On Saturday, October 12 the Cache la Poudre River National Heritage Area hosted the Poudre Pour Art & Culture Fest, an annual event celebrating our river corridor’s vibrant history and culture. This event was held from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm at the Windsor History Museum (Boardwalk Park) in Windsor, CO.
Guest Blog by Katherine Mercier, Windsor’s Museum Education Coordinator
If you have ever been to the Town of Windsor just north of the Cache la Poudre River National Heritage Area, you have probably noticed water: Windsor Lake, the No 2 Ditch Canal, Chimney Park Pool, the Poudre River that snakes through the southern part of town. Windsor has grown up alongside water, following the Greeley # 2 Canal that was painstakingly dug in the early 1870s to bring much-needed irrigation to dry farm fields. In the 1800s, water meant survival for Windsor, but in the 1960s the role of water began to expand to something else: fun and recreation!
If you were visiting Windsor in July 1964, in addition to the brand-new song “A Hard’s Day Night” by the Beatles, you would have heard discussions about the latest hot button topic in town: should Windsor get a swimming pool? The debate was intense. Some community members were in favor of creating a private, members-only pool funded by citizens. Others wanted a public pool funded by the town. Town leadership eventually decided that Windsor needed a pool that was open to all.
In May 1965, the town parks committee announced exciting news: plans were in place for Windsor’s first town pool! The committee, which consisted of residents Harold Hettinger, Ed Eichorn, Glenn Anderson, Gene Morey, and Bill Kirby, was hoping to lease a plot of land in “Lakeside Park” (now Boardwalk Park) for the pool. In 1966, the committee received a $12,000 federal grant to help fund the pool. Additionally, the community came together to ensure the pool’s success. Town organizations fundraised for the pool; the Boy Scouts had a bake sale, and local businesses hosted a car wash and a hamburger sale. These extra funds enabled mayor Wayne Miller to break ground on the swimming pool on April 20, 1967. Conceptual drawings were published, and construction went quickly.
Conceptual drawing of Windsor’s first swimming pool, April 27, 1967, Windsor Beacon. Notice the pool building at top left and the baby pool on the bottom left.
Windsor pool groundbreaking, April 20, 1967, Windsor Beacon. L-R: Ed Brown, Mrs. Ruben Hergert, Mrs. Helen Casten, Mrs. William Haas, Jr., Cheryl Miller, Glenn Anderson, Mrs. Wayne Lutz, Mrs. Thelma Hemmerle, Rev E.F. Jensen (stooping with the spade), Wayne Lutz, Wayne Miller, and Leland Hull.
Windsor’s first pool opened in July 1967 to wide acclaim and intense joy from the local children. By 1976, over 3,000 people were using the pool per month in the summer! Considering that Windsor had a population of less than 4,000 people at this time, this shows that the community truly embraced and loved the fun and recreation that this first pool provided.
Windsor’s municipal swimming pool in Boardwalk Park, unknown date. Town of Windsor Museums Permanent Collection.
The pool at Boardwalk Park was widely beloved and used for almost three decades. By the mid-1980s, deteriorating conditions at the pool led to the construction of what is now Chimney Park Pool on the east side of town. The municipal pool at Boardwalk Park did not open in 1987 but was used for a popular fishing derby. With the opening of Chimney Park pool in 1988, the old pool fell out of use. By the 1990s, it had been filled in and planted over with grass, and the Windsor Garden Club planted flowers in the old baby pool. On the old pool building, the Windsor-Severance Historical Society painted a large mural depicting scenes from Windsor’s past.
Windsor pool building with mural, group of men and women in front: Charlie Manweiler, Lois Huckabee, Leona Bernhardt, Shirley Stein, Gloria Gaslin, Vic Bernhardt, Bertha Huwa, Cliff Boyd, and Virginia Boyd, 1990. Town of Windsor Museums Permanent Collection.
Windsor History Museum, then the Windsor Centennial Museum and Pioneer Village, c. 1995. Photo taken by Gene Morey. Pool building with mural visible on the right. Town of Windsor Museums Permanent Collection.
Today, no traces of the pool remain, but if you visit Boardwalk Park, you can see the large, open field where it once was by the Windsor History Museum Farmhouse. In fact, if you attend this year’s Poudre Pour with the Cache la Poudre River National Heritage Area, you will be enjoying drinks and live music right on top of the old pool! The pool may be gone today, but its story is not lost. Windsor’s first pool continues to show us the enduring importance of water in northern Colorado—not just for survival, but also for fun.
Former location of the Boardwalk park swimming pool, August 29, 2024. Image Credit: Town of Windsor Museums Staff
In the early 1900s, sugar beets were introduced as a cash crop in Colorado, and Great Western Sugar Company factories, where beets were processed into white sugar, popped up in many towns, fueling a sugar boom—in industry, economy, and population! Sugar beets require a LOT of labor, from planting to hoeing, harvesting, and refining and Northern Colorado’s small population couldn’t support the new industry. Looking for a labor force, Great Western started recruiting workers, first in Germans from Russia later from Hispanic and Latino communities.
Each year the Cache NHA provides funding to local and regional partners in support of projects, programs, and events that benefit the community and further the mission of Cache NHA to promote a variety of historical and cultural opportunities, engage people in the river corridor, and inspire learning, preservation, and stewardship. There are multiple funding opportunities available including Heritage Area Events Grants, Community Projects Grants, and Pass Through and Collaborative Funding Opportunities.
Separated by time, the story of these children is a story of a vastly different childhood on the banks of the same river. Before popsicles. Before child labor laws.
Numerous small businesses in the Cache la Poudre River National Heritage Area serve delicious ice cream.
150 years ago, on July 15, 1874, the conflict over water availability in the Cache la Poudre River Valley erupted. But where did the conflict begin, and why was the river so contentious? Let’s step back in time and find out…
People have been using the water in the Poudre for far longer than 150 years. The Arapaho, Ute, and Cheyenne peoples, along with others, and their ancestors, lived beside and used the Poudre for thousands of years before Euro-American settlement. However, around 150 years ago the way humans used this river, and its water, drastically changed.
While Colorado was not among the first areas to see settlement, by the late 1850s-1860s, the region saw rapid transformation. Spurred in part by the discovery of gold in Colorado in 1859, many people from eastern states like Illinois, Ohio, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee moved to Colorado. While some tried to strike it rich, the majority were farmers, feeding the steady market for hay, grains, and fresh produce. Moving from states with significant rainfall (on average 45 inches of precipitation) they initially struggled with Colorado’s dry climate (average precipitation of about 15 inches), before realizing irrigation was the key to success—beginning small scale irrigation ditch building efforts in the 1860s.*
View of Greeley Main Street and Number 3 Ditch in June 1870.
