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COLORADO , a See also:state of the See also:American See also:union, situated between 41° and 370 N. See also:lat. and 102° and 109° W. See also:long., bounded N. by See also:Wyoming and See also:Nebraska, E. by Nebraska and See also:Kansas, S. by See also:Oklahoma and New See also:Mexico, and W. by See also:Utah . Its See also:area is 103,948 sq. m . (of which 290 are See also:water See also:surface) . It is the seventh largest state of the Union . Physiography.--Colorado embraces in its area a See also:great variety of plains, mountains and plateaus . It lies at the junction of the Great Plains—which in their upward slant to the westward attain an See also:average See also:elevation of about 4000 ft. along the See also:east boundary of the state—with the Rocky Mountains, to the See also:west of which is a portion of the Colorado See also:Plateau . These are the three physiographic provinces of the state (see also See also:UNITED STATES, See also:section See also:Geology, ad fin., for details of , structure) . The last-named includes a number of lofty plateaus—the See also:Roan or See also:Book, Uncompahgre, &c., which See also:form the eastern continuation of the high plateaus of Utah—and covers the western See also:quarter of the state . Its eastern third consists of See also:rich, unbroken plains . On their west edge lies an abrupt, massive, and strangely See also:uniform See also:chain of mountains, known in the neighbourhood of Colorado Springs as the Rampart Range, and in the extreme See also:north as the Front Range, and often denominated as a whole by the latter name . The upturning of the rocks of the Great Plains at the See also:foot of the Front Range develops an interesting type of See also:topography, the harder layers weathering into grotesquely curious forms, as seen in the famous See also:Garden of the Gods at the foot of See also:Pike's See also:Peak . Behind this barrier the whole See also:country is elevated 2000 ft. or so above the level of the plains region . In its lowest portions just behind the front ranges are the natural " parks " —great plateaus basined by superb enclosing ranges; and to the west of these, and between them, and covering the See also:remainder of the state east of the plateau region, is an entanglement of mountains, tier above tier, See also:running from north to See also:south, buttressed laterally with splendid spurs, dominated by scores of magnificent peaks, cut by See also:river valleys, and divided by mesas and plateaus . These various chains are known by a multitude of See also:local names . Among the finest of the chains are the Rampart, Sangre de Cristo, See also:San Juan, Sawatch (Saguache) and See also:Elk ranges . The first, like the other ranges abutting from north to south upon the region of the See also:prairie, rises abruptly from the See also:plain and has a See also:fine, bold outline . It contains a number of fine summits dominated by Pike's Peak (14,108 ft.) . 1Vluch more beautiful as a whole is the Sangre de Cristo range . At its See also:southern end are Blanca Peak (14,390) and Old Baldy (14,176, See also:Hayden), both in Costilla See also:county; to the northward are Rito See also:Alto Peak (12,989, See also:Wheeler), in See also:Custer county, and many others of almost equal height and equal beauty . The mountains of the south-west are particularly abrupt and jagged . See also:Sultan See also:Mountain (13,366, Hayden), in San Juan county, and Mt . Eolus (14,079), in La See also:Plata county, dominate the fine masses of the San Juan ranges; and Mt . Sneffels (14,158, Hayden), Ouray county, and Uncompahgre Peak (14,289), Hinsdale county, the San See also:Miguel and Uncompahgre ranges, which are actually parts of the San Juan . Most magnificent of all the mountains of Colorado, however, are the Sawatch and adjoining ranges in the centre of the state .
