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.

Cover image for 10th Mountain Division at Camp Hale, isbn: 9781467109178

Phil Nash

LGBTQ Denver

9781467161183

$24.99

Denver is the Mile High City, the Queen City of the Plains, and the Gateway to the West. Today, the city attracts thousands of new residents each year, including the LGBTQ people from the rural West and digital nomads from around the nations seeking a welcoming community where they can thrive. In LGBTQ Denver, Phil Nash showcases how the city evolved from its pre-1970s history of rebuking gay people to a magnet for LGBTQ residents and the capital of the first state to elect and reelect the nation’s first openly gay governor.

Cover image for LGBTQ Denver, isbn: 9781467161183

Shawn M. Snow

Southwest Denver

9781467124065

$24.99

In 1900, the bucolic landscape that stretched for miles southwest of Denver was made up of truck farms, dairies, and ranches. While the separate town of Valverde would be absorbed by Denver in 1902, the countryside beyond was the domain of Arapahoe and Jefferson Counties. Isolated sentinels such as Loretto Heights and Fort Logan stood tall on the prairie. As happened in countless American cities, however, the abandonment of urban cores for new suburbs would radically change a rural way of life that had lasted for decades. With an aggressive annexation policy after World War II that helped to double Denver's land area in 30 years, the city set forth gobbling up these new subdivisions and former rural county lands. Some clamored to join Denver; others railed against the giant next door. A new sense of place was created in the process, not quite urban and not quite suburban. A proud heritage remains in the hearts of residents fortunate enough to have been brought into Southwest Denver before the annexation floodgates were permanently closed.

Cover image for Southwest Denver, isbn: 9781467124065

Penny Hamilton

Grand County

9781467108973

$23.99

Established in 1874, before Colorado became a state, Grand County is nestled in the north-central Rocky Mountains. Named for the Grand River (renamed the Colorado River), Grand County encompasses 1,868 square miles, which is larger than Rhode Island. For thousands of years, Indigenous, nomadic tribes enjoyed natural hot springs and summer hunting. Spanish explorers, French fur trappers, and mountain men followed. In 1858, the gold rush brought rugged prospectors, creating towns named Coulter, Gaskill, Lulu City, and Teller. Later, homesteaders, loggers, merchants, and the Moffat Railroad built Arrow, Hideaway Park, Winter Park, Fraser, Tabernash, Granby, Grand Lake, Hot Sulphur Springs, Parshall, Kremmling, and Radium. Today, tourists flock to Rocky Mountain National Park, Arapaho National Forest, and award-winning dude ranches and resorts to enjoy some of the world’s most beautiful lakes, mountain ranges, and abundant wildlife. Written in an easy-to-read pictorial format with over 200 curated photographs, Grand County is for readers interested in true stories of Western grit and courage.

Cover image for Grand County, isbn: 9781467108973

Dr. Jack S. Ballard

Lowry Air Force Base

9780738596648

$24.99

From 1937 to 1994, Lowry Air Force Base, located on the eastern edge of the city of Denver, served the nation and the surrounding community in many distinguished ways. The air base, primarily a technical training center, graduated more than 1.1 million enlisted members and officers in skills ranging from armament to photography, tremendously strengthening the country's war efforts in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Cold War. In addition, from the 1980s, Lowry Air Force Base remained one of Colorado's largest employers, with approximately 10,000 military and civilian men and women, providing an economic impact approaching $1 billion annually. Thus Lowry significantly contributed to maintaining the world's largest air force and to promoting the accelerated growth of the Denver metro area and Colorado.

Cover image for Lowry Air Force Base, isbn: 9780738596648

Tim Hawkins

Mining Towns of Southern Colorado

9780738599533

$24.99

Lesser known than the gold and silver mines of Western lore, Southern Colorado's extensive coal mines fueled the engines for Western industrialization in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Of the numerous companies operating the mines, the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company (CF&I) was king. With a total of 62 mines, the majority of them in Colorado's Las Animas, Huerfano, and Fremont Counties, CF&I ruled the lives of countless miners in company towns scattered throughout Southern Colorado. Working long hours, often in cramped underground caverns, the workers emerged to families living in lonely mountain landscapes completely provisioned with company homes, stores, schools, and churches. Images of America: Mining Towns of Southern Colorado gives an intimate glimpse into the lives of these pioneer mining families.

Mike Butler

Southern Colorado

9781467131735

$24.99

When the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad laid narrow-gauge tracks into La Veta in southern Colorado in July 1876, it preceded Colorado statehood on August 1 by about one month. The southern Colorado frontier from Walsenburg west to Wolf Creek Pass had only a few scattered villages at this time, but silver mines in southwestern Colorado lured the railroad ever westward to haul out the riches. On the scene to photograph these developments was Iowan Ory Thomas (O.T.) Davis, who moved to Colorado in 1885 to work in the copper mines northwest of La Veta. Davis, backed by corporate sponsors from the mines and railroads, opened a commercial photography business in the Walsenburg–La Veta area in 1888 and, later, in Alamosa in 1906. The photographs of O.T. Davis collected in this book vividly capture a bygone era, documenting the frontier history of southern Colorado in the early years of statehood.

Cover image for Southern Colorado, isbn: 9781467131735

Phyllis J. Perry

Rocky Mountain National Park

9780738556277

$24.99

Rocky Mountain National Park is often called "the crown jewel" of the nation's park system. Set in Colorado in the southern part of the Rocky Mountain chain, which forms the backbone of North America, the park contains 72 named peaks above 12,000 feet with the tallest of these, Longs Peak, rising to 14,259 feet. Established in 1915 as a national park, it now hosts more than two million visitors every year. Vacationers enjoy picnicking, hiking, camping, climbing, skiing, and simply admiring the beauties of the park, which include alpine plants, wildflowers, aspen, conifers, lakes, streams, waterfalls, and an abundance of birds and animals.

Cover image for Rocky Mountain National Park, isbn: 9780738556277

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.

Cover image for Colorado in the Civil War, isbn: 9781467109710

Alan Kania

Grand Junction

9780738580685

$24.99

The Ute Indians were hardly out of western Colorado when their land was opened to Anglo settlers. It was on September 26, 1881, when George A. Crawford, William McGinley, R. D. Mobley, M. R. Warner, and others went to the junction of the Gunnison and Grand (later renamed the Colorado) Rivers to claim 640 acres. In the semiarid confluence of the two rivers, a city developed, fruit orchards were planted, and a college grew out of the seeds of a single-room school with a dirt floor. Several newspapers opened, providing news and information to a business community that included coal mining, railroads, dry goods, and even a toffee factory whose products have graced the tables of royalty. How Grand Junction was able to develop into a progressive community of entrepreneurs, educators, and community-minded citizens is a story best told in a small sampling of pictures. None of the founders are still here, but their legacy, stories, and pictures have survived to speak for them.

