This booklet benefits substantially by the illustrations of Jonathan Machen. Except for specific stock photos and unless otherwise noted, all illustrations (including the watercolor on the front cover) are by Jonathan Machen of Boulder, Colorado: www.haikutimes.com. The Nexus 2.0 Group created this booklet. Copyright 2009 by the Nexus 2.0 Group.
Š2008-2009 the Nexus 2.0 Group www.nexusv2.com
Why
Great Architecture Came to the High Plains The high plains of Colorado rise gradually for more than 200 miles, rolling westward from the plains of Kansas and Nebraska, reaching an elevation of more than 6,000 feet at the base of the Rocky Mountain foothills in Denver. The view of Colorado's Front Range peaks from the eastern plains is magnificent, with Pikes Peak and Longs Peak providing 14,000-foot bookends to Mount Evans (14,259 feet) and a cast of nine other peaks higher than 12,000 feet in elevation.
This climate and geography, combined with political vision, architectural creativity, engineering know-how, and the hard work of many skilled craftsmen, created the artistic and iconic Denver International Airport, bringing art and industry to the high plains of Colorado. The political vision (and political ambition) for DIA came from Denver Mayor Federico Pe単a. Born in 1947 in Laredo, Texas, Pe単a received his law degree from the University of Texas
Illustration by Jonathan Machen www.flydenver.com 1
in 1972 and came to Denver the following year. In 1979 he won a seat in the Colorado House of Representatives, where he became minority (Democratic) leader in his second term. In 1982 he announced his candidacy for mayor in a bid to become Denver's first Hispanic mayor. To win that race, Peña would have to unseat a 14-year incumbent.
Early sketches of airport design
Design sketch inspired by the region Illustration by Fentress Architects
On Christmas Eve 1982, the weather on the high plains helped secure Peña's victory. A massive (some say the biggest) blizzard hit Denver. Stapleton International Airport was closed for 33 hours, traffic was stalled everywhere, the city's snow-removal effort seemed outdated, as did the 2 www.flydenver.com
incumbent mayor. By May of 1983, running on the campaign slogan, "Imagine a Great City," Federico Peña won the election. Stapleton's problems and Peña’s victory converged by the mid 1980s, because weather-related problems at Stapleton were causing major delays for air travel throughout the United States. The airport's parallel runways were too close together to be used for simultaneous aircraft arrivals in poor weather. Thus, Stapleton was ranked as one of the 10-worst air traffic bottlenecks in the United States. Mayor Peña led the campaign for a new airport and, in 1989, voters approved the project by a two-to-one margin. Mayor Peña found a partner for the airport's design in a bold architect named Curtis Worth Fentress. Like the mayor, Fentress was born in 1947. Fentress says he "grew up in a tobacco sharecropper family in Greensboro, North Carolina.” “We made much of the stuff we used ourselves. I was the first member of my family to go to college. I am dyslexic, have trouble reading and writing, but I could draw." Like Peña, Fentress came to Colorado in the 1970s and is an inspiring source of entrepreneurial energy for Denver. His success is in no small part
attributable to his creativity and his skill as a model builder. In his words, "Architects are more like artists than anything else. And I may be one of the few here who still draws and models by hand instead of computer." Fentress, and former partner Jim Bradburn, designed the Jeppesen Terminal at DIA. "A lot of people didn't understand and didn't like our design of DIA at first," Fentress has said. Now the memorable design, inspired by the dramatic and powerful peaks of the Front Range, has become iconic to travelers throughout the world. At one point in the terminal design review Pe単a said, "We have searched for two years for a solution which is both efficient and dramatic. The blue ribbon panel is unanimous in its enthusiasm and support of this design. This is going to truly be an international airport. We've been searching for a design that would be international in scope and image that would be unique, like the Sydney Opera House. This is it." The design of Jeppesen Terminal is made possible by two roof layers of Teflon-coated translucent fiberglass, totaling more than 375,000 square feet
of material. Thirty-four masts support the roof, with more than 10 miles of steel cable to provide the appropriate tension for the roof. At its highest point the roof is 126 feet above the granite terminal floor. Jeppesen Terminal has more than 2 million square feet of space. To overcome the runway limitations at Stapleton, DIA currently has six (expandable to 12) runways, capable of providing three simultaneous arrivals in most weather conditions. "There are many satisfactions in public architecture," says Fentress. "But one of the greatest is the moment when you unveil a project and, suddenly, a group of adults, stakeholders, public officials light up like kids and dance around the model, pointing and saying, 'that's us, you've got us in this building.'"
Illustration by Jonathan Machen www.flydenver.com 3
How to
Fall in Love in Denver In 1906, Goldie Mabovitch from Kiev, Russia, arrived in Milwaukee with her family. She was a good student, but her mother was less interested in Goldie's education than in seeing Goldie married. When Mrs. Mabovitch found a potential husband for Goldie, the 15-year-old rejected the suitor, took control of her own life, and boarded a train for Denver, where she moved in with her sister.
Golda convinced Morris to move to Palestine in 1921, and she became active in the Zionist movement. By 1928, Golda was elected secretary of the Working Women's Council. She took her son and daughter with her during her political pursuits, but Morris did not go along and they drifted apart.
In 1951, Morris died. Golda changed her last name from Meyerson By the time Goldie to Meir (which means was 16, she was illuminate) in 1956. living in her own Always true to her apartment, working independent nature, hard, and falling in Golda became prime love with Morris minister of Israel in Meyerson as they talked 1969. She never divorced and walked along the Illustration by Jonathan Machen Morris, and when asked paths of Sloan Lake (a West Denver why she married a man so different favorite) and listened to the park's from her, who didn't seem to share her free concerts. passion for affairs of state, she would always reply, "Because I loved him." Morris, an immigrant from Lithuania, was a sign painter and a self-educated Take your lover for walks in the spring man who had moved his sisters and his and summer, just as Golda and Morris mother to Denver. Morris knew art, did. Learn about the arts and about music, and poetry. Goldie passionately music. Breathe the dry mountain air knew politics. They fell in love in of Colorado. Here are some great Denver as they learned from one places for music and quiet walks: another. By 1917, Goldie had become Golda, and she had married Morris. Roxborough State Park: call the park He was 24; she was 19. for free summer concerts: 303.973.3959 4 www.flydenver.com
Chautauqua Park in Boulder: www.chautauqua.com Red Rocks Amphitheatre: www.redrocksonline.com Arvada Center: www.arvadacenter.org For Information on the Golda Meir House in Denver go to: www.mscd.edu/~golda/ Denver Parks: www.denvergov.org/parksandrecreation What Is Interesting about DIA 1. DIA is owned and operated by the City and County of Denver. It does not receive operating revenues from local tax dollars and provides employment to more than 30,000 Coloradans. 2. DIA occupies 53 square miles, making it the largest airport in the United States in land size. In 2007, it was the 11th-busiest airport in the world and the fifth-busiest in the United States.
More information, along with images, time-lapse sequences, and project news may be found at: www.extremicesurvey.org 4. DIA contributes more than $22.3 billion a year to Colorado's economy. Learn more at: www.colorado-aeronautics.com 5. To travel with less hassle go to the Transportation Security Administration Web site for tips: www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/ simplifly.shtm 6. The DIA Web site has interactive maps of Jeppesen Terminal and each concourse (A, B, C). You can find airline gates, restaurants, postal drops, ATMs, etc.: www.flydenver.com/maps/inside 7. All DIA financial and traffic reports are available for access by the public at: www.flydenver.com/diabiz /stats/index.asp
3. The Extreme Ice Survey (EIS) documents the rapid changes now occurring on the Earth's glacial ice. Look for large photographic murals and monitors displaying EIS images and time-lapse videos at A Gates and at all train-boarding areas at DIA.