The former (the name is used a little loosely) consists of almost a solid See also:mass of See also:granite, has an average elevation of probably 13,000 ft., presents a broad and massive outline, and has a mean breadth of 15 to 20 M
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Mt
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Ouray (13,956 ft.), in See also:Chaffee county, may be taken as the southern end, and in See also:Eagle county, the splendid See also:Mount of the See also:Holy See also:Cross (14,170)—so named from the figure of its See also:snow-filled ravines—as the See also:northern
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Between them See also:lie: in Chaffee county, Mt
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Shavano (14,239, Hayden), Mt
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See also:Princeton (14,196, Hayden), Mt
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Yale (14,187, Hayden), Mt
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Harvard (14,375, Hayden), and La Plata Peak (14,342); in Pitkin county, Grizzly Peak (13,956, Hayden); in See also:Lake county, Elbert Peak (14,421), and Massive mountain (14,424), the highest peak in the state; on the boundary between See also:Summit and See also:Park counties, Mt
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See also:Lincoln (14,297, Hayden); and, in Summit county, Mt
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See also:Fletcher (14,265)
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The Elk range is geologically interesting for the almost unexampled displacement of the strata of which it is composed, and the apparent confusion which has thence arisen
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Among the most remarkable of its See also:separate summits, which rise superbly in a See also:crescent about See also:Aspen, are North See also:Italian Peak (13,225), displaying the red, See also:
See also:Owen (13,102), Teocalli Mountain (13,220), Snow Mass (13,970, Hayden) and Maroon (14,003, Hayden) mountains, See also:Castle Peak (14,259), Capitol Mountain (13,997, Hayden), See also:Pyramid Peak (13,885, Hayden), See also: Estes Park is small, only 20 M. long and never more than 2 M. broad; it is in fact the valley of See also:Thompson Creek . Its surface is one of charming slopes, and by many it is accounted among the loveliest of Colorado valleys . Seven ranges lie between it and the plains . South Park is similarly quiet and charming in See also:character . Much greater than any of these is San Luis Park . The surface is nearly as See also:flat as a lake, and it was probably at one See also:time the See also:bed of an inland See also:sea . In the centre there is a long narrow lake fed by many streams . It has no visible outlet, but is fresh . The San Luis Park, which runs into New Mexico, is traversed by the Rio Grande del Norte and more than a dozen of its mountain tributaries . These parks are frequented by great quantities of large See also:game, and—especially the North and Middle—are famous See also:hunting-grounds . They are fertile, too, and as their combined area is something like 13,000 sq. in. they are certain to be of great importance in Colorado's agricultural development . The drainage See also:system of the state is naturally very complicated . Eleven topographical and See also:climatic divisions are recognized by the United States See also:Weather See also:Bureau within its See also:borders, including the several parks, the continental divide, and various river valleys . Of the See also:rivers, the North See also:Platte has its See also:sources in North Park, the Colorado (the Gunnison and Grand branches) in Middle Park, the See also:Arkansas and South Platte in South Park—where their See also:waters drain in opposite directions from See also:Palmer's Lake—the Rio Grande in San Luis Park . Three of these flow east and south-east to the See also:Missouri, See also:Mississippi and the Gulf; but the waters of the Colorado system flow to the south-west into the Gulf of See also:California . Among the other streams, almost See also:count-less in number among the mountains, the systems of the Dolores, White and Yampa, all in the west, are of See also:primary importance . The scenery on the See also:head-waters of the White and See also:Bear, the upper tributaries of the Gunnison, and on many of the See also:minor rivers of the south-west is wonderfully beautiful . The South Platte falls 4830 ft. in the 139 M. above See also:Denver; the Grand 3600 ft. in the 224 in. between the mouth of the Gunnison and the Forks; the Gunnison 6477 ft. in 200 M. to its mouth (and See also:save for 16 m. never with a gradient of less than ro ft.); the Arkansas 7000 ft. in its 338 M. west of the Kansas See also:line . Of the smaller streams the Uncompahgre falls 2700 ft. in 134 m., the See also:Las Animas 7190 ft. in 113 m., the Los Pinos 4920 ft. in 75 m., the Roaring See also:Fork 5923 ft. in 64 m., the Mancos 5000 ft. in 62 m., the La Plata 3103 ft. in 43 in., the Eagle 4293 ft. in 62 in., the San Juan 3785 in 303, the Lake Fork of the Gunnison 6047 in 59 . The canyons formed in the mountains by these streams are among the glories of Colorado and of See also:America . The grandest are the Toltec See also:Gorge near the Southern boundary line, traversed by the railway 1500 ft. above the bottom; the Red Gorge and See also:Rouge See also:Canyon of the Upper Grand, and a splendid gorge 16 m. long below the mouth of the Eagle, with walls 2000-2500 ft. in height; the Grand