Guide to Colorado Historic Places, by Thomas J. Noel, $27.95. In 1991, backers of gambling in three Colorado mountain towns sold voters on the idea of gambling by promising a percentage of the state’s income would go to historic preservation. No one realized at the time just how big a pot of money that would be, and over the years, legislators have applied the income to suspect ventures and even tried to divert the money to unrelated purposes.
Nonetheless, $175 million in gambling money has gone to some 600 historic preservation projects in 165 towns all over the state. Just how important that money has been in preserving our state’s heritage is evident in “Guide to Colorado Historic Places,” Tom Noel’s umpteenth book, which lists almost all projects funded by the State Historical Fund. The book is an important lesson in how a little bit of public money not only preserves historic structures but often leads to tourist attractions that help the local economies.
The funds have gone to a variety of structures, from Gil and Ethel’s Art Moderne barber shop in Lakewood and Columbia Cemetery in Boulder to the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park and Amache, the World War II Japanese relocation camp near Granada.
Denver has received the lion’s share of the funds. The Molly Brown House, the Denver Press Club, the Denver Tramway Tower (Hotel Teatro), the Sunken Gardens and the Cheesman Park Rustic Shelter are among buildings that have been restored or preserved with gambling money. But the smallest towns in the state have benefited, too. The roundhouse in Como received $135,864, and St. Elmo’s garnered three grants to fix up a cabin, a blacksmith shop and two storefronts.
Churches, including those in Denver, Georgetown, Silverton and Meeker, are favored recipients, but funds have also gone to fix up whorehouses – the Hall of Mirrors on Market Street in Denver and the cribs on Telluride’s “Popcorn Alley,” so named for the frequent sounds of doors open and shutting.
It’s not always easy to spot where our tax money is going, so it’s nice to see evidence in “Guide to Colorado Historic Places” that one public program keeps faith with the voters.
Gall: Lakota War Chief, by Robert W. Larson, $24.95. A century ago, Gall, the Hunkpapa Sioux, was as well known as his mentor, Sitting Bull. Once known as the Fighting Cock of the Sioux, he counted 20 coups over his years as a warrior. But he embraced the white man’s road when it became clear to him that the traditional way of Indian life was over.
His enemies portrayed Gall as an opportunist, but the impressive Sioux leader – George Armstrong Custer’s widow described him as “the finest specimen of a warrior” she had ever seen – helped his people assimilate into the white culture.
There is scant documentation on Gall, which perhaps is the reason he has never been the subject of a major biography. So Robert W. Larson had his work cut out for him when he wrote this comprehensive work on the Sioux leader. But he’s done an impressive job by using 19th-century interviews (one with Gall himself about his role in the Little Bighorn), printed works and other documents.
Gall, whose father died when the boy was young, was a protégé of Sitting Bull and one of the legendary chief’s war lieutenants during the years of the great Indian battles with the whites. Both men fled to Canada, but when Gall eventually led his starving followers back to the United States, the two leaders had a falling out. Gall became a farmer and an Episcopalian; when he took his first communion, he drained the chalice. He also took to the white man’s food and in particular, loved oysters. In fact, the once-noble warrior may have died of obesity.
Roadside History of Colorado, by Candy Moulton, $20. Most guidebooks concentrate on destinations. “Roadside History of Colorado,” part of a series, tells about the routes, as well.
For instance, you take U.S. 550 from Durango north, going through the mining towns of Silverton and Ouray to Montrose. Or on Colorado 96, starting on the Kansas border, you head east through Towner, where the 1931 school bus tragedy took place, to Chivington, named for the infamous colonel, to Eads.
Candy Moulton, a popular Western writer, writes about the history along the routes and details what you’ll see. The book highlights the back roads of the state; there’s nary an interstate here, and is a nice way to take to the road for a vacation or just a Sunday drive.
