Evening star., 1936-12-27
HUGE ROCK SHAFT.
TRIBUTE TO ROGERS
100-Foot Granite Structure
Stands on Promontory of
Cheyenne Mountain.
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everlasting monument to Americas
sleeping goodwill ambassador, VIII
Rngsrs.
Yue more than . year scores OF
Wx1men have toiled On famous Chey-
snns Mountain ct the southern edge
o( Hroadmoor and Colorado Springs,
whsrs now the VIII Rogers Shrine Of
the Sun nsArs completion-a memorial
erected to VIII Rogers by Spencer
Penross. wealthy Colorado pioneer and
close friend of the late comedian.
Oheysnne Mountain Is one Of the
highest mountains on the front range
Of the Rockies. It rises abruptly from
the plains, and at its base are the
famous tourist centers Of Broadmoor.
Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs.
Typical Of Friendly Spirit.
Like Rogers, the tower Is typically
rugged and reflective Of the warmth
and friendly spirit Of the West. It Is
1000 feet above Colorado Springs ON .
promontory Of the l0,000-foot Chey.
enne Mountain. Just about 2 miles
westward Is the foot Of Pixies Peak,
the snow-capped mountain sighted in
1906 by Lieut.. Zebulon Pike as he
camped with his Government soldiers
ut Fort Pueblo, Is miles to the south
east. Lieut.. Pike left part of his troops
behind and took with him . small
group to scale the high peak. Actual
ly he climbed Cheyenne Mountain,
discovering his error when he looked
to the west from the top Of Cheyenne.
Pike told his men that the peak
which took his name could never be
scaled by man. Today there Is wide
automobile highway and . novel cog
railroad to the top Of Pixies Peak, as
we'll as . zig-zagging ladder to the
sky roadway up the face of Cheyenne
Mountain-both highways and cog
road having been built by the same
Spencer Penrose who has built the
Rogers Shrine.
Penrose, one Of the builders Of
the West, has taken millions in gold
from the Cripple Greek mines at
the western base Of Pixies Peak. This
new shrine Is just one Of the many
things Mr.. Penrose has done to turn
his millions into beautifying the re-
gion and making the scenic wonders
available to the American travellers
Boulder Yields Pink Granite.
More than 5000 cubic yards of
tight pink granite has been taken from
. single boulder Of Cheyenne Noun
tain as material for the tower, which
was designed by Charles E. Thomas
30 that its sharp angles would catch
and play with the afternoon shafts
Of sunlight shooting over the higher
mountains and enhance its stately
beauty. Within the tower are four
small rooms, connected by the spiral
stairs leading from the base to the
observation point on the top. From
the top Il . great panorama Of plains
to the east and the jagged peaks
beckoning cordiality from the other
three directions. This Is q view which
Rogers and Penrose often enjoyed to-
gether.
With powerful glasses . person can
look through the clear Colorado sky
to the Kansas horizon 100 miles away,
or into Rogers native Oklahoma, $50
miles to the southeast.
BY the end of Spring the tower
will be floodlighted at night, and from
its tip q sodium light, similar to those
used on the new San Francisco-O Oak
land Bridge, will be lighted-to burn
forever. Travellers from the East will
be able to see the light for 125 miles.
In the base of the shrine will be
The Will Rogers room. Joe Davidson,
the noted American sculptor who lives
IN Paris, has been commissioned by
Mr.. Penrose to make an oversize bust
Of Will Rogers for the room. PEN
rose has just returned from Paris,
where he personally arranged the
statuary with Davidson, who. also knew
Rogers well during his lifetime. Also
In the memorial room will be q COL
lection of Will Rogers relics and
paintings Of the humorist.
Davey Works on Murals.
Randall Davey, the internationally
known painter from Santa Fe, has
been working for months on deO0ra.
tions and murals for the tower. He
= now engaged in transferring his
works in fresco on the interior walls
OF the tower. The paintings will por-
tray Western history from about 1889,
starting with the Spaniards' coloniza-
ton Of New Mexico. As the history
4 developed in paintings. they will
be placed on the walls, 50 that visitor
may follow the paintings in chrono-
logical order as he or she ascends the
stairs.
The pictorial history of the de-
velopment Of the West will show Pike
and his discovery, the Forty-niners,
Leadville trading with the Indians
war with hostile tribes, conquering of
the red man, first location of Colorado
Springs, discovery Of gold in the Grip
pie Greek district, the gilded night
nfe Of the mining camps and the
entrance Of Gen. Palmer, Spencer PEN
rose, Will Rogers and other Western
figures, and will conclude with the
Colorado and Western history up to
the present time.
Many engineering obstacles were
met and overcome in actually digging
the monument from the mountain
and erecting it on the face Of the peak.
In the early construction stages, Mil
ton j. Strong, the construction super
intendent, had one guy cable 600
feet long and another 125 feet long
from the tower to the mountainside.
Varying temperatures caused . pull
On the long wire 50 strong that the
GRANDS
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