Engine No. 168's long , eventful, historic life — more to follow

 

By Rob Carrigan, robcarrigan1@gmail.com

From transporting President  "Big Bill" Taft at the head of a special train taking him to the opening of the Gunnison Tunnel, which at the time, was the longest irrigation tunnel in the world, to a Colorado Springs symbol of progress, commerce and civilization, Engine No. 168 of the Denver and Rio Grande railroad, has had a long and eventful, historic life — and it seems there is more to follow.

"On March 10, 2015, the City Council of Colorado Springs approved a lease agreement between the city and the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad (C&TSRR) for the restoration of Steam Locomotive #168, which is on display in Antlers Park. C&TSRR proposes to remove the locomotive from its current static display, restore the engine to working condition, and operate it as part of their “museum on wheels.” When the restoration is complete the locomotive will become an integral part of a truly historical railroad composed of vintage steam locomotives and restored historic passenger cars dating back to the 1880s," says the city's site.

"It will operate on the railroad’s 64-mile stretch of track, which is the last surviving portion of the narrow gauge rail line operated by Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. The lease agreement requires that #168 retain its National Register designation and continue to serve as a memorial to Gen. William Jackson Palmer, the visionary that founded both Colorado Springs and the Denver & Rio Grande. As a result of the action taken on March 10, the C&TSRR will now begin a review and approval process by the National Register of Historic Places.  That decision is expected by July. The locomotive will remain in place until that time. Once removed from display, the site in Antlers Park will be graded and seeded with turf grass," according to the city.

"The steam locomotive in Antlers Park is known affectionately as “Old 168.” The engine was manufactured in Philadelphia in 1883 by Baldwin Locomotive Works, and that year the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad (DRGW) purchased it, pulling the first DRGW passenger cars from Colorado Springs to Ogden, Utah. With its unusual, narrow gauge design, the locomotive was able to move through narrow canyons and rocky precipices. In service for 50 years, it was retired in 1933 due to reduced demand caused by the Great Depression and the availability of newer, more powerful steam locomotives.  

In 1938, the DRGW donated #168 to the City of Colorado Springs as a monument to the contributions of General William Jackson Palmer. In addition to founding Colorado Springs and creating a rich vision for an extensive community park system, Palmer also founded the Denver & Rio Grande (D&RG) and the DRGW Railroads, which were the economic lifeblood for southern Colorado and beyond.

The engine was donated and displayed in Antlers Park, adjacent to the former D&RG depot building.  It was one of the first monuments featuring a steam locomotive, and according to a 1938 Gazette article, it symbolized “progress, commerce and civilization.” With the exception of a brief period during the construction of the current Antlers Hotel in the 1960s, Old 168 has been a fixture in Antlers Park since 1938,"  says city information.        

 '168' is one of twelve similar locomotives built for the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad (D&RG) by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1883. It was built as a passenger locomotive, with 46 in drivers, the largest drivers used on any three foot gauge D&RGW locomotive. The large drivers made it suitable for relatively fast passenger service.

Various photographs show '168' during its working life. One shows it in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison River in 1904. Another shows it in Montrose, Colorado, west of Gunnison, at the head of a special train taking President William Howard Taft to the opening of the Gunnison Tunnel which, at the time, was the longest irrigation tunnel in the world. There are also photographs, taken by Otto Perry, showing it in Alamosa in 1923 and Salida in 1929. It was retired in 1938 after a service life of 55 years. 

 

The railroad gave it to the City of Colorado Springs on August 1, 1938. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Rio Grande Engine No. 168 in 1979. Although it sat in Antlers Park, unprotected from the elements, behind a low fence, for so many years, it appeared to be in immaculate cosmetic condition when removed for restoration to operating condition in early 2016.

The city has entered into an agreement with the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad (C&TSRR) to have the engine restored to working order. The locomotive is now located in Antonito, Colorado.

Restoration was completed in October 2019, says the restoration project which was managed by Cumbres and Toltec Special Projects department and led by Assistant General Manager Efstathios Papas. The project cost $508,000 and took 27 months to complete. The railroad intends to use this engine frequently and put it into normal service as much as possible, says  recent communication from the railroad.

Photographer Buckwalter ahead of his time, first in line

 

Harry Buckwalter poses in the basket of Ivy Baldwin's balloon at Elitch Gardens in Denver, Colorado.

X-Rays, balloons, documenting railroads, motion pictures, pioneer radio broadcasting

By Rob Carrigan, robcarrigan1@gmail.com

 Maybe he was ahead of his time, but it seems Colorado pioneer photographer Harry Hale Buckwalter always liked to be first in line. No matter what line he chose to stand in.

