[theme music] Garden of the Gods
is a tremendous asset to Colorado Springs. No one would believe this is a
city park because cities don't have these kinds of parks. Garden the Gods is
God's Disneyland. It's just beautiful. You stand out there
among these huge rocks. It's such a gorgeous place. The park came to
prominence locally when Charles Perkins
gave the 400 something acres to the people of the world
that would be forever free. And since that day, this has
become a very prized possession for our city. And something that has
always deserved attention. This program was funded by
the History Colorado State Historical Fund. Supporting projects
throughout the state to preserve, protect,
and interpret Colorado's architectural and
archaeological treasures. History Colorado
State Historical Fund. Create the future,
honor the past. With support from the
Denver Public Library. And History Colorado. With additional funding
and support from these fine organizations and
viewers like you. Thank you. [music playing] Oftentimes when
I'm driving to work in the morning, the
first two things to capture the morning light
is Pikes Peak and Garden of the Gods. So as the sun's
coming up, Pikes Peak will be lit up purple like right
out of America the Beautiful. That's when you get
the rocks really red, during that about seven minutes
that it takes to come down. European cities may
have cathedrals. You go to the ancient world
and you can find the Parthenon. We have Garden of the Gods. Garden of the Gods is-- in
many ways-- our architecture. It's what attracts people here. We have places like Red Rocks
Amphitheater is a Denver city park. Garden of the Gods is a
Colorado Springs city park. The Flat Irons are
a Boulder City park. These beautiful pieces
of scenery and landscape that we can all enjoy
are controlled-- not by the federal government
and not by private interests-- but by our local
communities, which means they belong to us in many ways. It fascinates people. People still love to look
at the rock formations. To name the rock formations. To compare them to
things they know in life. They speak to our imaginations
in such poetic and lyrical ways that we end up giving the
formations these wonderfully mystical names. The Three Graces. The Cathedral Spires. The Kissing Camels. The Balanced Rock. The Steamboat Rock. The Kissing Camels
is so much fun because you can
see it from so far. It's so easy but it's
not as easy to see as some people think. And after my father built
the Garden of the Gods club, he got a used army
surplus spotlight and put the searchlight from
up on the Mesa across just on the kissing camels. My favorite rock formation
in Garden of the Gods is Three Graces. I like there being a
somewhat spiritual, someone elegant, somewhat
feminine name for the rocks that look especially pretty. These are just rock formations. They have no feelings for us. But as human beings, we
are so quick to ascribe our own emotional state onto
the landscape we live in. And the Garden of the Gods
really is tolerant of that. It allows for that
in a fantastic way. The Garden of the Gods
is God's Disneyland. It's just beauful. You stand out there
among these huge rocks. Even when there's 500
people out there that day, you just kind of
forget that they exist. If you what to know about
geology Colorado Springs has it exposed. It's peeled off and
it's right there. And you can learn about it. You can understand what creates
the beauties that we have. The Garden of the Gods
is the product of 100 of millions of years
of geologic forces. Of an uplift of an
ancestral range of Rocky Mountains and its gradual
erosion back down into sand. And then the uplift of our
own Rocky Mountains beginning about 65 million years ago,
which pushed those flat sand beds up into these
strange unworldly, canted positions
that we see today. The geologic story
of Garden of the Gods is all about erosion,
the change in landforms. You have to understand
that the Garden of the Gods depicts millions and millions
and millions of years of our natural environment. And the changes that
you can see there are documented and
hardened in rock. Somewhere around 70 million
years ago-- and older-- this was an inland sea. And so a very
different environment. You can see evidence
in the fossils that can be found in Garden of the Gods. It's really a unique
natural setting. It is the furthest North that
plants that come from the South grow. It's the furthest South that
plants from the North grow. It's the furthest down that
the montane plants that are up on the alpine come and
it's the furthest up that the prairie plants grow. So it is a crossroads
of ecosystems. It must've been a shock to
the first American Indians who made their way down the front
range of the Rocky Mountains to find these unlikely
sandstone formations. These monoliths and hog
packs and walls and plants and unlikely balanced
rocks that are hanging on the fringe between
the mountains and the plains. The different cultures that
call this region home-- and there are many-- the
Comanche, the Cheyenne, the Arapaho, and the Ute--
along with many others-- there's evidence of human
occupation dating back several thousand years. I think of the Pikes Peak region
as a cultural crossroads, which is the term we use quite a bit. People have been attracted
here-- and specifically here-- because of Garden of the Gods. And the areas where the
