This is the third in a series of articles providing New Santa Fe Regional Trail enthusiasts insight into the history of communities and people who lived nearby this recreational trail. This article highlights a few months in the life of Elizabeth Lennox, specifically from April to December 1872. As you head north from Ice Lake, you are in Elizabeth’s neighborhood. Elizabeth was the youngest of four Lennox children. John and Agnes Lennox and their children moved from Iowa City, Iowa to Colorado Springs in April 1872. They lived on the mesa west of the trail as it heads north from Ice Lake. Elizabeth was 14 years old then and kept a detailed journal of her daily activities. I wish to dedicate this article to Hester-Jane Cogswell, a 93-year young lady living in Meeker, Colorado. Hester-Jane and her late husband Wilton were the final owners of the 8000 square-foot home and the surrounding 17-acre property before it was procured by the government in 1954 to make way for the Air Force Academy. The Cogswell home enveloped the original Lennox cabin. The Lennox house and property was sold to the Otis family in 1888. In 1950, the Cogswell’s took ownership of this beautiful Pine Valley estate. Hester-Jane told me about the Lennox diary and historical material that she discovered in the home and subsequently donated to the Colorado College Tutt Library special collections.
The Lennox family arrival in Colorado Springs in April 1872 was memorable, but in a scary way. While John Lennox was arranging to have their household goods shipped via railroad from Denver to Colorado Springs, his wife and kids checked into what was then called the Colorado Springs colony, where old Colorado City is located today. They stayed in a crowded open bay type hotel. There was no privacy to be had and most of the hotel’s customers were men. One day, as mom and her children walked along the street, they managed to witness gun fight right in their midst. Elizabeth captures these first impressions of the “wild and woolly west” as anything but pleasant. Soon dad arrived from Denver and things got better.
Shortly after his arrival, John Lennox purchased a log cabin of three small rooms and a large room. They named their new home and property Glenwood Ranch and they moved in on 12 May 1872. Glenwood Ranch was located on the mesa west of the trail and south of where Air Academy High School is today. There were no gunfights here, but the first night was memorable according to Elizabeth. Several bachelors built the cabin and were occupying it when the Lennox clan showed up. The kids dreaded bugs and they asked the men if there were any bed bugs in the place. The men said “not a single one” to the four Lennox kids. The short time in the colony hotel was fraught with bugs and the Lennox kids wanted no more of these creatures. On the first night in the house, Elizabeth writes that the bachelors somewhat quibbled with regard to bugs. She writes “we found that, as my brother John put it, there wasn’t a single one but they all were married and had large families.” The Lennox family declared war of the bugs and eradicated them over time. They also started to add rooms to the original structure. Glenwood Ranch was described as being “in a lovely valley, in the midst of pine woods, with a spring and a clear sparkling stream running through the place coming from the mountains just back of us.” Furthermore, she shares that “at night the whispering of the pine trees was soothing and lulled one to sleep.” But, she also describes a “fly in the ointment” in the form of rattle snakes and prairie dogs that formed somewhat of an alliance. She even described an episode when “to our horror one day to see our pet prairie dog coming up the steps into the house with a three-foot rattler following close after it.” Yikes!
The Lennox family was dedicated to attending church on Sundays. They would ride horse back or occasionally used a horse drawn wagon to a church 8 miles north in Divide, which is what Monument area was called back then. Rarely did Elizabeth’s diary reflect missing church on a Sunday. On one occasion while heading north to attend church, Elizabeth and her brother John and sister Agnes were on a lonely stretch of road riding to church when they came upon a tribe of Indians. One of the young male Indians fell behind his group and stopped for a discussion with the Lennox kids. It seemed the he felt John needed “only one squaw, and that he must give him one.” As the main group of the Indian party rode out of view, John and his sisters grew nervous! But John finally persuaded the young Indian that he had to have two squaws.” Whew!
Elizabeth and her siblings were very hard workers. I have no doubt; if they lived today they would be cross country runners. Given that they lives nearby where AAHS is located, they’d be Kadet harriers! Their discipline, perseverance, and strength are reflected in each of Elizabeth’s diary entries. Her entries capture chores and work efforts around the Glenwood Ranch as well as getting studies done (she mentions a having two algebra books and plenty of paper). The Lennox family had many construction projects going on immediately after taking possession of Glenwood Ranch. They built a milk house, a covered stable for horses and cows and they also built a root cellar for keeping vegetables. They built roads, dug ditches to control the flow of water through the ranch and hauled a lot of posts and lumber. They purchased lumber from Calvin Husted who had a lumber mill up near where the northgate of the AFA is now located. There were a lot of fences to erect and some days Elizabeth kept track of how many holes she dug, the maximum I saw was 35! She also teamed up with neighbor Will Blodgett and helped build a bridge over the Monument Creek. Elizabeth and her siblings helped plant all sorts of crops including carrots, corn, beets, cabbage and potatoes and harvested them in the September-October timeframe. She often accompanied the adults round up cattle, find horse, and hunt for buffalo and antelope. Elizabeth Lennox was a very tough young lady whose work ethic, dedication to task and sense of adventure were amazing.
Elizabeth took time out for fun and often went hunting or ventured down to the West Monument Creek to try some fishing. She didn’t have much luck at either. However, in late December, she accompanied a hunting party on the plains and she shot a buffalo. She fished on the creek several times, but did not mention any success in her diary. She also enjoyed visiting the Teachout’s (Teachout Ranch was featured in my first article in this series) to enjoy socials, dances and dining. Elizabeth was a prolific writer and precisely tracked each letter she wrote to friends whose names are consistently mentioned in the diary. She made special effort to document going to the Post Office to mail a letter or receive one. It is not clear to me where the post office was that Elizabeth went to, but I suspect it was a mail drop at a small railroad station near where Edgerton would eventually be established.
On February 19, 1880 Elizabeth Lennox was married to William Grinnell at a wedding held at Glenwood Ranch. They eventually moved to Minnesota and had three children. Elizabeth died November 2, 1945. I found her diary to be mesmerizing and gave me wonderful insight into what life was like back then. Elizabeth Lennox was quite a remarkable young lady!
Next time I will share some insight into the life and times of two pioneer families who homesteaded this area in 1871-72 timeframe. The Lennox family homesteaded northwest of the Ice Lake trailhead and the Young family established their sheep ranch about a mile north of Ice Lake. Each family kept detailed accounts of their efforts to settle in the wild west. Mary Eliza Young kept a diary that chronicled how the Young homestead was established and in 1872 14-year old Elizabeth Lennox also kept a journal. Mary and her youthful neighbor to the south captured their family’s life as they settled, prospered and persevered as Colorado pioneers.
