SOUTHEAST CENTRAL COUNTIES

After the gold and silver played out, untapped resources remained in the powerful draw of the land. Forests. Hot springs. Rivers. Majestic views. Eventually, even snow became a resource, and resorts of every stripe sprang up like crocuses. Some were splendid. Others only aspired to be. By the 1890s, there were hotels catering to every pocket and bank account.

Some of the more successful, which managed to avoid the flames of economic and actual conflagration, are still thriving today, more than a century later. Their survival is worthy of celebration; the loss of others is deserving of mourning. And there are some lesser establishments, long gone, that served their humble purpose in their day and are due a nod of recognition.

In this chapter are more historic hotels to acknowledge, mourn or celebrate.

ALAMOSA COUNTY

The first Europeans in Costilla County were Hispanic settlers from Taos, New Mexico, in 1851. Named for the Costilla River, Costilla was one of the original seventeen counties created in 1861. In 1913, Alamosa County was carved by the Colorado legislature from northwest Costilla County. Alamosa is a Spanish word meaning “grove of cottonwoods.”

Hooper

Hooper is a tiny town in the San Luis Valley. Nearby points of interest include the Great Sand Dunes National Park and the contemporary UFO Watchtower, built by a local cattle rancher.

COMMERCIAL HOTEL: Built before 1904, this hotel was operated by A.L. Jamison in 1904.

HOOPER HOTEL: Built before 1904, this hotel was operated by Mrs. J. Kipp in 1904.

CUSTER COUNTY

Custer County was created in 1877 and named for luckless Lieutenant Colonel Custer, killed the previous year. The county experienced a silver rush during the 1870s. Its county seat moved to Silver Cliff in 1886, before settling in Westcliffe in 1928.

Silver Cliff

Initially a silver boomtown, Silver Cliff is located in the Wet Mountain Valley. The first permanent settlers arrived in 1869; a year later, more than one hundred German families came from Chicago to homestead. As with all silver towns, fortunes fell as quickly as they rose. Once mining became unprofitable, ranching became the local mainstay.

Powell House Dining Room, 1881. This hotel got around.

When the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad arrived in 1881, it bought cheap land just west of Silver Cliff, in Westcliffe. This forced most businesses to relocate to Westcliffe, on land they had to buy from the railroad at inflated prices. Businessmen and homeowners put buildings on rollers and trundled them to Westcliffe, and by 1882, Silver Cliff’s decline had begun. Today, it has repopulated into a quiet community.

POWELL HOUSE: Built before 1880. The hotel was later moved to Westcliffe, before 1904, and became the Westcliffe Hotel (see Westcliffe).

ST. CLOUD HOTEL: This hotel was taken to Cañon City when Silver Cliff declined.

Querida: Ghost Town

A silver mining town, Querida (Spanish for “beloved”) was named for Edmund Bassick’s highly productive local gold and silver mine. The town was also known as Bassick City. By 1882, the town’s population was close to one thousand.

The Bassick Hotel goes up in flames, circa 1880s.

After clearing over $500,000 from his mine, Bassick sold out to New York investors, whose stingy management skills resulted in ore being smuggled out by disgruntled employees and sold in local saloons. The stolen ore was used to salt worthless claims, with the intention of selling the claims to gullible investors. The secret Querida Protective Society was formed to encourage this illegal fundraising and shield its members from the domineering mining company. When the Protective Society sent a threatening letter demanding that two Bassick mining officials be fired, the mining company responded by giving raises to the two men accused, and firing the men who sent the letter. A riot loomed on the horizon. Company supporters swore to decorate the trees with Protective Society members if they did not leave town immediately. Most departed quietly, and the rest were shipped out in a wagon and warned to never return. The mine closed in 1885; by 1906, the town was abandoned.

BASSICK HOTEL: Built before 1880s, this hotel burned down sometime in the 1880s.

Westcliffe

Westcliffe was built at the end of the new railroad tracks. Dr. William Bell, founder of Manitou Springs, and General Palmer, founder of Colorado Springs, planned the town before the railroad was completed. Named after Bell’s hometown in England, Westcliffe drew the trade from Silver Cliff, emerging as the primary town in the Wet Mountain Valley.

POWELL HOUSE: Built before 1904, this hotel was operated by F. Sebelble in 1904. At some point, it became the Westcliffe Hotel.

WESTCLIFFE HOTEL: This hotel was operated by W.A. Hilton in 1904 (see Silver Cliff).

WOLFF HOTEL (aka the National Hotel): Built in 1887 by William Wolff at 209 South Second Street, this was Westcliffe’s first hotel. It is still standing—the last remaining stone-front building in town.

EL PASO COUNTY

El Paso County is one of the original seventeen counties created in 1861 and was named for Ute Pass, north of Pikes Peak.

Calhan

At 6,535 feet above sea level, Calhan is reputedly the highest non-mountain town in the United States.

HOTEL CALHAN: This hotel was built sometime before 1906.

Cascade

Cascade, at 7,379 feet, was established in 1886 and was named for the area’s many waterfalls. In 1889, the carriage road from Cascade was built to the top of Pikes Peak.

CASCADE HOUSE HOTEL: This hotel was built in 1887.

*EASTHOLME HOTEL: 4445 Hagerman Avenue, Cascade, CO 80809; 719-684-9901, 800-672-9901; info@eastholme.com.

An example of women’s vision and foresight, the Eastholme Hotel was built in 1886 by well-to-do widow Eliza Marriott Hewlett of Schenectady, New York, and her sisters, Caroline and Ellen.

