North Park union., 1900-01-26
VOLUME W..
What Outsiders Think of North
:. Park As a Stock Country


letter to the Breeders Gazette, of
Chicago, November 1899, gives q
very good description of tue parks of
Colorado. After giving their area,
altitude, etc, he speaks of our North
park as follows: :.
North park probably furnishes the
best example Of cattle-raising. 1T is
situated in the most northern part of
the State and about centrally as re-
CARDS longitude. 1t is oblong in
shape, and sixty miles long and forty
miles wide in its widest part, 1t is
almostentirely surrounded by lofty,
snow-capped mountain ranges, The
great continental divide itself bounds
it on the south and vest while the
Medicine Bow range forms an eastern
and northern enclosure. 1T can be
entered only through narrow passes,
unless one scales the alpine heights,
some of which rise TO an altitude of
$4,000 feet above sea level. Deeply
is it buried in the midst Of mighty
range, and NO railroad yet reaches
within hundred miles of it, Pro-
visions for its $500 inhabitants are
hll hauled in upon heavy freight
wagons, over rugged mor.tain roads,
and the mails are carried by stage
six times a week During the winter
the passes drift deeply %ith show,
and occasionally, rs was the case last
wintcr, the roads became impossible
Tor days together and the park is cut
off from the outer world by insur-
mountable barriers. But now tele-
phone company is abotit to extend its
line into the park, 90 that in the fll-
thre Communication will not be COM
pletely cut off PROVIDED no accident
happens to the Telephone lines. But
III IuS huLiSIoNS uoIASS lltOuSii iiOuI
the park have been made comfortable
and are we'll supplied with provisions,
30 that there is little chance for suf-
fering no matter how severe the
weather may be. The surrounding
mountain slopes contain some of the
finest bodies of timber in tie State,
and numerous saw-mlls are located
In the sulches, from which any
amount of good building material
may be obtained. And during the
autumn, after the beef crop has been
disposed Of the ranchcrs take their
big wagons and repair to the nearest
and best market and load up with
enough supplies to last through the
winter. Aud besides there is one
small town in the park, with few
stores, which may be resorted to in
cases of emergency. [He must mean
Walden. And we have newspaper.
too, Mr. Crafts. Come back next
summer and we'll show you one Of
the livliest towns in the statc.-Ed.
North park is extremely well wat
cred. The North Platte river has its
rise in the south end and flows north
ward through the park for its entire
leSsth. Leading down to this larger
stream are numerous creeks, which
4cve their rise in the surrounding
mountain ranges and are continuous
ly fed by the springs, the rains and
melting snow and ice Of the higher
peaks. These streams are peopled
with an abundant supply of mountain
trout, which not only furnish food for
the people of the park but food and
much sport for the summer tourists,
who come in by the score witt, their !
camp wagons and other paraphernalia
But best of all these streams furnish
pn ample supply of water for irriga-
ton purposes, and hundreds of miles
Of bitches have been taken out and
large areas of both bottom and table
lands are watered and made to pro-
duce abundant crops of hay. The
bottom lands produce wild grasses
principally, but fine timothy and clo-
yer are grown on the irrigated up
lands. The bed of the park, il must
be understood Is oomposed of rolling
prairie land, rather more broken than
that of the plains, with here and there
an oval shaped mountain. These
lands were originally covered with
buffalo and gramma and other grasses
native to Colorado, besides large areas
of sage brush or ''grease wood" as it
is known among the cattiemen. No,
1t is sage brush. Grease wood. is