38 



GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERIST Ul^ITED STATES 



The capital of Wyoming, Clieyemie (see shoet 9, p. 50), is 516 miles 

 west of Omaha and nearly a mile higher. It is rich in mcnnories of 



''Wild West/^ memories wliich its inhabitants 



the 



Cheyenne. 



Elevation 6,058 feet 

 Population 11,320. 

 Omaha 51t> miles. 



delight in perpetuating^ for every year they hold one 



of the most picturesque gatherings in the country, 

 known as ^'Frontier Days Celebration/' at which 



Indians, cowboys, and plainsmen from aU parts of 

 the West, from Canada to Texas, gather for ^'broncho busting," 

 steer tying, Indian dances, and the exhibition of aU the unique and 

 characteristic features of frontier life. And here gather from far and 

 near spectators to see these performances. 



Fort Russell, one of the larger Ai*my posts^ may be seen to the right, 

 north of the railroad, as the train leaves Cheyenne. The city is sup- 

 plied witli water from reservoirs fed by springs that issue from the 

 granite of the Laramie Mountains in Crow Creek canyon. Three 

 miles cast of the city the Union Pacific crosses the Chicago, Burling- 

 ton & Quincy Railroad, and a mile west of it the train passes under the 

 tracks of the Colorado & Southern. A little farther west, at Corlett, 

 a branch turns south from the main hne, running to Denver, .where 

 the westbound traveler can connect with the Denver & Rio Grande 

 Railroad.^ 



mam 



Laramie 



by the Arikaree beds, which extend far up 

 ^dountains, where they abut against the foothills of the older sedi- 

 mentary rocks or overlap the eroded edges of these rocks and the still 

 olih^r granite. (See fig. 7, p. 42,) The Arikaree and the underlying 

 deposits were here probably tilted to some extent after deposition, but 

 the large bowlders contained in them prove that the streams had a 

 steep descent and were swift and powerful. The character of the 

 Arikaree may be seen in the numerous cuts along the railroad and in 

 the bordering bluflps of the valley &, which are plainly visible to the 

 right, north of the incline. In these bluffs 



may 



group 



Brule 



to 



Wl 



and the Chadron fonnation — which contain 



fossil bones of Ohgocene animals." The Brule clay may be distin- 



guishe 



^ The bmiicli from "Cheyenne to Denver '■ smaller streams are diverted for irrigation, 



runs parallel with the Front Range of | and from it great quantities of potatoes, 



the Rocky Mountains, but at so great a : beet sugar, canned fruits, vegetables, and 



distance that these mountains do not ■ farm and dairy products are shipped to 



appear particularly impressive. It payees market. 



through a prosperous agricultural district 

 in wliioh are situated Eaton, Greeley, 

 Brighton, and other towns. In this dis- 

 trict the waters of the South Platte, the 

 Thompson, the Cache la Poudre, and other 



^ The Oligocene epoch seems to have 

 been one of relative quiescence com- 

 pared with the Eocene, which was char- 

 acterized by impressive volcanic activity 

 and by the building of great mountain 



