Object Decade: 1890 - 1899

From our very beginning in 1871, the early settlers of Colorado Springs saw the need for organized fire protection. They soon progressed from volunteer bucket brigades with water from hand-dug wells to the development of the El Paso Canal, bringing water from Fountain Creek in 1872. In May of 1873, the first “fire extinguisher on wheels” was purchased. The next big step was made in 1878 with water “piped” from higher reservoirs, making water available throughout the “city” as it grew, starting with 20 fire hydrants. Early Hook and Ladder companies, formed initially as competitors, soon grew into a coordinated “protection team”.

Benjamin Crowell was the first appointed fire chief in 1879, and in 1894 J.G. Johnson became the first paid fire chief, earning $100 a month, and firemen were paid $70 monthly.

Motorization came in 1910, and in a test, the new fire truck covered the same distance in two and a half minutes that took the horse-drawn wagon 25 minutes! Mechanization was here to stay, as horses were gradually phased out of service.

It soon was determined that fire fighters needed advanced training as buildings became bigger and more complex. This training involved the study of schools, high rises, hospitals and hotels, apartments, and private homes. By 1932 civil service exams were used to fill officer positions in the department. In 1979, Paramedic service began with 1,000 hours of training necessary for the firemen. Hazardous material response training followed in April of 1981.

With the continued growth and responsibility of the fire department, currently with 22 fire stations, it was apparent that women firefighters were needed, and on February 27, 1984, the city and the fire department marked a historic day. Ann Pettinari was sworn in as the first female firefighter in the history of the department! Chief Richard Smith had been actively recruiting women for the fire department and Ann was the first to meet the mental and physical requirements for the position. By 1988 there were four professional female firefighters. Currently there are 18 sworn female firefighters who represent every rank: battalion chief, captain, lieutenant, driver engineer, paramedic, and firefighter.

Fire protection is at its highest level today, and Colorado Springs is proud to have the outstanding fire department that now serves our city.

Generously Submitted by John Orsborn, CSPM Volunteer Educator

The Cripple Creek gold rush of the 1890s led to numerous struggles between capital and labor. The industrial nature of the Cripple Creek mining operations required many wage laborers, attracting unions that organized the industrial workers. The Western Federation of Miners (WFM), one of the more powerful and militant trade unions to arise in the nineteenth century, gained a stronghold.

In 1893 federal currency converted solely to the gold standard, a decision that put silver miners across the state out of work. Many unemployed miners sought work in the Cripple Creek gold camp. This surplus of labor led mine owners to seek concessions from the workers in 1894. The WFM organized workers against proposed changes and went on strike. Most mine owners refused to negotiate with the WFM and employed strikebreakers, protected by privately-subsidized deputies under the El Paso County Sheriff.

Armed conflict followed with near autonomous control of parts of the mining district by union labor; violence was prevalent on both sides. Opinion pieces fomented fear in Colorado Springs that radical miners would march on the city, and the Gazette issued a call to arms. The El Paso County Sheriff deputized a force of 1,300 mercenaries to march on the WFM camps.

The state militia had to intervene in the Cripple Creek district between deputies and miners. With the intervention of Governor Davis Waite, a Populist elected in 1892, and Adjutant General Thomas Tarsney, the WFM won recognition of their demands. Cripple Creek gained a reputation as a labor stronghold, which Colorado Springs mine owners did not take lightly. In retribution, Tarsney—the man in charge of the state militia—while staying overnight in Colorado Springs was abducted from the Alamo Hotel, taken nearby to the Otis house at Austin Bluffs and tarred and feathered. He was abandoned along the D&RG railroad tracks, where he made his way to Palmer Lake before the governor sent a train to rescue him.

Nobody was convicted of the affair and El Paso County solidified its reputation for anti-union, pro-business Republican politics. Relations were so bad between Colorado Springs mine owners and Cripple Creek laborers that Teller County split off from El Paso County in 1899. Labor relations again flared up in 1903, but this time Colorado Springs mine owners broke the WFM, illegally deported union workers, and left Cripple Creek firmly under their control.

Generously Submitted by Dr. John Harner, Professor of Geography & Environmental Studies, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs

Day nurseries were an early Progressive Era (1890s-1920s) national movement to offset the impacts that modern urban and industrial growth were having on women and children. Working-class mothers needed care for their children. Middle- and upper-class women wanted to aid their counterparts, by providing combined care and education to those children. They created day nurseries, which were thus “of-by-for women.”

