Name: 10th Mountain Division at Camp Hale
Brand: Eric Miller
SKU: 9781467109178
Price: 23.99 USD
Availability: InStock

Eric Miller

10th Mountain Division at Camp Hale

9781467109178

$23.99

The rise and fall of Camp Hale and the soldiers who shaped America’s ski legacy.

In 1942, at the beginning of World War II, the US Army built its most unusual military post for its most unusual division in a high, remote, Rocky Mountain valley 100 miles west of Denver, Colorado. Located at 9,250 feet above sea level, Camp Hale was the training home of the famed 13,459-man 10th Mountain Division, which trained in mountain warfare techniques for two years—and almost missed the war. After they were finally deployed for combat in early 1945 in the Northern Apennine Mountains of Italy, the young men of the 10th never lost a battle or gave up a foot of ground. And, after the war, many of the veterans returned home to create America’s ski and winter sports industry. Building Camp Hale was an incredible feat of wartime engineering and construction. To transform the wild, alpine meadow into an Army camp, 10,000 civilian construction workers were hired to scrape away the vegetation; level the valley floor; install roads and water and sewer lines; build 1,000 structures and two ski areas; and relocate a highway and railroad line—all within seven months and at a cost of $31 million (over a half billion dollars in today’s money). Yet Camp Hale was demolished two years after it was built.

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Sandra Elaine Wagner

4UR Ranch at Wagon Wheel Gap Hot Springs Resort

9781467144506

$24.99

Native Americans used the healing waters of the Wagon Wheel Gap hot springs for thousands of years prior to American settlement. An area rich in geologic features enticed pre-treaty explorers. But it was the 1873 Brunot Treaty that brought mining interests and a silver boom to the San Juans. Modernization to a first-class resort followed. More than three thousand acres and six miles of world-class fishing attracted illustrious guests such as Walt Disney, John Wayne and Dwight Eisenhower. Follow the history of this century-old ranch, including its various owners, from its infancy through to the establishment of the surrounding exclusive community. The 4UR Ranch has been in the Leavell family for more than forty years. Now with the fourth generation contributing, the Leavells hope to be welcoming guests for many years to come and continue their stewardship of this extraordinary valley.

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Steve Fisher

A Brief History of South Denver & University Park

9781609492335

$21.99

University Park was founded in the 1880s when the University of Denver (Colorado Seminary) moved from downtown Denver to land donated by potato farmer Rufus Clark. The University, founded by Methodists, wanted to escape the urban blight of the city and build an oasis for education. Liquor production or consumption was not allowed, and though today the area has many pubs a number of home mortgages to this day contain old covenants forbidding the making or selling of spirits. Around University Park grew the town of South Denver, which was annexed to the city of Denver in the early twentieth century. For many years in the late 1800s the primary employer was the University of Denver, but over time others moved into the area for its attractive homes and well respected schools. The area has traditionally been upper middle class and has enjoyed one of the lowest crime rates in the city. At the geographic center of University Park is Observatory Park, named for the famous Chamberlain Observatory, built in the 1890s and still fully operational with popular public viewing nights. In the early part of the century Colorado Governor Henry Buchtel lived in the park, as did a number of famed early DU faculty such as Ammi Hyde, who beat the freshman boys in an annual foot race well into his 90's. The area boomed after World War II as many from other parts of the country who were stationed in Colorado chose to remain and make it their home. The area has remained prosperous and continues to grow, sharing in the overall success that the Denver metro area has experienced.

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Ann Alexander Leggett

A Haunted History of Denver's Croke-Patterson Mansion

9781609493127

$21.99

An ominous air hangs about Capitol Hill's historic Croke-Patterson Mansion. Rumors of spirits and strange events have cast a shadow across its elegant Gilded Age facade. The lonely halls are haunted with stories of a doctor's wife who committed suicide and the ghostly figure of a young woman who appears to visitors. Tenants of the building have also claimed to hear the cries of children, and dark specters in the basement prevent even the heartiest souls from staying for too long. Join authors Ann Alexander Leggett and Jordan Alexander Leggett as they try to unravel the mysteries that have plagued this Denver mansion for over a century.

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Gretchen Scanlon

A History of Leadville Theater

9781609497118

$21.99

When the West was wild, the glitziest streets in Colorado ran through Leadville, where opera, variety and burlesque lit up Magic City theaters. Theatrical legends Buffalo Bill and Oscar Wilde graced the Tabor Opera House, while revolutionary Susan B. Anthony reached a rough mining audience from a stage atop a bar. Thomas Kemp spared no expense on the risque Black Crook at the Grand Central Theater, complete with a grand waterfall, a trapdoor and dragons. Follow Leadville historian Gretchen Scanlon through these theatrical glory days, from the glamorous productions and stump speeches to the offstage theft and debauchery that kept the drama going even when the curtain fell.

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Maria Kernahan

A is for Aspen

9780985642907

$19.95

A perfect keepsake for any local or visitor, A Is for Aspen is a charming picture book that explores the town of Aspen, Colorado, through short, sweet rhymes and clean, graphic illustrations. Explore this iconic mountain town from yoga at the top of Ajax Mountain to rafting the whitecaps on the Roaring Fork River. Stops include snowboarding on Buttermilk Mountain, hiking the Bowl at the Highlands and the spectacle of extreme athleticism at the X-Games.

This Aspen, Colorado children's book celebrates everything that both locals and visitors love about this special mountain town.

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Ronald J. Stephens Ph.D.

African Americans of Denver

9780738556253

$24.99

The city of Denver was born during the great "Pikes Peak or Bust" gold rush of 1859 when flakes of placer gold were found where the South Platte River meets Cherry Creek. With the discovery of more gold, Denver became a boomtown, and African American pioneers began to arrive in search of prosperity and a better future. Initially, Denver's African Americans lived scattered throughout the city and in the Cherry Creek area. By the late 1890s, most had relocated to the Five Points Neighborhood. Many worked in Denver during the week and farmed their homesteads in Dearfield on the weekends. They often spent their holidays at Winks Lodge and summers at Camp Nizhone.

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Kay Beth Faris Avery

Along the Huerfano River

9781467117005

$24.99

Long before English speakers set eyes upon it, the volcanic plug on the south bank of the Huerfano River was tagged with a moniker that means the orphan. Spanish conquistadors saw it as a rock pile that God dumped in the middle of nowhere, an odd little cone far removed from the regular foothills edging the Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range. In the 18th century, this outcropping and the river that bears the same name were famous landmarks for Native American tribes, Hispanic explorers, and French adventurers. Then in the 19th century, along came US mountain men, gold-seekers, cowboys, sheep ranchers, railroad workers, town developers, and coal miners from 31 different countries, speaking 27 different languages. Counterculture revolutionaries discovered the area in the 1960s and established five separate communes west of Walsenburg. Each wave of immigrants brought new perspectives and lifestyles.

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Celinda Kaelin

American Indians of the Pikes Peak Region

9780738548470

$23.99

Thousands of years before Zebulon Pike's name became attached to this famous mountain, Pikes Peak was home to indigenous people. These First Nations left no written record of their sojourn here, but what they did leave were stone circles, carefully crafted arrowheads and stone tools, enigmatic petroglyphs, and culturally scarred trees. In the 1500s, Spanish explorers documented their locations, language, and numbers. In the 1800s, mountain men and official explorers such as Pike, Fremont, and Long also wrote about these First Nations. Comanche, Apache, Arapaho, Cheyenne, Kiowa, and Lakota made incursions into the region. These nations contested Ute land possession, harvested the abundant wildlife, and paid homage to the powerful spirits at Garden of the Gods and Manitou Springs. Today Ute Indians return to Garden of the Gods and to Pikes Peak each year to perform their sacred Sundance Ceremony.

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Sean Scott

Around Frederick

9781467130356

$24.99

In the 1880s, Frederick was nothing but prairieland, and its only inhabitants were prairie dogs, rabbits, coyotes, and snakes. Coal brought settlers to the area, and Frederick was incorporated in 1907 as a coalmining town. The mines needed workers, and immigrants arrived from across the globe to help fill this need for labor. Men and their families came from Italy, Russia, Turkey, Greece, Mexico, and the Slavic countries to make Frederick their home. While not considered a gold or silver boomtown, Frederick had its share of growing pains. Liquor and illegal gambling were constant sources of problems, and the town saw natural disasters such as persistent flooding as well. As its location on the Union Pacific Railroad helped the miners, farmers, and merchants build a strong community, the history of Frederick provides a classic example of growth and development on the eastern Colorado plains.

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Penny Hamilton

Around Granby

9781467130455

$24.99

The area around Granby was developed in the late 1800s and today remains true to the Spirit of the West. It once was the Utes' summer hunting ground and was shared by fur trappers and mountain men in the winters. Later, prospectors came to Lulu City and mined for gold while loggers and homesteaders built schools and churches, forming the towns of Monarch, Selak, and Coulter. In 1905, the Moffat Railroad created a new town, putting Granby on the map. Dependable railroad access allowed ranches and businesses to thrive. The Victory Highway offered motorcars a route through the Arapaho National Forest and Rocky Mountain National Park, bringing tourism to dude ranches, where guests wanted to be cowboys. After World War II, the completion of the massive Colorado–Big Thompson Water Project changed the landscape when Lake Granby buried ranches and the Lindbergh airstrip. Soon, locals discovered white gold when skiing and winter sports expanded the four-season, mountain-resort community.

