Cheyenne Mountain Virtual Cache

The mountain was excavated under the supervision of the Army Corps of Engineers for the construction of the NORAD Combat Operations Center.  Excavation began for NORAD Command Operations Center (COC) in Cheyenne Mountain on May 18, 1961, by Utah Construction & Mining Company.  Clifton W. Livingston of the Colorado School of Mines was hired by the Army Corps of Engineers to consult upon use of controlled blasting for smooth-wall blasting techniques.  The official ground breaking ceremony was held June 16, 1961 at the construction site of the new NORAD Combat Operations Center. Generals Lee (ADC) and Laurence S. Kuter (NORAD) simultaneously set off symbolic dynamite charges. 

The architectural design was primarily created by Parsons Brinckerhoff Company.  Estimated cost of the combat operations center construction and equipment was $66 million. The complex was built in the mid-1960s.

(This photo was taken in 1963, showing the construction in progress)

Continental Consolidated Construction was awarded a $6,969,000 contract on February 27, 1963, to build 11 buildings on giant springs, with a total of 170,000 square feet (16,000 m²).  Eight three-story buildings were built in the main chambers and three two-story buildings were constructed in the support area. 

Grafe-Wallace, Inc. and J. M. Foster Co. received a joint contract in April 1964 for $7,212,033 contract for blast-control equipment and utilities installation, including the original six 956-kilowatt diesel powered generators. 

Continental Consolidated also excavated water and fuel oil reservoirs within the interior of the Cheyenne Mountain facility.  There is a fresh water reservoir with a capacity of 4.5 million gallons of water, and a reservoir of diesel fuel that has a capacity of 510,000 gallons.

President John F. Kennedy visited NORAD at the Chidlaw Building on June 5, 1963, to obtain a briefing on the status of the Cheyenne Mountain Complex.  Excavation was complete on May 1, 1964.  The targeted date for turnover of the military-staffed facility to the Commander of NORAD was January 1, 1966. On May 20, 1966, the NORAD Attack Warning System became operational.  The Combat Operations Command was fully operational on July 1, 1966.  The Space Defense Center and the Combat Operations Center achieved Full Operational Capability on February 6, 1967.  The total cost was $142.4 million or $1,075,017,676.65 in 2018 value.

Cheyenne Mountain Complex is located under 2,000 feet (600 meters) of granite

Major Hollywood productions, including “War Games” and “Stargate”, have visualized parts of Cheyenne Mountain

The two main blast doors leading into the complex take around 45 seconds to shut; each blast door is 3.5 feet thick, is 10 feet 5 inches tall and weighs 25 tons

Early history of Cheyenne Mountain

Cheyenne Mountain was named for the Cheyenne people.  Native Americans found that Cheyenne Mountain was a good source of wood for teepee poles.  It was visited by Cheyenne and Arapaho people, who may have sought spiritual inspiration from the mountain's waterfalls.  Cheyenne Mountain was used by Ute Native Americans to cross from the plains and benefit from the "steep slopes and hidden valleys" to safely travel from enemy tribes that had their horses stolen by the Utes.

William Dixon, a rancher, claimed a homestead in the Cheyenne Mountain foothills in 1867.  He built a tavern along a trail up Cheyenne Mountain and turned the trail into a toll road, now called Old Stage Road, to Cripple Creek.  The road begins as a paved road and is then a dirt road through Pike National Forest.  His homestead ultimately became part of The Broadmoor resort.

Grace Lutheran Church built a retreat in Emerald Valley in 1904; it is now The Broadmoor's Ranch at Emerald Valley.  In 1905, Dr. August McKay homesteaded on 120 acres on the east slope of Cheyenne Mountain.  He developed a series of trails and rest houses that led to The Sunshine Inn that he built as a health resort above Old Stage Road.  The property was purchased by Spencer Penrose, who had the inn torn down.

The Overlook Colony was started in 1911 by a group of Colorado College professors.  It first started as a summer retreat for the educators, and grew to include musicians, doctors, artists, generals, oilmen, and an ambassador to India.  The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo was built just below and the Will Rogers Shrine built just above this community.  Residents manage the Overlook Colony Mutual Water Company that governs water conservation, maintenance, and testing of the water supply from deep within the former Little Susie gold mine.

Bert Swisher and Thomas Dixon homesteaded on Cheyenne Mountain in 1917.  Dixon resided with his family in a cabin near the top of the mountain in the middle of three valleys.  Swisher's cabin was near the present site of the antenna farm at the top of the mountain, which was accessed by Old Stage Road.

Cheyenne Mountain became a successful recreational and resort area when Spencer Penrose developed The Broadmoor resort in 1918.  The Cheyenne Mountain Cog Railroad provided narrow gauge cog railway service to South Cheyenne Cañon from the Broadmoor Casino beginning in 1918.  It later offered service from The Broadmoor to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.  Service ended in 1974.

 In the 1920s, Penrose began to develop on Cheyenne Mountain property on the northern peak that he bought in 1915.  He built the Cheyenne Mountain Highway in 1925.  In 1926, the Cheyenne Mountain Lodge opened at the top of Cheyenne Mountain; it had a restaurant, a suite for Penrose on the third floor, four guest rooms, and living quarters for servants.  Visitors could make the trip up the Cheyenne Mountain Highway on the backs of elephants.  The lodge closed in 1961, and was razed in 1976 following years of destruction by vandals.  It is now the site of The Broadmoor's Cloud Camp lodge and cabins.

Penrose developed the country's highest zoo at 6,800 feet (2,100 m) in elevation, the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo (1926) on the mountain and Will Rogers Shrine of the Sun (1937) on the northern promontory of the mountain.  The Cheyenne Mountain Highway was built for transport to the zoo, shrine, and top of the mountain.  The Broadmoor built a ski area on Cheyenne Mountain in 1959.  In 1986, the resort closed Ski Broadmoor, but the city of Colorado Springs and Ski Vail stepped in to keep it open; it closed in 1991.  The land was sold to the Broadmoor Resort Community Association.  Land that had once been owned by The Broadmoor on the mountain was sold and is now the site of luxury homes.

The Colorado Springs and Cripple Creek District Railway (Short Line) traversed Cheyenne Mountain during the trip between Cripple Creek and Colorado Springs by 1905.  It transported coal, mined ore, and passengers.  Also at that time, a carriage road went to Seven Lakes and the summit of Pikes Peak from Cheyenne Mountain.

Antenna farm

During the 1950s, an antenna farm was built on the middle peak of the mountain when Bert Swisher deeded ten acres to Bud Edmonds and several backers and Swisher signed a non-compete agreement.  Edmonds, John Browne, and Buck Ingersoll agreed to replace the trails to the area with a real road, which was opened in 1960 by the Cheyenne Propagation Company.  There are 700 cell phone, television, radio, and law enforcement transmitters on the antenna farm.  The Cheyenne Mountain radio site repeater covers south central and southeast Colorado along the Interstate 25 corridor from Monument nearly to the New Mexico border.