A key purpose of this website, and the earlier MountainParksHistory.org (2007-2016, now unavailable), is to make original historic information and documents directly available online. Some of these documents were in such poor condition that they were not legible when scanned; those have been retyped as either straight text or facsimiles of the original. A few are newspaper articles retrieved from Colorado Historic Newspapers; these are indicated as “CHN scan”.
Early Documents of the Mountain Parks
- Olmsted’s 1912 report letter to Mtn Parks Commission (typed facsimile)
- 1913 brochure on the Mountain Parks (text)
- Olmsted’s 1914 Table of Lands to be Acquired (typed facsimile)
- 1918 Report by Fred Steinhauer (typed facsimile)
Newspaper Articles
- How We Get Eight Dollars for One, 1913, Colorado Transcript, on Lariat Trail construction (CHN scan)
- Colorado Mountain Club to Remove Billboards, 1920, from Fort Collins Courier (CHN scan)
- Big Cloudburst in Bear Creek Canyon, 1921 from Fort Collins Courier (CHN scan)
- WPA repairs to 1938 Bear Creek Flood, 1939, from The Rocky Mountain News (retyped, reformatted)
Articles published by Denver*
- Articles about the mill levy, 1912 from The City of Denver (typed facsimile)
- Denver’s Mountain Playground, 1914 from The City of Denver (typed facsimile)
- Auspicious Celebration on Genesee Peak, 1914 from The City of Denver (typed facsimile)
- Travel in Mountain Parks Increased Heavily, 1918 from Municipal Facts (text)
- Birds of the Mountain Parks, 1919, from Municipal Facts (text)
- Species List, Birds of DMP, 1919 from Municipal Facts (text)
- Chief Hosa Lodge, 1921 from Municipal Facts (scan)
- The Hiker Comes into his Own, 1921 from Municipal Facts (scan)
- How Denver Acquired Her Mountain Parks, 1931 from Municipal Facts (scan)
*Denver Municipal Facts and The City of Denver, magazines published between 1909 and 1931, contained many articles in addition to those related to the Denver Mountain Parks, and many more on the Mountain Parks. Non-circulating copies of the original magazines can be reviewed at the Denver Public Library or online at digital.denverlib.gov.
Other Documents
- Tourist Brochure “Come Up to Colorado”, late 1920s (scan)
- 1939 Report, National Park Service (typed facsimile)
Also visit Colorado’s Historic Newspapers, an online archive of many historic newspaper articles.
See also Minutes of the Denver Mountain Parks Commission, for more details from the early years.
Mountain Parks History 