What do you think?
Rate this book
Queen of Glen Eyrie, Wife of General William Palmer: The Woman Who Inspired a Castle
Meet the Queen of Colorado Springs.Nicknamed Queen at a young age, Mary Lincoln Mellen met General William Palmer when she was nineteen years old. He would later write that it was love at first sight.Rumors abound about the nature of Queen's relationship with her husband and the reason she left Glen Eyrie. Carefully researched and documented, Queen of Glen Eyrie recaptures the life and personality of the castle's first lady. Share her letters and pictures and see how a rugged Colorado frontier town--and its founder--was changed by the spirit of a queen.
- GenresBiography
146 pages, Paperback
First published May 25, 2008
25 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 6, 2018
Summary: The story of "Queen" Palmer, her love affair with General William Palmer, the castle home she inspired, life in frontier Colorado Springs and her later life in England.
This was one of those serendipitous finds in the $2 section at my local Half Price Books. I saw the words "Glen Eyrie" on the spine and was curious as to whether this was the same Glen Eyrie in Colorado Springs that I've visited on two occasions. I discovered it was and that this little book offers an account of the woman who inspired this castle, the history of her marriage, life in frontier Colorado Springs, and the subsequent history of Glen Eyrie.
Queen was Mary Lincoln Mellen, the daughter of a New York lawyer and later a general agent with the Treasury Department. Queen and her father were on a railroad journey west in 1869 when they met General William Jackson Palmer, then director of construction for the Kansas Pacific Railroad. They almost immediately fell in love. Within weeks they were engaged and married November 8, 1870 in Flushing, New York. The question was where would they live, given his railroad interests. During survey work, Palmer visited a site just north of the Garden of the Gods that featured a glen within a canyon with a number of the red rock formations one sees at the nearby Garden. He and Queen had talked about building a castle-like cottage like one in a favorite painting of hers, "Dunkald" and this was the place he proposed if she agreed. She did, and seeing a pair of bald eagles nested in a rock formation above the Glen, gave the place its name, Glen Eyrie.
After their honeymoon, General Palmer went ahead to Colorado to begin construction on a comfortable, three story home. Queen followed, accompanied by family and later joined by friend, Rose Kingsley, whose journal memories give a vivid description of life in the frontier town of Colorado Springs. Rose and Queen help with teaching at the new school in town, and contribute to the social life of this birthing town. Queen also delighted in exploring the land around the Glen until heart problems curtailed her activities and dictated a quieter life in their home. By 1883, she could no longer stay there, unable to sleep at the high altitude of the home.
She spent the remaining years of her life living in England with her three daughters, and General Palmer traveling between the western US and England. The book describes journeys they took to see the great art museums of Italy and other journeys in Europe until Queen's heart condition worsened. She died December 27, 1894 at age 44.
The book includes a number of Queen's and Rose Kingsley's letters and journals, and also family photographs as well as photographs of Glen Eyrie and Colorado Springs as an early settlement. It gives us a portrait of the short and yet full live of Queen Palmer, the role she played in the early settlement of Colorado Springs as well as in making a comfortable home for her family at Glen Eyrie.
In later years, Palmer would expand Glen Eyrie and face it with stone instead of the original wood and it would serve as home for his three daughters, Elsie, Dorothy, and Marjory. After General Palmer's death in 1909, the daughters offered the estate to the city of Colorado Springs. In 1916, they sold it to a group of Oklahoma businessmen who formed the Glen Eyrie Companies. They in turn sold it to Alexander Smith Cochran, a rug manlufacturer. Later it was sold to a Texas oilman. When it went on the market again Billy Graham was contacted about the property as a site for his headquarters. Graham was close friends with Dawson Trotman who had founded the Navigators. Trotman offered to buy it if Graham did not, and in just six weeks was able to raise the $110,000 downpayment. Glen Eyrie continues to serve as their international headquarters and as a conference center.
This was one of those serendipitous finds in the $2 section at my local Half Price Books. I saw the words "Glen Eyrie" on the spine and was curious as to whether this was the same Glen Eyrie in Colorado Springs that I've visited on two occasions. I discovered it was and that this little book offers an account of the woman who inspired this castle, the history of her marriage, life in frontier Colorado Springs, and the subsequent history of Glen Eyrie.