Considering the times in which these three women lived, the courage and determination required for such a venture was nothing less than heroic. But Eliza Hewlett had assessed the area and wisely singled out Ute Pass as a prime target for tourism.

Eastholme in the Rockies. Photo courtesy of Eastholme in the Rockies.

Hotel Ramona, a postcard of heartbreak for the historic hotel enthusiast.

Though the sisters must have endured skepticism, they persevered, employing local craftsmen to build their eight-gabled establishment, designed after refined eastern hotels. Eliza also gave the name Cascade Canyon to the former Hurricane Canyon, now known as Cascade, Colorado. The Marriott women’s dream came true and has survived for more than a century. Eastholme Hotel is a thriving bed-and-breakfast today, known as Eastholme in the Rockies.

HOTEL RAMONA: Built in 1889 and razed in 1924, this hotel was located on the Colorado Midland Railway. D.N. Heizer was the proprietor.

This massive Byzantine wonder rising out of the rugged Rockies, five miles from Manitou, was breathtaking to behold. With a domed tower and multiple verandas, the Ramona was a popular Ute Pass resort, located in Cascade Cañon. But it did not survive the ravages of time and poor economy.

Situated on Pikes Peak Road, the Ramona, named for a popular novel of the times, was a water stop for stagecoaches and railroads in the 1890s. Sadly, the grand, pastel-painted, three-story hotel suffered financially, as did many of its sister hotels, and was dismantled in 1924.

Green Mountain Falls

North of Pikes Peak and eleven miles west of Colorado Springs, at seventy-eight hundred feet, Green Mountain Falls nestles in a lush mountain valley, surrounded by the Pike National Forest. The town’s promotion began in 1887, once railroad access was established. Streets and a real estate office were constructed, and Green Mountain Falls Hotel was built above a man-made lake. Circus entrepreneur P.T. Barnum once had a summer home here. While the hotel is gone, the lake remains.

A postcard of Green Mountain Falls Lake and Gazebo, with the hotel in the distance. The Green Mountain Falls Hotel was the strongest competition of the Hotel Ramona in Cascade, circa 1900.

GREEN MOUNTAIN FALLS HOTEL: Built in 1899, this hotel burned down in 1908. It overlooked the lake, and the Colorado Midland Railway brought tourists by the thousands to watch balloon ascensions, hear band concerts and attend Saturday night dances.

TERRACE HOTEL: This hotel was built sometime before 1900.

Manitou Springs

Manitou Springs is tucked between the Garden of the Gods and Pikes Peak. William Blackmore, an English investor, suggested that “Manitou,” a Native American word for spirit, was more appealing than “Villa la Font,” the name given to the area by French trappers. The first major hotel, Manitou House, opened in 1872. Eleven mineral springs throughout town are fed by snowmelt from Pikes Peak. Long before white men arrived, the Ute, Arapahoe, Cheyenne and other native tribes considered the area sacred. By the early 1900s, the town was a health destination.

The source of Manitou’s waters is a deep, underground system of aquifers. As water erodes surrounding limestone, carbonic acid is created, giving Manitou’s springs their effervescence. This natural carbonation forces water through cracks in the rocks, where it absorbs high concentrations of sodium bicarbonate and other minerals.

Once the railroad spur arrived from Colorado Springs in 1881, Manitou expanded on a large scale. By the 1890s, the town had seven grand hotels, including Cliff House, Barker House and the Grandview, all of which still stand. Smaller hotels, boardinghouses and rental cottages became available to accommodate the visiting hordes. Guests arriving on the Denver and Rio Grande or Midland Railroads could bathe in the spring waters, soak in heated bathhouses and enjoy the town’s many attractions, such as the Cog Railway, Rainbow Falls and the Cave of the Winds.

ARLINGTON HOTEL: Built before 1892, this hotel was operated by Mrs. C.T. Stevens in 1904.

BARKER HOUSE HOTEL: Built sometime in the 1870s or ’80s, this hotel is still standing at 819 Manitou Avenue. It was purchased in 1904 by Charles Pollen and renamed the Navajo Hotel. The hotel hosted Wild Bill Cody and Theodore Roosevelt. It is now apartments and retail space.

BEEBEE HOUSE: Built about 1869 by F.W. Beebee, this was the first hotel in Manitou, with one hundred rooms.

A postcard of the Barker House, aka the Navajo Hotel, circa 1904.

BELLEVUE HOUSE: Built before 1904, this hotel was operated by Mrs. J.E. Laycock in 1904.

BONNIEBLINK: Built before 1904, this hotel was operated by Miss H. Frazier in 1904.

*CLIFF HOUSE: 306 Cañon Avenue, Manitou Springs, CO 80829; 719-685-3000; www.thecliffhouse.com.

Built in 1874, the Cliff House has been open longer than Colorado has been a state, compiling a fascinating history over its 125 years. The structure that became the twenty-room boardinghouse known as “the Inn” was originally a stagecoach stop on the route from Colorado Springs to Leadville.

Edward Nichols came west in the 1870s to cure his tuberculosis. Upon recovering, he moved to Manitou Springs and served eight terms as mayor. In 1886, he bought the Inn, renamed it Cliff House and began turning it into a sophisticated resort, emphasizing the region’s mineral waters.

