138 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 



of the fine buildings constructed of Colorado Yule marble is the new 

 Lincoln Memorial at Washington. At the town of Marble, near 

 these quarries, there is said to be the largest marble mill in this 

 eountr.y. 



At a point a short distance west of the station at Glenwood Springs 

 the Denver & Eio Grande Western Eailroad crosses Colorado River, 

 and here the mouth of Roaring Fork may be seen on the left. The 

 Ouray (Leadville) limestone, from which the hot sulphur springs 

 issue, may be seen extending to the right for about a mile to a point 

 where it passes into the hills and is lost to view. It is succeeded 

 by the soft shale and sandstone of the Weber formation. The Denver 

 & Rio Grande Western follows the right bank of the river. 



When the train has passed through the railroad yards and is mak- 

 ing a rather sharp curs^e around an eastward bend of the river, the 

 traveler may see Mount Sopris away off to the south (left), framed 

 by the canyon walls of Roaring Fork. Mount Sopris is one of the 

 high mountains in this part of Colorado, and it is one of the most 

 beautiful, because it is a single mass that towers far above the sur- 

 rounding country. 



The mountain side across the river has been gashed by rain and 

 frost, exposing the brick-red Triassic sandstone and shale. The 

 same red beds may be seen on the north side of the river, but be- 

 fore the train reaches them it must cross the maroon, white, and 

 green beds of the Maroon formation. These beds may be seen in the 

 low hills on the north (right) and also in places along the river, 

 where they have been exposed in the excavation made for the road. 

 The brick-red sandstones are the most resistant beds in this part 

 of the series, and the point where the river cuts across them i» 

 therefore marked by a canyon which, although not so rugged nor so 

 narrow as other canyons along Colorado River, has a richness and 

 brightness of color that is excelled by few. The base of the Triassic 

 beds is crossed near milepost 364, and the river here cuts nearly 

 through the formation before it turns to the right and follows the 

 strike of the rocks for several miles. At the sharp bend mentioned 

 above the top of the formation is not clearly marked. Usually 

 this formation contains rocks of no other color than brick-red. but 

 a short distance beyond the river there is a band of white sand- 

 stone nearly 100 feet thick and then about 300 feet more of a 

 brick-red color. As the brick-red color is generally regarded as the 

 distinguishing feature of this formation the line separating it from 

 the overlying Gunnison shale is drawn provisionally at the upper- 

 most bed that has the characteristic color. 



On the river bank opposite milepost 365, which is about half a 

 mile beyond the sharp bend mentioned above, is the tipple of the 

 South Canon Coal Co. The coal is not mined at this place, for the 



