Cave of the Winds: Historical Colorado Cave & Giveaway! Part 2

Cave of the Winds: Historical Colorado Cave & Giveaway! Part 2

If you missed part one of the Cave of the Winds trip, be sure to check it out HERE.


As mentioned in the last post, Cave of the Winds became a tourist attraction in 1881. You would be surprised at how many of these early cave explorers were women. In skirts, mind you. ;)

There were two such women visiting the cave, who were old maids of 20 & 21 years old. At a certain point in the cave, the two ladies removed their decorative hair pins and left them on the wall of the cave. Two years later, these two women returned to Cave of the Winds, but this time they were married off to healthy, and wealthy men. Since then, visitors have left hair bands, pennies, any shiny or hair-related object in hopes that they will have the same good fortune. (Pictured at left) Legend has it that if the object lands on top of the pile and stays, you'll be happily married, BUT if it falls, you're in for a divorce.

For all those wondering, no, I didn't leave anything in the old maid wishing pile. I don't believe in such superstitions. ;)

Moving on...

In the early days of cave exploration, visitors had to crawl through the cave for hours to reach the big cavern, with only one or two places where they could stretch out and have a bit of a breather before army-crawling along again. I believe they said it was an 8 hour tour back then. It took us about 45 minutes.

The man who was the main donor to make the cave more accessible had only one request. He wanted a quote from his favorite poem put on the wall, and his name mentioned during the tours. This is the quote, but I can't remember the fella's name.
Apparently, there are also some ghost stories associated with the cave, however our guide assured us that none of them are true. BUT, you can go on a Lantern Tour where they share these types of stories and give you a tour through the cave by lantern light only. Kinda sounds like fun.
Here's a historical film on the tourism at Cave of the Winds in 1925.

 

I'll have one more post on the different cave formations in Cave of the Winds on Monday. Have you entered to win the souvenir yet?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Comments

  1. Natalie MonkJanuary 30, 2015 at 10:12 AM

    Wow! A spinster at 20? I must be grandma material, then, lol. Fun and informative post. Love the pictures! Thank you for sharing!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Amber LemusJanuary 30, 2015 at 10:39 AM

      Haha, me too, Natalie. I really enjoyed that portion of the tour. It was funny and interesting. :)

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Interview with Stephanie Landsem With #giveaway!

Image
I'm so excited to introduce you to Biblical Fiction author, Stephanie Landsem. She is the author of The Living Water series, and the third book just came out YESTERDAY!  Welcome Stephanie! Tell us a little bit about yourself. I’m a wife, mother of four, and author of The Living Water Series. I love to travel, and am lucky that I’ve been able to see many parts of the world and have visited 4 continents. At home, I love to cook, especially new ethnic cuisines from places where I’ve traveled. When I can’t go to new places, I like to be outside hiking, taking walks, or even snowshoeing during our long Minnesota winters. If it’s too cold, my favorite place to be is inside, reading a good book with a cat in my lap. What is your favorite time in History? It will come as no surprise that I’m most drawn to ancient civilizations. In college, I studied a great deal of Greek and Roman history, and perhaps that why I love researching biblical times. There’s somethin
Read more

Cave of the Winds: Historical Colorado Cave & Giveaway! Part 1

Image
Cave of the Winds: Historical Colorado Cave & Giveaway! One of the blessings of having out of state family and friends visit, is the opportunity to see the sites in your own area! Earlier in January, we took family to visit Cave of the Winds, which is only about 45 minutes from my home. It has some fascinating history, and I have some pictures and a giveaway to share with you as well! Cave of the Winds is tucked away in the foothills outside of Colorado Springs next to the cozy town of Manitou Springs. It was first discovered in 1869 but didn't become a tourist attraction until 1881. It has since become the 2nd most commercial cave in the United States. At the bottom of the cavern you see here, is where the original entrance was discovered. Two brothers, John and George Pickett, were exploring the area for caves when they heard a low howling noise. They came to investigate and climbed through a small entrance into a large cavern. Before long, the howling noise returne
Read more

When Reads the Heart with Amanda Cabot

Image
Today I am honored to welcome Amanda Cabot to our When Reads the Heart series as she shares a heartwarming letter from one of her readers.     What made me I think I should write this story?   What made me think I could write it?   Those questions bounced through my head countless times as I was working on Scattered Petals , the second of my Texas Dreams trilogy.   Yes, it’s true that I write stories of healing.   Yes, it’s true that I begin each day by praying that my words will touch readers’ hearts and deepen their faith, but why did I feel compelled to create a heroine who’s raped on her way to a wedding?   The research was painful.   So, too, was the actual writing.   I wept as I wrote the scene where Priscilla’s parents are murdered and she’s attacked.   I wept as I wrote the scenes where she tries to deal with the trauma.   And all the while, I kept asking why ?   Why was I writing this story? The answers began to come soon after the book was published in early 2
Read more