137 



WASHINaTON COUNTY. 



(Area 2,220 square miles.) 



This is a newly organized county, in the plains region of northeast 

 Colorado. It has no native timber, nnless it is a slight growth of Cot- 

 tonwood along some of the streams. 



WELD COUNTY. 



(Area, 5,300 square miles.) 



This county is situated in the northeastern iDart of the State. Its sur- 

 face is mostly rolling plains, intersected by the South Platte, Cache la 

 Poudre, Big and Little Thompson, and St. Yrain Elvers, and numerous 

 small creeks. There is but little timber in the county except a scatter- 

 ing growth of Cottonwood along the Platte Kiver, which extends through 

 the county from west to east. There are small groves of Cottonwood 

 and fruit and ornamental trees in union colony, Greeley. 



?^EW MEXICO. 



The Territory of New Mexico extends from the thirty-second to the 

 thirty-seventh degree of latitude, and from the one hundred and third 

 to the one hundred and ninth iDarallel of longitude — embracing a super- 

 ficial area of 122,500 square miles. It has the form of a parallelogram, 

 with sides 350 miles in length. It is situated upon the southeastern 

 border of the Eocky Mountain plateaus, and has an average or mean 

 elevation of 5,600 feet above the level of the sea. The principal surface 

 features of the country are extensive table-lands, or mesas, wide and 

 sandy plains, mountains, foot-hills, and valleys. 



The mountain system, which in Colorado is so intricate, including 

 scores of rugged ranges and lofty peaks, becomes in Xew Mexico more 

 simple. The ranges here are not so massive, are less in number and 

 elevation, and more widely separated one from another. The mountain 

 chains, diverging at the northern border, spread fan like over the Terri- 

 tory, and in broken lines tlank upon either side the valley of the Eio 

 Grande, which traverses the entire region from north to south. De- 

 tached groups and solitary mountains are seen at many points. Though 

 all belong to the Eocky Mountain system, they are each distinguished 

 by local names. 



In the southeastern i)art of the Territory is the Llano Estacado, or 

 Staked Plain, an elevated, arid region, which also extends into the ad- 

 joining State of Texas. The soil here is apparently barren, but pro- 

 duces abundantly the Mesquit (Prosopis juliflora), a small but deep- 

 rooted and valuable tree or shrub. The land would yield good crops if 

 water could be had for irrigation. 



The general surface of the Territory has an elevation of about 5,000 

 feet in the northwestern portion, and thence descends toward thf south- 