Colorado Springs had a special population of needy working-class mothers. The town was a health mecca for “consumptives.” There were enough mothers with tuberculosis to create a need for a special children’s place. The solution would be a day nursery, which had its own infirmary. It offered medical care for the children at a daily fee of ten cents for the first child from a family and five cents for each other child.

In 1897, a group of philanthropic women founded the Colorado Springs Day Nursery Association. One of the founders was New Englander Alice Cogswell Bemis, who had come to Colorado Springs partly for respiratory health. Not only did she endow the day nursery, but also Colorado College (Bemis Hall and the Women’s Educational Society) as well as the Young Women’s Christian Association.

In 1923, Cogswell’s daughter, noted philanthropist Alice Bemis Taylor, funded the construction of the Colorado Springs Day Nursery’s historic building (104 East Rio Grande), dedicated “to all mothers and all children,” in memory of her mother, and to have a place for the Association. Each worker who helped build the building received a $20 gold piece on that day. The building, now on the National Register of Historic Places, has fanciful Tudor architecture, stained glass windows, and specially painted murals, by Colorado Springs native and renowned western artist Allen Tupper True, that tell the stories of many Mother Goose rhymes.

From the 1930s through the 1950s, the CS Day Nursery (renamed Child Nursery Centers) offered care and temporary quarters for hundreds of needy children. From 1973 to the early 2000s, it served the modern needs of children along with many other sister sites. In 2010, the organization’s name became Early Connections Learning Centers, which still operates its many children’s programs from the CS Day Nursery building.

Generously Submitted by Katherine Scott Sturdevant, Professor of History, PPCC

New York native Cassius Ayers Hibbard opened C.A. Hibbard and Co., a dry goods store at 17 South Tejon in 1892. It was a prosperous, optimistic time in the city’s history, thanks in part to the Cripple Creek gold rush. By 1894, there were seven stores selling “dry goods and notions” on S. Tejon between Pikes Peak and Huerfano (now Colorado), as well as one around the corner on Pikes Peak.

Judging by advertisements in the 1894 Colorado Springs City Directory, Giddings Brothers may have led the pack. Located next door to Hibbard’s at 21 S. Tejon, the firm seems to have been aggressive and agile. One ad trumpeted “The most complete line of underwear and hosiery in the city.”

Yet Hibbard must have been just as aggressive and agile. Thirty-five years later, Hibbard’s and Giddings were the only local survivors, but completion was still intense. Mom & Pop Dry Goods stores had been replaced by well-capitalized department stores in spacious downtown buildings. J.C. Penney had a store at 19 N. Tejon, Kaufman’s was at 114 S. Tejon, and Giddings had opened a “Modern Department Store” at 101 N. Tejon.

But C.A. Hibbard’s 1924 building was a retail paradise, five stories of great stuff for sale – dry goods, clothing, cosmetics and furniture, as well as “notions” (needles, thread, wool, collar stays and the like). Designed by prominent Springs architect Thomas Barber, the once ultra-modern building slowly morphed into a treasured historic structure. As its downtown competitors closed or moved to the suburbs, Hibbard’s hung on valiantly until the late Ralph Hibbard finally bowed to the inevitable and closed the store in 1996. By then it was the last independent department store in Colorado. The building still stands, housing a restaurant on the ground level and offices in the upper floors.

Many longtime residents have fond memories of the noble old store. The pneumatic tubes, the oak display cases, the birdcage elevators, the ageless ladies who worked as sales clerks…alas, all gone.

Hibbard’s wasn’t just another retail business, though. It was a multigenerational local endeavor, a family project launched by C.A. Hibbard, and passed on to his descendants. And just as the store supported hard-working family members for 104 years, the family gave back and helped anchor our community. A retail dynasty? Yup, and they’re not finished.

Ralph’s daughter Carrie Hibbard Baker became the co-owner of Terra Verde, an upscale women’s clothing store at 208 N. Tejon in January. Not the best timing perhaps, but she certainly has the right DNA for the job!

Generously Submitted by John Hazlehurst, CSBJ Columnist & Historian

Twelve years after Colorado Springs was founded, the Antlers Hotel opened its doors in 1883. Named for the deer and elk antlers installed in the lobby, the hotel had 75 guest rooms with no two alike. Visitors enjoyed the music room, billiards room, children’s playroom, barber shop and Turkish Baths. Notably for the era, the hotel was furnished with gas lighting, steam heat, and hot and cold running water. It was immediately popular with wealthy tourists and health-seekers.

