DENTER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 



113 



old narrow-gage track swung to the east, making a broad loop up 

 the East Fork of Eagle River, and then went northward to Pando, on 

 the level floor of the old lake basin, now called Eagle Park. This 

 grade is now utilized by the automobile road that in a general way 

 parallels the Denver & Rio Grande AVestern Railroad from Leadville 

 to Grand Junction. 



In the vicinity of Eagle Park the granite is overlain by sedimentary 

 bedded rocks that were laid down countless ages ago as sand on the 

 shore of a sea. Since that time they have been crushed in the move- 

 ments in the crust of the earth that have raised up the mountains. 

 They have been permeated by waters bearing silica in solution until 

 all the pores of the sandstone have been filled with silica or quartz 

 (quartz is a form of silica) and the rock has become a glassy white 

 quartzite. This rock crops out nearly parallel with the railroad and 

 dips from 10° to 20° E. It may be seen in the mountain side on the 

 left nearly 400 feet above the railroad, and its nearly horizontal beds 

 are on the opposite side of the valley about 150 feet above the creek. 

 This mountain side is really the eastern slope of the great Sawatch 

 uplift, or, as it is frequently called, the Holy Cross Mountains, 

 which lie west of the railroad. The mountain slope on the other side 



Canyon, and it is no uncommon sight 

 to see large herds of these animals near 

 the railroad. 



Before the white man came to the 

 mountains of the West game animals 

 of every kind were abundant in them. 

 Now, even in the national forests, 

 which are their natural habitat, there 

 are many areas in whicli they can not 

 be found. In many of these areas, 

 however, wild animals of many kinds 

 could no doubt be propagated and 

 made a source of revenue. The Forest 

 Service is restocking such areas by 

 shipping game animals to Colorado. In 

 shipping these animals care is taken 

 to send them to areas that afford both 

 .summer and winter pasturage. The 

 settlement of the valley lands of the 

 State has cut off wild animals from the 

 valleys, where there is only a liglit fall 

 of snow during the winter, and has 

 limited their range to the higher coun- 

 try. The larger game animals of this 

 country, however, must have winter 

 feeding grounds where the snow is com- 

 paratively light. Even the mountain 

 sheep, which during the summer in- 

 babit^xposed regions near timber line, 



migrate in winter to areas that have 

 exposures to the south and west, where 

 the sun and wind keep the grass free 

 from snow. 



Plate LI, A, shows a number of elk, 

 part of a herd of several hundred that 

 were shipped to Colorado by the Forest 

 Service and turned loose in the moun- 

 tain region. Recent reports show that 

 these animals are contented and are 

 increasing rapidly. 



When the State law was passed pro- 

 hibiting the killing of elk several herds 

 of native elk still remained in the 

 mountains. There are 2,000 or more in 

 the White River National Forest north 

 of Glenwood Springs, 50 on Williams 

 River in the Leadville National For- 

 est, 250 on the south fork of the Rio 

 rjrande in the Rio Grande National 

 Forest, 200 in the Gunnison National 

 Forest, and 80 in the Durango Na- 

 tional Forest. Mountain sheep are 

 plentiful near timber line and black- 

 tailed deer throughout the mountains. 

 Having so large a stock of wild ani- 

 mals to start with, Colorado can again 

 become one of the foremost " big 

 game " States of the West. 



