Glenwood Springs

Glenwood Springs, CO.  What a lovely town!  As an anniversary gift to each other, we stayed one night at the Glenwood Hot Springs.  This hotel has an outdoor mineral hot springs pool and they boast that it is the "world's largest."  

From their information booklet and various plaques around the hotel, I learned that the hot springs were a frequent visiting location for the Ute Native Americans. The Ute believed the springs cured illnesses and named it Yampah, meaning "Big Medicine."  

In 1881, the Ute signed a treaty with the US Government and were relocated to a reservation.  They retained hunting rights in the area and often returned, even as the white man's presence at the hot springs increased.  In 1888 a bathhouse was constructed and the white man officially took over.