THE region now embraced in the territorial limits of Colorado, first attracted public attention in 1858, and was known originally as the "Pike's Peak country." The first settlers of this region were from Kansas and Missouri. Gold was found in the sands of Cherry Creek in the winter of 1858-59, but not in sufficient quantities to exempt the pioneers from many privations and sufferings during the discouraging and gloomy months of that early period.

During the summer of 1859, however, rich quartz veins were discovered in what is now known as the Gregory District, and soon after thousands of emigrants were wending their way across the Plains to the new Eldorado. As in all other gold regions, the early efforts of the miners of "Pike's Peak" were checkered with alternations of success and disappointment; but the gold yield was sufficient to encourage increased exertion, and justify the hopes of the most sanguine. Prospecting parties were diligent and untiring in their search after "lodes," and the spring of 1860 found more than a score of stamp-mills pounding away in the gulches and ravines of the Gregory District.

Explorations in other parts of the mountain range developed the existence of gold-bearing quartz veins for many miles north and south of the Gregory mines, and at several points rich placer diggings were discovered. On the head-waters of the Platte and Arkansas, over in the South Park, and throughout the entire mountain course of Clear Creek, "gulch gold " was found liberally scattered. In not a few instances handsome fortunes were realized as the result of a single summer's operations.

The early years of Colorado, were years of stormy trial and severe discipline. Outlaws and desperadoes gathered in all the leading settlements and mining camps of the Territory, overawing the peaceful and order-loving citizens, and in many instances committing with impunity the most revolting outrages and crimes. In Denver, during 1860, lawlessness and violence prevailed to such an alarming extent that the people were compelled to organize a Vigilance Committee for self-protection. A few instances of prompt and retributive justice at the hands of these self-constituted guardians of the public peace, struck terror to the "rough" element, driving many beyond the limits of the Territory, and suddenly checking in others a spirit of turbulence and insubordination which was fast degenerating into open disregard of all moral or legal restraint.

Colorado was hardly rid of these disturbing influences when the Rebellion broke out, seriously affecting the prosperity of the Territory, because of the nearly equally divided views of the people upon the political questions which led to secession, and furnishing a new element of perplexity and trouble to the people of that region. Rebel sympathizers were active and influential, and for a short time it was a matter of serious doubt whether Colorado would remain true to the Government, or drift away into the folds of the Confederacy. But the trembling balance soon settled firmly on the side of the Union, and all through the war Colorado was intensely loyal, her brave mountaineers flocking to the Federal standard, and fighting gallantly in New Mexico, in Missouri, and at various points throughout the Union.

But despite all these discouragements and difficulties, Colorado has steadily advanced in population and wealth, her people displaying all those characteristics of intelligence, of indomitable perseverance, and of sectional pride, which are always followed by successful and profitable territorial development.

We copy from a pamphlet publication recently issued by the Board of Trade of the City of Denver, the following interesting

Colorado, lying within the central belt through which the emigration of the American people is flowing westward, half-way between St. Louis and San Francisco, has an area of over one hundred thousand square miles, nearly equally divided into plains and mountains.

The plains imperceptibly slope from the base of the mountains, which rise abruptly from them, to the Missouri River; presenting a smooth undulating surface, destitute of timber, save in the valleys of the water-courses, and upon the high land, which, near the mountains, divides the waters of the Platte and Arkansas rivers.

The climate of this plateau, within the Territory of Colorado, is peculiar. Owing to its altitude, remoteness from large bodies of water, and the proximity of the great mountain range, the fall of moisture is small as compared with that of the Atlantic and Mississippi Valley States, and almost wholly confined to the winter and spring months. The summer days are hot, the thermometer often rising to 90°, the nights always cool and dewless. The winters are, as a rule, delightfully mild, interrupted with occasional light falls of snow, followed, by a few days only, of severe cold. The great climatic characteristic is intense sunshine and absence of moisture.

The soil of the river bottoms is identical in fertility and depth with that of the Missouri, and yields, generally without irrigation, immense crops of small grain, hay, and such vegetables as are produced in the same latitude at the East. The uplands have a rich, warm, sandy loam, which produces, wherever irrigation is possible, even more abundantly than the bottoms, and are everywhere covered with buffalo and gramma grasses, affording nutritious feed for stock, which run at large, and grow fat without fodder throughout the entire year.

