Stories about
the town of Glen Haven
- The Founding of Glen Haven - by Joseph Knapp
- The Presbyterians Lose
Control - by Joseph Knapp
- A Story About Glen Haven -
author unknown
- Honeymoon in Glen Haven - by
Joseph Knapp
- Glen Haven - by Ira Knapp for Mrs. Carl
Anderson
- Glen Haven additional notes - by
Mrs. Harold Easterday
- Glen Haven - by Mrs. Harold Easterday
- The Deserted Village - by Sadie
Campbell
- Article with Vena - author unknown
There was no place named Glen Haven until 1903, when the Presbyterian Assembly
Association was established and the name Glen Haven – suggested by Reverend W.
H. Shureman – was adopted for the area. The genesis of the Association goes back
to the summer of 1899 when Mr. Schureman visited my father at the ranch house.
Before going on, I would like to tell you a little about Mr. Schureman. He was a
man! As a lay Sunday school missionary in the West from 1898 to 1933 he traveled
many thousands of miles by horse and buggy, stagecoach, railroad and automobile.
He organized 215 Sunday schools and some 25 churches in northern and eastern
Colorado and made 14,500 pastoral visits besides participating in 13,600 church
programs. When he heard that my father, his friend in Illinois, was located down
Devil's Gulch, he went to visit him. In a little memoir in my possession written
about 1930, Mr. Schureman told of this visit with my Dad.
In the
summer of 1899 I made a tour through Estes Park, and learning that Mr. Mason
Knapp, whom I had known in the East, was living on a ranch just north of the
Park down the canyon of the North Fork of the Thompson, I drove down to call on
my friend and inspect that part of the country. I received a cordial welcome and
an invitation to remain overnight. I was very impressed with the surroundings,
and in company with my friend, explored the canyon and, through his suggestion,
arranged for a visit later in the season with my family for a little outing.
Before we returned, a plan had been determined by which that location might be
acquired for a summer resort for the Presbyterian people of Boulder Presbytery,
including the pastors of its churches.
Both
Dad and Mr. Schureman were natural promoters as well as strong Presbyterians
and, in the next few years, the plan became a reality. Fortunately for the idea,
my father and his younger brother, Samuel P. Knapp, then possessed most of the
land desired for the purposes of the proposed Association, and they were
agreeable to the sale of their holdings for a nominal amount in order to help
the Association get under way. After much preliminary planning the Presbyterian
Assembly Association was incorporated on May 13, 1903 by the following persons:
E. J. Gregory, Cornelius Ferris Jr., and Myron H. Akin. The objects of the
Association were expressed in the Certificate of Incorporation as follows: " (To
develop) a summer resort for rest and recreation and for a religious assembly of
the various Presbyterian churches of Boulder Presbytery, Colorado, and for the
promotion of Christian fellowship among the said churches."
Unfortunately, the records of the early life of the Association are scanty.
However, the minutes of the Directors for June 22, 1903 reported the appointment
of W. H. Schureman as Superintendent of the Association for 1903. The minutes
for July 8, 1903 recorded the following action: "Resolved that the action of W.
H. Schureman in procuring the written agreements of Mason E. Knapp, dated July
1, 1903, for the sale of certain lands in Larimer County to the Association in
consideration of the aggregate sum of $130, the said action is hereby ratified
and adopted as the agreement of the Association."
The
minutes of August 19, 1903 recorded that the treasurer was authorized "to pay
$75 to Mason Knapp, September 1, 1903 on account of land purchased from him and
Samuel Knapp." The minutes of November 2, 1903 authorized Superintendent W. H.
Schureman "to enter into a contract on behalf of the Association with Mason
Knapp for the cutting of 50,000 feet of lumber". Although the records are meager
on the early transactions of the Association, it is presumed that eventually my
father and my Uncle Sam received the balance due them for the sale of their
property, either in cash, timber or lots.
The
Association was set up quite simply as a non-profit organization with provision
for officers and a board of Directors to serve without pay, and with expenses to
be met by nominal assessments of the members. According to Mr. Schureman's
memoir: "Shares of stock were offered to purchasers at $50 per share, entitling
each share holder to a deed of a tract of ground for a cabin site 200 by 300
feet fronting on a stream, of which there were three, running through these
grounds."
