Isabella Bird had the pioneer spirit unlike any woman of her age. She was an avid horsewoman, photographer, writer, and naturalist. Born in 1831, as a child she was told she was sickly and that fresh air and travel were the cure. Taking her doctor’s advice to the extreme, she traveled all over the world […]
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The “Pioneer Profiles” series explores some of the interesting characters that define Colorado history. This article discusses the life of Spencer Penrose. *** Spencer Penrose got a rather inauspicious debut in Colorado Springs. Fresh from a Harvard education that taught him little but decent boxing skills, Penrose had been eking out a living in Cripple
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Charles Fox Gardiner grew up in a rich family where he was coddled and spoiled. Because he was a sickly child, his parents didn’t force him to go to school. Instead, they took him with them as they traveled in Europe. During one such trip in 1870, he looked out his hotel window in Germany
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This series, “Pioneer Profiles,” explores some of the interesting characters that define Colorado history. *** Chipeta, a quiet, amenable woman, never expected to serve in a chief-like role among the Ute people, but many historians view her as an icon of female strength in the late 1800s. Married to Chief Ouray, this power couple served
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Fannie Mae Duncan may have arrived in Colorado Springs 50 years after our city’s founders, but she was a pioneer in ways many people couldn’t fathom at the time. She ignored social constructions and paved the way not just for women, but for people of color during a time when Colorado Springs really needed it. She was
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You may have wondered about the interesting giant steel sculpture in front of the parking garage in central downtown Colorado Springs. It’s a clock! Since it’s only the hands, you may need to take a second look. The creator of that clock was one of the more interesting characters of Colorado Springs history. Starr Kempf,
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One of the most secretly influential pioneers of Colorado Springs was quite literally a “pillar of the community,” Thomas MacLaren. Born the last of eleven children to a Scottish farmer in 1863, MacLaren was encouraged, along with his brother James, to attend college. Both MacLarens became architects after attending the Royal College of Art. James
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After attaining the rank of Major in the Civil War, Henry McAllister maintained the friendship of his cohort, General William Jackson Palmer, and at Palmer’s request, McAllister arrived in Colorado Springs in 1872, shortly after the city’s founding. He fell in love with the Rockies and loved looking up at Pikes Peak. He spent a
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If you haven’t had a chance to get to the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum lately, an exhibit well worth your time awaits. It’s called “The Story of Us,” and it features the city’s history in an interactive, non-traditional way by representing our history through the alphabet, one letter at a time. Here’s a snapshot of
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Winfield Scott Stratton, Part 3: A Testament to a Legacy Continued from: Part 1: “A Test of Faith” Part 2: “Independence and Influence” Winfield Scott Stratton’s life had been directed by prophetic dreams: when he was a kid, he dreamed he would leave his hometown of Jeffersonville, Indiana to seek his fortune in Colorado. As
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