The Antlers Hotel grew from General Palmer’s vision for the region. The stately Antlers Hotel was placed adjacent to the railroad depot. As travelers departed the train, they walked through a beautifully landscaped park into the main west-facing entrance of the hotel. At the height of its popularity, the Antlers burned to the ground on October 1, 1898, a loss of over $250,000, or nearly $7,000,000 today. When cabled the news in England, General Palmer responded by promising an even grander Antlers Hotel on the same spot.

Opening with great fanfare on July 2, 1901, the Italian Renaissance style second Antlers was designed by architects Varian & Sterner, and cost $600,000, or over $16,000,000 today. Capped by a red tile roof, the hotel featured a grand piazza along the western face, and ten loggias offered guests breathtaking views of Pikes Peak. Decorated with Italian marble, silk rugs, velvet draperies, gold-finishes, and leaded glass and mirrors —the Antler’s Hotel literally shone. The “new” hotel was said to be the most beautiful, elegantly furnished, and of course 100% fire-proof hotel in the West.

In the 1960s era of suburban sprawl and urban renewal, the Antlers did not survive. Despite changing owners and extensive remodeling, the hotel lost business. The once elegant property fell into disrepair, and to the dismay of many locals, was demolished. As Leland Feitz noted, “On September 20, 1964, the last guest checked out of the hotel. That night, Falcon Room bandleader, George Marvin, led a tearful group of employees and friends of the hotel in singing ‘Auld Lang Syne’ and the lights went out forever.”

In 1967, a new hotel opened on the same property in a complex that hosted a shopping center and two office towers. In October 2015, the Antlers was purchased by attorneys Perry R. Sanders Jr., and John Goede who have launched a multi-million dollar effort to modernize the hotel. What the future holds for this landmark hotel is unknown, yet a tangible connection to our past lives on at the western end of Pikes Peak Avenue.

Submitted by Leah Davis Witherow, CSPM Curator of History

Nikola Tesla was born to Serbian parents in Croatia in 1856. After studying engineering, he took a job in Paris with the Continental Edison Company. S supervisor recommended he work directly for Thomas Edison in New York. Tesla and Edison later had a famous falling-out over their opposing views on direct (DC) versus alternating (AC) current. Tesla left Edison’s workshop and developed patents for an AC motor, generators, transformers and lights, many of which he sold to George Westinghouse. While working for Westinghouse, Tesla met patent attorney Leonard E. Curtis who invited him to Colorado with the promise of free land and electricity.

When Tesla arrived in Colorado Springs in 1899, he said this about his plans, “I propose to send a message from Pike’s Peak to Paris.” Tesla hired local carpenter Joseph Dozier to build a laboratory, and ordered equipment from New York. By June 2, 1899 the workshop was nearly complete. “The building is a rough board structure…filled with dynamos, electric wires, switches, generators, motors and almost every conceivable invention…” Very few were allowed inside. When questioned by a reporter he replied, “When am I going to make an experiment in wireless telegraphy? Why, I don’t intend to make such an experiment.” Apparently, he changed his mind.

Tesla’s interest in the “extraordinary purity of the atmosphere” and the region’s lightning storms led to machines that measured lightning strikes. In July, he made an observation that changed the course of his research. He watched as a violent storm approached from the west. When the storm moved east, his machines continued to record signals as if the storm never moved. He concluded that he observed, “stationary waves,” capable of sending wireless telegraphic messages, transmit the human voice, and power in unlimited amounts.

Tesla developed a magnifying transmitter, a 150 ft. pole topped by a copper ball in the center of his lab. He believed that by matching stationary waves, he could transmit signals across the globe without losing power. He claimed to have powered banks of lights wirelessly in Colorado Springs. An oft-repeated tale describes how Tesla “blew the town’s power supply and created a blackout.” However, there is no evidence. Instead, as Tesla recalled in 1917, “the dynamos in a power house six miles away were repeatedly burned out,” requiring repairs, but no city-wide power outage.

Satisfied with his progress, Tesla left for New York in January 1900. Locals expected him to return, and when he did not, he was sued for payment of electricity, water, and the caretaker’s back wages. When Tesla refused to pay, his laboratory was sold to C.E. Maddocks who planned to use the lumber to build his new house. A short time later, “27 cases of goods and 10 coils of copper wire” were auctioned off.

