A T U R N K E Y K I T F O R CELEBRATING COS150 Celebrate with us! R E S T A U R A N T S & H O S P I T A L I T Y www.coloradosprings.gov/150 About the Sesquicentennial On July 31, 2021, we will celebrate the 150th Birthday of the City of Colorado Springs. It was on this day, a century-and-a -half ago, that a stake was driven at the corner of Pikes Peak and Cascade Avenues. In the year 2021, we celebrate our city's Western Heritage, our native populations, women's suffrage, the entrepreneurial spirit and all that has come to pass in the growth of America's Most Desirable City. The City of Colorado Springs invites your business to celebrate with us! Getting Started: Pick a Theme Acti vation d Idea: ress a Have s the staff fea ir favo / serv ture t rite c ers hese harac storie ter, o s on r po menu Colorful Characters of the West sters! s or Katherine Lee Bates: At the turn of the century, inspired by a trip to the summit of Pikes Peak, Katharine Lee Bates penned what has become our country's most famous poem and song, "America the Beautiful." “Bathhouse" John Coughlin, a summer resident of Colorado Springs and proprietor of Zoo Park - perhaps the city's greatest attraction from 1906-15. Later a Chicago alderman, Coughlin had been a "scrubber" in a bathhouse as a teen and carried the moniker to his grave. He purchased a home on Cheyenne Road - now West Cheyenne Road - as his summer residence.In 1906, he opened Zoo Park, the "Coney Island of the West," to rave reviews. The star attraction among the over 100 animals in the menagerie was Princess Alice, an elephant that drank a pint of whiskey a day. The pickled pachyderm had been obtained from Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo after Coughlin had convinced the city council that maintaining two elephants was a waste of taxpayer money. “The Riding Master” Charles Collins came to Colorado Springs fin 1882. He worked as a waiter at the Antlers Hotel. However, in 1888 Collins placed an advertisement in the Colorado Springs Gazette announcing that he would be offering riding instruction at the city’s Athletic Grounds. To drum up business, he staged an exhibition of his superb horsemanship skills accompanied by “musical fanfare.” More than 100 people attended. Collins was recognized as The Riding Master of Colorado Springs. In less than a month, he expanded riding lessons from three to six days a week. By March of 1890, his school became so successful that he quit his position as Headwaiter at the Antlers Hotel in order to devote his full attention to it. A natural showman, he was an especially popular fixture during Colorado Spring’s annual Flower Carnival Parade, which was the highlight of the social season. In the September 1898 parade, Collins rode in a two wheel carriage with his wife Evline. She was dressed elegantly in a red gown, while Charles was dressed in a light suit with a red band on his signature black hat. Julia Archibald Holmes is credited with being the first woman to climb the 14,115 foot peak and document the trip. As staunch advocate for women’s rights, Julia scandalized fellow members of her party by wearing the highly controversial “Bloomer Costume,” walking instead of traveling in a wagon, and volunteering for the men’s-only job of guarding cattle at night.The “Bloomer costume” seen here belonged to Anna Bartlett Taylor, a Quaker from New York, and grandmother of Prudence Sinton Mick of the Sinton Dairy family in Colorado Springs. Most men and women of the era thought the costume disgraceful, as the shorter skirt with pantaloons underneath was thought to accentuate women’s legs, previously unseen under long and heavy skirts. Floyd Lindstrom: For his acts of valor on the hills near Mignano, Italy on November 11, 1943, Lindstrom was nominated for the Medal of Honor. He charged at a Nazi machine gun nest with a single revolver and broke up the German counterattack. Unfortunately, Lindstrom was awarded the nation’s highest honor posthumously. He was killed by enemy fire in the Battle of Anzio on February 3, 1944. Originally buried in Italy, Lindstrom was later disinterred and reburied at Evergreen Cemetery in Colorado Springs. In addition to the Medal of Honor, Floyd K. Lindstrom was also awarded the Purple Heart and two Italian Military Crosses. General William and Queenie Palmer: William Jackson Palmer was a Civil War general, railroad tycoon, and founder of Colorado Springs. A Quaker from Delaware, Palmer fought for the Union Army during the Civil War. After the war, he moved west and became a civil engineer and philanthropist who played an integral part in Colorado’s development. As the founder and owner