The innumerable herds of buffalo, elk, antelope and deer, which have from time immemorial subsisted by pasturage alone, on these plains, suggest that they will not only be capable of furnishing the stock and wool needed for a dense population within the Territory, but also for a large portion of the people of the Continent.

Spring opens one month earlier here than in the same latitude at the East. Seed is sown in February and. March. Teams, subsisting on grass alone, are able to leave the base of the mountains for the east—and carrying, as it were the grass with them, reach the Missouri River at the earliest period at which it is possible to travel westward. In short, vegetation germinates earlier on the Great Plains, measurably in ratio to the increase of longitude.

Fruit-trees, when planted upon the uplands and irrigated, live and grow finely. The soil and climate are identical with those of the Salt Lake basin, which is—with the exception, perhaps, of certain portions of California—the best fruit-producing region in America, and there is every reason to believe that in time Colorado will in this particular rival her sister Territory.

Black walnut, chestnut, and other American forest-trees grow readily from the seed.

Colorado has richer and more extensive mineral deposits than California, and grazing lands as valuable as those of Texas. She has the peculiar excellencies of both these favored States, with the advantages of easier access and a nearer market.

The climatic conditions are exceedingly favorable to consumptives, who are not in the confirmed stage of the disease; to all asthmatic sufferers, and to those having chronic bronchitis. To the latter two it affords instantaneous relief, and rapid and permanent cure.

There is literally no disease peculiar to any portion of the Territory, and invalids from abroad rarely fail to rapidly improve under the tonic influences of the climate.

Both to the invalid and voluptuary, the contour of surface affords great facility for choice of temperature and density of atmosphere. A ride of two hours over the plains, always hard and smooth, and six hours of mountain travel, either by private conveyance or the six-horse coach, over roads pronounced the best of the kind in the world, and through the grandest of scenery, carries one from the summer heat of the valley, through the intermediate grades of climate to an altitude where an overcoat is a comfort by day, and a blazing fire a necessity by night. Good inns are found on all the roads, and settlements with public and private homes, having the refinements as well as the comforts of life, hang upon the mountains ten thousand feet above the level of the sea.

Within convenient distance of the mountain settlements, cool streams fresh from the snow, half-hidden by flowering shrubs and filled with trout, ripple and foam, and silvery lakes reflect the snow-capped mountains overhanging them.

COAL.—The coal fields of Colorado, north of the Arkansas River, have an area of five thousand square miles. The veins vary from five to thirteen feet in thickness, and in places, as on the South Boulder Creek, twenty-three miles from Denver, eleven, overlying each other, are exposed to view, aggregating from thirty to fifty feet of solid coal. Professor F. Hayden, U. S. Geologist, in his report to the Commissioner of the General Land Office, writes of this locality, as follows: "I spent two evenings at Mr. Marshall's house burning this fuel in a furnace, and it seemed to me that it would prove to be superior to ordinary western bituminous coal, and ranks next to anthracrite for domestic purposes. It is as neat as anthracite, leaving no stain on the fingers. It produces no offensive gas or odor, and is thus superior in a sanitary point of view, and when brought into general use will be a great favorite for culinary purposes. It contains no destructive elements, leaves very little ashes, no clinkers, and produces no more erosive effect on stoves, grates, or steam-boilers than dry wood."

IRON.—Iron ore (Brown Hemalite), which yields seventy per cent. of metallic iron, is in close position to the coal fields above mentioned, and the area over which it seems to abound, can not be less than fifty square miles. Indications of large deposits have been found along the line of the Union Pacific Railroad, and the beds appearing on the Divide—so called—forty miles southeastward from Denver, are only less remarkable in quantity and richness than the celebrated "Iron Mountain" of Missouri.

Recent experiments show that the mineral fuel can be made useful for smelting purposes, and it is impossible to doubt that Colorado will exert the same influences over the development of the Great Central Region that Pennsylvania does over the contiguous States.

