
Pikes Peak, Colorado
When Katharine Lee Bates reached the top of Pikes Peak in 1893, she later wrote that “the opening lines of the hymn floated into my mind” as she gazed at the endless plains below.
Those lines, jotted down that evening at her Colorado Springs hotel, became “America the Beautiful.”
Here’s what happened during that famous summer trip that gave America its unofficial anthem.

Katharine Lee Bates
Katharine Lee Bates arrived in Colorado Springs on July 4, 1893.
The 33-year-old Wellesley College professor came to teach English at Colorado College’s summer session.
Bates traveled west by train with her colleague Katharine Coman. Their journey included a stop at Niagara Falls. In Chicago, they toured the World’s Columbian Exposition with its gleaming white buildings showcasing American progress.
Then their train pushed through Kansas, where endless wheat fields stretched to the horizon.

Teaching In The Rockies
Colorado College hired Bates to teach Chaucer and English drama during their three-week summer session. The school brought in professors from eastern universities to boost their growing western institution.
Students came from across the country, many attracted by Colorado’s healthy mountain climate. The town itself was barely twenty years old, founded in 1871 by General William Palmer as a resort destination.
Streets formed a neat grid with Pikes Peak serving as a dramatic backdrop.

Excursion Plans Form
When the summer session ended, the professors decided to celebrate with a trip up Pikes Peak.
Mountain outings were popular activities for visitors to Colorado Springs. College officials organized the trip and chose 26 people by drawing straws.
Bates got lucky and won a spot for the July 22 climb. Most in the group came from eastern states and had never experienced high mountain elevations.
They carefully planned for the day-long journey, aware that mountain weather could change quickly.

Starting The Climb
On the morning of July 22, the group took a train from Colorado Springs to Cascade, a small settlement at the mountain’s base.
There they hired a prairie wagon, an open vehicle with high wheels built for rough terrain.
Someone had painted “Pikes Peak or Bust!” on its side, a slogan from the 1858 gold rush.
The mountain’s cog railway wasn’t working that day, so horses pulled their wagon along the first part of the trail through pine forests and meadows.

Mule Transport
At a place called Halfway House, the trail became too steep for horses pulling wagons. The professors switched to mules, which could handle the rocky slopes better. Handlers led the group single-file along narrow switchbacks.
Bates later wrote about how tired she felt during this part of the journey. The high altitude made breathing difficult, causing headaches and fatigue.
As they climbed higher, they passed the timberline where trees stop growing, exposing them to open slopes and bigger views.

Summit Achievement
After hours of climbing, the group reached the flat, rocky summit of Pikes Peak. Bates called it “that Gate-of-Heaven summit” as they finally arrived at their goal.
Wind blew across the mountaintop while the professors walked to the edge to take in the views.
Even in July, they needed coats in the thin air at 14,000 feet. Their visit was cut short when one professor got altitude sickness.
Before leaving, Bates wrote in her diary: “Most glorious scenery I ever beheld.”

Panoramic Inspiration
From the summit, Bates looked east across the Great Plains stretching toward Kansas like an ocean of land.
To the north, mountain ranges formed waves of purple-colored ridges. Below lay valleys with farms and orchards nestled between foothills.
The mountain’s granite gave it a purple color when seen from a distance, leading to Bates’ phrase “purple mountain majesties.” Few Americans in 1893 had seen such a complete view of their country’s varied landscape.

Creative Spark
As Bates stood taking in this vast scene, words began forming in her mind. She later described feeling “great joy” in that moment, saying “All the wonder of America seemed displayed there.”
The phrases that came to her combined impressions from her entire journey: Chicago’s white buildings, Kansas wheat fields, and Colorado’s mountains.
The mountain view pulled together her feelings about America that had been building throughout her westward trip.

Hotel Composition
Back at the Antlers Hotel that evening, Bates wrote down the lines still fresh in her mind. She titled her work simply “Pikes Peak” and completed four stanzas in her notebook alongside other travel notes.
The Antlers was Colorado Springs’ finest hotel, built in 1883 to serve wealthy tourists. As a published poet, Bates had the skill to capture her mountain experience in verse.

National Poem Emerges
When Bates returned to Wellesley College, she put her notebook aside and resumed teaching. The poem remained unpublished for two years. On July 4, 1895, a weekly church paper called The Congregationalist printed her poem as “America.”
In 1904, Bates revised the poem, making the language simpler and the images stronger. This created the version we know today. Samuel A. Ward, who never met Bates, had composed a tune called “Materna” in 1882 for a hymn.
After Ward died in 1903, publishers matched his music with Bates’ poem, creating “America the Beautiful.”

Visiting Pikes Peak, Colorado
From Colorado Springs, take Highway 24 west to Cascade, then turn left at Fountain Avenue. Follow signs to Pikes Peak Highway.
To reach the summit, you can take the Broadmoor Manitou & Pikes Peak Cog Railway, join a guided tour by shuttle), or hike the Barr Trail (13.5 miles one way).
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