Submitted by Leah Davis Witherow, CSPM Curator of History

Katharine Lee Bates was born on August 12, 1859 in Falmouth, Massachusetts. She went to the all-women Wellesley College in 1876, graduating in 1880. She taught high school English for five years. During this time she wrote and published a successful novel, Rose and Thorn, in which she included poor and working class women characters to teach about social reform. In 1890 she went to England to study for a year at Oxford University. Returning to the United States, she took a position as associate professor at Wellesley in 1891. After earning her Master’s Degree the following year, she became a full professor of English Literature at Wellesley, where she remained for forty years.

Bates’ writing was that of a true social activist, championing the role of women the poor, people of color, and immigrants. She had seen how the Industrial Revolution ravaged the poor in both England and the United States. She wrote for the New York Times and numerous monthly magazines, wrote children’s stories, travel books, essays, and many books of verse. After being a life-long Republican, she broke with the party when they rejected President Wilson’s plan to join the League of Nations. She saw herself as a citizen of the world and hated the idea of isolationism.

Bates is best known for her poem America the Beautiful, first drafted in the summer of 1893, while teaching English at the Colorado Summer School at Colorado College. Katharine recalled, “…one day some of the other teachers and I decided to go on a trip to Pikes Peak. We hired a prairie wagon. Near the top we had to leave it and go the rest of the way on mules. I was very tired. But when I saw the view, I felt great joy. All the wonder of America seemed displayed there, with the sea-like expanse,” The first draft of the poem was done that summer, and the final version was finished ten years later. It was set to music written by Samuel Ward, who had written the music for his 1892 hymn, Materna.

Today, her statue sits in front of the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum, keeping a loving eye on Pikes Peak from the top of which came KLB’s inspiration for America the Beautiful. Katharine Lee Bates died on March 28, 1929.

Generously Submitted by John Orsborn, CSPM Volunteer Educator

The Cog Railway, the highest in the world, was started in 1889 by Zalmon G. Simmons, the inventor of the Simmons Beautyrest mattress. A New Yorker, he came to Colorado to examine telegraph insulators that he invented to carry telegraph wires to the Army Signal Station on top of Pikes Peak. When it took two miserable days to scale the mountain by mule, Simmons decided to finance construction of the Manitou and Pikes Peak Railway, which opened in 1891. After losing money for a number of years, Simmons sold it in 1925 to Spencer Penrose, owner of the Broadmoor Hotel, for a reported $50,000.

The first locomotives were steam powered and pushed the passenger care up the mountain. The boilers on the locomotives were tilted forward to be level while going up the 16% grade of the mountain. In 1938, a gasoline powered train car, produced by General Electric replaced the coal powered steam engines for the next 20 years.

In 1964, representatives from the Broadmoor went to Switzerland and contracted with the Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works to provide two self-contained diesel-electric train cars which were instant successes. The railway also hired a young Swiss engineer, Martin Frick, from Swiss Locomotive Works. Over the next 30 years, Frick modernized and expanded shop facilities, oversaw installation of new and modern switches throughout the yard and along the line, and even designed and built a snowplow with shop personnel. A master craftsman, he is fondly remembered.

In 1974 with a request for a train to carry over 200 people at a time, two “articulated” railcars were sent from Switzerland. These cars resemble the smaller single cars but are joined by “bellows” in the middle, which allow for sharper curves on the tracks. Newer switches and “passing tracks” allowed more trains to run each day and more people to enjoy the trip to the top of Pikes Peak. Growth and modernization has continued until the railroad was closed in 2018 for a complete renovation of the entire program, including: new tracks, ties, switch and passing tracks, and equipment that is updated within the depot and support facilities. The highly anticipated grand reopening of the railway is appropriately planned for this year, 2021, the sesquicentennial year of Colorado Springs.

Generously Submitted by John Orsborn, CSPM Volunteer Educator

Founded in 1874, CSHS/Palmer High School is recognized internationally for diversity and academic success. This includes 2017 Shawn Wybrant, National Teacher of the Year, International Baccalaureate program and one of Newsweek’s top five high schools in America. As of 2020, graduates numbered 41,787. Five students graduated in 1879. In 1959, Colorado Springs High School was renamed William J. Palmer High School in honor of the city’s founder. America’s largest most active alumni association was established in 1984.