Cover image for Grand Junction, isbn: 9780738580685

Victoria Miller

The Colorado Fuel and Iron Company

9781467127080

$24.99

With roots dating to 1872, the Colorado Fuel and Iron (CF&I) Company at Pueblo served as the principal heavy industry leader in the Rocky Mountain region, producing steel rails, spikes, and track accessories for the burgeoning railroad industry. Over the next 121 years, the company grew to manufacture dozens of other products used in the agriculture, mining, commercial, and residential industries, driving Pueblo to become the Pittsburgh of the West. As the region's largest private employer, CF&I also played a significant role in the history of American labor relations. A vertically integrated company maintaining its own mining, transportation, land and water resources, and medical, recreational, and steelmaking facilities, CF&I played a critical role in the history and development of the products that connected the Centennial State and, ultimately, the West.

Cover image for The Colorado Fuel and Iron Company, isbn: 9781467127080

Duane A. Smith

Mesa Verde National Park

9780738569468

$24.99

Mesa Verde National Park was America's first cultural park and also the world's first cultural heritage park. Created in 1906, it preserves the sites and materials of the prehistoric Puebloan people. Located in southwestern Colorado near the famous Four Corners, where the states of Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico meet, the magnificent Mesa Verde is situated in Montezuma County, just south of Cortez and directly west of Durango. The park's rich archaeological history was played out amid some of the most ruggedly beautiful landscapes in the West. The greater story of the evolution of the park encompasses the Ute people, Theodore Roosevelt, novelist Willa Cather, and other personalities. These remarkable vintage photographs tell that saga, which is as fascinating as that of the Puebloans.

Cover image for Mesa Verde National Park, isbn: 9780738569468

Golden Pioneer Museum

Golden, Colorado

9780738520742

$24.99

Where The West Lives! Golden's motto sums up the colorful history of the small town set at the entrance to the storied gold fields of Colorado. The scenic valley that shelters Golden caught the notice of some of the most famed pioneers of the West: explorer Major Stephen Long, world traveler Isabella Bird, showman Buffalo Bill Cody, and brewer Adolph Coors. Chronicled here in over 200 vintage images is the history of this quintessential "rough-and-ready" Western town. Serving as the territorial capital from 1862-1867, Golden was primed as the perfect business opportunity due to its proximity to the mining districts. Entrepreneurs with a vision of Manifest Destiny worked diligently to civilize the frontier town, and it soon became a major player in the state's mineral extraction, education, and railroad industries. Boasting more saloons than any other structure in town, Golden also had its share of coal mines, gold smelters, a paper mill, and several railroad lines. Featuring many historic images of the town's past, including original panoramic views by William Henry Jackson and images of Buffalo Bill Cody's Masonic funeral, this book captures the heart of a town where the spirit of the West never died.

Cover image for Golden, Colorado, isbn: 9780738520742

Sybil Barnes

Estes Park

9780738580821

$24.99

Estes Park is a small village nestled in the north central mountains of Colorado. The earliest settlers were homesteaders who arrived to prove up in the 1870s and soon discovered that providing lodging and entertainment for outdoor adventurers and tourists looking for a respite from city life could provide a more reliable revenue stream than farming and ranching. By 1905, the town was platted and several hotels provided modern accommodations. When Rocky Mountain National Park was created in 1915, Estes Park became the eastern gateway and continues to be the first stop for approximately 2.5 million visitors annually. From an initial population of less than 200, the town has grown to almost 10,000 year-round residents, many of whom still make their living providing goods and services to visitors from as near as Denver and as far away as Nepal.

Cover image for Estes Park, isbn: 9780738580821

Cripple Creek District Museum

The Cripple Creek District

9780738582146

$24.99

As one of the last major boomtowns created from gold rushes in Colorado's Rocky Mountains, the Cripple Creek District, located just west of Pikes Peak, became home to thousands of men, women, and children from dozens of nationalities the world over. They struggled to establish homes in the rugged and sometimes inhospitable environment of high-altitude gold camp life. The need for a modicum of civilization's amenities in this roughneck enclave, which eventually became the Teller County seat, was stunted by mining's inherent injuries and illness, the harsh mountain winters, great fires that destroyed many area towns, and debilitating labor strikes. More than a century of pioneer living is represented in this evocative tour through famous and infamous local history, from the early settlers to the descendants and residents who still call the Cripple Creek District home.

Cover image for The Cripple Creek District, isbn: 9780738582146

Charlene G. Simms

Pueblo

9781467124140

$24.99

At the confluence of the Arkansas River and Fountain Creek, Native Americans were the first to inhabit Pueblo and its surroundings. Pueblo means village in Spanish, appropriate for an area that was settled in the early 1800s by people from present-day New Mexico with Spanish and Native American roots. A trading post established in 1842 was named El Pueblo. The gold rush of 1858 attracted the first influx of people who saw more opportunity in Pueblo than in the goldfields. With its vision to become a great city with railroads, a steel mill, and smelters, Pueblo was soon known as the Pittsburgh of the West. Employment and business opportunities invited emigrants from all over the world, creating a diverse city populated with people of many ethnicities. Pueblo has persevered through natural disasters and economic turmoil, building a thriving and resilient community through each chapter of its history.

Cover image for Pueblo, isbn: 9781467124140

Dennis Lancaster

Florence

9781467108348

$23.99

The birth of the state of Colorado led to a migration to the base of the Rocky Mountains along the Arkansas River, where men and women readily accepted their responsibilities and stepped up to make Florence an essential supply center enduring for decades. Just like the trees of the first successful apple orchard planted in Colorado, families took root in the area, and Florence grew. Soon, coal and oil from the surrounding hills and gold, silver, and other precious minerals high in the nearby mountains required the existence of Florence to supply materials and labor for operations. They depended on Florence to process and deliver the products of their effort. From the planting of that first apple tree in 1860 to the continued extraction of coal and oil into the 1970s, the community of Florence has played a key role in the area’s accomplishment. Now, over 40 years later, take a look back at how those men and women achieved that accomplishment.

Cover image for Florence, isbn: 9781467108348

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.

Cover image for Cherry Hills Village, isbn: 9781467108638

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.

Cover image for Colorado Springs, isbn: 9780738520919

Kristin Bowen

Pagosa Springs

9781467105262

$24.99

When the first government expeditions came through the southwest Colorado region, the Ute Indians were living in a wide area that included the hot springs that they had named Pah-gosa. The Army chose the hot springs as the first--though short-lived--location of Fort Lewis. After the Army left, forward-thinking speculators incorporated the town in 1891. These early settlers believed that the natural wonders nestled in the beauty of the San Juan Mountains could be developed into a world-class spa resort. Timber and ranching were the dominant industries and ways of life in the area throughout the 20th century. The images presented in this book feature these industries, as well as town businesses, churches, schools, surrounding forests, residents, events, and celebrations. Pagosa Springs has become the spa destination early settlers envisioned, yet it holds onto and celebrates its Western heritage.

