From its Wild West days to the early twentieth century, Fort Collins boasted its share of colorful characters. British import Edith Boothroyd saved a mare from meeting a tragic fate after the bridge she and the horse were traveling across unexpectedly collapsed. In 1915, barnstormer Billy Parker built his first biplane in a local field. Happy Jack slipped away from prison after slyly convincing the jailer to loosen his restraints. And Francis Carter-Cotton left investors holding the bag wh...

While today's Fort Collins is a popular destination for foodies and weekend adventurers, it was once a lonely military outpost poised on the nation's frontier. Cattle rustlers and trigger-happy cowboys walked an uneasy line between saloon doors and the hangman's noose. By 1895, Fort Collins had lost some of its gritty edge, and it became a dry town full of churches, sheep ranches and sugar beet farms. The city was again transformed over the past century into a community that embraced a thr...

Carved eons ago by the Cache la Poudre River, the Poudre Canyon, north and west of Fort Collins, Colorado, has long been a favored recreation place, for fishing, hiking, camping, and more, of area residents and tourists. The canyon has many colorful tales to tell; this book takes readers on a drive through that history, milepost by milepost, stopping at historic places and taking some side trips along the way. Beginning with trappers and mountain men, the canyon has been traveled since the...