>> FUNDING FOR "THE LIVING DREAM" HAS BEEN PROVIDED BY THE FOLLOWING -- OSKAR BLUES AND THE CAN'D AID FOUNDATION, SUPPORTING OUTDOOR ENTHUSIASTS WHEREVER YOUR ADVENTURE TAKES YOU -- foundation.oskarblues.com.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN GATEWAY -- INFORMATION AND INSPIRATION, SHOPPING AND DINING AT THE FALL RIVER ENTRANCE TO ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK -- rockymountaingateway.net.
RAMS HORN VILLAGE RESORT, RENTAL AND VACATION OPPORTUNITIES CLOSE TO ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK.
ramshornvillageresort.com.
CASTLE MOUNTAIN LODGE, GRACEFULLY LOCATED IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS -- castlemountainlodge.com.
ESTES PARK CENTRAL VACATION RENTALS -- estesparkcentral.com.
ADDITIONAL SUPPORT COMES FROM... [ WATER BURBLING ] >> WE ARE THE CARETAKERS.
WE WHO ARE INVENTIVE, INDUSTRIOUS, WHO SO NEED OUR URBAN CREATIONS, ALSO LONG FOR STEPPING INTO A FOREST TO TAKE A BREATH AND STARE INTO A LANDSCAPE WHICH WE HAD NO PART IN CREATING.
[ BIRDS CHIRPING ] IN 1915, IN THE COLORADO ROCKY MOUNTAINS, WE DID NOT CREATE ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK.
WE GAVE IT A NAME.
WE BECAME GUARDIANS OF A PLACE THAT UNITES US IN TIMELESS HISTORY, A LIVING DREAM.
GENERATIONS UPON GENERATIONS HAVE COME TO VISIT ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK AND HAVE PASSED ON THEIR DREAMS, THEIR PERSONAL CONNECTIONS TO THESE 415 SQUARE MILES OF COLORADO WILDERNESS.
IT WAS A RAINY DAY ON SEPTEMBER 4, 1915, WHEN A PASSIONATE NATURALIST, ALONG WITH AN INGENIOUS ENTREPRENEUR, JOINED BY PARK ADVOCATES AND POLITICIANS, SPOKE TO HUNDREDS OF ONLOOKERS GATHERED IN A FOREST-LINED MEADOW.
THEY WERE THERE TO DEDICATE THIS NEW NATIONAL PARK.
ROCKY BECAME ONE OF SEVERAL NATIONAL PARKS NOW ESTABLISHED BEFORE THERE WAS EVEN A NATIONAL PARK SERVICE.
THAT CAME ABOUT A YEAR LATER, IN 1916.
IT WAS A TIME WHEN AMERICANS WANTED NATIONAL PARKS, BUT NOBODY WAS QUITE SURE WHAT A NATIONAL PARK WAS.
PRESERVATION, CONSERVATION, VISITATION, AND TRANSPORTATION WERE ALL ABOUT TO BECOME PART OF A CONVERSATION.
BUT WHAT WERE THE EVENTS LEADING UP TO THIS MOMENTOUS OCCASION?
THE HUMAN HISTORY IN THE COLORADO ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOES BACK THOUSANDS OF YEARS.
ORAL AND WRITTEN HISTORY TELLS OF NATIVE AMERICANS, PARTICULARLY UTE AND ARAPAHOE TRIBES, THAT WORSHIPPED, HUNTED, AND FOUGHT IN THE MOUNTAINS LOCATED BETWEEN WHERE ESTES PARK AND GRAND LAKE LIE TODAY.
FOLLOWING THE OCCUPATION BY ANCIENT AMERICANS, THE UTE WERE PRETTY MUCH TRANSIENT AND IN AND OUT OF THIS AREA ON A REGULAR BASIS DURING THE 18th AND 19th CENTURIES.
THE ARAPAHOE WERE ORIGINALLY PLAINS PEOPLE, UNTIL THEY PUSHED WEST, SOMETIMES PRESSURED BY OTHER TRIBES AND SOMETIMES PURSUING THE HUNTING OPPORTUNITIES OFFERED BY THE FOOTHILLS AND THE MOUNTAINS.
RESEARCHERS IN THE NATIONAL PARK HAVE DISCOVERED THAT THESE MOUNTAINS WERE WELL-INTEGRATED INTO THE DREAMS OF THE EARLY INHABITANTS.
>> ONE OF THE THINGS THAT HAPPENED AS WE WORKED WITH THE NORTHERN UTE IS THAT THEY FELT THAT CONNECTION WITH THOSE PLACES, AND WE BEGAN TO FEEL THAT CONNECTION, AS WELL.
WE BEGAN TO LEARN.
THEY BELIEVE THAT THOSE PLACES ARE STILL INHABITED.
THEY'RE INHABITED BY THEIR ANCESTORS.
THEY'RE STILL ALIVE.
>> IT WAS IN 1820 THAT MAJOR STEPHEN H. LONG LED AN OFFICIAL EXPEDITION WEST TO EXPLORE COLORADO.
WHEN HE CAUGHT A VIEW OF THE FRONT RANGE OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS, A HIGH PEAK WHICH WOULD LATER BEAR HIS NAME STOOD OUT AS A MASSIVE LANDMARK.
THE ARAPAHOE CALLED IT AND THE NEIGHBORING PEAK "THE TWO GUIDES," THE FRENCH TRAPPERS, "THE TWO EARS."
LONGS PEAK WOULD BECOME A CHALLENGE EVENTUALLY DRAWING PEOPLE FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD TO VISIT ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK.
LONG'S EXPEDITION ALSO SPOKE OF A CERTAIN BREED OF MEN KNOWN AS "MOUNTAIN MEN" WHO VENTURED INTO THIS WILDERNESS, TRAPPING BEAVER, HUNTING, PROSPECTING, AND CHASING THEIR DREAMS.
SEEKING SOLITUDE, CRAVING COMPANIONSHIP, AND THEN REJECTING IT CREATED A SPARSE POPULATION OF THESE CURIOUS INDIVIDUALS THROUGHOUT THE MOUNTAINS.
MOUNTAIN MEN, DRESSED SOMEWHAT LIKE THE INDIGENOUS TRIBES THEY ENCOUNTERED, WOULD OFTEN SPEAK IN A LANGUAGE POORLY COMPOSED OF ENGLISH, SPANISH, FRENCH, UTE, APACHE, ARAPAHOE, AND A FEW INVENTED WORDS.
ONE MOUNTAIN MAN WHO HELD ONTO HIS ORIGINAL LANGUAGE WAS CONNECTICUT-EDUCATED AUTHOR RUFUS SAGE.
>> RUFUS SAGE IS PROBABLY THE FIRST TRAPPER/TRADER TO COME INTO THIS AREA.
AND HE'S THE FIRST PERSON TO WRITE ABOUT IT, SO THAT'S REALLY WHERE HISTORY BEGAN.
SO, HE STUMBLED INTO THIS VALLEY, SPENT ABOUT A MONTH HERE, AND CALLED IT "DOMAINS OF SILENCE AND LONELINESS."
HE WAS THE ONLY PERSON HERE.
IT'S HARD FOR US TO IMAGINE THAT.
>> RUFUS FOUND LONELINESS, BUT HE ALSO FOUND THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THAT SAME COIN.
>> WHAT A CHARMING RETREAT FOR SOMEONE OF THE WORLD-HATING LITERATI.
HE MIGHT HERE HOLD DAILY CONVERSE WITH HIMSELF, NATURE, AND HIS GOD, FAR REMOVED FROM THE ANNOYANCE OF MAN.
>> THE NEXT DOCUMENTED COMMENTS ON THIS THOUGHT-PROVOKING PLACE CAME FROM THE SON OF A BOLD ENTREPRENEUR, PROSPECTOR, RANCHER, FRONTIERSMAN JOEL ESTES.
IN 1859, WHILE OUT EXPLORING, JOEL AND HIS SON, MILTON, FOUND A PLACE THAT THEY THOUGHT WOULD BE A PERFECT PLACE TO BEGIN A RANCH.
>> WE CAN ASSUME THAT HUNTERS AND TRAPPERS WANDERED IN FROM TIME TO TIME, BUT JOEL ESTES HAD COME OUT FROM KENTUCKY.
AND IN OCTOBER OF 1859, HE AND ONE OF HIS SONS DECIDED THEY WOULD TAKE A TRIP INTO THE MOUNTAINS.
WELL, THEY OBVIOUSLY FOLLOWED GAME TRAILS -- AT LEAST TO BEGIN WITH -- BUT PRETTY SOON THEY FOUND THEMSELVES BUSHWHACKING, PROBABLY ALONG THE RIDGES AND ALONG THE CREEKS.
THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN THE EASIEST WAY TO MAKE THEIR WAY.
AND SO IN MID-OCTOBER OF 1859, THOSE TWO GUYS -- AND I GET NOSTALGIC AND TEARY-EYED WHEN I THINK ABOUT IT -- THOSE TWO MEN STOOD AT THE TOP OF PARK HILL, THE VERY PLACE THAT THOUSANDS -- MILLIONS -- OF TOURISTS SINCE 1859 HAVE COME WITH THEIR CARS AND LOOKED DOWN ON THIS VALLEY.
AND I'LL NEVER FORGET THE COMMENT THAT MILTON ESTES, HIS SON, MADE IN AN ESSAY HE WROTE ABOUT THAT EXPERIENCE.
>> NO WORDS CAN DESCRIBE OUR SURPRISE, WONDER, AND JOY IN BEHOLDING SUCH AN UNEXPECTED SIGHT.
WE WERE MONARCHS OF ALL WE SURVEYED -- MOUNTAINS, VALLEYS, AND STREAMS.
WE HAD A LITTLE WORLD TO OURSELVES.
>> THE ESTES FAMILY PERSEVERED THROUGH A COUPLE OF EXCEPTIONALLY HARSH WINTERS IN A PLACE WITH VIRTUALLY NO GOLD AND NO SILVER, NOT QUITE SUITED FOR CATTLE, BUT WELL-SUITED FOR HUNTING.
THERE WERE SO MANY GAME ANIMALS THAT MARKET HUNTING BECAME AN AT LEAST PARTIALLY ORGANIZED BUSINESS FOR THIS FAMILY AND SOME OF THEIR VISITORS.
HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS OF ELK, DEER, AND BIGHORN SHEEP WERE DELIVERED TO THE MARKETS IN DENVER -- ANIMALS WHOSE SURVIVING DESCENDENTS WOULD ONE DAY BE TRADEMARK ATTRACTIONS IN A NATIONAL PARK.
ONE VISITOR WITH HIS MIND ON SOMETHING OTHER THAN HUNTING WAS NEWSPAPERMAN WILLIAM BYERS.
THE OVER-14,000-FOOT LONGS PEAK LOOMED OVER THE VALLEY, PULLING ON HIS EXPLORER'S SOUL.
IN 1864, AFTER FAILING TO REACH THE TOP, FORGETTING THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLE, HE DECLARED THE SUMMIT AS A PLACE WHERE NO MAN EVER WILL BE.
HE WAS WRONG.
LATER, IN 1868, HE AND FAMED EXPLORER JOHN WESLEY POWELL BECAME THE FIRST OF MANY THOUSANDS OF NON-NATIVE AMERICANS TO STAND ON THE SUMMIT.
BYERS HAD DECLARED THIS LANDSCAPE AS ONE OF THE MOST LOVELY HE HAD EVER BEHELD, AN OBSERVATION DESTINED FOR THE DREAMS OF SO MANY WHO WOULD FOLLOW.
THE WORD "PARK" WAS USED BY EXPLORERS TO DESCRIBE A RELATIVELY ACCESSIBLE AND FLAT AREA SURROUNDED BY MOUNTAINS.
AFTER ONE OF HIS FORAYS UP FROM DENVER, IMPRESSED BY THE ESTESES' FORTITUDE, BYERS NAMED THIS PLACE ESTES PARK.
EVENTUALLY, THE ESTESES MOVED ON, LEAVING BEHIND A LINGERING CATTLE INDUSTRY.
BUT A NEW HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY WAS ABOUT TO BEGIN.
>> AND ALONG COMES GRIFF EVANS, A WELSHMAN -- MOVES INTO THE ESTESES' CABINS, AND PRETTY SOON HE'S CONDUCTING A HOTEL, GUIDING, RANCHING BUSINESS OF HIS OWN.
HIS MOST FAMOUS VISITOR WAS ISABELLA BIRD, WHO WANDERED IN IN 1873.
