Notable Folks

Notables of Old Estes Park

Those who made a difference

One of the most notable, although more recent contributors to Estes Park history is Jim Pickering. His series of histories, compilations and profiles of Estes Park have contributed a richness, and revealed a complexity previously untapped.

The books of Jim Pickering as shown below are available at the Estes Park Museum in the Museum Shop as well as many other locations around town.

The latest being:

Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park Then & Now

Contemporary rephotography by Mic Clinger - Text by James H. Pickering and Carey Stevanus

	Frank Bartholf
	The Birch Ruin	Built by Newspaperman Al Birch, as his dream house, it tragically burned due to faulty construction the same year it was built in 1907. You can still see today how the main floor beams were inlet into the rock foundation just under the main fireplace.
	Isabella Bird
	Lord Dunraven
	Joel & Patsy Estes First "permanent" settlers in Estes Park 1859	Joel Estes was a Cattle Rancher, hunter, Gold Seeker, Explorer, but most of all a family man. He and Patsey* raised 13 children in St. Joseph, MO. He come to Colorado first in 1832, then to California in 1849 where he and his son sold their claim for $30,000. He traveled the Oregon Trail in 1855, and finally when Gold was discovered in Colorado in 1859, he brought his wife, 6 children still at home, and a herd of cattle to Denver. The huge crowds made them decide to travel north along the Platte River to Ft. St. Vrain. He took his son Milton on a exploring trip to the mountains through what is now Lyons, following the North St. Vrain higher and higher till they came over that hill and discovered that beautiful blue valley now known as Estes Park. They built 2 cabins and moved the family up there. William Byers, Editor of the Rocky Mountain News, stayed with the family on his attempt to climb Longs Peak. In his later article for the paper, he wrote that no human would ever reach the top of Longs Peak and the Estes Family was so kind to him, he called it Estes Park. In 1866, Joel sold the entire park for a team of oxen and went back to St. Joseph,. Patsey later described their time in Estes Park "was like living on the front doorstep of heaven". --Bio Info Courtesy Colleen Estes Cassell *Patsey is the families spelling, and the spelling on her gravestone per Colleen
	Charles Edwin Hewes
	Josie Hupp	Josephine first came to Estes Park in the early 1890’s, and married Henry Hupp, the son of early Estes Park pioneers who farmed and ranched in Beaver Meadows. Josie built and operated the Hupp Hotel She served as Estes Park’s postmaster between 1907 and 1914, and helped to charter the first bank in Estes Park. The thoroughly modern (steam heat, hot & cold running water) Hupp Hotel opened in 1906, and for two years was the only hotel on Elkhorn Avenue. In 1908, the bigger Manford hotel was built where the Indian Village stands today. Josie solved the competition problem by buying the Manford and renaming it the Hupp Annex. At various times, she also built or managed the Hupp Annex, the Josephine Hotel, the Sherwood Hotel and the Manford Hotel. “The Hupp served as a meeting place for early Estes Park residents. The Estes Park bank was chartered in the dining room. A mass meeting in 1915 following the dedication of Rocky Mountain National Park resulted in the decision to send Enos Mills off to Washington to ask Congress for appropriations for roads and trails in the new park. The Hupp had the reputation of a fine dining room and was open year-round. Early photographs of downtown Estes Park prominently show the Hupp. The hotel was Estes Park’s best known landmark for years.” Several of Josie Hupp's properties: at left, the Hupp Annex, at right the Hupp Hotel, and in distance with barn-roof, the Sherwood Hotel Photo of Josie, facts and quote courtesy Estes Park Area Historical Museum
	Shep Husted
	Edgar Hyatt
	Mark Levings	1981 - 1957 Architect and artist from Omaha NebraskaStudied at the Arts Institute of Chicago, and the Ecole de Beaux-Arts, Paris. Examples of his work are held by the Art Institute of Omaha and the Los Angeles Art Museum. Mark Levings began etching in 1906 while studying in Paris at the Ecole de Beaux-Arts. Etching was experiencing a boom in popularity at the time due to the works of Whistler, and Levings and some other students got someone to teach them how to make etchings. Taught Lyman Byxbe the art of etching in 1926. "According to Byxbe's daughter Alice, his first etching was so good technically that Levings told him to go home. He didn't need Levings help." Robert Crump - The Prints of Lyman Byxbe Research courtesy of Lisa Purcell Elkhorn, Nebraska
	The Lone Pine The Story of the Lone Pine and its Unfortunate Demise
	Muriel MacGregor
	Phil Martin
	Enos Mills Enos Abijah Mills
	Joe Mills Enoch Josiah Mills	1880 - 1935, Enos Mills lesser known, although most accomplished brother Joe left Kansas in 1899 for his first visit to Estes Park. He attended college at the Colorado Agricultural College, now known as CSU. Although weighing in at 129 pounds, he was an accomplished athlete, and played football, baseball, basketball, and ran track there. He pursued athletics, and coached at Baylor, CSU and CU, and worked with his brother Enos, managing the Long's Peak Inn for several summers. The brother's then had a falling out and went their separate ways, often thereafter often opposing one another on controversial issues. Joe Mills managed the Forks Hotel in Drake, then opened the Crags Hotel (see Photo by FP Clatworthy), which formally opened July 4th 1914. He managed it until his death in 1935. Joe wrote two books, including A Mountain Boyhood, published in Boy's Life, which recounted his first visit to Estes in 1899, and numerous articles for local and national publications. He is the also the namesake of Joe Mill's Mountain in Odessa Gorge
	Jack Moomaw
	Buell Porter
	Abner Sprague Trying to sign up for the draft (which war?)
	Freelan O Stanley
	Dave Stirling
	William Allen White Editor of the Emporia Kansas Gazette Excerpts from his autobiography about his first summer in Estes	William Allen White and Camping Party in Moraine Park July 4, 1889 At the Emporia Gazette With Teddy Roosevelt

Revised: 11/01/2011

Revised: 12/22/2011