Cheyenne Mountain

{{Infobox mountain

| name = Cheyenne Mountain

| photo = Cheyenne Mountain 1.jpg

| photo_size =

| photo_caption =

| elevation_ft = 9570

| elevation_ref =

| prominence_ft = 1141

| prominence_ref = {{cite peakbagger|pid=39705|title=Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado|access-date=November 4, 2014}}

| isolation_mi = 1.87

| isolation_ref =

| location = El Paso County, Colorado, U.S.{{cite gnis|id=203681|name=Cheyenne Mountain|access-date=November 4, 2014}}

| range = Front Range, Rocky Mountains

| map = Colorado

| map_caption = Colorado

| coordinates = {{Coord|38.7370372|N|104.8808817|W|type:mountain_region:US-CO_scale:100000|format=dms|display=inline,title}}

| range_coordinates =

| coordinates_ref =

| topo = USGS 7.5' topographic map
Mount Big Chief, Colorado

}}

Cheyenne Mountain is a triple-peaked mountain in El Paso County, Colorado, southwest of downtown Colorado Springs. The mountain serves as a host for military, communications, recreational, and residential functions. The underground operations center for the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) was built during the Cold War to monitor North American airspace for missile launches and Soviet military aircraft. Built deep within granite, it was designed to withstand the impact and fallout from a nuclear bomb. Its function broadened with the end of the Cold War, and then many of its functions were transferred to Peterson Air Force Base in 2006.

Homesteading on the mountain began in 1867 and the mountain was the site of resorts and retreats beginning in the 1880s. Spencer Penrose, who built The Broadmoor in 1918, bought many of the properties on the mountain and built the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, Cheyenne Mountain Highway, Will Rogers Shrine of the Sun, a lodge on one of the mountain peaks, and a retreat at Emerald Valley. The site of the lodge has become a wilderness Cloud Camp and Emerald Valley is now the site of The Broadmoor's Ranch at Emerald Valley. Land on Cheyenne Mountain that had once been owned by The Broadmoor is now the site of luxury homes. A community, Overlook Colony, that began in 1911 still resides on the mountain.

The two parks on and at the base of Cheyenne Mountain are Cheyenne Mountain State Park and North Cheyenne Cañon Park. A noticeable feature on the top of one of Cheyenne Mountain's peaks is an antenna farm with transmitters for cellular phone, radio, television, and law enforcement purposes.

Geography

File:YL 19-85 - DPLA - ff5f2360c33bd2f9307bc648a1325941.jpg in 1937.]]

Cheyenne Mountain has three peaks. The southern peak is Cheyenne Mountain's summit at {{convert|9,200|ft|m}} in elevation. It was formerly called Mount Albrecht. The antenna farm sits on the middle peak. The northern peak, The Horns, may look to some like the head of a dragon or horns.{{r|More than NORAD}}{{efn|An old Native American legend is that the mountain is the remains of a dragon that drank water from a flood, could not move from the weight, and died, leaving his image captured in the mountain's profile.{{r|More than NORAD}} Legends of the lizard dragon with the great thirst were relayed to Spanish priests, recorded in manuscripts, and delivered to and stored in New Spain's capital and Madrid, Spain's archives. Another legend tells of a devil who lost a fight over land to the god Manitou, who took his dead body to a Cheyenne Mountain canyon, and the devil's horns are the only visible feature.{{cite web | url=http://more.ppld.org:8080/SpecialCollections/Index/ArticleOrders/324300.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150205043430/http://more.ppld.org:8080/SpecialCollections/Index/ArticleOrders/324300.pdf | url-status=dead | archive-date=February 5, 2015 | author=Henry Russell Wray | title=The Legends of Cheyenne Mountain | newspaper=The Gazette | location=Colorado Springs | date=July 31, 1904 | access-date=February 1, 2015 | pages=13:1,2, 3 }}}} The peak is {{convert|9,200|ft|m}} in elevation.{{r|More than NORAD}}