MOUNTAIN REGIONS.—The mountains stretch from north to south across the Territory, a distance of two hundred and forty miles. The average height is twelve thousand feet, though many of the peaks rise from two thousand to five thousand feet higher. The foot-hills flank the range on either hand to a distance of fifty miles; to the eastward subsiding into the plains; to the westward sloping to the base of other and continuous ranges of lesser height which fill the space thence to the Pacific. This majestic range holds within its folds the North, South, Middle and San Luis Parks, immense areas of level land—surrounded by snowy mountains—each having a soil, climate, and geological formation peculiar and distinctive.

The Platte, Arkansas and Rio Grande rivers, flowing westward to the Atlantic, and the Colorado of the West, which pours its flood into the Pacific, take their rise in this range, and from opposite sides of one of its lofty peaks. The climate varies, of course, with the altitude, and is cooler both in summer and winter than that of the plains, yet the mines above the town of Montgomery, at the head of the South Park, at an altitude of twelve thousand feet above the level of the sea, are worked in winter without serious inconvenience.

The feature which first attracts attention is the extreme fertility of the valleys and slopes of the mountains. Where not shaded by pine forests, luxuriant grasses enameled with flowers, cover the ground as with a carpet, and the entire region affords summer pasturage, especially for sheep, superior in quality and equal in quantity to any other similar extent of wild land in the world.

On the western slope the timber is more dense and vigorous, and wild timothy and clover are added to the other grasses. In the Middle Park, hot sulphur springs of great capacity, possessing valuable medicinal qualities, abound; also thick veins of coal resembling Albertine.

Grain and vegetables are raised without irrigation, at an altitude of eight thousand feet, the rains produced by the evaporation of the snow, which usually expend their force before reaching the plains, affording sufficient moisture.

The timber line is about eleven thousand feet high, much higher than on other mountains in the same latitude; an apparent deviation from physical laws, which is explained by the great extent and general altitude of the inland plateau, of which this range is the crest, and which also accounts for the mildness of the winters, which, from the altitude of the country, would else be of more than Alpine severity.

This mountain region contains mines of gold, silver, copper, and lead, which are destined, under the influence of capital and cheap labor, to give to the American people for all time, the monetary supremacy of the commercial world.

The mineral belt extends the whole length of the range, and includes thirty miles of each of its flanks, making an aggregate of fourteen thousand square miles of mineral land. In the two counties of Gilpin and Clear Creek, alone, not less than twelve thousand distinct lodes have been discovered and recorded, and it is safe to say that of this number there are not less than one hundred capable of annually yielding, under favorable circumstances, such as the completion of projected railroads will secure, $500,000 each, a total of $50,000,000.

ARAPAHOE COUNTY contains the city of Denver, the commercial and political capital of the Territory. The South Platte River runs across its western front, a distance of thirty miles, affording an abundance of water for irrigating and manufacturing purposes. The population is about seven thousand, and the valuation of taxable property in 1857 was $4,630,693.

The Platte Water Company's canal, twenty-four miles long, lately completed at a cost of $100,000, supplies Denver with water for domestic purposes, and will irrigate thousands of acres of land in this and adjoining counties, with a capacity for indefinite extension and measure of usefulness. The area of land within the county actually under cultivation is estimated at 10,000 acres. The log cabin of the pioneer settler has given place to the modern farm-house, with its surroundings, and great attention is being paid to all kinds of fruit.

For want of an irrigating canal, farming has to this time been restricted to the river bottoms, but the completion of the irrigating works above mentioned, opens an almost unlimited area for cultivation.

To demonstrate the fertility of the soil, it only remains to state, that sixty bushels of wheat, sixty-six bushels of barley, sixty-five bushels of oats, and four tons of hay to the acre have been raised..

DENVER is beautifully situated, on a plain, at the junction of Cherry Creek with the South Platte, twelve miles from the foot of the mountains, with an altitude of five thousand feet above tide level. The population is about six thousand. Men from the East gaze with astonishment on this compactly built, busy settlement, with the peculiarities to the full of a large city, standing in the "Great American Desert," seven hundred miles from what has hitherto been supposed the ultima thule of inhabitable land on the Atlantic slope of the United States.

