Cascade Victorians

The Olde Poste Cottage and the Cascade Ranger Station are part of South Central Colorado’s rich late 19th century history by virtue of their geographic location in the Ute Pass corridor as well as their minor role in the Ute Pass government service.

Ute Pass skirts the north side of Pikes Peak and climbs about 3,000 feet from Manitou Springs to its summit at the Hayman Divide (where the Woods live at 9,300 feet). The Ute Pass Trail began as a bison trail that connected the prairie with the meadows of South Park. El Paso (Spanish for "the pass") County was named for the Ute Pass Trail, worn into a wide road by migrating Indians traveling with horses and dragging their teepee poles up and down the Pass.

Mountain men, explorers and prospectors hauling freight wagons expanded it to a wagon road.

Cascade is the first small town in the ascent of the Ute Pass corridor, and is home to many transplants from the lowlands of Colorado Springs and beyond. But the present residents were preceded long before by the Ute Indians. The Utes are the only Native Americans indigenous to the State of Colorado. They are believed to be one of the first North American aboriginal groups to use horses in great numbers. Though regarded as "generally friendly," the Ute Nation sometimes fought with their traditional enemies, the Plains’ Apache, Navajo and Comanche tribes. On some occasions, the Utes met in peace with the Plains Indians at the place where the spirit of the “Great God Manitou” lived in bubbling springs at the base of Pikes Peak.

Mounted Ute hunting parties traveled long distances to seek buffalo, elk, deer, antelope and mountain sheep. Summers were spent in the mountains gathering fruits and grain. Grinding stones found at the Garden of the Gods suggest that groups would gather there after their hunts to process their meat and tan hides.

At the age of 17, Ouray became chief of the Uncompahgre Tribe of the Ute Nation. Because of his diverse background and his mastery of Spanish and English, in addition to the Ute language with its different dialects, Chief Ouray was instrumental to Ute communications with the incoming Easterners, including those with the "Great White Father" in Washington D.C. Ouray and his wife Chipeta traveled to Washington for land and treaty negotiations and met with Presidents Grant and Hayes. Under his leadership, the Utes were friendly to Colorado newcomers as the U.S. government negotiated treaties to “share” Ute land.

Chief Ouray & Chipeta

In 1879 a small group of Utes finally retaliated against their treatment in what is known as the "Meeker Massacre". As a result of this incident, by 1882, all Utes were confined on reservations.

The Utes would not be allowed to return to the Pikes Peak area until 1911, when a group of Southern Utes were escorted to Colorado Springs to participate in a festival. Once again the proud mountain people rode down Ute Pass to dance and camp in the Garden of the Gods. In 1912 the Ute Pass Trail was formally dedicated in a colorful ceremony in which the Utes rode down the Trail for the last time.

Chief Ouray died in Utah in 1880. Chipeta, acclaimed all over America as an Indian heroine, survived on the reservation until 1924. Chief Ouray's body was originally buried, wrapped in a blanket, in a cave. Forty five years later the US Government wanted to create a memorial to the great leader and, Chief Colorow, the only survivor who knew where his body was, informed the Bureau of Indian Affairs of the location. The US Government retrieved the remains of both Ouray and Chipeta and held a funeral with many dignitaries attending. Since Chief Ouray was raised Catholic, but later converted to Protestantism, his body was laid to rest "half on the Catholic side, and half on the Protestant side” in Ignacio Cemetery, Ignacio, La Plata County.

Chief Ouray’s Funeral

In 1888, with the Pikes Peak region secure from Indian raids and with pressure from the growing populations west of Colorado Springs, James Hagerman1, the first president of the Colorado Midland Railway, put in tracks to service the mining operations in Cripple Creek, Victor and beyond. The railroad was difficult to operate at the best of times, and in winter it was often nearly impossible: The 1899 Blizzard closed the line over Hagerman Pass for 77 days. The ascent from Colorado Springs to Divide was also severe, with several stretches of 4% grade and extreme curves.