plains meet the mountains. Areas like Garden of the
Gods provided shelter. It provided game for hunting. They provided water. There's been a tendency
in local history to assume-- or
maybe exaggerate-- that Garden of the Gods
was somehow a sacred place. Perhaps a burial ground for
Native American peoples. Although Garden of the Gods
was important in Ute history, its primary importance
and significance was a meeting place. And that meant they would
attribute a spirit to it but not all of the
imaginings that have been put in their
mouths and minds by others. American Indians have
been moving up and down the front range of the
Rockies since time immemorial. And certainly places
like Garden of the Gods were very special to
American Indian people. We know that because of the
archaeology that we find there. The evidence of habitation. The TP rings. The petroglyphs etched
into the face of the rocks at Garden of the Gods. And we know historically
that the Ute people used Garden of the Gods
as a campaign place. It was along one
of the major Ute trails that crossed from the
Western slope of the Rockies onto the plains. Was near Manitou
Springs, which was a place of huge cultural
significance to the Ute people. The Garden of the Gods
was just a landmark for people to come together. It was a place for tribes
to see and be seen. The earliest history
of Garden of the Gods would be Native
American and unwritten. The earliest written would
be in Spanish and then Yankee American explorers in the area. There have been many different
flags flown over the area. One of them is the
Spanish colonial flag. Another is the French flag. So it's an area that has changed
hands many different times. We know that Spanish colonial
soldiers were marching right through the region
in the 1770's. They travelled immediately south
of Garden of the Gods as part of exploration party looking
for Comanches that were living in the area. Probably the most
famous is de Anza-- who was coming North
from the settlements in Santa Fe in order to
conquer the Comanches. And not far from
Colorado Springs, killed Corno Verde Green Horn--
the chief of the Comanches. But that was an
expedition primarily to see the limits of
Spanish territory. And to conduct
warfare-- rather than take an interest in the scenery. When many of these explorers--
whether that's Pike in 1806 or the Long Expedition
in the 1820's or Fremont following in the 1840s--
what they were trying to do is to gain an
understanding and create a map of the American West. So when Pike-- the
first American official to come to this part
of the country-- when he left Saint Louis
in 1806 he literally walked off the map. There were no reliable
maps of this area. And so all of these exploration
parties coming through we're helping us to
understand the identity of this part of the world. [music playing] The 1858 to 1859
gold rush-- often referred to as the
Pikes Peak gold rush-- is what drives in
the permanent settlement of the region. Colorado City came into being
for a very simple reason-- gold had been discovered up in the
Tarryall diggings of South Park and the easiest
way to get to Sou Park from the front range
was through Ute Pass. But the closest towns
were Denver and Pueblo. There was nothing out there. And as soon as gold fever struck
the eastern part of the country in 1859, large wagon trains and
individual miners, prospectors, adventurers started
coming out here. But when they got to the base of
Ute Pass, they needed supplies. They needed picks
and shovels and food. And they had none of this. That's when two gentlemen--
by the name of M.S. Beach and Rufus Porter--
came down from Denver and staked out Colorado City. But they stopped off at this
beautiful red rocks park and went in there. And Beach said, boy this
would make a neat beer garden. And Rufus immediately
came back and said, this would be a garden
fit for the gods. And they thought about
that for a minute then let that be its name,
Garden of the Gods. So it was named-- or at
least the name that they named it-- was stuck in 1858. The gold rush that we
know as the Colorado gold rush or the Pikes Peak gold rush
or the Pikes Peak or bust gold rush is 58 59. The people who
come are the 59ers. But because the landmark
people new to seek and follow Pikes Peak coming across
the middle of the country. That's why it was called
the Pikes Peak gold rush. That's why they were called
the Pikes Peak gold fields. Word of success of
discovery of gold in 1858 then kicks off the
gold rush, which is approximately
100,000 people in 1859. And they begin heading
to the Pikes Peak region. Old Colorado City--
as we know it today-- started promoting Garden of
the Gods as a major attraction as soon as it was founded by
that handful of individuals-- who were already sounding
like a chamber of commerce. Colorado City faced
difficulty in attracting permanent residents
so by the late 1860s the total population
in El Paso county was-- according to one source
at least-- about 80 people. So it was very difficult for
the residents in El Paso county to make a go of it during and
immediately after the Civil War. That's when General William
Jackson Palmer came to the area as he was working for the
Kansas and Pacific Railroad. He wrote a letter to his
fiancee-- Queen-- direct quote is, "near here the finest