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Duane Vandenbusche

Around Gunnison and Crested Butte

9780738548289

$24.99

The Western Slope towns of Gunnison and Crested Butte are defined by their placement in the Colorado Rockies. Both are located in alpine valleys surrounded by 14,000-foot-high peaks with sparkling mountain-fed streams, and both dominate the Gunnison country, a unique wilderness covering over 4,000 square miles. Beginning over 400 years ago, Native Americans, fur traders, explorers, miners, railroaders, and cattlemen all made a place for themselves in the area. Today Gunnison, Crested Butte, and the Gunnison country remain isolated and tranquil. Recreation, tourism, and cattle ranching now reign supreme as Gunnison and Crested Butte attempt to preserve their distinctly Western heritage.

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Duane Vandenbusche

Around Monarch Pass

9780738580708

$24.99

Monarch Country is an incredibly beautiful mountain region spanning both sides of the Continental Divide in the southern portions of Chaffee and Gunnison Counties in the Rocky Mountains of south-central Colorado. Monarch Pass, at 11,312 feet above sea level, divides the Gunnison Country in the west from the Arkansas River watershed in the east. This scenic, wild, and rugged region surrounding the crossroads of U.S. Routes 50 and 285 is rich in mining, railroad, and skiing history and once included booming mining camps such as Maysville, Garfield, Monarch, and White Pine. The crown jewel of this spectacular high-country landscape is the Monarch Ski Area, which enjoys 350 to 500 inches of snowfall every year.

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Kay Turnbaugh

Around Nederland

9780738581491

$24.99

Nederland survived three boom-and-bust cycles involving three different minerals. During the silver boom, U.S. president Ulysses S. Grant visited Central City in 1873 and walked on silver bricks that had been mined in Caribou and milled in Nederland. The second boom followed the discovery of gold in Eldora in 1897 and lasted only a few years. The third boom was sparked by the discovery of tungsten by Sam Conger, the same man who made the original discovery of silver in Caribou. The Conger mine eventually became the greatest tungsten mine in the world. During World War I, Nederland's population swelled to 3,000--twice the size it is today--and another 2,000 were estimated to live nearby. In each boom, men came to mine, open stores, and transport goods and ore. They brought families with them, and many towns sprang up, including Caribou, Eldora, Lakewood, Tungsten, and Rollinsville. Some of these communities have survived, while others remain only in memories and photographs.

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Anne Quinby Dyni

Around Niwot

9781467133241

$24.99

By the time the Colorado Central Railroad extended its tracks into Boulder County in 1873, much of the land along the foothills was already under cultivation. As rails were laid between Boulder City and Longmont to the northeast, they crossed land belonging to settlers who had first come to the region as prospectors with the Pikes Peak Gold Rush of 1858. At that time, the area was still the hunting and fishing grounds of Southern Arapaho Indians and their tribal leader, Chief Niwot, translated as left hand in the Arapaho language. Two ranchers, Porter Hinman and Ambrose Murray, whose land was traversed by the new railroad, platted the town of Niwot in 1875 as a shipping point for transporting local farm goods and livestock to distant markets. Thus the only authentic railroad town in Boulder County was founded.

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Mary Suzanne Silverthorn

Around Rocky Mountain National Park

9781467133753

$24.99

Following the establishment of Rocky Mountain National Park in 1915, promotional campaigns generated by the railroads lured wealthy travelers to the park with images of the great outdoors and the many luxuries offered by the finest hotels. Postcards were circulated proclaiming the park as the Playground of the World. The gateway communities of Estes Park and Grand Lake became vibrant hospitality centers, and in 1920, when the two towns were connected with the opening of Fall River Road, a new era of tourism was introduced that continues today. More than 200 postcards are used in this book to provide a chronology of the early hotels, ranches, and other settings that have shaped the park's history for more than a century.

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Duane Vandenbusche

Around the Gunnison Country

9781467115186

$24.99

The Gunnison country, 4,000 square miles of high valleys, heavy snows, deep canyons, and 14,000-foot-high mountains, is one of Colorado's most beautiful regions. Located on the Western Slope of Colorado, the Gunnison country has a long history involving Native Americans, mining, narrow-gauge railroads, ranching, Western State Colorado University, and recreation. The region has also been influenced by nearby Lake City in the San Juan Mountains, Aspen in the Elk Mountains, and towns on the east side of the famed and historic Alpine Railroad Tunnel. Today, the Gunnison country still is beautiful and tranquil, hosting nearly 2,000,000 visitors yearly while remaining much the same as it was over 125 years ago.

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Mr. Mike Butler

Around the Spanish Peaks

9780738576244

$24.99

Rising up to 13,623 feet above the plains, the twin Spanish Peaks in southern Colorado have been a beacon to travelers for centuries. Native Americans from the Comanche and Ute tribes pitched their teepees in the lush river valleys around the mountains. Spanish explorers from Mexico followed legends of gold here. Migrants on the Santa Fe Trail sighted the peaks at the end of their long trek across the Great Plains. Coal mining and railroads brought a new wave of settlers to the region in the 1870s. Today, visitors head to Walsenburg, La Veta, and Cuchara to enjoy the incredible mountain scenery and year-round recreational activities.

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Sherah Collins

Aurora

9780738548241

$24.99

Aurora began as the town of Fletcher, named after the Denver businessman who had staked out the original four square miles for resale along with associates Samuel and Francis Perry. In 1907, burdened with debt from their founder and seeking a fresh start, the inhabitants of Fletcher petitioned to have the town renamed, and in April, it was officially dubbed the Town of Aurora. These first settlers overcame many obstacles on the bare, dry land that Maj. Stephen Long, an early explorer, called the Great American Desert. The outbreak of World War I brought revenue to the area's farmers as food prices soared, and Fitzsimons Army Hospital was established in 1918. Over the years, the scarcity of water has been a persistent problem, but Aurora has nonetheless grown from a quiet farming community to a sprawling city covering over 144 square miles.

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Bennett Bramson

Basalt

9781467130462

$24.99

Once the site of a Ute Indian settlement, Basalt began life as several sleepy little hamlets. From the original Frying Pan Junction and later Aspen Junction, the town of Basalt is comprised of five areas. In the early 20th century, located midway between Aspen and Glenwood Springs, Basalt became the heart of the valley's mining, ranching, and farming operations as pioneering families homesteaded the land. Many hoped to build their fortunes along the tracks of the Denver & Rio Grande Western and Colorado Midland Railroads, whose rail lines merged in the center of today's downtown area. As the silver-mining era passed into history and the railroad operations ceased, so did the fortunes of early Basalt. Today's Basalt is a vibrant and vital residential and commercial community located on the confluence of two world-class Gold Medal fishing rivers.

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Roger Hadix

Baseball in Colorado Springs

9780738599540

$24.99

From Boulevard Park and Memorial Field to Security Service Field (formerly Sky Sox Stadium), Colorado Springs is a baseball town. Professional baseball arrived in 1901; the Brown Bombers, a semiprofessional black team, came in the 1940s; and the original Sky Sox won the Western League Championship in 1953, 1955, and 1958. Local players such as Ed Kent, Bill Everitt, Jim Landis, Sam Hairston, Connie Johnson, Vinny Castilla, and Todd Helton have made it to the major leagues. Rich Goose Gossage, a Colorado Springs native, went directly from Class A ball to the Chicago White Sox, starting his hall-of-fame career in 1972.

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Matthew K. Repplinger II

Baseball in Denver

9780738599595

$24.99

Images of Baseball: Baseball in Denver shares the city's prominent role in America's great game. The lore of baseball's first pioneers plays out in a real-life soap opera for this Western city. From the early Hall-of-Fame players to the storied baseball-talent barons of Denver's primitive days, baseball has always been on the forefront of the Denver sports horizon. From Tinker to Satchel Paige to The Babe himself, the Mile High City has been a barnstormer's oasis in a town that was nothing short of the Wild West. The Denver Post Tournament and the rich history of the Denver Bears are highlighted, as well as the many fields and landmarks throughout the city. With the inception of the Colorado Rockies, Denver once again set the stage for big-league baseball, which many of Denver's local baseball legends have been no stranger to.

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Laddie E. John

Bayfield and the Pine River Valley 1860-1960

9780738520520

$24.99

With the climate, elevation, and abundance of water, early settlers to the Pine River Valley found that the area was ideal for prosperous settlements and the growing of crops. Captured here in over 200 vintage images are the trials and triumphs of these early pioneers determined to develop the land and carve a niche for themselves in the San Juan Mountains. Named Rio de Los Pinos by 18th-century Spanish explorers, the Pine River Valley boasts some of the richest land in Southwestern Colorado. As pioneers and settlers became aware of these natural resources, towns sprouted up throughout the valley proper. One of these communities was historic Bayfield. Pictured here are the earliest days of the community, including the homesteads, lumber camps, churches, downtown buildings, and businesses no longer existing, as well as the events and residents who helped forge the town's destiny.

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Laura Thompson

Beaver Creek

9781467131933

$24.99

Since 1883, Beaver Creek has attracted adventurous individuals. The allure of precious minerals brought miners to the valley, and many stayed after the illusion of striking it rich began to fade. Those folks homesteaded and farmed or ranched. Ranching flourished for a few families until the early 1970s. Two men credited with developing the Vail ski area set their sights on the Beaver Creek drainage for a new ski resort. Political battles over permits stretched from Denver to Washington, DC. In addition, environmental issues burgeoning in the early 1970s added another layer of complexity to the proposed ski area. Dark days were looming as interest rates hit 18 percent and a recession hit the national economy. A silver lining in all the turmoil at the fledgling resort occurred when former president Gerald R. Ford bought one of the first residential lots, making Beaver Creek his address. The original visionaries' goal to build a world-class resort was on its way to completion after years of challenges.

