I don't know if you ever think about the pioneers who so bravely crossed the plains of this country in covered wagons. There are so many reminders of them in this part of the country that I let the thought of the pioneers roam through my mind quite often.
I apologize for the terrible quality of these pictures.
These are dead or dying cottonwood trees. These trees require a
lot of water to grow. If they have enough water they can live well
beyond 150 years of age. When pioneers found large groups of these
trees they knew there was ample water to survive. Therefore many of
them built their houses there.
In a sense this is a newer house, but in many cases especially across
Wyoming you see remains of houses that we as old as the trees themselves.
So I look at these trees and think how brilliant it was for the pioneers to follow the path of trees across our great country. It mean life sustaining water. I never thought about it until I read it while studying Colorado history.
The sad part of all of this is that the trees are now dying not because of age though that makes a difference. It's because the big cities are taking all of the water for their people. The need for water in this arid part of the country is not to be taken lightly. There is a huge war going on with the city of Thornton and all of northern Colorado farms right now. It will end up in court eventually. So in the future do not take the water coming out of your faucet for granted.
I'll try to spare you any more history lessons. But I could not let this one get lost.
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