{"id":1503,"date":"2019-03-01T11:30:28","date_gmt":"2019-03-01T18:30:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/?p=1503"},"modified":"2019-03-05T10:15:42","modified_gmt":"2019-03-05T17:15:42","slug":"from-desert-to-high-plains-oasis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/history\/from-desert-to-high-plains-oasis\/","title":{"rendered":"From Desert to High Plains Oasis"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>On October 14, 1820, Ong-pa-ton-ga&nbsp; (Chief Big Elk) made the following speech to\n400 of his tribesmen and explorer Stephen Long concerning lands on the Front\nRange \u201c&#8230;.some think that you [Long] have brought all these soldiers here to\ntake our land from us, but I do not believe it. For although I am a poor\nIndian, I know that this land will not suit your farmers.\u201d Long, for whom\nLong\u2019s Peak and Longmont are named, concluded in his reports that this land was\n\u201cunfit for cultivation and uninhabitable by a people depending upon\nagriculture.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the map Long made of his explorations, he called the area\na \u201cGreat Desert&#8230;the scarcity of wood and water, almost uniformly prevalent,\nwill prove an insuperable obstacle in the way of settling the country.\u201d For\ndecades, Long\u2019s statement kept many west-bound explorers from considering the\narea suitable for agricultural development and settlement. Because Colorado\u2019s\nFront Range was considered undesirable, the area became one of the last\nstrongholds of independent American Indians. Only trappers and a few gold\nprospectors visited the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Gold Changes Everything<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>All that changed in 1858-59 when gold was discovered on the\nFront Range including at Gold Run near Gold Hill in Boulder County. Once gold\nwas found, mining activity and travel to the area increased dramatically. These\nnewcomers created an insatiable demand for food and goods. One of the\nnewcomers, Marinus Smith, was a veteran of the California gold fields who\ndecided to spend his time supplying miners, not being one. In 1859 he acquired\n220 acres along Boulder Creek. With a few partners, he dug the Smith-Goss\nDitch, the very first diversion of creek water that began the transformation of\nBoulder County from desert to oasis. That same year he sold a load of hay to\nminers in Black Hawk for $400, an amount of money that could then buy a house!\nWith free creek water and a shovel, he struck it rich indeed. The demand for\nvegetables, flour, meat, and dairy grew exponentially. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Within 10 years, a significant number of ditches were dug in\nthe Boulder Valley. The ditches served not only farmland, but also domestic water\nsupplies carrying water to many establishing towns. In 1863, Charles Pancost\ncreated the first reservoir (present site of Xcel Energy\u2019s Valmont Power Plant)\nin Boulder County, increasing his farmland\u2019s irrigation season and\nproductivity. He also raised fish which he sold to miners, turning a tidy\nprofit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thus began the great watering of the Front Range desert and\ntransition from thousands of years of nomadic hunter gatherer culture to\nmining, agriculture, and city development. The abundant snowpacks of western\nBoulder County has, for a millennium, melted in the spring, running quickly\nthrough the desert via three major water sheds: the St. Vrain, Left Hand, and\nBoulder Creek to their receiving water, the South Platte River. Over the past\n150 years or so, each of these drainages has been increasingly tapped for their\nlimited resources by which they all support life in Boulder County. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>For More Than Irrigation<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Besides irrigation, these waters have been diverted and\nstored for mining, hydroelectric generation, municipal water supplies, flood\ncontrol, and recreation. From almost no known plains lakes in 1820, save a few\noxbow depressions on rivers, Boulder County now has approximately 197\nreservoirs and 293 ditches east of the foothills. The land you see today would\nbe unrecognizable to indigenous tribes and early settlers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Water in Boulder County has never been abundant. Its\navailability fluctuates depending on droughts and mountain snowpack\u2014feeding\nstreams and rivers and thus ditches and reservoirs. Experts predict a future of\ngreater extremes: longer and hotter heat waves in the summer, less snow, more\nrain, and more severe droughts that will place greater stress on water users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wise allocation, conservation, and protection of the\nreservoirs and ditches that helped create our oasis will be especially\nimportant in the near and distant future unless we revert to a time and land\nthat \u201cwill not suit our farmers\u201d&#8230;.a land \u201cuninhabitable by a people depending\nupon agriculture.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On October 14, 1820, Ong-pa-ton-ga&nbsp; (Chief Big Elk) made the following speech to 400 of his tribesmen and explorer Stephen Long concerning lands on the Front Range \u201c&#8230;.some think that you [Long] have brought all these soldiers here to take our land from us, but I do not believe it. For although I am a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1504,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[49],"class_list":["post-1503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history","tag-spring-2019"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>From Desert to High Plains Oasis - Images<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/history\/from-desert-to-high-plains-oasis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"From Desert to High Plains Oasis - Images\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On October 14, 1820, Ong-pa-ton-ga&nbsp; (Chief Big Elk) made the following speech to 400 of his tribesmen and explorer Stephen Long concerning lands on the Front Range \u201c&#8230;.some think that you [Long] have brought all these soldiers here to take our land from us, but I do not believe it. 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Originally named Les Deux Oreilles (\u201cTwo Ears\u201d), Long\u2019s Peak was Major Stephen H. Long\u2019s first glimpse of the Rocky Mountains as he led a scientific exploration in 1820. Who was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;History&quot;","block_context":{"text":"History","link":"https:\/\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/category\/history\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Long's Peak","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/longs-peak.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/longs-peak.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/longs-peak.