Among the public buildings there are six churches, several of them imposing brick structures, belonging to the Episcopal, Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Congregational, and Catholic societies respectively; two free, and several select, schools. It is connected with the East, with Central City and Georgetown by telegraph lines, and is shortly to have the same communication with Santa Fé, New Mexico.

There are two first-class flouring mills, run by water, capable of making several hundred sacks of flour per day; two planing mills, sash and door factories, gunsmiths' and jewelry shops, cabinet manufacturers, upholsterers, &c.

There are three daily papers, having also weekly editions, and one weekly paper; three first-class and many second-class hotels; three bridges spanning the Platte, costly and permanent structures, and two over Cherry Creek, erected at a cost of $16,000; two theaters, two public halls, and the United States Branch Mint buildings.

Six lines of coaches leave every day for the termini of the railroads for Santa Fé and the various mining towns in the mountains. The view from Denver and vicinity is grand. Pike's and Long's peaks, with over two hundred miles of the Snowy Range, are plainly visible, and seen through the clear mountain air, the passing clouds shading in rapid succession and infinite variety their seamed and broken surfaces, present a panorama which beggars description, and is pronounced by all travelers unequaled elsewhere in the world.

DOUGLAS COUNTY adjoins Arapahoe on the south. The remarks on the characteristics of the great Plains apply to all of this county, except the extreme western border, which is described in the preceding paragraph. The population is about fifteen hundred, who are principally employed in the manufacture of lumber. The proposed line of the extension of the Union Pacific R. R., E. D. to Denver, bisects this county its entire length, and the road, when built, will open an extensive market for its lumber and coal.

GILPIN COUNTY is the most famous, as it is the best developed, of the mountain counties. Black Hawk and Central City have a population of about seven thousand souls, dwelling upon the narrow banks of an affluent of Clear Creek.

The two towns may be classed as one, for the line of separation is only imaginary. There are two banks, two newspapers, several fine churches, and many fine brick and stone buildings.

One hundred mining companies have been formed in the eastern cities on lodes within a radius of two miles of Central City. Their improvements sum up as follows: Sixty-five stamp mills, containing twelve hundred and ten stamps in running order; eight mills, containing three hundred and ninety stamps on the ground; and at Atchison, Kansas, not erected, twenty-six mills, with reducing works other than stamps, most of them magnificent structures; one hundred and eighty-one engines, with an aggregate of forty-five hundred horse power; fourteen mine pumps, ranging in size from four to ten inches; engine, shaft, and whim houses; whims and windlasses without number; and on five of the principal lodes, shafts aggregating in depth twenty thousand feet, with levels and inclines amounting to as much more. These lodes have been opened lineally on an aggregate of twelve thousand seven hundred feet, and during the past year the banks of Central have shipped east $1,200,000 worth of gold.

CLEAR CREEK COUNTY is only less famous than Gilpin because less developed. It has numerous and rich gold mines, and the silver lodes discovered upon the main range within the last two years, and only now partially explored, are so rich, numerous, and extensive, that alone they would make Colorado a great mining country.

These ores are so rich that they have been transported to the Atlantic shore, and there reduced at a profit. Under practical treatment the yield has been $1,000 to the ton, and it is impossible to doubt that Clear Creek will give Colorado a greater prominence as a silver than a gold-producing region.

Georgetown, the principal settlement, having a population of two thousand is situated upon the stream from which the county is named, directly at the base of the range. It has been built within the last two years, is a brisk, thriving place, and promises to be the main depot in the mountains for distribution of supplies. The water-power which can be obtained from the creek is great, and there is a sufficient area of level ground to comfortably accommodate a large resident population. The town supports one newspaper and several hotels.

PARK COUNTY lies north of Fremont, and east of Douglas and El Paso counties, and contains within its limits the South Park, a wonderful plateau, entirely surrounded by mountains, about ninety miles in length, with an average width of thirty miles. The Park is traversed its entire length by the South Platte River and its numerous tributaries, which rises in the Snowy Range at the head of the Park.

