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Colorado River Area: Dotsero to Grand Junction
(U.S.G.S. Bulletin 707, 1922)
Dotsero Area
After passing milepost 342 (See sheet 4) and
a small cut a few hundred yards beyond the railroad track reaches the bank of Colorado
River, which it follows to the western border of Colorado. This part of the country is
noted for its cattle and horses, and the siding of Dotsero is maintained largely for their
shipment. There are no red rocks in the valley of Colorado River just below the mouth of
Eagle River, but the rocks there exposed are about as hard as the soft red and green shale
and sandstone above. At first the traveler may not be able to identify any of the
dull-gray and slate-colored rocks below Eagle River with those he has seen farther
upstream, but a comparison of the section and of the order of the formations may show him
that these beds are the same as the heavy cliff-making sandstone and shale which he saw
just below Minturn. It might be
supposed that the same formation should show the same composition and hardness wherever it
is exposed, but as these formations consisted originally of sand, clay, and limy materials
that were deposited in some body of standing water, either a lake or the sea, it is
apparent that the character of the formation at any place must depend largely upon the
kind of material there swept into the body of water by the streams, and as the land near
by was probably composed of various kinds of rocks, which furnished various kinds of
material, it does not seem strange that at one locality a formation. may consist largely
of sandstone and at another of shale. Changes from sandstone or shale to limestone are
more rare, but such changes are observed in many parts of the country. The soft materials,
including some coal beds that are exposed below Eagle River, belong to the Weber
formation, which is in the lower part of the upper Carboniferous rocks.
The rocks rise gently westward, and at milepost 345 the massive layers of the Leadville
limestone rise from river level. This point marks the beginning of one of the most noted
canyons on the line of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad, the canyon of
Colorado River that stretches in unbroken beauty and grandeur from this point to Glenwood
Springs, a distance of 15 miles. (See Pls. LVII B,
LVIII,
and LIX.)
- This great canyon was trenched by the river in an immense upfold of bard beds, which
include all the sedimentary rocks that the railroad has crossed in the canyons above, and
into the underlying granite, to a total depth of 800 to 1,000 feet. The first appearance
of the Leadville limestone, noted above, near milepost 345, is marked by a warm sulphur
spring, very similar to the warm springs which gush from the same formation at Glenwood
Springs and give that place its reputation. Why the water should be warm at both these
places is a question that can not yet be answered, for neither spring has any apparent
connection with a fault that would permit the hot waters to rise from great depths, or
with old volcanic flows or vents in which circulating water would come into contact with
rocks that still retain some of the heat they had when they were ejected from the earth's
interior. However, there may be some underground connection with one or the other of these
features which is not apparent at the surface but which would account for the temperature
of the waters carried in this limestone.
The limestone rises toward the west at an angle of about 15 degrees, and within a distance
of half a mile the underlying quartzite appears at the level of the track. As the river
cuts deeper and deeper into the rising rocks the canyon becomes more and more rugged, and
the short bends give rise to many towers and pinnacles upon the projecting points. As the
rocks continue to rise in the direction in which the train is going, lower and lower rocks
come into view. Next below the upper quartzite, which is about 100 feet thick, lie shale
and thinbedded sandstone, about 40 feet thick, and upon these lies white quartzite, about
270 feet thick. So far the section in this canyon is almost identical with that seen in
the deeper canyons up Eagle River, but here there is still another member, which seems not
to be present farther east. This member is a coarse quartzite whose chief characteristics
are its rich pink or maroon color and the remarkable regularity in the thickness of its
various beds, as well as the evenness of the bedding planes which separate them. These
characteristics are well shown in Plate LVII, B.
The full thickness of this quartzite can not be seen here, for within a short distance the
beds, dip sharply in the other direction and the quartzite disappears below water level.
Farther down the river, however, where the quartzite rests on the granite, its thickness
is about 80 feet. The highest point on this arch in the rocks is reached about half a mile
beyond milepost 346. Beyond this point the beds dip rather steeply downstream until the
Leadville limestone is at track level on the left, and then the whole series is broken by
a great f ault, which, as shown on the map, crosses the railroad at milepost 347.
Beyond the fault the land on both sides of the river is comparatively low and smooth,
and then the Leadville limestone rises again from track level. Where it is seen by the
roadside it is much broken, having evidently been greatly disturbed and crushed. The rise,
of the formations downstream is gradual but steady, so that near milepost 349 all the
sedimentary rocks are again above water level and the granite makes its appearance. Plate
LVIII is reproduced from a photograph taken at this point, looking downstream. The
first tunnel near milepost 350 is cut in the massive granite, which continues to rise
higher and higher in the canyon as the train proceeds.
The part of the canyon in which the base of the, quartzite is only a few score or few
hundred feet above water level is its most interesting and picturesque part, which is all
too soon passed by the trains. The canyon walls are nearly vertical, and the cliffs formed
of the quartzite stand up like immense architectural structures and prese nt great variety
of form and color. The joints, which cut the rocks in at least two directions, give rise
to smooth vertical faces of rock and to buttresses and minarets almost without number. The
canyon here is narrow and tortuous, and many magnificent vistas can be had of the swiftly
flowing river and the dark walls, which even at midday seem to envelop the deeper parts
with a somber haze.
Shoshone Area
From this apparently interminable narrow labyrinth the traveler at length emerges into
a more open part of the canyon, where he may well be surprised to find dwelling houses and
the station of Shoshone. (See sheet 5). Here is
the intake of the great hydroelectric plant of the Colorado Power Co., whose transmission
lines the traveler may have seen near Leadville and near Idaho Springs, west of Denver.
