Brief by Central Staff
Geography – January 2001 – Colorado Central Magazine
While cleaning the other day, we ran across an old Salida phone book, which of course ended up where the new one should be when it was time to look up a number, whereupon we discovered that the “Salida Chamber of Commerce” used to be listed as the “Heart of the Rockies Chamber of Commerce.”
In ways, the transition makes sense, since it’s a lot easier to find Salida on a map than the Heart of the Rockies, a slogan that dates back to the 1930s when Wilbur Foshay strung signs across the West that said “Follow the Hearts to Salida.”
The analogy made some sense 70 years ago. Think of railroads as the circulatory system, and Salida was where the arteries and veins came together for the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad in those days.
But the trains don’t run through here any more. These days, how could we demonstrate that Salida is the “heart” of the Rockies, rather than the “navel” or the “kneecap,” let alone the “armpit” or the “rectum”?
At any rate, it got us to wondering about other slogans and mottoes used by towns and counties, now and in the past. So, here’s a list of such sayings that come to mind for various Colorado venues. We’ll run the answers next month, if we remember.
1) Cloud City.
2) A Park for All Seasons.
3) Sportsmen’s Paradise.
4) Fruit Capital of the North Fork.
5) Land of Cool Sunshine.
6) North Gateway to the Prosperous San Luis Valley.
7) Smile High City.
8) Colorado’s Choice City.
9) The People’s Republic of _____.
10) Crossroads of the Rockies.
11) Now this is Colorado.
12) Gateway to the Rocky Mountains.
13) Queen City of the Plains.
14) Little Texas.
15) Pride City.
16) Switzerland of America.
Hint: We don’t know the slogans for Gunnison (Where people from Fraser go to catch frostbite?), Cañon City (America’s Highest Gulag?), Montrose (Home of the world’s slowest stoplight?), Crest one (Where reality takes a holiday?), or Westcliffe (The Cus terclusterplex?).