Illustration by Jonathan Machen www.flydenver.com 5
Why Beer Connoisseurs Come to Denver's LoDo Cherry Creek joins the South Platte River at Confluence Park in Denver. It is a great place to enjoy recreation, jazz, and a beer. It is also the original home of the settlers of Denver. At 15th and Platte streets, on the corner, is Denver's oldest bar, dating back before the 1880s. Along the South Platte River, Cottonwoods still stand tall. Imagine the chokecherry, gooseberry, and black currant bushes that grew near the river when the Arapaho Indians camped in this low valley. They called this the "valley of the smoke" because in the winter the temperature inversions trapped the smoke from their fires, spreading a haze over the valley. In 1858, the discovery of gold along the South Platte River drew settlers. General William Larimer built his cabin in lower downtown (now LoDo). Edward W. Wynkoop was appointed the first sheriff, and in 1858, Denver City was named in honor of James W. Denver, then governor of Kansas Territory. From 1860 to 1870, there were fewer than 5,000 people living along the Platte River and Cherry Creek, but in June of 1870, the Denver Pacific railroad arrived. By 1880, 6 www.flydenver.com
Denver's population had increased to more than 35,000. In 1881, Union Station opened, and by 1890 it served more than 80 trains per day. In 1891, the Oxford Hotel, Denver's oldest grand hotel, opened a block away from the train station. Denver had become an industrial and transportation center. Smelters were Denver's largest employers. In winter a black cloud of smelter smoke hung over the city. Over time, LoDo had become derelict. The train station was largely empty, and the Oxford Hotel was a shadow of its old self. Then, in 1970, Dana Crawford, a local developer and a woman of vision and energy, led a citizen effort to save Larimer Square, Denver's first city block. Thus began the historic redevelopment of LoDo. Twenty blocks of the area were saved from demolition. Today, Denver's LoDo is a testimony to vision, entrepreneurism, and market timing. The formation of the Lower Downtown Historic District in 1988 and the entrepreneurship of the "pioneer" brewpub team of John Hickenlooper (Denver's current
mayor) and Jerry Williams provided the spark which lit expansion throughout LoDo.
enjoying a beer in LoDo are many, with nearly a dozen brew pubs and craft beer establishments.
The LoDo Historic District was filled with old vacant warehouses, built with post and beam construction and strong brick walls. In 1988, Hickenlooper and Williams rented the former J.S. Brown Mercantile Building (built in 1899) and opened the first craft beer establishment in Denver.
The craft brewing industry and its rise in LoDo are the latest contributors to a legacy of great brewing in the state of Colorado. In 2006, Colorado produced more beer than any other state in the union. Colorado's dominance in the brewing industry is primarily attributable to the capacity of the Coors brewery in Golden, Colorado. It is the world's largest single-site brewery. Additionally, Fort Collins, Colorado, is home to New Belgium Beer, the ninth-largest brewer in the United States.
Colorado and Denver are now known for their craft beer companies. Each fall more than 40,000 beer connoisseurs gather to participate in the Great American Beer Festival in Denver. Today, the choices for
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How
The Eaglerock Came to Denver "The response to the throttle – the quick takeoff – the life – the movement – the control at all speeds – the spirit – the color – the things you have always wished for in an airplane – all combined with safety and good looks…..THAT is EAGLEROCK” Aviation Magazine Advertisement October 27, 1928 The Eaglerock was a product of Alexander Aircraft Company, a firm initially based in Englewood, Colorado. From the late 1920s, until it ceased production in 1932, the Alexander Aircraft Company built more than 900 aircraft. The visionaries behind the Eaglerock were J. Don Alexander and his younger brother Don M. Alexander, both from Spokane, Washington. J. Don was a man of great entrepreneurial drive. Among other ventures he created the Alexander Film Company, producing, directing, and filming his wife’s scripts. The film company produced short commercials, called "playlets," which were shown with newsreels at movie theaters. The company filmed 40 to 60 playlets, highlighting several kinds of businesses (for example, banks, car dealerships, department stores, etc.). 8 www.flydenver.com
A large sales force was sent to cities and towns to find advertisers. Alexander Film Company would add a local sponsor's advertisement (a "trailer") to the end of an appropriate playlet and then ship the completed commercial to the theater in the advertiser's town. As the film company grew, the Alexander brothers decided they needed to move their operations closer to the Midwest, the location of most of their accounts. In 1923, Alexander Industries moved to Englewood, Colorado. Author John A. deVries explains what happened next in his book Alexander Eaglerock: A History of the Alexander Aircraft Company. "Tradition" says that J. Don had a
brainstorm. Sitting in his Englewood office one day in 1924, the president of Alexander Films is credited with exclaiming, 'Why not let all of our salesmen FLY between their appointments?'"
With the considerable help of Al Mooney, a 19-year-old high school graduate, they developed an aircraft design that became the Eaglerock. On, Jan. 7, 1926, in several inches of snowfall, the Eaglerock was able to take off and stay aloft.
J. Don's idea was to teach his salesmen to fly and then to sell them an airplane for their sales calls. Alexander Film Co. and the Alexander Aircraft Co. became divisions of Alexander Industries, which was established as a Colorado Corporation in 1924. The Alexanders wanted to buy 40 to 50 aircraft. No company was producing that many planes. So, the brothers bought the Longren Aircraft Company of Marshall, Missouri, and received four unassembled Longren biplanes. The Longrens were used as training aircraft for the Alexander Flying School, located at the company's airfield on Hampden Avenue (near today's junction of Hampden Avenue and Interstate 25). It was soon apparent that the Longren biplanes were poor performers at high altitudes. With characteristic vision the Alexander brothers decided in May 1925 to build their own aircraft.
Illustration by Jonathan Machen
The Alexander brothers immediately began assembly-line production of the Eaglerock, based on Al Mooney's design. Eaglerocks came with standard silver-colored wings and tails. Fuselages could be ordered in blue, light blue, orange, or red. They were very much in demand. The first air nuptials reportedly took place in an Eaglerock above Northern California. Will Rogers flew to a speaking engagement in one of the biplanes. Like many entrepreneurs, the Alexander brothers had trials as well as successes. In April 1928, 11 people were killed in an explosion and fire in part of the aircraft manufacturing www.flydenver.com 9
facility. After this tragedy, the Alexander Brothers moved their film and aircraft production to Colorado Springs. In the wake of the October 1929 stock market crash and the ensuing economic depression, the market for general aviation aircraft collapsed. To protect the film division of Alexander Industries, the Alexander Aircraft Company filed for bankruptcy in 1932.
The brothers' legacy is not entirely forgotten in Denver. Carl M. Williams gave DIA one of the few Eaglerocks that exist today. In the late 1980s, Williams, an Air Force pilot, cable-industry businessman, and University of Denver trustee, searched for an Alexander Eaglerock that he could buy. In 1988, a friend saw an ad for an Eaglerock. Williams called the seller
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and was intrigued enough to fly to New York the next day to take a look. The plane that Williams found is the aircraft that is now hanging at DIA's B Gates. Williams flew the plane himself to DIA before it opened. Now, passengers can look at the Eaglerock above the concourse floor and wonder what it is like to fly such a plane.
