A Tale of Two “Great American Eclipses” By: Steve Ruskin The eclipse as sketched from the summit of Pikes Peak (source: Samuel P. Langley, New Astronomy, 1888). PIKES PEAK REGIONAL HISTORY LECTURE SERIES: Saturday, August 19th - 2:00 pm On Monday, August 21, 2017, America will witness one of nature’s grandest spectacles. The “Great American Eclipse,” as it is being called, will be the first total solar eclipse visible from the continental United States since 1979, and the first coast-to-coast total solar eclipse since 1918. But in 1878, Colorado Springs was at the heart of what I have come to call “America’s First Great Eclipse.” On July 29, a total solar eclipse occurred over the Rockies. It was observed by astronomers and tourists, who had come west to set up their camps along the Front Range, from the windy plains of Wyoming to the summit of Pikes Peak. Colorado Springs was a popular spot: tourists of all different stripes filled the city’s streets and the nearby Garden of the Gods. From Laramie to Pueblo, hotels and boarding houses were filled to overflowing. Headlines from the Colorado Springs Weekly Gazette, Aug. 3, 1878 “Hotels are crowded with tourists,” Wyoming’s Laramie Daily Sentinel reported. To accommodate them, some hotels set up cots and rented out any other available space. In Colorado Springs, reported the Gazette, “one of our popular landlords visited all the livery stables and engaged all the vacant stalls.” The hotels needed to turn no one away; if nothing else, guests might be given a blanket and allowed to sleep outside. As preparations begin for the upcoming “Great American Eclipse” on August 21, 2017, the lecture will relay the exciting tale of America’s first great eclipse, how it brought science and tourism to Colorado Springs, and what can be expected from the amazing eclipse on August 21. Colorado Springs residents watching the eclipse through tinted glass (source: Colorado Springs Weekly Gazette, Aug. 3, 1878) To learn more and register visit: www.CSPM.org MUSELETTER AUGUST 2017 | PG 2
3 Publizr Home