Mr.
Schureman went on to say:
Quite a number of shares were taken, modest cabins erected, and during that
summer a goodly number of people, with their pastors, spent their vacation on
the grounds, and a promising beginning was made for a permanent resort under
religious control. As time went on, the sale of locations increased until we had
quite a colony of Presbyterian people interested in the development of what we
hoped would be a very attractive resort for ministers and elders and their
families who were not financially able to go far from home for an outing. A
number of acres were added to the original purchase and, after several years,
enough shares were sold to make a substantial payment on the investment. The
balance of the debt was so arranged that it could be finally taken care of
without becoming a burden.
Early
in the life of the Association, "the question of a suitable name by which the
grounds should be known was freely discussed, and the Missionary [W. H.
Schureman] had the honor of proposing the name of Glen Haven, which was accepted
and adopted as the permanent name for the Association's holdings." In this way
Glen Haven got its name and it has always seemed the natural one. Mr. Schureman
didn't like to have the term Devil's Gulch applied to his beloved Glen Haven. To
him the words Devil's Gulch were blasphemous. Admittedly, there is something
incongruous about the Presbyterians settling in Devil's Gulch and there were
many jokes about it in the early days. Enos A. Mills in his The Story of
Estes Park published in 1905 said: "I suppose that predestination would be
one way of accounting for the location of Presbyterians in Devil's Gulch."
Mr.
Schureman gave much credit to two individuals for their help in getting the
Association under way – J. W. Skinner and Reverend J. K. Thompson. He wrote:
"Among the
persons who gave liberally of their time to the promotion of the enterprise was
Rev. J. W. Skinner, pastor of the First Church of Fort Collins, whose counsel
and hearty co-operation had much to do with the development of the Association,
and giving permanency and stability to its plan. Also I. K. Thompson of Greeley,
an elder in our church, became one of its most enthusiastic supporters, and to
whom the Association was more indebted for its substantial development
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In 1923, the 20 year term of
the Presbyterian Assembly Association charter came to a close, and its directors
decided to reincorporate as the "Glen Haven Resort". The directors then were W.
J. Rowe, J. Scott Thompson, Emil B. Hatch, James H. McDonald, C. H. Clark, W. S.
Rudolph, and H. H. Harbaugh. The original Presbyterian spirit was now diluted by
non-Presbyterians and it was believed that a less restrictive name would
encourage prospective landowners to memberships. However, there was no change in
the character or methods of the organization. The primary function was to keep
the roads and bridges in good condition and arrange for the sale or transfer of
Association property. At this time the Association also raised trout and stocked
the streams.
In the middle twenties, the
Glen Haven Store expanded in significance and a dining room was added. The
chicken dinners and pies served by Uncle Ira's wife, Mae, were very popular, as
I know from spending a week in the Glen in 1927. Up to this time little
information had been made available to members of the Glen Haven Resort or its
predecessor organization. Fortunately for our story, a printed report was issued
on May 1, 1929. It opened with this sentence: "Glen Haven Resort members should
have a report of the Company's affairs." This report covered the period back to
1925 when "the present Resort officers were elected and undertook a program of
improvements." This group consisted of G. H. Bradfield, President, E. B. Hatch,
Secretary, J. H. McDonald, Treasurer, and C. H. Clark, W. J. Bishop, Frank Voris,
and W. S. Rudolph, Directors. The improvements brought about were listed.
1. The
store building was enlarged by adding a dining room and kitchen on the north, a
storage room, and a large lobby room with fireplace on the south. The outside of
the store has been beautified and given a rustic appearance. An ice house has
been built. The store is neat, with a good stock of groceries at reasonable
prices. Credit for this improvement is due our storekeeper, Mr. I. O. Knapp.
During summer months some members maintain a Sunday school in the store lobby. A
piano has been secured for the lobby for music.
2. U. S.
Post Office Service is maintained.
3. A
library has been started and members are donating more books each year.
4.
Additional land has been purchased adjoining the store, the grounds enlarged and
leveled.
5. A
half-mile of new roadway built at the end of Fox Creek.