The mountain's boundaries are Rock Creek, which flows from Mount Big Chief through Cheyenne Mountain to the town of Fountain, to the south and Cheyenne Cañon to the north.{{r|More than NORAD}}{{Cite gnis|193602|Rock Creek|access-date=2012-07-23}} The western side of Cheyenne Mountain is in Pike National Forest,{{cite web | url=http://data.fs.usda.gov/geodata/rastergateway/data/38104/fstopo/383710452_Mount_Big_Chief_FSTopo.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150220082708/http://data.fs.usda.gov/geodata/rastergateway/data/38104/fstopo/383710452_Mount_Big_Chief_FSTopo.pdf | url-status=dead | archive-date=February 20, 2015 |title=Mount Big Chief (see upper right) | publisher=National Forest Service |access-date=February 2, 2015 }}{{cite web | url=http://data.fs.usda.gov/geodata/rastergateway/data/38104/fstopo/383710445_Cheyenne_Mountain_FSTopo.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150220081039/http://data.fs.usda.gov/geodata/rastergateway/data/38104/fstopo/383710445_Cheyenne_Mountain_FSTopo.pdf | url-status=dead | archive-date=February 20, 2015 |title=Cheyenne Mountain (see upper left) | publisher=National Forest Service |access-date=February 2, 2015 }} within the Pikes Peak Ranger District.{{cite web | url=http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5177645.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111027053537/http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5177645.pdf | url-status=dead | archive-date=October 27, 2011 | title=Pike National Forest, Pikes Peak Ranger District | publisher=US Forest Service | year=2010| access-date=February 2, 2015 }} Colorado Springs' skyline features Cheyenne Mountain and Pikes Peak. Other mountain peaks are Mount Arthur, Mount Baldy, Mount Rosa, Cameron's Cone, and Mount Garfield.{{r|Country Life p. 62}}

History

=Early history=

Cheyenne Mountain was named for the Cheyenne people. Native Americans found that Cheyenne Mountain was a good source of wood for teepee poles. It was visited by Cheyenne and Arapaho people, who may have sought spiritual inspiration from the mountain's waterfalls.{{cite web | url=http://www.springsgov.com/Page.aspx?NavID=2060 | title=The First People of the Cañon and the Pikes Peak Region | publisher=City of Colorado Springs | access-date=May 27, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140703103919/http://www.springsgov.com/Page.aspx?NavID=2060 |archive-date=July 3, 2014}} Cheyenne Mountain was used by Ute Native Americans to cross from the plains and benefit from the "steep slopes and hidden valleys" to safely travel from enemy tribes that had their horses stolen by the Utes.{{r|NORAD to Parks}}{{rp|1}}

=Late 19th century=

William Dixon, a rancher, claimed a homestead in the Cheyenne Mountain foothills in 1867. He built a tavern along a trail up Cheyenne Mountain and turned the trail into a toll road, now called Old Stage Road, to Cripple Creek. The road begins as a paved road and is then a dirt road through Pike National Forest. His homestead ultimately became part of The Broadmoor resort.{{r|More than NORAD}}