Cover image for Pagosa Springs, isbn: 9781467105262

Jeff Corr

Silverton and the Alpine Loop

9781467131551

$24.99

As the ancestral hunting grounds of mountain people known as the Utes, the future site of Silverton was explored by nomadic hunters for generations. During the 1860s, Charles Baker, an early mining prospector, discovered some mineral wealth in the area and spread highly exaggerated rumors that brought in even more prospectors. Significant wealth was found in Arrastra Gulch along the Alpine Loop, north of Baker's Park. From the beginning of its mining heritage, Silverton has gone through periods of boom to bust. In the 1950s, the area was discovered by Hollywood, increasing its appeal to tourism, and in the 1960s, the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad reinvested heavily to dedicate itself to tourist travel. Although mining continued on a limited basis up until the 1990s, Silverton's economy is now supported by those who come for its history, picturesque landscapes, fly fishing, jeeping, and hiking.

Cover image for Silverton and the Alpine Loop, isbn: 9781467131551

Toni Hamill

Garden of the Gods

9780738588926

$23.99

Since prehistoric times, the Garden of the Gods has been a source of fascination. This geologic formation in Colorado Springs was a seasonal camping site and source of spiritual significance for Ute Indians. Later, scientists studied the formation and found evidence of dinosaurs, prehistoric cultures, and unusual biological associations. Artists, writers, and photographers have been inspired by the beauty of this geologic wonder, and tourists and entrepreneurs once left their marks on the rocks. Through the efforts of Gen. William Jackson Palmer and Charles Elliot Perkins, the park became a reality and was given to the city of Colorado Springs. Today, the Garden of the Gods draws 1.7 million visitors per year, who bicycle, run, ride horses, enjoy hiking, go rock climbing, and savor the natural beauty of the park.

Cover image for Garden of the Gods, isbn: 9780738588926

Elizabeth Barbour

Telluride

9780738548500

$24.99

The tiny town of Telluride is a Rocky Mountain jewel. Wedged in a remote box canyon high in the San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado, it has a remarkable historic architectural landscape, staggering beauty, a past both haunting and enchanted, and an illustrious reputation for skiing and leisure. For centuries, the Ute Indians revered the region as a hunting ground but were banished in the 1880s by mineralhungry legions. This began an era of high-country camps and saloon-lined streets. Ever since, Telluride's unique story has been one of intrepid individualism, boom and bust, celebration and conundrum.

Cover image for Telluride, isbn: 9780738548500

Frederic B. Wildfang

San Juan Skyway

9780738580289

$24.99

The "scenic route" in southwestern Colorado means the San Juan Skyway, a 236-mile loop created by U.S. Routes 550 and 160 and State Routes 62 and 145. The Skyway wends through glacial valleys and over high passes between some of the most breathtaking, ice-sculpted peaks in the Rocky Mountains. Native Americans, pioneering mountain men, miners, and railroaders inhabited these slopes. Although the Skyway towns of Durango, Silverton, Ouray, Ridgway, Telluride, Rico, Dolores, and Cortez were first connected by wilderness trails and railways, the loop's final modern section of highway between Coal Bank and Molas Passes was completed in the 1940s. The rugged San Juan Mountains were the backdrop for exploits by Butch Cassidy and Wyatt Earp, but, as author Frederic B. Wildfang notes, the scenery is also "a syllabus for a course in geology."

Cover image for San Juan Skyway, isbn: 9780738580289

B. Travis Wright

Rollins Pass

9781467127714

$24.99

The ribbon of dusty road on Rollins Pass has a timeless and beloved history. First known as Boulder Pass, this comparatively low saddle on the Continental Divide in Colorado has been in continuous use for millennia. First utilized as an expansive Native American game drive complex, the pass subsequently functioned as a toll wagon road in the 1860s. At the turn of the 20th century, Rollins Pass became the highest standard-gauge adhesion railroad grade in North America—an achievement still standing today. However, this overmountain route, known as Corona Pass, was inefficient and dangerous: resolute men tasked with the impossible faced high elevations with even higher risks of injury or death. A safer, permanent route came in 1928 by way of the Moffat Tunnel. The rails of Rollins Pass were then removed, freeing the automobile to tour the historic road. No matter the epoch, the legacy of Rollins Pass abides: a preeminently scenic route to the top of the world.

Cover image for Rollins Pass, isbn: 9781467127714

Kay Marnon Danielson

Salida

9780738520674

$24.99

Modern-day Salida is admired and sought out for its natural beauty. Surrounded by numerous 14,000-foot, snow-covered mountains that feed the Arkansas River's rushing whitewater, the quiet and hospitable town is situated in a picturesque valley that draws tens of thousands of visitors for summer and winter activities. But nearly 130 years ago, most of the people were coming to the area known as South Arkansas for new opportunities and the fortunes they hoped to find. The images in this book offer a glimpse of some of those individuals and times-the early settlers, miners, railroaders, forestry pioneers, and families who spawned commerce and businesses that held the community together when hard times hit. The photographs reveal the rich variety of people, how they worked, how they played, and how they made Colorado their home.

Cover image for Salida, isbn: 9780738520674

Gail Saunders

Ouray

9780738580340

$24.99

Situated in a spectacular basin surrounded by 13,000-foot peaks, the city of Ouray has captured the eye of adventurers from its beginnings, while the glitter of gold and silver brought prospectors to its mountains. The Uncompahgre Utes hunted and soaked in their sacred hot springs for generations, but about one year after Chief Ouray's death, they were removed from their homelands to a reservation in Utah. Mines and mining camps proliferated in the harsh, remote high country, where rugged terrain hampered the transportation of ore and supplies, even after toll roads and railroads lessened isolation. Ouray (pronounced Yurr-AY) developed into a Victorian community with families, churches, and schools contrasted with rowdy saloons and so-called fancy ladies. Ouray further embraced tourism after mining waned, and heritage preservation remains an ongoing concern.

Cover image for Ouray, isbn: 9780738580340

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.

Cover image for Creede, isbn: 9781467162388

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.

Cover image for Durango, isbn: 9780738569758

David H. Ellis

Steamboat Springs

9780738570174

$24.99

Known as Ski Town, U.S.A., for its deep powder and its growing crop of winter Olympians, Steamboat Springs was named nearly two centuries ago by French trappers. Hearing the chug, chug of one of many hot springs, they supposed they had reached navigable waters. For centuries, the area's abundant fish, game, and mineral springs drew the Yampatika, a Ute subtribe. In the 1870s, a rush of settlers came, first for precious metals, followed by more renewable riches—the lush summer pastures—and next the extraction of carbonized forests (coal) millions of years old. Ironically, real wealth ultimately fell free from leaden winter skies, and this Routt County community experienced a boom like few places on earth. Winter sports, including ski jumping, with some world records, made Steamboat Springs famous worldwide.

Cover image for Steamboat Springs, isbn: 9780738570174

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.

