Issue link: http://cp.revolio.com/i/32575
their own zoos, but The Broadmoor did from its inception. In fact, the history of the hotel and the nearby Cheyenne Mountain Zoo are inextri- cably intertwined. While the hotel was being planned and constructed, its founder, Spen- cer Penrose, apparently was given a bear. According to Helen Geiger, who wrote The Zoo on the Mountain, a letter to Penrose in August of 1916 (nearly two years before he opened the hotel) inquires about that bear, to which Penrose’s secretary responded: “I beg to say the animal is now on Mr. Penrose’s ranch on Turkey Creek, about 20 miles south of Colorado Springs, and is not for sale.” Penrose and his wife, Julie, I always owned several dogs and loved animals. In particular, Spencer loved exotic animals. Not too long after the hotel opened in 1918, he moved his menagerie—which by then included a black bear, a grizzly bear, three elk, some black- tailed deer from Michigan, several coyotes, and possibly some moun- tain lions—to the hotel grounds. Several accounts of that period reference how the coyotes howled and kept guests awake and that the presence of exotic animals was, well, incongruous with a luxury t started with a bear. A few elk. Some deer. An escaped boa constrictor. And an elephant. Not many hotels have hotel. After all, they were kept right on the property (about where Broadmoor South stands today). It was colloquially called “Zoomoor.” In 1927, a monkey bit a boy on the nose and the story has always been that this inspired Penrose to move his critter collection from the hotel grounds up the mountain. But, in fact, that intent is mentioned in an article in the Colorado Springs Gazette months earlier. The hotel was sued, by the way, and the family won either $8,000 or $10,000 depending on which source you be- lieve. It also was reported that the boy was teasing the monkey, which was chained but not caged. In 1924, Penrose was given the gift of “a box of foxes” from a friend in New Mexico, and added some more monkeys to the mix. In 1925, a visiting circus left town minus one escaped boa constrictor, which was later found coiled near the furnace of a downtown office building. It, too, found a home with Penrose and spent the winter in the basement of the hotel near some hot water pipes. Records show that in 1925 Pen- rose was trying to buy a bison bull and three cows to add to his col- lection, which he was now calling a zoo. In 1926, Penrose built pens and set up cages on Cheyenne Moun- tain for his large game animals and other creatures, away from the hotel proper but near enough so guests could visit it. According to Geiger’s book, 1916: Spencer Penrose is given the gift of a bear, the first of his collection of exotic animals. 1928: The elephant house, the first permanent building on the site, is opened. 1937: Penrose buys a hand-carved wooden carousel from the Chicago World’s Fair and relocates to his zoo. 1938: The Mountaineer cog railway opens, taking passengers from the hotel to the zoo. 1926: Penrose begins relocating his acquired menagerie to Cheyenne Mountain. 38 The Broadmoor Magazine | 2011 • 2012 1935: New monkey house opens. Bear dens constructed. 1938: A year before his death, Penrose incorporates the zoo into a nonprofit public trust for the citizens of Colorado Springs. 1942: The monkey and feline houses are built. 1950: A new Mountaineer train is installed.