DENVER & EIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. Il7 



products are silver, lead, and zinc. At the station at Eedcliff the 

 granite may be seen on the right, and above the granite towers a 

 great cliff of qiiartzite, making an imposing entrance to Eagle Eiver 

 canyon, which begins at this point and extends down the stream for 

 a distance of 4 miles. Overlying the quartzite, but hardly visible 

 from the station, is the outcrop of Leadville limestone, marked every- 

 where by mines and prospect pits. Above the limestone may be 

 seen here and there ledges of red rock belonging to the upper part 

 of the Carboniferous — the same formation that is so conspicuous 

 about Howard and Salida. 



After leaving the station at Kedcliff the traveler has just about 

 time to turn in his seat and see the mouth of Homestake Creek on 

 the south (left). Eagle Eiver once occupied this valley, as already 

 explained, but was turned out of its course by the glacier that came 

 down the creek valley from the high mountains on the south. The 

 glacier did not quite reach the site of the railway below Kedcliff, but 

 at the time of its greatest extension its front was only a few hun- 

 dred yards away. Below the mouth of this creek the railroad fol- 

 lows the river through Eagle Eiver canyon, which is not so deep 

 as many gorges cut by Arkansas Eiver on the other side of the Con- 

 tinental Divide, though for narrowness and picturesqueness it is 

 excelled by few. 



The stream, which has here become a river, tumbles down through 

 the narrow gorge, dashing its spray over the great boulders that 

 obstruct its pathway. The walls of the canyon rise in jagged pinna- 

 cles to a height of 400 or 500 feet and on the east are capped by 

 banded quartzite, the projecting points of which look like ruined 

 castles perched on the rocky walls. Mining has been carried on in 

 this canyon and on the surrounding mountain slopes for many years, 

 and the walls are honej^combed with old prospects and tunnels driven 

 in search of gold. The ores obtained in the limestone above the 

 canyon were lowered to the railroad on inclined tramways or aerial 

 cable lines, the remains of which may be seen along the east wall at 

 points where an unobstructed passageway could be obtained from 

 the head-house, which seems to have a precarious footing on the 

 rocky slope, down to the railroad. For some distance all the mines 

 seem to have been abandoned, but near milepost 296 the river swings 

 to the east and the sedimentary rocks, which dip in that direction, 

 are much lower than they are farther up the stream. Here there 

 are several large mines (see PI. L, B, p. 105), and the mining town 

 of Gilman has been built on a rocky point that projects into the 

 canyon from the east at a height of several hundred feet above rail- 

 road level. The mines are in the Leadville limestone, which lies 

 above the precipitous walls of quartzite and granite, and the traveler 

 80607°— 22 9 



