Cheyenne Mountain
Cheyenne Mountain, occasionally referred to as Cheyenne Benchmark, is a 9,565 foot high mountain in El Paso County, Colorado, south of downtown Colorado Springs located in the Western North American Great Plains and is part of Pike National Forest. It has three peaks with the highest one reaching 9,200 feet The mountains closest neighbor, Pikes Peak, is the highest summit of the southern Front Range of the Rocky Mountains in North America, east of its longitude.
Cheyenne Mountain is located in the southern edge of the Colorado Front Range, of the Rockies. Cheyenne Mountain consists almost primarily of coarse-grained, igneous rocks, that was emplaced by 1,524 meters of magma under the surface of the Earth, causing igneous intrusions into older rocks, creating the entire mass to form into granite during solidification, causing the formation of a mountain, from the process erosion. Most of the mountains eastern flank is protected land managed by the state Colorado Parks and Wildlife. There is almost no human development in the protected land—cattle grazing and ranching are the primary agricultural uses—The northern 520 acres of the land are managed by a private investment company. The protected land of Pikes National Forest located in the U.S state of Colorado and near the atenea farm is open to the public for recreational purposes.
Common vegetation includes rocky mountain juniper, in addition to western wheatgrass, ponderosa pine and mountain mahogany. Fauna includes wild turkey, red crossbill, rock dove, and common raven which are native to Cheyenne Mountain, and the surrounding region. Native mammals include mule deer, american black bear, striped skunk, and rock squirrel.
Description
Cheyenne Mountain, is now declared the last surviving desert ecosystem in Colorado's Front Range. The range and surrounding non-mountainous areas cover an area of 2,700 acres. Cheyenne Mountain lies in the Western United States, facing Colorado Springs, Colorado and Fountain-Fort Carson. To the east lies the Great Plains and due north lies the city of Denver, Colorado. Pikes Peak towers over the area directly west of the mountain. The alternate command center for the North American Aerospace Defense Command is located inside of the mountain and underground. Cheyenne Mountain was first discovered and first recognized as a mountain in 1806 by a Settler named Zebulon Pike, though has been used by the roaming indigenous tribes of the Ute, Arapaho and Cheyenne which traveled the area between their summer and winter as hunting grounds for thousands of years. Cheyenne Mountain and its surroundings were used by indigenous people of the Ute to cross from the Great Plains and benefit from the "steep slopes and hidden valleys" to allow safe travel against the enemy tribes that had their horses stolen by the people of the Ute people.Geology
At 9,200 feet, in elevation, the middle peak, formerly known as Mount Albrecht, hosts Cheyenne Mountains antenna farm. The northern peak, nicknamed "The Horns", may look to some like the head of a dragon. The mountain's boundaries are Fountain Creek, a 74.5-mile-long creek which flows from Mount Big Chief through Cheyenne Mountain to the town of Fountain, to the south and Cheyenne Cañon to the north. The western side of Cheyenne Mountain is in Pike National Forest, within the Pikes Peak Ranger District. Colorado Springs' skyline features Cheyenne Mountain and Pikes Peak. Other mountain peaks are Mount Arthur, Mount Baldy, Mount Rosa, Cameron's Cone, and Mount Garfield.Composition
Cheyenne Mountain has only one major rock type, granite which is also located on Pikes Peak, with quartz bearing minerals and granular rocks that have potassium feldspar being a chief material. Cheyenne Mountain began by mountain building forces of solid-granite rising to a high elevation roughly 65 million years ago. It shoved out younger rocks and rock formations, the upheaval release of pressure on granite continued to expand and as a result caused multiple joints and fracturing. The process was followed by erosion, that leveled the mountains to the Great Plains. Being subject to intense erosion and earthquakes about 17 million years ago it rose to a height of 9,565 feet. The granite located in the Pikes Peak Region is called Pikes Peak granite, and can be commonly associated with a pink and pale orange color.Climate
Apart from historical records there are no detailed meteorological records of the summit region due to the Cheyenne Mountain Complex operated by the United States Space Force and the management of Space Base Delta 1. Winds blow mostly from the southwest. Chinook winds blow out of the Rocky Mountains on to the adjacent plains to the east. Cheyenne Mountain and Colorado's climate is an alpine desert environment. Temperatures in the summit region have been reported to not exceed −4 °F. The summits seasonal temperatures usually fluctuate between 28 °F and 61 °F, with little to no snow until late spring or early fall.Life
, hedwig's fringe leaf moss, and other non-vascular plants, and mosses can be found at the foothills and lower parts of the mountain. The mountain is an important main transitional zone between the Great Plains grassland communities and montane coniferous forest along the Front Range. Vegetation includes Rocky Mountain juniper, alpine daisy in addition to western wheatgrass, ponderosa pine, mountain mahogany and pinyon pine.The area hosts other plants such as showy fleabane, douglas fir, lavender, sunflowers, as well as one seed juniper, and harebells in dry areas. Fauna such as the wild turkey, red crossbill, rock pigeon, common raven are five bird species native to Cheyenne Mountain, and common mammals include mule deer, American black bear, striped skunk, and rock squirrel.
