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FOUNTAIN'S HISTORY? WHAT HISTORY?

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Contributed by: Dave Hughes on 7/22/2008

Fountain. Oh Yeah. Freight train town. Where is it? Somewhere north of Pueblo, south of Colorado Springs? Off I-25. History? What History?

Oh, it has a history alright. And it didn't start with Fort Carson or the Railroads.

In fact, Fountain is one of the oldest towns in El Paso County. Almost as old as Colorado City which was founded in 1859. Settlers started scratching out the dirt, close by the ample water in Fountain Creek, the "Little Fountain" branch, and the Jimmy Camp creek and claiming farm land as early as 1860.

And early buildings were erected right where the north Cherokee and Jimmy Camp trails intersected and crossed the creeks - which could become raging torrents, creating the beginnings of a town before it was a town - for Fountain was not platted until 1871. But it sure existed before that, and since that main watercourse that came down Ute Pass through Colorado City and headed southeast toward the Arkansas had a tongue twister of a name -Fontaine Qui Boiuille - given to it after the "boiling" springs of Manitou by those gabby French trappers two decades before. So the Americans, as they always do, shorten and simplify foreign phrases and names to the most obvious single word - "Fountain." That was good enough And stuck.

And few people know, and even fewer have seen - I have - the documentary evidence that the people there at the very spot where the Stage Station was established, (now on the Old Pueblo Road) asked for a US Government Post office by letter in 1864, addressed to the El Paso County Seat in Colorado City, and got anOK in reply from the same place - naming the Post Office "Fountain." That really fixed the name and identity forever.

Now even though I am a Colorado native who knows the state, and El Paso County, thoroughly, I have always had a problem visualizing where everything is in that sprawling "Fountain Valley" centered on the town of Fountain.

Until I met Dorothy Christian Boyd - whose family roots, especially the Christian branch of the family are deep and all over the Fountain Valley, from the Wigwam Fort on the south, the springs used by the Indians - where she found arrowheads as a little girl on their family land and the Charter Oaks ranch and stage stop on the west, the water tower marking Security on the north and Squirrel Creek on the east.

Now Dorothy has plunged into the History of Fountain and the Fountain Valley. And this is great, because, except for a little booklet by a writer - Kay Larsen - for the Fountain Valley Newspaper in 1969, there never has been an historically authentic history of Fountain, especially one written by a native. And that history is coming out of a presentation Dorothy put together and delivered to Fountain Valley Historical Society! Soon she will have a first book from her lecture.

Well there never HAD been an Historical Society for Fountain or Fountain Valley before, 5 years ago, one was formed. And THAT only came about because people there wanted a Museum - a place they could leave their momentos of their and their community's lives. Typical of small towns, sooner or later they want a place to store and display their history.

So in an interesting twist, 5 local clubs, from the Grange and the Odd Fellows to the VFW had built a meeting building in downtown Fountain. So, 5 years ago they decided to GIVE the building to the City of Fountain, provided it let them use it forever as a Museum, and pay for the utilities to the building. The deal was made, the Historical Society of Fountain was formed, and immediately local started donating stuff to the Museum

Well yesterday I visited that Museum, and it's wonderful! It got going with lots of great things displayed in it faster than Old Colorado City got ITS Museum off the ground. It is staffed entirely by volunteers - its curator is Betty Powell. Now it is only open Saturday's from 10 a.m.to 3 p.m., but EVERYONE who lives in Fountain should visit it - for it is one of very few

I took lots of digital photos and asked lots of questions. I have posted 17 pictures with this Hub Article, with long captions. For there are some really neat acquisitions.

Like the recently newsworthy discovery of a part of the wall in a house in Fountain that was being remodeled, of the back side of a wall board that contained a full Confession by John Spicer who killed a John Sebastian by clubbing him to death in 1893 for $5,000 worth of jewelry. And before he died confessed so he could make peace with his God and boarded it up in his house.

And the honest to goodness two big wheel Fire Hose wagon that was used by the Fountain Volunteer Firefighters way back to the beginning of the Century.

Then lots of Cowboy tack - saddles, bridles, halters. Photographs of entire very large families of the Valley, such as the Wilsons

A complete display of uniforms worn by the boys of Fountain in World War II and a full wall display of the names of every boy and man who served in WWII, with a small gold star beside those who died.

A seat saved from the great downtown Colorado Springs icon every kid in the region knew and attended (including me) from the 1920s until it was foolishly torn down with Urban Renewal in the 1960s - the Chief Theater.

Oh, there is history aplenty in Fountain - its just that nobody until Dorothy and the Historical Society dug it out and started to show it to the world.

I have included a few outside pictures too - like the old Jail building, and the real mystery, the stone and cement wall at 'Wig Wam' a forlorn small place that used to be a small town itself. And everyone, including Dorothy's mother called all her life "Fort Wigwam" ???? FORT Wigwam? I have a good photo of the remains of that wall, that is hardly of modern construction. But a real wall nevertheless. Well I have my work cut out for me to find whether a real "Fort" with real troops was built there. I had, seen, in the past, an old map that showed a small and very temporary Fort down near Fountain. But is that it? Why was it built? During the Civil War? Or the Indian Wars? For that Cherokee trail was a highway for LOTS of Indians enroute to and from Ute Pass and the good hunting grounds up around South Park. I'll find out.

This is enough for now. Next time I will write about REAL early history - like what went right through where the town of Fountain stands today in 1779!! The Spanish, chasing Cuerno Verde, the bad Comanche Chief.

Stay tuned

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Submitted By: Sheila Earp

posted on 8/22/2008 @ 1:10:57 PM

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Do you have any information about the big white house on south main street? I lived there in the late 50's. We were told it was the old stage coach stop.

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Dave Hughes

Colorado Springs , CO

Dave Hughes has posted 97 stories and 91 comments since joining on 3/1/2007. Dave Hughes 's average story rating is 4.91.

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