Highway of Legends, CO Day 2
Highway of Legends, CO
Day 01 – Monday, October 11, 2010 – Trip to Southern Colorado’s Highway of Legends – PART 2
The gorgeous autumn colors contrasting with the clear blue skies made for a perfect day in Colorado. The rock formations were very distinctive and we stopped to take many photos of the outcroppings standing straight out of the hills. Profile Rock and the Devil’s Staircase along the Legends Byway were some of the most spectacular.
The Highway of Legends gets its name from the profiles one can see on Profile Rock. It is said one can see George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Others say that one can see the profile of a Ute or Comanche Native American and Martha Washington. Maybe our angle was wrong as we could not see any of these.
We photographed our way to the top of Cuchara Pass at 9,941 feet where the aspen trees were almost bare. Down at the bottom of the pass, the road loops to the east and we drove through the tiny villages of Stonewall, Weston, Segundo; all founded decades ago along the Purgatory Valley River.
Seams of black coal were visible along the cuts for the road reminding us of the coal discovered and mined here at the turn of the century. Not far from the highway was the scene of the Ludlow Massacre in 1914 otherwise known as the Colorado Coalfield War, the most violent labor conflict in US history.
Miners were protesting working conditions and went on strike stopping production of the valuable coal for the railroads. The Governor called in the National Guard that kept the peace. When a militia was organized made up of employees of John D. Rockefeller a battle ensued with the miners and 19 people were killed including some women and children.
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Profile Rock – Colorado Route 12
Devil’s Staircase – Colorado Route 1...
Dakota Dukes – Cuchara, Colorado
Cuchara Pass – Colorado Route 12
Homesteader Cabin – Colorado Route 1...
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