(OPENING MUSIC) NARRATOR EVERY FALL, BOULDER COUNTY TURNS BACK THE CLOCK AT WALKER RANCH. FOR THREE GENERATIONS, THE WALKER FAMILY LIVED HERE AND RAN ONE OF COLORADO'S LARGEST CATTLE OPERATIONS. NOW, WALKER RANCH IS COUNTY OPEN SPACE WHERE VISITORS CAN EXPERIENCE LOCAL HISTORY. TOM MCMICHEN The Walker family settled here in 1882, and Boulder County Open Space has done a lot to preserve that era here-the log house and the barn have been restored, and there's always some project with the Youth Corps or other volunteers going on. Up at (elevation), the summers are short and the winters can be wicked. People are always amazed at just how much work it took to live in a place like this. A visit to Walker Ranch is a great way to learn about local history and really appreciate modern life. (MUSIC) NARRATOR LOOKING AFTER LOCAL HISTORY IS A TOP PRIORITY FOR THE BOULDER COUNTY PARKS AND OPEN SPACE DEPARTMENT. THE COUNTY IS SAFEGUARDING PREHISTORIC TRIBAL CAMPSITES ... GOLD, SILVER, TUNGSTEN AND COAL MINES.... SOME OF THE AREA'S FIRST FARMS AND RANCHES... AND MANY CULTURALLY SIGNIFICANT LANDSCAPES... SO FOLKS TODAY CAN EXPERIENCE BOULDER COUNTY HISTORY ... BY SEEING IT... TOUCHING IT ... ...AND WALKING THROUGH IT. THE BOULDER COUNTY PARKS AND OPEN SPACE STAFF DOCUMENT LOCAL HISTORY BY RECORDING ELDERS' LIFE STORIES AND DOING OTHER RESEARCH... ...KEEP TRACK OF CULTURALLY AND HISTORICALLY SIGNIFICANT PROPERTIES AND ARTIFACTS... FIND WAYS TO MAKE LOCAL HISTORICAL SITES USEFUL AND ACCESSIBLE FOR THE PUBLIC... ...SEEK OUT GRANTS AND PARTNERSHIPS... AND DO THE HANDS-ON WORK... ...OF PRESERVATION AND RESTORATION. BOULDER COUNTY'S EFFORTS OFTEN TAKE PLACE IN COOPERATION WITH PARTNERS SUCH AS THE COLORADO HISTORICAL SOCIETY... ...HISTORIC BOULDER... ...THE SAINT VRAIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY... AND OTHER PRESERVATION GROUPS. THE BOULDER COUNTY YOUTH CORPS... ... AND GROUPS OF VOLUNTEERS ALSO ASSIST WITH THE WORK OF PRESERVATION ... ... AND HELP OTHERS HAVE A FIRST-HAND EXPERIENCE WITH LOCAL HISTORY. KAREN HAGLER Briefly discussing the breadth of county's efforts, especially its landmarking and historic grants programs and benefits to the public. (MUSIC) NARRATOR EVIDENCE OF HUMAN ACTIVITY IN BOULDER COUNTY DATES BACK TWELVE THOUSAND YEARS. NOMADIC INDIANS CAMPED THROUGH THE REGION, HUNTING THE MIGRATING BISON, ELK AND OTHER BIG GAME. DURING THE EIGHTEEN HUNDREDS, CHIEF NIWOT, WHOSE NAME MEANS LEFT-HAND IN ARAPAHOE, AND HIS PEOPLE LIVED THROUGHOUT BOULDER COUNTY'S LEFTHAND VALLEY. CHIEF NIWOT DECLARED THAT PEOPLE WHO GAZE UPON THE BEAUTY OF THIS VALLEY WILL ALWAYS BE DESTINED TO RETURN. TODAY WE AFFECTIONATELY CALL HIS PRONOUNCEMENT ... NIWOT'S CURSE. ARROWHEADS, ROCK FLAKES, POTTERY SHARDS AND OTHER ARTIFACTS OF INDIAN CAMPS HAVE BEEN DISCOVERED ON BOULDER COUNTY OPEN SPACE. SOME ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES HAVE