6. Ten
bridges rebuilt with rock abutments.
7. The
roads on N. Fork, Fox and West Creeks have been widened and leveled and rocks
removed therefrom.
8. A wheel
grader, drags, fresnos, and other road machinery have been acquired.
9. Some 150
diseased "beetle" trees have been cut down under the direction of the U.S.
Forestry Department, and the tree damage checked.
10. Corrected
maps of Resort lands have been made, copies of which are available to members.
Write for one.
11. Parts of
three blocks have been replatted to correct omissions and errors in the original
plats.
12. Errors in
titles and misdescriptions to twenty lots have been corrected; all lot titles
examined and are now or soon will be perfected.
13. Columbine
seed has been planted in sheltered locations near cabins along N. Fork, Fox, and
West Creeks.
14. An
official "Glen Haven pennant" containing Colorado's Columbine has been adopted.
These substantial
improvements had caused the Resort's indebtedness to increase but it was claimed
that it had largely freed itself from debt through good management. The number
of members had been steadily increasing and there were then 112 with 80 cabins
"already erected."
The report was
forward-looking and it listed the following improvements contemplated by the
Directors for the coming year:
(1) installing an acetylene light
plant at store; plant already purchased and paid for; (2) constructing or
repairing three bridges on N. Fork, Fox and West Creeks; (4) clearing trails for
horseback riding; (5) placing sign boards at road junctions listing cabins; (6)
signs "Do not pick flowers" and "trail pointers" along roadways; (7) enlarge
library at store; (8) further improve stock of groceries and service at store;
(9) urge further improvement of county road from Forks hotel.
The report then said; "We
want Glen Haven to be the most restful, enjoyable mountain home site in the
country. We hope to avoid overcrowding and public commercialism, and to retain
as much as possible Glen Haven's mountain wildness, and the simple neighborhood
atmosphere, yet have as many conveniences as possible."
In its concluding paragraphs
the report had other interesting ideas for the members to consider – some far
ahead of their time
Further, in the future
sometime, it is proposed the Resort construct two or three tourist camp cabins
near the store for transient trade; construct a tennis court near the store;
clear off an aeroplane landing field on the mountain flat north of Fox Creek;
construct picnic tables and benches near the road ends on N. Fork, Fox and West
Creeks for hikers and Resort picnic parks.
This report is lengthy, but
full. It shows Glen Haven is progressing. As improvements are made and the
county highway becomes improved, we believe Resort members will find their own
fine mountain property, conveniently located, easy of access, not overcrowded,
with enough conveniences to be comfortable but not "citified"; property destined
to increase materially in value. May we continue all to work harmoniously
together to obtain the full enjoyment and benefit from our mountain home
investments."
This report indicates that,
under the leadership of Judge Bradfield as President, the Glen Haven Resort was
becoming a progressive democratic organization, loyally supported by practically
all of the property holders in the Glen. During the next ten years changes were
to occur that would confront the Resort with a new challenge – the rise of
commercial businesses with little interest in the affairs of the Association.
The change came so slowly that it was little recognized at the time.
I have already alluded to Mr.
Hatch's interesting "historical" talk given at the annual meeting on August 1,
1930. In this talk Mr. Hatch listed the names of some 40 individuals who had
contributed to the development of the Association up to that time. The roster of
names is given for its historical interest.
Cornelius Ferris,
Jr. E. J. Gregory J. D. Potter
Rev. R. J.
Hunter Myron Aiken Charles L. Austin
Rev. W. H. Schureman
J. Y. Munson, Mabel Wilkinson
Dr. A. V.
Rota George L. Makepiece George Briggs
E. R. Kitson
J. K. Thompson W. J. McMillan
Dr. Curtis
Atkinson Dr. J. M. Wylie J. Scott Thompson
Emil B.
Hatch Dr. J. M. Skinner Fred H. Tulley
Miss Abbie Roys
Rev. W. H. Crothers R. D. Hall
Jessie W. Easterday
Dr. E. Stuver J. H. McDonald
J. A.
Beattie C. A. Taylor Lewis C.
Baab
R.E.
