DENVER & EIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 



23 



Littleton. 



Elevation 5,372 feet 

 Population 1.636. 

 Denver 10 miles. 



Littleton is the county seat of Arapahoe (a-rap'a-hoe) County, 

 so named from a tribe of Indians that formerly inhabited this part 

 of the country. It stands in the midst of a rich agri- 

 cultural district and has become popular as the 

 suburban home of many of Denver's business men. 

 Near Littleton are the W. F. Kendrick pheasantries, 

 which are said to be the largest game preserve in the 

 world. Here all kinds of wild fowl are raised, and golden pheasants 

 may be seen wandering by the roadside like chickens on an ordinary 

 farm. 



A short distance beyond Littleton the traveler may obtain a charm- 

 ing view on the right, across the broad, well-tilled valley of the 

 South Platte, studded with clumps of cottonwood trees, to the Front 

 Range, towering in the distance. Wolhurst, a fine country place 

 built by the late L^nited States Senator Edward Wolcott, is farther 

 along on the right, just beyond milepost 13. After the death of 

 Senator AVolcott the place was purchased by the noted mining man 

 the late Thomas F. Walsh. It is now occupied as a country home by 

 one of Denver's richest citizens. 



At the small station of Acequia the railroad crosses the High Line 

 Canal, one of those great irrigating ditches that are characteristic 

 of the semiarid regions, which takes water from the South Platte and 

 carries it far to the northeast, irrigating at least 100.000 acres of 

 land that would otherwise be arid and unprofitable. The railroad 

 follows the valley of South Platte River to a point a little beyond 

 milepost 15. where it leaves the main valley and turns to the south 

 (left) up Plum Creek. This creek also flows in a broad, flat valley, 

 and the traveler, unless he observes closely, may not realize that the 

 railroad has turned from the main valley into that of a tributary. 



Near milepost 15 the entrance to South Platte Canyon may be 

 seen in the mountain front, on the right. Here, in 1820, the explor- 

 ing expedition of Maj. Long first came to the mountains, although 

 it had traveled from the north for many miles in front of and nearly 



cost than abroad and thus to place 

 radiura within the reach of hospitals 

 throughout the country. 



The Bureau of Mines had already 

 rea'ched the conclusion that such a re- 

 duction in cost was possible, and an 

 agreement was reached by which the 

 bureau was to cooperate with the in- 

 stitute for the benefit of the people. 

 The institute leased claims in Paradox 

 Valley, in southwestern Colorado, and 

 the Bureau of Mines mined the ore 

 and shipped it to Denver for treatment 



by the bureau. The work has been 

 succes-sful, and the bureau has pat- 

 ented a process by which radium was 

 produced at a cost of about $40,000 

 per gram, or one-third its selling price. 

 This patent may be used free of charge 

 by anyone who cares to use it for the 

 benefit of the American people. 



All this valuable work has been 

 done in the unpretentious plant at 

 Denver. For further information the 

 reader is referred to Bureau of Mines 

 Bulletin 104. 