AND HER BOOK, "A LADY'S LIFE IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS," PUBLISHED IN LIKE 1878, REALLY BROUGHT TO THE ATTENTION OF THE WHOLE WORLD THIS VERY SPECIAL PLACE.
AND SHE EXPLAINS IN PRETTY ELABORATE DETAIL HOW DIFFICULT IT WAS TO GET HERE AND THEN THE KIND OF LIFE SHE HAD TO ENDURE WHILE SHE WAS HERE, WHICH WAS A -- I MEAN, SHE WAS IN THIS POORLY CHINKED LOG CABIN, WHERE THE SNOW DRIFTED THROUGH THE LOGS, HAVING TO PUNCH CATTLE WITH GRIFF EVANS.
BUT SHE LOVED THE PLACE.
>> ADVENTURESOME SOULS OF ALL TYPES WERE COMING HERE WITH THEIR DREAMS.
ISABELLA BIRD WOULD PUT INTO WORDS NOT NECESSARILY WHAT THEY WERE LOOKING FOR, BUT WHAT THEY WERE FINDING.
>> LONGS PEAK WAS A FLAME.
THE GLORY OF GLOWING HEAVEN WAS GIVEN BACK FROM EARTH.
NEVER, NOWHERE HAVE I SEEN ANYTHING TO EQUAL THE VIEW INTO ESTES PARK.
THE MOUNTAINS OF THE LAND WHICH IS VERY FAR OFF ARE VERY NEAR NOW, BUT THE NEAR IS MORE GLORIOUS THAN THE FAR, AND THE REALITY THAN DREAMLAND.
>> ISABELLA BIRD WANTED TO EXPERIENCE THE WILD WEST.
WELL, SHE FOUND IT HERE WHEN SHE ENCOUNTERED "ROCKY MOUNTAIN" JIM.
EMERGING FROM HIS SQUATTER'S CABIN, JIM NUGENT WAS A FLAMBOYANT, ARROGANT, IF NOT A BIT CRAZY, ROMANTIC, A GENTLEMAN AND A WILD MAN.
HIS APPEARANCE REFLECTED HIS DICHOTOMY AND PERHAPS THE DICHOTOMY OF THE AMERICAN WEST.
HIS FACE WAS, ON ONE SIDE, QUITE HANDSOME, WHILE THE OTHER SIDE HAD BEEN SEVERELY SCARRED BY A GRIZZLY BEAR, ONE OF THE LAST TO LIVE IN COLORADO.
WHILE STAYING WITH THE GRIFFITH EVANS FAMILY, MISS BIRD HIRED HIM TO GUIDE HER UP LONGS PEAK.
THESE TWO UNLIKELY SOUL MATES DEVELOPED A MORE THAN FRIENDLY RELATIONSHIP.
ISABELLA BIRD WROTE ABOUT THIS DESPERADO RUFFIAN.
SHE CALLED HIM A MAN ANY WOMAN COULD LOVE, BUT NO SANE WOMAN WOULD MARRY.
GRIFF EVANS WAS NOW WORKING FOR THE WEALTHY IRISH EARL LORD DUNRAVEN, WHOSE DESIRE WAS TO BASICALLY OWN THIS MOUNTAIN PARADISE.
AT FIRST EXPLOITING THE HUNTING OPPORTUNITIES, THEN THE RANCHING, AND THEN THE HOTEL BUSINESS, HIS TACTICS AS A TOUGH CATTLE BARON, THOUGH NO DIFFERENT FROM OTHERS WHO WISHED TO CONTROL THE LAND IN THE WEST, BROUGHT HIM INTO CONFLICT WITH LEGITIMATE HOMESTEADERS.
HE SIMPLY HIRED PEOPLE TO HOMESTEAD LAND FOR HIM, MUCH OF WHICH WOULD IRONICALLY EVENTUALLY BECOME PART OF A NATIONAL PARK.
>> HE ACTUALLY COMES TO OWN ABOUT 6,000 ACRES IN THE CENTER OF OUR VALLEY HERE, BUT WITH THE CONTROL OF THOSE SPRINGS AND THE LAND ALONG THE PRINCIPLE RIVERS, HE'S IN CONTROL OF ABOUT 10,000 ACRES OF THE BEST LAND IN ESTES PARK.
>> IN THE EYES OF ROCKY MOUNTAIN JIM, GRIFF EVANS HAD SOLD OUT TO LORD DUNRAVEN.
NOW IN A WORLD OF OPEN RANGE, FENCES, AND DUBIOUS LAND CONTROL, THERE WAS LITTLE ROOM LEFT FOR A ROWDY INDIVIDUALIST LIKE ROCKY MOUNTAIN JIM.
HE WAS IN THE WAY.
THESE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ROCKY MOUNTAIN JIM AND GRIFF EVANS RESULTED IN A DRUNKEN CONFRONTATION BETWEEN THESE TWO ONE-TIME FRIENDS.
[ GUN COCKS ] RIDING INTO UNWELCOME TERRITORY, JIM WAS GREETED BY THE GUN-BEARING GRIFF, WHO SHOT... [ GUNSHOT ] ...AND MISSED.
BUT THE RICOCHETING LEAD CAUGHT JIM IN THE BACK OF THE HEAD.
EVENTUALLY, JIM WOULD DIE FROM HIS WOUNDS, ALONG WITH A LITTLE PIECE OF THE AMERICAN WILD WEST.
[ BIRDS CHIRPING ] ROCKY MOUNTAIN JIM WAS A CASUALTY OF CHANGE, BUT HIS LOVE AND DREAMS OF THE WILDERNESS WOULD CONTRIBUTE TO AN ATTITUDE THAT WOULD SHAPE THE FUTURE OF A COLORADO COMMUNITY AND, INDEED, THE FUTURE OF A NATIONAL PARK.
IN A TWIST OF ECONOMICS, PRESERVING THE LANDSCAPE WAS ABOUT TO TAKE PRECEDENCE OVER CUTTING IT DOWN, DIGGING IT UP, OR TRAMPLING IT OVER.
A YOUNG SURVEYOR NAMED ABNER SPRAGUE WOULD LOOK INTO THIS VALLEY IN 1868 AND DECLARE, "THE SURPRISE OF IT MADE US SPEECHLESS."
HE AND HIS WIFE, ALBERTA, ALONG WITH AN ENTOURAGE OF RELATIVES, WOULD SETTLE IN AN AREA THAT WOULD EVENTUALLY BECOME NATIONAL PARK TERRITORY.
AS A FARMER, RANCHER, PROSPECTOR, AND LODGE OWNER, HE WAS NOT INTIMIDATED BY ANYTHING, INCLUDING THE THREATS OF DUNRAVEN'S MEN.
HE BECAME ENAMORED BY PEOPLE WHO WOULD COME TO HIS RANCH JUST TO ENJOY THE SHEER BEAUTY OF THIS ENVIRONMENT.
HE WROTE, "THE HOTEL BUSINESS WAS FORCED ON US.
WE CAME HERE FOR SMALL-RANCH OPERATIONS, BUT GUESTS AND VISITORS BECAME SO NUMEROUS, AT FIRST WANTING EGGS, MILK, AND OTHER PROVISIONS, THEN WANTING LODGING, AND FINALLY DEMANDING FULL ACCOMMODATIONS, THAT WE HAD TO GO INTO THE HOTEL BUSINESS OR GO BANKRUPT FROM KEEPING FREE COMPANY."
PIONEERS IN HOMESTEADING AND THE HOTEL BUSINESS, ABNER AND ALBERTA SPRAGUE WERE EXCEPTIONAL CITIZENS OF THIS COMMUNITY.
IN THE 1930s, ABNER WOULD PROUDLY BE THE FIRST IN LINE TO PAY AN ENTRANCE FEE TO ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK.
>> WHERE TODAY, 150 YEARS LATER, IS THE SAME SPRING THAT BROUGHT ABNER SPRAGUE AND HIS FAMILY THERE ORIGINALLY.
WHAT A REMARKABLE PLACE THIS PARK OF OURS IS.
AND THE MEN AND WOMEN -- I MEAN, THE SPRAGUE FAMILY WERE REMARKABLE.
ABNER SPRAGUE, A SURVEYOR, LIVES UNTIL THE 1940s.
WORLD WAR II, HE SHOWS UP WITH A RIFLE AND TRIES TO ENLIST IN THE ARMY.
WELL, THAT MADE  LIFE  MAGAZINE, THAT PICTURE OF ABNER SPRAGUE TRYING TO DO THIS.
[ BIRDS CHIRPING ] >> IN THE 1860s, SEPARATED BY ONLY ABOUT 15 AERIAL MILES FROM ESTES PARK, GRAND LAKE WAS A MANY-MORE-MILES-THAN-THAT, DIFFICULT TREK ACROSS MASSIVE MOUNTAINS THAT WOULD ONE DAY MAKE UP THE MAJORITY OF ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK.
DIFFICULT INDIAN AND GAME TRAILS PROVIDED ACCESS TO GRAND LAKE FROM THE EAST.
ACCESS FROM THE NORTH, WEST, AND SOUTH WAS ALSO NOT EASY.
INTREPID INDIVIDUALS, HOWEVER, WOULD FIND A WAY.
PIONEER JOSEPH WESCOTT BARELY SURVIVED THE BRUTAL GRAND LAKE WINTER OF 1867.
[ WIND HOWLING ] EATING LEATHER AND VARIOUS OTHER PARTS OF CLOTHING AND CABIN, WESCOTT MADE IT THROUGH.
SUMMER WAS ENJOYABLE ENOUGH FOR HIM TO DECIDE TO STAY, BECOMING GRAND LAKE'S FIRST PERMANENT RESIDENT.
GRAND LAKE WOULD HOST AN INFILTRATION OF ADVENTURE SEEKERS, AND THE POPULATION SPIKED WHEN GOLD AND SILVER TURNED UP A FEW MILES NORTH, ALONG WHAT WAS THEN THE GRAND, LATER TO BE RENAMED THE COLORADO RIVER.
>> THEY OPENED A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT MINES IN DIFFERENT COMMUNITIES.
THE TOWN OF LULU CITY WAS NAMED AFTER ONE OF THE GOLD MINER'S DAUGHTERS.
THE PROBLEM WAS THAT THE GOLD WASN'T VERY GOOD AND THEY DIDN'T FIND VERY MUCH OF IT.
CONSEQUENTLY, NO ONE WOULD COME HERE TO STAMP IT AND MILL THE GOLD FROM THE ORE, AND THEY WERE HAULING IT BY WAGONLOAD OVER THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN TO GEORGETOWN.
WELL, THAT WASN'T PRODUCTIVE BECAUSE THEY WEREN'T MAKING ANY MONEY.
THEY FOUND SO LITTLE GOLD, IT DIDN'T PAY TO HAUL THE WAGONLOAD OF ORE OVER THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN.
SO, THE GOLD-MINING ERA HERE IN THE AREA ONLY LASTED FROM ABOUT 1881 TO 1889.
THE HEYDAY WAS SHORT-LIVED, AND LULU CITY WAS DESTINED TO BECOME A GHOST TOWN TO ONE DAY BE VISITED BY HIKERS IN A NATIONAL PARK.
HIKERS WON'T FIND GOLD IN LULU CITY, BUT THEY MAY FIND TREASURE.
IN THE 1880s, THE SETTLEMENT OF GRAND LAKE WAS NOT IMMUNE TO THE EFFECTS OF POLITICS AND GUNS, BUT WHEN THE DUST SETTLED, CURIOUS VISITORS BEGAN FILTERING IN.
THE KAUFFMAN HOUSE OPENED ITS DOORS AS A GUEST HOME IN 1892.
[ INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS ] RANCHES BEGAN TO DEVELOP IN THE EXPANSIVE MEADOWS ALONG THE COLORADO RIVER, HOPING TO SUPPLY FOOD FOR A SMALL BUT GROWING POPULATION.
NOTABLY, TWO SISTERS DECIDED TO SETTLE IN AND BUILD A DAIRY FARM JUST NORTH OF TOWN.
>> THE HARBISONS HAD THE FIRST SUCCESSFUL HOMESTEAD IN THE VALLEY.
THEY GOT HERE IN 1896.
ANOTHER GENTLEMAN THAT HOMESTEADED NORTH OF HERE -- BOB WHEELER.
HE WAS CALLED "SQUEAKY BOB" BECAUSE WHEN HE GOT EXCITED, HIS VOICE SQUEAKED QUITE A BIT.
BUT SQUEAKY BOB OPENED CAMP WHEELER.