springs of soda and the most enticing scenery. I'm sure they'll be a
famous resort in town here once the railroad
reaches Denver." Fountain Colony was
founded by William Jackson Palmer and a Colorado
Springs company in 1871. Palmer had come here
a couple years before and been overwhelmingly
imprsed with the scenery
and the whole site. Thinking of things
far in advance that he would
actually carry out. He knew to get the precious
metals out of the mountains, they were going to
have to have trains that could take tight corners. And also make steep grades. So he started a railroad
south out of Denver. And it was his policy to
bypass any regular towns and build his own town
two or three miles away. So he would have the land
rights and could sell the lots and make money
for his railroads. He wanted to attract
investors from Europe and originally from England
and Colorado Springs very quickly got the
name of Little London. William Jackson Palmer
was first and foremost a railroad booster. His job was to build railroads
but he was also interested in the amenities that
would attract people to buy a ticket on his trains. So places like
Garden of the Gods represented a potential goldmine
for developers like Palmer because this was a
place that he could advertise as a scenic
wonder to tourists and potential investors. And Palmer was notorious for
building railroad terminuses outside of existing settlements. Colorado Springs absolutely
eclipsed Colorado City because of the arrival of the railroad. Railroad traffic has really
met the economic life or death for most Colorado cities
in the 1870s and 1880s. He purchased more of
Garden of the Gods area when he was trying to make sure
he had the water rights so he could have an irrigation system
built through his canyon. But he always thought that
it should be preserved. He was very oriented towards
preserving the scenery in parks. Interestingly enough, though,
he'd never lived here. His home-- his estate-- was at
Glen Eyrie just north of Garden of the Gods. He always had an interest
in the Garden of the Gods. He later purchased
part of what we now know as Rock Ledge Ranch for a
home for a family member there. And he also helped to attract
another railroad magnate, Charles Elliot Perkins. One of the General Palmers
railroad tycoon friends was Charles Perkins. They had a lot in common. Charles Perkins was not
only a railroad developer but he and Palmer shared
some elements of an ethic about how to do that. They did not like to associate
with monopolizers who would buy up multiple railroads. Also, Palmer-- I think--
respected Perkins and wanted Perkins to be
entrusted with the land that he saw as so
special because it was Garden of the Gods. Palmer and Perkins-- they
were sharp businessman but they also wanted
to give something back. Ultimately, the Perkins
family-- after Charles Elliot passes away-- donates
the central garden to the city with intent
of t becoming a park. Charles Perkins never
wrote it in a will but he did tel his
children that all the time. Right up to the
day he died so they honored his verbal request. And gave that part of
the Garden of the Gods that he owned to the city. The central garden--
about 480 acres-- is donated by the Perkins family
that creates the initial park. It's dedicated in 1909. When Perkins family gave
it, one of the things was it be forever
free to the world. And that was one of the
problems of maintaining it because you couldn't charge
a fee to go into a city park. After that, the
city over the years begin to add pieces to it. When the city bought
their first section of it, it was very small. They didn't even own the
Balanced Rock or Steamboat Rock-- that was privately owned. It was behind a fence. If you wanted to get in,
you had to pay admission. Balanced Rock was owned by a
photographer named Paul Goerke. And his sons later
on owned it as well. If you wanted to go
visit Balanced Rock you had to agree to have
him take a photo of you. You would pay him
for that photo-- I think it was a quarter
a piece at one point. And that was just part
of the experience. And there were many different
groups or individuals that came in and
purchased the land to try to create
economic activity there. One of the famous
ones was Fatty Rice who created a beer
hall near Gateway Rock. A couple of attempts at
beer garden or a beer hall. A lemonade stand. An early kind of resort. Fireworks demonstrations. Anything that might
attract people out there to spend a little bit of money. It made sense. People came there. It's not anything
different from what happens at any kind
of tourist attraction. In fact, if anything, it's
remarkable and wonderful that Garden of the Gods
did not get heavily commercialized by
major business ventures because that could have damaged
the natural features more. During the 1930s,
the New Deal agencies of the Franklin
Roosevelt administration did come and do work here in
Colorado Springs in the region. For Garden of the Gods, the
Civilian Conservation Corps came in and planted Juniper
trees to prevent erosion. Created sort of
natural stairways to reach different locations. Down and up. Benches. Things that would make public
access easier without damaging the environment. The park has-- certainly since
the late 1950s, early 1960s-- had chuckwagon dinners. And they were not far from
the entrance to the park now. And the JCs would
