W«i^»^^^» 
 
 " 
 
ALBERT R. MANN 
 LIBRARY 
 
 New York State Colleges 
 
 of 
 
 Agriculture and Home Economics 
 
 at 
 Cornell University 
 
EX LIBRIS ROBERT E. TREMAN 
 
 F 782.L2M65 e " Unl¥erSi,yLibrary 
 The story of Estes Park, 
 
 3 1924 014 018 661 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924014018661 
 
Estes Park and Long's Peak from Bierstadt Rock 
 
The Story of Estes Park 
 
 By ENOS A. MILLS 
 
 Copyright 1905, by Enos A. Mills 
 
 Copyright 1911, by Enos A. Mills 
 
 Copyright 1914, by Enos A. Mills 
 
 Published June 1914 
 
 Third Edition 
 
 Revised and Enlarged 
 
 Ninety Cents. Published by the Author 
 
 Longs Peak, Estes Park, Colorado 
 
 0^- 
 
"Within the district treated we will scarcely be 
 able to find a region so favorably distinguished as 
 that presented by Estes Park. Not only has na- 
 ture amply supplied this valley with features of 
 rare beauty and surroundings of admirable grand- 
 eur, but it has thus distributed them that the eye 
 of an artist may rest with perfect satisfaction on 
 the complete picture presented." — Dr. F. V. Hay- 
 den, father of the Yellowstone National Park, in 
 U. S. Geological Survey of Colorado, 1875. 
 
 "Never, nowhere, have I seen anything equal 
 to the view in Estes Park," writes Isabella L. Bird 
 — "A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains" — 1879. 
 
 In an admirable description of the Rocky 
 Mountain National Park, Estes Park, region, Mr. 
 Robert B. Marshall, Chief Geographer of the 
 United States Geological Survey, says : "The 
 region as a whole is as beautiful as any to be 
 found in the United States, or, indeed, in the 
 world." 
 
 Says F. H. Chapin in "Mountaineering in 
 Colorado," "I would not fail to impress on the 
 mind of the tourist that the scenes are too grand 
 for words to convey a true idea of their magnifi- 
 cence. Let him, then, not fail to visit them." 
 
PREFACE 
 
 In the forewords to. The Story of Estes 
 Park and a Guide Book, which the author 
 brought out in 1905, was the following para- 
 graph : 
 
 "This booklet is not the work of a scholar, 
 but of a guide. It is written because a guide 
 book is needed, and for the purpose of conven- 
 iently recording the story of Estes Park." It is 
 the hope of the author that all historic localities 
 in the west will have their story written before 
 the pioneers and other sources of information 
 have vanished. 
 
 In this, the third edition, the Guide Book is 
 omitted, and the original Story of Estes Park, 
 with but few changes in the former text, 
 brought down to date. 
 
 In this, "The Story of Estes Park," I have 
 quoted extracts from "A Ragged Register," by 
 Miss Anna E. Dickinson, through the courtesy 
 of Harper and Brothers, and from "A Lady's 
 Life in the Rocky Mountains," by Isabella L. 
 Bird. This, as well as the first edition, is in- 
 scribed to ROBERT W. JOHNSON. 
 
 ENOS A. MILLS. 
 
THE STORY OF ESTES PARK 
 
CHAPTER ONE 
 
 Estes Park was named in honor of Joel 
 Estes who established the first permanent set- 
 tlement in 1860. It is probable that Kit Carson 
 and his band of trappers were the first white 
 men to visit Estes Park and through it they 
 appear to have trapped in 1840. 
 
 Joel Estes, like Boone, enjoyed being far 
 from his neighbors, and came to Colorado from 
 Arkansas. One autumn day while hunting, in 
 1859, he ascended Park Hill and from this had 
 the wonderful view down into Estes Park. He 
 at once returned to the foothills for Mrs. Estes 
 and early in 1860 they moved into the Park 
 with their effects upon two pack horses. They 
 came in -mostly "for hunting and prospecting." 
 A cabin was built on Willow Creek, about one 
 block north of the "ranch house" and close to 
 the place where this brook is crossed by the 
 Loveland road. 
 
 In 1861 they brought in a two- wheeled cart. 
 Except while away on a visit to Arkansas in 
 1863, the Esteses made the Park their home 
 until the summer of 1866. 
 
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In the spring of 1861, Milton Estes, then 
 twenty-one, journeyed to Fort Lupton and 
 wedded Miss Mary L. Flemming, who had 
 come to Colorado in 1859, at the age of seven- 
 teen. They moved to the Park at once and on 
 the birth of Charles F. Estes, February 19, 
 1865, became the parents of the first white child 
 born in the Park. Mr. and Mrs. Estes still live, 
 and from their lips I heard the story of their 
 Estes Park life. They have promised to put 
 their recollections into writing. 
 
 When Estes first came to the Park he saw 
 new lodge poles and other recent Indian signs, 
 but, so far as known, no Indians have been in 
 the Park since the white man came. In the 
 summer of 1860, in a gulch about one-half mile 
 south of Mary Lake, Milton Estes captured a 
 black Indian pony. Straggling arrow heads 
 have been found over the Park, and to the north- 
 west of Moraine Park there used to be a tumbled 
 stone collection that was spoken of as "the ruins 
 of an old Indian fort." 
 
 The Estes families lived the simple life. 
 Twice each year they went to the Denver post- 
 office for their mail. On these eventful trips, 
 which were made during the spring and fall, 
 they took a small quantity of fish, game or hides 
 to market. 
 
Old Half Way House Between Denver and Estes Park 
 
 For fifty years the home of Chester L. Smead. In this Miss Anna 
 E. Dickinson, Helen Hunt, Miss Isabella Bird, Dr. F. V. Hayden, 
 Lord Dunraven, Albert Bierstadt and Kocky Mountain Jim have 
 been entertained. 
 
 On the St. Vrain River Near Lyons 
 
11 
 
 Mrs. Milton Estes not only had a cheerfal 
 disposition, but was an excellent cook and house-. 
 keeper. Every day at regular hours, she served 
 three good meals. The ordinary meal con- 
 sisted of venison, mutton, or trout, hot biscuits, 
 butter, berries, coffee and plenty of cream. 
 Cooking was done over the fire-place in kettles, 
 pans and in a dutch oven. Eagle wings oft- 
 times served for brooms, and pitch pine in the 
 fire-place generally furnished the light. 
 
 Sundays and holidays were scarcely noticed 
 — every day was their best day. They were 
 healthy, contented, and even happy. They were 
 at home three years before the first visitors — 
 some tourist campers — called. One day little 
 George Estes fell and dislocated an arm, but as 
 doctors were out of the question, the children of 
 the pioneers established the custom of keeping 
 well — a custom still closely followed by Park 
 children. The Estes children had some pet cats 
 and a dog, Mage, that caught fish. With sticks, 
 rocks, sheep and elk horns for toys, the children 
 spent the days happily. All the children were 
 proud of their buckskin moccasins, and the little 
 folks wore dresses that were made of flour sacks. 
 
 One of the Estes children became a phy- 
 sician, another served in the Iowa Legislature, 
 
12 
 
 and Charles F. Estes is at present working in 
 Boulder, Colorado. 
 
 Reviewing her pioneer life, from the distance 
 of forty years, Mrs. Milton Estes said: "We 
 kept well, enjoyed the climate, had plenty of fun, 
 were monarch of all we surveyed, had no taxes, 
 and were contented as long as we remained — 
 but I wish I had pictures of ourselves in those old 
 days and clothes — how we must have looked !" 
 
 Several people who called upon the Esteses, 
 while they were monarch of all they surveyed, 
 left written words of praise for their hospitality 
 and jolly nature. 
 
 Among the campers who came in during the 
 summer of 1865 were Rev. and Mrs. Richardson, 
 and one August day of this summer he preached 
 in the Estes cabin to ten listeners. Rev. Rich- 
 ardson was a Methodist. 
 
 Early in the winter of 1865-6 a deep snow 
 fell over the Park and the entire winter continued 
 cold and snowy. The Esteses began to long for 
 warmer climes and scenes more remote, so early 
 in the spring of 1866 they sold out and moved 
 away, and none of them has ever come back. 
 Joel Estes died in New Mexico, in 1875; his 
 wife in Iowa, in 1882. Mr. and Mrs. Milton 
 Estes are alive and for the past few years have 
 
13 
 
 been dividing their time between their comfort- 
 able homes in Denver, and El Paso, Texas. 
 
 The Estes families abdicated their scenic 
 throne for one of the following considerations : 
 Fifty dollars, a yearling steer, or a yoke of oxen. 
 It is impossible to say which one of these is 
 correct, but had Michael Hollenbeck given them 
 all of these he had become monarch dirt cheap. 
 
 In a few months a Mr. Jacobs gave $250 for 
 the claim, but in a short time it was acquired by 
 a regular Robinson Crusoe of a character called 
 "Buckskin." Late in 1867 the Estes claim 
 came under the control of Griff Evans, and in 
 due course lost its identity by becoming some of 
 the acres of the Earl of Dunraven. 
 
 By 1867 many of the English tongue who 
 were interested in scenery, trout, elk, beaver or 
 stock raising, were repeating agreeable stories 
 concerning Estes Park. For five years hunters, 
 tourists, trappers and homeseekers came and 
 went. But in 1867 Griff Evans founded the 
 first permanent settlement by coming to stay — 
 and by staying for nearly a score of years. 
 
 In 1868, "Rocky Mountain Jim" — James 
 Nugent — piled his shack in Muggins gulch, and 
 that year Israel Rowe, hunter and discoverer of 
 Gem lake, built a cabin near the present home 
 
The Summit of Long's Peak 
 
15 
 
 of F. W. Crocker, a short distance southwest of 
 the foot of Mount Olympus ; and this year 
 Charles W. Dennison, who caused the first 
 death in the Park, built a log house about mid- 
 way between the cabins of Rowe and Evans. 
 And this year, too, '"Muggins" — George Hearst — 
 pastured his cattle in Muggins gulch on the 
 present Meadow Dale stock ranch. It may 
 have been this year that the first flock of 
 "hoofed locusts" — sheep — were brought in. 
 These sheep were corralled in a stockade each 
 night, but this did not prevent mountain lions 
 from leaping in and having fresh mutton regu- 
 larly. 
 