How to
Meditate Sit still. Breathe. Listen to the voice that precedes thought. Breathe. Do this often.
How to Enjoy
Denver Neighborhoods Each Denver neighborhood has a unique history and character. For example, Capitol Hill is home to the Colorado State Capitol. In 1864, Henry Brown claimed the area and named it Brown's Bluff. It was his wife who made this claim possible. They were on their way to California. She reportedly said, "Mr. Brown, thou may press on to California if such be thy wish. I shall remain here." Henry was a carpenter turned entrepreneur when he arrived in Denver. He donated the land for the Capitol to the state and he made a fortune selling off various portions of Capitol Hill. He also owned a little triangle of land at the corners of Broadway, Tremont, and 17th Street, where he grazed his cows. That is the location upon which he later built the Brown Palace Hotel. Highland is in the midst of a major revival. It was originally homesteaded in 1861 by Reverend Walter McDuffie Potter and his sister. Highland was once called "Garden City of the Plains" because its residents’ gardens were so well tended. Beautiful private gardens still abound in the Highland community. Formerly home to Scottish, German, Italian, and
English immigrants, it is now home to young families and downtown professionals. The neighborhood has a great community street on 32nd Avenue, with boutiques, restaurants, good coffee, and one of the best used book stores in the western United States. The Berkeley and Regis communities were tense neighbors in the 1920s. Berkeley was home to many upwardly mobile Protestants. A number of them joined the Ku Klux Klan because they were uncomfortable with the Italians who were moving in just west of their neighborhood. They were also uncomfortable with the Catholic neighborhood, north of Berkeley around the Sacred Heart School (the name was changed to Regis, in part because of the KKK). By the early 1930s, the KKK was nearly gone and the neighborhoods were filled with hard–working families, scratching out a living during the Great Depression. Today, these are delightful, vigorous communities, infused with a strong Latin culture; home to wonderful restaurants, and very good ice cream shops.
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Belcaro and Washington Park form a community that wouldn't exist as it does today if it were not for the entrepreneurship and philanthropy of Lawrence Phipps. Phipps became wealthy working in the steel industry in Pittsburgh. He was married three times and left Pittsburgh and came to Denver when his second marriage failed. He was elected to the U. S. Senate as a Republican in 1918 and served in that capacity until 1930. In the 1924 campaign, like many other politicians in Colorado, he was elected with the help of the KKK. He quickly distanced himself from the Klan. Phipps left the Senate in 1930 and built a Georgian mansion – Belcaro – which has more than 33,000 square feet, and 70 rooms. Over time, Phipps sold much of the land around the mansion. Phipps' wife, Margaret, donated the Phipps mansion to The University of Denver in 1964. Now these neighborhoods house many young families who congregate around Washington Park, where you can paddle boats, feed ducks, smell the flowers, and watch the park's runners and bikers. Be sure to visit Old South Gaylord Street if you are in the area.
West Colfax grew quickly because of the Jewish Consumptive Relief Society, or JCRS. Denver's reputation as the healthiest city in America at the turn of the century was in part due to the success of the tuberculosis sanatoriums in Colorado. Dr. Charles Spivak, a Russian Jew, founded JCRS in 1904 and expanded it to 35 bu i l d i n g s on more than 100 acres. The JCRS was a great testimony Illustration by Jonathan Machen to true charity. By the early 1930s, it had treated more than 10,000 patients. In its long history it never charged patients for their medical care. In the 1950s, the facility was renamed the AMC Cancer Research Center. The society sold its Colfax Avenue frontage to a developer in 1957. Denver Government/Denver Neighborhoods: www.denvergov.org/AboutDenver/ today_neighborhoods.asp For information on the Phipps Mansion go to: www.du.edu/phipps/
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How A Great Marriage Served Others Before there were houses and neighborhoods in Denver, the Arapaho lived in the valleys of the South Platte River and Cherry Creek. And before the Arapaho came to Colorado, the Ute made Colorado their home. They are said to be the oldest continuous residents of Colorado. They still live in Colorado on two reservations. Ignacio, Colorado, is home to the Southern Ute Museum and Cultural Center, where the history and some of the personal artifacts of Ute Chief Ouray and his wife Chipeta are preserved.
Chief Ouray and Chipeta were married in 1859, and it is said that they were nearly inseparable until he
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died, 21 years later in 1880. As a young man in his teens, Ouray was a sheepherder in the area of Taos, New Mexico. He learned to speak fluent Spanish and some English. He had ample contact with wealthy white landowners and seemed to instinctively understand the role of diplomacy and negotiation. Little is known about the background of Chipeta. It is said she was born a Kiowa Apache, but was raised by the Ute. She had exceptional personal presence, was comfortable with all people, gracious, strong willed, and dignified. When the photographer William H. Jackson took her picture he wrote, "Chipeta was that day about the most prepossessing Indian woman I ever saw, and Ouray was immensely proud of her." Characteristic of the force of their leadership and their marriage bond are the events that followed the Meeker massacre. The massacre was an uprising by a band of Ute against the Indian Agency (headed by Nathanial Meeker who was trying to convert the Ute into Christian farmers.) Chipeta sent a runner to Ouray, who persuaded the Ute band to release the women and children of the Meeker party into the safekeeping of
Chipeta. She cared for the women and children and was described as having a "motherly face, dusky, but beautiful with sweetness and compassion, (which) was wet with tears." Ouray was the eminent Indian spokesman of the time, and he loved his wife deeply enough to allow her to also have a strong voice. She was the only woman ever permitted to sit on Ute tribal councils.
