USA > Colorado > History of Colorado; Volume I > Part 63
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PROTECTED RANGE
Of all the benefits received from the national forests, probably the greatest. is the protected range afforded homesteaders and ranchers for their stock. About two-thirds of the area of the forests contains more or less forage, which, like all other resources, is put to its highest use. In Colorado, during 1917, over 3,500 permittees grazed 1,266,000 cattle, horses, sheep and goats on na- tional forest range. This grazing is under Government regulations, so that the forests are not injured or the range overstocked.
Every farmer is to a certain extent a stockman, especially if his ranch is remote from markets at which he can sell his farm produce. It is at this point that the national forests serve to meet his special need, for the small rancher is given the preference in use of the forage on the forests. He is allowed to graze ten head of milch and work animals free of charge, and is also considered before all others in the allotment of further grazing privileges. That the small owner avails himself of these privileges is shown by the fact that out of the 1917 total of 3,500 permittees using national forest range in this state, 2,987 were ranchers grazing less than 100 head of stock each. The number of animals now sustained in proportion to the area of the forests is vastly greater than it was ten years ago. Under regulation the productivity of mountain ranges has been restored and increased ; the livestock industry has been made more stable ; range wars have ceased; and ranch property has increased in value. In short, public control has served to promote community development, prevent monopoly, and increase prosperity.
OPEN TO MINING
The national forests are open to prospecting and mining development just as is the public domain. Many of the greatest mining camps of the west are located within or adjacent to forests. This is a distinct advantage to the miner, since these protected areas assure him of a continuous supply of timber and water for development work. To prevent fraud, a claim coming up for patent is examined on the ground to determine whether the mining laws have been complied with. This examination is made by an expert miner, and no one with at valid claim need fear it. It is not on the great areas of privately owned land that miners are prospecting, but on the national forests and public domain ; for it is only on these lands that title to a claim can be secured by a conscientious compliance with the mining laws.
WATER POWER IN RESERVES AND AGRICULTURAL INTERESTS
Water power is also an important resource of the national forests. Many sites suitable for hydro-electrical development are to be found in the vicinity
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of the lakes and streams in the mountains. These are open to occupancy for such purposes at all times. The Government does not, however, permit the monopolization of power in any region, or allow power sites to be held without development. Permits for power development on the National Forests usually run for a term of 50 years, and may be renewed at their expiration upon com- pliance with regulations then existing.
To the agricultural interests the proper handling of the national forests is of the greatest importance. The forests conserve and increase the water supply ; -and property secures an added value through fire protection and the construc- tion of roads, trails and other Government improvements. It is the policy of the Department of Agriculture to make available for settlement lands chiefly valuable for farming. To this end all forest lands have been classified, and areas found to be more valuable for agriculture than for forest purposes re- stored to entry. The farm units available for entry as a result of this classifica- tion are, as a rule, small and isolated, and of considerably less value than much of the land on the public domain outside the forests. Since 1906 nearly 250,- 000 acres have been listed for settlement under the Act of June 11, 1906, in the national forests of the state, and many large tracts found to be unsuited for forest purposes have been eliminated.
ROAD BUILDING, TRAILS AND TELEPHONE LINES
Good roads and the successful development of a country go hand in hand, and road building is the greatest problem which confronts the new settler. Today there are millions of acres of good farm land lying undeveloped because of the lack of adequate transportation facilities. The national forests, situated as they are in remote and least settled localities, often present as difficult condi- tions as are to be found anywhere in the country. The Government is meeting this problem in three ways: First, by public improvements constructed by the Forest Service in the forests; second, by returning to the counties a share of the receipts from the forests; and third, by standard road construction under the terms of the Federal Aid Road Act.
Each year the Government builds in the forest roads, trails, telephone lines and other improvements. During the twelve years which the national forests of Colorado have been under the administration of the Department of Agri- culture there have been constructed 282 miles of roads, 3,251 miles of trails, and 1,183 miles of telephone lines. All of these improvements benefit some set- tlers or ranchers, but more especially those who live within the forest boundaries. Congress has also provided for an annual appropriation of twenty-five per cent of all gross receipts earned from the sale of timber and other resources for the use of the counties in which the forests lie. This money must be used for road building and for schools, and to the sum thus made available is added another ten per cent of the receipts for road construction only, this latter money being expended under the supervision of the Forest Service. In 1917 some $107,232 were obtained in this way from national forest receipts by the various counties in Colorado for road and school improvements. As the business throughout the forests increases, this contribution to community development will soon be a very large one.
