Click to see full records for X-13368 and X-13369
"Gunnison is ready for a glorious day. King Carnival is to be given full sway and mirth and gayety will reign supreme. The celebration will be the most elaborate that has taken place in Gunnison for years. Features of the program will be: Baseball, three-cornered game, purse $75, clay pigeon shoot, first prize $20; hose races, bicycle races, cowboy relay, five miles, purse $35; horse racing, 100 yard dash, for which liberal prizes will be given. A magnificent display of fireworks takes place in the evening. The festivities will close with a grand ball at the La Veta Hotel...."
[The Denver Times, July 2, 1899]

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X-6531 and X-13201
Train depots bustled with excursionists deserting Denver for mountain resorts. Railroads reduced fares and added extra coaches and departure times to accommodate the crowds.

P-1650 and X-12860

Palmer Lake Resort drew thousands. The day opened at the grand pavilion with the singing of "Hail Columbia" and "The Star Spangled Banner." Patriotic speeches by prominent orators followed. Afternoons were spent watching horse and burro races, dancing or walking among the wildflowers. The evening featured fireworks and a masquerade party.

X-7042

Small town streets, decorated with freshly cut evergreens and bunting, filled with people from the countryside.

X-6493

X-7562 and X-12451
X-7562 and X-12451

In ranch country and small towns, locals competed in rodeos, footraces, sack races, fat man races, egg races, slow races and greased pole climbing for $2-to-$10 prizes.

X-10120
Traveling acrobats thrilled crowds with high wire acts and ladder climbing displays.


X-513 and X-510
"How the heart swells with pride and the inner man with beer at each returning Independence morn. How the eagle screams and the patriot gets up and whoops when the wine and the lager from the Rhine meet on the common battle ground of his American stomach. How everything enters into the spirit of the occasion and how the spirits of the occasion get into every one and make wet towels and bromide of potassium indispensible on the morning of the fifth. How the very lamp posts dance for joy and even the very ground gets up and smacks a fellow on the nose under the convivial circumstances of the day. But gentlemen, I must not delay you with platitudes. The day is hot and you are dry...."
[Hon. J. Augustus Boulter,
quoted in The Denver Times, July 4, 1899]

Colorado Celebrates the 4th of July