The river is dammed at the small railroad tunnel just below Shoshone, and the water is
carried through a tunnel cut in the solid rock to the power plant, which is 31 miles
farther down the canyon. The traveler may not realize the quantity of water carried in
this tunnel, but if he is making his journey in summer he is soon aware that practically
all the water of the river has disappeared into the open mouth of the tunnel.
The general attitude of the rock beds in this canyon and the adjacent plateaus on the
north and south is shown in the following figure, which represents them as they would
appear in a deep trench cut across the canyon at Shoshone. The beds dip to the south, and
the Leadville limestone forms the surface of much of the plateau on the north, but the
limestones and sandstones on the south are covered by a, great sheet of basalt, which is
not visible from the train but which completely conceals the underlying rocks. A few miles
north of the river there is a break (fault) by which the beds on the north are raised
higher than those on the south.
Below Shoshone the canyon is cut so deep in the granite core of the great anticline
that the sedimentary beds which overlie the granite can be seen only here and there. The
traveler may get occasional glimpses of the rim of the canyon and may be surprised to see
that the country into which the river has cut this deep gash is level or only gently
rolling. This region may be regarded as the southern part of the White River Plateau, and
the picturesque scenery of the narrow canyon is due simply to the fact that the plateau
here is composed of hard rocks, which wear back slowly into moderate and subdued forms.
If, however, the crust of the earth remains stationary for a long timethousands, perhaps
millions, of years-even these hard rocks will be worn into a broad, valley, bounded by the
moderate slopes of low hills. No rocks are hard enough to resist erosion for all time, and
it is evident here that Nature has had abundant time at her disposal, and there is no
reason to suppose that she will have less in the future or that the future will be greatly
different from the past.
The walls of the canyon are rough and rocky, affording excellent feeding ground for
mountain sheep when the surface of the plateau is deeply covered with snow. Bands of 40 or
50 sheep are said to be frequently seen in protected places, quietly feeding on the grass
and shrubs that grow in the crevices of the rocks and also on the narrow benches on the
precipitous slopes. Plate
LVII, A shows the leader of such a band standing guard at the edge of the cliff.
A short distance beyond milepost 353 is the hydroelectric plant of the Central Colorado
Power Co., with its great penstock through which the water is dropped 175 feet to the
turbine wheels beneath, and also the spillway for the excess water to escape. Beyond the
plant may be seen the transmission line, strung on high steel towers, spanning gulches,
and finally scaling the south wall of the canyon. The line takes a short cut for the
valley of Roaring Fork, up which it is carried to and across the Continental Divide at
Hagerman Pass.
So far the geologic structure of the great upfold (anticline) is comparatively simple,
having been broken at one point only. The highest point in the fold, the axis, is passed
near milepost 354, and, beyond that point the quartzite rapidly approaches railroad level,
but it is broken by so many faults that few travelers can trace the formations and
understand the manner in which they appear and disappear. By the aid of the map, however,
those who are interested in geologic structure may obtain a fairly good idea of what has
happened here and of the shape in which the rocks were left.
All the formations are regular as far as milepost 355, near Grizzly siding, where the
quartzite has been abruptly dropped from a height of at least 350 feet above the railroad
to water level. This change in the position of the rocks is the result of a fault, which
trends slightly west of north, probably cutting the high bluff on the west side of Grizzly
Creek, which here enters the river from the north. Beyond this fault the beds rise
gradually until the white quartzite, which is at water level at Grizzly, is above the
railroad and the canyon is rough and rugged, as shown in Plate LIX.
Half a mile beyond milepost 3.56 about 50 feet of the pink quartzite has made its
appearance. At this point the granite on the opposite side of the river rises to a height
of at least 300 feet. This discrepancy marks another fault, which does not cross the
railroad but trends nearly east and west directly along the. stream. The rocks on the
south side of this fault have dropped about 300 feet, or those on the north have been
lifted a similar distance.
Beyond the point where the railroad approaches the fault most closely the rocks descend,
and within a short distance most of the quartzite has disappeared; but the road here
enters Noname Park, and it is almost impossible from the moving train to determine the
structure. However, a little farther along the Leadville limestone also dips steeply
toward the south and is broken by a fault that runs nearly parallel with the one just
described. This fault lies near the south wall of the park. The Leadville limestone is
dropped on the north side of the fault and may be seen topping the cliffs on the south.
The stream cuts into the upraised block of strata on the south of this fault, and its
south bank is followed by the railroad through many cuts in the quartzite and finally in
the underlying granite. About half a mile beyond milepost 358, at a sharp bend of the
stream around a narrow point that projects from the south, at least 50 feet of granite is
exposed, and the massive layers of the Leadville limestone lie like plates on the hillside
across the river. As the Leadville limestone never rests normally on the granite it
follows that the fault must lie in the river and has caused the formation of Noname Park.
Glenwood Springs Area
This fault is the last of the series; and, as the train swings around the sharp bend
toward the tunnel, the traveler may see the beds descending rather steeply downstream.
Here the stream turns once more and cuts back toward the fault in a sharp curve, but the
railroad pierces the rocky point, and when the train emerges from the inky blackness of
the tunnel the traveler finds himself passing through the rock formations for the last
time. The quartzites disappear first below the stream, and finally the massive ledges of
the Leadville limestone; and then the train enters the open valley formed by the erosion
of the upper Carboniferous rocks and approaches Glenwood Springs.
Here, on the right, is a grove of cottonwood trees, which surround the bathing pool of hot
sulphur water that has made this a famous health and pleasure resort, and one may catch
glimpses of the towers of the Hotel Colorado, which stands somewhat higher on the mountain
slope and overlooks the lower part of the valley.
