The Morrison baseball team, about 1915. Front row: Lawrence Knolls, Dan Schneider, Ted Schrock, Billie Sawyer. Standing: Henry Recks(?), Joe Schrock, Mrs. Kirby, Jim Groom, Tom Fleming.
Morrison fielded baseball teams regularly in the last century. The ballfield was east of town, where the wastewater management plant now stands. “Mrs. Kirby,” Lizzie C. Kirby (aka “Babe”), lived on Spring St. and served in Red Rock Circle No. 130 of the Women of Woodcraft in 1906 (Jeffco Graphic, 2/16/1906) and as a lecturer in the Bear Creek Valley Grange in 1912 (Arvada Sun, 1/19/1912).
Morrison Baseball Timeline
May 1902: Morrison Baseball Club (MBC) defeated Littleton 12 to 13(?). “The game was well played, close, and exciting.” Battery for Morrison included Nay, Evans, and Johnson; Littleton: Norton, Smith, and Bell. (RMN, 5/31/1902)
1908: “The Morrison Greys are showing fine form this year in scoring a 12 to 9 victory over the Twenty-first infantry team in a game at Morrison.” Howell and Boyd formed the winning battery. (RMN, 4/29/1908)
March 1910: “Morrison Reds will play any amateur team Sunday for expenses”; telephone D. Durham. (RMN, 3/26/1910)
May 1910: Morrison team defeats Manchester Athletic club, 12 to 6. (5/30/1910)
June 1910: Morrison wants a game for next Sunday. (RMN, 6/17/1910)
May 1927: Mt Morrison organizes a team; holds a dance to raise money for the “suits”
June 1927: “Morrison will entertain the Mines & Smelter team of Denver” Sunday. (RMN, 6/5/1927)
August 1930: Guy Hill team will play Morrison nine on Labor Day (Jeffco Rep, 8/28/1930)
Sept 1930, Golden Reds played Morrison in RR Park; Morrison won 8 to 4. (Jeffco Rep, 9/11/1930)
Pioneer Days celebrations in Morrison are part of what we might call its modern history– a period from the mid-20th century onward that wasn’t as well documented by the town’s historic researchers. When interest in the town’s history bloomed in the mid-1970s, the 1940s-50s were too recent and still well remembered by residents.
This post is an initial attempt to piece together some of the story of these town celebrations, the first of which took place in 1948. In their heyday, they drew hundreds from a wide area to the tiny town for a day or a weekend reminiscing about those “good ol’ days” past when Morrison was a rough-and-tumble town of the old West. Standard features included a parade, designation of a Pioneer Queen, and, often, a buffalo barbecue. We have sparse info on these events, so we’d love to hear from you if you have stories to share.
At some point, likely after the “revival” of the 1970s, the event was renamed Morrison Day(s), and papier maché dinosaurs even got into the act.
1948: A New Event in Town
According to the Rocky Mountain News, the first celebration, on August 23, 1948, was to honor the living pioneers of the town. Festivities began at 10 a. m. with games and contests and were highlighted by a parade at 6 p. m. Mrs. Maggie Crow, pioneer resident who drove a mail coach from Mt. Morrison to Conifer, led the parade from the Pratt and Rooney Ranch through the town. The program was climaxed by a buffalo barbecue sponsored by the Denver Mountain Parks. Proceeds from the event were planned for use to purchase new fire-fighting equipment for the community.
July 30, 1949:
More than 2,500 people from more than a dozen states flocked to Morrison for its Second Annual Pioneer Days celebration, the Rocky Mountain News reported. The parade included 200 mounted horsemen and a couple dozen floats and hayracks. The event featured a retelling of the “deadly duel in Morrison,” a story from 70 years earlier.
Mrs. Effie Mae Knoll, 72, was crowned Queen on the basis of her “colorful” pioneer background. Mrs. Knoll’s parents, John and Nancy Groom, came to Colorado in 1875 in a covered wagon and homesteaded in Turkey Creek canyon, where they freighted logs and ties to Morrison with oxen and horse teams. Effie grew up as one of eleven children in the Groom family before marrying James Knoll and raising her own 14 children in Morrison. Click to enlarge photos and show captions.
Two young ladies riding in the Pioneer Days parade, 1952.
July 31, 1954:
The Morrison Boosters Club sponsored the festival this year. Mrs. Molly Pike was the designated Queen of the event and led the parade that opened the festivities. Attendees enjoyed a pie-eating contest, dancing, horseshoe pitching, and a talent show. A highlight of the day was a buffalo barbecue arranged by the Westwood Lions Club. Kids enjoyed a field day organized by the Mountain Valley Recreation Association.