Cover image for Cañon City, isbn: 9780738580371

Amanda Hess

United States Air Force Academy

9781467161435

$24.99

The United States Air Force Academy became the fifth US Federal Service Academy on April 1, 1954, a mere six and a half years after the Air Force became an independent service branch. The Air Force Academy has distinguished itself from other institutions of higher education not only by its iconic modern architecture and dedication to technological advancement, but also through its rigorous and innovative academy and military training programs. Air Force Academy cadets have a unique college experience-guided by core values and bound by an honor code-and upon graduation, they are commissioned into the US military. Over the last 70 years, the academy has built a tradition of excellence and honored its mission: to educate, train, and inspire leaders of character ready to serve the nation in the Air and Space Forces.

Author Amanda K. Hess has spent the last 10 years immersed in the history and heritage of the United States Air Force Academy. With the support of the Friends of the Air Force Academy Library, she has curated this book from the extensive photographic collection located in the Clark Special Collections Branch of the Air Force Academy McDermott Library.

Cover image for United States Air Force Academy, isbn: 9781467161435

Dr. Jeanne E. Abrams

Jewish Denver

9780738548296

$24.99

In 1859, during the Pike's Peak gold rush, at least 12 Jews joined the great migration to Colorado in search of gold and a brighter future. The unpredictability of mining and a growing demand for supplies encouraged many of these Jewish settlers to establish small businesses in Denver and in towns and mining camps across the state. By the early 1870s, Jewish benevolent societies and a congregation were established. Denver's dry, mild climate attracted patients with tuberculosis, and two Jewish sanatoriums were opened in the city around the beginning of the 20th century. Many of the predominantly Eastern European Jews who came in search of better health made Denver their home, thus augmenting the early Jewish population significantly. Today Jewish life flourishes in Colorado, and Jewish citizens continue to play a vital role in its culture and development.

Cover image for Jewish Denver, isbn: 9780738548296

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.

Cover image for Around the Gunnison Country, isbn: 9781467115186

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.

Cover image for Boulder, isbn: 9780738558905

Sherry Monahan

Pikes Peak

9780738520629

$24.99

Before being "discovered" by U.S. explorer Zebulon Pike in 1806, the Pikes Peak region was home to a variety of different cultures, including Native Americans, Mexicans, and French and Spanish explorers. Captured here in almost 200 vintage images are the lives, trials, adventures, and leisures of some of the Peak's early pioneers and visitors, covering a span of almost 60 years. Along with rare images of the Pikes Peak area from the late 1800s, this collection contains a number of previously unpublished photographs. These include pictures of female pioneers traversing mountains in Cheyenne canons and other vicinities in the 1920s; Colorado Mountain Club members on their hiking trips in the area; pre-World War I memoirs and poems from local residents; and pictures of local prospectors, like Frank Nelson, who remained long after the large gold deposits were discovered. Also featured is the development of the surrounding communities and attractions of the Peak, including Colorado Springs, Manitou Springs, Cripple Creek, Cheyenne Mountain and Canons, Garden of the Gods, Canon City, Royal Gorge, the Broadmoor Hotel, and the Cliff House.

Cover image for Pikes Peak, isbn: 9780738520629

Pat Messier

Garden of the Gods Trading Post

9781467102988

$24.99

The story of Garden of the Gods Trading Post is not only a profile of founder Charles Strausenback but also a chronicle of Garden of the Gods, where he spent his life. Strausenback is a thread that runs through much of the park's history. Beginning in 1900, when he was just 10 years old, he carved and sold gypsum figures from a tripod stand near Gateway Rocks. As an adult, he operated various curio stores in and around the park, partnering with Carl Balcomb at Hidden Inn, then with Curt Goerke at Balanced Rock and The Indian trading post. In 1929, Strausenback realized his dream of owning a curio store with the construction of the Trading Post, where he employed Navajo and Pueblo Indians as silversmiths and entertainers. His legacy and the rich history of the trading post remain intact at the southwest edge of the park, now the oldest continuously operated trading post in Colorado.

Cover image for Garden of the Gods Trading Post, isbn: 9781467102988

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.

Cover image for Denver's Early Architecture, isbn: 9780738580463

Duane Vandenbusche

Lake City

9781467102742

$24.99

Located 8,671 feet in the clouds, Lake City sits on the edge of the beautiful San Juan Mountains on Colorado's Western Slope. Between Lake City and Silverton, 28 miles away, are towering 14,000-foot mountains with three nearly 13,000-foot-high passes and scenery that takes one's breath away. Lake City began as a booming gold and silver camp, complete with a narrow-gauge railroad, 4,000 residents, a smelter, and rich investors looking for their El Dorado. Today, the beautiful little town, tucked away in the Rocky Mountains, is a haven for the many tourists who come to hike, ski, fish, climb, and relax in the quaint Shangri-La of Colorado.

Cover image for Lake City, isbn: 9781467102742

Jack Stokes Ballard PhD

Fort Logan

9780738575827

$24.99

For most Colorado citizens, Fort Logan usually brings to mind the large national cemetery of the same name. Often unrealized is that nearby, there are fine, substantial brick buildings that mark the remains of a once-bustling military post. Fort Logan began in 1887 and became a part of the US Army's new network of urban-type forts with strategic rail links. Located in the beginning about eight miles southwest of Denver, it variously housed important infantry, cavalry, and engineer units and later served as a key recruit and discharge center. It also once attracted Denverites to elaborate parade ceremonies, stirring band concerts, and competitive athletic events. After World War II, it became property of the State of Colorado and today is the site of the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Fort Logan.

Cover image for Fort Logan, isbn: 9780738575827

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.

Cover image for Around Granby, isbn: 9781467130455

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.

Cover image for Denver's Sixteenth Street, isbn: 9780738581026

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.

Cover image for Crested Butte, isbn: 9780738574431

Debra B. Faulkner

Loveland

9780738595078

$24.99

The town of Loveland arose on the northern Front Range along the Big Thompson River, although it is often mistakenly associated with the mountain pass and ski resort that share the same name. Located where the beauty of the mountains meets the bounty of the plains, Loveland became an agricultural and transportation hub when platted by the Colorado Central Railroad in 1877. The area boomed as the site of the Great Western Sugar Company's first factory in 1901. A natural gateway to the scenery and recreation of the Rockies, Loveland was also the headquarters for major water diversion projects. The romantic-sounding name inevitably led the Sweetheart City to promote its postmark in a Valentine re-mailing campaign that began in 1953. Since then, the community has evolved into a high-tech manufacturing center and public art showplace.

Cover image for Loveland, isbn: 9780738595078

Laura M. Mauck

Five Points Neighborhood of Denver

9780738518701

$24.99

By the 1870s, the word was out about Colorado. East coast and Midwest prospectors, European immigrants, and African Americans newly freed from slavery, rushed to Denver to find work and their fortune in silver and gold. Captured here in almost 200 vintage images is the story of the African Americans who escaped the oppression and racism of the post Civil War South, and created a city within a city: the Five Points neighborhood of Denver. Named in 1881 for a bustling five-way intersection, the Five Points area became the commercial and social sector for African American churches, businesses, clubs, and homes, and the heart of Denver's black community. Showcased here are the photographs of once thriving Five Points businesses in the Welton Street business district, such as Otha Rice's Tap Room and Oven and the Rossonian Hotel, as well as the familiar faces of the Cosmopolitan Club, Madame CJ Walker, and Dr. Justina Ford, Denver's first African-American female doctor.

