Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

Longs Peak, Rocky Mountain National Park

Longs Peak, Rocky Mountain National Park

Rocky Mountain National Park, located in north-central Colorado, encompasses 415 square miles of spectacular mountains and forests filled with wildlife, 300 miles of hiking trails, rivers and streams, 600 rustic buildings, and some of America’s most beautiful scenery. Spanning the Continental Divide, it is best known for the Trail Ridge Road, the highest continuously paved highway in North America, and more than 100 mountain peaks that rise above 11,000 feet, including Longs Peak at 14,259 feet.

Indian tipi in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Indian tipi in Rocky Mountain National Park.

People first appeared in the area about 11,000 years ago when the glaciers receded from the Rocky Mountains. These Paleo-Indians first hunted mammoths, and as the climate changed, they hunted bison, elk, and bighorn sheep. The Ute Indians were the first modern peoples to use portions of the park, spending summers in the valleys and retreating to the lower elevations during the harsh Rocky Mountain winters. The Arapaho also utilized the area.

In the early 1800s, mountain men such as Louis Vasquez and Andrew Sublette were frequent visitors as they worked trapping furs and trading with the Indians. In 1820, Stephen H. Long led the first official expedition into the area and named Longs Peak after himself. However, he avoided the rugged peaks of what is now Rocky Mountain National Park. Others followed this expedition in the next several decades, including those led by General Henry Dodge in 1835 and John C. Fremont in 1842.

One of the first permanent American settlers was Joel Estes, for whom Estes Park is named. He first explored the Estes Valley in 1859 when he and his son Milton set out to follow an old Indian trail from Fort Lupton on the South Platte River, where Joel raised cattle. After climbing to the top of a high ridge, he saw for the first time the park that would someday bear his name. He liked what he saw and said, “The very place I have been seeking. Here I will make my home.” The next year he laid out his claims and established a homestead. By 1863, he moved his family to the area and began living year-round. They were soon joined by several other families scattered across the landscape. The Homestead Act of 1862 encouraged more settlement.

Estes Park Valley and Longs Peak, William Henry Jackson, 1900

Estes Park Valley and Longs Peak, William Henry Jackson, 1900.

The Pikes Peak gold rush of 1859 drew hopeful miners and speculators across Colorado. Some of these men tried their luck in several places in present-day Rocky Mountain National Park. On the slopes of Long’s Peak, the Eugenia Mine can still be seen, although it did not yield much ore. On the western slope of the Continental Divide, Joe Shipler had a bit more success in 1879 by finding silver on the mountain in the northwest part of the park that today bears his name. He gained financiers in Fort Collins to build Lulu City as a mining town. Lulu was the name of one of the financier’s daughters. By 1881, the small town had 40 cabins and several businesses. Conflicts between the American residents and Dutch immigrants led to the establishment of Dutchtown to the west of Lulu City. Despite this growing community, it became apparent that the silver was of low quality, and the cost of operating the mines was too high. The town was abandoned by 1885 by all but Joe Shipler, who continued to mine for the next 30 years.

Hayden Expedition

Hayden Expedition.

Two more government expeditions from the United States Geological Survey traveled through in 1869 – the Hayden expedition and the Powell expedition. Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden surveyed overland from Denver, Colorado, to Santa Fe, New Mexico. John Wesley Powell wanted to track the Colorado River from its headwaters to its outlet in the Gulf of California. Both parties made a climb of Longs Peak during their expedition. Powell’s party was accompanied by William Byers of the Rocky Mountain News, who publicized the climb and added his voice to others that expounded the beauty of Longs Peak and the surrounding area. Hayden’s party was made more notable by the presence of Anna Dickinson, the first Euro-American woman to climb Longs Peak.

Isabella Bird

Isabella Bird

Later, Isabella Bird, an Englishwoman traveling through Estes Valley, climbed the mountain. Today, Bird’s Longs Peak climb is the topic of legend in Estes Park due to her association and possible romance with Jim Nugent, more commonly known as Rocky Mountain Jim. Nugent had a reputation as an outlaw and was not popular with the wealthier citizens of Estes Park. He was famously in conflict with dude rancher Griff Evans, who purchased Joel Estes’ homestead when the Estes family moved from the area. During the 1870s, interest had grown in the area as an outdoor paradise, attracting Americans and people from abroad. One of these individuals was Thomas Whyndham-Quin, the fourth Earl of Dunraven, who was a wealthy Irishman. Like many of his class, he wanted to own large land areas for personal use. Jim Nugent and many others protested this accumulation of land, and ultimately Dunraven was thwarted in his ambition to make the valley into his personal hunter’s paradise. Many of the lands were then put up for sale or given back to their original owners.

