When Red Rocks almost became home to a full-size replica of the Sphinx

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MORRISON, Colo. — Last month, Red Rocks Amphitheater celebrated its 80th birthday. The iconic theater, with its preserved natural landscape, has played host to some of the most influential musicians of all time, from The Beatles to Yo-Yo Ma to The Grateful Dead, and after a year of pandemic-shutdowns, music is once again filling the air in Morrison.

But as Jefferson County officials pointed out in a “Throwback Thursday” post on Twitter, the park and amphitheater could have looked a lot different if one of its first owners, John Brisbane Walker, got his way.

Walker, a multi-hyphenate who would go on to make a fortune selling Cosmopolitan magazine to William Randolph Hearst, moved to northern Denver in 1879, just three years after Colorado joined the Union. Walker had moved to the area to study the viability of growing alfalfa in the west (spoiler alert: he was really successful). 

He acquired the Red Rocks property—then known as the Garden of the Angels—in the early 1900s.

He sold Red Rocks to the City and County of Denver a few years later, in 1906. Even after selling it, Walker was very much invested in the park’s future. Maybe a bit too involved. In 1912, according to the Jefferson County Historical Society, Walker approached the Denver City Council with several ideas for the park:

  • Recreate a full-size version of the Great Sphinx of Giza in the park’s rocks
  • Recreate a Mesa-Verde cliff dwelling in another one of the park’s outcrop
  • Build cement, life-size models of the giant prehistoric reptiles found in Morrison

 

Credit: Jefferson County Open Space

These ideas, of course, were denied. And they weren’t Walker’s only ambitious plans that fell through—he was also the man behind Colorado’s “Summer White House,” a would-be mountain vacation property for U.S. Presidents whose construction was halted due to lack of funding and the start of World War I (all that was built was a foundation and cornerstone, which you can still see today).

Still, Walker left a remarkable legacy on Jefferson County. After all, he was the man credited with first discovering how live music would be a perfect fit at the natural amphitheater.

From a 1997 edition of Historically Jeffco:

“Walker accidentally discovered the natural acoustical greatness of the park while he was hiking between Creation and Steamboat rocks where he impulsively shouted ‘hello.’ His voice bellowed clearly throughout the canyon. ‘What a magnificent place for outdoor concerts,’ Walker reflected and, on that day, Red Rocks Amphitheater was born.”

And despite Walker’s desire to create ostentatious landmarks, the simple improvements he and his family made to Red Rocks made the park accessible to average people, and helped usher in the iconic concert venue we know today. According to Historically Jeffco, “Over a few short months in the spring of 1906,  the Walkers added trails, ladders, handrails and general infrastructure to make the park more accessible and enjoyable. Stone steps were carved to the top of Creation Rock where an observation deck and teahouse awaited. A road was built to the natural amphitheater and a stage erected, all in time for the grand opening on May 31, 1906.”

The Civilian Conservation Corps began building the modern amphitheater in 1936. It was completed in 1941.

Kyle Cooke is the Digital Media Manager at Rocky Mountain PBS. You can reach him at kylecooke@rmpbs.org.