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top of the range, and will be finished to the Grand river in about twenty days, making, with what was done by the Overland Company last year, a passable wagon road from Denver to Salt Lake City, 150 miles shorter than the present road. The completion of this road will cause the immediate settlement of all the agricultural portions of the Middle Park and the valleys of the Grand, White and Bear rivers. The reported discovery of rich placer diggings on the head of Bear river, beyond the Middle Park, has this summer caused what is known here as a stampede" to that region, and from six hundred to a thousand miners have gone over there. What foundation here was for the report I have been unable to find out, and thus far no gold has come back from them nor any reliable information as to whether there is any gold there or not. Whether the diggings pay or not, the stampede will have the effect of opening up a rich agricultural country as yet wholly undeveloped. The Middle Park consists of broad fertile valleys along innumerable mountain streams, separated by low ranges of hills covered with pine timber. At the Hot springs the elevation of the Grand river is over 8,000 feet above the level of the sea, and of course that portion of the park which lies above that is too high for the cultivation of any but the most hardy small grains and those vegetables that are not affected by the frost. This portion is principally valuable for its meadows and for grazing purposes generally. All the valleys are covered with a heavy growth of native grass, which for hay cannot be excelled, and hay can be taken from here to the mines cheaper than from the plains. The portion of the park below the Hot springs and the valleys of the Grand, White and Bear rivers are capable of cultivation, as well as the valley of the Green river on the western line of the Territory. The Green river at the mouth of the White is said to be but 4,500 feet above the sea, or about the level of Salt lake. These valleys are broad and are covered with a heavy growth of grass, clover, wild rye and wild barley, while the mountains are covered with rich pasturage. Petroleum in enormous quantities, in the shape of a coal similar to the Albertine coal of New Brunswick, has been discovered on the White river near its confluence with the Green, the veins being vertical and traceable for five miles in extent, with a thickness of over four feet. The rock around these veins is saturated with petroleum. Coal is found in abundance near the head of the park, and from that westward to the line of Utah. The Hot springs form the principal attraction in this park A large stream of water, impregnated with sulphur, and about as hot as can be borne to bathe in, pours out of a rock made by the water, and falls some ten feet into a basin of the same rock. During the summer months, hundreds of our people visit this place to enjoy bathing and trout fishing. All the streams of the parks abound in trout, varying from those a few inches in length to eight pounds weight. The timber in the park is mostly pine; but above the elevation of 3,000 feet, spruce and fir take the place of pine, and at the elevation of 12,000 feet all timber disappears, although grass and many varieties of flowers are found on the tops of the highest mountains.

The geology of the South and Middle Parks is the same as that of the plains; rocks of the most recent tertiary are found there, although at an elevation of 3,000 feet above the highest plains on this slope of the mountains. I have been shown a fragment of rock belonging to the tertiary, which was found on the top of Long's Peak, at an elevation of 15,000 feet above the sea. The climate of the parks is about the same as that of the plains as far as extremes of heat and cold are concerned, but more rain falls in the summer and more snow in the winter, and the average for the year is much colder. What has been said of the Middle Park as regards climate, soil, timber and geology, will apply equally to the North and South Parks.

PARK SAN OF LUIS.

The San Luis Park resembles the others in that portion of it lying north of 37° 30' north latitude. Nineteen streams, rising in the Sangre de Christo and Sawatch mountains, all flow into what is known as the Sawatch lake or swamp, a lake having no outlet, which fills during the season of melting snow, but becomes partially dry during winter. These streams form broad meadows of fine grass similar to the Middle Park; but as the elevation is about 9,000 feet, the land is of very little use except for grazing. A small settlement has recently been made near the lake on the Baca Float, No. 4, belonging to Governor Gilpin. The Rio Grande, dividing the San Juan range from the Sawatch, flows into the park from the west, and its valley forms the northwestern arm of the park. This valley is somewhat lower, and is capable of producing crops of small grains in abundance. A settlement has been made. here, and the whole valley would probably be settled, were it not claimed and overrun by the Ute Indians as pasture for their ponies. That portion of the park lying south of 37° 30′ north latitude is of a different character, consisting of a broad plateau of volcanic origin, through which the Rio Grande and its tributaries have cut narrow but fertile valleys, which support a population of Mexicans, variously estimated at from 8,000 to 11,000 people. No land is cultivated except the valleys, while the high mesa is used in common by all as pasturage. The mesa land is rich and can be cultivated wherever water can be had for irrigation, but in many streams there is no more water than what is used in the valleys.

