Steamboat Lake

In the Elkhead Mountains of northern Colorado, Steamboat Lake will strike you first with its beauty. But a gentle hike through meadows and woods will lead you to its solemnity. In 1921, the Wheelers brought 3 children and a dog to a homestead near Hahns Peak. The snow was deep, and they survived on rabbit and grouse and biscuits & gravy. Nevertheless, they persisted. Rose Wheeler eventually told the family story of happiness and hardship in a book called "God's Mountain." And though the 200 acres they worked are now covered by the waters of Steamboat Lake, a playground for camping and boating, a small memorial at the top of a quiet hill will bring the gravity of the family's story back into the picture. Buried there, two children who died at birth in the Wheelers’ early years in remote Routt county: a daughter, Ruth June, and a son they named Sonny Boy.

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Colorado Postcards are snapshots of our colorful state in sound. They give brief insights into our people and places, our flora and fauna, and our past and present, from every corner of Colorado. See more postcards.