The Castle Pines Connection serves residents of the Wildcat Mountains, a name pioneers and historians gave to the Colorado high country paralleling I-25 from Highlands Ranch and Lone Tree south to Castle Rock. Since the first territorial road (Daniels Park Road) bisected our mountains, there was no shortage of colorful characters parading through what are now private properties on the ridges of Douglas County. We bring these grizzled and gutsy settlers alive again, vividly sharing their stories of grit and achievement in these Castle Pines.
Wildcat Lore is dedicated to digging a bit deeper in the attic of Douglas County history to better understand the life and motivations of local pioneers.
Sixty-eight million years ago, red sandstone spires in the Fountain Bedrock Formation, moved from horizontal to the vertical in Roxborough, much like the Garden of the Gods. Later, it…
Castle Rock was named after the rock formation towering over it. An outlier for its name, it is also the perfect icon for minerals that were early foundations for…
Civil War veteran Chester Leach and his wife, Lucy, were among the early settlers in Denver, brought here by a team of oxen. Their son Clarence was born in 1872.…
The Douglas County Wildcat Lore pioneering stories would be incomplete without addressing the forerunners: Native Americans. In fact, using historian Larry Schlupp’s words, they were indeed our “first immigrants.” As…
When The Village at Castle Pines chose to build its Pavilion seven years ago, it was designed to serve as a multiple-use facility: a gathering place, a venue for larger…
Today’s recreated frame of the iconic Higby Mercantile building sits windblown, almost forlorn, at what was once a major crossroad in lower Douglas County. At one time, the Denver and…
Shakers and movers are colorful folks, visionaries and risk takers seeing and often seizing opportunities that others will not. Castle Rock’s founders John Craig, Jeremiah Gould and Philip Wilcox…
The headline comes from Yogi Berra, but it applies equally to the good folks of Jarre Valley and Jarre Canyon. Douglas County settlers were naturally attracted to water and…
Born in 1863 of Scotch lineage, George Patrick Stewart hailed from Murchison, Victoria, in Australia’s gold belt. After his storekeeper/postmaster father died when George was 7 years old, his uncle…
Swashbuckler! Now there’s a colorful term seldom used today. One historical character that comes immediately to mind is D.C. Oakes of our Wildcat Mountains. Another bold, flamboyant and larger-than-life figure…
Worn down by dismal life opportunities available to them in Somerset, England, Elizabeth Ann Dowden and her husband James Perry packed up, leaving the Isles in 1848. With sons James…
Born in Lostivefel, England in 1844 during the reign of King Edward VII, Frank Sobey was raised in Dubuque, Iowa, where his parents had immigrated. Against their…
If you’ve lived in Douglas County more than a few years and haven’t been to Bud’s Bar in Sedalia, you ain’t nobody. Whoa! Let me be more sensitive. You’ve…
Have you ever hiked Sandstone Ranch? It is a grand, sculpted piece of Douglas County open space inventory bounded by Gove Creek and located south of Highway 105 and the…
Young people of the 21st century seem to be marrying later and fretting more, enjoying the lack of early responsibilities prior to taking on life-altering commitments. A good plan if…
…in Greenland Until it burned to the ground again on May 11th of this year, the tallest building in Greenland, Colorado was a weather-seasoned red barn that was first…
Writers have a tendency to hype their subjects. After all, why write about them if they were merely good? With the Sedalia Manhart Family, no doubt remains about their seminal…
For years, many have lionized larger than life men and women who made our Douglas County great. As it should be. But the reality of pioneering outcomes in these parts…
One of the more vibrant Wildcat histories is that of the Blunt family. It began 60 years after we became a nation in Franklin, Missouri. After son John Elmer, “John…
In writing Wildcat Lore over the years, I have sought a home base, a spiritual center of gravity and a location suitable for the “capital” of our readership in these…
Until appointment as Douglas County Sheriff in 1947, John L. Hammond was just a regular guy of the time. Born 1904 in Iowa and raised in Akron, Colorado, Hammond’s upbringing…