CHAPTER TWO 
 
 LONG'S PEAK 
 
 Come to yon lofty mountain's tow'ring height, 
 
 Whose burnished brow beats back the golden light 
 Of morning sun, nor stay thine upward flight 
 
 Till thou hast caught the glory and the might 
 Of his calm Majesty. 
 Leave all thy common thoughts behind, 
 
 Thy petty cares, thy strifes, thy fears, 
 And breathing here the unsullied air 
 
 That softly now from heaven's blue vault 
 In freshness blows, uplift thy soul 
 
 To Nature's high communion. 
 O Altar Grand! 
 To that great Mystery that dwells in all, 
 
 What fiery furnace fused thy parts, 
 In what titanic forge wert thou rough shaped, 
 
 By what stupendous hand erected! 
 Upon thy face, with curious tools, 
 
 The savage tempests graved a multitude 
 Of sculptured forms ; the baneful lightnings 
 
 Scarred thy beaten front, and all thy sides 
 Are marked and furrowed by the torrents' tides ; 
 
 Yet calm, serene, in placid grandeur, 
 Now thou stand'st, 
 
 A monument to Nature's laws, 
 
 An Altar to her God ! 
 August, 1910. J. J. P. ODELL, 
 
17 
 
 Long's Peak caught the eye of Lieutenant 
 Pike one November day, 1806, when he was far 
 out on the plains exploring his way westward. 
 In recording the discovery in his journal he 
 mentions it as "Great Peak." 
 
 An exploring party sent out by President 
 Madison came in sight of Great Peak on June 
 30, 1819. While this exploring party was in 
 camp at the mouth of the Poudre on July 3, 
 1819, its members named Long's Peak in honor 
 of their commander, Col. S. H. Long. The Pike 
 exploring party were the first to see Long's 
 Peak ; and some of the Long party were the 
 first to scale Pike's Peak. But neither Pike 
 nor Long was upon the peak that bears his 
 name. 
 
 In the "Oregon Trail" Dr. Parkman records 
 that he saw Long's Peak in 1845. 
 
 The first attempt to climb Long's seems to 
 have been made in August, 1864, by the man 
 who first scaled Mount of the Holy Cross and 
 who named Estes Park — W. N. Byers, founder 
 of the Rocky Mountain News. With three 
 companions, Mr. Byers scaled Mount Meeker 
 and went some distance through the Keyhole on 
 the present trail of Long's. The attempt was 
 unsuccessful, and on the 20th of August, 1864, 
 
18 
 
 L. W. Keplinger 
 
 Prominent member of the first party 
 that climbed Long's Peak 
 
19 
 
 Mr. Byers wrote: "We have been almost all 
 around the peak and we are quite sure that no 
 living creature, unless it had wings to fly, was 
 ever upon its summit. We believe we run no 
 risk in predicting that no man will ever be, 
 though it is barely possible that the ascent can 
 be made." 
 
 Four years later the intrepid Mr. Byers 
 broke his own prediction by leading a party of 
 climbers to the top. "On August 23, 1868, the 
 first ascent of Long's Peak was made. The 
 persons who made it were : Maj. J. W. Powell, 
 W. H. Powell, L. W. Keplinger, Samuel Gor- 
 man, Ned E. Farrell, John C. Sumner and 
 William N. Byers." "There was not the slight- 
 est indication that human foot ever trod the 
 summit before." This party made barometric 
 and other observations and built the large cairn 
 on the southeast corner of the summit. 
 
 In making this ascent the climbers started 
 from Grand Lake and rode to timberline on the 
 west side of the range, about ten miles south- 
 west of the peak. Here they were compelled to 
 leave their horses. 
 
 They spent an entire day trying to climb 
 Long's over the thin, jagged ledge that connects 
 it with the main range. Failing, they descended 
 
A Young Grizzly Bear 
 
21 
 
 to timberline on the St. Vrain, and made camp 
 for the night a short distance north of Sandbeach 
 Lake. Near their camp numerous bears were 
 feeding on the myriads of grasshoppers that had 
 chilled and fallen in crossing the cold, snowy 
 range. It was one of the years that Colorado 
 was afflicted with a locust plague. 
 
 The afternoon that camp was made Mr. L. 
 W. Keplinger concluded to make a try for the 
 top. After hours of hard climbing he at last 
 gained the Notch, the opening in the Meeker 
 ridge which is about one hundred feet below 
 the summit. Darkness coming on he was com- 
 pelled to return to camp without reaching the 
 top but he had found the way to it. The 
 following day he went up with the others. Forty 
 years later he returned and again climbed to the 
 summit. 
 
 The following morning all set out for the 
 summit guided by Keplinger. The night was 
 cloudy, but "unexpectedly the day dawned fair," 
 and the low drifting clouds cleared away as 
 they climbed. The southerly slope up which 
 they climbed is in places akin to a precipice, 
 and in two places they found the way barely 
 possible and perilously steep, but the summit 
 was reached without accident. After some 
 
22 
 
 exploring, Mr. Byers saw a way — the present 
 one — by which one can go from the summit to 
 the place where he had been, four years before 
 near Keyhole. 
 
 Mr. Byers' account of this successful climb 
 had hardly been published in the Rocky Moun- 
 tain News, when three men and a woman set 
 up a claim of earlier ascent. After long and 
 careful investigation, I think* that the Byers 
 party were the first on the summit of Long's 
 Peak. 
 
 In all probability the first woman on Long's 
 was the celebrated lecturer, Miss Anna E. 
 Dickinson. This was in September, 1871, and 
 possibly was by moonlight. Both Mr. and Mrs. 
 Evans, who came to the Park one year before 
 the first men were on the peak, and who lived 
 in the Park for many years, are positive that 
 Miss Dickinson was the first woman on Long's. 
 Miss Dickinson made the climb as the guest of 
 Professor Hayden of the United States Geolog- 
 ical Survey. The night after the climb the 
 Hayden party camped at timberline, at the 
 point touched by the present trail up Long's. 
 While in this camp the party seem to have 
 named the companion peaks — Mount Lady 
 Washington and Mount Meeker — of Long's. 
 
23 
 
 Miss Dickinson wrote the following concerning 
 the evening's experiences by the timberline 
 camp fire: 
 
 "We were taken in hand by the Hayden 
 party, thereby gaining the experience and mem- 
 ory of Long's Peak, and the companionship 
 through a few days of men who ought to be 
 immortal if superhuman perseverance and cour- 
 age are guarantees of immortality. 
 
 . . . "I looked at all the little party, with 
 ardent curiosity and imagination, braving rain, 
 snow, sleet, hail, hunger, thirst, exposure, bitter 
 nights, snow climbs, dangers of death, some- 
 times a score on a single mountain — for the sake 
 not of a so-called great cause, not in hot blood, 
 but with still patience and unwearied energy for 
 an abstract science — no more, since the majority 
 can not work even for fame. 
 
 "We sat around the great camp fire that 
 was kept heaped with whole trunks of dead 
 trees, and watched the splendors of sun-setting 
 till they were all gone, and, these vanished, sat 
 on by the' blazing fire by the solemn, stately 
 majesties, talking of many things — strange sto- 
 ries of adventure in the mountains and gorge, 
 climbs through which a score of times life had 
 suspended simply on strength of fingers, nice 
 
Carlyle Lamb 
 
 An early guide on Long's Feak. Was 
 the guide who accompanied Miss Wehon 
 
25 
 
 poise on a hand ledge thrust out into eternity, 
 wild tales of frontier struggles, intricacies of 
 science, discussions of human life and experience 
 in crowded cities, devotion and enthusiasm 
 shown in any cause — all things, in fact, that 
 touch the brain and soul, the heart and life, of 
 mortals who really live, and do not merely exist. 
 A talk worth climbing that height to have and 
 to hold." 
 
 In August, 1871, Rev. E. J. Lamb, the first 
 regular guide on Long's, made his first ascent, 
 and in coming down, descended the "east preci- 
 pice," a feat but once repeated — by Enos A. 
 Mills in June, 1903. 
 
 Early in October, 1873, the peak was climb- 
 ed by four people not unknown to fame. They 
 were Miss Bird, ex-Mayor Piatt Rogers of Den- 
 ver, Judge S. S. Downer of Boulder and "Rocky 
 Mountain Jim." In January, 1905, Mr. Rogers 
 wrote for this book an account of his experiences 
 in making the climb. The account pictures 
 characters and portrays conditions in a masterly 
 manner. Here is his sketch : 
 
 "In September, 1873, S. S. Downer (now 
 Judge Downer of Boulder) and . I rode across 
 country from Greeley to Estes Park and we 
 stopped for the night at Longmont. 
 
26 
 
 "The proprietor of the hotel, learning our 
 destination, asked that a lady, then at the hotel, 
 might accompany us. We are not at all partial 
 to such an arrangement as we were traveling 
 light and free and the presence of a woman 
 would naturally operate as a restraint upon our 
 movements. However, we could not refuse, 
 and we consoled ourselves with the hope that 
 she would prove young, beautiful, and vivacious. 
 Our hopes were dispelled when, in the morning, 
 Miss Bird appeared, wearing bloomers, riding 
 cowboy fashion, with a face and figure not cor- 
 responding to our ideals. 
 
 "Our progress was slow, as she rode a pony 
 of no considerable speed, and it was well along 
 in the afternoon when we came upon the cabin 
 of Nugent, locally known as "Rocky Mountain 
 Jim," in Muggins gulch. Jim came out and en- 
 gaged us in conversation, his one eye, long hair 
 and leather costume giving him a picturesque 
 air — such an air as delights the romantic female 
 heart. 
 
 "Miss Bird was interested if not impressed, 
 and when Jim gave her some beaver pads, 
 which had been hanging against his cabin, she 
 was quite ready to accept him at his own valu- 
 ation. He rode with us part of the way into the 
 
27 
 
 Park and I observed then as I did several times 
 after, that in looking at his face from the side of 
 his good eye, he came very near reproducing 
 the conventional profile of Shakespeare. I for- 
 bore mentioning this resemblance to him as his 
 vanity was already complete. 
 
 "The only habitable, if not the only inhab- 
 ited, cabin in the Park at that time, was that of 
 Griff Evans, and this was our destination. I 
 can not speak of Griff without paying tribute to 
 his genial, kindly nature, which it was my privi- 
 lege to enjoy upon several sbusequent occasions. 
 
 "it was the last of September and the days 
 were delicious. Except for the fence about the 
 meadow in front of his cabin, the Park was un- 
 touched by the hand of the settler, and we were 
 free to range it in every direction. Mountain 
 sheep and other large game could be seen in the 
 morning coming down to water. 
 
 "We spent our time generally in riding 
 with Griff along the streams and over the hills 
 looking up his cattle — Miss Bird always being 
 one of the party. 
 