Ritchie Mason Knapp W. I. Neal
W. J.
Rowe M. I. Baxter Charles E.
Morrow
C. H.
Clark F. M. Scott W. S.
Rudolph
W. H. Harbaugh
This list does not include
several who were otherwise mentioned: James H. McDonald, G. H. Bradfield, and
Frederick W. Clark. Mr. Hatch paid special tribute to those who had made the
greatest contributions to the life of the Association in these words. "Special
comment should be made of the organization work of the Rev. W.S. Schureman; the
unceasing efforts and years of service of J. K. Thompson; the successful wiping
out of the years of debt hanging over the organization by W. J. Rowe; and the
most valued continued and impartial administration of our present President, G.
H. Bradfield, even to the sacrifice of his personal business and ambitions."
Mr. Hatch also stated that
the members of the resort not only were the possessors and owners of your
building site, lots, and cabins, but were also the owners of 760 acres of land
in this, "the most beautiful and to be desired of all resort spots in the Rocky
Mountain region." He then went on to count the blessings of the members.
Through the determination of
the members and friends, the wilds have been conquered to the extermination of
all wild animals and pests; the streams have been and are kept well stocked with
the fish most desired by the sportsman, and this through the efforts, acts and
continued service of our own Rev. W. S. Rudolph. The government has continued in
its determined efforts to exterminate the beauty, so dreadful and ruinous to our
forests; and we have offered bounty for even the snake that can be found in our
haunts, but not such has been claimed to date; intoxicants and all rough
rowdy'isms have been replaced with clean sports, true enjoyment, and refinement;
the agile deer, in its timidity and harmless visitations are our only evidences
of wildness and are our much desired companionate visitors."
Clearly, the influence of the
early Presbyterians had been great. Nevertheless, although the whole talk exuded
a spirit of accomplishment and thanksgiving there was an ominous note in the
concluding paragraph;
Our danger is that we
commercialize and divide, split out our holdings. This is most ruinous, not only
to us individually, but to our other members as well for the more we divide, the
more we divide, the more we sell, the more and closer becomes our neighbor, and
we all most desire the great open space for our guests up here. [Then he
concluded:] The present Board of Managers are tireless in their efforts to do
your will and be of service in this enterprise and we bespeak your cooperation
and expression to the end that we many be all members of the great family,
brothers and sisters in Christian fellowship, even as the original intent and
express desire of our original organizers, son and daughters of Father Glen and
Mother Haven.
Although this statement may
seem sentimental to many, it expresses the philosophy of those who founded and
built Glen Haven, and much of this spirit has come down to the present day.
Prior to 1930,
annual meetings were held in Greeley. Thus only a few members outside of Greeley
had information on the affairs of the Association. With the enlargement of the
store building it was possible to hold annual meetings in the store lobby. This
was an improvement but still only a small proportion of the members could be in
the Glen when the meetings were held. The rather comprehensive printed report
for members in 1929 was the first attempt to meet this problem.
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A Story of Glen Haven
Author unknown
There is this speculation on how Devil's Gulch got its
name. "Perhaps it earned its satanic reputation from the way the clouds boil up
from it, like smoke spewing out of Hell, long after the sun has burned off the
clouds on the higher slopes. Hayden labeled this Devil's Canyon in his 1877
atlas, and indicates no "trail down it." These authors believe the designation
of Devil's Canyon was probably changed to Devil's Gulch by popular western
usage, and in fact it is a gulch rather than a canyon for there is no stream
flowing down it.
The early accounts of life in the Estes Park region give
us the flavor of what Glen Haven was like in its near-virgin state. What was
true of the Park applied as well to the Glen. One of the interesting ties of
Glen Haven to Estes Park came from the unsuccessful attempt of the Earl of
Dunraven in the early eighteen seventies to acquire surreptiously all of the
Estes Park country as a hunting preserve. This questionable maneuver was too
much for the stomachs of the early settlers, especially Mountain Jim who' lost
his life in resisting this monopolistic invasion, and eventually the Dunraven
Empire collapsed. The story is fully told in Harold Dunning's History of Estes
Park and will not be repeated here. For our purpose, the significant fact is the
names that Lord Dunraven left on the land. Mount Dunraven, 12,326 feet high,
lies but a dozen miles to the west of Glen Haven, while Dunravens' Glade lies
just to the north and east of North Rock. The Trail's End Cheley Boy's Camp is
today not far from where Lord Dunraven maintained a hunting lodge. This was
still standing when my uncle, Ira O. Knapp, first came up into this country from
Miller's Fork in the early eighteen nineties. In 1941 he took great delight in
hiking with us (my wife and two children) up North Rock and down e other side
just to point out where the lodge had stood. On that same trip we hiked back on
the trail down the North Fork from Dunraven Glade that used to be the way one
got into Glen Haven.
