 1300 C.E., built the most extensive network of cliff dwellings in North America, including the 150-room Cliff Palace complex, which is nestled into the 324-foot wide, 89-foot deep natural cave along the Cliff Canyon wall. The onsite Chapin Mesa Archaeolog- ical Museum features timelines, prehistoric artifacts, and dioramas on Ancestral Puebloan culture.
(970) 529-4465 www.nps.gov/meve
Ridgeway Railroad Museum
Located at the start of the Rio Grande Southern Railroad, this 1,000-square- foot museum highlights the history of railroading in the Ouray County area and includes model trains and rail equipment. Visitors can also see rolling stock outside the building, such as a Rio Grande stock car #5574 and engine #42.
Ute Indian Museum
This 10,000-square-foot museum lies on the original eight-acre homestead of 19th-century Ute Indian Chief Ouray and his wife Chipeta. Visitors can view a 20-minute video on the traditional Bear Dance, during which Ute warriors courted women. Three exhibits explore Ute history, featuring original photo- graphs and artifacts, such as elaborately beaded moccasins, buckskin dresses, and Chief Ouray’s ceremonial outfit he wore in 1880 to negotiate a peace treaty after the Meeker Massacre.
(970) 249-3098 www.coloradohistory.org/hist_sites/uteindian/ute_Indian.htm
Colorado Springs Pioneer Museum
Located in the restored 1903 El Paso County Courthouse, this museum contains exhibits on the history of the Pikes Peak Region. It features 40,000 objects, includ- ing Indian porcupine quillwork, clothing, tools, and mining gear. Visitors can see a reconstructed section of the house lived in by Helen Hunt Jackson (1830–1885), an Indian rights activist.
(719) 385-5990 www.springsgov.com/SectionIndex.aspx? SectionID=38
Fort Garland Museum and Pike's Stockade
Built in 1858, the fort quickly became the center of U.S. Army operations against the Ute Indians. The museum features a recreation of Kit Carson’s quarters and a 40-panel display on the Buffalo Soldiers, a black U.S. army regiment, with displays of rare photographs and artifacts highlighting the crucial role of the 9th Cavalry.
(719) 379-3512 www.coloradohistory.org/ hist_site/ft_garland
Leadville Historic District
Fifty-eight historic buildings in the block downtown date back to the city’s frontier period. Sites include Tabor Opera House, the park commemorating the world’s largest ice palace, and the Healy House, an 1878 Greek Revival home that features Victorian furnishings of Leadville pioneers, such as silver tycoon, Horace Tabor.
(719) 486-3900 www.leadville.com/walktour
Historic Manitou Springs
This 138-year-old-town boasts a plethora of historic sites such as the three-building Cripple Creek District Museum, the Vic- torian Miramont Castle, a 46-room estate where visitors can sip high tea, and the Ghost Town Museum, featuring a black- smith’s shop, saloon, and stable, among other reconstructions, filled with thousands of artifacts.
(800) 642-2567 www.manitousprings.org
Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine
After discovering quartz veined with gold in 1891, Mollie Kathleen Gortner became the first woman in Cripple Creek, Col- orado, to stake a mining claim. Production continued for the next 70 years, producing more than $100 million worth of gold. Forty-minute guided tours include a ride in a miner’s cage down 1,000 feet into a gold mine. Visitors can also see demonstrations of a 1890s steam hoist, jack leg drills, and slushers in underground mining.
(719) 689- 2466 www.goldminetours.com
National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum
This 71,000-square-foot museum high- lights the history of mining through 22 dioramas depicting early gold miners, hands-on exhibits, and the Fluorescent Room, which contains minerals that fluo- resce under black light. Visitors can follow the mine-gauge track in a reconstructed hard rock mine, see a 23-ounce gold piece from the local Little Jonny Mine, and read the biographies of industry inductees.
(719) 486-1229 www.mininghallfofame.com
ProRodeo Hall of Fame and Museum of the American Cowboy
This 30,000-square-foot museum, dedi- cated to 