Palmer’s Gift

If you have strolled, jogged or biked the miles of winding paths through Monument Valley Park near downtown, then take a moment on Thursday and toast Gen. William Jackson Palmer.

It was on March 29, 1907, that Palmer — Civil War hero, millionaire railroad baron, founder of Colorado Springs and philanthropist — turned over the deed to the 165-acre park.

In the process, Palmer gave a gift to everyone who came after him, transforming a two-mile swampy tangle of overgrown bushes, weeds and trash into a familyfriendly oasis of bubbling creek water and swaths of grass under a canopy of mature trees.

Maybe you’ve picnicked next to its ponds and watched ducks frolic, admired its gardens or swam in its pool — the first public swimming pool in Colorado Springs.

Or, perhaps you’ve played on its ballfields, tennis courts, volleyball pits and playgrounds or sledded one of its hills in winter.

It’s thanks to Palmer, a complex, frontier-taming entrepreneur who loved nature and valued the preservation of open spaces.

“As I walk through Monument Valley Park, I get a sense of the vision Palmer had for Colorado Springs,” said Matt Mayberry, director of the Pioneers Museum.

He sees it in the way Palmer’s landscape architect used the sloping topography to frame views throughout the winding park. In the use of water to create tranquil lakes and his view of Monument Creek as an amenity instead of just an industrial corridor, as was common.

“He conceived it as a waterfront park,” Mayberry said. “He made it more attractive and a place that played a distinctive role in our community’s history.”

Mayberry noted that Palmer pushed ahead with the construction of Monument Valley Park even after a flood in 1905 wiped out much of the preliminary bridge-building and other work.

Palmer continued after he suffered a devastating fall from his horse in 1906, breaking his neck and leaving him paralyzed. Undaunted, Palmer continued to sculpt Colorado Springs until his death in 1909.

“That’s what is really amazing about Palmer,” Mayberry said. “The accident didn’t really deter him from anything.”

Palmer left more than 2,000 acres of park land to Colorado Springs. Three of the most significant — Monument Valley, Palmer Park and Helen Hunt Falls at North Cheyenne Canyon Park — occurred in 1907. In addition, the Rock Ledge Ranch Orchard House was commissioned by Palmer and built in 1907.

“Palmer wanted his town to be a place of culture and beauty,” said Judith Rice-Jones, of the Friends of Monument Valley Park, a nonprofit group dedicated to preserving and promoting the greenbelt.

“So he created a system of parks linked by tree-lined parkways,” she said. “He saw it as a system where people could easily retreat to nature.

“As a result, we have a park where you can walk a block and leave, if you like. Or you can walk through narrow walkways which open into beautiful meadows. It changes as you go and provides unexpected scenes.”

Monument Valley Park has had its share of challenges. A 1935 flood destroyed several bridges, lakes, historic Tahama Spring and damaged many improvements.

Federal funds and workers from the Depression-era Works Progress Administration and Civilian Conservation Corps reshaped the creek channel, carved steep, riprapped banks and built stone retaining walls and sidewalks.

Another flood caused more damage in 1965.

And after decades of popularity, Monument Valley fell into neglect. In the 1970s, there was a proposal to sell a piece at the north end for construction of condominiums.

“Someone brought up, in an offhand way, that Monument Valley Park was not getting much use,” said Richard Bradley, a retired Colorado College professor and past president of the Springs Area Beautiful Association, or SABA, which fought to protect open space.

“And they wanted to run Fontanero Street across the park,” Bradley said.

His group and others, including the League of Women Voters, reminded the City Council and developers that Palmer had forbidden the parceling of his parks for private development and banned cars from Monument Valley.

“This was supposed to be a city of culture and parks,” Bradley said. “It’s a philosophical thing. You can’t put dollars and cents on it. We thought we were an extraordinary city. If we sold off part of our parks, we’d become just an ordinary city.”

So the League and SABA sued the city to enforce Palmer’s will.

“His deed said if 1 inch of his park is sold, all park land reverts to his heirs,” Rice-Jones said. “The lawsuit was successful, and the park was protected.”

Its popularity rebounded, and it ranks as one of Colorado Springs’ most popular parks.

City officials and private fans of the park hope to use its centennial to generate appreciation for Monument Valley Park and Palmer.

And they hope to create public interest in paying for a long list of improvements in the park’s master plan, developed and approved in 2005 in conjunction with its addition in January to the National Register of Historic Places.

Priorities include making the creek easier to access with overlooks and walkways, similar to creek improvements in Denver and Breckenridge.

Some have suggested creating pools for children to play with sailboats.

Others want to recreate the waterfall that once cascaded next to the “geologic column” Palmer had built to illustrate the area’s history in stone.

There are suggestions for new gardens and spaces for public gatherings and events. And restoration of historic stone walls and stairways.

The Friends of Monument Valley and the Historic Preservation Alliance of Colorado Springs are interested in restoring Tahama Spring, named for a Sioux chief who had befriended explorer Zebulon Pike.