HE ALSO CALLED IT HOTEL DE HARDSCRABBLE.
AND IT WAS UP THE VALLEY FOR THE PEOPLE THAT WERE STARTING TO RIDE HORSEBACK OVER THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAINS.
>> WITH THE LIKES OF SQUEAKY BOB CREATING OPPORTUNITIES FOR PEOPLE TO CROSS THE DIVIDE FROM EAST TO WEST, THE NOTION OF A ROAD TRAVERSING THESE MOUNTAINS FROM ESTES PARK TO GRAND LAKE WAS NOW PRESSING THE THOUGHTS OF BUSINESSPEOPLE ON BOTH SIDES OF THIS FUTURE NATIONAL PARK.
AS THE TEDDY ROOSEVELT-INFLUENCED 20th CENTURY WAS BEGINNING TO TAKE HOLD, CONSERVATION WAS FINDING ITS WAY INTO MORE AND MORE GOVERNMENT CONVERSATIONS, WHILE HERE, AT A FUTURE NATIONAL PARK, THE NOTION THAT LAND WAS ONLY FOR PRACTICAL, UTILITARIAN USE WAS BEING CHALLENGED.
>> MOVED RATHER QUICKLY FROM SOME PEOPLE WHO TRIED RANCHING INTO PEOPLE WHO STARTED A RESORT BUSINESS WITHIN ONE GENERATION.
AND THEY'RE THE PEOPLE WHO HAD THE VISION FOR PROTECTING THIS COUNTRYSIDE TO HELP PEOPLE ENJOY IT FOREVER IN A RECREATIONAL PERSPECTIVE, AS OPPOSED TO RANCHING OR MINING, WHICH WERE THE BIG, YOU KNOW, ECONOMIC DRIVERS OF EARLY COLORADO.
>> NOW THE COMMUNITIES OF ESTES PARK AND GRAND LAKE WERE REALIZING THAT PROTECTING THIS MOUNTAIN ENVIRONMENT COULD BE THE BASIS FOR AN ECONOMY.
TOURISM WAS BECOMING A COMMERCIAL REALITY.
AS MORE EASTERNERS WERE SHOWING AN INTEREST IN THIS NEW OLD WEST, MAINE RESIDENT F.O.
STANLEY AND HIS BROTHER HAD MADE A SMALL FORTUNE DEVELOPING A DRY-PLATE PHOTOGRAPHY SYSTEM.
THEY TOOK THAT FORTUNE TO THEIR NEXT GREAT INVENTION -- THE STANLEY STEAM CAR, A CREATION DESTINED TO BE TRANSPORTING TOURISTS FROM DENVER AND LOVELAND TO A SOON-TO-BE NATIONAL PARK.
IN 1903, SUFFERING FROM TUBERCULOSIS, F.O.
STANLEY MOVED TO COLORADO FOR THE HEALTHIER AIR.
BEATING THE PROGNOSIS OF A FATAL DISEASE, HE FULLY RECOVERED.
ENERGIZED, HE BOUGHT THE MASSIVE EXPANSE OF DUNRAVEN'S LAND -- FUTURE NATIONAL PARK LAND.
>> FOR A WHILE, HE WAS TOLD HE WAS GONNA HAVE A VERY SHORT LIFE-SPAN, CAME TO COLORADO AND LIVED THROUGH THE SUMMER HERE, CAME BACK A SECOND SUMMER AND A THIRD SUMMER.
HE CAME ORIGINALLY TO THE ELKHORN LODGE.
AND BY 1907, HE'S STARTING TO NEGOTIATE TO BUY PROPERTY IN ESTES PARK.
AND BY 1909, HE HAS LITERALLY CREATED WHAT IS TODAY THE STANLEY HOTEL AND OPENED ONE OF SIGNATURE RESORTS IN THE ROCKIES AT THE TIME, AND THIS IS AN AMAZING THING.
>> SO, HE BUILDS THIS MAGNIFICENT HOTEL AND INVESTS NOT ONLY IN THE HOTEL, BUT BEFORE HE'S DONE, HE'S PUT IN THE WATER SYSTEM, A HYDROELECTRIC PLANT ON FALL RIVER.
HE GIVES THE TOWN LAND FOR A GOLF COURSE, FOR THE TOWN DUMP.
HE GIVES THEM LAND FOR A SCHOOL, AND HE GIVES THE TOWN STANLEY PARK.
I MEAN, THE GENEROSITY OF A GUY WHO COMES HERE PREPARED TO DIE, I GUESS, AND THEN LIVES AND THEN GIVES BACK TO THIS COMMUNITY -- IF ONE NEEDS A LESSON OF HOW TO DO SERVICE IN AN ALTRUISTIC WAY, YOU CHOOSE F.O.
STANLEY AS A MODEL.
>> DRIVING A STANLEY STEAM CAR UP THE ROADS OF ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK WOULD BE ONE OF F.O.
STANLEY'S GREATEST PLEASURES.
THE MAN WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO DIE YOUNG WOULD LIVE TO BE 91.
WHEN HE PASSED AWAY IN 1940, HE WAS KNOWN AS "THE GRAND OLD MAN OF ESTES PARK."
IN 1884, A 14-YEAR-OLD BOY CAME TO THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS TO WORK AT A RELATIVE'S HOMESTEAD NEAR THE BASE OF LONGS PEAK.
THE YOUNG ENOS MILLS FELL IN LOVE WITH THESE MOUNTAINS, EVENTUALLY TRANSFORMING FROM A COWHAND PIONEER TO A DEDICATED NATURALIST.
HE STUDIED UNDER ENVIRONMENTAL CHAMPION JOHN MUIR.
WHILE GUIDING ON THE SLOPES OF LONGS PEAK, HE EDUCATED HIMSELF IN THE ART OF PUBLIC SPEAKING AND PASSIONATELY SPOKE OF THE BENEFITS OF PRESERVATION.
>> SCENERY IS PERISHABLE, IS EASILY RUINED.
THE BETTER PARTS OF SCENERY ARE BIRDS, FLOWERS, AND TREES.
THESE ARE EASILY DESPOILED.
>> THE MORE PEOPLE HE COULD GET EXPERIENCING NATURE IN ALL THE WAYS THAT YOU CAN, THE MORE PEOPLE HE WOULD HAVE CONCERNED ABOUT, "HEY, WE GOT TO START WORRYING ABOUT WHAT WE SEE.
JUST CAN'T LEAVE IT TO CHANCE."
AND HE WOULD MOSTLY JUST INTRODUCE PEOPLE, AND THEN HE SAID, "NATURE IS THE TEACHER."
>> IN 1907, IT WAS SUGGESTED TO MILLS THAT A GAME PRESERVE MIGHT BE WHAT THIS COMMUNITY NEEDED.
ENOS AND HIS SUPPORTERS RAPIDLY TRANSFORMED THAT INTO THE NOTION OF A NATIONAL PARK.
NOW THESE MOUNTAINS HAD A CHAMPION, AND THE GROWING COMMUNITY OF ESTES PARK WAS READY FOR A PLAN THAT WOULD ENSURE VISITORS TO THEIR EXPANDING HOSPITALITY BUSINESSES.
ENOS MILLS TOOK HIS DREAMS AND THE DREAMS OF A SMALL COMMUNITY AND SET HIS SIGHTS ON THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS, A 1909 CONGRESS THAT WAS RIPE WITH ATTITUDES FAVORING NATIONAL PARKS.
WHILE HE HAD ALL THESE ORGANIZATIONS -- TOURIST ORGANIZATIONS, NATURE ORGANIZATIONS, COLORADO MOUNTAIN CLUB, SPORTS ENTHUSIASTS -- BEHIND THE PARK IDEA, THERE WAS A REALLY POWERFUL ARRAY OF FORCES AGAINST MILLS.
YOU HAD THE MINING INTERESTS, RANCHING INTERESTS, THE FARMING INTERESTS.
"OH, NO, WE NEED OUR WATERSHEDS UP THERE.
YOU CAN'T PUT THOSE IN A NATIONAL PARK."
YOU HAD YOUR TIMBER AND FOREST INTERESTS.
I MEAN, THESE PEOPLE WERE REALLY FRIGHTENED.
THEY WERE INTIMIDATED.
AND SO ALL THESE FORCES ARE ARRAYED AGAINST MILLS, AND THEY'RE A POWERFUL LOT OF INDIVIDUALS.
AND SO IT TAKES HIM SIX YEARS TO GET THIS PARK BILL THROUGH CONGRESS.
I THINK THERE WERE THREE SEPARATE PARK BILLS, SOMETHING LIKE FIVE REVISIONS.
I MEAN, IT WAS A VERY ARDUOUS AND DIFFICULT PROCESS.
AND THROUGH IT ALL, YOU HAVE MILLS, WHO, WITH THE POWER OF HIS ARGUMENT, THE STEELY BACKBONE THAT THE GUY HAD -- HE WAS ABSOLUTELY COMMITTED TO THE IDEAL THEY WERE ARGUING FOR.
MILLS LITERALLY CROSSED THE COUNTRY TALKING ABOUT THE NATIONAL PARK IDEA AND THE IMPORTANCE OF HAVING IT HERE.
>> ENOS MILLS WOULD NOT LET UP.
HE LOBBIED CONGRESS AND TIRELESSLY LECTURED ON THE BENEFITS OF A NATIONAL PARK, STEADILY GAINING MOMENTUM AND SUPPORT.
SEVERAL NATIONAL PARKS HAD BEEN ESTABLISHED BEFORE ROCKY, INCLUDING YELLOWSTONE AND YOSEMITE.
THIS WAS A TIME UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF TEDDY ROOSEVELT WHEN AN ATMOSPHERE FAVORING PARKS WAS SWEEPING THE COUNTRY.
GIFTED WRITER AND OUTDOORSMAN, DENVER ATTORNEY JAMES GRAFTON ROGERS, DRAFTED THE LEGISLATION TO DESIGNATE ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK.
MARY BELLE KING SHERMAN, CHAIR OF THE CONSERVATION COMMITTEE FOR THE GENERAL FEDERATION OF WOMEN'S CLUBS, WOULD PROMOTE AND GUIDE THE PROCESS.
THE WORDS OF ENOS MILLS WERE HEARD IN WASHINGTON.
>> THE GREAT SCENIC PLACES OF A LAND SHOULD BE OWNED BY THE PUBLIC AND OFTEN SEEN BY THE PUBLIC.
BEAUTY SATISFIES THE WORLD'S GREAT LONGING.
HATRED AND PREJUDICE MAY BE TAUGHT, BUT THE LOVE OF LAND MUST BE INSPIRED.
>> ON JANUARY 26th, 1915, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES WOODROW WILSON SIGNED INTO LAW ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK.
AFTER THIS ACCOMPLISHMENT, SAVORING THE MOMENT WOULD BE A SHORT MOMENT FOR ENOS MILLS.
THE TASK OF KEEPING SUPPORTERS, ESPECIALLY THE TWO NEIGHBORING COMMUNITIES, IN TUNE WITH WHAT TO DO NEXT HAD NOW BEGUN.
THE DEDICATION ON SEPTEMBER 4, 1915, DREW SEVERAL HUNDRED PEOPLE TO THE OCCASION.
ENOS MILLS WOULD LEAD THE CEREMONY.
>> THIS IS THE PROUDEST MOMENT OF MY LIFE.
I HAVE LIVED TO SEE THE REALIZATION OF THE GREAT DREAM COME TRUE.
IT MEANS GREAT THINGS FOR COLORADO AND FOR THE NATION.
THERE IS NOTHING MORE INSPIRING THAN THE VAST CHAINS OF MOUNTAINS THAT ARE CONNECTED IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK.
THERE IS NOTHING MORE BEAUTIFUL.
>> ALONGSIDE MILLS WAS HIS FRIEND AND MAJOR SUPPORTER F.O.
STANLEY.
ALSO STANDING WITH MILLS AND STANLEY WERE NATIONAL PARK PUBLICIST ROBERT STERLING YARD, CONGRESSMAN ED TAYLOR, WOMEN'S CLUB LEADER MARY BELLE KING SHERMAN, AND COLORADO GOVERNOR GEORGE CARLSON.
NOTABLY IN ATTENDANCE WAS STEPHEN MATHER, SOON TO BE THE FIRST DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, TO BE ESTABLISHED IN THE FOLLOWING YEAR, IN 1916.
THE ESTES PARK WOMEN'S CLUB WOULD BE INSTRUMENTAL IN THE INCORPORATION OF A COMMUNITY INTO A TOWN THAT WOULD SUPPORT THIS NATIONAL PARK FOR THE NEXT 100 YEARS.
