Now picture how the first Native
Americans must have seen this valley as they traveled from the plains. The verdant box
canon, nestled into the foothills of the great peak, was full of game, attracted by the
meandering creek and the surrounding springs. Deposits of minerals dating back thousands
of years had created large natural basins into which the soda water erupted and then
overflowed into the stream. As one approached, a deep rumbling could be heard, as the
gases and water boiled up from the depths. Large groves of cottonwoods and picturesque
boulders completed the picture. You can understand why the native tribes considered this a
sacred place where the spirits of the gods and men interacted.
The Nations of the Ute, Arapaho, Cheyenne and Kiowa were all
frequent visitors to this neutral ground; a place where anyone could relieve their
physical ailments without the worry of defending themselves. The Indian diet was
especially hard on the digestive tract for which the soda water was a perfect tonic. It
also had a miraculous effect on dry skin. Signs of gratitude and worship were said to
surround the springs in the form of beads, clothing, weapons, and talismans.
The United States first came to know about the springs with the
1803 purchase of the Louisiana Territory from Napoleon. President Thomas Jefferson ordered
several military surveys of the area, of which Lewis and Clark's is the most
famous.
Lieutenant Zebulon Montgomery Pike explored the southwest portion of the Territory in 1806
and, though he never climbed the peak that bears his name, he did publish a report that
attracted a lot of interest to the area. Major Stephen H. Long arrived in 1820 and it was
the surgeon of his party, Doctor Edwin James, who finally conquered the peak and wrote
glowingly of the health benefits of the mineral waters. Daniel Boone's grandson, Colonel
A.G. Boone, visited the springs in the winter of 1833 as the first cure seeker. Brevet
Captain John C. Fremont, the "Pathfinder of the West, passed through in 1842 on what
is now called Fremont's trail. Perhaps the most exciting and influential book to include a
description of the area was "Adventures in Mexico and the Rocky Mountains",
written by George F. Ruxton, a Lieutenant in the British army, whose pleasant 1847 visit
to the boiling springs was interrupted by a forest fire set by hostile Indians.
The native tribes had become increasingly unhappy with the influx of
visitors to their holy places and this problem multiplied when gold was discovered in the
mountains in 1858, making Ute Pass a convenient road to the gold fields. Horace and
Augusta Tabor camped in Manitou on their way to destiny in Leadville. The inevitable
conflicts between white settlers and the Native Americans didn't end until the Cheyennes
and Arapahos were removed to a reservation in 1868. The Mountain Utes remained friendly
and continued to camp at their sacred springs until 1879, when they too were relocated.
Between 1859 and 1868, the springs and surrounding valley passed
through the hands of roughly a dozen men, including the infamous Colonel John
Chivington,
perpetrator of the 
Sand Creek Massacre. Then, in 1868, General William Jackson Palmer, a
veteran of the Civil War, and Dr. William A. Bell, an English gentleman and adventurer,
traveled to the area on a surveying expedition for the Kansas Pacific Railway and noticed
the great natural potential for profit in the valley of the boiling springs. Palmer
already had visions of a vast railroad system stretching from Colorado to Mexico with new
towns dotting the route, one of which could be a marvelous health resort built on the fame
of these mineral springs. Within four years, the city of Colorado Springs had been founded
and La Font or "the fountain" was being laid out by John Blair, a noted
landscape designer from Chicago. William Blackmore, an English investor and friend of Dr.
Bell's, suggested that the name "Manitou", which he might have heard of through
Longfellow's poem Hiawatha, had a much more romantic ring to it than La Font. The name was
changed and the first hotel, the Manitou House, was opened by August of 1872. The city was
laid out just like a European Spa town, with public facilities, hotels, and parks
occupying the central core, and villa lots spreading out along the hillsides.
Unfortunately, the financial panic of 1873 hit Manitou especially hard and images of
beautiful villas evaporated into small wooden shops and cottages.
Even if the reality of Manitou
did not live up to the dreams of Bell and Palmer, it was nonetheless a popular and
successful health resort. By the end of the 1890's, the town could boast of a magnificent
Queen-Anne style Bath House, a large bottling plant for the ever popular Manitou Table
Water and Ginger Champagne, seven elegant hotels (the Barker House and the Cliff House
still exist), two railroad connections, numerous spring pavilions, the engineering marvel
of the Manitou and Pikes Peak Cog Railroad and the many natural attractions of the area,
like the Cave of the Winds and Garden of the Gods. Each summer, families would arrive with
trunks full of clothing, ready to enjoy the area for months. Hack drivers offered buggy
rides to all the sights and, for the more adventurous, there was the burro trail to the
summit of Pikes Peak for a view of the sunrise. Each 
hotel hired popular bands of the time
to play during meals and at the hops (casual dances) to which all guests of the town were
invited. Gentlemen would spend many a night at the private Hiawatha Gardens; an exclusive
casino and club. For those who could afford it, life at the "Saratoga of the
West" must have been a dreamy, pampered existence; like living in one of those hand
tinted postcards that sold so well at the local shops.