It contains the mining towns of Montgomery, Buckskin, Sterling (Mosquito District), Fairplay, Tarryall, and Hamilton. Large amounts of gold have been taken from the gulch or placer mines of Fairplay, Tarryall, and Hamilton, and they are being successfully worked the present season. The quartz lodes of Mosquito, Buckskin, and Montgomery, equal in richness those of Gilpin and Clear Creek, but have not been as extensively worked.

LAKE COUNTY is situated west of the counties of Park and Fremont, and extends to the line of Utah, on the west. California and Colorado gulches and Cash Creek in this county, contain some of the richest gulch or placer mines in the Territory, and continue to yield liberal returns for labor, and in largely increased amounts.

The lodes of gold-bearing quartz discovered in this county are of unsurpassed richness, and remarkable in extent and variety. The ores generally contain free gold which can be saved without difficulty by the simplest process, thus relieving the miner from all the difficulties encountered in working the rich but refractory ores of other portions of the Territory. The difficulty of access, together with the attractions of other parts of the Territory, has heretofore retarded the development of this county, but the means of access are no longer difficult, and a large immigration is now pouring in, and developing its resources.

SUMMIT COUNTY constitutes about one-fifth of the Territory of Colorado, and is larger than the State of Massachusetts. It lies west of the Snowy Range and north of Lake County, and contains the celebrated Middle Park.

The gulch mines in the vicinity of Breckinridge and upon the tributaries of the Blue River, have been successfully worked since 1859, and in 1867 yielded as much gold as in any previous year. Experienced miners assert that as a gulch or placer mining country, Colorado will successfully rival California and Montana. Gold and silver lodes have been discovered, and worked, of great richness, and have yielded liberal returns. This is especially true of silver mining, to which capital and labor are now directed, with promises of satisfactory results. The silver lodes of Summit County promise to place her among the first of silver-mining regions.

JEFFERSON COUNTY adjoins Arapahoe, and includes within its limits agricultural and mineral lands, the mountains and the plains, and the fertile valley of Clear Creek, one of the richest in the Territory. Golden City is the county seat, and is located upon Clear Creek, where that stream leaves the mountains. The immediate vicinity of Golden City is rich in deposits of coal and iron. There are six coal mines opened and worked. The deposits of fire-clay are of great value, and an extensive manufactory of pottery, tiles, fire-brick, &c. is in successful operation. Golden City contains three flouring mills, and other evidences of prosperity.

BOULDER COUNTY is divided into two equal parts; the western half commencing at the foot-hills and extending to the Snowy Range, and contains some of the richest gold and silver-bearing lodes in the Territory. The discovery of the richest of these lodes is of recent date, and the work of development has just commenced.

Mills and reducing works are being erected, and every indication promises rich results. The abundance of wood, timber, and water, renders this region very attractive and desirable. The eastern half of Boulder County extends from the foot-hills easterly fifteen miles along the valleys of North and South Boulder, Left Hand, and Saint Vrain, with their tributaries, forming the most densely populated and well cultivated farming region in Colorado.

This whole region, along the base of the mountains, is filled with extensive veins of coal and iron. Some of these veins have been extensively worked, and supply the city of Denver and the surrounding country with coal of an excellent quality.

LARIMIE COUNTY adjoins Boulder on the north, and is divided into agricultural and mining lands; the latter have not been developed to any extent. Its agricultural lands are similar to those of Boulder County, and are traversed by the Cache a la Poudre, Big and Little Thompson creeks. Its population is estimated at eight hundred.

Embraces all that portion of territory lying south of the "Divide" or separating ridge between the waters of the Platte and Arkansas rivers, and includes the counties of El Paso, Fremont, Pueblo, Huerfano Las Animas, Costilla, Conejos, and Saguache, the first five named lying in the valley of the Arkansas, and the last three in the valley of the Rio Grande Del Norte.

All that portion lying south of the Arkansas River is what originally belonged to Mexico, and in the organization of Colorado Territory was taken from New Mexico. It is mostly covered by Spanish grants, and a portion of which has been settled many years. Irrigation is an essential part of farming, and the labor is mostly performed by Mexicans. Very few farms are fenced, the necessity being obviated by the laws requiring stock to be herded during the growing season.

