Durango semi-weekly herald., 1905-04-10

test inaugurated by the Durango
board of trade:
In 15iJ Spanish explorers and gold
seekers discovered in what is now
called Southwestern Colorado, won
derful canons and more wonderful
ruined cities; mummies with silky
hair. bits of cloth and basketry, pot
terry with strange decorations. and
many other things whicn evinced
hign civilization. There were many
more Than seven of these cliff cities:
no stores of gold were found, so the
travellers sought elsewhere for the
fabled Seven Cities of Cibola."
Wnie the great missions Of Califor-
mia and Texas were being built. these
strange cities were forgotten.
In bleak New England the colonies
were struggling for Independence
when Father Esculante and his brave
band were establishing missions be
tween Mexico and Santa Fe. On one
of these trips he says: We went in
TO the far North, beyond the noun.
tains, and we discovered a river whicn
walled and moaned and cried like one
In anguish; and on its banks were the
ruins of many Cities so he called II
the Rio de Las Animas Peridias"--
the river of lost souls.
When Fremont and his party reach
ed the great mountain pass which is
Inc dividing line between the Pacific
slope and the eastern slope of the
Rockies, they were amazed by tbs
panorama before them. We trem-
bled with JOY to see the beauty of
peak and plain. 1t Is unlike anything
in song or story-more beautiful than
pen or brush can trace"
They had seen one of the most
beautiful spots on earth. the noun
| iains and valleys, the bare, rugged
cliffs the 1ower-draped hills. the
| winding streams; the pine-clad slopes
of the Great San Juan.
One hundred years after the declara.
| ton of independence, groups of gold
seekers camped upon the banks oi
| the streams washing the sands for the
yellow grains-for the rivers truly
run over sands of gold" They were
| ''prospectors, and so moved on up
higher and higher. even above the
| line of eternal snow. Always accom-
panied by the faithful burro. the fry
pan the coffee pot and pipe. What
more could any one ask? Nothing Is
so near perfect bliss as a summer
camp and tramp over these noun
tains. Fishing, hunting, eating.
| sleeping and drinking the pure air and
| mountain water and living the primi
| tive life near nature.
Then began the march of toe pio-
neer.
The towns were built before at the
widening out OF the canons, where
| two smaller streams flow into the An
imas. Durango, the meeting place"
OF the waters, and OF various tribes
| for council, sprang into life. Her
story Is one of romantic interest
TRUTH stranger than fiction. Was it
| cnance or wisdom akin to genius
which selected the spot? Surrounded
| by high mesas, storms leap from peak
| TO peak, while this sheltered spot is
untouched. II has annually nearly
365 days OF sunshine; freedom from
extremes of temperature. perfect
| summers delightful winters. rare
healtb-g giving atmosphere, an altitude
of $500. with latitude of 81 degrees
gives this an ideal climate.
Situated as Durango is on the Pa
! clhc slope, 1t is free from the many
Objectionable. but retains the desira-
BILE features OF its sister cities.
1t is the center of a vast area of
coal. ranching, fruit growing, mining
and grazing country. II has coking
coal sufficient for the worlds needs
| for generations, II is the commercial
center of mining and lumber regions
| whose yearly output amounts to many
millions. II has sneep and cattle on
a thousand hills, and "barons" who in
n few years have become financial
| princes from these herds.
| The smelter, now one of the proper
| ties OF the American Smelling L. Re.
| tining company. is third in size and
The favorite plant of the company.
The schools have few eQuals-the
High school being accredited. Duran
| 90 has electric light and power plants,
street cars. and good streets, parks,
handsome churches and residences.
with beautiful lawns and trees. pub
| lie library, many first class stores; in
fact, everything needful to make a city
of homes. The pride of all is the
| gravity water system of pure cold wa
ter, the equal Of anything anywhere
and enough for all the needs of city
| of 100000
! We have uncultivated land with the
| climate and soil for 10000 fruit farms
and as mucn more for market gar
| dens.
| We need many things We need
| woollen mills. We ship and pay
| freight upon carloads of dirt with the
wool because we have no securing
| plants.
| We need tanneries, instead OF send
| ing out carloads of hides and bringing
in other carloads of leather. The
canaigre, which grows wild here in
great profusion, mas no equal for tan
ming
We need workers in wood and stone
and metal machine ships. We need
| Canneries, II creamery or several of
them, instead of shipping in $4,000
| pounds OF butter, We want poultry
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