Boulder, Colorado

“ Northwest from Denver is the picturesque Boulder Canyon, and here at the mining town of Boulder is the University of Colorado, with six hundred students. Beyond are Estes Park, one of the smaller enclosed parks among the mountains, having Long's Peak on its verge, rising fourteen thousand two hundred and seventy feet. Westward from Denver is the Clear Creek Canyon, and the route in that direction leads through great scenic attractions, past Golden, Idaho Springs and Georgetown, where silver-mining and health-resorts divide attention, the mountains also displaying several beautiful lakes. ”

“ The south boundary of the valley is not at all abrupt. Proceeding up valley we noted two distinct terraces on each side thus: ( (drawing in field book) ) . Did not visit the higher one, but the lower is covered with a cap of boulders, as at Boulder Boulder, Colorado. About 2 miles up the valley on south side the dip in the Mancos shales is a little east of south. There we found in abundance an Ostrea Ostrea and numerous fragments of a large species of an Inoceramus Inoceramus which I cannot recognize. ”

“ The tribe who inhabits that region makes war with all who dare to cross the boundaries of their hunting-grounds. In some way they have become possessed of guns from which they shoot golden bullets with unerring precision.
"The country is shut in by mountains, and the great Colorado pours its waters through it. Far into the interior, deep down in the shadows, lies Death's Valley,214 and in its center rises the great Golden Boulder, and round it are scattered innumerable precious stones, whose brightness pierces the dusky shadows with their shining light." ”

“ Below the sandstone which is mentioned above and which may be the equivalent of the top of the Lykins formation in Larimer County Larimer County ( ( probably State Bridge Formation) ) , are typical "red beds", deep red sandstones and shales exactly like the Lykins north of Boulder Boulder, Colorado ( ( probably Maroon Formation) ) . Exposures, as usual, are much better on north side of canyon on account of vegetation covering the slopes on the ( (other) ) side. There is much oak scrub scrub oak on the slopes. At 2:30 we fed the horses and lunched 12 miles above Meeker Meeker, Colorado. ”

“ Has scarcely a tendency toward isolation from the granite into a high ridge as at Boulder Boulder, Colorado. E of Forks Hotel Livermore, Colorado strike changes to N 120 ̊ W and dip is about N 45 ̊ W, dipping about 18 ̊. The strata swing well west or SW then back a mile or so north, so that the cross section (generalized) E or road from Forks Hotel Livermore, Colorado is about thus, looking west. ( ( drawing in field book) ) . At N end of section granite swings across road well to the east. Camped on Ten Mile Creek Tenmile Creek, Colorado at 12:20 for lunch. ”

“ Colorado is rich in mountain scenery and in beautiful camping places for the lover of hills and streams, the pedestrian and the fisherman.
We came down from the high plateau of the Park by the canyon of the Little Thompson; a still more [Pg 186] precipitous road than that of the Big Thompson Canyon. Reaching Lyons, we turned toward Boulder, driving along with alfalfa meadows to the left and the foot hills of the Rockies to the right. Our undulating road was an excellent one. ”

“ There are a fine park of 2840 acres, the property of the city, and three beautiful cañons near Boulder. At the southern limits, in a beautiful situation 400 ft. above the city, are the grounds of an annual summer school, the Colorado Chautauqua. The climate is beneficial for those afflicted with bronchial and pulmonary troubles; the average mean annual temperature for eleven years ending with 1907 was 51° F. There are medicinal springs in the vicinity. ”

“ In 1905 the state ranked eleventh, in 1907 twelfth, in production of petroleum. It is mostly refined at Florence, the centre of the older field. The Boulder district developed very rapidly after 1902; its product is a high-grade illuminant with paraffin base. Asphalt occurs in the high north rim of Middle Park (c. 10,000 ft.) . Tungsten is found in wolframite in Boulder county. In 1903 about 37,000 men were employed in the mines of Colorado. Labour troubles have been notable in state history since 1890.
Mineral springs have already been mentioned. ”

