Telecommunications in Colorado
1800–1843
If we were here 170 years ago, we might see American Indians creatively using smoke signals to help their thoughts fly to others. Settlers sent their thoughts in letters carried slowly by horseback or stagecoach.
Denver in the mid-1800s (credit: Denver Public Library)
Imagine leaving your friends and family to live so far away you'd never hear their voices again.
"I think I should like to whisper in mother's ear many things which I cannot write. If I could only see her in her room for one-half hour..."
-Diaries and journals of Narcissa Whitman, 1836, en route from Philadelphia to Walla Walla, Washington
Whose voice do you want to hear when you're lonely?
This is the first in a series of questions. See answers at the end of the exhibit.
"I think I should like to whisper in mother's ear many things which I cannot write. If I could only see her in her room for one-half hour..."
-Diaries and journals of Narcissa Whitman, 1836, en route from Philadelphia to Walla Walla, Washington
Whose voice do you want to hear when you're lonely?
This is the first in a series of questions. See answers at the end of the exhibit.
Imagine living in Denver 170 years ago.
Our thoughts couldn't fly far or fast before we had telecommunications. We shared most thoughts with people living close to us. Then people started to move across the country.
Our thoughts couldn't fly far or fast before we had telecommunications. We shared most thoughts with people living close to us. Then people started to move across the country.
Online Exhibits
Telecommunications in Colorado
Allen Tupper True Mural, The Wings of Thought (THG file photo)
Throughout history, human beings have had an innate desire to communicate. This exhibit features a timeline from face-to-face communications of the mid-19th century to today’s instant, global communications, and invites the viewer to imagine what it must have been like to wait weeks or months for news from back home.
Using Allen True’s Wings of Thought mural as a motif, the exhibit highlights documents, directories, and photographs from Telecommunications History Group archives. This online exhibit is based on a 2011 THG exhibit at the Denver Public Library.
Note: Because the exhibit is based on a physical original, it doesn't currently work on a mobile phone in portrait mode (and will look very small in landscape as well). Please view on a tablet or larger device. We're working to get a version of this exhibit to be mobile-friendly.