THE  HAHNS  PEAK  GOLD  FIELD,  COLORADO. 
By  Hoyt  S.  Gale. 
LOCATION. 
Hahns  Peak  is  situated  in  northwestern  Colorado,  about  15  miles  west  of  the  Park  Range, 
which  is  here  the  continental  divide.  As  it  stands  apart  from  the  main  range,  its  sharp, 
white  cone  is  a  conspicuous  landmark  from  a  large  part  of  Routt  County.  It  was  occupied 
as  a  triangulation  station  by  the  United  States  Geological  Survey  in  1901,  and  its  eleva- 
tion was  then  determined  as  10,862  feet,  which  is  44  feet  less  than  the  barometrical  measure- 
ment by  the  Fortieth  Parallel  Survey  in  1872.  At  the  very  foot  of  the  mountain  is  situated 
the  little  town  of  Hahns  Peak,  the  county  seat  of  Routt  County.  Several  towns  of  this 
county  along  Yampa  River  have  now  far  outgrown  it  in  size  and  commercial  importance. 
It  is  reached  from  Rawlins,  Wyo.,  on  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad,  to  the  north,  distant 
about  110  miles  by  stage  road;  and  from  Wolcott,  Colo.,  on  the  Denver  and  Rio  Grande 
Railroad,  to  the  south,  also  about  110  miles  by  stage  road.  Travel  is  mainly  by  way  of 
Wolcott. 
The  peak  and  the  broad  stretches  of  park  land  that  lie  about  its  base  have  long  been 
known  as  a  gold  camp.  Its  placers  are  reported  to  have  been  discovered  in  1865.  Eight 
or  ten  years  ago,  with  the  working  out  of  the  richer  gravels,  prospecting  was  begun  higher 
up  on  the  mountain  slopes  in  search  of  the  original  veins.  This  search,  however,  has  not 
met  with  much  success. 
FIELD   WORK. 
During  the  first  week  of  October,  1905,  an  opportunity  was  afforded  to  the  writer  to 
make  a  hasty  examination  of  this  district,  the  results  of  which  are  chiefly  expressed  in  the 
topographic  and  geologic  maps  that  accompany  this  report.  Had  time  permitted,  the 
work  might  properly  have  been  extended  to  include  Little  Red  Park,  Big  Red  Park,  and 
the  neighboring  ridges  within  a  lew  miles'  radius  north  of  the  peak,  and  also  a  larger  area 
in  and  about  the  park  land  to  the  south.  Prospect  ing  has  shown  the  gravels  of  these  parks 
to  be  gold  bearing.  The  geologic  structure  of  the  region  is  more  complicated  than  is 
expressed  on  the  map  (PL  I),  but  enough  is  shown  to  indicate  the  general  problems 
involved. « 
This  region  was  visited  in  1872  by  S.  F.  Emmons,  then  of  the  Fortieth  Parallel  Survey, 
and  a  general  description  of  the  area  and  its  rocks  is  given  in  the  King  report. b  Since 
this  first  report  mention  has  been  made  of  this  district  in  a  few  publications,  c 
GEOLOGY. 
ROCK    FORMATIONS. 
General  description.— The  main  mass  of  the  Park  Range,  which  is  part  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  is  a  vast  complex  of  granitic  rocks,  gneisses,  and  schists,  which  have  been 
hitherto  referred  to  the  Archean.     West  of  the  Park  Range  lies  the  Colorado  Plateau,  made 
a  The  writer  wishes  to  make  acknowledgment  to  Messrs.  Charles  Blackburn  and  Thomas  A.  Brown 
tor  the  courtesies  and  assistance  which  they  extended  to  him  in  the  fid. I. 
»King,  Clarence,  Geological  Exploration  of  the  Fortieth  Parallel,  v<.1.2,  1877,  pp.  173etseq. 
c  ^arsons,  II.  F.  and  Liddell,  ('lias.  A.,  The  coal  and  mineral  resource  of  Routt  County:  Colorado 
bchooi  of  Mines,  Hull.  L,vol.  l,  1903.     Draper,  Marshall,  Hahns  Peak:  The  Colliery  Engineer,  May,  L897. 
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