Photo Credit: [1971.20.0004] City of Greeley Museums
In 1870, 144 families traveled westward on the railroad to create an agricultural community called Union Colony (now Greeley). In need of water, the settlers quickly constructed two working irrigation ditches.
The Greeley Number 3 supplied water to kitchens, gardens, and backyards. The Greeley Number 2 to water farmers’ crops. (The Number 1 was never constructed). Union Colony flourished drawing more settlers to the Poudre region. Two years later, Agricultural Colony (now Fort Collins), was firmly established upriver.
In an already dry and arid region, the drought in July 1874 brought a grave threat to the people of Union Colony. Reliant on the Poudre River for water to irrigate their crops and gardens, and to meet community needs, farmers woke up one morning to find the Poudre bone dry at the Greeley Number 3 irrigation ditch headgate.** But what had caused their water supply to completely disappear?
Photograph of the Larimer County Ditch ten miles northwest of Fort Collins. Left to right: Teele, R.Q. Tenney, and Riddle. c1911
Photo Credit: Archive at Fort Collins Museum of Discovery. [H07772]
It was discovered that their upstream neighbors at Agricultural Colony and other upstream locations were diverting what little water was available into their own irrigation canals. New upstream irrigation canals, such as the Lake Canal, had the capacity to divert the whole of the Poudre River, and that wasn’t even accounting for the low flow of 1874, a drought year. Capacity had become reality—the newer canals were diverting much of the river’s flow, leaving little for downstream users. Union Colony was outraged, marching to Agricultural Colony with their pitchforks (yes, this really happened) to demand their water back.
To avoid an all-out war, some forty irrigators met at the Eaton schoolhouse on July 15, 1874, to find a solution. “The evening was hot, the structure was small, and the Greeleyites (among them several Civil War veterans) arrived with their guns” (Hobbs & Welsh, 2020).
Fortunately, guns stayed in their holsters and no punches (or pitchforks) were thrown. The injection of Nathan Meeker, Union Colony founder, warned that failure to reach an agreement river water usage could open the floor to allow “a heavy capitalist or corporation” to build ” a huge canal from the Poudre above La Porte [upstream of both colonies] and run it [all the river’s waters] through the Box Elder country” (Hobbs & Welsh, 2020).
Afraid of this outcome, the group laid down their pitchforks and eventually, after many more hours of loud disagreement, came to a compromise. This compromise became the basis of what is known as Western Water Law and the notion of “First in Time, First in Right,” or prior appropriation, still used across Colorado today. Prior appropriation means each irrigation diversion has a priority number—based upon the date they were built and first began to divert (kind of like take a number and get in line). The senior priority users get first use of the water and down the line. However, they can only divert as much water as they hold shares to and must put it to “beneficial use.”
Back of photo reads “Young wheat just starting being irrigated for the first time–Jackburn Baxter.” c1895
Photo Credit: [AI-2526] City of Greeley Museums
The water provisions established 150 years ago, here in the Cache la Poudre River National Heritage Area, were eventually written into Colorado’s Constitution and are still in effect today.
This conflict over Western water law not only led to the development of Western water law, but it’s the reason the Cache la Poudre River was designated by Congress as a National Heritage Area.
Learn more at Water War and Law | Cache la Poudre River National Heritage Area (poudreheritage.org).
*Irrigation Ditch: Ditches are man-made channels built to store and divert water to where it can be used by farmers to water crops and provide water to towns.
**Headgate: A headgate is an irrigation structure used to regulate the flow of water from a river into an irrigation ditch. Headgates can be opened or closed to control the amount of water allowed through.
Hobbs, G., & Welsh, M. E. (2020). Confluence: The Story of Greeley Water. Jordan Designs.
Image 1 Photo Credit: [1971.20.0004] City of Greeley Museums
Image 2 Photo Credit: Archive at Fort Collins Museum of Discovery. [H07772]
Image 3 Photo Credit: [AI-2526] City of Greeley Museums
Carry your Green Book with you….you may need it.
With summer comes the travel bug, and millions of Americans hit the road in search of adventure. While we check to make sure we’ve got our snacks and charged phones, we take for granted that we’ll be safe and served at the place we chose to fuel up, eat up, or rest up. Not long ago, however, safety and service while traveling were not expected by large numbers of Americans. Read on to discover how one Greeley woman was part of an effort to change that. . .
As car ownership exploded across the United States during the 1920s, a road trip became a new reality for thousands of Americans. But the lure of the open road was also filled with risk for African American travelers. Jim Crow laws, segregation policies, and racist “white only” traditions meant Black travelers couldn’t assume a town had a safe place to eat or sleep. “Sundown Towns,” across the country, and as close as Loveland, banned African Americans in city limits after nightfall, often removing them by force, adding to the risk of a car breakdown. Without knowing where they could safely stop, many African Americans were hesitant to embark on a road trip.
In 1936, a Black postal carrier from New York, Victor Green, came up with a solution—the Negro Motorists Green Book. Part travel guide, part survival guide, the annual guidebook helped African Americans navigate a segregated country for 30 years. Beginning with lodging options, the book soon grew to include amenities like gas, restaurants, beauty parlors, entertainment, golf courses, shops, national parks, and other places welcoming of African Americans. In communities with no known Black-friendly hotels, the book often listed addresses of private homeowners willing to rent rooms to African American travelers. While making safe travel accessible to thousands of Americans, the Green Book also supported Black-owned businesses and transformed travel from survival to a vacation.
For tourists planning a trip to Colorado, perhaps to visit Rocky Mountain National Park (noted in the Green Book as welcoming), the guide suggested lodging options across the state. One of which was within the current Cache la Poudre River National Heritage Area, in Greeley, at the home of Mrs. Eva Alexander.
For 28 years Eva Alexander hosted Black tourists in Northern Colorado. What might Green Book travelers have learned about Mrs. Eva Mae Alexander over a cup of coffee at her table?
Perhaps they would have learned of her Texas childhood, where her parents, Ervin and Mary Cruter, lived and worked in the home of a white doctor as cook and hostler (cared for horses). Would she have mentioned that at eight she was already working as a servant, or would she have instead shared memories of playing with her little brother? Maybe she would have shared that the family moved to Trinidad, Colorado around 1905. How her father got a job as a railroad porter, and she and her mother no longer had to work. What stories would she have shared with Colorado tourists of the southern edge of our state? Did she pass on travel tips or connections?
Perhaps travelers would have coaxed out of Eva that in Trinidad she developed a talent for music, quickly becoming the boast of the town. A traveler from Kansas might have discovered that Eva once lived right around their corner if she shared how, around 1908, she boarded a train and headed to Quindaro, Kansas (edge of Kansas City) to study at the acclaimed Western University. Established in 1865, Western was the earliest Black University west of the Mississippi, and by the 1900s acclaimed for its music school. Did Eva’s home in Greeley have a piano? Perhaps, if it did, travelers might have convinced her to play.