D.C. Oakes’ book, History of the Gold Discoveries on the South Platte River, is credited with giving the account of our gold rush, the one that brought 100,000 avaricious folks…
Pomeranian Prussians from Burow, Johann and wife Minnie (Glauss) Heuer arrived in the U.S. as immigrants in 1872. Iowa farmland looked good, so the Heuers claimed it, and they…
Last year, we featured Sedalia’s Dr. Minnie Love. She was a gifted, charitable woman and suffragette. But for some ill-advised pursuits in antisemitism, Love would have attained unadulterated fame. Her…
Cotton picking was more important than schooling in Denison, Texas in 1882. After Joe Kouba and twin brother Reuben finished third grade, the family farm was all that counted. Apparently…
Born in Red Lodge, Montana in 1909 to mining industry magnate W. G. Duncan, William G. II (Bill) came to Sedalia in 1918 when his dad bought the old Beeman…
One sees something of a mess on the southwest corner of State Highways 105 and 67 in Sedalia. Bad news. Abandoned property, right? Where are the bulldozers? Only old-timers know…
By Joe Gschwendtner; photo courtesy of Sedalia Firehouse Museum Charlie Alexander was one of Sedalia’s more colorful locals, born a Hoosier in 1882. His early years were filled with hardship,…
By Joe Gschwendtner; courtesy photos Adam Martz, perhaps Sedalia’s most famous bachelor, was no shrinking violet. Those who have opined on his life, alleged that he was never outsmarted. In…
Article and photos by Joe Gschwendtner Precisely 150 years ago, ranchers on West Plum Creek acted on a need for their own church home in Bear Canon. Newton S. Grout,…
By Joe Gschwendtner; photo courtesy of the files of Sedalia History Museum and Gardens; courtesy photo Victor Marquis started his life off restlessly, a challenge from birth on. Born in…
By Joe Gschwendtner; photos courtesy of the Sedalia Historic Museum and Gardens Jarre Canyon in Sedalia has been a prolific source of Douglas County history, attracting those among the most…
By Joe Gschwendtner; newspaper clipping courtesy of Kyle Scott No one exactly knows why Alexander Scott Sr. chose Castle Rock to homestead. Born in Arbroath, Scotland in 1840, he married…
Article and photo by Joe Gschwendtner History Colorado recognizes ranches and farms operated by the same family for over a century. Eight properties in Douglas County have received the coveted…
By Joe Gschwendtner; photo courtesy of Rose Tuggle Collection of the Schweiger Ranch Foundation John Schweiger was raised in Zell am Ziller, Tirol, Austria. Draftable into the Austrian army, he…
By Joe Gschwendtner; photos courtesy of Sedalia Historic Museum and Gardens In 1897, President Grover Cleveland began to protect America’s resources, designating 21 million acres of timberland as National Forest.…
By Joe Gschwendtner; photos courtesy of the DCL archives and Local History Section Unlike both his father and brother, Mort Penley was not a man of the cloth. The beauty…
By Joe Gschwendtner; courtesy photos This tale of two towns begins with Junietta Patience Freelove Peckham and Orello E. Frink (O.E.), who were married in DeRuyter, New York in 1877.…
By Joe Gschwendtner; photo courtesy of Western History Section, DPL Outliers make for legends. Bengt August (“Gus”) Nelson was one of them. Born in Falkenberg, Sweden in 1863, it was…
By Joe Gschwendtner; courtesy photos William Thompson Lambert was born in 1850 to devout Quakers Joseph and Cynthia (Meader) Lambert of Blackstrap, Maine. William was an only child, sickly at…
By Joe Gschwendtner; photos courtesy of Fern Adams Seventy-six years old with 42 grandchildren makes for an epic story at any time. Perhaps being born on July 4, 1857 was…
Editor’s Note: Last month, The Connection featured Charleys Gurley Love and his wife Dr. Minnie Celia Francesca Love in “To Sedalia with Love.” We chronicled their lives together and Minnie…
By Joe Gschwendtner; photo courtesy of Fern Adams The town of Sedalia has been a backdrop to many remarkable life journeys. It speaks highly of Douglas County’s allure that a…
By Joe Gschwendtner; courtesy photos In 1859, Sarah Coberly operated a halfway house rest stop in Huntsville, on the stage road to Colorado Springs. Husband James died early of an…
By Joe Gschwendtner; courtesy photos Before Castle Rock and New Memphis were settled, a traveler on the First Territorial Road (Daniels Park and later, Santa Fe), would have seen a…
