The Broadmoor was never dry during Prohibition. Its “Bottle Alley” contains a collection of Pre–World War I liquors from Spencer Penrose’s private cellar. Courtesy of Tom Williams.
1
COLORADO SPRINGS
General Palmer began laying tracks for his narrow-gauge railroad, the Denver & Rio Grande, heading south from Denver. Once the high plain near the base of Pike’s Peak was reached, Palmer formed a land company and platted his dream city. He envisioned a utopian community without the usual problems of crime, congestion, smoke, and noise that confronted most cities. Its residents would live free of class strife and difficult social problems. The new city, originally called the “Fountain Colony,” would cover seventy blocks of broad, tree-shaded avenues, with numerous parks and free lots set aside for churches and schools.
Colorful advertisements were placed in newspapers in the eastern United States and Great Britain describing the climate and attractions of the area. It was soon obvious that this would become a community for the wealthy. Membership was open to anyone who was a teetotaler, had good moral character, and could afford a $100 land certificate, plus the additional purchase price of a lot, a house, and any other permanent buildings, like a carriage house. Palmer wanted this community to become “the most attractive place for homes in the West” and welcomed first-class newspapers, schools, and colleges.
The response to Palmer’s advertisements was overwhelming, and in less than a year, the Fountain Colony’s Town Company had been inundated with inquiries. Thousands of possible residents toured the area and sampled the nearby mineral springs. Friends persuaded Palmer to change the name of the planned community to “Colorado Springs,” which resonated with buyers. They rushed to purchase lots and were soon building Tudor-style homes and massive stone churches, lining the main street, Cascade Avenue, with impressive brick commercial buildings.
Some scions of eastern high society who came to Colorado Springs were fascinated by the British and their customs. The Brits, with their stylish fashions, snooty chefs, and pink-cheeked governesses, intrigued them. Local gentlemen adopted knickerbockers and plaid stockings for their rugby and cricket games. They took up polo and donned bright red jackets to “ride to the hounds,” chasing foxes through the huge rock monoliths of Garden of the Gods. Of course, if a fox wasn’t handy, a wily coyote would do. After these hunts, despite Palmer’s teetotaling plans for Colorado Springs, the hunters celebrated a successful day with drinks at the new Cheyenne Mountain Country Club. White ties and tails were mandatory, even at informal dinners, where the fancy menus included mutton, roast beef or broilers dressed up in paper pantalettes. Jackrabbit was carefully prepared, following the recipe for English hare from Warne’s English Cookbook. The town vibrated with clipped Harvard, Oxford, and Main Line Back Bay Boston accents, and although christened Colorado Springs, it was soon nicknamed “Little London.”
During the 1870s, many finely bred, well-accented young Englishmen were drawn to this area, eager to acquire a piece of land in the American West. Some purchased large parcels and started huge cattle ranches and livestock-related businesses. Others began commercial enterprises, like the ironworks that produced ornamental ironwork and structural iron used in construction and roofs. There was even a demand for fine wire fencing used to surround the new Tudor mansions. Quarries produced tons of high-quality limestone and sandstone used in buildings throughout the state.
James Hagerman, an ambitious Canadian, had amassed a large fortune in the steel business, but in the process, he acquired consumption (tuberculosis). He’d come to Colorado Springs in 1884, an emaciated invalid, expected to die within a few weeks. He surprised himself, his family and friends, and his business associates by improving enough to develop a plan to build a standard-gauge railroad. It would rival General Palmer’s smaller narrow-gauge railroad, the Denver & Rio Grande, which was busily laying its tracks south toward Pueblo and Trinidad.
Hagerman planned to take his new Colorado Midland Railroad west over the Continental Divide to Leadville and Aspen. He hoped to obtain lucrative contracts to haul silver ore from the booming mines to smelters and, in turn, to return with coal, goods, and equipment for the mines and the bustling towns. Hagerman’s partners included Aspen developer Jerome Wheeler, who helped raise $7 million for the project. Unfortunately, they underestimated the difficulties of constructing a railroad over the Continental Divide. Workers struggled to build a roadbed and then lay the tracks up steep mountain grades, often through deep snow drifts. They were battered by blizzards and frigid winter storms, which halted work. Since they could not build over every high-altitude summit, they had to blast eight tunnels through the Rocky Mountains. Then they built countless bridges across raging rivers and yawning chasms and made endless detours around obstacles. Hagerman’s expensive, foolhardy project was finally completed, and the first engine of the Colorado Midland Railroad chugged into Aspen in 1888. It arrived months behind the Denver & Rio Grande and lost the lucrative contracts to haul silver ore.