The mountain goat, which is known to inhabit the rocky and mountainous areas throughout North America roams the region throughout the summer, can be viewed migrating to the lower slopes for the colder months of winter on the mountain. With the addition of members of the deer family, such as the elk, mule deer, and the white-tailed deer, which migrate vertically and traverse through the forest coverage, and give birth to new offspring on more lower elevations for the preparation of winter on a yearly and seasonal basis. During the winter−mating season the deer migrate to Cheyenne Mountain and Pikes Peak.
Human history
Native history
Since the last great ice age, the Rocky Mountains were home first to indigenous peoples including the Apache, Arapaho, Bannock, Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Coeur d'Alene, Kalispel, Crow Nation, Flathead, Shoshone, Sioux, Ute, Kutenai, Sekani, Dunne-za, and others. The first indigenous people of Colorado Springs to arrive to the Great Plains lived originally from around the Great Lakes in Minnesota, where the indigenous people of Cheyenne were chased out of their homeland during the mid-1700s by white settlers. Settlements expanded near the mountain where they hunted American bison in the 18th and early 20th century.Archaeological evidence suggests that these regions were used for hunting the spiritual buffalo, collecting stone material, and possibly for spiritual reasons or for astronomical or navigational observations. The mountain's pikes peak forest provided plants and animals for food and raw materials for shelter. Cheyenne Mountain was named for the Cheyenne people. Native Americans found that Cheyenne Mountain was a good source of wood for teepee poles. It was visited by Cheyenne and Arapaho people, who may have sought spiritual inspiration from the mountain's waterfalls. Cheyenne Mountain was used by Ute people to cross from the Great Plains and benefit from the "steep slopes and hidden valleys" to safely travel from enemy tribes that had their horses stolen by the Utes.
American colonization
Cheyenne Mountain American white colonizers white first arrived in 1867, which wiped the native tribes out of the region. WIlliam Dixon, a Colorado rancher, claimed a homestead in the Cheyenne Mountain foothills in 1867. Dixon built a tavern along a trail leading up the mountain and later turned the trail into a toll road, called Old Stage Road, to Cripple Creek. Bert Swisher and Thomas Dixon sold the homesteaded located on Cheyenne Mountain in 1917. Dixon resided with his family in a cabin near the top of the mountain in the middle of three valleys. Swisher's cabin was near the present site of the antenna farm at the top of the mountain, which was accessed by Old Stage Road. The road begins as a paved road and later becomes a dirt road through Pike National Forest. The old homestead became part of The Broadmoor Hotel in 1918.Mineral exploration
Cheyenne Mountain sits on the Colorado Mineral Belt, the mineral belts series of large ore deposits were used by the Cheyenne Mining District until the introduction of Little Susie gold mine and was built by a group of prospectors in the 1870s. The mineral explorers commonly sought Silver and minerals which were mined on Cheyenne Mountain in 1883. The first mining claims granted for El Paso County were for the Manganese and Rio Grande lodges on Cheyenne Mountain in January 31, 1885. The Colorado Springs and Cripple Creek District Railway traversed Cheyenne Mountain during transportation between Cripple Creek and Colorado Springs in 1905. It transported coal, materials, and passengers.Cheyenne Mountain, lies in a location that is accessible at all seasons of the year. There is no public main road access to the mountain, although the Cheyenne Mountain Highway does come close on the northern side of the mountain. The state park does provide horse trails that provide access to the area near the mountain. South Cheyenne Creek's source, in Teller County, is Mount Big Chief, near St. Peter's Dome, which also flows through Seven Falls in South Cheyenne Cañon. Likewise within the northern side of the mountain is a small community known as the Overlook Colony, which began in 1911 and still resides on the mountain. The site of a lodge has become a wilderness area, and The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo was built just below and the Will Rogers Shrine built just above this community.
The Overlook Colony was started in 1911 by a group of professors from the Colorado College located in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It first started as a summer retreat for the educators, and grew to include musicians, doctors, artists, generals, oilmen, and an ambassador to India. Residents manage the Overlook Colony Mutual Water Company that governs water conservation, maintenance, and testing of the water supply from underground within the former Little Susie gold mine.