Daily camera., 1897-06-15
AN OLD LANDMARK.
The Proposed Removal of the Boulder
House Awakens Old Memories.

The Proposed Removal of the Boulder
House Awakens Old Memories.
If the walls could but speak what tales
they would tell. What fortunes and fail
ures, what vlcissitudes and changes have
been witnessed by the old grim relic of
the first "ffty-niners" that came to Boul-
der before it was the Athens of the west;
when the antelope and deer frolicked on
Lovers hill and roamed at sweet will
over the classic fields of the university
campus; when the foothills were covered
with the grand and stately pines with
which nature clothed them but which,
alas, fell before the cupidity of civilized
man. Those were the days! And the
first log cabin and the first school house,
and the first frame were the objects of
honest emulation and pride.
And the Boulder house saw them all.
First built in 1859 by Davidson and
Breath, it was the grocery store and sup
ply house at which the sturdy miner ex-
changed the results of his toll for his
daily necessities and the flicker to
sweeten life's pathways. 1t was then
only log cabin, the part which in later
years has served the humble Offices of
the kitchen. In those days it was the
entire establishment and in 1860, when
purchased by Messrs. Squires and Tour
tellot it became real hotel, and the
wives of the owners served the meals to
the miners, who focked miles to see
"wimmen folks" again.
But the Boulder house was soon out
distanced, and the first frame was erect
ed by A. J. Macky, who was, and has
continued to be throughout Boulders
history, one of the foremost men in pub
lie spiritedness.
With time came changes. Messrs.
Tourtellot and Squires made additions
In front of the old cabin, and then ad-
ditions to the side of those, and the scope
of the building branched out into a
grocery, hotel, dance hall and of course
liquid refreshments were not wanting to
clinch every bargain. 1t was then that
the title of Boulder House became regu
larly adopted and has been retained ever
since. 1t saw hard times in those days,
too, and the owners were called upon
many times to succor the miners, who,
after the first excitement in the mining
districts, were reduced to dire need.
There were no processes" then to save
the values and when the crude methods
failed the ore was thrown away as worth
less. Its owners also subscribed heavily
for the Boulder Valley railroad, for the
first school building in Colorado, for the
university and in numerous other enter.
prises the Boulder House was we'll rep.
resented. 1t had Its merry times too, and
few of the early settlers can think of old
times without letting his mind revert to
the numerous affairs that characterized
life in the Boulder House.
Although the building is painfully new
and modern compared with a structure
located in an old community, its relative
age and association makes it dear in the
eyes Of old timers, who have with it,
witnessed the changes from the bleak
prairies to the beautiful little city now
nesting at the foot of the mountains
have watched their comrades that cross.
ed the plains in the SOS, flourish, pros
per, grow hoary and pass beyond the
silent river. They all were Hospitality
welcomed in the Boulder House, those
old timers, when they frs, arrived, and
from its doors looked upon the scene ad-
miringly, and then launched forth to
make their fortunes.
The building was sold 10 Anthony
Arnett in 1865; and bought by George c.
Squires in 1868. Itwas during this period
that the house gained especial celebrity
through being the birth place of Fred v.
Squires in December 1868. In 1870 the
property passed into the hands of Theo-
dore Michaut and Pierre Connoy and
finally to Lewis Cheney in 1881, in whose
family it has since remained.
But it's behind the time and must give
way to progressive civilization, and
when the new building to be erected
stands in IT'S place, memory only will
serve as a guide to denote it as the site
occupied by the Boulder House. the pio-
neer hotel of Boulder.