836 BULLETIN UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SUEVEY. 



was, to strangers, its marvellous " monuments", and hearsay studded 

 the entire territory with such products of erosion. For a long time, 

 indeed, their horizontal distribution was essentially a mythical one, and 

 it is to Colorado's geological explorers mainly that we owe the first defi- 

 nite knowledge with regard thereto. To-day, all the localities are known, 

 many of the most prominent monuments have received names dictated 

 by tiie impulse of imagination, and of more than one thus favored spot 

 have minute detail-maps been prepared. In presenting the facts con- 

 nected with the case, we regret that all myth and much of the poesy must 

 rudely be dispelled, as the geologist, in his discussions, deals directly 

 with the questions involving " cause and effect". 



Monument Park is located a few miles south of north latitude 39^^, on 

 the eastern border of the Front Eange. In 1869, Dr, Hayden visited 

 the region, and referred the sandstones composing the monuments to the 

 Tertiary period.* He mentions their characteristics and the surprising 

 evidences. of erosion shown by them. All along Monument Creek, on 

 its western bank, these singular forms can be observed. At times they 

 appear ornamenting a steep rock wall, and again they stand isolated 

 among treees or in the grass. Following down Monument Creek, we 

 reach the Park. Passing through the Park, in a southerly direction, we 

 are led into the Garden of the Gods. As these two localities are but 

 a very short distance apart and show the same typical developments 

 produced by erosion, they shall here be discussed together. Usually the 

 monuments are found clustered in small groups, each of which presents 

 ix perfect picture in itself. Varying in size, in shades of color, and in 

 their surroundings, every group, though essentially a repetition of every 

 other one, offers new features to the observer. The weird form, unusual 

 to the eye, and the strange contrasting of colors, possess attractions that 

 ■cannot be resisted. Dr. Hayden very truly says : — " The whole region 

 would be a paradise for an artist." 



The form of these monuments is a characteristic one, and is found to 

 present but one main type throughout that entire section of country. 

 A more or less cylindrical or conical column rises vertically from its 

 surroundings, and sustains upon its top a tablet of greater diameter 

 than the upper portions of the supporting rock. Perhaps the most 

 appropriate comparison as to shape would be with a bottle. Usually 

 narrow at the immediate base, the shaft widens out a little higher up 

 until, analogous to the neck of the bottle, it grows narrow again. 

 Upon this neck rests the large mass of rock, apparently most delicately 

 poised. The shape of the "head" varies considerably. In one instance 

 it may be a perfectly flat tablet, resting squarely on the column, as if 

 placed there artificially, and again the neck may gradually widen, so as 

 to mediate a transition between the two portions. This latter is the 

 more frequent occurrence. A more or less corrugated surface combines 

 with the colors exhibited to produce the effect of prominent relief. Al- 



* Eep. U. S. Geol Surv., reprint, 1867 to 1869, p. 140. 



