Native American Crossroads

Local writers have long argued over the significance of the Garden of the Gods to the Indians of the Pikes Peak region. Some have claimed that the sandstone formations were considered sacred ground, and that here the rival tribes laid down their weapons and communicated in peace. Although there is no historical proof for this assertion, it is thought that the location of the Garden so close to the sacred springs of Manitou must have inspired a certain reverence. At the very least, it is tempting to believe that visiting tribes were as awestruck as we are ourselves each time they camped in the shadow of the gigantic red rocks.

Skypainter in the Garden of the GodsPhotography by James H. Egbert

The Garden of the Gods seems to have attracted not only the Mountain Utes, but also the nomadic tribes of the plains - first the Apache, then the Comanche, and finally the Kiowa, Pawnee, Arapaho and Cheyenne. Early white settlers claimed that the Garden was a favorite campsite for the various bands of Utes, especially in late fall and winter. It was said that the Utes came to the Garden during those seasons not only because of the absence of their enemies, the Plains Indians, but also in order to hunt the great herds of elk which fed upon the nearby mesa. With the start of the Indian wars in the mid-1860's, the Arapahoes and Chyennes discontinued their visits to the Pikes Peak region. Not so the Utes, who continued to camp in the Garden of the Gods throughout the 1860's and 70's.

Metate and Mano found in the Garden of the Gods

Physical evidence for these Native American campsites still exists in the form of hidden petroglyphs, ancient fire rings, broken pottery, and innumerable stone tools and projectile points. These bits of archaelogical findings, coupled with the accounts of the early pioneers, only serve to confirm the suspicions of modern historians that the Garden of the Gods was an American Indian crossroads up into historic times.


Hidden Petroglyphs

Old Ute Trail

Indian Legends

Ute Indian Encampments

Shan Kive Celebrations

An Indian Grave

E-mail me at GehlingR@aol.com