 "Although it was very late in the season, 
 she wanted to climb Long's Peak. She was 
 continuously being reminded of experiences in 
 the Sandwich Islands and the event of her 
 
B 
 
29 
 
 travels seemed to have been the ascent of the 
 volcano of Kilauea. Now, the only guides to 
 the peak in those days were Griff and Jim and 
 each held in contempt and derision the trail 
 used by the other in making the ascent. 
 Miss Bird wanted Jim, and Mr. Downer was 
 finally persuaded to ride over to Muggins gulch, 
 see him and make the necessary arrangement. 
 Jim came, according to arrangement, riding a solid 
 little pony and followed by his dog, Ring. Griff 
 rendered us great assistance by cautioning Dow- 
 ner and me to keep our whiskey flasks from Jim, 
 whose worthlessness in the presence of liquor 
 was well known to him. 
 
 "We started early in the day and made 
 camp at timberline, just opposite a tremendous 
 snowbank on the slope of the peak. We spent 
 the evening before the camp fire, very much 
 after the manner described in her book. Jim 
 was resourceful, romantic, and reminiscent. His 
 adventure with the bear in Middle Park, which 
 cost him his eye, was elaborated for Miss Bird's 
 benefit, and all the doggerel which he had com- 
 posed in the loneliness of Muggins gulch was 
 recited by him. The principal theme of his 
 poems was himself, varied by references to a fair 
 maiden, of whom he seemed to be enamored, 
 
30 
 
 and who we afterwards learned, was Griff 
 Evans' daughter. 
 
 "We were up before sunrise the next morn- 
 ing. Miss Bird mounted her pony and the rest 
 walked. 'When we reached the lava beds she 
 could ride no further and her horse was lariated. 
 After passing the notch* Downer and I had a 
 controversy with Jim as to the best way to get 
 over the slide. He insisted on going to the bot- 
 tom near the head waters of the Big Thompson, 
 and then climbing again until Keyhole was 
 reached. Downer and I thought we could reach 
 the Keyhole directly and without the long de- 
 scent and arduous climb. Miss Bird attached 
 herself to Jim and we went our respective ways, 
 Downer and I reaching the Keyhole while Jim 
 and Miss Bird were somewhere in the gulch 
 below. This made a long wait, and when they 
 finally came up with us she was so fagged that 
 she was unable to make her way unaided up 
 the last slope to the peak. By alternately pull- 
 ing and pushing her and stimulating her with 
 snow soaked with Jamaica ginger, we got her to 
 the top. We were then so late that we could 
 
 *The lava beds are now Boulderfield ; the notch, Keyhole ; 
 while the Keyhole here referred to is the top of the trough. 
 —Mills. 
 
31 
 
 remain but a short time, and we started on our 
 return in the early afternoon. Jim insisted on 
 the miserable trail he had followed in coming, 
 and consequently he and Miss Bird floundered 
 in the depths of the gulch once more while 
 Downer and I returned by the upper and more 
 direct trail, which necessitated another wait on 
 our part at the lava beds. When Jim got her 
 to the top again she was unable to mount her 
 horse. She was therefore lifted on and practic- 
 ally held on until we got to camp, where she 
 was lifted off; in fact she was completely 'done.' 
 We passed another night there and the follow- 
 ing day returned to Griff's cabin. 
 
 "Miss Bird was quite taken with Jim, who 
 represented himself as the son of an English 
 army officer who had been stationed somewhere 
 in Canada, and he made some pretensions to a 
 former state of refinement. She was disposed 
 to resent our want of faith in him and the jolly- 
 ing we felt compelled to give him. 
 
 "Downer and I looked upon her somewhat 
 in the light of an encumbrance, though 'when 
 her book was published we realized that we had 
 had the great good fortune to travel with a 
 woman whose ability to describe the manifold 
 beauties of Estes Park has never been excelled. 
 
L«_ 
 
33 
 
 She was a thoroughly disciplined and observant 
 traveler, although of too light a build to perform 
 of her own strength the task she had set for 
 herself. 
 
 "Her physical unattractiveness, which so 
 influenced us when we first met her, was really 
 more than compensated for by a fluent and 
 graphic pen, which made the mountains as 
 romantic and beautiful as doubtless were her 
 own thoughts." 
 
 Concerning their first evening at timberline, 
 Miss Bird says : 
 
 "The long shadows of the pines lay upon 
 the frosted ground, an aurora leaped fitfully, and 
 the moonlight, though intensely bright, was 
 pale beside the red, leaping flames of our pine 
 logs and their red glow on our gear, ourselves, 
 and Ring's truthful face. One of the young men 
 (Rogers and Downer) sang a Latin student's 
 song and two negro melodies ; the' other 'Sweet 
 Spirit Hear My Prayer.' Jim sang one of 
 Moore's melodies in a singular falsetto, and all 
 together sang, 'The Star Spangled Banner* and 
 'Red, White and Blue.' Then Jim recited a 
 clever poem of his own composition, and told 
 some fearful Indian stories." 
 
 Many people in the early seventies appear 
 
34 
 
 to have climbed Long's and to have written 
 their experience for publication, for in Septem- 
 ber, 1874, the editor of the Boulder News, in 
 declining an account, says : "The Long's Peak 
 communication is decidedly well written but 
 the subject is threadbare." 
 
 On September 23, 1884, Miss Carrie J. 
 Welton, an eccentric, cultured and wealthy 
 young lady from Massachusetts, who had given 
 enormous sums of money to the Society for the 
 Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, perished at 
 Keyhole on her way down from the summit. 
 She gave out at the Trough, but the guide, Car- 
 lyle Lamb, succeeded in getting her as far down 
 as Keyhole, where he, at her urgent request, 
 left her and went to Long's Peak house for help. 
 He left her about nine o'clock at night, and it 
 was almost morning before he could get back to 
 her through the cold, windy night with assist- 
 ance. Then she was dead. Over-exertion, 
 together with the cold had killed her. She did 
 not freeze to death. On the way up the 
 weather was cold and windy and at Keyhole 
 the guide, noticing how weak she was, sug- 
 gested that they turn back. She declined, say- 
 ing that she had never undertaken anything 
 without going through with it. The guide 
 
35 
 
 should have refused to go farther. Guides on 
 mountain peaks must sometimes become impe- 
 rators. Rebecca Morrow Reavis wrote a fairly 
 accurate account, in verse, of the last climb of 
 Miss Welton, together with a worthy tribute to 
 her. The poem embraces twenty-two stanzas. 
 Here is the fifteenth : 
 
 "Ah, sweet maiden, thus you parted 
 
 From the world's dull care and strife, 
 Leaving loved ones broken-hearted, 
 
 While you enter higher life. 
 You have reached the distant summit; 
 
 You have reached the treasured goal, 
 And your spirit reaching from it, 
 
 Still upbears your noble soul." 
 
 The trail has had not only its quarrels and 
 tragedies, but its comedies and romances. 
 Early in the writer's guiding experience he one 
 day set off for the summit with a party of 
 young people, two of whom met for the first 
 time on the morning of the climb; but their 
 brief acquaintance did not prevent their becom- 
 ing engaged before the summit of the peak was 
 reached, and thirty days after this engagement 
 they were married. 
 
 In the summer of 1892 a rock-rolling climb- 
 er accidentally dropped his revolver, which ex- 
 ploded, and gave him a mortal wound. 
 
a 
 
 Q 
 
 m 
 
 2 
 
 < 
 
37 
 
 One August night in 1896, the first moonlight 
 climb was made by H. C. Rogers, and the first 
 winter climb by Enos A. Mills in February, 
 1903. Miss Lucy W. Evans made a night 
 climb in August, 1903. In August, 1904, Pro- 
 fessor S. A. Farrand, aged seventy-four, and 
 Ethel Husted, aged ten, climbed unassisted to 
 the summit. Mrs. E. J. Lamb climbed unas- 
 sisted to the summit on her seventieth birthday. 
 
 During the summers of 1901-2 Professor L. 
 G. Carpenter, together with engineering students 
 from the Colorado Agricultural College, Jackson, 
 True, Lamb and Richardson, determined the 
 altitude, 14,256 feet, by running a line of levels 
 from a U. S. G. S. bench mark in Estes Park. 
 
CHAPTER THREE 
 
 BIG GAME 
 
 Estes Park was abundantly stocked with 
 game. Sheep, deer, bear, and lion were for- 
 merly plentiful, and elk roamed by the hundred, 
 "it is a good thing we did not have modern 
 guns," said Milton Estes, "or we would have had 
 too much time on our hands." In 1871, while a 
 boarder was eating breakfast at Evans,' the 
 hired man asked Evans , "What shall I kill to- 
 day; elk, deer or sheep?" Thousands of elk 
 horns were strewn over the park up to the 
 early nineties. Fortunately for the park, moun- 
 tain lions made early sheep ranging unprofitable. 
 During the autumn of 1885 the manager of the 
 Dunraven ranch offered $50 for the death of a 
 stock-killing grizzly. 
 
 The Rocky Mountain News of September 
 26, 1896, contains the following : "in Estes 
 Park the usual routine of cards, drives, and 
 dances was broken this week by the trapping of 
 a bear. On last Sunday night a bear killed a 
 steer belonging to Dr. James. This was dis- 
 covered the following day and a gigantic steel 
 
39 
 
 bear trap set by the carcass and fastened to a 
 small eighteen-foot log. The next night the 
 bear returned for a rare steak and plunged his 
 foot into the trap, and dragged it and the log to 
 which it was fastened, to a small lake near 
 by. The next morning a few guests from Elk- 
 horn Lodge visited the point of interest and 
 found the bear sitting in the lake with his head 
 covered with blood. The bear greeted his vis- 
 itors so passionately that they flew down the 
 mountain, never stopping until they met rein- 
 forcements. The party now consisted of about 
 twenty-five men, women, and children, armed 
 with rifles and kodaks. Another advance was 
 made, and a halt was not called until they were 
 very near the bear, which was now on dry 
 ground. Kodaks were aimed and the hands 
 holding them were about as quiet as a seismo- 
 graph in an earthquake. It was a case of shak- 
 ing before taking, while taking, and after taking, 
 too. The bear evidently thought it was the 
 pressing opportunity of his life, and charged the 
 group. None belonged to the standing army. 
 There was a stampede. Ladies and gentlemen 
 trod on each other's heels ; they tripped one an- 
 other; they fell over logs in a confused manner 
 and tore madly through the bushes. Miss 
 
A Rocky Mountain Sheep 
 
41 
 
 James made a mistake and ran toward the bear. 
 Discovering her mistake just as the bear was 
 about to embrace his opportunity, she turned, 
 caught her dress, and for a moment was in 
 great danger. At last some one discovered that 
 the bear had stopped. The stampeders stopped 
 in order of lung capacity. The trap, chain and 
 log had entangled among some aspens and held 
 the bear fast. The bear weighed 800 pounds 
 and measured eight feet from tip to tip." 
 
