First visited September 2000


 
 
 
 
 
 

The Ginger Champagne Spring
 

One of the original seven soda type springs that led to the foundation of Manitou. 

Navajo bubbles up beneath a fast food and candy store and is piped to a southwestern style painted surround on the wall of an arcade and eating area. 

Mineral deposits containing large amounts of carbonate of lime formed a natural basin around the spring where the Indians bathed their sick and wounded, sadly, the basin is now hidden under the floor of the arcade.
 

In 1889 Jerome Wheeler built a three-storey bottling plant east of 
the arcade and used Navajo Spring for bottling up to 5000 gallons 
of water a day.  It was sold nationwide as Manitou Table Water or 
as non alcoholic ginger champagne.  Later when the Manitou Spa Building opened in 1920 people drank from the Soda Spring but the water used for bathing, massage and various other therapies was 
piped in from Navajo.

The Navajo mineral spring was restored in 1991 by the Manitou Springs Foundation with donations from the Jack Ramsey family, the Citizens of Colorado, the Manitou Cliff Dwelling Museum and the Citizens of Manitou Springs.

Update January 2001

Navajo had been turned off presumably as a safety
precaution even though it doesn't overflow on
to a walkway.

 

Seven Minute ~ Twin Link ~  Ute Chief ~  Wheeler ~ Stratton ~ Iron Geyser ~  Soda ~ Cheyenne & Shoshone

 

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