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Ben M. Dugan

Berthoud Pass

9780738575292

$24.99

Since its official discovery in 1861 by Ed Berthoud and mountain man Jim Bridger, Berthoud Pass has been an important transportation route over the Continental Divide. At more than 11,000 feet in the Rocky Mountains, and coupled with its large number of switchbacks, it has become one of the most beautiful and widely used mountain passes in the West. Henry Ford's inexpensive Model T opened up America to the masses and in the 1920s, following early struggles in road development, a successful construction project gave way to the Golden Age of Automobile Touring. A solid road, US Highway 40, was paved in 1938 that opened the West to a wave of tourists during the 1940s and 1950s. Berthoud Pass's steep terrain and abundant snow provides access to some of Colorado's best skiing and snowboarding activities.

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Duane Vandenbusche

Black Canyon of the Gunnison, The

9780738569192

$24.99

The Black Canyon of the Gunnison River is one of the deepest, narrowest, and most inaccessible canyons in the United States. Very few explorers have ever traversed the 53-mile gorge in Gunnison and Montrose Counties. The canyon, one of the nation's wonders, has been the precipitous stage for an exciting history featuring Ute Indians, a narrow-gauge railroad, sensational explorations, and the construction of the Gunnison Tunnel--the first major Bureau of Reclamation project in history. The Black Canyon became a national monument in 1932 and a national park in 1999. Today it remains a crown jewel of Colorado's Western Slope.

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Nancy K. Williams

Black Cowboys and Early Cattle Drives

9781467153645

$23.99

Dust and Determination

After the Civil War, emancipated slaves who didn’t want to pick cotton or operate an elevator headed west to find work and a new life. Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving drove two thousand longhorns across southern Texas blazing a trail to Bosque Redondo in New Mexico. In 1866, the new Goodnight-Loving Trail was crowded with cattle headed for a government market. By the 1870s, twenty-five percent of the over thirty-five thousand cowboys in the West were black. They were part of trail crews that drove more than twenty-seven million cattle on the Goodnight-Loving Trail, Western Trail, Chisholm Trail and Shawnee Trail. They were paid equally, and their skill and ability brought them earned respect and prestige. Author Nancy Williams recounts their lasting legacy.

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David Forsyth

Black Hawk and Central City

9781467130080

$24.99

The neighboring towns of Central City and Black Hawk in Gilpin County played very prominent roles in the formation of Colorado. The two mining camps supplied millions of dollars in gold, giving them great economic and political power in the 1800s, and Colorado's first two US senators and representative came from Central City. The two towns were home to popular theaters, schools, churches, baseball teams, and thriving businesses, all designed to prove they were permanent, law-abiding settlements. As mining began to die out in the late 1890s and early 1900s, the two towns entered a period of steep economic decline, but a new mining operation and the reopening of the Central City Opera House in the 1930s led to a revival, making the former mining camps major tourist attractions. The introduction of legalized gambling in 1991 added yet another chapter to the colorful history of Black Hawk and Central City.

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Silvia Pettem

Boulder

9781596299740

$21.99

Journey with Silvia Pettem through Boulder's history in Boulder: A Sense of Time & Place Revisited. Watch the evolution from a frontier mining town to the Athens of the West. Learn of murder and bootleggers in the 1920s, survive the Great Depression and follow Boulder's postwar growing pains as the city matures and residents reflect on its past. Each article is a story in itself but only a small piece of what makes Boulder the city it is today.

Mona Lambrecht

Boulder

9780738558905

$24.99

Born out of the 1859 Pikes Peak gold rush, Boulder sits along the Front Range where the Rocky Mountains meet the plains.

Discoveries of gold, silver, telluride, and coal nearby put the little supply town on the map, and early miners, farmers, and businessmen prospered there. The railroad's arrival in 1873 brought more newcomers who cultivated a diverse community full of new businesses, social organizations, and schools, and the town flourished despite the social problems and economic fluctuations that were typical of early mining towns. By the 1890s, education, health, and tourism had become significant to Boulder's economic development, a pattern that continues to this day. Great change came about during the early 1900s in the form of a citywide alcohol prohibition, the influenza epidemic, and the closure of the Switzerland Trail railroad in 1919, but Boulder weathered these difficult times even as it witnessed the end of the great railroading era.

Mona Lambrecht

Boulder

9780738558967

$7.99

Born out of the 1859 Pikes Peak gold rush, Boulder sits along the Front Range where the Rocky Mountains meet the plains.

Discoveries of gold, silver, telluride, and coal nearby put the little supply town on the map, and early miners, farmers, and businessmen prospered there. The railroad's arrival in 1873 brought more newcomers who cultivated a diverse community full of new businesses, social organizations, and schools, and the town flourished despite the social problems and economic fluctuations that were typical of early mining towns. By the 1890s, education, health, and tourism had become significant to Boulder's economic development, a pattern that continues to this day. Great change came about during the early 1900s in the form of a citywide alcohol prohibition, the influenza epidemic, and the closure of the Switzerland Trail railroad in 1919, but Boulder weathered these difficult times even as it witnessed the end of the great railroading era. Enjoy the rich history of Boulder in this collection of 15 historic black-and-white postcards.

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Michael J. Casey

Boulder County Beer

9781467144759

$21.99

In 1979, two University of Colorado professors decided to open Boulder Brewing Company--the forty-third brewery in the nation and the first in the state since Prohibition. Over the next four decades, young entrepreneurs from across the country flocked to the picturesque region to follow their bliss and brew beer. The county's brewing heritage is brimming with stories of how a band of ragtag ruffians helped launch a nationwide revolution. The likes of Oskar Blues, Avery Brewing Company and Left Hand Brewing Company laid the fertile ground for torchbearers such as Upslope, Bootstrap Brewing and many others. Packed with firsthand accounts from adventurous brewers, Michael J. Casey recounts the tale of those who turned Boulder County into ground zero for craft beer in the Centennial State.

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Samuel Bock

Brewed at Altitude

9781467159098

$24.99

It started flowing during the gold rush, when saloons were much more than just a place to grab a drink. They were post offices, restaurants, hotels, social clubs, union halls, and more. But then, Colorado banned alcohol—four years before Prohibition hit the rest of the country—and a state born in a saloon ran dry for almost twenty years. Beer led the way back, and by the 1970s, brewing was big business again—really big business. Now, homebrewers have gone pro, and Colorado is one of the best places in the world to grab a brew. Join historians Sam Bock and Jason Hanson on a tour of Colorado history as seen through a pint glass. More than just a tale of ale, this is Colorado’s story—told over a few beers.

“This isn’t just a book about beer. It's a book about us. The beauty of beer is that it intertwines with so many other aspects of life—history, cultural significance, and economic impact. Bock and Hanson explore those threads offering a unique understanding as to why Colorado has become a thriving hub for beer culture! The stories, insights, as well as the connection to present day and the future of brewing is the perfect read for anyone. Bonus—you have permission to enjoy a cold brew while reading!” —Karen Hertz, Chief Brewista and Founder, Holidaily Brewing Company

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Dr. James B. Stull

Brief History of Erie, Colorado, A

9781467118118

$21.99

From 1866 until 1979, Erie was one of the largest coal-producing towns in the nation. Numerous settlers contributed to building Old Town and making it one of the liveliest communities in northern Colorado. The Columbine Mine massacre in 1927 incited major changes to coal mining practices, inspiring unionization efforts nationally. The improved rights and working conditions that miners struggled to win benefit employees across America today. Emeritus Professor James B. Stull illuminates Erie's earliest pioneers, houses, schools and churches and the town's enduring evolution.

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Linda Bjorklund

Brief History of Fairplay, A

9781609499556

$21.99

Explore Fairplay from the beginning with local historian Linda Bjorklund as she traces the town's story through Spanish settlers, early American government, Union-Confederate tensions and modern development. Even though Fairplay's remarkable gold and silver boom was reduced to ash overnight in 1873, a strong community overcame history's challenges and preserved its treasures. From the popular annual Burro Days to the Way of Life Museum, Fairplay gives folks a chance to celebrate and relive its rich mining history through festivities and time-capsule buildings such as the general store, drugstore, bank, Summer Brewery and Summer Saloon.

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Albin Wagner

Brighton

9780738569413

$24.99

The town of Brighton was founded by railroad man and real estate developer Daniel F. Carmichael at the junction of the Denver Pacific (now Union Pacific) and Denver and Boulder Valley Railroads. Carmichael determined, "There should be a town here that would do credit to the splendid valley." The junction, originally named Hughes after the first president of the Denver Pacific Railroad, had a long history as a crossroads of the West. The town grew into an agricultural center for the Platte River Valley with a thriving sugar beet industry, dairies, and canning factories, but the changing economy would transform Brighton first into a suburban community and now into one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States.

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Nancy K. Williams

Buffalo Soldiers on the Colorado Frontier

9781467145442

$21.99

The legendary Buffalo Soldiers, four army regiments of former slaves, were vital in taming the American frontier. The Tenth Cavalry of African American troopers rode across the Colorado plains to battle the Cheyennes and rescue wounded, starving soldiers at Beecher Island on the Arikaree River. Under the cover of darkness, the Ninth Cavalry aided besieged troops pinned down by Ute sharpshooters at Milk Creek. They drove off Cheyenne Dog Soldiers attacking a stagecoach of nervous travelers on the Smokey Hill Trail to Denver. And they braved howling blizzards and deep snowdrifts to protect lonely homesteads and wandering prospectors. Author Nancy K. Williams details the bravery and valor of these historic servicemen who served proudly defending America’s Wild West.