Cover image for Five Points Neighborhood of Denver, isbn: 9780738518701

Dana Maestas

San Luis

9781467132473

$24.99

Established on April 5, 1851, Colorado's oldest town, San Luis de la Culebra, remains remarkably true to its heritage. Nestled below the Sangre de Cristo Land Grant in the San Luis Valley, San Luis and its descendants sustain a way of life and preserve a culture in this high, isolated desert region. Eighteen men migrated north from New Mexico into the northernmost area of Spanish exploration in the mid-1800s to settle San Luis along the Culebra River. These pioneering families brought their use of communal land and water and a language dating back to 16th-century Castilian Spain. They carried on a deep faith from the Old World into the New. The traditions of San Luis and the surrounding villages—Chama, San Pablo, San Pedro, San Francisco, and San Acacio—continue today among the young and old who remain the keepers of culture.

Cover image for San Luis, isbn: 9781467132473

Angela Thaden Hahn

Fort Carson

9781467103213

$24.99

Army scout Kit Carson rode the Southwest in many capacities. He served and retired in Colorado, and so Fort Carson is appropriately named. On land once traversed by Lt. Zebulon Pike, Camp Carson was constructed almost overnight under the watchful eye of Pres. Franklin Roosevelt and with the approval of the neighbors in Colorado Springs. Since its creation, the post has been the home and training grounds for thousands of soldiers who have fought in all wars from World War II to the current war on terror. Fort Carson continues to be a valuable asset to the community economically and in its generosity with resources when a local need arises.

Cover image for Fort Carson, isbn: 9781467103213

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.

Cover image for Denver's Capitol Hill Neighborhood, isbn: 9780738571560

Ute Pass Historical Society

Woodland Park

9780738580579

$24.99

Woodland Park, at an altitude of nearly 8,500 feet, is located 18 miles west of Colorado Springs along the north slope of Pikes Peak in eastern Teller County. Much of the history of the West passed through this area on the old Ute Trail--now Highway 24--as hunters, trappers, cowboys, Native Americans, settlers, miners, railroaders, ranchers, and tourists discovered an abundance of natural beauty and varied business opportunities through the years. Woodland Park is now home to about 8,000 year-round residents, many of whom treasure not only the spectacular scenery but also the rich past of the town. This evocative tour through that past shares vintage photographs collected by the Ute Pass Historical Society.

Cover image for Woodland Park, isbn: 9780738580579

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.

Cover image for African Americans of Denver, isbn: 9780738556253

Forrest Hershberger

Sterling

9780738581521

$24.99

The city of Sterling in northeast Colorado is at a crossroads of several trails historically and modern roads and highways today. The area was once inhabited by the Arapahoe, Cheyenne, Crow, Blackfoot, Sioux, Kiowa, and Pawnee tribes. The earliest Europeans were fur trappers on their way to the Colorado Mountains. The Sterling area is also noted for one of the final battles of the Indian wars, the battle of Summit Springs, between Tall Bull's Cheyenne Dog Soldiers and Col. Eugene A. Carr and the U.S. Army, southeast of Sterling on July 11, 1869. Today the city of Sterling is the county seat for Logan County. It is located at the junction of the South Platte River, Interstate 76, and Highways 6, 14, 61, and 138. Its history as an agricultural community is still a vital part of the economy and culture. Many of the celebrations seen in this book are annual events today, including the county fair and Sugar Beet Days.

Cover image for Sterling, isbn: 9780738581521

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.

Cover image for Black Hawk and Central City, isbn: 9781467130080

John F. Steinle

Evergreen

9781467126113

$34.99

Early settlers were drawn to the Evergreen area for its unsurpassed beauty and natural resources. Ranching and lumber were the initial basis for Evergreen's economy in the 1800s, and wealthy summer residents built prestigious second homes there. By 1920, Evergreen became a tourist mecca through development of the Denver Mountain Parks system and famed hotels, resorts, and dude ranches. From 1920 to 1942, Evergreen was the epicenter of outdoor recreation in Colorado. After World War II, a unique array of volunteer arts, nature, and charity organizations was created by Evergreen's people. A bohemian era in the 1960s and 1970s brought artists, musicians, and hippies, including Willie Nelson, to Evergreen. Explosive growth after completion of Interstate 70 led to development of new festivals and attractions, including the magnificent parks of the Jefferson County Open Space system. Evergreen still retains an atmosphere of the legendary Old West, from its boardwalk along Main Street to its annual Evergreen Rodeo and Rodeo Parade to its surviving area ranches.

Cover coming soon placeholder for Evergreen

Edward Anthony Horvat

La Plata County

9781467161091

$24.99

Established in 1874 as an agricultural lifeline, La Plata County, Colorado, has played many roles. /

European Americans were drawn to the region by the promise of mineral wealth and the mining industry. Agriculture, smelting, transportation, and commerce grew to offer support. As the county matured, its Old West features were discovered, and it was dubbed “Hollywood of the Rockies” when movies were filmed there from the 1940s to the 1960s with notable stars such as Clark Gable, Jimmy Stewart, Marilyn Monroe, Paul Newman, and Robert Redford. The 20th century brought energy extraction and commercial growth, but as the recreational opportunities in the region started to be discovered, La Plata County became a destination for outdoor pursuits. The county has 14,000-foot peaks, rivers, and hundreds of miles of hiking, biking, and ski trails. Today, tourism and recreation drive the economy much as the mining industry once did. /Within these pages, historical photographs from the archives of the La Plata County Historical Society illustrate the many facets of this Colorado county. Edward Anthony Horvat is a third-generation La Plata County native; his grandparents all came to the county between 1905 and 1911. A retired nurse-paramedic, Horvat volunteers at the historical society’s Animas Museum and writes the weekly And the West Is History feature in the Durango Herald newspaper.

Cover image for La Plata County, isbn: 9781467161091

Mark A. Barnhouse

Northwest Denver

9780738589022

$24.99

For most of its history, thanks to its geography, Northwest Denver has felt like a world apart from the rest of the city. West of the South Platte River, and with much of its land elevated above the rest of Denver, the northwest side attracted people who wanted to leave behind the dirt and sins of early Denver to improve their physical and moral health. As time went on, successive waves of immigrants endowed the area with their own cultural traditions, many of which continue to thrive. Northwest Denver has also been a pleasure ground, home to the Elitch Gardens, Lakeside, and Manhattan Beach amusement parks, beautiful lakes, and other amenities. Today, Northwest Denver, encompassing such varied neighborhoods as Highlands, West Highlands, Berkeley, Sunnyside, Sloan's Lake, and Jefferson Park, is experiencing renewed popularity as newcomers and longtime Denverites discover its charms.

