The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1920-10-01

tG1E2IkG kGkSl first ascent the other day. II
notable event. In that the
mountain In a way epitonizes the progress of the
west.
Although Lieut.. Zebulon NJ Pike, o. S. A.. the
intrepid explorer. first discovered Pixies Peak III
1906 he scaled the mountain, saying the
task was impossible for human being. But DR..
Edwin James, a member Of the expedition Of
Major Long, In 1920. accomplished the feat
Major Long. in honor of James accomplishment.
named the peak James Peak" but early as
1S4O trappers and plaiEsmen named 1t pixies
Peak" and Fremont put 1t SO on the map.
In 1878 a bride path built; wagon
road to the summit built in 1880 and in 1891
the cog wheel railroad, nine miles long,
built. The weather bureau established a station
on the summit. In 1916 the present automobile
road built cost of $3OOOOO after two
years of construction work. This road is eighteen
miles long, rises 1896 feet In that distance, has
average grade of seven per cent and a maxi
mum grade of 10A per cent with AZ per cent
of the line In 1t is twenty feet wide with
wide fifty feet.
In April, 1919, government tank at
tempted to climb the peak the automobile
highway, but broke down in the deep drifts
and did not make second attempt. month
later a caterpillar. used for artillery hauling,
made the summit without difficulty. August 3,
1919, airplane. piloted by Alexander Lendrum
of Colorado Springs made successful trip
the summit of the peak.
This brings to date Now man is reforest-
ing the lower slopes of the famous peak.
But first word about the first ascent. Dr.
James was only % years old at the time. Starting
from Council Bluffs, the explorers reached what
is Colorado City July 12 1920 July 13 he
started with four for the top. The late
Frederick S. Deenbaugh, a member of several
government expeditions in the west. wrote this
of the climb of DR.. James:
About noon they came to the Boiling Spring.
the present well-known spring Of Manitou, which
gives name to the stream of which it forms a
source. This beautiful spring of great inter-
est to James and they had their lunch beside 1t.
Through its crystal waters could be seen on the
bottom the offerings of beads and trnkets by
the Indians
"The night of the 13th James and his COM
panions spent in most uncomfortable place. and
on the next morning started early with the hope
of making the round journey before dark. About
noon the timber line. 11,720 feet was reached
and by 4 O'Clock they stood the mighty
nit IA, ,1OS feet above the and 5000 feet above
the plains, and could the the prairie
ocean melting into the lmitless distance, while
on the other hand spread away a broad chaos of
peaks canyons. valleys. fading into the depths of
the unknown wilderness. Vast clouds of grass
hoppers flying over the peak, sometimes
dense almost to obscure the light.
After half an hour the majestic summit, now
reached by a prosaic railway, the descent began
Losing their course, they failed to reach the camp
of the previous night and were forced to sleep
out with no food shelter comfort of any
kind: not after all awful 1t sounds AS
soon as light came in the morning they continued
and reached their camp, only to find it ablaze;
the fire had spread and consumed everything
except few scraps of food which they
a,reedily breakfasted."
The American Forestry Association of Wash
inpton estimates that out of the 100 million odd
acres of national forests there and
half million acres in need of planting seeding
to re-estabIish tree growth. The yearly loss TO
the nation in forest products from lands suited
of tDuhp pnyu dla 10
said to be S65 900. No large have been
specifically appropriated by congress to reforest
the denuded lands within the national forests,
that the acreage planted each year has been nomi
nal and the work of an experimental character. In
nickipr the areas in the national forests where