Colorado Is one of the most remarkable divisions of North America. It is unequaled in natural wonders and beauties by any other locality of the Union, except California. There is no other State like Colorado, which is literally colored red as its name denotes, and has more red rocks than any other place in the country. Here is sublimity in the superlative degree.

 

Europe affords no captivating pageant like the ranges of the Rockies, with their lofty peaks and precipitous defiles. The wanderer through the Alps finds no stupendous gorges like the canons of the Arkansas and the Gunnison. Great is St. Peter's Cathedral at Rome, but it is not so great as the majestic mountain mass of Sierra Blanca. The dweller in a flat country has no idea of the pleasure in store for him when he visits a mountain region for the first time. His heart leaps up at sight of the massive folds of earth tilted skyward. He finds more ozone in the air a mile high, which gives him new life. He is rejuvenated by the waters of Colorado's mineral springs, which the Indians considered heap good medicine. There is a spirit of energy in mountains, says Francis Parkman, and they impart it to all who approach them. This is especially true of the mighty ranges that form the backbone of the continent. A summer spent here puts more backbone into a man.

 

INTRODUCTION Mountain landscapes must be seen to be appreciated. Photographs and paintings fall far short of reproducing their tremendous heights and  depths. The man who has always lived in the Mississippi Valley or some other comparatively level district can have no adequate conception of the Rockies, (till he finds himself in the presence of snow-crowned domes and yawning chasms.) After traveling a thousand miles to Colorado, he can revel in the magnificence of nature. The curious rock formations, the riot of color in trees and flowers, the flashing rivulets tumbling down the slopes, and the thundering waterfalls awe and exhilarate. The lure of the mountains will for ever after draw the New Yorker or Chicagoan who spends a month or two in central Colorado.

 

A Colorado summer with the eternal hills, beneath a turquoise sky, is an unforgetable experience. The worn-out city man who comes here for a breathing spell returns home benefited by his vacation in the Rockies. Travel is the wine of life. The wandering impulse seizes the modern man much as it did Ulysses of old. Travel brings education as well as excitement. New trains of thought are started as one glides over the rails, or tarries for a brief sojourn in a strange environ ment. The man of to-day is a pendulum between civilization and the wilderness. This reiselust is not sat isfied at eastern resorts, which have not, and never can have, the great physical features of Colorado's natural parks. The motto' of the American should be, See America first Let him become familiar with the historic places and scenic features of his native land before going abroad. California is not so easily accessible to the majority of Americans.

 

This wonderland has been rightly named the nation's playground, for it is indeed the picnic ground of the country and theworld's vacation quarter. While Colorado is not so rich in traditions and ro mantic associations as England or France, with their famous cities and battlefields, its history has many stirring pages. The names of Pike, Fremont, Gunni son, Marcy, Lupton, St. Vrain, the Bents, Dick Woot ton, Kit Carson, and Jim Baker recall the explorations and thrilling events of its storied past. It has been the theater of adventures of trappers, hunters, freight ers, and pioneers. Within its borders lies many a mining camp that is historically interesting.