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Show THE CENTENNIAL STATE. 487 proving it to be a dip, spur, dropper, gash vein or any one of the thousand things which mislead the miner. Not one location in twenty is ever pushed to the depth of a hundred feet ; of those so pushed not more than one in ten proves a valuable mine, and even of tolerably valuable mines not one in twenty proves a Caribou, Pelican, Dives or a Comstock. But if every location were as valuable as the owner thinks it to be when he first starts down on it, silver would soon cease to be a precious metal. We might manufacture it into door-hinges. As a rule only the developed and proved mines are bought by East-ern companies, but in the great speculative era of 1864- 66, Colorado was literally sold out to New York capitalists, who took stock in the future with amazing readiness. Thirty- eight companies were organ-ized, with an aggregate capital of $ 24,000,000 ! And this when all the mines in the Territory were not worth the half of that sum. Hundreds of mere " prospect holes" were purchased at high figures, and mills were erected to work the ore before the buyers knew of what kind it was, or whether there was one ton or a million. The era of mad speculation has given place to that of practical mining, and Colorado has advanced to an annual yield in ore and bullion of from $ 12,000,000 to $ 15,000,000. Colorado is divided nearly down the center by the main chain of the Rocky Mountains or, in miner's phrase, " saddle- backed across the range." West of the summit not one acre in a thousand is fit for any thing but grazing. As depressions in the summit appear the great parks, a curious and attractive feature of Colorado. As summer re-treats and grazing grounds, they will ultimately be of great value. The slope eastward from the mountains is the pasture land of the new State. The whole section is being rapidly dotted with ranches, and all kinds of stock thrive on the nutritious grasses. But it is only on the low land along the streams that farming can be carried on. At the heads of the Fontaine Que Bouille and other tributaries of the Arkansas, bounteous nature seems to have exhausted her powers in the way of scenery and climate. There the sheltered valleys open-ing to the south are green early in the year; there reluctant summer lingers longest, and glad spring hastens to return. The hot pools, the vast reservoirs and bubbling fountains of soda, the medicinal springs, the wooded parks, the gateway to the mountains and the Garden of the Gods afford unfailing delight. Over all rises Pike's Peak, out-lined against a sky of dazzling blue, landmark for a hundred miles in every direction. Around the heads of all the streams that feed the |