A photograph of a handsome, young man in Eva’s home might have unlocked for guests the story of George Alexander, a vibrant student at Western who caught Eva’s eye. Though she took a job in Washington D.C. to teach music after graduation, she didn’t stay long. By August of 1913 she had returned to Kansas to marry George. The son of a prominent minister and graduate of Western University’s tailoring school, George had quickly worked his way into management of a white owned tailor shop, but also owned and managed his own tailoring and dry-cleaning store for Black residents. The African American newspaper, the Western Christian Recorder (incidentally still the oldest continuously published African American paper in the U.S.), joyously announced the marriage, being sure to mention Eva was an accomplished musician. Eva soon set up her own business, a music studio. Two years later, their daughter, Olivia, was born, followed by William. Eva might have smiled recounting the story, her family was now complete.
But then, Eva’s face might have saddened. With deep connections to the African Methodist Episcopal Church, George had become a minister and the young family had moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1917. Six months later, George suddenly died of pneumonia, leaving Eva, “a lone widow, struggling with two small children for an honest livelihood,” as she would later write. With two children under four, Eva moved to Globe, Arizona, taking a job as a teacher at a segregated public school. With her guests would she have shared her experience, or perspective on the ongoing discussions of school segregation or the Civil Rights movement?
With their coffee long gone Eva’s guests might have asked, “How did you end up in Greeley?” Maybe Eva would have told them what we, historians, don’t know—what inspired her to move two young children to a Colorado town she’d never lived in—packing up Olivia and William in 1922 and moving to Greeley, where she purchased her home—the Green Book stop—at 106 E 12th Street.
The rest of Eva’s life travelers might have been able to observe for themselves. Her deep involvement in her local church. Her care of her elderly neighbor, Rev. W.H. Mance, who appeared alongside Eva in the Green Book as a host for travelers until his death in 1943. Her caring nature which led her to pursue careers as a housekeeper, nurse, and later volunteer for homebound seniors. Her generous spirit that opened a home to tourists from 1939-1967—the entire run of the Green Book outside of New York. Her strength to raise two children as a single mother, and the pride she must have felt in their success. Olivia went on to lead the HeadStart program in Phoenix where she lived with her husband and daughter. William pursued a career in film—creating newsreels on African American soldiers during WWII, then establishing his own company in New York and London, producing films and later documentaries that went on to win UN awards. He was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame.
What stories would a guest in Eva’s home have departed with? Heading out, guided by the Green Book and a hope in a more equitable future where tourists to Colorado’s mountains, cities, and parks would be welcomed for a night in any hotel, regardless of race.
In 1948 the authors of the Green Book wrote, “There will be a day sometime in the near future when this guide will not have to be published. . . It will be a great day for us to suspend this publication, for then we can go wherever we please, and without embarrassment.” In 1964 the Civil Rights Act banned racial segregation in restaurants, hotels, and public places. Three years later, in 1967, the final Green Book was distributed. Mrs. Eva Alexander was in the final issue.
Eva Alexander died in 1987, she was 95 years old, and is buried in Sunset Memorial Gardens in Greeley. Her home still stands in Greeley.
“Alexander-Cruter Nuptials.” Western Christian Recorder. 8 August 1913, p1.
“Another Progressive Young Man.” Western Christian Recorder, 10 October 1912, p1.
“Bill Alexander Working on Film in Sierra Leone.” Greeley Daily Tribune, 2 May 1961, p.6.
“Globe—Miami.” Phoenix Tribune. 3 April 1920, p.4.
“Globe—Miami.” Phoenix Tribune. 27 May 1922, p.2.
“Mrs. Eva Alexander Marks 80th Birthday.” Greeley Daily Tribune, 8 September 1972, p.17.
“Mrs. Eva Alexander spends years doing volunteer work for residents.” Greeley Daily Tribune, 20 December 1976, p29.
“Notice! Notice! Notice!” Western Christian Recorder. 1 January 1914, p2.
“Rev. G. G. Alexander.” Albuquerque Journal, 10 February 1918, p3.
“Trinidad News.” Franklin’s Paper the Statesman. 27 July 1912, p1.
United States Census Records from 1900, 1930, 1940, 1950. Accessed on ancestry.com
U.S. City Directory Records, Trinidad, Colorado. 1909 and 1912. Accessed on ancestry.com
Victor H. Green & Co. The Negro Motorist Green Book collection. New York Public Library Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Books Division. New York, NY. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/collections/the-green-book#/?tab=navigation
On Thursday, June 20, the Cache la Poudre River National Heritage Area hosted Cache & Cocktails, an evening dedicated to art, culture, and community. The event was held from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm at Windsong Estate Event Center in Severance, CO.
Capture the Cache photo contest winners and participants were recognized during a celebratory evening of signature cocktails, hors d’oeuvers, and camaraderie. Cache NHA emeritus inductees were also honored for their service to the heritage area. A gallery of images were on display in a silent auction, available for purchase. There were gift baskets correlated to our photo contest categories (History Along the River Corridor, Outdoor Community Culture, and In Motion) auctioned off too. Thank you to the local businesses who supported the silent auction: Visit Fort Collins, Poudre Pet & Feed, Silver Grill, Old Firehouse Books, and Blue Credit Union.
Plein air artists, Kim Stenson and Laura Young, from the Thompson Valley Art League took to the outdoor patio for their incredible watercolor painting demonstration. They were joined by photo contest participant, Nicholas Fischer. All three paintings were auctioned off at the end of the night.
“It was lovely to meet other creative, nature-minded folks,” said Young. “What a cool event.”
The annual Capture the Cache photo contest celebrates the natural beauty, culture, and heritage of the Cache la Poudre River National Heritage Area. Winning images offer a snapshot of what makes the heritage area unique and important. View the full 2024 participant gallery here.
During the event, emeriti were recognized and honored for their services to heritage area. Emeriti are individuals who have served the Poudre Heritage Alliance, the nonprofit managing entity of the Cache NHA, and the heritage area with distinction, excellence, and outstanding service. The unveiling of the new perpetual plaque marks the legacy of the outstanding service of each emeritus member. Two of the individuals named on the plaque were in attendance: Dick Maxfield and Brian Werner.
“The plaque will be on permanent display in our office,” said Executive Director, Sabrina Stoker. “On behalf of the Poudre Heritage Alliance, we express our most sincere gratitude to your service and continued support.”
The evening’s honoree, Brian Werner, testified before Congress in 1995 in support of the S. 342 the Cache la Poudre River National Water Heritage Area. His testimony was a crucial step in securing designation for the Cache la Poudre River National Heritage Area. Werner was an original appointee to the Poudre Heritage Alliance Board from 2001 to 2016.
”"As a founding member of what became the Cache la Poudre River National Heritage Area, I have a true soft spot for everything Cache NHA is about and am truly honored to be receiving the Emeritus Award. The Poudre River is such a wonderful natural resource and a real lifeline for the region. We should celebrate all this river is about."