“ Found it was Lyons formation, very narrow, the dips on the west limb very steep (estimated at 60 ̊) , the Poudre cutting through it, while Belleview occupies the syncline to the west. Reached Collins Ft. Collins, Coloradoat 11:15 and had boxes ready etc. for shipment at 11:45. Dined at hotel and took 2:05 p.m. train, reaching Boulder Boulder, Colorado at 4 p.m. It has been a very hot day with a hot wind.
Magnola-Rollinsville, South Boulder Canyon, Left Hand Canyon Trips Aug and Sept. 1907
Magnolia Magnolia, Colorado-Rollinsville Rollinsville, Colorado Aug. ”

“ The whole wide valley is a beautiful example of glacial topography. The glacier headed on E side of James Peak James Peak, Colorado. Teller Lake Teller Lake is morainal, and is very near the mouth of the gulch. At present South Boulder South Boulder Creek, Colorado is the main stream and Mammoth is a tributary. Came down E valley on way back, and followed railroad through cuts which expose gneiss ridges extending out diagonally into the South Boulder valley South Boulder Canyon, apparently the result of fluting by the glacier as in the upper North Boulder canyon North Boulder Canyon. ”

“ He came to Colorado in 1866, and settled in Douglas county, where he held the office of Justice of the Peace for two years; was delegate to the Republican Convention at Boulder in 1876, and was nominated by that body as a candidate to represent the county of Boulder in the first State Legislature. On October the 3d, 1876, he was elected to the Senate, receiving 1,438 votes against 1,028 for A. D. Miles, Democrat.
Fourth District, consists of Gilpin county. Population 9,000. ”

“ We had several days to wait for our machine to be repaired, so we were free to enjoy Boulder and to take the interurban electric car for Denver. Boulder has a most picturesque situation, and is a town of delightful homes and of fine State University buildings. I saw at Boulder the same soft sunset colors, the same delicate blues, pinks, and greys that one sees in an Australian sunset. ”

“ A few miles from Boulder is Boulder Cañon, a stupendous mountain gorge seventeen miles long, and in places the walls rise to almost the incredible height of 3,000 feet. The falls of Boulder Creek are not without interest, but the mightiness and awful grandeur of the granite cañon weighs so heavily upon the startled perceptions of the spectator, that even the roar of water-fall is scarcely heard, all the five senses being concentrated in that of sight. The eye is set to climbing these terrific precipices of stone ”

“ You can form no idea of what the glory on the Plains is just before sunrise. Like the afterglow, for a great height above the horizon there is a shaded band of the most intense and glowing orange, while the mountains which reflect the yet unrisen sun have the purple light of amethysts. I left early, but soon lost the track and was lost; but knowing that a sublime gash in the mountains was Bear Canyon, quite near Boulder, I struck across the prairie for it, and then found the Boulder track. ”

“ Upward we climb, amid thickly-wooded mountain tops, round thrilling bends and tortuous precipices and over the rockiest of roads. The end is in sight. A depression in the sky-line ahead shows where the Raton Pass (7,620 feet to be exact) reaches its highest point and gazes forwards into the heart of New Mexico and behind into the vastnesses of Colorado.
A gradual bend, a sudden swerve, and then—the summit is reached. Colorado is passed. Before us lies a great and thickly-wooded valley, broad and deep and beautiful. ”

“ So it is that beauty and grandeur have never been so nearly akin elsewhere as they are in Colorado. Of nooks and corners and little valleys and waterfalls grotesque shapes there are almost thousands. One may sit at a car window all day, not knowing precisely where he is, or caring, and catch them as they pass and come and go, until his soul is tired. Yet it is all on a scale of inconceivable immensity. Even the mesas and tablelands, where the grass grows as on a lowland farm, are 4,000 to 6,000 feet above the sea—more than twice as high as Mount Everett. There is nothing low. ”

