Scenic Colorado & Utah

“America’s Playground for Americans.”

This charming brochure was published in Chicago by the Poole Brothers in 1931 on behalf of the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad. It’s text, photographs, excursion descriptions and diagrams all encourage the reader to visit the beauty of the American West along the lines of the Burlington Route.

A centerfold map highlights the proximity of the principal resort regions across Colorado and Utah, with insets of Rocky Mountain National Park, Denver and Vicinity, and the Pikes Peak District.

The pamphlet’s attitude may best be described by an except from a short essay on the back page:

“Centrally located between the Missouri River and the Pacific Coast, there lies the greatest playground in the world…Its portals are only a night and a day from Chicago. To its guests awheel, ahorse, or afoot it is kindly. The air is dry, crystalline, invigorating body and mind. The sky throughout Summer and Fall is blue and cloudless, pastime, and research never palls. It is unique, intrinsic, of itself – regal Nature in her most hospitable mood, her arms and hear open to the million.”