146 
When Battlement Mesa is first seen from the railroad, near Rifle, 
no hard rock can be discerned on its surface, but near the village of 
Rulison small streams that come down from the mesa have made sharp 
cuts through the terrace on the opposite side of the river and have de- 
posited at the foot of the terrace a great quantity of boulders in the 
form of alluvial cones. These boulders are composed of basalt, a dark 
rock that is very unlike any others which are seen in this vicinity. 
This basalt was once molten lava that was poured out over the even 
surface and now caps the mesa and protects its from erosion. Battle- 
GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 
the national forest and the valleys 
ing of stock. Such, in brief, is the 
character of the Sad that furnish 
pasturage for more than 43,000 cattle 
and horses every year. 
The natural Re aerse advantages of 
this part of Colorado attracted cattle- 
lations, 
had everything their own y, “run- 
ning” as a eattle and sheep a 
they wished, idly ove azing e 
others. 
of more live stock than the co 
could properly maintain, and during 
unfavorable seasons it produced severe 
losses, 
In those early days the market was 
Prices 
tween 1890 and 1892 several encoun- 
ters occurred in which at least one 
man was killed and thousands of sh 
use had become overgrazed, the range 
depleted, and the water-supply con- 
aminated and diminished. The strug- 
gle therefore took on a new phase—it 
became one for the control of range 
and water. Homesteads and water 
n up in such a way 
as to control large areas, some home- 
steaders aa enti aS many as 10 sec- 
tions oe grazing d 
After this struggle for supremacy 
as started and 
ot 
fe valley lands in and adjacent to 
the forest. For a time this new in- 
stry 
ed a 
eit industry in turn had its draw- 
backs, and now many of the orchards 
are being turned into fields of alfalfa. 
To dispose of this crop properly live 
stock is necessary, so ther eis now a 
revival of the cattle b ess. 
ince the Battlement reeset? For- 
stopped, and the forest 
se 
t Most 
— of all, the uvestacs busi- 
as been placed on a secure 
probable basis, and pias sie have 
ook upon the Forest Service 
as mit friend. 
One of the first considerations in the 
proper administration of a grazing for- 
