Historically Jeffco Magazine 2018

Issue 39, 2018 A Historical PerspectiveA Historical Building Community: Interior of Peinze’s Groceries’ newly remodeled store at 215 Bear Creek Avenue in Morrison, 1940 Cover: Nellie Schneider’s Bakery and Lunch Room on Bear Creek Avenue (Main Street), Morrison in 1913. Pictured: Louise Gottchalk, Nellie Schneider and Bill Schneider. Jefferson County Archives

Preservation Matters! Imagine a vintage “crazy quilt,” pieced with fabric dyed in such Having just celebrated the Fourth of July picnicking indigenous colors as red (for our stone), green (for our trees) at the 144-year-old (1874), 17,000-acre Roberts Ranch and blue (for our water and sky), embroidered with primitive north of Fort Collins (where part of the 1978-79 TV images of cabins, barns and other rustic shelters, all stitched series “Centennial” was filmed), the need to continue together with threads depicting the early wagon trails and toll to safeguard our historic properties looms large in my roads. To truly visualize this kaleidoscopic patchwork of frontier concern for the state of preservation within Colorado. homesteading, check out JCHC’s comprehensive Historic Contexts As wildfires blaze all around us, the threat of a local Report/1999-2002 Cultural Resource Survey of Unincorporated landmark (or any building) going up in smoke is a little Jefferson County at https://www.jeffco.us/DocumentCenter/ too close for comfort. View/9446 The Jefferson County Historical Commission (JCHC) In reflection, 2018 has been another productive year for the was created in 1974 with a mission to preserve, protect Commission, thanks to the ongoing dedication and effort of our and celebrate our unique architectural heritage dating current volunteers, a balance of both county employees and other back 160 years. (We celebrated our Sesquicentennial professionals who are simply passionate about all things historical. in 2011.) Today, with Jeffco encompassing 494,588 Among a myriad of other ongoing tasks, after beginning with an acres within 773 square miles and fondly known as intense winter retreat we went on to host our signature spring the “Gateway to the Rockies,” one needs to ignore Historic Preservation Symposium and fall Hall of Fame events. the ever-growing suburban sprawl (and appreciate On May 19, more than 60 folks (including County Commissioners ongoing Open Space acquisitions) to fathom what our Casey Tighe and Tina Francone) assembled in a one-room stretch of the Front Range corridor looked like after schoolhouse at the Lakewood Heritage Center to hear viewpoints the onset of the Colorado Gold Rush period (1859-61). on the theme of “Building Community: A Historical Perspective.” 2 Historically Jeffco 2018 Contents 2 War Transforms Jefferson County by John Steinle & Meghan M. Vickers 7 Building Community Along West Colfax Avenue by Kristen Autobee 10 Glen Creighton: Ahead of its Time By Aileen Lowrie, Collections Assistant, Lakewood Heritage Center Published by the Jefferson County 12 Homesteading the Elk Creek Valley Historical Commission (JCHC) by Bonnie Scudder & Deborah Darnell Chair: Cynthia Shaw 16 The Tripp Ranch Homestead Writers’ Award—Youth Division JCHC Publications Committee by Ruby Lucken Editor: Ronda Frazier Design & Layout: Doyle Harrison 18 Westernaires: Building Community in Jefferson County By Jacquelyn Bonavia, Collections Assistant, Lakewood Heritage Center Issue 39, 2018 • ISSN 1532-6047 20 The Great Flu Epidemic The information in this magazine is solely provided by the authors. JCHC, by Richard Gardner the Board of County Commissioners and the Publications Committee are not responsible for the opinions of authors or the content of their articles. 24 Golden’s Supreme Sacrifice in World War I by Richard Gardner 27 A Century of Camp Neosho By Meghan M. Vickers, Education Specialist, Hiwan Museum 30 The Evolution of a Local Historical Society By Elaine Hayden, President of Evergreen Mountain Area Historical Society 32 The Missing Sign From Elk Creek Road by Bonnie Scudder 34 The 154-Year Run of the Golden Mill by Richard Gardner 38 The Odyssey of the Territorial Capital Chairs by Richard Gardner 39 History of the 1st Judicial District Now Complete by Bonnie Scudder 40 Putting the Past at Your Fingertips by Ronda Frazier, Jefferson County Archives and Mark Dodge, Golden History Museum & Park 42 The Big History of the Little House on Ford Street Speakers and their topics included John Steinle by Richard Gardner (volunteerism within Jeffco); Bonnie & Richard 45 The Yellow Barn Turns 100 Scudder (efforts to save the Octagon Barn at by Dick Scudder, with Craig Marks Shaffer’s Crossing); Holly Boehm (Cultural Resource 48 Behind the Façade: Renovating the Buffalo Rose Surveys); and Caitlin Lewis (the Past and Future by Richard Gardner of Preservation). Special thanks to JCHC member 51 A Window to the Past Leda Thaler for organizing this educational forum. by Richard Gardner If you already have a complimentary copy of 52 The Arapahoe City Monument: Its History Historically Jeffco, you probably attended the by Richard Gardner October 18 awards dinner at the Boettcher 53 The Arapahoe City Monument: Its Revitalization Mansion, Jeffco’s 1917 Arts & Crafts estate (and By Keith Sorci, Jefferson County Justice Services repurposed special events venue) on top of 55 Saving the Octagon at Shaffer’s Crossing by Bonnie and Dick Scudder Lookout Mountain. There you would have heard us express our heartfelt thanks to everyone who 58 What Should we do with the South Platte Hotel? West Jefferson Middle School 8th Grade Student Historic Preservation Project contributed to the 39th edition of the magazine, by Dennis Dempsey, with Frank Reetz with full gratitude and recognition going to two 61 Conifer Historical Society and Museum indispensable county staffers: Ronda Frazier Norm and Ethel Meyer Award for Historic Preservation in Jefferson County (editor) and Doyle Harrison (graphic designer). We 62 Jefferson County Hall of Fame: Margaret T. Chapman could not have published this hefty tome without 63 Jefferson County Hall of Fame: The Staunton Family them! 64 Jefferson County Historical Commission Cynthia Shaw—Chair Historically Jeffco 2018 1 BUILDING COMMUNITY: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

War Transforms Jefferson County by John Steinle & Meghan M. Vickers orld War II transformed the social, Organizations and Companies Contribut- economic and demographic land- ing to the War Effort in Jefferson County W scape of Jefferson County and the Even before the attack on Pearl Harbor plunged entire United States. The Denver area popula- the nation into war, President Roosevelt and tion exploded as workers and military personnel Congress were preparing for a possible conflict. arrived to work at Lowry and Buckley Air Force The Denver area became especially important Bases, Fitzsimons Army Hospital, the Rocky in supporting the future war effort, since it was Mountain Arsenal, Fort Logan and the Denver considered safe from enemy bombing attack. In Ordnance Plant. The government banned racial order to create a huge ammunition factory, the discrimination in war production, creating the government acquired much of the acreage from first great civil rights advance of the century. As the gigantic Hayden ranch. The factory, known families traveled across the country for work in as the Denver Ordnance Plant, opened in war production, the American population be- Lakewood, Colorado, in September 1941. The came more mobile than it ever had been. Remington Arms Company supervised manu- Jefferson County, Colorado, was vital to the facturing. More than 200 buildings eventually American war effort during World War II. Man- contained more than 22,000 workers, half of ufacturing and training centers supported the them women. The plant could produce an amaz- nation’s struggle to defeat Fascist Italy, Nazi Ger- ing six million .30-caliber rifle and machine gun many and Imperialist Japan. The county’s men rounds a day, plus thousands of artillery shells. Later the plant also produced C-Ration food Workers during and women served valiantly in all the armed shift change at the forces. In turn, the county itself was transformed packages for the armed forces. After the war’s Denver Ordnance as thousands of war workers flocked to the area. end in 1945, the plant closed, and the site was Plant in Lakewood. The construction of new factories and expan- converted to the Denver Federal Center. Almost R.G. Zellers Photographs all the buildings used for war production were Collection (Scan sion of existing ones during wartime brought #20005792), History an 83% increase in Jefferson County’s popula- torn down to make way for the new records and Colorado tion between 1940 and 1950. Many of today’s administration center, and few traces remain of suburbs owe their development to these workers one of the largest ammunition factories in the who stayed here and raised families after the war. world.

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William Heckethorn incorporated Heckethorn Manufacturing and Sup- ply in Littleton, Colorado, in 1938. During World War II, the Heckethorn Company (known as HECO) made 20mm artillery shells and mortar fuses for the armed services. The fuses were used to ignite chemical mortar shells for the large 4.2-inch mortar dubbed the “goon gun” by troops during the in- vasion of Italy. By 1945, Heco was the largest business in Littleton, employing some 1,100 workers. They produced Heckethorn Corporation, known as HECO, an amazing 50 million projectiles of manufactured millions of rounds of mortar and artillery ammunition during WWII. different types during the War. Gradu- From the collection of the Littleton Museum. May not be ally, the company moved its operations reproduced in any form without permission of the Littleton to Tennessee and in 1957 the Littleton Museum. plant closed permanently.

HECO had its own employee newspaper. From the collection of the Littleton Museum. May not be reproduced in any form without permission of the Littleton Museum.

Buildings under construction at the Denver Ordnance Plant. Below: The crowded parking lot at the Denver Ordnance Plant. R.G. Zellers Photographs Collection (Scan #20005799), History Colorado R.G. Zellers Photographs Collection (Scan #20005798), History Colorado

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The training paid off as Mines graduates served outstandingly from North Africa to the Pacific. Approximately 1,000 School of Mines students participated in the ROTC program during World War II. When Margaret Evans Davis, granddaughter of Territorial Governor John Evans, learned that convalescing servicemen at Fitzsimons Army Hospital in Aurora, Colorado, needed a quiet location in which to recover, she offered her own cabin at Davis Ranch west of Evergreen. Mrs. Evans’ son served as a Navy pilot in the Pacific. From 1943 to 1945, small groups of men from Coleman Motors The Coleman Motors Company in Littleton Fitzsimons found a week of rest and peace in the in Littleton manufactured was famous for the power of its four-wheel drive secluded forest cabin. Mrs. Evans’ relatives keep hundreds of heavy vehicles designed by Harleigh Holmes. During and cherish the guest book in which many ser- vehicles for the U.S. World War II, Coleman produced 720 10-ton vicemen signed their names and expressed their Army during WWII. From the collection of the trailers to carry light tanks, plus hundreds of gratitude. Littleton Museum. May truck-mounted cranes and other heavy work- Postwar Jefferson County not be reproduced in any horse vehicles. After the war, ownership shifted, form without permission of the Littleton Museum. and the company name changed to American- Pundits expected a postwar recession in the Coleman. In 1968 the company was purchased United States like the one following World War by Kansas City Southern Industries, Inc. and I. The recession never materialized. Instead, de- operations were gradually moved to Kansas City, cades of unparalleled prosperity followed World Missouri. War II as the wartime economic boom extended through the 1950s and 1960s. Several wartime Camp George West, on the outskirts of Golden, phenomena sparked this enormous growth. Colorado, was established in 1903 as a summer training area for the Colorado National Guard. The G.I. Bill, signed by President Roosevelt in During the 1930s, the camp’s permanent build- 1944, was one influential cause. The bill pro- ings were constructed by the Works Progress Ad- vided for low interest home loans for veterans, ministration, the camp was formally designated with no down payment required and with new Camp George West, and the post became a per- home building encouraged. This provision in manent National Guard training and logistical the bill created an enormous surge in postwar facility. During World War II the camp housed subdivisions and contributed to the move to the training schools for 200 guard dogs and for mili- suburbs by returning veterans and their families. tary police. About 35 German prisoners of war Jefferson County was no exception. were also held there. The historic buildings at the camp, with their distinctive native rock ar- chitecture, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Many students at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden enlisted in the U.S. Army Pages of the Davis during World War I, serving in Company A, Ranch guest book 115th Engineers, in the 40th “Sunshine” Division with notes from in France. After the War, the School of Mines servicemen who stayed there during was rewarded by becoming one of the first four WWII. colleges in the U.S. authorized to create a Re- Elaine Hayden serve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) program.

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The baby boom was another factor adding to originally intended to stop at Denver. Building the urge for new homes in the suburbs. The ef- I-70 required a gigantic cut through the hogback fects of the Great Depression and World War II west of Golden and other alterations to the foot- led many people to delay marrying and starting hills landscape. families. After the war, they delayed no longer Along with new roads and suburbs and the baby boomer generation, born between came a new venue for commerce—the 1946 and 1964, includes more than 76 million shopping center. (The term “mall” did people. Rather than living in aging buildings in not arrive until later.) Among the first noisy, crime-ridden inner cities, many families shopping centers in Jefferson County chose to raise their children in quiet, homoge- were the Woodlawn Shopping Center neous neighborhoods in the new subdivisions. in Littleton (opened in 1955-57), West- By 1960, suburbanites were 40% of the entire land Shopping Center on West Colfax U.S. population. (built in 1960), and the much larger Vil- In just one community—Littleton—the popula- la Italia Mall in Lakewood (constructed tion jumped from 2,244 in 1940 to 13,670 by in 1966). Along with shopping centers, 1960 as 98 new subdivisions were built. Golden drive-in restaurants and drive-in movie doubled its population during that same time, theaters also thrived. while Arvada grew from 332 acres in 1945 to During the Golden Age of American 1,932 in 1956 due to annexation. The growth automobile tourism in the 1950s and in Jefferson County sparked by World War 1960s, the equilibrium between wag- II meant that the county population grew by es and prices, and the vacation time 129% between 1950 and 1960. The suburbs available to many workers, meant that transformed the Jefferson County landscape as American families traveled more than they crept relentlessly outward. Formerly empty ever before. One of the main cross- ranchland blossomed with often identical tract country highways, U.S. Route 40, ran homes, many located on cul-de-sacs that allowed through Denver and its western sub- planners to somewhat accommodate the existing urbs along Colfax Avenue. To accom- land forms. modate tourists, colorful restaurants A new architectural style, the ranch or California and motels—many of them still in business— The Lakewood Lodge and Trails ranch home, evolved as the suburbs grew. Adapt- were built with distinctive neon signs, statues End Motel on West ed from old-time ranch houses, plus Frank Lloyd and architectural details to attract attention. To- Colfax Avenue Wright’s Prairie Style and Usonian houses, the day they stand as reminders that the main artery in Lakewood are suburban ranch home has been called a “temple for national tourism once ran right through the examples of the colorful motel to the family,” not divided into public and pri- heart of local communities. signage that lured vate spaces like earlier home designs. Sprawling, After the development of the atomic bomb dur- tourists along Route single-story homes, usually with a garage or car- 40. Davies’ Chuck ing World War II and with the rise of the Cold Wagon Diner with port, occupied spacious lots with pristine, Ken- War, the Atomic Energy Commission began its giant cowboy, has tucky bluegrass lawns ill-suited to Colorado’s looking for a site to secretly develop a new bomb been a landmark in arid climate. The “Cape Cod” style house, with the area since 1957. factory to produce these devastating weapons. John Steinle a more traditional look often featuring a brick They chose a site northwest of Denver. This site, fireplace, dormers, white clapboard siding and a called Rocky Flats, was responsible for produc- pillared front porch, was also very popular. ing the plutonium triggers necessary for nuclear It was the automobile that made the new sub- weapons. New housing developments were be- urbs possible, as residents commuted to their gun in 1951 and the plant itself opened under a jobs in urban centers. To facilitate commuting great deal of secrecy in early 1952. By 1957 there and shopping, the landscape was transformed were almost 1,600 workers and by 1969 there again as new highways and roads were built, were over 3,500 workers employed at Rocky with the most important being Interstate 70, Flats. These workers and their families all needed

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housing and services, which needed to be built In 1961 the Martin Company merged with in the areas surrounding the plant. American-Marietta Corporation, known for Numerous accidents and environmental con- chemical production as well as sand and grav- tamination, coupled with accusations of cover- el mining. The result was Martin Marietta. In ups and lawsuits over declining property values turn, in 1995 Martin Marietta merged with the and serious health concerns, led to a Department Lockheed Corporation, an aerospace company, of Justice raid conducted by the FBI and EPA in and became Lockheed Martin. In 2005 Lock- 1989. In 2001, Congress passed the Rocky Flats heed Martin announced that all rocket building Wildlife Refuge Act which led to the eventual would move to Alabama in a joint venture with transfer of almost 4,000 acres from the Depart- Boeing; at this time the Waterton Canyon lo- ment of Energy to the Fish and Wildlife Service cation would be converted to satellite engineer- to create recreational space. The area became the ing under the name United Launch Alliance, site of a $7.7 billion Superfund clean-up, which an extension of the partnership with Boeing. In officially ended in 2005. While the central por- August of 2017 Lockheed Martin announced tion deemed too contaminated for human use is that the company would begin production on a off-limits, the surrounding areas are scheduled $350 million satellite production facility at the to open to public recreation in 2018. The site is Waterton Canyon location. The factory is sched- still the topic of heated controversy over safety uled to be completed in 2020; the construction and government’s role in the protection of its alone will employ 1,500 contractors. Out of the citizens. 97,000 worldwide Lockheed Martin employees, more than 4,000 of those are currently employed What we now know as Lockheed Martin grew at the Littleton location. out of several companies, including the Glenn L. Martin Company. During the height of the World War II began the transformation of Jef- Cold War, in the late 1950s, the Glenn L. Mar- ferson County from a primarily agricultural area tin Company (known for aircraft and aerospace surrounding several small communities with few manufacturing) decided to build its new Titan paved roadways, into a heavily populated subur- missile factory in Waterton Canyon; the location ban region marked by huge residential subdivi- The Glenn L. Martin in the interior of the country was attractive for sions intersected by major interstate highways. Company missile The expansion begun during World War II ex- test site in Waterton its relative security compared to previous coastal Canyon, where the aerospace manufacturing. The facility produced tended into the prosperous 1950s and 1960s, mighty Titan rockets and tested the Titan I and Titan II interconti- and the growth sparked by that conflict contin- were test-fired. ues to be a major factor in Jefferson County life From the collection of the nental ballistic missiles, the most powerful the Littleton Museum. May nation had to offer. The community of Littleton to this day. not be reproduced in any Works cited: form without permission primarily grew out of the need for workers to Ames, David L. “Interpreting Post-World War II Landscapes as of the Littleton Museum. staff the factory during the space race years. Historic Resources.” Preserving the Recent Past, (1995). https://www. nps.gov/nr/publications/bulletins/suburbs/resources.htm. Bunyak Research Associates, Front Range Research Associates. “Denver Area Post-World War II Suburbs.” Report No. CDOT-2011-6, Final Report. Colorado Department of Transportation, April 2011. Fillion, Roger. “50 Years of Rocket Building Coming to Close in Colorado.” Rocky Mountain News, May 9, 2005. Finley, Bruce. “Activists File Challenge.” Denver Post, May 2, 2018, 1A. Iversen, Kristen. Full Body Burden. New York: Crown Publishers, 2012. Sevits, Kurt. “New $350M Lockheed Martin Facility to Create 1,500 Construction Jobs Over 3 Years.” TheDenverChannel.com, August 2, 2017. SWCA Environmental Consultants. “Arvada: From Farming Community to Atomic Age Suburb, Historic Building Survey of Olde Town Arvada and the Allendale and Alta Vista Neighborhoods.” Prepared for City of Arvada. March 2015. Tomasso, Diane Wray. “Historic Context of Littleton Colorado 1949- 1967.” Prepared for Office of Community Development, Littleton Colorado. July 31, 2008. 6 Historically Jeffco 2018 BUILDING COMMUNITY: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

Building Community Along West Colfax Avenue by Kristen Autobee nderstanding historical communities consensus being “yes” because their honey was can shed light on modern ones. From thicker and harder to move. The June 1882 Fair Uthe mid 1860s to the early 1880s, West was postponed a week due to the “lateness of the Colfax Avenue area farmers and orchardists season, rendering a display of strawberries im- swapped stories, produce and techniques. This possible.” community of like-minded producers grew to A community of eastern Jefferson County dairy- Lakewood Grange eventually include those from several counties men came together in 1887 to find a suitable with Lakewood and Wheat Ridge farmers pro- No. 172 was location near a railroad to centralize dairy pro- founded in 1909. viding the leadership to formalize Colorado’s duction for the Denver market. The problem, This community State Horticultural Society. Although Arapahoe according to the Denver Republican of May 6, donated both County was represented by the most members money and energy 1887, was that “the rapid building up of the sub- to build their new in the 1880s, Jefferson County’s own Martin N. urbs and fencing of nearly all the country round meeting hall in Everett, David Brothers, Salkeld Smith and Val- about has absorbed the entire range for many 1928. Still standing entine Devinney were among the organizers and at West 14th Avenue miles.” Many, it seemed, expected dairy prices and Brentwood first officers. to rise due to the distance horse-powered trans- Street, the building The Horticultural Society’s lively meeting min- portation moved both hay and alfalfa to feed was dedicated on Oct. 6, 1928. This utes record animated discussions on the best cows and final products to markets. Names like photograph was grapes for Colorado, plans for fairs, and debates Lacteal and Milkville were suggested for the new possibly taken on as to whether bees in the west were cross (dis- physical community. that day. Lakewood Heritage agreeable) compared to bees in the east—the Center

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Thomas McGinty was one dairyman consider- William and Miranda Loveland and their part- ing this problem. He owned the Green Moun- ner Charles Welch included the ideas of school, tain Creamery, had 60 cows and purchased the church and park in their 1889 Lakewood plat, cream from an additional 60 cows. His custom- but they did not include a business district. Nei- ers included famous Denver restaurants like the ther did any other West Colfax Avenue plat, as if Albany and Capital, as well as Elitch’s. McGinty it were assumed that necessary businesses would and the others in the dairy community were find their own convenient corners along the only seven miles from their Denver customers, routes commuters traveled. These early land de- but they seemed to fear that transportation by velopers who purchased land with the intent of railroad gave the Brighton Creamery (19 miles creating a subdivision were not building a town, away) an economic advantage. they were building a suburb. Lakewood Subdivi- Although Judge Jacob Downing’s ranch (Den- sion residents would commute to work in Denver ver Federal Center and east to Garrison Street) or Golden on the Denver, Lakewood and Golden was convenient land, and the Atchison & To- Railroad. peka Road was This was not the case with the Denver Hardware the most ame- Manufacturing Company where owners and in- nable, the dairy- vestors created a town around their factory located men had to find near Brentwood Street and West 13th Avenue. other immedi- They opened a company store and applied for a ate solutions to post office in 1892. William Robb’s application the rising costs to be the first postmaster described Lakewood as of transporta- a “new manufacturing village. Factory and dwell- tion. At the same ings, 100 settlers now living close by.” The United time, very real States Post Office granted the Lakewood postmark suburban build- and when the factory burned in 1896, then Post- up started with master Joseph Wight relocated operations to his the 1888 West house near West Colfax Avenue and Dover Street. Colfax Subdivi- The community created by the factory remained sion on the south and grew. At Carr Street, a business district be- side of West Col- gan to emerge when the Kummer Store opened fax Avenue near in 1904. Kummer’s hosted the original Lakewood Sheridan Bou- telephone exchange and briefly, the meetings of levard. By the Lakewood Grange No. 172. Residents of later turn of the 20th planned communities, such as the 1919 Glens One of the West century, agribusiness was still alive and well, but subdivision, took advantage of existing and con- Colfax Subdivision community leaders like Devinney had retired Plats showing venient shopping, community services and trans- blocks and lots for and Salkeld Smith had passed away. The local portation routes. houses but without Grange movement focused on ever smaller geo- a defined business graphic communities. Dairyman Joseph Jonke and family, contempo- district. raries of the Lovelands and Welch, settled at Ben- Jefferson County Archives Unlike these organic communities that devel- ton Street, north of West Colfax Avenue. Like oped for mutual benefit, the subdivisions that Thomas McGinty, Jonke’s West Side Dairy deliv- threatened them were planned residential spaces. ered milk to customers in Denver. He watched an There were three different kinds of planned com- increasing number of auto tourists traveling on munities on West Colfax Avenue: communities West Colfax Avenue and camping on the edge of planned by developers, businesses that created his fields. He continued to deliver milk by horse new jobs and attracted new residents, and farm- and cart into the 1910s, and in the 1920s began ers who realized that land sales or leasing might renting land and buildings to businesses like Par- be more profitable than another late season. amount Gasoline.

