Discover The Wild West With Peace And Serenity In Denver

Denver, Colorado calls itself the Mile High City. It’s situated on the eastern flank of the Rocky Mountains. A young city by anyone’s standards, it was founded in 1858 as a mining town during the Pikes Peak Gold Rush. Colorado only became a state in 1876.

Cities have personalities, and this one is all part of the wild west of America. When it was founded, there were seasonal encampments of Cheyenne and Arapaho Native Americans across from the site of the original town. In its early days, this was definitely a frontier town with cowboys and cattle, miners and saloons and Indians.

Native Americans celebrate their heritage now with the Denver Pow Wow. It’s an enormous yearly event usually in March. It features three days of traditional dancing and singing as well as a large marketplace of native American goods and foods.

A town of cowboys and sophisticates, it’s a great place to visit when you’re looking for a combination of outdoor and big city experiences. The Denver Art Museum and the Colorado History Museum have excellent exhibits of contemporary and historical native art and artifacts.

If you’re a beer lover, the Mile High City is home to a large number of local and national breweries. Many restaurants have on site breweries, and some of the larger breweries, including Coors and the New Belgium Brewing Company (close by in Ft. Collins), offer tours. The city welcomes visitors from around the world when it hosts the Great American Beer Festival.

Great American cities all love their sports teams, and Denver is no exception. There are teams representing all of the major sports in America.

While you can find plenty to do in the city, it’s probably those Rocky Mountains that you will want to get into. You can visit to ski or snowboard at some of the famous resorts nearby or come to hike in the summer and enjoy the view. Explore some of the parks and towns nearby.

Boulder is located in the foothills of the Rockies just about 35 miles northwest of Denver. It’s a great little college town surrounded by trails and open spaces.

Estes Park is a small town that is the gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park. The Park itself is a spectacular wilderness that has been maintained in as near a totally natural state as possible. It’s a great place for hiking, backpacking, climbing, mountaineering and all kinds of winter sports. Commercial activity inside the park is limited. Stay in Estes Park if you’re not up for camping.

If you’re a skier, there are famous ski areas nearby. Winter Park Resort is the closest; only about 70 miles away. There are many other areas from Aspen to Vail. Skiers go wild for that Rocky Mountain powder.

For a taste of the old Wild West, visit the Buffalo Bill Museum and grave in Golden about 30 minutes west of the city. After a life of herding cattle, working on wagon trains, and mining for gold, it was his Buffalo Bill’s Wild West shows that people remember him for.

If you want your holiday to include a little of the American Wild West, or you would love the peace and serenity of the mountains, include Denver Colorado in your itinerary.

Experience the “Old West” at the Denver Pow Wow

Do the Indians really call it a Pow Wow? Yes, they do, and the Denver Pow Wow is one of the largest of its kind in the country. The word comes from the Narragansett Indian language. The word “powwaw” means “spiritual leader.”
 
If you’ve included Denver in your travel plans, you should try to get there in March for this event.
 
The modern gathering is a social occasion. It’s a time for Native Americans to come together to honour their heritage with singing and dancing, traditional costumes and foods, and storytelling and native art. This event started in 1984 when Native Americans started re-asserting and revitalizing their heritage and rights.
  
The Denver Pow Wow is usually a three day event. It features hundreds of dancers and musicians from about 100 different tribes. There are different styles of traditional dances from each of the various tribes. Dancing is probably the central activity during a Pow Wow. It’s definitely a colorful event.
 
If you go to their website, they have a great section on explanations for non-Indian spectators. Indian dancing is really an individual activity, but it is performed as a group. Each dancer moves to the beat of the drum. Dance styles vary and are derived from traditional dances of the different tribes represented.
  
Dance costumes are colorful and elaborate. They really do wear those headdresses for the dancing. They’re made from animal hair with eagle feathers on top. There are bone breastplates, feather bustles, beaded armbands, and chokers and anklets of fur.
 
Traditional dancing was originally a form of story telling. Warriors acted out battles or hunting scenes.
  
The one event you really don’t want to miss is the “Grand Entry”. This procession is performed a couple of times on Friday and Saturday and one last time on Sunday. It starts with the “Heart Beat drum group” singing, followed by the entrance of a participant carrying an Eagle Staff. Next come the flag entrances, the American flag and flags of Indian Nations. Once everyone has entered, the flags are raised with flag songs.
 
Then comes the Intertribal Dance. All the dancers from all the tribes and from all age groups dance together, but in their own style. With the beat of hundreds of drums urging them on, and the swirl of colour as they dance around. You feel it as well as see it – it’s something you won’t soon forget.
  
There are also dancing competitions. The women get into the act with the Jingle Dress Dance.
  
There are many booths selling Native American arts and crafts: jewelry, blankets, pottery and beadwork. And yes, you can buy authentic Cheyenne arrows and Sioux tomahawks.
  
Try traditional food such as fry bread and Indian tacos.
 
The Denver Pow Wow is held in the Denver Coliseum. Tickets are sold at the door. If you want to take pictures you will be required to purchase a permit for video and digital cameras.
 
Native American cultures are the Old West. Visit Denver for the Rocky Mountains and include the Denver Pow Wow for that Old West spirit.