Brian Werner
April 18, 2024 by Visit Fort Collins
Whether you’re in Fort Collins for a weekend or two weeks, it’s nearly impossible to explore all of the trails, lakes, rivers, and streams in the surrounding foothills and mountains, so if you only have time to explore a few, we suggest experiencing Horsetooth Reservoir and the Cache la Poudre River.
Horsetooth Reservoir is one of Colorado’s most scenic outdoor utopias and it is located just minutes from the heart of Fort Collins. The reservoir also has quite the story of how it acquired its name from the distinctive rock formation that sits above the large body of water. There is an old Native American legend regarding this famous stone. The Valley of Contentment (today’s Horsetooth Reservoir) was once guarded by a giant so that no buffalo, deer, or antelope were hunted in the valley. Chief Maunamoku led Indians to slay the giant. In killing the giant, the Chief slashed at his heart, first in the center, then on the right, and then on the left with a tomahawk from the heavens. The next day the giant turned to stone and is now known as Horsetooth Rock.
Today, the 6.5-mile-long reservoir is a beloved recreation spot for activities such as fishing, swimming, boating, stand-up paddleboarding, sailing, water skiing, hiking, and camping. There are tons of miles of trails surrounding the reservoir for mountain biking, horseback riding, and hiking. The east side of the reservoir is one of the best spots in Colorado for bouldering. Horsetooth Reservoir is open year-round and includes RV spots, campsites, and cabins, managed by Larimer County Natural Areas. If camping isn’t your forte, you are welcome to relax in one of the condos or bed & breakfasts in the area and you can rent a boat, kayak, SUP board, and more at the local marina.
The Cache la Poudre River Canyon truly is something to behold. Surrounded by magnificent cliffs and captivating rock formations, encased in ponderosa and lodgepole pine trees, sagebrush, mountain mahogany, and aspen – the canyon is nothing short of a wonderland. The Poudre River also happens to be Colorado’s only nationally designated “Wild & Scenic” river. Colorado Highway 14, the road which follows much of the river, is a designated Colorado Scenic and Historic Byway as well.
Fort Collins plays host to some of the greatest festivals and events in the state of Colorado each and every year. Enjoy summertime events celebrating everything great about our town from craft beer to bikes to music and food. See Visit Fort Collins’ event blog and calendar here.
Wellness is a way of life in Fort Collins and our city facilitates many opportunities to treat yourself right while visiting. Enjoy all kinds of outdoor recreation from outdoor yoga to hiking to kayaking. Summertime in Fort Collins additionally offers amazing running events to participate in. For passionate cyclists, The FoCo Fondo offers many biking events that provide for both heart-healthy exercise and opportunities to explore beautiful Northern Colorado.
The 4th of July celebration in Fort Collins is a sight to behold, with events happening all around town, there are ways to celebrate all day long. Enjoy family-friendly celebrations such as the annual parade that rolls through the historic streets of Old Town traveling east on Mountain Avenue, beginning at Jackson Avenue and ending at Meldrum Street. After that, enjoy a day of live music, food, and vendors at City Park as the night culminates with a spectacular firework show in Fort Collins’ oldest recreational park.
Celebrating music, musicians, and providing opportunities for visitors and community members to take part in the music scene is a big part of the Fort Collins culture. Summertime is outdoor live music season and on any given weekend, and often weekdays, you will find live music in Fort Collins. Venues like The Lyric, Wolverine Farm Publick House, and our craft breweries frequently host outdoor live music events.
The slogan for this annual costumed bike and beer parade festival says it all: Bikes, Beer, and Bemusement. Get out and have a ball at this eccentric festival hosted by New Belgium Brewery on August 24th. This is your chance to ride your bicycle in your best costume from Old Town to City Park while enjoying a day full of wacky carnival fun, live performances, and delicious New Belgium Beer. Welcome to the home of New Belgium – Fort Collins, CO.
HORSETOOTH FALLS
Located in the gorgeous Horsetooth Mountain Open Space, Horsetooth Falls is truly one of the most family-friendly hikes you can find in and around Fort Collins. It’s a little less than 2.5 miles roundtrip and rated as easy to moderate skill level. There is beautiful scenery all around this trail, from open meadows to green wild grass and beautiful wildflowers with the payoff of a waterfall at the end, this hike is truly spectacular. Pack a lunch and have a picnic when you get to the waterfall and go ahead and dip your feet in the water, and if you really want, you can cool down and dip your head under the falling water as well.
ARTHUR’S ROCK
Set with the stunning natural background of Lory State Park, Arthur’s Rock offers some of the most magnificent views of Horsetooth Reservoir and the city of Fort Collins. Arthur’s Rock is a very short drive from Fort Collins and is also a relatively short intermediate hike. This approximately two-mile trail bends through open meadows and brilliant mountain views on the way to the summit of Arthur’s Rock, which ascends to an elevation of 6,780 feet. The hike does gain in elevation quickly, which means it’s climbing up on the way to the top and shooting down on the way back to the bottom. There is also a fantastic natural stairway leading you to the top of the rock which provides a perfect setting for a picnic if you pack a lunch.
HORSETOOTH ROCK
Views upon views upon more spectacular views describe this hike in a nutshell. There is an incredible feeling that overcomes you when standing atop Horsetooth Rock while staring down into beautiful Horsetooth Reservoir. Just as impressive is the opposite view of the rolling hills to the west. Not to mention, Horsetooth Rock is one of the more unique rock formations you’ll ever come across. There truly is nothing that looks quite like Horsetooth Rock. This hike is 5 miles roundtrip and is a moderate skill level hike.
GREYROCK
This fantastic hike resides in Cache la Poudre River Canyon and is less than 20 minutes from Old Town Fort Collins. This moderate skill level hike has two trail options: the Meadows trail (approximately 7.4 miles roundtrip) and the Greyrock Summit trail (approximately 5.5 miles) with both offering stunning views equipped with ponds that live atop the summit of the rock. The elevation gain on this hike is nearly 2,000 feet with the summit sitting at 7,480 feet. This hike is definitely a bit of a challenge that comes with a little bouldering toward the end. But the payoff is worth it as it offers outstanding 360-degree views of Poudre River Canyon.
Biking might be the best way to get to know Fort Collins. The city boasts a reasonably flat terrain, extremely wide bike lanes, and trails that follow the Cache la Poudre River and Spring Creek. Plus, biking is an enjoyable, healthy, and environmentally friendly way to get around. Whether you’re discovering some of Fort Collins’ 285-plus miles of trails or riding in the mountains, you’ll recognize why Fort Collins is a platinum-level bike-friendly city. Cycle to Old Town or pedal to one of the 20-plus local breweries and you just might come across more bikes than cars on the road on any given day.