Springs are also abundant in the river and beside the railroad track just above the
station. Glenwood Springs (see Pl. LX) is at
the junction of Roaring Fork with Colorado River. Roaring Fork flows in a broad valley
that it has eroded in the soft Carboniferous shale-a valley so broad that it seems like
the principal valley. The town is noted for its shade trees and its homes and for its
accommodations for the travelers who are attracted here by the reputation of the springs.
An added attraction is the famous "Hanging Lake" which lies high up the slopes
of the canyon of Colorado River, about 12 miles from the town. Glenwood Springs might also
be called a coal-mining center, for although no coal is mined at or near the town it
furnishes an outlet for a great coal field that lies to the south and west. A branch of
the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad turns to the south at Glenwood Springs and
connects with the coal-mining. towns of Sunshine and Spring Gulch. Forty miles south of
Glenwood Springs and connected with it by rail are the famous Yule marble quarries, which
are now sending their output to all the large cities of the East. A notable example of the
fine buildings constructed of Colorado Yule marble is the new Lincoln Memorial at
Washington. At the town of Marble, near these quarries, there is said to be the largest
marble mill in this country.
At a point a short distance west of the station at Glenwood Springs the Denver & Rio
Grande Western Railroad crosses Colorado River, and here the mouth of Roaring Fork may be
seen on the left. The Ouray (Leadville) limestone, from which the hot sulphur springs
issue, may be seen extending to the right for about a mile to a point where it passes into
the hills and is lost to view. It is succeeded by the soft shale and sandstone of the
Weber formation. The Denver & Rio Grande Western follows the right bank of the river.
When the train has passed through the railroad yards and is making a rather sharp curve
around an eastward bend of the river, the traveler may see Mount Sopris away off to the
south (left), framed by the canyon walls of Roaring Fork. Mount Sopris is one of the high
mountains in this part of Colorado, and it is one of the most beautiful, because it is a
single mass that towers far above the surrounding country.
The mountain side across the river has been gashed by rain and frost, exposing the
brick-red Triassic sandstone and shale. The same red beds may be seen on the north side of
the river, but before the train reaches them it must cross the maroon, white, and green
beds of the Maroon formation. These beds may be seen in the, low hills on the north
(right) and also in places along the river, where they have been exposed in the excavation
made for the road. The brickred sandstones are the most resistant beds in this part of the
series, and the point where the river cuts across them is therefore marked by a canyon
which, although not so rugged nor so narrow as other canyons along Colorado River, has a
richness and brightness of color that is excelled by few. The base of the Triassic beds is
crossed near milepost 364, and the river here cuts nearly through the formation before it
turns to the right and follows de strike of the rocks for several miles. At the sharp bend
mentioned above the top of the formation is not clearly marked. Usually this formation
contains rocks of no other color than brick-red, but a short distance beyond the river
there is a band of white sandstone nearly 100 feet thick and then about 300 feet more, of
a brick-red color. As the brick-red color is generally regarded as the distinguishing
feature of this formation the line separating it from the overlying Gunnison shale is
drawn provisionally at the uppermost bed that has the characteristic color.
On the river bank opposite milepost 365, which is about half a mile beyond the sharp bend
mentioned above, is the tipple of the South Canon Coal Co. The coal is not mined at this
place, for the rocks here are the red sandstone and the Gunnison formation, neither one of
which contains coal. The mine is about 1 1/2 miles up South Canyon, in the Mesaverde
formation, the great coal-bearing formation of western Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. In the
old geologic reports this formation was called "Laramie," a formation at the
extreme top of the Cretaceous system, but it is now known to be very much older than the
Laramie and has been named the Mesaverde formation, from the Mesa Verde (may'sa vair'day,
Spanish for "green table"), in the extreme southwest corner of the State-a mesa
that has now been set aside as a national park on account of its ruined cliff dwellings.
The coal is brought from the mine in tram cars.
For about 2 miles below the coal tipple the river follows in a gen. eral way the outcrops
of the formations, the alternating red and white beds on the mountain side on the left and
the beds of solid red color on the right. The beds of sandstone dip steeply to the west,
and they stand above the railroad on the right in great slabs 20 or 30 feet high. The
surface of these slabs is covered with ripple marks identical with those now being formed
in shallow water along the coast, which indicates that the red sand forming these rocks
was washed into some shallow basin where it was distinctly rippled by each passing wave.
These ripples may have been made millions of years ago, yet they are as perfect as if they
had been made but yesterday.
A little below the exposure of ripple-marked sandstone the top of the brightred sandstone
(Triassic) is well shown in a hill across the river.
Near milepost 367 the valley opens and is irrigated, and the deep red of the sandstone is
relieved by the bright green of alfalfa, sugar beets, and apple orchards, which are
irrigated by water taken from the creek that comes in from the right. Below this point the
river turns more toward the west, and it soon cuts through the red sandstone that has
bordered the valley most of the way from Glenwood Springs.
As all the beds here dip toward the southwest the river cuts through a formation from
bottom to top and then passes into the overlying formation. The top of the Triassic system
is crossed at milepost 369, or about threequarters of a mile beyond the siding of Chacra.