Canyon of the Arkansas (8 m.) above Canyon See also:City, with granite walls towering 2600 ft. above the boiling river at the Royal Gorge; and the superb See also:Black Canyon (15 m.) of the Gunnison and the Cimarron . But there are scores of others which, though less grand, are hardly less beautiful . The exquisite See also:colour contrasts of the See also:Cheyenne canyons near Colorado Springs, Boulder Canyon near the city of the same name, Red Cliff and Eagle River Canyons near Red Cliff, Clear Creek Canyon near Denver—with walls at places r000 ft. in height—the Granite Canyon (11 m.) of the South Platte west of Florissant, and the fine gorge of the Rio de las Animas (1500 ft.), would be considered wonderful in any state less rich in still more marvellous scenery . One See also:peculiar feature of the mountain landscapes are the mines . In districts like that of Cripple Creek their enormous ore " dumps " dot the mountain flanks like scores of vast See also:ant-hills; and in Eagle River canyon their mouths,•like See also:dormer windows into the granite mountain roof, may be seen 2000 ft. above the railway . Many parts of the See also:railways among the mountains are remark-able for altitude, construction or scenery . More than a dozen mountain passes lie above 1o,000 ft . See also:Argentine Pass (13,000 ft.), near Gray's Peak, is one of the highest See also:wagon roads of the See also:world; just east of Silverton is Rio Grande Pass, about 12,400 ft. above sea-level, and in the Elk Mountains between Gunnison and Pitkin counties is See also:Pearl Pass (12,715 ft.) . Many passes are traversed by the railways, especially the splendid scenic route of the Denver and Rio Grande . Among the higher passes are Hoosier Pass (10,309 ft.) in the Park Range, and Hayden Divide (ro,780) and Veta Pass (9390); both of these across the Sangre de Cristo range; the See also:crossing of the San Miguel chain at See also:Lizard Head Pass (10,250) near Rico; of the Uncompahgre at See also:Dallas Divide (8977) near Ouray; of the Elk and Sawatch ranges at See also:Fremont (11,320), See also:Tennessee (10,229), and Breckenridge (11,470) passes, and the See also:Busk See also:Tunnel, all near Leadville; and See also:Marshall Pass (10,846) above Salida . Perhaps finer than these for their wide-horizoned outlooks and grand surroundings are the Alpine Tunnel under the continental divide of the See also:Lower Sawatch chain, the scenery of the tortuous line along the southern boundary in the Conejos and San Juan mountains, which are crossed at Cumbres (10,003 ft.), and the magnificent scenery about Ouray and on the Silverton railway over the See also:shoulder of Red Mountain (attaining 11,235 ft.) . Notable, too, is the road in Clear Creek Canyon—where the railway track coils six times upon itself above See also:Georgetown at an altitude of 10,000 ft . See also:Climate.—The climate of Colorado is exceptional for regularity and salubrity . The mean See also:annual temperature for the state }s about 46° . The mean yearly isothermals crossing the state are ordinarily 35° to 50° or 55° F . Their course, owing to the complex See also:orography of the state, is necessarily extremely irregular, and few climatic generalizations can be made . It can be said, however, that the south-east is the warmest portion of the state, lying as it does without the mountains; that the north-central region is usually coldest; that the normal yearly rainfall for the entire state is about 15.5 in., with great local See also:variations (rarely above 27 in.) . Winds are See also:constant and rather high (5 to 10 m.), and for many persons are the most trying feature of the climate . Very intense See also:cold prevails of course in See also:winter in the mountains, and intense See also:heat (rro° F. or more in the shade) is often experienced in summer, temperatures above 90° being very See also:common . The locality of least annual thermometric range is Lake See also:Moraine (10,268 ft. above the sea)—normally 91° F.; at other localities the range may be as great as 140°°, and for the whole state of course even greater (155° or slightly more) . The lowest monthly mean in 16 years (1887–1903) was 17.30 . Nevertheless, the climate of Colorado is not to be judged severe, and that of the plains region is in many ways ideal . In the lowlands the snow is always slight and it disappears almost immediately, even in the very foothills of the mountains, as at Denver or Colorado Springs . However hot the summer See also:day, its See also:night is always cool and dewless . Between See also:July and See also:October there is little See also:rain, day after day bringing a See also:bright and cloudless See also:sky . Humidity is moderate (annual averages for Grand Junction, See also:Pueblo, Denver and Cheyenne, Wyo., for 6 A.M. about 50 to 66;for 6 P.M . 33 to 5o); it is supposed to be increasing with the increasing See also:settlement of the country . See also:Sunshine is almost continuous, and splendidly intense . The maximum number of " See also:rainy " days (with a rainfall of more than o•or in.) rarely approaches r0o at the most unfortunate locality; for the whole state the average of perfectly " clear " days is normally above 50%, of " partly cloudy " above 30, of " cloudy " under 20, of " rainy " still less . At Denver, through 11 years, the actual sunlight was 70% of the possible; many other points are even more favoured; very many enjoy on a third to a See also:half of the days of the See also:year above 90% of possible sunshine . All through the year the See also:atmosphere is so dry and See also:light that See also:meat can be pre-served by the simplest See also:process of See also:desiccation . " An See also:air more delicious to breathe," wrote See also:Bayard Taylor, " cannot anywhere be found; it is neither too sedative nor too exciting, but has that pure, sweet, flexible quality which seems to support all one's happiest and healthiest moods." For asthmatic and consumptive troubles its restorative See also:influence is indisputable . Along with New Mexico and See also:Arizona, Colorado has become more and more a sanitarium for the other portions of the Union . Among the secondary hygienic advantages are the numerous See also:mineral See also:wells . See also:Flora and See also:Fauna.