VOL. XXXII. No. 5, 
WHOLE No. 1331. 
PRICE SIX CENTS, 
*a.«5 PER YEAR. 
[Entered according to Act of Congress, in the yeur 1875, by the Rural Publishing Company, in tho office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.] 
parks, fenced by mountains, seems to be nat¬ 
urally adapted. These parks are a remark¬ 
able feature of the country, being apparently 
the basins of former lakes uphoaved and de¬ 
prived of their waters by volcanic agency, 
with their original shape and situation at the 
foot of high mountains undisturbed, while 
their lowest depths are from <5,000 to 9 OHO 
feet above the level of the sea. The largest 
of these parks, the San Luis, extends 200 
miles by 100. These parks are described as 
alternately forestand meadow, well watered, 
fertile In soil, abounding in game and teeming 
in mineral deposits—gold, silver and copper 
being frequently combined in one and the 
same ore. Coal and iron of excellent quality 
and in inexhaustible quantities exist not far 
from Denver City and in other localities. 
In giving views of everyday life and scenes 
in Colorado the pictures are similar to those 
of any pewly-settled country, with some spe¬ 
cialties in stock handling to be seen nowhere 
else. Tho first and second views in our on- 
graving represent the inside of a log cabin 
with the uncouth yet not unpleasant interior 
arrangements incident to frontier life. View 
No. 3 is a spirited representation of the pro¬ 
cess of breaking a wild horse. Then follows 
tho most characteristic sketch of ail,' the 
operation of branding a bullock, representing 
a frequent occurrence in Colorado. In No. 
6 the horsemen aro conversing, as follows : 
“ Did you see any work-oxen branded ‘S’ on 
left hip ?” “ No ; have you seen some horses 
ou the foot-hills marked ‘ IV on left side ?” 
This operation of branding is performed 
twice a year, all the animals being herded 
together by active rancheros on horseback, 
and each owner selects and marks his stock. 
Frequent difficulties originate in counter 
claims on the unbranded cattle. The. hist 
sketch represents a party of travelers camp¬ 
ing out for the night. 
Colorado is doubtless destined to be a great 
and wealthy State. Once regarded as a part 
of the Great American Desert, it has been 
found to be one of the finest grazing terri¬ 
tories in the Union. The climate of these 
once arid plains is changing with the progress 
of civilization. More frequent rains aro de¬ 
veloping the fertility of the soil and with in¬ 
creasing vegetation rains become, more and 
more abundant, ro that land which originally 
depended exclusively on irrigat ion to produce 
a crop will now occasionally grow good wheat 
and other grain without. Such at least, has 
been the experience in other far-Western lo¬ 
calities and it will probably be repeated in 
the Centennial State. Colorado Territory 
had a population of 40,000 in 1870 and is now 
believed to have 125,000 to 150,000. Long be¬ 
fore another Centennial, Colorado will be the 
center of a galaxy of States whose minei al 
wealth will have paid the national debt in 
gold and whose agricultural resources will bo 
scarcely less a marvel to the world. 
The pure air and salubrious climat e of Colo¬ 
rado have for several years attracted numer¬ 
ous invalids from the more humid East. The 
dryness of the Colorado atmosphere makes it 
specially beneficial to persons with weak 
lungs and inclined to bronchial or chest diffi¬ 
culties. Add to these advantages scenery 
elsewhere unrivaled on this Continent, and 
it is easy to foresee that Colorado is destined 
to be the great summer resort of thousands 
of wealthy and especially of invalid Ameri¬ 
cans. The territory has been aptly called 
“The Switzerland of America,’’ and sepa¬ 
rates Eastern and Western parts of t his coun¬ 
try very much as Switzerland does the North 
and South of Europe. The difference, and a 
most important one, is that Colorado, like 
every thing else A mericii n, is ou a vastly larger 
scale than the Switzerland of Europe, No¬ 
where does man more $t i ong)y feel his insig¬ 
nificance than when traveling over those 
enormous plains, looking down into the deep 
eatiyous or standing within those enormous 
parks which form the natural gardens of 
LIFE AND SCENES IN COLORADO 
The territory of Colorado is to be the Cen¬ 
tennial State, its people choosing that name 
in consideration of itsadmissioa to the Union 
on the 100th year of American Independence. 
In many respects it is one of the most re¬ 
markable of our galaxy of start. It is nearly 
in the center of the Union and comprises an 
area 200 miles north and south and 875 miles 
east and west, embracing a tend Lory nearly 
twice the size of England. In physical con¬ 
formation it is remarkably picturesque, 
abounding in deep canyons and lofty moun¬ 
tains, the latter rich in gold and other pre¬ 
cious metals. In the broad, level parks and 
the plains which comprise nearly one-hulf 
the territory, is to be found probably as fine 
a stock-growing country as there is in tho 
world. Agriculturally, the land is valuable 
chiefly as it has facilities for irrigation ; but 
wliero water can be had astonishiug crops of 
grain and all kinds of vegetables have been 
produced. It is, however, as a stock-growing 
region that Colorado will lie best known for 
many years to come, and for this its large 
LIFE IlsT COLORADO. 
1. Interior of a Ranchman’s Log Cabin.—3. Ditto.—3. Breaking in a Horse.—4. Branding a Bullock.—6. Frame Houses.—6. Mutual Inquiries—“Have you seen any Oxen branded S? 
“No; have you seen any Horses branded R?”-7. Hunting up Stock.—8. A Bivouac—9. Camping In the Evening—Crossing the Plains from the States to Colorado. 
