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RED FEATHER HISTORICAL SOCIETY Serving Red Feather Lakes, Crystal Lakes,
Beaver Meadows, Glacier View Meadows, and Livermore |
Welcome to our Website
Our Community and Its Roots
The Red Feather Historical Society (RFLS, Society) is a Colorado
not-for-profit, tax exempt, corporation that was established in 1985 with the
following mission:
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To preserve for the public benefit the history of homesteading, ranching, logging, mining, water development and recreation, etc. 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.
Navigation Tips
At the top and bottom of every file or page is a listing of other files or pages which you may directly access by clicking on the title. The first option is Home which will bring you back to this, the home page. The other options are files which are in the same level as what you are currently reading (the web files are organized hierarchically). For example, if you are reading a book summary, the other immediate options are other book summaries. You can also go back to the previous page by clicking on the top left button on your browser, just above FILE. Website Contents takes you a list of all files organized by category.
Tours and Events
When
the weather permits, generally May through September, the Historical Society
visits historic sites.
Several events occur every year on slightly different dates and they may include a speaker, historical reinactor, or musical entertainment.
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Red Feather Greening Holiday Craft Fair in Red Feather Lakes Village
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Annual Holiday Dinner, typically the following week in December.
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Dinner and Annual Meeting, June.
See Tours & Events to see photos from some of the past tours and the year's schedule when it becomes available.
**** Did you know there was once a commercial fox raising enterprise in Red Feather Lakes? Go to the Fox Acres tour.
Orientation to the Website
To help preserve the history of the community and make it accessible to the public, the Historical Society launched this website in September 2008. Judd Adams is the webmaster and also a member of the Board of Directors. He produced the majority of the material - text, photos, maps and other graphics - on the website, except where otherwise noted, in particular the Personal Histories. His research and writing for the website began in 2005 when he was thinking of writing a book. Much has been learned since then. There are undoubtedly inaccuracies and imprecision in some of the earlier material. Please contact him at 970-224-456 or juddadams@att.net when you identify these problems and for suggestions for improving the website.
The website presents community history in a number of ways.
The Robinson Cabin is the Historical Society's "museum" containing a variety of historical artifacts. It is located in Red Feather Lakes Village, across the street from the library. It was built in 1889 by one of the pioneering families, and was originally located in the Elkhorn Creek area. You can take a virtual tour of the museum by clicking this site. You can personally visit the cabin by obtaining a key from the Hill Top General Store which is up the hill behind the cabin.
****How did Red Feather Lakes get its name? Go to Red Feather Lakes Community for an answer, actually two answers.
Roadside tours (9) are collections of pictures of what you see as you look out the window driving from one point to another, with a brief (sometimes longer) description of the structure or object and its history. These tours are patterned after Roadside History of Colorado. There are many structures in the community which are more than one hundred years old including three that are on the National Register of Historic Places.
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The Virginia Dale Stage Station was an important stop for the Overland Trail/Overland Stage Line which carried mail and passengers. Established in1862 by the famous Jack Slade, it was placed on the Register in 1985, as one of the few Overland Stage stops still intact. See Virginia Dale for more information.
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The Livermore Hotel, General Store and Post Office was built in 1890 and served as the social center for the Livermore Community for years. It was placed on the Register in 2002. **** Do you know how Livermore got its name? Go to 74E to McNey Hill for the answer.
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The Batterson Barn and Ranch was homesteaded by the Battersons in 1870, (among the first pioneers in this area); the barn was built/completed in 1890, and for a time served as a swing stop for the Zimmerman Stage. It was placed on the Register in 2010 because it is one of the oldest and best examples of the Midwest Three Portal barns still standing in the region.
**** Who was Lady Moon? Why is she famous? Go to 74 E McNey Hill to Red Feather Lakes for the answer.
Personal histories (14), written and oral histories are collected from people who have lived many years in the community with intact memories of the earlier years. These histories are placed in the Red Feather Lakes Library as well as being posted on this website.
**** The first Anglo girl born in Red Feather Lakes was named Princess Red Feather - true of false? Go to Tamlin, Evelin & Amy for the answer.
Book Summaries (9)
are
introductions to local history books considered useful for understanding local
history, most written by people who have lived in the community such as ranchers
and their wives, and descendants of pioneers, those who “squatted” and
homesteaded the land. Much of this content constitutes personal histories and
has become part of the website.
**** Two groups of people settled this land: U.S. citizens emigrating from the East and Midwest, and secondly the English and Scotch. Read Remittance Men to learn about their critical influence in the development of the ranching business in the Livermore area.
Essays & Data Collections. Essays present history from a broader perspective, the themes which make sense of history. Two essays are completed (December 2011), Westward Migration (why people migrated), and Transition Time (what was happening in our area between 1825 - 1870). Data collections pull together data from a variety of sources into a concise format. Putting Down Roots is a table listing in chronological order those people (53 up to 1900) who pioneered the area along with the drainage and road, subsequent owners, and other interesting facts. Mines and Quarries has summary information on 6 mines and 2 quarries in the area. The mines were not profitable but the quarries were and still are.
What is History? What Can You Find on This Website? and What Can You Find In Our Community?
In this section I explain my process of constructing this website, and in so doing, I indicate what you can find on this website in more detail than the above summaries. This essay also suggests what joys lie ahead of you when you take a self-guided tour of the community.
History of the Website explains how the Board of Directors decided to create a website based upon a book I was starting to write about our local history based upon the model of Roadside History of Colorado. I wanted to know the histories of the structures, ranch houses, I saw as I travelled once a week to do groceries and other errands in Fort Collins. So I started taking pictures of these buildings followed by digging through the local history books, extracting the relevant information from each book for each structure. That was the birth of the website.
Website Dedication: to Don Weixelman, the realtor/developer of the subdivisions along Red Feather Lakes Road who passed away April, 2011. Weixelman's notes are part of this website.