of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, Palmer helped stimulate economic growth as well as the expansion of transportation in the American West during the late nineteenth century. Palmer is also well known for his philanthropy, which included the founding of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and other institutions for the public benefit. Palmer's wife, Queenie was unable to spend much time in the city he founded and usually remained in London due to health reasons. Spencer Penrose, made his first fortune in Cripple Creek. He used his vast resources to build the Pikes Peak and Cheyenne Mountain Highways and to establish the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, Will Rogers Shrine and The Broadmoor Hotel. He and his wife, Julie Penrose, created the El Pomar Foundation, which still supports many worthy causes in the Pikes Peak region and across Colorado. Zebulon Pike: Ironically, the man for whom America's Mountain is named, never actually summited it. Pike joined the army in 1794 at age 15. In 1806, Pike and a party of soldiers were sent to explore the unknown far west in order to find where the Arkansas River began. In November of that year, Pike spotted what he called “a small blue cloud,” which turned out to be what would later be named Pike’s Peak. Pike wanted to explore the mountain he had seen, so he set out with a party through bitter cold and waist-deep snow to find the mountain. Pike never climbed the mountain named in his honor, however; perhaps partly due to the heavy snows, Pike believed that the mountain could not be climbed. Nikola Tesla: Underappreciated genius, mad scientist, or just madman? Nikola Tesla was born to Serbian parents in Croatia in 1856. After studying engineering, Tesla took a job in Paris in 1882 with the Continental Edison Company. Tesla developed patents for an AC motor, generators, transformers and lights. After a fire destroyed Tesla’s laboratory, he moved to Colorado with the promise of free land and electricity. When Tesla arrived in 1899, he was a world famous scientist on the forefront of energy transmission and wireless telegraphy. When asked about his plans he replied, “I propose to send a message from Pike’s Peak to Paris.” An oft-repeated tale describes how Tesla’s experiments “blew the town’s power supply and created a blackout.” However, there is no evidence to support this. For more about these colorful characters and others,visit "The Story of Us," webpage, presented by the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum at https://cspmstoryofus.com/. Activa tion Id sto ea: Pl ries ar ace ar fe ound t or aturin your b g the usine g se rea ss uests sons, what and as THEIR k were reaso Reasons for Roving for co ns ming! Why did people settle in Colorado Springs to begin with? “The Ute Tribe: Long before the gold rush, and before General Palmer arrived this area was home to the Ute, Cheyenne, Arapaho and Apache peoples. The tribe's oral traditions speak to their creation occurring at Garden of the Gods. The Ute name for Pikes Peak is Tava. Tava is the first mountain along the Front Range to have the sun shine on it at dawn and Tava is situated in what is known to the Ute people as, “The Shining Mountains.” The Ute spent their summers there as nomadic hunter-gatherers. They would then travel via Ute Pass to visit the hot springs where they "made offerings to the spirits for good health and good hunting." From the base of Tava the Ute would begin a journey eastward to hunt buffalo while often gathering in a sacred land now known as the Black Forest. (credit: ColoradoSpringsPowwow.org) The "Pikes Peak Gold Rush" first brought prospectors who were actually headed for California’s gold country who panned small amounts of gold along the South Platte River in Colorado. Compared to visions of unlimited wealth coming out of the Mother Lode in California, little interest was given to these newly discovered placers, and the gold seekers continued westward. In the 1890s, gold was discovered on the western slopes of Pikes Peak and word quickly spread, attracting men from all around the country to the area. An estimated 100,000 people originally left in search of Colorado gold. Travelers would paint “Pike’s Peak or Bust” on the side of their wagons as the ventured across the country. As a result, by the turn of the 19th century, Colorado Springs was called "the city of millionaires." Searching for a cure for TB: Although first founded on the hope of being a resort town high in the mountains, the popularization of Colorado Springs as a healing town came when the gold rush was waning in the 1870s.