The Cheyenne Mining District was located on Cheyenne Mountain.{{cite book|author=Charles William Henderson|title=Mining in Colorado: a history of discovery, development and production|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZTLOAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA63|year=1926|publisher=Government Printing Office|location=Washington, D.C.|page=63}} The Little Suzie gold mine was built by a group of prospectors in the 1870s.{{r|Overlook Colony}} Silver and minerals were mined on Cheyenne Mountain in 1883.{{cite web | url=http://more.ppld.org:8080/specialcollections/index/ArticleOrders/335823.pdf | title=Cheyenne Mountain | newspaper=The Gazette | location=Colorado Springs | date=August 11, 1883 | access-date=January 31, 2015 | pages=5:4, 8:1 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150202001755/http://more.ppld.org:8080/specialcollections/index/ArticleOrders/335823.pdf | archive-date=February 2, 2015 }}{{cite web | url=http://more.ppld.org:8080/specialcollections/index/ArticleOrders/335830.pdf | title=Boom on Cheyenne Mountain | newspaper=The Gazette | location=Colorado Springs | date=November 17, 1883 | access-date=January 31, 2015 | pages=2:6 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150202001752/http://more.ppld.org:8080/specialcollections/index/ArticleOrders/335830.pdf | archive-date=February 2, 2015 }} Towns or resorts built on Cheyenne Mountain included the original Bruin Inn (1884),{{r|Famous hotels}}{{efn|E. P. Tenney, a professor and the first president of Colorado College built a cabin in 1881 and the original Bruin Inn in North Cheyenne Cañon in 1884. There is a legend that the original building is incorporated within the current Bruin Inn.{{r|Famous hotels}}}} Watsonville (town named in 1884){{cite web | url=http://more.ppld.org:8080/specialCollections/Index/ArticleOrders/271577.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150202001712/http://more.ppld.org:8080/specialCollections/Index/ArticleOrders/271577.pdf | url-status=dead | archive-date=February 2, 2015 | title=Town of Watsonville | newspaper=The Gazette | location=Colorado Springs | date=September 11, 1884 | access-date=January 31, 2015 }} and Wade City, also called Wade's Resort, (1885).{{r|Famous hotels}}{{cite book|title=Trail and Timberline|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8hRBAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA17|year=1918|publisher=Colorado Mountain Club|page=17|chapter=Local Walks Schedule: Horns on Cheyenne Mountain}}{{efn|Wade's Resort was also called Wade City. It was built by Joel H Wade about 1885 on the old Cripple Creek stage road (now Old Stage Road) along South Cheyenne Creek. Wade was the grandfather of Fred Barr. The town, a scheduled stop on the stage route to Cripple Creek, was torn down or burned down by 1934.{{cite web | url=http://more.ppld.org:8080/SpecialCollections/Index/ArticleOrders/52631.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305070555/http://more.ppld.org:8080/SpecialCollections/Index/ArticleOrders/52631.pdf | url-status=dead | archive-date=March 5, 2016 | title=Famous hotels and inns of long ago now only memories | newspaper=The Gazette | location=Colorado Springs | date=April 8, 1934 | access-date=February 1, 2015 | pages=Section 2, 1:1 }}{{cite web | url=http://more.ppld.org:8080/specialCollections/Index/ArticleOrders/279061.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190207093530/http://more.ppld.org:8080/specialCollections/Index/ArticleOrders/279061.pdf | url-status=dead | archive-date=February 7, 2019 | title=Wade City on the old Gold Camp road was a stop for the stagecoaches | newspaper=The Gazette | location=Colorado Springs | date=May 21, 1961 | access-date=February 1, 2015 | pages=BB 2:5 }}}} The first mining claims granted for El Paso County were for the Manganese and Rio Grande lodes on Cheyenne Mountain by January 31, 1885.{{cite book|title=Engineering and Mining Journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n0jnAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA78|year=1885|publisher=Western|page=78}}

File:Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado-LCCN2008676336.jpg|Cheyenne Mountain, 1898–1905

=Early 20th century=

The Colorado Springs and Cripple Creek District Railway (Short Line) traversed Cheyenne Mountain

during the trip between Cripple Creek and Colorado Springs by 1905. It transported coal, mined ore, and passengers.{{r|Short Line}} Also at that time, a carriage road went to Seven Lakes and the summit of Pikes Peak from Cheyenne Mountain.{{cite book|author1=Colorado Springs |author2=Cripple Creek District Railway |title=The Short Line Blue Book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=npg1AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA37|year=1904|publisher=Blue Book Publishing Company|pages=27, 37}}

Grace Lutheran Church built a retreat in Emerald Valley in 1904. It is now The Broadmoor's Ranch at Emerald Valley.{{cite web | url=http://more.ppld.org:8080/SpecialCollections/Index/ArticleOrders/2012/49/751025.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150202034716/http://more.ppld.org:8080/SpecialCollections/Index/ArticleOrders/2012/49/751025.pdf | url-status=dead | archive-date=February 2, 2015 | title=A rustic getaway for guests of Broadmoor; Hotel to remodel cabins of newly purchased Emerald Valley Ranch | newspaper=The Gazette | location=Colorado Springs | date=December 4, 2012 | access-date=February 1, 2015 | page=Business 1:2 }}{{efn|It was next used beginning 1910 by the Girl Scouts of America. It was named Camp Vigil by Penrose after he bought the property and had more buildings constructed as a retreat for himself and his friends. After he died in 1939, it was left to the community and was used by the Boy Scouts and YMCA. It became the Emerald Valley Ranch in 1946. Buildings were purchased The Broadmoor from the Turley Family and land is leased from the Pike National Forest.{{r|Emerald Valley}}}} In 1905, Dr. August McKay homesteaded on 120 acres on the east slope of Cheyenne Mountain. He developed a series of trails and rest houses that led to The Sunshine Inn that he built as a health resort above Old Stage Road. The property was purchased by Spencer Penrose, who had the inn torn down.{{r|More than NORAD}}{{cite web | url=http://more.ppld.org:8080/SpecialCollections/Index/ArticleOrders/381711.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150202035559/http://more.ppld.org:8080/SpecialCollections/Index/ArticleOrders/381711.pdf | url-status=dead | archive-date=February 2, 2015 | title=Dr. A.F. McKay secures Cheyenne Mountain homestead | newspaper=The Gazette | location=Colorado Springs | date=April 21, 1912 | access-date=January 31, 2015 | page=1:5 }}