—The See also:life zones of Colorado are See also:simple in arrangement . The boreal embraces the highest mountain altitudes; the transition belts it on both sides of the continental divide; the upper Sonoran takes in about the eastern half of the plains region east of the mountains, and is represented further by two small valley penetrations from Utah . See also:Timber is confined almost wholly to the high mountain sides, the mountain valleys and the parks being for the most See also:part See also:bare . Nowhere is the timber large or dense . The timber-line on the mountains is at about ro,000 ft., and the snow line at about 11,000 . It is supposed that the forests were much richer before the settlement of the state, which was followed by reckless See also:consumption and See also:waste, and the more terrible ravages of See also:fire . In 1872–1876 the wooded area was estimated at 32% of the state's area . It is certainly much less now . The See also:principal trees, after the yellow and lodgepole pines, are the red-See also:fir, so-called See also:hemlock and See also:cedar, th Engelmann spruce, the cottonwood and the aspen (Populus treuloides) . In 1899 Federal forest reserves had been created, aggregating 4849 sq. in. in extent, and by r9r0 this had been increased to 24,528 sq. in . The reserves See also:cover altitudes of 7000 to 14,000 ft . The rainfall is ample for their needs, but no other reserves in the country showed in 'goo such waste by fire and pillage . The minor flora of the country is exceedingly rich . In the plains the abundance of See also:flowers, from See also:spring to autumn, is amazing . Large game is still very abundant west of the continental divide . The great parks are a favourite range and shelter . See also:Deer and elk frequent especially the mountains of the north-west, in Routt and Rio Blanco counties, adjoining the reservations of the Uncompahgre (White River See also:Ute) and Uintah-Ute See also:Indians—from whose depredations, owing to the See also:negligence of Federal officials, the game of the state has suffered enormous losses . The bison have been exterminated .
Considerable bands of See also:antelope live in the parks and even descend to the eastern plains, and the See also:mule-deer, the most common of large game, is abundant all through the mountains of the west
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Grizzly or See also:silver-tip, See also: In no part of the semi-arid region of the country are the irrigation problems so diverse and difficult . In 1903 there were, according to the See also:governor, to canals more than 50 M. in length, 51 longer than 20 m., and hundreds of reservoirs . In 1899 there were 7374 M. of See also:main ditches . The average annual cost of water per See also:acre was then estimated at about 79 cents . The acres under ditch in 1902 were greater (1,754,761) than in any other state; and the construction cost of the system was then $14,769,561 (an increase of 25.6% from 1899 to 1902) . There are irrigated lands in every county . Their area increased 8.9% in 1899-1902, and 80.9 % from 1890 to 1900; in the latter year they constituted 70.9% of the improved See also:farm-land of the state, as against 48.8 in 1890 . The land added to the irrigated area in the See also:decade was in 1890 largely worthless public domain; its value in 1900 was about $29,000,000 . As a result of irrigation the Platte is often dry in eastern Colorado in the summer, and the Arkansas shrinks so below Pueblo that little water reaches Kansas . The water is almost wholly taken from the rivers, but underflow is also utilized, especially in San Luis Park . The South Platte is much the most important irrigating stream . Its valley included 660,495 acres of irrigated land in 1902, no other valley having half so great an area . The diversion of the waters of the Arkansas led to the bringing of a suit against Colorado by Kansas in the United States Supreme See also:Court in 1902, on the ground that such diversion seriously and illegally lessened the waters of the Arkansas in Kansas . In 1907 the Supreme Court of the United States declared that Colorado had diverted waters of the Arkansas, but, since it had not been shown that Kansas had suffered, the See also:case was dismissed, without See also:prejudice to Kansas, should it be injured in future by diversion of water from the river . The exhaustion, or alleged exhaustion, by irrigation in Colorado of the waters of the Rio Grande has raised See also:international questions of much See also:interest between Mexico and the United States, which were settled in 1907 by a See also:convention pledging the United States to deliver 6o,000 acre-feet of water annually in the bed of the Rio Grande at the Acequia Madre, just above See also:Juarez, in case of drought this See also:supply being diminished