In his colorful book, A Gallery of Dudes, (Little, Brown
and Company, 1966) Marshal Sprague provides interesting accounts of Isabella
Bird and Lord Dunraven in the Estes Park country. According to Sprague, Lord
Dunraven sought refuge by constructing a hunting lodge in the secluded glade
north and west of Devil's Gulch when the Park became too crowded in 1874 after
the shooting of Mountain Jim. The lodge was well equipped and "even had a
whiskey cave so that Dunraven could always count on a 'wee droppie.' " He last
used the lodge in 1880 on his final hunt up Dunraven Glade.
Miller's Fork apparently got its name from a man by that
name. As a boy I was greatly interested in the mysterious grave by the side of
the road where the Miller's Fork road branched off. We always had Dad stop the
horses so that we could inspect it. On the gravestone there was this
inscription: "Charles Miller accidentally shot May 15, 1871, by Charles W.
Dennison." How did it happen? Were these men hunters, trappers, prospectors?
Nobody has ever seemed to know.
Apparently one of the first holdings in the region was
the Dickerson place, (now known as Gardners), between Miller's Fork and Glen
Haven. This dates back to 1874 according to an article in the History of the Big
Thompson Canyon. Jay Lee writes me that he has a record of locations of eight or
nine ranch houses in 1881 but they have apparently vanished into limbo. Perhaps
they represented claims made by Lord Dunraven's agents in his famous land
grabbing effort.
Mrs. Harold Easterday in the History of the Big Thompson
Canyon states that: "One of the earliest cattle men in this locality was George
W. Ragan. He ran cattle on the North Fork in the early 1870's, and built and
occupied a log cabin where the Stewarts house is now located." She also reports
that "in the eighties, P. J. Pauley, acquired extensive property in the region.
. . He engaged in stock raising and became owner of what is now McGraw Ranch,
also Devil's Gulch Ranch. . . He used the McGraw Ranch for headquarters and made
a cattle range of the North Fork. . . According to Jay Lee who searched the land
records, Peter J. Pauley acquired his property in what is now the center of Glen
Haven in 1885.
As a boy I remember an old log house and barn across
West Creek (which we then called Cow Creek) near where the Easterdays later had
a cabin camp. I think we called it the old ranch house and I know we used a
footbridge to get there when walking. This may have been Pauley's "Devil's Gulch
Ranch. In an attempt to get more information on Mr. Pauley's operations in the
Glen Haven area I wrote to the St. Louis Public Library. The Librarian found an
article in German on "The Pauley Jail Building and Manufacturing Company"
founded by Peter J. Pauley, Senior. According to this article his son P. J.
Pauley, Jr. joined the firm in 1880, but was forced by bad health to spend "8
years in the clear air of the Rocky Mountains." No further information was given
on his Colorado experience. My Uncle Ira reported in the History of the Big
Thompson (1940) that "Mr. Pauley never lost his interest in this locality and
made a visit to the Glen - during his last trip to Colorado before his death a
few years ago."
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Honeymoon in Glen Haven
Bunnie Batie
It was down the North Fork trail that my Mother and Dad
come to Glen Haven in the summer of 1895 on their honeymoon trip from Illinois.
He gave me this account of the trip in a letter in 1946.