 Mary Lake, with its alkaline shore, has long 
 been the Mecca for mountain sheep, and hun- 
 dreds of these proud, graceful animals have 
 been killed near it. As late as 1896, the writer 
 has seen young lambs, ewes, and old rams 
 sporting, resting and posing on Sheep rock and 
 other rocks near the lake. Sheep still frequent 
 this place. In the spring of 1903 an old ram be- 
 came entangled by his horns in a wire fence 
 just above the lake, and struggled until the 
 barbs cut his throat so that he bled to death. 
 It was a humiliating death for one of the proud- 
 est, boldest of animals. 
 
"■ 
 
 < 
 
CHAPTER FOUR 
 
 THE EARL OF DUNRAVEN 
 
 In the autumn and early winter of 1872, 
 Earl Dunraven, with his guests, Sir William 
 Cummings and Earl Fitzpatrick, shot big game 
 in the park. Dunraven was so delighted with 
 the abundance of game and the beauty and 
 grandeur of the scenes that he determined to 
 have Estes Park as a game preserve. 
 
 His agent at once set to work to secure the 
 land. Men were hired to file on claims, and 
 ultimately about 14,000 acres were supposed to 
 have been secured from the government. 
 
 In 1874, Albert Bierstadt, the celebrated 
 artist, came in as the guest of Dunraven, and at 
 once selected sites for Dunraven's cottage and 
 the Estes Park hotel. Bierstadt was delighted 
 with Estes Park, and made the second trip to it. 
 Here he made many sketches and secured ma- 
 terial for some of his famous pictures. His 
 favorite place was on the shore of the lake 
 which now bears his name. A painting of 
 Long's Peak from Bierstadt Lake for years 
 hung in the rotunda of the Capitol at Washing- 
 ton. 
 
44 
 
 Meantime, many of Dunraven's land claims 
 were contested. His agent had secured much 
 of the land by loose or fraudulent methods and 
 some by bullying homeseekers. R. Q. McGregor 
 and others contested the twenty-one original 
 claims. The contestants claimed that "these 
 twenty-one claims had been entered by not 
 more than five or six men ; that the claimants 
 had never lived on the land; that there was 
 neither house nor fence — nor any improvement 
 on any of the land." There are three "old 
 timers" still living in the Park, who insist that 
 the greater portion of Dunraven's land was 
 fraudulently secured. Dunraven came out with 
 about 8,000 acres, but his agent claimed some- 
 thing like 15,000, and for many years controlled 
 that amount. 
 
 Trouble concerning land titles, the rapid 
 slaughter of game by both tourists and settlers, 
 and other reasons finally led Lord Dunraven to 
 give up the game preserve idea. 
 
45 
 
 CHAPTER FIVE 
 
 SETTLEMENT 
 
 The first death in the Park seems to have 
 been that of Charles D. Miller — for whom the 
 Miller Fork was named — who was accidentally 
 shot by Charles W. Dennison. The second 
 death was that of a climber on Mount Olympus 
 who accidentally shot himself. He was buried 
 on the south side of the Thompson, just below 
 the mouth of Fall river. 
 
 The Chicago Tribune of August 15, 1871, 
 had this communication: "Mr. Evans and 
 others contemplate putting up a cheap hotel for 
 next season. ... I see no reason why this 
 can not be made a prosperous resort, worth a 
 dozen Saratogas to the invalid. . . . But no 
 one should come in a wagon, as a pony or mule 
 is the best, allowing the trip to be made in a 
 day from Longmont." 
 
 Prof. F. V. Hay den, at the head of the 
 United States Geological Survey, did some 
 work in the park in September, 1871. In his 
 report for 1875, referring to Estes Park, he says: 
 "Not only has nature amply supplied this valley 
 
47 
 
 with features of rare beauty and surroundings 
 of admirable grandeur, but it has thus distrib- 
 uted them that the eye of an artist may rest 
 with perfect satisfaction on the complete picture 
 presented." 
 
 In 1872, while F. W. Crocker and Rev. 
 Washington McClintock were camping in the 
 park, they noticed that the bill of fare of a near- 
 by tent neighbor was very scanty, so one even- 
 ing Rev. McClintock carried over some of their 
 superabundance of trout and tactfully offered 
 them to the tent people, but was repulsed by a 
 garrulous woman who demanded if they were 
 dressed. "Good evening, madame." Neither 
 the disposition of trout nor the thoughts of the 
 reverend gentleman are recorded. » 
 
 In 1874, a stage line was established be- 
 tween the park and Longmont, and the same 
 year Mr. and Mrs. R. Q. McGregor came in and 
 located at Black canon, where Mrs. McGregor 
 became postmaster the next year. In 1876 the 
 postoffice was transferred to the ranch house 
 and Mrs. Evans became postmaster. John T. 
 Cleave became postmaster during 1877 but did 
 not move the office to the present location, at 
 the junction of Fall river with the Thompson, 
 until ten years later. 
 
First Store and Postoffice Near Two Owls. 
 
 House in which First Estes Park Wedding 
 Took Place. Near Mary Lake. 
 
49 
 
 During 1875, many came to stay. John 
 Jones and John Hupp settled in Beaver Park ; 
 Abner E. Sprague and his parents in Moraine 
 Park; H. W. Ferguson at the Highlands, and 
 Rev. and Mrs. E. J. Lamb, after two weeks' chop- 
 ping, got a wagon through to the present loca- 
 tion of Long's Peak Inn. Mr. and Mrs. W. E. 
 James came to Black canon, but moved and 
 started Elkhorn Lodge in 1877. The Estes 
 Park hotel was built and opened in 1877. 
 
 Each and all the early settlers had many 
 strange and interesting experiences. They had 
 the alert and character-building experiences of 
 the pioneer. They had hard work, inconven- 
 iences, wild game, and occasionally hard times. 
 But they did not then need sympathy, nor have 
 they craved it since. 
 
50 
 
 CHAPTER SIX 
 
 ROCKY MOUNTAIN JIM 
 
 James Nugent, "Rocky Mountain Jim," 
 came to his death in the days of the pioneers, 
 the only real Estes Park tragedy. Jim's asso- 
 ciates, his uncertain and irregular past, his 
 braggadocio, bravery, chivalry, liking for poetry, 
 and writing of doggerel, his romantic association 
 with Miss Bird, his debauches, moods, kind 
 acts, his white mule, his picturesque dress, the 
 cowardly manner in which he was shot and the 
 dramatic manner of his death — all these make 
 him the star character who has thus far played 
 in Estes Park scenes. He may have been "a 
 nephew of General Beauregard" and hailed from 
 the South, but he also claimed to have been the 
 "son of an English army officer stationed in 
 Canada." Meddling parents with a lovely 
 maiden in the background may have started 
 him on his reckless way. He seems to have 
 served with both the Hudson Bay and Ameri- 
 can Fur companies; seems to have bush- 
 whacked in the Kansas "border warfare," and 
 may have been with both Quantrell and Hamil- 
 
51 
 
 ton. He seems to have come to Estes in 1868, 
 and built his cabin in Muggins gulch. On the 
 road from Estes Park to Lyons, his cabin stood 
 at the mouth of the first gulch on the right as 
 one descends Muggins gulch. 
 
 Jim hunted, trapped, kept a few cattle, and 
 made frequent trips to Denver and Boulder. 
 On a few ot these trips he was drunk and quar- 
 relsome, but generally he was jovial and gener- 
 ous. All old-timers along the way between the 
 Park and Denver with whom I have talked, 
 say that they were "always glad to see Jim 
 and his white mule coming." The Boulder 
 News of October 17, 1873, contains this item: 
 
 " 'Rocky Mountain Jim' is talking of writing 
 a book. Jim has, under a rough crest, no mean 
 abilities, coupled with a heart that beats right, 
 and if he writes a book we predict it will not be 
 tedious and unreadable." 
 
 It is known that Jim had a mass of written 
 matter just before he was shot, but I have failed 
 to find any of it. The refrain of one of his love 
 ditties was — 
 
 "While in Muggins Gulch not far away, 
 Lived a poor trapper." 
 
 " 'Rocky Mountain Jim' came down from 
 Estes Park last Tuesday, bringing along 300 
 
"Granny Phair" 
 
 Mrs. S. S. Phair, a pioneer of 1874, who lived at the base of 
 
 Mount Olympus for eighteen years. 
 
53 
 
 pounds of trout, for a share of which he has our 
 thanks. Jim never forgets a friend, nor enemy, 
 either." — Boulder News, November 14, 1873. 
 
 After the custom of Indians, and like most 
 guides and frontiersmen, Jim gave careful atten- 
 tion to publicity by acting as his own press 
 agent. Concerning Jim, the following seem 
 established : He was a braggart who had a big 
 better, bashful nature; in readiness to die, he 
 was brave as the bravest, though often a moral 
 coward ; was revengeful but generous ; had a 
 few enemies and many friends ; paid his debts, 
 wrote doggerel, was handsome and made some 
 pretensions as a writer. 
 
 In Middle Park, July 6, 1871, he lost an eye, 
 and very nearly lost his life, in a fight with a 
 bear. While crawling upon some deer, near 
 Grand lake, armed with only a revolver and 
 knife, his dog came running up, closely pursued 
 by a bear and her cubs. The bear at once 
 turned on Jim, who fired four shots into her 
 before she downed him ; then with his knife he 
 continued fighting until he became unconscious. 
 He was lying in a pool of blood when he came 
 to, and near by was the dead bear. He was 
 very weak and terribly "chawed up." His left 
 arm was dislocated, his scalp nearly torn off, 
 
54 
 
 and one eye was missing. He crawled to his 
 camp, mounted his faithful mule and started for 
 Grand Lake. Twice he became unconscious 
 and fell off. But when he revived each time, 
 the mule was found grazing near by and was 
 remounted with great pain and difficulty, and 
 the journey continued. At Grand lake his yells 
 for a time frightened the few settlers, who were 
 expecting an Indian raid. When, at last, they 
 ventured out and found Jim lying unconscious, 
 one remarked : "Indians are 'round, sure ; here 
 is a man scalped." Two years later in Estes 
 Park, Jim appeared to Miss Anna Dickinson, in 
 this light : " 'Rocky Mountain Jim' who having 
 peregrinated up to see us, sat contentedly and 
 looked at us with his one bright eye, finally in 
 quaint language and with concise vividness nar- 
 rating many a tale of bear and other desperate 
 fights, one of which had two years before nearly 
 ended his days — had broken his right arm, 
 stove in three ribs, torn out his left eye, and 
 'chawed' him up generally, and yet left spirit 
 and grit enough to tell a story well and to get 
 through a close shave bravely." 
 