The Gunnison formation, the next formation in the series above the Triassic, is only about
300 feet thick, and as it dips at an angle of about 450 it is soon crossed. It is
characterized by a variety of colors, but maroon, green, and white predominate. Across the
river on the left there are some small conical hills composed of this formation, which are
capped on the far side by massive beds of the Dakota sandstone, which marks the base of
the Upper Cretaceous series and is one of the most persistent and widespread formations in
the Rocky Mountain region. It is generally thin, at few places exceeding 80 feet in
thickness. It was deposited on the surface of the Gunnison formation. During the
deposition of the Gunnison formation the region was land, though probably of low relief,
but the deposition of the Dakota marks the end of land conditions and the beginning of the
occupancy of the region by the sea, which continued during the deposition of the
succeeding thick shale. The Dakota sandstone is generally massive and very resistant to
erosion, so that where it is upturned at any considerable angle it makes hogbacks, such as
those seen back of Canon City. Although the Dakota is not exposed near the railroad its
beds, concealed beneath the surface, are crossed by the track about halfway between
mileposts 369 and 370. The relation of the Dakota to the rocks above is shown in the
figure.
The rocks above the Dakota for a long distance are very soft shale or shaly limestone,
so they have been eroded into a wide valley that lies between the little hogback formed by
the Dakota sandstone and the mountainous ridge on the left, which trends nearly parallel
with the line of the railroad and is composed of the Mesaverde formation, also of Upper
Cretaceous age. The first shale to be seen is exposed in a cut in the side of a hill, but
it is so close to the moving train that its character can not easily be determined. It is,
however, very limy, and many of its layers consist of soft, white, impure limestone. This
formation is the Niobrara limestone, and it is characterized by shells (Inoceramus) from 8
to 10 inches in diameter, which occur in great abundance. These shells are of peculiar
construction, for the grain of the shell runs directly through it instead of along or
around it as in most shells, both fossil and living, and this structure makes the shell
very weak and easily broken. At the time this shale and limestone were deposited there
were, so far as is now known, no mountains in this region, and the sea had an unbroken
sweep from the site of Missouri River on the east to the site of the Wasatch Mountains on
the west. Many persons may find it hard to believe that changes so great have taken place
in the face of the earth, but one who diligently studies the rocks is impressed more with
its instability and change than with its stability. He soon learns that change has been
the rule rather than the exceptionthat the rocky crust of the earth, which is so
frequently referred to as "everlasting," is not everlasting in the sense of
unchangeable. The earth's crust has been and doubtless is today like thin ice that bends
under the skater's weight but seldom breaks, and a depression in one place gives rise to
an elevation in another. Depressions in the crust of the earth, if they were at all
profound, have led to the invasion of the sea, and elevation has caused the formation of
dry land and possibly mountains.
The shale over which the traveler is passing is known in most of western Colorado and Utah
as the Mancos shale, but toward the east the middle part of the shale changes to limy
shale and then to limestone (Niobrara), and where this limestone is found the shale
underlying it is generally called the Benton shale. That the rocks which form the large
ridge on the left are coal-bearing is shown by old prospects and mine dumps that at many
places scar the slopes. The first old mine to attract attention may be seen on the left
just before the train passes milepost 370. This mine was near the top of the ridge, and
the coal was lowered to the valley by a long inclined tramway, but Nature is fast removing
the scars made by man, and they will soon not be noticeable. The first active operation to
be seen is the Garfield (Vulcan) mine, opposite milepost 371, which is on a coal bed 14
feet thick. Coal from this mine also is lowered to track level over an inclined tramway,
but this tramway is comparatively short. Farther along the mountain side the traveler may
see smoke escaping from an opening nearly on the same level as the mouth of the Garfield
mine, This smoke comes from a fire in the mine that
has been burning for several years. Such fires may be started in many ways, but this
particular fire is supposed to have started spontaneously in broken coal. Coal of
comparatively low rank, such as that mined at Vulcan, is subject to spontaneous ignition,
especially when crushed and undergoing alternate wetting and drying, by which the carbon
of the coal is oxidized or combined with the oxygen of the air or the water so rapidly as
to start a fire. In the old Wheeler mine, which was opened years ago in the mountain point
on the north side of the valley, just beyond the village of Newcastle, it was found
impossible to, prevent the coal from taking fire, and many years ago, after repeated and
unsuccessful attempts were made to extinguish it, the mine was abandoned, and the coal is
still on fire. Spontaneous ignition of coal has occurred not. only in mines but on the
outcrop of coal beds of rather low rank, and these fires have burned as long as air was
available, making the adjacent rocks bright red and, where the heat was especially
intense, melting them to slag or clinker.
Newcastle Area
The railroad swings to the right along the banks of Colorado River and enters
Newcastle. This place is well known as a coal-mining center and is one of the points for
reaching the great hunting ground of the White River Plateau to the north. It was to
Newcastle that Theodore Roosevelt came in 1904, while he was President of the United
States, on one of his famous hunting expeditions. From the station may be seen the bottom
layers of the Mesaverde formation in the hills immediately back of the village, and on the
north (right) and ahead may still be seen the scars on the mountain side and the dump of
the old Wheeler mine that was abandoned because of fire. The red color, due to burning,
and possibly the smoke of the fire may be seen from the train. The Mesaverde is one of the
greatest coal-bearing formations in the world. In the end of the Grand Hogback, on the
right (see Pl.
LXII, A), the aggregate thickness of coal in beds over 4 feet thick is about 109 feet.
One of these beds -the Wheeler-is 40 feet thick, and several others are more than 10 feet
thick. At the time these coal beds were formed the climate in this region was very
different from that which prevails there today, as is shown by the kind of plants which
grew at that time and furnished the material for the beds of coal. Palms then grew here
luxuriantly, and many fragments of impressions of palm leaves have been found in the rocks
that are associated with the coal. Plate LXII, B,
shows an usually fine specimen found by the miners at Newcastle.
From Newcastle the trains of the Colorado Midland formerly ran to Grand Junction over the
tracks of the, Denver & Rio Grande Western. On account of this double use the roadbed
between these points is treated as a distinct unit, and the mileposts do not conform to
the general scheme of numbering Consecutively from Denver but are independent, beginning
at Newcastle, and ending at Grand Junction.