The Overlook Colony was started in 1911 by a group of Colorado College professors. It first started as a summer retreat for the educators, and grew to include musicians, doctors, artists, generals, oilmen, and an ambassador to India. The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo was built just below and the Will Rogers Shrine built just above this community. Residents manage the Overlook Colony Mutual Water Company that governs water conservation, maintenance, and testing of the water supply from deep within the former Little Susie gold mine.{{cite web | url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-2745396.html| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309001847/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-2745396.html| url-status=dead| archive-date=March 9, 2016| title=TSomething in the water: Cheyenne Mountain colony united by common needs| author=Dave Philipps | newspaper=The Gazette | location=Colorado Springs | date=August 17, 2003 | access-date=January 31, 2015}}

Bert Swisher and Thomas Dixon homesteaded on Cheyenne Mountain in 1917. Dixon resided with his family in a cabin near the top of the mountain in the middle of three valleys. Swisher's cabin was near the present site of the antenna farm at the top of the mountain, which was accessed by Old Stage Road.{{r|NORAD to Parks}}{{rp|1}}{{rp|2}}

=Spencer Penrose and The Broadmoor=

Cheyenne Mountain became a successful recreational and resort area when Spencer Penrose developed The Broadmoor resort in 1918.{{cite book|author=Steven B. Stern|title=Stern's Guide to the Greatest Resorts of the World|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OfRhN11wyq4C&pg=PA64|date=May 1, 2006|publisher=Stern's Travel Guides, Ltd.|isbn=978-0-9778608-0-7|page=64|chapter=Colorado: The Broadmoor}}{{r|NORAD to Parks}}{{rp|1}} The Cheyenne Mountain Cog Railroad provided narrow gauge cog railway service to South Cheyenne Cañon from the Broadmoor Casino beginning in 1918. It later offered service from The Broadmoor to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. Service ended in 1974.{{cite web | url=http://pubs.usgs.gov/imap/i-2639/Pamphlet.pdf | title=Historic Trail Map of the Denver 1° × 2° Quadrangle, Central Colorado |author=Glenn R. Scott, with Denver Public Library, Western History and Genealogy Department | work=Geologic Investigations Series I-2639 pamphlet | publisher=US Geological Survey, US Department of the Interior | year=1999 | access-date=February 1, 2015 | page=30}}

In the 1920s, Penrose began to develop on Cheyenne Mountain property on the northern peak that he bought in 1915. He built the Cheyenne Mountain Highway in 1925.{{r|More than NORAD}} In 1926, the Cheyenne Mountain Lodge opened at the top of Cheyenne Mountain. It had a restaurant, a suite for Penrose on the third floor, four guest rooms, and living quarters for servants.{{r|Rustic Retreat}} Visitors could make the trip up the Cheyenne Mountain Highway on the backs of elephants.{{cite web | url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-2722789.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150329163821/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-2722789.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=March 29, 2015 | title=The Springs' other mountain: There's a lot more to Cheyenne than NORAD | author=Steven Saint | newspaper=The Gazette | location=Colorado Springs | date=January 8, 2002 | access-date=January 31, 2015 }} The lodge closed in 1961. It was razed in 1976 following years of destruction by vandals. It is now the site of The Broadmoor's Cloud Camp lodge and cabins.{{cite web | url=https://www.questia.com/read/1P2-34425899 | title=Broadmoor Plans Rustic Retreat atop Cheyenne Mountain | author=Rich Laden | newspaper=The Gazette | location=Colorado Springs | date=March 22, 2013 | access-date= |url-access= | via=}}{{dead link|date=July 2021}}

File:Broadmoor lake panorama to west.jpg|The Broadmoor resort, with Cheyenne Lake in the foreground and Cheyenne Mountain in the left half of the background

