Glen Eyrie is historically significant as the home of Gen. William Jackson Palmer, the founder of the city of Colorado Springs. Following a distinguished career in the Union army during the American Civil War, Palmer enjoyed continued success in the railroad industry, mapping several transcontinental routes before establishing his own prosperous line, the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad. From 1871 to 1905, Palmer and his wife, Mary "Queen" Mellen Palmer, enriched and transformed their beautiful, front-range mountain estate, showcasing its renowned natural and architectural wonders. Spanning from 1871 to 1965, this volume explores the lives of the Palmer family, the estate's subsequent owners, and Glen Eyrie's development through many previously unpublished photographs, memoirs, and letters gathered from historic institutions across America.
Patrick Kochanasz serves as historian and archivist for The Navigators, which has owned the Glen Eyrie property since 1953. Kochanasz stewards more than 70 collections for The Navigators and Glen Eyrie. Author Tim Peckham is a retired Air Force intelligence officer, a former assistant professor of history at the US Air Force Academy, and an associate for The Navigators history department. Over the past four years, his research has focused exclusively on Glen Eyrie and the Palmer family.