Colorado: its resources, parks, and prospects as a new field for emigration; with an account of the Trenchara and Costilla Estates in the San Luis Park

Part I

► COLORADO: ITS RESOURCES AND PROSPECTS. a DEDI C ATED TO THE HONORABLE WILLIAM GILPIN, THE JFaun&cv m\i jmst (Doucvnar OF COLORADO. August 2, 1869. Presnce.

Preface

. The following pages have been compiled with the view of giving reliable information to Emigrants and others, relative to die " Territory of Colorado," in die United States of America, and which, in consequence of the recent completion of the Union Pacific Railroad, offers a new, accessible, and desirable field for emigration. Colorado extends about 300 miles from north to south, and 400 miles from east to west, and contains upwards of 100,000 square miles. It is intersected by two ranges of the Rocky Mountains, and is distant some 2000 miles from New York, and 1,200 miles from San Francisco. Prior to 1859, it had a sparse white population of only a few hundred hardy trappers and pioneers ; but gold having then been discovered, a steady immigration set in : so that Colorado now has upwards of 70,000 inhabitants ; whilst it ranks next to California as the largest gold producing district in the United States.

This wonderful progress in population and wealth during the past ten years has been made in spite of the difficulties with which emigrants have had to contend ; not the least of which has been the long and wearisome journey across the Plains from the Eastern Settlements to the Mountains of Colorado. The journey across the Plains exceeded 600 miles, and, when taken by mules or oxen, usually occupied from "O to 60 days, and was often indefinitely protracted. But the recent Preface. opening of the Union Pacific Railroad has brought Colorado into direct railway communication with all points of the United States, so that New York can now be reached in four days, and San Francisco in rather more than two. One of the first results of the opening up of railway communication with the West has been the introduction, during the past month, into Central City of upwards of 400 Chinese labourers.

With railway communication to all parts of the United States, the natural progress and prosperity of Colorado in the future is an assured fact ; so that there is every reason to expect and believe that during the next ten years this increase will at least equal, if it does not exceed, that of the past decade ; the more especially since, in addition to accessibility, agricultural resources, and vast mineral wealth, the upland valleys of Colorado are distinguished by extreme salubrity of climate, which exercises a wonderful restorative and curative effect upon constitutions enfeebled by pulmonary disease. Civilization and good government in Colorado have advanced equally with its material prosperity ; so that Mr. Seward, when recently passing through the West, on his way to San Francisco, was enabled to speak of the country in the following glowing terms : — " I had thought Colorado was settled with adventurers, a moving ' population, and just enough gold ' to swear by ;' but now, to see ' this delightful scenery and climate, the substantial and handsome towns, the intelligence and stability of the citizens — and the large " and rapidly-increasing yield of gold — the farming and pastural " advantages — all surprise and quite bewilder me."

Preface. The book is divided into two parts. The first part consists of a description of Colorado, taken from the best and most reliable authorities ; amongst which may be particularly mentioned the official United States Government Report on Colorado, by Mr. Joseph S. Wilson, the Commissioner of the General Land Office, and the Report of the Denver Board of Trade, as well as extracts from the well-known writings of Bayard Taylor, Bliss, Hollister, Whitney, and Bowles. It also refers to mines and mining in Colorado, its agricultural resources, and its great capabilities for the raising of all descriptions of stock. The second part is devoted to the " Parks of Colorado," and also comprises a series of reports made in connection with two Estates, called the " Trenchara," and " Costilla " Estates, forming the Sangre de Cristo Grant, and situated in the most southern and best part of the park of " San Luis."