In 1914, Nichols collaborated with Colorado Governor Shoup and founded the Manitou Bath House Company, bringing specialized water therapies to the community. In the thirty years following, Nichols expanded the hotel from twenty rooms to fifty-six, and eventually to two hundred. The result was a beautiful four-and-a-half-story building, looking much as it does today.

The Cliff House today. Photo courtesy of the Cliff House.

The hotel suffered two major disasters: a flash flood in 1921 and a ravaging fire in 1982, which forced the building to remain closed for sixteen years. In 1997, restoration began. The owner vowed to revive the hotel’s original distinction and preserve the 1880s Rocky Mountain Victorian architecture, while incorporating twenty-first-century technology and amenities. After $10.5 million in labor and refurbishing, the vision has been realized.

The Cliff House Dining Room is AAA Four-Diamond rated and has won the “Best of Award of Excellence” from Wine Spectator magazine and the “Award of Unique Distinction” from Robert Parker’s Wine Enthusiast magazine, for the hotel’s wine list, which offers eight hundred selections (see Appendix A for selected dishes from the restaurant’s exceptional menu).

Cliff House is on the National Registry of Historic Places.

CRAFTWOOD INN: This hotel was built about 1915.

DEERPATH LODGE: Built before 1904, this hotel was operated by Mr. Alp in 1904.

EAST LYNNE HOTEL: Built before 1904, this hotel was operated by W.J. Merwin in 1904.

A postcard of the Hidden Inn, circa 1920s. The back of the card states, “The Indian Pueblo shown here was erected by the Park Commission of Colorado Springs for the purpose of providing visitors to the Garden of the Gods with a resting place, where light refreshments could be served. The structure fits in between ledges of rocks, which appear to have been thrown up for the purpose. The building is of brick & concrete, covered with plaster made from the red sand and rocks, which are peculiar to the Garden of the Gods.”

The second Iron Springs Hotel, built between 1886 and 1901. It was operated by Miss L.G. Fellows in 1904. With sixty-five rooms, the Iron Springs Hotel was the first in the region to have its own water-powered turbine and electric lights.

GRAND VIEW INN: Built before 1904 at 935 Osage Avenue, this hotel was operated by William Paulson in 1904. It is still standing, now the home of the privately owned Summit Ministries.

HIDDEN INN: Near the Garden of the Gods, this hotel was built by the Colorado Springs Park Commission.

IRON SPRINGS HOTEL: Built between 1870 and 1885, a fire occurred in the rear of this hotel when a kerosene lamp exploded. According to the Manitou Fire Department, “That hotel was a rambling frame structure, built to burn.” The hotel was rebuilt within a year.

MANITOU HOUSE: Built in 1872, this hotel burned down in 1903. It was located near the site of the Seven Minute Spring Pavilion. A three-story frame structure with a gabled roof, a central dormer, a wraparound porch and a balcony, its office featured hunting trophies, firearms and a safe. William Iles managed the hotel in 1875.

THE MANSIONS HOTEL: Built between 1875 and 1925, this hotel was operated by D.K. Torrey in 1904. In 1915, defective wiring caused the 104-room hotel to catch fire, with a loss of $70,000. Flames spread so rapidly that the entire building was soon a total loss. In 1924, following the hotel’s rebuilding, it burned again. The Manitou Springs Fire Department put three lines of hose on it and called for help, but the fire had started in the basement, and the building’s interior and roof were destroyed. The hotel was razed shortly thereafter.

NORRIS HOUSE: Built before 1904, this hotel was operated by J.A. Ray in 1904.

RED CRAGS LODGE: NO information available.

RUXTON HOTEL: Built before 1904, this hotel was operated by F.M. Cooper in 1904.

SUNNY SIDE HOTEL: Built before 1904, this hotel was operated by W.H. Rogers in 1904.

SPRINGS HOTEL: Built in 1871, this hotel’s proprietor was John N. Harden.

Monument

Situated on the Rampart Range in Northwest El Paso County, Monument, first called Henry’s Station, was a stop along the Rio Grande Railroad in 1872.

MONUMENT HOTEL: Built before 1904, this hotel was operated by Mrs. H.S. Ballon in 1904.

RUPP HOTEL: Built before 1904, this hotel was operated by Dr. W.H. Rupp in 1904.

North Cheyenne Canyon

BRUIN INN: This hotel was built sometime between 1900 and 1907.

A postcard of the Bruin Inn.

Palmer Lake

Palmer Lake was established by General William Jackson Palmer in 1871. When Palmer founded Colorado Springs and started the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, he purchased Monument Farms and Lake Property, now the Palmer Lake area. The railroad’s steam trains had to fill with water to head down the Continental Divide, as the lake was the only convenient water supply. For a one-dollar round-trip fare from Denver, passengers could ride to Palmer Lake for a day of picnicking, fishing, boating or hiking. It is one of three communities in the Tri-Lakes Region between Denver and Colorado Springs, located off Interstate 25.

Dr. William Finley Thompson laid out the town in 1882 as a health and vacation resort. In 1887, Thompson, an oral surgeon from Ohio who had practiced in England and the Midwest, built his mansion, Estemere, in town. By 1890, he had to flee from creditors. Palmer Lake was a popular destination for those wishing to escape the city heat.

PALMER LAKE HOUSE: Built before 1904, this hotel was operated by R.W. Owens in 1904.

ROCKLAND HOTEL: Built before 1900, this hotel was operated by Mrs. J.W. Van Gilder in 1904. It was still in business in 1907.

A postcard of the Rockland Hotel, circa 1900.