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HISTORY OF COLORADO
A bill of far-reaching importance to the national forest communities, known as the Federal Aid Road Act, was signed by the President in July, 1916. By the terms of this Congressional measure an appropriation of $1,000,000 a year for ten years was made, to be used exclusively in the development of national forest roads. This money is expended on a fifty-fifty basis-the states benefiting from the act appropriating a like sum. Colorado's share of this amount is ap- proximately $62,000 per annum.
Protection from fire is one of the many services effected by the administration of the national forests. Prior to their creation little or no effort was made to guard the timber on the public domain from fire. But during the past ten years a most effective system of detection and suppression of fires has been developed by the Forest Service. Extra patrol forces are maintained during danger periods; numerous fire lookout stations have been established on prominent points overlooking large areas of timber; trails and telephone lines have been constructed into hitherto inaccessible parts of the mountains, and efficient meth- ods of detecting and suppressing forest fires put into force. Through these various means the occurrence of disastrous fires has practically been eliminated, and the number of small fires materially reduced. Thus in 1916 over 275 fires, covering an area of 3,053 acres, occurred in the national forests of the state, while in 1917 the number was reduced to a total of 172 fires, and the area burned over to 1,525 acres. This work is not only saving public property; it is con- serving our natural resources for economic development and for permanent industry.
Apart from the commercial resources of the national forests, their use for recreation is destined to become one of enormous value to the nation. It is esti- mated that 3,000,000 people visit the forests of the United States yearly, and it would be difficult to find a freer or more healthful place in which to spend a vacation. These vast areas, which embrace the high, rugged mountains of our country, the scenery of which is unsurpassed, are open to all. Camping, fish- ing and hunting grounds abound, and the visitor is free to come and go as he pleases. The lands bordering on the thousands of lakes and streams in the for- ests offer attractive sites for summer homes, which may be obtained under term leases from the Forest Service at a nominal rental. Many portions of the for- ests can now be reached by railroads and automobile highways, while even the more remote mountain regions are open to travel on horseback over trails built and maintained by the Government.
Thousands of recreation centers, public picnic and camping grounds, excur- sion points and resorts are being developed in localities readily accessible to large numbers of people. Through the cooperation of railroads, tourist bureaus and commercial associations, the public is rapidly becoming familiar with the won- derful opportunities for outdoor life and enjoyment which the national forests offer In 1917 over 853,000 visitors and 144,270 automobiles entered these great mountain playgrounds of Colorado, an increase of thirty-five per cent over 1916. These figures express better than words the popularity of the national forests as a place in which to motor, camp, fish and hunt, and justify the title of "The People's Playground," by which they are commonly known.
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HISTORY OF COLORADO
WORK OF THE FIELD DISTRICT
In order to prevent delay and "red tape" in the administration of the na- tional forests of the country, seven field districts have been established, with a district forester in charge at each headquarters. The Rocky Mountain Dis- trict, which includes Colorado, has its headquarters in the new Federal Building in Denver. Each of the national forests is in charge of a forest supervisor, who is the general manager of his forest, planning the work and seeing that it is properly carried out. Every forest is also divided into ranger districts, with a forest ranger in charge of each. On January 1, 1918, the force employed by the Forest Service in the state numbered 310. The total receipts for the fiscal year 1917, from the national forests of Colorado, on account of timber sales, grazing fees, and special uses, was $306,379.93.
