Garden of the Gods (in old photos)

Colorado Springs--Old Timey Style

I have, somewhat obviously, what might best be called a sort of olden-days Colorado Springs photo fetish. Thus I've dedicated this post to sharing a few of my favorite photos. For the sake of brevity (because I have a lot, lot of Colorado Springs Old Timey Photographs) I've narrowed the scope to a few which depict specifically The Garden of the Gods.

A Group of Native Americans (Ute Tribe)

The first photograph is a photograph from over a century ago, and depicts a place where I spent a significant percentage of my childhood, namely The Garden of the Gods. Somehow, when I came across it, the image of Native Americans depicted in this first photograph struck me incongruously. Firstly, it is a shock to see so clearly something that strikes me (very sadly--the Ute people are now cordoned into a small reservation in the southeastern section of Colorado) as an anachronism. Second, the environment is so familiar, I know precisely where this photo is being taken and it looks so different now. It's jarring.

Okay, now, for the second sense, i.e. the sense of clashing between what I see (or "see"?) in my memory-crafted mind's eye becomes even more pronounced, for some reason in the second pic I've included here.

"In 75 years I'll wager they'll be climbing right up there Papa!"

As for the photo itself, I love the fact that this is the dirt version of what I came later to know as an asphalt-paved road where I would drive as a 1980's youngster, unthinkingly, and distractedly (and likely dangerously despite never having had any mishaps negotiating these roads with their accompanying gaggles of gawking pedestrians).

This picture is likely from the 1920's or late teens (note the literal "trunk" in the rear area of the car, ahem, automobile). I love the fact that the boy's reaction in the passenger seat is no different from what one sees in the park now, nearly a century later.

This is likely to be the first of a series of blog posts on these types of pics that are available in certain Facebook groups (for example: this), and a lot of places across the vast interwebs. Watch this space...

Sean Alden Fitzgerald
Local Reach Marketing

For map geeks and/or peeps who heart #ColoradoSprings: http://t.co/f4FVPu4XVA #SocialMediaMarketing #Colorado #realestatemarketing

— Sean A. Fitzgerald (@SeanAldenF) May 6, 2015

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