General William Jackson Palmer 1836-1909

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General William Jackson Palmer 1836-1909 Special Collections, PPLD Quick Facts " Born in Delaware in 1836, raised in Philadelphia as a Quaker. " At 17, worked for the railroad; studied locomotives in Europe. " At 25, Palmer led a volunteer cavalry regiment which fought successfully throughout the Civil War.

Ended war as General Palmer. " After the war, Palmer led a survey team for the Kansas Pacific Railroad from Kansas to San Francisco. " In 1869, while in charge of the construction of the Kansas Pacific Railroad into Denver, Palmer traveled south and found a beautiful area at the foot of Pikes Peak to live.

" In 1870, Palmer decided to build his own railroad from Denver to Mexico. Called his railroad company the Denver-Rio Grande " Married Mary Lincoln cQueen d Mellen in 1870 and brought her to Fountain Colony (Colorado Springs). Built Glen Eyrie for Queen and eventually his three daughters.

" Colorado Springs, nicknamed cLittle London d, founded in 1871. " The Denver-Rio Grande ended up going west to Durango instead of south to the Rio Grande River as Palmer had planned. " Palmer died in 1909, 2 yrs.

after he broke his neck while horseback riding at Glen Eyrie. Great ... more. less.

Resources on General Palmer Ayer, Eleanor . Colorado Chronicles : Famous Colorado Men. Freder- ick, CO: Jende-Hagen Bookcorp, c1980, pp. 15-17. Black, Celeste. Queen of Glen Eyrie . Colorado Springs, BlackBear Publishing, c1999. Lohse, Joyce B. General William Palmer : Railroad Pioneer . Palmer Lake, CO : Filter, c2009. Sprague, Marshall. One Hundred Plus: a Centennial Story of Colo- rado Springs. Colorado Springs : Colorado Springs Centennial, Inc ., c1971 , pp. 1-8. Special Collections, PPLD

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