The Polaris Hotel's "Eyes" to USAFA Before it Was USAFA History


With the opening of the Polaris Hotel, I wanted to tell you about the area around (especially to the west) this new hotel at the north entry of the AF Academy. Imagine you are up on the deck of the hotel’s Aviators Rooftop Bar and from that vantage, we can take a time machine back 150 years and farther…what would we see if we did that?

Many Native American tribes resided in or passed through this area for thousands of years. These include Ute, Arapaho, Cheyenne, Comanche, Kiowa and Pawnee people. In the 1800’s, explorers came to make a go of it in the wild west. Abraham Lincoln’s Homestead Act of 1862 opened what was called the Kansas territory to homesteaders. The area of USAFA is about 18,600 acres. To give you a sense of this area I’ll describe it. It encompassed from I-25 to the foot of the mountains to the west and from north of Rockrimmon neighborhood to just south of Baptist Road to the west of I-25. The USAFA land was peppered with 160-acre homesteads in this area and outside it as well.

One pioneer family has a special connection to USAFA. The McAlroy family established 7 homesteads west of the north gate area. David McAlroy’s homestead and cattle operation was directly west of the Polaris Hotel about 3/4 mile south of the west end of the bridge. USAFA Class of 2003 graduate David McAlroy, an accomplished C-130 pilot and AF leader, is a descendant of these McAlroy pioneers. The Pioneer Cabin, over in Douglass Valley, is a tribute to the pioneers of the area. It was built in the early 1870’s by William Burgess and thanks to Academy leadership, it stands today as evidence the pioneers were here on USAFA.

To the southwest of Polaris Hotel, there was a small railroad community called Husted. It was named after Calvin Husted, a lumberman in what today is the northern Black Forest area. Just to continue the theme from looking out from the rooftop, the Black Forest can be seen in the distance to the east. Husted was formed to support the expansion of the Denver and Rio Grande (D&RG) Railway in the 1871 timeframe. About 50 railroad workers lived in box cars converted to dorm-like buildings here at Husted. Soon families and homes popped up in this area. A railroad station and section house to support workers was built in Husted along the D&RG. In 1887, the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe (AT&SF) Railroad laid tracks to the east of the D&RG. Soon a small community popped up over on the east side and a railroad station was built. Some maps from then refer to the area as “The Husted’s.” This makes sense since there were railroad stations and small communities supporting each railroad. West Husted had “helper locomotives” posted on side segment of railroad track awaiting a north bounder. The climb over Palmer Divide was a challenge to some trains. They would stop, let the “helper locomotive” come out in front of the train seeking help and hook up. This would add additional power help get the early trains over the Palmer Lake divide to the north. The helper would then return to Husted’s D&RG station to await another train in need of help getting over the Palmer Divide. Perhaps from the top floor you’ll hear a “helper” locomotive puffing their way to Palmer Lake.

These small communities thrived while the railroads thrived. Entrepreneurs like the John Kinner family established a general store about 200 yards to the east of where the Polaris Hotel is located. The Shoemaker family of Husted discovered a clay deposit just south of where the west Husted station was. They would dig up clay from an open pit which was loaded onto railcars to be taken South to Pueblo where bricks and other fire clay products were made. A curious pioneer activity on USAFA took place when early residents visited the 120-ft high sandstone and clay formation we call Cathedral Rock. While there, perhaps picnicking, many would etch their names, initials, and dates into the volcanic clay layer of this geologic wonder many of us have been to. These autographs chiseled into the rock go as far back as 1870’s. Pioneer Lewis Flegell carved his name many times with exquisite penmanship. The beautiful historic home located at the entry of the Western Museum of Mining and Industry is an 1890’s era Husted home that stands today as a historic exhibit of the museum. It’s less than a mile east of the Polaris Hotel.

In the 1920’s, roads to Denver and south were built, like little ribbons of concrete they soon carried cars and trucks north to Denver. This transition to road travel was the beginning of the end for West Husted. East Husted supported motorists until the early 1950’s. There were ranches sprinkled throughout USAFA. In the Polaris Hotel area, there was a school, a church, and a restaurant called the Branding Iron. At one point, the west Husted station master Mr. Dwyer lived with his family just north of the hotel. On the east side, the highway got busier and the Kinner Store was where you could get gas and snacks. In the early 1940’s, Cleo and Zelda Jack arrived from New Mexico where they had to vacate their Socorro land. Unknown to them it was atomic bomb researchers who needed their land. They would raise cattle in what today is Jacks Valley. The east entrance of Jacks Valley can be seen from Polaris Hotel to the northwest. Ironically, the Jacks would have to move again thanks to the government when in the mid-1950s, their land was purchased to support USAFA.

One very dark day in the area southwest of the Polaris Hotel occurred on 14 August 1909. Two passenger trains hit head on just north of the west Husted station. It was determined that there was a mix up in the orders as to who was supposed to be switched off the main line at Husted to allow the other train to pass by. It was a terrible accident and 12 people lost their lives and 50 were injured.

In conclusion, the Polaris Hotel is a gem and will transform USAFA. The new Visitor Center will certainly be a popular starting point for USAFA visitors. From the Polaris Hotel, many guests will gaze at the cadet area to the west from the Aviator’s Rooftop Bar. Perhaps unknown to these guests, everywhere they look out from Polaris Hotel they will see where the early settlers of the area once lived and worked. Their pioneer spirits will be smiling upon the guests as they also smile upon the USAFA cadets who demonstrate the same dedication and determination the pioneers did more than 150 years ago.

Special Note: Mrs. Amanda Hess is soon to publish a book that captures many aspects of the history of USAFA in words and historic photos. I have had a chance to review the draft, and it is a delightful book on USAFA history, including the pre-USAFA history of this area. It has many great historical and modern day photos. Amanda gets an A++ for her research and hard work. The book will be available summer 2025. (January 2025)

 


Hotel Polaris

 

Pioneer Cabin c.1954
(USAFA Special Collections)

 


East Husted Santa Fe Station c.1955
(USAFA Special Collections)

 


Husted Denver Rio Grande Station Sign
(Larry Green)

 

Husted Home at the Western Museum of Mining and Industry (Jack Anthony)

 


Husted Railroad Accident of 1909,
looking somewhat west
(Wilber H. Fulker & The Lucretia
Vaile Museum, Palmer Lake)

 


View of the accident site from the Aviator
Bar on the 8th floor of the Polaris Hotel
at the north entry of USAFA
(Jack Anthony, November 2024)



Close-up of the accident site
from the Aviator Bar
(Jack Anthony, November 2024)

 


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