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Jonke’s leasing scheme enabled fami- to identify all the members. Many geographic areas focusing on subdi- lies like the Bloyds to rent a house and non-Lakewood subdivision residents visions and neighborhoods. Today’s the building where they opened their identified as “Lakewood” because gardening and farming communities Eagle Cafe during the depression of their children attended the Lake- can appreciate the historic problems the 1930s. The Rody family rented wood School, their mail came to the of a late season. The modern farm-to- a building for their barber shop and Lakewood post office, their telephone table community can appreciate the living quarters from Jonke. And Mrs. was on the Lakewood exchange, they idea that locally produced goods are Beulah Trout rented a building for her shopped at the Lakewood Market and not always the least expensive. And, piano studio where she gave music les- Lakewood Lumber Yard, and they ate creating one community out of many sons to neighborhood children. Jonke lunch at the Lakewood Cafe. In the communities is harder than it looks. may not have created the community, end, this first incorporation attempt Works cited: but he played host to several as every failed because its leaders didn’t iden- Autobee, Robert, and Kristen Autobee, with Lakewood’s Heritage Center. Early Lakewood. barbershop and cafe had regulars who tify and include everyone who self- Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2011. came to socialize. identified as “from Lakewood.” Colorado State Horticultural Society. Colorado Horticultural Report for the Years 1882, 1883, and Leaders of Lakewood’s 1946 incorpo- So what ideas can we take away from 1884, Vol. 1. Denver, CO: Daily Evening Times P rint, ration movement faced the difficulty these early West Colfax communities? 1884. of uniting mutual benefit and busi- Long before Lakewood incorporated, Denver Republican, May 6, 1887. ness communities, and neighbor- like-minded citizens formed commu- Milne, Faye. Notes on the Jonke Family. Unpublished. hoods and social communities into nities for mutual benefit and friend- Mountain States Telephone & Telegraph Company. one political community. A neighbor- ship. Communities did not all form Telephone Directory: Arvada, Broomfield, Golden, hood might have defined boundaries organically, as late 19th and early Hazeltine, Lakewood. Self-published, 1947. National Archives and Records Administration, based on its subdivision plat. A mu- 20th century planners attempted to Broomfield, CO., Records of the United States Postal tual benefit community may have for- create communities for financial gain. Service, microfilm M-841, Roll 14, Vol. 73, 1891-1901. malized membership requirements. Platting of farm land along West Col- Wilcox, Patricia K., Ed. Lakewood, Colorado: An Illustrated Biography. Lakewood, CO: Lakewood’s But business and social communities fax Avenue in 1888 started a trend 25th Anniversary Commission, 1994. often self-select, and it can be difficult toward communities with smaller Do You Have Old Photos to Share? We all have boxes or albums of old photos laying around that we don’t know what to do with. Don’t throw them away! The Archives carefully preserves photos in order to share them with current and future generations. Original photo- Jefferson County Archives is trying to build its photo- graphs are preferred, but we can also scan selected photos graph collections and is interested in your snapshots for the archives and return the originals, or keep the originals and photos of people and places around Jefferson and send digital copies of your favorites back to you. County. We’d love to talk to you about the possibility of donating your photos to our collections.

For more information, please contact Ronda Frazier, Jefferson County Archivist. 303-271-8448 or email [email protected]

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Glen Creighton: Ahead of its Time By Aileen Lowrie, Collections Assistant, Lakewood Heritage Center he historic development of the Denver Peter G. Rowe, an architect and urban designer, region has, as a rule, followed a rectilin- acknowledged “a simple rectilinear street layout Tear grid pattern for its roadways. Streets encouraged through traffic within a residential meeting at right angles and running parallel to subdivision, diminishing public safety and pro- one another are the norm in this area because as viding a costly excess of street capacity at low the metro area grew, plans exclusively followed residential densities. Finally, subdivisions that a north-south, east-west alignment for streets. remained large and undifferentiated in appear- This grid arrangement followed the Public Land ance often became regarded as overly uniform Survey System’s previously devised layout of and monotonous.” To fix these challenges, com- townships, ranges and sections. A neighborhood munity planners and developers embraced de- in what is now Lakewood, Colorado, was one of sign concepts less convenient for vehicle traffic the first subdivisions in the area which eschewed and more inclusive for pedestrians and members Glen Creighton sales brochure cover, circa the grid pattern and embraced curving streets, of the subdivision community. These included 1920s creating a hierarchy of roadways through the de- creating a hierarchy of roadways, curving street Kristen Autobee velopment. paths, loop roads and cul-de-sacs. Beginning This neighborhood was christened Glen in 1934 the Federal Housing Administration’s Creighton by developer Cyrus Creighton Land Planning Division embraced the changing in 1923. Cyrus and Marie Creighton drove subdivision concept and developed guidelines west from Kansas in 1920 along the Vic- featuring curving streets, streets aligned with tory Highway, a segment of which is now natural features, “Y” and “T” intersections, long West Colfax Avenue. They reached the blocks, and minimum street widths and lot sizes. land outside Denver that would later be- Glen Creighton served as an early example of a come Lakewood and purchased an 80-acre successful subdivision which sought to create a farm and orchard. The land was purchased community for its residents rather than just a from George Peabody, but instead of con- continuation of the urban grid development so tinuing its agricultural roots the Creight- convenient for automobile traffic. ons established a housing development. Cyrus Creighton knew he had an exciting design Creighton developed his subdivision fol- for the new neighborhood. Through the distinc- lowing a plan developed by landscape tive design of curving roads, irregularly shaped architects DeBoer and Pesman. Saco R. large lots and a park at its center, Creighton en- DeBoer worked for many years planning deavored to create an “exclusive residential com- Denver’s city parks. He was first hired munity of narrow winding streets and real estate in 1910 by the Denver Parks and Recre- covenants designed to ensure a community of ation Department and went on to impress substantial wealth and social status.” In an at- Mayor Robert W. Speer by developing tempt to lure wealthy residents, promotional the plan for Sunken Garden Park on the materials read: banks of Cherry Creek. The roadway that Glen Creighton is strictly a residence park. No stores runs along this garden park was later re- or anything of a business nature will be permitted. named Speer Boulevard. With this success and The winding streets and avenues make a much more many others within the Denver city park system, beautiful lay-out than the ordinary city platting. It is DeBoer became the region’s most prominent protected with a building restriction of four thousand landscape architect and planner. dollars, the least possible amount to assume neat, at- tractive homes . . . one of the greatest inducements for Creighton and DeBoer were ahead of their time people to live in the suburbs rather than in the incor- by nearly a decade, but by the 1930s develop- poration of Denver, is the low taxes. Live in GLEN ers began to see the benefit of curving streets. CREIGHTON and cut your taxes in half.

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New homeowners in the neighborhood built a Glen Creighton pump house at few Tudor-style brick homes, but construction original location, lagged during the difficult years of the Great De- 19th and Glen Ayr. pression and World War II. After the war dur- 1924 ing the ensuing construction boom, home styles Lakewood Heritage Center seen in less exclusive neighborhoods began to fill Glen Creighton’s blocks. By 2015, Glen Creigh- ton included 140 homes and had maintained its secluded character, despite its proximity to West Colfax Avenue which had grown substantially since Cyrus and Marie drove down it. Glen Creighton residents continue to hold ditch rights for yard watering and gardening, but drinking water is supplied by the Consolidated Mutual Water Company. This was not always the case, and as with most Lakewood neigh- borhoods, Glen Creighton has a long history of water rights ownership. When Glen Creigh- ton began, Cyrus Creighton developed a water pump system for his subdivision. The pump house which sheltered the pump machinery for this system stood at the intersection of Glen Ayr Road and West 19th Avenue in the subdivision. The pump house was moved to the Lakewood Heritage Center in 1991 and a restoration was completed in 1995. The pump house is used to- day as an interpretive tool for telling the story of the suburban development of the Lakewood area and how water influenced that development.

Works cited: Autobee, Robert, and Kristen Autobee. West Colfax Avenue Historic Resources Survey. Lakewood, CO: 40 West Arts District, 2016. Bunyak Research Associates, Front Range Research Associates. “Denver Area Post-World War II Suburbs.” Report No. CDOT-2011-6, Final Report. Colorado Department of Transportation, April 2011. Engineering Department of City of Lakewood CO. “Utilities.” City of Lakewood. Last modified 2018. Accessed May 11, 2018. http:// www.lakewood.org/utilities/ Lakewood Herritage Center Institutional Archives. Glen Creighton Pump House and Matthews Water Tower, n.d. Rowe, Peter G. Making a Middle Landscape. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, 1991. United States Geological Survey. “The National Map Small Scale.” Last modified 2018. Accessed May 8, 2018. https://nationalmap. gov/small_scale/a_plss.html

Plat of Glen Creighton Subdivision, filed May 1923, showing its unconventional street pattern. Jefferson County Archives

Historically Jeffco 2018 11 BUILDING COMMUNITY: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

Homesteading the Elk Creek Valley by Bonnie Scudder & Deborah Darnell he Homestead Act of 1862 was signed plete house kits from Montgomery Ward, could by President Lincoln on May 20, 1862, now be shipped via the rails, making homestead- Tduring the Civil War and provided that ing much easier than in earlier years. any adult citizen or intended citizen could claim By 1934, over 1.6 million homestead applica- 160 acres of surveyed government land. Claim- tions had been processed and more than 270 Homestead Act ants were required to live five years on the land million acres, 10% of all U.S. lands, passed into commemorative and to “improve” the plot by building a dwell- stamp, 1962 the hands of individuals. The average grant was ing and cultivating the land. Ironically, the Wikimedia Commons a quarter section, or 160 acres. In 1936, the Act required a dwelling of 12 x 14 but Homestead National Monument was estab- failed to state feet or inches. Some lished near Beatrice, Nebraska, to commemorate land speculators took advantage of the changes to the nation brought about by the the vague language and built very Homestead Act. The Act was repealed in 1976 by small houses! the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, Prior to the Homestead Act, land with a 10-year extension on claims in Alaska. could be purchased for $1.25 an Homesteading in the Elk Creek Valley acre. However, with the large influx of immigrants in the 1850s, the idea All the land in Staunton State Park was owned of homesteading became more popular. Political at one time by homesteaders beginning in the opposition came from Northern factory owners late 19th century. Most early homesteaders, such who feared a mass departure of their cheap la- as Anton Glasmann and Samuel Cunningham, bor force and Southerners who worried that the homesteaded large tracts. Cunningham earned West would be settled by farmers who would be his 160 acres in 1886. None of his land, how- against slavery. In 1862, this second objection ever, is in Staunton State Park. It is in the Elk was moot since 11 states had already seceded Falls Ranch subdivision. Anton Glasmann, from the Union. The Glasmanns had quite a fine ranch, which circa 1885 Park County Archives Six months after the Homestead Act was passed, Anton began to build in 1885. He was drawn the Railroad Act was signed. By May 1869, a to the Elk Creek Valley because it reminded Lion’s Head Ranch, transcontinental railroad stretched across the him of his homeland in Germany. Located at circa 1905 frontier. Manufactured items, including com- the base of Lion’s Head at the intersection of Park County Archives North and South Elk Creek, his ranch had sev- eral buildings. It is said that Glasmann spent 15 years searching for the Reynolds Gang’s hidden gold in a large cave on his property. If this was true, then someone else in the family may have tended to the business of running the homestead ranch, raising crops and livestock, and children. Or perhaps he did the searching when his chores were completed. Glasmann died in 1900. His wife Caroline, also from Germany, had raised three children before her death in 1891. After Anton’s death, his daughter Louisa Glasmann Meanea and her husband, Theodore, ran the Lion’s Head Ranch for another 20 years. In 1920, the Lion’s Head Ranch was sold to John Jensen for $1,300.

12 Historically Jeffco 2018 BUILDING COMMUNITY: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

Homesteading the Staunton Ranch dence on the land on June 25, 1918, and that Left: Glasmann ranch house, circa The Staunton Ranch was also built on home- the house was completed in August of 1918. The early 1900s stead claims starting with Dr. Archibald G. family lived in a tent while the house was being Park County Archives Staunton’s large holdings of 680 acres. Staunton built. The house was enlarged and remodeled in Right: Catherine obtained four homestead patents starting in 1919 and 1920. “Birdie” Hurlbutt on her parents’ ranch 1918, and they were proven in 1922 and 1923. According to the regulations, the Stauntons were on Elk Creek, circa The Staunton Ranch grew to encompass 1,720 required to summarize the dates when they lived 1925 acres, which included the acquisition of home- on the homesteaded land, and when they were Brian Youll Collection steads originally owned by Moses Mason (160 absent. Rachael usually arrived in April and de- acres), D. Dennison (80 acres), B. Ames (80 parted in November. Archibald described the acres), John E. Denver (520 acres), J. Cruse (80 Staunton Patent, land as “rugged and mountainous, and rough.” 1922 acres), J. Ray (80 acres), and Briscoe (40 acres). Approximately 10 acres were cultivated. The General Land Office Dennison proved his homestead in 1891; it was Stauntons had cows, horses and burros, and Records the earliest homestead on what would later be the Staunton Ranch. Stephen and Bessie Blaine owned that property next. Moses Mason proved his homestead in 1904, and Mason Creek origi- nates on this property; Ray later owned this land, before it transferred to Staunton. Over the years the Stauntons acquired several of these properties from the original homesteaders (Den- ver, Cruse and Ray); the remaining parcels were sold or transferred to the Stauntons through later owners. The Staunton Family became homesteaders in June of 1918. Dr. Rachael Staunton was the one who lived on the land for seven months each year, raising crops and livestock, treating patients and delivering babies. Archibald completed and filed annual reports to the Secretary of the Interior. In his “Final Proof Testimony of Claimant,” dated March 20, 1922, he stated that he was a native- born U.S. citizen, married with one daughter. He further stated that he first established resi-

Historically Jeffco 2018 13 BUILDING COMMUNITY: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

Homestead map raised oats and potatoes. Remnants of the fields showing Chase and Dines property, can be seen now in the terraces near the Staunton homesteaded by H. cabin. Groth in 1891 Homesteaders had to describe in detail any im- H. Groth Property 1891 Jefferson County Chase and Dines families 1971 provements made to the property and the cost. E lk C r Records show that the Stauntons reported build- ee k Rd ing the house, adding on to it, growing crops . and adding wire fences. The Davis Ranch: The Davis Ranch (960 acres) Sha er’s was originally homesteaded by A. Lesser (120), Crossing 285 H. Richards (160), G. Holdren (320), W. Dougherty (80), and G. Groth (160). Charles and Armelia Hurlbutt purchased around 500 acres of this land in 1919 and homesteaded an additional 80 acres. The rest of the Hurlbutt Falls Ranch. Elmer Berg, who married Jensen’s Ranch was purchased from several other parties, daughter, Alice (Sally), also acquired substantial including the Shaffer family. Catherine “Birdie” acreage, significantly increasing the size of the Hurlbutt, was their daughter and a close, life- Elk Falls Ranch. long friend of Frances Staunton. The Hurlbutt The Chase and Dines Properties: This 160-acre Ditch, which was on the northwestern portion parcel was homesteaded by H. Groth in 1891. of their ranch, served as an irrigation ditch and This land went through several owners before took water from Black Mountain Creek, a tribu- being purchased separately in 1971 by the Chase tary of Elk Creek. The Davis family acquired the and Dines families. Mary Coyle Chase, a famous ranch from the Hurlbutts and raised hay, horses playwright and author of “Harvey”, and her hus- and cattle. About 100 acres of this land, includ- band Robert, and Colorado State Senator Allen ing several houses and barns, are still owned by Dines and his wife Audrey, had built nice homes Keith and Judi Davis. in the 1970s. Both properties are now part of The Elk Falls Ranch: The 1,040 acres of the Elk Staunton State Park. Falls Ranch also consisted of numerous home- Building the Elk Creek Community steads once held by J. Powers (160), R. Stellway From the “earliest peoples” and the Ute Indians, (340), J. Miles (160), J. Eoff (40), L. Corbin who inhabited the Elk Creek Valley during the (40), M. Crampton (200), R. Pomeroy (60), and summers and perhaps the winters as well, to the A. Glasmann (40). In addition to Glasmann, homesteaders who began arriving in the 1870s, who proved his homestead in 1892, Pomeroy communities-of-sorts have existed in this valley. also took ownership in 1892. While John Jen- These families knew each other and depended sen later owned the Elk Falls Ranch, he was not Elk Falls Ranch, circa upon each other. The Stauntons were a good ex- 1940s a homesteader. He acquired ranches, including ample of this. Dr. Rachael Staunton lived on the Bob Phelps Collection the Lion’s Head Ranch, and built the large Elk land much of the year. They did not have a tele- phone, at least not in their early days. Catherine Hurlbutt wrote that the Stauntons would come to their ranch, next door, to use the telephone. Rachael delivered babies in the area. Charles Hurlbutt quickly rode his horse to fetch Ra- chael when his wife went into labor. The doctor grabbed her bag and quickly accompanied him back to the Hurlbutt Ranch to deliver their son. Frances Staunton rode her pony over and was the baby’s first visitor. 14 Historically Jeffco 2018 BUILDING COMMUNITY: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

During the days of children’s summer camps, Works cited: Alderfer, Hank. Mountain Area Land Trust Armchair Adventure, facilities at the Elk Falls Ranch as well as the 2009. Staunton (aka Lazy V) Ranch provided a com- “Civil War on the Western Border.” Kansas City Public Library. munity for the summer campers. Brochures ad- Accessed June 7, 2018. http://civilwaronthewesternborder.org/ vertised the store at Shaffer’s Crossing as a place Elk Falls, Colorado. Accessed June 7, 2018. http://elkfalls.com/ “General Land Office Records.” U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Bureau where campers could buy items like postage of Land Management. Accessed June 7, 2018. https://glorecords. stamps. blm.gov/default.aspx Santivasci, Charlene. Shaffer- Pioneer Family Album. This sense of community extended down to Scudder, Bonnie. The Secrets of Elk Creek: Shaffers Crossing, Staunton Shaffer’s Crossing, as evidenced by letters found State Park, and Beyond. Pine, Colorado: Elk Creek Publishing, 2013. in the Staunton Collection at History Colorado’s Staunton Collection. Stephen H. Hart Library, History Colorado, Denver, Colorado. Stephen H. Hart Library. Isham Jones and his U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). brother, Sam, helped Archie in caring for Mr. Bean, an old man who lived in a small cabin (long gone) near Black Mountain Creek on the Staunton Ranch. They also helped Archie with chores, such as providing firewood. The Shaffer’s Crossing community is another good example. It was originally homesteaded in 1873 and 1877. These lands transferred several times before the Shaffers arrived in 1902. Com- munities at Shaffer’s Crossing had been previ- ously referred to as Willowville, Belleville and Urmston. In the early 1900s, this community included a sawmill, post office, church, school, blacksmith shop, store, quite a few homes and an interesting building known as the Octagon. The Shaffer’s Crossing, historic Elk Creek Octagon served as the grange, circa 1910 Buckwalter Collection community hall, school, church, barn, and a (Scan #20030294), History very popular dance hall… the place where the Colorado community came together for many decades.