By Joe Gschwendtner; courtesy photos Near West Plum Creek’s headwaters, Sandstone Ranch’s story is rich and colorful, a stitched-together history of many pioneers. The earliest was Charles Richardson, an 1873…
An American original By Joe Gschwendtner; courtesy photos An unsullied hero is rare in these times. Unusual too, is a person who defined an era and culture simultaneously. William F.…
By Joe Gschwendtner; photos courtesy of “Our Heritage: People of Douglas County” Our early Douglas County pioneers knew well the meaning of the “Wild, Wild West.” They lived its hardships,…
Article and photos by Joe Gschwendtner Joe Bucknam, traveling salesman from Iowa, found his way to Denver with wife Minnie in 1907. Finding fascination in the Sedalia area, they founded…
Article and photos by Joe Gschwendtner; photo courtesy of the Douglas County History Research Center Born in 1850, Isaac Jegirtha (I.J.) Noe hailed from Charlestown, Indiana. After a common education,…
Article and photo by Joe Gschwendtner; courtesy photo To study Douglas County’s early history is to dig into events around the headwaters of Plum and Cherry creeks. Nowhere is it…
Unfinished symphony By Joe Gschwendtner; courtesy photo Hotel Nanichant was completed in 1889 to accommodate visitors to the planned Village of Lake Wauconda, its Native American name meaning echo. In…
Article and photo by Joe Gschwendtner; information sourced from Fading Past: The Story of Douglas County, Colorado by Susan Consola Appleby Periodically we golf at Perry Park. When on the…
Article and photo by Joe Gschwendtner Ben Quick was born in Monroe County, Ohio in 1828. Orphaned at 10, he took interest in carpentry and by 16 had become a…
By Joe Gschwendtner; photo courtesy of Carol Oliver Lyons Long before Little Orphan Annie appeared in American cartoons in 1924, comparable hardship stories like hers played out daily in the…
By Joe Gschwendtner; courtesy photos The stock market crashed on Black Friday in October 1929, ending the Roaring ‘20s. That day marked the beginning of the greatest economic downturn these…
Article and photo by Joe Gschwendtner; photos courtesy of Juni Fisher Historical research is fascinating. One clue leads to another and remarkable stories are unearthed. Jarre Canyon west of Sedalia…
By Joe Gschwendtner: photos courtesy of Denver Public Library The Roaring ‘20s in the Wildcat Mountains did not lack excitement. Bootlegging and gambling were rampant, especially in Larkspur, where the…
By Joe Gschwendtner; photo courtesy of the Colorado Historical Society Yes he was. Tom Campbell. Dead. Finished off with a bullet in George Manhart’s dance hall in Sedalia on Saturday,…
Article and photo by Joe Gschwendtner; photo courtesy of the Colorado Historical Society As we left 1871 Huntsville in the throes of death in our Wildcat Lore last month, commerce…
Article and photo by Joe Gschwendtner; photo courtesy of the Colorado Historical Society Named for Colorado’s fourth Territorial Governor, Huntsville history was fleeting but colorful, beginning in 1859. Located on…
By Joe Gschwendtner; photo courtesy of Brett Wiebold Readers may recall the grit and determination of General William Jackson Palmer in bringing narrow gauge rail service to Douglas County. Yet…
By Joe Gschwendtner; photo courtesy of Scott Terhark Collection, Douglas County History Research Center, Douglas County Libraries Not long after the Homestead Act opened the West, some Douglas County settlers…
By Joe Gschwendtner; photo courtesy of Newspaperarchive.com People and towns came and went in the early days of statehood. Had it not been for an obscure notation on a map,…
By Joe Gschwendtner; photos by Terri Wiebold In late March, the formerly bare-walled community room at the Castle Pines Homes Association building received a makeover. A once humdrum meeting space,…
By Joe Gschwendtner; photos courtesy of Archives & Local History – Douglas County Libraries In 1849, Henry H. Curtis took Julia Paddison to be his bride in South Wales. He…
By Joe Gschwendtner; photos courtesy of Kevin Grenier, Douglas County Historic Preservation In Douglas County’s early years, hillside lumber yielded logs which were the basic building blocks of construction. Whether…
By Joe Gschwendtner; photo courtesy of Heritage Collection “History of City and Arapahoe County,” 1880 Major D.C. Oakes struck pay dirt in the California Gold Rush. Returning to Iowa in…
By Joe Gschwendtner; photos courtesy of Sedalia Historic Fire House Museum and Gardens Harriet (Hattie) Davis Beeman was made of tough stuff. Kevlar before its time. Born in Denver in…