 The lines that follow are a condensation of 
 what Miss Bird wrote concerning Jim: 
 "Among the scrub not far from the track, was a 
 
55 
 
 rude, black log cabin, with smoke coming out of 
 the roof and window. It looked like the den of 
 a wild beast. The mud roof was covered with 
 lynx, beaver and other skins laid out to dry, 
 beaver paws were pinned out on the logs, a 
 part of a carcass of a deer hung at one end of 
 the cabin, a skinned beaver lay in front of a 
 heap of peltry just within the door, and antlers 
 of deer and old horseshoes lay about the den. 
 The den was dense with smoke and very dark, 
 littered with hay, old blankets, powder flasks, 
 old books and magazines, and relics of all kinds. 
 The owner, a broad, thick-set man about middle 
 height, with an old cap on his head, with a 
 hunting suit falling almost to pieces, a digger's 
 scarf knotted about his waist, a knife in his belt 
 and a revolver sticking out of the breast pocket 
 of his coat. His face was remarkable. He is 
 a man about forty-five and must have been 
 strikingly handsome. He had large gray-blue 
 eyes, deeply set, a handsome, aquiline nose, a 
 very handsome mouth. His face was smooth- 
 shaven except for a dense mustache and impe- 
 rial. Tawny hair in thin, uncared-for curls, fell 
 over his collar. Desperado was written in large 
 letters all over him. He had no better seat to 
 offer me than a log, but he offered it with 
 
56 
 
 graceful unconsciousness. I read my letter, 
 "The Ascent of Long's Peak," and was sincerely 
 interested with the taste and acumen of his 
 criticism on the style. He is a true child of 
 nature ; his eye brightened and his whole face 
 became radiant, and at last tears rolled down 
 his cheek, when I read the account of the glory 
 of the sunrise. He then read us a very able 
 paper on Spiritualism which he was writing. 
 He told stories of his early youth, and of a great 
 sorrow which had led him to embark on a law- 
 less and desperate life. His voice trembled and 
 tears rolled down his cheek. Essentially an 
 actor, was he, I wonder, posing on the previous 
 day in the attitude of desperate remorse, to im- 
 pose upon my credulity or frighten me ; or was 
 it a genuine and unpremeditated outburst of 
 passionate regret for the life which he had 
 thrown away ? I cannot tell, but I think it was 
 the last. . . . Yesterday a gentleman came 
 who I thought was another stranger, strikingly 
 handsome, well dressed, and barely forty, with 
 sixteen shining gold curls falling down his collar 
 — the redoubtable desperado. Evans cour- 
 teously pressed him to stay and dine with us, 
 and he showed singular conversational dexterity 
 in talking with the stranger, who was a well- 
 
57 
 
 informed man. I left on Birdie, Evans riding 
 with me as far as Nugerit's. I should not have 
 been able to leave if Mr. Nugent had not offered 
 his services (to take her over the snow-drifted 
 roads and ice-covered streams to near Love- 
 land) . Evans said I could be safer and better 
 cared for with no one. He added : 'His heart 
 is good and kind, as kind a heart as ever beat. 
 He's a great enemy of his own, but he's been 
 living pretty quietly for the last four years.' 
 The two men (Evans and Jim) shook hands 
 kindly. Some months later 'Rocky Mountain 
 Jim' fell by Evans' own hand — shot from Evans' 
 doorstep while riding past his cabin." 
 
 Evans was drunk when he shot Jim, but 
 the shooting was cowardly and uncalled for. 
 The stories that Jim was in love with Evans' 
 daughter, and that he insulted her, are stories 
 that seem not to have become known until after 
 the shooting. Evans and Jim were incompati- 
 ble ; both drank heavily at times, and they had 
 several quarrels. Evans was associated with 
 those who were scheming to secure fraudulently 
 the whole of Estes Park for Lord Dunraven. 
 Jim opposed his land scheme, and opposed it 
 with threatening armed presence, and with his 
 pen. At the time that Jim was shot he seemed 
 
58 
 
 to be making a winning fight against the land 
 scheme. Naturally the old-timers were with 
 Jim, and a consensus of their opinions is that 
 "English gold killed Jim for opposing the land 
 scheme." 
 
 Evans told the writer that he shot Jim for 
 insulting his daughter. But incidental remarks 
 of Evans to the writer concerning the affair did 
 not harmonize with the studied assertion. A 
 claim is made that there was a woman in the 
 case ; a woman to whom the man behind Evans 
 and Jim was paying attention. The common 
 belief of the neighborhood at the time of the 
 shooting was that "Evans was hired to do it." 
 It does seem that Evans was only an agent 
 when he did the shooting, but his hatred for Jim 
 and the hatred of his backer, the land unpleas- 
 antry and whisky all combined in causing Evans 
 to do the shooting. 
 
 A friend who was with Jim at the time of 
 the shooting gave A. E. Sprague an account of 
 it a day or. two after it happened. Here is the 
 substance of it : Jim and a friend were return- 
 ing from a ride and stopped to water their horses 
 at the little stream by Evans' house. Evans 
 and Lord H. were in one of Evans' cabins drink- 
 ing — possibly Evans was being toned up to do 
 
59 
 
 the deed. When Jim left the stream Lord H., 
 putting a double-barrel shotgun into Evans' 
 hands, said : "I want you to protect me." Evans 
 took the gun, and as Jim passed near, fired two 
 shots in rapid succesion, and without warning. 
 The first shot probably missed Jim and hit an 
 old stage coach that stood by ; but Jim fell from 
 his horse with a load of buckshot in his body as 
 the result of the second shot. At the trial one 
 witness swore that Lord H. said to Evans : 
 "Give him another ; he's not dead yet." 
 
 This fellow, Brown, who was with Jim at 
 the time of the shooting; and who gave Mr. 
 Sprague the above account of it, disappeared a 
 few days after the shooting and has never been 
 heard of since. It is probable that Lord H. paid 
 this important witness to disappear. 
 
 For a time it appeared that Jim would re- 
 cover. He wrote an account of the shooting for 
 a Fort Collins paper, and in this stated that the 
 land troubles were at the bottom of the shooting. 
 Meantime Evans visited Jim and asked to be 
 forgiven ; Jim's reply is said to have been : "No, 
 damn you, I'll forgive you with lead when I get 
 well." Jim did not get well and the talk of the 
 time was that the attending physician was hired 
 to put him out of the way. Possibly public 
 
60 
 
 opinion was correct, but it appears more prob- 
 able "that a piece of buckshot that had lodged in 
 Jim's skull had dropped in upon his brain," or 
 that "the base of Jim's brain had become putrid 
 from a piece of a buckshot that had entered it 
 the day of the shooting." 
 
 Mrs. Griffith Evans asked me to say for 
 her that while she regretted the killing of Rocky 
 Mountain Jim, she could not blame her husband 
 for the deed as it appeared to be a case of kill or 
 be killed. At times Jim drank heavily and 
 when drinking he frequently was quarrelsome. 
 Both when he was drunk and when he was 
 sober he had repeatedly threatened to kill Evans. 
 
CHAPTER SEVEN 
 
 MISS ISABELLA BIRD 
 
 A number of things indicate that Miss Bird 
 was deeply interested in Jim. During the clos- 
 ing years of her life she declined to write any- 
 thing concerning the region and apparently 
 avoided any discussion of it. Her biography by 
 Anna M. Stoddart — John Murray, London, 1907, 
 makes but extremely brief mention of Miss Bird's 
 Estes Park experiences yet they were apparently 
 as striking and eventful as any in her life. The 
 letters which she wrote from here and after- 
 wards published in "A Lady's Life in the Rocky 
 Mountains" went through seven American edi- 
 tions and a number of editions in England. 
 
 Of this her biographer records : " 'A Lady's 
 Life in the Rocky Mountains' was on the point 
 of publication in book form. Its appearance in 
 .The Leisure Hour had been most successful, 
 and the editor of The Spectator had congratu- 
 lated his contemporary on the privilege of pub- 
 lishing such papers, the interest of which, as he 
 expressed it, 'intoxicated' him. 
 
 "This book appeared in October, a second 
 edition was called for in November, and the 
 
62 
 
 third appeared in January, 1880. It is easy to 
 understand its charm, in spite of its being seven 
 years old when it received its final form. Its 
 matter is of the kind which 'age cannot wither 
 nor custom stale,' for the human interest of the 
 book is so strong and fresh that it overpowers 
 the record of dangers overcome and nature sur- 
 prised in her most inaccessible retreats. 
 
 "Dean Stanley told Mr. Murray that every- 
 body asks everybody 'Have you read The Rocky 
 Mountains ?' " 
 
 Concerning their final parting and the influ- 
 ence on Miss Bird of the news of Jim's death, 
 her biographer says : "Then they promised 
 each other that after death, if it were permitted, 
 the one would appear to the other. This part- 
 ing gave her great pain but she felt that Mr. 
 Nugent had undertaken to live a new life and 
 that she could help him by prayer and her let- 
 ters. Nearly a year had passed. Mr. Nugent's 
 letters gave evidence of continued steadiness. 
 Then suddenly on July 25, came the distressing 
 news that he was dead . . . Miss Bird 
 went to Switzerland full of the distressing con- 
 viction that Jim had died unrepentant and occu- 
 pied with the remembrance of their mutual 
 promise. 
 
63 
 
 "From Hospenthal an almost immediate 
 move was made to Interlaken and there one 
 morning as she lay in bed half unnerved by the 
 shock of his death and half expectant she saw 
 Rocky Mountain Jim in his trapper's dress just as 
 she had seen him last standing in the middle of 
 the room. He bowed low to her and vanished. 
 Then one of her friends came into the room and 
 she told her what had just occurred. When 
 exact news of his death arrived its date coincid- 
 d with that of the vision.' 7 
 
 Miss Bird, who visited the Park in 1873, 
 was one of the world's greatest women travel- 
 ers and is the author of many books of travel. 
 She was a scholarly English woman, a nature 
 lover and a woman of uncommon pluck. Any- 
 one interested in Estes Park, or in a delightful 
 book of travel, would do well to read her, "A 
 Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains*" which for 
 the most part is filled with her Estes Park ex- 
 periences. 
 