The eastern portion of the lower park, including the valleys of the Trenchara, Calebra and Costilla, is covered by a Mexican grant belonging to Governor Gilpin, and is not so well tilled as the valley of the Conejos. Township lines have been run over the valleys of the Conejos and Jura; but I have been reluctant to extend the surveys over this country, fearing that the difference between the system of surveys practiced by the Mexicans and our own would work an injury to the people and perhaps depopulate the country. These people do not speak our language or understand our laws, and are attached to the old Mexican forms and customs, and would look upon the dividing of the land into sections and selling it in that shape as an attempt on the part of the government to deprive them of their lands.

The annual crop of the San Luis valley does not vary much from 400,000 bushels of grain of all sorts. In addition to this vegetables of all kinds, peaches, apples, and grapes are cultivated to some extent. About 15,000 acres are under cultivation. Considerable attention is given to raising sheep, and large herds are kept with very little care, as a herd boy with a few dogs will attend almost any number of them. These sheep are a small-bodied, coarse-wooled variety, yielding about one pound per head. They are kept principally for mutton, and are rarely sheared, as enough wool for domestic purposes can be gathered as it falls off. The Mexican women manufacture from the wool, blankets, carpets, their own clothing, and sacks for grain. This they do without spinning wheel or loom, using a top for spinning, and a simple frame for weaving. Gold in paying quantities has been discovered in the San Juan mountains, but has never been worked to any extent; and Governor Gilpin reports the discovery of gold in the Sangre de Christo range. Silver, copper, iron, and zinc have been discovered in all the ranges around the San Luis valley, and coal in the valley itself.

VALLEY OF THE ARKANSAS.

The Arkansas river with its tributaries form a series of valleys, which, in soil, climate, and facility of irrigation, are not excelled by any portion of the Territory. The amount of land which can be irrigated by this stream is only

limited by the mountains forming the rim of the valley, as there is always abundance of water to supply the whole country, and this water can be taken out at as high an elevation as desired. The Arkansas leaves the mountains at a lower elevation than any other stream, and that fact, together with the difference in latitude, makes the season at least two months longer than in the neighborhood of Denver. Even at a distance of sixty miles in the mountains, enough grain and vegetables will this year be raised to supply the wants of the miners of that section. Indian corn is the principal crop, as this is the only part of the Territory where it can be successfully raised north of the Sangre de Christo range. Wheat, barley, oats, and vegetables yield better than in any other section, and tobacco has been found to succeed well. The climate and soil would indicate that cotton could be raised here, but the experiment has not been tried. Very little snow falls in this valley during the winter, and most of the cattle of the Territory are driven here to winter, as they will keep fat on what grass they can get. About 30,000 acres of land are under cultivation this year in the valley of the Arkansas and its tributaries, and the crop will not fall much short of 900,000 bushels, the larger portion of it being corn. The south side of the river is mostly covered by unconfirmed Mexican grants, which has prevented settlements from being made there as extensively as they otherwise would have been. Some definite settlement of the rights of these grantees is greatly needed. The reservation of the Cheyennes and Arapahoes, vacated by a treaty made last winter, but not yet approved, will be taken up as soon as that treaty goes into effect, and will call for immediate survey. Coal is found on Hardscrabble creek, Beaver creek, and on Monument creek in abundance, and petroleum is being worked on Oil creek, about six miles from Cañon City. Small veins of an oilbearing cannel coal have been found near Turkey creek. Iron ore is abundant all along the base of the mountains.