NATIONAL FORESTS IN COLORADO
Name
Date Created Net Area Acres
. Headquarters
Arapaho
July 1, 1908
634,903
Hot Sulphur Springs
Battlement
Dec. 24, 1892
651,227
Grand Junction
Cochetopa
June 13, 1905
905,723
Saguache
Colorado
July 1, 1910
847,328
Ft. Collins
Durango
. July
1, 19II
614,129
Durango
Gunnison
May 12, 1905
908,055
Gunnison
Holy Cross
Aug. 25, 1905
576,905
Glenwood Springs
Leadville
May 12, 1905
934,017
Leadville
Montezuma
June 13, 1905
700,082
Mancos
Pike
.July 1, 1908
1,080,38I
Denver
Rio Grande
.July 1, 1908
1,136,884
Monte Vista
Routt
June 12, 1905
833,459
Steamboat Springs
San Isabel
May 27, 1910
598,912
Westcliffe
San Juan
June 3, 1905
617,995
Pagosa Springs
Sopris
April 26, 1909
596,986
Aspen
Uncompahgre
July 1, 1908
790,349
Delta
White River
Oct. 16, 1891
848,018
Glenwood Springs
12,640,450
THE MOUNTAIN PARKS
The Federal Government has during the past two decades set apart and reserved from disposition, under the Public Land Laws, some of the state's "wonderland." Part of this has been included in "national parks" and part as "national monuments," under the act of Congress known as the "Antiquities Act," which authorizes the President to reserve by proclamation "historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific in- terest" that are situated upon public lands or upon lands which may be donated to the United States for monument purposes.
There are now two national parks and two national monuments in Colorado.
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HISTORY OF COLORADO
Colorado's national parks are the Mesa Verde and Rocky Mountain (Estes) parks. Of the Mesa Verde much has been covered in the chapter devoted to the cliff dwellers. But aside from these there is in Mesa Verde Park scenery of a high order. Mesa Verde itself is covered with a magnificent growth of cedar, and its northern rim is fringed with pine trees. From any point on the mesa, and especially from its rim, one may view the awe-inspiring Shiprock balancing its phantom form on the southern horizon, the distant Sleeping Ute in the west.
In the Rocky Mountain National Park there are some of the highest moun- tains in the United States-one peak over 14,000 feet in altitude, fourteen peaks which tower over 13,000 feet above the sea, and nineteen peaks with an altitude of more than 12,000 feet. Enormous glaciers, remarkable evidence of past gla- cial action on a grand scale; numerous species of animals and birds, wild, of course, but no longer in great fear of man ; wild flowers in abundance; beautiful lakes teeming with fish; and primeval forests of extraordinary grandeur.
The national monuments in Colorado are the Wheeler and Colorado monu- ments. The former is located in Mineral County, not far from Creede and Wagon Wheel Gap, and has an area of over three hundred acres. It is a moun- tainous region of volcanic structure and evidences of violent volcanic action are to be seen everywhere. The monument is cut by numerous deep canyons which exhibit stratum after stratum of ashes and lava of varying composition. These deep gorges have been carved by powerful erosive forces, leaving, besides the exhibit of volcanic action, a remarkable exhibit of erosive sculpturing in great pinnacles, spires, and other fantastic rock formations that crown the ridges be- tween the canyons and rise in bewildering profusion in the canyons themselves.
The Colorado National Monument is located a short distance from Grand Junction, on the Denver & Rio Grande, and contains over thirteen thousand acres of land. It also includes several canyons of more than ordinary scenic quality. These canyons have been cut in a red sandstone formation and in connec- tion with their development monoliths of enormous proportions have been carved by the tireles elements working through countless ages. These great monoliths. towering hundreds of feet in the air, all gorgeously colored, are the chief natural features of the monument. The largest monolith is considerably over four hundred feet high and is more than one hundred feet in diameter at its base. The canyon floors offer excellent opportunities for the establishment of an im- portant wild animal refuge, and in all likelihood the Federal Government will undertake the development of this sanctuary within a few years.
DENVER'S MOUNTAIN PARKS
Denver pioneered the mountain park idea. Six years ago this progressive western city put the idea into effect, and went about the development of its mountain parks methodically. The plan has been tested thoroughly, both as to popularity and benefits, and the results may be gauged by the fact that more than 300,000 individual visitors passed through the mountain park gateways dur- ing June, July and August of 1917, in automobiles alone. This is more than the combined attendance at all of the Federal national parks in the country dur- ing the corresponding period.
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HISTORY OF COLORADO
The Denver mountain parks at present constitute ten tracts of land, more than five square miles in total area, scattered over 100 square miles of territory and connected by 75 miles of road, of which 50 miles are of actual mountain con- struction. The road never exceeds a six per cent grade, is 20 feet wide with easements on turns; tilted inward towards the hillside, guarded with anchored steel cable, and drained by iron pipes passing beneath the surface.