By Joe Gschwendtner; photos courtesy of Douglas County Historical Society Ironically captured primarily in black and white, Sedalia’s story is actually quite colorful. She had four names. She was sold…
Article and photo by Joe Gschwendtner Sylvester Richardson was a driven man. Raised in New York’s Catskill Mountains, he worked in the family vineyard near the Hudson River. No vintner…
By Joe Gschwendtner; photos courtesy of Our Heritage and People of Douglas County FARMING: Early pioneers had limited options for a livelihood. Most were in agriculture of some kind, as…
By Joe Gschwendtner; photo courtesy of US Patent office and Douglas County Library History Research Section Willis Walker likely often lived in the shadow of his wife Sarah, known nationwide…
By Joe Gschwendtner; courtesy photo In 2003, Castle Pines Village excavations gave rise to a Nancy Drew-style mystery. While digging utility trenches for Hidden Pond Road, construction workers uncovered the…
By Joe Gschwendtner; photo courtesy of The Bureau of Land Reclamation (U.S. Government) William Headland was an early homesteader in the Castle Pines Village area. Having paid $200 cash for…
By Joe Gschwendtner; photo courtesy of the Castle Rock Journal John B. Karcher of Sedalia was a Frenchman by birth. A large landholder in Alsace Lorraine, he was politically and…
Part three of three By Joe Gschwendtner; photo courtesy of Cherokee Ranch & Castle Much has been said and written of Tweet Kimball, Cherokee Ranch owner who died in 1999. …
Part two of three By Joe Gschwendtner; photo courtesy of Cherokee Ranch & Castle Last month, we tracked the history of the Cherokee Castle and Ranch after Tweet Kimball acquired…
Part one of three By Joe Gschwendtner; photo courtesy of John Lake and Meg Anderson Were there a Colorado Mt. Rushmore, Tweet Kimball’s profile might well be chiseled there. Born…
Article and photos by Joe Gschwendtner The Lawrence C. Phipps Jr. who purchased the Kistler and Welte properties and named it Highlands Ranch was connected and wealthy, the son of…
By Joe Gschwendtner; photos courtesy of Josephine Marr’s “A Historical Journey” and the Douglas County History Research Center Riveting history often includes stories of places larger than life. In the…
By Joe Gschwendtner; photo courtesy of Amy and Dave Flanagan Last month, The Connection left readers with Arthur (Art) Ceresa and his wife Mary, “a gracious woman,” who slowly, shrewdly…
Article and photos by Joe Gschwendtner Joseph Kroll and John Schweiger Sr., likely met in the Leadville mines after emigrating from the Austrian Empire around 1870. With modest savings and…
By Joe Gschwendtner; photo courtesy of “Walk with our Pioneers – A Collection,” by Alice M. Thompson In our July segment of Wildcat Lore, we encountered the Wolfensbergers, Reynolds and…
By Joe Gschwendtner; photos courtesy of “I’d do it again” by Sarah A. Gleason, Copyright 1982, Century One Press Sarah Gleason was an only child of Irish immigrants born…
Article and photos by Joe Gschwendtner; photo courtesy of Douglas County History Research Center Public education was so important that it was addressed in the Articles of Confederation by our…
Article and photos by Joe Gschwendtner Sixteen years after the Wright brothers’ epic 1903 first flight, night-time navigational aids (other than bonfires) were non-existent. With the demand for airmail…
Article and photos by Joe Gschwendtner Thirty-six million years ago a massive volcanic eruption near Mt. Princeton hurled molten rock and gases into Douglas County. Traveling nearly 100 miles per…
Turn-of-the-century Douglas County pioneers were tough and uncomplicated. They lived in the moment. Dreams of their future were marred by hostile Indians, locusts, parched lands, dried-up streams and rattlesnakes. Long-term…
Article and photos by Joe Gschwendtner Events in Colorado history didn’t really accelerate until the 59ers swarmed the Pikes Peak region, Russellville (near Franktown) included. By 1861, Colorado would become…
Article and photo by Joe Gschwendtner Wildcate Lore Beginning this month, The Connection will be featuring a column titled “Wildcat Lore.” As it turns out, the Castle Pines Connection serves…
Information provided by Douglas County; photo courtesy of the Larkspur Historical Society Recognizing and celebrating the month of May as Archaeology and Historic Preservation Month, Douglas County will offer a…