“Frank,” the sender of this postcard with an illegible postmark, writes an undated message to Maud Heckley in West Virginia: “This was taken when we were on the top of Mt. Lookout near Del Norte. We had a jolly good time. I tried to look into W. Va. but my eyes failed me, Ha! Ha! Your friend, Frank.”
Presbyterian College of the Southwest
The Lookout Mountain (also called Mt. Lookout) observatory belonged to the Presbyterian College of the Southwest in Del Norte, Colorado. Del Norte, situated near the Rio Grande River as it leaves the San Juan Mountains and flows into the San Luis Valley, is the seat of Rio Grande County and was at one time a boom town, a lively supply center for the mines in the San Juans to the southwest. At its peak, Del Norte had a population of 10,000, which today stands at about 1,500. The town derives its name from the river, for when Spanish and Mexican peoples came north to the area, they referred to their destination as el Rio Grande (“big river”) del Norte (“to the north”).
Given the importance of Christian education to the Presbyterian church, it’s not surprising that it would establish an institute of higher learning in Colorado. This was especially so, given that the church could look to the examples set by the Methodists in establishing the Colorado Seminary (later to become Denver University), and the Congregationalists in their founding of Colorado College in Colorado Springs.
An early community-based attempt to create a Presbyterian college took place in the town of Evans, Greeley’s neighbor to the south, in the early 1870’s. Evans, named for John Evans, Colorado’s second territorial governor, was the seat of Weld County at the time and a bustling place. Its vitality could be linked indirectly to the former governor, for Evans was at one time the president of the Union Pacific Railroad and instrumental in establishing the Denver Pacific Railroad, which would connect Denver to the Transcontinental Railroad line in Cheyenne. The Denver Pacific line would end up running right through Evans. As a result, Evans would become the home of the Denver Pacific superintendent’s office and a major hub between Cheyenne and Denver, offering tired travelers hotels, restaurants, saloons and stores. Reportedly, one day’s receipts for the town during that vibrant time was $4,500.
An interesting connection between the Presbyterian church and Colorado railroads was embodied in the person of Sheldon Jackson. Jackson, a native of New York, was ordained as a Presbyterian minister and subsequently appointed to the position of Presbyterian missions superintendent for Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Utah Territory, Arizona Territory, and New Mexico Territory. His approach to establishing churches was to seek opportunities along the railroad lines, with the outlook that it would be better to organize too many churches and incur some failure than to miss opportunities. He would utilize the Union Pacific and Transcontinental Railroads, as well as stage lines, to travel his assigned area, with the goal of establishing as many churches as possible. It’s interesting to note that, in 1871, John F. Stewart a Presbyterian minister in Evans, offered his services to Jackson. Perhaps as a result of their interaction, the notion of Evans as the site of a Presbyterian college came about.
What is known is that forty acres of land had been given for a Presbyterian college in Evans, and a rumor circulated that former governor Evans would kick in $50,000 towards its establishment. On July 11, 1874, Sheldon Jackson signed articles of incorporation for Evans University, and E. M. Rolle of Stephentown, New York, was named as Principal. The school was promoted from the point of view of personal health — Easterners were told that “many who could not pursue a course of study in the East, without breaking down, will be able to grow stronger in body while prosecuting their studies in the pure, invigorating climate of Colorado.” But there is no record that Evans University ever opened, even after the church’s Colorado Synod (i.e., the regional governing body overseeing congregations, or presbyteries) made another attempt in 1876 to establish it. I could find no information explaining why it never opened. In 1877, the issue became moot when the Evans Presbyterian church merged with Greeley’s church.
The Presbyterians subsequently looked toward Del Norte for their college, considering it to be a strategic location for introducing their mission work into “San Juan country” and the San Luis Valley. The people of Del Norte generously offered the Synod a quarter section of land and some $30,000 in buildings and endowments for the school. Another town vying for the college was La Veta, a town in Huerfano County about 90 miles east of Del Norte and separated from the San Luis Valley by the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. La Veta offered $5,000 in cash and $5,000 in property. The Synod selected Del Norte. Even if La Veta had offered a richer inducement than Del Norte, it’s doubtful the Synod would have selected it as a site for their college, being walled off as it was from the San Luis Valley.
In an early report to the Colorado Synod in 1884, Del Norte’s new college would describe the building of a 20’ X 36’ addition to the existing Del Norte Presbyterian Church to be used for recitation and study, the construction of a dining hall and three-story dormitory and the planting of 800 trees on what would become a 10-acre campus. The campus would include Lookout Mountain.
The college opened on September 10, 1884, with an enrollment of twenty-five students. Its objectives, as stated by the Colorado synod were:
1) “To encourage and promote sound learning…and a high standard of moral and religious culture” so as to meet “the rapidly growing wants of the great South-West in all their Literary, Agricultural and Mining interests;”
2) “To train young men and women to go forth as teachers, colporteurs (distributors of bibles and religious tracts) and preachers of righteousness to the 10,000,000 of Spanish-speaking people on this Continent.”
