20 GUIDEBOOK OF THE \^ESTERISr UNITED STATES. 



The reservoirs of the Denver waterworks, in which all sediment is 

 allowed to settle before the water is turned into the city mains, are 

 at Willard. The reservoirs are tastefully arranged and beautified 

 with flowers, so that they make a very pleasing appearance. After 

 passing the settling resen'oirs beds of red sandstone similar to those 

 which make so striking an appearance in the Garden of the Gods, 

 near Manitou, may be seen across the river, dipping away from the 

 mountains at an angle of about 70°. Most of the beds of rock on the 

 mountain front have similar dips, shoAving that at the time the 

 mountains were uplifted the beds of sedimentary rock were bent up 

 in a great fold, the upper part of which has been worn away, leav- 

 ing only the suggestion of the upfold in the steeply inclined beds. 

 Before the train reaches the mountains the great steel pipe that 

 carries the Denver city water may be seen at several places on the 

 right, where it spans the ra^anes on steel bridges. 



Just above Waterton the train enters the mountains by a canyon 

 cut in the hard granite. Here the city water main passes over the 

 railway and then plunges into a tunnel through a projecting spur. 

 A large flume carrying water for irrigation may also be seen on the 

 opposite side of the river, and it passes through the same spur that 

 is pierced by the water main. 



The canyon which the train is now following is narrow and tor- 

 tuous, and its walls are generally rough and precipitous. It extends 

 to the town of South Platte, at the junction of the two forks of the 

 river. The course of the city water main on the opposite side of the 

 stream may be followed by the white telephone poles up to the head 

 gate. The canyon above this place differs in width in different lo- 

 calities. In some places it has a flood plain, but in others (as shown 

 in PI. X) it is so narrow that there is room only for the narrow- 

 gage (3-foot) railroad beside the river, and this road has to curve as 

 sharply as the stream. 



The one feature that differentiates this canyon from others in the 

 mountain region is the great number of trees that dot the rocky 

 slopes on both its sides, but more particularly on the southern. The 

 soft verdure of the evergreen trees relieves the ruggedness and the 

 barrenness of the rocky walls, giving the canyon a picturesqueness 

 seldom seen in other canyons of this region. Pine and spruce are 

 the most common trees, but here and there stand groups of aspen, 

 with their ever-moving leaves, which in summer give a softness to 

 the slopes and in autumn add a blaze of glory to the somber canyon 

 walls. 



South Platte is at the junction of the South and North forks of 

 the river. South Fork, which is much the larger stream, drains 



