Pikas in the Park

Muriel: Born in 1904, Muriel MacGregor grew up on her parent’s ranch in Estes Park. She became one of the first female lawyers in Colorado. When she passed in 1970, she left the Ranch to be used for charitable and educational purposes. Clue: Maybe someday, there will be a pika in space! In the meantime, I dream of the stars as I listen to the FIZZ of the ROCKET.

Addie: Addie Alexander was the first woman to climb Long’s Peak. Clue: I’m enjoying the view from my perch on the log house, north of the Water Wheel, where LAWN LANE meets CLEAVE STREET.

Moomaw: Jack Moomaw was one of the first rangers in Rocky Mountain National Park. His book Recollections of a Rocky Mountain Ranger tells the story of a ranger’s life in the park’s early years. Clue: I’m at a WONDERFUL place, just south of this classic icon, the oldest operating movie theater in the United States.

Joel: Joel Estes and his son Milton came to the Estes Valley on a hunting trip in 1859. In 1863 Joel moved here with his family to start a ranch. Clue: I love watching the kids play from up on my perch.

Abner: Abner Sprague built a successful lodge in Moraine Park. He later helped survey and plat the Town of Estes Park. He dug a lake for his visitors that is now the popular Sprague Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. Clue: I’m attracted to shiny gold things here in the Village. “You wouldn’t hesitate if she wanted an engagement truck!”

WT: WT Parke was one of the earliest photographers in Estes Park. He was an original owner of one of the shops in Downtown Estes Park. Clue: My charming TRAILHEAD perch gives me a great view of all our guests on Elkhorn.

Josie: Shortly after the 1905 plat that mapped the downtown district we now see, Josephine “Josie” Hupp opened the Hupp Hotel (today’s Estes Village store). Clue: The quaking ASPEN and aromatic EVERGREENS make this my favorite spot along the river.

Earl of Dunraven: Irishman Windham Thomas Wyndham-Quin, Fourth Earl of Dunraven, came to Estes Park in 1873. He acquired 6,000 acres of land, some by questionable means. He lost interest in the area when the cattle industry collapsed. He left the area in the 1880s and sold his land in 1907. Clue: Mrs. Walsh has been kind to let me stay here, as long as I don’t eat too many of her garden plants.

Isabella: Englishwoman Isabella Bird traveled to the Rocky Mountains in 1873. Bird’s adventures are chronicled in the ever-popular book A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains. Clue: I like to just chill on a bench, stopping to smell the ROSES and the lasagna.

Freelan: Freelan Oscar (F.O.) Stanley moved to Estes Park in 1903 and built the Stanley Hotel. Co-inventor of the Stanley Steamer car with his brother, he brought electricity to Estes Park and donated the land for Stanley Park, home of the fairgrounds and Events Complex. Clue: I’m a philanthropist and very KIND, especially after I get my first cup of coffee.

Enos: Enos Mills is known as the Father of Rocky Mountain National Park. Devoted to conservation, he led the efforts to establish Rocky Mountain National Park in 1915. Clue: Just hanging out by the fountain singing my favorite cowboy song, Gene Autry’s “Back in the SADDLE Again…”

Cornelius: A former grocer and county Sheriff, Cornelius Bond helped form the Estes Park Town Company, which set aside land that is now Bond Park. Clue: There was once a big fire near my home. Now I sit and smell the flowers and CRISP CARAMEL corn as I people watch.