Penrose developed the country's highest zoo at {{convert|6800|ft|m}} in elevation,{{cite book|author=Fodor's Travel Publications, Inc.|title=Colorado|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZVXDxvauXFAC&pg=PA402|date=1 April 2008|publisher=Fodor's Travel Publications|isbn=978-1-4000-1909-0|page=402|chapter=The Broadmoor and Cheyenne Canon}} the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo (1926) on the mountain and Will Rogers Shrine of the Sun (1937) on the northern promontory of the mountain.{{cite web | url=http://www.coloradoopenlands.org/_pdfs/pressRoom/PR_2009/From%20NORAD%20to%20Parks%20cheyenne%20mtn.pdf | title=From NORAD to Parks: A Tale of the Cheyenne Mountain Project | publisher=Colorado Open Lands | access-date=January 31, 2015 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150201001303/http://www.coloradoopenlands.org/_pdfs/pressRoom/PR_2009/From%20NORAD%20to%20Parks%20cheyenne%20mtn.pdf | archive-date=February 1, 2015 }}{{rp|1}}{{efn|Thomas Jacob Noel stated in his book Revisited: The History Behind the Images that the Shrine opened in 1927,{{cite book|author1=Thomas Jacob Noel|author2=John Fielder|title=Colorado, 1870–2000, Revisited: The History Behind the Images|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0bwyh1A_OsEC&pg=PA88|year=2001|publisher=Big Earth Publishing|isbn=978-1-56579-389-7|page=88}}{{rp|88}} but it opened in 1937.{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1310&dat=19370902&id=3AszAAAAIBAJ&sjid=g-gDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6586,6759558 |title="Empty Saddles" Ride in Memory of Rogers; Shrine to be Unveiled |newspaper=Eugene Register-Guard |location=Eugene, Oregon|date=September 2, 1937 | access-date=February 4, 2015 |page=5}}}} The Cheyenne Mountain Highway was built for transport to the zoo, shrine, and top of the mountain.{{r|Blevins}}{{rp|222}} The Broadmoor built a ski area on Cheyenne Mountain in 1959. In 1986, the resort closed Ski Broadmoor, but the city of Colorado Springs and Ski Vail stepped in to keep it open. It closed in 1991.{{cite news | url=http://www.gazette.com/articles/broadmoor-124987-hotel-penrose.html | archive-url=https://archive.today/20120905183752/http://www.gazette.com/articles/broadmoor-124987-hotel-penrose.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=September 5, 2012 | title=Timeline – History of The Broadmoor | location=Colorado Springs, CO | newspaper=The Gazette | date=September 15, 2011 | access-date=January 29, 2015 }} The land was sold to the Broadmoor Resort Community Association.{{r|More than NORAD}} Land that had once been owned by The Broadmoor on the mountain was sold and is now the site of luxury homes.{{r|Noel}}{{rp|92}}

File:Will Rogers Shrine of the Sun, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.jpg|Will Rogers Shrine of the Sun

File:Ch mtn zoo giraffes 2003.jpg|Giraffes, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

NORAD operations center

{{main|Cheyenne Mountain Space Force Station|Cheyenne Mountain Complex}}

In the 1950s, during the Cold War, the interior of the mountain became a site for the operations center for the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).{{r|NORAD to Parks}}{{rp|1}} The center, deep within Cheyenne Mountain, was completed in 1966 after spending $142 million and using 500 tons of explosives. The result was an underground city operated by the Air Force.{{r|More than NORAD}} Popular Science wrote in 1965, before the dedication of the facility, that Cheyenne Mountain would be the only mountain to have buildings constructed within its interior. It was built to withstand being bombed: eleven multiple-story buildings stand on coil springs to absorb the shock of a blast, and care was taken to make sure that up to 800 people could survive a nuclear exchange. The buildings are encased in steel, surrounded by granite, and the facility is behind blast-proof doors. It was designed to be the "nerve center" for NORAD.{{cite book|author=Bonnier Corporation|title=Popular Science|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-yUDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA97|date=November 1965|publisher=Bonnier Corporation|pages=97–99|chapter=Inside a Mountain|journal=The Popular Science Monthly|issn=0161-7370}}