I first saw the Glen in 1895. I was on a wedding
trip to Colorado and the honeymoon trips led out from Miller's Fork, the
summer's base by horseback trails. There were no wagon roads to higher
points upstream. So by horse the bride and I, with blankets and ponchos,
went to visit Estes Park. We rode u Dunraven Glade past the then standing
shelter of Lord Dunraven, following a trail from near this spot, over the
ridge to the south and down onto the North Fork of the Big Thompson for our
camp at Miller's Fork was near this small but rapid flowing stream. There
was practically no trail passable direct up the river. Thus we came to Glen
Haven, then known as the Pauley Ranch for a small area of deeded land was
owned by S. J. Pauley, the famous prison builder of St. Louis.
Dad gave me a little more information relating to that
trip. He thought that his brother Ira. O. Knapp was the first Knapp to come into
the Glen Haven area, probably on a fishing and timber prospecting expedition for
"Ira was always on the lookout for timber." He went on to say: "At any rate Ira
was able to direct your mother and me to Estes Park this way - trail only -
through Dunraven Glade, down North Fork to the junction with Cow Creek (now West
Creek), then up through Devil's Gulch. We rode his light weight work horses.
There was no trail from Miller's Fork to this junction. Father and Ira were
running a saw mill about a half mile or less up Millers' Fork from it's mouth at
this time:"
Although Uncle Ira never gave me his first impressions
of the Glen, he dated the coming of the Knapp's into the Glen as 1893, and he
once told me that the hillsides of the Glen in 1941 looked more like they did
when he first saw them, than how they appeared in the old photograph of the Glen
when it was known as "Knappville" in 1897 after the timber had been cut from the
slopes to supply the saw mill.
My mother recalled Glen Haven as it was in 1895 when she
visited us in the summer of 1938. We were then sitting under the two big pines
where we were to build our cabin the coming year.
I can well remember when we camped under these trees
on my honeymoon. We came over the trail down the North Fork, just behind us,
for there wasn't a road. There wasn't a house in the Glen except the little
house you can see across the stream (now the Stewart cabin). After stopping
here for lunch we went up the Devil's Gulch trail. There was one shack about
where Abbie Roys used to live-and smoke was coming from it. Mason stopped at
the door and two dirty, unshaven men came out. Hunters or trappers I guess.
They seemed to us miserable and lonely, and I said to myself: "Wouldn't it
be awful to live up here all the time?" I had no idea that I would soon
spend a winter in that little cabin across the stream with Jim a baby one
year old.
Glen Haven
Written by Ira O. Knapp for Mrs. Carl A.
Anderson
The Big Thompson River from the foothills to Estes Park
was first permanently settled about 1893, when a saw mill was located at Harding
Heights by a party of men which included O. S. and Ira O. Knapp. Up to that
time, there had been some who homesteaded some land but later abandoned it
because it was probably too inaccessible to be profitable or even comfortable as
a home. So far as I know Ed. Kindaid was the first to complete title to any
land. There may have been another. Theodore Bryant located at Miller Fork in
1893 or early in 1894, and was the first of the new and permanent settlers.
Later in 1896, after the two removed, the Knapps brought
the saw mill to Glen Haven, and in 1897 made the claims on the land which became
the larger part of what became the subdivision comprising what is now the Glen
Haven Resort.
Frank Goodwin brought his family to the lower end of
Dunraven Glade about this time, and with the aid of friends became the possessor
of much of the land that is now the Maitland Ranch.
By 1890, George Simmons and his party had taken
possession of the site now called the Deserted Village, where he operated a saw
mill for several years and completed the title to land that has since become
part of the Maitland Ranch.
At Glen Haven, a quarter section had become the property
of Mr. P. J.
Pauley, from St. Louis, Missouri, who came to Colorado
for health reasons during the 1880's. He engaged in the cattle business for
several years and recovered his health, after which he returned to St. Louis,
and was at the head of the J. P. Pauley Jail Manufacturing Company, the only
exclusive jail building company in the United States. Mr. Pauley never lost his
interest in this locality and made a visit to the Glen during his last trip to
Colorado shortly before his death a few years ago.
Something like thirty years ago ( about 1909), George
Simmons traded his holdings on the North Fork of the Thompson to Mr. Fred
Sprague, who added some buildings to the old saw mill camp and conducted a
summer resort for a short time. This place is now called the "Deserted Village",
and the trail from Glen Haven to it furnishes one of the favorite rides for
those who enjoy riding horses.