Historically Jeffco 2018 15 BUILDING COMMUNITY: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

The Tripp Ranch Homestead Writers’ Award—Youth Division by Ruby Lucken s I sat on my porch, gazing off into the six-top oven, which is sitting rusted from my open space next to my house, I noticed a house view. Next they had to find a way to get A stream with concrete over it. It was where water because they needed to cook, wash and a bubbly spring came down from the mountain take baths. So they got water from the spring to the Tripp Ranch homestead 90 years ago and that ran right next to the house. John Tripp built right next to my house now. a concrete cover over the spring to keep the wa- Tripp Ranch home- ter clean. That concrete cover is what is nestled stead was located at alongside my home. the base of Lookout The Tripps had fields of crops like oats and bar- Mountain. John ley. Using walking plows and hay rakes, they E. Tripp bought farmed the fields. On the ranch there was also the 40 acre home- a milk house made out of concrete and rock to stead on March 11, keep the milk cool and a spring house which col- 1930, for $1000. lected the water. There were many buildings on The Tripps thought the ranch, including a barn, calf shed, chicken it was a good time house, bunkhouse, meat house, coal shed, an to buy a ranch be- outhouse, silo, blacksmith shop and more. cause they want- The Tripps had a family business. They were ed to work for ranchers and farmers so they sold a lot of their themselves. They crops in the town of Golden. Especially milk ranched on 40 acres from their milk house. Kinney Run Trail used to and rented another be a railroad track. That’s how the Tripps trans- 120 acres for pas- ported their milk and crops to town to sell. If ture land. you’ve ever been down Kinney Run Trail, the The Tripp stone They started off building their homestead, which limestone kiln right next to the path, also called house, close to where Ruby’s house was where my house sits now. It was a small “the brick chimney,” was on their property. It is today, and behind house. Because of the Depression, they couldn’t cooked bricks which then got transported along which is where buy many materials so to build the house they the same railroad tracks to town to build hous- Shelton Elementary used native rocks and cemented them together. es. It was not active after the Tripps bought the schoolyard is today, 1937. The floor was made out of lumber. They had a land, though. All photos Karen Tripp When John Tripp’s son Ralph was in the mili- Grant tary, John’s oldest daughter sold all the land, ex- cept for two acres that was saved for Ralph, after John died. Because there was a recession at the time, she entered into what Karen Tripp Grant, John’s granddaughter, called a “really bad land deal.” According to Karen, the land deal agree- ment said that the buyers only had to pay a small Ralph leading Blondie in the amount of interest each year for the land sold pasture, which is to them. However, after this went on for several now Crawford Street years and the Tripp family was going into debt with homes, in front of where Karen Tripp because of property taxes, Ralph found a clause Grant currently lives, in the agreement that said if the developers sold undated.

16 Historically Jeffco 2018 BUILDING COMMUNITY: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

Left: John Tripp, Sr. and wife in front of old stone house on their homestead, 1965. Right: House built on Ralph’s remaining 2 acres, where it still sits today off the Kinney Run Trail, 1963.

The stone house was eventually bulldozed to make room for the Tripp Ranch subdi- any part of the property, that they had to pay vision in the 1990s. the whole thing off completely to the Tripps. He The grandchildren of knew that Jefferson County was looking for a John Tripp still live new place to build a school, and got them in- on two acres. And, terested in the land. So when Jefferson County I can still see the bought part of the property to build Shelton El- remains of the old ementary, that developer had to pay the Tripps milk shed and hear On the Kinney Run for the rest of the property. The developers then the bubbling spring next to my house after a heavy rain or Spring snow melt. Trail, Karen Tripp and sold the rest to Genesee Homes. family walking to Works cited: the Sheltons’, 1964. Jefferson County wanted to name the school Grant, Karen Tripp (Johns Tripp’s granddaughter). Interview with Tripp Ranch Elementary, but Karen said that author, April 16, 2018. her father Ralph thought that was an honor that Tripp, Ralph. My Life on a Ranch. [United States]: Ralph Tripp, 2009. someone besides him deserved. So Ralph sug- About the author: Ruby Lucken is 10 years old and lives in Golden, Colorado in Tripp gested Hal and Mary Shelton, because Hal was Ranch. She goes to Kyffin Elementary and is in fifth grade. In her The milk house very involved in the Jefferson County School free time she likes to do lacrosse, soccer and guitar. Her favorite (left) and meat subject is Writing. Board, and helped in getting Red Rocks College house (right) on the Tripp homestead, and Warren Tech going. undated.

Historically Jeffco 2018 17 BUILDING COMMUNITY: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

Westernaires: Building Community in Jefferson County By Jacquelyn Bonavia, Collections Assistant, Lakewood Heritage Center community is a group of people in an 1986: In March, the large, indoor Red Arena at area with a shared interest or social bond. Fort Westernaire burns down; fire is so hot that A When Elmer and Marjorie Wyland the steel beams melt. Volunteers risk their lives founded Westernaires, a non-profit organization to save the horses. Sadly, three horses, Big Red, of youth participating in precision drill horse- Maria, and Hot Shot, die. Westernaires practice back riding, they created a strong community in the outdoor Rodeo Arena to prepare for up- built around the ideas of self-respect, responsi- coming performance in Canada. Volunteers re- bility and leadership through a shared interest in move debris, raise money for reconstruction and horsemanship. In the years since its founding, drive to Missouri to acquire inexpensive steel thousands of people have graduated from or vol- to rebuild. In November, the new Red Arena unteered for the organization. Today, it contin- is dedicated with a memorial to the horses who ues to thrive with over 1,000 youth participants, died. 300 volunteers, and an alumni association that 1993: Westernaires trick rider dragged to her celebrates and connects present members with death during performance at the Festival of the past members who have become professionals ex- West. New mission statement developed, fo- emplifying respect, responsibility and leadership. cused on using horses to teach kids about life: A Community Built by Volunteers “Westernaires is a youth organization that en- courages self-respect, responsibility and leader- 1949: Elmer Wyland, a telephone company ex- ship through horsemanship and family partici- ecutive, and his wife, establish an organization pation.” for young people to learn about horses, devel- op responsibility for them and learn about tra- 1997: Blue Arena collapses under the weight of ditional life in the West. The Paul Gregg Pony snow during a snowstorm right before annual Club, named for a Denver Post artist who had show. Volunteers remove debris and riders per- recently died, is non-profit, volunteer-directed form in the show. and open to Jeffco boys and girls and is based Elmer Wyland 2018: Westernaires continue to perform today Lakewood Heritage at Mississippi Avenue and Wadsworth Boulevard in numerous events around the state and region. Center in Lakewood, Colorado. A Community Built on Values 1953: Club renamed Lakewood Westernaires because riders did not like “Pony” in the name. Volunteers built the Westernaires on a founda- tion of traditional values. 1959: Westernaires relocate to “Fort Wester- naire” near Jeffco Fairgrounds in Golden. Vol- Respect: Youth participants are taught respect. unteers build an arena. They must demonstrate self-respect; respect for their elders, including the director, their parents 1965: A Westernaires team acts as members of 1880 and grandparents, and other adult volunteers; U.S. Cavalry troops in the movie “Stagecoach.” and respect for their peers of higher ranks. There 1976: Blue Arena is built at Fort Westernaire. is a strong distinction between the novice and 1979: Mr. and Mrs. Wyland receive first “9 advanced ranks. Who Care” award from Channel 9 (now KUSA) Responsibility: The club emphasizes teaching for being outstanding volunteers. They also win children to be responsible citizens by assigning the Jefferson Award of the American Institute of them the critical responsibilities of providing care Public Service. for the horses and for practicing diligently. The 1983: Elmer Wyland passes away. Glen Keller, hard work and dedication required keep them Jr., who continues to lead the organization to- engaged and focused. Volunteers are responsible day, becomes director. for sustaining the organization. Wyland believed

18 Historically Jeffco 2018 BUILDING COMMUNITY: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE retirees have the responsibility to give Teamwork: Teamwork is essential To learn more, schedule an appoint- young people guidance. among those who ride and perform ment at (303) 279-3767 to visit the Leadership: Keller aims to prepare the on teams together, and between gen- free Westernaire Museum of West- riders to be community leaders, view- erations as riders are supported by ern and Riding History or explore ing them as hope for the future. Higher adult volunteers. the Westernaires website at www. rank riders are role models for less ad- Family: Adult family members vol- westernaires.org vanced riders and children they meet unteer for the organization and sup- Works cited: Keller, Glen. “Oral History of Westernaires” while traveling for shows. port their (grand)children’s participa- YouTube, William Jude Rumley, 13 Mar. 2015, Discipline: Wyland employed military- tion. Mothers sew uniforms; fathers www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubi1P3fqtbs&t=5s. provide labor at Fort Westernaire. Landwehr, Rebecca. “How the West Was like discipline modeled after the U.S. One.” 5280: Denver’s Mile High Magazine, Army horseback division. Youth adhere Animal Appreciation: Participants 5280 Publishing, Inc., Dec. 2005—Jan. 2006, www.5280.com/2010/08/how-the-west-was- to a strict dress code, have near-perfect develop a bond with the horse they one/. attendance, arrive on time, and follow ride. Volunteers teach the youth Westernaires Alumni Association. “Westernaires behavioral rules (e.g., they do not abuse courses on equine biology, psychol- Appear in the Movie ‘Stagecoach’ (1966).” 22 Sept. 2017, www.westernairesalumni.org/ drugs, drink alcohol, or swear). ogy, safety, grooming and illnesses. blog/2017/9/22/westernaires-appears-in-the- movie-stagecoach-1966. Historical Preservation: Westernaires They also teach them to ride horses and follow drill steps. Westernaires Alumni Association. “Wylands share a passion for upholding old-fash- Earn the First-Bestowed ‘9 Who Care’ Award.” ioned values and preserving Western Self-Reliance: Westernaires promotes 10 Sept. 2017, www.westernairesalumni. org/blog/2017/10/9/wylands-earn-the-first- history and traditions. The club models self-reliance among youth. It does not bestowed-9-who-care-award. drills after the early U.S. Cavalry’s pre- receive funding from the government Westernaires Volunteers. “About Westernaires: General Info.” 2018, www.westernaires.org/ cision training. or other organizations. Beyond the general-info/. Pride: They demonstrate pride in West- Fort’s paid live-in caretaker, it relies Westernaires. “Westernaires.” Colorado Gives, ern history, fellow community mem- entirely on volunteers. Keller encour- 2017, www.coloradogives.org/westernaires/ ages the kids to become self-reliant overview#profile-details. bers and personal accomplishments, es- Westernaires. Westernaires USA: The Story pecially in performances such as those rather than depending on overprotec- of Talented Teens Who Make Their Fame and tive parents. Headlines by Juvenile Decency and Proficiency in rodeos, parades, the Western Stock Rather than by Delinquency. 1968. Show, and other local, state, national and international events.

The Westernaires performing at the National Western Stock Show Lakewood Heritage Center

Historically Jeffco 2018 19 BUILDING COMMUNITY: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

The Great Flu Epidemic by Richard Gardner century ago in 1918 the swiftest deadly were deeply involved. According to the Colorado pandemic to sweep the face of the earth Transcript, Packard’s report to the Council, after A laid siege to Jefferson County: the le- he had attended a meeting with the Governor’s thal Spanish Influenza as it has been popularly office, was so serious that Council deemed it -im known since that time. It ravaged the soldiers in perative to take all steps possible to immediately the trenches of Europe where it may have first fight the disease, including adopting one of the developed, and within months it came to Col- most extraordinary resolutions in Jeffco history: orado, inflicting great casualties in Denver in- cluding on its leader, Mayor Robert W. Speer. In Jefferson County, Golden became ground zero Whereas, There is now an epidemic of influ- for the epidemic and in the course of events it enza in this county and state, and whereas became a story of peril, desperation, courage and this disease is a communicable or contagious hope, inflicting a heavy price, but through the disease, very dangerous to the public health, heroic efforts of many, a far worse fate was never and whereas congregations, or places where to pass. people loiter are the principal means of spreading the disease, and News came to Jeffco for months on the Whereas, Governor Gunter has issued a gen- development and eral order affecting the entire state, spread of the influ- Therefore be it resolved, that all churches, the- enza epidemic. It aters, public schools, Sunday schools, general was unlike any dis- dance halls, private dance halls, lodge rooms, ease the community card rooms, and all places where people con- had faced, targeting gregate or loiter, for any purpose whatsoever, not the young or be and hereby are ordered closed until further elderly but healthy notice, and adults in the prime Be it further resolved that pool-halls and of their lives. It soda fountains shall not be operated for the could strike with period of the general order. devastating swift- Golden people are urged to voluntarily quar- ness, with some antine themselves from Denver. Go to that victims feeling per- city only when absolutely necessary during fectly healthy in the epidemic. the morning be- ing known to die by the evening. It This was the first time public assembly, educa- came as a deadly tag tion, worship or gathering had ever been prohib- team where influ- ited in Golden. As the disease attacked Denver, enza first weakened Boulder, Georgetown and other places, Golden victims and then managed to remain clear with public officials A Red Cross nurse pneumonia claimed their lives. Seeing the spread crediting the drastic action for curtailing it. It wears a gauze mask fast approaching, the Golden City Council met was elsewhere that Pvt. David Williams, training to prevent the spread of influenza in emergency session on October 7, 1918. City at Camp MacArthur in Texas, became Jefferson in this War Dept. Health Officer Louis A. Packard, Lt. H.J. Shep- County’s first victim, passing away on October photo, 1918. herd who commanded the military personnel 18, 1918. He most likely contracted the deadly National Archives and Records Administration in Golden during this time of world war, and disease from the soldiers in Europe. Williams #165-WW-269-52 Golden school superintendent W.H. Simmons lived nearly all his life in Golden and was re- 20 Historically Jeffco 2018 BUILDING COMMUNITY: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE membered by the Transcript as “one of the best Koenig, died on November 23 after one week’s known and best liked of Golden’s young men.” illness. He had recently been married and worked It was fortunate that Golden had a doctor for with his father at the store that ultimately would a mayor in such a time of a deadly epidemic. remain within their family for 57 years. Koenig Mayor Dennis E. Garvin kept himself keenly ap- was a member of the Woodmen and a past No- prised of the disease. He warned against overly ble Grand of Golden’s Odd Fellows Lodge. The optimistic projections and stressed that the dis- Transcript lamented, “Probably there is no one in ease had crippled every community that it en- the city who has more true friends or who was countered. Garvin implored “Golden has been better liked than was Carl Koenig. He numbered very fortunate thus far…You should recognize his friends by his acquaintances, and his taking that the health authorities cannot do all there is away caused deep grief throughout Golden.” to be done in the preventative work. They can at More bad news came when some 50 members of the best only point the way. Therefore it is up to the Student Army Training Corps at the Colo- you.” By that time some 150 youths at the State rado School of Mines contracted the disease. The Industrial School for Boys, overlooking Gold- third floor of the Armory at 13th and Arapahoe en, had taken ill within three days. Dr. Garvin Streets was converted into a military hospital. Its took care of them. He noted “If it is true that patients were cared for by Lt. Col. Harry Malejan the disease is more prevalent and more severe and four Army nurses. The ban was back on in in the close, unventilated tenement districts of full force and effect, and when a Goldenite came the cities, then the first thought along the line of down with the disease their home and family treatment would logically be fresh air along with were immediately quarantined, with a placard flushing the bowels, active elimination through placed there and all household members forbid- the skin, nourishing food such as malted milk, den to leave the premises. By early December, 50 gruels, broths and toast.” Garvin implemented homes had been quarantined. Fortunately, only these measures and ultimately lost only one pa- a small number of those cases were severe. tient at the school. Unfortunately, severe casualties soon arrived. When World War I ended on November 11, Charles Nolin Jr., son of Swedish immigrants 1918, the ban on public assembly was lifted and and a founder of the Swedish Lutheran Church, Colorado Transcript Goldenites rejoiced in the streets in jubilation died on December 4 after just five days. He was of Dec.19, 1918 on local influenza death over the victory. However, within two weeks 28 years old and known as a pleasant and popu- toll. the enemy at home was back. Golden received lar young man, among the first to volunteer for Colorado Historic a severe jolt when Carl J. Koenig, the popular the war but prevented from serving due to defec- Newspapers Collection 30-year-old son of Mercantile owner Nicholas tive eyesight.

Historically Jeffco 2018 21 BUILDING COMMUNITY: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

On December 10, 1918, the epidemic struck ing rapidly the local Red Cross saw it necessary into the heart of the community when Henry J. to create a hospital and Chair May Stanley Fleck “Heinie” Foss, proprietor of Foss Drug, passed appointed Hoyt, Hatch and Phinney as a com- away at the age of just 31 years. TheTranscript mittee to make it happen. The committee went wrote on its front page, “The death of Mr. Foss to Malejan, who convinced the surgeon general came as a great shock to every one in Golden, to authorize turning the Armory military hospi- where he was so well known, and he will be tal over to the Red Cross as a civilian hospital, missed by a large circle of friends. His wife and an with Malejan remaining to assist. Dr. Packard infant son survive him.” His wife Dorothy prom- was put in charge of the hospital, and the pro- ised Heinie that she would keep the store going visions that “Patients of any physician may be for their son, Frederick Allen Foss, little Heinie, taken to the hospital, where their own doctors until he could take hold of it. TheTranscript told will treat them, with the aid and consultation of further “Henry Foss was a big-hearted, generous Colonel Malejan. Nourishing foods will be pro- man, always ready to aid a friend, or to extend a vided, by expert chefs…Wards will be provided helping hand to a person or a family in distress. for ladies and children, and the men patients He had extended aid to scores of poor people, will be placed in the big room on the top story.” and few people ever Nobody who could not pay would be turned City health officials issued the follow- knew of these nu- away and free inoculations would be available. ing instructions to the public to com- merous kind acts. The joint civilian and military collaboration be- bat the growing epidemic: A needy person in tween the Red Cross, Colorado National Guard 1. Avoid needless crowding—influenza distress was never and local physicians was a truly remarkable and is a crowd disease. without assistance unprecedented endeavor to go far in fighting the 2. Smother your coughs and sneezes— if Henry Foss knew deadly disease. others do not want the germs which of the case. “Heinie” As the Armory filled up with patients, the worst you would throw away. Foss with his big was yet to come. Mildred Packard, the doc- 3. Your nose, not your mouth, was heart and cheerful tor’s wife, died at home on December 16. She made to breathe through—get the disposition will be was an accomplished musician and singer who habit. missed in Golden, had been solo soprano at Montview Boulevard 4. Remember the three C’s—a clean and scores of friends Church and Warren Memorial Church, was a mouth, clean skin, and clean clothes. join the grief-strick- concert soloist, and toured as leading soprano 5. Try to keep cool when you walk and en family in mourn- of the University Four company. On December warm when you ride and sleep. ing his untimely 17, another prominent main street businessman, 6. Open the windows—always at night; taking away.” Milton R. Iler, proprietor of the barber shop on at the office when practicable. That evening, an the corner of 12th and Washington, died after a 7. Choose and chew your food well. important meeting week’s illness at the age of 40. 8. Your fate may be in your hands— was held between wash your hands before eating. It hit the community hard when it lost one of its Col. Malejan, Dr. 9. Don’t let waste products of digestion true heroes on December 13. Oscar Nolin, who accumulate—drink a glass or two of Paul Meyer and on November 23, 1905, had risked his life to water on getting up. D.R. Hatch of the save over a hundred students and teachers from 10. Don’t use a napkin, towel, spoon, Colorado School an imminent explosion at the South School af- fork, glass or cup which has been of Mines, Mayor ter its boiler had been sabotaged, passed away used by another person and not Garvin, Dr. Pack- at 44 years of age. The Transcript wrote, “It may washed. ard, Dr. John Perry be said that Oscar Nolin sacrificed his life in at- 11. Avoid tight clothes, tight shoes, tight Kelly, Mary Hoyt, tempts to save the life of his brother Charles, gloves—seek to make nature your the Red Cross hos- who preceded him to the Great Beyond the week ally, not your prisoner. pital committee and before. During the illness of Charles Nolin, Os- 12. When the air is pure, breathe all of it banker Edward A. car waited on him day and night, and was hardly you can. Breathe deeply. Phinney. With the away from the bedside. In this way he contracted situation deteriorat-

22 Historically Jeffco 2018 BUILDING COMMUNITY: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE the dread disease, and in his run-down condi- to this day. Foss’s tion he could not stand the ravages of the dis- wife fulfilled her ease…In the passing of Oscar Nolin, the City of husband’s dying Golden loses a citizen who had probably done wish and her son, more than any one citizen for the improvement proudly known by and upbuilding of this city. He had an abiding his father’s nick- faith in Golden and its future.” Nolin, had revi- name, took over talized or built new, one at a time, homes of the the drugstore 19 12th Street neighborhood next to the school. He years later. He was a firefighter and served on the Golden City made it the largest Council, having been elected April 3, 1917, to in the West and he represent the 1st Ward. Because of the ban Nolin benefited the com- himself had voted to enact, he never received the munity himself in hero’s farewell the community would have likely very many ways given him turning out en masse, and his was, by over the course of necessity, a humble burial ceremony at Golden his 97 years. The Cemetery attended by family and city council store of Koenig members. and his family is It could be said 1918 was the year Golden had an honored land- no Christmas, because this was the only year in mark listed on the which Golden had no community celebration. National Register With the ban in effect, there were no civic or sa- of Historic Places, cred Christmas gatherings, no worship services, as are the many parties, dances, films, plays or events. However, homes Nolin built and remodeled as part of the Public Service 12th Street Historic District, including his own announcement Christmas did come, celebrated in Goldenites’ published by the homes and hearts, and there were no reports that home and that of his brother. The Armory is also U.S. Shipping Board Santa did not come. One could say in his case honored on the National Register, among the Emergency Fleet few landmarks so directly related to the history Corporation, circa it’s certainly logical, for after centuries of visiting 1918. of this epidemic. The building housing the bar- millions of homes Santa had doubtless built up Special Collections an incredible immune system. ber shop where Iler cut hair is now named the Research Center, Temple Iler Block. The barber shop lasted for 111 years University Libraries, Philadelphia, PA The next day the Transcript proclaimed, “GOLD- and is now being transformed back to its Old EN IS FREE OF INFLUENZA EPIDEMIC,” West roots as part of the Buffalo Rose: Iler will with only 4-5 cases remaining and talk of lift- be kept in honored memory there. Elsewhere, ing the ban beginning. The Armory hospital, no the legacy of others remains, including the longer needed, was closed. Of the dozens who mountain parks of Jefferson County that Mayor were there every patient, nurse and doctor left Speer had championed. The lives of those lost in the Armory alive, an incredible 100% success the Great Flu Epidemic touched the community record for all who ran the hospital. The Tran- and the heroism of those who fought the disease script wrote, “The disease in epidemic form left which claimed them will be long remembered. this city as suddenly as it came, for two weeks Works cited: ago there were more than two hundred influenza Colorado Transcript, 11/30/1905, 10/10/1918, 10/17/1918, patients in town, and scores in the surrounding 10/24/1918, 11/14/1918, 11/21/1918, 12/5/1918, 12/12/1918, country.” On January 4, 1919, the ban on public 12/19/1918, 12/26/1918, 1/2/1919. Golden City Council Minutes, 1917-1918. assembly was at last lifted permanently, and light Hanlon. Halt the epidemic! Poster. Circa 1918. Temple University dawned after many of Golden’s darkest days. Libraries, Special Collections Research Center. http://digital.library. temple.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p16002c0119/id/3157 The Great Flu Epidemic claimed lives and tore Historical files of Richard J. Gardner. the heart of the community, but the inspiring Underwood & Underwood. Gauze Masks Prevent Spreading of legacy of those whom it took has shaped Golden Influenza. Photograph. October 1918. National Archives & Records Administration. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/45499393

