Travels of A Scenic Artist and Scholar: The Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Drop Curtain for DeRemer Opera House, 1886

Copyright © 2020 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett

Railroads hired a variety of nineteenth century artists to paint scenes that would entice western travel.

In 1886, James Edgar Lamphere painted a drop curtain for DeRemer’s Opera House in Pueblo, Colorado. The drop was presented to Mr. DeRemer by the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. In essence, it was an advertising curtain for their scenic line that passed the Curecanti Needle. This is the first mention that I have encountered of a railroad marketing their services on a drop curtain. It is possible that they also presented a drop curtain depicting Royal Gorge to H. A. W. Tabor for his opera house in Leadville, just a few years earlier.

The DeRemer drop curtain gives insight into a new form of marketing for the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad (D&RG). On February 3, 1886, the “Colorado Daily Chieftain” reported, “the most attractive thing to strike the eye upon entering the house is the beautiful drop curtain, presented to Mr. DeRemer by the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, and we unhesitantly say that the Scenic Line of America never got up a better of more beautiful shipment. The scene from which the drop is painted is on the line of the Rio Grande road in the Black Canon, and is known as Curranti [sic.] Needle, being a  tall, majestic, needle-like spur of rock standing high above all the surrounding mountains. It is a pretty scene, and Mr. Lamphere, the artist who did all the work can be proud of it. The scenic scene is in the center of the curtain. On each side is shown as banner, and a close inspection will show a brief inscription on each banner tells what the scene is. The curtain is about twenty-four feet high by thirty-three feet wide.”

A few years earlier, the Tabor Opera House acquired a drop that featured Royal Gorge, likely during the 1882 stage renovation. It was noted as the venue’s second drop curtain, valued at $1000; a hefty sum for the time. Royal Gorge was located on the Leadville branch of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad (Western Magazine, Vol. 4, page 176). The first drop curtain for the Tabor Opera House in 1879 was painted by Lamphere and described in the “Leadville Weekly Herald.” The article described, “The drop curtain is a masterpiece from the brush of Mr. Lamphere, and represents a glorious mountain scene, at the base of which is a fine old castle, with a stream running at the foot; alongside of the water is a rugged road, which ends in the winding of  canyon” (page 3). This was very standard and appropriate composition for the time, harkening back to an old world with European castles in the distance.

The second drop curtain delivered to the Tabor Opera House depicting Royal Gorge was an unusual central composition for the time, especially when placed it within the context of other nineteenth-century drop curtain descriptions. It is interesting to note that the drop curtains for both DeRemer Opera House and the Tabor Opera House featured a specific scene along the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. Both the DeRemer Opera House and the Tabor Opera House had scenery painted by Lamphere, also establishing a connection. When placed within the context of railroad companies hiring artists to produce large-scale artworks that inspire travel, this make sense; the captivating scenes functioned as unique advertisement for a particular railroad line.

In 1870, the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad (D&RG) started as a 3 ft. narrow-gauge line running south from Denver, Colorado. It’s first run in 1871 was between Denver and Fountain Colony, later known as Colorado Springs. By the late 1870s, the D&RG and the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway commenced in a bitter dispute over right of way. In 1874, the D&RG railway extended west, linking Pueblo and Cañon City, and by March 1880, the D&RG paid an exorbitant sum for track that extended through the Arkansas River’s Royal Gorge. This acquisition  is likely what prompted the creation of the Royal Gorge drop for the Tabor Opera House.

The D&RG’s construction of this route provided quick access to Salida by May 20, 1880, and Leadville later that same year. The railway connection between Leadville and Denver, greatly eased Tabor’s travel while he planned his second opera house in Denver; the Tabor Grand opened in 1881. From Salida westward, the D&RG railway continued over the Continental Divide at Marshall pass, and after passing Gunnison entered the Black Canyon. It was at this point along the Gunnison river that travelers passed the Curecanti Needle, a 700-ft. granite spire pictured on the DeRemer Opera House drop curtain in 1886.

The Denver & Rio Grande even adopted the Curecanti Needle as a symbol of their Royal Gorge route, referring to this line as “The Scenic Line of the World.” By the mid-1880s, D&RG had the largest narrow-gauge railroad in North America. The Curecanti Needle remained a popular landmark with Denver & Rio Grande passengers until the 1950s, when service was ended through the Black Canyon.

The D&RG formed a transcontinental bridge line between Denver and Salt Lake City, operating the highest mainline rail in the United States. It was this line that theatre companies used, transporting theatrical productions and artists between the Tabor Grand Opera House and the Salt Lake Theatre. This also ties back to career of Henry C. Tryon, scenic artist for the Tabor Grand Opera House, who left Denver to work in Salt Lake City from 1882 to 1884.

To be continued…