For David Gorton Lucas, Colorado's abandoned spa towns and mountain sanatoriums are not history so much as family memory. A third-generation Colorado native, he has spent years in the company of things most people drive past without stopping—abandoned railroad grades, fading spa hotels, and the remnants of histories America would rather forget. He has a master's degree in history and has worked for over three decades as a creative professional in content development and film production. He did not invent Purgatory Springs so much as recognize it.