Historically Jeffco 2018 23 BUILDING COMMUNITY: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

Golden’s Supreme Sacrifice in World War I by Richard Gardner ne hundred years ago this year, the by the United States and he served aboard the Great War came to an end as the armi- submarine USS F-1, stationed at Mare Island, Ostice was signed to end the hostilities of California. At 7 p.m. on December 17, 1917, World War I. It had been quite a test for Jeffer- the USS F-1 was accidentally rammed and sunk son County, which sent the most people it ever by the USS F-3 in heavy fog. As the submarine had to combat, planted war gardens, raised funds was several miles off the coast none of the F-1’s for relief agencies and much more. Of those lost crew could be recovered. Machinist’s Mate 2nd in the war Golden bore the brunt for Jefferson Class Lovely remains lost at sea off San Pedro, County, and when news of the armistice came on California. November 11, 1918, Goldenites rang the town Rex L. Edwards was born in Hot Springs, Arkan- fire bell for hours on end to celebrate, cracking it. sas, and later became a resident of Denver. He It has been preserved ever since as Golden’s Lib- worked as an employee of the Mountain States erty Bell and to remember the community’s ulti- Telephone Company. Upon the outbreak of war, Ilo Ivan Taylor mate sacrifice. Here are the stories of the Golden Edwards enlisted in the Army Signal Corps in Public domain area citizens lost in World War I: 1917 and was stationed at Camp Lewis, Wash- Lyman Frederick Lovely, commonly called Fred, ington. He passed away there in January 1918. was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Lyman Lovely and Ilo Ivan Taylor was born in 1888 and lived his brother of Navy World War II Veteran Noble early life at Storm Lake, Iowa, graduating from Lovely. Born and raised in Golden, Colorado, Ames. He came to Golden around 1912 and Lovely, according to the Colorado Transcript, was was an instructor in the mechanical engineering “one of the most popular young men of this city. department at the Colorado School of Mines. He was a big, splendid looking lad, and always In 1915, Taylor married Mabel Davidson, and had a smile and a pleasant word of greeting for later left to teach at the Kansas State Agricultural everyone.” Lovely attended Golden High School College and then at Purdue University. Upon and then learned the machinist trade. On April the outbreak of World War I, Taylor volunteered 30, 1917, Lovely enlisted when war was declared to serve and was commissioned as a lieutenant due to his high technical expertise. During the war, Lt. Taylor oversaw the engineering supply depot at Fort Lee, Virginia. There, he was sud- denly taken ill with spinal meningitis and died Golden’s Liberty Bell on January 25, 1918. Taylor is believed to have Doyle Harrison been buried at Storm Lake, Iowa. Joseph John O’Malley was born in 1892 and came to Golden from Missouri. Attending the Colorado School of Mines, O’Malley became very popular among the students and towns- people and was a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. In the summer of 1917, O’Malley left to join the aviation service and was commis- sioned as a second lieutenant. During training at San Antonio, Texas, on June 4, 1918, 2nd Lt. O’Malley’s plane went into a tailspin and crashed, killing him instantly while his fellow crewmate survived.

24 Historically Jeffco 2018 BUILDING COMMUNITY: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

Cyril Barnard Brier was a private in Company was severely wounded during heavy fighting C, 1st Battalion of Colorado Engineers, who in France on November 9, 1918, and died trained at Golden. Brier was killed in action of his wounds on December 2, 1918. in France in August 1918 in a large American Shephard was awarded a memorial counterattack. He is buried in Denver. honor certificate from France and is Harold Forbes Maxson was born in Los Angeles buried at Golden Cemetery. and grew up in California. He came to Golden Charles Vere Neely, born in Chey- in 1913 to attend the Colorado School of Mines enne County, Nebraska, was the oldest where he was a member of Kappa Sigma. In son of Calvin and Ella M. Bliss Neely. the fall of 1917 Maxson enlisted in the 52nd Moving to Jefferson County in 1906, Aero Squadron and trained at Berkeley, Cali- Neely lived in Golden, Fruitdale and Ma- fornia. He was later transferred to Long Island, ple Grove. He departed on April 27, 1918, New York. On August 16, 1918, while flying a to serve in the Army at Camp Funston, Kansas, Cyril Barnard Brier Curtiss Model H airplane at Mineola Aviation where he was assigned to the 354th Infantry, Public domain Field, 2nd Lt. Maxson crashed during training 89th Division. Pvt. Neely served as a runner for exercises. Maxson is buried at Inglewood Park the 1st Platoon in which he was bunkie and best Cemetery in Inglewood, California. friend of fellow runner George H. Ware. Neely David Williams, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Wil- died on November 16, 1918, from wounds re- liam R. Williams with four brothers and a sister, ceived at 10:10 a.m. on November 11, 1918, lived nearly all his life in Golden where, accord- just 50 minutes before the armistice was signed ing to the Colorado Transcript, he “was one of the when a Boche 77 shell landed amid his best known and best liked of Golden’s young company while they were at rest beside a men.” Williams graduated from Golden High sawmill just back of Pouilly, France. The School in 1912 and entered the Army in July shot killed seven more men including 1918. Pvt. Williams received his training at Fort his commanding officer and wounded Logan, Colorado, and Camp MacArthur, Texas. 21 others. He was brother of servicemen There he perished on October 18, 1918, a vic- Chester C. and Harlan L. Neely. Neely tim of the great influenza epidemic sweeping the was described in “History of Western world. He was Jefferson County’s first casualty of Nebraska and Its People” as “well and af- the epidemic. Williams was awarded a memorial fectionately known all through Kimball honor certificate from France. County, for he had qualities that won him friends wherever he went.” Accord- Arthur Bengson was born in Golden, the son ing to Ware in a letter sent to the Neely of Oliver E. and Anna Bengson and grandson family, “A better buddy in every way, a more Charles Vere Neely of Colorado pioneer Swedish Lutheran leader fearless soldier, a quicker and more dependable Public domain Nils Bengson. After living also in Telluride and runner and a surer guide, than your brother, in Petaluma, California, Bengson served in the never lived.” Neely Post No. 22, American Le- armed forces. He was killed in action in France gion in Kimball, Nebraska, was named for him on November 3, 1918. when it was formed in 1919. Pvt. Neely is bur- Albert Edward Shephard had a ranch home- ied at Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery at stead upon Upper Fortification Creek in Illinois Romagne, France. Park in the Little Bear neighborhood of Moffat James Andrew Rooney was born in Jefferson County. While attending the Colorado School County and was married to Mabel Hyland of Mines, Shephard was commander of the Stu- Rooney. A Woodman of the World and em- dent Army Training Corps which included four ployed for years as a baker at the State Industrial companies. He joined the Army with a Moffat School for Boys in Golden, Rooney entered the County contingent in April 1917 and trained Navy at age 17 where he served as Baker 2nd at Camp Funston, Kansas. Serving in Company Class and was honorably discharged, afterward K, 354th Infantry, 89th Division, Pvt. Shephard entering the Naval Reserves on November 7, Historically Jeffco 2018 25 BUILDING COMMUNITY: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

1916. Called into service shortly after ing in the region of the Saint-Quentin called them the Wolfhounds, which America entered World War I, Chief and Sambre canals in France. It was remains their emblem to this day. Petty Officer Rooney served aboard during the drive on the Sambre Canal Gustav Hilbert Ternstrom, com- the USS San Diego until three days that Brown was severely gassed, which monly called by his middle name, did before it was sunk on July 19, 1918. affected his lungs and caused tuber- not fall in battle but passed away as Transferred to the USS Calamares, cular peritonitis. Brown returned to a direct result of his injuries in the Rooney served there as chief commis- Golden after the war and was a mem- years thereafter. He was born June 30, sary steward. He took ill while making ber of the Golden Fire Department, 1889, at Ouray and came to Golden in his 11th trip across the Atlantic and Woodmen of the World and the 1910 where he worked as a rural mail died of pneumonia in 1918. Rooney American Legion. He died as a result carrier. In World War I he served as a is buried at Crown Hill Cemetery. of his lung injuries on April 26, 1921, member of the 173rd Aero Squadron, Elmer Iler, likely the son of Milton and is buried at Golden Cemetery. and during his service overseas he was Iler of Golden, perished in World Sylvester Spieles served in a unique injured. Returning home, Ternstrom War I at a time and place unknown. theater of the Great War and made married Jennie J. Dahlberg on Febru- He was awarded a memorial certifi- the ultimate sacrifice as an even- ary 23, 1920, and had a son. Tern- cate from the government of France tual result of his service there. Born strom was a member of the Wood- in 1920. in Summit County in 1882, Spieles men of the World, Golden Masonic Harry E. Brown died after the war as moved to Golden in 1901 and later Lodge and the Lutheran church. He a direct result of injuries he incurred worked at Gold Hill. Drafted into died on his 45th birthday, June 30, on the battlefields in France. Born in the war from Golden, Spieles served 1934, from pneumonia aggravated by Marinette, Wisconsin in 1889 to Mr. with the 27th Infantry which took complications contracted during his and Mrs. Charles Brown, he came to part in the Siberian intervention to war service. Ternstrom rests today at Golden as a boy. As a young man, counter the Bolsheviks in Russia at Golden Cemetery. the close of World War I. Because of Brown worked in the U.S. Postal Works cited: Service and as a U.S. Forest Ranger. the harsh conditions during his 12 Colorado Freedom Memorial, historical information months in Siberia, Spieles suffered a database. Accessed June 13, 2018. http:// When the United States entered coloradofreedommemorial.com/tellustheirstories/ World War I, Brown attempted to general breakdown in health and he honor-roll-directory/wpbdp_category/golden/ contracted tuberculosis. Spieles was Colorado Transcript, 10/12/1916, 12/20/1917, enlist but was rejected. He later made 12/27/1917, 1/10/1918, 1/31/1918, 6/6/1918, three more attempts to enlist but was given a medical discharge and was 8/15/1918, 8/22/1918, 10/17/1918, 10/24/1918, rejected each time. Finally, when the cared for by the military upon his 11/14/1918, 12/12/1918, 12/19/1918, 4/3/1919, return. Spieles passed away June 19, 11/6/1919, 2/26/1920, 4/28/1921, 6/22/1922, first draft came he was taken into ser- 6/29/1922, 7/5/1934. vice. Fighting in France, Brown was 1922, as a direct result of the illnesses Jefferson County Republican, 7/5/1934. a member of the 30th Division, the contracted during his war service and Shumway, Grant Lee. History of Western Nebraska was buried at Mt. Olivet Cemetery. and Its People. Western Publishing & Engraving “Old Hickory” division that was bri- Company, 1921. gaded with British troops. He also Spieles was the uncle of Billy Spieles was part of the 114th Machine Gun of Golden who died in World War Battalion, which was part of at least II. Spieles’ troops, the 27th Infantry, Colorado Transcript of December. 12, 1918 six major movements of severe fight- so impressed the Bolsheviks that they Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection

26 Historically Jeffco 2018 BUILDING COMMUNITY: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

A Century of Camp Neosho By Meghan M. Vickers, Education Specialist, Hiwan Museum appy Birthday, Camp Neosho! What churches dating back to his is Camp Neosho, you may ask? Well, time at Syracuse University; H it’s what we now know as Hiwan Mu- he was eventually ordained as seum, and it turns 100 years old this year. While a priest in 1899 at the Mission the Camp Neosho property actually dates to two of the Transfiguration in Ev- decades earlier, the main building itself was com- ergreen. Father Douglas had a pleted in 1918. great love for the native people Camp Neosho’s story really begins in the 1880s of the American Southwest. In when Mary Neosho Williams and her daugh- his spare time, he was an agent ter Josepha moved to Denver from New York, for the Fred Harvey Company probably to care for Mary’s ailing brother-in-law. and took several trips to the Mary, a Civil War widow, and Josepha were quite various Pueblos of the region. wealthy; Mary’s husband’s family had significant While the Fred Harvey Com- land holdings in the Detroit area. This money pany was primarily known was passed down to Mary and Josepha (and her for its restaurants along the three brothers) upon Brigadier General Thom- Santa Fe (also known as the as Williams’ death during the Battle of Baton Atchison, Topeka and Santa Rouge in 1862. The two women would come Fe–AT&SF) Railway, the com- to Evergreen to visit Mary’s brother who had a pany also purchased American cabin in the area. While camping and sightsee- Indian art, jewelry and rugs ing along Bear Creek, they discovered this won- to sell to railroad passengers. Father Douglas Jock Spence in front served as the conduit between the Pueblos and of a house under derful property that was available for the cost of construction on the back taxes. Josepha purchased the property for the shops along the railroad. He obviously was Evans Ranch, undated. the relatively small sum of $267.87. very fond of the artwork himself, as early photos All photos Evergreen of Camp Neosho show the house filled with all Mountain Area Historical Society The property included one hay barn, so the manner of native pieces, either acquired through women decided to hire a local carpenter named purchase or as gifts from the artists themselves. The front octagonal John “Jock” Spence to convert the barn into liv- tower was the first Many of the native artifacts still found within addition at Camp ing space and build an additional two rooms, Hiwan Museum date to Father Douglas’ time Neosho, added on to which are in the front octagonal tower. The up- living at Camp Neosho. the original hay barn/ stairs of the tower was Mary’s bedroom while the great room, undated. downstairs was the library/sitting room and the original barn was the “great room.” A small lean- to type structure was added to the back of the great room for cooking and eating. The women decided to name their new summer getaway “Camp Neosho” after Mary’s middle name. Mary had been born along the Neosho River, at Fort Gibson in Indian Territory (now Okla- homa), and at the time, it was common to give a family name to one’s estate. In 1896, Josepha married Charles Winfred Douglas. Winfred, as he preferred to be called, came to Denver in 1894 from New York after a bout with double pneumonia. He had served as organist and choirmaster in several Episcopal

Historically Jeffco 2018 27 Mary Neosho passed away in 1914 and it was at this time that Father Douglas and Josepha decid- ed to expand the house. They had a lot of friends and family come to visit and needed more room. They went back to Jock Spence, who had kept himself busy building other majestic homes all around the Evergreen area. Jock built the rest of Camp Neosho between 1914 and 1918 of native pine, fir and granite. What started as a simple three-room house became an elaborate 25-room structure, with a kitchen, study, chapel, numer- ous bedrooms and several bathrooms, as well as seven fireplaces and seven staircases. The entire The baby house was Although Josepha had attended medical school building was completed in 1918, with the Cha- built in 1897; note at Gross Medical College in Denver (she gradu- pel being the final room constructed. The house one of the platform tents next to it, ated in 1889) and had started the Marquette- is filled with unique and quirky features, includ- undated. Williams Sanitarium and nurses training school ing Jock’s trademark, the stairstep design that on Pearl Street with Dr. Madeleine Marquette, can be found inside and out over 200 times. The she ended her medical practice after her mar- craftsmanship is evident, from numerous built- riage. She gave birth to their only child, Fred- ins, window-seat storage, inversely routed cross- eric Huntington Douglas, in 1897. It was at this es, interior walls and ceilings made of plywood, time that the family added the “Baby House” and walls and roofs integrating existing trees (Jo- for Eric to sleep in, along with his nanny (his sepha requested that as few trees be cut down as father’s sister Mary Seamans). At this point in possible, so Jock built around them, creating a Camp Neosho’s story, there were only three in- few interesting preservation conundrums for fu- door rooms and the family generally spent most ture inhabitants). Almost all the work was done of their time outdoors, including sleeping in with hand tools, with evidence that the ceilings tents in what is now Heritage Grove. The tents and floors were made with milled lumber, most had wooden floors, double canvas walls, a stove likely from one of the numerous sawmills locat- and furniture—fancy (what we now refer to as ed in Evergreen at the time. Several outbuildings “glamping”)—but not quite substantial enough were constructed during this time as well—Jock was a very busy man! Lean-to addition on for a newborn! The original Baby House still ex- the great room, circa ists; it is the dining room portion of the Mu- Originally from the Orkney Islands, Scotland, 1890s seum’s offices located in Eric’s House. Jock Spence arrived in Colorado around 1888 and began building many homes in the Ever- green community. He had followed his brother to Evergreen, emigrating first through Canada. He was first listed in the Colorado State Business Directory as a carpenter and contractor in 1910; his last listing was in 1934, the year before his death. He became known as a master craftsman, recognized especially for his wood and stone work. In 1908, Jock married a German im- migrant named Maria Cecilia Zeigler and they had three children: a daughter named Margue- rite Marquette Spence (known as Marquette), and two sons named John Duncan (known as Duncan, then later Jack) and Alexander Ham- ilton (known as Sandy). The family resided in

28 Historically Jeffco 2018 Evergreen in a home where the CenturyLink build- ing is now located. Jock was known for riding his bicycle around town, even many miles up past Ev- ergreen Lake to work on cabins and homes on the Evans Ranch. In addition to his work at Camp Neo- sho and on the Evans Ranch, he built or remodeled many of the buildings for the Evergreen Music Con- ference (now Lariat Lodge Brewing Company and Center Stage theater), the buildings on the campus of the Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration and the spectacular Camp Greystone, built for Genevieve Chandler Phipps, the wealthy, divorced Denver so- cialite. When Jock passed away, a newspaper tribute was written by longtime friend, Dr. Michael Baker, stating: “In the passing of John Spence of Evergreen, one of na- ture’s noblemen went to his reward. For nearly 40 years during his residence in this mountain community, his name has been a synonym for honest performance in his chosen work as a contractor. Seldom if ever has the writer known anyone where a whole community, with- out a single exception, can join in such a tribute.” The Williams-Douglas family enjoyed their master- ful Camp Neosho for many years. Eric brought his three children there often. In fact, Jock Spence, who was godfather to Eric’s children, built what he called “my masterpiece,” a wonderful stone playhouse be- hind the baby house just for Eric’s kids. It wasn’t until Josepha passed away in 1938 that the Douglas family relinquished their hold on the property. After she died, Father Douglas and Eric decided to sell the property. Luckily, the second owners, the Buchanan family, decided to keep the majority of the house intact, with a few additions being the only major changes. We now have Jefferson County Open Space and the Evergreen Mountain Area Historical Society to help preserve this fascinating and integral part of Evergreen’s early history in the form of Hiwan Mu- seum. Hiwan Museum is celebrating this milestone birth- day throughout the whole of 2018 with a new ex- hibit entitled “The Hand-Built Home: A Century of Camp Neosho” that will explore the unique features of the house and outbuildings, celebrate Jock Spence and help visitors to understand the complexities of building without power tools. Top: Sitting room filled with Indian art collected by Father Douglas, undated. Middle: Jock Spence considered this stone playhouse his “masterpiece,” undated. Bottom: View of Camp Neosho after completion, undated.

