By the 1870s, interest in the mountain was keen and Ferdinand Hayden of the U.S. Geological Survey, searched for the elusive mountain in the summer of 1873. Photographer William Henry Jackson, a photographer, took the first photograph of the unusual mountain as part of that expedition. He took that first photo from the summit of Notch Mountain, to the east.

A year later, Hayden did a return expedition and artist Thomas Moran went along to view the strange feature. He completed a seven-by-five-foot painting of the Holy Cross in 1875.

Jackson's photo and Moran's painting were both displayed at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Some Christians saw it as both a sign and promise by God.

As travelers searched for the mountain, a few claimed it would mysteriously disappear as they got close to it. Others believed it emanated restorative powers of healing, or that sins would be forgiven if you saw it.

In 1879, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who had been impressed by Jackson's photographs, wrote a sonnet about the mountain as a tribute to his wife.

The Rev. Beebe said the first recorded "pilgrimage" took place in 1912 when a party of Episcopalian priests and bishops climbed Notch Mountain for a communion service facing the "Cross of Snow."

In the 1920s a Protestant dentist from Eagle, Dr. O.W. Randall, and a Catholic priest from Glenwood Springs, the Rev. John P. Carrigan, conceived and conducted the first official pilgrimages up Notch Mountain. The first pilgrimage party of Boy Scouts and Campfire Girls was led by Randall in 1927. By the following year, the Denver Post began to promote the pilgrimages. They attracted thousands of people from all over the world.

The Denver Post reported in 1930 that some people afflicted with rare maladies were indeed cured when they saw the cross.

In 1934, the Forest Service built a new trail and shelter house for the pilgrimages on the south summit of Notch Mountain. The pilgrimages were discontinued in 1939 because of World War II.

The Mountain of the Holy Cross and the surrounding area received National Monument status by President Herbert Hoover on May 11, 1929. However, 21 years later that status was revoked when interest in the area decreased and the cost of a full-time staff there could no longer be justified. Also, the mountain cross' left arm eroded and landslides marred the image somewhat. Despite its somewhat warped left arm today, the cross remains inspiring.

Riding the Vail gondola is the easiest way to see the cross. The superior way to see the Holy Cross is hiking the Fall Creek trail from the Halfmoon Campground.

The even more difficult adventure is to hike to the mountain base and climb the cross itself. Technical climbers have scaled the cross itself since the 1930s. Today there are four routes to do that, all for experienced climbers.

The Eagle Bahn Gondola leaves Vail regularly each day through the end of August and climbs up Vail Mountain to a good side view of the Holy Cross at a designated lookout platform, complete with some spotting scopes. Signs there outline the cross and its history. A special twilight ride, Thursday through Saturday, 4-9 p.m., offers free rides to the public.

More information on the Mountain of the Holy Cross is available at: americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object.

e-mail: lynn@desnews.com