About 1 1/2 miles below Newcastle the traveler passes out of the Mesaverde formation and
into the overlying Wasatch. This formation is of Tertiary age and is the first rock as
young as Tertiary that the traveler has seen since he left the vicinity of Denver and
Palmer Lake. It is characterized generally by coarse conglomerate and ill places is
composed of boulders many inches or even several feet in diameter. It is reddish or
pinkish in color, or it is made up of bands of red alternating with bands of white or
light green. It was not formed immediately after the Mesaverde, on which it rests here,
but after the Mesaverde had been laid down, consolidated, raised above drainage level, and
remained a land surface for a long time. At last the mountains were partly uplifted and
great lakes were formed, and into these lakes boulders worn from the older rocks, as well
as fine material, such as clay and sand, were washed, and the whole mass was finally
consolidated into rock. The time which has elapsed since it was deposited and the pressure
of the overlying rocks have not been sufficient, however, to make it very hard; it is much
less coherent than the Mesaverde and consequently gives a greater width of valley than the
older rock. The Wasatch beds near the outcrop of the Mesaverde dip steeply to the
southwest, or into the great Uinta Basin, but at a greater distance from the hogback the
beds flatten and become, nearly level as they approach the middle of the basin. From
Newcastle to Rifle the most prominent surface features on the right are the sharp conical
hills of the Wasatch formation, in which the beds apparently stand on edge.
The soft Tertiary and Cretaceous formations have been eroded very rapidly, and vast
quantities of clay, gravel, and sand have been washed into the basin-like valley below the
narrow canyon which the river has cut through the Grand Hogback. This loose material once
filled the valley to a considerable depth, and the streams then removed part of it,
leaving the remainder as great sloping terraces, which come down from the sides of the
valley and would meet in the middle were it not for the trench which the river has cut.
The presence of this fine material has given to one of the villages the appropriate name
of Silt. On the old maps of this region this broad valley was called Cactus Valley, on
account of the barrenness of the region and the presence of many forms of cacti. Today the
parts on which water has been taken bear little resemblance to a cactus valley, but the
unreclaimed part is extremely barren. Here for the first time on this journey the traveler
is coming into the real semiarid region, where precipitation is so slight that crops can
not be raised without irrigation and where the unreclaimed tracts are either barren of
vegetation or have the kind that is characteristic of the more nearly desert regions. On
the south (left) the traveler may see the cast front of Battlement Mesa, which is capped
by a layer of basalt that has preserved the even surface over which it flowed as lava. Its
east front, which is seamed and scarred, presenting a very rugged face, is one of the
highest points in the vicinity, having an altitude of over 10,000 feet. The even surface
upon which this flood of lava was poured is probably a part of the peneplain of which the
White River Plateau is another remnant. Those who have made no study of geology may think
that all plateaus are formed by the uplift of parts of the country to a greater altitude
than that of the surrounding regions-in other words, that they are on anticlines or
upfolds of the rocks, but this is not uniformly true. The White River Plateau is on such
an upfold, but, Battlement Mesa is in a downfold, and generally upfolds and downfolds have
no necessary connection with the formation and preservation of plateaus.
Rifle Area
Rifle, on Colorado River at the mouth of Rifle Creek, although not a, large town, is
one of the most important points on the railroad. The irrigated land along the river near
Rifle yields abundant crops, but they are somewhat different from those that are raised
about Glenwood Springs, for the land here stands at a lower altitude and the summer
temperature is consequently higher. Potatoes and grains are not large crops about Rifle;
sugar beets, alfalfa, and fruits are more common. From Rifle a stage line, 42 miles long,
leads northward to Meeker, the largest town in the irrigated valley of White River and a
noted outfitting point for hunters of big game. This road continues northward from Meeker
to Craig, the present terminus of the Denver & Salt Lake Railroad ("Moffat
road"). This part of Colorado has long been noted for the raising of horses and
cattle, and for many years Rifle, was the shipping point from which train after train of
fine. range cattle went to the eastern markets. The dry-land farmer has materially cut
down the extent of the open range, so that the herds have been greatly reduced in number
and size, and many of the cattle that are now raised reach the market by other routes, so
that Rifle is no longer preeminently a cattle-shipping point.
Opposite Rifle is a marked terrace about 400 feet high, which forms a sharp boundary to
the irrigated part of the, valley. Like all the terraces so far seen, this one is
doubtless a remnant of the old floor of the valley-a floor formed by the river when it was
flowing some 400 feet higher than it does today, or when the surface of the land was that
much nearer sea level than it is now. Remnants of what appears to be this same high
terrace may be seen almost continuously below Rifle for a distance of 25 or 30 miles.
Beyond Rifle the great, broad swell of Battlement Mesa is the most conspicuous feature on
the south side, of the valley, but the reason for its name does not become apparent to the
traveler until he has reached a point farther down the valley. As seen near Rifle
Battlement Mesa is a great rounded mass in which very few ledges of rock crop out at the
surface. It also bears very few trees, but parts of it, as well as of Grand Mesa, farther
south, are covered with a thick growth of timber, and these two mesas constitute, the
Battlement National Forest. As the principal industry in this region is stock-raising one
of the important features of the administration of this forest is the treatment of the
"range" and the adjustment of grazing permits.
