Palmer saw possibilities, and i think it might be the mountains that he fell in love with, and it is right up against pikes peak and this wonderful place, that what he saw as the economic driver was the climate and the mountains, and the fact that peoples people like himself from the atlantic seaboard would be drawn here, so here for a few weeks or a month or to come and visit and decide to stay, that they would be drawn by the helpful climate and in natural beauty, so he saw this place potential. He built Colorado Springs along the rail line, and then the rail line connected further south, and this town in particular to be his home, and he always saw it as an anecdote, if you will, to eastern industrialization. For this young man who grew up in the second largest city in the entire country, he looked to the west, and we have this vast, open expanse of land, seemingly limitless, and he envisioned a place here where people could come and live warts stay and enjoy the healthy climate, enjoy the adjacent mountains, and experience a kind of vigorous lifestyle that he, himself, enjoyed. Palmer William Jackson who was born in delaware, and at the age of five, he and his family moved to philadelphia, where his parents were originally from. You not only came from a quaker family but a particular quaker family, and that is of particular interest, because his believes really shaped his action. He was working for the Pennsylvania Railroad when the civil war broke out in the spring of 1861, and even though he was a quaker, and quakers are traditionally pacifists, li na only enlisted, but he formed a he not only in listed, but he formed a troop, not only in spite of his religious believes but because of them. He later had to account for his service in the civil war, and he wrote to his Quaker Community of friends that if the same circles as is presented themselves again, as they did in the summer of 18 to one, he would do the exact same thing. We also have the letter that he wrote to the committee of friends, in which he is asked to account for his actions in the civil war, and he does not regret it. Is spirit in which you act the greater manner, and he takes this as if mantra, if you will, and he believes that he did the right thing, and he does not question his judgment. His men nominated him for the medal of honor, which was awarded to him for his actions at redhill, alabama. It is among the treasures in our palmer exhibit, and we are happy to have it here. For hisd his eyes west future, and he had very little money. He did not come from wealth. He had a decent education, but more so, he had a fantastic reputation and the connections that he made throughout the civil war period, and so he went to work for the railway and was asked what job he wanted. He was secretarytreasurer, and later, he left the confines of the office. He wanted to be out in the field, so he took over the surveys, and he actually took over the cruise that brought the kansas pacific all of the way to and he did not have money or fortune, but he had a lot of connections, and he used those connections. That was as everyone was building a Railroad East to west, the transcontinental railroads of following the civil war expanded out west at a rapid pace. Palmer had a unique vision. He wanted to build a north, south line, leaving from denver, coming down the front range of colorado, connecting with the rich santa fe trade, literally in the footsteps of the santa fe trail, and build the railway all of the way down into the heart of mexico, connecting both countries and markets and people, and along the way, his dream was to build up cities along the line with trees and traffic along the railway, so it was weak. He also wanted to old the baby railroad, a narrow gauge instead of the standard gauge, both to save money but that it might be more efficient climbing the steep grade of the colorado mountains, so instead of forcing railwayhalf inches, his founded in 1870 used a narrow gauge, three feet wide, so we started from denver, and he was holding cell, and what occupied the rest of his professional life is he turned his railroad west, and he created the denver and rio grande western railway, and he headed up to the rich mining camps up in south clark he further in colorado, and eventually extended that rail line all of the way to salt lake city, connecting to the rich copper mines there, and he did so largely through the benefit of a new partner. Was an idealist, he was an engineer and visionary, he needed the is this acumen of George Foster peabody, who is a remarkable man in american history. He was a partner in the form of the Spencer Company in new york city. Ofy help develop some americas leading industries, and what George Foster peabody brought to the partnership was the ability to find investors and to finance the railroad, to finance palmers dream, and with the denver rio grande that they had to retool, they began to see a profit, and he finally became a millionaire in 1901. Up until that time, he has been struggling financially. After the sale of the rio wanted to build his dream home in glen airey, the home he always wonder to build in the beautiful canyon northwest of culver springs, and he finally had the finances to do it, so in 19 oh or, 1905, the house was remodeled, and that is when the stone was brought in and beautiful roof tile, and the thiswas created amidst gorgeous valley, and today, it still stands. It is operated by the navigators, but it is a really beautiful of our history, and were all proud that it has been preserved. Another thing i think is really interesting and which has brought a Lasting Impact on our town is his concept of open space and park. During his lifetime and shortly afterwards, he donated over 2000 acres of land to Colorado Springs for parks, for parkland. Some of it was developed. Some of it was left open. But he believed people needed a place to go outside of their homes and outside of their work on the weekends to enjoy the best of what colorado has to so Cheyenne Canyon park, palmer park, Monument Valley park, all of those were gifted to us in one way or another by general palmer and his vision, his very forward thinking vision, and we are still known today as the city of park. He saw possibility where others saw impossibility. For interest for example, others who wanted to create colonies, farming colonies or colonies on health and recreation like Colorado Springs bypassed the area. They saw it as a test lit area with very little water and very few resources. Where others turned away and said there would never be a town this space, he also, when he died in 1909, he was mourned not only as the founder of Colorado Springs but one of the great economic boosters of the state of colorado. Announcer the garden of the god is some rock formations. Up next in our tour, the history of the park, which was given to Colorado Springs by the children of a railroad magnet, Charles Elliott perkins