| Cripple Creek
It is 46 miles from Salida, Colorado to Cripple Creek for a bird, but we had to drive around mountains so it took us 109 miles - north on highway US 285, east on highway US 24, south on highway CO 67, by the west side of Pikes Peak, over a 10,000 plus foot mountain and finally we dropped into Cripple Creek at an elevation of 9,494 feet. We had been in Cripple Creek ten years ago and have always wanted to return and stay longer. We selected Eagles Landing RV Park for our seven day stay because it is in the middle of the town, but its not much more than a dirt parking lot with hookups and has the worst WiFi I've ever experienced. In 1890, rancher Bob Womack discovered gold and thus began the last great gold rush in the lower 48 states. Cripple Creek and nearby Victor became known as The World's Greatest Gold Camp. Within four years what had been a quiet, serene cattle ranch was a booming gold camp with about 50,000 souls. In 1894 a fire burned down much of the town's builds and another fire that same year destroyed most of the rest of the buildings. The city fathers ordained the business district be built in brick and today those brick buildings line Bennett Avenue and house the modern day casinos. In its heyday the Cripple Creek and Victor Mining District had several lumber yards, over 40 assay offices and an equal number of brokerage firms, 80 doctors, 91 lawyers, 14 newspapers, 100 saloons and of course red-light districts. Electricity lighted the town in 1893 and it was one of the first towns in America to have electric lighting. Several celebrities either grew up there or spent time
in the mining district including Groucho Marks, Lowell Thomas, Texas Guinan,
Wyatt Earp, Jack Dempsey and Jack Johnson. In 1990, the voters of Colorado
approved gambling in three towns including Cripple Creek and the old brick
building that had been abandoned many years earlier were turned into modern
casinos. Today the population of Cripple Creek is just over 1,000 and nearby
Victor has about 400 souls. At the suggestion of friends Mike and Sandie
Porter we tried our luck at Bronco Billy's Casino and we did neither good
or bad, but we accumulated enough point to enjoy several nice meals. The
Porters drove over from their home in Colorado Springs one day and we met
at Bronco Billy's for a meal (their treat) and to play some slots. (More
on
the Porters later.)
Abandoned mines and collapsing buildings dot the country
side and we decided to drive from Cripple Creek to Victor to American Eagle
Mining to Goldfield and circle around a mountain back to Cripple Creek.
Along the trip we saw two informative signs and this is part of what they
displayed.
Everyone has heard of the California and Alaska gold rushes, but few people have heard of the Cripple Creek - Victor gold rush and the latter exceeded the combined output of the two most famous rushes. On our day trip we stopped to look at several old abandoned
gold mines and walked around those that were not fenced off. We turned
off the paved highway to drive a steep dirt and gravel road to overlook
the present day mining at the Cripple Creek & Victor Mining Company.
In the old days worker entered shafts to mine the valuable ore and today
large machines remove the mountains and haul it away. Looking down at the
operation the large earth moving machines looked like ants.
Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument Several miles northwest of Cripple Creek is Florissant
Fossil Beds National Monument, one of the largest and most varied fossil
beds in the world. Millions of years ago volcanic mudflows blanketed parts
of the valley burying redwood trunks and creating a dam that caused We began at the visitor center where many fossils are
on display and then we hiked the one mile Petrified Forest Loop. Ancient
redwood trees stumps are in plain sight, but the fossils are underground
and of course we were not allowed to dig. Once petrified wood covered the
valley but it was hauled away years ago by souvenir seekers. However, paleontologists
have collected more than 50,000 specimens for museums and universities
around the world.
Colorado Springs Mike and Sandie Porter own a 2005 Dutch Star similar to
our motorhome and Mike and I have corresponded often by email. We met them
in person for the first time in Laughlin, Nevada earlier this year and
they told us when we got to Colorado Spring to give them a call and they
would be our tour guides to show us the highlights of their city. We met
at their home and then took off for a full day of sightseeing.
Our first stop was the beautiful United States Air Force Academy. We toured the visitor center where the history of the Air Force is depicted in displays and exhibits and we continued to walk around part of the campus. The Cadet Chapel was the highlight of our visit. It was in the planning stage five years and was completed in 1963 after four years of construction. Within the one structure is a Protestant Chapel seating 1200 people and a 120 seat choir loft; a Catholic Chapel seating 500 people and an 80 seat choir loft; a Jewish Chapel seating 100 and an All Faiths Room for the use of all other faith groups. The Protestant Chapel's walls have 24 shades of stained glass with 24,000 pieces of glass and 35 percent is chipped to give a jewel-like appearance. The alter and pulpit are made of marble. The organ has 83 ranks with 67 stops controlling 4,334 pipes, the largest is 32 feet high, dwarfing the smallest which are pencil-like in shape. The Catholic Chapel's sidewalls are panels of amber glass alternating with accent windows of stained, hand-faceted glass in multi-colored random shapes. Marble sculptures and the 14 Stations of the Cross grace the chapel and the marble is Italian Carrera from the same quarries Michelangelo used in his work. The organ features 36 ranks and 29 stops to control its 1,950 pipes. The Jewish Chapel's walls are purple-violet glass panels alternating with accent windows of green and blue glass. The foyer floor is paved in Jerusalem stone, a donation from the Israeli Defense Forces. As you can tell, we were impressed with the beautiful
United States Air Force Academy Chapel.
Our next stop was Garden of the Gods, a free city park
with magnificent red sandstone formations. We stopped at the visitor center
and then walked along the park's trails and often stopped to watch rock
climbers.
Before leaving the park we stopped at the Garden of the Gods Trading Post
and Linda bought a pair of shoes. The trading post has been in operation
about 100 years.
Old Town is a restored district of historic houses and stores. The town was originally named Colorado City in 1859 when it was part of El Paso County, Kansas. The first Colorado Legislative Assembly met in Colorado City in 1861 and found the building too small for a meeting so they moved to Denver. The building where they had scheduled to meet is still standing and is sometimes mistakenly called the First State Capitol of Colorado. A block from the old "Capitol" is Michael Garman's Productions,
a combination museum and store. Garman sculptures include individual figures
and sidewalk scenes depicting America or as Garman calls them "Art for
the people." The sidewalk scenes include magical hologram-type illusions
and constantly changing scenes with computer controls. Garman's works look
life-like and in my humble opinion they look like Norman Rockwell paintings
coming to life. After studying each scene a few minutes I would walk away
and look back and see something different. I wish I could have gotten some
good pictures of the sidewalk scenes but the camera blurred most of the
pictures.
Our final stop in Colorado Springs was the Fallen Firefighters'
Memorial. At large statue of a firefighter rescuing a child stands in front
of To end of fun packed day of touring Colorado Springs, Mike and Sandie took us to their favorite German restaurant. What a way to end the day - a delicious meal with friends. |