Early photographs taken at Glen Haven show that the
place was once called "Knappville", probably because of the saw mill, which was
operated by the Knapps. A friend of Mason Knapp, Mr. W. S. Schureman, visited
here as early as 1890, and a few years later organized an association, which
bought the land, subdivided it into lots, and brought in the first summer
residents, and named the place Glen Haven. In this enterprise he was assisted by
Mason Knapp, his brother S. P. Knapp, and his father, O. S. Knapp.
About 1899 or 1900, Frank Bartholf acquired the land now
occupied by the Maitland Home and that at the forks of the Thompson, and built
the hotel now owned by R. V. Hayden. When the Canyon road to Estes Park was
built, the hotel became the stopping place for dinner for the tourists to Estes
Park. Later Frank Alderdyce became the owner of the hotel, and was also
postmaster at Drake.
Following the opening of the road through the canyon and
along the river to Estes Park, available cottage sites were eagerly sought by
many people, and Glen Comfort, Loveland Heights, and Waltonia were among the
popular places on the south fork of the Thompson.
Soon after the opening of the road up the North Fork,
George Dennis homesteaded land at the bottom of Devil' s Gulch, and when the
county took over this road he became the road overseer. It was through his
influence that the road was made to follow the river all the way instead of
coming up through the glades south of the stream. When this was accomplished,
Sadie Campbell became a resident on the North Fork, where she has since made her
home, and her house has become one of the land marks of the region.
The land along the Thompson River is not mineralized
very thoroughly. Crozier Mountain has received most of the attention of
prospectors, and traces of what may become valuable minerals have been located.
Prominent among those who have searched this section for minerals has been Jerry
Quigley, and assessment work on some of his claims is still kept up.
The Maitland Ranch comprises most of the grazing land
along the north Thompson but has never been thoroughly developed. Fred Hyatt has
a cattle ranch in Cedar Park which is in the Thompson water shed; and Ed.
Chasteen uses the grazing land on Crozier Mountain. These are the cattle
ranching interests of this region.
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Glen Haven
additional notes by Mrs. H. Easterday
One of the earliest cattle men in this locality was
George W. Ragan. He ran cattle on the North Fork in the early 1870's and built
and occupied a log house where the Stewart home is now located.
In the eighties, P. J. Pauley acquired extensive
property in the region. He engaged in stock ranging and became owner of what is
now McGraw Ranch, also Devil's Gulch Ranch, where the Post office now is. He
also acquired the land where Dr. Maitland now lives on the North Fork. He used
the McGraw Ranch for headquarters and made cattle range of the North Fork. He
had a big barn built in Glen Haven. It was torn down in 1936. It was put
together with wooden pegs and square nails.
After being here a number of years, Mr. Pauley's health
improved and he returned to St. Louis where he was head of the Pauley Jail
Works, the only exclusive jail manufacturing plant in the United States.
In correspondence at one time he prophesied that Glen
Haven would one day become a summer resort. He visited in Colorado frequently
until his death about three years ago.
In 1898, Nathaniel H. Talbot built a cabin on Cow Creek.
In 1911, Don Adams bought land from Mr. Pauley, and
built a summer home. In 1927, he and Mrs. Adams made a permanent home in the
glen and started in the livery business.
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Glen Haven
Mrs. Harold Easterday
My first trip to Glen Haven was in July 1910, when I
came from Greeley with my husband on our honeymoon.
We drove all the way with horse and buggy over narrow,
winding roads. Even the Big Thompson Canyon road in those days was too narrow in
many places for two wagons to pass.
Before 1910, the North Fork highway did not follow the
river all the way but went through a beautiful glade, the upper end of which
joins the present road just below Lant Merritt's place. This road was very steep
and narrow in places; it is still Jlsed as a horse-back trail.
There was no store or post office in the Glen when we
first came, and just a few scattered houses. It was necessary for us to drive to
Estes Park for our mail and supplies. This was such a long, hard trip with a
horse and buggy that we always took our lunch and did not plan on returning
until late afternoon. The Devil's Gulch road was steep and narrow and it took us
one hour to go from Mrs. Dennis' place to the top, but we had plenty of time to
enjoy the marvelous scenery, especially the sight of the snowy range that comes
into view suddenly as one reaches the top of the hill.