These " Parks " consist of magnificent and fertile upland valleys, lying at an elevation of from 5000 to 6000 feet above the level of the sea, and surrounded by mountains. They are well watered, and are usually heavily timbered on the mountain slopes. The principal and most interesting of the Parks are the " North," " Middle," " South," and " San Luis," the latter of which contains upwards of 9000 square miles, equals the aggregate area of the three former, and excels them in climate, fertility, and mineral wealth. The Parks, from their extent and productiveness, are capable of supporting a large population, and offer some of the best fields for Prelate, emigration in the world. Professor Hayden, the well-known geologist of the United States, who has spent the last fifteen years in exploring Kansas, Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, and Colorado, in speaking of the southern part of the Park of San Luis, says : " Its fertile soil, " its extensive pasturage, its abundant water-power, its inexhaustible " mineral resources, and the salubrity of its climate, all combine to render " it the most inviting and most promising district west of the Missouri " River, and I can affirm mat I know of no region of the West more " desirable for settlement than this just described, combining, as it docs, " all the elements of wealth and productiveness." TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PART I. PAGE

Description of Colorado :— i- — Colorado : from Appleton's "Handbook of American Travel" ... 15 — 17 2. — Colorado: from Bacon's "Handbook of America"... ... ... 18 — 19 3. — Colorado : from the Report of Mr. Joseph S. Wilson, Commissioner of the General Land Office ... ... ... ... ... 20 — 22 4. — Colorado and its Resources : by J. P. Whitney ... ... ... 22 — 46 5. — Extracts from Report of the Denver Board of Trade ... ... 47 — 63 6. — The Auriferous Regions of North America : extracted from the " New York Herald" of 23rd January, 1S65 ... ... ... ... 64 — 80 7. — The Resources of Colorado : by Capt. R. H. Leese, Ex-Consul of the U.S.A. for Spezzia. Extracts from a series of letters in the " Mining Journal" of 1868 and 1869 ... ... ... ... .. 81 — joi Mines and Mining in Colorado*-— 3. — Alines and Mining Processes in Colorado : By Bayard Taylor ... 105 — 106 o. — Alining and Mining Statistics : from " Description of the Parks of Colorado," June, 1868 ... ... ... ... ... 106—107 10. — The Gold Mines of Colorado : extracted from "Across the Continent;" by Samuel Bowles, Editor of the " Springfield (Mass.)

Republican" 108 — 112 11. — Extracts from O. J. Hollister's "Mines of Colorado" ... ... 112 — 122 12. — Inducements to Emigrants : from the " Rocky Mountain News" ... 123 13. — Extract from "The New Gold Fields:" by Edward Eliss ... ... 124 — 126 14. — Production and Operations of Mining Companies in Colorado * from Hollister's "Flying Trip to the Silver Mines of Colorado" . 127 — 129 b PAGE 13'. — Mines, Mining, and Miners: from Bowles's "Summer Vacation in the Parks and Mountains of Colorado" ... •-- ... 130 — 136 16 — Mines of Nevada: from "The Times" of January 22nd, 1869 ... 136 — 138 17. — Mining in Colorado : from the " Mining Journal," January 23, 1869 ... 139 — 140 Pastoral and Agricultural Resources : — 18. — Pastoral. Extract from "The New Gold Region:" by Edward Bliss, New York, 1861 ... ... ... ... ... ... 143 — 146 19. — Extract from Dilke's "Greater Britain" ... ... ... ... 147 20. — The Agriculture of Colorado : from Bowles's " Summer Vacation in the Parks and Mountains of Colorado" ... ... ... 148 — 152 Miscellaneous : — 21- -Salubrity of Climate.

Colorado as a Summer Resort: By Bayard Taylor ... .. ... ... ... ... ... 155 — 157 22. — Sanitary Effects of Mountain Air in Cases of Consumption : from Ruxton's "Adventures in Mexico and the Rocky Mountains" ... 158 23. — Roads and Railways. The Poncho Pass : by Bayard Taylor ... 159 24. — The Pacific Railroad: from Bowles's "Summer Vacation in the Parks and Mountains of Colorado" ... . . ... ... ... 160 25.* -Pullman Cars : from Bowles's " Summer Vacation in the Parks and Mountains of Colorado " ... ... ... ... ... 161 26.— Governor Gilpin *. from Mr. Hepworth Dixon's "New America," and Mr. Dilke's " Greater Britain" ... ... ... ... 162 —