Pikes Peak

Pikes Peak dominates the Front Range of the Rockies, ten miles west of Colorado Springs. It was named for Zebulon Pike, who led an expedition to southern Colorado in 1806. Pikes is 14,115 feet above sea level, one of Colorado’s fifty-four 14,000-foot peaks. Pike declared that its top could never be reached, but botanist Edwin James ascended the summit in 1820. The first woman to climb the peak was Julia Holmes, in 1858. In 1889, a carriage road opened from Cascade, Colorado, to the top. Katherine Lee Bates wrote “America the Beautiful” in 1893, after traveling up the peak by carriage. A plaque at the top commemorates her work. In 1889, the Manitou and Pikes Peak Railway Company was founded, and in 1891, the first passenger train made it up Pikes. Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, delivered three steam engines in 1890, and limited service began that year to Halfway House Hotel.

A postcard of the Pikes Summit Hotel with lookout tower, 1901.

An early postcard of the Halfway House Hotel, circa 1900.

HALFWAY HOUSE: This hotel was built before 1890.

PIKES SUMMIT HOTEL: This hotel was built before 1901. Spencer Penrose, who developed the BROADMOOR, eventually purchased the Cog Railway in the 1920s, reportedly to obtain the parking lot and Pikes Summit Hotel for auto travelers on the highway he had improved up the mountain.

FREMONT COUNTY

Fremont County is one of the seventeen original counties of the Colorado Territory. It was named for explorer Captain John Charles Fremont, known as “the Pathfinder.” Fremont and his scout, Kit Carson, mapped the territory in 1843. Fremont County lies along the Arkansas River valley in south central Colorado, at the foot of the Rockies.

Cañon City

Cañon City was founded in 1858 during the Pikes Peak gold rush. It occupies both sides of the Arkansas River, but the first building was not constructed until 1860. The town offers historic interests, including dinosaur fossils, hot springs, the nearby Royal Gorge Canyon Bridge and the Colorado State Penitentiary.

CAÑON HOUSE: This hotel was built before 1920 on Main Street.

CENTRAL HOUSE/HOTEL: This hotel was built in 1899.

EL RIO HOTEL: This hotel was built before 1868 on the northwest corner of First Street.

HOT SPRINGS HOTEL/ROYAL GORGE HOT SPRINGS HOTEL: This hotel was built about 1873–74 by Dr. J.L. Prentiss. Prentiss, a local physician, purchased the hot springs, envisioning a health spa on the Arkansas River close to Royal Gorge. He first constructed a bathhouse and then a spacious frame hotel with a metal roof, a balcony-topped porch and a square tower housing the entry.

The tracks of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad were across the river, and a swinging bridge was built for passengers to access the hotel. The business prospered briefly and was listed in the 1901 Cañon City Directory; it was not listed in 1905. A flood in 1916 took out the railroad and the hotel’s trade with it. After a failed attempt at revival in the 1920s, the hotel sat vacant and was eventually razed in the 1940s.

MCCLURE HOUSE/STRATHMORE HOTEL: This hotel was built of local brick in 1874 at 323–31 Main Street by William H. McClure. Mrs. Maria Sheetz was the first manager. With sixty sleeping rooms, three suites and ten bathrooms, the McClure House drew a substantial clientele. In August 1900, the McClure House sold to English investors, who renamed it the Strathmore Hotel. They added an ornate reading room, spending $12,000 on velvet carpets, iron and brass beds and hardwood furniture. But time marches on, and the McClure House/Strathmore Hotel, though still standing, is currently Kate’s Bar and Grill.

ST. CLOUD HOTEL: This hotel was built in 1888 at the corner of Seventh and Main Streets.

ST JAMES HOTEL: This hotel was built by 1904.

Florence

Florence, established in 1887, is set in the foothills of the Rockies on the picturesque Arkansas River. Its scenery drew the attention of early filmmakers when the Selig Film Company produced a silent western in 1910, starring cowboy star Tom Mix.

In 1871, the first Colorado Territory prison was built in the area, and since then, a large number of state and federal correction facilities have located in Fremont County.

FREMONT HOTEL: Built before 1904, this hotel was operated by H.L. Rice in 1904.

LENNOX HOTEL: This hotel operated from 1904 to 1924.

ROCK ISLAND HOTEL: Built before 1904, this hotel was operated by H. Killiam in 1904.

HUERFANO COUNTY

“Huerfano” translates to “orphan” in Spanish. This county, founded in 1861, was named for the Huerfano River and its local landmark, the Huerfano Butte, an isolated cone formation at the bottom of the river.

La Veta

Colonel John Francisco came to the Cuchara Valley in 1840, settling at Fort Garland until he built his plaza in La Veta, where he supplied settlers and gold miners. His plaza, which provided protection from Indian attack, is now Francisco Fort Museum. The railroad depot was built in 1876, and La Veta was incorporated.

CADILLAC HOUSE: Built before 1904, this hotel was operated by A. Larson in 1904.

COTTINGHAM HOTEL: Built before 1904, this hotel was operated by Craig and Reid in 1904.

DELAWARE HOUSE: Built before 1904, this hotel was operated by J.W. Calloway in 1904.

IVES HOTEL: Built before 1904, this hotel was operated by J.W. Ives in 1904.

LA VETA HOUSE: Built before 1904, this hotel was operated by N. Butterworth in 1904.

PAXTON HOUSE: Built before 1904, this hotel was operated by Mrs. Mary Paxton in 1904.