X-ray of the hand of Dr. Tennant taken by Buckwalter.

"Wow - why do we have x-ray photos in our digital collections?" says Randel Metz, Denver Public Library, blogger.

"Because Harry Hale Buckwalter, who made this photograph, had wide-ranging interests, among them x-ray photography, hot air ballooning, and high speed motion capture, three of his pursuits that played a role in his photographic career. The Harry Buckwalter collection of photographs is owned by History Colorado, and is part of the Library's Digital Collection as a result of the collaboration between our two institutions during the early phases of the project, back in the mid 1990s," explains Metz in his blog.

Buckwalter's film appeared and was all over the map of Colorado and beyond, documenting railroads, Native Americans, mining, ranching, President Theodore Roosevelt's Western Slope hunting trip, city scenes in Denver and Colorado Springs, the first X-ray photographs taken in Colorado, early Colorado motion picture production, and pioneer radio broadcasting, says Metz.

"Eric Paddock, Curator of Photography at what was then the Colorado Historical Society, says that Buckwalter's photographs "stand out among those of his contemporaries because they are eclectic and sometimes audacious, and because Buckwalter's personality and visionary charm show through in every print. While many other photographers single-mindedly pursued their specialized subjects, Buckwalter dabbled in every kind of photography, from portraits to landscapes and from spot views to aerial views... Buckwalter was fascinated by the technological developments of his day, and was quick to experiment with gadgets of all kinds. He was an inventor, a balloonist, a radio pioneer, and an eccentric gentleman scientist with a youthful sense of fun.... Buckwalter's sure knowledge of his subjects' importance made them noteworthy in their own time, and historically resonant in ours," says Metz.

"Photojournalist, radio reporter, and film producer Harry Buckwalter (1867–1930) is considered Colorado’s first photojournalist," according to Colorado historian William Jones. Jone's study of Buckwalter's work has appeared in multiple publications including Encyclopedia Colorado, and Colorado Heritage Magazine.

"He was also one of the great technological innovators of the nineteenth- and early twentieth-century American West, known for his advances in X-ray photography, early adoption of radio, and moving pictures. Buckwalter began his illustrious career as a reporter for Denver’s Rocky Mountain News," Jones says.

"In 1895 professor Wilhelm Roentgen’s announcement that he had discovered the means for X-ray photography created considerable public interest across the nation. The Rocky Mountain News, eager for an unusual story, decided to sponsor X-ray experiments. It turned to its young reporter, Harry Buckwalter, a skilled photographer who was keenly interested in science and technology, to conduct them. Readers of the Rocky Mountain News came to know him in 1894 for his vivid description of a solo balloon ride over Denver. The idea of taking X-ray pictures intrigued Buckwalter greatly. He teamed up with Dr. Chauncey E. Tennant of the Denver Homeopathic College and in February set to work on what would become some of the earliest successful X-ray photographs developed in the United States."

"Unable to locate a Crookes tube (named for William Crookes, a British scientist who worked with vacuum tubes), which was being used by X-ray experimenters on the East Coast, Tennant and Buckwalter decided to have tubes produced locally by the Diamond Incandescent Lamp Company. They encountered considerable difficulty producing tubes that could maintain the vacuum pressure necessary for X-ray photography, but by the first week of March 1896, they had several functioning tubes and attempted to make X-ray pictures. The first tube lost its vacuum at once, but the second tube produced exciting results. As reported in a front-page story in the Rocky Mountain News on March 9, 1896, “Another tube was then made, and it worked perfectly. Several negatives were made before it gave out. The principal one was that of Dr. Tennant’s hand, which was made in just five minutes, when the current was so great that a small hole was melted in the glass, destroying the vacuum,” Jones says.

"A third tube produced a view of several objects of varying densities, and the two X-ray photographs illustrated the story. Since the Rocky Mountain News had not begun to print halftone photographs yet, it was necessary to include an artist’s sketch of the X-ray photos. Until this time, most researchers had asserted that any glass used in the tubes must not contain lead, but the experiments of Buckwalter and Tennant had proven otherwise. The paper proudly proclaimed in its headlines, “Successful Experiments with Lead Glass Tubes Made by the News and Homeopathic College. Tubes made by a Denver Firm Give Much Better Results Than the Most Praised Product of Europe.” The experiments produced what were almost certainly the first X-ray pictures made west of the Mississippi and among the first in America. Buckwalter would have likely gone on to other news assignments, but publicity about the project quickly involved him in additional X-ray work."

