TOPOGRAPHICAL REPORT. 



I. COLORADO. 



OUR work in Colorado was almost entirely hypsometric ; 

 but as we rode a great many miles on horseback through the 

 most beautiful and picturesque parts of that State, and in 

 that way obtained an idea of the topography of the country 

 through which our road lay, we shall give some account of 

 it. We were materially aided in this by the Government 

 reports of Dr. Hayden, which have left very little to be done 

 in that region in any of the departments of scientific investi- 

 gation. In this report, the plan of which has been to gather 

 together all the information possible on each of the special 

 points of interest that we visited, we shall aim to do little 

 more than glance at those features which were observed by 

 us, and therefore our description may seem as hurried as our 

 trip necessarily was. The pictures we have inserted will 

 almost explain themselves ; but a few words will sometimes 

 be quite proper to guide those who have never seen the places 

 referred to. The description will follow the course of our 

 trip, and on this account may seem somewhat disjointed ; 

 but our excuse is that there was no other course left open 

 for us ; any one, therefore, who expects a complete topo- 

 graphic report of this part of our work will be disappointed. 

 All we can hope is to give such information on the moun- 

 tains we measured and the places we visited as might be in- 

 structive to any one interested in the subject. With these 

 few words of introduction we will proceed first to the de- 

 scription of the Front Range as seen from Denver, and then 

 to a nearer view of its structure and of that of the land to 

 which it forms a border. 



As one approaches the Rocky Mountains from the prairies, 

 the Front Range is the first object which greets the eyes ; 

 and it is rather a pleasant sight after the long journey over 