EL PASO COUNTY.—This county extends from the timber lands on the "Divide," southward about fifty miles, and includes the beautiful valley of the Fountain Qui Bouille and its tributaries. The eastern. portion of the county is on the "plains," and the western portion includes the far-famed "Pike's Peak" and the mountains flanking its base.

Colorado City, the county seat, is situated at the foot of Pike's Peak, almost under the shadow of its gigantic dome, like a villa at the foot of the Swiss Alps. Here are the famous "Soda Springs," boiling springs, from which the stream takes its name. Here also are the wonderful porphyritic rocks called the "Garden of the Gods." Fossils and petrifications of great size, beauty, and interest, are found in immense quantities. Colorado City contains two flouring mills, a good school, and churches.

FREMONT COUNTY.—This county lies southwest of Pike's Peak, and the larger part is mountainous. It is bisected, east and west, by the Arkansas River, the valley of which is here narrow, and the arable lands are somewhat limited. The county is well timbered, contains inexhaustible beds of coal, and quarries of limestone, freestone, granite, marble, gypsum, and other minerals.

Cañon City is the county seat, and is located on the Arkansas River, at the point where that river emerges from the mountains through a stupendous rocky canon. The Territorial penitentiary is located here.

PUEBLO COUNTY.—This county is situated in the heart of the Arkansas Valley, and contains the largest amount of farming land of any county in the Territory. It extends from the east line of Fremont County to the eastern boundary line of the Territory, being about one hundred miles in length and fifty in width. It is bisected longitudinally by the Arkansas River, and includes all the Lower Huerfano, from Captain Craig's ranch to the mouth, all of the Rio San Carlos and Greenhorn valleys, and about twenty-five miles in length of the Lower Fountain Qui Bourne. Forts Reynolds and Lyon, two permanent military posts, are in this county.

In a distance of twenty miles on the Lower Huerfano are only seven ranches, each ranch being from three to five miles square, and each having a population of from fifty to two hundred, mostly Mexican laborers and tenants.

Pueblo is the county seat, and contains a population or about five hundred, and is the center of business and trade for Southern Colorado, this trade amounting to over $300,000 during the last year. There are good schools. The Methodist, Episcopalians, and Baptists have churches.

HUERFANO COUNTY.—This county includes the Upper Huerfano and its branches, the Apache and the Cucharas. It is a fine agricultural and pastoral region, well timbered, extending into the mountains, and abounding with stone and coal. Gold, silver, and copper have also been found. The famous Wa-ha-to-yas, or Spanish Peaks, are in the southwest corner of this county; at the foot of them is the beautiful valley of the Cucharas. Colonel Francisco has the largest ranch in the Territory, it being thirteen miles in length along the valley, and five miles in width.

LAS ANIMAS COUNTY.—This county, with the counties of Conejos and Saguache, form the San Luis Park, a vast elevated basin in the mountains, formed by the valley of the Rio Grande del Norte. This county is bounded on the south by the line of New Mexico, west by the Rio Grande, and east and north by the mountains.

Fort Garland, near the site of the old Fort Massachusetts, is a military post in the northern part of the county, late commanded by the famous Colonel Kit Carson. The county is finely adapted to agriculture and stock-raising. Wheat, oats, and potatoes are the principal products. Gold, silver, copper, iron, and other minerals are found in the mountains, east and north, and in many places there are indications of these mines having been worked years ago by the Spanish. Population nearly two thousand, mostly Spanish.

CONEJOS COUNTY.—This county lies on the west side of the Rio Grande, and is watered by the Rio de los Conejos and the Rio San Antoine. The population is about fifteen hundred, mostly Spanish. The county seat is Gaudaloupe, and also the location of the Uté agency, and one of a dozen or more small towns or Mexican plazas along the Conejos.

SAGUACHE COUNTY is in the upper and northwestern end of the San Luis Valley, and on both sides of the Rio Grande. The population is about two hundred and fifty, mostly American. The principal settlement is a German colony under the lead of Captain Kerber. The county contains fine tracts of land, and is mostly public domain, and open for pre-emption and settlement. Recent discoveries of gold in this county are attracting much attention.