According to Jones, "In spring 1896, an irate miner shot Central City marshal Mike Kelher during Kelher’s attempt to garnish the miner’s wages for an unpaid medical bill. Central City deputies rushed Kelher to Denver’s St. Luke’s Hospital. There, doctors determined that the bullet was very near to Kelher’s heart but were afraid to operate without knowledge of its exact location. The doctors asked Buckwalter and Tennant to locate the bullet by X-ray, and the pair agreed to make what was one of the first clinical X-ray pictures ever taken. The exposure successfully located the bullet, but the surgeons decided that it was impossible to remove and the marshal died a short time later."

"In fall 1896, Benjamin Lindsey, a young Denver attorney, approached Buckwalter and Tennant to request that they produce X-rays for a client involved in a malpractice case. They agreed, and in a landmark decision, their X-ray photograph became the first ever admitted as evidence in a court of law. James Smith was Lindsey’s client, a young man in his twenties. While trimming a tree, Smith had slipped from the ladder and fallen on his side. After experiencing considerable difficulty walking, Smith was treated by Dr. W. W. Grant, a well-respected physician and surgeon. Grant pronounced the problem a bruise or contusion of the muscles in Smith’s injured hip and advised exercise of those muscles. When Smith did not improve, he consulted another doctor who believed the problem stemmed from a fractured femur. Shortly thereafter, several other doctors advised Smith that Grant’s diagnosis might well be a case of malpractice. Smith retained Lindsey, who promptly filed a case against Grant in the District Court of Arapahoe County (now the District Court of Denver), on April 14, 1896. Buckwalter and Tennant produced X-ray photographs of Smith’s leg that showed a clear fracture of the femur, and the pair enjoyed national renown as the technicians behind the country’s first X-rays admitted in a court of law," says Jones.

After the Smith case, Jones says Buckwalter chose not to continue working in the field of radiology. 

"He quickly rose to the position of assistant city editor of the Rocky Mountain News, but within a few years he left the paper to work freelance. His photographs continued to appear in Denver’s papers for many years, but he also gained acclaim for his railroad photos as well as excellent mining and Native American scenes. In 1901 Buckwalter began making motion pictures, producing at least fifty short films over the next decade. Always an innovator, he was among the city’s first radio broadcasters during the early 1920s and an early radio dealer. Buckwalter died on March 7, 1930. A collection of Buckwalter’s glass plate negatives, including some of his early X-ray pictures, is housed in the History Colorado museum," from  William Jones, “Harry Buckwalter: Pioneer X-Ray Photographer,” Colorado Heritage Magazine 10, no. 1 (1990).

According to records Harry Hale Buckwalter was born in Reading, Pennsylvania to Andrew Collins and Mary Elizabeth (Ritter) Buckwalter. He left for the American West at the age of 16. In Colorado Springs he met his future wife, Carrie Emmajean Fuller, born in New York in 1868, whom he married in 1889. They moved to Denver and had two children, John in 1894 and Margaret in 1899.

In 1892, he became interested in photography and began his career at The Denver Republican as a printer, and then as a reporter and photographer at the Rocky Mountain News of Denver, the first daily newspaper founded in Colorado. His photos were first reproduced by artists using wood block illustrations, and later in halftone as printing technology in the region advanced.

In 1894, Buckwalter teamed with balloonist Ivy Baldwin for a series of aerial photographs of Colorado. 

Baldwin's balloon was not capable of lifting both men, so Buckwalter made a solo ascent launching from Elitch Gardens in Denver. His article "Dancing in the Air" and photographs of the experience was one of the first examples of photojournalism in the American West.

Buckwalter began making travelogues for railway companies documenting the scenes of the West. 

He experimented and made improvements to high speed camera shutter designs. Many of these early films were featured in Hale's Tours of the World, an early amusement ride that took place inside a replica train car. In 1900, Buckwalter started a collaboration with the director and producer William Selig, a filmmaker in Chicago and became the Western agent for Selig Polyscope Company, selling and distributing Selig projectors and films to theaters in the region. 

By 1902 Buckwalter founded a studio called Buckwalter Films and began directing and producing silent films shorts beginning with The Girls in the Overalls, a story of seven sisters who run a family ranch after the death of their parents, in one of the earliest western films in America.

The Royal Photographic Society awarded Panorama of the Royal Gorge and Panorama of Ute Pass top prize at an exhibit in 1903. Several of Buckwalter's documentary films were exhibited at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.

