Tesla's Playground
The Will Rogers ~ Shrine of the Sun can be reached with a trip up the Russell Tutt 
Scenic Highway, originally named the &quot;Wonder Road&quot; 
after its miraculous construction. As you travel up 
the mountainside, each turn reveals breathtaking views 
of the Rocky Mountain Range and glorious vistas of the 
city of Colorado Springs below.  The 
highway was constructed by Spencer Penrose in 1924 and 
initially terminated 7.5 miles up at the summit of 
Cheyenne Mountain.  

Spencer Penrose, founder of the Broadmoor and Cheyenne 
Mountain Zoo, along with a group of his associates 
from Colorado Springs, formed the End of the Trail 
Association. The End of the Trail Association acquired 
property for the shrine and began construction in 
December of 1934, and finished in 1937. The edifice's 
design was commissioned by Colorado Springs architect 
Charles E. Thomas, and at the time construction began 
the tower had yet to be named. The shrine has an entry 
gate with stone piers, an eighty foot high observation 
tower, looks like a fortress with a stone turret, and 
is built of 5,000 cubic yards of native Cheyenne 
Mountain gray-pink granite quarried from a single 
boulder. Anchored 28 feet into a solid rock buttress, 
the entire structure, void of nails or wood, is bound 
by 200,000 pounds of steel and some 30 wagon loads of 
cement. The elevation of the shrine is 8,136 feet on 
the top deck, and it provides spectacular views of 
Colorado Springs and the Pikes Peak Region. 
During the shrine's construction, Will Rogers, an 
American humorist, was killed in an airplane crash in
Alaska. This tragedy inspired Mr. Penrose to honor his 
close friend by naming the tower after him. Jo 
Davidson, an artist in Paris, was commissioned to 
sculpt a bronze bust of Will Rogers, which stands in 
the ten-acre courtyard in front of the shrine. The 
shrine was dedicated on September 6, 1937, in a 
ceremony broadcast nationally on the NBC radio 
network. 

Inside the square sided, five-story shrine, the 
Historical Room on the ground level displays murals by 
New Mexico artist Randall Davey depicting early 
development of the Pikes Peak Region. Included are 
Native American scenes, Zebulon Pike's travels, gold 
discoveries in Cripple Creek, and activities of 
General William Palmer, founder and developer of 
Colorado Springs. These murals were carefully restored 
in 1993 by noted American artist and mural painter 
Eric Bransby, an associate of Randall Davey's. 
In the three rooms above, a photographic history of 
Will Rogers’ life captivates visitors at the shrine. 
The display begins with his early childhood in 
Oklahoma and passes through the years when he gained 
fame on stage, screen and radio as &quot;America's 
unofficial Ambassador of Good Will.&quot; The final 
photograph is of Will Rogers and pilot Wiley Post 
taken just before the fatal flight, which claimed 
their lives at Point Barrow, Alaska, in 1935. 
On the lower level of the shrine, accessible by a 
separate entrance is a tranquil chapel where the ashes 
of Spencer and Julie Penrose are interred along with 
two colleagues of the Penroses from the Cripple Creek 
gold rush days, Larry Leonard and Horace Devereaux. 
The chapel is adorned with 15th and 16th century 
European art objects indicative of the Penroses' 
efforts to cultivate a refined character for the Pikes 
Peak Region. 

The crowning feature of the shrine is the set of 
Westminster Chimes, which can be heard throughout the 
Broadmoor valley as they strike the quarter hours each 
day. Today, the Will Rogers Shrine of the Sun stands 
as an everlasting monument to the cowboy who had a
special gift for making the world laugh at its own 
troubles. 

Spencer and Julie Penrose were married in 1906 and 
were highly instrumental in the development of the 
City of Colorado Springs. The Penroses are responsible 
for the construction of the Pikes Peak Highway, 
Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and the Broadmoor Hotel. They 
were also a moving force in regional cultural and 
educational activities. They donated property for the 
Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center and established the 
El Pomar Foundation in 1937 to contribute to 
charitable and educational nonprofit organizations in 
Colorado.
castle cemetery grave zoo colorado tomb chapel mausoleum coloradosprings willrogers cheyennemountainzoo ttv shrineofthesun spencerpenrose