Post (C) Doris McCraw aka
Angela Raines
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| Pikes Peak Image (C) Doris McCraw |
Okay, unless you live in Peru, Tibet, or China, most of us don't and probably wouldn't consider living at 14,000 feet or higher. In the United States, few mountainous areas qualify as suitable for living quarters. Those problems didn't stop the Army Signal Corps from giving it a try in the 1870s.
Yes, Colorado had towns at high altitude. Even today, the towns of Alma, Blue River, and Leadville are over 10,000 feet in elevation. In 1894, the town of Altman in the Cripple Creek Mining District had an elevation of 10,630', almost 300' higher than Alma. (Altman sat on the south side of Pikes Peak)
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Altman, CO. from Western Mining History. If you look closely, you can see the top of Pikes Peak in the background. |
Although many people lived at these altitudes, in 1873, the US Army Signal Corps decided that the summit of Pikes Peak would be an ideal location for a year-round signal station. This would place the men at least 3 to 4000 feet higher than the highest town. To say that Colorado Springs, at the base of the mountain, was excited is an understatement. The local paper, The Gazette Telegraph on Oct. 4, 1873, had this to say, "There is every prospect that the new station on Pike's Peak will be in working order within six weeks; as it is hoped that the delay arising from the chief office, misapprehending the difficulties attended on this location, and thereby failing to secure an adequate appropriation, will be quickly remedied.
Once, however, established, it's importance as the highest station in the
world cannot be overestimated; and its records and observations will be
anxiously scanned by the meteorologist of all countries."
Oh, how the thought of having such a place in their own backyard, so to speak,
was exciting to this new town, which had been established two years earlier in
1871. They were excited and wanted bragging rights when the wind at the Mt.
Washington station in New Hampshire, with an elevation of only 6,288' only
about 200' higher than the town of Colorado Springs, reported one-hundred mph
winds. Of course, the paper of Sept. 27,1873, had this to say: "The
signal Corps report high wind on the peak on Thursday — the highest they have
experienced there. The velocity was fifty miles an hour. The signal Corps on
Mount Washington have been reporting a wind of one hundred miles an hour, but
our boys intend to beat them yet, even if they have to "blow"
themselves."
So excited were the citizens that they arranged a celebration on the peak to begin on October 11, 1873. The Gazette published the following program in the Oct 4, 1873 issue:
The following program has been arranged for the
ceremonies attending the opening of the signal station on the summit of the
peak next Saturday.
Friday, — invited parties expecting to attend the
dedication of the US Signal Station, will please meet at 8:00 AM at the
Colorado Springs hotel. At 9 AM, starting; arriving at the summit at 5 PM. Tea.
Ladies to stay on summit — Gentleman at Camp Howgate the S.S. camp near
timberline.
Saturday, — Breakfast. Dedication of the building.
Presentation of flag. Photographic view of the ceremonies. Dinner. Remainder of
the day employed in amusement and conversation. Tea. Ladies remain on the
summit — Gentleman at Camp Howgate overnight.
Sunday morning, — start for Colorado Springs, arrived
toward evening.
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The photograph shows Albert James Myer, holding
binoculars, and another man standing outside a stone observation station on
Pikes Peak, Colorado. |
Of course, for the men who would be living there, well, that was yet another part of the story. They lived in a building 40'x40' with
one wall 11 feet high and the other 9 feet, creating a sloping roof. There was
also a 10' x 12' storeroom built onto the original station. The original
staff consisted of six people. There were three in the first crew on top of the
mountain, two more in Colorado Springs, and another who was responsible for handling supplies. Initially, the weather reports were to be sent using their flashes, but the unpredictable visibility at the top of the mountain a telegraph line was built.
Although the sun would shine, there were days when the thermometer told another
story. In November 1880, a Mr. F. L. Jones, the signal officer stationed at
the peak, said that one Tuesday night was one of the coldest ever experienced
by him on the peak. The thermometer showed a minimum of 36° below zero during the entire night, and at 5 o'clock yesterday morning, it was 31° below.
Two left under clouds of suspicion of fraud, while others simply moved on. Of
course, one cannot tell the story of the signal station without mentioning
O'Keefe. With the aid of a conspirator in Colorado Springs, O'Keefe told some
amazing tales about the top of the peak that were printed worldwide. They even
went so far as to stage a funeral and headstone to the child of O'Keefe and his
wife lost to the large rats that ate the child. Of course, O'Keefe was a
bachelor. I did find an interesting article written years later that tells of
death at the station. From Dec. 31, 1933, Gazette, the following information
was shared from stories told by the early construction workers.
"All went well at the new station during the first few months of
occupation. Following the Christmas holidays, the pair reported 'snowing
continuously. Wind blowing a perfect gale.' These reports did not vary from day
to day. The monotony and steady grind were upon the boys on the peak. About the
middle of January Sgt. O'Leary reported his companion as being a very sick man
and growing worse. They had been provided with a medical kit, but nothing so
far administered had been of any effect and in the daily reports he grew
fearful and apprehensive. Sgt. Lamont called in a well-known physician of
Colorado Springs and advised with O'Leary what was best to do. O'Leary grew
fearful and called for immediate help, admitting at the same time that no man
could live long in the blizzard constantly raging on the mountain. Reports from
the peak were discouraging; the stricken man had now developed pneumonia and
was rapidly sinking. At 3 o'clock one morning O'Leary called up Lamont and sent
a cryptic message,' he is dead.' Little was heard from the peak the days
following. O'Leary's hand on the key lack the firm touch of his former self. He
was evidently laboring under a great mental strain as his nervous spasmodic
touch of the key indicated. When asked what he had done with his companion his
brief reply was that he had been buried "military." The story
went on to say that they had difficulty getting O'Leary down from the top of
the mountain. "The three beef hides were lashed together and he was wrapped
in blankets and brought down on an improvised sled. At one point the sick man
was shot off the sled but without injury." O'Leary's story ended by saying
"O'Leary improved physically and mentally, but never became his former
self and shortly afterward died in a federal asylum for the insane."
The experiment of the signal station ended around 1888.
(From a 2019 version of this post)
Until Next time
Doris
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