proportionately to the diminution in the United States . As a part of the plans of the national See also:government for reclamation of land in the arid states, imposing schemes have been formulated for such See also:work in Colorado, including a great See also:reservoir on the Gunnison . One of the greatest undertakings of the national reclamation service is the construction of 77 M. of See also:canal and of a six-mile tunnel, beneath a mountain, between the canyon of the Gunnison and the valley of the Uncompahgre, designed to make productive some 140,000 acres in the latter valley . Apart from See also:mere watering, cultivation is in no way intensive . One of the finest farming regions is the See also:lowland valley of the Arkansas . It is a broad, level plain, almost untimbered, given over to See also:alfalfa, grains, vegetables and fruits . See also:Sugar-See also:beet culture has been found to be exceptionally remunerative in this valley as well as in those of the South Platte and Grand rivers . The growth of this interest has been since 1899 a marked feature in the agricultural development of the state; and in 1905, 1906 and 1907 the state's product of See also:beets and of sugar was far greater than that of any other state; in 1907, 1,523,303 tons of beets were worked—more than two-fifths of the See also:total for the United States . There are various large sugar factories (in 1903, 9, and in 1907, 16), mainly in the north; also at Grand Junction and in the Arkansas valley . The total value of all farm property in-creased between 188o and 1900 from $42,000,000 to $161,045,101 and 45.9% from 1890 to 1900 . In the latter year $49,954,311of this was in live-stock (increase 1890-1900, 121.1%), the remaining value in land with improvements and machinery . The total value of farm products in 1899 was $33,048,576; of this sum 97 % was almost equally divided between See also:crop products and See also:animal products, the forests contributing the remainder . Of the various elements in the value of all farm produce as shown by the federal census of 1900, live-stock, See also:hay and grains, and dairying represented 87.2% . The value of cereals ($4,700,271) —of which See also:wheat and oats represent four-fifths—is much exceeded by that of hay and See also:forage ($8,159,279 in 1899) . Wheat culture increased greatly from 1890 to 1900 . See also:Flour made from Colorado wheat ranks very high in the See also:market . As a cereal-producing state Colorado is, however, relatively unimportant; nor in value of product is its hay and forage crop notable, except that of alfalfa, which greatly surpasses that of any other state . In 1906 the state produced 3,157,136 bushels of See also:Indian See also:corn, valued at $1,578,568; 8,266,538 bushels of wheat, valued at $5,373,250; 5,962,394 bushels of oats, valued at $2,683,077; 759,771 bushels of See also:barley, valued at $410,276; 43,580 bushels of See also:rye, valued at $24,405; and 1,596,542 tons of hay, valued at $15,167,149 . The value of See also:vegetable products, of fruits, and of See also:dairy products was, relatively, equally small (only $7,346,415 in 1899) . Natural fruits are rare and practically worthless . Apples, peaches, plums, apricots, See also:pears, cherries and melons have been introduced . The best See also:fruit sections are the Arkansas valley, and in the western and south-western parts of the state . Melons are to some extent exported, and peaches also; the See also:musk-melons of the Arkansas valley (Rocky See also:Ford Canteloups) being in demand all over the United States . The fruit See also:industry See also:dates practically from 1890 . The dairy industry is rapidly increasing . In the holdings of neat See also:cattle (1,453,971) and sheep (2,045,577) it ranked in 1900 respectively seventeenth and tenth among the states of the Union; in 1907, according to the Yearbook of the See also:Department of Agriculture, there were in the state 1,561,712 neat cattle and 1,677,561 sheep . Stock-raising has always been important . The parks and mountain valleys are largely given over to ranges . The native See also:grasses are especially adapted for See also:fodder . The grama, See also:buffalo and bunch varieties cure on the See also:stem, and furnish throughout the winter an excellent ranging See also:food . These native grasses, even the thin bunch varieties of dry hills, are surprisingly nutritious, comparing very favour-ably with cultivated grasses . Large areas temporarily devoted to cultivation with poor success, and later allowed to revert to ranges, have become prosperous and even noted as stock country . This is true of the sandhill region of eastern Colorado . The grass flora of the lowlands is not so rich in variety nor so abundant in quality as that of high altitudes . Before the plains were fenced large herds drifted to the south in the winter, but now sufficient hay and alfalfa are cut to feed the cattle during the storms, which at longest are brief . An See also:account of Colorado agriculture would not be See also:complete without mentioning the depredations of the See also:grasshopper, which are at times extra-ordinarily destructive, as also of the " Colorado See also:Beetle " (Doryphora decemlineata), or common See also:potato-See also:bug, which has extended its fatal activities eastward throughout the prairie states . Minerals.—Colorado is pre-eminently a mineral region, and to this fact it owes its colonization . It possesses unlimited supplies, as yet not greatly exploited, of fine See also:building stones, some oil and See also: |