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RED FEATHER HISTORICAL SOCIETYServing Red Feather Lakes, Crystal Lakes, Beaver Meadows, Glacier
View Meadows, and
Livermore
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Welcome to our Website
Our Community and Its Roots
The
Red Feather Historical Society (RFLS, Society) is
a
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To preserve for the public benefit the history - homesteading, ranching, logging, mining, water development and recreation - of the portion of Larimer County that lies northwest of the intersection of Highways 14 and 287 (the watershed of the North Fork of the Cache la Poudre River; see 80536 zip code map).
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To preserve and encourage preservation of historical buildings, objects, sites and areas, relating to the history of Red Feather and surrounding area.
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To promote an awareness of and respect for all that is historically significant about Red Feather and the surrounding area.
Website Contents click here to see all files.
Preservation of buildings and artifacts
In the Red Feather Lakes Village is the 1889 Robinson Cabin with artifacts from the early years. The museum is locked but open to the public. A key is available from the Hilltop General Store, just up the road behind the Cabin. For information see Robinson Cabin Museum.
Historic Photos
In 2006 the Society produced three post cards in celebration of the founding of Red Feather Lakes. They can be viewed and purchased at Hill Top General Store where you get the key to visit the Cabin/museum.
The back of the card says: Red Feather Lakes, Colorado was founded in 1924 as a resort community, surrounded by pristine lakes and forests of the beautiful Roosevelt National Forest. Ruth Kevan was the artist.
The back side of the card says: Starting for a row on Hiawatha, July 1924. Each enthusiastic lady tucked a red feather in her hair in loyal support of the new community.
The back side of the card says: The Hardin family on a tranquil summer outing at Hiawatha Lake in the 1890s. The Three Sisters Rocks form the background.
Awareness of Local History
The society promotes historical awareness to its members and to the public through a variety of means discussed below.
You do not have to be a member of the Society to participate in these activities, although we encourage membership as a way to provide support to the Society and to provide you with timely information.
The Society takes trips to places of historical interest such as Pingree Park, Pinyon Pine Grove (a Natural Resources Area), Trails End, Fox Acres, Red Mountain Open Space, Lake Parvin Fishery, and the CCC Camp.
The Greening of Red Feather Craft Fair occurs in December at the Red Feather Lakes Village in the POA building and Fire Barn. It brings people together in celebration of the season by providing a place for booths specializing in original arts and crafts and promoting community holiday activities.
At the Annual Holiday Dinner (winter) and Annual Meeting (summer) we have speakers who talk about historical topics, or re-enactors who portray historical figures, such as Lady Moon.
We are fortunate to have a number of authors who have written about this area. Some of these books are available in the Red Feather Lakes Library, while others are available from the Livermore Woman's Club. Click the link above for a list of these books. For some books, additional information about the book is provided in the form of listing the table of contents or a summary of interesting information.
This website is intended to be collaborative along the lines of Wikipedia, the web-based encyclopedia where anyone can be an author and post their material directly on-line. However, with this website you can not directly post your material. We have an editor, Judd Adams, who is also the web master. If you wish to contribute to this website in writing or with pictures please go to Project Information Form to describe your project and email it to juddadams@att.net or call him at 970-224-4567 to discuss your ideas or answer your questions.
This section contains histories of our community from several perspectives:
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History as seen through the eyes of the participants.
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An example is the memoirs (unpublished) of real estate developer Don Weixelman who created the residential subdivisions of Hewlett Gulch, Glacier View Meadows, Green Mountain Meadows, Crystal Lakes and Beaver Meadows.
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The Society has commissioned Linda Bell to conduct interviews with persons who have particular knowledge or perspectives of historical interest. Transcripts or excerpts of these interviews will be posted to this website. An example is Dennis Frydendall who bought a cabin in Red Feather Lakes in 1962 and soon joined the Board of Directors of the Red Feather Storage & Irrigation Company. Dennis knows the water issues and his twenty page interview will probably tell you everything you want to know about water law and the development of the Red Feather lakes.
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History as passed on through the family.
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For example, Lee McConnell wrote an article including historic pictures of his grandfather, R. C. McConnell, who was the area's first Forest Ranger.
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History based or library research.
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Linda Adams wrote about the pioneer Solomon and Mary Batterson family based upon archived newspaper information www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org
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Roadside Photo Tours
A roadside photo tour is a set of pictures of what you see as you look out the window driving from one point to another, with a brief description of the structure or object and its history.
These tours are patterned after Roadside History of Colorado, and Roadside Geology of Colorado (see History Books for complete reference). Roadside History of Colorado, however thoroughly it covers Colorado, unfortunately does not include our area which we are remedying with the information provided in this website. The book's only reference to our area is on Page 61 where it describes the Overland Stage Trailas follows:
"The transcontential Overland Stage line until then had been running from Julesburg (see I-76 itinerary) to South Pass in western Wyoming by way of the North Platte River Valley. The stretch from Julesburg to the Sweetwater River in central Wyoming was Sioux country, and the depredations forced the Overland to detour. The new route went from Julesburg to Denver and back north via the Cherokee Trail, which paralleled today's I-25 from Denver to Fort Collins, Exit 269, before angling to the northwest along a path the coincided roughly with modern U.S. 287."
Before taking a roadside photo tour, go to Road Tours Overview. This site provides maps and descriptions of the roads and rivers for the entire area. Note that the tour on 74E, Red Feather Lakes Road is in two parts, the Forks to McNey Hill, and McNey Hill to Red Feather Lakes, because of the number of pictures, to reduce downloading time.
Community Information and Links
This section has in formation on Property Owner Associations (Red Feather Lakes Village, Glacier View Meadows, Crystal Lakes/Beaver Meadows), Schools, Churches, Service, Social and Volunteer Organizations etc.
History Themes
- Westward Migration: Why and How They Came Here and Settled
- Early Settlers, and Development of the Ranching Community
- Batterson Barn and Homestead
- Currie Ranch & Subdivisions John and Clarence Currie developed a ranch of 17,000 acres between 1906 and 1967 which was subsequently turned into a number of subdivisions along 74E, Red Feather Lakes Road: Hewlett Gulch, Glacier View Meadows, Green Mountain, Meadows, North Rim, and Crystal Lakes (west of Red Feather Lakes).
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Water History: Lakes, Irrigation Ditches, Tunnels, Reservoirs
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Dennis Frydendall interview: Dennis bought a cabin in Red Feather Lakes in 1962 and shortly became a director of the Storage & Irrigation Company. In this interview Dennis discusses western, state, and local water issues, the trials and tribulations of a water company, and early growth of Red
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Red Feather Lakes Community includes a map of the lakes, and history of the construction of ditches and development of the lake system.
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Social Infrastructure
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Weather Events
We endeavor to locate websites outside our community which have historical information.
The site was launched on 9/7/2008 and is under "construction" - that is, it is in early stages of development. We are seeking contributors and feedback on structure, content, and of course any errors or omissions.
Your
comments and suggestions are welcomed; contact juddadams@att.net.