The Grand Valley is a extended populated agricultural valley, approximately 30 miles (48 km) long and 5 miles (8 km) wide, located along the Colorado River in Mesa County in western Colorado in the United States. The valley contains the city of Grand Junction, as well as other smaller agricultural communities such as Fruita, Orchard Mesa, and Palisade. The valley is noted as a major fruit growing region, with a large number of orchards. It takes its name from the "Grand River", the historical name of the Colorado River upstream from its confluence with the Green River that was used by locals in the late 19th and early 20th century. The valley is the most densely populated area on the Colorado Western Slope, with Grand Junction serving as somewhat of an unofficial capital of the region, as a counterpoint to Denver on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains in the Colorado Front Range. Interstate 70 and U.S. Highway 6 run through the valley from west-to-east. Colorado River in the Grand Canyon from Desert View The Colorado River is a river in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, approximately 1,450 mi (2,333 km) long, draining a part of the arid regions on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. ... Mesa County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. ... This is the article on the state. ... Grand Junction is a city located in Mesa County, Colorado. ... Fruita is a city located in Mesa County, Colorado. ... Orchard Mesa is a census-designated place located in Mesa County, Colorado. ... Palisade is a town located in Mesa County, Colorado. ... Fruit stall in Barcelona, Spain. ... An orchard is an intentional planting of trees maintained for food production. ... The Green River, a tributary of the Colorado, is shown highlighted on a map of the western United States The Green River is a tributary of the Colorado River, 730 mi (1,175 km) long, in the western United States. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the... The Western Slope of Colorado refers the region of the US state of Colorado west of the Rocky Mountains. ... Denver skyline, 1999. ... Rocky Mountain National Park (photo courtesy of NPS) The Rocky Mountains, often called the Rockies, are a broad mountain range in western North America. ... The Colorado Front Range is a colloquial geographic term for the populated areas of the state of Colorado in the United States which are just east of the foothills of the Front Range, from which the region takes its name. ... I-70 looking westbound near Mile 326, Wabaunsee County, Kansas Interstate 70 is a long interstate highway in the United States. ... U.S. Highway 6 is a largely east-west United States Highway that connects Bishop, California with Provincetown, Massachusetts on Cape Cod. ...

Description and history

The valley is located where the Colorado widens at the mouth of De Beque Canyon, then follows an wide arc bending to the northwest. The Colorado receives the Gunnison River, one of its major tributaries, just south of Grand Junction near the mid pont of the valley. The valley is surrouned by a large plateau formations, incluing the Book Cliffs along the north side and the Grand Mesa along the southeast side. The Colorado National Monument sits on a ridge on the southwest side of the valley west of Grand Junction. Much of the surrounding table land areas rimming the valley are public lands controlled by the Bureau of Land Management. The Gunnison River, a tributary of the Colorado River, is shown highlighted on a map of the western United States The Gunnison River is a tributary of the Colorado River, approxiamtely 180 mi (290 km) long, in the U.S. state of Colorado. ... In geology and earth science, a plateau (alternatively spelt in a false French spelling plâteau, the real spelling in French being plateau) is an area of highland, usually consisting of relatively flat open country if the uplift was recent in geologic history. ... The Grand Mesa is a large geologic formation in the western Colorado in the United States. ... Colorado National Monument is a part of the U.S. National Park Service near the city of Grand Junction, Colorado, in the western part of the state. ... The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior which administers Americas public lands, totaling 262 million acres (1,060,000 km²) or one-eighth of the landmass of the country. ...

The valley was in area historically occupied by the Ute people. White settlers began to arrive in the 1880s, farming the valley for a variety of grains and fruits. In the 1890s, it was discovered that sugar beets grown in the valley had a high sugar content, leading to widespread cultivation of that crop. At the turn of the 20th century, evaporation techniques allowed fruit growers to ship their products more efficiently to distant markets, yielding an expansion of fruit growing in the valley. In 1918, the Highline Project was completed to providee water to cultivate 50,000 acres (200 km²) in the valley. The project included a roller dam in De Beque Canyon, the largest of three such dams of this type in the nation [1]. Delegation of Ute Indians in Washington, D.C. in 1880. ... // Events and Trends Technology Development and commercial production of electric lighting Development and commercial production of gasoline-powered automobile by Karl Benz, Gottlieb Daimler and Maybach First commercial production and sales of phonographs and phonograph recordings. ... The 1890s were sometimes referred to as the Mauve Decade, because William Henry Perkins aniline dye allowed the widespread use of that colour in fashion, and also as the Gay Nineties, under the then-current usage of the word gay which referred simply to merriment and frivolity, with no... Two sugar beets - the one on the left has been cultivated to be smoother than the traditional beet, so that it traps less soil. ... A sugar is a carbohydrate which is sweet to taste. ... Evaporation is the process whereby atoms or molecules in a liquid state (or solid state if the substance sublimes) gain sufficient energy to enter the gaseous state. ... 1918 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ...

See also

• Plateau Valley

Plateau Creek is a tributary of the Colorado River, approximately 40 miles (64 km) long, located in western Colorado in the United States. ...

External link

• Topographic map