Little Chief Spring (Manitou Springs, Colorado)

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(Location approximate.)

The Little Chief Spring was one of the original natural iron-rich springs for which the neighborhood of Iron Springs was named.

It was previously covered by an octogonal open-air pavilion, built circa 1884 by the company that owned the second Iron Springs Hotel.

In the late 1880s the spring and the pavilion were acquired (along with the Ute Iron Spring and its "Chateau") by J. G. Hiestand.

Circa 1891 (when the construction of the Cog Railway yard cut off public access to the spring), Hiestand converted the open-air pavilion to an enclosed spring house, and installed a pipe to carry the water to a font located under the Ute Iron Spring pavilion. It remained accessible there until at least the 1930s.

Now it reportedly discharges into the Cog Railway yard's groundwater drainage system, and is inaccessible.

Historic photo:

digital.denverlibrary.org/u?/p15330coll22,80792