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Ms. Anne Marlowe Conrad

Cañon City

9780738580371

$24.99

From its early days as a frontier town to now, Colorado’s Cañon City has a rich and unique history even in comparison to other former Gold Rush towns.

From the scenic and geological diversity to some of the initial oil discoveries in the United States, this Fremont County seat has been a hub of coal mining and archaeological discoveries, particularly of dinosaur remains. Here the Royal Gorge Bridge crosses the Arkansas River, 1,053 feet below, as the highest suspension span in the world. The temperate weather means long growing seasons, celebrated each May by the Blossom and Music Festival. Once a commerce center supplying food, lumber, and other goods to surrounding gold towns--from Cripple Creek to Leadville--Cañon City also once was a silent-film capital, the base for hundreds of motion pictures produced after the beginning of the 20th century. Like most of history, times weren’t always good in Cañon City, reflected in the first territorial prison founded here, many more still operating today. Learn about Cañon City’s history—the good, the bad, and the ugly—in this engaging title.

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Dino G. Maniatis

Cherry Hills Village

9781467108638

$24.99

The history of Cherry Hills Village is about the trailblazers, settlers, visionaries, and others who came to Colorado from disparate places and backgrounds with their dreams in hand and a vision of a life in the Rocky Mountains. This cast of characters created a narrative of westward expansion—a saga of migration, discovery, opportunity, and hope. Here, natives and newcomers raised families, started businesses, created a city, and established multigenerational legacies. For millennia, the area has been continuously inhabited by different cultures, including prehistoric and Indigenous peoples, followed by European immigrants. Early and more recent residents alike knew that there was something special about the place that would become Cherry Hills Village.

Dino G. Maniatis is a first-generation Colorado native who has worked in real estate and property management for over 20 years. As a soldier and strategic intelligence officer in the US Army, Major Maniatis is assigned to Army Space and Missile Defense Command. He is a longtime resident of Cherry Hills Village, where he lives with his wife, Kristin, a physician, and their daughters Angelina and Kristina. He has served on various city committees and published a short history about the city and an official poem for its 75th anniversary.

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Amron Gravett

Chimney Rock National Monument

9781467131612

$24.99

The appreciation of the Chimney Rock region goes back more than 1,000 years. Here in southwestern Colorado, the Ancestral Puebloans inhabited the northern San Juan River Basin as an outlier community of Chaco Canyon. Its function and use has created much conjecture. The site was abandoned by the early 1100s for reasons that some speculate were related to drought, resource depletion, warfare, migration, or a combination of these factors. Over the course of its recorded history, archaeologists, astronomers, regional historians, and visitors have celebrated the rocks, ruins, and landscape that make up this important feature in the Four Corners region. It has been called La Piedra Parada by Spanish explorers, Fire Mountain by Tewa-speaking pueblos, and Tupiwiniri by the Utes. Today, we know it as Chimney Rock National Monument due to a proclamation made in 2012 by Pres. Barack Obama.

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Castle Rock Writers

Chronicles of Douglas County, Colorado

9781626191792

$21.99

It's hard to imagine that Douglas County's breathtaking vistas--now occupied by expanding suburbs and quiet, open spaces--were once the home to dinosaur herds and, later on, nomadic Indian tribes. The nation's second gold rush brought those seeking great fortunes to central Colorado, but it was the untapped potential of the area and a dream of taming the land that appealed most to early settlers of Douglas County. Pioneers like General Bela Hughes and John D. Perry (whose agreement led to the railroad connection across Kansas to Denver) and Martin Henry Goddard (who, along with his wife, Nellie, ran the Rhode Island Hotel) were among the first of many settlers to establish roots here. Join the Castle Rock Writers for a journey through the history of this land and the diverse legacy left behind by those who made it their home.

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Allan C. Lewis

Colorado and Southern Railway

9780738529295

$24.99

In 1860, thousands journeyed to the Colorado Territory, beckoned by reports of gold discoveries in the mountains west of Denver. In the early 1870s, W.A.H. Loveland built a railroad connecting Denver to the Clear Creek Mining District-the Colorado Central Railroad. Over the next 28 years, other lines were established, bought, sold, extended, and merged to service the mining towns of Black Hawk, Central City, Idaho Springs, and Silver Plume. In 1898, the Union Pacific, Denver & Gulf, and the Denver Leadville & Gunnison were combined to form the Colorado & Southern Railway. After more than 40 years of dedication to the Clear Creek District, the railroad was scrapped in 1941. However, tourism would revitalize the area, and in the years to come a group of enthusiasts began to rebuild a portion of the old right of way. Toady, the spirit of the C&S is alive again, and rail fans can make the same journey over The Loop that thrilled tourists a century ago.

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John F. Steinle

Colorado and the Silver Crash

9781467147576

$21.99

A catastrophic depression engulfed Colorado in 1893. The government’s decision to adopt the gold standard and stop buying silver hit the mining industry like a cave-in. Unemployment reached 90 percent in Leadville, a city built on silver. Strikes by union miners in Cripple Creek and Leadville led to destruction and death. Political parties split along battle lines of gold versus silver. By 1898, the country had begun to recover, but silver mining was never the same. Using firsthand commentary and more than one hundred historic photographs, John Steinle skillfully commemorates the story of Coloradans trapped in the unprecedented social, economic and political conflict of America’s first great depression.

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Dr. F. Darrell Munsell

Colorado Artist Jack Roberts

9781467118453

$24.99

Seeking adventure and inspiration in western Colorado, artist Jack Roberts masterfully captured frontier characters in secluded cow camps and boisterous saloons. His flamboyant personality and zest for life became topics of local stories. But sobriety and commitment offered new themes and goals. Indians, traders, pioneers and entrepreneurs—he captured them all on canvas with a blend of creativity and authenticity. His paintings, cartoons and personal observations reflect his convictions and his desire to create works of significance. With over seventy full-color paintings, author F. Darrell Munsell traces Roberts's career from early apprenticeship with Harvey Dunn through his many changes in lifestyle and subject to celebrate this respected artist of the American West.

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Cindy Brick

Colorado Curiosities

9781467146586

$21.99

Colorado's Front Range, Western Slope, eastern plains and southern approaches were home to some of the state's stranger people, places and events. Meet Mike the Headless Chicken from Fruita and a Fort Collins architect who designed a university building to house his wife--after he killed her. Learn about Florence's "The Alcatraz of the Rockies" or Doc Holliday's final breaths in Glenwood Springs. Dig into the odd conspiracy theories and underground city connected to the Denver International Airport. Walk alongside dinosaur tracks, scout out old mines and ancient petroglyphs or climb into Mesa Verde's shaded, mysterious cliff dwellings. Author Cindy Brick shares quirky, odd and intriguing episodes in Colorado history.

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Ed Sealover

Colorado Excursions with History, Hikes and Hops

9781467119801

$24.99

Colorado is replete with natural beauty, award-winning breweries and a history that reflects its wild and rugged character. Author Ed Sealover offers this detailed guide to ten three-day excursions full of nature, history and unique watering holes. Discover sprawling parks and celebrated landmarks throughout the state. Visit oddball destinations like the trail of America's favorite cannibal and the renowned ghost town of Saint Elmo. Work up a thirst on the hiking trails of Rocky Mountain National Park and unwind on the single block in the state that is home to a brewery, a winery and a distillery. Uncover the craft, creative and cultural gems that make the Centennial State a curious wanderer's dream.

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Jolie Anderson Gallagher

Colorado Forts

9781609496609

$21.99

Throughout the 1800s, explorers braved brutal weather and hostile enemies, trekking through the towering mountains and fertile valleys on the ragged edge of civilization. These early pioneers built stockades, trading posts, military camps and miniature citadels that would shape the state of Colorado for generations to come. As the settlers struggled to survive desperate times, economic depressions and bloody wars, some of these historic outposts would become Colorado's cities, schools, hospitals and museums, while others would sink back into the mud from which they came. Join author Jolie Anderson Gallagher as she chronicles the stories of the forts and the early explorers, fur trappers, soldiers and wives who constructed and occupied them.

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Linda Wommack

Colorado Frontiersmen

9781467153652

$23.99

Early Icons and Landmarks

As western migration came to the Colorado frontier, forts were established to protect the settlers. These forts were intertwined with the lives of the frontiersmen. Scout Thomas Tate Tobin oversaw the workers who built the adobe fortress known as Fort Garland. Here, Tobin delivered the heads of the murderous Espinosas gang to Colonel Sam Tappan. Fort Sedgwick, originally known as Camp Rankin, was attacked by the Cheyenne Dog soldiers, including George Bent. Fort Lyon, an expanded fortress of William Bent’s third fort, became the staging point for Colonel John M. Chivington’s march to Sand Creek where peaceful Cheyenne were murdered. Later, Christopher “Kit” Carson died in the fort’s chapel. Legendary Jim Beckwourth was associated with both Fort Vasquez and Fort Pueblo. Author Linda Wommack revisits the glory and the mistakes of the frontiersmen who defined Colorado and the forts that dotted the wild landscape.

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Roger Hadix

Colorado Ice Hockey

9781467160223

$24.99

Colorado has a long, rich ice hockey history. The earliest references date back to January 28, 1893, from an article in the Rocky Mountain Sun. There have been many colorful teams, like the Colorado Rocky team, the Denver Spurs, and the Colorado Flames. On February 22, 1980, ice hockey suddenly vaulted onto the forefront of the American sports scene, due in large part of what is simply known as “the Miracle on Ice.” The US men’s ice hockey team had pulled off an incredible upset over the Soviet Union men’s ice hockey team and then went on to win the gold medal over Finland. It gave the country a reason to celebrate and made the sport of ice hockey red hot! That “miracle” started in 1979 at the Broadmoor World Arena in Colorado Springs with the selection of players at the 1979 National Sports Festival. Leadville, Steamboat Springs, Aspen, Colorado College, Denver University, Salida, Pueblo, and Fort Collins have all contributed to the “fastest game on ice.”

