Melissa Moss, Idaho Springs. In the heart of historic Idaho Springs, a small grassy park sits near the Visitor’s Center and Historic Society. Standing proudly in Courtney-Riley-Cooper Park, is a 9-foot statue of man whose exploits were famous the world over; a man larger than life, just like his statue. 

Steve Canyon was a veteran who ran his own air transport service, Horizons Unlimited, as a one-man, one-plane operation. When the Korean War broke out, Canyon rejoined the U.S. Air Force. Deeply Patriotic, he was interested in Cold War activities, as well as Copper Calhoun, a svelte and savvy woman, who was known as the “Dragon Lady of Wall Street”. His true love however, was Summer Olson, the private secretary to his friend Happy Easter. Canyon and Olson eventually married. 

Canyon was a popular guy for years, even appearing on the cover of Time Magazine on January 13, 1947, but he always maintained his easygoing nature and cool head. His tales of adventure, both on land and in the air, resulted in a series of novels published in the 1950s, and a television series of 34 episodes. 

So where is Steve Canyon now? 

He is both everywhere; in museums, attics, memories, and collections; and nowhere. Steve Canyon is a comic strip hero invented and drawn by Milton Caniff.  Yes, Idaho Springs has a beautiful statue of a truly inspiring patriot who never really existed.  

Milton Caniff was the successful creator of comics and cartoons as far back as high school. After college, where he illustrated for his fraternity magazine, Caniff moved to New York in 1932 to take a job with the Associated Press. He inherited a comic strip and did general illustrations for whatever was needed. In 1934, he was producing a new comic strip for the Chicago Tribune, New York News Syndicate.  Eventually, he created Terry and the Pirates, which made him famous. During World War II, Caniff created a second comic strip and donated all proceeds from it to the armed services. The military and patriotism were constant themes in Caniff’s work.

Eventually, Caniff abandoned Terry and the Pirates because, despite creating it, he did not own the rights to it. When Marshall Field, owner of the Chicago Sun offered him the chance to make a strip that he owned outright, Caniff created Steve Canyon.

So what does any of this have to do with Idaho Springs?

In 1947, Idaho Springs was alight with patriotism and a bit of an obsession with Steve Canyon. It was proposed, and accepted, that nearby Squirrel Gulch be renamed Steve Canyon. All of this coincided with Gold Rush Days, which Milton Caniff attended. He was so popular that it was proposed that Gold Rush Days be renamed Stave Canyon Days. In fact, the entire story made the national news.  

There are two theories on how the statue came to be. In theory, two years after the infamous Gold Rush Days aka Steve Canyon Days, the town convinced the federal government to pay the Indiana Limestone Company $12,000 to carve the statue of Steve Canyon. The other theory states the company donated the statue. Either way, it wasn’t long before the larger-than-life stone version of Steve Canyon arrived in Colorado. It was dedicated on July 8, 1950, as a monument to the patriotism of the area, and the townspeople’s love for both Canyon and Caniff. A portion of the plaque reads, “This statue is dedicated to all airmen who wore the uniform of the Armed Forces of the United States in time of conflict and who stand ready in the Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard to fly again in defense of their country should the need arise.”

Despite having little to do with Idaho Springs, other than his adoring fans and his visit during Gold Rush Days, Caniff was so admired that he was given a mine, and he gave the town some original drawings, which are in the possession of the Idaho Springs Historical Society.

Although the Steve Canyon comic strip ended in 1988, the statue lives on in Idaho Springs as a reminder of quirky history, and how one man’s creations inspired a small mining town’s patriotism.

(Originally published in the May 9, 2019, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)