Historically Jeffco 2018 29 The Evolution of a Local Historical Society By Elaine Hayden, President, Evergreen Mountain Area Historical Society he newly named Evergreen Mountain By March 1973, the newly established society Area Historical Society, formerly the dubbed their organization The High Jefferson TJefferson County Historical Society, has County Historical Society, a name that aptly deep roots in Evergreen’s past. About the time described the Evergreen area in terms of relative I-70 opened the snaking route past El Rancho altitude and not a general state of mind. What and long before McDonald’s came to the Ev- began as a casual meeting of eight friends soon ergreen area, residents Connie Fahnestock and grew into a 95-member organization dedicated Mary Helen Crain acknowledged the rich his- to the preservation of local history and under tory in the Evergreen mountain area and deter- the Colorado Articles of Incorporation, Crain’s mined a local historical society was a justifiable vision came into focus with the official establish- endeavor. In January 1973, the formation of a ment of the Jefferson County Historical Society, historical society was but a twinkle in her eye Inc. on October 25, 1973. Charter member when Crain summoned several friends whom Ruth Salter (Hershberger) recalls an early preser- she knew to have an interest in local history and vation project of cleaning and helping to restore began the conversation centered on the forma- the old Rockland Church in Mt. Vernon Can- tion of a local historic preservation group. Char- yon, “It was quite a job cleaning and painting ter member and current volunteer Josie Hoover but was also a very satisfying project.” remembers well the early days of the society, “I Announcement In search of a permanent home for JCHS, mem- for creation of a answered an ad in the Canyon Courier in 1973 ber Lyn Beardslee approached the Jefferson historical society in announcing the meeting for anyone interested 1973 County Commissioners with a request that the in local history and have been an active member Canyon Courier, Feb. 1, newly formed Jeffco Open Space Program use 1973 ever since.” tax revenue funds to purchase and preserve the Hiwan Ranch house as a county historic site and museum. The persistent efforts by Beardslee and JCHS resulted in the first mountain property acquisition by Jeffco. Using Open Space funds, the County purchased the building and one acre of land at the Hiwan Ranch in September 1974. The ranch house earned designation on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. Shortly after Jeffco purchased the Hiwan Ranch property, the Commissioners approached JCHS with a request that the organization’s volunteers provide house tours, exhibits and educational programs at Hiwan Ranch. Through a coopera- tive agreement between Jeffco and JCHS, the Hiwan Museum opened its doors to the public on August 1, 1975. The organization would advance to preserva- tion projects of a grander scale when in 1977 the grove adjacent to the museum was platted by a developer with an eye to build 18 townhomes. With a mindful concern toward the future and nearly empty coffers, JCHS was instrumental in mounting a campaign to Save the Grove. When

30 Historically Jeffco 2018 community fundraising efforts fell short of the required cash amount, JCHS procured a loan from the Bank of Evergreen to pay the balance and claimed preservation victory, along with many community businesses and individuals, in Saving the Grove. In 2010, JCHS donated the Heritage Grove to Jefferson County. While JCHS was not established for the pur- pose of managing the Hiwan Museum, the organization has enjoyed and benefitted from working in tandem with Jeffco through Open Space by continuing to offer house tours, pre- sentations and the highly successful history- based educational programs for area school students. EMAHS’s valuable and extensive arti- 2018 Logo fact collections, housed in the museum, reflect Doyle Harrison the original inhabitants’ lifestyle and interests as well as representational contributions to the to more clearly define the statement of purpose essence and development of the town of Ever- and geographical focal area that Fahnestock and green. Crain envisioned all those years ago. Remaining true to the founding mission of The product of many strategic planning sessions, historic preservation, JCHS accepted owner- surveying of the membership and JCHS Board ship of the historic 1886 one-room Medlen discussions, the name Evergreen Mountain Area School, located on South Turkey Creek Road, Historical Society was voted on and accepted as in 1992. The Herculean task of restoring the the new face for the old organization, as reflected school house and attendant out buildings was in the newly adopted logo. The success of past ef- directed by JCHS member JoAnn Dunn and forts of JCHS has clearly established the organi- sponsored by JCHS and a grant from the Colo- zation as one of integrity. EMAHS continues to rado Historical Society. Following restoration, carry on business as usual as a non-profit organi- the historic school house was placed on the zation with a 12-member Board of Directors and Colorado State Register of Historic Proper- an interest in promoting more visibility, a focus ties as well as the National Register of Historic on mountain area history, and inclusion of our Places. EMAHS continues to offer summer ed- neighbors’ historic narrative from Idledale, Kit- ucational programs that give students a histori- tredge, Indian Hills, Conifer and Morrison. As in cal perspective through the one-room school the past, EMAHS views the preservation, protec- experience. tion and presentation of area history as both our pursuit and our reward. Over time, the message of the original mission Works cited: statement of JCHS has remained on a steady Fahnestock, Connie. From Camp Neosho to the Hiwan Homestead. course to preserve, protect and present history Quality Press, 1985. of the Evergreen mountain area. However, due Hoover, Josie. Interview. April, 2018. to the nature of the name Jefferson County Jefferson County Historical Society Archives Noyes, Dave. “Background Notes on Hiwan Homestead Museum, Historical Society, many Jeffco residents as- Jefferson County Historical Society, Inc.” 2003. sumed JCHS focused its interest and expertise Salter, Ruth. Interview. March, 2018. on Jeffco in its entirety while others assumed JCHS was linked to county government and county funding. These assumptions succeeded in creating a mistaken perception of JCHS and prompted JCHS to explore a re-branding effort

Historically Jeffco 2018 31 The Missing Sign From Elk Creek Road by Bonnie Scudder any decades ago, a rectangular metal they would earn their fortunes robbing stage- sign, measuring 16 inches tall by 20 coaches carrying the gold to Denver from the Minches wide, was erected on a post mountains. On July 24, 1864, the gang robbed a along South Elk Creek Road in southwestern stagecoach of $63,000 at the intersection of the Jefferson County. The sign was reminiscent of Bradford Wagon Road at Elk Creek, according the early days of Colorado Territory when out- to one of many legends featuring these outlaws. laws and bandits robbed stagecoaches returning from the gold fields in the Rocky Mountains. This story tells of eight members of the Reynolds This sign was posted sometime in the 1930s, but Gang who, after robbing the stagecoach, gal- it mysteriously disappeared during the 1940s or loped on their horses up Elk Creek to hide their Robbing a Buckskin stash. Some stories say the gold was buried in a Coach 1950s. Discovered in 2011, it will soon be dis- J.D. Eberle played for all to enjoy. cave near Elk Falls. Other tales say it was hidden along Mason Creek (a tributary of Elk Creek), while others say it was buried near Deer Creek further west, or even as far away as Fairplay. There are also various tales about the loot be- ing discovered, or not, by an early homesteader named Anton Glasmann, or that others had dis- covered it and absconded to South America or elsewhere. Periodically, stories would appear in area newspapers, piquing interest in the buried, or hidden, treasure. Maps were drawn and pub- lished in these papers. Because of this interest, a metal sign was posted just north of the present intersection of Hwy. 285 and S. Elk Creek Road, very close to Elk Rocky Mountain One gang of outlaws was the Reynolds Gang. Creek. One story, reported by early Elk Falls News, 1949, James and John Reynolds, two brothers from Ranch resident Jaime Houze, was that during featuring stolen gold article Texas, came to Colorado Territory to get rich the 1930s or 1940s, the sign was erected by the Dr. Robert Phelps in the gold fields. But they decided instead that Colorado Highway Department, but it mysteri- ously disappeared sometime during the 1940s. Another version, found in the Staunton Collection at the Stephen H. Hart Library at History Colorado, indi- cated that the sign was erect- ed by the Colorado State Historical Society. A photo- graph of the sign, likely tak- en by one of the Stauntons, was pasted in a family scrap- book. Typed below the pho- to were the words:

32 Historically Jeffco 2018 “ROAD MARKER ERECTED BY THE COL- robbed stagecoach- ORADO STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, es nearby in 1864. REMINISCENT OF THE EARLY DAYS OF It should be a very THE LEADVILLE TRAIL. THIS MARKER IS popular addition LOCATED TWO MILES FROM THE LAZY to the historic dis- V RANCH.” plays at the Visi- The same picture of the sign also appeared in tors Center. Use a 1954 summer camp brochure for the Mount of the sign in this Marian Camp for Catholic Girls, which was held way is very much at the Staunton Ranch, aka the Lazy V Ranch. supported by the So, perhaps the sign was still standing in 1954. former owner. Or, this photo may have been shared earlier. She requested that it be displayed in a visitors center or museum, Current photo of The sign remains somewhat of a mystery. At where it will be safe, rather than it being sold sign, complete some point, the sign disappeared and remained with rust and bullet and ending up in someone else’s living room. holes. out of sight for many decades. Before it disap- Should Staunton State Park not be able to meet Scudder collection peared, however, it was the recipient of two bul- these requirements, she has requested that the lets. The sign is now rusty and dented. In 2011 sign be given to a nearby museum, but her pref- and 2012, the author of this article was inter- erence is for the sign to return to the Elk Creek viewing local residents who might have had a Valley, its original home. connection to the Staunton Family, as Staunton State Park was being developed. One person Staunton State Park, as part of its annual Liv- who was interviewed had an unusual piece of art ing History Days, hosts a children’s “Treasure hanging in her living room. It was an old, rusty Hunt,” where families follow a set of clues that sign with two bullet holes in it. The author re- lead them to the location of the Reynolds Gang’s membered reading something about this sign in “hidden gold.” The clues change from time to the story that Houze had written a few decades time, and former treasure seekers enjoy hunt- earlier. She inquired about how the resident had ing again. This display will enhance this popular come to possess the sign. This (anonymous) per- event. son indicated that someone from the highway Works cited: Cook, David J. Hands Up! Or Thirty-Five Years of Detective Life in the Living History department had given it to her husband many Mountains and on the Plains. Denver: The W.F. Robinson Printing years ago, and, as he was quite interested in his- Company, 1897. Days, 2016. Sheriff Dick Scudder tory, he was proud to have the unusual sign. So, Eberle, Jeff. “Exonerating the Reynolds Gang—Debunking Colorado’s Greatest Outlaw Legend.” April 26, 2015. Accessed gives instructions the sign has been in the possession of a family June 6, 2018. https://lifedeathiron.com/2015/04/26/exonerating- to a family about who lived near Shaffer’s Crossing for many de- the-reynolds-gang-debunking-colorados-greatest-outlaw- to search for the cades. legend/ hidden “gold.” Houze, Jaime. “The Early Days in Elk Falls,” unpublished paper, date Scudder collection The author received a call from the sign’s keeper unknown. in April 2018. This person asked advice regarding Lee, Bob. “Bandits’ $63,000 Hunted Above Conifer.” Rocky where the sign could be donated so that it might Mountain News, September again become a part of local history and be ap- 18, 1949. Scudder, Bonnie. The Secrets preciated, rather than hidden away in someone’s of Elk Creek: Shaffers Crossing, home. The author knew of the perfect place: re- Staunton State Park, and Beyond. Pine, Colorado: Elk turn the sign to South Elk Creek Road and hang Creek Publishing, 2013. it in Staunton State Park’s new Visitor’s Center! Staunton Collection. Placement of this historic sign in the Visitor’s Stephen H. Hart Library, History Colorado, Denver, Center, fastened to a wall in a case where it will Colorado. be safe, will allow the public to once again enjoy it. It will be accompanied by a poster that tells the story of the notorious Reynolds Gang who

Historically Jeffco 2018 33 The 154-Year Run of the Golden Mill by Richard Gardner he venerable institution long known as The Barnes Mill was the first major industrial the Golden Mill first started on April plant powered by renewable energy in Jefferson T18, 1864, when David Barnes set up the County, run by water fed to it via the mill race first flour mill in Jefferson County, Colorado, that ran through the locations of today’s City upon Bear Creek below today’s town of Morri- Hall and Parfet Park. By 1867, the mill was run- son. There he made a successful run as the Den- ning day and night, turning out 125-150 sacks ver Mills, making flour to rival St. Louis using of its celebrated XXX flour a day. It did a sub- the earliest wheat crops around the area. How- stantial business from the wheat fields of Clear, ever, there was not enough water in Bear Creek Ralston and Bear Creeks and elsewhere, and be- to successfully power the mill. By February 28, came known as “The Old Reliable.” 1865, Barnes had a mill race completed in order In 1876, Barnes sold the mill to Jesse Quain- to move his flour mill to Golden to use the ample tance, who ran it with son Brough under the water power of Clear Creek. At the northwest firm name of Quaintance & Son. Quaintance View from Clear corner of Green Street at Clear Creek (Green Creek toward North hired skilled veteran miller Tom Brady to quar- Table Mountain with was the original name of Ford Street north of terback the mill and continued its widespread the Golden Flour the river) he built a large, 3½-story frame grain Mill, undated. reputation, establishing the name of his family elevator and mill. At 45 feet tall it was Jefferson in the community. The Quaintances operated Golden History Museum County’s tallest structure and Golden’s first large & Park, City of Golden the mill in the face of competition from three Collection industrial edifice.

34 Historically Jeffco 2018 competitors in Golden: The Rock Mills, Brick Mills and Binder Mill. Their primary threat, however, came from outside—the Colorado Milling Company monopoly of J.K. Mullen, who purchased the Rock Flour Mills in 1881. The Brick and Binder mills shut down, and the monopoly’s menace and importance of preserv- ing the few remaining independent mills be- came keenly felt as farmers and consumers ral- lied around the Quaintance Mill. It retooled by installing new machinery and supporters made themselves heard, including this one who wrote in the Colorado Transcript October 7, 1885: “Many of our citizens have heretofore been pur- chasing at an advanced price for their home con- sumption the Longmont flour, now controlled by the aforesaid monopoly, but the people are rejoiced to know that with new machinery and Tom Brady Flour Mill constructed in 1885 that stood at the The Golden Milling to run it and Brough Quaintance, who is an ex- southeast corner of Wall (now 8th) and Jackson Company building, pert, their brand is not excelled in the state. I have undated. streets, with a 100-car capacity. For the first time Golden History Museum recently made diligent inquiry and find that the the historic mill became a two-plant operation. & Park, City of Golden article now produced by them is as much superior Collection to Longmont flour as that article was superior to In 1899, under the auspices of the Golden Com- theirs before the introduction of their improved mercial Club, the Golden Milling Company machinery. Who ever got a poor sack of flour from was officially organized to acquire the historic Tom Brady? So long as the mill is run in the inter- institution. Beginning with a capitalization of est of the people and against a monopoly it should $15,000, they purchased the elevators, franchis- be patronized by the people. And we are gratified es and water rights. Its directors, most of whom to learn that the price paid for wheat by them is were prominent Golden businessmen, included greater than the monopoly pays and that they sell John H. Linder, Jesse W. Rubey, Dr. John Perry flour at a less price. We call upon all producers and Kelly, John F. Church, George Aldhous, Richard consumers to take heed.” Broad Jr. and William A. Dier. Its officers were Dier as president, Rubey as treasurer, and John In 1889, the Quaintance Mill was acquired Frederick Vivian as business manager and secre- by Fred H. Buckman, who formalized its folk tary. They poured $25,000 into rebuilding and name, the Golden Mill. Buckman was a native modernizing the pioneer plant in 1900, raising of Hanover, Germany, who came to America in the building four feet, enlarging it, and install- 1849 when he was 15 years old. He first came ing a complete roller plant made by the Great to the Jefferson County area in the spring of Western Company of Leavenworth, Kansas. The 1859, mining gold at Arapahoe Bar just below reborn Golden Mill was a state-of-the-art frame the future townsite of Golden and overlooked edifice, with a newly redesigned Dutch gambrel by Arapahoe City, Jeffco’s first town. Buckman arched roof and increased capacity of 85 barrels returned in 1866, taking charge of the Michigan per day, in addition to manufacturing flour and Ranch way station on the Golden Gate Canyon feed. The elevator now had a capacity of 40,000 Road. The son of a flour miller, Fred inaugurated barrels, and the company began turning out its a third generation in the family business, Jesse famed flagship brand, the “Pride of the West.” Lee Buckman, who assisted his father in running Aldous, described by the Transcript as “a practi- the Golden Mill. In January 1898, Buckman cal miller of many years experience,” took charge acquired a second elevator, the former Binder as head miller, with John F. Vivian, father of fu-

Historically Jeffco 2018 35 up. The roof was of iron, and the interior was a seething mass of flames when the roof fell in, the fire then shooting up into the air for seventy-five feet. Dense clouds of smoke covered the lower part of the city, and great pieces of burning wood were carried several blocks, in many instances ig- niting fires, and only the watchfulness of property owners prevented other blazes being started.” It had been set ablaze by arsonists, a gang of thieves who set it and another fire at the Bennett stable in north Golden to distract attention from their plundering of the Hertel Clothing store down- town. They were intercepted and arrested in Den- ver two days later with most of the stolen clothing in their possession. Cookman was fully insured and estimated the loss of the Binder Mill at be- tween $7,000-$8,000. From then onward the Golden Mill focused all operations at the original plant on Ford Street. The Golden Mill was next purchased by A.H. Winker and J.H. Howe, and on July 6, 1912, the Golden Flour & Feed Milling Company was in- Advertisement for ture Colorado Governor John C. Vivian, placed corporated by themselves along with W.D. Danks, Purina Chick Food in in charge of management. In 1900 Ed D. Haw- Colorado Transcript P.N. Benn and John Corle. Its capital stock was of April 24, 1941. ley, a pioneer citizen and another experienced $30,000 and they went to work overhauling its Colorado Historic practical miller who had earlier resided in Jef- machinery to put it back in operation. The south Newspapers Collection ferson County for years, purchased Aldous’s in- end of the Golden Mill elevator was rebuilt as a terest and took over as head miller, continuing new south addition, extending the full height and to 1906. adopting the same style as the main building. It In 1907, the Binder Mill operation, which the continued to run successfully until it was sold at company commonly called simply the Elevator, public auction on April 12, 1915, to secure pay- was converted into a public storage place “for the ment of a $5,000 note held by Samuel Hartsel, storage of such wheat as the Growers do not care who took possession on February 17, 1916. On to dispose of after harvest, but prefer to hold for October 28, 1919, Melvin Springer of San Diego, speculation.” In 1908, Casper W. Whipple, hav- California acquired the place. ing just retired as Jeffco Sheriff, converted it to The Peery Brothers of Maryville, Tennessee, his own hay, grain and feed business, marking the purchased the Golden Mill on January 3, 1920, first time the Golden Mill had a tenant. That year and transformed the institution to the Golden the Golden Milling Company added a piece to Mill & Elevator Company. George F., William the Golden skyline in the form of a 60-foot-tall Wynn and Ira W. Peery operated a large mill at metal smokestack. In 1909, the Golden Mill- Maryville and acquired the Golden Mill after ing Company passed out of public hands to J.J. carefully studying conditions here. The Tran- Heim, who shortly thereafter sold it to Walter L. script reported the senior member, William, “is Cookman of Limon, Colorado. It was shortly af- a careful observer and has attended the annual terward that at 12:30 a.m. on March 20, 1910, conventions of millers for a number of years as a the Binder Mill was discovered on fire. According help to keeping up with all the latest equipment to the Transcript “...the entire building was a mass and secrets of the milling business.” George was of flames before being discovered. The walls were a farmer, William an expert miller, and Ira expe- of brick, with few windows, which were boarded rienced in the grain and feed business to make 36 Historically Jeffco 2018 an effective combination. The Golden Mill once continued operating it under a diverse variety of again produced its XXX brand of flour, and in brands as the store transitioned to his children, 1923 the mill was supplemented with a new 80 and he moved to Florida in 2015. However, after x 40-foot warehouse made of Golden-manufac- his children opened JL&B Feed Store in Arvada tured building tile for the storage of flour, grain Boyle felt it was time to close the business, which and feed. As advertised on the Golden Mill’s ceased operation at the age of 154 years on April painted mural bannerhead upon the warehouse 30, 2018. The Golden Mill’s historic warehouse front, the Golden Mill sold Purina Chows, in- is now eligible for historic designation, likely as cluding Baby Chick Chow, Cow Chow, Sow & high as the National Register of Historic Places, Pig Chow and more. The Peery family contin- being in well preserved historical condition and ued operating the mill for many years, passing housing a beloved community institution. to Joseph L. and James H. Peery by 1926, and Works cited: when the Rock Mills finally closed in 1937, the Colorado Transcript, 9/25/1867, 10/7/1885, 7/17/1895, 1/12/1898, 6/21/1899, 8/22/1900, 9/18/1901, 6/22/1905, 7/26/1906, Golden Mill had become one of the few inde- 8/22/1907, 2/20/1908, 12/31/1908, 3/24/1910, 7/11/1912, pendents that successfully outlasted the monop- 1/8/1920, 5/6/1920, 10/5/1922, 10/11/1923, 3/21/1929, oly. In time Joseph’s son Joseph Mayford Peery, 4/24/1941, 6/26/1941, 4/2/1942, 12/3/1942, 1951, 1952, 1985, 5/3/2018. a World War II veteran, would take over the en- Golden Globe, 12/20/1884. terprise. Historical files of Richard J. Gardner. The Golden Mill ran in successful operation Jefferson County property records. until 1951, when citizen outcry over a history Martin, Martha N. “County of Vivian.” Historically Jeffco, 2001. McGrath, Maria Davies. The Real Pioneers of Colorado. Denver: The of children drowning in the mill race forced the Denver Museum, 1934, p. 184-185. closure of the waterway that year. After a year Rocky Mountain News, 9/29/1864. of running on electric power, the elevator closed in 1952, and the landmark building was dis- mantled. However, the Golden Mill continued in its warehouse as a feed store serving the re- gion, a line of production and sale since its very beginning, and built a wooden hay warehouse. A land owner of North Table Mountain, Peery, over time, developed several subdivisions and dedicated a park in memory of his son Norman Douglas Peery who was killed in action in the Vietnam War. During the mid-1980s the Golden Mill was acquired by Edward K. Ramstetter, of the pio- neer ranching family of Golden Gate Canyon. On October 12, 1985, the Golden Mill en- dured a second arson fire when unknown agents set fire to its wooden hay storage building and the Golden Post Office. The hay storage was quickly rebuilt in much more fireproof ma- sonry. The Golden Mill continued successfully in Ramstetter’s proprietorship as he was elected and served on Golden City Council represent- Advertisement for ing Ward 3 and as Mayor Pro Tem from 1994- Purina Lay Chow in 2002. Ramstetter passed away on February 19, Colorado Transcript 2003, after which John Boyle, who grew up of April 2, 1942. Colorado Historic on a ranch in Coal Creek Canyon and worked Newspapers Collection there since 1978, took over the business. Boyle Historically Jeffco 2018 37 The Odyssey of the Territorial Capital Chairs by Richard Gardner olden City was once the capital of Col- Golden man who used them in his pool hall, which orado Territory and truly the center of in 1900 was located in what is now Barney’s Inn Ggovernment for the region. Inside the below the old opera house. He used these chairs for Loveland Block at the northwest corner of to- many years and moved them across the street when day’s 12th Street and Washington Avenue, the he moved his hall to what is now Strawn’s bookstore. Legislature and House met upstairs at the east Mr. Williams later moved his place of business to end of Representative Hall and the Council the Schultz building, now the Appliance Shoppe. (Senate) met in the Council Chamber at the Here he operated for a number of years, still us- west end with committee rooms in between. ing these old chairs. In 1926, Ira H. Petrie and Speaker Edward Louis Berthoud, Golden, pre- John Gunnels bought this pool and recreation hall sided over the Territorial House in 1867; and and became owners of the famous chairs. Knowing its members sat in comfortable wooden chairs they were of historic value, Mr. Petrie took the best debating the issues of the day. One issue, mov- chairs left and stored them in his basement. After ing the capital to Denver, prevailed by one vote the death of Mr. Petrie, Sept. 7, 1947, his wife, in the Council. The Legislature, forthwith, van- Mrs. Hattie Petrie wanted to present the chairs to ished to Denver. Unbeknown to the general the State Historical Society and in the fall of 1949 public, the Legislature left behind the chairs she gave them three low backed arm chairs and one it used in Representative Hall. The odyssey of high backed arm chair to keep for future genera- the Territorial Capital chairs was later told by tions to see. The chairs are made of heavy oak, well- the Colorado Transcript, picking up the story 82 built and sturdy and are between 85 and 90 years years later in 1949: old.” “The gift is four chairs which were originally used The chairs were quite likely first brought to in the first State capitol building here in Golden, Golden by frontiersman, teamster and Civil and these chairs were used by the legislators and War Veteran Oliver Bouvier, who was entrusted the governor of the State of Colorado. When Golden with moving the Territorial records to Golden. Territorial Capital was the first capitol of Colorado, 1862-1867, be- Metropolitan Hall, the future Overland Hotel, chair on display fore it was moved to Denver, the legislature met in was the first Golden location where the Legisla- at Fort Garland ture met for an appreciable amount of time. It Museum the old Overland building, next to the Transcript, History Colorado and these chairs were used there. Then later, the stood next to the Transcript Building at today’s body moved to quarters 1117 Washington Ave. and existed from 1859- above what is now the 1910. It was here the Territorial Legislature met Golden Mercantile store, in its Fourth Session from Jan. 2 to Feb. 10, known in the early days 1865. At the Loveland Block the Sixth and Sev- as the W.A.H. Loveland enth Sessions met, from Dec. 3, 1866, to Jan. building. It was in the 11, 1867, and Dec. 2-9, 1867. Representative second story of this build- Hall there doubled as Golden’s Masonic Hall. ing that the meetings Golden City Lodge No. 1, A.F. & A.M. built were held. After the capi- the space in partnership with Loveland in 1863 tal was moved to Denver, and today possesses the building’s cornerstone. the Masonic lodge held Williams’ pool hall was the same establishment its meetings in the room later known as Barney’s Inn and is today the over the store, and they Ace Hi Tavern inside the Opera House Block, used these chairs, which at 1216 Washington Ave. The building that was were later acquired by later Strawn’s bookstore is the Ashworth Build- Dan Williams, old-time ing at 1213 Washington Ave. The Schultz Build-