In 1905, Buckwalter was invited to film and document President Theodore Roosevelt's hunting trip in western Colorado. 

President Theodore Roosevelt and his hunting party on horseback near Glenwood Springs (Garfield County), Colorado.

In 1910 Buckwalter Films became part of General Film Company. His last known film, a documentary on the construction of the Panama Canal, was shot in 1913, while he was simultaneously carrying out a photographic report on the subject.

The History Colorado Center with the Denver Public Library hold a collection of Buckwalter's photos and glass plate negatives. Many of Buckwalter's films are considered lost.

Harry Buckwalter died on March 7, 1930, at the age of 63.

A group of men and women on a handcar on the Colorado Springs & Cripple Creek Railway, pause for a view into a valley, Teller County, Colorado.

Vidal family pose for the first western movie

The Vidal family

Creator(s): Buckwalter, Harry H.
Summary : Members of the Vidal family, seven women and one man, pose in front of a wood cabin on the set of a western movie. The women wear overalls and the man wears work pants and suspenders.
Date: August 2, 1902
Notes: "Photography - motion pictures "Girls in Overalls", Aug 2, 1902 .

The Vidal family who posed in the first western movie." handwritten on back of photoprint.
History Colorado, Buckwalter collection no. 664

From Colorado Film commission:
Regis Vidal settled on a 725-acre ranch near Gunnison, Colorado. Eight daughters and one son were born. As the family grew up times became hard and the father was compelled to borrow $15,000 on the ranch. He fell into the clutches of a money-lending shark and the worry caused his death. A year later the mother died, leaving the children even more deeply in debt. With true Western spirit the children decided to work the ranch themselves.
Filmography info:
Year: 1904
Name: The Girls in the Overalls
Production Company : Selig Polyscope Company
Type Of Production: Documentary Short
Genre: Short, Documentary
Director: Harry H. Buckwalter
Location: Gunnison, Colorado

"Harry Buckwalter was one of the first photojournalists and motion picture photographers in the American West. He began making films in Denver around 1900 and soon established a working relationship with William Selig, who would release his scenic views and primitive dramatic narratives for the next decade. Buckwalter's last known motion picture work involved filming Panama Canal construction in 1913, " wrote Denver, Colorado, historian Bill Jones in "Film History."

 

Rock, steel and doublejack: Two men pound out hole depth in 15 minutes

Men drive a steel at a miner's competition in Creede,  Colorado, 1913; they are identified as: "1. Roy Morgan," "2. Graves Plunket," "3. Pete Vedell," "4. Phil Bauer," and "5. Goodrow." Elk's Hall is a brick building; rocky crags are in the background. Denver Public Library Special Collections.

Rock drilling contest combined 'everyday skill' with world class talent in Colordo

 
 By Rob Carrigan, robcarrigan1@gmail.com

Rock-drilling matches began as natural progression of what miners did every day. The contests began at individual mines, then mining camps picked their favorites to appear against the best drillers of rival camps. Counties picked champions, who then appeared from a process of elimination, usually held during the latter part of the summer. The Fourth of July contest were for local interest only. The winners of county competitions would then meet at the annual Carnival of Mountain and Plain, held in Denver each October.

"It was these state contests that really put rock-drilling on a clean, businesslike basis," says driller contest expert Victor I. Noxon.

"Out of the mining camps of the American West, in a rather natural progression, came a contest of skill and endurance that lasted until the mining frontier itself had gone. Hard rock drilling contest provided spectators at fairs and exposition an exciting opportunity to wager, watch and cheer their champions. Some of the 'drillers' and their skills are described here by a man who saw 'the best' of them," as told by Victor I. Noxen to Forest Crossen, in Colorado Magazine, Volume XI (May, 1934), Colorado State Historical Society.

Miners in Central City, Colorado, are: "A. Frank Eccker" (swinging sledgehammer) and "E. J. Eccker" (turning drill). Men and boys watch the demonstration of mining techniques; brick buildings and timber retaining walls are in the background. 1946, Marty Anderson, photographer.

 
"I have taken a deep interest in hand rock-drilling contests for over fifty years. I have seen most of the best drillers — both single and double hand — that Colorado produced. My most intimate acquaintance was with the men of Clear Creek, Gilpin and Boulder counties who won honors in the early days at this highly colored and truly representative  test of mining skill. All this, of course, before the days of pneumatic drills," said Noxen, which appeared in reprinted version in historian Carl Ubbelohde's 1964 "Colorado Reader."

Noxen identified some of the best drillers he was familiar with in the early part of the last century. 