Mr. and Mrs. Dennis owned a good sized hotel in the Glen
at one time, and in 1910, there were as many as twenty guests who were spending
the summer there. Each Sunday we attended Sunday school on the large porch of
the old hotel. This building was torn down in the fall of 1937.
Our first store in Glen Haven was in the building now
occupied as a home by Mr. and Mrs. Don Adams. A young minister by the name of
Benjamin, and his wife, from Greeley opened the first grocery. This was about
1920. The next year, Mrs. Hattie Cannon was the proprietress. The middle section
of the present store building was erected the following year and the store
managers for the next three years were Mr. and Mrs. Alber.
Following the Albers, the proprietors were: Ed Shaffer,
one year; Ira Knapp, six years; Oscar Lofgren, two years; Dave Morrison, one
year; Dr. Fiske, one year; and Geo. Ernst, who took over the business in 1936.
On June 9, 1926, Mr. Knapp was appointed postmaster and
is still serving. Mr. Alber was postmaster for two years, but after he left we
were without a postmaster until Mr. Knapp came.
Many new cabins have been built and two new sections
have added to the store building, one of which is used for dining room.
The Post office is now located in the Homestead Hotel
which is owned by Jack Knapp and managed by Wesley Willson. Mail is delivered
the year around.
For many years it was our desire to make our home
permanently in Glen Haven. We purchased our present location in 1927, and moved
up from Greeley on December, 1. 1935.
Here's to beautiful Glen Haven, Best place this side of
heaven, May folks here, both young and old, Find peace, which is worth millions
in gold!
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The Deserted Village
Mrs. Sadie Campbell
In 1909, when I came here to live on my homestead on the
North Fork, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Sprague (no relation to the famous Abner Sprague),
real estate people of Denver, owned and ran a summer resort at what is now known
as the "Deserted Village".
They kept teams and light covered spring wagons at
Loveland. Their guests arrived by train; they brought them to their lower ranch
for lunch, changed teams, and drove on up to the resort. The lower ranch is
where Dr. L. M. Maitland has a fine summer home now.
Mr. Sprague sold out to Quimby and Fuller who made the
road so that they could go to the resort in cars. However, they used the place
just for themselves.
Quimby sold his interest to Dr. Ried, Mrs. Ried,
Doctor's sister, and a Mr. Banks. Ried sold out to Fuller who sold the entire
estate to Dr. Maitland.
When the Spragues owned the resort, they kept saddle
horses, and Mrs. Sprague, acting as guide, took their guests to Lost Lake and
the beautiful lakes a mile beyond.
Several years before Spragues opened the resort, Geo.
Simmons and his brother, Fred, had a saw mill about a mile above the place.
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Article with Vena
author unkown
Many's the time," she says, "Denver joyriders would
drive their Steamer to Loveland, run out of steam and have to call me to get
their car started again for the return trip."
Vena drove back and forth to Estes Park for twelve
years. Frequent passengers, in addition to tourists, were F. O. Stanley, of
Estes Park fame, Loveland's Louis Papa, and "Lord" Ogilvy. The "Lord" was very
upset if Vena was not the driver who met him at the depot for the trip to his
mountain home.
In 1925 Vena was sworn in as a mail carrier and became
the first person to carry mail down the Devil's Gulch road. For this she
received ten dollars a trip, one way. She was also the first person in Loveland
to have a taxi permit issued by the Public Utilities Commission of Colorado.
An avid horsewoman, Vena also rode in numerous county
fairs and parades. She led many horseback trips over the mountain trails around
Estes Park for her son, who owned riding stables at Beaver Point. She loved to
hunt and seldom came home empty handed. In 1938 she made news when she shot the
largest elk bagged that year in Colorado. The huge animal dressed out at 1,000
pounds.
The Apgars retired in 1945 and lived at Glen Haven, a
small community on the north fork of the Big Thompson River. Chet died four
years later, and until Vena married Charles Snyder, who died in 1973.
"We had a great time!" Vena says. "I'd do it all again
if I was younger."
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