 She came into the Park late in September 
 and made her final leave early in December. 
 The Evanses and others say that, for a time, 
 she was in love with Rocky Mountain Jim. Jim 
 was a picturesque and interesting fellow and 
 might easily delight a young lady author with- 
 
64 
 
 out her falling in love with him. He had been 
 a scout, and was a bear killer, wore a showy 
 costume, quoted poetry, wrote verse, wore long 
 hair and was a striking figure. Naturally, most 
 young ladies would be greatly interested in him ; 
 Miss Bird certainly was. I cannot think that 
 Miss Bird was in love with Jim, but she may 
 have been just the same. She refused to write 
 anything concerning her Estes Park experiences 
 for this book. 
 
 She was, I suppose, the first boarder in the 
 Park. The following, from her book, are some 
 of her experiences : "A log cabin made of big 
 hewn logs. The chinks should be filled with 
 mud and lime, but these are wanting. The roof 
 is formed of barked young spruce, then a layer 
 of hay, and an outer coating of mud, nearly all 
 flat. The floors are roughly boarded. The 
 living room is about sixteen feet square, and has 
 a rough stone chimney in which pine logs are 
 always burning." 
 
 She says that her room has "a stone chim- 
 ney, a hay bed, a window that opens on a lake," 
 and that "neither of my doors has a lock, and, 
 to say the truth, neither will shut, as the wood 
 has swelled." Of her landlord she wrote : 
 
 "Griff, as Evans is called, is short and 
 
65 
 
 small, and is hospitable, careless, reckless, jolly, 
 social, convivial, peppery, good-natured, no- 
 body's enemy but his own — and a jolly good fel- 
 low. His cheery laugh rings through the cabin 
 from early morning, and is contagious, and 
 when the rafters ring at night with songs, what 
 would the chorus do without poor Griff 's voice ? 
 . . . He has a most industrious wife, a girl 
 of seventeen, and four children, all musical, but 
 . . . though he is a kind husband, her lot as 
 compared with her lord's is like that of a squaw. 
 . . . I pay $8 a week, which includes the 
 unlimited use of a horse, when one can be found 
 and caught. . . . The regular household 
 living and eating together at this time consists 
 of a very intelligent and high-minded American 
 couple, whose character, culture and refinement 
 I should value anywhere ; . . . a young 
 Englishman . . . called the Earl ; a miner 
 prospecting for silver ; a young man, the type 
 of intelligent, practical young America, whose 
 health showed consumptive tendencies . . . 
 is living a hunter's life here ; a grown-up niece 
 of Evans ; and a melancholy-looking hired man. 
 . . . We never get letters . . . unless 
 someone rides to Longmont for them. Two or 
 three novels and a copy of Out West are our 
 
67 
 
 literature. Our latest newspaper is seventeen 
 days old. Conversation at the table : The last 
 grand aurora, the prospect of a snowstorm, 
 track and sign of elk and grizzly, rumors of a 
 bighorn herd near the lake, the canon in which 
 the Texas cattle were last seen, the merits of 
 different rifles, the progress of two obvious love 
 affairs, the probability of someone coming up 
 from the plains with letters, 'Rocky Mountain 
 Jim's latest mood or escapade, and the merits 
 of his dog, Ring, as compared with those of 
 Evans' dog, Plunk, are among the topics which 
 are never abandoned or exhausted." — October, 
 1873. 
 
CHAPTER EIGHT 
 
 EARLY DAYS 
 
 Those who live pioneer lives are generally 
 the most fortunate of people. They suffer from 
 no dull existence. They are awake at all times, 
 living in every atom of their being. Each hour 
 is full of progressive thought. Their lives are 
 full of new occasions that call for actions that 
 are accompanied with the explorer's charm — 
 actions that make their lives strong, sincere and 
 sweet. Their days are full of eagerness and 
 repose. They work with happy hands. They 
 and the world are young. They are rich with 
 hope and their future has all the promise of 
 spring. The joy of home building is at its best 
 when a log cabin rises in the wilderness. It 
 means something to have no light but that flick- 
 ering one from the rude fireplace which you 
 have shaped with your own hands. To build a^ 
 log cabin on the fresh wild mountain slope, and 
 by its frontier fireplace explore the fairyland of 
 enchanting thought, is indeed a blessing. 
 
 Early days in Estes Park gave a rare per- 
 sonality to its pioneers. Some of the good old 
 
69 
 
 people are still with us, and if you like the pic- 
 turesque frontier restored with the concise 
 vividness of early days, just lead any of these 
 heroic old timers to become reminiscent. 
 
 There is a sad incident of early settlement 
 that came to a thrifty young German named 
 George Bode. He homesteaded in the extreme 
 north end of the park, finished a cozy rustic 
 home, completing the interior with striking 
 wood carvings, then sent passage money to 
 Germany to the dear girl he left behind. She 
 refused the money, saying she would pay her 
 own way, but desired him to meet her in New 
 York. He went to meet her, but the vessel on 
 which she sailed with all on board went down 
 at sea. 
 
 In the summer of 1876, a pioneer and his 
 family came into the park with two teams. 
 His oldest boy, Ed, drove the second team. 
 Sitting up on the seat beside Ed was his dog, 
 Shaver, whom Ed sometimes cruelly teased. 
 Coming down Park hill Ed reached round and 
 pinched Shaver, slackened the lines, and the 
 stiff-necked mules, pushed by the heavy down- 
 hill load, began to trot. This caused a trunk 
 just behind the seat to bounce open, and the 
 end of Shaver's tail, that was sticking out be- 
 
The Fringed Blue Gentian 
 
71 
 
 hind, was caught by the lid as it came down. 
 Shaver thinking that Ed was pinching too hard, 
 grabbed him by the ear. Meantime the stiff- 
 necked mules had increased their speed, and 
 this caused a rapid bouncing of the lid on 
 Shaver's tail. Shaver tried to keep time with 
 these bouncings with snaps at Ed's ear, while 
 Ed, more than busy with the rushing mules on 
 the rough roads and unable to help himself with 
 his hands, yelled at the dog, but this only 
 frightened the mules, and Shaver got more busy 
 than ever. The crisis was reached when 
 household furniture, braying, frightened mules 
 and a howling dog mixed up in a ditch. 
 
 On the 26th day of October, 1876, the first 
 wedding occurred in the park at the Ferguson 
 homestead cabin, where Rev. Coffman pro- 
 nounced the marriage ceremony for Miss Anna 
 Ferguson and Mr. Richard Hubbell. 
 
 The toll road from Lyons to the Park was 
 completed in 1877, but in the nineties, after the 
 charter of this road had expired, the company 
 who had owned the road managed, through 
 some technicalities of the law, not only to con- 
 tinue charging toll, but to increase the charges. 
 Efforts of Estes Park people to have toll charg- 
 ing stopped, or at least to have the charge 
 
COLUMBINE 
 Colorado State Flower 
 
73 
 
 reduced, were unsuccessful. J. E. Blair refused 
 to pay and tore down the toll gate. He was 
 arrested and fined. He tore the gate down 
 again, and, joined by Abner E. Sprague, at the 
 expense of several hundred dollars and much 
 annoyance, these two men fought the battle to a 
 legal finish. The toll company was defeated 
 and these two men deserve the honor of giving 
 Estes Park a free road. 
 
 The first public school was held in one of 
 the cottages in Elkhorn Lodge in the winter of 
 1881. Early in the eighties Mr. Cleave began to 
 keep a few articles for sale, and early in the 
 nineties Mr. C. E. Lester, who was keeping a 
 good little summer store, issued a very credit- 
 able advertising folder concerning Estes Park. 
 
 In 1886, F. H. Chapin, the Appalachian 
 climber, first visited Estes Park, and during that 
 summer, and in the summer of 1888, he did 
 much exploring on peak and in canon adjacent 
 to the park. Many of his experiences around, 
 and thoughts in connection with Estes Park, 
 are delightfully told in "Mountaineering in Colo- 
 rado." 
 
75 
 
 AWFUL NIGHT IN A BLIZZARD 
 
 Lost Above Timberline Four Men and a Woman Are 
 
 Forced to Camp Without Fire in Cleft of Rocks 
 
 for Shelter from Terrible Storm. 
 
 (Special to the News.) 
 
 "Estes Park, Colo., Sept. 23, 1896.— The 
 storm of Saturday and Sunday was a raging bliz- 
 zard on Flattop trail, between Middle Park and 
 Estes Park, and a party of four men and one 
 woman, after losing the trail was compelled to 
 spend the night above timberline, without a fire, 
 and huddled together for shelter into a cleft in 
 the rocks. 
 
 "F. P. Wolaver, A. W. Locke, Mr. and 
 Mrs. A. E. Sprague and James Cairns, started 
 with their pack outfit from Grand Lake to Estes 
 Park. They camped just below timber line 
 on the west side of Flattop one evening, intend- 
 ing to cross over the next day. There were 
 gusts of wind, glimpses of the moon between 
 flying clouds, and finally a light fall of snow 
 during the night. 
 
 "The morning was wintry, a poor one for 
 trailing on the heights. Clouds were low and 
 were swiftly flying across the range from west 
 to east. Snow above timberline was whirling 
 and drifting. But the campers were anxious to 
 
76 
 
 cross, and occasional glimpses of the sun in the 
 wintry sky, as they breakfasted, gave some 
 promise of clearing weather. So they packed 
 up and started. Three of the party were ten- 
 derfeet. Shortly the snow began falling thick 
 and fast, and as they reached timber line they 
 climbed up into the clouds, and it was cold, 
 damp, and dark. Mr. Sprague, who had been 
 over the trail in all kinds of weather, led the 
 way. The trail was steep and slippery, and the 
 summit some distance away. For a moment 
 the clouds were broken and parted, and then 
 they closed in again. It began to blow harder, 
 but Mr. Sprague thought he could keep his bear- 
 ings, so on they went. They were travelling 
 with the storm. It began to snow harder, the 
 wind became fiercer, the storm increased every 
 minute. It was dangerous to go on, but it was 
 impossible to return. Men could not, and stock 
 would not, face such a storm. The trail was 
 obliterated. Mr. Sprague depended on steering 
 with an angle of the wind to keep on the right 
 course. As soon as the party reached higher 
 ground the wind, less obstructed and deflected, 
 blew from a few points south of west. This 
 was then unkown. No word was spoken for 
 some time. The storm was so thick it was 
 
77 
 
 impossible to see fifty feet in any direction. 
 The animals were moving masses of snow and 
 ice and were with difficulty kept together. 
 
 "Mr. Sprague could see nothing familiar, 
 and told the party that he could not tell just 
 where they were, and that the only thing to do 
 was to keep moving and seek the first shelter. 
 