of off-road bike paths – no cars, just you, your bike, fresh air, and terrific scenery. So, this weekend dust off the old saddle seat and start peddling. In fact, don't wait for the weekend, do it tomorrow and avoid traffic. Here are three Denver bike rides:
1. The Greenway Trail along the South Platte River. With nearly 30 miles of paved trails this ride will take you from Denver to ChatIllustration by Jonathan Machen field State Park. Stop at Hudson Visit the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe: Gardens and enjoy the flowers. (For a www.utemountainute.com/ fun diversion take the route along Visit the Southern Ute Tribe: highway C-470 and ride through Ken www.southern-ute.nsn.us/default.htm Caryl Valley.) Visit Mesa Verde National Park: www.nps.gov/archive/meve/park_info/ 2. Cherry Creek Bike Path follows the park_history.htm creek for more than 40 miles. Ride To see this part of Colorado by train your bike to the Cherry Creek retail go to: www.durangotrain.com area for great shopping. To visit Ouray Colorado: www.ouraycolorado.com 3. Get your friends, load your bikes To visit Telluride for the Bluegrass and drive Interstate 70 to Frisco, Festival: Colorado. Once there, bicycle along www.bluegrass.com/telluride/ the mountain path from Frisco to Vail (14 miles and a 1,500-foot elevation Where gain). to Ride the Trails Biking in Colorado can be serious business. Denver has nearly 900 miles www.flydenver.com 15
Where You Can Find
Hot Springs
In 1879, Isaac Cooper, a miner in The hot springs of Colorado have Leadville, made the journey to the always been a big draw for visitors. confluence of the Colorado and Within a time span of 25 years, Crystal rivers and founded Glenwood beginning in 1865, pioneers and Springs, now the entrepreneurs of Colorado largest hot springs had staked their claim to swimming pool in the natural hot springs the world. which had long been freely enjoyed by the Ute, Each of these hot Cheyenne, and Arapaho springs prospered, as Indians. In 1861, William the railroad allowed Byers, founder and pubpeople to come to lisher of the Rocky MounColorado in much tain News (with the aid of greater numbers. U. S. Calvary and courts), Today the springs acquired Hot Sulphur are still growing in Springs between Granby Illustration by Jonathan Machen popularity. and Kremmling, Colorado. About that same time, a group of Enjoy Colorado hot springs at: railroad workers and miners built a tent city and defended their claim Glenwood Hot Springs: (against the Ute and Arapaho) to the www.hotspringspool.com soothing waters of Poncha Springs, The Wiesbaden in Ouray Colorado: near Salida. In 1865, Colonel Albert www.wiesbadenhotsprings.com Pfeiffer, a scout for Kit Carson, Pagosa Hot Springs: homesteaded near the Pagosa Springs www.pagosahotsprings.com (not far from Durango), and when the Hot Sulphur Springs: Ute were moved to reservations after www.hotsulphursprings.com the final treaty was signed by Chief Strawberry Park Hot Springs, Ouray, Pfeiffer claimed they had Steamboat Springs: "given" him the Pagosa Springs. www.strawberryhotsprings.com Farming, mining, ranching, and life in Indian Hot Springs, just outside of the late 19th century made all of the Denver at Idaho Springs: hot springs "hot" properties. They www.indianhotsprings.com were tonic for sore and sick bodies. 16 www.flydenver.com
Where
Here are some Colorado rodeos:
to Find a Rodeo
The National Western Stock Show Denver, in January: The word rodeo is taken directly from www.nationalwestern.com Spanish and means "round up." Pikes Peak or Bust - Colorado Springs, Before there were cowboys in the second week in July: United States there were www.coloradospringsrodeo.com vaqueros in Spanish America. Westcliffe Stampede Rodeo Westcliffe, July: The first recorded cowboy www.wmvsaddleclub.org competition occurred in Dear "The World's Largest 4th of Trail, Colorado, in July Rodeo" and western 1864, and this form celebration at the Greeley of competition has Stampede - Greeley, June and endured. Cowboys July: www.greeleystampede.org throughout the West Evergreen Rodeo - Evergreen, mid would travel to June: www.evergreenrodeo.com yearly competitions, Ride for the Brand Ranch which grew to be Illustration by Jonathan Machen Rodeo - Colorado Springs, July called rodeos. 4th weekend: www.rideforthebrandranchrodeo.com As the West became more settled, Cattlemen's Days (Colorado's oldest Wild West shows became popular and rodeo) - Gunnison, second week in influenced the rodeo. Wild West shows July: www.cattlemensdays.com added paid attendance, pageantry, Colorado Junior Rodeo Finals - Estes and showmanship to cowboy events Park, mid-August: that otherwise were simply dusty www.coloradojrrodeo.com competitions. Soon, entrepreneurs became rodeo producers, and cowboys Also of interest are the: paid to compete, while spectators paid Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame - Colorado to be entertained. Over time, Springs: consistent rules were established and www.prorodeohalloffame.com events were standardized to provide The Pro Rodeo Tour: the professional rodeo experience we www.prorodeotour.com enjoy today. Professional Bull Riders, Inc. Pueblo: http://www.pbrnow.com The Colorado State Fair: http://www.coloradostatefair.com www.flydenver.com 17
How
Roller Coasters Came to Denver At 16 years old, Mary Elizabeth Hauck of California, a woman from a prosperous family, eloped with John Elitch, a man four years older than she. A superb cook and restaurateur, John ended up in Denver with Mary in 1880. They were a striking couple. He was athletic, with black curly hair and deep-blue eyes. She was a lively, petite brunette with an infectious smile. They both loved theatre. And John's monetary success was quickly spent on theatrical ventures. When these ventures failed, he did what he knew he could do successfully and opened another restaurant. By 1890, the two were known as the golden couple of Denver and they had parlayed their entrepreneurial successes into what became Elitch Gardens, Denver's first amusement park. In their first year, John invested the profit from the gardens into a theatrical company. He fell sick traveling with the company and died in 1891. Mary became known as the "Gracious Lady of the Gardens." With the tagline, "To not see Elitch's is to not see Denver," Elitch Gardens was always much more than an amusement park. It was music, animals, summer stock theatre, and magnificent gardens. The list of
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Hollywood actors who either started their careers or performed at Elitch's is a tribute to Mary's energy. In the 1920s, Elitch's built its first wooden roller coaster – Wildcat – and added the famous Mister Twister coaster in 1964. Elitch Gardens relocated to downtown near the South Platte River in 1995, and the park started a new roller coaster tradition in Denver. In 1908, a few miles from downtown, brewer Adolph Zang opened Lakeside Amusement Park. Today Lakeside operates with its original carousel, two miniature steam engine trains purchased from the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, the World War II-era Cyclone roller coaster, and 37 other rides. Built in 1940, the Cyclone Coaster is one of the few original wooden roller coasters left in the United States. In 2003, the American Coaster Enthusiasts designated the Cyclone Coaster a landmark. Lakeside is an amusement park with the ambiance of another age. Enjoy the park's grand trees, its lake views, its brilliantly lit Tower of Jewels, and the surviving art deco architecture of the 1930s.
How to Find Your Way at
DIA
Use the airport map on pages 20 and 21. Find airline ticketing and baggage claim locations. Look at the map; find north. Now find the Jeppesen Terminal (page 21). The map shows two views of the terminal: Level 6 - ticketing and check-in, and Level 5 - baggage claim and ground transportation. Note that your airline ticket counter or baggage claim carousel could be on the east side or the west side of the terminal. Look at signs along Pe単a Boulevard, DIA's access roadway, to determine whether your airline operates Terminal East or Terminal West. Pe単a Boulevard leads to both terminal sides, and you can park in garages or surface lots on either side of Jeppesen Terminal. If you park for your trip, remember your parking location (Terminal East or West), and remember the garage level and row, or the section and row in a parking lot. Arriving passengers board the underground peoplemover train from their arrival gates to Jeppesen Terminal. When you exit the train,
escalators or elevators will take you to Terminal Level 5, where you will find baggage claim carousels (including special carousels for skis, snowboards, and golf clubs). Depending on the airline, you will find your baggage on Level 5 Terminal East or Terminal West. Level 5 also has rental car counters, and choices for other ground transportation. Once you claim your luggage, you can exit immediately from baggage claim to taxis, limousines, rental car shuttles, hotel vans, and public transportation. Departing passengers who have to get a ticket or boarding pass, or need to check a bag will find those airline services on Jeppesen Terminal Level 6. Airline services are distributed between Terminal East and Terminal
Photograph by Jonathan Machen www.flydenver.com 19
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West. If ground transportation brings you to DIA, you will need to take an escalator or elevator up to Level 6. If a local resident brings you to DIA for departure, watch for signs along Pe単a Boulevard directing you (by airline) to the terminal's east or west side. When you are dropped off, you will be on Level 6 and ticketing will be just inside the glass doors. Have a government-issued ID, a credit card, and any E-ticket information ready at the ticket counter. Departure monitors with gate information are in the ticketing area. DIA has three passenger screening sites: two in Jeppesen Terminal, Level 5 (north and south) and one right before the bridge leading to A Gates (Level 6). If you have time, you can enjoy the terminal's beautiful atrium and its shops, restaurants, and services. The terminal has two restaurant seating areas on Level 6 overlooking a fountain. You can also find a U.S. Postal Service station and a medical clinic (Level 6, west atrium). Public Service Credit Union has an office in the terminal for any banking needs, and several ATMs are available. DIA even has a place you can go for meditation or prayer. The DIA Interfaith Chapel is located on Level 6 in the atrium (Terminal East). The chapel provides sanctuary for Christian and Jewish faiths, and an Islamic Masjid adjoins the chapel. 22 www.flydenver.com
It's easy to find newspapers and magazines in the terminal, plus other sundries that a traveler might need. You can find coffee, tea, ice cream, burritos, sandwiches, eggrolls, and numerous other food items and beverages. Fine gifts and inexpensive souvenirs are in atrium shops. If you want to buy flowers, or exchange money, Jeppesen Terminal can accommodate you. Going through security screening is a serious part of air travel. Although screening can be tedious, its purpose is to keep you and your family safe. Keep that in mind. Screening can go more quickly and smoothly if passengers are prepared. Learn the TSA rules from its Web site: www.tsa.gov, before heading to the airport Getting to airline gates is easy. Most passengers take the underground train, which is accessible immediately after you clear security screening. Passengers who leave from an A gate have the option of walking over a bridge from the terminal to the A gates. The entrance to the bridge (and the security screening to A Gates) is at the terminal's north end, Level 6. Your train ride to the departure gates will be less than five minutes. One of DIA's trains leaves Jeppesen Terminal approximately every 90 seconds.
