COLORADO SPRINGS – An archaeology dig on the edge of Garden of Gods in Colorado Springs is offering new insight into Colorado Springs founder William Jackson Palmer.
“It’s an unusual circumstance and one we feel really fortunate to work on,” said Jon Horn with Alpine Archaeology.
It is a site discovered because of flood mitigation work in the years after the Waldo Canyon Fire. Some artifacts were uncovered while teams from Colorado Springs and FEMA worked in the area near Camp Creek.
Local, state and federal historical groups are now invested in the find.
There is plenty about General Palmer in history books. This site is stuff discarded by him, his family and staff.
“It is all really actually digging the left over remains of a culture,” said Senior Project Archaeologist, Michael Prouty. The finds offer some personal clues to how an elite history making family lived.
“So much detail about what it was like to live here. What it was like to work here, what it was like to grow up here,” said Archaeologist, Abbie Harrison. Early research indicates that items found so far, date between 1870 and the early 1900’s.
The site includes a grid of 135, three foot by three foot search areas. There is an opportunity for the public to see and learn about the dig site. Guided tours are offered November 17th through the 20th. They leave at 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. from the Garden of the Gods Visitor Center.
