The Mists of Time

Civilizations flourish and grow, and then disappear. Archaeologists and explorers scratch a surface to find a clue and then unearth whole cities, buried under eons of dust and the passing of countless lives. Who saw them disappear? No one. Or humanity, all of us. On a small scale too, a personal scale, things recede as they must. Thoughts and dreams we had a year ago, ten years ago, drift into obscurity. Even our weekly stories here, are you sure you’ve read each one? For example, our neighbor Ken Fischer wrote back in the dark days of 2020 about how our little suburban gem of a neighborhood grew from what the early pioneers found in the beautiful Bear Valley, what they built, the farming, the water management, the stage lines that came through… it’s a worthy story in case you missed it, and deserving of another look if you read it the first time.

In the Footsteps of the Pioneers

Ken Fischer – June 12, 2020

“After leaving the smelter smoke of Denver, traversing miles of an uninteresting stretch of country, in reaching the summit, behold the sublime work of nature, a panoramic view of a picturesque valley bursts upon me… Avoca Lodge.” – Margaret (“Molly”) Brown

The sublime work of nature. That’s where we live. Following in the footsteps of the Utes, and then the Spanish fortune-seekers, the European American trappers, traders, miners, and settlers came west to make a home.

The area now known as Southern Gables was known early on as the “Montana district.” The earliest recorded land owners were William and Joseph Hodgson… [Click to read the rest of the article]