A writer’s life often requires switching gears and topics while awaiting the next step, another round of edits, a transition in story format, publication. My Work In Progress is a biography about Spencer Penrose, a mover and shaker in the early days of the Colorado Springs community at the foot of Pikes Peak. With fortunes made from mining and land development, he built roads and attractions to accommodate tourists, built the Broadmoor Resort Hotel, Cheyenne…
When we left Pikes Peak behind for opportunities in Denver in 1992, a piece of my heart stayed behind. Fortunately, I have been able to maintain many strong connections with Colorado Springs, and have enjoyed new associations through my work as a writer and historian, in my role as a biographer, and in preserving stories of the west. My work has allowed me to enjoy Colorado Springs on many new levels. This week, I returned…
With spring well underway in the Rocky Mountains, thoughts naturally turn to tourist destinations and new ways to enjoy them. Our current culture did not invent the concept of traveling for fun and education. Far from it. The West can look to western expansion to explain much of its history, good and bad. After the Civil War, young men scrambled to find their fame and fortune in the West. Pioneers and tourists came in many…
This past weekend, Pikes Peak Library District presented their 6th Annual History Symposium, Rush to the Rockies! The 1859 Pikes Peak or Bust Gold Rush. It was their usual interesting, informative, entertaining, and classy affair, attended by about 200 regional history enthusiasts. I attended this time as a guest instead of as a presenter. My friend, Gayle Gresham, was one of the presenters this year. Another friend from Women Writing the West, Cynthia Becker, sat…