Pure Joy

History and Culture... more

by Kathleen Struckle

Title

Pure Joy

Artist

Kathleen Struckle

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

History and Culture
The lands now known as Rocky Mountain National Park Colorado have been home to humans for at least ten thousand years. The land has been manipulated for the benefit of human life in forms ranging from hunting blinds and game trails to homesteading ranches to parking lots, roads, and overlooks. The cultural history of the area holds the details of why these attributes manifested and how they ultimately interweave with the natural history of the landscape. The history and culture of Rocky Mountain National Park is dynamic and engaging. It gives us memories and it gives us the details to make informed decisions about our current culture. Having access to the people, places, stories, and museum collections provides visitors and managers alike the opportunity to actively conserve the land as stated

People
The Rocky Mountain National Park was established by President Woodrow Wilson's signature on January 25, 1915; although, the human history of the landscape starts far earlier with evidence of human occupation for over 10,000 years through to the modern era. Many cultures have established themselves here. Aboriginal people, explorers, homesteaders, miners, hunters, and dude ranchers have all laid their claims to the area at one time or another. Now the culture of the NPS, including visitation and management, adds another layer of human activity across the landscape.



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Places
Human evidence surfaces in a wide range of places within the current park boundaries; including the edge of glaciers, across the Continental Divide, and in valleys throughout the park. Archeological sites and both remnants of and extant buildings and structures exist in the park as a record of human activity. The park's historic structures environment illustrates the history of the park from homesteader ranch inholdings to its growth through the rustic phase which includes work by the Civil Conservation Corps and up to the Mission 66 period when parks were being updated to keep up with the burgeoning tourists that arrived after World War II ended. Some of these sites are eligible for the National Register of Historic Places or are already on the National Register and are protected in the park. Only about half of the park has been surveyed for archeologicalogistists


Stories
In the early 1900s, passion to conserve the area began to spread to Congress from chambers of commerce, conservationists, women's clubs, Enos Mills, Colorado Mountain Club, and R. B. Marshall of the U.S. Geological Survey. Congress heard opposition from the Front Range Settlers League of Estes Park, ranchers, cattlemen, and even miners. This controversy finally resulted in the formation of the national park in 1915. This decision to administer the lands as a national park has led to the recording of events that came before and events that came after. The stories of early native peoples, explorers, ranchers, Civilian Conservation Corps, mountaineering, search and rescue, wilderness designation, fire ecology, and the biology of the flora and fauna can all be discovered through ranger programs, oral histories, publicatio

Collections
The museum, archival, and library collections consist of both prehistoric and historic cultural artifacts, Artist-in-Residence materials, biological and geological specimens, and documentary artifacts such as publications, manuscripts, photographs, and oral histories that document human use of the land and record changes such as climate data and flora and fauna records. About 710 of these items are on exhibit throughout park at visitor centers and the Holzwarth Historic Site. The curator also maintains online exhibits on the Preservation page.
Did You Know?
a photo of folks throwing snowballs in front of the snow-covered Alpine Visitor Center

Last winter, the coldest temperature inside the Alpine Visitor Center was 21.2 degrees. The snow insulates the building when it is closed for the winter.
Landscape-Rocky Mountain National Park-Colorado-High dynamic,range. Contest winner
digital-featured art in FAA product Red group,FAA Featured members,Stop Time With Art,Images That Excite You Group,USA Photography Only Group, Artist's News,Artistic Forager Group,comfortable Art Work.

Uploaded

November 9th, 2011