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Ute Pass
Passage from prairie to high plains
If you had been standing on this spot for the last 10,000 years, you would have seen the history of Colorado progress below you. This ancient route through the Rocky Mountains is named for Colorado's Ute Indians who made yearly treks down this pass to visit the springs in Manitou and hunt buffalo on the plains.
Spanish and American explorers followed the trail. Major Lon's expedition of 1820 stopped for a lunch on bison ribs near the springs at the bottom of the pass. In his diary he noted "a large and frequented road passes the springs and ascends into the mountains."
Gold prospectors by the thousands led their burros up the old trail, followed by freighters hauling supplies to the gold camps. Timber cutters, ranchers and the first standard gauge railroad to cross the Rocky Mountains would their way up the pass. El Paso County was named for this important route that would become the first "Ocean to Ocean" Highway.
In the resort town of Cascade just below you would have seen the tower of the famous Ramona Hotel, the summer retreat of presidents and politicians. The Cascade Town Company backed by the Colorado Midland Railway helped to build the Carriage Road to the summit of Pike Peak. |