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 Canon City, Florence, Pueblo and Colorado has been a part of my life no
matter where I am. Stories and memories and bits and pieces
- good and bad and the tragic and success. This is
their inheritance - that life should be better for you -
because those who came before you paid dearly. |
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Grandfather
Silengo moved to Canon City and Florence
area 1904 and My Grandmother
Vernetti to Brewerster, Colorado [just
west of Florence] 1890. Albert and Mary Silengo were married
on Thanksgiving day 1925, just like my parents [James
and Rose Brewer]. They worked worked hard to raise
their family. The depression, family of Italian
immigrants - just like many
families. Nothing easy. |
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Grandfather
Silengo worked in the Colorado Coal Mines.
Died of black lung 1966 |
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The death of your
oldest son in 1936. Louis had promised my grandmother
a special gift on her birthday from money he had been saving
up - instead of a gift he promised turn to tragedy,
May 1, 1936 he died in her arms in Pueblo, Colorado.
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My mother Rose [Silengo]
Brewer was just 4 years old when this happen. |
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Cañon City, county seat of
Fremont County, is located at the mouth of the Royal Gorge
in the foothills of the Rockies, 45 miles southwest of
Colorado Springs, 100 miles from Denver, 40 miles from
Pueblo, 50 miles from Cripple Creek, 60 miles from the
original South Park ,and 60 miles from Salida. The Arkansas
River extends the entire 60-mile length of Fremont County
and flows through the City of Canon City. |
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 TEMPLE CANYON
On
quiet, clear nights people say they can still hear the war
drums in this south Canon City park. Listen carefully and
you might hear the Indian cries at the sacred Indian Burial
Ground.
7 miles SW of town on City.
Rd. 3, Temple Canyon Road. |
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ROYAL GORGE PARK
- 8 miles west of town on Hwy 50, turn south on Cty. Rd. 3A,
three miles. Restrooms, hiking, camping, and picnic
shelters. |
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TUNNEL DRIVE
- Hwy 50 and Tunnel Drive on west end of town., Scenic
hiking, Beautiful river views, bike trail. |
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ABBEY
- 2951 E. Hwy 50 |
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SHELF ROAD
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A
white-knuckler drive not recommended for RV's, Campers, or
the faint hearted is this road perched high on the wall of 4
mile canyon. Sky Line
Road 1912 |
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Skyline |
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Brookside, Colorado |
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Chandler Colorado
- Located about 4 miles south of Lincoln Park |
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Tom Mix |
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Royal Gorge |
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Canon City and the surrounding
area used for movies. |
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Canon City 1948 |
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This suspenseful crime drama
reenacts the famed 1947 prison break out of the Canon City,
Colorado corrections facility and features the actual
warden, Roy Best playing himself. The trouble begins when
one prisoner manages to fashion a crude pistol. Enlisting
the aid of eleven others, they successfully escape and
terrorize the town until the warden and his men manage to
round up the survivors and bring them back |
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The Selig
Polyscope Company of Chicago pioneered in Colorado,
opening a Denver office around the turn of the century.
They shot more than forty films during 1911 and 1912 in
the Cañon City area, and stunt rider Tom Mix became a
local favorite. But Selig left for warmer weather in
Prescott, Arizona, and eventually, Los Angeles. In January
1914, the Colorado Motion Picture Company moved to Cañon
City[1]. After shooting half a dozen movies, their lead
actress and cameraman drowned in a tragic accident while
filming. It signaled the end of the production company. |
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[1] located
on 3rd Main. My cousins had a store located in the
building where the office were located in the 1980s. |
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note:
Canon City was the state headquarter of the KKK.
During the 1920s, Colorado had the largest and most
influential Knights of the Ku Klux Klan following of
any other state west of the Mississippi River. When
the Roman Catholic Church announced its intent to
build the Holy Cross Abbey in Cañon City in 1923, the
Klan leaders recognized the event as a direct threat
on Protestant superiority and "100% American"
ideology. |
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![Men, women, and children in straw hats watch a man on a tightrope over Main St. in Canon City, Colorado. The rope is fixed to the brick cornice of Murry's Saloon, with its corbeled arches. Potted plants fill stone sills of arched sash windows. Spectators sit in second story windows of the McClure House, and on the wrought iron balcony. Letters above read: "McCl[ure]." Retracted awnings over storefronts read: "Billiard Hall," and "Geo. W. Bethel." "Anheuser Busch Lager Beer" is printed on a curved shield. Barber pole has "Baths" sign on it. Telegraph wire pole follows the boardwalk; a horse-drawn coach is parked under a tree.](http://www.ideashappen.org/images/main-street-1884.jpg)