Cover image for Northwest Denver, isbn: 9780738589022

Theajo Davis

The Uncompahgre Valley

9780738580715

$24.99

Settlers of European heritage arrived in the Uncompahgre River Valley after the Ute tribe was ordered to reservation lands in Utah by the federal government in 1881. The pioneers staked out properties and established covenants. The Uncompahgre River carried the usual annual melt from the San Juan Mountains through today's Ouray, Montrose, and Delta Counties toward its confluence with the Colorado River near Grand Junction. But the settlers' crops required more water than the river or irrigation ditches could bring. Engineers assessed the failed farms and abandoned villages in the wake of the Uncompahgre Valley's over-settlement and looked east of Montrose to the Black Canyon, cut by the nearby Gunnison River. They drilled the Gunnison Tunnel to bring the snowcap melt from the Continental Divide's western slopes to the Uncompahgre Valley, creating one of the Rocky Mountain region's most fertile valleys. The tunnel, completed in 1909, was the biggest irrigation project up to that time.

Cover image for The Uncompahgre Valley, isbn: 9780738580715

Peggy Ford

Greeley

9781467133463

$24.99

In October 1869, Nathan Meeker, the New York Tribune's agricultural editor, visited the Colorado Territory. Impressed with the scenery, people, climate, and resources, he wrote an article, A Western Colony, for the Tribune, inviting principled people with money to invest in a temperance and agricultural colony. Over 3,000 prospective colonists wrote to Meeker. On December 23, Meeker founded the Union Colony, a joint-stock colonization company, and chose 737 of the best applicants as members. In April 1870, the company established the town of Greeley, named for Tribune editor Horace Greeley. Founded on the principles of temperance, religion, education, agriculture, irrigation, cooperation, and family values, Greeley became the Weld County seat in 1877. Agriculture and water development ensured Greeley's reputation as the Garden Spot of the State. Potatoes became its first commercially viable crop. From 1900 to 1950, agricultural expansion ushered in a succession of immigrants, including Germans from Russia, Japanese, Hispanics, and Mexican nationals, looking for work and new opportunities. Greeley's economy, growth, and diversity remain rooted in the land and its people.

Cover image for Greeley, isbn: 9781467133463

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.

Cover image for Denver's Historic Homes, isbn: 9781467130585

Brian Mack

Morgan County

9781467115650

$24.99

Pioneers came by the thousands, drawn by the promise of wealth in the Rocky Mountains. The dry, arid plains were a pass-through to most, but a few hardy souls saw potential in the region. They faced the harshest conditions; howling winds, little rainfall, intense heat followed by bone-chilling cold, isolation, and hostile Native American tribes were constant threats to survival. The pioneers of Morgan County were men and women of vision, perseverance, and inner strength. They were problem solvers who dug reservoirs and irrigation canals, built roads and railroads, and created an economy out of what others refused to see. Today, Morgan County is a place of an active agricultural lifestyle, supported by the businesses in the area. Its rich cultural diversity encompasses residents whose countries of origin span the world.

Cover image for Morgan County, isbn: 9781467115650

Karen A. Vendl

Mines Around Silverton

9781467132862

$24.99

Silverton is located in the heart of the San Juan Mountains, which have been described by H.H. Bancroft as the wildest and most inaccessible region of Colorado, if not North America. The region has a long and colorful mining history, dating back to the Spanish exploration of the area in the 18th century. For the past 250 years, men have sought gold and silver in these mountains. However, full-scale mining did not begin until the 1870s, and for more than a century, mining was the lifeblood of Silverton and the surrounding area. The San Juan Mountains have been called one of the four great mining areas of Colorado, in a state known for its mining heritage. This is not only the story of the mines but also of the men and women who worked and lived in these rugged mountains.

Cover image for Mines Around Silverton, isbn: 9781467132862

Kristin Bowen

Meeker

9781467132022

$24.99

The free-roaming Ute Indians were the first modern-day people to live in the White River valley. After mounting tensions erupted into violence and the Indian agency near present-day Meeker was attacked, the Ute were soon evicted from northwestern Colorado in 1881. By that time, adventurous people were pressing in at all sides to settle the area. Settlers drawn by land speculation and ranching populated this rural area. Ranching, hunting, guiding, and coal, oil shale, oil, and gas extraction were the ways people made their livings, or hoped to, in this region. Meeker had it all with a touch of Wild West and a promise of the American dream—and all in a setting that would lure Teddy Roosevelt himself. Inside this book are glimpses of the people, traditions, celebrations, and ways of life of those who lived here before us.

Cover image for Meeker, isbn: 9781467132022

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.

Cover image for Denver's Park Hill Neighborhood, isbn: 9780738580449

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.

Cover image for American Indians of the Pikes Peak Region, isbn: 9780738548470

Mark A. Barnhouse

Lost Denver

9781467132916

$24.99

Newcomers to the Mile-High City of Denver, whether arriving during the 19th, 20th, or 21st centuries, have often remarked on how new the city seems, and how proud its citizens are of it. Heady boom times at various intervals have inspired successive waves of city builders eager to make their mark by building grand, new edifices. Often, these new wonders replaced older structures that earlier Denverites had once seen as great accomplishments. As Denver has grown to become the hub of a major American metropolis, remnants of its earlier heritage have vanished into history, leaving newcomers to ponder, What makes Denver Denver? and longtime residents to ask, Where has my Denver gone? Lost Denver celebrates what the city once built and has since lost, along with what has made it unique, exploring where and how Denverites once worked, shopped, and played.

Cover image for Lost Denver, isbn: 9781467132916

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.

Cover image for Erie, isbn: 9780738576169

Kathy McKee

North Fork Valley

9780738595849

$24.99

Settlers came to the North Fork Valley after the Ute Indians departed from the area in September 1881. The fertile valley was surrounded by rugged mountains to the east, the majestic Grand Mesa to the north, the bleak dobie desert, and the meandering North Fork River. Arriving with just enough provisions to get by, the new settlers brought fruit trees, developed their water sources, and discovered coal, and soon, the arrival of the train made the possibilities of the valley a reality. Working together, the settlers founded the main communities of Hotchkiss, Paonia, and Crawford. Today, coal is the number one industry, wineries are abundant, artists love to display their talents, and it is a great place to live.

Cover image for North Fork Valley, isbn: 9780738595849

Sally Johnson

Montrose

9781467116374

$24.99

The narrow-gauge Denver & Rio Grande (D&RG) Railroad, the first rail system to challenge and successfully conquer Colorado's Rocky Mountains, arrived in the Uncompahgre (un-cum-PAH-gray) Valley on the state's western slope in 1882. Montrose was established to supply mines in the mineral-rich San Juan Mountains and provide a freight transfer depot and a shipping point for gold and silver ore. The US government had forced the Ute Indians off their traditional lands the previous year and opened the area to settlement. Land was quickly claimed and cleared as the booming mining districts created a ready market for all agricultural produce. By the 1893 repeal of the Sherman Silver Act and the US economic decline, Montrose was well established, but continued growth revealed a serious need for supplemental water. Selected as an inaugural project by the newly created US Bureau of Reclamation, the resulting Gunnison Tunnel has provided water since 1909.

