Day 196 – Colorado Springs Loop

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Day 196 of Year Long Road Trip Along America’s Scenic Byways

We started our morning in Canon City.  One of its first mayors, a poet, wanted to name the town Oreodelphia.  The miners insisted they could neither spell nor pronounce it, and exclaimed, “The place is a canyon…it’s going to be called Canon City.” The Walk for Hope was taking place at a nearby park when we arrived.  The event raises money for the Orchard of Hope which supports area cancer patients.

Petey and I took a brief stroll through the park on the way to a few geocaches.  I probably only found about half of the caches I set out for today, but it was mostly due to muggles.I found one cache on the far end of the park where there wasn’t much activity, but another cache was placed alongside the track where the Walk for Hope was taking place. Given it had a three out of five ranking for difficulty and I was in the vicinity of 100 people, I had to skip it.

Robison Mansion

I continued on to Robison Mansion, a reason why I like caching, to find neat places and learn the history. In 1879, Scottish immigrant Lyman Robison, his wife Mary, and his son David came to Canon City from Toledo, Ohio to “live the good life”.  After enjoying much success in Leadville and Cripple Creek as the co-owner of Colonel Sanders Mine and the Doctor as well as being a vice president at First National Bank of Canon and being president of the Royal Gorge Hot Springs Company, Lyman had the mansion built in 1884. 

The mansion, designed by George W. Rowe, is situated on four acres; includes seven bedrooms, two parlors, two bathrooms, a dining room, a kitchen, a laundry, room, a powder room, and a study; and cost $20,000 to complete. Upon his parents’ death in 1912, David and his wife took possession of the home which they abandoned in 1929 due to the Great Depression though it remained in the family until 1958.  At such time, it was sold to Daily Record publisher Don Hardy who wanted to sell it to Canon City as a fine arts center for $17,000, but the city declined to purchase it. 

In 1963, Roy and Edith Wilson purchased the mansion for the lot where they planned to build a nursing home.  Instead, they refurbished the building and sold tours for $1.  Edith auctioned the home off in 1976 after Roy’s death. Kenneth and Naomi Ireland purchased the mansion and were the first people to live there in almost fifty years. Three years later, the city offered to purchase the home, though the Irelands didn’t sell.  Five years after the home was placed on the National Register of Historic places, the Ireland’s sold the home to Ed Tezak Jr. in 1989 for $200,000. Tezak spent $1.5 million refurbishing the home that he planned on renting out as a hall for weddings and other occasions; however, the city denied his liquor license. 

As the mansion began to fall into disrepair again, in 1998, he sold it for $650,000 to Joe and Kathleen Wells.  After a failed attempt to auction the home in 2000, the mansion was eventually purchased by Darryl Biggerstaff for $1.3 million. Biggerstaff died shortly after acquiring it, whereby Heather Biggerstaff-Cost inherited it.  The home is once again for sale, though the Fremont County Assessor’s Office currently values the property between $500,000 and $525,000.

While I was at the home looking for the cache, a guy in his pick up truck pulls up and shouts out the window, “Did you find it?”  I wasn’t sure if he was the owner of the
cache or another cacher looking for it. That was my first time to run into either on my caching expeditions.  It turns out he was the owner of this cache and several others in Canon City and his name was Glen.  He suggested I search for his hide at the library.

Library

Taking Glen up on his advice, I walked past a flea market on the way to the library where a farmers’ market blocked the street in front of the entrance.   This town was busy on Saturday…which made caching tricky.  I’m not sure how quickly I would have found this magnetic container, except Glen told me it was out in the open.  Accurate coordinates and the fact I found one disguised similarly months ago in Mississippi, it resulted in a relatively quick grab.  The hides can be very creative.  I’ve found containers that look like bolts and bird nests.  This one kind of looked like a switch plate.

Jail in Canon City

After visiting the library I stopped by a historic jail.  It is next to the current correction facilities with guard towers looming overhead.  A cache was hidden nearby, which I opted not to scour for while guards were posted above me, but the cache entry on geocaching.com provided a wonderful story. All that I knew about the jail is that the government offered to build a penitentiary or a university and let the residents decide.  They chose a jail, figuring it would be better attended! 

Inmate 23 – Witherell

The story on geocaching.com is about George Witherell, once a prisoner of Canon City’s newly-built Colorado Territorial Penitentiary.  In 1871, at the age of 22, Witherell was convicted of murdering a man from Douglas County.  He allegedly shot him, hacked him to pieces with an axe, and stole his possession.  Due to traces of doubt at his trial, he received life in prison versus death by hanging.  He was inmate number 23. 