In the coming years the Midland provided transportation for many local commodities as well as passengers. Woodland Park served the timber industry of the Manitou Park area. Livestock was handled through Hartsel with key loading points at Florissant, Carbondale, De Beque, New Castle and Spinney. Midland trains hauled potatoes and lettuce from Divide and large hay tonnage from South Park. The Santa Fe Railroad, interested in the gold discoveries at Cripple Creek, decided to exploit its new traffic opportunities. In August 1892, the Midland Terminal was incorporated with a tie-in at Divide. Although originally started as a narrow gauge line, the standard gauge Midland Terminal reached Victor in December, 1894 and Cripple Creek a year later. With large quantities of outbound ore and inbound freight of merchandise, lumber, mine timbers, coal and mining supplies adding to the traffic, two daily passenger trains were also added with through sleeper service to Denver.

After surviving the challenges of World War I, with heavy competition from the Santa Fe Railroad, the Colorado Midland was finally dismantled, deeding its right-of-ways to the State of Colorado for highway purposes. All the company's debts were discharged, and, at the last directors meeting, April 28, 1922, the final liquidating dividend was declared, giving the investors a 135% return on their investment. Thus, in its death, the Colorado Midland finally provided the big profits that James J. Hagerman had expected it to pay when it began.

The Midland’s effect remains: by penetrating the Colorado Rockies with the first standard gauge railroad in the region, the Colorado Midland stimulated the economic development of that rich territory. Today Midland’s railroad tracks are gone (Two rails remain on the left side of the driveway) and the Ute Trail wagon road is Highway 24.

1 Hagerman Ave is the unpaved road on the hill behind the Ranger Station. The first town on the Highway 24 Ute Pass corridor is Cascade, named for Fountain Creek’s cascades and many waterfalls in the area. In the 1800’s, this community was the site of summer homes for the influential. Low-lander Kansans and Coloradans would escape the hot and dusty plains of summer to the shady forests of Ute Pass.

Robert's Saloon offered libations to thirsty travelers as early as 1859. Before long, Easterners began to discover the secrets of Ute Pass. Within four short years, three resort towns sprang up on Ute Pass to accommodate the vacationers from the East and day-trippers from Colorado Springs. The Ramona Hotel in Cascade, a water stop for stagecoaches and railroads, hosted regular Saturday night dances, entertained by elite orchestras.

In 1889, the Pikes Peak carriage road was constructed from Cascade to the top of Pikes Peak. Financed by Spencer Penrose at a cost of $500,000, the 19-mile Pikes Peak Highway was com- pleted in 1915. The bottom third is paved while the upper portion is gravel. The gravel portion is home to the annual Pikes Peak International Hillclimb. Pursuant to a recent settlement agreed by the Sierra Club and the City of Colorado Springs, the unpaved portion of the Pikes Peak Highway is slated to become a hard-surface road, despite concerns that it will radically change the nature of the Pikes Peak Hillclimb. Stated completion date for the paving project is 2010. The 1889 "Old Curiosity Shop" now has its namesake at the Ute Pass Historical Society's retail store in Woodland Park.2 It was situated near the Colorado Midland Railroad and the old Ute Indian Trail.

Old Curiosity Shop

The Cascade Post Office opened on August 16, 1887. What is now the Olde Poste Cottage served as the Post-Mistress’ residence and center of local communication for many years.

2 The Ute Pass Historical Society’s Old Curiosity Shop carries books, videos, audio tapes, maps and gift items relating to the history of the Ute Pass and Pikes Peak area. The UPHS Old Curiosity Shop is located in Woodland Park at the Ute Pass Cultural Center at 210 East Midland Avenue.

The Ranger Station provided a central point of the area’s forest and wildlife management. As we’ve worked to restore the Olde Poste and Cascade Ranger Station, many local residents have stopped by to reminisce and relate their childhood memories: “My grandmother was a post- mistress at the Post Office.” “My grandfather, a Russian immigrant, planted those trees.” “My sister and I played in the front yard.” “My grandparents lived in the Ranger Station.”

Today Cascade retains its peaceful and historic quality,3 and we welcome our guests to kick back and rest a bit, and take time to enjoy the natural wonders of the Ute Pass and the Pikes Peak region.

We trust you will have a wonderful time here.

Your hosts, George & Lynn Wood Gary & Nancy Vasek Happy Trails Vacation Rentals

3 Click here for a bit of not-so-peaceful local history