The NORAD center has been staffed by Canadian and United States military personnel to monitor North American air space for intercontinental ballistic missiles and incoming Soviet military aircraft.{{cite book|author=Maryann Gaug|title=Best Hikes Near Denver and Boulder|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Chz_b0lEGXQC&pg=PA98|date=March 23, 2010|publisher=Falcon Guides|isbn=978-0-7627-6223-1|page=98|chapter=Cheyenne Mountain State Park}}{{cite book|author=Tim Blevins|title=Enterprise & Innovation in the Pikes Peak Region|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qXZ8tzoryhcC&pg=PA194|date=1 January 2011|publisher=Pikes Peak Library District|isbn=978-1-56735-302-0|page=194}}{{rp|194–195}} Locally, this military boom during the Cold War included the establishment of the United States Air Force Academy, Peterson Air Force Base, and Fort Carson.{{r|NORAD to Parks}}{{rp|1}} After the Cold War, NORAD monitored objects orbiting the Earth and aircraft without flight plans. It is also known for monitoring the Christmas Eve orbit of Santa Claus.{{r|Gaug p. 98}}{{Cite web |title=Official NORAD Santa Tracker |url=https://www.noradsanta.org/en/index.html |access-date=2023-02-03 |website=www.noradsanta.org |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=DAFC |first=J. Brian "Bear" Lihani |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oZivCQAAQBAJ |title=NORAD and Cheyenne Mountain AFS |date=2015 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |isbn=978-1-4671-3330-2 |page=69|language=en}}

NORAD used to offer public tours, but due to security concerns they were suspended in 1999. The off-ramp on NORAD road has been staffed by Air Force Security Police since September 11, 2001.{{r|More than NORAD}} Most of the center's operations were moved to Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs in 2006,{{r|Gaug p. 98}} then in April 2015, the Pentagon reported that a few operations would be moving back in.{{citation needed|date=April 2016}}

File:Cheyenne Mountain Aerial.jpg|Aerial photograph of the NORAD parking lot, NORAD Road, and the antenna farm, 2011

File:Cheyenne Mountain NORAD entrance 1968.jpg|NORAD Entrance, Cheyenne Mountain,1968

Antenna farm

During the 1950s, an antenna farm was built on the middle peak of the mountain{{r|More than NORAD}}{{r|NORAD to Parks}}{{rp|1}} when Bert Swisher deeded ten acres to Bud Edmonds and several backers and Swisher signed a non-compete agreement.{{r|More than NORAD}}{{r|NORAD to Parks}}{{rp|2}} Edmonds, John Browne, and Buck Ingersoll agreed to replace the trails to the area with a real road, which was opened in 1960 by the Cheyenne Propagation Company.{{r|More than NORAD}} There are 700 cell phone, television, radio, and law enforcement transmitters on the antenna farm.{{r|More than NORAD}} The Cheyenne Mountain radio site 145.160 repeater covers south central and southeast Colorado along the Interstate 25 corridor from Monument nearly to the New Mexico border.{{Cite web |last=Duehr |first=Nate |date=September 2, 2005 |title=Cheyenne Mountain Site |url=http://www.w0cra.org/info/cosprgs.html |publisher=Colorado Repeater Association |access-date=January 31, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130416022016/http://www.w0cra.org/info/cosprgs.html |archive-date=April 16, 2013 }} In 2002, it was operated by the Cheyenne Propagation Company.{{r|More than NORAD}}

Parks and recreation

=Cheyenne Mountain State Park=

The City of Colorado Springs and Colorado State Parks purchased 1,680 acres of land to preserve the "southeastern flank" of the mountain and its wildlife habitat in 2000.{{r|Gaug p. 99}} The land, originally the JL Ranch,{{efn|The 1,500 acre JL Ranch was a cattle ranch operated by Lloyd and Dorothy Jones until the mid-1900s. The NORAD entrance is near the site of the Jones' former house.{{r|Gaug p. 98}}}} was slated for development of 2,500 houses.{{cite book|author=Maryann Gaug|title=Best Hikes Near Denver and Boulder|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Chz_b0lEGXQC&pg=PA99|date=March 23, 2010|publisher=Falcon Guides|isbn=978-0-7627-6223-1|page=99|chapter=Cheyenne Mountain State Park}}{{r|NORAD to Parks}}{{rp|1}}{{efn|At the time, the acquisition and preservation of the JL Ranch land was considered a partial victory by the Colorado State Parks, City of Colorado Springs, and others. The ultimate vision was also to preserve land west of the ranch property, which would have connected the grass and shrublands at the base of the mountain to the forests on Cheyenne Mountain. It would have also protected unique geology in that area.{{r|NORAD to Parks}}{{rp|1–2}}}} The land was purchased to create the Cheyenne Mountain State Park,{{r|NORAD to Parks}}{{rp|3}} which is the only state park in El Paso County. An additional 1,021 acres at the top and east side of Cheyenne Mountain were acquired from 2007 to 2009. The park is now a total of 2,701 acres, part of which is at the base of the mountain and part of which is on Cheyenne Mountain.{{r|Gaug p. 99}}{{cite web | url=https://cpw.state.co.us/placestogo/parks/CheyenneMountain/Documents/CheyenneMountainStateParkManagementPlan.pdf |title=Cheyenne Mountain State Park: 2013 Management Plan | publisher=Colorado Parks and Wildlife |access-date=January 31, 2015 }} It has 20 miles of trails.{{r|Gaug p. 99}}