Trains stop at A Gates, B Gates, and C Gates, before making a return trip. Children like to sit in the lead car so they can peer down the train tunnel and watch the tracks as they journey to their gates. Note the 5,280 small propellers on the tunnel walls. The propellers spin as the train goes by.
Julia Lyoni, while in Chicago, and in 1851, Barney and Julia headed to California in search of gold. Barney chose to take a ship (because it was less dangerous to a former slave) with a route that included a stop in a Nicaraguan port named Greytown. Barney and Julia stayed and opened
Airline gates are at A, B, or C concourses. The train stops at each concourse in the center of the building. Train stations are at a basement level, but when you exit onto a station platform, you will be in an atrium, where you can see the other levels above you. Escalators and elevators will take you from the station up to the airline gates. In the atriums, enjoy public art installations and all the boutiques and eating and drinking establishments. Signs will direct you to your departure gate. How Colorado Outlawed
Racial Discrimination Born in 1822, Barney Ford spent his childhood as a slave in South Carolina. When he was 17, he left slavery with the help of the Underground Railroad and settled in Chicago, where Barney met Henry Wagoner. Both men taught themselves to read and write, and were active in helping other slaves escape through the Underground Railroad. Barney met his future wife,
the successful United States Hotel and Restaurant. In 1854, Greytown was destroyed by fire. The Fords returned to Chicago until 1860, when the discovery of gold in Colorado brought them to Breckenridge. At the time, as an African-American, Barney was not able to stake a mining claim in his own name. After white miners took over his mine, he left Breckenridge and began to enjoy real success in Denver. Ford's travels and gregarious personality were the foundation for his success as an www.flydenver.com 23
entrepreneur. He started The People's Restaurant (in a building that is still standing at 1514 Blake St. in LoDo). Barney's hospitality businesses flourished and, in 1874, he opened the Inter-Ocean Hotel. By 1879, Barney and Julia were back in Breckenridge, running a chophouse. In 1887, Barney invested in the Oro Mine which made him a
Illustration by Jonathan Machen
wealthy man. The Fords built a distinctive home in Breckenridge, which is still standing as the Barney Ford House Museum. By 1890, they retired to Denver. Barney Ford was also a shrewd political activist. In 1861, Colorado was a territory with a voter statute that said any male 21 years of age and 24 www.flydenver.com
older could cast a ballot. Public records indicate Barney voted in elections. In March of 1864, an amendment was passed saying that "male persons" did not include Negroes. Barney Ford, Henry Wagoner (who was in Colorado) and other blacks (most prominently William J. Hardin) carefully worked the post-Civil War political system, both in Colorado and in Washington, to delay Colorado's acceptance into statehood. They were assisted by Washington politics, which resulted in an 1866 veto for Colorado statehood by President Andrew Johnson. The result was that Colorado's statehood was delayed until the state constitution outlawed discrimination. The efforts of these black leaders, which required overcoming political opposition from Colorado leaders John Evans and Jerome Chaffee, as well as opposition from many newspapers, were rewarded in 1876 when Colorado became the Centennial State, with a constitution, approved by the voters, that outlaws racial discrimination.
How
Denver Was Transformed
Illustration by Jonathan Machen
Colorado is rich in history and in diversity. This mural was done by Jonathan Machen of Boulder. It depicts Little Raven, the chief of the Southern Arapaho, who welcomed the white settlers to the homeland of his people in the Platte River and Cherry Creek valleys. In the derby hat is Mayor Robert Speer, Denver's boss. He came to Denver in 1878 at the age of 23, ill with tuberculosis. As his health improved, he applied his vitality to the development of Denver, first as a real estate investor, then as a civil servant, and finally as the man who consolidated control of city affairs. As boss, he transformed Denver with trees, parks, monuments, libraries, and the parkways, which distinguish Denver's neighborhoods today.
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What You May Not Know About Colorado 1. Of the 50 states, Colorado is the eighth-largest in terms of square miles of land area. 2. Colorado ranks 49th, just before Arizona, in terms of water area as a percentage of land area. Although rich in land, the state doesn't have much water. 3. According to a "livability" index, Colorado ranked fourteenth among all states in 2008.
5. In 2004, among the 50 states, Colorado was second in the percent of population with bachelor's degrees or higher (35.5 percent). 6. According to the U. S. Census, in 2004, Colorado had the 48th-lowest tax burden on a per capita basis. 7. In 2006 a special report by Forbes magazine ranked Colorado as the fifth-best state for business. 8. A 2009 Pew Research Center Survey found Denver to be the city where Americans would most like to live. 9. Women first voted in Colorado general elections in 1894. Colorado was the first state to give them that right by a vote of the electorate (the men).
Illustration by Jonathan Machen
4. In the United States, Colorado contains 75 percent of the land with an altitude higher than 10,000 feet. Colorado has 53 peaks that are higher than 14,000 feet in elevation.
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10. "Rocky Mountain High" by John Denver and "Where the Columbines Grow" by A.J. Finn are both listed as Colorado state songs.