August 16-17, 1975: Pioneer Days Revived
Red Rocks Lions (gold vests) and others gather to participate in the 1975 Pioneer Days.
“Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear…” wrote the Canyon Courier in promoting the revival of Morrison’s Pioneer Days. The weekend-long event owed its return to the Centennial/Bicentennial enthusiasm that gripped the state in the mid-1970s. Clifford Morrison, great grandson of town founder George Morrison, presided, and activities included an art show, a parade, an historical walking tour, and a flag ceremony.
August 22, 1976:
Lifelong Morrison resident Bertha LaGrow Stickler was Queen of Pioneer Days this year. Mayor Gail Molinaro presided over the event, which featured contributions from Westernaires; Red Rocks Lions Club, parade organizers; and the VFW Color Guard. Click to enlarge photos and show captions.
July 11, 1981:
The Morrison Chamber of Commerce sponsored this year’s event, which started with an old-fashioned western parade from the west end of town, winding through the main street, up Stone Street to Mount Vernon Avenue to the east side of town, then turning west again on the main street. A “2nd annual” bluegrass fiddle contest and black-powder shooting matches were other activities. The day wrapped up with a country western street dance in the heart of town. “Founded in the 1860s,” the Golden Transcript reported (July 7, 1981), “Mount Morrison is truly an early frontier Colorado town with many of its original buildings still very much in use today.”
One of the events that took our family to Morrison (other than travel to Denver) were the buffalo barbecues, sponsored (if I remember correctly) by the volunteer fire department, which was the beneficiary of one of the “surplus” buffalo from the group raised on the property now bisected by I-70. [Genesee Mountain Park, part of Denver Mountain Parks] The long side of the road across from Tabor Bar was a dirt parking area, just west of the quonset hut, and a huge, huge hole was dug in that parking lot where the fire was built and the buffalo barbecued. I don’t know for how long, but the result was a huge feast where the whole town turned out. Morrison has changed so much, but I never go through there without looking at the ghost of the parking lot and remembering the barbecues!
Buffalo herd at Genesee Mountain Park. Cows and calves, spring 2015. Photo by SL White.
The rest of the story: By 1938, Denver’s buffalo (or bison) herds had grown to numbers that threatened to overwhelm the land available for them. The city started donating or selling extra animals– the previous year’s calves– to interested parties, from individuals to organizations and restaurants. By the 1960s, they had set up a formal auction every spring; money raised helped balance the cost of maintaining the herds.
Out of Morrison’s 150-year history, you could easily miss the Cowboy Celebration, which ran for only five years, 1996-2000. This month, we’ve spent some time refreshing our memories of these stirring days, when western singer-songwriters and cowboy poets graced the stage at the Morrison Town Hall. Thanks to the efforts of videographer Donna DiGiacinto, who recorded the 1996 and 1997 events, we can even give you a sample of what it was like to be there in person.
Some of our performers have passed into history, others we’ve lost track of, and some you can find still working their trade today, sharing stories and songs of the Old West. Donna captured rare footage of legendary Pete Smythe at the 1997 celebration; he died in 2000. We lost Sean Blackburn, of mustache and musical fame, in 2005; Bill Barwick and Liz Masterson followed in 2017. Poet Dennis “Slim” Fischer died in 2023. We honor their legacy, and are happy to bring you a taste of their time on the Morrison stage.
Screenshot of the Cowboy Celebration home page, as displayed on the Morrison website in 2002.
We’ve also been retrieving the story of the celebrations, as it was reported on Morrison’s website at the time. Thank you, Internet Archive, for keeping these old pages accessible! Links below open in new tabs.
The Morrison Cowboy Celebration, so the story goes, was conceived early in 1996 when “uncle” Mel Justice was sitting around with a group of locals and sporting a mighty fine, rainbow-colored pair of suspenders. Bob Dougherty was on hand that night when a discussion about Mel’s suspenders led to his mention of a poem called “Billy Carpenter and Smith’s Elastic Braces.” Uncle Mel had never heard it. Bob recited it to Mel and all present, and the idea of a poetry gathering was born.
This inaugural event benefited from the talents of Mary Jordan, who convened a photo shoot at Teresa’s Holiday Bar (that archetypal Morrison saloon) that gave the event a lasting visual imprint. Performers, “saloon girls,” and one unnamed equine launched an image that rocked Morrison for five years running. Debby Mason and Roger Poe signed on as organizers; Patrick Gerace designed a logo and program artwork; and town businesses got involved as sponsors and advertisers. It was a community effort.
1996 performers gathered at Teresa’s Holiday Bar; Jerry Walker, Roz Brown, Bob Dougherty, Liz Masterson, Sean Blackburn. Also saloon girls with bar owner Kim Bianchi, cowboy Gary Gray, bartender Willie. Photo by Mary Jordan.
