Town of Lake City Board of Trustees and Mayor Dave Roberts have been working for months toward a celebration of the sesquicentennial anniversary of the founding of Lake City in 1875. On Saturday, August 16, 150 years to the day of the formal founding of Lake City’s Township, a party was held in Town Park under sunny August skies and near-perfect temperatures.

The party kicked off with some of Lake City’s favorite visitors, the colorful Ute Mountain Ute dancers, a full account of which can be read in the adjacent story.

At noon, three speakers took the stage to give the audience some background on the lifespan of the Town of Lake City. First up was former Town Manager Michelle Pierce, who spoke of the founding of the Lake City Township. Next was Chair of the Historic Preservation Commission, Joe Fox, who talked about the importance of the Historic District. Lastly, Town Trustee Henry Woods spoke about the future of Lake City.

In Pierce’s speech, she told the crowd: “many towns and cities in Colorado were first established by Town Companies. Gunnison, Montrose, Grand Junction, Ouray, Buena Vista and Colorado Springs, to name a few. There was even a North Denver Town Company. Lake City was one of them. Throughout my career, I was always a bit confused about the relationship between the Lake City Town Company and the Town of Lake City. I assumed that, at some point, there was a clean break between the dissolution of the Town Company and the establishment of the Town Government.
In fact, they were formed at the same time and were two separate entities with completely separate purposes. Articles of Incorporation for the Lake City Town Company were signed on July 21, 1875 by 22 incorporators and filed for record with the Secretary of the Colorado Territory on September 28, 1875. The corporation was established for a period of 20 years.The Articles provided for a 7-member Board of Trustees. The first Board of Trustees was made up of President Henry Finley, Secretary Newton F. Bogue, Treasurer W. F. Ring and Trustees Otto Mears, Isaac Gothelf, H. M. Woods and Enos T. Hotchkiss.
The purpose of the Town Company was to take and hold tracts of land for the purpose of establishing and erecting a town and to improve, sell, or otherwise dispose of this land. On August 16, 1875, one hundred and fifty years ago today, and in response to a petition signed by two-thirds of the resident voters and householders of Lake City, the Hinsdale County Board of Commissioners ordered that corporate powers as a town be delegated to Lake City as provided for in Chapter 84 of the Revised Statutes of the Colorado Territory, titled ‘Towns and Cities.’ The commissioners ordered that Lake City be thereafter known as the “Town of Lake City” with full corporate powers and appointed a 5-member Board of Trustees consisting of Henry Finley, F. Newton Bogue, Warren T. Ring, John D. Bartholf, and William C. Lewman.”

Joe Fox spoke about the importance of the history of Lake City, saying, “After the nearly ghost town era for Lake City in the 30s and 40s, more and more tourists began to come in the 50s and 60s. By the 1970s locals and habitual summer visitors began to think more about the history of the town. Some Lake City residents got together in 1973 and created the Hinsdale County Historical Society, and established the Museum. We have our well-respected newspaper editor and longtime historical society president, Grant Houston, to thank for maintaining an active interest in these preservation activities from that beginning in the early 1970s. Lake City’s National Historic District was established in 1978, with the strong support of Mayor Bob Hall and developer John Parker, whose effort to rehabilitate several of the town’s old historic buildings was well served by the financial incentives that the district’s creation brought.”

Henry Woods said, regarding the future of Lake City, “I don’t have a time machine or a crystal ball, but there are things that I feel certain are going to happen here. One thing I am sure of is that Lake City will continue to be the best place to visit and live in Colorado. I’m sure you have noticed all the dead trees that have been killed by insects. There are only two ways to kill those bugs: extreme cold or fire. We don’t have extreme cold temperatures anymore. The biggest event I can see in our future is the big forest fire. It’s not an issue of ‘if’ our forests will burn, but just ‘when.’ It will be a traumatic event for us, but in the long run it can be a very good thing. I feel certain that our Towns people will succeed in protecting our little village. Many thanks to our residents who volunteer for everything. After the fire, there will be an awesome new beginning that will feature more Ponderosa Pines and Junipers, and other lower elevation dryer climate species.”

Birthday Audience in Awe Watching Ute Ceremonial Dances

Indigenous people’s reverence for the land was repeatedly referenced by Southern Ute “Red Sky” dancers and applauded by an appreciative audience during Town of Lake City’s 150th anniversary celebrations on Saturday, August 16.
Led by Mark and Rita Wing of the southwest-Colorado-based Southern Ute Tribe, traditional Ute dances performed by the “Red Sky Dancers” were rhythmically led by the drumbeat of singer Austin Jacket and included newly-crowned Miss Indian Colorado, Aliyah Jacket, performing the traditional Ute War Dance.
Again to wide audience applause, she was followed later in the program by authentically-costumed, eagle-bedecked Pharo Laner and Steven Pensoneau, respectively precisely performing the Northern Man’s Chicken Dance and Southern Man’s Fancy Dance.
Also dressed in authentic costume with an array of eagle feathers was leader Mark Wing with the Traditional Northen Men’s Dance, and his wife, co-leader Rita Wing with another traditional Ute dance entitled Women’s Northern Cloth.
Comfortably seated in shade and bright sun surrounding the dance performance, Lake City visitors were invited to take part in the traditional Ute dances, including women’s choice Line Dance, and lined up to take part in the traditional smudging ceremony.
Audience members were entranced and in rapt attention as Rita Wing and other members of the entourage recounted Ute legends which have been passed from generation to generation for hundreds of years.
Of a more modern rendition, Mark Wing at the start of Saturday’s Town Park program recalled that “Red Sky” first performed in Lake City during low snow year 2017 at the invitation of Henry Woods. The group has travelled to Lake City on an annual basis — sometimes twice a year — since that time, their most recent appearance in June this year as part of the San Juan Solstice 50-mile run.
Rita Wing recounted reverence for the traditional Ute lands now comprising the San Juan Mountains and where Town of Lake City developed a century and a half ago.
The Utes, according to Mrs. Wing, were justifiably cautious of water which, she said, “has the power to give life but also take life.”
In her grandparents’ day, Rita Wing said camping bands of Utes were sternly warned not to venture too close to water and, for added measure, ignore any mysterious sounds which they might hear.
A woman in the encampment, however, ignored the warnings and went to the streambank after hearing what she thought was the sound of a baby in distress. The woman disappeared and was never seen again after being taken way by a spirit known as the “Water Baby.”
Another traditional Ute legend which was shared during the town’s birthday party entailed the wiley and inquisitive Coyote who was entrusted by the Creator with a mysterious satchel which he was ordered not to open.
The overly inquisitive Coyote did, in fact, open the satchel and was surprised when a great wiggling mass of small beings speaking a variety of dialects. They suddenly emerged from the bag and ran in every direction.
After confessing his indiscretion, Creator predicted that as a result “people will fight over this land.” More peaceable remnants of the bag were then emptied into the wilderness — presumably the San Juan Mountains — with the admonition “this is your home forever.”