do the cooking. And volunteers,
husbands and wives, kids would come out and
help serve the dinners. And I first became
acquainted with that when I would help serve. In the late 1960s
or 1970's, there were Easter sunrise services
held in the Garden of the Gods. And I was a police
officer at the time so we had to go out
and direct traffic. And they would gather
in the property just to the West of where
the Kissing Camels are. Usually, there were probably
10,000 or more people that would come to these
sunrise services every year. And it was at 4
o'clock in the morning. Hidden Inn-- for example-- was
a beautiful little, quaint, three story building built
almost right in the hillside and hidden by cliffs. You had to look straight
at it to even see it. But it contained a curio
shop on two floors. And it had a
restaurant up on top. It was a development but
it helped the tourists. It was probably in the
late 1970s, I guess, when we realized that you
can't manage a park side that draws this kind of
visitation without having some decent planning. And as people began
to pay more attention and more land became
available to add to the park, they began to realize
the damage that was being done by buses
to the rock formations. That we were losing some of the
wildlife that we've had before. And we needed to
make some changes. We decided that we've got too
much development in here-- even though it's helping
the tourists-- so we're going to have to get rid of it. They tore down the Hidden Inn. They got rid of the
chuckwaggon site. And that's when Lyda
Hill came along. I was out hiking one day and I
was hiking through the Garden. And the hiking trail--
it was not a good trail. It really needed work. And I met the head of
the parks department so I called and said you're
Garden of the God's park really needs a lot of help. And she said, well
with the money we have this is what we can do. I got to thinking there's
too many people that want to go see this place. They need something to drink. They want to buy a postcard. Some of them nee
a cap or t-shirt. So I put my business hat
on and so I called them. And so I said, well if something
outside the park was done, would that be workable. Oh, yes, that'd be fine. So a big master
plan was started. Lyda said I'll build this. I'll build it on my land. I will give this to the city. Well, how could you pass
up anything like that. It was a gateway project. Kept parking out of the park. Made the parking lot
available to the people who wanted to use the Garden. And it's worked out beautifully. About 18 years after we
opened and the visitors center was doing fine and
standing on its own, I donated the visitor center
to the Garden of the Gods foundation. In the first 20 years of
existence of the visitor center, we were able
to return $2.3 million to maintain the park. This park by virtue of having
the foundation, at least has a guaranteed funding source. And this really is one of the
best examples in the country that I'm aware of. It would not be the same park
without that public, private partnership that we've
established over the past two decades. Today, the city of
Colorado Springs has over 1,300
acres of land that are occupied by these
amazing rock formations. And it came through the
generosity of donors like Lyda Hill and others
who understood the value of this public amenity. And added to it and
enhanced it in order to make it as
spectacular as possible. We've been blessed
as a community to have some
wonderful resources. And even more blessed today
now that the Garden of the Gods park was ranked number one in
the country by TripAdvisor. It is certainly a major
driver for tourism. It is one of the
amenities that we offer to people who come
to the Pikes Peak region-- either for business
or for pleasure. Most current statistics says
that about 2.5 million people visit the Garden every year. There are endless things
that people can do when they visit Garden of the Gods. Hiking is the main thing. Horseback riding is
available on certain trails. The nature talks are led. And then the rock climbing. Segueing through
the Garden-- I'll tell you that is fantastic. Let's get modern folks. We want visitors to have a
chance to experience nature as nature intended it. The landscape that we live
in really shapes who we are. And we shape it in return. And places like
Garden of the Gods reminds us of how
lucky we are to live in such a wonderful place. It's a city park. It's ours. It's not a federal park. It's not a state park. And I would challenge
any other city in the country to be able to
put up a park that equals what we have in Garden of the Gods. I would hope that
200 years from now that it would be treated and
enjoyed just like it is now. To realize that something so
natural and so special occasion so much concern that rich men
who could've developed it, wanted it to stay
the way it was. And wanted to give
it to the city. And the city wanted to have it. And it remained a public park. That gives me goosebumps. How easy would have
been for Perkins family to sell that land off
for trophy homes today. You can easily imagine big
mansions tucked in the rocks. But that's not what happened. They wanted to make sure that we
could all enjoy it to this day. So now more than
a century later, we can still all go
to Garden of the Gods and enjoy this amazing
place in Colorado. [music playing]
