The History of Pearl Lake State Park, Colorado goes back to the history of my grandparents own arrival in SW Wyoming and NW Colorado in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. This post was the first of many that I have written about this colorful era of western history. In addition to reading this page – I invite readers to check out our index of blog posts to find our historic photos taken in the Rawlins, Wyoming and Hahn’s Peak, Colorado region. Also consider a visit to our links page and the pages about the Hartt family tree. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the show . . .
It is hard to imagine what the frontier life would have been like for my grandparents. Both my grandparents came west from New England/Canada. My grandfather, John Kelly Hartt, came to Wyoming in 1894. He was born in Bangor, Maine in 1870 and moved to Canada when he was 14. His father and grandfather were both Free Baptist ministers in that region (at the South Canaan, Raynardton and other churches). In addition to living in those places, granddad lived in
Albuquerque, NM and Elizabeth, CO.
John K. Hartt started his career in the sheep industry as a ranch hand for several outfits. I have heard he worked for the King Brothers Sheep Company in Laramie. He also spent time working as a horse wrangler for Ora Haley. He owned his first sheep in partnership with a Mr Revest, a Frenchman. He also partnered with the Cosgriff Brothers early in his career. In 1901 he invested in the Pioneer Sheep Company, where he eventually became Vice President.
In 1903, Pioneer merged with the Cow Creek Sheep Company, his partnership with the Cosgriffs. In time he bought out their holdings in the Savery-Battle Creek District. He went on to become the President of Cow Creek Sheep Company and another Company called Yellowstone Sheep Company. This is only the begining of the story of a very successful man who got off the train in Rawlins, Wyo. because he was out of money to go further. Please explore out blog posts on this site for more history!
By the summer of 1903, John K. Hartt was summering the sheep in both CO and Wyoming and was involved in the range wars. There are accounts in the local history books that say my grandfather was dealing with adversaries like Tom Horn during this time. Some accounts tell of him being “driven back into Wyoming” from the cool Colorado summer pastureland by the cattlemen. During these years, his official summer headquarters was in Baggs, Wyoming, just 2
miles north of the CO/Wyo. border.
By 1911, the range wars had calmed down enough that he was able to establish a summer headquarters in the Hahn’s Peak Basin in CO. The first summers, my mom and her family stayed in “the little green house” in Hahn’s Peak Village. The next 4-5 summers, they spent in the old Ranger Station, which is now under the waters of Steamboat Lake. There were 6 daughters born to John Kelly and Minnie Pearl Hartt – Pearl, Marie, Marge, Louise, Catherine and Dotty. (I am Catherine’s daughter and I took her maiden name a few years back to keep it alive one more generation. My maiden name was Keffeler.)
In 1926, John K. Hartt purchased the land that is now Pearl Lake and established a permanent summer headquarters (click here to view deed). My family owned the “cabin” for 60 years and we often referred to it as the “Hartt Family Headquarters”.
The “cabin” was moved from Pearl Lake to Elk River Guest Ranch several years ago. You can rent it for the night through AirBnB if you are up for an adventure!
Please visit the FULL LENGTH version of the history by starting at: Exploring the History of Pearl Lake State Park: A Journey Back in Time
I also have videos explaining the history on my video page.
Pearl Lake State Park History 