PLATTE VALLEY.

The valley of the Platte is separated from that of the Arkansas by a high plateau covered with heavy pine timber, interspersed with fine valleys of rich land, and capable of raising small grains without irrigation, as there is abundance of rain on this "divide." The basin of the Platte, with its thirteen great tributaries, constitutes what is now the best developed agricultural district in Colorado. The river, from the base of the mountains, runs northeasterly for over two hundred miles through a rich agricultural country. The lower bottom varies from one to three miles in width, and is all cultivated to a point below the mouth of the Cache le Poudre. Below that settlements have been made; but the people were driven off by the Indians, and have not yet dared to return. Above the lower bottom are two terraces of from a mile to five miles in width, nearly level, and with a soil finely adapted to the production of grain. The lower of these terraces, on the east side of the river, has been cultivated enough to show that the land is good, but not extensively. But on the west side ditches have been taken out of the streams at the base of the mountains that will irrigate nearly all the land lying between the river and the mountains. This land is found to be quite as fertile as the lower bottom, and better for farming purposes, as it requires less care, and is not liable to overflow. Some of the best farms this year are at an elevation of from three hundred to four hundred feet above the Platte. Great enterprise has been shown in the building of long lines of ditch to irrigate the uplands, and ditches from ten to thirty miles long are not uncommon. as much as has been done in this line, but a beginning has been made. Platte and its tributaries would furnish water enough, at all seasons, to irrigate its whole valley, as well as the valleys of some of the dry creeks lying to the east. The principal crop of this section, this year, will be wheat, which, both here and elsewhere throughout the Territory, yields an average of thirty bushels to

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the acre. This crop has been somewhat injured by smut this year, but not enough materially to affect the crop, as many varieties are not affected at all. Oats, barley, and all kinds of vegetables are raised in abundance. A single field of strawberries, of about one-quarter of an acre, constitutes the whole of the crop of domestic fruits that has as yet been raised here. These sold at the moderate price of ninety-six dollars per bushel, and the field yielded about fifteen bushels. Apple, pear, and other fruit trees were all destroyed by the grasshoppers of the two last years, and it is still a question whether they can be successfully cultivated north of the divide." The abundance of wild grapes, plums, cherries, currants, and raspberries would indicate the probability of success in raising domestic varieties.

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The number of acres under cultivation in the valley of the Platte will not fall much short of 60,000, and the crop of grain, of all sorts, will exceed 1,300,000 bushels. About 20,000 head of cattle and horses are herded in this valley; and nearly all the hay used in the Territory is cut here. Average price of hay per ton, $25.

But little attention has as yet been given to sheep breeding, although the country is well adapted to it, and any number could be raised with small expense, and will be, whenever there is a market for the wool.

GENERAL REMARKS ON THE AGRICULTURE OF THE COUNTRY.

In my last report, the number of acres capable of cultivation in the Territory was estimated at 2,500,000. More recent explorations and examination in regard to the amount of water that can be used, and the elevations to which it can be carried, lead me to think that at least 4,000,000 of acres can be cultivated whenever the wants of the country demand it. Thus far, the farming has fully kept pace with the wants of the population, although the destruction caused by floods and grasshoppers has prevented for the last two years the production of sufficient crops to supply the wants of the people. But this year, there cannot fail to be a large surplus of all the necessaries of life that can be produced here. The first requisite to the success of a mining country is its success as an agricultural country. This success Colorado has already attained, and she begins now to look forward with confidence to the success of her mines.

The records of the land office show that the government has sold in Colorado 210,000 acres of land, and that 190,000 acres have been claimed, but not paid for, making 400,000 acres that have been settled and improved. 100,000 acres of this land is under cultivation; and when it is taken into consideration that only one-half of the population of about 35,000 is engaged in agriculture, either directly or indirectly, the success of Colorado as a farming Territory is placed beyond a doubt.

