Iron Springs, Colorado
 Image of Iron Springs, 1901
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Images of Manitou Incline and Iron Springs
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Iron Springs, a neighborhood in Manitou Springs, Colorado, was an area named for one of Manitou Mineral Springs. The Manitou area had been frequented by Native Americans who considered it a sacred and healing place before European Americans setteled in Manitou.
Iron Springs began to be visited in the 1870s, particularly the Ute Iron Springs. In 1880, a new Iron Springs Hotel was built. Attractions and businesses in Iron Springs included an electric trolley, mineral springs, the Manitou Incline, and the Manitou and Pike's Peak Railway, a cog railway. The incline was dismantled and is now a hiking trail. Neither the electric trolley or the Colorado Midland Railway are in Iron Springs now. The cog railway continues to operate. Iron Springs was annexed into Manitou Springs in several steps between 1887 and 1934.
The Iron Springs neighborhood is located in lower Englemann Canyon, along Ruxton Creek. It is the site of trailheads to higher elevations, including the Paul Intemann Memorial Nature Trail and the Barr Trail.
The Manitou Springs area has several mineral springs, called manitou for the "breath of the Great Spirit Manitou" believed to have created the bubbles, or "effervescence", in the spring water. The springs were considered sacred grounds where Native Americans drank and soaked in the mineral water to replenish and heal themselves. Ute, Arapaho, Cheyenne and other plains tribes came to the area, spent winters there, and "share[d] in the gifts of the waters without worry of conflict." There were 9 or 10 natural springs. As whites moved in there were "skirmishes" for access to the historical resort area until the Native Americans were removed from the area and placed on reservations.
Explorer Stephen Harriman Long made note of the water's healing properties in 1820. His expedition's botanist and geologist, Edwin James, noted the healing benefits of the water; He was also the first European man believed to have climbed Pikes Peak. George Frederick Ruxton wrote of the "boiling waters" in a book about his travels. Recognizing the extent to which Native Americans considered the site to be sacred, Ruxton wrote: "…the basin of the spring (at Manitou) was filled with beads and wampum, and pieces of red cloth and knives, while the surrounding trees were hung with strips of deer skin, cloth and moccosons (sic)."
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Wikipedia