BEEN DEFTLY HIDDEN TO PRESERVE THEIR INTEGRITY, SO THAT PRESERVATIONISTS MAY EXCAVATE AND LEARN FROM THEM IN THE FUTURE. AT ROCK CREEK FARM NEAR LAFAYETTE, ARCHAEOLOGY CONSULTANTS DISCOVERED AN ANCIENT CAMPSITE WHILE PLANNING A TRAIL ALONG THE CREEK. PETE GLEICHMAN: Describing briefly what was found there, how the fire pit was carbon-dated to 6,000 years - the oldest site found to date, how school children toured the site during the dig, and what was done to preserve what was found. NARRATOR LESS THAN TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO, THE FIRST WHITE EXPLORERS LAID EYES UPON THE LANDSCAPES THAT GREET BOULDER COUNTY RESIDENTS EACH DAY. IN EIGHTEEN NINETEEN, ARTIST STEPHEN SEYMOUR RECORDED THIS SCENE AS HE APPROACHED THE FRONT RANGE WITH MAJOR STEPHEN LONG'S EXPEDITION. SOON AFTERWARD, TRAPPERS... ...BISON HUNTERS ... ... AND TRADING POST OPERATORS-SUCH AS CERAN ST. VRAIN, WHO NAMED THE ST. VRAIN VALLEY-FOLLOWED. ON JANUARY SIXTEENTH, EIGHTEEN-FIFTY-NINE, MINERS DISCOVERED A MOTHERLODE OF GOLD IN GOLD RUN, JUST BELOW GOLD HILL. NEWS OF THE FIND TRAVELED FAST, AND THE COLORADO GOLD RUSH WAS ON. BOULDER COUNTY MINING TOWNS SWELLED WITH NEW RESIDENTS. MINES AND MILLS SOON THUNDERED WITH ACTIVITY. STEAM LOCOMOTIVES CHUFFED THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS, HAULING ORE, SUPPLIES AND PEOPLE. TODAY BOULDER COUNTY'S HARDROCK MINING GLORY IS PART OF OUR COMMUNITY FABRIC. IT'S PRESERVED IN LOCAL MUSEUMS... AND IT SHOWS UP IN DOZENS OF MINES FOUND ALL OVER THE COUNTY. A CLOSE-UP OF THOSE BOOM YEARS CAN BE SEEN AT BOULDER COUNTY'S CARIBOU RANCH OPEN SPACE. ALAN CASS Describing the Caribou Ranch site and the Bluebird Mine, discovery of silver in 1869, how many people worked, lived here, and what people can see here today. Include detail that Caribou Ranch is protected county open space, but nothing has been restored yet. NARRATOR JUST DOWN THE RAIL FROM CARIBOU RANCH IS THE CARDINAL MILL SITE, A LONG-TERM HISTORIC PRESERVATION PROJECT FOR THE BOULDER COUNTY OPEN SPACE DEPARTMENT. ORIGINAL MINERS' CABINS AT CARDINAL ARE BEING REHABILITATED. AND THE MILL IS BEING RESTORED, TOO. MARGARET HANSEN Briefly narrating "a tour" of the mill, describing what took place here, the noise, the number of people who worked here, the value of the ore milled here, etc. Brief description of the work that's being done to stabilize the site. Note this is a long-term preservation project, site is closed during the restoration/reconstruction work, but may one day be open for tours. NARRATOR MINING FOR TUNGSTEN-A MINERAL THAT HARDENS STEEL-WAS ALSO A GREAT SOURCE OF WEALTH IN BOULDER COUNTY. THE BETASSO FAMILY SETTLED LAND WEST OF BOULDER IN THE EARLY NINETEEN HUNDREDS AND MINED FOR BOTH TUNGSTEN AND GOLD. TODAY VISITORS CAN GO TO THE BETASSO PRESERVE-ONE OF BOULDER COUNTY'S ORIGINAL OPEN-SPACE ACQUISITIONS-TO EXPERIENCE BOTH LOCAL HISTORY