Think small

Smoky Hill Trail Monument
Denver, Colorado
Photograph by Tom Atwood

I was having a hard time photographing the Smoky Hill Trail Monument in Denver, so I gave up. At least I gave up on trying to shoot the entire monument, which is also known as Pioneer Fountain, on the corner of Colfax and Broadway between the Denver Post and the Colorado State Capitol. Instead, I began looking for smaller, unusual features of the sculpture by Frederick William MacMonnie. The result is a very different kind of photograph, one that raises questions, suggests a story, and to be honest, is kind of creepy. By the way, the fountain was installed in downtown Denver in 1911, as part of Mayor Robert Speer's "beautification of Denver" plan. The monument marks the end of Smoky Hill Trail, an ancient Native trail along the smoky river that provided the fastest route west across Kansas for thousands of prospectors making their way to Colorado during the Pike's Peak Gold Rush from 1858 to 1861. I imagine that from time to time those prospectors ran into this beast, or other beasts like it, along the way. Shutter: 1/160; Aperture: f/5.6; ISO: 1600; Focal length: 50 mm.