All the three last-named counties are perhaps better watered than other arable portions of the Territory, and offer great inducements to immigration. The climate is rather too cold for corn, but wheat, oats, barley, potatoes and other vegetables, are raised to perfection. Sheep and cattle are raised and herded in vast numbers, the streams are filled with brook and salmon trout, and the mountains furnish game in great plenty, while a greater number and variety of water-fowl are to be found along the Rio Grande than in any other part of the Territory. The scenery of this valley is as beautiful as can be found in America, and the region is of historic interest, having furnished the scenes of many a border romance, and is the theater of the classic age of the trapper life of Kit Carson and his compeers, most of whom now sleep beside their hatchets, beneath the turf of this once "happy hunting-ground."

The Pacific Railroad, Eastern Division, has surveyed a branch road deflecting at a point about one hundred miles east of Denver, so as to strike the Arkansas River at the mouth of the Las Animas, or Huerfano, and thence direct through Southern Colorado to Santa Fe and Arizona, to the Pacific. The time is not distant when a railroad will run parallel with the mountains, at their base, from Denver, via Santa Fé, to Mexico. Coal fields skirt the base of the mountains from the northern border of Colorado to Trinidad. Few efforts have as yet been made to cultivate fruit, but of the adaptation of the climate to fruit culture there can be no doubt. Currants, plums, raspberries, and grapes, grow spontaneously in immense quantities. A superior quality of native wine is made from the wild grape, and the dryness of the atmosphere prevents the liability to mildew. Pueblo County alone manufactured last year from the wild grape, over one hundred barrels of native wine.

The following summary of the products of the southern counties exhibits the resources of that portion of the Territory, and is as near correct as can be obtained. The data for the products of the northern counties was not attainable except by rough estimate, and it is not therefore presented, but will probably nearly equal that of the southern counties:—

Counties	Corn, bush.	Wheat, bush.	Cattle, hd.	Sheep, hd.	Hogs
El Paso	15,000	10,000	2,000	1,000	500
Fremont	10,000	11,900	1,000	500	250
Pueblo	500,000	100,000	10,000	20,000	1,000
Huerfano	100,000	50,000	6,000	5,000	500
Las Animas	50,000	100,000	8,000	15,000	500
Costilla		20,000	5,000	20,000
Conejos		15,000	2,000	10,000
Saguache		5,000	500	1,000
Total	675,000	311,900	34,500	72,500	2,750

The United States Land Office, located at Denver, furnishes the following as the amount of land entered at that office during the year 1867, viz.:—

There are two other land offices in the Territory, from which no report has been received.

PRICES OF PROVISIONS AND LIVING.—Bacon, hams, and sides, 25c.; lard, 25c.; butter, 65c.; coffee, 35c.; corn, 4c.; meal, 5c.; flour, $6 to $9 per 100 pounds; potatoes, 3c.; sugar, 25c.; sirup molasses, $2 to $2.75 per gallon; teas, $2 to $2.50; beef, 12½ to 20c.; board, per week, from $5 to $10.

PRICES OF LABOR.—Ordinary farm hands obtain from thirty to sixty dollars per month. Mechanics from five to eight dollars per day. Servant girls from seven to ten dollars per week, and all classes of labor is in good demand.

ROUTES OF TRAVEL.—The Chicago and Northwestern Railroad from Chicago to Omaha, connects with the Union Pacific Railroad at that point. A daily line of packets runs from St. Louis to St. Joseph. The Union Pacific Railroad is completed to the Rocky Mountains. The Denver Pacific Railway will connect with that road at Cheyenne. Daily stages now run from Cheyenne to Denver. The Union Pacific Railroad, Eastern Division, is completed to Antelope―200 miles east of Denver, and is being rapidly constructed toward Denver. This road connects at Kansas City with the Missouri Pacific Railroad, the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad, and the North Missouri Railroad, and the packets upon the Missouri River, affording prompt connections with Chicago and St. Louis. The United States Express Company run regular daily coaches from the end of the road to Denver. The Nye Forwarding Company advertise that they have over two hundred teams, and connect with the great Union Pacific Railroad, Eastern Division, at its western terminus, via Smoky Hill route, thus forming a direct and reliable line of transportation from St. Louis, Philadelphia, Pittsburg, New York, Boston, Cincinnati, Chicago, and all points east, through to Denver City, Colorado.