NATURALISTS WERE THRILLED WITH THIS NEW PROTECTED REGION FOR THE ENJOYMENT OF ALL.
BUSINESSMEN AND WOMEN WERE THRILLED THAT SO MANY WOULD BE COMING TO ENJOY.
NATURALIST BUSINESSMEN, WHICH INCLUDED LODGE OWNER MILLS HIMSELF, WERE THRILLED THAT ECONOMICS COULD FACILITATE SUCH AN ACCOMPLISHMENT.
TIME AND DISTANCE IN THE EARLY 1900s ALLOWED FOR LOCAL PEOPLE TO HAVE A GREAT DEAL OF INFLUENCE ON THIS NATIONAL PARK.
WHILE MOST CITIZENS WERE SUPPORTIVE, CONCERN ABOUT FEDERAL REGULATIONS ON THEIR PARK FILTERED THROUGH THE CONVERSATIONS OF THE LOCALS.
>> YOU KNOW, BEFORE, TO GET INTO THEIR PARK, THEY COULD COME AND GO AS THEY PLEASED.
THEY COULD CUT DOWN THE WOODS FOR THEIR LOG CABINS.
THEY COULD HARVEST THE TIMBER HERE FOR THEIR FIREWOOD.
THEY COULD DIG IN THE MOUNTAINS FOR MINERALS IF THEY WANTED -- I MEAN, UNDER FOREST SERVICE REGULATIONS.
WELL, THAT ALL CHANGED ALMOST OVERNIGHT.
>> SOMEONE NEEDED TO QUELL THE FEARS OF THE TOWNFOLK.
THERE WAS ANOTHER MILLS LIVING IN TOWN.
WHERE ENOS WAS THE ZEALOUS EVANGELIST FOR THE NATURAL WORLD, HIS BROTHER, THE CONGENIAL JOE MILLS, WAS WORKING TO DEVELOP COMMUNICATION AND A CONSENSUS AMONG THE LODGE OWNERS AND OTHER ENTREPRENEURS.
JOE WAS ALSO A NATURALIST AND STUDIED UNDER HIS BROTHER, BUT HE HAD A BIT MORE OF A PLAYFUL SIDE.
JOE HAD COME TO WHAT BECAME ENOS' LONGS PEAK INN TO JOIN HIS OLDER BROTHER AS A CLIMBING GUIDE.
THEY DIDN'T ALWAYS SEE EYE TO EYE.
WHERE ENOS WAS IMPASSIONED AND UNYIELDING, JOE WAS A DIPLOMAT AND WELL-LIKED IN HIS COMMUNITY.
JOE AND HIS WIFE, ETHEL, BUILT THE CRAGS LODGE, OPENING ITS DOORS IN 1914.
THE AUTOMOBILE WOULD TAKE OVER THE TRAVEL HABITS OF THE 20th CENTURY.
IN THE EYES OF NATURALISTS, MORE ACCESS TO THE PARK MEANT MORE SUPPORTERS OF THEIR CAUSE.
IN THE EYES OF BUSINESSPEOPLE ON THE EAST SIDE, IT MEANT MORE TOURISTS.
IN THE EYES OF THOSE ON THE WEST SIDE, IT MEANT THAT A ROAD INTO THE PARK AND ALL THE WAY ACROSS WAS AN ABSOLUTE NECESSITY.
IT WAS THIS NECESSITY THAT CONVINCED MANY IN GRAND LAKE TO SUPPORT THE NATIONAL PARK, A NATIONAL PARK THAT WOULD FACILITATE THE COMPLETION OF A ROAD.
>> THAT DEVELOPMENT OF ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK HAS BEEN A BIG PART OF MAINTAINING THE SCENIC BEAUTY OF THE ENTIRE VALLEY AND THEREBY HELPING THE LOCAL ECONOMY, AS WELL.
AFTER THE MINING WAS OVER, THEY ALL BUT FOLDED UP AND WENT AWAY, BUT TOURISM CAME ALONG AND SAVED THE TOWN OF GRAND LAKE.
AT ONE TIME, THERE WERE ONLY ABOUT 14 PEOPLE IN THE TOWN OF GRAND LAKE.
BUT AFTER THE OPENING OF THE ROAD THROUGH THE PARK, THAT TURNED AROUND THE TOWN OF GRAND LAKE.
>> IN 1913, TWO YEARS BEFORE NATIONAL PARK STATUS, WORK HAD BEGUN ON FALL RIVER ROAD, WHICH WOULD CONNECT ESTES PARK TO GRAND LAKE.
WORK WAS SLOWGOING, AND BY THE OPENING OF THE PARK, ONLY TWO MILES HAD BEEN COMPLETED.
THE FIRST CHIEF ADMINISTRATOR OF THE PARK WAS ACTING SUPERINTENDENT C.R.
TROWBRIDGE.
IN 1916, L.C.
WAY WAS ASSIGNED TO THE POST OF SUPERINTENDENT.
HE WOULD OVERSEE CREATION OF TRAILS AND OTHER INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT, INCLUDING THE CONSTRUCTION ON FALL RIVER ROAD.
ONE EVENT THAT WAY GOT CAUGHT UP IN ADDED A BIT OF HUMOR TO THE COLORFUL HISTORY OF THE PARK.
IN 1917, WAY CONSENTED TO A LUDICROUS PUBLICITY STUNT, INITIATED BY A  DENVER POST WRITER, INVOLVING A YOUNG WOMAN DRESSED IN ANIMAL SKINS SUPPOSEDLY RETURNING TO NATURE.
VISITORS WERE TOLD THAT THEY MIGHT CATCH A PEEK OF HER RUNNING THROUGH THE FOREST.
ONE MIGHT WONDER WHAT WAS GOING ON IN THE MIND OF ENOS MILLS AS HE SHOOK HANDS WITH EVE, WHO WAS ABOUT TO GO TRAIPSING ABOUT IN HIS GARDEN OF EDEN.
ONE STORY HAS IT THAT AFTER ONE NIGHT, SHE TURNED UP AT A LODGE, COLD, WET, AND COVERED IN MOSQUITO BITES, READY TO FIND SOME NORMAL CLOTHING AND RETURN TO CIVILIZATION.
INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH, NEWSPAPER READERS ACROSS THE COUNTRY THUMBED BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN STORIES OF WORLD WAR I AND THE EVE OF ESTES.
[ TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWS ] DIFFERING FROM THE RAILROAD-ACCESSED YELLOWSTONE AND YOSEMITE, ROCKY WAS A PARK THAT CAME ABOUT WITH THE AUTOMOBILE AGE AND WAS A SHORT DISTANCE FROM A MAJOR CITY.
A NEW, INDEPENDENTLY MOBILE PUBLIC EAGERLY AWAITED THIS ROAD ACROSS THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE, ACROSS ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK.
AT FIRST UTILIZING CONVICT LABOR, WORK WAS INTENSIFIED WITH PRIVATE CONTRACTORS.
THE 37-MILE FALL RIVER ROAD, TRAVERSING THE MOUNTAINS, WAS OPENED IN SEPTEMBER OF 1920.
>> IT WAS NOT ONLY THE FIRST ROAD THROUGH THE PARK.
IT WAS A BIG TOURIST ATTRACTION.
NOW PEOPLE COULD DRIVE UP INTO THE MOUNTAINS AND SEE THESE AMAZING VISTAS.
I MEAN, THAT WAS A GREAT EXPERIENCE -- STILL IS.
>> AS ROCKY WAS GROWING IN POPULARITY, A LOCAL CONTROVERSY WOULD CLOUD ITS SUCCESS.
ENOS MILLS, THE FATHER OF ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK, FOUND HIMSELF AT ODDS WITH REGULATIONS OVER COMMERCIAL TRANSPORTATION RIGHTS THAT WOULD BE DETERMINED AND GRANTED BY THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE.
SO, THE IRONY IS THAT, IN HIS LATER YEARS, MILLS IS LITERALLY AT WAR WITH THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE AND ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK, THE VERY PLACE THAT HE SPENT ALL THOSE BLOOD, SWEAT, AND TEARS, ALL THOSE YEARS TO BRING INTO REALITY.
>> THIS UNFORTUNATE DISPUTE WOULD CLOUD THE RELATIONSHIP UNTIL MILLS' UNTIMELY DEATH FROM A TOOTH-INFECTION-INDUCED BLOOD POISONING IN 1922.
>> IT'S A SAD POSTSCRIPT ON WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN A MORE PLEASANT RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MILLS AND THE NATIONAL PARK LATER ON.
IT CREATED A LOT OF BAD FEELINGS.
JOE MILLS WAS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ARGUMENT.
THE HOOK THAT MILLS HUNG HIS ARGUMENT ON WAS THAT THE STATE OF COLORADO HAD NEVER FORMALLY CEDED THE ROADS WITHIN THE PARK TO THE UNITED STATES.
"IF THE UNITED STATES DOESN'T OWN THE ROADS, HOW CAN IT TELL ME, AS AN INDEPENDENT OPERATOR OF TOUR CARS, THAT I CAN'T TAKE PEOPLE INTO THE PARK?"
MILLS DIES IN 1922.
HIS WIDOW PICKS UP THE CAUSE.
F.O.
STANLEY WAS ON MILLS' SIDE.
IT DIVIDED MUCH OF THE TOWN OF ESTES PARK DURING THE 1920s, PROBABLY WORE OUT MORE THAN ONE SUPERINTENDENT.
THAT ISSUE DRAGS ON FOR ABOUT SEVEN OR EIGHT YEARS, TO THE POINT WHERE THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE SAYS, "LOOK, YOU KNOW, IF WE CAN'T RESOLVE THIS, STATE OF COLORADO, MAYBE YOU SHOULD TAKE BACK THE LAND, AND WE'LL DISSOLVE THE PARK."
ULTIMATELY, IT ENDED AMICABLY, WITH THE CESSION OF THE ROADS TO THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT.
AND THEN, ON THE HEELS OF THAT DECISION WAS THE ANNOUNCEMENT THAT THEY WERE GOING TO BUILD A WONDER ROAD.
>> ROGER TOLL WOULD TAKE OVER THE REINS AS SUPERINTENDENT IN 1921.
THE CHARISMATIC TOLL EXPANDED PARK IMPROVEMENTS, AND MORE AND MORE AMERICANS WERE FINDING THEIR WAY TO THIS NEW PARK.
>> ROGER TOLL COULD ARTICULATE TO THE PUBLIC WHAT A NATIONAL PARK SHOULD BE LIKE, ELEVATING IT BEYOND THE LOCAL POLITICS AND PUTTING IT ON THE NATIONAL STAGE.
>> THE ENTHUSIASM FOR FALL RIVER ROAD HAD NOW BECOME A BIT TEMPERED BY THE TOPOGRAPHY.
DIFFICULT TO NAVIGATE, WITH STEEP, HAIRPIN TURNS AND INTIMIDATING DROP-OFFS, AVALANCHES, AND MUDSLIDES, THIS WAS NOT A ROAD FOR THE TIMID OR FAINT OF HEART.
IT WAS NOT EASY ON THE PASSENGERS, NOR THE AUTOMOBILES, WHICH HAD NOT YET BEEN PERFECTED FOR MOUNTAIN TRAVEL.
CHIEF PARK RANGER R.A. KENNEDY WROTE, "UNLESS FUNDS ARE SOON PROVIDED, CONDITIONS WILL BECOME SO DEPLORABLE THAT PLEASURABLE TRAVEL WILL BE IMPOSSIBLE."
A NEW, MORE PRACTICAL ROUTE WAS NEEDED ACROSS THESE MOUNTAINS.
IN 1924, NATIONAL PARK SERVICE DIRECTOR STEPHEN MATHER PERSUADED CONGRESS TO SPEND SEVERAL MILLION DOLLARS ON ROADS FOR NATIONAL PARKS.
ONCE CONTROL WAS TRANSFERRED FROM STATE AND COUNTY TO FEDERAL JURISDICTION, IN OCTOBER OF 1929, WORK BEGAN.
CONTRACTOR W.A.
COLT WOULD WORK FORM THE EAST, AND L.T.
LAWLER WOULD WORK FROM THE WEST.
FOLLOWING A PATH PARTIALLY SCRATCHED OUT IN THE 1880s BY NONE OTHER THAN ABNER SPRAGUE, WHICH INCLUDED A TRAIL USED BY THE UTE, A ROUTE WAS CHOSEN.