The Celebration was a major hit, even that first year! Bob rounded up a few of his friends and put together a show, held at the Morrison Town Hall in early September. Bob Dougherty himself acted as emcee, and other performers included Bill Barwick, Roz Brown, Liz Masterson & Sean Blackburn, Maggie Mae Sharp, and Jerry Walker. You can sample the flavor of the event in these videos by reader Donna DiGiacinto:
My Prairie Home, by Liz Masterson and Sean Blackburn, with stagecoach scenes in Morrison
According to a later report (we’re pulling from the old website here):
Maybe we should start with what the Morrison Cowboy Celebration is NOT. It isn’t a weekend-long festival of all things cowboy. No pony rides, no chuckwagon cookouts. No rodeo. At least, not yet. You won’t find a whole lot of fringe and glitter, but lots of worn jeans and working cowboy hats. It is two grand evenings of some of the best and most diverse cowboy music and poetry you’ll find under one roof at one time. Two evening performances offering a great value for your entertainment dollar. (Because of the small size of the Morrison Town Hall, advance tickets are strongly recommended.)
Australian-born emcee Bob Dougherty entertained audiences with classic cowboy poetry and loud shirts at the Morrison Cowboy Celebration. Photo by Mary Jordan.
As Morrison’s resident (via Australia) cowboy poet, Bob became the emcee and focal point, known as well for his loud cowboy shirts as for his Down-Under-inflected poetry. Bob was once profiled in Westword, whence this introduction:
In the evening, Bob Dougherty works behind the bar at Theresa’s Holiday Bar in Morrison. Dressed all in black, his long gray hair pulled back severely from his face, a cigar clamped between his teeth, he will look up from the taps and say something terse and Western, such as: “Hello, trouble.” He will say this with an Australian accent.
Dougherty is a mass of details: tattoos, earrings, the Three Tenors on CD, an ability to converse in Thai, wine snob, baseball fanatic, extra in the film The Man From Snowy River—”my derriere, anyway”—and, sentimental fool that he is, a tendency to shower women with red roses and Swiss chocolate. —from The Odd Couplet BY ROBIN CHOTZINOFF, Westword, May 23, 1996
At the end of the two evenings, performers launched a tradition for the event by gathering onstage for a rendition of “Happy Trails” to send their audience home on a high note.
Join us Saturday night for the Cabin Fever Dance. (Details at link.)
No tickets, no cover, no minimum– but space on the dance floor (Morrison Town Hall, 110 Stone St.) is limited. Music by the illustrious Morrison Town Band. Sample a previous Cabin Fever Dance at our blog.
Help spread the word, or gather up your friends and hit the Town Hall for dancing, hob-nobbing, and general family fun. First set starts at 6:30, frolic continues to 11 p.m. or so.
Special Added Attraction!
A special showing of the new documentary The Rooney Ranch Legacy will take place next door at the Clubhaus (106 Stone St) beginning at 7:30 p.m. Appearing with it is a delightful short film on The Red Airplane Guy.
September 25 from 10 a.m. to Dusk Grounds of Bear Creek Nursing Home, Highway 8 and Summer Street Morrison, CO, 80465
Free- make your own cider on “Apple Annie’s” historic cider presses — bring your own apples and empty beverage containers; bake sale by Red Rocks Elementary; horsehoe contest (register by 10:30am) by VFW Post 3471; car show by gocatspeedshop.com; ; live music at 2, 4 and 6 by Morrison Town Band and The Barley Bros./Holiday Bar.
Vendors include food by the Blue Cow, Smokin Yard’s BBQ, Pizza Casa, the Town of Morrison, Morrison Liquors, and the Morrison Action Committee; and a beer tent by VFW Post 3471.
And more: jumping castle by Mutual Of Omaha Bank; pedal tractors by Red Rocks Baptist Church; hay rides by Bear Creek Stables/Holiday Bar; climbing wall by the National Guard; massage by Lynn Downer’ Wood Art; women’s clothing by “Giddy Up” and others; wool purses by Susan; aprons and jewelry by Sally & Laurie; Beauty Control Cosmetics; Teddi’s Creations & Collectibes; Loose Ends Fiber Farm; and more!
Thanks to our Corporate Sponsors: Mutual of Omaha Bank, Canyon Tack & Feed, Bandimere Speedway, Aggregate Industries, Café Prague, Flights Wine & Coffee Bar, Morrison Natural History Museum Foundation, Morrison Carworks, Morrison Holiday Bar, West Chamber/Rooney Valley, Billfest Leonard, the Town of Morrison, and others.