The spring was among three in the park, Rice-Jones said, and restoration would put to rest the legend that Colorado Springs’ name is a fraud.

The city built a pavilion over the spring in 1926. It featured a tile roof, eight arches, benches and large, bronze medallions bearing the images of Tahama, Pike and Palmer.

The pavilion survived the 1935 flood but was damaged again in 1965 and eventually razed.

“The spring is capped,” Rice-Jones said.

“The foundation of the building remains. We’d like to tap the well and recreate the pavilion. It would be a real identity piece for Colorado Springs.

“It’s such a wonderful park. It’s the heart of downtown and the entrance to the city. One of the wonderful aspects of the park was its springs. We’d love to see it restored.”

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0193 or bill.vogrin@gazette.com

THE PARK BY THE NUMBERS

-165 acres 2 miles long, north to south Monument Creek falls 72 feet within the park from an altitude of 6,060 feet at the north boundary.

Highest point:

6,090 feet north of Boddington Field on its northeast corner The creek occupies about 50 acres of the park Park contains more than 2,900 trees.

TO LEARN MORE

The master plan for Monument Valley Park is accessible at www.springsgov.com. Click on Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services and drop down to TOPS, Planning, Design & Development and you will find the master plan on the left-hand column.

TIME TO CELEBRATE

Colorado Springs plans to celebrate this summer the centennials of three city parks — Monument Valley, Palmer and Helen Hunt Falls at North Cheyenne Canyon. It also will honor the man who developed them and donated them to the city, Springs founder Gen. William Jackson Palmer. Palmer gave more than 2,000 acres of parks, paths and scenic drives to Colorado Springs before his death in 1909. Activities will take place on Saturdays in July and will include lectures, games, picnics and outdoor movies on a giant screen.

EVENT SCHEDULE

July 7

Where: Helen Hunt Falls at North Cheyenne Canyon

When: 7 a.m. - 3 p.m.

What: The road through North Cheyenne Canyon will be closed to vehicles. Bike rides, hikes. Visit with Helen Hunt Jackson and Gen. Palmer. Nature programs, art project, picnics, food vendors.

July 14

Where: Palmer Park

When: 4 - 11 p.m.

What: Dog agility event with Colorado Springs All Breed Rescue, outdoor theater, food vendors, art projects and a movie will be shown at dusk.

July 21

Where: Orchard House at Rock Ledge Ranch Historic Site — Palmer commissioned the Orchard House and had it built in 1907.

When: All day

What: An “appearance” by Palmer, house tours, lectures, games on the lawn. After hours, events with music, silent movies, games and a movie at dusk.

July 28

Where: Monument Valley Park

When: All day.

What: Family picnics, outdoor theater, musical performances and a movie at dusk.

PARK TIMELINE

1871 —

Gen. William Jackson Palmer founds Colorado Springs as a resort and base for his new Denver & Rio Grande Railroad.

1880 —

Mineral spring discovered along Monument Creek.

1903 —

Palmer announces plans to buy land along two miles of Monument Creek from his Antlers Hotel downtown to north of Colorado College, and develop “an open and verdurous space removed from the dust and noise of the streets and roads.”

1904 —

Work begins, including construction of bridges, foot paths and the “geologic column” using stone from Queen’s Canyon Quarry above Palmer’s home in Glen Eyrie.

1905 —

A spring flood wipes out much of the completed work.

1906 —

Palmer falls from his horse and is paralyzed.

1907 —

March 29, Palmer gives the city the deed to the park. It opens with four lakes, fed by the El Paso Canal, a greenhouse, the geologic column and waterfall, formal gardens, a playground and a mineral spring. Automobiles and horses are banned.

1909 —

Palmer dies on March 13, and his obituary declares Monument Valley Park one of his greatest gifts to the city. That year, the heirs of Charles E. Perkins donate the Garden of the Gods to the city.

1916 —

Broadmoor founder Spencer Penrose donates a pool and bathhouse to the park. It is the first public swimming pool in the city.

1917 —

The baseball stadium is added.

1923 —

Tennis courts are built.

1926 —

A Spanish-style pavilion is erected over Tahama Spring.

1935 —

Memorial Day flood causes extensive damage to the park. Reconstruction includes deepening, widening and straightening of the creek channel. New rock walls constructed.

1940 —

Park Commission opens the pool to blacks every Wednesday on an experimental basis.

1955-60 —

Construction of the Monument Valley Freeway — now known as Interstate 25 — cuts off most access points on the west side of the park.

1956 —

The El Paso Canal is closed, ending irrigation and shutting off the waterfall that cascaded over the geologic column.

1965 —

Flood on June 17 takes out some of the 30-year-old stonework and damages the pavilion at Tahama Spring.

1974 —

A judge blocks the city’s proposed sale of the park’s north end to developers.

2007 —

On Jan. 25, the U.S. secretary of the Interior adds the park to the National Register of Historic Places.