55 



The average or mean elevatiou of the several political divisions is given 

 by good authorities as follows: Montana, 3,000 feet; Idaho, 4,700 feet; 

 Wyoming, 6,000 feet; Colorado, 7,000 feet; New Mexico, 5,600 feet. 



The approximate mean elevation of the Idaho and Montana ranges 

 is 8,000 feet; of the Wyoming ranges, 9,000 feet. The mean height of 

 the Colorado and New Mexico system, south to the latitude of Santa 

 Fe, is about 10,500 feet. 



In Montana two mountains reach an elevation of 8,355 and 10,629 feet 

 respectively. Eleven peaks in Idaho range in height from 9,100 to 

 13,691 feet. In Wyoming fifteen of the principal peaks range in alti- 

 tude from 9,273 to 13,790 feet. The best known and named peaks of 

 the Colorado system, sixty-seven in number, vary in height from 10,906 

 to 14,464 feet. Seventy-two other peaks in the same State, between 

 13,500 and 14,300 feet in height, are unnamed. Two prominent mount- 

 ains in New Mexico have an elevation, one of 11,200 feet and the other 

 of 12,202 feet; while Utah boasts of seventy-five peaks above H^,000 

 and fourteen abov^e 12,000 feet, the highest being Mount Emmons, with 

 13,694 feet. 



Elevation of timher-line on some of the mountains in the Rocky Mountain region. 

 [Taken from Dictionary of Altitudes, TJ. S. Geological Survey.] 



Mountain. 



Timber- 

 line. 



Mountain. 



Timber- 

 line. 



COLORADO. 



Feet. 

 11,100 

 11, 325 

 11,100 

 12, 041 

 11,4% 

 12, 107 

 11, 500 

 11,871 

 11,578 

 11, 723 

 11. 300 

 11, 100 



11, 758 

 11,811 

 10,840 

 12, 117 

 11,100 

 12, 080 

 11,100 



12, 051 



COLORADO— continued. 



Long's Peak 



Massive Mountain ... 



Feet. 

 11,100 



Mount Audubon 



11 607 





Park View Peak 



11,1(10 



Buffalo Peak 



Pike's Peak 



11 720 





11,600 



Crestone 



Mount Princeton .. ..... 



11 .50»t 







11, 746 



Mount Elbert 



Mount Kito Alto 



11 817 







10,410 

 11 549 



Mount Evans 



Mount Silverbeels 





White Sock Mountain 



11,919 



Gray's Peak 



MONTANA. 



Grizzly Peak 





Mount Giivot 





Hamilton Pass 



9, 550 



Mount Harvard 



Mount Delano 



8,784 

 9,442 



-Tames' Peak 





La Plata Mountain . 



UTAH. 



Gilbert's Peak 



Lillie's Mountain 





Mount Lincoln 



11 100 









*Capt. E. L. Berthoud, a civil engineer, of Golden, Colo., and a good authority, referring to a mount- 

 ain range about 8 miles southwest of Georgetown, Colo., says: "Across the narrow valley north of 

 McClellan Mountain, and upon another high peak, the limit of tree growth exceeds 12,400 feet eleva- 

 tion on the soutli slope of tiiat peak. Here can be seen Pinus aristata, some of the trees 2 feet in 

 diameter and 30 feet high, that retain their hold and slowly increase in size, thus maintaining them- 

 in respectable numbers in spite of furious gales of snow and wind, and an extreme arctic oold." 



SURROUNDINGS. 



The ^' Great Plains" lie contiguous to and eastward of the Eocky 

 Mountains, but how far to the east they extend — at what point the 

 '• plains'^ (so long a synonym for sterility) end, and the prairie, or fruit- 

 ful country, begins, is not easily determined. It is safe to say, how- 