An amendment to the state constitution gave Denver the right to condemn land in other counties for park purposes, to build and maintain roads and im- provements outside the city limits. The citizens voted a levy not to exceed five mills per year, to accomplish this purpose.
The City of Denver had expended on mountain parks up to January 1, 1918, $414,000. Of this amount there has been spent for road construction, $225,000; for building fences, etc., $30,000; for land purchases, $34,000. There are eight shelter houses, and in the immediate vicinity of each shelter house there will be found playground equipment consisting of teter boards and swings, stone fire- places for food preparation ; tables and benches for picnic parties, and an unfail- ing supply of pure water.
In Genesee Mountain Park, the largest of the park areas, is a municipal wild game preserve, in which are 75 head of elk, 14 buffalo, 10 big horn sheep, antelope and deer of three varieties. This preserve is to be stocked also with game birds of various species, blue and sharp-tailed grouse, mountain plume partridge, Hun- garian partridge, Mongolian pheasants, and certain mountain-dwelling European species.
On Bear Creek, the southern boundary of the mountain park system, the city maintains two feeding ponds for mountain trout, from which are released annually into Bear Creek 300,000 trout fry. These trout consist of rainbow, eastern brook and black-spotted native trout. The only requirement of citizens and visitors desiring to cast the elusive fly, is that they secure a state fishing license, which costs $1.00.
There are three types of park lands in the mountain park system, the first beginning at the little town of Golden, Colorado's second capital, includes Look- out Mountain. In five miles the road climbs 2,000 feet-a skyline drive that has no peer in this country. All the tricks of the scenic engineer have been em- ployed on this section. At one moment the motorist looks into the gorge-like depths of Clear Creek, along whose banks gold was first discovered in Colorado; at the next he gazes across 200 miles of checkered farm land, and looks into the states of Wyoming, Nebraska and Kansas.
The section leading up Lookout Mountain constitutes one of the finest road- building feats in America. At Sensation Point, the road hangs on the face of the cliff and is prevented from dropping into Clear Creek, 500 feet below, by a concrete retaining wall. The engineers lost their roadbed repeatedly during construction, as sections of it crumbled away beneath them. Finally, they anchored the retaining wall on solid rocks on either side to serve as a dam on the face of the cliff.
Another battle royal with the mountains occurred when the engineers evolved the upper and lower hairpin curves, two successes which compare favorably with any of the scenic road-building in the Swiss Alps. On the upper Hairpin, in an elevation of 75 feet, and on a transverse horizontal axis of 250 feet, five levels
A
THE PROPOSED CODY MONUMENT
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HISTORY OF COLORADO
of the road are laid. At Wildcat Point, on Lookout Mountain, the motorist drives to the edge of a sheer cliff, and gazes down at the little town of Golden 2,000 feet below. From this point at night the lights of Denver, criss-crossing over an area of sixty square miles, impart a wonderful impression. One hundred feet above this point, among the pungent pines, lies the body of the late Col. W. F. Cody, "Buffalo Bill."
The second type of the parks is represented in Genesee and Bergen parks. This is a region of pastoral landscapes, abounding in splendidly wooded mountains.
Bear Creek Cañon represents the third type. The road here runs through the bottom of a rocky, picturesque canyon-the haunts of fishermen and campers.
The entire region is well timbered with silver spruce, yellow pine, lodgepole pine, flexible pine, cedar, fir, quaking aspen and alders. On every hand wild flowers are in profusion. Colorado, with its 300 native species, has more wild flowers than any other state in America. Acres of delicate blue and white colors beneath the quaking aspens are in bloom. The scarlet spikes of the Indian paint brush splash the hills and meadows with vivid touches of color, while a careful search may reveal the Woods lily, a red flower resembling the tiger lily in all but the color. So far as botanists know, it has its habitat exclusively in Colorado.
The multifarious small life of the region is especially interesting to the nature lover. This phase of the mountain parks is reserved to the enthusiastic pedestrian. Mountain trails, built over the hills and around beetling crags, lead the hiker into a primeval wilderness. Rabbits, chipmunks, grouse, bluejays, and scores of bird species start up on every hand.
Genesee Peak, 8,260 feet high, is encircled by a spiral automobile road. This is the scene of winter sports. Skiing, tobogganing, snow-shoeing draw the city- bred dweller to the mountains, even in winter.
