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| Spencer marker at Pancake Rocks near Highway 67 |
Pancake Rocks Marker
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| Spencer marker at Pancake Rocks near Highway 67 |
Date Photographed: August 3, 2002
Marked Burials: 1
Volunteer: Linda Vixie
Special Thanks: Jan Collins, Linda Buchanan,
Gary Keck, Larry Sandlin
To find the marker at Pancake Rocks, from the town of Divide on Highway 24 drive south on Highway 67 for approximately 9.6 miles to the Horsethief Park trailhead. Park by the south entrance to the old tunnel, now closed, and follow the trail that begins to the right of the tunnel. After about three-quarters of a mile, there's a sign pointing to the trail on the right that goes to Pancake Rocks, two miles off. From the trailhead, the elevation gain to the Pancake Rocks is about 1,400 vertical feet.
When you reach the large red formations that look like stacked pancakes, the trail drops off to the south and a large rock formation is on your left. The marker, a welded steel cross not visible from the trail, is located close to the north edge of the large rock formation. According to GPS-derived geolocation (accurate to within 10 meters), the marker's coordinates are 38°48'49.1"N and 105°06'58.7"W at an elevation of approximately 11,000 feet. The site overlooks the Gillett prairie to the southwest and dramatic cliffs to the east.
The black marker's central medallion facing the rock reads:
RICHARD SPENCER III
1921-1989
"PONY TRACKS"
WESTERN HORSEMAN
The medallion on the opposite side has three inverted rectangular U's, arranged in a pyramid. They are flanked at the bottom by two inscribed feathers.
Dick Spencer III was born January 28, 1921, in Dallas, Tex., and died July 15, 1989 in Colorado Springs. A noted cartoonist and creator of the University of Iowa's mascot, Herky the Hawk, Spencer was a longtime editor and publisher of Western Horseman magazine in Colorado Springs. Lengthy obituaries of this consummate "man of the West" appear in the Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph on July 16, 1989, p. B1, and July 19, 1989, p. B6.