Web Extra: A 1903 road trip to Estes Park

Stanley Hotel, Estes Park, Colorado
image courtesy Stanley Hotel

By Jean Cramer

In 1903, while the fearless roadster Horatio Jackson was rattling across America proving the point that an automobile could go anywhere a horse could go, the famous automobile inventor F.O. (Freelan) Stanley was proving a similar point here in Colorado.

The New England inventor of the Stanley Steamer came to Colorado initially for his health. What he found was a bustling Denver still reliant on the horse. Even though 40 car owners had already organized the Colorado Auto Club, the Denver Post counted only 200 cars in the city.

Stanley was determined to show Coloradoans what his steam car could do and chose the popular tourist destination of Estes Park as a suitable test. Having shipped his car to Denver via train, Stanley picked it up at Denver's Union Station and headed out alone for Estes Park. He could find no one to accompany him—even his wife Flora took a train to Lyons and continued by stagecoach, which was the customary way of reaching Estes Park in 1903.

Some of the obstacles he faced included wagon-rutted trails, streams with no bridges and steep mountain inclines. In his corner, though, was a no-clutch, no-transmission, powerful steamer car that seemed to have the climbing skills of a mountain goat.

Altogether, it took Stanley two days to get to Estes Park. That was mostly because he had no map and got lost, spending the night above Lyons in a hotel in the North St. Vrain Canyon.

As most know, Stanley went on to open his luxurious Estes Park hotel in 1909. To lure sophisticated guests, he transported them from railheads by steam-powered Stanley Mountain Wagons. He brought in water, electricity and raised funds to improve roads, as well as helped Enos Mills lobby for Rocky Mountain National Park.

Today, the Stanley Hotel is a National Historic Landmark. Stanley would have been proud.

This article was first published in the September/ October 2003 issue of EnCompass.