=Cheyenne Cañon=

The 1,600 acre North Cheyenne Cañon Park, Starsmore Discovery Center, Seven Falls, and some of Colorado Spring's "most exclusive neighborhoods" are located in Cheyenne Cañon.{{r|Fodor p. 402}} The source of North Cheyenne Creek is in Teller County. South Cheyenne Creek's source, also in Teller County, is Mount Big Chief,{{cite book|author1=Samuel Stinson Gannett|author2=David Henry Baldwin|title=Results of Spirit Leveling in Pennsylvania for the Years 1899 to 1905 Inclusive|url=https://archive.org/details/resultsspiritle01baldgoog|year=1906|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|pages=42. 122, 158}}{{cite web | url=http://geonames.usgs.gov/apex/f?p=136:3:0::NO:3:P3_FID,P3_TITLE:193401,North%20Cheyenne%20Creek | title=North Cheyenne Creek | publisher=US Geological Survey, US Department of the Interior | date=October 13, 1978 | access-date=January 30, 2015 }}{{cite web | url=http://geonames.usgs.gov/apex/f?p=136:3:0::NO:3:P3_FID,P3_TITLE:193400,South%20Cheyenne%20Creek | title=North Cheyenne Creek | publisher=US Geological Survey, US Department of the Interior | date=October 13, 1978 | access-date=January 30, 2015 }} near St. Peter's Dome.{{ cite web | url=http://westernmininghistory.com/mine_detail/10013843 | title=Cheyenne District (St. Peter's Dome District) | publisher=Western Mining History | access-date=January 19, 2015 }} The flows through Seven Falls{{cite book|author=Federal Writers' Project|title=Colorado, a Guide to the Highest State|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EBmv2pnmNyIC&pg=PA371|year=1941|publisher=Best Books on Federal Writers' Project|isbn=978-1-62376-006-9|page=371}} in South Cheyenne Cañon.{{Cite book |year=1916 |title=Colorado Springs, Colorado City and Manitou City Directory |volume=XIII |publisher=The R. L. Polk Directory Co }}

North Cheyenne Cañon Park was started when the city of Colorado Springs bought 640 acres in North Cheyenne Cañon from Colorado College in 1885. An additional 480 acres was donated by General William Jackson Palmer. That land included High Drive, Silver Cascade Falls, and Helen Hunt Falls. In 1909 the Park Commission called it "by far the grandest and most popular of all the beautiful cañons near the city" for its evergreen trees, waterfalls, Cheyenne Creek, and rock formations.{{r|City of Colorado Springs – First People}} Moderate hikes in the canon include Mount Cutler and Columbine trails.{{r|Fodor p. 402}}

The two creeks meet and form Cheyenne Creek near the intersection of North Cheyenne Canyon Road, South Cheyenne Canyon Road, and Cheyenne Boulevard.{{cite web | url=http://geonames.usgs.gov/apex/f?p=136:3:0::NO:3:P3_FID,P3_TITLE:193534,Cheyenne%20Creek |title=Cheyenne Creek | publisher=US Geological Survey, US Department of the Interior | date=October 13, 1978 | access-date=January 30, 2015 }}{{ cite web | url=https://www.google.com/maps/dir/38.7908333,+-104.8636111/%2738.81610,-104.8228%27/@38.8151431,-104.8223856,17z/data=!4m9!4m8!1m3!2m2!1d-104.8636111!2d38.7908333!1m3!2m2!1d-104.8228!2d38.8161 | title=Search: Coordinates from the source of Cheyenne Creek to its mouth | publisher=Google maps | date=January 30, 2015 }}

File:North Cheyenne Canyon Park CO 2009.JPG|North Cheyenne Cañon Park

File:North Cheyenne Canyon Park Starsmore Discovery Center.JPG|Starsmore Discovery Center, North Cheyenne Canon Park