When Battlement Mesa is first seen from the railroad, near Rifle, no hard rock can be
discerned on its surface, but near the village of Rulison small streams that come down
from the mesa have made sharp cuts through the terrace on the opposite side of the river
and have deposited at the foot of the terrace a great quantity of boulders in the form of
alluvial cones. These boulders are composed of basalt, a dark rock that is very unlike any
others which are seen in this vicinity. This basalt was once molten lava that was poured
out over the even surface and now caps the mesa and protects its from erosion. Battlement
Mesa was so named because of the fancied resemblance of its north front to the walls of
some old castle but the traveler can not see these rugged points until he has passed the
east end of the mesa.
Beyond Rifle the most conspicuous features on the north (right) side of the valley are the
great white cliffs of Mount Logan. When the traveler first sees them, near Rifle, they are
in the distance, but as he goes westward he approaches them, and before the train has
covered many miles it is running at their bases. Many of the maroon beds of the Wasatch,
which came in so prominently on the west side of the Grand Hogback west of Newcastle, have
passed below the level of the river; only a few hundred feet remains in sight to form a
reddish band about the foot of the white cliffs.
In the vicinity of Rulison the cliffs are very conspicuous, and from Rulison to Grand
Valley the train runs practically at -their feet. These cliffs, which tower to a height of
3,500 feet above the railroad, are but the points of long spurs which far back f rom the
river unite in a broad, unbroken plateau. The upper part of the cliffs is composed of
white shale and sandstone known to geologists as the Green River formation. These rocks,
although originally dark, weather uniformly to a dull white. The base of the cliffs is
made up of the maroon shale of the Wasatch formation, which is exposed at several places
between Grand Valley and Salt Lake City. The Green River formation makes prominent cliffs
on the north side of the valley and occurs also in the high parts of Battlement Mesa, on
the south. Its presence is generally indicated by its white color, which shows wherever
the cover of brush and trees has been removed. In such places it is soon cut into
castellated forms.
Most of the lower part of the valley is irrigated and produces good crops and considerable
fruit. A sloping terrace on the south side of the river, opposite the village of Grand
Valley, is irrigated by streams that come down from the higher parts of Battlement Mesa,
and the scene here is a pretty picture of rural peace and prosperity. The principal scenic
feature is the great white cliff immediately back of the village. All except about
600 feet at the base of this cliff is composed of shale of the Green River formation,
which, aside
from its striking color, is notable because it contains a large amount of organic
material, mostly remains of plants, from which oil may be obtained
by destructive distillation. Oil has not yet been produced commercially from this shale,
but it probably will be when crude oil from wells be comes scarcer and the demand for
gasoline is greater than it is to-day. This shale has been studied tested, and mapped by
Dean E. Winchester, of the United States Geological Survey. A moderate estimate, made by
him, of the quantity of oil that may be obtained from the Green River formation in
Colorado alone is 40,000,000,000 barrels.
The oil shale is within view from the railroad for only a short distance in Colorado, near
Grand Valley, and is not seen again by the traveler until he reaches Colton, Utah, but the
two areas are connected north of the railroad by an almost unbroken outcrop, and shale of
sufficient thickness and richness to warrant mining is supposed to underlie an area of at
least 5,000 square miles in the Uinta Basin of northwestern Colorado and northeastern
Utah.
The features below the town of Grand Valley are much the same as those above it. The same
white cliffs, with the maroon band about the base, rise above the railroad on the north,
and the broad swell of Battlement Mesa rises on the south. Between lies the open valley,
with its band of trees fringing the river and its patches of farm land where the surface
is sufficiently level for irrigation. In midsummer the valley displays beautiful shades of
green, but in
autumn, after the early f rosts have touched the cottonwood trees along the river and the
aspens on the slopes above, it bears a, beautiful mantle of green and gold.
De Beque Area
The hills across the valley, although they lie with in the Battlement Forest, are
composed of the red and green shale and sandstone of the Wasatch formation and are almost
devoid of vegetation. (See Pl. LXIV, A.)
After being crowded close to the, river by the high bluffs of the maroon shale and
sandstone, the railroad suddenly emerges into the broad valley of Roan Creek at the little
village of De Beque, which is flanked on the north by the high turrets, towers, and
minarets of the White Cliffs. As Roan Creek heads on the high plateau it contains a never
failing supply of water, which is used over and over again in irrigating the level land
within its valley. The pasture on the plateau is excellent, so that the principal industry
in and around De Beque is stock raising.
West of the river there is a slight arch in the rocks on which a number of wells have been
drilled in search of oil. Some of these wells have found small quantities of oil, but most
of them have been "dry holes" -that is, holes that yield little or no oil. The
slight arch in the rocks is regarded as favorable for the accumulation of oil, for oil and
gas are generally associated with water in the rocks, and as they are lighter than water
they are forced up into the high places or arches, as shown in the following figure, but
in the region about De Beque there seems to be little. or no oil in the rocks to
accumulate. A short distance west of the station at De Beque the railroad crosses Roan
Creek, and beyond for some distance it runs through a rolling country, most of which is
irrigated and contains good farms. The river bottom on the east (left), which occasionally
may be seen from the train, is also largely under cultivation, and beyond it the highland
rises, terrace above terrace, up to the crest of Battlement Mesa.
The intricate lines of sculpture' that are carved by the rains in the soft shale or
clay where it is not protected by a cover of vegetation or of broken rock are well shown
in some badland buttes composed of maroon shale and clay of the Wasatch formation, a
little more than 2 miles west of De Beque. (See Pl. LXV, A.)