While Hagerman struggled to dynamite passages through mountains, plans were underway to build a cog railroad to the top of Pike’s Peak. The Manitou and Pike’s Peak Cog Railway Company was formed by Zalman Simmons, who’d founded the Simmons Beautyrest Mattress Company. When construction began in 1889, a two-day mule trip or a vigorous hike could get a visitor to the summit. Work was also done on a rough carriage road, and by 1893, Katherine Bates made the bumpy buggy trip to the top of Pike’s Peak. Bates was an English professor who’d come west to teach at the new Colorado College in Colorado Springs. The breathtaking view inspired Bates to write a poem, which, when set to music, became the well-loved patriotic song “America the Beautiful.”
When the Pike’s Peak Cog Railroad was completed, its first passenger train carried an entire church choir to the summit on June 30, 1891. Colorado Springs was attracting thousands of visitors; they were enchanted by the scenery, the grandeur of the Rockies, and the romance of the West. They basked in the sunshine and enjoyed the balmy climate, which bolstered its reputation as a health resort. Americans, especially those suffering from tuberculosis and respiratory diseases, flocked to Colorado, fleeing the cold, damp East. During the 1870s and 1880s, it was estimated that over one third of the state’s population was composed of recovering invalids.
The discovery of gold in Cripple Creek brought money pouring into Colorado Springs, and fifty overnight millionaires built their mansions along Wood Avenue. The offices of more than 420 mining companies lined Tejon Avenue, and the town’s population soared to thirty-five thousand. By 1894, there were three stock exchanges trading more shares than any other exchange in the world.
Spencer Penrose and several other friends from wealthy backgrounds headed for Cripple Creek, where they became involved in various aspects of mining and associated industries. They labored mightily at their jobs in the mines and hot mills and drove stages and freight wagons during the day. At night, they were transformed into gay blades in white ties and tails who cruised down the mountain to squire pretty Colorado Springs girls to dinner dances at the sophisticated Antlers Hotel. Bert Carlton, who came west a tubercular but defeated the disease, drove a Colorado Springs horse car. Then he clerked in a store until he had enough money to buy a freight wagon, which he used to haul coal to the mines and return with a load of ore. He often took stock in gold mines as payment for his freighting services, and before long, he owned several gold mines.
Spencer Penrose became a venture capitalist and made a fortune in Cripple Creek. He used his vast resources to build a highway to the top of Pike’s Peak, established the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, and financed the elegant Broadmoor Hotel. He acquired the Pike’s Peak Cog Railway in 1925, and he and his wife, Julie, established the El Pomar Foundation to support Colorado nonprofit organizations involved in health, human services, education, arts and humanities, and civic and community initiatives. Today, the El Pomar Foundation’s assets total more than $500 million. It contributes over $20 million annually through grants and community stewardship programs.
Colorado Springs developed a strong military presence when Camp Carson was opened in the 1940s. Construction was started on the Air Force Academy in 1954, and today the area is home to Fort Carson, Peterson Air Force Base, the U.S. Space Command NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command), and Schriever Air Force Base.
Colorado Springs has always attracted visitors, from the earliest time when ancient people gathered at the nearby mineral springs. Today, over five million people visit this popular Rocky Mountain city annually.
BROADMOOR HOTEL
The Broadmoor, a tall, pink-stucco, Italian Renaissance–style hotel, looms over colorful flowers, manicured lawns and lush grounds. A large marble fountain splashes water into a lily pond in front of the porte-cochere. The Broadmoor is a member of the Historic Hotels of America, and it is a Forbes Five-Star and AAA Five-Diamond luxury resort.