Queen was Mary Lincoln Mellen, the daughter of a New York lawyer and later a general agent with the Treasury Department. Queen and her father were on a railroad journey west in 1869 when they met General William Jackson Palmer, then director of construction for the Kansas Pacific Railroad. They almost immediately fell in love. Within weeks they were engaged and married November 8, 1870 in Flushing, New York. The question was where would they live, given his railroad interests. During survey work, Palmer visited a site just north of the Garden of the Gods that featured a glen within a canyon with a number of the red rock formations one sees at the nearby Garden. He and Queen had talked about building a castle-like cottage like one in a favorite painting of hers, "Dunkald" and this was the place he proposed if she agreed. She did, and seeing a pair of bald eagles nested in a rock formation above the Glen, gave the place its name, Glen Eyrie.
After their honeymoon, General Palmer went ahead to Colorado to begin construction on a comfortable, three story home. Queen followed, accompanied by family and later joined by friend, Rose Kingsley, whose journal memories give a vivid description of life in the frontier town of Colorado Springs. Rose and Queen help with teaching at the new school in town, and contribute to the social life of this birthing town. Queen also delighted in exploring the land around the Glen until heart problems curtailed her activities and dictated a quieter life in their home. By 1883, she could no longer stay there, unable to sleep at the high altitude of the home.
She spent the remaining years of her life living in England with her three daughters, and General Palmer traveling between the western US and England. The book describes journeys they took to see the great art museums of Italy and other journeys in Europe until Queen's heart condition worsened. She died December 27, 1894 at age 44.
The book includes a number of Queen's and Rose Kingsley's letters and journals, and also family photographs as well as photographs of Glen Eyrie and Colorado Springs as an early settlement. It gives us a portrait of the short and yet full live of Queen Palmer, the role she played in the early settlement of Colorado Springs as well as in making a comfortable home for her family at Glen Eyrie.
In later years, Palmer would expand Glen Eyrie and face it with stone instead of the original wood and it would serve as home for his three daughters, Elsie, Dorothy, and Marjory. After General Palmer's death in 1909, the daughters offered the estate to the city of Colorado Springs. In 1916, they sold it to a group of Oklahoma businessmen who formed the Glen Eyrie Companies. They in turn sold it to Alexander Smith Cochran, a rug manlufacturer. Later it was sold to a Texas oilman. When it went on the market again Billy Graham was contacted about the property as a site for his headquarters. Graham was close friends with Dawson Trotman who had founded the Navigators. Trotman offered to buy it if Graham did not, and in just six weeks was able to raise the $110,000 downpayment. Glen Eyrie continues to serve as their international headquarters and as a conference center.
December 16, 2021
The book was interesting to me since it talks about the beginning of Colorado Springs. Queen is the wife of General William Palmer considered to be the founder of Colorado Springs. The book discusses the woman and the building of Glen Eyrie their home. Since Queen's last name prior to marriage was Mellon and she was of the wealthy family, she was used to luxury. There is some discussion of the railroad founded by Palmer and of their family life with three daughters. I found it difficult to understand why she wanted to live and raise her daughters in England after the altitude here was detrimental to her health. Queen could have lived any place she wanted and obviously there were cities that she liked in the US which were nearer to William. Queen was presented as an intelligent caring kind woman and it is sad that her heart condition killed her at the young age of forty four.
October 23, 2014
Fascinating story about the history of the Navigator Castle in Glen Eyrie, CO If you are interested in Colorado history, this is a good one to read
March 6, 2025
Found this very interesting, but the title is a bit misleading—I felt like I got to know more about the founding of Colorado Springs and Gen. Palmer, but not nearly as much as I had hoped to about the supposed subject, Queen Palmer! Still, an interesting read and I hope to learn more about this fascinating couple in future reads.
November 27, 2023
A nice historical overview of Queens life.
November 4, 2024
Pretty good biography of Queen Mellon, wife to General Palmer, founders of Colorado Springs. Glen Eyrie castle is amazing. Visit it if you can.
January 1, 2016
Such a delightful true story of romance, adventure, and the sacrificial spirit of pioneers on the front range of Colorado in the late 1800s. I especially enjoyed the poetic language in the love letters between Queen and General Palmer as well as the excerpts from their friend Rose Kingsley's memoir. I was enchanted with Glen Eyrie, their beautiful home near the Garden of the Gods.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews