During the gilded age of rail travel in the late 1800s, Colorado Springs became one of the primary portals of westward expansion and a hub for both passenger and freight traffic. Over thousands of miles of tracks traveled merchants, industrialists, tourists, and fortune seekers, all bent on enjoying what Colorado had to offer either on a temporary or permanent basis. Much of the history of the Pike's Peak Region was predicated on the railroads, and the growth that the area enjoyed was dependent on the new residents and the trains that brought them.