A few years into his sentence, he escaped and hid for twenty days in nearby mountains before he was recaptured and placed in solitary confinement.  He attempted escape repeatedly; thus found himself shackled regularly.  Witherell sought sympathy from Warden W.B. Felton who believed Witherell’s story that he was wrongly imprisoned.  The warden convinced Governor Alva Adams to pardon Witherell at age 37. 

Soon after his release, he met Charles McCain, a rancher and freighter, who aimed to open a moving business with his wife in Canon City. Witherell partnered with McCain and the two traveled to Denver, Colorado Springs, and Pueblo completing moves for families and businesses.  But when Mrs. McCain received a letter in unusual penmanship, supposedly from her husband claiming he was selling his wagons and horses and never returning to her, she contacted the law. 

A posse caught up to Witherell who was in possession of McCain’s horses.  The next day, they found McCain, shot in the head and hacked with an axe.  Witherell was taken to jail in Denver, but upon hearing talk among citizens that Witherell “would not survive the ride back” to Canon City to stand trial, the Fremont County Sheriff, Morgan Griffith decided to wait for tempers to cool before transporting him. 

Months later, the sheriff quietly snuck into town with Witherell just before midnight. While he thought he had returned undetected, within an hour, a small group of men demanded the prisoner.  When he refused and the men angered, Griffith drew two pistols and promised to shoot the first man that entered the jail. None obliged and the crowd dispersed. A few hours later, a group of masked men overtook the sheriff at the jail and drug Witherell to a telegraph pole where he was lynched. 

Neither the coroner nor the sheriff was able to identify those involved.  After examining the size of Witherell’s brain, the local pharmacist pickled it and charged admission to those who desired to see it.  Another man cut off Witherell’s upper lip in order to display his handlebar mustache, his suspenders used in the hanging, his mustache comb, four revolver cartridges and a photo of the lynching in the lobby of his hotel.  No one was ever tried for the murder of Witherell.

Road to Cripple Creek

After a morning of caching in Canon City, we turned north to Cripple Creek.  I tried finding “Shelf Road”, which according to Reader’s Digest, the white-knuckle drive leads motorist past numerous geological marvels and at one point along the road which is simply a ledge sliced into the wall. I’m thankful I didn’t find it, as the road I took was harrowing enough.  Generally the dirt road was smooth though occasionally washboard, and while it gradually climbed a few thousand feet over 30 miles, it never appeared to be a ledge. 

However, the road did lead through one lane tunnels, over wood planked bridges, and narrowed to one lane in countless places as it weaved through the mountains. When space allowed it, aspen trees and wildflowers lined the road, otherwise, red rock outcroppings protruded into the bends.  The surrounding mountainside was peppered in evergreens and grey boulders.

Cripple Creek and Victor

Eventually we reached Victor where mining still takes place and Cripple Creek where one of the richest gold claims in American history was filed in 1890.  In the height of the boom, Cripple Creek bustled with a population of 16,000 and was home to three stock exchanges.  Now the town caters to tourists who can ride the Cripple Creek & Victor Railroad which curls past dozens of abandoned mines. 

Cripple Creek and Victor used to be rival towns. Victor, not to be outdone by Cripple Creek, has streets that were literally paved with gold ore that was deemed too low-grade to ship out.  During our quick tour around town, the streets now appear to be asphalt or dirt.
Petey and I attempted to find a cache in Cripple Creek as we sauntered by a casino, a variety of shops, and a courthouse, but an ederly couple was parked at the picnic table in the shade with their unleashed dog about 20 feet from the cache…no dice.

Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument

We left Cripple Creek and headed northwest to Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument.  Here, I took a short mile hike through a field past a handful of fossilized tree stumps, or petrified wood.  I found the most fascinating thing about the tree stumps to be that they were redwoods.  Yes, redwoods in Colorado.  Thirty-four million years ago, the Rocky Mountain region was much warmer with wet summers and mild winters.  The Florissant region was forested with redwoods, pines, hardwoods, and ferns.  The valley was buried by volcanic eruptions.  Mudflows covered the base of the trees, killing the tree, but turning the base into stone!

Eleven Mile State Park

After our visit to Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, I turned west to Eleven Mile State Park in which I am very disappointed.  While I knew the lake was a main attraction, which I tend to avoid, my book described numerous trails through the wilderness.  The park only offers a few through a field.  I probably wouldn’t have been that bummed, except I drove out of my way to get here and have to backtrack tomorrow.  I’ve learned my lesson, and I’m back to trusting my instinct…skip the lakes until I own a boat!  I was able to catch a glimpse of the sunset, it was pretty.  ETB

Map of My Road Trip Across the USA

Learn more about my road trip across the USA, or click the link below for the interactive map.

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