No matter what you call it, mining made a difference

Hikers pose on the rock formation known as Dutch Parliament, or Dutch Wedding Rocks, in Monument Park located near Modern Woodmen of America Sanatorium. About 1912. Monument Park was located in the present day neighborhoods of Rockrimmon and Woodmen Valley in Colorado Springs. Written on the back of the postcard "I'm in this also did not have time to finish these good. Take a piece of soft wool and some wood alcohol and those marks on the picture will rub off. Notice between those two rocks you can see a white Mt. it's Pikes Peak." Pikes Peak Library District.

Monument Park, Cemetery of the Giants, or Palmer's Bijou, Woodman Valley ...

By Rob Carrigan robcarrigan1@gmail.com

Marshall McLuhan said, “The naming of a man is a numbing blow from which he never recovers.” An interesting idea and perhaps it holds true for places as well – but only if the name sticks. Only if there are not a half-a-dozen other places with the same name, and, 100 years later, the place is
still recognized by that name.

Consider the example of the area on the north end of Colorado Springs that was originally known to residents and tourists as Monument Park or Cemetery of the Giants, or Palmer’s Bijou (little gem) or just plain “Cemetery.”

Today the area is commonly referred to as the Woodman Valley and its history is very much tied to the history of its neighbor to the north, which continues to go by the name of Monument. Early settler families like the Teachouts and the Harlows and the story of the harrowing
ride of “Wild Bill” share common thread.

“The Pikes Peak Fuel Division, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Golden Cycle Corp., produced and sold lignite coal at its Pikeview Mine, located just north of Colorado Springs, for many years,” wrote Max W. Bowen in a profile about the Golden Cycle Corp. in the December, 1960 edition of The Mines Magazine.

“During the World War II period, the power plant Pikeview, having capacity in excess of 8,000 kilowatts, served in a standby capacity to the city of Colorado Springs, thereby insuring the city of sufficient power capacity to serve the numerous armed services establishments in the region.”

“The Fuel Division also operated a sand, crushed rock and gravel business, supplying most of the concrete aggregate used in the region for the past several years.

Prior to abandoning the railroad (Midland) in 1949, crushed rock aggregate was produced in the Cripple Creek District and shipped to Colorado Springs by rail,” Bowen wrote in 1960.

The development of the Woodman Valley area is also very much tied to Golden Cycle Corp. presence as well.

The Golden Cycle Corp. secured clear title to Monument Park Land
Company in 1913.

“From 1913 this corporation, or its subsidiary Pikes Peak Fuel, held most of the land from Pikeview into Woodman Valley. From the shaft at Pikeview, tunnels ran north and west through most of the area south of Woodman Road. Although there was also coal north of Woodman Road, the surface rock made the area generally unsuitable for mining,” according John Kitch, Jr. and Betsy Kitch in their 1970 book Woodman Valley.

The Woodman Valley was home to the Modern Woodman of America Sanatorium and had been serving tuberculosis patients for years. By 1959, the two smaller valleys north of Woodman Valley were being called Hidden Valley and Red Spring Valley.

“Both were slowly being settled by new residents who had purchased homesites from the Golden Cycle Corporation,” wrote Kitchs.

The sanatorium closed to patients in 1947, and by 1950, wealthy Cripple Creek playwrite, financier and philanthropist Blevins Davis had purchased it. The Davis fortune was originally linked to James Hill railroad money. Davis was connected closely with the Truman administration.

 A rumor circulated at this time that the property was to be used for a Summer White House, allowing the entire presidential staff to escape the heat of Washington,” the Kitchs write. 

The Sisters of Saint Francis Seraph were eventually the benefactors of that land, more than $2.3 million dollars, and a Broadmoor mansion. 

Renamed St. Joseph’s Convent, Mount St. Francis, the property was dedicated as the order’s Mother House of the Western Province in 1954. It continues to serve in that capacity.