Every town has an identity, a way of life, a certain aura-something that specifically defines why the town is special. For Fort Collins, that certain something is craft beer and the culture that has grown around it. The relationship between the brewing industry and the town of Fort Collins is more than just a business correlation, it’s a societal culture – a culture that has been around for over 25 years.
There are numerous ways to explore each of the 20 and counting breweries in Fort Collins. You can go on a beer and bike tour, take a magic bus ride, or indulge in a self-guided tour. There are so many unique ways for everyone of age to experience the incredible beer that resides in Colorado’s craft beer capital. We encourage you to partake in what is such a big part of the Fort Collins community. We promise you will not be disappointed – cheers!
When you are exploring the wonders of Fort Collins, remember you are in a national heritage area – how cool is that! The Cache la Poudre River National Heritage Area extends 45 miles and includes the lands within the 100-year flood plain of the Cache la Poudre River. It begins in Larimer County at the eastern edge of the Roosevelt National Forest and ends east of Greeley, 1/4 miles west of the confluence with the South Platte.
On Friday, May 17, the Cache la Poudre River National Heritage Area and three other individuals and organizations were recognized by the Town of Windsor’s Historic Preservation Commission for their contributions to historic preservation in Windsor. Historic landmark plaques, physical markers to commemorate historical and architectural significance, were presented for each of the four newly designated buildings in the area.
The historic landmark plaque for Eaton House, currently undergoing preservation work, was presented to the Cache NHA as the organization is partially funding the restoration project.
The Windsor Eaton House was constructed in 1903 by Benjamin Eaton as a dormitory for ditch riders on the Greeley #2 Ditch. Benjamin Eaton settled along the Poudre near Windsor in the 1860s, making him one of the earliest settlers in the area. Eaton dug some of the earliest irrigation ditches of the Poudre, including the B.H. Eaton Ditch in 1864, and was instrumental in shaping the Windsor community. An early irrigation pioneer, Eaton went on to work on many of the canals in Northern Colorado, including the High Line and Larimer and Weld Canals, and helped construct the Windsor Reservoir. In 1885 he became Colorado’s fourth Governor and is one of the sixteen individuals whose portraits line the dome on the Colorado Capital.
While Benjamin Eaton never lived at the “Eaton House,” he constructed it to house vital irrigation employees. The house has been vacant for most of the last twenty years, but the Town of Windsor has long held a vision for the Eaton House to become a hub for community education surrounding Windsor’s agriculture history and connection to water. In 2016, the first steps toward rehabilitation of the building were taken when a Historic Structure Assessment and Landscape Master Plan were completed with the help of the Cache NHA. In 2021, the Cache NHA again helped push the project forward by helping to fund the completion of full design and construction documents for the rehabilitation of the Eaton House into a nature and history center. The construction process will begin soon and when finished, the B.H. Eaton Nature Center will house a classroom, community gathering space, and a visitor center where community members can learn more about the history of Windsor and its open spaces, trails, and farmland.
”The Cache la Poudre River National Heritage Area has been involved with preservation efforts at this property since 2013, and more specifically at the Eaton House since 2015, so it has been really fulfilling to see these projects come to fruition. This partnership with the Town of Windsor has been incredibly meaningful to our organization, and we sincerely appreciate this recognition.”
Dan BiwerChair of the Cache NHA Board of Directors
The other historic sites that received historic landmark plaques were the Cheese Factory and Creamery, the Windsor Railroad Depot, and the Halfway Homestead.
The Historic Preservation Commission hosted this open house in celebration of Historic Preservation Month. There were about 55 community members in attendance, who heard stories about the four highlighted historic properties, virtually toured the historic Halfway Homestead Park program (via drone footage), and walked the remaining three properties for a brief historical discussion at each location.
Windsor’s Historic Preservation Commission is composed of seven members and works with property owners to protect the historic environment through a designation program. There are 12 locally designated historic properties in Windsor, according to the town’s website.
The sun is out, and the water is calling. However, it is important to remember one of our most beloved places to recreate in the Cache la Poudre River National Heritage area is still a force of nature. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the Cache la Poudre River in Fort Collins was flowing at a discharge rate (the volume of water moving down the river per unit of time) of 627 ft3/s as of May 29, 2024, at 1 o’clock in the afternoon. An hour earlier the flow rate was down to 197 ft3/s. This constant fluctuation is one of the major reasons it is so important to be prepared when recreating on the river.
1. Wear proper safety equipment.
2. Is it safe to go?
3. Know where you are.
4. Float Sober, Float Safe
5. Be Courteous
6. What if you flip?
| Flotation Devices | Shoes | Helmets | |
| JAX Outdoor Gear | X | X | X |
| Johnstown Scheels | X | X | X |
| Life Jackets | Helmet | River Tubes | |
| Garretson’s Sport Center | X | ||
| Eastman Park – Windsor | X | X | |
| Rocky Mountain Adventures (gear specifically for whitewater rafting) | X | X | X |
Information provided by the U.S. Geological Survey is provisional and subject to revision. Images provided by photographer Terry Walsh and the Town of Windsor.
”The summer solstice offers the perfect setting to celebrate those who capture the essence of life on the Poudre River in a moment of time and those who’ve worked to protect and preserve it for future generations. We look forward to sharing an evening of art and culture with our community.
Sabrina StokerExecutive Director
By Heidi Fuhrman, Heritage Interpreter
If you missed part one of our 1904 flood series be sure to give it a read for the full story!
May 20th, 1904. 7pm—The force of the water had rushed through Laporte, Bellvue, and Fort Collins, sweeping homes from their foundations, knocking all but one bridge, and leaving the communities feet deep in water. For the people downstream, however, the flood was just sweeping into their homes.
Near the bend in the Poudre, Robert Strauss’ tenants were trying to convince him to leave, but he refused, saying he had lived by the river for forty years and knew how to survive a flood. He would attempt to leave later as the waters rose, spending the night knee deep in water and dying from exposure the next morning after being rescued. (Robert was one of only two casualties.) His neighbor, Will Lamb, also dismissed the warnings, but retreated with his wife and son to their hayloft for the night as the waters rose, now including the force of the Box Elder Creek.
Flood Viewed from the railroad tracks looking at Strauss Cabin in Fort Collins. Image Credit: Archive at Fort Collins Museum of Discovery, [H01961].
In Windsor, “…the flood made a general interchange of property, real and personal, that was not destroyed.” For example, “Melvin Kyger, eight miles from Greeley counted elven houses that floated past his house within an hour and twenty minutes.” William Jones lost 60 of his chickens and all 100 of his turkey eggs but did manage to save his carpets (whew).