For the health seekers, usually tubercular patients, a stay in
Manitou Springs was a chance for a cure. These people were escaping the polluted air and
tainted food in the industrial cities for dry
mountain air and medicinal waters. Manitou
quickly became a town of doctors and the hillsides were dotted with tubercular huts and
tents, since the best treatments of the time included lots of fresh air. There was even
one female doctor, Dr. Harriet Leonard, the resident physician at the Bath House for many
years, who specialized in Russian Vapor Baths.
Many famous personalities of the day enjoyed the charms of the town,
like Presidents McKinley, Roosevelt and Ulysses S. Grant, who dedicated the Denver and Rio
Grand Depot in 1882. Grace Greenwood, a popular writer and early suffragette, built one of
the first cottages in town to which she brought many of her artistic and society friends
for the summers. P.T. Barnum, the photographer William Henry Jackson, Thomas Edison, and
Lilly Langtree all took the cure at the Manitou Soda Spring. John Nicolay and John Hay,
who had been President Lincoln's private secretaries, rented a cabin in the foothills
above town to write their best seller, "The Life of Abraham Lincoln". Jerome
Wheeler, a president of New York's famous Macy's Department Store, brought his wife here
in 1883 for her health. What he saw made him stay and his contributions to the town,
including the magnificent Town Clock, rivaled Dr. Bell's.
After the turn of the century, tourists began to replace health
seekers and Manitou Springs was forced to adapt. Tuberculoses was no longer a national
threat to health, making prescriptions for mineral water less popular. Thereafter, the
valley of the boiling springs was usually a stopover rather than a destination. Visitors
began to spend days rather than months and they wanted to be entertained with the latest
attractions. The Mount Manitou Incline, the Red Mountain Incline and the Cliff Dwellings
Museum date from this period. On a promontory north of downtown, a local entrepreneur
built Busby's Park, a small amusement park with a large dancehall, rides and a miniature
train. Not to be outdone, Hiawatha Gardens changed from a gambling parlor to a ballroom,
which booked well known acts like Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians and Fats Waller.
Rudolph Valentino even gave a dancing exhibition there. The once grand hotels were now
considered old fashioned and those that had not burned down were remodeled and
redecorated. Small rental cottages began to cluster around the larger houses as residents
decided to profit from the crush of summer visitors. The transitory nature of the visitor
also altered the makeup of the downtown business district from general stores and doctor's
offices to shops and ticket offices.
The advent of the automobile had the greatest impact on
this narrow valley. Of course, the streets and the businesses had been designed around the
horse. As cars became more popular, the many stables were turned into garages or torn
down. Manitou's position on the first intercontinental road system, known as the Ocean to
Ocean Highway, vastly increased the auto population and was the focus of the town's
advertising campaigns for years. With this new form of transportation came the autocourt
motel, a modern accommodation intended to keep the tourists as close to their cars as
possible, even as they slept. There were four different types of autocourt motels, all of
which are still represented on the east end of Manitou Avenue. During the Second World
War, Manitou's new motels, old hotels and large Victorian residences became housing for
soldiers stationed at nearby Fort Carson, who were kept well entertained by swing bands
like Tommy Dorsey's.
After the war, Manitou Springs experienced the same rapid growth and
change in lifestyles as the rest of the country. The Fifties brought an economic boom to
the area, but in the 1960's U.S. 24 bypassed the town, leaving family-run businesses to
cope with the decreased traffic. Aluminum and plastic storefronts began to replace the
stone facades and older homes became rentals as newer developments were built on the edges
of town. The counterculture movement found an accepting home here and alternative
lifestyles are still appreciated. Even the mineral springs were capped off as nuisances
and their locations were paved over or ignored.
With the 1980's came a revival of all that makes this valley a
special place to live and visit. The formation of a National Historic District (one of the
largest west of the Mississippi) spurred the restoration of many commercial buildings as
well as the older homes surrounding them. An art colony began to grow and prosper with the
founding of Commonwheel Artist's Coop and the Business of Art Center. Tourists
rediscovered the charms of all the traditional attractions, plus a new emphasis on outdoor
activities like the Intemann Trail. The family-run motels continued to offer small town
hospitality while more and more Bed and Breakfasts joined their ranks. New residents were
attracted to Manitou Springs by its visual beauty and quality of life, creating a renewed
sense of pride and volunteerism. The ultimate symbol of this renewal is the resurrection
of the springs by the Mineral Springs Foundation, organized in 1987. Now, thanks to their
efforts, most of the traditional mineral springs are once again accessible, surrounded by
their restored pavilions, and safe to drink. Please don't forget to sample the waters from
which our town began.
Deborah Harrison
Historic Manitou, Inc.
References
Cunningham, "Manitou, Saratoga of the West"
Daniels and McConnell, "The Springs of Manitou"
The City of Manitou Springs, "Design Guidelines Handbook"