If the light is just right to bring out the minute lines the entire surface of the buttes
will appear to be made up of a series of rill marks that resemble the delicate fretwork of
ail artist. (See route map, sheet 7)
The rocks across which the traveler has been passing since he left Newcastle are bent
into a great downfold or troughlike depression (syncline) whose east rim is composed of
the coal-bearing sandstone (Mesaverde) that forms the Grand Hogback. This trough is
exposed by Colorado River [errosion]. The other rim of the trough is crossed by the
railroad between De Beque and Palisade, and through this rim the river has cut a deep and
narrow canyon very different from the gap through the hogback at Newcastle. It is here
called Palisade Canyon. As the rocks are the same at both places the explanation of the
difference in the appearance of the gaps cut by the river must be sought in the difference
in the attitude of the beds, or, in other words, in the amount of their dip. At Newcastle
the thick bed of sandstone dips steeply toward the west, and as it is underlain by softer
rocks it weathers into a sharp ridge, which can be traced for 50 miles to the north and is
known as the Grand Hogback. The dip of the beds on the other rim of the trough is very
slight, generally not over 10 degree, and the river cuts through the rim f or 16 miles in
a canyon that increases in depth as it approaches the outer margin of the sandstone. Above
the coalbearing rocks lies the maroon Wasatch, and in the middle and overlying all the
other beds, and consequently younger than the others, are the white beds of the Green
River formation, but these do not appear near Palisade Canyon.
South of De Beque the railroad is built on a low terrace at some distance from the
river, but near the entrance to Palisade Canyon, 4 1/2 miles south of De Beque, halfway
between mileposts 48 and 49, it reaches the river (on the left) in a shallow canyon cut
into one of the thick beds of sandstone near the top, of the coal-bearing Mesaverde
formation. As the beds rise gradually downstream the canyon slowly increases in depth from
its head to Palisade, where it ends! At Akin siding (milepost 51) the canyon walls are
about 300 feet high, and they show well the alternate bands of resistant sandstone and
soft, easily eroded shale. Here and there some of the beds of sandstone are thick and
massive and form cliffs 40 or 50 feet high, but on the whole the alternation of shale and
sandstone gives rise to sloping banded walls which have a sameness in appearance that soon
becomes monotonous.
At Tunnel siding (milepost 55) the walls of the canyon have increased in height to 600 or
700 feet, but they have the same general character. A mile west of this siding the, train
passes through a tunnel which pierces a long spur (shaped in plan like a beaver's tail,
hence the name Beavertail tunnel) that projects from the right wall of the canyon and then
comes to a diversion dam which turns some of the water of Colorado River into a canal on
the other side of the river. This canal is in sight throughout the length of the canyon
below this point, and its effects may be noted in the crops and orchards on the high bench
lands east of the river.
Grand Valley Area
Milepost 57 marks the largest diversion project in the canyon, known as the Grand Valley
or High Line project of the United States Reclamation Service, which is intended to
furnish water for the irrigation of the high bench lands on the north side of the river
from Palisade as far west as the western boundary of the State. The diversion dam, shown
in Plate LXVI,
is completed, and the canal is constructed as far west as Loma and in the near
future will be extended to the State line.
The great High Line canal is crossed by the railroad a short distance below the dam and
may be followed by the eye on the right until it is hidden in a tunnel that carries it
through a projecting rocky point. It is carried as high as possible, and though it has
descent enough to enable the water to flow readily, it is soon above the level of the
railroad and can be identified only by the regularity of its banks and the new rock dumps
that mark the portals of its tunnels.
Half a mile below the High Line dam Plateau Creek enters the river from the side opposite
the railroad. This creek heads on the mesa far to the east and flows in a narrow valley
between Battlement Mesa on the north and Grand Mesa on the south. The main automobile
highway down the river is carried over the low plateau east of the river, but at Plateau
Creek it descends to the river and for the remainder of the distance to the lower end of
the canyon it follows the opposite bank. The walls of the canyon here are about 11000 feet
high and are therefore very imposing, especially where the beds of sandstone are
particularly thick or resistant.
Cameo Area
At the little coal-mining town of Cameo the canyon attains its maximum depth, about 1,500
feet. Its sides generally present the appearance of gigantic walls of masonry, the beds of
sandstone forming the courses and the soft shale filling in between them like the mortar
in an artificial wall. On the projecting points between the main canyon and the canyons of
the tributaries the sandstone seems to form most of the wall, as it stands in gigantic
pyramids that tower for above the bottom of the gorge. The pyramid on the projecting point
just north of Cameo is shown in Plate LXV, B.
Although the Mesaverde is the great Cretaceous coal-bearing formation in this region, it
contains very few coal beds in Palisade Canyon. At Newcastle it contains more than 109
feet of coal in beds thick enough to work, but in Palisade Canyon it contains only two
beds. The upper of these beds is mined at Cameo and is generally known as the Cameo coal
bed. Mines may be seen just south of the station on both sides of the track. The coal from
the mine on the left is brought across the river on a high trestle, which serves as a
tipple for screening the coal and loading it into railroad cars. The coal mined here is of
medium grade and satisfies the local demand, but it is not equal to that which is mined
south of Newcastle, or in the Crested Butte region, on the east, or at Sunnyside and
Castlegate in Utah, on the west. At the Cameo mine the coal bed has a thickness of 10 feet
11 inches, of which 9 feet 8 inches is clear coal.
About a mile below Cameo the High Line canal passes through the plateau by a long tunnel
which brings it out on the high bench land west of Palisade.
Nearly 2 miles below Cameo the river makes a big curve to the right, and on the opposite
side there is a low terrace not more than 150 feet high. This terrace has been built up by
material brought down by a small creek that heads on Grand Mesa, to the east. This
material is so abundant and so indestructible that it has crowded the river gradually
against the opposite (west) side, so that the river has been forced to cut under a great
cliff , several hundred feet in height. From the train the traveler may see that this
terrace is composed almost entirely of boulders of a dark rock, which close examination
would show to be basalt, or hardened lava. Grand Mesa , which here and there may be seen
on the east (left) and which overtops all other features in this region, has been
preserved almost entirely because it is protected by a cap of this basalt.
