104 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
which shows the relative positions of the different peaks and their 
names. 
The scenery on the other side is dominated by the great bulk of 
Mount Massive and Mount Elbert. Plate XLVIII shows them as 
they appear from the vicinity of Leadville. Mount Massive (14,404 
feet) is on the right and Mount Elbert (14,420 feet), the highest 
mountain in Colorado, on the left. Mount Elbert may not appear 
so high as Pikes Peak, but the traveler must remember that he is 
looking at Mount Elbert from a much higher position than the one 
he occupied at Colorado Springs when looking at Pikes Peak, and 
that the summit of Mount Elbert is only 4,800 feet above him. 
Near Malta, the junction point for Leadville, the level marshy 
valley is more than 2 miles wide. On the east it is bordered by a 
terrace fully 150 feet high, which was formed by the trenching by 
the stream of an older flat-bottomed valley. At Malta some of the 
town of Leadville may be seen. By day the cloud of smoke from 
oe mines and smelters marks the location of the 
Malta. wn, and'by night the lights of the streets and 
ois Sed Cala a smelters may be seen 600 or 700 feet up the 
slope of the valley on the east (right). As some | 
trains of the main line run by way of Leadville, a brief description 
of this interesting mining camp will be given. The description 
of the country along the main line north of Malta begins on 
page 109. 
LEADVILLE LOOP. 
On leaving Malta for Leadville the railroad turns sharply to the 
east and winds about the gently rolling slopes of the valley side 
in order to get distance in which to make the ascent without climbing 
too steep a grade. At first the road winds up the slope among the 
pine trees, but farther on it comes out upon the edge of a terrace 
that overlooks a small ravine or “ gulch,” ** as all such features are 
called in this region, and the traveler may look down upon one of 
the smelters which is engaged in extracting valuable metal from 
the ore that is mined in the famous Carbonate Hill, a picture of 
which is shown in Plate XLIX. 
Leadville is one of the highest towns in the world, standing 10,200 
feet, or nearly 2 miles, above sea level. It is also one of the oldest 
towns of Colorado, dating back to 1860, the year in 
Leadville. which the site of Denver was first occupied by white 
Elevation 10,200 feet. men. In 1859 gold is said to have been discovered 
eee ein a Tittle guleh that enters the Arkansas Valley 
from the east at the site of Malta by a party of gold 
seekers on their way to California, who on that account called it Cali- 
“This ravine is California Gulch, in which gold was first discovered in this 
region in 1 
ee aera es 