The hotel sits at the base of Cheyenne Mountain where a herd of dairy cows once grazed. Those cows belonged to a German immigrant, Count James Pourtales, who’d come to America in 1884 with hopes of rebuilding his family’s fortune. He bought the small Broadmoor Dairy Farm outside Colorado Springs, acquired more cows and purchased an additional 2,500 acres. Then he bought more land, divided it into residential lots, and built the Cheyenne Mountain Country Club. He added a golf course, tennis courts, and a polo field for members and their guests. In 1891, Pourtales built the Broadmoor Casino, which opened with fireworks, balloonists, and tight-rope walkers. Since the casino was outside Colorado Springs, which banned alcoholic beverages, it offered liquor and gambling and enjoyed a booming business.
During the depression of 1893, when people no longer had money to squander on gambling or liquor, the Count fell deeply into debt. In 1897, the casino burned to the ground, and although he eventually rebuilt, Pourtales never recouped his losses. He sold his Broadmoor properties to the estate of Winfield Scott, who’d died in 1902. Wealthy young Spencer Penrose, who had become a millionaire investing in Cripple Creek gold mines, bought the Broadmoor properties in 1916.
Penrose wanted to build a grand hotel, and in 1917, he had railroad tracks laid to it so concrete and steel could be brought in more easily. Work began on the hotel, and after completion of a nine-story tower, wings were added to each side. This gave the Italian Renaissance–style hotel 350 rooms with private baths. The spectacular hotel had sparkling crystal chandeliers, hand-painted ceilings and beams, imported wallpaper, and a curved marble staircase led upstairs from the spacious lobby. Guests enjoyed the luxurious accommodations and dined on sumptuous meals served in the elegant dining room. They played golf on the eighteen-hole course, fished in the well-stocked lake, and danced the night away in the huge ballroom.
The gala opening of the Broadmoor was the big event of the 1918 social season, and Penrose brought one hundred of his friends from New York in luxurious private railroad cars. A resourceful anti-prohibitionist, Penrose advised his guests to “bring five bottles of your favorite cologne, drinkable, of course!” The train brought four flat-bed cars loaded with “gasoline” and guarded by U.S. marshals. These railroad cars were hidden away in tunnels beneath the hotel.
Bottle Alley on the main floor is a collection of over ten thousand bottles of pre–World War I liquors from Spencer Penrose’s private cellar. There are sealed bottles of some of the finest and rarest spirits ever produced, while others have Penrose’s notations about the occasions when their contents were enjoyed. The contents of two bottles were consumed when Julie and “Spec” Penrose traveled down the Nile, and one bottle was signed by George W. Bush when he celebrated his fortieth birthday at the hotel.
The Broadmoor was never dry during Prohibition. Its “Bottle Alley” contains a collection of Pre–World War I liquors from Spencer Penrose’s private cellar. Courtesy of Tom Williams.
Fun-loving Spencer Penrose died in 1939, but his hotel continues to attract foreign dignitaries, statesmen, and celebrities. Nine presidents have laid their heads on the Broadmoor’s downy pillows, and several kings, princes, and princesses with their large entourages, have swept through its stunning lobby. There are 779 rooms, eighteen restaurants and cafés, three golf courses, and a world-class spa.
GHOSTS
It isn’t surprising that some guests who once enjoyed the refined opulence of the “Grand Dame of the Rockies” have extended their stay for over one hundred years. There have been many sightings of ghosts and wispy apparitions by employees and guests.
The apparition of a pretty young woman, a flapper of the 1920s, has been seen around the hotel for years. Sometimes she’s walking down the hall or waiting near the elevator, and then she vanishes. Hotel guests have complained about their television sets turning on and off by themselves. Personal items are moved about the room, and their alarm clocks go crazy. Employees and guests say they have heard mysterious voices, often on quiet stairs or in empty stairwells.
A team of paranormal investigators spent several days at the Broadmoor and obtained an interesting photo of a small, filmy figure before it disappeared. There’s a labyrinth of tunnels running beneath the hotel which are used to move furniture, crates and boxes, and supplies from one building to another. Some areas are used only to store furniture. Spencer Penrose hid his flatbeds of liquor down here during Prohibition. Rumors have persisted for years that these tunnels under the hotel are haunted.