Estes Valley
by Jon Burch Photography
Title
Estes Valley
Artist
Jon Burch Photography
Medium
Photograph - Digital Capture/the Faa Watermark Will Not Appear On Your Final Photograph.
Description
This view is looking south into Estes Park, Colorado from the Glen Haven road leading to two large switchbacks and lower altitudes. Longs Peak and Mt. Meeker are the two tallest mountains on the horizon.
Before white men came to the Estes Park valley, the Arapaho lived there in the summertime, and called the valley "the Circle." When three elderly Arapahos visited Estes Park in 1914, they pointed out sites they remembered from their younger days. A photograph at the Estes Park Museum identified the touring party as Shep Husted, guide; Gun Griswold, a 73 year old judge; Sherman Sage, a 63 year old chief of police; Tom Crispin, 38 year old reservation resident and interpreter; Oliver W. Toll, recorder; and David Robert Hawkins, a Princeton student.
In the 1850s, the Arapaho had spent summers camped around Mary's Lake, where their rock fireplaces, tipi sites, and dance rings were still visible. They also recalled building eagle traps atop Long's Peak to get the war feathers coveted by all tribes. They remembered their routes to and from the valley in detail, naming trails and landmarks. They pointed out the site of their buffalo trap, and described the use of dogs to pack meat out of the valley. Their recollections included a battle with Apaches in the 1850's, and fights with Utes who came to the area to hunt bighorn sheep, so all three of those tribes used the valley's resources.
Whites probably came into the Estes Park valley before the 1850's as trappers, but did not stay long. The town is named after Missouri native Joel Estes, who founded the community in 1859 and moved his family there in 1863. One of Estes' early visitors was William Byers, a newspaper editor who wrote of his ascent of Long's Peak in 1864, publicizing the area as a pristine wilderness.
Griff Evans and his family came to Estes Park in 1867 to act as caretakers for the former Estes ranch. Recognizing the potential for tourism, he began building cabins to accommodate travelers. Soon it was known as the first dude ranch in Estes Park, with guides for hunting, fishing, and mountaineering.
The Earl of Dunraven arrived in late December 1872, visited repeatedly, and decided to take over the valley for his own private hunting preserve. His land grab didn't work, but he controlled 6,000 acres before he changed tactics and opened the area's first resort, the Estes Park Hotel, which was destroyed by fire in 1911.
In 1873, Englishwoman Isabella Bird, the daughter of an Anglican minister, came to the United States. Landing at San Francisco, she came overland to Colorado, where she borrowed a horse and set out to explore the Rocky Mountains with a guide, the notorious Mountain Jim. She wrote a memoir of their travels, including the breathtaking ascent of Long's Peak, where she was literally hauled up the steep pitches "like a bale of goods."
Alex and Clara (Heeney) MacGregor arrived soon after and homesteaded at the foot of Lumpy Ridge. The MacGregor Ranch has been preserved as a historic site. In 1874, MacGregor incorporated a company to build a new toll road from Lyons, Colorado to Estes Park. The road became what is today U.S. Route 36. Before that time, however, the "road" was only a trail fit for pack horses. The improved road brought more visitors into Estes Park; some of them became full-time residents and built new hotels to accommodate the growing number of travelers.
In 1884, Enos Mills (1870-1922) left Kansas and came to Estes Park, where his relative Rev. Elkanah Lamb lived. That move proved significant for Estes Park because Mills became a naturalist and conservationist who devoted his life after 1909 to preserving nearly a thousand square miles of Colorado as Rocky Mountain National Park. He succeeded and the park was dedicated in 1915.
Enos Mills' younger brother Joe Mills (1880-1935) came to Estes Park in 1889. He wrote a series of articles about his youthful experiences for Boys Life and later published as a book. After some years as a college athletics coach, he and his wife returned to Estes Park and built a hotel called The Crags on the north side of Prospect Mountain, overlooking the village. They ran that business in the summer while he continued his coaching career in winters at University of Colorado in Boulder.
Many early visitors came to Estes Park in search of better health. The Rocky Mountain West especially attracted those with pulmonary diseases, and in Estes Park some resorts catered to them, providing staff physicians for their care.
Image copyright 2013 Jon Burch Photography
Uploaded
July 15th, 2013
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Comments (24)
John M Bailey
Congratulations on your feature in the Fine Art America Group "Images That Excite You!"
Joyce Dickens
Jon, this is awe inspiring and your capture depicts those wonderful layered mountains just beautifully - this is wonderful my friend! Joyce
Debra and Dave Vanderlaan
The blues of the mountains really pull you in Jon! We Voted! Celebrate life, Debra and Dave
Lianne Schneider
What a sublime view and such a beautiful "painterly" process Jon. This is spectacular! F/V S G+