A Bit of History

Many of you know by now that I love History. I also love a good story, and in a way history is just one story after another. I will  try my best to be brief.

Colorado Springs, Colorado is the second largest city in the state of Colorado. It sits on the plains of what they call the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains. To be exact, it sits right up against those mountains...and it is one of my favorite places to visit.

It was founded back in the late 1800's about the time that the narrow gauge railroad came to the state, ...and that is no coincidence...since

this man, General William Palmer founded Colorado Springs and was President of the Rio Grande Railroad.

He built his young wife Queen (a nickname) this beautiful castle like home, and named it Glen Eyrie. It still stands today, a place you can take a tour, or have a very formal high tea. Queen couldn't handle the high altitude in Colorado...and had a heart attack when she was only thirty four. She ended up returning to England with her three young girls. The General visited when he could. I would imagine a trip to England was a long journey back then.

Glen Eyrie sits on the edge of a city park, which at the time was also the General's property. There is no entrance fee to this breathtakingly beautiful park called Garden of the Gods. His dear Queen died in England only ten years later, and the General traveled there to bring his three beautiful grown daughters home to Colorado, and Glen Eyrie......

Why am I telling you this bit of history???

Well, I became intrigued when last week three of my sisters traveled to Colorado Springs as guest of a friend from  Ft. worth. They announced that their friend's summer home  was the Palmer House?? What !!!my sisters were going to stay in that castle...and I wasn't invited.!!!
But.....after some research, which I enjoy doing, I discovered that it was not Glen Eyrie where they were celebrating in my absence...but this house:

Home of a Palmer indeed, but the Palmer was the General's youngest daughter Marjory.

Marjory was in route to England ,way back then, to be married accompanied by her father and older sister. Somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic, she decided she did not want to marry her fiance...but was in love with her Father's doctor. You see the General was confined to a wheel chair by this time, due to a riding accident, and had a young very good looking doctor. Marjory and her new doctor husband built the home (where my sisters were guests) on property given to her by her father.

It too has it's own beauty. That is the famous...and a bit smokey Pike's Peak viewed from the back of the house.

One of the first things Polly enjoyed doing was gathering flowers to fill a vase in her bedroom, from the extensive blooming gardens.

 She also took a lot of pictures inside the house, but only sent me a few.

I especially liked this one. A picture of the original ...rather large ice box.

So, that is my story of my sisters and the Palmer House