Why They Called Him "Whizzer" In 1934, Byron White, valedictorian of his small Wellington High School class (Wellington is north of Fort Collins), received a scholarship to the University of Colorado. At CU, he lettered in football, basketball, and baseball. When the CU freshmen played the University of Denver in football that year, Leonard Cahn, from the Denver Post, wrote that White seemed to "whiz by people" and nicknamed him "Whizzer," which stuck for the rest of White's life. In his sophomore year he hurt a knee and played very little. His junior year people began to take notice of this three-sport athlete who carried a straight-A average. In 1937, his college senior year, "Whizzer" White had arguably the best year by an NCAA football player up until that time. He led CU to an 80 season, and set national records in rushing yards (1,121) and in points (122) for a single season. That year CU played Utah the day after White was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. For three quarters Utah held CU to three points (a field goal by White) and led with a 7-3 score. With 14 minutes to go, Utah punted to White, who caught the high, long punt on his own 14-yard line, near the west stands, then proceeded to run straight across
the field to the southeast corner of the field. White's blockers started teeing off on the Utah pursuers, and White set a course to his own end zone, running diagonally across the field. When he scored, sportswriters dubbed the runback: the "zigzag" return. At the end of the game White had scored all of CU's points, and sportswriters everywhere were writing about "Whizzer" White. He was an exceptional athlete and a serious student. Like his older brother, he became a Rhodes Scholar. White delayed his enrollment in Oxford University for a year so he could play professional football in Pittsburgh, where he received the highest salary at that time for a player in the National Football League. He also led the league in rushing as a rookie. After
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Oxford, he attended Yale Law School. At the same time, he played two more seasons of professional football for the Detroit Lions, where he led the NFL in rushing. White ended his professional football career when he graduated magna cum laude from law school in 1946.
pursued him to run for governor, a friend later recalled that "he turned them down. He just didn't think a football star should be automatically qualified to run for governor." Byron White married Marion Stearns, fathered two children, and practiced law.
White was a modest man. During World War II he served in the Navy (leading the investigation into the sinking of John Kennedy's boat, PT 109). Fellow officers, all of whom knew him to be the "Whizzer,"
In 1959, at 27 years old, Ted Kennedy made his first trip to a group of Western states to lay the groundwork for John Kennedy's presidential campaign. Byron White had agreed to be Kennedy's Colorado chairman for the presidential campaign. As they toured the state together (meeting with 20 to 30 Democratic leaders over breakfast or lunch), Ted Kennedy was surprised at the turnout. It soon dawned on him that people came because they wanted to be with Byron White. At the end of each day, they shared a hotel room in a local hotel. At dinner, White would have a T-bone steak, a baked potato, and a Coors beer. At 6:30 or 7:00 the next morning, White was up doing pushups, and then they were off for the next day's meetings. In a later tribute to White, Ted Kennedy wrote, "Those six days with Byron in 1959 have always had a very special place in
Illustration by Jonathan Machen
couldn't get him to talk about his football days. When he returned to Denver after the war, he refused interviews with sportswriters, saying, "I want to establish my (law) practice, contribute to the community, and keep my name out of the newspapers." When the Colorado Democratic Party 28 www.flydenver.com
my memory. His great abilities were obvious, and so were the inner reserve and the steel that were part of his soul." When John Kennedy was elected president, he appointed Byron White deputy attorney general. White led some of the most important activities in Bobby Kennedy's Justice Department and at one time traveled to Alabama with 400 federal marshals, to represent the interests of the United States during the civil rights freedom rides. In 1962, President Kennedy nominated Byron White to be an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. He was only the second Supreme Court justice born west of the 100th meridian, where you might say the West begins. He served on the Supreme Court for 31 years. Justice White sided with liberal justices in outlawing the death penalty, and on support for school busing across school district lines. He sided with conservative justices in his dissent on Miranda, as one of two dissenters in Roe vs. Wade, and by often voting against affirmative action. He was a strong, pragmatic Colorado man who believed the law was not simply a theoretical framework for
government, but a practical guide for the conduct of a nation's affairs. His communication was always blunt. His legal writings were filled with direct declarative sentences. He was a legal realist. The facts of a case were important to Justice White. In addition to a pragmatic, rational jurisprudence, Justice White had
Illustration by Jonathan Machen
faith in American democracy and in the people who worked in the administration of that democracy. He thought the administrative and legislative branches could balance one another and protect the liberty of the people. His work as a Supreme Court justice demonstrated a high regard for federal judicial self-restraint. For excellent articles about Justice White go to: The Yale Law Journal, February 2003: www.yalelawjournal.org/112/5/toc.html www.flydenver.com 29
The University of Colorado Law Review, Fall 2003: www.colorado.edu/law/lawreview/ issues/contents/v74-4.htm For the University of Colorado and Byron White: www.colorado.edu/NewsServices/ byronwhite/
helpful: toiletries must be 3 ounces or less, placed in a quart-size resealable plastic bag – one bag per passenger. 3. Pack Lightly. Most people can travel with fewer items in their luggage and carry-on bag. Lighter bags are less cumbersome. If you don't have to check a bag and you have your boarding pass, you can go straight to your gate.
Five Simple Flying Tips Although it's great to be able to fly coast to coast in less time than it takes to roast a turkey, flying these days is not like taking the Orient Express. Here are some hints for making your air journey more enjoyable and less stressful.
4. Arrive Early for Your Flight. Why rush? Reduce stress by allowing plenty of time for airport parking, flight check-in, security processing, and getting to your departure gate. If you then have to wait before boarding, shop, read a book, or have a leisurely meal.
1. Eliminate Surprises. Once you have booked your flight, research every aspect of the trip relating to your time in the airport. Look at airport layout maps. Locate ticketing and baggage claim. Talk with your airline for any special needs.
5. Make Your Flight Time Interesting or Productive. Use the air time to catch up on work, write a letter (they still exist), read a pot-boiler, finish a crossword puzzle, watch a movie, or undertake any other pursuit that you enjoy during travel.
2. Consult the TSA Web Site. Find out what you can take aboard a flight and what is prohibited. The 3-1-1 rule is
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Illustration by Jonathan Machen
How
Pilots Find Their Way Elrey Borge Jeppesen, born in 1907, would crash against the fuselage like a paid a barnstormer $5 for a ride in a rifle bullet." He recalled the ice would Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny" biplane when he get on the wings, "and those wires was 14. In an would start to Aviation News intervibrate and pop. It view, Jeppesen dekind of shook you up scribed his first a little bit." Jeppflight as magical. esen's mail route – "You felt like a bird, from Salt Lake City part of the airplane. to Cheyenne – was a I remember when he treacherous flight. cut the motor off to glide me down. I After four Varney could hear the wires Aviation colleagues screaming and I died flying mail could see the outline one winter, Jeppesen of all the ribs and knew he had to spars when he change the odds in turned into the sun, the pilots' favor. So, and I thought, 'This in the early 1930s, Illustration by Jonathan Machen is for me.'" when flying his route, Jeppesen started to note landmarks, He bought his own Jenny and by the best landing fields along the way, 1927, he learned to fly. He became a (usually farm pastures) and potential mail pilot for Varney Aviation before obstacles. Jeppesen began to make cockpits became enclosed and aviators navigational notations in a black had air charts or precise navigational pocket-sized loose-leaf notebook. He devices. Air mail pilots flew through recorded field lengths, slopes, drainall seasons, even during relentless age patterns, and information on winters, and he flew at night. lights and obstacles. He also included drawings that profiled terrain and "You just staggered along," Jeppesen airport layouts. Then he drove told one reporter, describing the chill Varney's entire Chicago-Oakland mail of a night flight for Varney Aviation. route, bringing an altimeter as he "The prop would throw ice off and it climbed towers, hills, and mountains www.flydenver.com 31
to calculate elevations. He measured fields and drew them in his book, describing ditches, trees, power lines, smokestacks, and other obstacles in the area. He learned the best places to refuel, and he met friendly farmers who would allow fliers to land in their fields in an emergency and who could provide the perfect cup of coffee. Soon, Jeppesen had navigational knowledge no other company pilot had. New pilots would join Varney and ask, "What's the best route over the mountains to get to Salt Lake?" And everybody would say, "Oh, go talk to Jepp. He knows the best way to get there." He ended up printing 50 copies of his little black book and selling them to his coworkers for 10 bucks apiece. This book became the Jeppesen Airway Manual (first published in 1933) and, eventually, a fulltime business. Through a merger with Boeing Air Transport, Varney became United Airlines. Although United had its own navigational charts, many pilots preferred Jeppesen's. His simple sketches and rudimentary data 32 www.flydenver.com
evolved into more comprehensive navigational charting, incorporating instrument flying instructions (how to follow radio beacons), mileage information, and terrain elevations. During a United Airlines flight in the mid 1930s, Jeppesen met a stewardess named Nadine, whom he later married. Nadine joined his moonlighting venture, and as they moved from one Western city to another, they worked from the basements of their homes to produce his manual. By 1954, Jeppesen was overworked – piloting for United Airlines and working on his company during his spare time. His health was endangered and a doctor told him he couldn't do both. He chose the business. In 1961, Capt. Jepp (as he was now known) sold his company to Times Mirror. Today, the Jeppesen Company is a subsidiary of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Elrey Jeppesen was alive to see Denver name the new airport's terminal after him, and he lived to see the beautiful building open. When the inaugural flight into Denver International Airport landed on February 28, 1995, he was aboard and was the first passenger to arrive at the terminal that carries his name.
