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<br />10 THE Attl<:AN'SAS RIVER Fr,6on OF JUl'l'E 3-5, 1021.
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<br />Of the 28,000 square miles drained by Arkansas River in Colorado
<br />the upper 3,840 square miles is mountainous, ,with e:dremely rugged
<br />topography. Within this upper area there are many perennial tribu-
<br />taries, but east of the mountains the tributaries are rtllatively small
<br />except in time of spring high wa.ter from melting snow, or, after
<br />heavy rains.
<br />The area covered by the rainfall of ,Tune 2--5, 1D21, 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 1Vet Moun-
<br />tains and their extension, Greenholl'n Mountain. The following de-
<br />sdription of the topography is quoted from Gilbert: 4
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<br />ITwenty miles south of Colorado Springs the llne of foothills turns sharply
<br />westward for 20 miles and then, near Canon City, swings quiCkly to Ihe ~outh
<br />alltl southeast, holtling the lath'r course for 40 miles, Within this flexure Is a
<br />triangular tongue of the plains country half surr0l1l1t)('l! hy llIountain ranges.
<br />For half Its cour..:e between Canon City and P\ll'blo the Arlmnsas 11-1 dos('ly ......
<br />hemmed in by rock bluffs 200 feet high, with cliffs of llmPl-ltolle at the top. mse-
<br />where its' Immediate valley is more open, usually with a shnrp ascent on ,one
<br />side to a grav('lly mesa and a long, gradual slope on the otber. Farther back
<br />the ascent 'is broken by terraces of gravel or sand or by tracts of clayey had-
<br />lands nI\(l here ann there by rockY cUffs II nd mesas. '
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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 north
<br />are Oil, Sixmile, Eightmile, BrushI-Iollow, JBeaver, Turkey, and
<br />Dry creeks, and those from the south are Chandler, Oak, Coal, Hard-
<br />scrabble, Red, Rush, Pecks, and Roek creeks.- ,
<br />Between the steep slopes of the vVet Mountuinsand the river a
<br />broad area known generally as Boggs Flat slopes toward the river.
<br />Across this area the tributary streams heading in the mountains have
<br />cut well-defined channels. In addition to these streams a number
<br />of arroyos or dry channels, of which Ritchie Gulch, Osteen and
<br />Cameron arroyos, Boggs and Blue Ribbon cre€,ks are, the chief, rise
<br />in the upland area and carry water during the heavy rains to which
<br />this area is subject.
<br />The following table was compiled chiefly from topographic maps:
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<br />4, Gllhert, G. K., {indprJ,ttound water of the ..ArkanRnR Yallf'Y in Pfist'ern Colorado: U. S.
<br />Geol. Survey Sev€'nteenth Ann. Uept., pt. 2, p. fmS, lRHG.
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