COLT WAS NOT TIMID ABOUT WANTING RECOGNITION FOR HIS WORK, AND HE HAD HIS REASONS.
THIS WAS AN AMAZING ENGINEERING FEAT.
THE ALPINE TUNDRA IS A VERY DIFFICULT SURFACE TO BUILD ON.
ROCK FORMATIONS PRESENTED PRECARIOUS OBSTACLES FOR THE CONSTRUCTION CREWS.
WHEN OPENED IN 1935, TRAIL RIDGE ROAD WAS ONE OF THE PREMIER ENGINEERING MODELS OF THE CENTURY.
TOPPING 12,183 FEET, IT BECAME KNOWN THEN -- AND REMAINS TODAY -- AS THE HIGHEST CONTINUOUS PAVED HIGHWAY IN THE UNITED STATES.
FROM THE 1920s INTO THE 1930s, AMERICANS WERE FASCINATED BY THEIR NATIONAL PARKS.
AND WITH ITS RELATIVELY EASY ACCESS, ROCKY WAS HIGH ON THE LIST OF VISITED PARKS.
AS THE QUALITY OF TRAVEL IMPROVED, SO DID THE QUALITY OF MOTION PICTURES, A FACT NOT LOST ON THE PUBLICITY DEPARTMENT OF THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE.
THOUGH MOTION-PICTURE TECHNOLOGY HAD IMPROVED, ETIQUETTE FOR PROPER USE OF WILD LANDS HAD NOT QUITE BEEN COMMUNICATED TO THE FILM CREWS.
[ LAUGHTER ] ON MAY 5th IN 1934, A YOUNG MAN WAS QUOTED IN  LIBERTY  MAGAZINE.
>> THEY SAY THE NEW DEAL BRINGS LUCK.
IT BROUGHT IT TO ME.
A FEW MONTHS AGO, I WAS BROKE.
AT THIS WRITING, I AM ON TOP OF THE WORLD, ALMOST LITERALLY SO BECAUSE THE NATIONAL PARK NUMBER 1 C.C.C.
CAMP NEAR ESTES PARK IS 9,000 FEET UP.
INSTEAD OF HOLDING DOWN A PARK BENCH OR POUNDING THE PAVEMENTS LOOKING FOR WORK, TODAY I HAVE WORK, PLENTY OF GOOD FOOD, AND A VIEW OF THE SORT THAT PEOPLE PAY MONEY TO SEE.
WE ARE GONNA HAVE A HAMBURG STEAK TONIGHT, AND I AM ON THE PAYROLL.
>> THIS WAS THE TIME OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION, BUT THIS WAS ALSO THE TIME OF THE CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS, CREATED BY PRESIDENT FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT TO PROVIDE JOBS FOR UNEMPLOYED YOUNG MEN.
NATIONAL PARKS WERE SOME OF THE BENEFACTORS OF THE C.C.C., KNOWN BY PRESERVATIONISTS AS "ROOSEVELT'S GREEN GUARD."
>> WITHIN THE FIRST MONTH OF ROOSEVELT'S FIRST TERM, HE COMES UPON THIS IDEA OF NATIONAL SERVICE FOR YOUNG MEN, UNEMPLOYED MEN, AND HE USES THE NATIONAL PARK AS HIS INCUBATOR, GETS THE ARMY TO SUPERVISE THE WHOLE THING.
AND WITHIN MONTHS OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS, THEY ARE HERE IN ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK.
THE FIRST CAMP IS PUT UP IN ARMY TENTS.
THEY HAPPEN TO ARRIVE ON AN APRIL DAY WHERE THERE WAS A SNOWSTORM.
AND YOU CAN IMAGINE THESE YOUNG MEN FROM TEXAS AND THE EAST COMING OUT HERE TO THIS PRISTINE WILDERNESS, AND ALL OF A SUDDEN THEY'RE OUT THERE BATTLING THE ELEMENTS.
[ SHOVELS SCRAPING ] >> ALTHOUGH SOMETIMES WORKING UNDER ADVERSE CONDITIONS, THE MEN OF THE C.C.C.
WERE HAPPY TO LEARN NEW SKILLS AND ENJOY THREE MEALS A DAY.
THEY BUILT MUCH OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE THAT IS IN USE TODAY, BUILDING BRIDGES, 33 NEW BUILDINGS, 43 MILES OF NEW TRAILS, 7 SEWER TREATMENT PLANTS, 465 MILES OF UTILITY LINES, AND 8 MILES OF WATER LINES.
THEY MAINTAINED EXISTING TRAILS AND ROADS AND EVEN ASSISTED PARK RESCUES.
>> COUNTLESS YOUNG MEN WHO CAME THROUGH THE FIVE CAMPS IN ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK SAID IN THEIR LATER YEARS, "THEY WERE SOME OF THE BEST YEARS OF MY LIFE."
>> DESPITE THE DEPRESSION, THE 1930s WERE ALSO A TIME WHEN ROCKY DEVELOPED ITS PERSONALITY AS A NATIONAL PARK.
THE PERSONALITY OF THE CLASSIC PARK RANGER WAS PORTRAYED IN THE 1935 BOOK "BOB FLAME, ROCKY MOUNTAIN RANGER."
THE FICTITIOUS, SQUARE-JAWED BOB FLAME IS WHO EVERYONE WOULD HOPE WOULD BE THERE, SHOULD THEY NEED A RESCUE IN THE WILDERNESS.
"YOU ALL KNOW WHY WE'RE HERE.
THERE'S A MAN UP ON THE RANGE, AND IT'S OUR JOB TO FIND HIM.
HE'S BEEN MISSING FOR 36 HOURS, AND IF HE'S STILL ALIVE, HE'LL PROBABLY BE TOO WEAK TO MAKE MUCH NOISE."
THE AUTHOR OF THESE WORDS, DORR YEAGER, WAS THE EPITOME OF THE DEDICATED NATIONAL PARK SERVICE PERSONNEL OF THE 1930s.
HE MARRIED ELEANOR ANN MILLS, DAUGHTER OF JOE AND ETHEL MILLS, THUS PERPETUATING A TRADITION OF NATURALISTS IN THE MILLS FAMILY.
HE WOULD PASS ON HIS COLORFUL STORIES, BOTH FICTIONAL AND REAL, TO THE NEXT GENERATION.
"TO MY DAUGHTER, PAT, WHO KNOWS THE LAND OF SCARFACE."
>> MY MOM CAME BACK FROM COLLEGE.
SHE CAME BACK TO THE CRAGS LODGE, WHERE MY GRANDFATHER WAS RUNNING THE HOTEL, AND MY GRANDFATHER INTRODUCED HER TO MY FATHER, THE RANGER.
AND MY MOTHER IS REPUTED TO HAVE SAID, "WHY?"
SHE SAID, "I HAVE AN UNCLE -- ENOS -- WHO IS A CONSERVATION NUT.
I HAVE A FATHER WHO IS A CONSERVATION NUT."
BUT HE WON HER OVER, AND THEY WERE MARRIED FOR OVER 60 YEARS.
>> DORR YEAGER BEGAN HIS PARK SERVICE CAREER IN YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK.
HE CAME TO ROCKY IN 1931.
>> WHEN HE ARRIVED, HE DISCOVERED THAT THERE WAS VERY LITTLE INTERPRETIVE STUFF GOING ON.
SO, HE FOUNDED SOMETHING THAT WAS THEN CALLED THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATURE ASSOCIATION.
HE PUT SIGNAGE ON THE TRAILS, AND HE WORKED WITH THE C.C.C.
CAMP YOUNGSTERS TO HELP REFURBISH THE MORAINE PARK MUSEUM.
UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF DORR YEAGER AND THOSE WHO WOULD FOLLOW, INTERPRETIVE PROGRAMS TOOK PRECEDENCE OVER FRIVOLOUS PUBLICITY, AND THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATURE ASSOCIATION -- LATER NAMED THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN CONSERVANCY -- EMPHASIZED THE SIGNIFICANCE OF EDUCATION IN THE NATIONAL PARK EXPERIENCE.
IN 1936, 550,496 ADVENTURESOME SOULS CAME TO VISIT ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK.
IN 1939, THE SAME YEAR THAT ROCKY INITIATED A $1 ENTRANCE FEE, WORK BEGAN ON AN EXTRAORDINARY PROJECT UNDERNEATH THE PARK.
NOW ON THE HEELS OF THE CONSTRUCTION OF TRAIL RIDGE ROAD, ANOTHER AMAZING ENGINEERING MARVEL FOR THE 20th CENTURY WAS ABOUT TO TAKE PLACE, ONLY THIS ONE DID NOT HAVE THE BLESSING OF THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE.
DATING BACK TO THE GRAND DITCH BUILT IN 1905, WATER RIGHTS WERE A VERY POWERFUL LOBBY INFLUENCING GOVERNMENT DECISIONS.
THE ARID PLAINS EAST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS WANTED IRRIGATION WATER.
THE GRAND DITCH TOOK WATER FROM THE NEVER SUMMER MOUNTAINS ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE AND BROUGHT IT EAST TO THE POUDRE RIVER.
NOW A MUCH LARGER CAPACITY SYSTEM KNOWN AS THE BIG THOMPSON PROJECT WAS BEING CONCEIVED TO TAKE COLORADO RIVER WATER AND BRING IT TO THE BIG THOMPSON RIVER FLOWING EAST.
THE METHOD WOULD BE A TUNNEL UNDER THE MOUNTAINS.
>> THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE WANTED NO PART OF THAT PROJECT.
THEIR SCIENTISTS DID STUDIES.
THERE WAS CONCERN ABOUT DESTABILIZATION OF OUR LAKES AND THE FACT THAT SOME OF THEM MIGHT GET DRAINED BY SHOVING THIS 13-MILE TUNNEL UNDERNEATH THE MIDDLE OF ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK.
THE FUNNY THING ABOUT THE WHOLE THING IS, YOU GOT THE RECLAMATION BUREAU, YOU GOT THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE.
WHO DO THEY REPORT TO?
FDR'S RIGHT-HAND GUY, THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR, HAROLD ICKES.
[ Laughing ] AND SO YOU GOT HIS TWO SONS, AS IT WERE, WORRYING ABOUT THIS THING.
AND I REMEMBER HE SAID, YOU KNOW, "IT'S LIKE DIVIDING THE BABY IN TWO.
I DON'T KNOW HOW TO DO IT, BUT WE NEED THE JOBS, WE NEED THE WATER, SO I'M GONNA GO WITH THE BUREAU OF RECLAMATION."
AND IT GOT SO HEATED THAT WHEN THE SURVEYORS CAME TO SURVEY THE PATH OF THAT TUNNEL, THE PARK SERVICE WOULDN'T LET THEM IN THE PARK, AND THEY HAD TO TRIANGULATE EAST AND WEST FROM OUTSIDE THE PARK.
AND YET WHEN THEY BUILT THAT TUNNEL AND FINISHED IT, COMING FROM EAST AND WEST, IT WAS ONLY OFF BY THAT MUCH, WHICH SUGGESTS THE MARVELS OF ENGINEERING.
>> ENGINEERS WERE SO SCRUTINIZED DURING CONSTRUCTION THAT THEY NEEDED TO PROVE A POINT.
NO VISIBLE OR PHYSICAL INTRUSION ON THE NATIONAL PARK COULD BE PERCEIVED UPON COMPLETION.
>> AND OF COURSE THE WORLD DIDN'T END, THE LAKES WEREN'T DRAINED, AND EVERYBODY HAS LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTERWARDS, INCLUDING ALL THE FARMERS DOWN IN THE FRONT RANGE, WHO WERE THE BENEFICIARIES OF THIS WATER PROJECT.
>> PERHAPS NO LASTING DAMAGE WAS DONE TO THE NATIONAL PARK, AND PEOPLE ON THE EAST SIDE DEFINITELY BENEFITED FROM THE WATER, BUT IT DID NOT HAVE A POSITIVE EFFECT ON THE DEMAND FOR WATER ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE.
DURING THE LATTER PART OF THE 1930s, ROCKY WAS ENJOYING A STEADILY INCREASING POPULARITY.
VISITATION REACHED OVER 600,000 IN 1940, AS THE 25th ANNIVERSARY OF THE PARK BROUGHT LOCAL PEOPLE TOGETHER TO CELEBRATE THEIR LOVE AFFAIR WITH ROCKY.
THE INFRASTRUCTURE OF THE PARK WAS IN FAIRLY GOOD CONDITION WITH ALL OF THE IMPROVEMENTS MADE THROUGHOUT THE 1930s BEING UTILIZED AND APPRECIATED.