File:Helen Hunt Falls.jpg|Helen Hunt Falls

=Historic trails=

Two historic trails, only shown on the Pikes Peak Atlas, lead to the summit top of Cheyenne Mountain: the unofficial and faintly visible Swisher and the MacNiel trails. At the top of the Swisher trail is a meadow and ruins of an old cabin.{{r|Swisher trail}}{{efn|The McNeil trail begins over the crest of a hill from the Broadmoor Stables, which is a {{convert|5.7|mi|km}} drive up Old Stage Road. It meets on a ridge with the Swisher Trail. Most of the land at the top is public land; restricted areas are the antenna farm, private property, the road, and the eastern half of the summit. There is an {{convert|800|ft|m}} elevation gain over the combined trails, which are {{convert|6.5|mi|km}} round trip.{{ cite news|url=http://outtherecolorado.com/cheyenne-mountain-via-swisher-trail/article/1501891#lip42HZ6ev0CAuPS.99 |title=Cheyenne Mountain via Swisher Trail |newspaper=The Gazette |via=OutThereColorado, published by Colorado Springs Gazette |orig-year=May 11, 2012 |date=June 6, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150202113438/http://outtherecolorado.com/cheyenne-mountain-via-swisher-trail/article/1501891 |archive-date=2015-02-02 }}}}

In popular culture

Cheyenne Mountain was featured at the beginning of 1992 miniseries Intruders
Helen Hunt Jackson's poem, Cheyenne Mountain was published by 1893.{{cite book|author=Helen Hunt Jackson|title=Poems|url=https://archive.org/details/poems01jackgoog|year=1893|publisher=Roberts Brothers|pages=[https://archive.org/details/poems01jackgoog/page/n275 258], xv|chapter=Cheyenne Mountain}}
In Robert Heinlein's 1966 The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, a lunar colony's revolt against rule from Earth included the complete destruction of Cheyenne Mountain by rocks catapulted from the Moon.
A fictionalized Cheyenne Mountain NORAD base was the setting for the 1983 movie WarGames.
The South Park episode "Trapper Keeper" features Cheyenne Mountain holding a fictional secret military base, like WarGames.
Cheyenne Mountain is the base of the fictional SGC (Stargate Command) and the location of the stargate in the military science fiction show Stargate SG-1.
The Mountain was featured in the 2016 film, Independence Day: Resurgence.
It is an early command center for the human resistance in L. Ron Hubbard's Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000 (1982, {{ISBN|1-59212-007-5}}).
The Mountain is a possible choice for the location of XCOM HQ in XCOM Long War, which offers the benefit of already being partially developed.
In the video game Horizon Zero Dawn, Cheyenne Mountain is known as All-Mother Mountain to the Nora Tribe and the modern-day Cheyenne Mountain Complex serves as the site of the Eleuthia-9 cradle facility
The mountain serves as NASA's secret headquarters in the 2014 film Interstellar

Notable people

Sarah Hirshland (born 1975), chief executive officer of the United States Olympic Committee{{Cite web|url=https://gazette.com/cheyenneedition/meet-your-neighbor-keith-hirschland/article_0de92e68-1b44-11e9-af88-e7739818c2ea.html|title=Meet Your Neighbor: Keith Hirschland|first=William J.|last=Dagendesh|date=February 6, 2019|website=Colorado Springs Gazette}}

Notes

References

External links

[http://cmheritagecenter.org Cheyenne Mountain Heritage Center]

{{External images

|float=left

|width=400px

|image1=[http://cdm15330.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15330coll22/id/71819 Cheyenne Mountain panorama, all three peaks, 1896–1901]

|image2=[http://cdm15330.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p15330coll22/id/73013/rec/179 Seven Falls, South Cheyenne Cañon, 1890–1900]

|image3=[http://cdm15330.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p15330coll22/id/10209/rec/202 Vista of Cheyenne Mountain, Cheyenne Road, 1915–1920]

|image4=[http://www.dougspivey.com/Colorado/Mountain02.jpg Panorama of Cheyenne Mountain (color)]

|image5=[http://adrianematkovich.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Sky-Ride-at-Cheyenne-Mountain-Zoo.png Sky Ride at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo]

|image6=[http://arrowheadtrails.com/images-2009/Cheyenne-Mountain.jpg Cheyenne Mountain trail, Cheyenne Mountain State Park]

|image7=[http://worldradiomap.com/us-co/colo-springs_img/cheyennemt_04.jpg Cheyenne Mountain antenna farm]

}}

Category:Mountains of El Paso County, Colorado

Category:Two-thousanders of the United States

Category:Pike National Forest