The Challis messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1912-current, 1924-04-09
The Cauca valley, Colombia, Near Cali.

tFrepared by the National Geographic So
ciety. Washington, d. CT
To show inst ocean to Great Lake.
traffic is possible, newspaper head
line declared not long ago that shiI
had sailed from Bogota, Colombia, tt
Chicago. Doubtless not one person il
a hundred who read the words recog
nized their absurdity in so far as the
port" of origin is concerned, such is
the lack of knowledge in the United
States in regard to the by no means fan
removed republic of Colombia In
reality the headline could be no more
Justified than one clubbing Reno, Ne
vada, port" because goods from that
city, carried a hundred miles by rail,
were shipped at Sacramento.
Bogota lies Oh a great plateau q
mile and three quarters above sea
level and thousands Of feet above the
ton for steamers on the Magdalena
river, hundred miles away. Because
Of this high Location Bogota is one of
the most delightful capitals of South
America-a temperate zone city deep
in the tropics, barely 800 miles from
the equator. There, on a site de-
pendent on mule-back transportation
until a few years ago, has grown up
city comparable in size to New
Haven, Conn, or Memphis, Tenn. 1t
Is a city of beautiful homes, colleges
and schools, and has club and social
life that put it on a par with some
European capitals.
1t would be difficult to choose a more
delightful setting for a city than the
site of Bogota. To the east rise high
mountains; to the north and south
an extensive, fertile upland
plain; and at some distance to the
west are hills and beyond more high
Bogota's rather paradox
ical situation in the shadow of the
equator yet essentially in the tenn
perature zone, is proved by journey
over its adjacent plains where the po-
tatoes. corn and other grains and
vegetables of our Middle West flourish.
The testimony of the thermometer
is equally eloquent. The mean tenn
perature is about 60 degrees Fahren-
heit. the mercury seldom rising above
70 degrees or falling below 55 de-
grees. A reasonable amount of rain
falls and altogether the city is blessed
with white mans climate"
colombia's Strong Points.
The republic of which Bogota is the
,apital may some day be one of the |
most important countries of South |
America because of its unique and |
convenient location, its vast resources,
md its climatic assets. 1t is the only
country of the southern continent that |
las a coast line on both the Atlantic
nd Pacific oceans. And both ocean
utlets are extensive; the country Dor
ers the Atlantic for more than 600
niles. while its Pacific seaboard is
My slightly less in extent. On both
ceans are several good Dorts, and nu-
lerous others that engineering skill
an make useful.
Colombia covers close to half a mil
ON square miles, region about as
reat as all the southeastern section
{ the United States east of the Mis-
ssippi and south of the Ohio river
nd the southern line of Pennsylvania.
nd thanks to its great mountain
,asses and plateaus, its lowlands and
alleys. it has a range of climatic con- |
itions that could be approached in
,e United States only by journeying
ON the tip of Florida to the northern
oundary of Maine.
The Andes, which are fairly compact
Ecuador, separate into three
-anches in Colombia, the western.
.ntral and eastern cordillera. The I
al heart of the country in population {
ID development lies between the two {
FER cordilleras in the great Cauca {
lley to the west of the central ridge. i
ID the greater Magdalena valley and [
o Rocota plateau on its other side. 6
10 steep Pacific slope on the west t
,rd side of the western cordillera is t
vet little developed, largely, no r
ubt because of its tremendous rain 7
II There is no seasonal let-up in Ii
q precipitation in this strip of terri L
": the min falls almost continuous &
and at one station the annual total i:
more than SO feet. A
Largely because of saturated ground, Il
DDS and a rank jungle growth, it re- b
lred 40 years to build rs miles of G
lroad through the western strip of e.
lombia from the Pacific port, Buena- h
ptw-A b Cali. Riding along on Ii