One ray, and after day has long been done
For us the light doth cling reluctant, sad to leave its brow."
Poets and artists have embodied it in song and essayed to transfer it to canvas; but the grandeur of South Cheyenne Cañon eludes every artist while it impresses the imagination of every visitor. It is fitly approached through the "Pillars of Hercules,"—sheer perpendicular walls of rock looking up over one thousand feet high, with a passage-way of only forty feet. Once within the cañon and one might as well have been translated to Mars so far as utter isolation can be realized. In the dim green twilight from the lofty wooded cliffs toward the Seven Falls one enters on "the twilight of the gods," not dark, but a soft light, the sun shut out, the air vibrating with faint hints of color, the colossal granite walls rising into the sky, the faint dash of waterfalls heard splashing over hidden rocks and stones; a rill here and there trickling down the mountain side; the far call of some lonely bird heard far away in the upper air; and the soft, mysterious light, the dim coolness and fragrance, the glimpse of blue sky just seen in the narrow opening above—was anything ever so enchantingly poetic? It is here one might well materialize his castle d'Espagne. Winding up the cañon, one comes to "Seven Falls,"—a torrent of water rushing down mighty cliffs on one side of a colossal amphitheatre, and the precipitous cliffs show seven distinct terraces down which the foaming torrent plunges.
SEVEN FALLS, CHEYENNE CAÑON, NEAR COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO
In North Cheyenne and in Bear Creek Cañons the grandeur is repeated, and in those the people find a vast free recreation ground. This privilege is again one of the innumerable ones that are due to the gifts and grace of General Palmer, who has had this sublime locality made into a practicable resort, with pavilions where tea, coffee, lemonade, ices, and sandwiches are served; a rustic hostelry, "Bruin Inn," is also provided as a place of refuge and entertainment, providing against any disasters in the sudden storms that are so frequent in these cañon regions; and the bridle paths, the terraced drives on the mountain walls, and the glades where games may be played, all make South Cheyenne the most unique pleasure resort of that of any city in the United States.
In all these cañons the massive, precipitous granite walls, which seem to rise almost to the sky, are also rendered more arresting to the eye by their richly variegated coloring. These ragged cliffs rise, too, in pinnacles and towers and domes that proclaim their warfare with the elements for ages innumerable. Visitors familiar with all the Alpine gorges and with the Yosemite agree that in no one of these are there such majesty of effects as in the Cheyenne cañons.
Manitou, the Indian name for the Great Spirit, is an alluring place in a nook of the mountains at the foot of Pike's Peak, reminding one of the Swiss-Alpine villages. Ute Pass; Williams Cañon, in which is the noted "Cave of the Winds"; the famous "Temple Drive"; Cascade, Green Mountain Falls and Glen Eyrie are all grouped near Manitou, and it is here that the cogwheel road ascending Pike's Peak begins. The Mineral Springs are approached in a pavilion with two or three large rooms; the auditorium, where an orchestra plays every afternoon, seats some two hundred people, who can listen to the music, sip their glasses of mineral water, and chat with friends, all at one and the same time. There is a foreign air about Manitou. The little town consists of one street extending along the cañon, following its curves, with a few cottages perched on terraces above, and the hotels, boarding-houses, and the little shops, with the hawkers of curios at their street stands, make up a picturesque spectacle. The shop windows glisten with jewelry made from the native Colorado stones, the amethyst, opal, topaz, emerald, tourmaline, and moonstone being found more or less extensively in this state. The native ores are exposed; Indian wares, from the bright Navajo rugs and blankets to the pottery, baskets, and beaded work; photographs and picture cards of all kinds, and trinkets galore, of almost every conceivable description, give a gala-day aspect to the little mountain town. The surrounding peaks rise to the height of six and eight thousand feet above the street, which looks like a toy set in a region designed for the habitation of the gods. American life, however, keeps the pace, and in this mountain defile at the foot of Pike's Peak were the signs out announcing a "Psychic Palmist," a "Scientific Palmist," and a "Thought Healer," by which it will be inferred that an up-to-date civilization has by no means failed to penetrate to Manitou. Each year the accommodations for travellers multiply themselves. Each summer the demand increases. There is a fascination about Manitou that throws its spell over every visitor and sojourner.
The Grand Caverns are on the side of one of the picturesque mountains, reached by a drive through the Ute Pass. Beyond Rainbow Falls, and entering the vestibule of these caverns, the visitor finds himself under a lofty dome from which stalactites hang, and in which is a pile of stones being raised to the memory of General Grant, each visitor adding one. No form of memorial to the great military commander, whose character was at once so impressive and so simple, could be more fitting than is this tribute. From the vestibule one wanders to Alabaster Hall, where there are groups of snow-white columns of pure alabaster. In a vast space sixty feet high, with a dome of Nature's chiselling and two galleries that are curiously wrought by natural forces, there is a natural grand organ, formed of stalactites, with wonderful reverberations and with a rich, deep tremulous tone. To reveal its marvels to visitors a skilled musician is employed, who renders on it popular selections, to the amazement of all who are present. Another feature of the Grand Caverns is the "jewel casket," where gems encased in limestone reflect the glow of a lamp. There is also the "card room," with its columns and its pictorial effects; the "Lovers' Lane" and the "Bridal Chamber," filled with translucent formations in all curious shapes and hints of color.
The marvellous achievements of the engineer in encircling the mountains with steel tracks on which cars climb to the summit are seen, in perhaps their most remarkable degree of development in conquering the problems of mountain engineering in Colorado. Of all these achievements, one of the most conspicuous triumphs is that known as the "Short Line" between Colorado Springs and Cripple Creek, a distance of only forty-five miles, and the time some two and a half hours; but within these limits is comprised the most unspeakably sublime panorama of mountain scenery. As the train begins to wind up the mountains one looks down on the flaming, rose-red splendor of the Garden of the Gods,—with its uncanny shapes, its domes and curious formations. Climbing up, the vast plain below—a plain, even though it is six thousand feet above sea level—looks like a sea of silver. The railroad crosses Bear Creek Cañon on a narrow iron bridge and threads its way again on the terraced trunk of the opposite mountain up to Point Sublime,—a gigantic rock towering on a mountain crest. A landscape unfolds that rivals Church's wonderful "Heart of the Andes" in its fascination. Entering South Cheyenne, the beauty and grandeur of the eastern end of the cañon are seen by following the narrow course between its rugged granite sides hundreds of feet in height, reaching a magnificent and most impressive climax at the wonderful Seven Falls. No visit to the Pike's Peak region can be considered complete without this trip through South Cheyenne Cañon.