Monday, February 25, 2019

The Hiwan Homestead Museum


Hiwan Homestead Museum, located in Evergreen, Colorado, is a magnificent, 25-room log lodge, built between 1880 and 1942, and includes three other original buildings. which are now used as a museum and exhibit space.


I visited Hiwan Homestead Museum on different occasions during last summer, and especially enjoyed the excellent docent tour when I went with a group.  

Hiwan Homestead was a mountain retreat for Mary Neosho Williams, a Civil War widow, and her daughter Josepha in the 1890s. They were among the aristocratic society of Denver who camped at Evergreen. They acquired a simple log structure and hired John “Jock” Spence, a Scottish carpenter, to convert it into a summer cottage, and over the years added on to the initial structure. The property was named Camp Neosho after Mrs. Williams’ middle name.


Overnight guests of Mary Neosho Williams would stay in tents, comfortably equipped with wood floors, stoves, and double canvas walls.  In 1889, Josepha graduated from Gross Medical School in Denver and became one of Colorado’s first women doctors. Seven years later, Josepha married Canon Charles Winfred Douglas, an Episcopal clergyman who achieved world acclaim for his musical work.


The Williams/Douglas families would hold lavish parties at their mountain retreat and one of their famous guests who stayed at Camp Neosho in 1931was the poet Robert Frost.


Josepha Douglas died in 1938 and the house was sold to Tulsa oilman, Darst Buchanan. It grew to 15,000 acres over the years. His wife renamed the land Hiwan Ranch. Buchanan’s Hiwan Hereford cattle were known throughout the country and won many stock show prizes. Six generations of notable families lived in this rustic mountain lodge before it was developed as a museum by Jefferson County Open Space in 1974.


 Many of the restored rooms in the Hiwan Homestead are furnished with the original residents' belongings, including a collection of southwestern Indian artifacts.


Canon Charles Winfred Douglas, whose portrait hangs on one of the fireplaces in Hiwan Homestead, was largely responsible for bringing plainsong, the ancient music of liturgical worship, into general use, and with it the full choral service in Episcopal worship.


One of my favorite rooms in the Hiwas Homestead was the kitchen, which was frozen in time circa the 1930s


There were so many wonderful artifacts to look at in the kitchen, including a wonderful vintage cookbook collection...



...and vintage spice and condiment containers. 


Schoolchildren often tour Hiwan House to learn about the early days of Colorado, and they make pioneer style journey cakes in the kitchen.

One of the visits I made to Hiwan Homestead Museum was to see an exhibit going on at the time about Chief Colorow, a Native American who was active in the area where I now live.  I've blogged more about him, and the red rock front range cave he liked to use as a shelter, on this blog post.


 It was a wonderful exhibit of both photographs and artifacts of the Utes and early settlers in Colorado.


The grounds of Hiwan Homestead Museum are much smaller now than when it was a functioning ranch but are beautifully maintained.




Two of the beautiful sculptures on display on the grounds.




Above is a short video about Hiwan Homestead from the Jefferson County website.  

I hope you enjoyed learning more about this wonderful piece of old Colorado history preserved for all time.

The Hiwan Homestead is located at:
28473 Meadow Drive
Evergreen, CO 80439

Admission is free

 For large group tours contact the museum at 720-497-7650 
Museum Hours: Tuesday – Friday: Noon - 4:00 pm Saturday & Sunday: Noon – 4:30 pm

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Monday, February 18, 2019

Winter Hodgepodge




"Live in each season as it passes.
Breathe the air
Drink the drink
Taste the fruit
And resign yourself to the influences of each."
~ Henry David Thoreau


I may be one of the few who enjoys winter. So often I hear people say that they are tired of the cold and snow and can't wait for spring and summer to arrive. Truth be told, summer is my least favorite season. I do appreciate summer's longer daylight hours, and flowers growing in my garden, but I really dislike hot weather, humidity, and here in the west the all too often days of drought and the danger of fires that summer brings.   

Give me a cool, crisp day...a day to sit by the fire...a day to watch the snow softly falling...and a day to enjoy the special quiet beauty of winter, and I'll be content.  There is a special coziness about winter that


"Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand
 and for a talk beside the fire; it is the time for home" 
 ~ Edith Sitwell

The beginning of this winter was even more of a stay at home time of the year for me, as I had foot surgery. While I was healing, my husband took over most of the chores, but I did use my crockpot quite a bit to make cooking easier.   I made chicken hatch pepper and bean chili, ham and split pea soup, and many quick skillet meals.  One of my favorite vegetarian meals is to make is to saute chopped swiss chard with one chopped onion and two cloves of garlic in olive oil in a skillet, then add sliced boiled potatoes to the skillet and a package of Madras Lentils.  Mix well and heat. I buy the packages of Tasty Bite Madras Lentils, 8 packages in a box, at Costco. They are already cooked, in a not too spicy tomato sauce. and really delicious alone or mixed with other vegetables.
One of my favorite banana breads is the King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Banana Bread. I doubled the recipe and made it in a bundt cake pan as I had quite a few ripe bananas in my freezer. It is really moist and delicious. 

 
Two special events occurred in February, First, my son turned 40! I'm not sure how that happened, as I don't feel old enough to have a son who is that age. I feel like I was 40 just a short time ago myself. Second, my oldest granddaughter turned six and had a wonderful party her parents hosted at a local children's beauty salon. She and her little friends had their hair and nails done, made beaded bracelets, sang karaoke, ate pizza and cupcakes and had a very happy time!

Our neighborhood bobcat is still on the prowl. The photos above are ones a neighbor posted on our facebook community group. "Bob" makes himself right at home. Bobcats are smaller than mountain lions and mainly eat small animals like mice, birds, squirrels, and rabbits and he is obviously finding enough of them to stay around.
I'm sure you heard about the Colorado man who was attacked recently by a mountain lion while jogging in the foothills. You can hear an interview of how he was able to kill the mountain lion and escape with his life on this link.  Living among wildlife requires us to be alert, but thankfully wildlife attacks are rare.

Beautiful roses from my husband for Valentine's Day! Roses are my favorite flower and my birth month flower. They are even more precious in winter!

! 

Last, the good news for me is that my foot is almost back to normal! No more need to wear the heavy supportive post-op boot!  I am back to using a shoe and little by little I am regaining strength in my foot.  I hope to be hiking again soon.  Thanks for all your good wishes! 

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