Smithsonian Article About Colorado History (Denver, Colorado Springs: hotels, shops, moving)

[brightdoglover]

When Colorado Was (And in Many Ways Still Is) the Switzerland of America | Travel | Smithsonian

[Mike from back east]

Superb reading, too many good sections to quote here....so I'll stick to just one excerpt, which is:

"....Samuel Bowles, whose guidebook to Colorado, The Switzerland of America, extolled the natural delights of the territory just as the first railway lines were opening to Denver. Colorado was a natural Eden, Bowles burbled, where “great fountains of health in pure, dry and stimulating air” lay in wait for Americans desperate to escape the polluted Eastern cities....Soon travelers began arriving from New York, Boston and Philadelphia in walnut-paneled Pullman train coaches, thrilled to stay in the Swiss-style hotels of resort towns like Colorado Springs, where they could “take the waters,” relax, flirt and enjoy the idyllic mountain views. Pikes Peak became America’s Matterhorn, Longs Peak our answer to Mont Blanc, and the chic resorts at Manitou Springs evoked glamorous European spas. (So many rich invalids arrived in the resort that the common greeting between strangers became, “What is your complaint, sir?”)


The more things change.....or as Karr said "Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose."
People still come here to escape the polluted eastern cities.

[jim9251]

Just need to visit Ouray to know that is true. It IS the Switzerland of America. Has a sign and everything.

[brightdoglover]

I drove across Colorado in 1984 and through Ouray although I was unaware of any specific towns. Four years later, I went to the first guest ranch who returned my call and was shocked to remember the William Tell/Swiss-looking stuff in front of a couple of shops, and realized I had returned to that same area by sheer accident. Now, all these years later, I cannot seem to let go of Ridgway/Ouray, although I am sure I won't be moving there.