A Brief History OF GENERAL PALMER, GLEN EYRIE AND THE NAVIGATORS
THE ESTATE
Glen Eyrie began as the estate of William Jackson Palmer, founder of several railroads and the city of Colorado Springs. He was born in Delaware, and then raised in Pennsylvania in a Quaker home. As a young boy, his fascination with steam locomotives spurred him on to learn all he could about rail travel. At age 17, Palmer went to work for the engineering corps of the Hempfield Railroad. At age 19, endorsed by a letter from J. Edgar Thomson, president of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and other influential friends, he traveled to England and France to study railroading and coal mining. In July 1856, upon his return, he became Thomson’s private secretary. The onset of the Civil War interrupted his
1836: September 17th, William Jackson Palmer born in Kent County, Delaware, of Quaker parents.
railroad career. Palmer’s Quaker upbringing introduced him to both pacifism and the antislavery movement, principles that would come into conflict with each other in young Palmer’s life. Although he abhorred violence, Palmer joined the Union Army to fight against slavery. In 1862, Palmer raised up an elite troop of cavalry called the Anderson Troop, to join the Union forces. Leading reconnaissance early in the war, Palmer was captured and imprisoned as a suspected spy, then later released in a prisoner exchange. Upon returning to his troop, he led many successful campaigns, eventually being given the responsibility of a cavalry brigade. At age 29 he became the second youngest brigadier general
1840 GOLDEN EAGLE Haliaeetus leucocephalus The name “eyrie” literally means eagle’s nest. Glen Eyrie has been home to an eagle’s nest since the mid-1800s.
1870: Palmer
purchases land from the government for most of the city, at $1.25 an acre.
1867: Palmer traverses Colorado as a railroad surveyor for the Kansas Pacific Railroad.
commissioned in the Civil War, second only to General Custer. General Palmer began his journey west in 1867 with a survey party of the Union Pacific Railroad, Eastern Division. Their mission was to find the best route to California from Kansas City. Although the Union Pacific did not complete this plan, General Palmer would remember the idea. Two years later, the Eastern Division of the Union Pacific became the Kansas Pacific Railroad. General Palmer was elected as one of its directors in charge of railroad construction to extend the line to Denver. As he scouted the eastern face of the Rockies for the best route, he was most in awe of the magnificent vistas around Pikes Peak. On one of his survey journeys in this area, he discovered a beautiful valley approximately four miles north of Colorado City, bordering Garden of the Gods. It was here General Palmer would build his estate and begin his family with the woman who had become queen of his heart,
1869: Palmer, surveying for the Kansas Pacific
Railroad, contemplates establishing Fountain Colony, which would later become known as Colorado Springs.
1850
1860 1871: Palmer begins con-
struction of large adobe and wood house, painted bronze green (22 rooms).
1870 1872: The Palmers move into their finished house.