426 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



Scenic Beauty of Colorado 



After the Eighteenth National Irrigation Congress 

 is Over Delegates Will Have an Oppor- 

 tunity to Enjoy It. 



By RALPH H. FAXON. 



AWAY back in the isixties, just as the old Kansas 

 Pacific, now a part of the Union Pacific railroad, was 

 being pushed westward from Kansas City to Denver, 

 Bayard Taylor, in writing up Colorado, first made use of 

 the expression, "It is the Switzerland of America." 



Theodore Roosevelt has called it "ThePlayground of 

 America." 



Seldom have delegates to a National Irrigation con- 

 gress or the visitors who generally compose the attend- 



Canon City, the first step is entrancing. The upper waters 

 of the Rio Grande rivr and the almost equally famous 

 San Luis valley furnish a most pleasing experience, and to 

 the east Sierra Blanca lifts itself 300 feet higher than 

 Pike's Peak, always snow-capped, and standing like a 

 sentinel at the entrance to this wonderfully fertile section 

 in southern Colorado. 



To the north of Pueblo the more traveled paths lead 

 to Colorado Springs, Pike's Peak, the splendid short line 

 to Cripple Creek, Manitou, with its famous waters, nest 

 ling at the foot of Pike's Peak, and the Garden of the 

 Gods, now a part of the Colorado Springs park system 

 hard by. 



Still further north comes the beautiful city of moun- 

 tain and plain, Denver, from whence the wonderful Moffat 

 road trips and the Georgetown Loop may be taken with 

 pleasure and profit, and still further northward is Long's 

 Peak, one of the trio of lofty sentinels that guard the way 

 along the Continental Divide. The beautiful town of 

 Boulder, and innumerable other retreats, large and small, 

 are to the north of Denver, and furnish opportunity for the 



The New Congress Hotel, Pueblo. Colorado. 



ance at such sessions, had an opportunity for mingling 

 pleasure with profit to such a nice extent as they will have 

 when the eighteenth National Irrigation Congress shall 

 have passed into history on September 30, 1910, and they 

 set about to determine what next they shall do before 

 leaving for their homes. 



Still better opportunity, perhaps, is presented to those 



greatest possible enjoyment. 



The Western Slope is replete with revelation and 

 beauty. It is almost as satisfying to see an acre of apple 

 orchard that is worth from four to five thousand dollars 

 as it is to see the Palisades and the beautiful formations 

 in the Grand River valley along the scenic route that 

 traverses it. 







The Pueblo Central High School. 



from the far East or from the South, unacquainted largely 

 with the possibilities of Colorado, to go to that state late 

 in August or early in September and enjoy these advan- 

 tages before the opening day of the congress on Septem- 

 ber 26. 



From the entrance into Colorado and the journey up 

 the famous Arkansas Valley to the congress city and 

 thence to the wonderful Royal Gorge of the Arkansas, at 



There are two particularly splendid trips that may be 

 taken out of Colorado Springs that are worth the while 

 of any idling tourist or busy man with but a few hours 

 at his command. One of these is "Pike's Peak by Rail." 

 This is over the "Cog-wheel Route," a feat of engineer- 

 ing that permits a specially-constructed Baldwin engine 

 to haul a large car filled with people up grades of very 

 high percentage with perfect safety to a view that is 