Below the terrace two small water-power plants have been constructed for pumping water to
higher levels to irrigate land that could not be reached by the existing gravity lines.
One of these plants supplies enough water to irrigate 2,300 acres of land and the other
enou 'o' h to irrigate 6,000 acres. The canals and pumping plants which the traveler has
seen in Palisade Canyon are more extensive than any that he has seen heretofore on this
journey, and he may wonder why so much money has been spent to obtain the water of
Colorado River, but when he has passed out of the mouth of the canyon and has seen the
wonderful change that the water has made in the onetime desert plain he will no longer
question the wisdom of the expenditure.
As the railroad makes a great bend to the west at the mouth of the canyon the traveler may
notice some small coal mines that are operating on the lowest or Palisade coal bed. This
coal bed, which ranges from 3 to 7 feet in thickness, overlies the sandstone that is
regarded as forming the base of the Mesaverde formation. The coal bed and the sandstone
are well exposed across the river, where a number of small mines have been opened to
supply the local demand for fuel. Another small mine is also in operation just above the
station at Palisade. The rocks here rise more rapidly than they do farther up in the
canyon, and the lower slopes of the cliffs are composed of the marine shale (Mancos) that
underlies the coal-bearing formation.
Palisade Area
Near milepost 63 the canyon opens, and here begin the orchards of peaches, pears,
apples, and other fruit that have made the town of Palisade famous. Its situation at the
foot of the Book Cliffs protects it from late frosts in spring and from early frosts in
autumn, so that almost every foot of the land is under irrigation and has been planted
with fruit trees. (See
Pl. LXVII). Every year hundreds of cars of fruit are shipped from this place.
Here begins the great southward-facing cliff which in the early days was named Book Cliffs
because of the fancied resemblance of the sandstone cap and the curved shale slope below
to the edge of a bound book. A typical view of the Little Book Cliffs as they appear back
of Palisade is given in Plate LXVIII.
The Book Cliffs begin at Palisade and stretch westward to Castlegate, Utah, a distance of
about 190 miles. They everywhere form the southern rim of the great trough of rocks on the
north known as the Uinta Basin. Just west of Palisade the cliffs are formed and protected
by a few beds of sandstone at the top, below which the slope consists of shale (Mancos)
that was deposited there before the Rocky Mountains were in existence, when the entire
region was below the waters of the sea.
These shale slopes have been intricately sculptured by the rain, and the traveler has many
opportunities to examine them, for they are visible on the north from the train most of
the way from Palisade to Castlegate. The appearance of these slopes, like that of most of
the land forms in a semiarid climate, depends largely upon the light under which they are
seen. When the light is strong and strikes squarely against the face of the cliffs the
slopes are expressionless and dead. One slope is like another as they shimmer in the hot
rays of the sun, but when the sun is low the shadows show every detail of the slopes, and
thus revealed in black and white the surface of the cliffs looks as seamed and wrinkled as
the face of an old man. Each slope is then full of individuality-it shows intricate and
wonderful sculpture.
The valley that the railroad enters at Palisade is broad because the soft Mancos shale, in
which it is carved, is about 3,000 feet thick, and its erosion has produced flat or
rolling lands except where terraces have been cut by the streams into badlands or steep
slopes. Although the shale contains considerable alkaline material, which is objectionable
in farming, it makes in general some of the best farming land in western Colorado. Near
the river it forms flat valley bottoms, as at the village of Clifton, but by proper
underdraining even such flat lands may be made very productive. Orchards abound in this
valley, and much f ruit is shipped from Clifton. Before the water of Colorado River was
diverted and carried onto this land it was a waste desert, inhabited only by jack rabbits
and coyotes, but irrigation has transformed it into a f ertile land, figuratively flowing
with milk and honey." Is it any wonder that millions of dollars have been spent in
diverting water from Colorado River in the canyon above, Palisade and in constructing
great canals for delivering it to the thirsty land? But even after all our great
irrigation works have been completed there will still be millions of acres of waste land,
which could be converted into sites for homes of peace and plenty if water were available.
The great problem of the future is to conserve all the water that is produced by the
melting of snow in the high mountain regions, by holdin- it in storage reservoirs until it
is needed, and then to distribute it to the desert land. Such work will require enormous
sums of money, but it will in return supply homes to many thousands of people and bring
immense wealth to the country.
General views of the valley may be obtained f rom places near Clifton. On the east tower
the wooded slopes of Grand Mesa; on the south, far in the distance, may be caught glimpses
of the gently swelling surface of the Uncompahgre Plateaua surface composed of the massive
sandstones which at some places underlie the Mancos shale and which everywhere overlie the
granite that forms the basement upon which all this country is built.
Grand Junction Area
The railroad traverses the flat land of the river bottom to the point where Colorado
River is joined by Gunnison River, which heads in the high mountains near Marshall Pass
and which is followed throughout most of its course by the narrow-gage line from Salida to
Montrose and by 'the standardgage line from Montrose. to Grand Junction. At the junction
of these roads stands Grand Junction, a division point on the railroad and the largest
town in western Colorado. Grand
Junction is the center of a vast irrigated district whose, climate is favorable to the
growth of almost all kinds of grain, as well as forage crops, sugar beets, garden truck,
and fruit. It is particularly noted for its beet-sugar industry and for its fruit.
The description of the country along the main line west of Grand Junction is continued [at the end of the Uncompahgre Area].
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