AND OPEN SPACE. THEY CAN SEE THE ORIGINAL BETASSO HOMESTEAD, RESTORED TO ITS ORIGINAL CONDITION BY EXPERT BOULDER COUNTY PARKS AND OPEN SPACE CRAFTSMEN. JUST A FEW MILES TO THE EAST, COAL MINING WAS THE BACKBONE OF THE LOCAL ECONOMY. AT THE HARNEY-LASTOKA OPEN SPACE OUTSIDE LOUISVILLE ARE THE REMNANTS OF THE OLD COAL OPERATION... AND THE HOUSE WHERE THE HARNEYS LIVED WITH THEIR EIGHT CHILDREN. BOULDER COUNTY RESEARCHERS RECORDED AN ORAL HISTORY WITH SUSAN LASTOKA IN 1998. SUSAN LASTOKA Sound bites describing how the Harneys mined in the winter and farmed in the summer to make ends meet. Brief description of the outdoor bread oven. NARRATOR WHEN THE MONEY TO BE MADE IN MINING WASN'T ENOUGH TO LIVE ON, MINERS MOVED ON, OR TURNED TO WHAT THEY KNEW BEST-FARMING AND RANCHING. NOW SOME OF BOULDER COUNTY'S OLDEST FARMS ARE BEING PRESERVED AS OPEN SPACE. JUST WEST OF LONGMONT, THE HISTORIC LOHR-MCINTOSH FARM IS HOME TO THE BOULDER COUNTY AGRICULTURAL HERITAGE CENTER. THE FARMHOUSE IS OPEN FOR TOURS, AND SO ARE THE BARNS, WHICH HAVE BEEN RESTORED. EXHIBITS HAVE BEEN DESIGNED TO ENGAGE CHILDREN IN FARM HISTORY. TOM MCMICHEN Tom briefly describing the wealth of local agricultural history here, and what's being done to preserve it - the volunteers who come to restore farm machinery, the Youth Corps working on the pig pen, corrals etc. NARRATOR NORTHEAST OF LAFAYETTE, BOULDER COUNTY HAS REROOFED AND RESTORED THE MARTINDALE GRANARY. BUILT IN THE NINETEEN THIRTIES, IT'S ALWAYS BEEN THE COUNTY'S LARGEST GRANARY, AND TODAY IT STILL STORES LOCALLY GROWN WHEAT. AND NEAR LYONS, AT BOULDER COUNTY'S HEIL RANCH OPEN SPACE, PRESERVATION EXPERTS ARE RESTORING THE ORIGINAL BARN. BILL BAILEY Describing in detail one or two aspects of the work on the barn, emphasizing the unique work. NARRATOR IT'S NOT JUST THE MINES AND THE FARMS AND THE INDIAN CAMPS THAT TELL THE HISTORY OF BOULDER COUNTY. LANDSCAPES ALSO LET US PEEK AT DAYS GONE BY TO GAIN A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF LOCAL HISTORY. THESE VIEWS ARE LIKE OLD PAINTINGS AND PHOTOGRAPHS-THEY ARE LIVING SNAPSHOTS OF THE PAST. AND BECAUSE THEY ARE PRESERVED AS OPEN SPACE, THEY WILL ENDURE FOR GENERATIONS TO COME. THE ROUGH'N'READY DITCH, WHICH HAS CARRIED IRRIGATION WATER SINCE EIGHTEEN SIXTY-ONE. GUNBARREL HILL, WHICH IS AN IMPORTANT AGRICULTURAL AREA FOR WINTER WHEAT... THE RAMEY PROPERTY, WHICH IS BOULDER COUNTY'S OLDEST AND BEST PRESERVED HOMESTEAD... BETASSO PRESERVE... WALKER RANCH ... ROCK CREEK FARM ... ALL ARE BOULDER COUNTY OPEN SPACE PROPERTIES WITH VIEWS-AND HISTORIES-THAT TELL US ABOUT OUR HERITAGE. CAROL BEAM Reiterating opportunities for involvement as a citizen, a student, a volunteer. Boulder County is committed to preserving this local history and making it real and easily accessible. There is always something here to do and see, to experience about our local heritage. (CLOSING MUSIC)