Sulphur Hot Spring in Colorado - Essay Example

Sulphur Hot Spring in Colorado Colorado is a that is naturally endowed with many breathtaking natural scenes that any human being in the world would like to visit and at least take a glimpse of the beautiful sceneries in the state. In addition to the fascinating mountain-view tops, beaches and magnificent rivers there is the Sulphur Hot Spring in the state that is a major tourist attraction site (Black 13-14). A visit to the spring will no doubt prove the much-told stories about the spring and other springs in the World. Primarily, the paper endeavors to trace the history of the Colorado Hot Springs before the year 2000, and more paramount look at the discoverer of the hot springs, beliefs, the benefits the inhabitants of the region got from the springs. There has been development of towns and resorts near the springs and robust tourism has been taking place in the Colorado state due to the presence of the springs (Black 20). Sulphur Hot Springs Town is situated in the Grand County in Colorado (Black 88) in the United States of America with proximity to Byers Canyon and Kremmling. The town is 7680 feet height above sea level. It is the presence of the hot springs that caused the formation of the town now known as the Town of the Hot Springs Colorado. The Hot Sulphur Springs were a camping ground during the winter season for the inhabitants of the region who were the Ute Indians, who used the hot springs for medicinal purposes. The hot springs were originally discovered by William Byers, who the founder and the mind behind the Rocky Mountain News. The discovery led to the establishment of a town in the springs around 1860 with the name Warm Springs (Emmons, Williams, and Larsen 243). Byers being an entrepreneur looked at the viability of the region, and decided that the region was a good site for constructing a Resort and a spa where people could come and have leisure during the winter seasons. Byers decided to buy the site through a backdoor deal from a Minnesota woman although there was an original treaty naming the Ute tribe as the inhabitants and the legal owners of the site in 1863. The Ute inhabitants were bitter about the sale deal and decided to sue Byers. Byers being connected to the territorial governors of the regions managed to win the case and staged war against the Ute people while calling for their eviction from the region. His idea was to create the most World Spa and Resort in the site. He consequently changed the name, platted, and surveyed the area and refurbished the site that attracted a visit from the worlds famous men such as Powell. The first pool was built in 1900 paving the way for the much-anticipated resort and spa by Byers (Opler and Kaufmann 100). Byers died in 1903, but his dreams were still valid with the town he formed being the first county seat at around 1874 and 1882. The town developed and got incorporated in 1903. The success of the first carnival in winter led to the planning of the second winter carnival that incorporated the Steamboat Springs sport and, as a result, the worlds famous Colorado steamboat industry was founded. The rapid progression of the idea by Byers was derailed by the slow building of the railway in 1928. The rail arrived by stopped there a big blow to the idea. The town has grown with a renovation in 1997, and the Ute people were welcomed back to the region for leisure with a ceremonial blessing of the waters by their spiritual leader (McKinley 67). There are many beliefs surrounding the magical Hot springs of Colorado. The beliefs mainly derive their origin from the beliefs of the Ute people who were the inhabitants of the region. The Ute Indians believed that the waters from the hot springs had a supernatural healing power. They believed that it was the blood of the mother earth that was the springs was very special (Mckinley 43) to the extent that I would heal them their diseases. The belief was deeply ingrained in them that they always came to bathe in the spring to get healing. The various springs were believed to heal diseases such as the skin disorders, rheumatism, dyspepsia, gout and the viral blood disorders (McKinley 47). The second belief is that the Ute people would win the war if the bathed the war horses with magical waters from the springs. The people would bathe the horses before going to war with the assurance that the magical waters would give both the fighters and the horses the indefatigable stamina and rejuvenate their fighting strength and spirit during the war. It was seen as a way of blessing the warriors before the war for victory. As a result, the Ute people because of their belief were able to fight their enemies and conquer them (Opler and Kaufmann 35). Additionally, the there was a belief that the Ute Indians would hunt and capture the animals when they went hunting due to the powers derived from bathing with the waters from the hot springs. The people lived in patterns and hunting was an economic activity to them. They also wore animal skins. The Utes would hunt animals such as the buffalo, deer, and the elk.Traditionally, the Ute people are respected by their neighbors for being good hunters and can fight the enemies aggressively when someone interferes with their affairs. The hot springs have a great role to play in the life and culture of the Ute people, being the inhabitants of the Colorado Hot Springs region hold the place so dear because it forms the basis for their cultural beliefs (Emmons, Williams, and Larsen 250). Since, from the time the town of Colorado was formed by Byers there has been robust economic activity in the region the region has grown to became one of the famous places to visit in the world by the year 2000 the Hot Springs of Colorado had over 30 established world class Resorts and Spa. With the most notable being; Strawberry Park Hot Springs, The Springs Resort and Spa, Waunita Hot Springs Ranch, and Glenwood hot springs Lodge. The hot Sulphur springs offer a variety of services to their customers. The services include steamboat racing. Massage sports, family getaways, and swimming. These robust investment and activities have improved the living standards of the people in the regions being employed in the Resorts as well as development in the form of infrastructure and made the town more accessible for other investments (Culbertson, Kurt, Derri Turner, and Kolberg 364). The economic benefits accrue when entrepreneurs buy plots of land around the Sulphur Hot Springs and build the resorts and Spa. The tourists come to visit the resorts to enjoy themselves at a cost. The industry grows to make the area robust with activity. That consequently, improves the lives of both the customers as well as the entrepreneur who in turn pays to the government of Colorado in the form of taxes, and this acts as a source of revenue for the government to develop the region and improve the livelihood of the citizens. The benefits that come with the Sulphur Springs trickle upwards to the federal government and, therefore, they value and boost the tourism industry due to the many activities that take place on the springs (Culbertson, Kurt, Derri Turner, and Kolberg 359-369). In brief, the history of the Colorado Sulphur hot springs has a lot to do with the inhabitants, who were the Ute Indians who had various beliefs concerning the Sulphur hot springs believing that the hot springs had a medicinal power to heal the people. They also believed it gave stamina to people to fight and revive their spirit. The discovery of the springs was done by William Byers, who had an idea of building a resort and Spa. When he died in 1903, his idea was picked by many entrepreneurs who built the place to a big town. The town now enjoys rapid development owing to the economic activities that take place in the region. Some hot springs resorts sprung upfrom the once isolated place belonging to the Ute people to one of the Colorado’s biggest and the most economically growing towns in the United States. Works Cited McKinley, Dagny. The Springs Of Steamboat. Print. Emmons, William Harvey, and E. S. Larsen. "The hot springs and the mineral deposits of Wagon Wheel Gap, Colorado." Economic Geology 8.3 (1913): 235-246. Opler, Marvin Kaufmann. The Southern Ute of Colorado. D. Appleton-Century Company, 1940. Culbertson, Kurt, Derri Turner, and Judy Kolberg. "Toward a definition of sustainable development in the Yampa Valley of Colorado." Mountain Research and Development (1993): 359-369. Black, Robert C. Island in the Rockies: the history of Grand County, Colorado, to 1930. Published for the Grand County Pioneer Society by the Pruett Pub. Co., 1969. Read More