Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Haystack Mountain: Facts and Fables
Donlyn Arbuthnot is the descendent of the first white pioneer to acquire Haystack Mountain from the U.S. Government. She grew up listening to her father, aunts and uncles, who were all born in a farm house along Niwot Road, share stories of what pioneer life was once like at Haystack Mountain. Her ancestors first arrived at Haystack in 1859 when they came looking for gold. They then settled, married and farmed at the base of Haystack, making their home there until her parents moved into Boulder in 1944. These historical stories of the Niwot area motivated Arbuthnot to earn a degree in History from Colorado State University where she learned the value of original research.

From documents that she acquired from the local library to our nation's National Archives, Arbuthnot was able to piece together the rich history of Haystack Mountain and the families (not just her own) who lived around the mountain. Arbuthnot learned which family stories were fact and which were fiction and some that the family never shared with her. As Arbuthnot has been doing this research, she began to share her family's rich history in first-person storytelling events dressed as one of her ancestors, most often as Mary Elizabeth Bader Arbuthnot, the first pioneer to own Haystack Mountain. For this Niwot Historical Society lecture, Donlyn is stepping out of costume to share with us the research that she has accomplished. The facts and the fiction - from the earliest days to the present day - all illustrating a rich local history of Niwot's local landmark mountain.

Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Niwot on the Right Track: Colorado Railroads Now and Then
Take a trip through Colorado History by rail as Larry Dorsey of the Colorado Railroad Museum presents a program on the history of railroads in the Centennial State. His presentation will include slides, many from the archives of the Niwot Historical Society and Colorado Railroad Museum, illustrating Colorado’s rail history, showing significant scenes then and now, and informing the audience about some rides available in the state today.

Larry Dorsey is a retired history teacher from the Boulder Valley School District. He is a long-time volunteer at the Colorado Railroad Museum, coordinated the Host Program there for many years, and is now a member of its Board of Trustees. He also serves as the Chair of the Superior Historical Commission which has just opened an old miner's house as a museum in that town. He also writes a history quarterly called The Superior Historian, focusing on local and regional history. He and his wife, Cheryl, are long-time Boulder County residents.

Larry Dorsey, Railroad Historian
Niwot Historical Society Collection

David Skaggs, Patty Limerick, and Laura Skaggs
Niwot Historical Society Collection

Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Twenty-Five Years of Living with the Legacy of Conquest: The Transformation of the West since 1986

Opening lecture with vibrant Patty Limerick, former New York Times columnist and co-founder of the Center of the American West.