38 Historically Jeffco 2018 ing stands today at 1118 Washington Stephen H. Hart Library Director ety (now History Colorado) by John Ave., which in 1949 was home to the Laura Ruttum Senturia was pleased Nicholls in 1906. History Colorado’s appliance store of F.A. “Heinie” Foss, to confirm that at least one, and pos- brief description on file matched al- prominently known as the owner of sibly all four, of the Territorial Capital most verbatim part of the historic Foss Drug. chairs were still in History Colorado’s Transcript article about its donation. possession. One chair was found to be From here the chairs vanished once Works cited: again from Golden’s collective mem- on display at the Fort Garland Mu- Colorado Transcript, 12/19/1866, 11/30/1905, seum, where it may be seen today. 4/12/1906, 11/17/1910, 11/27/1919, 12/15/1949. ory, until Jefferson County Historical Correspondence of Richard J. Gardner and Laura Commission member and Golden In addition to confirming this story, Ruttum Senturia, 1/13/2017-2/7/2017. historian Richard Gardner picked up Senturia also confirmed that History Historical exhibits of Golden City Lodge No. 1, A.F. & A.M. the cold case 68 years later. Intrigued Colorado possesses the last remaining window of Golden’s first building, the Historical files of Richard J. Gardner. that any artifact of Golden as Territo- House Journal of the Legislative Assembly of the rial Capital might still actually exist, Boston Co. store, crafted by company Territory of Colorado, Fourth Session, 1865; Sixth member Joseph Bird with panes taken Session, 1866-1867; Seventh Session, 1867. Central he contacted History Colorado to see City: David C. Collier. if somehow the legendary chairs might by ox wagon across the plains in 1859 still be with them after all these years. and given to the State Historical Soci-

History of the 1st Judicial District Now Complete by Bonnie Scudder wo walls in the Jefferson County st1 Judicial The Election Era, when judges were elected to county and dis- TDistrict Courthouse in Golden, Colorado, now trict judgeships, began with statehood in 1876 and ended in present the history of the 1st Judicial District, dating 1966. This section of the exhibit features 20 district judges and from 1858 to the current year. To date, 119 judges 20 Jefferson and Gilpin County judges. Lists of judges from are featured with short biographies and portraits other counties which were part of the 1st Judicial District are also (when available). posted. Sketches of two 1st Judicial District courthouses by artist Four eras of judicial history have been identified. Carol Perricone and a map showing the counties that were part The Gold Rush Era features 11 judges who served of the District in 1913 are mounted above the judges of this era. from 1858 to 1861. Along with biographies, this era Finally, 46 judges serving during the Merit Selection Era, which displays artwork depicting “frontier justice.” A chart began in 1977, are displayed. As sitting judges leave the Bench, indicating judges serving in Kansas Territory and their portraits and biographies will be added to the wall. This Jefferson Territory helps clarify the structure of the era features a third sketch by Perricone as well as one of the cur- judicial system at that time. rent courthouse drawn by Doyle Harrison. Another map which st The Colorado Territorial Era features 22 judges on shows counties in the 1 Judicial District during different eras st the Bench from 1861 to 1876 and includes district helps demonstrate the evolution of the 1 Judicial District. judges as well as county judges from Jefferson and The Judges Wall Project has been a joint effort of the Jefferson Gilpin counties. This section includes an 1862 map County Historical Commission, the 1st Judicial District and the of the Territory of Colorado, the first drawn showing Colorado Supreme Court Law Library. the 17 original counties.

Historically Jeffco 2018 39 Putting the Past at Your Fingertips by Ronda Frazier, Jefferson County Archives and Mark Dodge, Golden History Museum & Park ewspapers are a very important After securing permission from the publisher, source of information and are con- digitization started in September of 2017 with the Nsidered a primary source for learn- first batch containing issues of theTranscript from ing about historical events. Now primary 1925 through June 1948 going live on the site in source research using Golden’s newspapers is December, 2017. Issues of the Transcript prior to getting easier by the day thanks to a partner- 1925 as well as Golden’s other newspapers (The ship between the Golden History Museum, Golden Weekly Globe and Western Mountaineer) Jefferson County Archives and the Colorado were already digitized and available in the CHNC. Historic Newspapers Collection. The project will continue each year of the five years Jefferson County Library’s Golden branch until all of the remaining microfilmed issues have donated their local history collection, includ- been digitized. ing 180 rolls of microfilm containing almost The Golden History Museum & Park currently 150 years of the Golden Transcript (formerly owns a near-complete set of original, bound vol- the Colorado Transcript), to the Golden His- umes of the Transcript covering 1895 to early tory Museum and Park in 2015. The museum 1960. The Jefferson County Archives acquired the is committed to making this resource publicly original, bound volumes from late 1960 to 2012 available by digitizing the collection and mak- when the Transcript moved from its Golden office. ing it fully accessible and free online. In 2017 These later, yet-to-be-digitized issues of the Tran- the museum began a partnership with the script as well as other newspapers in the collection Jefferson County Archives and the Colorado can be accessed by the public at the Archives. State Library to work with the existing online For more information about the digitization Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection project please contact Mark Dodge, Curator, at (CHNC) in order to fulfill this commitment. [email protected] or 303-278-3557. Over a period of five years, the Museum and For information about the Archives or any of its the Archives have each pledged to fund this collections, please see the website at www.jeffco. project and see it through to completion. us/county-archives or contact Ronda Frazier, Ar- chivist, at [email protected] or 303-271-8448.

Digitized newspapers provide a glimpse into the daily life of years past. Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection

40 Historically Jeffco 2018 he Colorado Historic Newspapers out copyright restrictions. However, state and federal funds administered TCollection is a service of the Colo- CHNC can digitize beyond 1922 with by the Colorado State Library. New rado State Library. This invaluable on- permission from the publisher, as in pages are continually added to the line resource currently includes more the case of the Colorado Transcript. collection when community funding than 1,100,000 digitized pages from Digitization is paid for through con- is located to pay the costs of digitiza- over 220 individual newspaper titles tributions made by local libraries, tion. published throughout the state. The archives, museums and other orga- For more information please go to: dates covered range from 1859 to nizations. Ongoing support for main- https://www.coloradohistoricnews- 1922, the time period for which publi- taining, developing and providing papers.org cations are in the public domain with- access to the CHNC is paid for with

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The Big History of the Little House on Ford Street by Richard Gardner ittle noticed near 24th and Ford streets in of tiny houses put together, with some possibly Golden, Colorado, is a rustic little frame being moved to this site. However, by the time of L house that has a bigger history than most its highest importance most of the present home people know. Standing at 2318 Ford St., the his- was standing. In 1877, Clough sold the house to toric Hayward House is the sole remaining con- Caroline Townsend, wife of prominent business- nection to one of the most important events in man and Jefferson County Clerk Al Townsend, Colorado law enforcement history. The house and the couple likely lived here. The home was and its property were not the scene of any vio- then purchased in 1878 by Reuben Benton Hay- lence, but it was the Golden home of the Hay- ward, a teamster for hire running wagons to and ward family and the scene of the event’s dramatic from the mountains. It was his Golden home, final act. It is a true story from the frontier west and the family also had a mountain ranch upon that could be its own movie in today’s day and Soda Creek where it crosses Interstate 70 today, age. which became known as Hayward Junction. The Hayward House, originally built in 1873 by What transpired beginning there the night of Edward L. Clough, was an outpost of Golden September 10, 1879, was placed in context by no bigger than a tiny house of today. It was con- these words penned in 1897 by David J. Cook, structed for $600 by crafters Lyman C. Blood, leader of the Rocky Mountain Detective As- John W. Virden, J.T. Feltch and J.N. Miller. sociation: “In all the criminal history of Colo- The Hayward House, What part of the house is original is uncertain; it rado—in all the register of the achievements of undated now is an unusual amalgam of side-gabled, clap- the Rocky Mountain Detective Association— Jefferson County Archives boarded and board and batten structures the size the ensanguined pages show no more causeless,

42 Historically Jeffco 2018 PRESERVATION unprovoked murder than that of R.B. Hayward, in September, 1879. The difficulties met and overcome by the detectives, and the prompt and tragic end of the criminals, lend an additional interest to the case and make it one of the most famous in the far West, as it is most assuredly one of the most noted in Colorado in some of its features. The absence of any material tempta- tion; the temporary escape of the murderers; the accidental finding of the body of the victim; the patient search of the officers; the final arrest of the men hundreds of miles away; the identifica- tion and confession; and then their lynching, so rich in dramatic detail, form a narrative reading more like a sensational romance than the cold facts of an actual reality.” On that night, Samuel Woodruff and Joseph Seminole came to Hayward’s mountain home to hire him to transport them to a cattle camp near the Rooney Ranch. As they proceeded, the men were last seen together passing through the tollgate of Mt. Vernon (at the entrance to its canyon). Upon arrival at the Cold Spring Ranch (today’s Pleasant View), however, the ranch owner saw only the passengers, not Hayward. That is because they had strangled Hayward en route and his body was in the wagon at that very moment. Upon departing eastward on South Golden Road, they hid his body in a culvert along the road, continuing east with Hayward’s stolen wagon, and vanished. Hayward was a well-liked, gentle citizen with a loving wife and two sweet early-teenage daugh- ters, and the Golden community and beyond were outraged at this horrific act. Governor Pit- kin offered a $1,000 reward for the capture and return to the Jefferson County Sheriff of his as- sailants. His body was accidentally found by his wife Sophronia while searching for him, and this led to an interstate manhunt for the fugitives led by the Rocky Mountain Detective Association. After weeks of patient and painstaking search, Seminole was intercepted and captured by the Top: Murder of R.B. Hayward on the Denver and Golden Road in 1879. tribal police at the Pine Ridge Reservation in Middle: Capture of Seminole at Pine Ridge Indian Agency, Dakota, by Dakota Territory after a struggle. Woodruff was Detective Ayres. captured at rifle point at Big Grove, Iowa. They Bottom: Arrest of Sam Woodruff at Big Grove, Iowa, by Detective Hawley. Cook’s Hands Up!—Public domain were brought back to Golden and placed in jail to await trial. Sophronia and daughters Cora and

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Minnie, having seen the men that hired their fa- a halt, each man discharging his revolver in the ther, were brought to the jail and they identified air and shouting solemnly and loudly, as if in both as his assailants. one voice ‘Hayward is avenged!’ The band then On the clear moonlit night of December 27, wheeled into the street and galloped away.” They 1879, a group of some 35 masked riders rode rode off into the night, never to be seen again. into Golden from the south, accompanied by The identities of the vigilantes are unknown to dozens more men on foot and a wagon full of this day. Woodruff was taken back to Big Grove heavy tools. They dismounted at the Jefferson by his brother while Seminole was buried in an County Courthouse at 15th Street and Washing- unmarked grave at Golden Cemetery. After Hay- ton Avenue, where the jail was in the basement. ward’s murder his family was left with no source They picketed the surrounding streets with of income and Sophronia Hayward defaulted on guards to create a perimeter preventing anyone the lender’s note it took them to buy this house. outside from entering and anyone inside from The lender, banker Francis E. Everett, called the leaving. Illuminating the scene using lit pieces of note due and placed the house up for auction. paper, they made guard Edgar Cox stand aside According to deeds, Sophronia Hayward made at gunpoint so they could batter the doors down a winning bid of $200 at the auction, yet paid with their tools. Jailer Joseph T. Boyd, from Everett only $1 for the house. This showed what whom the keys were neither requested nor pro- transpired was a selfless act by the future Golden vided, appealed for them to cease this lawless act, Mayor to make the necessary legal maneuvers to but according to the Colorado Transcript “His clear the title and forgive the debt of Hayward’s eloquence, however, did not have the desired ef- widow. Sophronia Hayward continued to live fect, as four or five revolvers pointed at his head there until 1888, after which she lived with one and an order to hold up his hands caused him to of her daughters at Creswell. The house contin- cut short his speech and point his hands toward ued as a small farm for years afterward. It was heaven.” They hammered away and dragged out erroneously identified by theTranscript as being the prisoners as Woodruff remained stoic and near today’s 20th and Ford streets, but property Seminole wailed helplessly. They took Woodruff records confirm this house was indeed the one at The Lynching of and Seminole down to the railroad trestle then which the Haywards lived. Woodruff and standing at today’s 16th and Jackson streets and Seminole at Golden Being so closely connected with these historic Cook’s Hands Up!— prepared to hang them. Woodruff proclaimed events, including being the scene of the final Public domain his innocence and asked to jump, but he was salvo, makes the Hayward house quite an impor- pushed anyway. Seminole tant place in Golden and Jefferson County histo- confessed the guilt of ry. As such it is eligible for listing on the National both men, then made a Register of Historic Places today as the Jefferson prayer for forgiveness for County Housing Authority decides how to de- himself and for his cap- velop the property, ironically, as the same afford- tors that was so stirring it able housing this tiny house was built for. made many of the crowd Works cited: take off their hats, and Colorado Transcript, 12/24/1873, 9/17/1879, 10/15/1879, trembling like an aspen 12/31/1879, 8/3/1916, 9/7/1922. leaf he was pushed off the Cook, David J. Hands Up! Or Thirty-Five Years of Detective Life in the Mountains and on the Plains. Denver: The W.F. Robinson Printing trestle. When the vigilan- Company, 1897. tes were sure the Hayward Historical files of Richard J. Gardner. murderers were dead, the Jefferson County property records. masked riders rode to the Jessen, Kenneth C. Colorado Gunsmoke: True Stories of Outlaws and Lawmen on the Colorado Frontier. Boulder, Colorado: Pruett Hayward house on Ford Publishing Company, 1986. Street. As the Transcript told, when they arrived, “the whole band came to

44 Historically Jeffco 2018 PRESERVATION

The Yellow Barn Turns 100 by Dick Scudder, with Craig Marks

ost of us travelling along Highway The Yellow Barn 285 think of the commercial areas of fell into disrepair, Conifer as its center. However, Co- undated. M All photos Craig & Debbi nifer began over the hill from today’s modern Marks shopping centers long before the highway was built. Bradford Junction, at what is now High- way 73 and Barkley Road, was the original spot where Conifer got its start. Its origin was at the junction of two toll roads. The first post office was established there in 1865. It was known as Hutchinson but became Conifer in 1894. In the early 20th century, it became the iconic location known to locals as the Yellow Barn. The Yellow found in the door, are currently on loan to the Barn is one of three buildings on the property Conifer Historical Society. listed on the Colorado State Register of Historic EV studio, in a historical investigation of the Properties. Along with the three buildings there three buildings in 2011, stated that the building is also the Civil War Well, constructed in the materials were “probably delivered by train from 1860s. Illinois to Denver, where they were then most Below: Pages from In 1918, John J. Mullen purchased three mail- the Gordon-Van likely loaded on the C&S Narrow Gauge Platte Tine 1917 catalog order, pre-cut buildings: a barn, caretaker’s house Canyon line and delivered to Dawson’s Switch showing plan and ranch house. These prefabricated, modular near the bottom of present day Foxton Road. number 221. kits were popular at the turn of the 20th century From there they would have taken a bumpy trip Public Domain as America entered an era of mass manufactur- up the narrow canyon road on wagons pulled by Left: Plan number 221 can be seen on ing. Sears, Roebuck and Co. was one of several livestock” until they were delivered to their des- boards throughout catalog companies offering home kits, including tination at Bradford Junction. the Yellow Barn. those designed and manufactured by the Gor- don-Van Tine Company. These kits came with the building plans, pre-cut lumber, hardware, roofing, doors, windows, flooring and trim, as well as paint and varnish and were an economi- cal way for rural customers to build houses and barns. Gordon-Van Tine plan number 221 can be seen on boards throughout the Yellow Barn. The original plans,

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When John Mullen built The distinctive curved Gothic roof barn has been the barn, he originally used an iconic symbol of the Conifer community for it for show horses. Carts many years, although over time, it has slowly were stored on the lower lost its sheen. Efforts to save the barn led to the level while the main level of Yellow Barn at Bradford Junction being named the barn housed the horses. to Jefferson County’s Register of Historic Land- The upper level was used mark Properties in 2003. These efforts to save for storing hay—and for the barn have continued for years. barn dances. The floor is Finally, in April of 2016, Craig and Debbi Marks, made of hardwood, so it residents of Conifer since 1979, purchased the was a great place to dance. Yellow Barn property at the old Bradford Junc- Young people came from tion. An assessment of improvements needed for miles around and stayed the property was undertaken. The previous own- up well into the night to ers, Andy and Denise Clark, had just finished attend these dances. In the much-needed work of redoing the founda- her article on the Yellow tion of the barn, but the roof was leaking and Barn, Dorothy Donovan there was concern about the stability of the barn writes that “‘Doc’ Torrence as well as other issues. Although the barn had Corbin, whose parents and been standing for nearly a century, the Marks grandparents settled in Jef- family wanted to be sure it could stand for an- ferson County in the 1870s other 100 years. They also wanted the exterior of and 1880s, said that ‘one the iconic barn to be “historically correct.” Top: Inside barn of the most popular places to go dancing was with roof material the big yellow barn with red trim at Bradford removed Areas of concern Junction.’” The High Timber Times reported that Bottom: Bracing on The first area of concern was drainage around the yellow barn was once the scene of rollicking the first floor the Yellow Barn. With the focus on historical ac- square dances and that the barn floor was “good curacy, Marks used the Secretary of the Interior’s and slick: from dust and stored hay.” Standards for the Treatment of Historic Property

New roof being installed

46 Historically Jeffco 2018 PRESERVATION as a guide: “Protect and maintain wood features Future plans by ensuring that historic drainage features that The Marks are passion- divert rainwater from wood surfaces (such as ate about preserving roof overhangs, gutters, and downspouts) are in- the barn for the future. tact and functioning properly.” To that end, new All the work they are sump pumps were installed in the basement and engaged in, from the then a French drain with period-correct gutters new roof to the inte- and downspouts was connected to drain roof rior stabilization using water from the east side to the west side. new bracing, cables When the Yellow Barn was purchased in 2016, and other devices, is sunlight shining through the roof made its many designed to be true to holes evident. The hayloft was not dried in. Holes the original design of near the peak allowed the second-floor hayloft to the barn and preserve get wet when it rained and whenever there was its historical character. melting snow. This caused damage to the lathe One further improve- boards and the roof collar ties underneath. Tarps ment being contem- were used inside to mitigate the impact to the plated is the removal hayloft floor, but the roof needed to be repaired. of plywood currently Lathe boards had deteriorated as well as rotted in covering some of the areas. Upon inspection, it was found that under windows so that more the old, painted cedar shakes were composition light can enter the shingles. The roof needed to be taken down to building. the lathe boards and then redone. There are no plans to change the character of the Barn interior, 2016 Another area of concern is the stability of the barn. There is electricity, but no water or sewer. Yellow Barn. A structural engineer evaluated the Currently the downstairs has a tenant who sells structure, pinpointed weaknesses and proposed antiques and other items. Those who use the potential remedies. Many structural components barn in the future will need to respect its historic are nailed and should be bolted or screwed. All nature. As active members of the Conifer Ridge work is to be done based on the Secretary of Runners square dancing group, the Marks imag- the Interior’s Standards: “Identify, retain, and ine the possibility of one day bringing “rollick- preserve structural systems and visible features ing” square dancing back to the barn. of systems that are important in defining the The Yellow Barn will celebrate 100 years in the overall historic character of the building.” The fall of 2018. The Marks plan to have a party to work needing to be done is to include but not be mark that celebration… in the barn they have limited to the following: First, structural bolts been lovingly restoring. need to be added to the main floor and loft as Works cited: per an engineer. Second, the collar ties need to Anonymous. Conifer Local Preservation Group Powerpoint slides, be screwed to the beams in the hayloft instead circa 2008. of nailed. Third, vertical supports exist at every Department of the Interior. (2017). Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Property. Retrieved from other rafter in the loft. These need to be bolt- Department of the Interior: https://www.nps.gov/tps/standards/ ed to the roof and vertical supports need to be treatment-guidelines-2017.pdf added to all the other rafters and then bolted. Donovan, Dorothy. “A Visit to Conifer: The Story of the Yellow Barn.” Historically Jeffco, Jefferson County Colorado, Vol 8 Number 2, Fourth, sway bracing needs to be installed on the Winter 1995. south and north side walls of the hayloft. Finally, EV Studio. (2011, June 11). The Yellow Barn at Conifer: Early Amerian cables running east to west need to be installed Pre-fab in the Mountains. Retrieved from EV Studio: http://evstudio. com/the-yellow-barn-at-conifer-early-american-pre-fab-in-the- between the main floor beams and attached and mountains/ tightened at each end. High Timber Times, Conifer, CO, June 23, 1977, p 8.

