200 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TEREITOKIES. 



on the divide, and on either side, very good crystals of smokj^ quartz 

 are found. Crossing the divide, we find ourselves on the branches of 

 Monument Creek. On this side, the overlying sandstones have been 

 subjected to less erosure than on the north side, and with the ex- 

 ception of a few indistinct outcrops of the red-beds a short distance 

 south of the divide, the underlying formations are concealed until we 

 get within a few miles of Colorado City. Between the branches of Mon- 

 ument Creek on the western side we have sloping from the mountains 

 eastward long grassy terraces. Monument Creek flows in a southerly 

 direction, and the general slope of the country from the divide is south- 

 ward. As we go down the creek the sandstones of the Monument Creek 

 group rise like long lines of fortifications and castle- walls on the eastern 

 side. On the western side also we have remnants left. There are, just 

 south of Beaver Creek, several monument-like forms that are perfectly 

 isolated. The terraces here are about 96 feet above the level of the creek. 

 This height is near the mouth of Deadman's Creek, the first creek south 

 of Beaver Creek. As we go toward the mountain, of course the eleva- 

 tion increases. Thus at the point given above the elevation is 6,592 

 feet above sea-level. On West Monument Creek, three miles farther 

 south, and about two and a half miles west of the previous station, the 

 elevation is 7,014 feet. In Monument Park we find the sandstones 

 curiously eroded, so that there are monuments and pillars scattered 

 throughout its extent, from which fact it derives its name. The follow- 

 ing description is mainly from the notes of Mr. Taggart : The park lies 

 south of West Monument Creek, and is an elliptical basin, about two 

 miles in length from east to west, and three-quarters of a mile in width 

 north and south. It extends from Monument Creek westward, where it 

 is bounded by the ridge of sandstone (Cretaceous No. 1) which forms 

 the main hog-back. The columns and monuments are found in two 

 ridges that run lengthwise through the park. These monuments are 

 from 12 to 25 feet in height, and are composed of sandstones of the 

 Monument Creek group. The lower third of the exposed rock is fine- 

 grained, containing argillaceous layers, and also carbonaceous shales. 

 Above, the«6andstone is very coarse, becoming almost conglomeritic. It 

 is from the breaking down of these layers that the local drift, found 

 along the edge of mountains, is derived. The capping of the monu- 

 ments is a dark ferruginous sandstone conglomerate, very hard, the 

 sand and ijebbles being cemented by iron. This lay<^r is about 12 inches 

 thick, and being so much harder than the underlying sandstone, has 

 been more successful in withstanding the eroding influences, and in some 

 places we see it extending continuously over a number of the columns. 

 West of Monument Park, and forming its boundary in that direction, 

 we find the massive sandstone of No. 1 dipping under the Monument 

 Creek group. From this point southward to a point below Colorado City 

 we have this sandstone and the underlying strata well shown. The 

 west section, perhaps, is shown in Glen Eyrie, a beautiful little canon, 

 which Camp Creek has cut through the granite and superimposed strata 

 at the " Little Garden of the Gods," about two miles above Colorado 

 City. In the caiiou the creek flows in an almost easterly direction. 

 After getting outside of the hog-back it turns abruptly and flows due 

 south along the strike of the upturned shales and sandstones. 



The following section is made from Glen Eyrie, eastward, to Camp 

 Creek, and is in ascending order corresponding with Fig. 2, Plate III. 



