Hank the Cowboy

Hank was commissioned by the Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo Association and donated to the city in 1997, with the support of the El Pomar Foundation, the Anna Keesling Ackerman Trust, and the Gazette.

He stands in the median on Pikes Peak Avenue between Tejon Street and Cascade Avenue. While promoting the rodeo, he also manages to read the newspaper (the Colorado Springs Gazette-Telegraph, of course) at this busy intersection. He sports full cowboy regalia, including fringed, ornamental chaps, a button-down collared shirt, denim jacket, cowboy hat, and boots. Note the artist’s detail of including a can of chewing tobacco in Hank’s back pocket.

The character Hank was created in 1939 by Colorado Springs Gazette- Telegraph artist Stanley Reed at the request of entrepreneur and venture capitalist Spencer Penrose.