The Garden of the Gods Trading Post is a historic site in
Manitou Springs, Colorado
Manitou Springs is a home rule municipality located at the foot of Pikes Peak in western El Paso County, Colorado, United States. The town was founded for its natural mineral springs. The downtown area continues to be of interest to travelers, ...
. It is adjacent to the Colorado Springs public park
Garden of the Gods.
History
At the age of 10 years old, in 1900, Charles E. Strausenback began selling figures that he carved from gypsum to visitors to the Garden of the Gods. He went into business for himself about 1917 and operated various stores in and around the park. In 1929 he built a Pueblo-themed trading post at the junction of Beckers Lane and the park boundary where it was reported that, "real Indian curios will be carried, including Indian silver, Navajo blankets, pottery, etc."
Strausenback hired Navajo and Pueblo Indians to work and demonstrate their arts at the trading post, among them were
Awa Tsireh
Awa Tsireh (February 1, 1898 – March 30, 1955), also known as Alfonso Roybal and Cattail Bird, was a San Ildefonso Pueblo painter and artist in several genres including metalwork. He was part of the art movement known as the San Ildefons ...
(also known as Alfonso Roybal) of
San Ildefonso Pueblo, Ca-Ping (also known as Severo Tafoya) of
Santa Clara Pueblo, and William Goodluck (frequently called Billy Goodluck) a
Navajo
The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States.
With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...
, who worked as silversmiths. Silversmiths worked at the business seasonally until about 1955.
Strausenback died in 1957 and the trading post continued to be run by his widow Esther until 1979. At that time the trading post came under the proprietorship of T.A.T. Enterprises, which still owns the trading post.
The main sales area was 40 feet by 60 feet with living quarters on the second floor, and cost an estimated $10,000 to build in 1929. The current owners have expanded the original sales floor from 2400 sq ft (40 ft x 60 ft) six times to encompass 22,000 sq ft and operates the trading post as a combination Indian art gallery, gift shop, café, conference center and wedding venue. Many of the original features of the 1929 trading post, such as the fireplace, floor and roof beams, have been kept intact preserving Strausenback’s vision of an Indian trading post. It is one of the oldest and largest curio stores in the southwest to be operated continuously from its founding, and has become one of the main attractions in Colorado Springs.
Company logo
In 1926 Strausenback copyrighted a logo of a Pueblo style thunderbird attacking a rattlesnake patterned after a drawing by Awa Tsireh (Alfonso Roybal) that would become synonymous with the trading post. This logo was painted on the front of the trading post, used on printed matter and business cards and made into silversmith stamps used as shop marks designating where the jewelry was made.
See also
*
Garden of the Gods public park
References
{{coord, 38, 51, 50.2, N, 104, 53, 33.0, W, region:US-CO_type:landmark, display=title
Historic sites in Colorado
Manitou Springs, Colorado
Tourist attractions in El Paso County, Colorado
Buildings and structures completed in 1929