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BOUNDLESS LANDSCAPES & SPIRITED PEOPLE NORTHWEST COLORADO CULTUR A L HER ITAGE ways of life The remoteness of northwest Colorado has always attracted self-determined and resilient explorers. There is a legacy of connection here—between spirited people and boundless landscapes. SURVEYORS MINERS RANCHERS LOGGERS Photo courtesy of Library of Congress Photo courtesy of Tracks and Trails Museum Photo courtesy of Tread of Pioneers Museum Photo courtesy of U.S. Forest Service Vast and diverse, the region offered rich Fortieth Parallel The Miner’s Life Time Honored Life Gould, Colorado yet rugged ways of life. Here, people created John Wesley Powell: Argo Mine & Haybro Mine: Working the Land: Bockman Lumber Camp: strong traditions and cultures that were In 1869 the Powell Expedition ran the Green Mining booms—coal ore, gold, and silver— Abundant grasses and water lured early cattle One hundred men and their families once lived sustained by the land. River and camped at its convergence with the brought men and their families to the region to and sheep men to the region. Cowboys trailed in Colorado’s largest logging camp. Tie hacks Yampa River (Echo Park). Two years later, at the labor in the open cut and underground mines. large herds into the mountains during summer felled trees, cut them to length, and flattened top of Harpers Corner, the expedition penned, After the bust times, many stayed to ranch and back to the valleys before winter snowfall. four sides with a broadax to make railroad ties. “We could look over Echo Wall [Steamboat Rock] and build northwest Colorado communities. EXPLORERS NATIVE PEOPLE 1000 feet high…down into the Canyon of Lodore…” Above: Argo Mine workers near Oak Creek, 1910 Above: Ranchers survey land along the Yampa River Above: Tie hack making railroad ties from felled trees Photo courtesy of U.S. Forest Service DPL, Western History Collection, 1890-1900 X–30467 Geological Surveyor Art, Dance, and Theater Fremont People: First People Ferdinand Hayden: Culture: Exploring Colorado in the 1870s, the Hayden Living in the remote communities of northwest The Fremont people were semi-nomadic Survey produced maps and conducted scientific Colorado, residents created their own cultural hunters and farmers who lived in the region studies. An expedition member wrote, traditions. Performing and visual arts, schools, from AD 700 to 1300. They recorded their “think libraries, and churches thrived. cultural stories in paintings on canyon walls. of my climbing seven great peaks in nine days. Three of these ascents were over 14,000 feet.” Below: Dancers at the Perry–Mansfield Performing During Hayden’s explorations of the Yampa Arts School and Camp in Steamboat Springs River Valley, he camped near the present day Ute People: Noochew town of Hayden. OILMEN SKIERS ARTISTS Present day Colorado was once the home of DPL, Western History Collection, 1920-1930 GB–5802 Photo courtesy of Tread of Pioneers Museum Stage travelers journey along the Yampa River, ca. 1900 these nomadic people. One of the seven Ute The Cradle of Wilderness bands, the Yampatika, lived and hunted in Arthur Carhart: Roughnecks A New Recreation Pursuit In visiting northwest Colorado you follow a northwest Colorado. Spiritually connected While surveying Trappers Lake for private Geology and Resources: Skiing Tradition: long line of daring explorers who made the to nature—they held the rivers and springs development, Carhart realized its value as Oil has been bubbling to the surface in the Early northwest Colorado pioneers strapped arduous trek by foot, horse, and wagon. Not of the region as sacred. Prominent in their wilderness: “Perhaps the rebuilding of body Rangely area for millennia. Since the 1900s the on homemade wooden skis for transportation. until David Moffat’s railroad pushed through culture is the bear, and in the spring Ute and spirit is the greatest service…from our risk and reward of drilling for oil and extracting In 1913, Carl Howelsen, the “Flying Norseman,” the Continental Divide was the region linked gathered for the Momaqui Mowat, or Bear forests, for of what worth are material things shale oil in the Roan Plateau near Rifle, Parachute, introduced Steamboat Springs’ residents to to Denver and the nation. Dance to celebrate life and the end of winter. if we lose the character and quality of people and Battlement Mesa, has lured men to the ski jumping and skiing as a recreational sport. that are the soul of America?” dangerous, demanding work in the region. For the stories and legacy of northwest Colorado visit: www.nwcoloradoheritagetravel.org Above: Ute family in front of tipi ca. 1890 Above: Ferdinand Hayden on expedition, 1870s Above: Early oilmen on the site of a drilling operation Above: Skiers–Carl Howelsen is second from right Photo courtesy of Tread of Pioneers Museum Railroad men: Linking the Nation Preserving the Land: Theodore Roosevelt Hide Outs: Browns Park Iron rails connected remote