22 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



IN THE REGION OF THE 

 ROCKIES. 



nPO adequately portray the scenery, re- 

 JL sources, climate and possibilities of 

 Colorado would be an impossible task for 

 any one person. A few of the more prom- 

 inent points only will be touched upon 

 here. 



Colorado is situated between latitude 

 37 and 41 north, and longitude 102 

 and 109 west. It is bounded on the 

 north by Wyoming and Nebraska, on the 

 east by Nebraska and Kansas, on the 

 south by Indian Territory and New Mexico, 

 and on the west by Utah. The state has 

 an area of 104.500 square miles, and is di- 

 vided into forty- two counties: Its average 

 length, east and west, is 380 miles, and its 

 breadth, north and south, 280 miles. That 

 their readers might realize in some degree 

 the vast extent of this area, it has been 

 frequently stated by writers in descriptive 

 accounts of Colorado that it is larger than 

 all the New England States combined, 

 with the State of Ohio added; it is larger 

 than the four Middle States, and larger 

 than England, Scotland and Wales com- 

 bined. 



Colorado has two natural divisions 

 mountains and plains. To the mountains 

 belong the foothills and the system of 

 great natural parks North, South and 

 Middle Park. The broad mesas and ex- 

 tensive valleys of the western slope are also 

 included in the mountain division. Over 

 one-third of the eastern part of the state 

 is plains, the western portion containing 

 an area of 230x280 square miles, being 

 principally mountainous. 



The plains are generally level and arid 

 broken only by the depressions which 

 form the natural drainage of this vast ex- 

 panse of treeless land. These become 

 actual and sometimes exceedingly vigorous 

 water courses in rainy seasons and they 

 are dignified with the names of creeks and 

 rivers. 



Starting from tbe foothill in El Paso 

 County and running through El Paso and 



a portion of Bent County eastward to the 

 Kansas state line is a range of hills known 

 as the "Divide." It serves the purpose of 

 dividing the eastern, or plains portion, of 

 the state in the center It is partly cov- 

 ered with valuable timber and comprises 

 rich agricultural lands. From the summit 

 of this range the waters flow northward 

 toward the Platte river and on the south 

 toward the Arkansas; the summit of this 

 Divide is about half way between Denver 

 and Colorado Springs. 



To the mountains belong physical feat- 

 ures of varied and peculiar interest. The 

 Continental Range crosses the state nearly 

 north and south, near its center. Here 

 the Rocky Mountains attain their greatest 

 elevation 200 peaks nearly 13,000 feet 

 high, and about twenty-five peaks from 

 14,000 to 14,400 feet high being visible 

 from Mount Lincoln. Between latitudes 

 30 30' and 40 30', which is nearly the 

 central portion of the state, the chain is 

 about one hundred and twenty miles broad, 

 consisting of three parallel ranges running 

 nearly north-northwest. The east one, 

 called the Front, or Colorado Range, as 

 seen from Denver, appears to rise abrupt- 

 ly from the plains, stretching with snow- 

 clad summits from Pike's Peak on the 

 south to a group twenty miles north of 

 Long's Peak, a distance of 120 miles. Six 

 of its peaks Long's Peak, Mount Torrey. 

 Gray's Peak, Mount Rosalie, Mount Evans 

 and Pike's Peak are from 14,000 to 14,340 

 feet high, the latter altitude belonging to 

 Mount Rosalie. 



CLIMATE AND HEALTH. 



The superiority of Colorado climate for 

 all lung diseases has long been recognized 

 in the scientific world, and the state has 

 become the Mecca of consumptives. In 

 all countries, high altitudes and dry at- 

 mosphere are the healthy places for resi- 

 dences. The purity and peculiar quali- 

 ties of the atmosphere is the main reason 

 ascribed. One important reason is the 

 increase of the breathing capacity by the 

 rarefied air, the expansion of the chest, 

 and the power of the muscles used in res- 