Cover image for Montrose, isbn: 9781467116374

Shirley Welch

Vail

9780738595320

$24.99

Prior to 1962, sheep ranchers and homesteaders occupied Gore Creek Valley. A sleepy place studded with aspen and pine groves, the valley lay ripe for discovery. Two men, Pete Seibert and Earl Eaton, had a dream to build the perfect ski area. Earl knew of a mountain, and they climbed No-Name Mountain in 1957. Although the mountain seemed unpretentious, when Pete reached the top and saw the treeless back bowls, he smiled at Earl. The men had found their mountain. That day, Vail was born. With the spirit of adventure, the dream shaped the mountain, the mountain shaped the village, and the village prospered. As American skiing grew, it became a sport and then a lifestyle, and Vail is now the largest ski resort in America. Winter is why people come and summer is why they stay. How this all happened in 50 years is a story of dreams, perseverance, creativity, and unforgettable people.

Cover image for Vail, isbn: 9780738595320

Malcolm (Mac) McNeill

Fort Collins

9780738569871

$24.99

Photographer Mark Miller opened his studio in Fort Collins, Colorado, in 1914. The town he chose to live and work in sits in a river valley in northern Colorado, nestled between the Rocky Mountain foothills and the semiarid high plains, with Denver to the south and Cheyenne, Wyoming, to the north. Established as a Civil War–era army post, the town was a Wild West frontier outpost until it was tamed in the 1870s by the arrival of a land-grant college and the railroad. By the turn of the century, Fort Collins had become a quietly respectable college town with a thriving economy and steadily increasing population. Over almost six decades, as the small town evolved into a city, Miller photographed people, businesses, and landscapes. Fort Collins: The Miller Photographs offers a representative sampling of the over 70,000 Miller images, a collection housed at the Fort Collins Museum's Local History Archive.

Cover image for Fort Collins, isbn: 9780738569871

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.

Cover image for Colorado National Monument, isbn: 9780738569796

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.

Cover image for Early Craig, isbn: 9780738599694

Arcadia Publishing

Grand Lake

9781467133401

$24.99

The village of Grand Lake, Colorado, located at 8,367 feet above sea level, is the western gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park amid the Never Summer Wilderness Area. Nestled along the shores of the largest, deepest, and—many suspect—coldest natural lake in Colorado, the village presents a charming portrait of snow-capped peaks, moose hollows, and glacier-fed waters that surround a town with wooded boardwalks and historic hewn-log hotels. Only a few generations ago, the area was the hunting and fishing grounds of both the Ute and the Arapaho Indian tribes, who each called the clear body of water Spirit Lake based on their own legends about this mystical place. The village's hardy mountain residents, many of whom are descendants of the area's original permanent settlers, help to shape, but never conquer, the subalpine terrain, with its annual unforgiving winter environments and perfect summer evenings. Times are still simpler in this mountain village but also accurately reflect an octogenarian resident's words: life might be easier now, but it was simpler in the days of kerosene lamps and wood burning stove, when each man's sleigh bells had their distinctive ring. We present mostly the then and some of the now of Grand Lake, which are both unusually similar and equally admired by residents and visitors alike.

Cover image for Grand Lake, isbn: 9781467133401

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.

Cover image for Chimney Rock National Monument, isbn: 9781467131612

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.

Cover image for Early Aspen, isbn: 9781467133180

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.

Cover image for Black Canyon of the Gunnison, The, isbn: 9780738569192

Nicole Marie Inman

Plateau Valley

9781467115452

$29.99

Known to the Ute Indians as Thigunawat (Home of the Departed Spirits), the Grand Mesa has been a beacon for adventurous souls for hundreds of years. In 1776, the Dominguez-Escalante Expedition crossed through the area while searching for a route that would become the Old Spanish Trail. In 1881, with the removal of the Ute Indians to reservation lands, homesteaders arrived and began settling in Plateau Valley. Nestled along the Grand Mesa, the valley is home to the communities of Collbran, Plateau City, Mesa, and Molina. Many of the historic buildings are still in use, and the Community Church Building has been designated a historic landmark. Recreational opportunities abound, both within the valley and nearby on the Grand Mesa. Camping, fishing, hiking, hunting, skiing, snowmobiling, and snowshoeing are among the favorites.

Cover image for Plateau Valley, isbn: 9781467115452

Mike Butler

Great Sand Dunes National Park

9780738596945

$24.99

Southern Colorado's unique Great Sand Dunes rise to a height of 750 feet above the San Luis Valley floor and are the nation's highest dunes not adjacent to an ocean or lake. The sweeping dunes were protected as a national monument in 1932 and as a national park in 2000. From prehistoric hunter-gatherers to the historic Ute Indian tribe, inhabitants have long used the resources of the land around the dunes. Zebulon Pike was the first American explorer to witness the dunes in 1807, followed by a long procession of other explorers, ranchers, and miners. Today, visitors from around the world come to climb up and slide down the dunes in Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve.

Cover image for Great Sand Dunes National Park, isbn: 9780738596945

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.

Cover image for Beaver Creek, isbn: 9781467131933

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.

Cover image for Conifer, isbn: 9781467103008

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.

Cover image for Cortez, isbn: 9780738574745

Sandra Mather

Summit County

9780738548463

$24.99

In 1859, a group of men from Denver crossed the Continental Divide with the hope of finding gold in the Blue River Valley. Their initial success changed the landscape as towns blossomed across the countryside, and ranches, which provided much needed food, were established along the lower part of the valley. The arrival of the railroads in 1882 facilitated the movement of people and goods in and out of the area. The railroads also made mining operations much more profitable and diminished the isolation of the county's residents. Women and children began arriving in greater numbers in the 1880s, bringing with them the refinements of the Victorian era. The influx of families spurred the establishment of churches, libraries, social clubs, and hospitals and, at the same time, discouraged gambling, drinking, and prostitution.

Cover image for Summit County, isbn: 9780738548463

Rachel D. Kline

Windsor

9780738576152

$24.99

Tucked alongside the meandering Cache la Poudre River, the community of Windsor sprouted as the ideal location connecting irrigation and railroads between two county seats. With easy access to water and transportation, eager settlers saw opportunities for commercial development while others sought a leisurely lakeside resort. Through slow and steady growth, Windsor has been a town in transition. Early on, it was an agricultural boomtown with one of the busiest factories of the Great Western Sugar Company and home to bustling downtown businesses and generations of immigrants. Later, it welcomed new industry with one of Eastman Kodak's largest manufacturing facilities in America. But through the ebb and flow of history, Windsor has stood as a steady and vibrant community.