Because the landscape levels out, the flood traveled slower through the Timnath and Windsor areas, giving the people downriver more time to prepare and move to higher ground. In fact, the flood didn’t even reach Greeley until the wee hours of the next morning (May 21st) but rose from four to fifteen feet. Like their neighbors in Fort Collins and Windsor, the people of Greeley watched from the edges of the much wider Poudre, as the forceful water swept away bridges, houses, chickens on haystacks, and destroyed the cabbage and onion crops. As the Greeley Tribune later observed, “Thousands of people watched the water from every vantage point, and it really looked more like a holiday for the town than a calamity that was destroying thousands of dollars worth of crops.” (May 26, 1904)
By May 22nd, the flood had moved on, leaving feet of mud and destruction in its path. As the Larimer County Independent Reported:
”A wild, roaring, surging flood swept down through the Cache la Poudre valley Friday afternoon and evening doing incalculable damage to property. Houses, tents, barns, sheds, fences, and bridges were swept from their moorings and dashed to pieces by the angry waters. Thousands of acres of the choicest garden and farm lands in the valley covered with luxuriant crops, were laid waste leaving wreck and desolation triumphant.
Larimer County Independent, May 25, 1904
A collapsed train track over the flooded Poudre River in Greeley. Image Credit: [H08350] City of Greeley
One of the biggest concerns as the communities looked towards the future was the repairs needed to the irrigation ditches. Ironic that water in abundance destroyed the very systems the agriculture communities relied on for water in scarcity, but the reality that few headgates remained, and ditches were filled with mud cast a very real reality that irrigation, and therefore a harvest, would be impossible. Though the system did need thousands of dollars of repairs it was not as bad as first anticipated and there was a harvest in 1904.
Apart from the irrigation damage, there was only one standing (or safe) bridge between Greeley and Bellvue and hundreds of families had lost their homes (including 150 of the German from Russian immigrant families in Fort Collins). In the wake of devastation, Will Lamb, the farmer from Timnath who had spent the night in a hayloft, reminded the communities that sometimes humor and gratitude are the most needed in times of crisis:
”May 22—Fort Collins people may blow about their fine waterworks and filters all they please, but I do not believe they amount to a whoop, because there were great quantities of water that went by here last Friday night that never had been filtered, judging from the sediment it left in my barn. Judging from the smell I couldn’t help from wondering if Lon James and family hadn’t been washing their feet in it… I found my hayrake over in Nelson’s field. He swears he did not put it there so I will let him off this time … I feel sorry now that we fed our chickens at all last Friday, as a good portion of them were drowned that night … It took our front gate too, the d---- knows where, I don’t… I was thankful for small things and big ones…this was one of the big ones and I fill truly thankful we are still here.
Larimer County Independent, May 25, 1904, page 8
Floods are not uncommon on the Poudre. The City of Fort Collins is located where it is today due to a flood on the Poudre in 1864 that destroyed the first Camp Collins, originally located closer to Laporte. Residents of the area might remember when the Poudre and Big Thompson flooded in 2013 or when the Spring Creek flooded in 1997 after torrential rains. But the 1904 storm remains the peak discharge in cfs for the Poudre River. For the people along the Cache la Poudre River, both past and present, water—in abundance and scarcity—continues to be one of our greatest adversities.
A group of people gathered to view the flooded river. Image Credit: [H08408] City of Greeley Musuems
“Destructive Floods in the United States in 1904”, United States Geological Survey, 1905. p154-156.
“Floods in Colorado,” United States Department of the Interior, 1948. p51-59.
Fort Collins Express, May 25, 1904. (Access on Newspapers.com)
Fort Collins Weekly Courier, May 25, 1904. [Read the full newspaper on the Colorado Historic Newspaper Collection].
Greeley Tribune, May 26, 1904. [Read the full newspaper on the Colorado Historic Newspaper Collection].
Larimer County Independent, May 25, 1904. (Accessed on Newspapers.com)
Windsor Beacon, May 28, 1904. (Accessed on Newspapers.com
By Heidi Fuhrman, Heritage Interpreter
This year we mark the 120th anniversary of the 1904 flood on the Cache la Poudre River, or, as the papers called it, “A Great Calamity.” Read on to discover the story of one river, two days, and thousands of “unfortunate victims of cruel circumstances.”
Newspaper clipping from the days following the flood. “A Great Calamity Visits Cache la Poudre Valley. (1904, May 25). The Larimer County Independent, 1.”
May 20th, 1904 began like any other morning along the Cache la Poudre River. Well, perhaps not like any morning—dark storm clouds lay low over the foothills and there were reports that it was raining up-river, and rain in Colorado is unusual—but for the residents of the lower Poudre’s communities the day began like any other.
Down near Laporte Mrs. J.L. Armstrong fed her children breakfast before shooing them out of the house. In Fort Collins, Chris Mason kissed his wife goodbye before strolling over the Poudre to the new dance pavilion he owned on the north bank, pausing to admire the new piano he’d just installed. Down the road, a group of Germans from Russia walked from the immigrant neighborhood to the new Fort Collins Great Western Sugar factory to put in a day’s labor turning beets to sugar.
Further down, at the bend of the Poudre before it wound down through Timnath, Robert Strauss looked out from the cabin he’d built in 1860 on morning light hitting the river. A few miles downriver his neighbor, Will Lamb, told their other neighbor yet again that he couldn’t borrow the hay rake.
Destroyed train tracks and flooded river in Fort Collins. Image Credit: Archive at Fort Collins Museum of Discovery, [H03229].
In Windsor, William Jones let his flock of chickens and turkeys out before collecting a hundred eggs. And down in Greeley, the farmers near the river bottoms surveyed their fields and were grateful the early onion and cabbage crops were growing well, stretching before turning to finish putting in the last of the beets.
Further up-river, however, all was not normal. High in the Poudre Canyon, and in the tributary streams and canyons that feed the Poudre River, rain was falling. Not just a gentle sprinkle, a deluge. On a landscape that sees an average of fourteen inches of annual precipitation, three to eight inches of rain fell within 24 hours (that’s 20-57% of the annual). The mountain streams and Poudre, already swollen from spring snowmelt, couldn’t contain the water. Unbeknownst to the communities below, Boxelder Creek, a tributary of the Poudre, ordinarily a few feet wide was swiftly growing to a raging river from bluff to bluff, while the Poudre itself was deepening and widening as the North Fork, up in the canyon, dumped its gallons into the already overwhelming torrent.
At about 4 o’clock in the afternoon on May 20, 1904, a wall of water ten to twelve feet high burst through the bottom of the Poudre Canyon a few miles above Laporte, quickly spreading out to more than a mile wide. The Armstrong family, found themselves in the midst of the river, cut off from help by walls of water, scrambling to the top of their home for shelter like the rest of their neighbors in Bellvue and Laporte as the river swept away their buildings, gardens, and bridges. Someone managed to phone Fort Collins before the lines were swept aside, alerting the community that a flood was quickly heading their way.
The view looking at College Avenue from the sugar mill during the flood. Image Credit: Denver Public Library, Western History Collection, [Z-1813].