IMMIGRATION.

The farming population has largely increased during the past year, by immigration, and this immigration has consisted of a class of people who have come here to make it their permanent home, and have brought with them their families and household goods. That class of immigration which is the curse of every new mining country, who come here to get rich and leave, have long since disap peared, and have given place to a people who are attached to the country, and who believe in its success both as a farming and mining section, and who by their presence have made that success certain.

TIMBER.

About five-sevenths of the Territory is what might be called timber land, although on a large portion of this the timber is small and scattering. The lower foot-hills are partially covered with cedar and pine; and in that part of

the country south of the Arkansas river the piñon or nut-bearing pine is abundant. This piñon is too small to be of much value as timber, but is good fuel. The cedar is mostly small, and too scrubby to be of any use except for fuel, in most places. But on the head-waters of the Smoky Hill fork and Republican large forests of cedar are found, which grow to an enormous size, some of the trees being two feet in diameter and eighty feet high. The highest mountains are covered with a heavy growth of pine, spruce and fir. The pine grows short, and a log twenty-four feet in length that will square fourteen inches is rare. The spruce and fir is taller, but does not grow to any great size. The supply of both lumber and wood for Denver is brought from the divide southeast from that place, the nearest being about twenty miles distant. This pinery covers about 700,000 acres, of which about 300,000 is heavy enough to be valuable.. I have caused the best portion of this pinery to be surveyed, as the best timber was being culled by the portable saw-mills, and I thought the best way to preserve the timber was to bring the land immediately into the market, as the land will be taken up, and men will protect their own interests where they will not regard those of the government. Pine wood is now worth in Denver ten dollars per cord, and lumber is worth from forty to fifty dollars per thousand feet. In the mountains the prices are about the same.

COAL.

I have heretofore reported the discovery of coal in the upheaved strata along the base of the mountains, from the Arkansas valley to the north line of the Territory. These veins are vertical, running parallel with the base of the mountains, and out-cropping wherever a mountain stream has cut a channel through the upturned rocks. These veins have been traced and opened in many places between the streams, and will probably be found to be a continuous belt, stretching quite across the Territory. The same veins out-crop as horizontal beds in the valley of Coal creek, fifteen miles from the mountains, and in the valley of the Cache le Poudre, at about the same distance. But the most extensive development is in the divide near the head of Coal creek, Terrapin, Kiowa, Bijou, Beaver, Big Sandy, and the Smoky Hill fork. This divide extends out into the plains at a geological elevation high enough to retain the coal to a distance of at least two hundred miles from the base of the mountains, and, as far as present developments go, is the only range containing coal for that distance. It is possible that coal may yet be discovered in the hills between the Platte and Republican rivers. A thorough geological exploration of this section of the country is much needed. This coal belongs to the tertiary period, although I am inclined to think that the lowest bed may be in the upper

cretaceous.

The coal is resinous, falls to pieces on exposure to the air and light, but will keep for a long time if protected from the light, and still longer if protected from air, light, and heat, by keeping it in tight cellars. It contains from seven to eight thousand cubic feet of gas to the ton; is a good grate coal, works well as a steam coal and in reverberatory furnaces, but, as far as experiments now go, will not make a coke that is of any use in smelting iron in the blast furnaces. The coal found in the Arkansas valley is used by the blacksmiths, but that found in the northern districts is pronounced unfit for their use, though the objection they make, that its heat is too intense, ought not to prevent its use. It contains very little sulphur, and abundance can be found that has none. Rumors have

reached me that coal has been discovered near Julesburgh, in the northeast corner of the Territory, but I know not with what foundation. Coal has been discovered since my last report in the Middle Park, and indications of it have been found in the South Park and the San Luis valley. Price of coal in Denver, $25 per ton.

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