478 MINING INDUSTRY. 



comparatively easy communication with the rest of the country, and the branch 

 roads finished during the present year, 1870, now place Denver in uninter- 

 rupted railroad communication with two great transcontinental lines. At 

 Cheyenne, which is 516 miles from Omaha on the Union Pacific road, the 

 Denver Pacific road branches off to the south, and was completed to the city 

 of Denver early in the present summer ; while the Denver extension of the 

 Kansas Pacific road was finished to the same point a few weeks later. With 

 these two avenues of communication opened, one traversing the Territory north 

 of Denver, skirting the mountain range, and affording cheap transportation for 

 the mining as well as the agricultural districts, the other passing through the 

 southeastern portion of the Territory, and bringing Denver into direct com- 

 munication with St. Louis and the cities of the South, a great increase in the 

 population of the Territory and an unprecedented advance in the development 

 of its natural resources may be expected. 



Denver, the capital city of Colorado, is located at the junction of Cherry 

 Creek with the South Platte River, and a few miles above the point where 

 Clear Creek unites with the last-named stream. It is twelve miles east of the 

 base of the mountains, and is situated on a level or gently sloping surface. 

 Its elevation above the sea is about 5,000 feet. It is regularly laid out and is 

 well built, and some of its streets and public and private buildings make a fine 

 appearance. Its population is usually estimated at 6,000 or 7,000. It has 

 good hotels, several churches, excellent schools, and three or four news- 

 papers, daily and weekly. There are also several banks and a Branch Mint 

 of the United States. It is the commercial center of the Territory. It has 

 abundant facilities for postal and telegraphic communication with the rest of 

 the world. The railroads just completed bring it now within the great rail- 

 way system of the United States ; and daily lines of coaches connect it with 

 the outlying communities of the agricultural districts and the several mining 

 towns in the mountains. 



Twelve miles west from Denver is Golden City, situated just at the 

 base of the range where Clear Creek issues from its mountain valley. The 

 main roads entering the mountains from the plains pass through this town. 

 It is very advantageously located for commercial and industrial purposes. 

 Placed at the very gateway through which the mining districts, at present 



