Of the four buildings on this intersection, the oldest is on the northwest corner, the Columbian Hotel, built in 1879. It was originally called The Grand Union, presumably because of the union of the two routes of the Trail, but the owners were so carried away by the excitement over Chicago’s Columbian Exposition of 1894, celebrating the 400th Anniversary of Columbus’ discovery of the New World, that they renamed the hotel. It has been The Columbian ever since. The main entrance to the hotel has always been a few steps down Commercial Street. What looks like the main entrance on the corner has always been rented to various businesses.
For the first 50 years or so, the hotel was justifiably famous for its luxury. The exterior with ornate window trim and cast iron grates remains little changed and a recent cleaning and re-painting left the colors historically correct, according to old photographs. The hotel boasted almost 100 rooms, an impressive terrazzo-floored lobby, a lavish saloon and dining room, a rococo ballroom with a striped floor of alternating dark walnut and white ash, a gentlemen’s smoking room, a ladies “retiring” room, with gaming rooms in the basement near the barber shop. Doc Holliday reportedly added to his reputation here.
Other notables who have registered include President and Mrs. Hoover (who watched a July 4th parade while sipping tea on the second floor corner balcony), Douglas Fairbanks and his wife Mary Pickford (“America’s Sweetheart”), and every governor of Colorado until recently. Will Rogers and Wiley Post stopped here on their way to Alaska for the airplane ride on which both were killed in 1935. And when Hollywood’s top cowboy star Tom Mix slept in room 214, his famous horse Tony , known as “The Wonder Horse”, stayed in room 212. They say Tom rode the horse right up the grand staircase.
All has not been fun and games, however. During the 1913-14 coal miners’ strike when the county was at war with itself and more than one man was gunned down on Trinidad’s streets (one of them while crossing Main headed for the hotel – right there in front of you), the Colorado Militia was called in to restore order. General John Chase, a straight-backed little man who was an optometrist when he didn’t have his uniform on, promptly declared martial law and commandeered the second floor corner rooms of the hotel for his headquarters.
Imagine it is a cold January night in 1914. The streets are dimly lit by ornate Victorian street lights and streetcar tracks come up the middle of Commercial Street and go both ways out Main. But there are no streetcars now, for it is after midnight. The corner windows of the second floor are brightly lighted, however, for the strike is at its furious peak and a violent explosion is felt imminent. Indeed, the strikers are desperate. Their women and children are cold and hungry in the tent colonies set up throughout the foothills by the union because the strikers can’t remain in their company-owned houses in the coal camps. The fledgling union has been lobbying in Washington for a Congressional investigation into coal field conditions, many of which are in flagrant violation of mining laws. However, the mine operators seem to have more clout on Capitol Hill, for there is no Congressional action. To attract official attention, the strikers decided on a direct attack on the State Militia itself.
On this dark January night, shadowy figures appear on the roofs of buildings opposite the hotel and there is an occasional glint as gun barrels are aimed at figures seen through the lighted second-floor windows. Safety catches are flipped off and sharpshooters await the signal.
In the telegraph office on the hotel’s Commercial Street front, dimly lit by a naked bulb, the machine suddenly clicks into life. The message tapped out: There will be a Congressional investigation. Quickly, messengers scurry out, climb up back ways and duck along rooftops. Safety catches slide back into place and shadowy figures quietly disappear. A massacre has been averted while Trinidad slept.
The hotel went the way of most small town hotels when the era of motels came following WWII. It had a brief renaissance during the 1960s and ‘70s when new owners maintained a fine coffee shop and the public rooms were utilized for parties and meetings. After those owners retired, the building stood neglected for years. Now, other owners, with grants from the Colorado Historical Fund, have stabilized the building, repaired its roof and refurbished the street-level store fronts, which are now alive with offices and businesses. The building has been sold and there are now plans for additional apartments for our downtown area.
