Historic Places and Trails

Fountain Creek, near Pinon, Colorado, along the old Cherokee Trail, with Pikes Peak in the background. This location is near Independence Camp and the early Benesch Ranch. June 2026. One of the greatest joys of historical research is finding someone who knows the land as well as the records. Recently, I had the privilege of spending a day with a new friend, Nancy Prince, whose roots run deep in Pueblo County. Her family descends from early Czech immigrants who settled along F

Glen Eyrie Lodge, Colorado Springs. House of William Jackson Palmer after remodel by Peabody and Stearns. c1885. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Glen_Eyrie_Lodge,_Colorado_Springs,_1885.jpg As genealogists, we often focus on dates, places, and relationships. Occasionally, however, a name itself becomes a clue. Such is the case with Philip Weidemaier's son-in-law, Glen Eyrie Martin, born in 1887. The name immediately caught my attention. Today, Glen Eyrie is one of Col

"National Archives Record Group 28: Records of the Post Office Department," database with images, National Archives (nationalarchives.gov : accessed 8 June 2026), NAID: 68244688, image 474 of 910. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/68244688?objectPage=474 Most residents of Fountain know that their community takes its name from nearby Fountain Creek. What many may not realize is that before Fountain became the town we know today, the little settlement was

Standing quietly above the Arkansas River valley, historic Swallows Cemetery preserves the memory of the families who helped shape this early southern Colorado community. Last week, I happened upon a small historic cemetery near Pueblo West quite by accident. Nestled quietly among the rolling hills and prairie grasses, the cemetery overlooked the blue waters of Pueblo Reservoir. It was peaceful, beautiful, and seemingly untouched by time. I stopped simply because I was curiou

It’s one thing to read about a route on a map; it’s another to realize that the ground outside your door once carried wagons, families, and the daily uncertainties of westward movement, and that someone wrote it down as it happened.

Elk Mountain began as a stagecoach stop along the Overland Trail . . .