DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 117 
products are silver, lead, and zinc. At the station at Redcliff the 
granite may be seen on the right, and above the granite towers a 
great cliff of quartzite, making an imposing entrance to Eagle River 
canyon, which begins at this point and extends down the stream for 
a distance of 4 miles. Overlying the quartzite, but hardly visible 
from the station, is the outcrop of Leadville limestone, marked every- 
where by mines and prospect pits. Above the limestone may be 
seen here and there ledges of red rock belonging to the upper part 
of the Carboniferous—the same formation that is so conspicuous 
about Howard and Salida. 
After leaving the station at Redcliff the traveler has just about 
time to turn in his seat and see the mouth of Homestake Creek on 
the south (left). Eagle River once occupied this valley, as already 
explained, but was turned out of its course by the glacier that came 
down the creek valley from the high mountains on the south. The 
glacier did not quite reach the site of the railway below Redcliff, but 
at the time of its greatest extension its front was only a few hun- 
dred yards away. Below the mouth of this creek the railroad fol- 
lows the river through Eagle River canyon, which is not so deep 
as Many gorges cut by Arkansas River on the other side of the Con- 
tinental Divide, though for narrowness and picturesqueness it is 
excelled by few. 
The stream, which has here become a river, tumbles down through 
the narrow gorge, dashing its spray over the great boulders that 
obstruct its pathway. The walls of the canyon rise in jagged pinna- 
cles to a height of 400 or 500 feet and on the east are capped by 
banded quartzite, the projecting points of which look like ruined 
castles perched on the rocky walls. Mining has been carried on in 
this canyon and on the surrounding mountain slopes for many years, 
and the walls are honeycombed with old prospects and tunnels driven 
in search of gold. The ores obtained in the limestone above the 
canyon were lowered to the railroad on inclined tramways or aerial 
cable lines, the remains of which may be seen along the east wall at 
points where an unobstructed passageway could be obtained from 
the head-house, which seems to have a precarious footing on the 
tocky slope, down to the railroad. For some distance all the mines 
seem to have been abandoned, but near milepost 296 the river swings 
to the east and the sedimentary rocks, which dip in that direction, 
are much lower than they are farther up the stream. Here there 
are several large mines (see Pl. L, B, p. 105), and the mining town 
of Gilman has been built on a rocky point that projects into the 
canyon from the east at a height of several hundred feet above rail- 
road level. The mines are in the Leadville limestone, which lies 
above the precipitous walls of quartzite and granite, and the traveler 
$0607°—22-._.9 
