sign in sign up
<<
Home , Browns Park, Butch Cassidy

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 : 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 Forest U.S. of courtesy Photo DPL, 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 : 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 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: 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, befriended the outlaws of the , as mesas and plateaus, was arduous work. National Forest, and Battlement National Forest. including 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 Melody of courtesy Photo Photo courtesy of Carien Schippers Carien of courtesy Photo 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, 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. Participants of the Wooden Ski Rendezvous in Columbine Carl Howelsen, skiing became a recreational pursuit of local families beginning in 1913. Photo courtesy of National Park Service Park National of courtesy Photo Sombrero Ranch’s Great American Horse Drive Sheep wagon—a sheepherder’s home on the range Krausgrill Pat of courtesy Photo Wetterberg Joyce of courtesy Photo 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 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. Proper Ken of courtesy Photo The western most town in the state, Dinosaur Cowboy Horse Polo in Yampa five miles to summer range just outside of Craig. Hahns Peak Schoolhouse and Museum: Dedicated is the site of the Colorado Welcome Center Museum of Northwest Colorado: Featuring one of Fourth of July Celebration: Yampa’s Historic Moffat to preserving the heritage and history of Hahns Peak and gateway to Dinosaur National Monument. the world’s outstanding Western American “Cowboy Avenue, built double-width to accommodate freight Village. Take the self-guided walking tour through b c MEEKER and Gunfighter” collections, the museum showcases wagons and stagecoaches, cattle and sheep drives, the Village’s early historic buildings. Please do not cowboy gear used on the open range: guns, gun Explorer John Wesley Powell set up a winter and horse races, remains a dirt street and approach old log cabins; they are private homes. Dinosaur National Monument: Established in 1915 leather, chaps, spurs, and saddles. to protect the remarkable deposit of ancient animal camp in the Meeker area. In 1868 the first now hosts cowboy polo and other 4th of July events. Wooden Ski Rendezvous: Held in late February, the bones in , the Monument expanded to Colorado Indian Agency was established and ranchers Wyman Museum: A unique collection spanning 100 Yampa Egeria Museum: Stop by the restored 1904 annual event includes cross country ski races and in 1938 to preserve the “basement of time.” The soon followed. Today Meeker remains a years of American life, ingenuity, and advancement. bank building. Then take a historic walking tour of skiing at Hahns Peak as well as the Boil em’ Up Race Green and Yampa Rivers cut through the landscape ranching community—cattle and sheep herds to reveal rocks a billion years old. the old opera house, the 1902 Antlers Hotel and where racers are required to boil a cup of snow. are still driven down Market Street to pasture. HAYDEN Cafe, the Royal Hotel (home of Rufus the resident r b c t ghost), and the jail. RANGELY Photography Jones Gidget of courtesy Photo Named for surveyor Ferdinand Hayden, the WALDEN / NORTH PARK town is in the heart of the Yampa River Valley. Cowboys began driving thousands of cattle Historically a coal mining and agriculture center, OAK CREEK The grassland surrounding Walden sustains into the lower White River Valley in the late today the town maintains its western spirit and large ranches and wildlife populations just as 1880s. Called the “Isolated Empire” the area is surrounded by working ranches and farms. Immigrants from around the world worked they did over a century ago when settlers first was virtually unknown until the 1940s when a r b c t the coal mines surrounding Oak Creek from arrived. Nearby forests around Gould were major oil discovery put Rangely on the map. the early 1900s. The number of different ethnic harvested by logging operations. Today, you’ll Routt County Fair: Celebrated on the same site Today the Rangely Oil Field is the largest oil groups was unusually high for its population share the area with deer, elk, and moose as since 1914, the annual August event honors the producing field in the Rocky Mountain Region. during the 1920s to the 1940s. Today, the town well as birds of prey. agricultural heritage and traditions of the region. embraces its diversity and heritage. r b c t r b c t r b c Photo courtesy of Betsy Blakeslee Betsy of courtesy Photo Brown Jamie of courtesy Photo Septemberfest: Annual community and Meeker Classic Sheepdog Championship Winter Carnival event on Lincoln Avenue parade with events throughout town—bike rally, Oak Creek Labor Day Celebration: The community chili cook-off, movies in the park, art show, and car Meeker Classic Sheepdog Championship Trials: has been staging a large Labor Day event celebrating Winter Carnival: Started in 1914, Winter Carnival show. Don’t miss the mud pillow fights or duck race. In keeping with the legacy of sheep ranching, every hard working miners since 1913. Today the event is the oldest winter celebration of its kind in the September national and international working dogs is one of Colorado’s largest, featuring a parade, West. Introduced by skiing pioneer Carl Howelsen, Rangely Museum: Featuring Native American and compete in sheep herding contests. barbecue, games, and contests. the iconic carnival brought ranchers and skiers pioneer artifacts as well as exhibits about energy together and still continues to break up and add development. Visit the Raven A-l, the first deep well 4th of July Range Call Celebration: Join Meeker in The Tracks and Trails Museum: Located in the excitement to the Routt County winters. in the region. In 1933, after a year of drilling, an oil celebrating the oldest rodeo in Colorado! Started in 1927 Town Hall building, the museum highlights company punched into the Weber Sandstone to a 1885, it features rodeo, barn dancing, and fireworks. Moose wandering through the Walden Cemetery the region’s coal mining, railroad, and local history. Cowboys’ Roundup Days: Rodeo competitions vast reserve of crude oil. White River Museum: Housed in a 1880s U.S. Army Carpenter Ranch conserves Yampa Valley heritage have been a part of Steamboat Springs’ ranching Never Summer Rodeo/North Park Pioneer Reunion: officer quarters, the museum offers insight into Carpenter Ranch: Offering tours and exhibits, this heritage since the late 1890s. The community carries In late June, the town welcomes rodeo competitors, Ute heritage and pioneering families of the region. PHIPPSBURG working ranch is part of the Nature Conservancy’s on the tradition with the summer Pro Rodeo Series fans, and pioneering families with a Main Street BBQ,