A Checklist for
Flying with Your Pet Contact your airline about any specific restrictions. Each airline has its own set of regulations and fees. Take your pet to the veterinarian. Obtain and fill out all necessary paperwork required by your airline. Clip your pet's nails to prevent it from snagging them while aboard the aircraft. Puppies and kittens must be at least eight weeks old to fly on an aircraft. Older animals may have a difficult time flying. Check with your vet.
possibly make it more difficult for your pet to travel. Be sure your pet's collar and kennel have identification tags that include your name, telephone number, and flight information. Check the weather and temperature forecast for your departure and arrival locations before making the decision to fly with your pet. Some airlines have restrictions if the weather forecast calls for temperatures above 85 degrees or below 45 degrees. Bring food, water, and one of your pet's favorite toys with you.
It's recommended that Depending on the Illustration by Jonathan Machen your pet become acclimated airline, some pets may with its kennel for at least a week be allowed to travel in the cabin with before flying. you. Contact your airline for its specific rules and regulations. Relax, enjoy your flight. When you enjoy your time your pet will also. Do not make the decision to tranquilize your pet without first consulting with your vet. It could
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How To Ski like a Native In April of 1880, Mr. H.P. Cowenhoven sold his grocery in Black Hawk, Colorado. He asked David Robinson Crocker Brown (Darcy) to join him in his search for a new location on the frontier. They settled in Aspen, not by plan, but by chance and a tenacious desire to take their wagons where few had ventured before. This partnership brought the entrepreneurial genes for the development of the Aspen Ski Corporation, but it would take another generation before commercial skiing came to Aspen Darcy Brown married H.P's daughter, became a successful merchant in Aspen, and one of the most wellknown silver mining millionaires in Aspen. He managed his successes well and diversified his investments. In 1893, Aspen was the third-largest city in Colorado, with 12,000 people. Then the silver market crashed. Brown owned what appeared to be a marginal asset: Aspen Mining (on Aspen Mountain). In 1912, D.R.C. Brown Jr. was born. An entrepreneurial talent equal to his father, this Darcy was an original investor in the Aspen Skiing
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Corporation and served as the CEO of the company for more than 20 years beginning in 1958. Darcy claimed the only reason he invested in the ski corporation was because he was tired of walking up the mountain to ski. That problem was solved in 1947, becasue Aspen opened the world's longest chairlift.
Illustration by Jonathan Machen
In 1958, the Aspen Ski Corporation provided a free ski pass to everyone who lived in Pitkin County. That included teachers, waitresses, firemen, and nurses. The natives could ski free and they didn't have to walk up the hill. Bill Coors, who was on Darcy Brown's board, told him, "That is like us giving beer to everyone who lives in Golden [home of Coors Brewery]."
Never one to let popular opinion cloud his judgment, Darcy transformed Aspen by making it much more expensive for locals to ski in Aspen. The Aspen natives burned him in effigy, and for much of the 1960s and 1970s the rift between Aspen Ski Corp. and the local population was as wide as the local Roaring Fork Valley. Tourism and skiing in Colorado had changed forever. Darcy knew the corporation was not just selling skiing – it was selling a place called Aspen. The sale was assisted by some of the most pastoral, pristine geography on the planet. And it was also helped by the cultural sophistication of Walter Paepcke, a wealthy Chicagoan who was an original investor in the Aspen Ski Corp. Walter and his wife, Elizabeth, made Aspen an intellectual and cultural center. They created the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies, as well as The Aspen Music Festival, and Music School. Aspen is now a year–round tourist destination. In the summer, you can go to Aspen and listen to music, backpack up Maroon Pass, listen to rivers and waterfalls, or sit in meadows among wildflowers.
• Check the skiing conditions; if it is Wednesday and the sky is blue and the powder is new…take the day off. • Buy your gear in September. The sales in Colorado are excellent. • Buy a ski pass, such as: the Colorado Pass: www.snow.com/passsales/ or the fifth– and sixth–grade passes: www.coloradoski.com/Passes/ • No Pass? Go to King Soopers or Safeway grocery stores before you drive I-70 to the mountains and get your lift tickets cheaper. • It is less expensive to ski close to Denver: e.g., Loveland, Eldora, or ABasin. • Take Denver’s ski train to Winter Park/Mary Jane. • Join the Barking Bear Forums at www.epicski.com. You will find great deals and tips. • Tune your own skis. You can do a better job for less money. • Pack a lunch; stash it in the trees; ski until you're hungry. • Bring your snowboard and watch the X games in Aspen.
So, do the natives ski Aspen today? Certainly, but they also ski Colorado's numerous other slopes. And they can do it frugally. Here are ski secrets of the natives: www.flydenver.com 35
How Two Southern Colorado Boys Made It in
New York City
Two well-known Americans made their way from southern Colorado to New York early in the 20th century. They were both fighters, and they both wrote. Each was shaped by his experiences growing up in southern Colorado.
Illustration by Jonathan Machen
The Writer "I long ago came to the conclusion that all life is 6 to 5 against." (Damon Runyon, "A Nice Price")
"Always try to rub against money, for if you rub against money long enough, some of it may rub off on you." (Damon Runyon, "A Very Honorable Guy")
Born in 1880 in Manhattan, Kansas, Damon Runyon grew up in Pueblo, Colorado, and he grew up very fast. Runyon's mother died by the time he was eight years old. 36 www.flydenver.com
His father was a printer. He gave his son an education in writing, and listening to and understanding language. Runyon's father was a drinker and generally indifferent to his son being a messenger in Pueblo’s red-light district. Damon Runyon wrote his first story for the Pueblo Chieftain when he was 12 years old and acquired his first hangover not long afterward. A true southern Colorado boy, he enlisted in the Spanish-American War and served in the Philippines in 1898 and 1899. When he returned to southern Colorado, he did sporadic newspaper work, drank, and traveled until he landed a newspaper writing position with the Denver Post, and after that with the Rocky Mountain News. He covered the 1908 Democratic Convention for the Rocky Mountain News, writing that "the main difference between the Democrats and the Indians is that the Democrats wear more badges." Every year the Denver Press Club awards the Damon Runyon Award for outstanding contributions to journalism. The winner in 2008 was the late Tim Russert.
