wages paid $10,528.869.61. Clerical 

 labor is the poorest paid branch of the railway 

 sorviee. The cause of this state of affairs is duo 

 to a surplus of young men seeking office work, 

 particularly those from the East, who come to 



Colorado to benefit their health, and offer their 

 services at low figures. A tour of inquiry re- 

 vealed the fart that there is a total of 5.177 ap- 

 plications for places on file in all railroad offices 

 combined at Denver. Pueblo, Trinidad, Lead- 

 villo, and Colorado Springs. 



The annual report of the Denver and Rio 

 Grande for the year ending June 30, 1892, shows 

 net earnings of "$3,709,353.20, an excess of $ 3(8.- 

 736.32 over those of the previous year. During 

 the year the Del Norte branch was extended 

 nearly 10 miles, to Creede, at a cost of about 

 $87,000. For this purpose the Rio Grande Gun- 

 nison Railroad Company was incorporated in the 

 interest of the Denver and Rio Grande, and 

 its 6-per-cent. bond was taken by the company 

 at 87. 



The completion last December of the Rio 

 Grande Southern Railroad between Durango 

 and Ridgeway (a station on the Ouray branch), a 

 distance of 162 miles, with its branch to Tellu- 

 ride, 10 miles, has afforded direct communica- 

 tion by rail with productive portions of south- 

 western Colorado, heretofore inaccessible except 

 by trail and wagon road. 



The current resources, June 30, 1892, were $3,- 

 163,355.96. The current liabilities were $2.719,- 

 422.35, showing an increase in the current re- 

 sources of $443.933.61. 



The principal freight sources of revenue were 

 precious ore, $1,375,509.62; merchandise, $1,- 

 363.586.57; bituminous coal, $1,068,920.91. 



A company has been incorporated for building 

 a road from Trinidad to El Paso, Texas. 



Education. At the close of the school year 

 in 1891 the school population was IC'.O'Jd. 

 which included nil children between the ages of 

 six and twenty-one. Of this number, 73.391. or 

 72-9 per cent, of the population, were enrolled. 

 Eighty-six and six-tenths per cent, of the popu- 

 lation under sixteen were enrolled. The total 

 number of teachers in the State was 2,534. There 

 were 1.285 schoolhouses. valued at $5,079.770. 

 Wages paid to teachers were $894,409.64. There 

 were 2,112 pupils in high schools. 



The School of Mines is at Golden. 16 miles 

 from Denver on the lines of two railroads. It 

 is devoted, to instruction in applied sciences. 

 There are four courses civil engineering, min- 

 ing engineering, metallurgy, and electric engi- 

 neering of four years each, besides providing for 

 several special co'urses. The institution is beau- 

 tifully housed, and is in charge of a president 

 and eight members of the faculty. A museum 

 and gymnasium are connected with the school. 

 In 1S90 there were 68 students in attendance. 

 The State has spent $300.000 on the school, and 

 appropriates $35,000 yearly for its maintenance. 



During the year three new departments have 

 been added to the university at Boulder medi- 

 cal, law. and divinity schools. These will all lie 

 at Boulder, except the second and third years of 

 the medical school, which circumstances re- 

 quire to be in Denver. Nineteen physicians 

 compose the faculty of the medical school, while 

 the faculty of the 'law school is made up of 13 

 instructors. Both are under tho superintend- 

 ence of the president of tho university. The di- 

 vinity school is designed to be strictly unsec- 

 tarian, and is supported by subscription from the 

 churches of the State in general. 