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/longs-peak.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/longs-peak.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/longs-peak.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1966,"url":"https:\/\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/history\/a-planned-community\/","url_meta":{"origin":1503,"position":1},"title":"A Planned Community of \u201cIndustry, Temperance and Morality&#8221;","author":"Staff","date":"06\/01\/2021","format":false,"excerpt":"In 1870, a group of wealthy Chicago businessmen envisioned a planned agricultural settlement in the Colorado Territory. Inspired by Horace Greeley\u2019s utopian Union Colony, the men called their project the Chicago-Colorado Colony. The motto of \u201cindustry, temperance and morality\u201d was promoted to encourage like-minded investors. William Byers led members of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;History&quot;","block_context":{"text":"History","link":"https:\/\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/category\/history\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Imperial Hotel Longmont","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/imperial-hotel-longmont.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/imperial-hotel-longmont.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/imperial-hotel-longmont.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/imperial-hotel-longmont.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/imperial-hotel-longmont.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/imperial-hotel-longmont.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":741,"url":"https:\/\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/news\/reflections-on-open-space-part-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":1503,"position":2},"title":"Reflections on 40 Years (Part 3)","author":"Staff","date":"08\/27\/2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Part three of a four-part series Think of Boulder County Parks and Open Space and what comes to mind? Maybe hiking at Walker Ranch, birding at Walden Ponds Wildlife Habitat, biking at Heil Valley Ranch, fishing along South Boulder Creek, or the stunning views along the Peak to Peak Highway.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"farms on open space","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/grasses.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/grasses.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/grasses.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/grasses.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/grasses.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/grasses.jpeg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3306,"url":"https:\/\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/field-notes\/26-years-of-working-for-parks-open-space\/","url_meta":{"origin":1503,"position":3},"title":"26 Years of Working for Parks &#038; Open Space","author":"Summer Alameel","date":"12\/04\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"When I was 22 years old, my sister, a friend, and I biked across the western U.S., through Canada, and ended in Iowa. While riding through Nevada, I saw a huge mine that had stripped half a mountain. That night, as we wound down, I thought about how that mountain\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Field Notes&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Field Notes","link":"https:\/\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/category\/field-notes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Therese stands holding a snake with a smile on her face","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/therese-holding-snake.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/therese-holding-snake.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/therese-holding-snake.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/therese-holding-snake.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/therese-holding-snake.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3100,"url":"https:\/\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/volunteer\/partners-with-parks-stewarding-the-land-and-building-community\/","url_meta":{"origin":1503,"position":4},"title":"Partners with Parks: Stewarding the Land and Building Community","author":"Summer Alameel","date":"03\/01\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The Open Space Partnership Program began with a mission to connect businesses, organizations, and communities through meaningful opportunities to care for the land. This initiative provides participants with a chance to engage in hands-on service projects that promote environmental stewardship while fostering team bonding and earning recognition for their contributions.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Volunteer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Volunteer","link":"https:\/\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/category\/volunteer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A group of Verily employees pose with trail-building tools on a rocky hillside with scenic mountains in the background.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/IMAGES-WEBSITE-FEATURED-IMAGE-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/IMAGES-WEBSITE-FEATURED-IMAGE-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/IMAGES-WEBSITE-FEATURED-IMAGE-1.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/IMAGES-WEBSITE-FEATURED-IMAGE-1.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/IMAGES-WEBSITE-FEATURED-IMAGE-1.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2069,"url":"https:\/\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/news\/2021-land-conservation-awards\/","url_meta":{"origin":1503,"position":5},"title":"2021 Land Conservation Awards","author":"Staff","date":"12\/01\/2021","format":false,"excerpt":"On Oct. 6, Boulder County Parks & Open Space held the annual Land Conservation Awards ceremony to celebrate 2020 and 2021 award winners. (Last year\u2019s ceremony was canceled because of pandemic guidelines for group gatherings.) Here are highlights from the special gathering about the 2021 recipients. \"This was one of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Land Conservation Awards","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/lca.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/lca.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/lca.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/lca.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/lca.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/lca.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1503"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1503\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1505,"href":"https:\/\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1503\/revisions\/1505"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bouldercountyopenspace.org\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}