Primitive Communication – The Smoke Signal

“The smoke signal was one of the earliest types of communication on the North American continent. A fire was smothered with green brush and the smoke was broken by a blanket into various sized clouds to convey the message. Possibly messages were sent in this way on the site of the New Telephone building; for here were once located the camps of the Arapahoe Indians.”

Notes: See our sections within Site History and Local History of Communications for more on the Arapaho Indians and smoke signals.

Pioneer Communication – The Pony Express

“In the 1860s the Pony Express carried the mail over mountain and Indian wilderness. The riders and station keepers won undying fame for getting the message through, regardless of hardship or danger.

“The new Telephone Building now occupies the very spot which tradition says was once the site of the corrals of the old Pony Express.”

Notes: In fact, the Pony Express did not stop in Denver; the closest it came was Julesburg, Colorado. There was another mail (and stage) route from Leavenworth, Kansas, to Denver. See our Local History of Communications section for more details.

(Please note that the italicized text accompanying the murals is adapted from a 1929 pamphlet put out by the telephone company to promote the murals and the building.)