DENVER & EIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 



27 



that was poured out as a thin sheet over the surface of the country, 

 after the Dawson arkose was deposited but before the coarse mate- 

 rials of the Castle Rock conoflomerate were spread over the plain. 



In following the valley of Plum. Creek from Sedalia to Castle 

 Rock the railroad swings far to the east of a direct line from Den- 

 ver to Colorado Springs. After passing Castle Rock it turns back 

 toward the mountains, its course being nearly due south to Palmer 

 Lake, and the prolongation of this course would lead almost directly 

 to Pikes Peak. This majestic mountain is too nearly straight ahead 

 to be visible at many points, but here and there as the train swings 

 around some of the numerous curves it may be seen in the distance 

 towering far above the surrounding summits. 



To those accustomed to the more humid regions of the East, with 

 their dense cover of vegetation, the open spaces of the West, the red 

 rocks, and the strong yellow light of the plains are here the most 

 striking features. The wonderful color effects of this region are 

 beautifully expressed by Helen Hunt Jackson, Colorado's most gifted 

 author : 



Colorado is a symphony in yellow and red. And as soon as I had said the 

 words, the colors and shapes in which I knew them seemed instantly to be 

 arranged in my thoughts ; places miles apart began to knit themselves to- 

 gether into a concerted and related succession ; spots and tints I had only 

 vaguely recognized became distinct and significant, each in its order and 

 force; and more and more as I looked from the plains to the mountains and 

 from the mountains to the plains, and stood in the great places crowded with 

 gay and fantastic rocks, all the time bearing in mind this phrase, it grew to 

 seem true and complete and inevitable. 



Mesas composed of white arkosic sandstone are seen on both sides 

 of the railroad, but one on the right, 2 or 3 miles beyond Castle Rock, 

 is the most prominent. This mesa, which is known as Dawson Butte, 

 furnished the geologic name of the formation — the Dawson arkose. 

 Just beyond milepost 37 there appears, seemingly from behind this 

 mesa but in reality far beyond it, a jagged mass of red granite, 

 which towers 1,000 feet above the general level of the Front Range 

 l^lateau. This rugged mountain, known as Devils Head, is utilized 

 by the Forest Service as a lookout station for the detection of forest 

 fires. (See PI. XV, 5, p. 31.) On its lonely summit is stationed, 

 throughout the summer, an observer whose duty it is to scan con- 

 tinually the surrounding mountain region for forest fires, and if he 

 discovers one to notify at once, by telephone, the superintendent of 

 the Pike National Forest, so that all the rangers can be called to- 

 gether to fight the fire. A more extended description of what the 

 Government is attempting to do for the conservation of the forests is 

 given below by Smith Riley, former district forester.^- 



" Colorado lies in the zone of slight 

 precipitation and hence of irrigation, 



and the supply of water for this pur- 

 pose comes from tlie mountains, where 



