Western USA

The most frequently visited man-made attractions in Colorado Springs is the U.S. Air Force Academy, which is very interesting. Its tries to develop young men and women into brave Air Force Officers. You can find it in a beautiful area of Colorado, just outside Colorado Springs. The campus is an inspiring place. The part that is the most impressive is the Cadet Chapel. There is a nature trail that leads there, and it is a great piece of architecture. The exterior is formed of 17 spires that rise up towards the heavens. Inside the building, there are several different chapels for different denominations, and each is designed and decorated accordingly.

Another wonderful destination is the Pikes Peak, which was named for Zebulon Pike, an early explorer who discovered the area, and the peak, in 1806. The US Signal Service built a telegraph station, in 1873, at the summit of the mountain with the help of which they monitor the weather in the area. This led to an increase in the mountain traffic. More people needed and wanted to reach the summit, and they did that on foot, horse, mule or burro.

Nowadays, visitors reach the top with the help of the Manitou & Pikes Peak Cog Railway, founded by Zalmon Simmons. The founder of the Simmons Mattress Company first visited the summit in the late 1880s. He went to the telegraph station in order to see a new insulator he had invented for telegraph wires in function. He went up and down the mountain on a mule. While he was at his hotel, he complained to a hotel proprietor that there should be a better way of travelling up the peak. Someone from the hotel suggested a railroad. Simmons remembered the idea. He got the necessary money, and the first passenger train went up the mountain in 1891.

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# posted by Don @ 6:00 PM