Walsenburg

Walsenburg is the county seat of Huerfano County. In 1870, Fred Walsen opened a large mercantile, drawing German settlers into the town. In his honor, the new town was named Walsenburg. In 1876, Walsen also opened the first coal mine. Coal mining strongly influenced the area for the next century.

Twin Lakes Hotel, 1893. The hotel burned down shortly after this photo was made.

KLEIN HOTEL: Built before 1904 on Main Street, this hotel was operated by Mrs. H. Klein in 1904.

OXFORD HOTEL: This hotel was built before 1910.

TWIN LAKES HOTEL: Built in 1887 by Martin and Holmes in Garden City (a quarter mile away), the hotel was later moved to this location. It was operated by L.B. Countryman in 1904.

WALSENBURG HOUSE: This hotel was built before 1904.

LAS ANIMAS COUNTY

Las Animas County, founded in 1866, is named for the Mexican title of the Purgatoire River, originally called El Rio de las Animas Perdidas en Purgatorio, or the “River of the Lost Souls in Purgatory.”

Trinidad

Founded in 1862, Trinidad was officially established in 1872. Bat Masterson was town marshal in 1882, before moving to Colorado’s backcountry. While here, the Earps and Doc Holliday joined Masterson in Trinidad, direct from their shootout at the OK Corral.

ADELPHIA HOTEL: Built sometime in the 1880s, likely by I.H. Rapp, this hotel was located on North Commercial Street.

CARDENAS HOTEL: Built in 1903 and razed in 1933, the Cardenas was a two-story, L-shaped, Mission-style stucco structure with a red tiled roof and an arcaded porch. A two-story building to the west housed a laundry and employee rooms. The Cardenas was located near the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad Depot. In 1904, the Purgatoire/Las Animas River flooded, destroying the depot but leaving the hotel intact. By 1905, a new depot had been built to resemble the Cardenas and was connected to the hotel by a colonnade.

The Cardenas was part of the chain of Harvey House hotels along the Santa Fe Railway. In 1889, Fred Harvey obtained exclusive rights to operate his eating-houses and hotel facilities on Santa Fe railroads west of the Missouri River. Harvey Houses, known for first-class food, service and cleanliness, were completely staffed by women, known as Harvey Girls.

In 1883, offended by customers’ appalling behavior toward the predominantly black staff, who were frequently obliged to carry guns for protection, Harvey decided to hire only female waitresses. He advertised in newspapers for single, educated young women, between the ages of eighteen and thirty, “of good character, attractive, and intelligent.” The girls were paid $17.50 a month, plus room, board and tips.

A postcard of the Cardenas Hotel. Built in the Mission style along the banks of the Purgatoire/Las Animas River, the hotel was a two-story structure with an arcaded porch, a terra-cotta roof, a balcony and porticos. Signs over its twin entrances read: “Cardenas.”

The girls adhered to a 10:00 p.m. curfew, administered by a housemother. Their starched black-and-white uniform consisted of a skirt no more than eight inches off the floor, a stiff apron, a high collar and black stockings and shoes—all intended to diminish the figure. Hair was netted and tied with a plain white ribbon, and makeup and chewing gum were prohibited.

The Cardenas played a significant role in Trinidad’s history during the railroad era (1870–1945), but it closed in 1933 and was demolished. The depot operated until 1960, when it, too, was razed, replaced by a new depot that is still in use. No visible evidence of the Cardenas remains. Its general location has been determined via Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, showing the former hotel’s west wing as located beneath the present depot. The Cardenas site is in the Corazon de Trinidad Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

COLORADO HOTEL: This hotel was built before 1867 on Main Street.

GRAND UNION HOTEL/COLUMBIAN HOTEL: This hotel was built in 1878 by John Conkie as the Grand Union at the corner of Main and Commercial Streets.

Conkie was the owner, architect and builder of the Grand Union, but a game of poker reportedly cost him his hotel. Conkie’s lost baby was a three-story, elaborately painted and decorated structure with nearly one hundred rooms. In the early 1880s, an elevator was installed. By the 1890s, the hotel was known as the Columbian.

Years prior to the hotel’s construction, “Red” Bransford, a relative of Crazy Horse and sister of Oglala Sioux chief Red Cloud, operated an early lodging establishment on this very site.

In 1913, the state militia occupied the Columbian during the violent labor strike in nearby Ludlow. Miners, offended by militia presence, picketed the hotel, but once the strike was settled, they could again be found drinking in the Columbian’s bar and gambling in its basement. Local urban legend says that actor Tom Mix occupied room 214, while his horse slept in room 212.

The building was restored in 1997 and is currently retail space. Located in the Corazon de Trinidad National Historic District, it is a prominent structure on Trinidad’s downtown walking tour.

HOTEL CORINADO: Built before 1914 at the corner of Church and Commercial Streets, this hotel burned down in the 1980s.

DENVER HOTEL: This hotel was built in 1882 in the 200 block of North Commercial Streets. Pietro Mauro was thought to be the owner.

DULING LODGE: This hotel was built before 1900.

HOTEL GILMORE: This hotel was built before 1914.

MAIN HOTEL: This hotel was built about 1900 on a lot owned by Jennie Henry.

The carved mahogany bar of the Columbian, circa 1880s. Bat Masterson, Trinidad’s town marshal in the 1880s, gambled in the basement here with Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday and had a drink or two—or three.

NEW METROPOLITAN HOTEL: This hotel was built before 1914.