The training of mission workers for Spanish-speaking individuals would ultimately be considered the most important work of the college.
Throughout the college’s nearly seventeen years of existence, there was a chronic shortage of cash to adequately fund its operations. In the college’s first year, the Colorado Synod recommended that the church’s Board of Aid to Colleges grant the school $2,000 in aid, and during the life of the college the Board would subsidize it to the tune of $18,000. By 1885, the second year of its existence, the college had a debt of $5,000. The following year, the Synod appointed a special committee to investigate, and it concluded that inefficiency on the part of the school’s board of trustees was to blame.
A significant fiscal problem for the school was the lack of sufficient income from students for tuition and housing. For example, in 1890, total receipts from students were $100 for tuition and $100 for boarding. (Board was provided at cost, i.e., $2.50 per week, but students rented cheaper rooms off-campus.) The college’s practice of encouraging enrollment by students who could pay little or nothing was another factor contributing to the school’s fiscal woes.
The Lookout Mountain Observatory
In 1885, the trustees of the new college began planning the construction of the observatory pictured here. It would sit atop Lookout Mountain, elevation 8,475 feet, provide an unobstructed view of the heavens and enrich the college’s offerings in the sciences. It was thought that the earthly view from up there was “not surpassed on this continent:” “The Sangre de Cristo range looms up for a distance of a hundred miles, while the Rio Grande River can be traced to New Mexico with the naked eye. Away off to the northward and eastward lie the canals of the Colorado Loan and Trust Company, reaching for miles into the valley, their streams of clear water sparkling like molten silver in the sunlight. The town of Henry, fifteen miles away, can be distinctly seen, while with an ordinary glass…Alamosa –thirty miles away—and old Fort Garland—sixty-five miles away – and the Spanish Peaks—one hundred miles away—may be seen.”
[In 1883, T.C. Henry, head of the above-mentioned Colorado Loan and Trust Company, would build the Rio Grande irrigation canal at a cost of nearly $300,000 and reportedly capable of irrigating 200,000 acres. He would subsequently build three more canals, i.e., the San Luis, the Monte Vista and the Empire — all bringing irrigation on a large scale to the San Luis Valley. Financed by investors, but most heavily by the Traveler’s Insurance Company of Hartford, Connecticut, Henry managed to amass quite a large debt, and when he incorporated the town of Henry, Colorado, it reportedly became entwined in his debt. Traveler’s had to foreclose on his interests and asked officials of the town of Henry to change its name. This they could do because they now owned a good deal of the town! (The company donated one acre of land to the town for a permanent public-school building and named new streets for the officers of the company.) The new name of the town was Monte Vista. Though not a happy ending for T. C. Henry, his failed irrigation enterprises ultimately benefitted the farmers who gained control of the canals through local co-operatives.]
The first step toward building the observatory was the construction of a wagon road up the mountain. Construction began on March 16, 1885, and the public was invited to help – newspaper articles invited interested parties to show up at the site with pick and shovel in hand on the morning of the 16th. Presbyterian minister George Darley announced, “I will be at the bottom of…Mount Lookout with tools and I expect to work 10 hours a day, six days a week until it is done. Any citizen wishing to join me will be welcome.”
Following completion of the access road and observatory would be the installation of the telescope. This probably did not take place until December of 1885.
The Telescope
The refractor telescope (i.e., one utilizing a lens) for the observatory was built by Pennsylvanian John A. Brashear, with assistance from his wife, Phoebe Stewart, and business partner James Brown McDowell. The finished product, which cost $2,500, had a 9 ½ “diameter lens, a focal length of nearly ten feet, and with its mountings weighed one ton. It was mounted on a turning pedestal reportedly so finely tuned it could be moved under pressure from a single finger. It would utilize a “driving clock,” which, when set in gear, moved the telescope at a constant rate in a direction opposite to the movement of the earth, thus keeping any celestial object in the field of view, with the exception of the moon. The moon could be tracked by changing a setting of the clock. The now fully equipped observatory would open in early January 1886, and operate under the supervision of a Dr. Notenstein, astronomer and mathematician.
Though the observatory was primarily an educational resource belonging to the college, the public was also given access to it. Unfortunately, in 1895 vandals found access to the telescope and damaged it, necessitating about $100 worth of repairs.
John Brashear
John Brashear was born in 1840, completed a common school education at age 15 and by age 20 had worked his way from apprentice to master machinist. He worked as a millwright at a Pittsburgh steel mill during the day, but at night he and Phoebe would pursue their love for astronomy. Because they had little in the way of money, Brashear built a workshop using a coal shed behind their house and proceeded to build his own refractor.
