hike & history: quick’s homestead
For many decades, families eked out a living on a plot of land that’s now a short walk from our lodge, at Quick’s Homestead. The following is a brief history compiled from information from our resident history buff and homestead expert, Jerry McLain. If you ever want to know anything about the homestead or the history of High Trails, ask Jerry!
The Bells
The Homestead is a restored 1890’s homestead and associated buildings that our founders, Sandy and Laura Sanborn, purchased from the Quick family in 1969. Interestingly enough, the Quicks actually never lived there, so it is really only called the Quick’s Homestead because the Sanborns purchased it from them. The Quicks have attended our summer camp, Sanborn Western Camps, for four generations now. Through its history, it has cycled through many owners, the first of which was a man named Daniel Bell. So Jerry thinks it should technically be called the Bell Homestead.
The Georges
Through research many folks have done, it seems the high point of life at the homestead started in the 1920s, though we don’t have too much information about that time period. The original cabin was built very well - it was well-insulated with chinking and cementing techniques and great structural soundness. In the ’20s, a bigger cabin was added on and it’s much less structurally sound, which is evident in its speedier deterioration relative to the main cabin.
In the ’40s, the George family lived at the homestead for a period of time. Jerry has spoken with Arlo George, Jr. and Gary George at length about their stay in the area, so we have more information, in the form of pictures and stories, about their lives here. They’ve told us that there actually used to be a fireplace where the big picture window is now — allegedly, the family’s move from the plains to the mountains left their mother unhappy. To please their mother, their father removed the fireplace, installed a small woodburning stove (still there), and put in the big, thin-glass, non-insulating window. Ultimately, notwithstanding the window, the Georges did leave their homestead in Florissant to return to the plains.
Buildings & Tools
The Cellar: Next to the cabin itself lives a tool shed and a cellar built into the hillside. This cellar was in decent condition when the Sanborns purchased the property, but over time it started to cave in and became unsafe for people to go into. Recently, the cellar was refurbished and rebuilt so that people can go inside and look around again. Because the cellar is actually pretty large, we can tell that the family before the Georges grew a lot of potatoes (a popular crop in this area). When the cellar was rebuilt, we also found old potato sacks in the back. The cellar is really the reason that homesteaders could subsist throughout the year — it mitigated the extremes of heat and cold for food and supplies.
The Toolshed: Jerry has long frequented antique shows and shops in the area to try to bring historically-accurate tools and decorations to the homestead. However, most of the tools and decorations featured in all of the buildings are original. One such tool is the potato sorter: located in the back left corner of the toolshed Because this exists, it’s clear that the family living in the homestead in the ’20s also sold or traded potatoes. It’s unlikely a piece of equipment that complex and expensive would be bought by a family solely for personal use. The sorter uses a series of screens to put potatoes into categories by size, and even includes a place to attach a potato sack so that same-sized potatoes can all slide into the same bag.
The Windmill: Through Jerry’s sleuthing and conversations with the Georges, he’s figured out that there used to be a windmill at Quick’s between the house and the south fence. In fact, when the parents of the George family left and moved back to the plains, they took their windmill back with them. Jerry has been hatching a plan to move the windmill that lives near Tie Cabin over to Quick’s Homestead to portray what it once looked like.
Today, students visit the homestead during the High Trails program to learn about the history of settlement in the West. In the early days of High Trails, Jerry taught general local history lessons about the fur trappers and Native populations that lived in this region before the 1900’s. Once Quick’s was purchased, it gave shape to the current format of our outdoor education program — with Discovery Groups that feature instructors role-playing characters while teaching the history of the region — so we now have instructors in costume as homesteaders at Quicks.
We’ve always known that there is a rich history of our property — Jerry, and his collaboration with area residents and historians, helps us remember the details of this beautiful place.
Posted: 5/12/20, Emily Burnham & Sarah Adler
About Emily Burnham: Emily has worn a variety of hats here at the Colorado Outdoor Education Center over the years. She began as a camper at Sanborn Western Camps, then worked on staff for four summers. She has taught as an instructor at High Trails Outdoor Education Center, and now works as the Program Specialist for High Trails Ranch. Emily recently graduated with a degree in sociology from Colorado College and now lives up on our property in Florissant, counting down the days until summer each year.