Fountain Creek, Manitou Springs

Fountain Creek starts in Woodland Park at the base of Pikes Peak. This creek was originally named Fontain qui Bouille by French trappers, meaning boiling fountain for its bubbling springs. This photo and video are from the creek banks at the north entrance to Manitou Springs, near rainbow falls.

Used by Utes for centuries as Wintering Grounds, Fountain Creek is rich with wildlife, springs and caves. These “caves” are interesting and I wonder if they are caused by digging in the banks recently, or long ago. Erosion can be quick on sandstone. 

You may recognize the French name of the creek from a story I recently did about Henry Harkens. The creek doesn’t run near that property where his grave is, but the townsite of Fountain was called the same in 1863 according to newspaper reports for the valley. It was an area along Fountain Creek known as a shipping post in 1859, which grew over time into Fountain Valley..

Historically the creek has been used as a trading route along what is now known as Highway 24 and the Interstate.  Monument Creek merges into Fountain Creek near the confluence with Interstate 25, then flows south.

The creek is a tributary of the Arkansas River near Pueblo. A dam was thought of in the 70s and was never built near the confluence of the creek and the Arkansas near Pueblo. As with many Colorado waterways in other areas, water is always in demand for Colorado and a large city needs it for survival. Pueblo has been looking into grabbing up some of the water since the early 1900s. 

In 1908 two reservoirs north of Pueblo opened, capturing the water with perforated pipes. The water was so blue and the hardness was very high, residents complained about it and it was deemed unfit for human consumption. Amazing what can happen to surface water over a given distance…