(Jloc% (mountain T}7onberCanb 



Near are the Royal Gorge, Cripple Creek, and 

 the fossil-beds at Florissant. The Garden of the 

 Gods, Manitou Mineral Springs, Glen Eyrie, 

 Crystal Park, the Cave of the Winds, and Wil- 

 liams, Ruxton, and South Cheyenne Canons 

 are some of its attractions. 



The fossil-beds at Florissant are one of the 

 most famous of fossil-deposits. Here was an old 

 Tertiary lake-basin. In the deposit which filled 

 it — a deposit of fine volcanic sand or ash, sedi- 

 ment, and other debris — is a wonderful array 

 of fossilized plants and insects of a past age. 

 All are strangely preserved for us in stone. A 

 part of the lake appears to have been filled by 

 a volcanic catastrophe which overwhelmed ani- 

 mals, plants, and insects. Whole and in frag- 

 ments, they are lying where they fell. Here have 

 been found upwards of one hundred recogniz- 

 able plants, eleven vertebrate animals, and a 

 few hundred insects. Among the fossil trees 

 are the narrow-leaf cottonwood, the ginkgo, 

 the magnolia, the incense cedar, and the giant 

 redwood. Water erosion through the ages has 

 cut deeply into these fossil-beds and worn and 



298 