BUT THINGS WERE ABOUT TO CHANGE.
WORLD WAR II EITHER SENT THE C.C.C.
BOYS OFF TO WAR OR TO WORK IN THE FACTORIES.
THOUGH GREATLY REDUCED, VISITATION IN ROCKY CONTINUED.
ESTES PARK BECAME SOMEWHAT OF A RESPITE FOR WAR-WEARY FOLKS AND RETURNING SERVICEMEN AND WOMEN.
>> THE 1940s -- THE WAR YEARS -- ARE A TOUGH TIME.
THE PARK SERVICE DOES ITS BEST.
A LOT OF ITS BEST EMPLOYEES WENT OFF TO THE ARMY, AND SO ALL THE VARIOUS PROGRAMS HAD TO BE CUT BACK.
THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO CAME TO THE PARK BECAUSE OF THE RATIONING OF TIRES AND GASOLINE WAS WAY BACK.
BY THAT TIME, THE PARK SERVICE WAS CHARGING SOME NOMINAL ADMISSION, BUT IT WAS ALWAYS FREE FOR THE SERVICEMEN.
AND ESTES PARK MADE A POINT OF INVITING SERVICEMEN FROM THE LOCAL BASES, THE AIR FIELD DOWN NEAR DENVER.
FAMILIES WOULD TAKE THEM IN OVER THE WEEKEND AND TAKE THEM OUT TO DINNER AND TAKE THEM TO THE NATIONAL PARK.
[ INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS ] >> IN 1956, DURING THE PROSPEROUS TIMES AFTER WORLD WAR II, PRESIDENT DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER IMPLEMENTED A PLAN TO UPGRADE ALL OF THE NATIONAL PARKS.
FOR ROCKY, THIS 10-YEAR PLAN, CALLED MISSION 66, MEANT NEW VISITORS CENTERS, INCLUDING THE FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT-INSPIRED BEAVER MEADOWS VISITOR CENTER AND PARK HEADQUARTERS.
ROCKY'S POPULARITY AGAIN INCREASED AS MORE PEOPLE CAME TO APPRECIATE THE SHEER BEAUTY OF THESE NATURAL LANDSCAPES.
ONE REASON FOR THE INCREASE IN NUMBERS WAS A SIMPLE RESULT FROM WORLD WAR II -- PEOPLE WHO WOULD COME AND ENJOY THE PARK NOW INCLUDED THE SUDDEN BOOM OF CHILDREN BORN IN THE 1940s.
ANOTHER DREAM WAS COMING TO ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK.
IT WAS CALLED THE AMERICAN DREAM.
[ INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS ] [ BIRDS CHIRPING ] A NATIONAL PRIDE WAS SWEEPING THE COUNTRY.
WITH A STRONG ECONOMY AND AFFORDABLE STATION WAGONS, AMERICANS WERE OFF TO SEE THE USA AND DISCOVER THEIR NATIONAL PARKS.
THE GROWING POPULARITY OF THE PARK WAS REFLECTED IN THE GROWING POPULARITY AND PROSPERITY OF ESTES PARK AND GRAND LAKE.
PEOPLE COMING TO VISIT ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK WERE BEING GREETED BY A VERY LIVELY GROUP OF LOCALS.
[ MARCHING MUSIC PLAYING ] WHILE SUMMER RECREATION BROUGHT GUESTS TO THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY, WINTER SPORTS WERE A CONSTANT TOPIC.
AFTER ALL, THESE WERE BIG, SNOW-COVERED MOUNTAINS.
BUT WHILE THERE WAS OFTEN PLENTY OF SNOW IN THE NATIONAL PARK, IT WASN'T ALWAYS IN CONVENIENT PLACES FOR COMMERCIAL USE.
STARTING IN 1955, AN ACTUAL SKI AREA WAS DEVELOPED WITH DEBATABLE, IF NOT MARGINAL, SUCCESS.
>> SKIING, OF COURSE, IS WHAT YOU THINK OF FIRST WHEN YOU THINK OF WINTER SPORTS.
AND THERE'S NO FINER SKIING THAN ON THE DEEP, DRY-POWDER SNOW OF THE HIDDEN VALLEY WINTER-USE AREA, DEVELOPED AND SUPERVISED BY THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE.
>> INITIALLY, BOTH THE TOWN AND THE PARK WANTED SKIING IN HIDDEN VALLEY, AND A SMALL WINTER-USE OPERATION BECAME A FULL-SERVICE SKI AREA, A SKI AREA ON A COLLISION COURSE WITH NATIONAL PARK POLICY.
>> OH!
>> IN THE POSTWAR YEARS, HIDDEN VALLEY BECOMES THE PLACE TO GO.
THE LOCAL FOLKS LOVE IT.
AND THROUGH THE 1960s, IT'S A SMALL, BUT FAIRLY MODERNIZED AND FAIRLY NICE LITTLE SKI RESORT.
BUT IT'S NOT MAKING ANY MONEY, PLUS THE FACT THAT IT'S QUITE CLEAR THAT THIS IS NOT THE KIND OF INTRUSION UPON THE ENVIRONMENT THAT THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE IS COMFORTABLE WITH, OKAY?
SO, EVENTUALLY THE DECISION IS MADE, TO THE CONSTERNATION OF MANY LOCAL FOLKS WHO STILL LAMENT THE FACT THAT THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE SCARED THEM OUT OF THE PLACE WHERE THEY SPENT THE HALLOWED DAYS OF THEIR YOUTH SKIING ON THE SLOPES OF HIDDEN VALLEY.
NOW, THE FACT OF THE MATTER IS, ONE, THAT THE SNOWPACK THERE WAS ONLY GOOD IN SOME YEARS.
YOU COULDN'T COUNT ON THE SNOWPACK.
AND THEN, OF COURSE, THEY COULDN'T COMPETE WHEN YOU HAVE ASPEN AND VAIL AND BEAVER CREEK AND ALL THE AMENITIES OUT THERE.
THE LOCALS LOVED IT, BUT THEY WEREN'T ABLE TO ATTRACT THE KIND OF TOURISTS THAT COULD MAKE IT A SUCCESSFUL FINANCIAL GOAL.
AND SO I THINK IT WAS THE BANE OF THE EXISTENCE FOR A NUMBER OF SUPERINTENDENTS.
>> THE SKI AREA WAS LOSING, ON AN AVERAGE, ABOUT $250,000 A YEAR BY THE LATE 1980s.
THE FINAL STRAW ACTUALLY CAME WHEN WE PUT OUT A CONTRACT FOR BID TO OPERATE THE SKI AREA AND NOBODY BID ON IT.
AND SO, IN EFFECT, IT CLOSED ITSELF.
>> THROUGHOUT THE HISTORY OF ROCKY, INCORPORATION OF PRIVATE LAND WITHIN ITS BOUNDARIES HAS BEEN AN ISSUE.
SOME OF THE DESCENDENTS OF THE PIONEERS WERE HAPPY TO SEE THEIR PROPERTY PRESERVED AS NATIONAL PARK.
THE HONDIUS FAMILY OWNED THE ELKHORN LODGE OUTSIDE OF THE PARK AND RANCH LAND WITHIN.
>> THEY GRAZED CATTLE, AND THEY HAD THE 160 ACRES.
THEN THEY HAD A LOT OF OTHER PASTURE, ON UP TO FALL RIVER.
IN FACT, IT'S HORSESHOE PARK -- WHEN MY FATHER CAME HERE FROM HOLLAND IN 1895, I THINK IT WAS.
AND THEY HAD THE RANCH IN HORSESHOE PARK.
AND THE OTHER RANCH WAS OVER THE HILL TO THE SOUTH IN BEAVER MEADOWS, AND THE PARK WOUND UP BUYING BOTH THOSE, HAPPILY.
SO, IT'S IN THE PARK NOW.
AND THE HAPPIEST MEMORIES OF MY LIFE ARE IN THAT HAY MEADOW.
IT REALLY LIFTS MY HEART TO SEE IT IN THE SHAPE IT'S IN -- NAMELY, UNDISTURBED AND RESTORED, PRETTY MUCH.
>> SOME ACQUISITIONS WERE NOT THAT EASY.
THE HARBISON SISTERS, WHO HOMESTEADED IN THE 1800s ON THE WEST SIDE, HELD ON UNTIL THE CONSTRUCTION OF TRAIL RIDGE ROAD IN THE 1930s.
>> THE HARBISON SISTERS REFUSED TO SELL TO THE PARK.
THE RUMORS HAD SPREAD OVER THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN THAT THIS NATIONAL PARK SERVICE AND THOSE GOVERNMENT REVENUERS WERE CLEAR-CUTTING EVERY TREE THEY SAW AND BURNING DOWN OTHER RANCHES OVER ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN IN ESTES PARK.
AND THEY DIDN'T WANT THAT TO HAPPEN TO THEIR RANCH THAT THEY'D HAD FOR 30 YEARS ALREADY.
WELL, THE RUMORS WERE PARTIALLY CORRECT.
YES, THE PARK SERVICE WAS CLEAR-CUTTING WHERE THE NEW ROAD WAS GOING TO BE.
AND, YES, THEY DID BURN DOWN A COUPLE OF RANCH BUILDINGS, SOME OF WHICH HAD BEEN VACANT FOR 20 AND 30 YEARS AND WERE IN DISREPAIR.
BUT THAT EXPANDED, LIKE WE KNOW RUMORS WILL DO.
THAT EXPANDED INTO, THEY WERE CLEAR-CUTTING EVERY TREE ON THE SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN, AND THE HARBISON SISTERS DIDN'T WANT THAT TO HAPPEN TO THEIR HOMESTEAD.
>> EVENTUALLY, THE HARBISONS DID SELL, ENABLING THE PARK TO REROUTE TRAIL RIDGE ROAD WHERE IT RUNS THROUGH THE KAWUNEECHE VALLEY.
CONTROVERSY WAS NOT LIMITED TO THE TIME OF ACQUISITION.
SOME LOCALS AND VISITORS STILL EXPRESS DISMAY OVER THE REMOVAL OF RANCH BUILDINGS AND LODGES.
>> WELL, I DO THESE TOURS.
I TAKE THEM TO THE SITE OF FALL RIVER LODGE AND HORSESHOE LODGE AND SOME OF THE OTHERS.
AND THEY SAY, "OH, WASN'T IT TERRIBLE THAT THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE TORE THESE WONDERFUL LODGES OUT?
MY GRANDPARENTS CAME, AND I CAN'T GO THERE ANYMORE."
AND I SAY, "LOOK, YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND.
THESE BUILDINGS WERE -- LIKE MANY OF OUR EARLY BUILDINGS, THEY WERE BUILT IN A HASTE FOR PEOPLE WHO WANTED TO GET INTO THE RESORT BUSINESS."
I MEAN, FALL RIVER LODGE WAS BUILT IN 1915, IN ANTICIPATION OF THE FACT THAT THE DEDICATION WAS GONNA TAKE PLACE ABOUT 500 YARDS AWAY FROM IT.
SO, THEY JUST PLOPPED IT DOWN ON THE GROUND.
AND SO WHEN THE PARK SERVICE FINALLY HAD MONEY TO BEGIN TO ACQUIRE SOME OF THESE PLACES, IT MADE EMINENT GOOD SENSE.
>> NOT ALL BUILDINGS HAVE BEEN REMOVED.
SAVED MY HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE AND STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY, THE NEVER SUMMER RANCH NEAR GRAND LAKE IN THE KAWUNEECHE VALLEY SERVES AS AN INTERPRETIVE CENTER FOR THE WESTERN HERITAGE OF THE PARK.
ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE PARK, WITH BULLDOZERS LITERALLY PARKED AT THE DOORSTEP, THE McGRAW RANCH WAS FACING DEMOLITION IN THE 1990s.
>> WHEN THERE WAS AN ANNOUNCEMENT THAT THE BUILDINGS WOULD BE TORN DOWN, THERE WAS QUITE A LARGE PUBLIC OUTCRY BY PEOPLE IN ESTES PARK.
AND THE MONEY WAS RAISED WHERE THE BUILDINGS WERE RESTORED TO THE TIME PERIOD FROM 1935 TO 1955, AND THEY STARTED THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE RESEARCH LEARNING CENTER HERE.
SO, IT'S ALLOWED IT TO CONTINUE IN PERPETUITY THAT WAY.
