Historic Green Mountain Falls Photos By J. Davis Spencer
Steam Locomotive
There is a lot about this photo I have not published.
It shows the people of the time in the dress of the time
- in their horse driven buggies. Although the figures are too small
in the overall scheme to make out clearly (especially when they have
been scanned in computer) the general ambiance comes through very clearly.
In the foreground is the steam locomotive which was a major part of the GMF
experience until about 1952. I remember the trains as a child and they were
wonderful to behold. The steam whistle echoing off the mountains as the train
progressed up from Colorado Springs evoked a suprisingly deep/wonderous emotion,
a feeling of panoramic wonder and power.
Inside Town
The size of the photo exceeds the size of my scanner,
so there are two (overlapping halves). One goes all the way
to the top of the photo and the other goes all the way to the
bottom and has the whole train in it. Green Mountain Lodge has not yet burned down
and there are multiple tents set up for those who choose to camp out. Both
the train and the train station are much as I remember them in the late 1940's.
The actual photo has more detail.
There are several people in the photo that are nearly impossible to see.
Treeless Mountain
As you can see, I was NOT KIDDING about the
lack of trees. My grandfather's generation were the true "environmentalists."
That generation is why GMF is a paradise today. In reality, the mountain was a
rat-infested pile of rocks in 1906. There were few trees and hence few squirrels,
no raccoons, no bears, no deer, nothing like what we have today. The original trees
were planted by people - not nature. All of the people of Granddad's generation carried
seedlings with them when they went to the mountains. They didn't make any big deal about it.
It just seemed the natural thing to do. From these came forth those which were naturally propagated
from the planted trees in subsequent years.
The wind and the squirrels carried the tree seeds (pine cones) to new locations.
-These photos were provided by J. Davis Spencer.
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