Stories of Yampa Valley’s Past
Content courtesy of Museum of Northwest Colorado in Downtown Craig
From Labor to Lifestyle: Howelsen’s Impact on Skiing
Skiing was a common form of winter travel for early trappers, prospectors and homesteaders to the area. Mail carriers even skied the mail from Hot Sulphur Springs and Laramie in the 1870s and 1880s. But it was the 1913 arrival of Norwegian brick layer and celebrated skier, Carl Howelsen, that transformed local skiing into a recreational mainstay. In addition to dazzling residents with his jaw-dropping ski jumps, Howelsen also organized Steamboat’s first official Winter Carnival in 1914 and laid the foundation for the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club. He also constructed the first ski jump on the hill now named in his honor. Howelsen’s impact even reached downriver to Craig, CO where he occasionally trained. His skis are currently on display at the Museum of Northwest Colorado in Downtown Craig (pictured).
A County Divided
Most people are surprised to learn that Routt County once consisted of both Routt and Moffat Counties combined. Routt County was officially formed in 1877 with the gold camp of Hahns Peak (the largest voting population at the time) as county seat. Unfortunately, Hahns Peak’s major gold was mostly played-out and the population quickly dwindled. It wasn’t long before the rest of the massive, 125-mile-wide county clamored for a closer, more accessible location. However, there was one problem: Steamboat, Craig and Hayden all felt they should be county seat and no vote to move it ever reached the necessary threshold. Finally in 1911, after over 3 decades of bickering, it was decided that there was only one way to solve the problem: a new county of Moffat was formed with Craig as the county seat while Routt County’s seat moved to Steamboat Springs.
ABC’s & S-Turns
Few communities can claim that skiing was once as fundamental as math or history—but in Steamboat Springs, the slopes were part of the classroom. In 1944, skiing officially became a regular part of the public school curriculum for students from first through twelfth grade. Children received two hours of skiing instruction each week: grade schoolers during lunch breaks, and junior and senior high students after school at Howelsen Hill.
The curriculum spanned slalom, downhill, jumping, and cross-country. Al Wegeman and Olympian Gordy Wren led the program, teaching such notables as Buddy and Skeeter Werner and Marvin Crawford.
This unique chapter in Steamboat’s education proves that skiing wasn’t just a pastime—it was a way of life, taught as surely as any subject in school. In fact, fourth-generation Steamboat native Ray Heid jokes that it was the only “A” he ever received!
Far From the Heart of Texas
Believe it or not, there exists a wide swath of land running through the Yampa Valley that was once claimed by Texas. This included ALL of today’s Routt County and a portion of Moffat County. But why?
When the Republic of Texas declared independence from Mexico in 1836 (remember the Alamo?), they contentiously laid claim to an ambitious stretch of Mexican land as far north as today’s Rawlins, WY. The claim ended with the Compromise of 1850 at which time the Yampa Valley became part of Utah Territory. Then, in 1861, the mineral-rich Territory of Colorado was formed and has remained ever since. While no Texas Ranger ever rode through the Yampa Valley, this rugged landscape did once carry the Lone Star’s name, as both a nation and a state, for 14 years.
Steamboat’s Silent Film Company
In the early 1900s, Northwest Colorado had the usual small-town businesses—hardware stores, livery stables, groceries, and restaurants. What it rarely saw was a movie company. Yet in 1919, the Art-O-Graph Film Company, with offices in Denver and a studio in Englewood, chose Steamboat Springs for its silent film Wolves of Wall Street. The Steamboat Pilot described daring stunts in Brooklyn’s saloon district, coal miner strikes, and even building explosions at Mt. Harris. Pleased with the area, Art-O-Graph moved its executive offices to downtown Steamboat (908 Lincoln Ave) and scouted locations across Routt, Moffat, and Rio Blanco counties. Their next film, The Desert Scorpion (1920), featured locals as extras, a cattle stampede, and a scandalous romance between a sheepherder and a cattle king’s daughter. Between 1919 and 1923, the company shot about ten films before ultimately folding.
*The included photo is during the filming of Wolves of Wall Street and shows Art-O-Graph’s head office which is today’s Steamboat Shoe Market
Last Stand of the Stagecoach
Northwest Colorado was among the last regions in the U.S. to rely heavily on stagecoaches. In the Yampa Valley, they remained essential until about 1915. The arrival of the railroad into Steamboat Springs in 1908, and later into Hayden and Craig in 1913, signaled the decline of horse-drawn travel, yet stagecoaches were still needed to reach outlying communities like Hahns Peak, Maybell, and Meeker. By 1915, the automobile delivered the final blow, and stagecoaches slipped into history. Stage travel was hardly cheap—far from it. In modern dollars, a round-trip ticket between Craig and Steamboat Springs would run about $275. The trip itself was grueling, requiring roughly 9.5 hours each way. Today, the same journey by car takes only 45 minutes, a reminder of just how dramatically transportation has evolved in a little more than a century.
*Photo was taken across from the Downtown Health & Rec pool in 1907
Hwy 40: The Old Victory Highway
After World War I ended in 1918, millions of returning soldiers embraced the dream of automobile ownership. Cars surged in popularity, but America’s road network remained little more than old wagon trails. That changed in 1921 with the creation of the Victory Highway Association, which sought to build a modern transcontinental highway honoring WWI service members. The “Victory Highway” would span New York to San Francisco, passing directly through Northwest Colorado along what is now U.S. 40. Almost overnight, gas stations, motels, restaurants, and tourist shops sprang up to welcome travelers. Local newspapers buzzed with excitement; a 1921 Pilot article declared, “You think you have good tourist travel now—wait until next year… all the autos in the world are going through Maybell.” In 1927, the route was officially designated U.S. Highway 40. In Craig, it still bears the name “Victory Way.”