TOLTEC HOTEL: Built about 1910–11 in the 100 block of North Commercial Street, this hotel was constructed by F. E. Edbrooke Architectural Company, builders of the Tabor Opera House Block and the Denver Brown Palace. After falling into disrepair, the Toltec narrowly escaped the wrecking ball and has been renovated into shops and apartments.

TRINIDAD HOTEL: This hotel was built in 1900 at 421 North Commercial Street.

OTERO COUNTY

This county, taken from the western part of Bent County, was named for Miguel Otero. The Oteros, an old Spanish family from New Mexico, owned the mercantile firm of Otero, Sellars & Co. and founded La Junta.

La Junta

La Junta, “The Junction” in Spanish, was founded in 1875, as a temporary stopping point of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad. In 1878, the Santa Fe expanded to Trinidad but built a depot, roundhouses and repair shops in La Junta to make it the headquarters of the Colorado division. La Junta’s economy is primarily based on agriculture, cattle and rail transportation.

A postcard of the Santa Fe Hotel, circa 1913.

HALLWAY HOTEL: This hotel was operating before 1904.

LA JUNTA HOTEL: Built in 1882, the La Junta Hotel also held a railroad eating-house, El Otero, run by Fred Harvey. The hotel closed in 1948.

SANTA FE HOTEL: Built before 1910.

Manzanola

This small agricultural community takes its name from the Spanish word for apple.

MANZANOLA HOTEL: Built before 1904, this hotel was operated by R.R. Baldwin in 1904.

Rocky Ford

At an elevation of 4,178 feet in the Arkansas Valley, this small community lies east of Pueblo. The town’s name reportedly comes from the spot in the Arkansas River where settlers crossed to avoid quicksand. The town is home of the Rocky Ford cantaloupe and is known as the Melon Capital of the World. The annual Arkansas Valley Fair is held in August, celebrating the diverse culture with horse races, stock shows, a carnival and a rodeo. Some of Rocky Ford’s farming success can be attributed to settler George Swink, who convinced neighbors to build the valley’s first community irrigation system, transforming Rocky Ford into a top agricultural area. Swink shipped watermelons and cantaloupe as far as New York City in the late 1800s and is credited with introducing the commercial growing of fruit and vegetables in the United States. By exposing Rocky Ford melons to distant locales, Swink helped establish the melon’s lasting fame.

EL CAPITAN HOTEL: This hotel was built before 1904.

ST. JAMES HOTEL: This hotel was built before 1904.

PUEBLO COUNTY

Pueblo County, formed in 1861, was named for the city of Pueblo, Colorado, the Spanish word for “town.”

Old Colorado City

Old Colorado City, established in 1861, was built on a shaky boundary line, sometimes disputed, between the Sioux, Arapaho and Cheyenne of the Plains and their historic enemies, the mountain Utes. This made for some interesting negotiating—or lack thereof—when white settlers arrived. The town was once a drinker’s paradise during local prohibition, until it was annexed in 1917, becoming the west side of Colorado Springs.

EL PASO HOUSE (aka Holmes House, Baird & Smith Hotel): This hotel was built about 1860.

HOFFMAN HOUSE: Built before 1888 and located in a row of two-story businesses, this hotel was operated by N.B. Hames in 1904.

NATIONAL HOTEL: Built before 1904, this hotel was operated by T. Ensign.

Colorado Springs

Located at the foot of Pikes Peak, this town was established in 1871 by General William Palmer with the intention of creating a high-quality resort community. It was soon nicknamed “Little London.”

By 1904, Colorado Springs had one-third of the nation’s one hundred millionaires, derived from Cripple Creek gold. Its dry climate was beneficial to tuberculosis sufferers, and many sanitariums sprang up in the area.

In 1899, Nikola Tesla began research in a lab located near Foote Avenue and Kiowa Street, where there was room for his high-voltage, long-distance, wireless transmission–reception experiments. Here, Tesla observed unusual signals that he later thought could be evidence of extraterrestrial radio communications from nearby planets. Tesla left town in January 1900; his lab was torn down about 1905, and its contents were sold. The Colorado experiments prepared Tesla for establishing the transatlantic wireless telecommunications facility known as Wardenclyffe.

HOTEL ACACIA: Built before 1890 on Platte Avenue, this hotel was still operating in the 1940s.

THE ALAMO HOTEL: Built before 1904, this hotel was operated by G. S. Elstun.

ALTA VISTA HOTEL: Built about 1889, this hotel was operated by H.H. Stevens in 1904.

THE ANTLERS HOTEL: This hotel was built in 1883 by General Palmer, who named the hotel for his extensive collection of deer and elk trophies displayed there. When English professor Katharine Lee Bates stayed at the first Antlers Hotel in 1893, she took a horse and buggy to the top of Pikes Peak. That journey inspired her famous anthem, “America the Beautiful.” But the elaborately gabled, turreted building, furnished with leather furniture and rare carpeting, burned down in the fall of 1898.

Palmer’s first Antlers Hotel, circa 1883.

A postcard of the second Antlers Hotel, circa 1890s. This east façade view features a U-shaped plan, with a porte-cochère, an arcaded porch, pediments, square towers with arcaded lookouts, chimneys, arched windows and a solarium.

Palmer engaged the firm of Varian and Sterner to design a more elaborate Antlers. The enormous new hotel opened in 1901, featuring two hundred rooms, three stone stairways, mosaic floors, tapestries and all the trappings money could buy. The hotel provided ample opportunities for sports interests, including coyote hunts and automobile trips. It was immediately successful, drawing the rich and famous, as well as Presidents Harrison, Harding, Taft and the ever-ebullient Theodore Roosevelt, who gave a speech from its balcony.