>> THESE BUILDINGS ARE NOW STRATEGICAL HEADQUARTERS FOR MUCH OF THE RESEARCH BEING CONDUCTED IN THE PARK.
THERE WERE OTHER STRUCTURES WITHIN THE PARK THAT NEEDED TO GO, BUT DIDN'T QUITE GO SOON ENOUGH.
AND EARTHEN DAM DEEP IN THE PARK AT LAWN LAKE GAVE WAY IN 1982, KILLING THREE CAMPERS AND DEVASTATING DOWNTOWN ESTES PARK.
THIS WAS ONE OF MANY DAMS BUILT EARLY IN THE 20th CENTURY BY PRIVATE COMPANIES WHO OWNED THE WATER RIGHTS.
MOST OF THE OTHERS, INCLUDING THE REMOTE, DIFFICULT-TO-DISSEMBLE, CONCRETE BLUEBIRD DAM, HAVE SUBSEQUENTLY BEEN TAKEN OUT.
AS STRUCTURES HAVE BEEN BUILT AND REMOVED AND LAND USE CHANGED, WILDLIFE, UNAWARE OF BOUNDARIES AND UNABLE TO READ GOVERNMENT REPORTS, HAS OFTEN STRUGGLED WITH ADAPTATION.
WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AS THE SOPHISTICATED SCIENCE WE KNOW TODAY HAS EVOLVED THROUGH SEVERAL PERIODS OF TRIAL AND ERROR BASED ON PEOPLE DOING THE BEST THEY COULD WITH WHAT THEY KNEW.
THIS IS NOT TO SAY THAT EARLY PLANNERS DID NOT EMPLOY INGENUITY.
BACK IN 1912, F.O.
STANLEY AND PETER HONDIUS SR.
TOOK INVENTORY.
THERE WERE 12 ELK LEFT IN THE AREA.
SO THEY SENT A CONVOY OF CUSTOMIZED STEAM CARS TO MEET A TRAIN FROM YELLOWSTONE TO IMPORT A SMALL HERD OF ELK FOR ESTES PARK, BEGINNING A CENTURY-LONG SERIES OF ELK-MANAGEMENT DECISIONS.
>> THEY BROUGHT IN 40 OR 50 HEAD.
AND THE REASON THEY HAD TO BRING ELK IN IS THAT THE HUNTERS HAD TOTALLY CLEANED OUT THIS AREA BY THE YEAR 1900.
SO, THEY HAD RE-INTRODUCED THEM.
AND SO THE PARK -- WHEN THE PARK IS ESTABLISHED, THEY INTRODUCE A GROWING ELK HERD.
AND IT WAS FINALLY IN THE LATE 1930s THAT THEY DECIDED THEY HAD PERHAPS TOO MANY ELK.
>> A FAMOUS LETTER FROM STANLEY TO PETER HONDIUS THAT SAYS, "LOOK," HE SAYS, "FROM WHAT I HEAR ABOUT ELK AND THEIR PROPAGATION, WE'LL HAVE TO GET TEDDY ROOSEVELT UP HERE TO TAKE CARE OF THEM IN A FEW YEARS."
WELL, THIS IS 1915.
BY 1932, THEY'RE LEAVING THE PARK.
>> THE BIOLOGISTS DECIDED THAT THEY NEEDED TO REALLY TRIM THE HERD, AND SO STARTING IN THE LATE 1930s, INTO THE 1940s, EVERY YEAR THEY WOULD SHOOT 200 OR 300 HEAD OF ELK.
THERE WAS SOME PUBLIC REACTION AGAINST THAT.
I MEAN, THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A NO-HUNTING PARK, BUT THEY STILL HAD A PROBLEM WITH THAT.
AND THEN IN THE 1960s, THEY ALLOWED THE HERD TO EXPAND.
AND IT'S BEEN A CONTINUOUS REVISION OF HOW TO DEAL WITH JUST THAT ONE ANIMAL THROUGH THE YEARS.
SO, INDEED, IT'S A VERY COMPLICATED STORY.
AND WHEN YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT BIOLOGICAL OR ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS, IT IS A REAL CHALLENGE, IN TERMS OF MANAGEMENT.
>> IN THE 1990s, HELICOPTERS WERE BRIEFLY USED TO CAPTURE AND COLLAR THE ELK.
CONSIDERING SAFETY FOR THE PERSONNEL AND THE ANIMALS, THIS WAS NOT THE MOST PREFERRED METHOD OF CONTROL.
>> I HATE TO CALL IT AN ELK PROBLEM BECAUSE PEOPLE COME TO SEE THE WILDLIFE AND SEE THE ELK.
NOW, TODAY YOU CAN SEE THEM ON THE GOLF COURSE, YOU CAN SEE THEM DOWNTOWN.
THE ISSUES OF, "HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH WILDLIFE IN A RESPONSIBLE WAY, WITHIN CONFINES OF A NATIONAL PARK?"
IS ONE OF THE REAL PROBLEMS THAT THE PARK SERVICES HAD TO DEAL WITH.
>> CONTRIBUTING TO THE EXPANDING ELK POPULATION WAS A SHORTAGE OF PREDATORS.
>> WE USED TO HAVE -- BACK IN THE TIME THE NATIONAL PARK WAS ESTABLISHED AND SHORTLY THEREAFTER, WE HAD THE THEORY OF GOOD AND BAD ANIMALS.
THE BAD ANIMALS WERE THE PREDATORS.
AND SO WHEN YOU FIND COYOTES AND YOU FIND MOUNTAIN LIONS, YOU GET RID OF THEM.
WELL, WHAT HAPPENS IS THAT YOU DISRUPT THE CYCLE OF LIFE, AND BEFORE YOU KNOW IT, YOU'VE GOT CERTAIN SPECIES WHICH ARE OVERPRODUCING.
LIKE, THE MOUNTAIN LION ARE BEING CHASED AWAY.
THAT WAS THE PREVAILING THEORY, THAT THEIR RESPONSIBILITY WAS TO TAKE CARE OF THE GOOD ANIMALS.
>> THE PRACTICE OF EXTIRPATING PREDATORS ENDED IN THE 1930s, WHEN WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT BEGAN TO BE BASED MORE ON SCIENCE RATHER THAN CONJECTURE.
THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT THAT PROVIDES HABITAT FOR THE ANIMALS IN ROCKY RECEIVED AN EXTRA ELEMENT OF PROTECTION IN 2009, WHEN CONGRESS WAS CONVINCED TO PLACE THE PARK UNDER THE RULES OF THE 1964 NATIONAL WILDERNESS ACT.
>> WHEN THE WILDERNESS ACT WAS PASSED IN 1964, THE AGENCIES, INCLUDING THE PARK SERVICE, WERE DIRECTED TO STUDY LANDS FOR POTENTIAL WILDERNESS DESIGNATION, WHICH IS AN EXTRA LAYER OF PROTECTION.
WE'RE CERTAINLY ALREADY PROTECTED AS A NATIONAL PARK, BUT WILDERNESS DESIGNATION FURTHER RESTRICTS CERTAIN THINGS THAT CAN OCCUR WITHIN NATIONAL PARKS.
AND JUST LIKE THE ORIGINAL PARK DESIGNATION BACK IN 1915, THE WILDERNESS DESIGNATION WAS LARGELY A GRASSROOTS EFFORT BY THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES, SURROUNDING COUNTIES, AND OTHERS WHO THOUGHT THAT IT WAS A GOOD IDEA TO GET THAT EXTRA LAYER OF PROTECTION TO THE PARK.
>> IT WAS THE LEADERSHIP IN GRAND LAKE AND ESTES PARK WORKING WITH THE LEADERSHIP OF THE NATIONAL PARK THAT ENABLED THE WILDERNESS ACT TO BECOME A REALITY FOR ROCKY.
PROTECTION OF A WILDERNESS AREA IS ONE THING, WHEREAS PROTECTION FROM IT IS ANOTHER STORY.
FIRE MITIGATION IS AN ONGOING ISSUE THROUGHOUT OUR WESTERN NATIONAL PARKS.
DETERMINING THE DEGREE OF CONTROL WHEN COMMUNITIES BACK RIGHT UP TO THE BOUNDARIES INVOLVES FAST AND CRITICAL DECISION MAKING.
ON OCTOBER 9th IN 2012, AN ILLEGAL CAMPFIRE IGNITED A SECTION OF THE PARK THAT HAD NOT BURNED IN HUNDREDS OF YEARS.
THE RESULT WAS A LARGE FIRE DEEP IN THE BACKCOUNTRY.
WHEN THE WINDS CHANGED AND IT HEADED FOR ESTES PARK, FIRE CREWS STOPPED IT IN ITS TRACKS AT THE EDGE OF MORAINE PARK, MOMENTS BEFORE IT WOULD HAVE COME INTO TOWN.
>> ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK IS A FIRE-ADAPTED ECOSYSTEM.
AS ROCKY HAS GROWN IN POPULARITY AND THE POPULATION HAS GROWN AROUND ROCKY, HOW WE MANAGE THOSE FIRES MATTER.
AND IT'S INTERESTING TO NOTE THAT SINCE 1915, FOUR OF THE PARK'S LARGEST FIRES HAVE OCCURRED IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS.
THE CLIMATE SIGNAL -- THAT'S WHAT WE CALL IT.
THE CLIMATE SIGNAL ISN'T AS STRONG AS THE DROUGHT SIGNAL THAT WE'VE BEEN LIVING THROUGH RECENTLY, BUT IT DEFINITELY SUGGESTS THAT TIMES ARE CHANGING AND THAT FIRE HAS BEEN ON THE LANDSCAPE BEFORE AND WILL BE ON IT AGAIN.
BUT HOW WE MANAGE IT MORE INTENSIVELY WITH OUR COMMUNITY MATTERS.
[ THUNDER CRASHES ] >> ONE YEAR LATER, AS ESTES PARK WAS STILL SHAKEN BY THE THREAT OF THE FIRE, AN UNPRECEDENTED NATURAL EVENT OCCURRED.
IN AN UNPREDICTABLE PAUSE IN THE DROUGHT PATTERN, IN SEPTEMBER OF 2013, TORRENTIAL RAIN FELL IN THE MOUNTAINS FOR SEVERAL DAYS, UNTIL RIVERS LEFT THEIR BANKS AND FLOODED ALMOST THE ENTIRE FRONT RANGE OF COLORADO.
TRAILS AND LANDSCAPES IN ROCKY WERE SEVERELY ALTERED AS THE WATER RAN THROUGH THE PARK AND INTO TOWN, CAUSING WIDESPREAD DEVASTATION TO COMMUNITIES DOWNSTREAM.
THIS WAS LABELED A ONCE-IN-1,000-YEAR EVENT.
IN THE FUTURE, PARK MANAGERS ARE SEEKING A BALANCED APPROACH IN FACING THE CHANGES THEY SEE IN THE ENVIRONMENT AND IN THE SOCIETY.
>> IT'S PRESERVATION ON ONE HAND, IT'S USE ON THE OTHER HAND, AND IT'S NOT JUST EITHER/OR.
IT IS REALLY A SLIDING SCALE.
AND DECISIONS THAT RESEARCHERS AND PARK MANAGERS MAKE IS NEVER ONE OR THE OTHER.
IT'S NEVER JUST PRESERVATION AND PROTECTION.
IT'S NEVER JUST USE.
IT'S ALWAYS SOMEWHERE ALONG THAT SLIDING SCALE.
AND I THINK THAT SLIDING SCALE IS GOING TO KEEP REQUIRING GOOD, SOUND DECISIONS AS DEMOGRAPHICS CHANGE, ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS CHANGE.
>> WHETHER CHANGE IS A FLOOD OR A FIRE ON THE VALLEY FLOOR OR THE CLIMATE ON THE TUNDRA, THE WILDLIFE IN ROCKY CONTINUES TO DO THE BEST IT CAN WITH WHAT IT KNOWS.
IN THE EDUCATIONAL TRADITION OF DORR YEAGER, IT'S AS IF WILDLIFE NOW HAS A SAY IN ITS OWN MANAGEMENT.
>> WE'VE DOCUMENTED MORE THAN 3,000 SPECIES AT ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK.
WE EXPECT THAT THERE'S PROBABLY MORE THAN 16,000 IN THE PARK, MANY OF WHICH WE HAVE YET TO DISCOVER.
WE ADDRESS THOSE INDIRECTLY THROUGH WHAT WE CALL UMBRELLA SPECIES OR KEYSTONE SPECIES, SUCH AS OUR ELK MANAGEMENT.
