22 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
MAIN LINE OF RAILROAD FROM DENVER TO 
COLORADO SPRINGS. 
Soon after leaving the Union Station at Denver, on the main line 
of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad, the train crosses 
Cherry Creek near the place where Gen. Larimer built the first 
house, in 1858. As this creek heads out on the 
plains it is intermittent in its flow; in dry seasons 
a or no water runs in it at the surface, but when 
‘cloudbursts ” occur on its upper course a tremen- 
dous volume of water comes down, engulfing everything in its way. 
Such a catastrophe occurred in May, 1864, when great damage was 
done. Recently the channel of the creek, where it passes through 
the city, has been cemented, so as to prevent the loose sandy soil 
from washing away, and a boulevard bordered by trees has been 
constructed along it, giving its banks here the appearance of a park. 
The Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad traverses the manu- 
facturing part of Denver, and at Burnham, 2 miles out from the 
Denver. 
Elevation 5,19% feet. 
Population 256,491.8 
city, it passes the shops of the railroad system. About half a mile 
beyond the shops is the interesting though unpretentious laboratory 
building erected by the National Radium Institute for experimental 
work in cooperation with the United States Bureau of Mines to 
devise a cheaper method of extracting radium salts from the ores 
found in Colorado. This work has been accomplished, and the plant 
has now passed into the hands of a private company to continue the 
work of extracting radium.° 
A short distance farther along South Platte River may: be seen on 
the west (right), and the railroad runs up its valley for a distance of 
about 15 miles. The valley is well irrigated and contains many fine 
farms and country places. Loretto Academy stands out clear and 
distinct as one of the landmarks of the upland on the farther side 
of the river. Fort Logan, just beyond, is a regimental Army post 
established about 25 years ago. 
gures given for population [| erties of radium and secondarily to 
throughout this book are those of the | show that radium can be produced 
t tes census for 1920; for | here at a much lower cost than abroad. | 
places that were not incorporat When the institute was organized 
ven represent the population | radium was selling for as much as 
vate gain but for the purpose pri- 
marily of studying the curative prop- 
Radium Institute undertook to provide 
the ways and means for experimental 
work to determine whether or not the 
ores could be reduced at a smaller 
