Durango Silverton 1880s

CANYON RIO DE LAS ANIMAS, NEAR ROCKWOOD, COLORADO. -- Rio de las Animas Perdidas en Purgatorio is the name of the river witch traverses the valley and canyon that bears its name. It was named by some Spanish travelers in an early day and means River of the Lost Souls in Purgatory. You first come up a beautiful valley covered over with grain fields and gardens, but as you go up the valley it becomes more broken and contracted, the wall becomes more perpendicular and the meadows give way to pines and sycamores. The walls grow closer together until you can throw a stone from one cliff to the other, with the Rio de las Animas rushing down between with great velocity. This is the entrance to the Animas Canyon. It is well named the Queen of Canyons. Nothing but the everlasting hills could stand the force of the rushing river and even they crumble before it. Looking up the canyon the grand mountains loom up. The Needle Mountain Peaks, which are among the most striking of the Rockies, thrust their sharp points far above the snow line. Water falls of the most beautiful, come rushing down the cliffs to the roaring river, which in itself is a continuous cascade.

PHOTO AND DESCRIPTIVE TEXT GOT FROM
AMERICA PHOTOGRAPHED
(UNITED STATES, MEXICO, CANADA, ALASKA)
M. A. DONOHUE & COMPANY
407- 429 Dearborn Street -- Chicago

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