City of Fountain Colony Founded

City of Fountain Colony Founded. . , On this site, on July 31, 1874, a stake was driven into the ground marking the founding of the City of Colorado Springs. At the time it was a treeless prairie. Although the city's founder, General William Jackson Palmer was away on business, a small group of his colleagues met to celebrate the event. Palmer's representative, General Robert Cameron, gave a speech that was remarkably prophetic. He predicted the enterprise would become a city of renown. The magnificent scenery and healthy climate would attract people from across the nation, and the world. , While railroad companies were laying tracks from east to west, Palmer envisioned the need for a rail line that ran south connecting Denver to new markets in Southern Colorado and beyond. He incorporated the Denver and Rio Grande Railway in October of 1870 and the first train arrived in Colorado Springs in October 1871., From the outset, Colorado Springs was unique among western towns. Its location was chosen not because of its proximity to great rivers, cattle trails, agriculture or mining. The site was chosen for its stunning backdrop of Pikes Peak and surrounding foothills. Originally called the Fountain Colony, upon its formal incorporation in 1872 it was henceforth known as Colorado Springs. , In 1895, the Zebulon Pike Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution marked this site of the first stake, after General Palmer personally certified the correct location. Recognizing the need for a more permanent memorial of the city's founding, this monument was erected in recognition of Colorado Springs' Sesquicentennial Anniversary on July 31, 2021. , It was made possible through the generosity of the Pikes Peak Club and the Zebulon Pike Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.