Excerpt from History of Colorado, Vol. 3: Illustrated

In the summer of 1865, at the request of John Edgar Thompson, Thomas A. Scott and other Pennsylvania Railroad friends, General Palmer was elected secretary and treasurer of the Kansas Pacific Railroad Company, then controlling the Union Pacific eastern division. This was the initial step that brought him ultimately to Colorado and his services here were of the greatest benefit in the development of the resources and the upbuilding of the state. He remained with the Kansas Pacific Railroad as manager of construction while it was being constructed to Denver in 1869 and 1870, was a factor in the building of the Denver Pacific road between Denver and Cheyenne in the same years, instituted the plans leading to the establishment of the Denver Rio Grande Railroad system and put these plans into execution. In 1872 he was active in organiz ing the Central Colorado Improvement Company, which later became the Colorado Coal Iron Company and is now the Colorado Fuel Iron Company. He remained the active head of the Denver Rio Grande until August, 1883, when he resigned to give greater attention to his railroad enterprise in Mexico, promoted under the name of the Mexican National Railroad. But he continued to remain as president of the Rio Grande Western road extending from Grand Junction, Colorado, to Salt Lake City and Ogden, Utah, until April, 1901, when he withdrew from personal participation in its affairs and from an active railroad career, which, save for the period of his four years' service in the Union army, had extended over a period of forty-seven years. His retirement was marked by a most noteworthy gift - the distribution of stock and cash of the value of one million dollars to those who had long been in the service of the company.

General Palmer was the founder and promoter of Colorado Springs, which. Came into existence in the summer of 1871. He organized the company that secured title to ten thousand acres of land, upon part of which the city was laid out.. He was also identified with the founding of South Pueblo, Alamosa, Durango and several towns of lesser importance on the Denver Rio Grande, but his interests centered in Colorado Springs, where he made his home. His gifts to it were many and yet he never figured prominently in this connection but kept himself always in the background and most modestly disclaimed any credit for what he did.

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