Looking for the fountain of lake's youth?

"Whole valley was radiant with flowers; blue, yellow, pink, white, scarlet and purple, vying with each other in splendor."

By Rob Carrigan, robcarrigan1@gmail.com

Dr. Edwin James, a botanist with Maj. Stephen H. Long's 1820 expedition and the first to climb Pikes Peak, also recognized the Colorado Blue Columbines in the area around what later became Palmer Lake.
Then in 1843, Lt. John Fremont noted that the flowers near the "dividing ridge" made a "mountain garden" as the "whole valley was radiant with flowers; blue, yellow, pink, white, scarlet and purple, vying with each other in splendor."
The railroads came through in the 1870s and flowers served as a summertime attraction for tourist from all over.
One of the interesting aspects of Palmer Lake's unique history, to me at least, is its use by the railroads to re-water the steam locomotives of the early days of railroads. As a connoisseur of old photos, I have been fascinated by photos of Palmer Lake showing the fountain in the very early days.
I also remember a Palmer Lake Historical project bearing fruit in 1998 in the form of fountain in the lake.
The June 2, 1998 edition of the Tribune told the tale.
"Once again, Palmer Lake has a fountain, the Palmer Lake Historical Society bought and installed the fountain which will serve two purposes," wrote my friend Jeremy Bangs at the time.
"The fountain is meant to resemble one that was on the lake when it was owned by the railroads. Pipes from the town's upper reservoir once fed Palmer Lake with water and the gravity pressure of the water flow formed a large fountain at the south end of the lake."
Bangs said the new fountain was placed in a different location and didn't throw water as high as the original, but it would aerate the lake's contents, making them more hospitable for fish and other aquatic wildlife.
I don't know for a fact, but I assume the fountain was victim of time and drought that followed.
The lake completely dried up by July 2012 because of drought and water management changes.
In December 2014, the Awake Palmer Lake restoration group began dirt work to clear several feet of sediment from the north end of the Lake, exposing the top of the clay (benzonite) layer and filling the southern marsh with dirt. This served to resort the lake to its historical proportions and also to make it more sustainable for the future.
The volunteer group, at the same time, was working on a plan to have Palmer Lake refilled with water by spring of 2014. Palmer Lake's refill involved a court case involving water rights that the town of Palmer Lake  said it was granted in the late 1950s. Town leaders in neighboring Monument have objected to Palmer Lake's request. A state Water Court decision is expected to to determine that.
Meanwhile, in early December 2014, an extensive dirt work project restored the Lake, close to its historical proportions.
In mid-December, 2014 received word that  a Great Outdoors of Colorado (GOCO) grant of matching funds to total $350k had been awarded to be used to build a footbridge and recreational park around the lake and an the west side of the railroad tracks.
In February 2015, an agreement was reached with the town on Monument, as well as other communities, which allows the town of Palmer Lake to exercise senior railroad rights for the purpose of filling and maintaining the lake.
After the wettest May in over 70 years in 2015,  rains and spring activity filled the lake, to almost eight feet on the north end.
Also after June 24, 2015, Palmer Lake water supervisor Steve Orcutt began sending almost six ac/ft of water into the lake. Palmer Lake's industrial water rights were changed to residential, the town now fills the lake with up to 8.4 acre feet per month, and up to 67 acre feet per year. Drinking and household water needs still have top priority over recreational and aesthetic uses.

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Photo 1:

Fountain is visible in this early photo of the lake, looking west.

Photo 2:

This early hand-colored photo shows the fountain and the Santa Fe Depot.

Photo 3:

Looking east, from the tracks, the fountain is shown beyond a steam locomotive.

Photos courtesy of Palmer Lake Historical Society

If you go to Pikes Peak, be sure to wear wildflowers in your hair

Color and character since the early days of Colorado

By Rob Carrigan, robcarrigan1@gmail.com

Though it may be a surprise to no one, wildflower watchers' and preservationists' colorful prose and sentiments stretch back into the beginning of the written record in the Pikes Peak Region.

The earliest recorded non-native activity in the area was the Army's Major Stephen Long Expedition of 1820, which discovered the Colorado State Flower, the white and lavender Columbine, somewhere between Monument and Palmer Lake.

"The white and lavender Columbine, Aquilegia caerulea, was adopted as the official state flower on April 4, 1899 by an act of the General Assembly. In 1925, the General Assembly made it the duty of all citizens to protect this rare species from needless destruction or waste. To further protect this fragile flower, the law prohibits digging or uprooting the flower on public lands and limits the gathering of buds, blossoms and stems to 25 in one day. It is unlawful to pick the Columbine on private land without consent of the land owner," according to the the Colorado Department of Personnel and Administration.

In June of 1820, Major Steven Long and 22 men left what is now Nebraska to explore the source of the Platte River. After more than three weeks of crossing the tall grass prairies of eastern Colorado, the expedition finally reached the base of Pikes Peak.

Major Long was anxious to continue, but was persuaded by Dr. Edwin James, a naturalist with the expedition, to wait a couple days. James wanted the delay so he could climb Pike’s Grand Peak.

Long reluctantly agreed and provided Dr. James three days to climb the peak, make his observations and return to camp.

Dr. James and two men reached the summit on the afternoon of the second day, and spent only an hour on the summit before starting the trip back down.

James returned to Long’s encampment in time to make the prescribed deadline, having managed to scale the mountain. In addition, he made extensive notes in his journal and documented examples of previously unknown plants and flowers, including Colorado’s state flower, the blue Columbine.

Long was so impressed, he named the mountain for him, declaring it James Peak, but, of course, it didn't stick.

In the 1890s, Edlowe, near Woodland Park, was one destination of the Wildflower Excursion run by the Colorado Midland. The Wildflower Excursion carried passengers from Colorado City to Edlowe interested in picking the ubiquitous blue Columbines in the area. One favorite destination, the meadow west of Edlowe, was used on almost all of the excursions according to Mel McFarland, in writings from 1980.

The Wildflower was one of the Colorado Midland's popular excursions, according to Celinda Kaelin in her book "Pikes Peak Back Country."

Dr. H.A. Burton, whose father was a Colorado Midland engineer related the following:

"The Midland's famous Wildflower Excursions proved to be a source of summertime spending money for the children of Florissant. We boys looked forward eagerly to the summertime tourist season and the daily operation of the flower train."

According to advertisements running in Colorado Springs papers, a one-day trip left Colorado Springs at 8:45 a.m and turned around at west end of Eleven Mile Canyon, returning to the Springs at 5 p.m.

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