1920 Trail Talk

1920 Trail Talk [The Estes Park news magazine “Trail Talk”, a 7-inch by 10-inch weekly booklet held together by two staples, was published by Longmont schoolteacher Archibald Taylor in the summer of 1920. Mr. Taylor, along with his family and his mother, Mrs. J.W. Taylor of New Jersey, spent the summer in a cottage on the McCreery Ranch. Trail Talk was a preordained series of ten issues published every Friday, beginning 2 July 1920 and ending 3 September 1920. Each issue consisted of 28 pages, comprised of 12 pages of news sandwiched between 12 pages of display advertisements and a cover of heavier cardstock. A complete set of Trail Talk, therefore, consists of 280 pages. While the back cover throughout its run was devoted to an unvarying full-page advertisement for the Stanley Hotels, the front cover focused on a different scenic photograph each week, hearkening back to John Yale Munson’s short-lived “Estes Park Trail”, which covered Estes Park news during the summers of 1912 through 1914. The display advertisements, broken up into 7 pages before the news insert and 7 pages after, changed very little week to week. Advertisements on the inside front and back covers, however, were often changed or updated, because the weekly printing of a new cover allowed more flexibility. While Trail Talk’s ostensible publication date was Friday, it went to press in Boulder and had a scheduled release/mailing date of Thursday. The news deadline, therefore, was likely Thursday morning at the latest. However, some issues came out later than Thursday, and thus likely reached subscribers hands later than Friday, because of production delays, so it is conceivable that Thursday afternoon or evening (or later) news made its way into Friday’s paper. The set used for this digitization project was the unbound set held by the Rocky Mountain National Park library, which is largely unmarked. The bound set at the Estes Park Public Library, besides being difficult to lay flat, has Cornelius H. Bond’s signature on the front cover of almost every issue.] 2 July 1920 – Front Cover: Estes Park/Trail Talk/Rocky Mountain National Park/Vol. I July 2, 1920 No. 1. Front cover photograph: Scenic image of Mt Ypsilon framed between paired trees to the left and right. Caption: “Mt. Ypsilon from Deer Ridge”. Credit: Photo by Frank J. Francis 2 July 1920 – Banner: Trail Talk/Published Fridays for ten weeks during the summer/ Vol. I July 2, 1920 No. 1/Price 20 Cents a Copy One Dollar and Seventy-five Cents A Season/Archibald Taylor, Editor and Publisher P.O. Box 130/ Estes Park, Colorado 2 July 1920 – Headline: Greetings. “Ladies and Gentlemen, it is our pleasure to introduce a stranger and yet an old friend, the Estes Park summer paper, Trail Talk. You have heard of his coming, you have wondered what he would be like, now it is your privilege to get acquainted. He has come to entertain you and to serve you. We beseech for him a kindly welcome.” A summer newspaper on this order is not an untried venture in Estes Park. Eight years ago, Mr. John Yale Munson, editor of the Berthoud Bulletin, published the Estes Park Trail at a time when Estes Park was just becoming known as a summer resort and needed publicity for its development. The Estes Park Trail was a well-published magazine and deservedly won many friends. Even today, six years after its last publication, former readers still inquire for it. But the summer population of Estes Park was comparatively small then, and the newspaper did not have enough circulation to make it self-supporting. Today, Estes Park and the Rocky Mountain National Park are known all over the country, and even in foreign lands. The number of visitors increases so rapidly from season to season that the hotels are obliged to increase their accommodations each year to keep up with the growing demand. And it is not only the traveler who seeks rest and recreation in this wonderful natural playground, but also the summer resident who builds a cottage here for his family. In view of this great development of recent years, there would appear to be good grounds for the belief that a summer newspaper can now be successfully conducted. This is the belief also of a majority of the members of the Estes Park Chamber of Commerce, which has actively supported the movement to establish such a newspaper. The editor wishes to thank the president of that body, Mr. James D. Stead, its secretary Mr. Dugald Floyd Godfrey, and its executive committee, consisting of chairman Cornelius H. Bond, Claude Erwin Verry, Samuel Service, Edward A. Somers, and William H. Derby for their encouragement and friendly assistance. Their confidence in the success of such a newspaper has been substantiated by the advertising that has been secured from the hotels and business houses. The editor wishes to thank the advertisers and to wish them a most prosperous season. 