Brashear’s genius for conceiving and machining optical and other precision pieces would make itself known to others, leading Brashear and his son-in-law, James Brown McDowell, to establish the John A. Brashear Company. Their company would produce high quality optical products found in most major observatories around the world. In 1914, he would manufacture the optical elements for the Warner-Swasey 20” refractor telescope, nicknamed “Rachel,” which is still in use today at the Chabot Space and Science Center in Oakland, California. It is said to be the largest refractor telescope in the western United States regularly open to the public.
John Brashear held positions of director for the Allegheny Observatory in Pittsburgh from 1898 to 1900, acting chancellor for the Western University of Pennsylvania (now the University of Pittsburgh) from 1901 to 1904, and trustee for the latter starting in 1896. He was also a trustee of the Carnegie Institute of Technology. John and Phoebe’s ashes are interred in a crypt below the Keeler Telescope at Allegheny Observatory – a plaque on the crypt contains the paraphrase of a line from the poem “The Old Astronomer to His Pupil” by Sarah Williams It reads, “We have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.”
Closure
The college would close on June 15, 1901, finally succumbing to its ever-present financial problems. As a result of the college’s closure, the observatory was also closed, and, depending on what source you read, the Brashear telescope may have been shipped to California’s Mount Wilson Observatory or Occidental College. Its current whereabouts is unknown. Del Norte mourned the loss of its telescope and the subsequent deterioration of the observatory building. A June 1907 article in the Alamosa Courier bemoaned the fact that the deserted building was being depleted by “curio seekers and rowdy boys.” It would continue to suffer the effects of weather and vandalism until winds finally flattened its last remnants.
The Photo
Unless “Frank,” the sender of this postcard, took this picture, he’s probably one member of the group posed here. They look to be a relaxed bunch, which may be saying something, given the ramshackle look of the observatory’s remains. My eyes are drawn especially to the stairs closest to the camera, which slope toward the right at a sharp angle. The material that covered the observatory’s dome was a heavy tin, soldered by one Frank Hanna, Sr. If you look knee-level to the right of the boy standing in the slit of the dome, you’ll see what are probably tin plates that have been curled back.
Note the young boy to the left of the older boy who stands in the slit of the dome. The little lad has his hands clenched, perhaps wrapped in fervent prayer that the whole kit and caboodle wouldn’t slide down the mountain during their visit.
REFERENCES:
- “A Day at Del Norte,” The Alamosa Courier dated June 22, 1907, Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection at https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=ALC19070622-01.2.19&srpos=1&e=——-en-20–1–img-txIN%7ctxCO%7ctxTA-observatory+del+norte——-0——
- “Chabot Space and Science Center,” www.wikipedia.org at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chabot_Space_and_Science_Center
- “COLORADO STATE REGISTER OF HISTORIC PROPERTIES NOMINATION FORM,” Colorado Historical Society at https://www.historycolorado.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/2019/5rn823.pdf
- “Creating Colorado – the Making of a Western American Landscape, 1860 – 1940,” by William Wyckoff, Yale University Press, 1990, at https://books.google.com/books?id=aO2jDaNhHmoC&pg=PA202&lpg=PA202&dq=colorado+loan+and+trust+company+san+luis+valley+colorado&source=bl&ots=8JyWmKMKi2&sig=ACfU3U1Ku9_2e7dPn6RqQ-pr3TBuFn8FRg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjh__L2s7D4AhUrKkQIHYHUBP4Q6AF6BAgkEAM#v=onepage&q=colorado%20loan%20and%20trust%20company%20san%20luis%20valley%20colorado&f=false
- “Crusade of the Blue Banner in Colorado,” by Norman J. Bender, The Colorado Magazine, Spring 1970 at https://www.historycolorado.org/sites/default/files/media/document/2018/ColoradoMagazine_v47n2_Spring1970.pdf
- “Del Norte Colorado,” at https://visitriograndecounty.com/del-norte/?msclkid=0509502bd14511ecbda3bfda3a0f49ac
- “Del Norte, Colorado,” at www.wikipedia.org at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Del_Norte,_Colorado
- “Del Norte, Its Past and Present,” by Fred Espinosa, the Colorado Magazine dated June 1928, the State Historical Society of Colorado at https://www.historycolorado.org/sites/default/files/media/document/2018/ColoradoMagazine_v5n3_June1928.pdf
- “Del Norte Parks & Trails,” Del Norte Trails Organization at https://www.delnortetrails.org/del-norte-parks-trails/#:~:text=Del%20Norte’s%20Lookout%20Mountain%20is%20a%20USGS%20named%20summit%20at%208%2C475%20feet.