"William Libby and Charles Rowe of Idaho Springs were supreme among the local drillers for a number of years. They held state honors, too. They wer Cornish miners and they had a tremendous following among their countrymen. This was during the '80s," says Noxen.

"Rowe and Libby were small men, weighing about 135 pounds. They wer particularly skillful, more than making up for their lack of weight in the hammer blows. They came down with the double Jack directly on the head of the drill, thus making a good clean cutting stroke . The manner in which the drill is turned and held makes a great deal of difference. These two forced the other miners, larger man than they were, to follow their practices before they went down to defeat before superior muscles and weight.

"The Corninsh in general were much smaller than the Nova Scotians, who were numerous in Boulder, Clear Creek and Gilpin counties in those days, or the Swedes and Irish of a later period. Mullis of Central City was a big Cousinjack (Cornish) and a hard man to defeat in a drilling contest."

Clear County developed Edward Chamberlain, who won the championship for the Western States tow or three times. Henrey Tarr, who won state honors, was also from this county. Sullivan Tarr, his younger brother, developed into a mighty hammerman and won the world shampionship, says Noxen.

Boulder County had "Bud"Shaw, Jim Pittman, and Thurman Collins. Pittman and Collins made a very powerful team. They acquitted themselves very well in contests. Shaw carried off honors in many local and county contests.

"So far I have been talking about double-hand drilling. There were also single-hand contest. Al Yockey of Central City was unbeaten for several years during the '90s. His supremacy was superseded by Charles Wahstrom of Boulder. Fred Dopp of Jimtown, is the present (1934) unbeaten champion."

Fred C. Dopp, atop a wood platform, swings a sledge hammer in a hard rock drilling contest in Silverton (San Juan County), Colorado. A second man kneels and holds a spike on the block of rock that protrudes through the platform. Men, women, and children crowd the background and watch from second floor windows. Walker Art Studio.

Although single-hand drilling contest were mighty feats of skill and endurance, they never attracted the attention that the double-hand commanded.

Rules and practices were laid down "in stone" so to speak, and rigorously followed. Drillers would go into train two weeks or longer before a contest, coming out of the mines in order to get their wind in shape to stand the 15-minute contests. It was not until about 1900 that 10 minutes became the accepted time for contests. A six-to-eight pound hammer was used in the double-hand drilling, and a four-pound hammer was used in the single-hand contests. The single-hand drillers used three-quarter inch drills; the double-hand men seven-eighths inch steel.

"A timer with a stop-watch  called the minutes, thus giving the drillers an opportunity to change off from their positions as hammer men or drill turners. During the last four minutes the timer called time at each half minute. Two judges watched each team of contestants and measured the hole to a fractions of an inch," Noxen said.

"The blows that a hammerman struck to minute was usually known by his trainers. The usual speed was 67 or 68. Some driller could average 75 or 76. This, of course, was very fast. Regularity in speed minute after minute was sought after by every man who went into training."

"The sharpening of drills became a fine art. The men who could put an edge on tools what would hold up through the terrific pounding of a fifteen-minute contest were few. They became specialist, fitting up steel for drillers all over this western mining country. Sometimes the sharpener worked directly with the champions, learning to temper to fit the demands that the individuals put on it. This process frequently took months. John Lind of Idaho Springs was one of the best tool sharpeners of the early days. He sharpened drill still for many champions."

Extreme care was even taken in selection of stone for the contests. Silver Plume granite was widely used in Clear Creek and Gilpin counties. It was shipped to other parts of the state for most of the important drilling contests. It was very hard, uniform stone. Drillers from three northern counties could usually drill from two to three inches deeper in the stone used in the Leadville contest in the allotted fifteen minutes than they could in the Silver Plume granite.

Mine worker's competition at Fifth and Harrison Streets, Leadville, Colorado; shows miners on a platform with sledge hammers and tools. The man who holds the sledge hammer is possibly Fred C. Dopp. Men, women, and children crowd the area; the American National Bank is in the background, draped with bunting and United States flags.

Mining contest in Eldora, Colorado; shows miners driving a spike into a rock slab. Well-dressed spectators include men, women, and children; United States flags and bunting are by a house with sign: "Log Cabin." Colonel Donald Kemp, photograher.

Driving a spike into a rock, a miner demonstrates hard-rock drilling, in in 1957 in Colorado. A woman watches from a storefront with window lettering: "Groceries."

Miners underwent a shift to 'modern' pneumatic drills in the 1940s. Miners drill into rock with a pneumatic drill, at a demonstration in Colorado.