But the Antlers, for all its elegance and appeal, offended some in its highhanded dealings, one of whom was the ubiquitous Spencer Penrose, whose shenanigans on horseback in the Antlers’ bar prompted his eviction. At the time, Penrose vowed to build a resort to put the Antlers to shame. And he did: the BROADMOOR.

Although it gradually fell from favor, the Antlers continued to operate until the Second World War. It was eventually torn down in 1964, following another fire. In recent years, the Hilton chain has obtained the property, building the large, contemporary Antlers Hilton at 4 South Cascade Avenue, near the original site.

*THE BROADMOOR: 1 Lake Avenue, Colorado Springs, CO 80906; 719-577-5775, 866-837-9520; www.broadmoor.com.

Before it was the Broadmoor Dairy Farm, the land at the base of Cheyenne Mountain was a ranch where corn was grown for making brooms. In 1880, Willie Wilcox, who came west seeking fortune and a cure for tuberculosis, bought the land and established the Broadmoor Dairy. He sold it in 1890 to Count Pourtales, who formed the Broadmoor Land and Investment Company. To entice the sale of lots, Pourtales built the Broadmoor Casino in 1891. A small hotel was constructed a few years later.

Enter Spencer Penrose, a Philadelphia entrepreneur who had made his fortune in gold and copper mining. In 1916, he purchased the Broadmoor Casino and Hotel and its forty-acre site, plus an adjoining four hundred acres. Penrose had recently undertaken a new project—to turn the Pikes Peak region into a multifaceted resort area. Architectural features of Penrose’s “new” resort included a spectacular curved marble staircase, dramatic chandeliers, Della Robbia–style tile, hand-painted beams and ceilings, a carved marble fountain and a striking pink stucco façade.

Under the guiding hand of Penrose and his wife, Julie, the BROADMOOR resort opened in 1918 with three buildings, 350 rooms and a golf course designed by Donald Ross. A self-styled rustic rowdy, Penrose was an anti-prohibitionist of renown. In 1920, shortly after the BROADMOOR opened, Penrose brought fifty-five top hoteliers and five press people by private train from New York to Colorado Springs to show off his property. His invitations advised guests to bring “five bottles of your favorite cologne.” Drinkable, of course. He also had a flatbed car on the train, guarded by a U.S. marshal; the flatbed contained what Penrose called his “gasoline.”

Next to the Tavern Restaurant on the lobby level is one of the hotel’s most famous spots: Bottle Alley, containing many bottles from Prohibition, mostly consumed by the Penroses and their guests over the years. A closer look reveals bottles on which Penrose wrote where the drink was consumed and who drank it with him. But there is one bottle, not from Prohibition days, signed by George W. Bush on his fortieth birthday. It was reportedly the last time the former president imbibed.

As the current manager was walking through the basement with maintenance staff, he spotted a small door partially hidden behind filing cabinets. No one knew where it led. They moved cabinets, broke a lock and were nearly knocked down by the smell of rotting hay and fermentation. It seems the wily Penrose had hidden three flatcars of alcohol in the tunnels that ran from the original casino to houses of ill repute located across the street in the early days. Apparently, he either forgot them after the repeal of Prohibition or neglected to tell anyone they were there before he died in 1939. Some bottles were bad; others were kept by the hotel as part of its collection.

Back in the 1950s, on break from filming in Arizona, John Wayne was a BROADMOOR guest. Staff members told about taking a banquet tray of shrimp up an elevator to one of the suites. They found Wayne on the elevator, and as they rode together, Wayne kept eating the shrimp. The servers reached their floor with a half-eaten tray for the party. As they prepared to explain to the guests that they would get a new tray, Wayne took over, pushed the tray into the room and, in his distinctive voice, announced, “Here’s your tray, and I ATE the shrimp.” No one complained. Wayne had more shrimp sent up and then stayed to sign autographs.

The grand resort has long been the destination of presidents, statesmen, foreign dignitaries and celebrities. Presidents Hoover, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Nixon, Ford, Reagan and George H.W. and George W. Bush have all stayed at the BROADMOOR. It has hosted King Hussein of Jordan, Princess Anne, Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu of Japan, the King of Siam and Margaret Thatcher, as well as celebrities Maurice Chevalier, Bing Crosby, Walt Disney, Charles Lindbergh, Clark Gable, Bob Hope, Jimmy Stewart, Jack Benny, Jackie Gleason, Sir Elton John, Ted Turner, Jane Fonda, Michael Douglas, Joe DiMaggio, Stan Musial, Sugar Ray Leonard, Stephen Tyler and Aerosmith, to name a few.

Legends linger about what prompted Penrose to build the BROADMOOR. Some insist that he built it out of spite, after the Antlers’ management rebuked him for riding his horse into their bar. Others believed he and MacNeill built the hotel so they could hire their friend William Dunning, who had been fired from the Antlers. It is also said that the little “a” in BROADMOOR was meant as an insult to the Antlers. Regardless of the actual facts, it would seem that Penrose lost little love on the stodgy Antlers. But the name’s unique styling also created a logo that could be trademarked, since “Broadmoor” had already been copyrighted.