Also we wish to acknowledge the following the following for their generous in-kind contributions: Bear Creek Stables, VFW Post 3471, Bear Creek Nursing Home, Red Rocks Baptist Church, Chambers Consulting, Maja Stefansdottir Agency, Billy’s Home Cooking, Bear Creek Development, Morrison Liquors, Budweiser Beer, Scramble Campbell, Kathy Wages, gocatspeedshop.com, Red Rocks Elementary School, The National Guard, the Morrison Action Committee, the Morrison Town Band, and all of the Ciderfest volunteers.
The longest-running business in Morrison today is El Mercado, an antique store owned and operated by Linnie Curran since 1968. On March 16th, members of the MHS presented Linnie with a certificate and a complimentary copy of the Morrison calendar created by the Society. A photo of the store’s front porch, courtesy of Mary Jordan, appears in the calendar for the month of October. (Photo: Jamee and Gus Chambers with Linnie, center.)
YourHub reporter Karen Groves was on hand for the presentation, and the moment was captured in the print edition on March 25th, as well as an online version. Linnie shows Karen a few of her wares in photo, right.
Once El Mercado shared Morrison’s main street with several other stores of the antique and vintage persuasion. Even the Morrison Inn once housed an antique emporium. Today El Mercado is one-of-a-kind, harking back to a time in the far-away days of the 1960s-80s, when ladies came to Morrison to shop for treasures and have an elegant luncheon at the Deacon’s Bench Tea Room.
On Friday, January 7, 1966, when the Deacon’s Bench was featured prominently in the Rocky Mountain News, the reporter had this to say:
Mention the town of Morrison and women’s faces brighten. The tiny atmospheric town has come to be known as an antiquary’s browsing spot, with several shops offering a wide range of collectors’ trivia (and not so trivia). … Morrison is attracting other interesting businesses—art studios, special effects designers and, most recently, Thee Deacon’s Bench.
In actuality, there was but one art studio (Art Gore Photography) and one special effects designer (Special Effects Co., profiled in Empire magazine in 1964); perhaps it seemed like more. In those days, a visit to “tiny atmospheric” Morrison apparently provided a sure antidote for a slow news day downtown.
Later, on August 27th, 1972, the Denver Post’s Empire Magazine brought models to Morrison and the Deacon’s Bench for a photo shoot. One young lady was even gracefully posed on the remains of Morrison’s old hanging tree! That article featured a hand-drawn map of Morrison’s antique stores, including El Mercado (of course!), Little Bits of Yesterday and Today, Lila’s, Western Trail Antiques, and Around the Corner to Yesterday. All now forgotten except El Mercado.
Speaking of models, that role also appears on Linnie’s extensive resumé, along with clown and bartender, among a host of others. She’s a woman of many stories, great to visit with, and now, celebrated for her long dedication to doing business in Morrison. Thanks, Linnie, and congratulations on 42 years!
We’re happy to report that Saturday night’s Cabin Fever Dance was a huge success! This event, instigated by Gus and Jamee Chambers and the Morrison Town Band last year, has all the makings of a new town tradition. At one point the dance floor and the entire hall was Standing Room Only, as residents and visitors greeted each other and caught up on the news.
The band, expanded to nine for this occasion, rehearsed mightily and worked up a terrific new set of songs to add to their previous repertoire. The “mix” throughout the evening was just great and seemed to appeal to dancers and watchers alike. Your contributions to MAC (Morrison Action Committee) and MHS (Morrison Historical Society) were so generous that they enabled us to give the musicians a small stipend in recognition of their efforts, energy, and the great entertainment they provided.
Early in the evening, a number of the more youthful contingent showed off their dance moves with their elders. Unfortunately, most of them moved too fast for the camera. Can anyone put names on these two dancers for us?
Lila Horton, resplendent in a black leather outfit with fringed and beaded vest, taught a class in the Cowboy Cha-cha to a lineup of willing students. They practiced their new skills throughout the evening.
Previously well trained by Lila, Shari got together with her teacher and a few other daring souls in a Very Fast rendition of the Electric Slide.
Thanks to all who contributed food, mountains of which appeared as if by magic to refresh dancers, hard-working band members, and wallflowers alike.
As for the new calendars, we sold more than half of our stock, paid off the initial investment, and have a few more available. Preview, or purchase individual copies, at the link above. Spread the word—we’d love to have to reorder!
The Morrison Town Band is at it again! In what promises to become an annual tradition, they’ve announced this year’s Cabin Fever Dance, to be held January 30th at the Town Hall. Get your boots on and take a swirl across the floor! Free event; refreshments will be provided.
More information on Morrison history is available at Jeffco Archives. Contact Archivist Ronda Frazier (rfrazier@jeffco.us) for access to the Morrison History Collection.
Morrison History 