COLORADO 



11SG 



COLORADO 



of the area, ia a part of the central Great 

 Plains, and a continuation of the vast prairie 

 region. Rising gradually from an elevation of 

 3,000 feet or thereabouts at the eastern boun- 

 dary, it meets the foothills of the Rocky Moun- 

 tains at a height of about 6,000 feet. At places 

 the foothills rise very abruptly, and the pic- 

 turesque scenery begins here. To the west 

 tower the Rockies, range on range. In the 

 Front Ran:r. which forms the eastern ram- 

 parts of this great system, are the loftiest of 

 the Rocky Mountain summits, and the scenery 

 throughout the whole region is inexpressibly 

 beautiful. There are, it is estimated, in the 

 neighborhood of 300 peaks over 13,000 feet in 

 altitude within the state, and almost fifty over 

 14,000 feet. Pike's Peak, which ranks in alti- 

 tude twenty-fifth in the list of named peaks, 

 is by all means the most famous, because of its 

 accessibility, but Mount Elbert (14,421 feet) 

 and Mount Massive (14,424 feet), are the 

 highest. 



West of the Front Range is the Park Range, 

 named for the high valleys or "parks" which it 

 encloses. These are formed where some cross 

 range intersects a great valley, and some of 

 them are of considerable extent. San Luis, 

 South, Middle and North parks are at a height 

 of from 7,500 to 9,000 feet above sea level and 

 range in size from 2,200 to 8,000 square miles. 

 The largest of them, San Luis, is almost equal 

 in area to New Jersey or Massachusetts. Well- 

 watered and fertile, clothed with trees and 

 grass, these constitute valuable agricultural 

 regions. Some of the smaller parks are favorite 

 summer resorts, and with their rich green grass 

 and borders of towering, snow-crowned moun- 

 tains are unmatched for sublimity anywhere 

 else in the United States. Most famous of 

 them is the Garden of the Gods, with its 

 curious rock formations of red and white. 



The third division, to the west of the Great 

 Divide, is a high plateau, with mountain masses 

 rising from it. Barren through much of its 

 extent of vegetation, this region is yet ex- 

 tremely picturesque, for swiftly-flowing streams, 

 some still to be seen and some long vanished, 

 have carved it into canyons and mesas of 

 strange form and brilliant colors. 



Plants and Animals of the Mountain Region. 

 The mountains do not suffer as do the lowlands 

 from a dearth of trees. Most of them are 

 wooded well up toward the snow line with 

 pines and other cone-bearing trees, and the 

 lumber products of these high regions are of 

 considerable importance. But in many places 



it has been estimated that the trees are of more 

 benefit standing than in the form of lumber, 

 for since they grow all about the river-sources 

 they do much to protect the drainage basins. 

 The Federal government, therefore, has estab- 

 lished a number of forest reserves, and in those 

 sections lumber-cutting is permitted only under 

 strict supervision. 



Time was when the mountain region of 

 Colorado was the home of numerous wild ani- 

 mals, but to-day these are to be found only 

 in the more inaccessible spots. Bears, wolves, 

 mountain sheep and goats and wildcats still 

 range there, and in the streams the beavers 

 fashion their dams. These mountain streams 

 swarm with trout and are favorite resorts of 

 fishermen. 



The Rivers. The water area of Colorado is 

 about 300 square miles; there are no lakes of 

 any considerable size and practically all of this 

 area is in rivers. Among all the states in the 

 Union, Colorado stands first in the number of 

 rivers which rise within its borders. The 

 Arkansas, the North and South Platte, the Rio 

 Grande, the Grand, Gunnison and Green, and 

 other minor streams have their sources in 

 the mountain parks; some flow to the east 

 and others to the west. With the scenic won- 

 ders of this state the rivers have almost as 

 much to do as the mountains; for they do not 

 flow sluggishly over level plains, but leap down 

 the -mountain valleys, and in their age-long 

 travels have carved remarkable gorges. Among 

 these are the canyons of the Grand and the 

 Gunnison and the Royal Gorge, 3,000 feet deep, 

 through which the Arkansas finds its way from 

 its source 10,000 feet above sea level to the 

 plain country to the east. In the more level 

 parts of the state rivers of the other type are 

 to be seen. Thus the South Platte, which has 

 its source 11,000 feet above the sea, is in 

 Northeastern Colorado a broad, slow-moving 

 stream, fringed with the cottonwoods so char- 

 acteristic of that region. All the Colorado 

 rivers are useless for navigation; the mountain 

 streams are too precipitous in their courses, 

 and those of the plains are practically drained 

 for irrigation purposes (see Agriculture, below). 



Scenic Wonders. Though enough has been 

 said to indicate that Colorado has marvelous 

 scenic advantages, the fact will bear emphasis. 

 To the traveler who enters the state from the 

 east, the beauty is not at once evident. All 

 about him are treeless plains, covered with 

 the dusty, bedraggled sagebrush mile after 

 mile; but presently to the west the mountains, 



