Member Bio

Joe Graham was involved in many community organizations over the years. He served in the Manitou Springs Volunteer Fire Department for almost 20 years and was a member of  Manitou Springs American Legion Post 38, which he served as Commander for several years following World War II.

He was very active in Our Lady of Perpetual Help and Sacred Heart Catholic Churches in Manitou Springs and Colorado Springs, respectively.

He served on the Manitou Springs City Council in the late 1940s.

As a boy, he belonged to Manitou Springs Boy Scout Troop 18 and, as an adult, was its Assistant Scoutmaster, Later, he was a committee member for Troop 22.

He served in U.S. Army Air Corps from 1942 to 1945, mainly with the 12th Air Force Service Command. He served in North Africa, Sardinia, Corsica, Sicily, mainland Italy, mostly Naples and Rome, and France.

He was a member of Colorado Mountain Club, the Pikes Peak Ski Club, and the Pikes Peak Photography Club.

A printer, Joseph Graham owned and operated Pikes Peak Press, a commercial printing firm, in Manitou Springs and also helped operate the Pikes Peak Journal, the Manitou Springs weekly newspaper. His parents purchased the newspaper and printing business in 1926. He and his siblings all worked in the family business. They all learned the printing and publishing business from their father, which was typical of small weekly newspapers and small towns at that time. Eventually, Joe took over the printing portion of the business and his sister, Frances, became the editor of the newspaper. He also performed reporting, photography, and production work for the newspaper. He spent over 50 years doing this.

He made seven consecutive AdAmAn ascents prior to World War II. He resumed climbing upon returning from the war.

He started climbing with the AdAmAn Club in 1935 and made four climbs as a guest (1935-1938). He was elected a member in 1939 and made six more climbs, missing three years while in the service in World War II.

Joe Graham climbed with all of the "Frozen Five." Fred Barr was quiet, steadfast and always used mules on the first day to get to Barr Camp. Harry Standley was a fussy photographer who would wait hours for just the right light conditions, etc. when taking scenic photos. Willis Magee was quiet and good company. The Morath brothers -- particularly Fred -- were lively, extroverted, and animated. 

Some of the club members he especially remembered climbing with were Joe Rohrer, Harvey Sethman, Julius Jones, Jack (John D.) Graham (no relation), Don Lawrie, Herb Hollister, Carl Melzer, Don Obee, and Dwight Hamilton.

These are not necessarily from his first year, but rather are a collections of memories he shared with our family. -- John Graham. (Written in the first person.)

I became familiar with the Club in the mid-1930s through Harry Standley. Standley was a professional photographer and operated a camera shop in downtown Colorado Springs. I was very interested in photography and bought darkroom supplies from him. We got aquainted and I started to accompany him on landscape photography trips, with him teaching me photo techniques and me helping him haul his large format, 8 by 10 inch Pony Primo view camera and other equipment. Harry was the president of the Club at his time and he naturally recruited me to help with the AdAmAn Club. I started climbing basically as a drafthorse, carrying equipment. They were happy to have young guys who were full of energy and had no dependents.

Fred Barr hosted us at the camp and dinner was usually substantial. Steaks were the nominal fair. We slept in beds with linens, all part of Fred's normal treatment for his AdAmAn friends as well as paying guests in the summertime.

As part of the club equipment, we had to carry a shovel and a wrench to the summit. These went with an advance party, the shovel being necessary to remove snow that blocked the door to the Summit House. Once uncovered, the wrench was used to unbolt the door, bolts having been used to secure the door against the wind. When we got inside, that advance party had to get a fire going and start melting ice. Water had been left for us in the fall but was ice when we got there. The premises never really got comfortable or warm. We would stand next to the stove and pretty quickly feel uncomfortably hot on one side and chilly on the other.

The fireworks show principally consisted of skyrockets, which were essentially overgrown versions of the common "pop bottle" rockets that most people are familiar with. These were shot off from a launching area below the summit house on the railroad tracks. The area was sheltered from the violent winds that typical roared across the summit property. "V"-shaped wooden chutes, made of boards nailed together at a 90 degree angle, served for launching the rockets. 

The summit house then was still the old structure built of local rock and graced with an adjoining observation tower that was several stories tall. Near the end of the skyrocket show, we would ignite a finale. This consisted of magnesium flares which had been fixed to the observation tower with wire. Before the show, one of us -- and it was usually me -- would be posted to the tower to wait for the finale signal. I would hang onto the observation tower until I got word to start lighting the flares. This meant working my way as quickly as possible around the tower, usually a bit challenging given the strong winds and accumulated snow and ice. When the flares were all ignited, the summit was lit up like daytime and this had a great effect on people in Colorado Springs. It was very dramatic.

If the wind was blowing with any force, which is usually was, the skyrockets would turn into the wind, westward generally,  once they gained enough altitude to clear the crest of the mountain. Often, the rockets flew toward the observation tower but slowly, as they had to fight  the wind. Several times rockets flew right up to me on the observation tower, barely making headway against the wind. Sometimes they actually stalled, the wind being just enough to offset the rocket's thrust. There were times when I could have reached out and touched the rocket while it was basically standing still. 

Fortunately, the skyrockets were designed to burn for a time, then coast, allowing the momentum to carry the display charge higher. After that delay, the actual fireworks burst would detonate. This delay kept me from getting hurt. In those violent winds, the display charge would be thrust eastward as soon as the rocket stopped thrusting.

Once the fireworks show was over, we tidied things up a bit and locked up the Summit House. Unless conditions were really miserable outside, nobody really wanted to spend the rest of the night in the Summit House. You would just have to endure the cold and dryness. The longer you did, the more likely you were to feel bad, get a headache, and run the risk of altitude sickness. Even if conditions on the summit were bad, losing some elevation and getting below the wind made a huge improvement, so we usually got off the summit as soon as we could. The preferred way down was the Cog tracks, which were fairly easy to navigate. Often you could "plunge" four or five feet with every step by going down this route. It could be quick. One year I got from the Summit House to my home in Manitou, about a mile from the Cog Depot,  in two hours.

Joe Graham climbed with all of the "Frozen Five." Fred Barr was quiet, steadfast and always used mules on the first day to get to Barr Camp. Harry Standley was a fussy photographer who would wait hours for just the right light conditions, etc. when taking scenic photos. Willis Magee was quiet and good company. The Morath brothers -- particularly Fred -- were lively, extroverted, and animated. 

Some of the club members he especially remembered were Joe Rohrer, Harvey Sethman, Julius Jones, Jack (John D.) Graham (no relation), Don Lawrie, Herb Hollister, Carl Melzer, Don Obee, and Dwight Hamilton.