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The Founder of Colorado Springs, William Jackson Palmer
The Little Resort of Colorado Springs
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No history of Colorado Springs would be complete unless we look at the founder, General William Jackson Palmer. This is just a quick synopsis as he was a very complicated man.
He was born in 1836 in Delaware but raised in Philadelphia by his Quaker parents where he received his education (completed grade school and some high school). He didn’t believe in alcohol consumption due to his Quaker background and it would cause problems later in his life when Colorado Springs became a town.
He became a railroader at nineteen and sailed to Europe where he fell in love with Paris. He became the private secretary to the owner of the Pennsylvania Railroad and later traveled with Andrew Carnegie out west to help decide if the railroad should go to St. Louis or Chicago
When the Civil War broke out he enlisted as a captain in the Union Army and recruited hand-picked troops to become the Fifteenth Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry where he ultimately became a general and was awarded the Medal of Honor.
After the war, he continued his railroad career where he got a job building the Kansas Pacific Railroad west from Kansas City. The railroad was to be built from California through New Mexico and Palmer wanted it to go through Raton Pass but it went to Denver instead, where it met up with the Denver Pacific. Because of this, he started his own company staffed by his Pennsylvania officers where he could build a north/south line.
Around this time he met his future wife, Queen Mellon and he needed to find an idyllic place in which to bring her. In 1869 he saw Pikes Peak for the first time and toured the Garden of the Gods. He loved everything about the area. He decided this was a place he could bring his Queen to. Then and there he decided to build a special place for her and for all the well to do people back east. He met with his friend Dr. Willie Bell and they knew they must get the land before others did. In 1870 he sent one of his army friends to pick a town site.
Palmer had his friends go around grabbing any available land which when done totaled over 9300 acres. The town site headquarters built at the time was actually a log cabin. Total cost of the land was $10000. The little resort of Colorado Springs was born.
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- The Founder of Colorado Springs, William Jackson Palmer
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Kathy (719-287-1049) KTorline@msn.com
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