Pillars of Hercules

 By Steven Wade Veatch

On August 10, 1908, a visitor to the Pikes Peak region traveled up the dusty, winding road through South Cheyenne Cañon. This road, long hailed as "The Grandest Mile of Scenery" in Colorado, ends at Seven Falls, a tourist attraction since the early 1880s. Fascinated with the sights along the way, he bought a postcard at the local curio shop to commemorate his tour.

Moved by the striking geology along the road, he began to consider the geologic processes at work. He observed how South Cheyenne Creek relentlessly carved down through the faulted Pikes Peak Granite to create the cañon. He wrote messages on both sides of the postcard to remember how these geologic wonders moved him on that summer’s day. On the front of the postcard, he wrote:

On either side are perpendicular walls, nearly a thousand feet high and at one place, but forty feet apart, barely giving room for the creek and roadway between them. Indeed, the whole space was originally occupied by the stream, which had to be crowded from its bed. Saw this Aug. 9, 1908.

And then, on the back of the postcard, he typed:

Before us are two tremendous cliffs “The Pillars of Hercules.” They seem to stand squarely across the cañon, completely filling it and demanding a halt. The way seems barred, and the stranger is at a loss to know which way to go, but the brook has found a way and so must we. Here is a most wonderful demonstration of the action of water. For hundreds of feet the cañon at this point has been worn through the solid granite.

Figure 1. Postcard showing South Cheyenne Creek flowing between the imposing granite Pillars of Hercules. A visitor to the Colorado Springs area in 1908 wrote a message on the front and back
of the postcard. From the S. W. Veatch postcard collection.

The anonymous visitor did not mail the postcard but kept it with his important papers and keepsakes. That this postcard has lasted all these decades is as remarkable as the magnificent mountain scenery it portrays. The cañon continues to this day to impress visitors.