As the number of settlers increased in the area, water was scarce, and in 1890, the building of the Grand Ditch began. The project diverted water from the streams and creeks of the Never Summer Range for eastern plains farmers near Greeley and Fort Collins. The ditch flowed over the Continental Divide at La Poudre Pass at 10,175 feet, delivering the water into the Cache La Poudre River. Work on the 14.3 miles long ditch continued until 1936.

The decades leading up to the 20th century saw many dreams for the valley, and these dreams gained momentum around 1900. Landowners discovered it was more profitable to wrangle “dudes” than livestock on the dynamic Rocky Mountain landscape. One of these individuals was Abner Sprague. He first came to the Estes Valley in 1868 as a surveyor and, by the late 1870s, had made the Moraine Park area his home. In addition to being a surveyor, Sprague was also a prospector, rancher, amateur geologist, naturalist, and soon-to-be lodge owner.

Sprague Lodge, Colorado

Sprague Lodge

He and his wife, Alberta, entertained guests as people traveled through the valley and began to charge room and board. They then built additional lodging, and the operation got so large he needed help and offered a partnership with his wife’s cousin, James Stead. The business successfully expanded and began offering guided excursions. However, there were challenges among the owners. Alberta Sprague and Mrs. Stead had many differences of opinion regarding the ranch’s operation, which led to Sprague selling the business to Stead and building a new lodge in Glacier Basin. He dammed the creek and created a fish pond which today bears his name. Sprague Lake is still a popular destination for anglers and other visitors. Unfortunately, there are no remains of Sprague’s buildings today.

Stanley Hotel, Estes Park, Colorado by Kathy Alexander.

Stanley Hotel, Estes Park, Colorado, by Kathy Alexander.

Respiratory illnesses brought many people to the Colorado mountains, hoping the clear air would cure them. Freelan O. Stanley was one of these travelers. He became so enamored with the area that he was willing to finance a road from Loveland to bring more visitors, particularly friends, and acquaintances, to the Stanley Hotel he was building. His Stanley Steamer became an integral part of the tourism to Estes Valley in the form of the Estes Park Transportation Company, which transported visitors and freight from the train stations in Lyons and Loveland.

During the early 1900s, visitors often arrived by train and contracted a wagon or automobile to bring them into the valley. This travel was expensive, and visiting Estes Park was an elite activity. Beyond the Stanley Hotel, Sprague’s Lodge, and Stead’s Ranch, there were many other lodging facilities in the area, such as the Elkhorn, the Baldpate, the Moraine Park Lodge, the Horseshoe Inn, the Fall River Inn, and dozens more throughout Estes Park and nearby towns. During this time, Moraine Park was a functioning town with its own post office, school, liveries, eating establishments, and many lodging options. Near Grand Lake, there were more hotels.

Enos Mills

Enos Mills

In 1884, a 16-year-old boy traveled from Fort Scott, Kansas, to stay with relatives who lived on a homestead near the base of Longs Peak. He grew up sickly, and his family hoped the Colorado air would improve his health. This teenager was Enos Mills, who would become a central figure in the creation of Rocky Mountain National Park. Upon his arrival in the area, Mills became enamored with the nature and landscapes of the Longs Peak area and climbed Longs Peak more than 250 times. On a trip to California, he encountered John Muir, the famous naturalist of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Muir inspired Mills to take up the pen and begin writing about the land and wildlife he loved. He published 14 books about the Longs Peak area and was a vocal activist for preserving the area. In 1901, he established Longs Peak Inn, a rustic hostelry having cabins complete with steam heat and private baths, to encourage “city folk” to visit Estes Park. As the owner of the Longs Peak Inn, he joined many other lodge owners in their support of a national park.

“In years to come, when I am asleep beneath the pines, thousands of families will find rest and hope in this park.”

— Enos Mills

The idea for Rocky Mountain National Park came from many different sectors of society: businesses, preservationists, politicians, and private citizens. This momentum for national parks began in the 1890s when it was declared that Manifest Destiny had been achieved, and the Frontier was closed.

Throughout 1913 and 1914, Enos Mills and several organizations began to lobby Congress to create a new national park. In general, mining, logging, and agricultural interests opposed it.

