Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1913-03-15
WAS INDIAN SANCTUARY.
Garden of the Gods, Was FaVor'te
Spot of Utes.


Rv a singular coincidence the ia
nous worshipping place of the North
American Indian, likewise one of the
worlds most beautiful natural Won
ders. has become Americas most in
teresting pleasure resort, thereby COM
pleting the most unique park system
in existence.
The children of Charles Elliott Per-
kins found. written on the back of an
old envelope, the wish of their fathef,
that the Garden of the Gods. that
marvellous and fantastic rock forma-
ton which forms one of the world
natural wonders, be given to the city
of Colordo Springs for park purposes.
otherwise. the mana cement park sys-
tenn which the Garden of the Gods
now completes would never have been
established, and the Utes might have
been deprived of the privilege to Gel
brate their sham Xiv" of rejoicing
year after year, as they have done
since long before the coming of the
white man.
The Garden of the Gods is a truly
beautiful region near Colorado Springs.
Passing through the Gateway,
formed of two immense slabs of red
sandstone, which tower to a height OF
more than 800 feet, these children of
nature enter region where titanic
forces at their play have wrought out
and fashioned THE Cathedral Spir-
es." the Three Graces.' the Bear
and Seal" the Tower of Babel and
the 'Siamese Twins
ct IL
ing there in the majesty of their nat
uralness, inspiring a feeling of awe in
the beholder, who, as never before,
comprehends the grandeur by which
he is surrounded.
Little wonder that the untutored say
age chose the Garden of the Gods for
his worshiping place! The spirit of
worship pervades this sanctuary in its
entirety. Not the superficial kind,
| but the true spirit. that appeals to the
| heart of humanity, by whomsoever
represented. And he who comes with
| in the Utes' sacred worshipping place
| is witness to the truth that by none
may be gainsaid.
The Utes belong to the Shoshonean
! family. who are scattered through
vada. They hunt and fish. but. unlike
their nelghbor the Pueblo Indian. who
masters the problem of irrigation by
cutting through solid rock for many
miles in Wrestling sustenance from the
parched land of the old Pueblo coun-
! try, the members of the Shoshonean
| family take little or no interest in the
ordinary agricultural pursuits.
1t was. however, their rudimentary
! sense of the beautiful which prompted
! the Ultes when they sold their lands
| 10 the United States Government to
retain their large reservation in the
southwest corner of the state of Colora-
| do. For by this transaction they still
/ are in close proximity to their worship
| ing place which beautiful Indian con.
| ception of this marvellous stone arch
| itecture) the Great Father built for his
| red-sltnned children!
] 1t was in 1879. And it was by the
suggestion of General William ]. Pal
mer, the founder of the city of Colora-
| do Springs, that Mr.. Perkins secured
| the Garden of the Gods And no soon
| er had the great natural wonder
come into his possession than he was
beset on all sides to traffic for its val
lie. Large sums of money We're Of
fered for his tract but he refusd then
all
Nothing, however, could induce hin
to part with the Garden of the Gods
Throughout his lifetime this great nat
ural park was maintained by him, be
ing free of access to the whole world
And many is the traveller from earth
remotest quarter who has stood trans
fixed with wonder and awe while gaz
ing at the marvellous and fantastic
rock formations.
} Great apprehension was felt by tn,
) Utes when, in 1907, at the death o
Mr.. Perkins, this, one OF the world
natural wonders passed, with the re
mainder of his estate, to his own ma
tural heirs
} Hereafter was their own primitiv
and beautiful worshipping place to b
denied to them, the children of thei
fathers, who had consecrated thei
children and their children's childre
upon these affairs since first Natur
herself began fashioning their magnifi
cent Structnre2
The owner of the Garden of tn
Gods, ii may be, anticipated and wa
governed by the wish and desire O
this tribe of people. But, whicheye
1t may have been, his wish has bee
9 carried out.
1T was a queer codicil, if such
| may be termed 1t was. howevel
q treated as such.
Not long after the death of Mr.. Pei
kins, and while his estate was ben
. settled there was found an old enve