2 July 1920 – Headline: Trail Talk. This name originated with Mr. Clem Yore. It retains the significance of the Estes Park Trail and yet is a new name for an independent publication. We hope that the friends of the Estes Park Trail will also give a friendly welcome to Trail Talk. Another merit of this title is that it implies the chief characteristic of the newspaper. Trail Talk is to be a weekly report of talk along the trails in Estes Park and the Rocky Mountain National Park. There will be no fiction to compete with the Saturday Evening Post. There will be no political articles nor accounts of events along the highways in the busy world. But it will be our aim to report as completely as possible the happenings of the hotels and of the homes of Estes Park and the coming and goings along our winding mountain trails. The editor wishes to say that he writes with but one hand, and not to exceed 24 hours a day. Furthermore, he has but two feet and a flivver as a means of locomotion along these many devious trails in quest of news. Therefore, he will be glad to receive contributions reporting social events for publication, and letters concerning matters of interest to the community. All communications must be signed as an evidence of good faith. Address Trail Talk, P.O. Box 130. 2 July 1920 – Headline: The Reporter Speaks. The reporter for Trail Talk has had a busy week. He set out Wednesday with the intention of visiting every cottage in the Estes Park region that is readily accessible, as well as collecting news from the hotels and from obliging individuals. He has only three days to do this as the paper goes to press Thursday morning, and he is obliged to supervise the job at the Miner Printing Office in Boulder. He started out with good intentions but failed of realization. There were obstacles that may be overcome in the following weeks. At least we hope that after this week the people of Estes Park will know that a summer newspaper is being published, and the reporter will not be obliged to introduce himself and explain his mission. Then, too, perhaps those who have news to furnish will be prepared for his call, and the business can be dispatched with little delay. The reporter would like to be sociable, but experience shows that if he stops for a “5:00 p.m. tea” he will not be home for a 9:00 p.m. supper. One more suggestion. Lack of time makes it necessary for the reporter to write most of his news for publication just as it is given to him, with no opportunity for revision. Why not, then, write out an account of your house party or hike or what-not ready to hand the reporter. He will pause in his mad flight long enough to say thank you. Put in all the humorous touches and “local color” you desire. That will make the news more interesting. If you are not at home when the reporter calls, or if he fails to call, mail the article to P.O. Box 130, Estes Park. The schedule which the reporter has laid out for himself, but which is not as unchangeable as the proverbial “laws of the Medes and the Persians” is as follows: Monday – Moraine Park, YMCA, Boulder-Greeley Colony, Woodland Heights, Broadview, Big Thompson [River or Hotel, presumably] to Crags. Tuesday – Longmont and Fort Morgan Colonies, Country Club, down Big Thompson [Canyon, presumably] to Glen Comfort. Wednesday – Estes Park village and vicinity. 2 July 1920 – It’s easy to buy a copy of Trail Talk, but it will save trouble to send in your name for a season subscription at $1.75. 2 July 1920 – Headline and byline: The Estes Park Conference of the Young Men’s Christian Association by Ira F. Lute. [Article includes uncaptioned, uncredited photograph of YMCA grounds and main buildings.] The Estes Park Conference of the Young Men’s Christian Association is one of seven summer training agencies recognized as standard by the Summer Schools Committee appointed by the International Convention on the Association profession. It is located at the heart of the Rocky Mountain National Park [technically, it is now outside of Rocky Mountain National Park, although it is conceivable it was part of Rocky Mountain National Park early on], about four miles and a half from the town of Estes Park. The broad setting of the 535 acres is generally credited with being one of the most picturesque of any in this gem of all our national parks.

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