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John F. Steinle

Colorado in the Civil War

9781467109710

$23.99

Colorado troops were vitally important for the Union in the quest to win the Civil War. They served throughout the American West from Missouri to Utah, and their enemies were not only ordinary Confederate troops but also fearsome guerrillas under William Quantrill and “Blood Bill” Anderson. Vital Western transportation routes—like the Santa Fe, Oregon, Smoky Hill, and Cherokee Trails—were guarded by the Coloradans. Tragically, actions by Colorado soldiers, including the horrific Sand Creek Massacre, ignited decades of warfare with Native American tribes. This book features vintage images that chronicle Colorado’s Civil War soldiers, where they served, and who they fought.

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Stephanie Waters Moding

Colorado Legends & Lore

9781626194816

$21.99

Colorado is steeped in stories as unique as the people who settled it. Each wave of exploration and settlement brought new tales to explain the mysteries of this incomparable place. With extreme weather and breathtaking landscapes, it seems only natural that Colorado could play host to UFOs, stripper lightning and the Fountain of Love. From creation myths and rumored Aztec treasure to snow snakes and drunken house flies, professional yarn-spinner Stephanie Waters turns an eye to the ancient lore of the Centennial State.

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Alan Kania

Colorado National Monument

9780738569796

$24.99

Amid the rock spires and red-rock canyons west of Grand Junction near the Utah state line, a young man with a checkered past single-handedly built trails.

On a salary of $1 a month, John Otto brought the beauty of the canyons to the attention of the local chambers of commerce and eventually the National Park Service. With the stroke of a pen, Pres. William Taft added the Colorado National Monument to the park system in 1911. Otto's eccentricities toward bureaucrats and businessmen caused him to abandon a quarter-century of trail building in the mid-1930s. His legacy was then picked up by hundreds of young men from the Civilian Conservation Corps prior to World War II. Today their combined efforts bring thousands of hikers, bicyclists, and motorists to the same trails Otto first used to introduce people to the canyon lands a century ago and the odd rock monoliths that seem to rise hundreds of feet out of the canyon floor. Scenic vistas of the Little Bookcliffs mountain range and the great Grand Mesa complete the beautiful panorama.

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Nancy K. Williams

Colorado Outlaws & Lawmen

9781467157957

$24.99

Taming a Tumultuous Territory

Hollywood westerns of the twentieth century brought a history of raucous frontier justice to life, but 1800s Colorado was anything but fiction. Bandits held up the Denver and Rio Grande train at Unaweep Switch, while another gang stole $50,000 from the express car at Cotopaxi. “The Bloody Espinosas,” who left mutilated bodies along lonely mountain trails, terrorized southern Colorado. The Reynolds Gang held up South Park stagecoaches, while Tom McCarty and Matt Warner robbed banks. These unruly times demanded a society where the law prevailed. Dave Cook started the Rocky Mountain Detective Association and improved crime fighting methods. Tom Tobin tracked down two serial killers using his wilderness skills. Doc Shores, who always got his man, earned his nickname, “the Bloodhound.” Author Nancy K. Williams hunts down the good, the bad and the ugly characters who color Colorado’s past.

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Elizabeth Victoria Wallace

Colorado Springs

9780738520919

$23.99

Colorado Springs was founded by General William Jackson Palmer in 1871. He was successful in his intent to build a sophisticated spa town with all the luxuries of the East Coast, including the arts, colleges, and hospitals. It is often said that the men made their money in the gold mines of Cripple Creek, but they spent it in Colorado Springs, building beautiful homes on wide streets lined with trees-roads that were nicknamed Millionaire's Row. The early development of Colorado Springs is shown here in over 200 vintage photographs and drawings, some of which have never before been published. The photographs and captions, often taken from actual diaries and journals, illustrate a broad cross-section of the area's early settlers, as well as the hardships they endured. The timeline begins in 1871 and continues through the war years when many local men fought in World War II, most famously as part of the first 10th Mountain Ski Division. This volume includes photographs from neighboring towns and places of interest that were instrumental in the development of Colorado Springs, including Manitou Springs, Old Colorado City, Garden of the Gods, and Cripple Creek.

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Phyllis J. Perry

Colorado Vanguards

9781467119375

$24.99

Colorado history is filled with maverick men and women who shaped the state's identity and culture. Trailblazers Zebulon Pike and Stephen Long laid groundwork for the miners, farmers and statesmen who helped the area evolve into a territory and a state. Father of Rocky Mountain National Park Enos Mills and writer Isabella Bird praised the surrounding natural splendor and championed its preservation. Entrepreneurs Otto Mears and William Jackson Palmer linked mines with towns such as Colorado Springs and Telluride, while the innovations of F.O. Stanley and Nikola Tesla energized the state. Author Phyllis J. Perry chronicles the lives of thirty men and women who left their indelible marks on Colorado.

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Samuel Carlino

Colorado's Carlino Brothers

9781467143271

$21.99

From 1922 to 1931, Pete and Sam Carlino controlled the flow of Prohibition alcohol from southern Colorado to Denver before their empire suffered a gruesome, bloody demise. The brothers battled their own kin in the Danna family to secure southern Colorado’s bootleg liquor territory. Dozens perished in their rise to power. Eventually, mafia boss Nicola Gentile intervened to settle a dispute involving the brothers’ associates. Pete Carlino’s grandson, author Sam Carlino, uncovers intimate photos and new revelations, including confirmation that Pete Carlino met with Salvatore Maranzano in New York and that the death of both men on September 10, 1931, may not have been a coincidence.

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Dr. Jack S. Ballard

Colorado's Daring Ivy Baldwin

9781467146333

$21.99

At the beginning of the twentieth century, aerialist Ivy Baldwin had achieved celebrity status as a premier tightrope walker, aeronaut and aviation pioneer. He executed astonishing and perilous performances across America and internationally, including Mexico and the Far East. First by flying balloons, he went on to pilot dirigibles and, finally, aircraft. In his later years in Colorado, he became famous for crossing canyons on a tightrope. Historian Jack Stokes Ballard deftly captures Baldwin’s colorful and hazardous life from childhood runaway to aviation record holder.

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Darla Sue Dollman

Colorado's Deadliest Floods

9781467137102

$21.99

Ranked among the top ten states for both disasters and dry climate, Colorado has a long history of extreme weather. On May 19, 1864, residents of the fledgling gold rush town of Denver awoke to a wall of water slamming into the city with enough force to flatten buildings and rip clothing from its victims. The infamous Big Thompson Canyon flood of 1976 killed 144 residents, tourists and campers. Per the National Center for Atmospheric Research, Coloradoans experienced twenty-two floods with contemporary monetary losses of $2 million or more since the flood of 1864. And as the population continues to grow, the loss of lives, property, crops and livestock may increase. Local author Darla Sue Dollman, who witnessed and survived many of the contemporary disasters, examines the state's most catastrophic flash floods from 1864 to 2013.

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Linda Wommack

Colorado's Historic Churches

9781467142823

$21.99

Colorado’s houses of worship reflect the same trademark resourcefulness and fortitude that the pioneers and history makers demonstrated throughout the state’s history. Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church, established in 1854, remains the state’s oldest church. Formed by a group of African American settlers, including former slaves, Zion Baptist became Colorado’s first black congregation on November 15, 1865. On May 23, 1868, famed frontiersman Christopher “Kit” Carson died in the historic chapel at Fort Lyon. And thanks to con artist Jefferson Randolph “Soapy” Smith, who raised $600, Creede erected its first church in 1892. From notable parishioners to murders in two separate Denver churches, historian Linda Wommack surveys the heritage and wealth of holy houses in the Mile High State.

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Alexandra Walker Clark

Colorado's Historic Hotels

9781609493011

$23.99

Lured by the promise of land and opportunity, miners, cowhands, laborers, settlers and fortune-seekers poured into Colorado during the mid-to-late 19th Century and into the 20th. To accommodate the population boom, industrious Coloradoans built scores of hotels some elaborate, some modest, all a touchstone to this critical era in Centennial State history. Join Alexandra Walker Clark on this tour through Colorado's historic hotels. Discover how the Oxford and Brown Palace Hotels have managed to maintain their elegance, while others such as the Timberline Hotel of Holy Cross City and the California Hotel of Independence have vanished. With timeless recipes from hotel kitchens, learn how hotels have adapted to eras like the Native American desertion and the Roaring Twenties.

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Bo Shaffer

Colorado's Iceman and the Story of the Frozen Dead Guy

9781609492489

$14.99

The Frozen Dead Guy was once just a regular Norwegian named Bredo Morstoel. When he died in 1983, his family cryogenically preserved his body and placed it in a permanent holding facility in Nederland, Colorado, to wait until technology might allow it to be defrosted and resurrected. His caretaker is Bo Iceman Shaffer, who has transported ice to the facility and represented the Frozen Dead Guy for seventeen years and counting. Here he chronicles one of Colorado's strangest and most colorful attractions, one that draws travelers from around the globe to tour the site, attend the annual Frozen Dead Guy Days festival and have a drink.