 "Suddenly a halt was called. They were 
 on the brink of a precipice of unknown depth ; 
 the snow drifted over and disappeared. This 
 precipice faced the south, and this told them 
 that they were too far to the left. But they 
 could not face the storm and get back to the 
 trail. 
 
 "So they drifted before the wind along the 
 brink of the precipice, looking for some hole to 
 crawl into. Mr. Wolaver's hat blew off, and a 
 handkerchief tied around his ears was soon 
 covered with ice. 
 
 "After traveling for some distance along the 
 brink of the precipice, they were stopped by a 
 large mass of broken rock, which their animals 
 could not cross. Thus cornered, all sought 
 shelter behind rocks from the fearful wind and 
 drifting snow, but the snow would whip around 
 and dash all over them. All were soon terribly 
 chilled. Here Mr. Sprague found a shelf on the 
 
78 
 
 edge of the cliff. Here the wind could not 
 strike, and all could breathe freely. In looking 
 around they discovered a cleft in the wall of the 
 precipice. This cleft was about twenty feet 
 below the top, and was about eight feet long by 
 six feet wide. They decided to occupy it. Mrs. 
 Sprague was lowered into this with a rope, 
 then the bedding and supplies lowered down 
 to her. A tepee tent was last lowered, the 
 rope was tied to the top of this, then made fast 
 to the rocks above. All squeezed into the tent 
 and sat down on the bedding. It was 1:30 
 p. m. They tried to eat their dry, cold lunch, 
 but they had no water, and could not eat with- 
 out it. They could hear only the fiercer blasts 
 and the sifting of the snow on the tent. 
 
 "A few minutes past two o'clock the eastern 
 sky cleared a little. The snow almost ceased, 
 and the wind went down. They decided to leave 
 and try for the trail. They hurriedly packed and 
 hustled out of the cleft, and were just making a 
 start, when the storm came on with greater 
 fury than ever and drove them back for refuge 
 to the cleft for the night. Such a refuge ! A 
 hole in a cold rock, into which they could all 
 barely squeeze, far above timberline, without 
 fire, and a blizzard raging. A slip, or if a slide 
 
79 
 
 of snow struck them, headlong they would fall 
 for a thousand feet. They were between a 
 blizzard and a deep precipice ! 
 
 "It was now 5:30 p. m. They ate a few 
 mouthfuls of dry lunch. Their clothing was a 
 sheet of ice. They wound blankets around 
 themselves and prepared to dry their clothing 
 with bodily heat. With much crowding and 
 squeezing they managed to get into something 
 of a reclining position, all forming a big wedge 
 with all feet in a pile at the small end. 
 
 "A miserable, slow-going night was spent; 
 cramps, cat-naps and reflection ! 
 
 "At last the fires of sunrise gladdened all. 
 The birds began to twitter along the cliff and 
 the bell on the lead donkey was heard tinkling 
 above. Only one could move at a time but at 
 last all got into frozen boots. Once out on top 
 again, they found the temperature warmer, but 
 the storm was still severe. But to live they 
 must leave the place. To move with the pack 
 outfit was impossible. The only thing to do 
 was to try to reach timber on foot. With this 
 idea they started, taking only a small pack of 
 eatables, a pair of blankets and a rope for de- 
 scending ledges. They started, leaving the 
 animals to their fate, working their way along 
 
80 
 
 the face of the cliff, hoping they could find some 
 gorge or gully by which they could descend 
 to timber. They were facing the storm at an 
 angle of forty-five degrees, traveling in the order 
 of wild geese, the strongest in the lead, with 
 pellets of snow driven by the wind, stinging 
 their faces. At last they found a break and 
 started down a trough in the cliff. It was very 
 steep and filled with loose stones. They had 
 to keep closely together, on account of danger 
 from dislodged stones, which from time to time 
 went swiftly, dangerously bounding far below. 
 They slipped, slid and crawled, for an exciting 
 and exhausting hour — when timber line, wood 
 and shelter, was gained. 
 
 "This walking was a severe strain on Mr. 
 Wolaver. He was sixty-seven years old, and 
 accustomed to walking only in Lincoln Park and 
 besides he was slightly crippled with an injured 
 leg. During the night he had lain on the shovel, 
 accidentally left beneath the bed. This had not 
 helped his leg. To make matters worse, while 
 all rested at timber line, he quenched thirty-six 
 hours of thirst with ice water, which had sick- 
 ened him, so that when all started forward 
 again he had nothing in him but grit — but plenty 
 of that. 
 
81 
 
 They were headed for Moraine, and, leav- 
 ing the remainder of the party climbing over 
 logs and breaking their way through the brush, 
 Mr. Cairns and Mr. Locke hurried forward to 
 procure horses and a wagon to send back for the 
 stragglers at a point where they would emerge 
 from the woods into the trail 
 
 "That night, by a cheerful fireside, friends 
 and relatives eagerly listened to their stirring 
 story." 
 
 The same stormy day, September 23rd, 
 Miss Kate Wamser, alone with the guide, made 
 a most trying and plucky climb through the 
 storm to the top of Long's Peak. This was a 
 remarkable climb as it required extraordinary 
 nerve and endurance. Even the horses could 
 not be forced to go above timberline, so from 
 this place Miss Wamser proceeded on foot and 
 several times was blown off her feet by the 
 fury of the wind. From Keyhole up the rocks 
 were dangerously icy, while the roaring wind 
 flung cruel, cutting icy pellets and made the 
 traversing of the narrow places extremely peril- 
 ous. "At what point were you most fright- 
 ened ?" asked the guide of Miss Wamser as 
 they sat resting in a sheltered place on the sum- 
 mit. "At the place where you appeared about 
 to say we must turn back." 
 
IN ESTES PARK 
 
83 
 
 The Denver papers tell that the first Fourth 
 of July celebration in Estes Park was held in 
 1897. About one hundred and fifty people as- 
 sembled near the present postoffice to see the 
 flag raised, to enjoy the basket dinner and to 
 listen to the orator of the day — Enos A. Mills. 
 
 In February, 1899, two trappers on Grand 
 River ran out of provisions and started across 
 the range for Estes Park. On the snowy 
 summit they became almost snowblind, but 
 managed to make their way down Horseshoe 
 Park, where by accident they ran against a 
 deserted cabin in which they spent the night. 
 The next morning one was totally blind and the 
 other very nearly so. Being unable to keep on 
 the road, they followed Fall river. After hours 
 of difficulty and danger they were attracted to 
 the Hondins ranch by the barking of a dog. 
 One February while snow shoeing across Flat- 
 top on the way to Grand Lake, Enos A. Mills, 
 in the midst of a blinding storm, walked out 
 upon a snow cornice which overhung a preci- 
 pice. The cornice caved off, but he managed to 
 catch upon a narrow ledge just under the top of 
 the precipice ; but it was a close call. Another 
 winter a trapper from Grand River lost his way 
 on Flattop during a storm and barely escaped 
 
84 
 
 with his life, after a perilous climb down the 
 precipitous icy walls west of Moraine Park. He 
 spent a night in the woods where his hands and 
 feet were badly frozen. He finally reached the 
 home of Mrs. Arah Chapman the next day. 
 
 The Crater in Specimen Mountain 
 
CHAPTER NINE 
 
 SINCE 1900 
 
 The long distance telephone line first con- 
 nected the Park with the outside world in 1900. 
 During the winter of 1900 a summer store kept 
 by W. T. Parke became an all the year round 
 store. 
 
 Early in the summer of 1900 a man, in 
 burning some logs out of a trail on the eastern 
 slope of Long's Peak, neglected the fire and it 
 spread and killed more than a thousand acres of 
 beautiful, valuable forest. During the same 
 summer some campers left their camp fire 
 burning when they departed and it wrought 
 havoc among the forests on the South Fork and 
 along the Flattop trail. Both fires resulted 
 from inexcusable carelessness. 
 
 During the summer of 1902, Wind River 
 Lodge was built and opened, Long's Peak Inn 
 changed owners, and this year and each year 
 since there has been a marked increase in the 
 Park population. 
 
 January 6, 1903, is the date of a windstorm 
 that did some damage, and September 7, the 
 date of some earthquake shocks which caused 
 
87 
 
 some confusion but no damage. Nineteen 
 hundred and four saw the completion of the 
 road along the Thompson River between the 
 Park and Loveland. This is one of the most 
 scenic roads in the state and was built largely- 
 through the efforts of C. H. Bond and F. P. 
 Stover. 
 
 J. D. Stead became the owner of Sprague's 
 in 1904, and the following February a six times 
 a week mail service was commenced in place of 
 the tri-weekly. 
 
 On August second, 1905, Louis Levings, 
 who, with George Black was climbing down the 
 face of Mount Ypsilon, fell and was killed by 
 the giving way of the rock to which he was 
 holding. 
 
 In June, 1906, the old Long's Peak Inn was 
 burned. It was at once replaced by the present 
 rustic structure. 
 
 This same year, 1906, Miss M. V. Brougham 
 had a strenuous experience on Long's Peak. She 
 climbed it without guide or companion, except 
 "Scotch," a collie dog. Coming down from the 
 summit she missed the trail and spent a cold, 
 windy night among the crags beyond Keyhole at 
 an altitude of 13,000 feet. Scotch knew the 
 way and would have led her home, but she 
 declined to follow him. Fortunately he stayed 
 
88 
 
 with her. She hugged him all night but was 
 badly chilled when the guides found her the 
 following morning. 
 
 In 1907 an automobile stage line was estab- 
 lished between the Park and Loveland ; another 
 one over the Lyons road in 1909. The auto- 
 mobile caused the picturesque old stage coach, 
 that was so cruel to horses, to be laid aside. 
 At first the people of the Park were almost 
 unanimously, and many even bitterly, opposed 
 to the automobile. But it was speedy and com- 
 fortable and from the beginning it brought 
 increasing numbers of people to the Park and 
 consequently has added to the Park's prosperity 
 and development. 
 
 Among the hotels recently established are 
 the Horseshoe Inn and the Timberline in 1908; 
 Moraine Lodge in 1910 and the Brinwood in 
 1911. In 1910 the Western Conference of the 
 Y. M. C. A. commenced extensive improvements 
 upon the former Wind River Lodge property. 
 The plan of the conference is to have conven - 
 tions and to conduct a large summer school. 
 
 The above was written three years ago. 
 The Western Conference of the Y. M. C. A. has 
 proved a marked success. The attendance has 
 rapidly increased from the start. Many of the 
 
89 
 
 instructors and lecturers have been people of 
 national and even international reputation. 
 Every indication is that the school will continue 
 to grow and improve. 
 
