Colorado Vacation and Travel Ideas for Literary Tours

Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum
215 South Tejon Street
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
Website: http://www.cspm.org
Email: mailto:COSMuseum@SpringsGov.com
Phone: (719) 385-5990

A native of Amherst, Massachusetts and a friend of Emily Dickinson, Helen Hunt Jackson (1830 - 1885) endured a series of personal hardships, including the loss of two sons.  Suffering from poor health, she moved to Colorado Springs in the hope that the region's climate would be beneficial.  It was on a trip back to Massachusetts that Jackson met Ponca Chief Standing Bear, and learned of the plight of his people, who had been forced off their ancestral land. 

Moved to help the Native Americans in the same way that Harriet Beecher Stowe helped African Americans, Jackson wrote a series of books, including the novel Ramona, the story of an orphan, part Native American, and part Scottish, who contends with displacement and hardship as a result of policies towards Native Americans.  The novel enjoyed immediate and widespread popular success.

The Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum, housed in the 1903 El Paso County Courthouse, features a reconstructed part of Helen Hunt Jackson's house , along with her original belongings.  The museum also features numerous exhibits relating to the history and culture of the Pikes Peak Region, including collections of artifacts from the Arapaho, Ute and Cheyenne tribes, as well as Van Briggle pottery, which is produced in the region.

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