An hour later, at five o’clock, the flood hit Fort Collins. At four o’clock the river was flowing about 900 cubic feet per second, by six o’clock it was flowing at least 30,000 cubic feet per second (afterwards the USGS commissioner estimated it was closer to 40,000cfs, the yearly average today is around 300cfs). As the water commissioner later wrote in the USGS report, “The flood was down …almost before anyone could remove anything out of the way, and had it been in the night there would probably have been a great loss of life as well as property.”
Luckily for the residents of Fort Collins it wasn’t night, but as the newspaper reported, “…scores of families were driven from their homes in great haste, often compelled to wade through muddy water waist deep to places of safety. Nearly all their belongings, except what they had on their backs at the moment, were left to become the playthings of the rolling, surging flood.” (Larimer County Independent May 25, 1904.)
Rolling and surging it was. Moving houses from their foundations or sweeping away the lighter ones, wiping out gardens and fields, and destroying all but two bridges between the canyon and Greeley. Steel or wood, nothing could stand against the flood water. Chris Mason stood on the north bank near the river—now over a mile wide and running down College Ave five feet deep—with thousands of other residents, watching the “work of destruction” and the dance pavilion, piano and all, collapse and be swept away, taking out the railroad bridge. Across the river his wife, with their children, sought refuge on the second floor of their home, “with fear and trembling,” while through the night a river up to the windowsills swept through the lower level. The next morning their neighbor, Jim Clayton, swam out and rescued them one by one although he refused a final trip to rescue the family chicken.
The sugar factory was surrounded by feet of water and the workers found themselves trapped for the night. Thousands of pounds of sugar escaped being ruined by only six inches. Meanwhile, their families, watched as the entire immigrant neighborhood (now the neighborhoods of Buckingham & Andersonville) was swept away.
Flood damage at Buckingham Place which was the Great Western Sugar Factory housing for the German-Russian beet workers located in Lincoln St. between Willow and Lemay. Image Credit: Archive at Fort Collins Museum of Discovery. [H02438]
By seven o’clock the height of the flood swept through Fort Collins (although it would take hours to recede) but was only just reaching the communities downstream …
Read Part 2 for the rest of the stories of Robert Strauss, Will Lamb, William Jones, and the other residents downriver.
“Destructive Floods in the United States in 1904”, United States Geological Survey, 1905. p154-156.
“Floods in Colorado,” United States Department of the Interior, 1948. p51-59.
Fort Collins Express, May 25, 1904. (Access on Newspapers.com)
Fort Collins Weekly Courier, May 25, 1904. [Read the full newspaper on the Colorado Historic Newspaper Collection].
Greeley Tribune, May 26, 1904. [Read the full newspaper on the Colorado Historic Newspaper Collection].
Larimer County Independent, May 25, 1904. (Accessed on Newspapers.com)
Windsor Beacon, May 28, 1904. (Accessed on Newspapers.com
Did you know a book has never been written about the history of Mexican Americans in Greeley using their voices, stories, and perspectives? Now, a group is working to change that.
The Cache la Poudre River National Heritage Area recently sat down with the Mexican American History Project Greeley (MAHPG) to learn more about their work to tell their stories and address this gap in Greeley’s recorded history.
”“Our organization’s goal is to provide a resource book that highlights the history and contributions Mexican Americans have made to Greeley’s success since there is a gap regarding this information in Greeley’s general history. This book will help to give a voice and perspective of Greeley Mexican Americans that is seldom heard and validate our history and contributions in a place we call home.”
Emma Pena-McCleaveProject Coordinator for MAHPG
The book will delve into personal stories of Mexican Americans from Northern Colorado and their long-standing history in Greeley. While Mexican Americans have a longer history in the region, the book will focus on stories from 1920 and later. The goal of this work is to provide young Mexican Americans a strong cultural self-identity while helping to educate the community at large on the contributions and impact Mexican Americans have made on Greeley’s culture, community, and major industries such as the farming, packing plants, construction, and more recently, oil and gas.
The first section of the book will provide a collection of intensive research into historical documents from Greeley about the history and contributions of Mexican Americans in the community. The second half will hold thirty-nine stories from first-hand interviews with Greeley Mexican American residents. Gathered as part of the group’s oral history project, the stories showcase the residents’ perspectives of Greeley’s past, present, and future.
The group hopes to complete the book by April 30, 2025. Once published, MAHPG will distribute sets, English and Spanish, to Weld County schools, libraries, museums, and community centers, providing updated resources about local Mexican American history for school-age students and the community. The book will also be one of the few resources available in Spanish that provides an insight into the past and present of Greeley’s Mexican American community.
Dr. Dierdra Pilch, Weld District 6 Superintendent, was very receptive to the concept of the book stating, “It’s about time.”
While the Mexican American History Project Greeley has come a long way from inception, the group is still in the process of raising money for the publishing and distribution phase of the book.
To learn more about this incredible project, visit Mexican American History Project Greeley – Home (mahpg.org).
They say behind every good man is a woman, but in the case of the hundreds relying on the water of the North Poudre Irrigation Company it was just one woman—Miss Stella M. Newell.
Stella Newell, born in 1885, grew up near St. Louis, Missouri. After contracting tuberculosis, she moved to Fort Collins in 1914, a common move when clean air of the West was thought to cure ailing lungs. Less common, in 1914, was a young woman striking out on her own. For six years Stella worked a variety of jobs—even spending time as postmistress of Coalmont, a rural community near Walden, Colorado—but in 1920, she was offered a job that changed her life, secretary and treasurer of the North Poudre Irrigation Company.
1933 Audit, p.161. North Poudre Irrigation Company Records. Water Resources Archives, Fort Collins, Colorado.
The North Poudre Irrigation Company, made up of nineteen reservoirs, hundreds of miles of ditches, and hundreds of shareholders, was (and is) vital to farming in Northern Colorado. Shortly after farmers began settling here in the 1870s, they realized rainfall would not provide enough water to grow crops. As a solution, they began constructing a complex network of irrigation reservoirs and ditches, founding companies to build and maintain them, including North Poudre in 1901. Running such a company was no small task, so in 1920 they hired Stella.
Fort Collins Courier June 194, 1920. P.3. Accessed on newspapers.com
Stella was also very involved in the Fort Collins community. She organized the Delphian Society (think book club on steroids), was a member of the Order of the Eastern Star (women’s branch of the Masons), attended the First Presbyterian Church, and was an early and lifelong member of the Business and Professional Women’s Club. While Stella never married, she was loved by many, appearing frequently as an attendee in social gatherings, trips, and wedding parties! She rented a plethora of apartments around Fort Collins, even living in the Northern Hotel for years!
Sadly, the poor health that brought Stella west followed her all her life and in 1953, after thirty-three years in office she resigned from the irrigation company due to illness. She died in 1956 and is buried in Grandview Cemetery in Fort Collins.