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Jane Bardal

Colorado's Mrs. Captain Ellen Jack

9781467153638

$23.99

“You get off this property.” - Capt. Ellen Jack, 1887

Ellen E. Jack backed up her orders with a shotgun as she stood at the entrance to her Black Queen Mine. To profit from the mine, located near Aspen, Colorado, she engaged in many other battles with lawyers and capitalists who tried to wrest her ore away. Mrs. Captain Jack contributed to the myth of the West by crowning herself as the “Mining Queen of the Rockies” as she entertained tourists at her roadhouse near Colorado Springs. Author Jane Bardal offers a captivating biography of a pioneering woman who fashioned a legacy through true tenacity and maybe even a few tall tales.

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John F. Steinle

Colorado’s World War II Home Front

9781467163620

$24.99

World War II enthusiasts and Colorado history buffs alike will delight in this insightful photographic narrative of Colorado's contribution during the momentous global conflict. Beginning in 1940 as an inland state safe against enemy attack, Colorado became crucially important in supporting the worldwide struggle against Nazi Germany, fascism in Italy, Imperial Japan, and their allies. The Centennial State housed some of the largest ammunition factories, medical facilities, and training camps for both land and air forces in the nation. The unique 10th Mountain Division trained for winter warfare in the Colorado mountains. After the United States entered World War II, massive numbers of prisoners of war were interned or worked in Colorado fields and forests. Japanese Americans were unjustly held in the Camp Amache internment camp. The huge influx of war workers fueled the expansion of Colorado’s population, sparking the baby boom and creating today’s urban and suburban Colorado.

John Steinle, a native of Hamilton, Ohio, served as director at several Ohio museums before moving to Colorado in 1992. In 1994, Steinle became the administrator of the Hiwan Homestead Museum in Evergreen, Colorado, working for Jefferson County Open Space. He was later promoted to history education supervisor and region supervisor for the Bear Creek Region. He retired in 2016.

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Debra Bullock

Commerce City

9780738580203

$24.99

Among Colorado's fastest growing cities in the 21st century, Commerce City was settled in the 1850s, located today 8 miles northeast of Denver's capitol building. Known for hog farms, truck farms, and dairies, as well as refineries and grain elevators, Commerce City was, during World War II, the site of the enormous Rocky Mountain Arsenal, a U.S. Army weapons manufacturing facility. Incorporated in 1952 as Commerce Town, the name was changed to Commerce City in 1962, which adopted home rule in 1970. Commerce City is regionally famous and nationally recognized for parks and recreation, Buffalo Run Golf Course, Mile High Kennel Club (dog racing), and nearby Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge. The new Commerce City Civic Center and Dick's Sporting Goods Park, which is home to pro soccer's Colorado Rapids, were completed in 2007. Commerce City remains a speedily changing municipality with a diverse cultural mix and generations of residents with strong community roots.

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Palmer Lake Historical Society

Communities of the Palmer Divide

9780738581903

$24.99

Native American tribes once traversed the east-west anomaly of the Rocky Mountains known as the Palmer Divide as a passage between the high ranges and the Great Plains. Lying between Denver and Colorado Springs, and named for William Jackson Palmer, founder of Colorado Springs, the offshoot range divides the great Platte and Arkansas River systems. Settlers homesteaded, farmed, and ranched the area. Railroad construction in the 1870s led to towns supporting commerce and tourism, particularly in the western section of the Palmer Divide, in what eventually became known as the Tri-Lakes Area. The area drew tourists who enjoyed hiking, wildflowers, and the outdoors, and facilitated such local industries as ice harvesting, lumber milling, ranching, and potato farming. A vast area north of Colorado Springs, the Palmer Divide retains a picturesque rural nature and cohesive small-town feeling--creating such social events as the Rocky Mountain Chautauqua and the Yule Log Festival, as well as the enduring Palmer Lake Star on Sundance Mountain.

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James Thomas Flynn

Compendium of Curious Colorado Place Names, A

9781467137324

$21.99

The origins of Colorado place names offer insightful glimpses into the state's formative years. Emanuel Saltiel named his new community along the Arkansas River Cotopaxi, after a volcano in Ecuador. Rifle Creek and the town of Rifle earned their names thanks to a rifle left behind along the banks of the creek. Optimistic miners mistakenly believed Tarryall had an abundance of gold and thus named it as a place where prospectors could mine and tarry. And despite attempts by government officials to rename a small community along the I-70 corridor in western Colorado, locals refused to call it anything other than No Name. Learn these stories and more as author Jim Flynn unravels the intriguing origins of Centennial State place names.

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John F. Steinle

Conifer

9781467103008

$24.99

Gold! The lure of the precious metal brought 1860s prospectors along the toll roads that met to form the nucleus of today's Conifer. That era also brought Confederate guerrillas who buried a fortune in treasure and new settlers who were greeted by the Ute, Arapaho, and Cheyenne people. Successful ranches grew, worked by families whose descendants still remain in the area and harvest the land's bounty. In later years, the area's natural beauty inspired the creation of both the Denver Mountain Parks and Jefferson County Open Space parks systems, as well as the magnificent Staunton State Park. That same beauty led to housing developments with amazing views south to Pike's Peak and north to Mount Evans. Today, Conifer offers a glimpse of the past with its Yellow Barn and Little White Schoolhouse, as well as exciting new attractions such as the Venue and Stage Door Theaters, the annual Elevation Celebration and Christmas parade, and vibrant retail centers.

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Vila Schwindt

Cortez

9780738574745

$24.99

Colorado's southwesternmost city has perpetually verged on all that is desirable in the American Southwest for tourism, recreation, and high-desert living. Cortez is surrounded by scenic mountains and red-rock canyons, Anasazi archaeological sites and a varied Native American heritage, and a sunny climate. Yet for centuries, rugged landscapes and lack of water made communication, transportation, and commerce difficult. Residents developed a fierce self-reliance. Area farmers received a boost when the Dolores River was diverted in 1889 by the nearly unimaginable man-and-mule-hewn Great Cut and a 5,400-foot-long irrigation tunnel. Cortez's hardscrabble growth found additional relief in the 1950s due to the Four Corners gas and oil boom. Congressman Wayne Aspinall helped establish the Dolores Water Conservancy District in 1961, construction of McPhee Dam on the Dolores River began in 1978, and finally in 1986, Montezuma Valley obtained a reliable water supply. Lake McPhee provides water for farms, families, and enterprises and adds to local beauty and recreation.

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Charles Harbert

Creede

9781467162388

$24.99

Creede’s wild history and emblematic beauty are a few reasons why the small but mighty town has enamored hundreds of thousands of people. Colorado’s last great silver-mining camp is nestled at 9,000 feet in the rugged San Juan Mountains. Nicholas Creede’s landmark discoveries of the Holy Moses Mine and the famous Amethyst Mine created the boom town immortalized in a Cy Warman poem ending, “It’s day all day in the daytime, and there is no night in Creede.” The boom was brief, ending in 1893 when silver prices plummeted. Mining continued in cycles until 1985. Rather than becoming a ghost town, Creede reinvented itself as one of Colorado’s favorite tourist destinations. Outstanding trout fishing and hunting attract outdoors people from across the nation. The world-renowned Creede Repertory Theatre and internationally acclaimed artists have made Creede a cultural haven. Echoes of the past remain in long-standing businesses Tomkins Hardware and the Creede Hotel, as well as the Creede Historical Society Museum, housed in the 1892 Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Depot.

Charles “Chuck” Harbert grew up in Colorado and settled in Creede in 1999 after a 30-year career as a chemist and senior executive at Pfizer Central Research. He has written four Colorado history books, including one on Creede and another on Bachelor, a nearby ghost town. Allison Quiller is a Creede native. She is an accomplished artist and serves as the Creede Historical Society photograph director.

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Duane Vandenbusche

Crested Butte

9780738574431

$24.99

Crested Butte rises 8,885 feet above sea level on the edge of the beautiful Elk Mountains in the Gunnison Country of Colorado's Western Slope. Between Crested Butte and Aspen, 25 miles to the north, are six 14,000-foot-high peaks with 12,000-foot-high passes and scenery that takes the breath away. Crested Butte began as a silver camp but soon turned into one of the great coal towns of the West, with a rich ethnic heritage evolved from the mining camps. In the 21st century, Crested Butte is a tourist town of 1,500 residents highlighted by the Mount Crested Butte Ski Area, the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame, and its wonderful wildflower and music festivals. The town today is what it always has been, the queen jewel of the Elk Mountains.

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Jan MacKell Collins

Cripple Creek District

9780738524139

$24.99

The Cripple Creek District, on the back of Pikes Peak in central Colorado, first found fame through Bob Womack, the cowboy who publicized his knowledge of gold in the high country and drew thousands to the area. Gold fever allowed the region to flourish, while strikes, fires, and economic hardships threatened the district's survival. The dwindling population's fortitude, plus innovative ideas to boost the economy, carried the city from a struggling gold-miners' paradise to a favored tourist spot.

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Mark A. Barnhouse

Daniels and Fisher

9781626199231

$21.99

For 129 years, Daniels and Fisher and May-D&F proudly served the Mile High City. Today, the restored Daniels and Fisher Tower adorns the Sixteenth Street Mall while the I.M. Pei–designed ice-skating rink and hyperbolic paraboloid at May-D&F survive only in memories. The story of these institutions is filled with fascinating characters, including dashing, tower-building William Cooke Daniels; his aristocratic English wife, Cicely; and flamboyant William Zeckendorf, whose city-building dreams outpaced his finances. Generations of Denverites shopped these stores and still remember white-gloved sales ladies, meals served in the D&F Tea Room and views from the observation deck. Join author Mark A. Barnhouse as he brings the spectacular Christmas displays, fantastic fortnights celebrating foreign cultures and Carl Sandell—the seven-foot, five-inch Daniels and Fisher doorman—back to life.