The BROADMOOR has over seven hundred rooms, eighteen restaurants and cafés, three golf courses, a world-class spa and the Carriage House Museum. The hotel is still known as the “Grand Dame of the Rockies,” with fine cuisine and entertainment, elegant appointments and Italian Renaissance–style architecture.

The BROADMOOR is the longest-running consecutive winner of both the AAA Five-Diamond and the Forbes/Mobil Travel Guide Five-Star Awards. Among its eighteen award-winning restaurants are the Penrose Room, for over fifty years one of the region’s top destinations for classic fine dining; Charles Court, specializing in American cuisine; the Summit, an American Brasserie, designed by renowned architect Adam D. Tihany; the Tavern, since 1938, serving hand-cut prime steaks, chops, seafood and prime rib in the original Tavern room, the Art Deco–era Mayan Room or the glass-enclosed Garden Room; the Golden Bee, which came to the BROADMOOR in 1961 as a collection of panels and fixtures from a nineteenth-century pub, shipped from England and reassembled in Colorado Springs, the town once nicknamed “Little London”; and the original Lake Terrace Dining Room, with views of Cheyenne Lake and the mountains, offering Eggs Benedict, Rocky Mountain trout, Continental and Southwestern specialties. A Sunday buffet with ice sculptures features more than seventy items; dessert selections are highlighted by its famous Bananas Foster and decadent Chocolate Fountain.

A postcard of a Maxfield Parrish painting of the BROADMOOR.

Among the resort’s other fine restaurants are the Golf Club Dining Room, the Grille at the Golf Club, the Spa Café, Main Pool Café, Espresso BROADMOOR, Café Julie, Mountain Clubhouse and Oasis.

COLORADO SPRINGS HOTEL: This hotel was built in 1872 on Cascade Avenue by General William Palmer, who invited William Iles to come from England as manager. When Iles disagreed with Palmer over the sale of alcohol, his stay was short lived.

Colorado Springs Hotel, circa 1875.

ELK HOTEL: This hotel was built before 1900 at Pikes Peak Avenue and was operated by C.E. Tyler in 1904.

JOYCE HOTEL: Located at 10 South Weber Avenue, this hotel was operated by E.R. Joyce. Sepia postcards of the Joyce Hotel promise that it is “Modern, Clean, Homelike. Adjacent New Post Office. Best Location and Best Accommodations for the Money. With or Without Meals. Centrally Located.”

PLAZA HOTEL: This hotel was built before 1910.

RED ELK HOTEL: This hotel was built before 1900.

ROCK ISLAND HOTEL: This hotel was built sometime between 1890 and 1900.

SPAULDING HOTEL: Built before 1904, this hotel was operated by J.A. Himebaugh in 1904.

Pueblo

In 1842, Fort Pueblo was established near the confluence of the Fountain and Arkansas Rivers. Built mainly of adobe, “El Pueblo” was a trading center on the border between Mexico and the United States. On December 24, 1854, Indians attacked the fort, killing everyone. Local ranchers buried the victims, and then the area was abandoned for years. When gold and silver were discovered on the Arkansas River, Pueblo was reestablished as a town, and by 1870, it had a population of 2,265.

Pueblo is the hometown of writer Damon Runyon and Dutch Clark, the first Colorado man in the NFL Hall of Fame. The Historic Arkansas River Project (HARP), a downtown river walk in the Union Avenue Historic Commercial District, restored the Arkansas River to its original channel and recounts the devastating 1921 Pueblo Flood, when fifteen hundred people were drowned.

CLARK’S WELLS HOTEL: Built before 1904, this hotel was operated by Clark & Brainard in 1904.

COMMERCIAL HOTEL: This hotel was built before 1900.

CONGRESS HOTEL: Built before 1900, this hotel incorporated the former Grand Hotel as its North Wing about 1900 (see Grand Hotel).

FARGO HOTEL: This hotel was built before 1900.

FARRISS HOTEL: Placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985, this hotel was removed from the registry and demolished in 1991.

FIFTH AVENUE HOTEL: This hotel was built before 1890.

GRAND HOTEL: Built before 1887 at Eighth and Santa Fe Streets, this hotel was razed in 1961. It was owned by J.P. Whitney in 1887 and changed its name to the Imperial about 1904. Later, it became the North Wing of the Congress Hotel. The Grand featured a four-story rotunda with a stained-glass ceiling and a cast-iron, calla lily fountain rising from a pool in the center. Its one hundred sleeping chambers, dining room and billiard room were of the highest caliber (see Congress and Imperial Hotels).

IMPERIAL HOTEL: The second name by which the Grand Hotel was called, this hotel was operated by Miller & Babne in 1904.

HOTEL MAINE: Built before 1903, this hotel was operated by W.A. Arey in 1904.

ROYAL HOTEL: Built before 1904, this hotel was operated by Mrs. A. Royal in 1904.

SOUTHERN HOTEL: Built before 1904, this hotel was operated by Charles Kresham in 1904.

UNION STATION HOTEL: Built before 1904, this hotel was operated by E.A. Thayer in 1904.

HOTEL VAIL: Built in 1911 at 217 South Grand Avenue, on the corner of Grand and Union Avenues, this hotel was named for Pueblo newspaperman John F. Vail. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Union Avenue Historic Commercial District. It is not currently in use.

VICTORIA HOTEL: This hotel was built before 1880 on northwest corner of “B” Street and Victoria Avenue.

Rye

Rye is a lovely little community in the eastern foothills of the Wet Mountains.

WILSON HOUSE: This hotel was built before 1913.

A postcard of the Wilson House, 1913.