Camp Hale Site Dedication Records

Collection

Identifier: TMD345

Staff Only

Content Description

This video is a recording of the dedication of Camp Hale, Colorado as a national historical site as well as a booklet and memorial carving from October 12, 2022 when the site was declared a national monument.

Dates

1992; October 12, 2022

Language of Materials

Material is in English unless otherwise noted.

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

All requests for permission to publish, reproduce, or quote from material in the collection should be discussed with the appropriate librarian or archivist. Permission for publication may be given on behalf of the Denver Public Library as the owner of the physical item. It is not intended to include or permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained by the customer. The imply Library does not assume any responsibility for infringement of copyright or publication rights of the manuscript held by the writer, heirs, donors, or executors. Reproduction restrictions are decided on a case-by-case basis.

Biographical / Historical

In April 1941, the U.S. Army began its search for a site capable of housing a division of 15,000 men, which would also be suitable for year-round training of mountain troops. Their first choice, a site in Yellowstone Park, was rejected because it was a breeding ground for the almost-extinct trumpeter swan. Eventually, the Army approved a site north of Leadville, Colo. between Tennessee Pass and a railroad whistle stop called Pando. Construction of the camp, named in honor of General Irving Hale, began in April 1942. Hale, a West Pointer, graduated at the head of his class in 1880, received a Purple Heart, Silver Star and several brevets for gallantry during his service in the Spanish-American War. He later commanded the Colorado National Guard. Despite the site's remoteness and high altitude, construction was rushed to completion in less than six months. Troops, from what would become the 10th Mountain Division, began arriving in November 1942. The soldiers trained in mountain and winter warfare at the camp until June 1944.

On October 12, 2022, President Biden used his authority under the Antiquities Act to establish the 53,804-acre Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument on National Forest System lands in the heart of the Colorado Rocky Mountains, preserving the area’s important historic, prehistoric, natural, and recreational values.

The national monument designation builds on years of efforts from the descendants of the 10th Mountain Division, Colorado veterans, federal, state and local elected officials, many surrounding communities, conservation and outdoor recreation advocates, and local business owners, to recognize and preserve this area.

The Camp Hale and Tenmile Range area is rich in ancient human history, bearing the marks of centuries of habitation by Indigenous peoples. For thousands of years, the Ute people traveled to the Pando Valley when winter snows melted as part of an annual migration circuit to hunt game and collect medicinal plants. The area also served as an important transportation corridor for those traveling to sacred hot springs in Glenwood Springs, and the traditional Ute trail lies under the road that runs along the Eagle River today.

The Camp Hale and Tenmile Range area remains culturally important to the Ute people, who return to their homelands to pray, hold ceremonies, honor their ancestors, and hunt, fish, and harvest plants for medicinal purposes, ceremonial use, and basketry.