efforts to conserve the Yampa Valley’s natural, At the turn of the 19th century, the community and the 4th of July rodeo. See the cattle drive dance, live music, and classic small town parade. RIFLE historical, and agricultural heritage. Built by “J. B.” was a major hub for the Denver Northwestern through downtown and take a working ranch tour. Rifle is a gateway to the Roan Plateau and Dawson, one of the first to trail cattle from Texas & Pacific Railway, and later in 1913, David Moose Visitor Center: Operated by the Colorado to Colorado, it was later owned by cattleman and Tread of Pioneers Museum: Visit the 1908 Queen Flat Tops Wilderness. Teddy Roosevelt hunted Moffat’s Denver & Salt Lake Railroad. It now State Forest State Park and located near the former Harvard educated lawyer Farrington Carpenter. Anne-style Victorian home of the museum and learn logging camp of Gould, the Center features info on bear in the area in 1905, artist Christo hung a serves the . about the history of skiing, ranching, pioneer life, and the park, local history, moose, and other wildlife. 250,000 square foot curtain across Rifle Gap Hayden Heritage Museum: Located in the 1918 Native Americans in the Steamboat Springs area. Phippsburg Railroad Memorial: In conjunction here in 1972, and today Rifle is a thriving new Hayden Depot, the museum interprets the town’s While at the museum, pick up brochures with maps with the Tracks and Trails Museum in Oak Creek, North Park Pioneer Museum: Housed in a cabin built ranching heritage, historic architecture, and the area’s of walking tours: Historic Downtown, The Springs energy hub. Phippsburg Community Park features a railroad in 1883, the museum’s exhibits showcase the region’s legacy in developing the Quarter Horse breed. of Steamboat, and Olympic Heritage. r b c t display and vintage Denver & Rio Grande caboose. mining, logging, ranching, and farming heritage.

Power generating solar flowers NEW CASTLE GLENWOOD SPRINGS CARBONDALE

PARACHUTE & BATTLEMENT MESA First settled in the 1880s, New Castle grew Formerly named Defiance, and later Glenwood At the foot of Mt. Sopris and the confluence of when coal veins were found on the Grand Springs for the area’s hot springs, the town has the Crystal and Roaring Fork Rivers, Carbondale The town of Parachute, located at the base of Hogback. The soft coal mines also produced always been a destination for the health seeker. has a continuing legacy of fueling the growth of the West through farming, ranching, and mining. Mt. Callahan, was the site of the Kid Curry methane gas, which ignited a tragedy in the The Ute Indians first discovered the hot springs, in 1904. Today, Parachute is late 1800s when explosions ripped through and, since the 1880’s the pools have drawn r b c the heart of multiple natural energy resources, the mines. Today, underground coal veins still generations of people—United States presidents, Potato Day Parade and Celebration: Held since including oil shale, natural gas—and three smolder beneath Burning Mountain. outlaws, and celebrities—to the resort town. 1909, the event celebrates the town’s most famous 27 foot solar flowers, which power the town’s Miners Memorial in New Castle SILT r b c r b c t food crop, a staple that supplied the railroad dining Welcome Center Rest Stop. car trade and the U.S. army. Strawberry Days: Originally envisioned as a festival Bordered by thousands of acres of BLM land Burning Mountain Festival: Three-day event with Located on a mesa across the Colorado River in 1898 to highlight local produce, Colorado’s oldest Mountain Fair: A late July celebration of the arts— and just minutes from Harvey Gap State Park carnival, pancake breakfast, music, car show, burning from Parachute, the community of Battlement ongoing civic celebration features a parade, carnival, in all expressions—featuring artisans from around the Rodeo princesses at Garfield County Fair in Rifle and the White River National Forest, Silt is a mountain games, artisans and food vendors. Mesa was once home to the Ute Indians and artisan booths, food, and live entertainment. country, food booths, and three days of live music. sportsman’s gateway to fishing and hunting. later ranchers. Today, the planned community is Garfield County Fair and Rodeo: Discover how the Historic Ghost Walk: The Frontier Historical Society Highland Cemetery: Civil War veterans and victims Glenwood Hot Springs Pool West has fun—bull riding, motorcycle stunt riding, b c and Museum host a trek through Glenwood’s oldest home to the historic Battlement Schoolhouse. of area mine explosions are buried here, along with Springs Glenwood courtesy Photo a demo derby, and live entertainment. Chautauqua Days: A two-day event celebrating b c Marshall John Rennix, killed on Main Street in 1910. established cemetery. Actors portray gunslinger, Doc life as it was a century ago, which features special Holliday, outlaw Kid Curry, and other local characters. Rifle Creek Museum: Located in the town’s former activities for youth. Grand Valley Days: A community event, held since city hall, the museum’s themed rooms showcase New Castle Historical Museum: Set in the town’s Frontier Historical Society & Museum: A 1905 home 1908, featuring rodeo, parade, pie and ice cream local history from Native American artifacts to an Silt Historical Park and Museum: Period buildings 1893 Town Hall and Fire Station, the museum show- features mining, ranching, Ute Indians, , social, and street dance. old-fashioned general store. reflect life in Silt at the turn of the last century. cases local history and features a blacksmith shop. Theodore Roosevelt, and exhibits.