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Mark A. Barnhouse

Denver

9781467109055

$23.99

Denver has evolved continuously since its 1858 founding, experiencing boom-and-bust cycles that have each left a mark on the cityscape. During the area’s 21st-century growth spurt, impressive new buildings have arisen, but it is the charming old Denver remembered by long-term residents that gives the Mile High City its character.

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Jeffrey C. Price

Denver Airports

9781467102407

$23.99

On the cusp of the Great Depression, Denver mayor Benjamin Stapleton pushed for the development of the first city-operated airport. Denver Municipal Airport opened in 1929 with three hub airlines. While Stapleton would be honored to later have the airport named after him, by the mid-1980s, the name Stapleton had become synonymous with congestion, flight delays, and frequent closures when the snow moved in. To solve the problem, Denver mayor Federico Peña envisioned a massive new airport, but when Denver International Airport (DIA) opened in 1995, its three hub airlines had whittled away to just one, and critics warned of dire consequences. Yet the airport persevered, and today, with its iconic tent roof, six runways, and 53 square miles of land, it stands amongst the most beautiful and busiest airports in the world. This is the story of three airports and how they brought the city from cow town to boomtown.

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Jonathan Shikes

Denver Beer

9781467139649

$21.99

Brewed in 1859 near what is now the heart of downtown, Denver's first beer quenched the thirst of fortune hunters following the gold rush. It lubricated the city's transformation from Wild West town to the Queen City of the Plains until Prohibition brought a sudden end to the brewing culture. By 1979, only the famed Coors brewery remained. But then something frothy happened. Brian Dunn, John Hickenlooper and many others began satiating locals with liquid gold. The craft beer movement blossomed. Now well over seventy breweries strong, it is filled with the same pioneering spirit and irrepressible optimism that the miners embodied. Journalist and author Jonathan Shikes captures the Mile High City's sudsy stories from then until now.

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Simone Frances McKenna Spinner

Denver Food

9781467137355

$23.99

Allured by the gold rush, waves of German, Japanese, Chinese and Italian immigrants brought their culinary proclivities to the American West. The early sophistication of saloons followed, and Denver's gastronomic landscape experienced a tremendous culinary evolution spanning sixteen decades. Dating back to the late 1800s, My Brother's Bar doesn't have a sign and doesn't need one, serving up history along with delicious hamburgers. Established in 1985, nonprofit Denver Urban Gardens operates more than 155 community gardens across the metropolitan region. Ahead of the curve, Chef Ryan Leinonen set the city on fire with the New Nordic trend more than a decade ago when he opened Trillium Restaurant. With these stories and more, author Simone FM Spinner follows the journey from dreams of gold to fine dining, and Denver has never been more delicious.

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Amy B. Zimmer

Denver's Capitol Hill Neighborhood

9780738571560

$24.99

When Henry Cordes Brown donated a parcel of his land in 1868 as a location for a future state capitol, no one could imagine what a thriving neighborhood the area around "Brown's Bluff" would become. Twenty years later, Capitol Hill would grow into the city's most fashionable residential district. Through the years, Capitol Hill evolved, seeing everything from millionaire's row to skid row, and remains today one of Denver's most diverse and intriguing neighborhoods. Not only is the area home to Colorado's government, but it also contains some of the city's most remarkable architecture. More than that, however, the history of Capitol Hill is filled with memorable people, places, and stories.

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Shawn M. Snow

Denver's City Park and Whittier Neighborhoods

9780738571911

$24.99

Denver was barely 10 years old in 1868 when visionary pioneers such as Alfred B. Case and Jacob W. Downing began amassing real estate holdings far from downtown, speculation that paid off when the newly arrived railroad led to a population explosion. With the opening of the Whittier School in 1883--the largest elementary school in the city--a domain for prairie dogs evolved into a middle-class haven of fine Victorian homes. Buffalo Bill Cody's sister even called the Whittier neighborhood home. The convenience and reliability of an expanding streetcar system brought the lifeblood of the city into the neighborhood. Whittier and its residents were also blessed with the establishment of a large, 320-acre park just to the east. This park, transformed from native prairie to irrigated forest, became one of the biggest attractions in Denver--City Park.

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James Bretz

Denver's Early Architecture

9780738580463

$24.99

In spite of its relentless reputation as a cow town, Denver has grown from a dusty prairie burg into a thriving metropolis nestled against the foothills of the great Rocky Mountains. Gold brought the area's first settlers in the 1850s, and mining camps sprouted up along the confluence of Cherry Creek and the South Platte River. The first rudimentary structures of canvas, mud, and logs were soon replaced with sturdy buildings made of brick, stone, and wood, in what is now affectionately referred to as Lodo or the lower downtown district. City growth worked its way uptown and to the east from this neighborhood of houses, hotels, shops, and commercial buildings, eventually encompassing Capitol Hill. Many well-known people worked and lived in downtown Denver and Capitol Hill, including the infamous Margaret Molly Brown of Titanic fame, railroad man David Moffat, merchant prince Charles Boettcher, druggist-turned-entrepreneur Walter Scott Cheesman, and Denver's notorious lovers, Horace Tabor and his wife Baby Doe.

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Amy B. Zimmer

Denver's Historic Homes

9781467130585

$24.99

Images of America: Denver's Historic Homes provides a mere introduction into the myriad of architectural styles and the unique blending of cultures that have made the Rocky Mountain region so remarkable, from the city's inception as a mining claim to what it has become today. From itinerantly used sod and log homes to mansions that rivaled the grandest of their period, Denver's eclectic gathering of early residents produced a landscape of architectural monuments that attest to the people's needs, desires, values, and occasional eccentricities.

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Rebecca Dorward

Denver's Park Hill Neighborhood

9780738580449

$24.99

The stately yet welcoming Park Hill neighborhood, located just east of downtown Denver, was platted from prairie lands in 1871 by energetic real estate speculators. A horse-drawn rail car began transportation service in later years to and from Denver as homes in Park Hill became popular. Eventually, Denverites invested in Park Hill lots and wealthy citizens built architecturally sophisticated homes, creating an enclave of Denver society. When automobiles became popular in the 1910s, Park Hill became a popular place to raise a family and has continued as an attractive residential area for more than a century. The home of Denver's elite for decades, including mayors and other leading politicians, Park Hill has embraced diversity in the 21st century, encompassing blue-collar workers along with the physicians, attorneys, and professional athletes.

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Mark A. Barnhouse

Denver's Sixteenth Street

9780738581026

$24.99

The beloved thoroughfare at the heart of Denver, Sixteenth Street has always been the Mile-High City's Main Street. Sixteenth Street got its jump start in 1879 when Leadville's Silver King and Colorado's richest man, Horace Austin Warner Tabor, came to town and built the city's first five-story skyscraper at the corner of Sixteenth and Larimer Streets. In coming years, Sixteenth Street became Denver's main retail center as shopkeepers and department store owners constructed ever-more impressive palaces, culminating in the Daniels and Fisher Tower—the city's tallest building for five decades and the symbol of the city. In the second half of the 20th century, Sixteenth Street saw major changes, including the creation of one of the most successful pedestrian malls in the country, an archetype of the power of great urban places and an inspiration to other cities, large and small.

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Sarah O. McCarthy

Denver's Washington Park

9781467130745

$24.99

In the Rocky Mountain West, Denver is considered the big city. Yet its urban core consists of numerous neighborhoods developed in the late 19th century that act today as virtual small towns. South-central Denver's Washington Park is one of those small towns, and its name refers both to a 166-acre historic park and to the surrounding blend of residential and commercial neighborhoods. Cited as a model for new urbanism, this area serves as an enduring example of the City Beautiful movement. Touted in the late 19th century for its rapid transit, clean air, and pure water, the area once known as Broadway Terrace, Myrtle Hill, and the Miracle Mile of South Denver continues to serve as a recreational mecca for Denverites. Over a span of 100 years, it has transformed from prairie to potato fields to posh.

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Roy Goodliffe

Dillon and Silverthorne

9780738570167

$24.99

Lake Dillon sits at almost 2 miles high in the Rocky Mountains. The dam and reservoir that produced this Summit County resort, along with Dillon Village on its shore and the town of Silverthorne just below it, are collectively one of Colorado's winter-summer fun destinations. Dillon Dam is 5,288 feet long by 231 feet high, creating a large freshwater source for the city of Denver, as well as 25 miles of scenic shoreline. The dam stores 85.5 billion gallons of water from the Snake and Blue Rivers and Ten Mile Creek. On cue, these waters rush eastward to the South Platte River Basin through the Transmontane Project, or Roberts Tunnel—augered hundreds of feet under the Continental Divide in one of the West's most controversial water relocation epics. Today Dillon, Silverthorne, and the Blue River Basin on Colorado's western slope see their share of sailboating, snow and Nordic skiing, windsurfing, and snowboarding.

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Jean Jacobsen

Douglas County

9781467109208

$23.99

Douglas County, established in 1861, is one of Colorado’s original counties. Mining, agriculture, sawmills, and railroads contributed to the growth of this territory, which includes two state parks and dozens of landmarked properties. Over 46 percent of the county’s land is public or protected. While retail is now the largest industry in the area, this book will highlight some of the working ranches, original structures, and open spaces that remain thanks to cultural and historical stewardship.

