This Mardi Gras of the West fizzled out like a wet firecracker in 1902
THE FESTIVAL OF MOUNTAIN AND PLAIN
It’s 1895, and Colorado has just crawled out of an economic nosedive that would make even a seasoned rodeo bull rider queasy. What’s a city to do? Throw a party, of course! And not just any party, mind you. We’re talking a shindig so grand it would “eclipse anything of the kind ever attempted in the West.” Because nothing says, “we’re back, baby!” like blowing your recovery funds on floats and fireworks.
Enter William N. Byers, our favorite Denver booster and the man who never met a promotional opportunity he didn’t like. Along with his merry band of civic-minded millionaires, Byers cooked up a festival that would make P.T. Barnum green with envy. For five glorious years, Denver transformed into a carnival wonderland every October. We’re talking parades with floats that cost more than your average prospector’s lifetime earnings, costumes ordered straight from Paris (because nothing says “Wild West” like French haute couture), and a “Queen of the Silver Serpent” dripping in more gems than a mine shaft.
But wait, there’s more! They had balloon ascensions, parachute jumps, and even an “Indian Festival” because nothing says cultural sensitivity like turning your local tribes into a sideshow attraction. The festival was so popular that over 100,000 people showed up to gawk at the spectacle. That’s a lot of folks in one place before the invention of deodorant, folks. But alas, all good things must come to an end. By 1900, the novelty had worn off faster than a prospector’s luck. They tried to revive it in 1901 and again in 1912, but it was deader than a saloon on Sunday morning.
So, there you have it, the Festival of Mountain and Plain: Denver’s five-year fever dream of prosperity, pageantry, and probably more than a little rotgut whiskey. It may be long gone, but its spirit lives on in every overpriced craft beer festival and artisanal food truck rodeo in the Mile High City today. Yeehaw!
Sources
Colorado Virtual Library. “Time Machine Tuesday: Festival of Mountain and Plain.” Accessed February 19, 2025. https://www.coloradovirtuallibrary.org/resource-sharing/state-pubs-blog/time-machine-tuesday-festival-of-mountain-and-plain/
History Colorado. “Festival of the Mountain and Plain.” Accessed February 19, 2025. http://www.historycolorado.org/story/2023/08/18/festival-mountain-and-plain
Denver Public Library Special Collections. “Festival of Mountain and Plain 1895.” Accessed February 19, 2025. https://history.denverlibrary.org/news/denver/festival-mountain-and-plain-1895
Boulder Library. “Mountain and Plains Festival in Denver, Colorado.” Accessed February 19, 2025. https://localhistory.boulderlibrary.org/islandora/object/islandora:58033
