Living History-Enos Mills-Father of the Rocky Mountain National Park

Enos Abijah Mills (1870-1922) was an American naturalist and homesteader, and he was the main figure behind the creation of Rocky Mountain National Park. Enos A. Mills was born in Kansas but moved to Colorado early in his life during a bout with tuberculosis. At age 15, he made his first ascent of the 14,255-foot Longs Peak?a rather amazing feat for someone with a serious respiratory condition. Over the course of his life, he made the trip 40 times by himself and nearly 300 additional times as a guide. In 1887, after returning to health, he moved to Butte, Montana. There he lived and worked intermittently until 1902, spending more summers traveling the West Coast of the United States, Alaska, and Europe. In 1889, he had a chance encounter with famed naturalist John Muir on a San Francisco beach, and from that point on Mills dedicated his life to conservation activism, lecturing, and writing. In 1902, Mills returned to Colorado and purchased from his cousin the Longs Peak House in Estes Park. He eventually homesteaded in the surrounding area and later turned the Longs Peak house into the Longs Peak Inn, where he treated guests to excursions into the wilderness and evening nature talks. Join us as we learn about this remarkable man as Colorado celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Rocky Mountain National Park! John Stansfield will re-enact important moments from the life of Colorado's first conservationist. For more than 30 years, storyteller and author John Stansfield has recounted stories of notable people from Colorado history. He wrote Enos Mills: Rocky Mountain Naturalist in 2005 and presents this one-man show on the life of Enos Mills. In his spare time, John works to protect Colorado's wild places, and for these efforts, the Wilderness Society presented him an Environmental Heroes Award in 2004.