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Behind the Façade: Renovating the Buffalo Rose by Richard Gardner ransforming before everyone’s eyes in Later used as a drugstore, confectionery and res- the heart of downtown Golden is one taurant, it served as a barber shop for 111 years Tof Colorado’s oldest institutions, the from 1905-2016 and went by the folk name of Buffalo Rose, and the historic buildings within “The Corner.” which it resides. For only the third time since it The building has two additions, a northern half was founded in 1859, the saloon closed for an storefront also built in 1871 (by 1890 a Chinese extended time as an extensive renovation peeled laundry, now the only known surviving link to back its many layers both inside and out, solving Golden’s historic Chinese colony), and a small mysteries, creating new ones and revealing hid- eastern addition built in the 1890s. The rustic den surprises. Here is the history of the several board and batten east wall of the eastern addi- buildings that have been revealed and what the tion, not seen by anyone since 1935, is now vis- plans for them to become are: ible for all to see. It includes a window opening, boarded up in 1905, which boards are pieces of a Daniels & Fisher shipping crate addressed to William H. Gray, co-proprietor of the barber shop in 1905. (See related story “A Window to the Past.”) From the inside have been revealed the original 1871 inset wood panels beneath the Avenue side window, not seen since the 1890s. These things will all be preserved, and the brick nogged walls left exposed, as the place becomes a restaurant once again for the first time in over a century. The facade, building upon the studs of the historic false front, is becoming an enhanced stepped false front design of rustic wood. It is the first stepped false front of the frontier city since the Wells Fargo stable was torn down in 1948. The second building from the corner at 1119 Washington Ave. is the saloon building prop- er, built as Paul’s Place in 1902 by Paul Ficht. The Iler Block at 12th The corner building at Washington Avenue and This replaced the original gold rush era saloon & Washington, circa 12th Street, the Iler Block, is Jefferson County’s building constructed in 1859, a brick upgrade 1880s Golden History Museum oldest frame storefront. Built in 1871 by James for more modern times. Its original Victorian & Park, City of Golden, P. Mallon and Henry Chamberlain as their meat design was by Golden-educated architect James Ed & Nancy Bathke market, it is of a construction unique to the area. H. Gow, a noted master of whom three of his Collection Known as brick nogging, its frame stud walls are designs are on the National Register of His- inlined with brick with the exterior surface made toric Places (Foothills Art Center, Quaintance of clapboarding, one of just two remaining of Block, Armory). This building has served the four known overall to have been built in Golden. same institution since it was built, which sur- This was meant to make a place more fireproof, vived Prohibition when Ficht converted the es- keep out pests, and shelter from winds at less tablishment to serving soft drinks. As revealed expense than a building requiring pricier facing today, the facade looks more decrepit than it is brick. In the 19th century, the building looked because its decorative brick has been sheared off, straight out of the Old West, with a frame false but the facade shows how to restore it all, the front facade and cutoff corner double doorway. shapes of the decorative bricks being silhouett-

48 Historically Jeffco 2018 PRESERVATION ed by the remaining painted facing bricks. It The building’s facade was trans- will be restored fairly faithfully to its original formed to a theatrical appearance appearance, but with a twist, using bricks of by noted theatrical architect Leo the Golden Buff color, another color used by Andrew Jesjardins, featuring a the same Golden Pressed & Fire Brick works central parapet wall, in a unique which made its original facing bricks in 1902. style combining elements of Mission Revival, Art Deco and The event hall building at 1117 Washington Gothic. It was transformed again Ave., the Golden Plunge, has undergone sev- with a Modernist brick facade eral remarkable transformations through time. by August Gaines Eaker in 1953 It was originally the Churches Garage, built when he converted the place to 15 feet shorter in 1922, designed by architect one of his Colorado chain of Tracy Quick and built by contractor Charles Eakers department stores. This J. Buckman. Markings of the original automo- facade has been revealed once bile stalls have been uncovered inside, when more, surprisingly with some of the place sold virtually every brand of automo- its original windows still intact. bile manufactured, including the Overland, an It will now become a Modernist ironic twist given that the building stands on translation of the Golden Plunge the site of the Gold Rush Era Overland Hotel. facade, the unique stylistic mix After Overland ceased manufacturing, owner that may be described as Mission Grant Churches transformed the building Deco Gothic. Inside have been into the Golden Plunge, Golden’s community revealed the great trusses last seen swimming pool, in 1926. He raised the roof by the public two months before 15 feet and dug out and poured the great con- Pearl Harbor when the building crete basin for the largest year-round indoor was renovated to become the pool in Colorado (Boulder’s pool was larger, union hall of Common Labor- but seasonal). This was where Goldenite Nils ers Union No. 410. Outside the Christiansen trained preparatory in 1935 for facade has been extended once the Olympic Games in Berlin. again to the Plunge’s height, and

Top: Barber Shop at corner of 12th & Washington, 1950 Larson’s Café next to the Roller Skating Hall that previously housed the Golden Plunge, 1950 Eaker’s Department Store next door to Dud’s, 1968 Jefferson County Archives

Inside the Golden Plunge showing the original numbered vehicle stalls for the Churches Garage as they were painted in 1922. Gardner Family Collection

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with another twist, popping the top of the build- ing a second time to provide downtown with its first mansard roof story since the year the place was built, 1922, when the last one was torn off the Loveland Block across the street. Inside the place will resume being an event hall, the venue having hosted public events as far back as 1926, with a lounge on its partial second floor for the first time since it was the union hall. Folks will be able to peer down into the deep end of the historic swimming pool that remains beneath the floorboards that Elwood Romney, ancestral cous- in of the presidential nominee, placed there as a removable floor when he was the owner in 1939. The Buffalo Rose, like its buildings, is a vener- able institution, tracing back to around Dec. 28, 1859, when Hubert F. Crow and Henry Brun- dy built the International Bowling Saloon here featuring three outdoor bowling lanes. It was a two-story, false front frame and hewn log build- ing. Repossessed by the Sheriff during the Civil War depression in 1863, it was reopened by John S. “Jack” Hill in 1867, endured the shootout be- tween outlaws and lawmen that inadvertently killed his brother in 1868, and was transformed to Orchestrion Hall when Gustave Haas put in a grand orchestrion in 1878. Acquired by fellow German immigrant Paul Ficht in 1894, he owned it the longest, replacing its building in 1902 with the present brick one and guiding it through Pro- hibition. Afterward it became the café of Leonard Larson, then the bar of Dudley J. “Dud” Young. It has been known as the International Bowling Saloon, Jack Hill’s Saloon, Orchestrion Hall, Paul’s Place, Larson’s Café, Dud’s, the Office Sa- loon, DeVere’s, and Ken Mueller briefly named it Shotgun Annie’s in 1984 before realizing it was too similar to strip club Shotgun Willie’s (not his desired clientele), and so it was given the name of the Buffalo Rose in 1985. That year the build- Top: 1890s east and northeast walls of the Iler Block, showing its historic board ings were unified in neo-Territorial design into and batten construction. Once prolific in frontier Golden, this is only the third known early example of it that remains. an events complex, the sibling of the great Griz- Bottom: Inside the northern half storefront of the Iler Block, showing its earlier zly Rose country music emporium Mueller later two roof levels on the side walls and the original front façade of the half opened. Today, with Chris Cone, the complex is storefront. To the left one can see the orginal north wall boards of the Iler Block, being transformed back to its historical roots, and in pristine condition because this wall was never exposed to the elements (the half storefront was also built in 1871). To the right is the 1902 wall of the Buffalo will include a sizable restaurant, bars, event hall, Rose saloon building. larger brand-new kitchen, glass roof, firewall and Gardner Family Collection much more. The Buffalo Rose is slated to reopen in the winter of 2018.

50 Historically Jeffco 2018 PRESERVATION

Left: Boarded up window on the east side of the Iler Block from the inside Below: View from the outside Gardner Family Collection

A Window to the Past by Richard Gardner he mysterious window uncovered at the east end of the Iler Block Twas boarded over at the beginning of 1905 and has been hidden from view until today. There is no glass underneath, but the boards have a story of their own to tell. At that time 113 years ago, barbers Richard Lichtenheld and Billy Gray leased “The Corner” and immediately began renovating it for their barber shop, building a new east addition so the place could Top: Brick nogging—never meant to be visible to the have 3 chairs, lavatories, reading room and more. The new addition public. necessitated covering the old window, which, from the evidence Bottom: Inside the Golden Plunge, showing its three of the writing on its planks, shows it was boarded with pieces of a roof levels. The red truss is original and at the 1922 shipping crate. On the exterior side one can see that the crate came roof level of the Churches Garage. The white truss is at from Daniels & Fisher in Denver. The interior side shows that it may the 1926 roof level when they raised it to become the have contained wagon parts and was being delivered to W.H. Gray Golden Plunge. in Golden. Gardner Family Collection William H. Gray, a native of Grant City, Iowa, had suffered from asth- ma as a child and came to Golden with his wife in 1902 for his health. Teaming up with the much noted “Dick the Barber” in purchasing a Works cited: Colorado Transcript, 11/25/1868, 6/28/1871, 6/19/1878, 2/16/1901, shop in 1904, they moved it here, calling it the Corner Barber Shop, 3/6/1901, 4/24/1901, 5/14/1902, 6/18/1902, 7/2/1902, 1/12/1905, and for a time Gray’s health was improved. Unfortunately Gray’s 6/8/1922, 10/12/1922, 10/14/1926, 2/24/1927, 7/14/1932, health failed once more and he was compelled to give up the busi- 7/19/1934, 5/30/1935, 9/5/1935, 10/26/1939, 9/25/1941, ness in 1914. Several times he tried recuperating in Missouri but al- 10/30/1941. ways came back to Golden where his health was better and where Cook, David J. Hands Up! Or Thirty-Five Years of Detective Life in the Mountains and on the Plains. Denver: The W.F. Robinson Printing the fight for his health was the wonder of the community. His cheer- Company, 1897. ful disposition and optimistic outlook on life won him a legion of Historical files of Richard J. Gardner. friends. Jefferson County property records. Gray passed away in Golden in 1916, but his window will remind Jessen, Kenneth C. Colorado Gunsmoke: True Stories of Outlaws and folks of the cheerful warrior for many years to come. The proprietors Lawmen on the Colorado Frontier. Boulder, CO: Pruett Publishing of the Buffalo Rose intend to preserve this window to the past in their Company, 1986. renovation. National Register of Historic Places records. Sanborn Insurance Company, maps of Golden, 1886-1938. Works cited: Western Mountaineer, 12/28/1859 and 2/29/1860. Colorado Transcript, 10/19/1916

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The Arapahoe City Monument: Its History by Richard Gardner ewly revitalized on the south side of At its peak, Arapahoe City had around 200 citi- West 44th Avenue just west of Mc- zens and possessed Jefferson County’s first post NIntyre Street is a little noticed but very office. However, by 1860 it had faded to 80 important historical monument, that of Jeffer- people and during the time of the Civil War it son County’s first town, Arapahoe City. Arapa- vanished. To remember Arapahoe City, area citi- hoe City was founded on November 29, 1858, zens and institutions joined together to create a not far west of today’s McIntyre Street on the monument to the pioneer town, including the north side of Clear Creek, and today’s West 44th State Historical Society of Colorado (now His- Avenue travels through it. It overlooked Arapa- tory Colorado) from the Mrs. J.N. Hall Founda- hoe Bar, a gold-laden placer sandbar on Clear tion, students of Fairmount School, Golden at- Creek where gold was first discovered by the Es- torney Arthur D. Quaintance and the American tes Party in 1834 and rediscovered by the Do- Pioneer Trails Association. Fairmount’s 7th and niphan Party in 1858, leading to the creation of 8th grade schoolchildren collected the rocks to Colorado’s fourth Gold Rush town here. Arapa- build the monument, which was constructed by hoe City served as a base camp for ambitious Roy Smith of Golden. It was placed upon land gold rushers seeking the mother lode in the hills of the townsite donated by mother and son, from which the sandbar deposits washed down, Mrs. Mary A. Moore and Francis M. Moore, The Arapahoe City and from here George A. Jackson and John H. which was graded and landscaped by Loch Lo- monument site after revitalization, May Gregory made discoveries around today’s Idaho mond Grange. Upon the monument was placed 2018. Springs and Black Hawk/Central City that put a bronze plaque telling the world of Arapahoe Gardner Family Collection the Gold Rush into full boom to create the Col- City and its importance. orado we know today. The monument was ceremoniously unveiled by Charles Lewis Palmer on April 28, 1946. Palmer was born across the river from Arapahoe City on October 6, 1860, as the first surviving white child in Jefferson County. Other dignitaries present at the unveiling included John Freder- ick Vivian (father of sitting Colorado Governor John Charles Vivian), Charles Pike (descendant relative of Zebulon Montgomery Pike), presi- dent James Rose Harvey of the American Pioneer Trails Association, and State Historical Society executive director Dr. Leroy R. Hafen. Sioux Chief Big Snake represented native peoples at the ceremony. Music was provided by George Jacobs and the Golden High School band. Dr. Hafen read a letter written by Thomas L. Golden (after whom the oldest remaining town in Jef- ferson County is named) from Arapahoe City telling of recent gold discoveries, the abundance of game, Golden’s prospecting partnership with fellow Arapahoe City dweller Samuel S. Curtis (for whom Curtis Street in Denver would be named), and of the naming of the town after the Arapaho tribe. The ceremony is known to have been filmed by motion picture cameras. 52 Historically Jeffco 2018 PRESERVATION

The Arapahoe City Monument: Its Revitalization By Keith Sorci, Jefferson County Justice Services

he Community Service Unit of Jefferson County’s Justice Ser- Tvices places and supervises adult and youth offenders who are ordered by the Court to provide useful public service as part of their sentence. Community service crews complete projects for govern- ment agencies and non-profit organizations. Two years ago, I was tasked with changing the way we engage our community service clients ensuring their involvement in more meaningful venues that incorporate an educational aspect along with the work requirement. By doing this, our clients can see the direct benefit of their work to the community. In many cases their effort or work is completed in the same community where their offense occurred. This has resulted in better program participation where the clients take ownership of a project and are proud of what they have given back. In the process of involving our clients in more meaningful and educational venues, Justice Services made it a priority to focus on Newly installed plaque, May 5, 2018 historical monuments and memorials. We developed partnerships Gardner Family Collection with the U.S. Marine Corps Memorial at Highways 6 and 40 in Golden, the Golden Hill Cemetery in Lakewood, the Arvada Cem- For seven decades the monument stood senti- etery and the Jessica Ridgeway Memorial in Arvada, and the Arapa- nel over the pioneer ghost townsite, until 2016 hoe City Historical Monument in Golden. when its bronze plaque was stolen by persons unknown and for reasons unknown other than The Arapahoe City monument was the only site that required more possibly its $10 in scrap value. History Colo- than regular maintenance. This site was being used as a dump and rado offered a $500 reward for the plaque’s re- a parking area, and the monument itself had been damaged and its turn while various other organizations tried to bronze plaque stolen. Our community service crews removed all raise the funds necessary to replace it. Finally, in the trash, mowed the weeds and assisted in the repair and stabiliza- 2018, Keith Sorci, Special Projects Coordinator tion of the monument, working approximately 200 hours on the with Jefferson County Justice Services, led the ef- project. fort to replace the plaque and stabilize the stone On May 5, 2018, the repairs were completed, and the new plaque monument to restore the site to its once former was permanently mounted. Great care was taken to keep the marker glory. as original as possible. The plaque was recast word-for-word the Works cited: same as the original and the monument’s missing rocks were re- Colorado Transcript, 4/25/1946, 5/2/1946. placed with rocks hauled from Clear Creek, just like in 1946. Finley, Ryan. “Stolen Heritage—The Story of Arapahoe City.” Gold Cube. April 17, 2016. Accessed June 26, 2018. https://goldcube. Involving our community service crews in these projects is the epit- net/2016/04/17/stolen-heritage-story-arapahoe-city/ ome of useful public service. Gardner, Richard. “The Sesquicentennial of Arapahoe City.” Historically Jeffco, 2008, 27. A Collaborative Effort Golden Cemetery records. Leary, Kerry. “Plaque commemorating Arapahoe City disappears in Revitalizing the monument was a collaborative effort more time Jefferson County.” April 11, 2016. https://www.9news.com/article/ consuming than difficult. Access to the site required learning about news/local/plaque-commemorating-arapahoe-city-disappears- in-jefferson-county/128750223 ownership. The monument itself is owned by History Colorado (the State of Colorado) but the property it sits on is owned by Mol- son Coors. Molson Coors gave Justice Services permission to clean

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up the property. History Colorado allowed our community service crews access to repair and stabilize the monument and install the replace- ment plaque. Gheda Gayou, a preservation and archaeological programs manager from History Colorado visited the site, inspecting the monu- ment and setting forth guidelines for its repair. The City of Golden was contacted regarding right-of-way questions. While doing research for the project, I located a news article written by Kerry Leary with 9News. Conversations with Leary led me to Don Finley with Gold Strike Adventures and Kevin Singel with Finding Gold in Colorado. Both groups were involved with efforts to get the monument repaired and were responsible for a large portion of the donations made to replace the plaque. The replacement plaque was cast by Artcraft Sign Company in Denver, Colorado (in business since 1881). A search ensued for a stone mason who would repair the monument within the guidelines set forth by History Colorado. The repair was placed in the hands of Manny Delgado with Masonry Services, LLC, of Brighton, Colorado. Delgado had already done work for the State on other historical stone projects and he understood the need and desire to keep the monument look- ing as original as possible after the repairs were completed. Many private citizens as well as volunteers from the Colorado Railroad Museum helped track down facts and photographs of the monument. Fairmount School staff in Pleasant View were also contacted. In 1946, students from that school were involved in gathering the rocks used in the original monument from Clear Creek. When the monument is rededicated (possibly in Fall 2018), students from Fairmount School will again be involved.

Workers replace the monument’s missing stones, repair Lastly, the Jefferson County Historical Commis- its cracks and mount a replacement plaque, 2017-2018. sion and the non-profit Friends of the Jefferson All photos Keith Sorci County Historical Commission agreed to sup- port and assist in the project.

54 Historically Jeffco 2018 PRESERVATION

Saving the Octagon at Shaffer’s Crossing by Bonnie and Dick Scudder or more than 100 years, an octagon build- ing and nearby barn have graced the land- Fscape of an area that has been called Shaf- fer’s Crossing since 1907. Near Elk Creek and just south of Highway 285, these structures have been a permanent reminder of times past. The Octagon is an irregular octagon. Its design is a hexagon, with the sixth side extended outward to accommodate a stage area, reminiscent of its days as a dance hall. This extension adds two more sides. Stories differ as to the origin of this unique struc- ture. A part-time resident of Glenelk, a cabin re- sort just south of Shaffer’s Crossing, stated that her ancestors referred to this building when they The barn, referred to as the “Stagecoach Barn” The Octagon today were first developing their resort in 1900. Shaf- in the Shaffer Family Pioneer Album, was built at Shaffer’s Crossing, fer descendants, however, thought that their 2017 by the Shaffers in 1903. The Shaffers developed great-grandparents, Samuel and Sarah Shaffer, Dick Scudder and expanded their holdings and spent their fi- might have built it sometime after their arrival nal years there. Sarah and Samuel passed away in 1902. Over the past 11 or 12 decades, the in 1915. In 1919, Charles J. Sanger acquired a The octagon and Octagon has had a variety of owners and it has substantial part of the Shaffer holdings, which barn are on what served a multitude of purposes. was once Standring’s amounted to over 1,100 acres at that time. property in Section In 2015, the 250 acre Krogh Ranch, including Sanger’s family retained this land until 1949. 32 in the SW¼SW¼ the Octagon, barn, caretaker’s cabin and ranch area. The barn is just In 1949, the 250 acres of land south of Highway to the north. house, was purchased by the Archdiocese of 285 was acquired by H.A. and Lila B. Krogh Jefferson County Denver. A large retreat center is planned for this who established the area and a campground is also under consider- Krogh Ranch and ation. The future of the Octagon and barn is a held it until 2006. concern to Shaffer descendants as well as many Developer Ron Lew- members of the Conifer, Pine and Bailey com- is, through the Buffa- munities. lo Park Development Shaffer’s Crossing Land Ownership Company, then pur- 32 chased the property Homestead patents for the Shaffer’s Crossing Sha er’s Crossing

and outlined plans E area were issued to Robert Standring (1873), lk C re for homes and an RV ek Ezekiel D. McPeek (1877) and others, although Rd. little is known about these families. In 1902, park. However, he in- 285 Samuel and Sarah Shaffer purchased a ranch in a curred financial dif- small hamlet on Elk Creek known as Urmston, ficulties and his plans Colorado. This settlement had previously been stalled. In 2015, the known as Belleville and Willowville. In 1907, Archdiocese of Den- Robert Standring Homestead Shaffer placed a sign to mark where the stage ver purchased the Ezekiel D. McPeek Homestead road crossed Elk Creek and designated this place land for $2.25 mil- Octagon Building and Barn as “Shaffer’s Crossing.” lion to build a large retreat center.

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There is a very tall pole in the center securing an elaborate truss system. This pole extends through the top towards the sky, possibly 12 feet or more. At the base of the trusses, a flat ceiling of beaver board was added later, according to a date stamped on one of the boards indicating it was patented or manufactured in 1916. These boards are hand painted with attractive floral and nature-type designs. The Octagon did have electricity at one time. The architecture of the Octagon is unique. The steeply-pitched roof is reminiscent of some old European churches, and the pole in the center The old white barn, Historical Uses of Octagon and Barn also resembles many churches of the past. The 2017 pole is estimated to be 35-40 feet tall. We believe Dick Scudder The Octagon building has been used for a vari- ety of purposes over the past 115 years or longer. the Octagon was built before 1900. The Meth- Although reports of these uses vary, it has been odist-Episcopal Church at Shaffer’s Crossing was consistently reported that it was once a school, said to have been built in 1881. Margaret Bent- grange, community center, dance hall, church, ley, in “The Upper Side of the Pie Crust,” tells of sheep barn and horse barn. Some accounts have the Long family, who had originally homestead- indicated it was also somebody’s home at one ed near Shaffer’s Crossing in the 1870s, and how time. It was a dance hall and community center Rudy Long and others would walk to Shaffer’s when the Shaffer family lived there. It was also Crossing and dance half the night in the “round” the Urmston School and was used as a church Grange Hall, singing this song: after the Methodist-Episcopal Church was torn “When I die don’t bury me at all down. Just string my bones and hang them Isham Jones, a famous musician and orches- In the old Grange Hall. tra leader during the 1920s-1940s, played the And when the music begins to play saxophone and bass but was best-known for the They will begin to sing and sway.” many songs he wrote, including: “Dream a Little CPI Endangered Places List Dream of Me” and “It Had to Be You.” Jones The Jefferson County Historical Commission at and his band played at the Octagon during the its August 2017 meeting voted unanimously to late 1930s and 1940s and was perhaps the most support a nomination of the Elk Creek Octagon famous person to spend time at the “Crossing.” and Barn to Colorado Preservation, Inc.’s (CPI) He owned several properties nearby and ran a Endangered Places List for 2018. Bonnie and grocery store on the northeast corner of Shaffer’s Dick Scudder, who live in the area, prepared the Crossing. nomination. The Octagon is made of dimensional lumber The Octagon and old white barn are iconic (2”x6”) and is approximately 30 feet wide with structures that are important to the community. a stage at the south end. The stage is on a rock Everyone who lives and travels along this part foundation and has a wooden floor. The rest of of the 285 Corridor knows about the Octagon the octagon’s floor is dirt. The exterior was cov- building, and many also recognize the old barn. ered with white brick-patterned tin siding many They are a significant part of the landscape and years ago. There are four windows (now board- help connect us to the past. Some long-time ed) which originally had glass in them. The roof community members recall stories of their par- on the west side is in very poor condition. As it ents or grandparents attending school at the Oc- continues to deteriorate, the inside of the struc- tagon building, or their grandparents or great- ture is rapidly declining as well.