northwest “We are prone to speak of the resources of this Notorious rustlers, gunmen, bank and train Colorado to the state and the nation. But country as inexhaustible; this is not so.” robbers escaped Western justice in remote for railroad crews, laying track across and, In the early 1900s Teddy Roosevelt set aside areas of northwest Colorado. Rancher, Ann often, through canyons and rivers, forests reserves in northwest Colorado: White River Bassett of Browns Park and her sister Josie and wilderness, mountains and parks as well National Forest, Routt National Forest, Arapaho befriended the outlaws of the Wild Bunch, as mesas and plateaus, was arduous work. National Forest, and Battlement National Forest. including Butch Cassidy and Kid Curry. Below: Railroad men near Baxter Pass, ca. 1900 INDIAN AGENTS FOREST RANGERS Below: Theodore Roosevelt in northwest Colorado OUTFITTERS Below: Queen Ann, friend of Butch Cassidy, ca. 1900 DPL, Western History Collection, 1899 P-56 From the Collection of David W. Cayton CHS, Western History Collection, ca. 1900 CHS-B1412 White River Agency: Clash of Cultures James Cayton: First Ranger Station Scouting the Land: Guiding Expeditions An Indian Agency, established in the White In the early 1900s, Cayton’s duties required Outdoorsmen, willing to share their skill and River Valley on Ute Indian land, caused a twenty-mile rides a day to keep track of the knowledge of northwest Colorado, outfitted deadly conflict in 1879 between settlers who number of cattle grazing in the forest, survey expeditions and back country hunting trips. wanted to farm the land and the nomadic boundaries, post signs, build and repair In 1905, Jake Borah (pictured) helped guide Ute who valued the region for grazing their telephone lines, inspect homestead claims, Teddy Roosevelt’s hunting party through horses and racing them on open land. and be a resource for local ranchers. Glenwood Canyon in Garfield County. Above: Ute horseman riding up mesa, ca. 1899 Above: James & Birdie Cayton at ranger station, 1909 CONSERVATIONISTS Above: Jake Borah, guide for Theodore Roosevelt, ca. 1900 OUTLAWS DPL, Western History Collection, ca. 1900 Z-1477 DPL, Western History Collection, 1899 X-22189 DPL, Western History Collection, ca. 1898 Z-153 Photo courtesy of Melody Villard Photo courtesy of Carien Schippers continuing YAMPA STEAMBOAT SPRINGS HAHNS PEAK Gateway to the famed Flat Tops Mountains and Attracted by the natural mineral springs and Founded in 1865 during Colorado’s gold and ways of life the Flat Tops Trail Scenic Byway, Yampa began as abundant wildlife, the Ute Indians summered silver rush days, Hahns Peak boomed, but a hunting camp in the 1880s. Freight wagons and in this area. After 1909, early visitors, who were A connection to the land and a respect for became a ghost town after the gold bust. Now, stagecoaches were prominent in town. Later, also attracted by the mineral springs and time-honored ways of life is passed from one attracted by its solitude and beauty, people agriculture and a booming lumber industry in natural beauty, accessed the area by railroad. have returned to live at the National Historic Site. generation to the next in communities across r northwest Colorado. To experience the region the forests surrounding Yampa kept life buzzing. r c Under the influence of Norwegian ski jumper join us in our heritage celebrations and events. Carl Howelsen, skiing became a recreational Participants of the Wooden Ski Rendezvous in Columbine pursuit of local families beginning in 1913. Photo courtesy of National Park Service Sombrero Ranch’s Great American Horse Drive Sheep wagon—a sheepherder’s home on the range Photo courtesy of Pat Krausgrill Photo courtesy of Joyce Wetterberg Skiing and ski jumping at the Howelsen Hill MAYBELL CRAIG ski area (just across the Yampa River from downtown) began attracting international A storied rural community, Maybell is the Set in a high-desert landscape, Craig is a competitors and, by the 1950s, the town was thriving town steeped in cowboy and Native gateway to Browns Park National Wildlife dubbed “Ski Town USA.” Today Steamboat Refuge. r American history as well as gunfighter and r b c t Springs is a world-class ski destination and *No services after Maybell on RD 318. outlaw lore. claims more Olympic athletes than any other town in North America. Rafting the Green River in Dinosaur National Monument Sombrero Ranch’s Great American Horse Drive Sheep Wagon Days: In September, experience the r b c t and Maybell Heritage Day: Held in May, this event region’s history of sheep ranching through hands-on DINOSAUR continues a fifty-year tradition of driving hundreds sheep shearing events, working dog demonstrations, of horses from winter range in Browns Park sixty and tours of authentic sheep wagons. Photo courtesy of Ken Proper The western most town in the state, Dinosaur Cowboy Horse Polo in Yampa five miles to summer range just outside of Craig.

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