The Denver and Santa Fé Stage and Express Company run a tri-weekly line of coaches from Denver to Santa Fe, through all the principal towns of Southern Colorado, and to the new mines on the Cimarron.

DEAR SIR : Yours of July 17, to Dr. Waggoner, has been handed me, with request to answer.

1st. In Colorado, all agriculture is produced by irrigation.—True, we have rains—sometimes sufficient to grow the crops. But no one will attempt to farm without first being assured of water in the ditch.

Farming lands can be had, and are cheap in this county, in proportion to what they yield, and compared with lands East.

2d. Labor.—Workmen are not plenty. Farm hands get from $35 to $50 per month and board. We are well supplied with mechanics. Their wages range from $4 to $6 per day.

3d. Climate and healthfulness, excellent. The Arkansas Valley is unsurpassed. We have the cool, pure, mountain atmosphere. Winters are mild.

4th. All kinds of grains and vegetables are produced, easily and abundantly. Wheat, oats, corn, &c., are fine.

5th. Market. No established market. Home consumption, supplying mines, military, &c., &c. Transportation all done by different kinds of teams, and cheap.

7th. Our people come mostly from the Northern States: Missouri, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, and so on east. We have a fair share of foreigners.

This text which I have hastily given you, is substantially correct. We have a good county—unsurpassed for cattle and stock-growing. All kinds of stock are higher than East. Cattle feed well the year round on the prairies, and do well.

FRED. B. GODDARD: In compliance with your request, I send you the information you seek, in a report of the Board of Trade, prepared from statistics obtained from various sources. It contains the answers to all the questions propounded—with a few exceptions. I would state that the rains of the present summer have been as seasonable as in the States, and very good crops could have been made from the bottom lands of Platte, Cherry Creek, Clear Creek, Bear Creek, Ralston, and Boulder creeks, without irrigation

The present growing crops of Spring Wheat (which is the only kind of wheat raised in Colorado), oats, barley, potatoes, cabbages, and. vegetables of every description can not be surpassed in any country (having resided twenty-one years in Western Missouri, I know what I am saying).

Young potatoes can be bought for 1 to 2 cents per pound at the present time, and wheat can not bring more than cents per pound, which is lower than at any time since the Territory was settled.

The farming lands near Denver are owned by those who are occupying them, and a great deal of land on the elevated parts, between Denver, thirteen miles from the base of the mountains, and Golden City, the first mining town as you enter the mountains, has been pre-empted, and a considerable portion is now in cultivation—irrigated from Clear Creek, a mountain stream passing by Golden City, and emptying into the Platte four miles northwest of Denver. As to the value of lands, I am unable to give you much information—the value depending, to a great degree, upon the facility for irrigation and the improvements thereon.

SIR : I have been requested by Mr. Danforth, our postmaster, to answer your questions. I will do so to the best of my ability.

1st. Farming land varies in price in consequence of the improvements upon them, of fencing, irrigating ditches, facilities for water, and the buildings. The price of unimproved land is from $1.25 to $2.50 per acre; improved, from $5 to $50 per acre.

2d. Labor is rather scarce, especially farm laborers. Wages are, for farms, from $40 per month to $2 per day; for miners, from $3 to $4.50 per day.

3d. Climate is dry, wholesome, and temperate; our great altitude deprives us of dew and fogs in summer, but gives us open, dry winters; snow-fall is but light all winter until March and April, then heavy snows, occasionally three feet deep, are of common occurrence, and although of short duration, yet no damage of frost is apparent to crops or grass from the snow.

4th. Corn is not a general staple—wheat, rye, oats, barley, and potatoes are raised everywhere, from 7,700 feet above the sea to the lowest valleys—vegetables are excellent. Wheat is worth from 4 to 8 cents per pound; oats, 5 cents; rye is worth 4 to 7 cents;potatoes, 3 cents; barley, 5 to 8 cents.

5th. Our best market is the mining region; the next best is Dakota and Wyoming Territories.

7th. Nationality, mostly, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, and Kansas—many foreigners.