72 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 



covery of petroleum in the county in 1872 helped the new town very 

 much, for thousands of gallons were collected and sold to the people 

 of other settlements. Since then its growth has been steady, for the 

 climate is agreeable, the region is well adapted to fruit raising, and 

 the town affords an outlet for the coal mines to the south. The 

 scenic features have heretofore been only slightly exploited but will 

 doubtless attract many visitors. 



The description of the scenery along the railroad west of Canon 

 City begins on page 73. 



ONE-DAY TRIP FROM CANON CITY TO THE TOP OF 

 THE ROYAL GORGE. 



The chief attraction in the vicinity of Canon City is the Royal 

 Gorge of the Arkansas. The traveler passing over the Denver & Rio 

 Grande Western Railroad in an open-top observation car has an 

 exceptional opportunity to see this gorge from the bottom, but won- 

 derful as this view may be, it does not compare in awe-inspiring 

 grandeur with the view of the gorge from above. To obtain this 

 view the traveler goes by automobile from Canon City a distance of 

 10 miles over one of the most picturesque drives in the country. 

 Several years ago a trolley line was graded nearly to the top, but 

 the enterprise fell through and at present automobiles or teams form 

 the only mode of conveyance. 



The road first climbs to the top of a steep hogback ridge formed 

 of the sharply tilted Dakota sandstone and then follows the crest of 

 this ridge for several miles. The top of the ridge is so narrow that 

 there is barely room for the road ; in fact, the road in many places 

 passes beneath great projecting ledges of the sandstone. (See 

 Pi. XXXV.) From this elevated position one can look down on 

 the town and on acres upon acres of orchards to the east and in the 

 other direction into the valley that separates the hogback from the 

 main mountain. The road finally crosses this valley, climbs grad- 

 ually to a high plateau, about 1,200 feet above the town, and sud- 

 denljT^ comes to the very brink of the Royal Gorge, as shown in Plate 

 XXXIV, A. When the traveler finally stands on the edge of this 

 mighty chasm (PL XXXIV, B) and gazes down more than a thou- 

 sand feet to the raging torrent that rushes through its shadowy 

 depths or to the thundering train that wakes the sleeping echoes from 

 all its cavernous recesses he can but feel that, though the Royal 

 Gorge may not be so deep nor display so great a variet}- of colors as 

 the Grand Canyon of the Colorado, it has a massiveness of wall and 

 a steepness and ruggedness that can not be matched even by that 

 " Titan of chasms." The canyon gives one the impression that 

 Arkansas River has here acted like a gigantic saw and that what 



