on t$t 



There are hundreds of ruins of the beaver's 

 engineering works. Countless dams and fillings 

 he has made. On the upper St. Vrain he still 

 maintains his picturesque rustic home. Most of 

 the present beaver homes are in high, secluded 

 places, some of them at an altitude of eleven 

 thousand feet. In midsummer, near most beaver 

 homes one finds columbines, fringed blue gen- 

 tians, orchids, and lupines blooming, while many 

 of the ponds are green and yellow with pond- 

 lilies. 



During years of rambling I have visited and 

 enjoyed all the celebrated parks of the Rockies, 

 but one, which shall be nameless, is to me the 

 loveliest of them all. The first view of it never 

 fails to arouse the dullest traveler. From the en- 

 trance one looks down upon an irregular depres- 

 sion, several miles in length, a small undulating 

 and beautiful mountain valley, framed in peaks 

 with purple forested sides and bristling snowy 

 grandeur. This valley is delightfully open, and 

 has a picturesque sprinkling of pines over it, 

 together with a few well-placed cliffs and crags. 

 Its swift, clear, and winding brooks are fringed 



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