DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN ROUTE. 



211 



cuts through others, and finally, at Cedar siding, approaches the 

 margin of the shale and at the same time attains the level of the 

 great terraces that were so conspicuous from points near Grassy 

 siding. When seen from their own level these terraces are very 

 extensive and appear like a vast flat plain. 



Cedar. 



Figure 56. — Terraces at head of Grassy Creek valley. 



In the vicinity of Cedar siding the lower part of the shale con- 

 tains many beds of sandstone and some conglomerate. This part of 

 the formation thickens considerably toward the south for 20 or 30 

 miles to a place where it contains several valuable 

 beds of coal and is known as the Ferron sandstone. 

 nlnTer 5°! mifef''*" ^^out a mile west of Cedar siding a sharp upward 

 bend of the rocks terminates the outcrop of the 

 shale and brings to the surface the Dakota sandstone and, underlying 

 it, the maroon and green beds of the McElmo. The railroad at this 

 point is on the bank of a creek called Sunnyside Wash, and it fol- 

 lows the valley of this stream to the north until near milepost 600 

 the railroad passes from the varicolored beds of the McElmo into a 

 broad, flat Aalley cut in the Mancos shale. 



On the right may be seen the branch line of the Denver & Rio 

 Grande Western that leads to Sunnyside, one of the largest coal 

 mines in the district and the only one that produces a merchantable 

 quality of coke.^^ Plate LXXXVI, B^ shows the coke ovens at vSun- 

 nyside. The two lines run nearly parallel for some 

 distance but finally unite at the station of Mounds. 

 (See sheet 9, p. 232.) To the casual traveler the 

 country over which he has been riding, as well as 

 that which he can see about Mounds, probably appears to be bar- 

 ren and valueless, but should he pass this way in sheep-shearing time 



Mounds. 



Elevation 5,442 feet 

 Denver 603 miles. 



"The following description of the 

 mines at Sunnyside is given by Frank 

 R. Clark, who has made a careful geo- 

 logic survey of the region : 



Coal has been rained at Sunnyside 

 since about 1900. The town, mine 

 tipple, and coke ovens are in the mouth 

 of Whitmore Canyon at the end of the 



