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<br />10 THE A1lKAMSAS RlVEItno.OD OF .rUNE H, :1021,
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<br />Of the 28,000 square miles draine~ by Arkansas River in Colorado
<br />the upper 3,840 square miles is mount,ainous, :with extremely rl.1gg~d
<br />topography. Within this upper area there are many perennial tribu-
<br />taries, but east of the mountains the tributaries are rtJlatively small
<br />except in time of spring high water from melting snow, or, after
<br />heavy rains.
<br />. The n,rea covered by the rainfall of .June 2-5, 1021, lies chiefly be- '
<br />tween Canon City and Pueblo. It is bounded on the north by the
<br />foothills of the Pikes Peak uplift and on ,the south by the Wet lIoun-
<br />tains and their extension, Greenhorn Mountain. The following de-
<br />sription of the topography is quoted from Gilbert: 4
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<br />jTwenty miles south of Colorado Springs the line of fqothills turns sharply
<br />westward for 20 mlIes amI then, neur Cunon City, swings quickly to the south
<br />aUtI southeast, holtllllg the lattl'r cOllr.<e for 40 mlles. Within this lIexul'e is II
<br />trIangular tongue of the plains country half surrollntll'd h)' mountain rnnges,
<br />For half its cour..:e between Cnnon City amI PUl'blll the Arkllll:<llS ill dOl.eh'
<br />hemmed in by rock bluffs 200 feet high, with cliffs of limP.lltone nt the tOil, };:}se.
<br />where it.'l'immediate valley is more open, usually with a shnfp uscent on ;one
<br />side to a gravelly mesa and a long, gradual slope on the other, Fnrther buck
<br />the ascent"is broken by terraces of ~avel or sand or hy tracts of claY~Y bad-
<br />lunds llnd here nnd there by rocky cliffs nnd mesns, ' .
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<br />'Within this area there are many tributaries that rise in the moun~
<br />tains that bound the drainage basin. , The tributaries from the narth
<br />are Oil, Shmile, Eightmile, Brush ,Hollow, Beaver, Turkey, and
<br />Dry creeks, and those from the sauth are Chandler, Oak, Coal, Hard-
<br />scrabble, Red, Rush, Pecks, and Rock creeks. ". " ' ", .'" '
<br />Between the steep slapes of the Wet Mountninsand the river a
<br />broad area lmown generally as Boggs Flat slopes toward the river.
<br />Across this area the tributary streams heading in the mountains have
<br />cut well-defined ~hannels.. In addition to these streams a number,
<br />of. arroyos or dry ch,annels, af which Ritchie Gulch; Osteen and
<br />Cameron arroyos, Boggs and Blue Ribbon, creeks are, the chief, rise
<br />in the upland area and carry water dunng the heary rains to. which
<br />this area is subject,
<br />The following table was compiled chiefly from topographic maps:
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<br />'G1ibert, (1,' K., l'ndpr!n'Olllld water of the Arkansas Vallpy In paAtern Colorado: U. S.
<br />Geol. Survey Seventeenth Ann. Rel't., I't, 2, p. r,511, 1111)6.
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