“ He was beginning to distrust the colonel.
CHAPTER XXII. A MOUNTAIN STAGE.
We pass over several days, and change the scene. We left Herbert and Melville in the Palmer House in Chicago, surrounded by stately edifices and surging crowds. Now everything is changed. They are in a mountainous district, where a man might ride twenty miles without seeing a house. They are, in fact, within the limits of what was then known as the Territory of Colorado. It is not generally known that Colorado contains over a hundred mountain summits over ten thousand feet above the sea level. ”

“ From Canyon City to the Royal Gorge has been built a wonderful piece of road, winding and climbing into the very heart of Colorado's rugged bosom. The gradient in places is terrific. Every ounce of power was sometimes necessary to surmount certain stretches, and blind S-bends carved from the solid face of the rocks made travelling a danger as well as a test of skill. At every bend and every turn some new panorama would spring to view and farther and farther away would fade the distant horizon of the east. ”

“ We've got one of the handsomest churches in the State," he proclaimed with his unconquerable optimism, "and we've just begun growing. Why, in ten years more Bonanza City will be in the race with Denver."
"And what about your friend?" she asked, finding it difficult to become enthusiastic over the most progressive town in Colorado, a State which she always pictured imaginatively as a kind of rocky desert, inhabited by tribes of gregarious invalids, which one visited for the sake of the scenery or the climate, when one had exhausted the civilized excitements of Europe. ”

“ There are more than twice as many peaks of fourteen thousand feet in Colorado as in all the other States of the Union. An enormous area is entirely above the limits of tree-growth; but these heights above the timber-line are far from being barren and lifeless. Covering these mountains with robes of beauty are forests, lakes, meadows, brilliant flowers, moorlands, and vine-like streams that cling to the very summits. This entire mountain realm is delightfully rich in plant and animal life, from the lowest meadows to the summits of the highest peaks. ”

“ It would be vain recapitulation to tell just how many times each of the poor struggling communities had to rally back on the sands of the river bed to built up anew the structure of gravel and brush that must be depended upon, if bread were to be secured from the land. The Little Colorado is a treacherous stream at best, with a broad channel that wanders at will through the alluvial country that melts like sugar or salt at the touch of water. ”

“ But there is a larger class, that portion of our population throughout the East and South suffering from some pulmonary trouble, which should be much more interested in Colorado than either the pleasure-seeker or the money-getter. For such there is a wealth of life stored up in the dry, sunny climate of this State, more precious than the hidden treasures which the mountains contain. ”

“ When the others had sunk into an uneasy slumber, the President and Professor Pludder sat long, replenishing the fire, and talking of what would be their future course.
"I think," said the professor, "that we shall find a considerable population alive among the mountains. There is nothing in Colorado below four thousand feet elevation, and not much below five thousand. The great inner 'parks' were probably turned into lakes, but they will drain off, as the land around us here has done already. ”

“ The most available towns for the invalid who has to earn his support are Denver and Pueblo, but there is a moderately wide field from which to choose when health and comfort, and not money, are the main considerations. Colorado Springs combines so many favorable conditions of climate, good accommodations, pleasant society, and natural objects of interest, as to render it, in addition to its sanitary condition, an almost ideal resort for phthisical invalids. ”

“ We next visited Pueblo, where this giant was exhumed, but were not at all pleased with the town or its surroundings, and suffered greatly from thirst rather than drink the offensive water for which the residents are so heavily taxed. It was so apparently poisonous in odor, that if it had been in the malarious climate of Chicago, instead of the exhilarating atmosphere of Colorado, all would have died from its effects.
We have never visited a State which held such diversified interest as that of Colorado, a fitting resort for the invalid, the pleasure seeker, artist, scientist or poet. ”

“ Endowed with a beauty of fascinating awfulness, and with still another beauty that underlies the magnitude and sits serene amid the grandeur, the inadequate, word-trammeled idea of it has found endless expression, and yet the scenes of Colorado have never been described. Whoever has visited her ever after turns aside from words; whoever has not, can obtain from them but a faint conception of that which in truth can be imagined only in actual presence—and hardly even then. ”