Cover image for Windsor, isbn: 9780738576152

PhD Mather Sandra F.

Frisco and the Ten Mile Canyon

9780738575490

$24.99

Frisco and the Ten Mile Canyon tells the story of the once-thriving railroad town that served as the gateway to the towns and mines of the Ten Mile Canyon. Beginning in 1879, mines produced silver, gold, and other minerals while experiencing the usual boom and bust cycles. With the slow, painful death of mining and the curtailing of rail service, Frisco and nearby towns suffered. While the towns in the canyon became memories, Frisco experienced a rebirth and revitalization when the recreational landscape and economy replaced that of the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Cover image for Frisco and the Ten Mile Canyon, isbn: 9780738575490

Hayden Heritage Center

Hayden

9780738580210

$24.99

The Hayden area's first settlers, who arrived around 1875, were certain that their hamlet would become the hub of Northwest Colorado. The first regional trading post, Routt County Courthouse, and U.S. post office were established here on the banks of the Yampa River. Nestled in the Yampa's wide, verdant, high-country valley at 6,300 vertical feet, the energetic little town's future was peopled by an assortment of penniless yet hopeful dreamers as well as enterprising ranchers and other businessmen. Ezekiel Shelton brought his family and a myriad of skills. Jim Norvell drifted in on foot and with a few dollars established a mercantile and saloon and later, after finding religion, a church. While the towns of Craig to the west and Steamboat Springs to the east grew, Hayden retained its familial descendants—stayers—enamored of their corner of the beautiful Rocky Mountains and sheltered from most severe weather in the Yampa Valley.

Cover image for Hayden, isbn: 9780738580210

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.

Cover image for Around Nederland, isbn: 9780738581491

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.

Cover image for Around Frederick, isbn: 9781467130356

Victoria Newman

Prisons of Cañon City

9780738548456

$24.99

Cañon City sits in a geological bowl surrounded by the Rocky Mountains and the Sangre de Cristo mountain range. Historically, it has been known as the prison capital of the world, with eight-- soon to be nine--state prisons in the area and four federal facilities located 11 miles away in Florence. The first prison in Cañon City was built in 1868, before Colorado became a state, and was opened in 1871. Originally known as the Colorado Territorial Penitentiary, it is currently called the Colorado Territorial Correctional Facility and holds approximately 800 male inmates. Cañon City has grown up around the prisons, and the area's colorful history is defined by daring prison breaks, infamous inmates, such as the Colorado cannibal Alferd Packard, and by the stories of the inmates and employees who have been part of the prison system.

Cover image for Prisons of Cañon City, isbn: 9780738548456

Sandy Wailes Bennett

Johnstown

9780738581194

$24.99

The story of Johnstown did not begin with the founding of the town in 1902, nor did it end there. The story begins and ends with enterprising people. These people were determined to make a life for themselves despite all the hardships of living on the prairie of Colorado. These were the same people who were among the first Americans to go west. Trappers came for beaver pelts, and traders set up forts to trade for buffalo hides from the Arapaho. Gold miners whose claims went bust later settled in the Johnstown area. Cattlemen's herds found the prairie grass a natural food source, and they flourished. And, finally, the homesteaders claimed farmland that became rich and fertile with the use of irrigation. Johnstown is the story of people who established a new life in a new world.

Cover image for Johnstown, isbn: 9780738581194

Florence Tonelli

Roxborough

9781467116367

$24.99

Paleo-Indians hunted Ice Age mammoths and ancestral bison in what is now Roxborough, Colorado. In 1820, Stephen A. Long's expedition traveled west across the plains into America's western frontier and camped along the South Platte River where water rushed into the Platte Valley from Rocky Mountain peaks. They discovered an area described by their geologist as a range of naked and almost perpendicular rocks . . . resembling a vast wall, parallel to the base of the mountain . . . the whole scenery truly picturesque and romantic. During the next 200 years, Roxborough has been home to Native Americans, mountain men, homesteaders, farmers, miners, dam builders, ranchers, railroad men, cowboys, and rocket scientists. Families live in sight of hogback formations, soaring red rocks, foothills, and mountains. Thousands arrive each year to hike trails in Roxborough State Park, Waterton Canyon, Colorado Trail, and Highline Canal. Roxborough's history, geologic wonders, and wilderness is a story of those whose eyes reached toward the stars.

Cover image for Roxborough, isbn: 9781467116367

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.

Cover image for Aurora, isbn: 9780738548241

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.

Cover image for Around Gunnison and Crested Butte, isbn: 9780738548289

David Johnston

Highlands Ranch

9781467116145

$34.99

Highlands Ranch, part of Douglas County, is known as one of the fastest growing communities in the nation. Highlands Ranch grew from the Colorado plains through a series of settlements starting in 1859, with most homesteaders arriving in the 1880s. The homesteads were eventually unified into one grand ranch and mansion. The 1980s began the transformation from a ranch to a community when Mission Viejo started building a master planned community. Today, Shea Homes has almost completed the build out of the area. The people, businesses, and organizations of Highlands Ranch have come together to create an enjoyable community and lifestyle that around 100,000 people call home.

Cover image for Highlands Ranch, isbn: 9781467116145

Ben M. Dugan

Mines of Clear Creek County

9781467130349

$24.99

In 1859, Pikes Peak or bust! spread across America and brought men and their families from all over to the Kansas goldfields seeking a new beginning. Thousands came to Clear Creek and Gilpin Counties and eventually settled all of Colorado. The mining communities of Idaho Springs, Georgetown, Empire, Silver Plume, Dumont, and Lawson all exist because of the pursuit of gold and silver. Gold was initially easy to get to, but in time, underground mineral development was necessary. New technologies and the Industrial Revolution made mining easier, but there was still work to be done to establish local fire departments, churches, schools, and governments.

Cover image for Mines of Clear Creek County, isbn: 9781467130349

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.

Cover image for Early Eagle, isbn: 9780738580869

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.

Cover image for Around the Spanish Peaks, isbn: 9780738576244

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.

Cover image for Denver's Washington Park, isbn: 9781467130745

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.

Cover coming soon placeholder for Early Glenwood Springs.

Deborah Harrison

Manitou Springs

9780738528564

$24.99

Hidden between the Garden of the Gods and Pikes Peak lies the magical town of Manitou Springs. Drawn to the healing waters of its numerous mineral springs, the Ute, Cheyenne, and other native tribes once considered the area sacred. As more and more Europeans traveled to the area, the city of Manitou Springs was established as a health resort and visited by thousands, from vacationing families and wealthy celebrities to tubercular patients and medical professionals. Through the years the city faced the challenges of changing tourism patterns, but the formation of a national historic district in the 1980s launched the restoration and renewal of many of the city's most cherished buildings and traditions, reminding both residents and visitors alike of the charm Manitou Springs has always offered.

Cover image for Manitou Springs, isbn: 9780738528564

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.

Cover image for Around Monarch Pass, isbn: 9780738580708

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.