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In 1954, William Eskeldson filed a mining claim on 160 acres of Pike National Forest Land in Queens Canyon. In 1955, Castle Concrete Company was incorporated and the company began mining operations at Queens Canyon Quarry. Thirteen years later, in 1968, Castle Coucrete purchased and reopened Snyder Quarry, which had been idle for decades. Beginning in 1969 Castle Concrete leased and operated Pikeview Quarry and then in 1974 it acquired the quarry. With the acquisition of Pikeview Quarry, Castle Coucrete became the owner of all three quarries that are involved in the mountain scars controversy. Since 1954, the material from the quarries has been used to build the Air Force Academy, the new Colorado Springs Airport, the Norwest building, NORAD and thousands of single-family homes and apartments in the Colorado Springs azea. It is estimated that 70% of Colorado Springs infrastructure was built from material from the quarries. Growth of the Controversy "It is said that some tourists who visit this section of the country remark, after seeing the mountains, that they are pretty to look at, but that they are exceedingly hard to get over acrd no! of very much use. " The Colorado Springs Gazette, April 2Q 1902 The editors of the Colorado Springs Gazette went on to state with great pride that the City of Colorado Springs had found a practical use for the mountains - as an "inexhaustible" source of rock for construction. They believed that "if rock enough were removed from the summit of Pikes Peak to build three or four towns the size of Colorado Springs, anold-timer returning to the city after it had been removed would probably have to be told that the peak had been cut down." The expansionist mindset from the early days, which relied upon the perception that natural resources were limitless, clashed with the preservationist thinking that began to emerge in the mid-1950s. The subject of controversy was the proposed Queens Canyon Quarry, and the issue was whether it was wise to allow mining to despoil the natural beauty of a highly visible azea in the foothills. The National Forest Service land claimed for Queens Canyon Quarry was wild and untouched. Despite Castle Concrete Company's legal right to quarry in that location, public opposition attempted to prevent the development of the quarry. Despite the opposition, Castle Concrete was able to preserve its right to mine and the company commenced operations. Prior to the 1950s, Snyder and Pikeview quarries were well out of sight of the population. However, as the city and suburban azea grew, so did the demand for rock products from the quarries. Consequently, the size of these quarries grew. As the region expanded, subdivisions were developed within visual range of the Snyder and Pikeview quames. These quarries, which were once in the countryside, were now in the middle of suburbia. Public opposition to Castle Concrete's mining at Queens Canyon expanded to include the Snyder and Pikeview quarries. Beginning in the L950s, acrimony between Castle Concrete and citizens grew as various attempts were made to thwart further development of the quames. In 1958, Colorado Springs Mayor, Fred Simpson, called for a boycott of rock purchases from Front Range quarries, but the idea was determined to be illegal. In 1965, an anti~uarry group known as the Springs Area Beautiful Association (SPABA) blamed Castle Concrete for scarring the land made famous in Katherine Lee Bates' song, "America the Beautiful." SPABA initiated a petition drive aimed at preventing (3)