56 Historically Jeffco 2018 PRESERVATION grandparents enjoying the weekly dances so long ago. These buildings represent stability, constancy and tranquility, which are vitally important in this ever-changing world. The nomination process required provid- ing answers to nine questions, submission of representative photographs and a map indi- cating the location. Additional documenta- tion included seven letters of support from the community, including two from Shaffer descendants. Prior to submitting the nomi- nation, the Scudders were able to meet with Michael Six, who served as Retreat Center Project Manager for the Archdiocese at that time. Six and the caretaker took them inside the Octagon and barn and allowed them to take photos. The Scudders shared the history that had been assembled with the Archdiocese Top: Center pole and so that it could learn more about the historic trusses with beaver structures and their importance to the com- board ceiling, Octagon building, munity. 2017 Many nominations from around Colorado Left: Beaver board were submitted and reviewed. Four were design detail Dick Scudder selected, and interviews and on-site film- ing took place in December 2017. Jennifer Orrigo-Charles, Executive Director of CPI, and Kim Grant, Endangered Places Program Director, joined staff from CBS Channel 4 who interviewed and filmed. Unfortunately, the Archdiocese chose not to participate, and CPI was not able to conduct the interviews on site. However, Cliff Eden, a longtime resi- dent who owns the adjacent property, allowed “The Archdiocese has expressed a willingness to enter- the filming to be conducted on his property. tain the possibility of reuse of the structures, and sever- Those interviewed included Dean and Roy al local groups and citizens are interested in preserving Shaffer, great-grandsons of Samuel and Sarah the buildings. It is hoped that a use that complements Shaffer; long-time residents Betty Long and the retreat center can be found for the Octagon and daughter Donna Long Beck; and Bonnie and barn… With foresight and creativity, the preserva- Dick Scudder. After the interviewing, CBS4 tion of the Octagon and barn will ensure that Shaffer’s sent their drone to photograph the two build- Crossing remains the name of this important junction ings to provide a “bird’s eye view.” in southwest Jefferson County for years to come.” A video of the four selected properties was Works cited: Colorado Preservation, Inc. Colorado’s Most Endangered Places. Issue presented at CPI’s 2018 Saving Places Con- No. 21, 2018. ference. A brochure was also presented featur- Nelson, David. The Elk Creek Chronicles: Shaffers Crossing to Pine Grove. ing the Endangered Places Program and this Littleton, Colorado: ReVista Publishing, 2011. Scudder, Bonnie. The Secrets of Elk Creek: Shaffers Crossing, Staunton year’s listings. The following statement ap- State Park, and Beyond. Pine, Colorado: Elk Creek Publishing, 2013. pears in the brochure that was disseminated Staunton Collection. Stephen H. Hart Library, History Colorado, at the luncheon: Denver, Colorado.

Historically Jeffco 2018 57 PRESERVATION

What Should we do with the South Platte Hotel? West Jefferson Middle School 8th Grade Student Historic Preservation Project by Dennis Dempsey with Frank Reetz ocated at the confluence of the North Why the South Platte Hotel? Why this site? Fork of the South Platte and the South Frank Reetz, a teacher at West Jefferson Middle L Platte River stands what is left of the School in Aspen Park, Colorado, became in- South Platte Hotel. Originally constructed in volved with the area near the South Platte Hotel 1887 by Charles Walbrecht and his wife Millie, when he started looking for sites in the moun- the hotel is a rare example of a working-class re- tain school area in need of historic preservation. sort hotel. In its day, the hotel offered 14 rooms During the 2012-2013 school year, Reetz and to stagecoach passengers and train passengers on his core team of students embarked on a project the Denver, South Park and Pacific Railroad nar- to restore the Billy Westall Monument located row gauge line. It also operated in this small set- along the North Fork of the South Platte River. tlement as a post office. By 1900 the town, with This project was successfully completed in 2014 a population of 40, included the hotel, railroad- and recognized at the Jefferson County Histori- Page 59: View related businesses and a general merchandise cal Commission’s annual Hall of Fame Awards overlooking the store. Five years later the Walbrechts expanded Colorado and Ceremony with the Norman and Ethel Meyer Southern Railway the hotel to include a saloon. The South Platte Award for Historic Preservation. Depot and tracks, Hotel has a very rich and colorful history. Ac- The South Platte Hotel sits just down the road South Platte, cording to legend, the original hotel was set on Colorado, undated from the Billy Westall Monument. It became a fire and burned to the ground in 1912. It was Denver Public Library, point of interest for Reetz as a potential place Western History replaced with the structure that is still standing for his next project. The hotel offered the -op Photographic Collection, today. Over the years the hotel has fallen into X-13616 portunity to continue to involve students in the neglect and disuse. The front porch has deterio- South Platte Hotel, process of protecting historical sites that can so rated, and it may not be safe to walk through the circa 1910 easily be forgotten in today’s society where what interior of the building. The fate of the South Denver South Park & is useful today, is obsolete tomorrow. Pacific Historical Society Platte Hotel is unknown. According to the teacher, the project’s driving questions proposed to the students were: What scientific, historical, cultural or technical is- sues compel you to pose questions, read and research widely and put forth probable solutions? And who will care? Eighth-grade students are deep thinkers who are learning to express themselves. Given the right academic challenge, they can think criti- cally, collaborate, research and communicate ef- fectively. This project offered the opportunity to apply their reading and writing skills to a real- world problem. Students were asked to consider the fate of the South Platte Hotel. Through re- search and site visitation they constructed vary- ing possibilities. They realized there is no right or wrong position. Their opinions are unique as well as insightful. Following are summaries of the 11 student position papers on the destiny of this historic icon, in their own words.

58 Historically Jeffco 2018 PRESERVATION

To Preserve or Not to Preserve know the historic meaning don’t want pieces” of value and an overall charm- by Isabel Cloutier to waste their time. ing character held in such a historic building. Of most importance, this The confluence of the North Fork The Importance of History hotel has been standing in the same and the South Platte holds a historic by Tom McInnes gem that many have no idea about. place for over 100 years, and so be- This precious jewel is the South Platte The confluence hotel is an essential cause of that, it has accumulated lots Hotel. A stunning landmark, it is full part of Colorado history and must of interesting history throughout of rich history that few are aware of. stay maintained but not fully restored. those years. Similarly important, the Those who do know it, though, think The most important fact about this is hotel also has an old and spooky sort it should be restored back to its for- that being at an actual location has of vibe to it, making it fun and creepy mer glory. But, their claim is one of a greater impact on the learner than to walk past, knowing that that very little knowledge. The best option simply reading about it, so keeping hotel had held victims of a shooting, for the hotel’s future is to spread the this location intact is crucial. Alterna- and even been burned down then re- knowledge of the site and make the tively, but just as essential, completely built. restoring the location and repurpos- surrounding area a picnic spot for Destroy, New, or Help? families. ing it would have a negative effect on people interested in the history. A full by Nico Ortiz Partial Renovation of a Historic restoration would remove the feeling Hidden along the South Platte River Structure of actual history and take away from there is a secret treasure, overflowing by Cole Dunivan the overall learning experience. A with history. This is the South Platte The South Platte Hotel is a historic, slightly weaker argument is that the Hotel. From fires to shoot-ups, the worn down structure that has an im- local residents wouldn’t appreciate hotel has a colorful past. Quietly ag- portance to the community around it. their historic lands being altered by ing in his little alcove surrounded by Most people don’t know about its val- outsiders, but this point is still com- trees, new attention has been brought ues and how the building was a large pletely valid and relevant. to the hotel. Differing opinions have arisen, some people want to com- contributor to the South Platte con- Why Should We Care? pletely destroy the building, some fluence. But the problem is, the hotel by Ryan Moore is being consumed by the natural ele- want to restore the building back into ments. It will not remain stable un- Although I grant that there are not a fully functioning hotel and others less it is refurbished. However, there very many people that the South support a partial renovation. A partial isn’t money just laying around to pay Platte Hotel matters to, I still main- renovation is what should be done to for it, because some people who don’t tain that there are lots of “bits and the hotel.

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The South Platte Hotel Doesn’t we need to do something to keep the just sit and see the historic building Need to be Changed to Keep the hotel from falling down without de- they don’t notice that there is danger History Alive stroying the structure and the history. hazards that could make the build- by Ryan Roccanova ing collapse if something major hap- A Bad Change pens. If the building falls down who The South Platte Hotel doesn’t need by Grace Troxler to undergo reconstruction or renova- is going to be there to enjoy it? Sure, tion to keep its history important. The In a small town in the state of Colo- you could make a huge change to the history of the building itself will never rado named Pine, there is a river with South Platte Hotel but the history be- die. The only problem is, the majority a lot of trees and a spot to hike. In hind the building should stay, not go of people are uneducated or unaware that same place there is also an old away. and out-of-use hotel, called the South about the hotel and all it has to offer. Environment and the South A common misconception about the Platte Hotel. There has been a debate on the uses of the hotel. In recent dis- Platte Hotel hotel would seem to be that the only by Parker Liebaert way to bring people to the hotel, and cussions of the South Platte Hotel, a the land surrounding it, would be to controversial issue has been whether Defenders of demolishing the hotel restore the hotel to its former glory, to change it or not. Some argue that can’t only think of their problems. or possibly something else, such as a it should be razed, others argue that it Their assumption that destroying museum. This, however, is false. The shouldn’t move an inch. The view of the hotel will not affect the environ- biggest argument is that other things this paper is that we should use it for ment is contradicted by the way the in the confluence land are already a better purpose. ecosystem coexists with the hotel. This means that destroying the hotel bringing people to the land around The Confluence: Protect, Defend, will not help the environment be- the hotel; these include fishing oppor- Preserve cause the ecosystem works with the tunities and surrounding homes and by Justin Stiles neighborhoods. hotel to survive. The popularity of This place of confluence is historical, the hotel can bring people to help Building New, Keeping the Old: spiritual and meaningful to this area. both the hotel and the river it’s next South Platte Hotel Any additions or changes to this place to. Bats that live in or near the hotel by Marina Cadilli that we make we must be aware of keep bug populations down, so the The South Platte Hotel has been left these three reasons: history, meaning- South Platte area is more popular. to rot. This needs to be changed. The fulness and the ecosystem. We must People concerned for the hotel make question is: what do we do with it? protect this historic space from the the area around it more habitable for Some people think we should just forces of nature. We cannot let the the animals around it. Some people leave it until it falls apart, and save the destruction of this area, it is spiritual think the ecosystem doesn’t need the work. Others think we should tear it and special to the community. hotel, while other don’t think of the down and rebuild something in its South Platte Hotel environment of all. The South Platte place to fit modern standards, but the by Ella Payne Hotel is important in more ways than just history, and it benefits the ecosys- latter hasn’t stopped to think about To be able to keep the South Platte tem in the area. what will happen to the history and Hotel (located in South Platte, CO) nostalgia of the building itself. I think historic, we have to keep the ideas The South Platte Hotel is located on land subtle but make owned by Denver Water. Frank Reetz and a difference. If his students had multiple discussions with representatives from Denver Water on the someone doesn’t fate of the old hotel. Denver Water seemed take charge the open and interested in the students’ essays building it is go- and opinions. The hotel is part of the North ing to end up in Fork of the South Platte National Register a bunch of piec- Historic District. es. When people

South Platte Colorado, undated John Manley 60 Historically Jeffco 2018 RECOGNITION

Conifer Historical Society and Museum Norm and Ethel Meyer Award for Historic Preservation in Jefferson County he Norm and Ethel Meyer Historic Pres- ervation Award is given to individuals and Torganizations in recognition of special con- tributions to the preservation of Jefferson County’s historical resources. This year’s award goes to the Conifer Historical So- ciety and Museum for their efforts in preserving, renovating and maintaining the complex of buildings around the Little White Schoolhouse in Conifer; for securing the inclusion of the complex on the National Register of Historic Places; and for promoting knowl- edge of the area’s history through a continuing series of successful programs. Volunteers install flashing/moisture The building known as the Little White Schoolhouse barrier and a french was built in 1923 as the Conifer Junction school drain around the foundation. The by local residents on land donated by J.J. Mullen, interior is cleaned nephew of flour milling magnate J.K. Mullen. From and readied for an the beginning, the school was a location for dances, event. plays, socials and other community activities. It con- Conifer Historical Society tinued as a school until construction of the original West Jefferson Elementary School in 1955. Used as an overflow schoolroom for the new elementary school, it then continued as a preschool (attended by Wil- lie Nelson’s young daughter) and library until 2012, when the building was closed and surplused by the Jefferson County School District. The complex -in cludes the schoolhouse, a barn built in the 1930s used to hold the horses the teacher and students rode to school, and a newer building that is used as an annex. The school district donated the buildings to the newly formed Conifer Historical Society and Museum in 2012, and the volunteer non-profit has renovated and improved the buildings, successfully nominated it to the National Register of Historic Places and initiated a very well-attended series of historical programs. The society plans to expand exhibits and activities in the old barn. The society is notable for its adherence to professional restoration standards and best practice museum guidelines. For its respectful preservation of structures important in local history, and its continuing efforts in increas- ing knowledge of local history, Conifer Historical Society and Museum richly deserves the Norm and Ethel Meyer Award.

Historically Jeffco 2018 61 RECOGNITION

Jefferson County Hall of Fame

Margaret T. Chapman Public Servant, Historian, Volunteer

ormer Jefferson County Pub- Colorado, where she served as chair Flic Trustee Margaret T. Chap- of the Forms Committee and was man was appointed three times to a member of the Legislative Com- lead one of the state’s busiest pub- mittee. lic trustee offices. She was first- ap Margaret has been a resident of un- pointed as public trustee in 2007 incorporated Jefferson County for by Gov. Bill Ritter, reappointed in more than 40 years, and is married 2011 and 2012 by Gov. Hicken- to William F. Chapman, Jr., who is looper, and served until her resigna- retired from the Jefferson County tion in April 2018. Sheriff’s Department Crime Lab. Margaret has worked as a legisla- In 2007, Margaret was appointed tive aide for former Colorado Rep. to the Jefferson County Histori- Gwyn Green. She was assistant cal Commission and served as branch manager for TIME LIFE recording secretary and editor of Libraries, Inc., a division of Time the commission’s Historically Jeffco Warner, Inc. She has worked for the magazine. She is a member of the National Association of Counties, Colorado Counties, Inc. National Society Daughters of the American Revolution and the Missouri Association of Counties. Margaret was Blue Spruce Chapter in Lakewood. also the director of education and marketing for the Colo- Margaret was elected to the Jefferson County Historical rado Association of Realtors. Commission Hall of Fame in 2018. Margaret earned a Bachelor of Journalism degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Journalism. She was a member of the Public Trustee Association of

62 Historically Jeffco 2018 RECOGNITION

Jefferson County Hall of Fame

The Staunton Family Physicians, Homesteaders, Opera Singer, Philanthropist

Dr. Rachael H. Bullard Staunton Frances Hornbrook Staunton Dr. Archibald Galusha Staunton All photos: Staunton Photo Collection (Scan #s 10041529, 10041531, 10041530), History Colorado rs. Archibald and Rachael Staunton moved from this treasure. In 1986, three years before Frances died, she DCharleston, WV, to Denver, seeking a drier climate gave her family’s 1,720-acre ranch, complete with historic in 1906. Their young daughter, Frances, joined them soon cabins, a bunkhouse and a shower house, to the State of after. In 1918, the Stauntons purchased 80 acres and a cab- Colorado, with specification that the ranch become a state in in the beautiful Elk Creek Valley, Pine, in western Jef- park so that all the people could enjoy this beautiful place. ferson County. They proceeded to homestead 680 acres of Staunton State Park opened to the public in 2013, after sev- adjacent land and build the Staunton Ranch. Dr. Rachael eral additional parcels had been purchased. This park now lived on the land seven months a year, raising crops and consists of approximately 4,000 acres and includes spec- livestock and treating patients in the area. Frances joined tacular rock outcroppings, the majestic Elk Falls and Elk her mother whenever possible, and Archibald spent every Creek. Many thousands of visitors enjoy activities such as weekend at their beautiful ranch. The Staunton Ranch had hiking, biking, horseback riding, fishing, picnicking, rock several uses over the years. A major use included serving climbing and snowshoeing each year. Over 100 volunteers as a sanatorium for patients with tuberculosis during the help with trail building and hosting, ensuring that Frances warmer months. An unusual shower house built for these Staunton’s vision is preserved. Annual events include Liv- patients still stands on the ranch. By 1930, their property ing History Days, which offers visitors a glimpse into the had expanded to include 1,720 acres and a logging op- days of homesteaders and ranchers, and other bygone eras. eration. Later, the ranch was used for children’s summer camps. The Stauntons treasured their ranch which was in The Staunton Family was nominated on behalf of the staff the family 68 years. and volunteers of Staunton State Park for the medical care provided on their homestead ranch by the Staunton doc- Frances, a very talented singer who had won a full scholar- tors, and for the cultural gift to the people of Colorado in ship to the Julliard School, had leading mezzo-soprano roles the form of a beautiful state park, donated by their daugh- in Denver operas. After the death of her parents, Frances ter, Frances. The Staunton Family was named to the Jef- inherited the large ranch. The Staunton Family had decid- ferson County Hall of Fame in 2018. ed that the State of Colorado was the safest repository for

Historically Jeffco 2018 63 Historical Commission

The Jefferson County Historical Commission (JCHC) The Emeritus Program recognizes selected retired JCHC was established by the Board of County Commissioners members for their JCHC community service, offices held dur- (BCC) in 1974. JCHC members are citizen volunteers ap- ing their tenure on JCHC and their outstanding support of pointed by the BCC and equally represent all areas of the JCHC historical and educational programs. Emeritus mem- county. JCHC’s mission is to preserve, protect and cele- bership is a lifetime honorary status; honorees are not eligible brate Jefferson County’s heritage. We encourage you to get to hold office but may serve on committees, participate in involved and help us meet our mission goals. The JCHC JCHC activities and help advance its mission. website https://www.jeffco.us/historical-commission has The Placenames Directory is a database containing histori- information on JCHC’s activities plus applications for cal information about names and places associated with the JCHC membership and all forms, minutes and agendas. county’s history. The database contains more than 3,000 re- Programs and Projects cords and is available at https://placenames.jeffco.us/. Historically Jeffco magazine is produced annually by Friends of the Jefferson County Historical Commission JCHC with each year’s edition released in October. Ideas Friends of the Jefferson County Historical Commission is a for articles and submissions from the public are always separate entity formed to raise money to assist with JCHC welcome. Historically Jeffcois available free of charge to goals and programs. Donations have come from a variety of members of Jefferson County historical societies, schools engagements including the Good News Breakfast award, the and libraries. Back copies of the magazine may be acquired Opening of the West Line, honorariums for speaking on behalf for a $5 donation at Jeffco Planning and Zoning and the of JCHC and donations from groups that received back issues Jeffco Archives. The JCHC website provides download- of Historically Jeffco. Donations to the Friends of the JCHC are able copies of the magazine dating back to 1988. tax deductible. The Writers’ Award Program is an annual contest for HistoricJeffco writers of articles relating to the history of Jefferson Coun- The https://historicjeffco.wordpress.com/ website provides ty. Winners receive a cash award at the Annual Hall of downloadable copies of all issues of Historically Jeffco magazine Fame Ceremony and may be published in Historically Jef- as well as direct links to most historical societies, museums, fco magazine. resource pages, city and county information and other sources TheHistoric Preservation Symposium is an annual event for historical information. where JCHC partners with a host community to further Contacting JCHC historic preservation and education and discuss topics of Contact JCHC through the Jefferson County Planning and current interest. Zoning Division, which provides support for JCHC, as does The Landmark Program is a voluntary program that the Archives Office (IT Services). Contact Dennis Dempsey encourages county residents to nominate, with property at 303-271-8734, send mail to JCHC c/o Planning and Zon- owner consent, significant historic sites, structures or dis- ing, 100 Jefferson County Parkway, Suite 3550, Golden, CO tricts for Jefferson County Landmark status. Jeffco Land- 80419 or email [email protected]. Find us onFacebook at marks are recognized at the Annual Hall of Fame Awards Jefferson County CO Historical Commission. For information Ceremony with a Certificate of Designation. The nomi- about the Jefferson County Archives, contact Archivist Ronda nated landmark owner is also eligible to participate in the Frazier at [email protected], call 303-271-8448 or visit the Landmark plaque program. website at https://www.jeffco.us/county-archives. The Norm and Ethel Meyer Award for Historic Preser- vation recognizes individuals, groups, private and public businesses and organizations that have made significant contributions to the preservation of Jefferson County’s historical resources. The Meyer Award is presented at the Annual Hall of Fame Awards Ceremony.

64 Historically Jeffco 2018

Emeritus Members Robert Briggs, 2009-2011 Jack Raven, 1997-2011 Erlene Hulsey-Lutz, 1986-2010* Milly Roeder, 1995-2013 Norman Meyer, 1986-2010* Burdette “Bud” Weare, 2003-2012 Dave Nelson, 2008-2012 Nina Kite, 2004-2015 Kathryn Ordway, 2006-2011 Stan Moore, 2004-2008 * Deceased

Historically Jeffco 2018 65 Jefferson County Historical Commission Prsrt Stdd Planning and Zoning, Suite 3550 U.S. Postage PAID 100 Jefferson County Parkway Permit #148 Golden, CO 80419 Golden, CO

Loaded Burro in Morrison, 1891 66 Historically Jeffco 2018 Jefferson County Archives