Located at Bijou and Cascade, Old Stone School House was the first permanent school. A bell tower, with a clock on all four sides, was first thing seen by travelers arriving in town on General Palmer’s Denver Rio Grande Railroad. Considered second to none in the Territory of Colorado, for grades one through twelve, it was overcrowded within a year. The building was severely damaged by fire on January 13, 1890. The Congregational Church hosted classes.

On January 9, 1893, a new school at Platte and Weber opened at a cost of $100,000. The Romanesque architecture and pressed brick exterior building had 17 rooms. The tower held a 2,800 pound bell Cast in 1879. On May 16, 1940, bonds were approved $609,000 for construction and $60,000 for embellishments, to provide a new building that opened, as one of the West’s most attractive architectural school designs by Edward L. Bunts, class of 1921.

An English bulldog named Elmer was mascot from 1919 -1928, a traditional Indian followed. In 1945, student, Don Willis, drew an Indian caricature: Eagle Beak, who became the emblem of the Terrors. Out of respect for Native Americans, in 1987 Eagle Beak became a Bald Eagle known as Eagle Beak II.
The Lever newspaper was first published in 1887. School colors were adopted in 1892: brown for the mountains, white for the snow. The name “Terrors” adopted in 1920 was acquired in the 1890’s representing the skill of the athletic teams who “terrorized” their opponents. Fred C. Fink, band director, wrote the “Terror Fight Song” in 1923. The Terror Legend was composed in 1928 by art teacher Pansy Dawes for Homecoming which included a bonfire.

1950 -2020 a growing town created the need for expanding school facilities and programs. The campus covers 3 city blocks. Tradition, Diversity and Excellence are the school trademarks.

Generously Submitted by Marjorie Swearingen Erickson, Historian & CSHS/Palmer Alumni Association

When Charles Leaming Tutt arrived in Colorado Springs in 1884, he was all of 20 years old. As one family member noted, “He came west to grow up with the country.” After returning to Philadelphia in 1886 to marry fiancé Josephine Thayer, the couple lived on North Weber Street and Tutt started a real estate business which eventually expanded to include branch offices in Pueblo and Cripple Creek.

In December 1891, after news of the rich gold strikes in the Cripple Creek/Victor area, Tutt “teamed it over the mountains” to stake a claim. A family story describes how he “went in” with another prospector on a mine but soon had second thoughts. He offered to buy his partner’s ½ stake or sell his own. The partner sold out for $50 and Tutt found himself the sole owner of the COD Mine.

Meanwhile, after graduating from Harvard University, Spencer Penrose headed west with a $2,000 gift from his father. He visited Texas where his brother Dr. R.A.F. Penrose Jr. was conducting geological surveys, then moved on to Las Cruces, New Mexico where he failed at a series of businesses including: real estate, mining, orchards and cattle.

After selling his interests in New Mexico he arrive in Colorado Springs virtually penniless. Old family friend Charles L. Tutt asked Penrose to oversee the day-to-day operations of his businesses in Cripple Creek. The Penrose & Tutt partnership was born – an association that would transform both of their lives and reshape the Pikes Peak region.

Tutt and Penrose sold the C.O.D. mine in 1895, wanting to expand into related industries. They brought on additional partners, including Charles MacNeill, an experienced mill manager hired to oversee the operations of the Colorado-Philadelphia Reduction Company.

Another important associate was Spencer Penrose’s brother, Dr. R.A.F. Penrose Jr. The first student in Harvard history to earn a Ph.D. in geology, R.A.F. was a renowned expert in his field. He refused to invest in Spencer’s earlier Cripple Creek projects because he felt his previous work for the United States Geological Surveys there was a conflict of interest. However, by 1903 R.A.F. had “retired” from survey work and focused instead on consulting.

R.A.F. joined Spencer, Tutt, and MacNeill in backing Daniel C. Jackling’s daring plan to mine low-grade copper ore in Bingham Canyon, Utah. Along with others, they formed the Utah Copper Company. The venture proved tremendously successful and Utah Copper was eventually purchased in part, and later in whole by Kennecott Copper. Interestingly, the bulk of partners’ fortunes – including Spencer Penrose – was made through copper mining in Utah, not gold mining in Colorado.

Submitted by Leah Davis Witherow, CSPM Curator of History