metamorpUic and granitic ranges to which the great parks of Colorado 

 belong, of which it is a diminutive representative in this southern 

 region. The valley is drained by the Moreno and Cienegilla Creeks, which 

 unite to form the Cimarron at the portal of the upper cailon, where it 

 breaks through the eastern rim of the valley a little to the north of its 

 middle, at which j^oint it has an altitude of about 8,100 feet. To the 

 south, far up the course of the Cienegilla, a broad vega, or meadowrinter- 

 vale, extends; but to the north, along the Moreno Creek, the bottom-land 

 rapidly narrows, and before reaching Elizabethtown, seven miles above 

 its confluence, the stream is confined within a narrow valley between 

 the slopes reaching down from Great Baldy and an outlying rocky hill 

 on the west side. Above the town, the upper course of the stream is 

 bordered by beautiful undulating pasture-lands, surrounded by an amphi- 

 theater of low wooded hills, which culminate in Great Baldy, four miles 

 to the eastward, whose bare rounded dome looks down from a height of 

 3,500 feet upon the town, or 12,100 feet above the sea. 



Throughout the main valley, more or less distinct terrace-levels grad- 

 ually rise into the surrounding hills, forming broad, grassy benches, cut 

 at intervals by the little affluents which descend to join the main 

 streams. These benches are apparently made up of drift- material de- 

 rived from the neighboring mountains, whose flanks are buried beneath 

 a vast accumulation of debris, forming in localities high, rounded foot- 

 hills flanking the mountains, and which are grassed over, with liere 

 and there groves of pine standing upon some outlying rocky point. The 

 wide intervale which occupies so considerable a portion of the valley 

 immediately adjacent the principal streams is furnished with a rich, 

 dark, loamy soil, which produces an abundance of wild hay and bounti- 

 ful harvests of all the hardier cultivated crops. The snows which fall 

 during winter, and the copious showers occurring during the rainy 

 season, which latter sets in the latter part of May, afford ample mois- 

 ture. The autumn mouths, and indeed far into winter, are dry and 

 incomparably pleasant. Even the winter and early spring, with their 

 occasional severe snow-storms, are generally open, so that cattle gain 

 their own subsistence the greater portion of the season. 



Limited areas in the lower portions of the bottom-lands are wet and 

 boggy early in the season, and here is occasionally observed a white 

 efflorescence, similar to that occurring in the plains. Peaty deposits 

 are also met with in the adjacent slopes, or wherever springs issue. A 

 notable instance of such a formation may be seen at Mr. Pascoe's, near 

 the entrance of the Cimarron Carton. The subsoil, however, throughout 

 the lower level consists of the finer materials of the drift, which have 

 accumulated in the bed of the ancient lake which once, occupied the 

 entire valley. As we approach the heads of the valley, as also its border- 

 slopes, the drift increases in coarseness, where its character has been 

 partial!}'- exposed to view in the operations of placer-mining. 



There would appear to be little doubt but that a vast quantity of the 

 loose materials which were swept down into the basin from the neigh- 

 boring heights during the Glacial epoch have been subsequently drawn 

 off in the drainage effected through the Cimarron Caiiou, in the mouth 

 of which they were redeposited upon the old lacustral benches bordering 

 the Canadian basin, and iu the terraces fashioned by tlie waters of the 

 Cimarron itself. But of the deposits observed to-day, it is difficult often 

 to decide how much is due to the ancient and the extent of subsequent 

 modifying agencies, continued eveu to the present time, iu building up 

 and adding to the superficial deposits, especially those accumulations 

 occurring along the sides of the valley. In the rather high bench on 



