"Denver's population is growing steadily and naturally. Some time ago I made the prediction that Denver would have three hundred thousand inhabitants within five years. I see no reason for changing my estimate. Rather, I might increase it, but I will be conservative.
"The things that build up a city's wealth and population are 'round about Denver in prodigal quantities. If Denver had only the state of Colorado from which to draw, her future would be absolutely assured. But consider the vast territory that is tributary to this city. It stretches away to the east, west, north, and south, an area quite one-third of the whole country, and quite the richest in all natural resources. Denver is the geographical hub of this territory."
The Moffat road will climb the ramparts formed by the main range of the Rocky Mountains west of Denver and run directly westward, passing through one of the most fertile sections of the state. The road ascends to an altitude of eleven thousand six hundred feet, running through a region rich in minerals, and especially in coal. The sublime scenery along the route has already made it most popular for excursions, which draw a vast tourist travel continually. President Moffat's road has brought Routt County into such prominence that investors from the East are being attracted to this region, a notable one among these being the Eastern capitalist, C. B. Knox, who proposes to invest in copper, coal, and iron in Routt County, which he regards as the richest section in Colorado. Mr. Knox engaged the services of several experts to examine and report to him upon this region. To a press correspondent who inquired of Mr. Knox his views regarding Colorado, he said:
"I believe that there is wealth unmeasured in Routt County, and I am out here to put some money in there. I am sure that this section of the state is one of the richest territories in the country. How I became interested is a long story,—too long to tell. But it is sufficient to say that I have heard of Routt County for so long, and from so many different people in whose judgment I have the utmost faith, that I have come out here to invest some money. I believe thoroughly that money put into Routt County will within a few years bring handsome returns. If I did not believe that I should not be here looking for a place in which to invest money.
"I have been to Steamboat Springs myself, and I am thoroughly of the opinion that it is going to be one of the big towns of your state. The fact is, I have never seen a better looking proposition in my life than investing money in Routt County. Already I have purchased some land, and I am going to get more. It is this iron proposition that I am having investigated the most completely. The iron to be found in Routt County looks awfully good to me, and there is no question in my mind that Routt County is the place to put capital.
"I cannot, of course, at this time say just what properties I have in view,—that would not be good business; but I have under investigation locations of mineral property near Steamboat and north and south of there. I have decided on nothing definite; that is, as to just what ores I will endeavor to exploit, for the whole proposition looks so good to me that I am going to purchase probably several different kinds of propositions. As I say, though, I am most interested in the iron ore, as that seems to present the greatest opportunities."
These views are significant not only as those of an experienced financier who has unbounded faith in the future of Colorado, but also as typical of the wide range of vision which is open to the trained eye of the capitalist and the organizer of great enterprises. The spellbinder may work his will in Colorado. It is the land of infinite opportunity. It offers resources totally unsurpassed in the entire world for unlimited development, and these resources await the recognition of those whose vision is sufficiently true to discern the psychological moment.
The first railroad reached Denver thirty-six years ago, and the city has now sixteen railroad lines. It has a population of over two hundred and twenty-five thousand. It is a geographical centre, which assures its permanent importance as a distributing point. With two hundred and twenty-five miles of street railway, with seventy-five miles of paved streets, and a taxable property estimated at one hundred and two and a third millions, Denver holds unquestionable commercial importance.
When, on the evening of July Fourth, 1906, the splendid electric flag, with the national colors intensified a thousand fold in brilliancy by the electrical lights, floated in the air from the dome of the Capitol on its commanding eminence, and the new city Arch, a veritable Arc de Triomphe, flashed its "Welcome" in electrical light to eager throngs, the moment was one which might well have been fixed on the sensitive plate of the camera of the future as typical of the entire horoscope of Denver the Beautiful. On that day had been unveiled this triumphal arch, placed at the Seventeenth Street entrance to the city from the Union Depot, which, in its sixteen hundred electric lights, flashes its legend upon the vision of every one entering Denver. This arch, weighing seventy tons, eighty feet in length, and with a central height of fifty-nine feet, is constructed from a combination of metals so united as to give the best results in strength, durability, and beauty, and thus to stand as a symbol of the composite life of the nation. Over the entire surface has been placed a plating of bronze finished with verde antique, to thus give it the aspect of ancient bronze. It is built at a cost of twenty-two thousand dollars, and the originator of the idea, Mr. William Maher of Denver, received the entire subscriptions for it within one day. The design is that of a Denver girl, Miss Marie Woodson, whose name must always be immortalized in connection with this beautiful achievement which typifies the spirit of the city. Constructed by one of the city manufactories, the design and the execution are thus exclusively of Denver. In his address at the unveiling of the arch, Chancellor Buchtel said:
"To all men who stand for honesty, for industry, for justice, for reverence for law, for reverence for life, for education, for self-reliance, for individual initiative, for independence, and for sound character, the city of Denver speaks only one word, and the state of Colorado speaks only one word, and that word we have emblazoned on this glorious Arch,—the word 'Welcome.'"
Dean Hart, offering the Invocation, referred to the scriptural fact that God had instructed his leaders to build monuments that they might bear witness to some act or covenant, and it was right that the people of Denver should raise this similar monument to their ideals of peace and happiness and truth and justice. Mayor Speer, accepting the gift on behalf of the city, emphasized the fact that the arch was to stand in its place for ages as the expression of the attitude of the citizens to the strangers who enter their gates. "It is intended to reflect our hospitality," said Mayor Speer, "on a traveller's arrival and on his departure. It is more than a thing of beauty; it is the type of the new spirit in Denver, an awakening of civic pride that is sure to be followed by much that is artistic and beautiful in our beloved city."
The spirit of Denver the Beautiful is finely interpreted in these words by representative citizens. It is the spirit of generous and cordial hospitality to all who are prepared to enter into and to contribute to its high standards of life. It is the spirit of continually forging ahead to accomplish things; of that irresistible energy, combined with the eternal vigilance, which is not only the price of liberty, but the price of almost everything worth having. With this zeal for the great achievements,—carrying railroads through the mountains, opening the inexhaustible treasures of mines, bringing the snow of mountain peaks to irrigate the arid plains, establishing electric transit for fifty miles about, and telephonic connection that brings an area of hundreds of miles into instant speaking range with Denver,—with all the zeal for these executive accomplishments, the spirit of Denver is focussed on that social progress which is aided and fostered by all modern mechanical facilities. Education, culture, and religion are nowhere more held as the essentials of social progress than in Denver. Something of the nature of the problems of civilization that confronted the early pathfinders in Colorado may be inferred from the words of Major Long,—whose name is now perpetuated by the mountain peak that bears it,—when, in 1862, he stated, in an official report to the government: