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THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



BIG MOUNTAIN 



Pike's Peak's is Now Easily Accessible for a , 



Pike's Peak, that wonderful monument that 

 marks a strange and long hidden history was dis- 

 covered November 13th, 1806, when Major Zebu- 

 Ion M. Pike, a gallant soldier and daring adven- 

 turer, then heading a small exploring party of 

 United States soldiers, sighted the mountain's 

 whitened crest when many miles distant upon the 

 plains. After a painful journey of ten days and 

 after many vigorous attempts to scale its heights, 

 Pike abandoned the project with the declaration 

 that "no human being could ascend to its pin- 

 nacle." 



At that time and to this bold adventurer used 

 to extraordinary achievements and hardships, the 

 feat seemed, indeed, impossible, but modern in- 

 genuity of man quickly solved the problem and 

 today the ascent from the beautiful little city of 

 Manitou, at its base, to the very top of the moun- 

 tain, is made in perfect comfort and safety within 

 one and one-half hours. 



For many years the ascent was made by vis- 

 itors in coaches drawn by strings of hardy mules, 

 a rough, jolting and uncomfortable journey, at- 

 tended with some dangers. Now, the Cog 

 Wbeel Railroad, a marvel of mechanical ingenu- 

 ity, bears on its smooth rails modern coaches 

 from base to summit, and back again, making a 

 pleasant half day's journey, with ample time 

 for tourists to observe every marvelous scene of 

 beauty and interest which this mountain affords. 



Quaint beauties, grotesque shapes and 

 strange illusions fairly crowd the way. The 

 climb is unceasing. As the train ascends the 

 scene expands. The hills shrink back and leave 

 the big, bleak peak a towering monument. At 

 the timber line the trees desert the landscape and 

 only groups of stunted aspens shiver in the 

 breeze. Grand vistas open everywhere and a 

 sense of awe transcends that of delight. 



There are six stations on the line besides *..^ 

 terminals, and at each of the stations the train makes brief 

 stops. In the early season snow is everywhere, and forms 

 some strange effects. The opening of the road in the spring 

 involves cutting through enormous depths of snow and ice. 

 The summit of Pike's Peak is 14,147 feet above the sea and 



the 





Summit of Pike's Peak. 



from this vantage point the grandest scenery in America 

 or in the world spreads out in a mighty panorama for the 

 view of the beholder. There are higher peaks of mountains 



in this country, but there is no accessible elevation on earth 

 that affords so an extended a range of vision, or a view so 

 varied and inspiring as that from the summit of Pike's Peak. 



The reason is simple. All other high mountains are in 

 the midst of mountain chains and naturally the view from 

 their summits are uninterruptedly mountainous and the 

 ranges of vision very much restricted by the surrounding 

 heights. Standing isolated at the very extremity of a grand 

 spur of the Rocky Mountains, Pike's Peak possesses a mag- 

 nificent view of miles upon miles. 



A proper description of these wonderful scenes in cold 

 type is so futile that it will not be attempted. The picture 

 herewith will give some faint conception of its beauty and 

 grandeur. 



The top of the peak comprises several level acres thickly 

 strewn with big rocks, and one might easily imagine it to be 

 the scene of some Titanic building project the materials all 

 assembled but construction abandoned. 



Upon the top of the new Summit Hotel is a steel tower 

 and powerful field glasses are provided through which the 

 gorgeous landscape spread out below may be studied in detail. 

 Denver, eighty miles to the north can easily be recognized, 

 and Pueblo to the south; Cripple Creek, Victor, Goldfield, 

 and lesser towns of this great mining district, to the west. 

 At the base of the mountain Manitou and Colorado Springs 

 lie spread out like a vast checkerboard. snarkliiiK in the sun 

 on the border of the plain. Colorado Springs is fourteen 

 miles distant in a perfectly straight line and yet so near 

 does the e'ass bring it to the observer that signs on the stores 

 mny be read. 



Few persons, comparatively, know the sensation of look- 

 ing from a mountain top over thousands of miles of the 

 earth's surface. The sensation affords an indelible recollec- 

 tion ; one of trie cherished experiences of a lifetime. 



The Pike's Peak railroad presents to many thousands an 



Sumrai 