- “Del Norte’s Observatory,” The San Juan Prospector dated March 14, 1885, April 11, 1885, and December 5, 1885, Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection at https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=SJP18850314.2.95&srpos=6&e=——-en-20–1–img-txIN%7ctxCO%7ctxTA-mount+lookout+del+norte——-0—— ;
- “Del Norte, Colorado Population 2022,” at https://worldpopulationreview.com/us-cities/del-norte-co-population
- “Denver Times,” The San Juan Prospector dated September 5, 1891, Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection at https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=SJP18910905.2.77&srpos=12&e=——-en-20–1–img-txIN%7ctxCO%7ctxTA-Presbyterian+College+of+the+Southwest——-0——
- Distance Between Cities at https://www.bing.com/maps?q=distance+between+cities&cvid=99029b86a3434f98861db96f3a1868a7&aqs=edge.0.69i59j0j69i57j69i59j0l3j69i60l2.3020j0j4&FORM=ANAB01&PC=DCTS
- “Evans, Colorado,” www.wikipedia.org at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evans,_Colorado
- “The History of Del Norte,” Boogie’s Restaurant at https://boogiesdelnorte.com/town-history/
- “Images of America – EVANS,” by Sarah Arnusch, Arcadia Publishing, 2014.
- “John Brashear,” Wikipedia.org at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Brashear
- “John Evans,” Colorado Encyclopedia at https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/john-evans
- “La Veta Pass,” www.wikipdia.org at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Veta_Pass
- “THE MISSION OF SHELDON JACKSON IN THE WINNING OF THE WEST,” Journal of the Presbyterian Historical Society, June – September 1911, JSTOR (Journal Storage) at https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/23322966.pdf (Note: access to JSTOR requires on-line registration.)
- “Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Board of Aid for Colleges and Academies. Annual report,” The Online Books Page at http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupname?key=Presbyterian%20Church%20in%20the%20U%2ES%2EA%2E%20Board%20of%20Aid%20for%20Colleges%20and%20Academies%2E%20Annual%20report
- “The Presbyterian College of the Southwest at Del Norte,” The Colorado Daily Chieftain dated January 1, 1892, Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection at https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=CFT18920101-01.2.54&srpos=5&e=——-en-20–1–img-txIN%7ctxCO%7ctxTA-Presbyterian+College+of+the+Southwest——-0——
- “Presbyterian History in Colorado,” by Andrew E. Murray, Journal of the Presbyterian Historical Society, March, 1950, JSTOR (Journal Storage) at https://www.jstor.org/stable/23324740?read-now=1&refreqid=excelsior%3Ab65a7d068104e102c67c3700237933c1&seq=1 (Note: access to JSTOR requires on-line registration.)
- San Luis Valley Area Description and Development History at https://www.slvdrg.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/A.-Area-Description-and-Development-History.pdf
- “Sheldon Jackson,” Wikipedia.org at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheldon_Jackson
- “Southern Colorado,” the Colorado Weekly Chieftain dated January 17, 1895, Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection at https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=CCF18950117-01.2.26&srpos=6&e=17-01-1895-17-01-1895–en-20–1–img-txIN%7ctxCO%7ctxTA-southern+colorado——-0——
- “State News,´ The Idaho Springs News dated May 15, 1885, Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection at https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=ISN18850515-01.2.11&srpos=14&e=——-en-20–1–img-txIN%7ctxCO%7ctxTA-observatory+del+norte——-0——
- “Synod of Colorado,” the Pueblo Daily Chieftain dated October 13, 1883, Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection at https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=CFT18831013-01.2.10&srpos=1&e=——-en-20–1–img-txIN%7ctxCO%7ctxTA-presbyterian+synod+del+norte——-0——
- “Synods of the PC(USA),” dated April 30, 2014, Presbyterian Historical Society at https://www.history.pcusa.org/blog/2014/04/synods-pcusa#:~:text=Presbyteries%20are%20the%20district%20governing%20bodies%20which%20are,of%20administration%20between%20presbyteries%20and%20the%20General%20Assembly.
- “A telescopic historical view of Del Norte,” by Lyndsie Ferrell, Del Norte Prospector dated February 17, 2021, at https://delnorteprospector.com/article/a-telescopic-historical-view-of-del-norte
- Untitled, The Colorado Daily Chieftain dated January 5, 1886, Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection at https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=CFT18860105-01.2.8&srpos=3&e=–1886—1886–en-20–1–img-txIN%7ctxCO%7ctxTA-del+norte+telescope——-0——
This is an awesome travel in time here, Jack!! Pretty cool stuff.
Thank you, Chris!
Love this picture. I am writing a history of the San Luis Valley that included interesting facts about all of its towns that I grew up around, including Del Norte. I was wondering if I could possibly copy this photo for my history on Del Norte.
Hi Phyllis,
By all means, please do! I’m so tickled you can use this image! Sorry to keep you waiting so long for a reply!
All the best,
Jack