You might be wondering, “Gee for such an important person, where’s her photo?” We’d like to know the answer to that too! Despite combing several archives and sources, Cache NHA staff and local archivists have been unable to find a photo of Stella! What we’ve discovered is that despite decades of critical work, her tenure is rarely mentioned or remembered and there is no known photograph of her. In a sad way, this is a bit poetic. A woman who was in many ways taken for granted remains in some ways invisible even to us. Stella offers us a small look at the often-hidden work women did to build industries and communities across the West.
This story was compiled from research conducted by Cache NHA staff including records at the Fort Collins Archives, Colorado State University Water Resource Archives–North Poudre Irrigation Company Records, on Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection/Newspapers.com, and U.S. Census Records.
1933 Audit, p.161. North Poudre Irrigation Company Records. Water Resources Archives, Fort Collins, Colorado.
Annual Reports, 1941-1965, image 110. North Poudre Irrigation Company Records. Water Resources Archives, Fort Collins, Colorado.
https://hdl.handle.net/10217/192915
Annual Reports, 1909-1920, image 193. North Poudre Irrigation Company Records. Water Resources Archives, Fort Collins, Colorado. https://hdl.handle.net/10217/186350
Correspondence. February 1935. WNPR Box 39, Cor. 1935 Jan-Mar. North Poudre Irrigation Company Records. Water Resource Archives, Fort Collins, CO. https://hdl.handle.net/10217/187557
Fort Collins Courier June 194, 1920. P.3. Accessed on newspapers.com
Throughout her childhood, Dena Egenhoff was surrounded by strong female role models from engineers to professors. She found them “capable of anything they set their minds to.”
“My own mother instilled in me the belief that my gender should never limit my aspirations,” said Egenhoff.
Alyssa Alpe has been a student of history her whole life. It started in her early years where she grew up driving by Windy Gap reservoir, listening to her mother, a former Colorado State University Extension Agent on the North Platte Basin Round table in Jackson County, say that water was THE issue in Colorado.
When she started college, everyone questioned Alpe’s decision to pursue a history degree, unsure of the careers available for historians. But Alpe knew she, “loved researching in the archives to piece together a narrative that interpreted the story of the past,” and that passion would lend itself to her career somehow.
After graduate school, Alpe landed a job at a law firm where she discovered the world of records management, a profession focused on understanding records and making them accessible to others to tell a story or research an issue.
“It’s about being a ‘knowledge keeper’ and finding a way to communicate that knowledge to others,” Alpe said.
In 2015, Alpe was hired as a Records Data Analyst for Northern Water. Alpe has been with Northern Water for eight and a half years now and she has advanced in her career to the Records & Administrative Services Manager.
In the day-to-day, Alpe balances the managerial and Board of Director support roles along with the records and information management program. She can be found figuring out the best way to collect and store records, researching any number of topics like the origins of the Colorado-Big Thompson Project, or making plans for archival projects like digitizing collections to make them accessible. In the future, she hopes to add another job to her plate to work with the communications team to develop the public history components of their website.
“You have to have a bit of background on many issues,” Alpe said. “You don’t have to know everything, but you have to know a little bit about a lot.”
Q: What do you enjoy most about working with/studying water?
“The fact that it’s a constant state of learning. I don’t feel that you ever get to a point where you know everything about water because there is so much to learn. You’re constantly learning and that’s my favorite part.”
Q: What is the most challenging aspect of your job?
“It’s a challenge to keep up with the complexities of managing water in the United States and in our region. There’s been a real transition in terms of the institutional knowledge of folks that have retired during COVID-19 and moved onto different spaces of life. Transmitting that knowledge down the line to the next generation is a constant evolution. My hope is that through records and information management, that knowledge is accessible to our future selves 25 years down the line.”
Q: What has your experience so far been like being a woman in this line of work?
“Northern Water has modernized a lot since I started in terms of more diversity and women into this space. That’s been really encouraging to see. And I think further down the road we will have more and more of that. We have women in leadership roles across the organization which has been a shift from when I started 8 years ago. So, there is a legacy being built by women in these spaces that have historically been male dominated, and their voices will be preserved in our records for the future.”
Q: What’s a project you have worked on in this field that you are most proud of?
“When I first started with Northern Water, our former public information officer was working with a historian over at UNC, Michael Welsh, and he was writing a book along with the recently passed, former Colorado Supreme Court Justice, Greg Hobbs, who wrote prolifically about water in the west. They were working on the book Confluence: The Story of Greeley Water. We were able to dig into our records and give Michael these old newspaper clippings. He really appreciated that because we were able to give him pieces of information that contributed to this big project about the story of water in Greeley. I really loved that project because I got to work with Justice Hobbs before he passed and Michael Welsh as a historian.”
Q: What or who has been an inspiration to you throughout your work experience?
“My number one mentor in all my life has been a former professor of mine, Heather Thiessen-Reily. She is a professor of history at Western Colorado University in Gunnison. She has done a lot of work with the National Park Service, working on public history projects. She has always been my inspiration because she is so driven. I am still connected with her, and she’s been a valuable person that I still go to if I have questions about something.”
Q: What is something you have learned about the water industry that you didn’t know before you started your role?
“It’s been hard for me to fully comprehend the prior appropriation system and how water is allocated because it is very complex. But it is also fundamental because it’s how we get water to our taps. I did not come into my role with Northern Water with a background in water. It’s been an evolution of learning and that’s the system that has been the most complex for me to learn, especially in terms of keeping the records and indexing with the appropriate terminology to be able to track back the history.”
Q: What advice would you give to other women that may want to get into this type of work?
“Be open to anything. You don’t know how that job will evolve. I didn’t think I would get into water when I left grad school and landed at a law firm working in records. I was just trying to navigate life after college. Be open to opportunities because it may not happen overnight, but eventually you do end up navigating your career towards what you want to do. It can get a little discouraging when you are trying to wedge your career into one path, and it’s not working out. But I believe all those experiences come together to make a package that will land you where you need to be, especially if you’re knowledgeable and passionate about things. Ask questions. And always be open to learning.”
“The other part of it is to be engaged with the public agencies, community organizations, your town, and other communities in the region that you may not know anything about. Learn about the region and its many histories, particularly if you are looking to work in the water industry in Northern Colorado.”
The Cache la Poudre River NHA awarded almost $30,000 to local and regional partners for community benefiting projects in 2024.
Happy Mother’s Day to all the beautiful mommas out there! It’s a wonderful time of year in Northern Colorado to get outside and enjoy the outdoors as a family. The Cache la Poudre River National Heritage Area (CALA) has some incredible natural, cultural and historical resources that make a Mother’s Day Adventure possible for the entire family.
Check out some of the ideas we have put together for your family this Mother’s Day:
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