. The fertile lands of Colorado and northern New Mexico .. . nter ofthe valley, on the line of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad that runs fromAlamosa to Salida. When the settlement of the San Luis Valley was firstbegun, and the ditches that start from the Rio Grande near Monte Vista andDel Norte were extended to reach this region, it became one of the most won-derful sections of the state. Enormous crops of grain were produced, bigmills and elevators were built with thriving towns about them. Then thesoil filled with water, farms were abandoned and the whole region developedbackward for fiftee
. The fertile lands of Colorado and northern New Mexico .. . nter ofthe valley, on the line of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad that runs fromAlamosa to Salida. When the settlement of the San Luis Valley was firstbegun, and the ditches that start from the Rio Grande near Monte Vista andDel Norte were extended to reach this region, it became one of the most won-derful sections of the state. Enormous crops of grain were produced, bigmills and elevators were built with thriving towns about them. Then thesoil filled with water, farms were abandoned and the whole region developedbackward for fifteen years. Recent drainage developments have shown thata good deal of this land, given up as worthless, can actually be entirelyreclaimed by drainage. It is as fertile now as it ever was, once the water isdrained off. MOFFAT AND SAGUACHE The north end of the San Luis Valley lies in a flatiron shape, running toits point at the foot of Poncha Pass and widening to the south. To the eastthe Sangre de Cristo Range towers to heights of 14,000 feet in one sheer. A Ranch Home in the San Luis Valley near Moffat ascent, without foothills or minor slopes. To the west are the Cochetopas,famous as the best hills in Colorado for grass and water for stock. Thispart of the valley has few streams and these are small. From the beginningof settlement it was apportioned in immense areas as winter pastures forcattle, or as hay meadows. Most of the streams that enter this part of thevalley sink before they go very far from the mountains, and in spring eachlittle river spreads out under ground to moisten a large area, making wildhay grow luxuriantly. The soils of this region have been known to be themost fertile of the whole valley. In the last few years a closer settlementhas begun, but the areas are so vast that the extent and importance of thisnew movement are but little realized. In all this region artesian wells give agood flow. In addition, there is sheet water at from eleven to sixteen feetfrom
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Keywords: ., bookauthordenveran, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookyear1912