WE KNOW THAT IF WE WORK TO CORRECT SOME OF THE IMPACTS OF ELK ON OUR RIPARIAN AREAS, IT'LL HELP OUT DOZENS, IF NOT SEVERAL HUNDRED SPECIES.
AND WE WORK METHODICALLY IN THAT WAY.
WHAT WE DON'T KNOW, IN THE FACE OF CLIMATE CHANGE, IS HOW THOSE RELATIONSHIPS WILL CHANGE AND THEN WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO SOME OF THOSE SPECIES.
>> THE PARK'S WILDLIFE STUDIES NOW INCLUDE INTERNATIONAL STUDENT EXCHANGES.
IDENTIFYING CONSERVATION AS A GLOBAL EFFORT, ROCKY HAS TRANSNATIONAL AGREEMENTS WITH PARKS IN EUROPE AND IN COSTA RICA.
WHETHER ON DISTANT SHORES OR BACK AT HOME, ROCKY HAS ALWAYS BEEN ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE WILDLIFE IN THIS WILDERNESS AND THE PEOPLE.
>> THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE SO CLOSE TO THE FRONT RANGE OF COLORADO AND, WITHIN AN HOUR'S DRIVE, ACCESS WILDERNESS, WHERE YOU CAN ESCAPE THE NOISES THAT YOU HEAR IN THE URBAN CENTERS AND YOU CAN BEGIN TO WONDER ABOUT THE WORLD AROUND YOU IS AVAILABLE VERY QUICKLY.
>> WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT THE TIE THAT PEOPLE HAVE TO NATIONAL PARKS IN GENERAL AND ROCKY, THAT JUST, I THINK, IS -- THE MOST TOUCHING THING FOR ME IS THAT PEOPLE JUST WANT TO SHARE THEIR STORIES AND MEMORIES WITH YOU.
AND MOST MEMORIES AFFILIATED WITH TRIPS TO NATIONAL PARKS ARE REALLY GOOD MEMORIES.
AND THE PEOPLE THAT ARE COMING HERE NOW ARE COMING FOR THE SAME EXACT REASON THEY DID 75 YEARS AGO, 80 YEARS AGO, EITHER FOR SOLACE OR SOLITUDE.
OKAY, THEY DIDN'T HAVE iPHONES 50 YEARS AGO, BUT THEY HAD OTHER STUFF THAT THEY WERE JUST TRYING TO STEP BACK FROM.
AND SO IT'S REALLY AMAZING HOW PEOPLE STILL ARE COMING FOR THE SAME REASONS.
AND THERE'S NOT A LOT OF PLACES THAT YOU COULD REALLY SAY THAT ABOUT.
>> THEY COME FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY, ALL OVER THE WORLD TO SEE AND EXPERIENCE, TO HIKE, TO WATCH THE WILDLIFE, THE SCENERY.
THEY BRING THEIR CHILDREN.
AND HOPEFULLY THEY LEAVE WITH A BETTER UNDERSTANDING AND AN APPRECIATION OF WHY THESE PLACES ARE IMPORTANT TO US AS INDIVIDUALS, IMPORTANT TO US AS A NATION, AND IMPORTANT TO HUMANITY.
ONE OF THE GREAT THINGS ABOUT WORKING FOR THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE ARE THE PEOPLE, THE EMPLOYEES, SO DEDICATED TO THE MISSION, TO VISITORS, TO PROTECTING THE RESOURCE -- PHENOMENAL GROUP OF PEOPLE, ABSOLUTELY PHENOMENAL.
>> YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT THE DAY'S GONNA HOLD WHEN YOU COME INTO WORK.
YOU COULD BE IN THE OFFICE THINKING YOU'RE GONNA CATCH UP ON SOME PAPERWORK, AND THE NEXT THING YOU KNOW, YOU'RE BEING FLOWN TO THE SUMMIT OF LONGS PEAK TO HELP OUT WITH A RESCUE OPERATION.
[ HELICOPTER BLADES WHIRRING ] I LOVE WORKING WITH THE PARK VISITORS.
WELL, IT'S JUST FUN TO SHARE MY PASSION FOR ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE EQUALLY AS PASSIONATE ABOUT THE PARK.
>> AND WE HAD TO SEE LAKE HELENE.
>> LAKE HELENE?
IT'S ONE OF MY FAVORITE SPOTS.
IT'S A GREAT JOB.
>> PARKS ARE FOR THE PEOPLE, SO WHAT PEOPLE BRING TO THE PARK IS AS VALUABLE AS WHAT WE PERCEIVE THE PARKS GIVES TO THEM.
I THINK EVERY VISITOR WHO COMES COMES WITH THEIR OWN LIFE EXPERIENCES AND THEIR OWN SET OF EXPECTATIONS.
OR MAYBE THEIR DREAM IS TO HIKE TO AN ALPINE LAKE, AND OUR JOB IS TO GET TO KNOW THEM WELL ENOUGH IN A VERY SHORT PERIOD OF TIME THAT WE CAN GUIDE THEM IN THE DIRECTION TO APPROPRIATELY HAVE THAT EXPERIENCE.
WE NEED TO MAKE SURE WE ARE -- THAT WE'RE CHANGING WITH THE TIMES ENOUGH THAT WE'RE RELEVANT TO CURRENT AND FUTURE GENERATIONS.
AND THAT MAY MEAN STEPPING OUT OF SOME OF OUR COMFORT ZONE OF WHAT WE'VE ALWAYS DONE AND TRYING SOME THINGS THAT ARE VERY NEW.
>> OUR ROCKY MOUNTAIN WATER IS PRETTY COLD... >> THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT BEING WITH SOMEBODY WHO HAS LOTS OF LIFE EXPERIENCE AND NOW YOU'RE STANDING OUT IN THIS DARK MEADOW WITH THEM AND THEY'RE LOOKING UP AT THE SKY AND THEY'RE LIKE, "IS THAT IT, OR IS THAT A CLOUD?"
AND YOU TELL THEM, "NO, THAT'S THE MILKY WAY.
THAT'S OUR GALAXY."
AND THEY'RE JUST BLOWN AWAY BECAUSE THEY'VE NEVER SEEN IT BEFORE.
AND THERE'S JUST SOMETHING REALLY AMAZING ABOUT BEING WITH THAT VISITOR WHEN THEY HAVE THAT EXPERIENCE.
>> ROCKY IS OVER 350 MILES OF TRAILS IN 415 SQUARE MILES OF UP TO 11,000-, 12,000-, AND 14,000-FOOT PEAKS, WITH 150 LAKES AND 450 MILES OF STREAMS.
20- TO 40-FOOT DRIFTS COVER TRAIL RIDGE ROAD IN WINTERS THAT PROVIDE FOR PEOPLE WISHING TO GET AROUND UNDER THEIR OWN POWER.
OVER THREE MILLION VISITORS COME EVERY YEAR, WITH DREAMS RANGING FROM DRIVING TO THE ALPINE TUNDRA TO FACING A PERSONAL CHALLENGE.
>> I REALLY STARTED TO LOOK TOWARDS THE MOUNTAINS AS SOMETHING THAT I WANTED TO BE IN ON A DAILY BASIS.
AT ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK, I FEEL WELCOMED.
I'M FRIENDS WITH THE RANGERS.
IT IS SUCH A GOOD FEELING TO BE HERE AND FEEL LIKE PART OF THE PARK AND FEEL LIKE WHAT I'M DOING IS SOMETHING THAT IS ACCEPTED AND EVEN APPRECIATED ON CERTAIN LEVELS.
HISTORICALLY, CLIMBERS BECOME ENVIRONMENTALISTS, BECOME ACTIVISTS BECAUSE CLIMBING IS SUCH AN INSPIRING WAY TO SEE THE MOUNTAINS AND YOU REALLY FALL IN LOVE WITH THEM AND THEN THEREFORE YOU WANT TO PROTECT THEM.
[ EXHALES SHARPLY ] >> WILLIAM BYERS, ROCKY MOUNTAIN JIM, ISABELLA BIRD, AND ENOS MILLS ARE FOUR OF THE COUNTLESS WHO HAVE BEEN CAPTIVATED BY THE MYSTIQUE OF THE 14,259-FOOT LONGS PEAK.
WHETHER ON A TECHNICAL ROUTE OR A SCRAMBLING TRAIL, THERE IS NO EASY WAY UP.
THOUSANDS OF HOPEFUL SOULS HAVE EMBRACED ITS CHALLENGE AND ACCEPTED ITS REWARDS OR CONSEQUENCES.
AS DIFFICULT TO DEFINE AS MOUNTAINEERING ITSELF, LONGS PEAK HOLDS THE SPIRIT OF THIS NATIONAL PARK.
>> MORE THAN ANY OTHER MOUNTAIN, LONGS WOULD HAVE BEEN MY TRAINING GROUND FOR WHAT EVENTUALLY LED ME TO THE WEST RIDGE OF EVEREST.
THE CLIMBING ASPECT OF IT HAS ADDED -- IT BRINGS A WHOLE OTHER FORM OF INTIMACY AND DIMENSION TO THE EXPERIENCE.
BUT IT'S ALSO NOT ESSENTIAL TO WHAT THESE MOUNTAINS GIVE YOU TO TOUCH YOUR HEART.
WHEN I'M JUST SCRAMBLING UP BACK HERE BEHIND THE HOUSE BY MYSELF AND UP THE SLABS AND I PAUSE AND MAYBE SIT ON A LITTLE LEDGE AND LOOK OUT AT THIS, IT JUST BLOWS ME AWAY OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN.
IT'S A HELL OF AN ATTRACTIVE MOUNTAIN.
AND IT'LL BE THERE DOING THE SAME THINGS FOR THE GENERATIONS THAT FOLLOW YOU AND ME THAT IT'S DONE FOR US.
>> SOMETIMES THOSE IMAGES STAY WITH YOU, THAT THEY'RE SO STRONG THAT THEY BECOME A DREAM ITSELF.
AND THEN IT'S REFRESHING THE NEXT SPRING TO WALK UP TO BLACK LAKE OR TO TAKE A LOOK AT OUZEL FALLS AND REFRESH YOURSELF WITH THAT DREAM.
IT'S REAL.
I MEAN, IT'S A VISION, AND IT'S ALSO REAL AT THE SAME TIME.
AND IT'S SOMETHING IN OUR MIND THAT IS A VERY POWERFUL AND DRAMATIC MAGNET IN OUR BEING THAT WE WANT TO BE OUT THERE.
WE WANT TO SEE WHAT IT'S LIKE.
I'VE BEEN TO THIS SITE A THOUSAND TIMES, RIGHT WHERE WE'RE STANDING HERE, AND I LOVE IT JUST AS MUCH TODAY AS I DID THE FIRST TIME I SAW IT.
>> THANK GOD THAT THIS PARK, 100 YEARS AFTER THE DREAM OF ENOS MILLS AND F.O.
STANLEY AND ALL THE OTHERS WHO MADE THIS PARK POSSIBLE, THAT IT'S STILL HERE.
>> IT IS SOMETIMES SAID THAT PEOPLE ARE THE ANTAGONISTS OF THE NATURAL WORLD, BUT WHEN WE LEAVE OUR URBAN BAGGAGE AT THE DOOR, A REACTION OCCURS, AND WE EACH BECOME PART OF THE LIVING DREAM CALLED ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK.
>> FUNDING FOR "THE LIVING DREAM" HAS BEEN PROVIDED BY THE FOLLOWING -- OSKAR BLUES AND THE CAN'D AID FOUNDATION, SUPPORTING OUTDOOR ENTHUSIASTS WHEREVER YOUR ADVENTURE TAKES YOU -- foundation.oskarblues.com.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN GATEWAY -- INFORMATION AND INSPIRATION, SHOPPING AND DINING AT THE FALL RIVER ENTRANCE TO ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK -- rockymountaingateway.net.
RAMS HORN VILLAGE RESORT, RENTAL AND VACATION OPPORTUNITIES CLOSE TO ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK.
ramshornvillageresort.com.
CASTLE MOUNTAIN LODGE, GRACEFULLY LOCATED IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS -- castlemountainlodge.com.
ESTES PARK CENTRAL VACATION RENTALS -- estesparkcentral.com.
ADDITIONAL SUPPORT COMES FROM... "THE LIVING DREAM: 100 YEARS OF ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK" IS AVAILABLE ON DVD FOR $19.95 OR BLU-RAY FOR $24.95, PLUS SHIPPING AND HANDLING.
TO ORDER A COPY, CALL... OR ORDER ONLINE AT...