Along Bear Creek hundreds of summer homes have been built by wealthy residents of Denver and other cities. These picturesque lodges, built of un- dressed pine and the native rocks, form one of the most interesting features of the mountain park system.
The city has begun the construction of a wonderful skyline drive to the top of Mount Evans, the tenth highest peak in Colorado. Its elevation is 14,260 feet, and it is surrounded by a series of titanic cliffs, moraines, and some fifty natural lakes. A bill before Congress asks for the creation of a national park in the Mount Evans region. The city has offered to stand half the expense of completing a driveway to the top of the peak. When completed, this drive, which will be twenty-seven miles from the present end of the mountain park roads. will be above twelve thousand feet in elevation for more than half of its length.
CHAPTER XXIX
DEVELOPING THE HIGHWAYS OF THE STATE
THE FIRST WAGON ROADS AFTER THE SANTA FE TRAIL-"SMOKY HILL" TRAIL- ROUTES FROM THE EAST-BUILDING THE MOUNTAIN ROADS-THROUGH UTE PASS TO SOUTH PARK-HAYDEN'S LIST OF ROADS-TERRITORIAL LEGISLATURE NAMES TERRITORIAL ROADS-HIGHWAYS OUT OF SILVERTON-"SNUBBING" POSTS -ADVENT OF THE AUTOMOBILE-THE FIGHT FOR GOOD ROADS-THE NEW HIGH- WAY COMMISSION-BUILDING A NEW SYSTEM OF STATE ROADS
In 1852, when the Santa Fe Trail passed up the Arkansas River and over the Sangre de Cristo Pass, it was found necessary to construct a fairly wide trail to the site of Canon City covering the trapping stations along the Arkansas River. Five thousand pounds of freight was about the limit for eight mules or three yoke of oxen on these early roads. There were no bridges in this period, and it often taxed the pulling power of forty or more mules to pull a large loaded wagon across the sandy river beds. When the floods were on, it was simply a case of stopping and camping until conditions for crossing were favorable. There are many places to be seen along the old trail, even at this late day, which are un- questionably the ruts made by the old, heavy wagons.
The "Smoky Hill" Trail from Leavenworth was headed toward Auraria and Cherry Creek almost immediately after the discoveries of 1858, followed a little later by the "Overland" Trail, built from Atchison towards Colorado and Utah.
The first real stage line to Colorado was the Leavenworth and Pike's Peak Express Line, which made its initial trip starting March 27, 1859. reaching Denver June 7th-seventy-one days. This was mainly over a new and untraveled route, the stage company building the road as it progressed. Horace Greeley was a passenger on this first journey and helped out with the shovel and pick.
The route followed was along the divide between the Solomon and Republican rivers ; thence northwest to the south side of the Republican to its source ; thence southwest to the headwaters of the Beaver, Bijou and Kiowa creeks; thence along the pine ridge to Cherry Creek; thence along the high ridge on the north side of Cherry Creek to Denver. The route was laid out by Beverly D. Williams, first territorial delegate to Congress, who kept the road on high, dry ground all the way. The total distance was 687 miles ; afterwards reduced to 600 miles, and the average time each way was reduced to ten or twelve days.
Later the line was reorganized and called the Central Overland California and Pike's Peak Express Company. A survey was completed over Berthoud Pass and along the Green River to Utah, and the road was partially completed. but after spending $40,000. this part of the line was abandoned for the time.
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HISTORY OF COLORADO
In1 1861 Ben Holladay and associates bought up many of the old stage lines and then controlled 3,300 miles of stage routes. Between 1861 and 1865 the Government was paying them $1,000,000 yearly for carrying a daily mail from the Missouri River to Placerville, California, a distance of about 2,000 miles over the Overland route.
D. A. Butterfield was running a line from Leavenworth via the Smoky Hill route to Denver and Salt Lake, while Holladay was sending a branch line from the Overland Trail into Denver via Julesburg and Fort Morgan. There was much rivalry and record runs were made. Holladay made the trip himself for a test from Atchison, Kansas, to Placerville, California, 2,000 miles, in twelve days. Albert Richardson made the run from Atchison to Denver in four and one-half days, and Butterfield was advertising regular trips from the Missouri River to Denver in eight days and often made them in six days.
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