The 1871 Account of George C. Anderson

George C. Anderson and his travel companions paid a man with a spring wagon $8 to take them on a tour of the Pikes Peak region, including the Garden of the Gods. They brought along some lemon sugar, a flask of brandy, and a substantial lunch. On reaching the Gateway Rocks, the men climbed out of the wagon and entered Spaulding's Cavern:

"Within this rock is a cave, large enough to accomodate a very large congregation of people. Its ceiling is sixty to seventy feet high. The only entrance is through a small opening on its western side, barely large enough to admit a good sized man. On entering we strike a light and by it's dim flickering, we wind our way upward twenty five or thirty feet, until we reach the floor of the cave, which extends further than our dim light could penetrate. Fearing to disturb the slumbers of a grizzly bear or rattlesnake we went no farther in the dark but contented ourselves by singing, hallooing, and shooting our revolvers the report of which was deafening. On coming out of the cave, we slide through without difficulty."

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SOURCE: "Touring Kansas and Colorado in 1871: The Journal of George C Anderson," Kansas Historical Quarterly, Vol.XXII, No.4, Winter, 1956.