#breckenridge #colorado #realestate
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| Enos Mills |
This January marks the 109th anniversary of Rocky Mountain National Park, It was on Jan. 26, 1915, that President Woodrow Wilson signed the bill that protected the 265,000 acres of pristine valleys and sublime peaks between the towns of Estes Park and Granby as the country’s 10th national park. However, it was largely due to the tireless efforts of Enos Mills that we get to enjoy Rocky Mountain National Park as it is today.
Mills may not be as renowned as other conservationists, like John Muir, but in Colorado, he is known as the “Father of Rocky Mountain National Park.” For many years, Mills toured the country giving lectures and writing thousands of letters and articles lobbying for Congress to establish this national park. To me and others in my field of interpretation, though, he is also well-known as one of the country’s most influential nature guides. Learning more about Mills’ life story will shed light on both of these legacies.
Mills first came to Colorado as a teenager, by himself, and became enamored with the Longs Peak area when he drove cattle there one summer. He built his first cabin in the Longs Peak area at age 15 and spent his summers exploring the mountains. He made his first climb of Longs Peak that same year, and studied the ecology of the area using only library books to teach him.