Damon Runyon excelled writing about people; about the rhythm and color of their language, and about their circumstances. He always wrote with humor and respect for the underdog. William Randolph Hearst hired him in 1910 to write a sports column for his New York American newspaper. Runyon soon became one of the most popular writer-reporters in New York. He covered sports, trials, politics, and Broadway. He wrote daily and Sunday columns, and he wrote short stories, poetry and collections of stories.
in 1895, the ninth of 11 kids in his family. In Round by Round: An Autobiography, he wrote the following about his boyhood: "When I was seven years old, in the small town of Manassa in southern Colorado, I had a run-in with a boy named Fred Daniels, about my own size, who went to school with me. Just what started us fighting I can't remember; in fact, it is from my father that the description of the set-to comes – but at any rate we tangled in one of the wide, dusty, road-like streets of the country town.
His Broadway stories were the basis for the Broadway musical Guys and Dolls. Runyon was quick to turn a phrase, create a word, or nickname an athlete. One memorable nickname was "the Manassa Mauler," a name he pegged on a fellow southern Colorado boy who had arrived in New York.
The Fighter Manassa, Colorado, population 1,000, is near the New Mexico border. It is in the San Luis Valley; bordered on the east by the Sangre de Cristo Mountains (including eight of Colorado's peaks over 14,000 feet). The San Luis Valley is an alpine valley with an average elevation of 7,500 feet, filled with bountiful opportunities to fish, hunt, and to fight. It is here that William Harrison Dempsey was born
Illustration by Jonathan Machen
We went to it hammer and tongs, as small boys will, with ferocious swinging blows that missed a mile. The noise attracted men from the country store, and a half circle gathered, amused to watch us, as they might watch a dogfight. Apparently, in that pioneer atmosphere of the Rockies, nobody thought of interfering. Fred's father was there, and so was mine, laughing and slapping their thighs, watching us scrap it out. www.flydenver.com 37
The going kept getting rougher and rougher. The two of us tried everything we could think of, wrestling and butting and kicking and everything else. Presently Fred's father yelled encouragingly, 'Bite him Fred!' Everybody laughed, and Fred turned his head to find out what his father had said. It left him wide open, and they tell me I instantly took advantage of it and bopped him on the chin as hard as I could. Over he went! The fight was finished. Years later, as you will see, that early fight had its influence on many of my battles in the ring. It affected my entire career." From 1914 through 1917 Jack Dempsey (a professional name he adopted from a deceased former middleweight champion) established himself as a fighter throughout Colorado, Utah, and California. In 1918 and 1919, Jack fought his way through every contender for the heavyweight championship, which allowed him to be matched against the current champion, Jess Willard. Dempsey had 21 first–round knockouts on his way to the championship.
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On July 4, 1919, he won the championship, knocking down the much bigger Willard seven times in the first round of their championship fight. Dempsey defended his crown five times before losing by points in 10 rounds to Gene Tunney in 1926. Jack Dempsey acknowledged his roots in southern Colorado. He once told his friend Roger Kahn: "It was terrific growing up in the Wild West. I learned to shoot, not for fun, but for food. I liked to go with my father on hunting trips. Sometimes he'd run out of ammunition, but there always was plenty of game. I learned how to set traps. I could follow deer tracks through scrubby brush. I fished in the Conejos River. I could handle horses before I was 10.�
Where To Enjoy a Walk A really great walk could be experiencing the silence of a quiet neighborhood walk. Walking is great for the heart and the soul. If gasoline becomes expensive again, we may enjoy great walking days, hearkening back to life before the horseless carriage. Walking, however, is not always easy in the suburban sprawl of Colorado.
When you are determined to walk (the dedicated walk that comes with intention; when you are not doing anything else but going for a walk) you can refresh your soul. Here are a handful of hikes that are memorable and refreshing.
crowded. The high mountain meadows and the forest walks are worth the climb even if you don't wind up the only hiker on the trail. Bring water for the trail and sandwiches for lunch at Lake Herman.
3. Flattop Mountain, Rocky 1. Roxborough State Mountain National Park: This Park: Close to Denver, this grand park offers so much to is one of three major red do. Flattop is a favorite because rock outcroppings on the it is distinctive, even otherFront Range (Red Rocks worldly. The 4.4-mile hike and the Garden of the Gods (one way) is nearly a 3,000are the other two). Large, foot elevation gain from the sandstone rocks stretch to base at Bear Lake. The the sky and provide homes mountain top is large and to a diverse collection of flat. It's like being on another wildlife. This is a Colorado planet – set in alpine tundra; state park. You will enjoy the no trees, only rocks. wildlife, the scrub oak, the views, and the smell of the 4. Grays Peak and Torreys outdoors. While dogs are not Peak: If you are in allowed, wide paths Denver, and you want to and flat trails, climb a couple of 14ers smooth enough for (mountains with 14,000-foot Illustration by Jonathan Machen baby strollers, elevations) in a single day, this make this a perfect hike is ideal. You will need a vehicle walk for the whole family. with good road clearance to get to the trailhead at 11,280 feet. Start before 2. Herman's Gulch: This is Forest sunrise. If you are lucky, you might Service property, less than an hour see mountain goats – they will be near from Denver, off I-70 at Exit 218. The the summits of the peaks. To do both hike is a 3.5-mile walk, starting at peaks the walk is more than eight more than 10,000 feet and taking you miles roundtrip. The trip is all above to a serene high mountain lake timberline. Don't be in a hurry. There (Herman Lake) at 12,000 feet. Don't won't be many times in your life when be concerned if the parking lot is you are above timberline all day. www.flydenver.com 39
5. Elkhead Pass via Pine Creek: Now we are talking serious backpacking in Colorado wilderness, on a relatively unknown but very rewarding trail. Do your homework. Bring the right gear, pack to survive, but pack light. Find an experienced backpacker to go with you. Elkhead is Colorado's second-highest pass and is nicely situated in the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness, between Leadville and Buena Vista. To start, park one vehicle at the base of the Elkhead trail near Vicksburg. Transfer to a second vehicle and drive further down U.S. Highway 24. Find County Road 388 and follow it to the trailhead. Five miles in from the trailhead is Little John's Cabin, a national historical site and a great place for lunch. From there you can walk until dinner (you probably will be somewhere near the Missouri Gulch Trail). This is the route over Elkhead pass. The stars, wildflowers, wildlife, and smell of the forest will provide a true Rocky Mountain high. Enjoy the evening, find a place to sleep under the stars, and plan to head out early the next day for Elkhead, which is a 3,700-foot climb over four miles. You can stay another night in the Missouri Basin or make your way to the first vehicle. The Missouri Basin is unusually beautiful. It is surrounded
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by 14,000-foot peaks, filled with wildflowers, bees, birds, and breathtaking views. Stay awhile. Not many places on earth are like this. Enjoy walking in Colorado. The choices given here are tested and true. May they be refreshment for your soul.
This booklet is provided for your enjoyment by Denver International Airport: www.flydenver.com Š2008-2009 Nexus 2.0 Group Copyright 2008 by the Nexus 2.0 Group; www.nexusv2.com
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19
Why They Called Him "Whizzer"
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27
How Pilots Find Their Way
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31
A Checklist for Flying with Your Pet Page
33
How to Ski Like a Native
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Denver International Airport 8500 Pe単a Blvd. Denver, CO 80249-6340