 In 1913 the Western Conference of Y. W. 
 C. A. held a successful session in these grounds. 
 
 For years a number of people had vainly 
 endeavored to acquire a lot in the neighborhood 
 of the Estes Park postoffice. This was at last 
 made possible by Mr. C. H. Bond who acquired 
 a laid out townsite. The first lots were sold in 
 the fall of 1905. The townsite was purchased 
 from John T. Cleave, the best known of the old 
 timers. He was an honest but eccentric Eng- 
 lishman who came to the Park in the early 
 seventies and was postmaster for thirty years. 
 
 The automobile, better mail service, the 
 telephone and the increase of land owners all 
 combined to make changes in the customs of 
 the Park. One old custom long enjoyed by the 
 early settlers was an annual public dinner. 
 This commonly was given in the school house 
 on Thanksgiving. Everyone was invited and a 
 few far-off settlers came sometimes as far as 
 twenty miles to attend. Occasionally, a Denver 
 visitor or a straggling tourist was fortunate 
 enough to be present. Generally there was 
 some sort of a program in addition to the dinner. 
 
fit: ■.;■ 
 
 ■ ■ ■ > ■ 
 
 1 w?$&&% 
 
 
 
 lilfcfiffl ! •* , 1 
 
 ' ^ , H?:. ,'r ■' 
 
 ^^ J 
 
 JT^r f"*--l - 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 The Mariposa Lily 
 
91 
 
 In effect, these dinners, like the old time log 
 rollings, produced friendships and sympathetic, 
 neighborly feeling; occasionally they promoted 
 marriage. 
 
 During the winter of 1906-7, Mr. John 
 Adams, idealist and the most original character 
 in the Park, organized and presided over an en- 
 tertainment society which met weekly. Parts of 
 every program were excellent ; often some one 
 presented something that was thought-filled, 
 original and suggestive. These refreshing en- 
 tertainments were given to crowded houses and 
 their general atmosphere was that of a good 
 country literary society. 
 
 The epoch-making event in the history of 
 the Park was the coming of Mr. F. O. Stanley. 
 W^ith Mr. B. D. Sanborn he acquired the old 
 Dunraven land holdings. Upon his part of the 
 land Mr. Stanley at once commenced the build- 
 ing of the Stanley and the Stanley Manor hotels. 
 A half million dollars was spent in buildings and 
 in the equipment of them. They were lighted 
 with electricity and in them were installed the 
 first electrical cooking plants. 
 
 The investment of a half million dollars 
 in a modern hotel in the wilds twenty-five miles 
 from a railroad startled the business world; 
 
Harriet Peters, ■> little eight year old girl who climbed 
 Long's Peak almost unassisted. 
 
93 
 
 this also gave the Park publicity far and wide 
 and greatly hastened its development. This 
 large and adventurous investment showed great 
 confidence in the future of Estes Park, required 
 nerve, good business sense, the capacity to see 
 the recreation needs of the near future and also 
 something more and greater than these. The 
 Stanley was opened in 1909 and the Manor in 
 1910. Both are already on a good business 
 basis. 
 
 In September, 1906, the Estes Park Pro- 
 tective and Improvement Association was 
 formed with Mr. Stanley as President and Mr. 
 C. H. Bond, Secretary. The aim of this associ- 
 ation was the development of the Park through 
 publicity, the building of roads and trails, the 
 establishment and maintenance of a fish hatch- 
 ery, the enforcement of the game laws and the 
 protection of wild flowers. Most property own- 
 ers at once became members. 
 
 Directly, as a result of the activities of this 
 organization, a fish hatchery, which has placed 
 several million young trout in our streams, was 
 built and maintained. The High line road and 
 the Prospect Mountain trail are the work of the 
 organization. One of the best things accom- 
 plished is a development of a sentiment that is 
 
94 
 
 protecting the big game. This organization con- 
 demned those who killed game out of season 
 and it even discouraged hunting or shooting at 
 any time. As a result, both mountain sheep 
 and deer have become more numerous and 
 tamer, and are frequently seen delightfully near 
 the roadsides. 
 
 The wild flower notice posted by this asso- 
 ciation produced happy results. It has been 
 copied by many civic bodies all over the United, 
 states. With the hope that, it may be further 
 useful it is reproduced in full. 
 "You can help keep Estes Park- a beautiful wild 
 garden. 
 SPARE THE FLOWERS! 
 
 Thoughtless people are destroying the 
 flowers by the roots or picking too many of 
 them. 
 
 Neither the roots nor the leafy stocks 
 should be taken, and flowers, if taken, should be 
 cut and not pulled. 
 
 WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH AN ARM- 
 FUL OF FLOWERS? 
 
 Those who pull flowers up by the roots 
 will be condemned by all worthy people, and 
 also by 
 
 The Estes Park Protective and Improvement 
 Association. 
 
95 
 
 Since the revision of this book three years 
 ago the Estes Park village has increased in pop- 
 ulation. A number of permanent residents and 
 summer visitors are endeavoring to beautify the 
 village. In this connection it is an interesting 
 point that the village has never had any organ- 
 ized form of government and is still without a 
 mayor or councilman. 
 
 Each year brings more visitors than the 
 preceding one. During the season of 1913 there 
 were fifty thousand visitors to this region. 
 More than one hundred private automobiles, 
 representing twenty-two different states, have 
 arrived in one day. 
 
 There are now six automobile stage lines, 
 one each from Boulder, Ward, Longmont-Ly- 
 ons, Fort Collins, and two from Loveland. 
 
 The old Dunraven hotel burned in 1911. 
 This was built in 1878 by Lord Dunraven on a 
 site selected for it by Albert Bierstadt, the artist. 
 In 1913 the Rockdale hotel was built near Mary 
 Lake and this year, too, the Rustic hotel was 
 enlarged and its name changed to Lester's. 
 
 Through the co-operation of the residents 
 of Estes Park and Grand Lake a road was sur- 
 veyed across the Continental Divide between 
 these places, and work commenced upon it in 
 
96 
 
 1912. During 1913 a trail was opened into the 
 magnificent Glacier Gorge, Loch Vale, region to 
 the northwest of Long's Peak. It was in this 
 region that the Colorado Mountain Club camped 
 during its 1913 summer outing. 
 
 In the autumn of 1913 the Estes Park 
 Woman's Club was organized. For years the 
 ladies of the Park had been active in civic and 
 other work. They helped to raise funds for the 
 Fish Hatchery and for roads and trails. Just 
 prior to the organization of the Club the ladies 
 built the Deer Mountain Trail. 
 
 The Estes Park country is one of little 
 snowfall, but in December, 1913, came the "big" 
 record-breaking snowfall. The average depth 
 was five feet. For two weeks transportation 
 was suspended. 
 
 A numerous beaver population led trappers 
 into this territory probably as early as 1841. 
 By 1890 these animals were almost extermin- 
 ated. About 1900, however, one or two local 
 people commenced to urge beaver preservation. 
 These primitive home builders are now on the 
 increase. Beaver works old and new are found 
 in a number of places ; those in the Long's Peak 
 valley, on the eastern slope of Long's Peak, in 
 the western edge of Moraine Park and in Horse- 
 shoe Park are perhaps the most important. 
 
97 
 
 During the past two years the number of 
 sheep and deer have noticeably increased, and 
 they have also become much tamer. These 
 pleasant changes are largely due to the efforts of 
 a few local people who for years have constantly 
 discouraged hunting and shooting. During the 
 spring of 1913, nineteen head of elk were 
 brought in from Yellowstone Park, and eighteen 
 additional ones were brought in the spring of 
 1914. 
 
 In 1909, Enos A. Mills commenced to urge 
 that about six hundred square miles of the sur- 
 rounding region be made the Estes National 
 Park and Game Preserve. In September, 1909, 
 a mass meeting of Estes Park people and a few 
 outsiders, together with the members of the 
 Association, unanimously endorsed this position. 
 
 The proposition progressed from the start 
 and the press of the country gave it extraordi- 
 nary publicity. In this connection, Mr. J. 
 Horace McFarland, President of the American 
 Civic Association, visited the Park in May 1910, 
 end has enthusiastically endorsed the measure. 
 The name of this proposition has been changed 
 to the Rocky Mountain National Park. Efforts 
 to secure it still go on. 
 
 The opposition to this measure has come 
 
98 
 
 mostly from the Forest Service. The Service 
 has misrepresented the facts and given insidi- 
 ous opposition. It may be ■well to record that 
 the Forest Service, in order to harass the pro- 
 moters of this Park, declared the slope of Long's 
 Peak, up which the trail runs, to be grazing 
 land and they authorized a stockman who did 
 not hold property in his own name to pasture 
 three hundred head of cattle on this slope. One 
 of the statements circulated by the Forest Ser- 
 vice was to the effect that the scenery in this 
 proposed National Park was of a commonplace 
 character and not at all fitted for Park use. 
 This in face of the fact that during 1913 this 
 region was visited by about fifty thousand 
 people. 
 
 Mr. Robert B. Marshall, Chief Geographer 
 of the United States Geological Survey, says of 
 this proposed Rocky Mountain National Park 
 region in his report in 1912 to the Department 
 of the Interior : "This region as a whole is as 
 beautiful as any to be found in the United 
 States, or, indeed, in the world." 
 
 The measure is steadily winning friends 
 among public-spirited citizens and the ultimate, 
 perhaps early, establishment of this National 
 Park is assured. 
 
99 
 
 The extraordinary scenery and the delight- 
 ful climate of this region probably will make it 
 one of the most popular recreation places in all 
 the world. With this we stop at "the perpetu- 
 ally moving spot where history ends and proph- 
 ecy begins." 
 
FOR REFERENCE 
 
 The most important sources of information concern- 
 ing Estes Park region are the following : 
 A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains by Isabella L. Bird ; 
 A Ragged Register, by Miss Anna E. Dickinson ; 
 Mountaineering in Colorado, by Frederick H. Chapin ; 
 The U. S. Geological Reports for Colorado for 1873-4-5, 
 and The Topographic Map — The Long's Peak Quad- 
 rangle, of the U. S. Geological Survey. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 
 Bird, Miss - - 
 
 Page 61 
 
 Big Game - 
 
 38 
 
 Blizzard Experience 
 
 - " 75 
 
 Dickinson, Anna E. 
 
 22 
 
 Dunraven 
 
 43 
 
 Early Days 
 
 68 
 
 Long's Peak + 
 
 16 
 
 Name, Estes Park 
 
 8 
 
 Rocky Mountain Jim 
 
 50 
 
 Rogers, Piatt 
 
 25 
 
 Settlers 
 
 " 45 
 
 Since 1900 
 
 85