In 1858, Joel Estes entered what is now Estes Park and started a ranch. The first Estes Valley settlers in the early 1860's found many mule deer. But due to people, predators and harsh elements the population dropped. Around 1870, the Pole Hill stage road was built. In the early 1870s, Isabella Bird set out for the Estes Park mountain town. She resided at Griff Evans' Cottage Camp on Fish Creek, explored the Estes Park valley and Longs Peak. In 1874, during Estes Park’s development, disagreements arose between the English and Americans over settling rights.  An “antagonist” towards the English’s attempts to settle named James Nugent, aka Rocky Mountain Jim, was shot by the English. Jim lived for three months with a pellet lodged in his brain. He died in Ft. Collins. In 1879, Bird published A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains based on her daily travels with her guide Nugent. The book was popular in Great Britain, and exported to France, making Estes Park a tourist destination.

From 1890-late 1990s, North American elk, or wapiti, were once plentiful in the Rocky Mountains but as Euro-Americans settled the Estes Valley, many were hunted. By 1890 few, if any, remained. In 1913 and 1914, before the national park's establishment, The Estes Valley Improvement Association and United States Forest Service transplanted 49 elk from Yellowstone National Park. Around the same time, an effort to eliminate predators (gray wolf, grizzly bear) began. In 1895, according to one report, very few mule deer were seen in the Estes Park region and continued into the beginning of the twentieth century. By 1900, the growing national conservation and preservation movement, led by Theodore Roosevelt, Gifford Pinchot, and John Muir, advocated an appreciation for nature. The Estes Park Protective and Improvement Association fostered local conservation efforts.

Credits and Sources:

“Brief Park History.” National Park Service: Rocky Mountain, Colorado. Stories. Accessed May 31, 2015. http://www.nps.gov/romo/learn/historyculture/brief.htm

“Elk.” National Park Service: Rocky Mountain, Colorado. Mammals. Accessed May 31, 2015. http://www.nps.gov/romo/learn/nature/elk.htm

“Mule Deer.” National Park Service: Rocky Mountain, Colorado. Mammals. Accessed May 31, 2015. http://www.nps.gov/romo/learn/nature/mule_deer.htm

“People.” National Park Service: Rocky Mountain, Colorado. History & Culture. Accessed May 31, 2013. http://www.nps.gov/romo/learn/historyculture/people.htm

“Rocky Mountain National Park: A History. Chapter 3: Searching for the Song of the Winds.” National Park Service. Park History Program. Accessed May 31, 2015. http://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/romo/buchholtz/chap3.htm

“Timeline of Historic Events.” National Park Service: Rocky Mountain, Colorado. Stories. Accessed May 31, 2015. http://www.nps.gov/romo/learn/historyculture/time_line_of_historic_events.htm

“Rocky Mountain National Park: A History. Chapter 2: Into the Domains of Silence and Loneliness.” National Park Service. Park History Program. Accessed May 31, 2015. http://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/romo/buchholtz/chap2.htm

“Rocky Mountain National Park: A History. Chapter 3: Searching for the Song of the Winds.” National Park Service. Park History Program. Accessed June 11, 2015. http://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/romo/buchholtz/chap3.htm