FLOOD07982

• County: Larimer
• Stream Name: Big Thompson
• Basin: South Platte
• Title: The Big Thompson Flood
• Date: 7/31/1976
• Prepared For: Larimer County
• Prepared By: C.F. Boone Publisher
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Flood Documentation Report

A Century of Progress

COLORADO, AT the age of 100,
today still has its sights on the
mountains, and the stars. ..
Few areas in the nation, and even
fewer around the world, have a heritage
to match the Centennial State's rough-
and-tumble past, its concerned present
and its confident future.
Colorado - and Coloradans -
didn't come by the reputation, the
dreams and the accomplishments
easily.
And both the people and the state
defend their resources with equal vigor.
It was not as ironic as it may have at
first seemed that one of the state's truly
scenic wonders - Big Thompson
Canyon - would become involved in
one of the region's major tragedies on
the eve and the day of Colorado's 100th
Anniversary.
From that first year of its birth as a
state, and for years before, those who
settled amid its rugged beauty, who
conquered its challenging mountains
and who tapped its rich resources
sometimes paid dearly for the privilege.
But, as has been the history during
the more than century past, Colorado,
and the Big Thompson, are bouncing
back. . . mourning their dead and those
who came from afar to enjoy its
wonders . . . But living life because it
must go on as it always has.
For many, Colorado's entering the
Second Century as a state, was
somewhat nostalgic, a yearning
perhaps for the days of the Gold and
Silver mines, the tumbleweed streets
and cowboy towns that grew up
overnight and which survived wind and
cold and often disappointment.
To many, Colorado is known bestfor
its "Mile High City," the metropolis of
Denver. . .
To others, Colorado's main
attraction is its 53 peaks which rise
above 14,000 feet, their sides and
foothills populated with lush trees,
rocks and minerals. . .

56

And to others, it is a place to get away
from it all, to return to Nature and
perhaps converse with God Himself.
Today, such names as Pikes Peak,
Estes Park, Loveland, Cripple Creek,
Durango, Colorado Springs, Aspen,
and countless other vacation spots live
on.
And in an area where prospectors
once used pickaxe and shovel to dig for
glittering gold and silver, huge machines
now carve out Cheyenne Mountain to
upgrade and expand the North
American Air Defense Command's
tracking facility - one of the nation's
modern "preparedness rooms."
In some ways, today's history of
colorful Colorado, extolled in song and
rotogravure, is as intriguing and
exciting as that which spawned stories
of the Wild West, ballads and at least
one opera.
One of the more fascinating stories of
the early-day history of the state when
fortunes in gold and silver were made -
and lost - overnight, was the story of
H. A. W. Tabor, the silver magnate,
who made millions from his Matchless
Mine.
Tabor died penniless, but not before
he had lived a saga to match the best
movie script Hollywood ever produced.
After Tabor died, a financially broken
man, his wife, the former Elizabeth
McCourt (Baby) Doe, followed him in
death, at the mine itself eight years later
at the age of 80.
The story of their lives was the
inspiration for Douglas Moore's noted
opera, The Ballad of Baby Doe, a
classic set in Colorado.
Colorado's past has not always been
as serene as the majestic mountains
which overlook its valleys and spawn its
high hopes.
The state in the early days of this
century was the scene of some of the
bitterest labor-management clashes in
the nation's history. This was
particularly applicable in the case of the

United Mine Workers and some mining
companies.
Today, Colorado's most widely
known resource is its scenery and
recreational sites, including the Big
Thompson Canyon area where men
and women of all ages have found peace
and contentment.
Ski lodges, fishing and hunting sites
and winter and summer homes - all
combine to give Colorado's economy a
multi-million dollar shot in the arm each
year.
Yet, the state guards its heritage, its
resources and its privacy with pride.
The state's citizens voted down plans to
hold the 1976 Winter Olympic Games in
the Denver area. The man who led the
anti-Olympics campaign, Richard D.
Lamm, is now governor of the state.
But still new pressures face the state,
pressures to exploit the vast coal and
mineral resources, primarily the fuel-
producing ones.
On another front, Colorado -
although welcoming visitors from
around the world - nevertheless is
guarding its population growth
jealously. It seeks to keep a steady
employment rather than attracting
drifters. It seeks to keep its industry
"home controlled." It seeks to keep
pollution at a minimum, although
Denver has faced an increasing
problem in this direction.
In 1875, Denver had a population of
22,000, 55 saloons, 63 hotels, 34
cigarette and tobacco stores, six
schools, 18 churches and one
synagogue. Five years later, the first
railroad was to reach the Mile High City.
Today, Denver is the hub of a vast rail,
air and highway system.
Colorado's population has soared 45
percent in the past 15 years, much of it
in the metropolitan Denver area. A total
of 164 new residents arrive daily.
Gov. Lamm sounds a note of concern
in this direction: "We must stop
thinking of bigger, faster and more, and