The Society for Industrial Archeology 2010 Annual Conference in Colorado Springs, CO
June 3-6, 2010
Industry on the Frontier
Thursday June 3, 2010 Tours & Events
Thursday Tour 1 - (7:30 am to 5 pm) - Pikes Peak or Bust
PIKE’S PEAK OR BUST - Take the ride that visitors have relished for over 100 years - the Pike’s Peak Cog Railway. Named for Zebulon Pike, the explorer who first sighted the mountain, but didn’t climb it, Pike’s Peak at 14,115 ft. above sea level has always attracted attention. In 1873, the U.S. Signal Service built a telegraph station at the summit, and in 1891 the Pike’s Peak Railway began carrying passengers using a unique cog railway system. The first automobiles travelled up Pike’s Peak in 1915 and by 1917 the “Pike’s Peak Hill Climb” was born, the second oldest auto race in America. Patsy's candy factory will be visited after the Pikes Peak cog railway tour. This tour requires you to wear closed toe shoes.
Thursday Tour 2 - (7:30 am to 5 pm) - Steel City - Mills and Men
STEEL CITY: MILLS AND MEN - Take a behind-the-scenes tour of Rocky Mountain Steel Mill, formerly Colorado Fuel & Iron. Founded in 1892, this company was largely owned and operated by John D. Rockefeller and Jay Gould by the turn of the century. In 2007, it was purchased by Oregon Steel, now Rocky Mountain Steel Mills. Here you can see blast furnace/open hearth steel making and both oxygen-based and electric arc furnaces. You will visit at least one of the three rolling mills. Also take a tour of the Steel Works Museum of the Bessemer Historical Society which houses archives of Colorado Fuel & Iron and the surrounding Pueblo neighborhoods and businesses. Also visit the Weisbrod Aircraft Museum. Note: This tour is full. This tour requires you to bring your hard hat and safety glasses and wear closed tour shoes.
Thursday Tour 3 - (7:30 am to 5 pm) - Up and Away
UP AND AWAY - Visit the U.S. Air Force Academy and take a tour that includes the visitor center. The Petersen Air & Space Museum is next. Exhibits include the Bi-national North American Aerospace Defence Command, the US Air Force and Army Defense Command and the US Air Force Space Command. Sixteen aircraft and sixteen missles are located in the museum airpark. Then visit the Olympic Training Complex, a 23.8 million dollar state-of-the-art sports medicine, science, and athlete center, including a dining hall and two dormitories. Up to 557 coaches and athletes can train here at any one time. This tour requires you to wear closed toe shoes.
Thursday Tour 4 - (1 pm to 5 pm) - City Streets - Colorado Springs Historic Walking Tour
CITY STREETS HISTORIC WALKING TOUR - Take a walking tour of Colorado Springs. Spend half a day exploring the city, it’s historic buidings and streets, as you soak up the sunshine and scenery in this picturesque town.
Thursday PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP: 8:30 am to 12 Noon
James C. Owens, Jet Lowe, and Richard K. Anderson Jr. will teach photographers how to capture, edit, and process images. Dr. Owens, a senior fellow at Torrey Pines Research and past president and fellow for Imagining Science and Technology will present “The Revolution in Photographic Technology” followed by Mr Lowe, Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) staff photographer on “Large Format and Good Field Photography”. Finally, Mr. Anderson will discuss “Appications of Digital Images to Industrial Archaeology”. Opportunity to practice your newly-learned skills in the afternoon either on your own or on a walking tour downtown. Limited to 50 participants so sign up early!
Thursday Opening Night Reception - (6:30 pm to 9 pm)
Western Museum of Mining & Industry
Social meet and greet with finger foods and cash bar: 6:30 to 7:00 pm
Keynote Speaker: Edward R. Crowther, Ph.D., A native of Vicksburg, Mississippi, Edward R. Crowther is Professor of History and Chair of the Department of History, Government, and Philosophy at Adams State College, where he has taught since 1988. In addition to a welter of articles and reviews, Crowther is the author of "Southern Evangelicals and the Coming of the Civil War" (2000). He earned is Ph. D. from Auburn University in 1986.
Topic: "Otto Mears: Frontier Mensch, Transforming Colorado's Mountains. We'll look at Mears the Miller, the Mailer and the Maker of Toll Roads":
Otto Mears: Frontier Mensch transforming Colorado's Mountains. Like others before and after, Otto Mears migrated to Colorado to seek his fortune. He found it through business, first erecting a saw mill and a grist mill in Colorado's San Luis Valley, then through mechanized harvesting in Saguache. His need to market his crops to miners and to fulfill a government mail delivery contract led him to build a system of Toll Road and railroads, which earned him the name of "Pathfinder of the San Juans." Best known today for his role in producing the gilded dome of Colorado's state capitol, Mears' infrastructure connected the rugged hinterlands of Colorado's majestic mountains with external markets.
Lecture will start at 7:00 pm
Tour the grounds of the Museum including working steam engines, stamp mill and other equipment.
Running of the Stamp Mill: Starts at 8:00 pm