Lake Poudre in Rocky Mountain National Park , by Carol Highsmith

Lake Poudre in Rocky Mountain National Park, by Carol Highsmith

On January 26, 1915, President Woodrow Wilson signed the Rocky Mountain National Park Act., which exempted the lands from further settling and hunting.

“Many thousands are bound to find their way to this glorious country, yet reached by relatively few. We are trying to do our part to bring the thousands here.”

— Stephen T. Mather, Assistant Secretary of the Interior, September 1915

At that time, private lands dotted the park, and many of these people hosted guests and their lodges. These lodge keepers maintained roads, built trails, and guided visitors into the high country. When the first park superintendent arrived, he also began constructing facilities to support visitors. The earliest managers of the park had a meager budget to protect the 358.3 square miles under their jurisdiction.

As visitation increased after World War I, the simple park facilities and private lodges became inadequate. Rangers built comfort stations, museums, and well-maintained trails to meet visitor expectations.

Fall River Road, by Brian Grogan, 1993

Fall River Road, by Brian Grogan, 1993

Between 1913 and 1920, the State of Colorado, Larimer, and Grand Counties built the Fall River Road to encourage tourism. This narrow unpaved single-lane road climbed up the deep Fall River Valley to Fall River Pass, then dropped down a series of sharp switchbacks to the Colorado River in the Kawuneeche Valley. This road proved difficult for early automobiles to traverse, and clearing the shaded route of snow each year was a difficult and dangerous undertaking. Soon after it was completed, the park began planning a replacement.

In 1917, John Holzwarth Sr., a German immigrant, moved his family to the Kawuneeche Valley after his job as a saloon keeper in Denver ended abruptly due to the enactment of prohibition in Colorado. He soon built a homestead at the foot of the Never Summer Mountains and started a cattle ranch. His location on the west side of the Colorado River, next to the newest national park, soon began attracting guests. The family decided to open a guest ranch called the Holzwarth Trout Lodge. As tourism in the area increased over the next decade, the Holzwarth family began developing a dude ranch on the east side of the Colorado River, known as the Never Summer Ranch. The site includes several historic buildings and is now within the national park’s boundaries.

Holzwarth Site, Rocky Mountain National by Carol Highsmith

Holzwarth Site, Rocky Mountain National by Carol Highsmith.

During the Great Depression of the 1930s, millions of Americans were unemployed, and President Franklin Roosevelt promised a New Deal, in which he created programs to put people to work. One such program was the Civilian Conservation Corps. In Rocky Mountain National Park, young male recruits lodged at six camps, built roads, trails, and buildings, put out wildfires, planted trees, and managed predators.

The National Park Service built a new Trail Ridge Road between 1926 and 1932, which climbed nearly 1,000 feet higher but crossed more open terrain. Landscape architects carefully designed the new two-lane road to avoid damage to the fragile alpine scenery it crossed. During the peak of construction, 150 laborers worked on the road. The maximum grade on Trail Ridge does not exceed 7%, and eight miles of the road are above 11,000 feet in elevation. Reaching 12,183 feet on Trail Ridge, it is the highest continuous highway in the United States.

Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park

Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park.

During World War II, visitation to all the national parks declined dramatically. After the war, a surge of baby-boom families found the facilities in disrepair, and Congress approved a new program to improve facilities in 1966. During this time, the National Park Service acquired many old guest lodges within the park boundaries, removed all the buildings, and built new campgrounds and parking lots. At that time, the National Park Service considered Rocky Mountain a natural park, and therefore management decisions aimed to return the landscape to pre-contact conditions. Though there are about 600 buildings in the park today, there were once twice that many. It wasn’t until 1988 that the “natural” designation was lifted, and a new mandate towards historic preservation was embraced. Since then, numerous park buildings have been restored or rehabilitated.

Waterfall at the Rocky Mountain National Park by Carol Highsmith.

Waterfall at the Rocky Mountain National Park by Carol Highsmith.

Today, Rocky Mountain National Park is one of the most visited national parks in the nation, with about 4.5 million visitors annually. The 260,000-acre park is located in portions of three counties – Larimer, Grand, and Boulder — in north-central Colorado, about 65 miles northwest of Denver, Colorado.

More Information:

Rocky Mountain National Park
1000 US Highway 36
Estes Park, Colorado 80517
970-586-1206

Compiled & edited by Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated March 2023.

Also See:

Colorado Main Page

Earl Dunraven and the Estes Park Land Grab

National Parks, Monuments & Historic Sites

Rocky Mountain National Park Photo Gallery

Source – National Park Service

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