Castle Rock Writers

Douglas County

9781467126526

$24.99

Castle Rock Writers bring readers a collection of vintage images and sketches of Douglas County from approximately 1861 to 1950, covering the settling of towns such as Parker and Sedalia and rural areas like Cherry Valley and Daniel's Park. Early homesteaders, adventurers, and prospectors journeyed west following the 900-plus miles along the Cherokee Trail, seeking the wealth of gold or needing the curative air of Colorado. On the long and arduous trip, travelers stopped at the Twenty Mile House in Parker or the Pretty Woman Ranch on the First Territorial Road. They needed to clean off the dust and dirt and enjoy a nourishing meal before the final push to Denver and beyond. Some simply stayed. They homesteaded ranches, staked out mines, and built small towns in the rolling plains, mesas, forested hills, and mountains that make up the 843 square miles of Douglas County. In the first half of the 20th century, the region grew into cohesive communities, where families thrived through ingenuity and hard work. Neighbors supported neighbors.

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Sarah Nettuno

Dreaming of the Colorado Plateau

9781467197526

$9.99

In this board book for young readers, we'll learn to count down from 10 to 1 while discovering the breathtaking parks and sites in the Colorado Plateau. Hike the trails in the Grand Canyon, count amazing geological formations in Bryce Canyon National Park, and see the wildlife that calls this amazing part of our country home—all before bedtime! From Arches to Zion, there's so much to see—won't you join me?

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Frederic B. Wildfang

Durango

9780738574370

$24.99

This collection presents a postcard tour of Durango and its environs and provides keen insight into the history and colorful character of this area, which has been a vibrant center of Southwestern Colorado for more than a century. A brief history of postcards as a convenient medium for sharing messages—and as a revolutionary departure from Victorian-era long letters—is included here as well. The Center of Southwest Studies at Fort Lewis College is pleased to present these evocative images gathered by the indefatigable Nina Heald Webber.

Frederic B. Wildfang

Durango

9780738569758

$24.99

The storied town of Durango is situated on the farmlands of the Ancestral Puebloans, which later became the hunting grounds for the Southern Utes, in the Animas River Valley of southwestern Colorado. Founded in 1880 as the headquarters of the Silverton branch of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, Durango became the supply depot for gold and silver mines up and down the Western Slope. One of the few old-time cowboy towns in Colorado that retains the vibrancy of a self-supporting downtown of hotels, restaurants, and retail businesses, Durango has worked actively to restore and remodel historic buildings. Enhanced by stories of Spanish explorers, miners, settlers, early entrepreneurs, and the desperadoes of Western lore as well as Hollywood myth, Durango has earned a reputation as one of the Rocky Mountains' favorite travel destinations.

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Kathy Heicher

Eagle County Characters

9781609496975

$21.99

Long before the first ski runs were ever carved into the mountains of Vail and Beaver Creek, Eagle County drew adventurous settlers and pioneers who brought life to the mines and the Eagle River Valley. Allow local journalist and historian Kathy Heicher to introduce you to the Doll brothers as they establish their ranching and business legacy. Ride a stagecoach with Sarah Doherty, Cattle Queen of the Badlands. Follow Jake Borah through bear country with President Theodore Roosevelt and his hunting cabinet. Trail cattle alongside Ellis Bearcat Bearden and his ranching family. Meet a cast of characters whose stories arc across decades and reach the very roots of this beautiful mountain valley.

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Jeffrey D. Smith

Early Ascents on Pikes Peak

9781467118392

$21.99

Magnificent Pikes Peak rises dramatically from the Colorado prairie to a height of 14,114 feet above sea level. Visible for one hundred miles around, the granite giant's magnetic appeal compelled rugged mountaineers more than a century ago to risk loose saddles, electrical storms and even murder on treacherous expeditions to the summit. First known as Long Mountain by the Native Americans who sojourned at its hot springs, Pikes Peak was a full-fledged tourist destination by the 1870s. Eager men and women ventured up and down by foot, horse, burro, stagecoach, rail and bicycle. Colorado Mountain Club historian Woody Smith captures the news of the era to recount the thrill of pioneer days on America's most famous mountain.

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Douglas Beck

Early Aspen

9781467133180

$24.99

Until 1879, the Roaring Fork Valley was home to a band of Colorado Ute Indians. All of that changed in the summer and fall of that year, when two prospecting teams came to the valley to stake their claims, some of which went on to produce millions of dollars of silver. Within five years, Aspen was home to over 20,000 individuals including miners, lawyers, families, businessmen, and even prostitutes. Aspen's fortune was tied to silver. More importantly, its fate was ultimately tied to the Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890, which required the US government to buy 4.5 million ounces of silver per month. From 1890 to 1893, the Sherman Act kept Aspen alive and growing. With the repeal of the act, Aspen began a slow, painful decline. This book covers the years of Aspen's discovery, through the years of decline, and into what is known as the Quiet Years.

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Dan Davidson

Early Craig

9780738599694

$24.99

Dreams of what the West could offer brought the earliest settlers into the Yampa Valley. After the Homestead Act of 1862 and the westward expansion of the railroad, the first trickle of land seekers arrived in this remote area in the mid-1870s. Interest in the vast coal lands was a main driver for investors seeking to develop the region. But the smaller yet more inherently valuable interests of family, farming, and agriculture were the real deciding factors in the settling of this vastly beautiful and challenging corner of Colorado. During those early years, the homesteaders in Craig managed to capture images of the area they had come to claim as their own. They photographed immense stretches of solitary land, quiet scenes of the family living room, and the optimism of the developing business districts. They left a photographic legacy that proves a picture is indeed worth a thousand words.

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James Bretz

Early Denver

9780738588858

$24.99

The city of Denver was born out of a small mining camp established in the late 1850s. The lure of gold brought countless men and their families to the foot of the great Rocky Mountains, where the Platte River and Cherry Creek flow together. Along with the miners came the merchants—wagon makers, horse traders, blacksmiths, and clothiers. By 1900, Denver was a thriving community and had greatly expanded with the establishment of hardware stores, saloons, liveries, theaters, restaurants, and residential neighborhoods. Postcards did not come into general use until well after Denver was settled. The images herein range from about 1900 to 1925.

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Kathy Heicher

Early Eagle

9780738580869

$24.99

Nestled into a scenic mountain valley at the junction of the Eagle River and Brush Creek, Eagle is a small mountain town that is often overshadowed by its famous ski resort neighbor, Vail. However, this thriving little mountain community claims a rich history of more than 100 years of spunk and fortitude. Eagle's robust character started with the miners who came to the valley in the 1880s seeking gold and silver. Then came the farmers and ranchers, who recognized another type of wealth in the fertile soils and abundant water of the valley. As for that spunk, the townspeople of Eagle were tenacious enough to wage a 20-year war seeking county seat status and progressive enough to keep a small town growing and thriving for over a century.

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Cynthia Hines

Early Glenwood Springs

9781467132978

$24.99

Originally planned as the town of Defiance, Glenwood Springs was renamed for its natural hot springs along the banks of the Colorado River and for Glenwood, Iowa, the hometown of Isaac Cooper. In the early 1880s, Cooper had the vision of a spa resort here but not the finances to turn his dream into a reality. He sold out to Walter Devereux and his investors, who saw the construction of the Hot Springs Pool, Hotel Colorado, and Vapor Caves completed. Once railroads arrived in 1887, Glenwood Springs became a playground for wealthy travelers who sought out the hot springs as well as other recreational opportunities, such as hunting, fishing, hiking, and horseback riding. With beautiful scenery, caves to explore, and community festivals, visitors today sustain Glenwood's economy. Located at the confluence of the Colorado and Roaring Fork Rivers, our community has also served as a retail hub for the surrounding area from the 1880s to the present.

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Kristen Autobee

Early Lakewood

9780738574417

$24.99

Since Lakewood's settlement in the 1860s, it has been a community in search of an identity, fluctuating from farm center to factory town, from Denver streetcar suburb to the map's stopover point between the big city and the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. Once known for its fruit orchards and dairy and poultry farms, Lakewood in modern times has been home to the western third of the nation's longest commercial street, Colfax Avenue, and houses more federal agencies than any community outside of Washington, DC. Most of the buildings associated with Lakewood's agricultural and manufacturing past are gone, but the can-do spirit of the men and women who forged and fashioned the city's destiny as a microcosm of western American life from the mid-19th to mid-20th centuries is recalled in these pages.

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Jack Daly

Eerie Colorado

9781467158411

$24.99

“I picked a microcosm on the edge of the circle—a place where many manifestations were occurring simultaneously—and I hit the jackpot immediately.” –John Keel

The Hatchet Lady of Red Rocks, the ghostly Stanley Hotel and the terrifying Slide-Rock Bolter are just some of astonishing legends, eerie locations and strange monsters that compose Colorado’s supernatural folklore. Stories of Bigfoot, UFOs and lake monsters vex the state’s history. Haunted houses lurk throughout the state, as do cursed roads and bridges. Folklorist and award-winning author Jack Daly guides us on an odyssey through the uncanny, with a quest of unraveling the mysteries of the preternatural in Colorado.

James B. Stull

Erie

9780738576169

$24.99

Erie grew from the discovery of coal in the mid-1800s. Its mines became the largest suppliers of lignite coal in the northern Colorado coalfield. Unions quickly moved into Colorado to push for improved working conditions and miners' rights to participate in decisions affecting their jobs. When mine owners refused to honor their requests, miners went on strike, and owners hired scab labor from Europe, Asia, and Mexico. Tensions mounted, and local miners sabotaged mines by setting explosives and otherwise damaging property. Colorado's governor established a special militia to deal with the strikers. The armed militia wounded and killed miners and their families in southern Colorado's Ludlow Mine and Erie's Columbine Mine. Government intervention and the sympathetic viewpoint of the owner of the Columbine Mine led to the first Colorado coal company to unionize. Miners fought for working conditions that characterize many of today's best-run companies. With the closing of the last mine in the area in 1979, Erie has grown to become a bedroom community in the Denver-Boulder metropolitan community.