Colorado Goes to the Fair: World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893

Chapter 4: Not Matter, But Mind; Not Things, But Men [Includes Image Plates]

42 Chapter 4 Not Matter, But Mind; Not Things, But Men In the Colorado section is sufficient evidence that she is no longer, as some imagine, merely a mining and stock-raising region. —Herbert Howe Bancroft, The Book of the Fair The great exposition was triumphantly opened in the presence of more than a quarter of a million spectaculars. All hail to the World’s Columbian Exposition, and all honor to its projectors. —Colorado Transcript (Golden), May 10, 1893 Stopped at the Rockisland house on Sherman sty. Took the Illinois R. R. out to the Worlds Fair this evening Grand Electric display I got back home at 10 p.m. The fair is emence the trouble there is so much that a person is confused. —Christian J. Buys, ed., The Lost Journals of Charles S. Armstrong (Tuesday, June 27, 1893) one of the first issues Coloradans had to think about, if going to the fair, was how to arrive safely at their destination through the wiles and traps of the big city. Both Colorado’s and Chicago’s newspapers offered advice. The recommendations included this one. If one merely expected to make a short visit, take “only essential clothing” that can be put into a “bag or small valise.” “Try to get along without bringing a trunk.” Carry it with you when “you travel on the train or in the city. Be prudent in all actions. Carefully look for a The Colorado State Building was constructed in the Spanish renaissance style, with the main feature being two towers with spiral stairways that provided access to a magnificent view of the fair. Material for the construction of this building was provided by the Colorado Marble and Mining Company. C. D. Arnold photograph. Courtesy Chicago Public Library, Special Collections and Preservation Division, WCE/CDA V/37. Monument in front of Colorado State Building. This monument is constructed of ores and building stones from various Colorado localities. Names of the major Colorado towns are carved at the top of the monument. From “World’s Fair Album.” Courtesy Karen and Mark Vendl. Souvenir card giving the location of Colorado state exhibits at the World’s Columbian Exposition. Courtesy Winterthur Museum Library. Colorado governor Davis Waite and staff at the military parade, which was part of the dedication ceremonies on October 21, 1892. The following day, the governor took time to dedicate the Colorado Building. Waite had already gained fame for some radical ideas about how to solve the depression. From the World’s Columbian Exposition Illustrated, December 1892. Courtesy Karen and Mark Vendl. The Official Guide described the Cliff Dwellers exhibit as “one of two exhibits on the grounds to which an extra price of admission is permitted to be charged. . . . The exhibit is housed, so to speak, in the largest artificial mountain ever constructed, adjoining the Anthropological Building. It is an exact reproduction of Battle Rock in the MacElmo valley, Colorado. Entering a cavernous portal the visitor stands in a typical Colorado canyon, in the craggy fastnesses of which many of the finest cliff dwellings, on a scale of one-tenth, and with marvelous exactitude, are reproduced. Opening from the canyon are mysterious caverns and niches, wherein are exhibited fine paintings of the ruins in this wonder-land, executed by the artist of the expedition, Alexis J. Fournier.” According to Shepp’s guide, “A museum, in one of the chambers, contains many valuable relics of the race, such as mummies, skulls, bones, pottery, pieces of cloth, weapons and tools.” This instructive exhibit was described as “one of the worthiest entertainments of the Exposition.” C. D. Arnold photograph. Courtesy Chicago Public Library, Special Collections and Preservation Division, WCE/CDA V/95. Souvenir brochure from the Cliff Dwellers exhibit, showing its location at the fair next to the Anthropological Building. Courtesy Karen and Mark Vendl. “In the relic room are shown some thousands of examples of the weapons, cooking utensils, implements and mummified remains of the prehistoric people” (The Official Guide). Source: Graphic 9:26 518 (1449). Courtesy Karen and Mark Vendl. Rear view of the Cliff Dwellers exhibit with the Agriculture Building in the distance. There was a trail on the exhibit for pack animals and...