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Indian hills7/6/2023 ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() In 1911 a charter amendment was passed by Denver for a mountain park system. His family remained, raising horses, cattle, grain, and hay. In 1890 he was persuaded to sell some of his land however, development of that land was thwarted by the silver crash and financial disasters of 1892. His holdings were know as Eden Park, amounting to well over 1000 acres. Eden, the second tollgate keeper on the Turkey Creek Wagon Road, started buying property from Martin Luther and the Union Pacific Railroad in the broad, open western end of the valley. Potatoes also were grown for the Denver market, and sheep were grazed on the hills. ![]() The most successful industry was hauling wood to Morrison for shipping to Denver. Ranching, farming, and lumbering were the sources of livelihood in the late 1800s. The Indian trail to Morrison was used by early settlers to drive cattle to shipping points there. Luther knew Colorow and Washington, two Indian chiefs, very well, and they were entertained with courtly hospitality many times by her and her husband. The Ute Indians frequently camped on the Luther ranch on their way to and from the mountains. Luther, who came to Colorado in 1861 and settled in the upper part of the valley. The earliest record of settlers in the area includes the name of Martin V. Of these three, only John Evans remained in Colorado to pursue a long career of enterprise and service President Lincoln appointed him second territorial governor in 1862. The names of John Evans, Jay Gould, and Russell Sage appear on many land abstracts in Parmalee Gulch. The Railway Act of 1850 had encouraged settlement by granting land to companies that agreed to open up the West. Maggie Crow with her mail cartĭuring the 1860s and 1870s, various circumstances brought many adventurous spirits to Colorado, Jefferson County, and Parmalee Gulch. During bitter cold winter days, she sat on her hands to keep them warm, and kept her seat warm by sitting on a big rock she had heated the night before in her wood-burning range. She was awarded the mail contract for the Star Route West out of Morrison to Conifer, up Turkey Creek Canyon. She packed a gun and cracked a whip as well as any man, earning a total of 76 cents her first year. Maggie Crow was the first mail carrier in the mountains between Morrison and Conifer in the late 1800s. It housed the Post Office from 1926 until 1951. The residence known as Parmalee House was believed to have been built in 1859. Parmalee Gulch Road was completed in 1870. Parmalee also operated a sawmill on Parmalee Gulch in the area above Giant Gulch Road, which was an old Indian trail that was converted into a stagecoach road. This wagon road is still visible in several locations in the canyon. On February 1, 1866, the territorial legislature granted Parmalee a charter for his Denver and Turkey Creek Wagon Road Company to construct a wagon road leading from Denver by way of Turkey Creek Canyon toward South Park. Parmalee came to Colorado in 1860 at the age of 47. ParmaleeĪs pioneers began to settle into Indian Hills in the 1860’s the region was known first as the North Fork of Turkey Creek, and then as Parmalee Gulch after one of the earliest settlers in the valley. Their profiles grace the front of the sign at the entrance to Indian Hills to this day. Early evidence of American Indians in this area are documented by Indian Trail Trees also know as Indian Sign Trees, the American Indian artifacts recovered from the cave off 285 in the 1980’s and the Ute trail that was documented in early of accounts of Indian Hills from what is now Messiah Mountain over the east side toward the old Morrison Rd., formerly known as Strain Gulch.Ĭhief Colorow (1813-1888) and Chief Washington are the most notable American Indians in the area, both members of the Ute tribe. Over the years, the presence of the Ute tribe prevailed. They are rumored to have had bitter feuds with the Arapahoe, Cheyenne, and Comanche in order to maintain control of this area. The Ute Indians were the most consistent tribe to use this area as a summer campground. Now, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, it is the home of approximately 1200 residents and continues to be a coveted community in which to reside. Through the decades, Indian Hills has offered residents a community that is rich in history and founded on a strong sense of community that celebrates and supports each other. Once a summer campground for Ute Indians, it became home to hearty pioneers and then boomed in the 1920’s as a resort community, and finally expanded into the modern mountain community of today. Indian Hills is a place of ponderosa pine forests and flowery meadows with elevations between 6,800 feet and 8,500 feet. ![]()
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