Enos Mills (1870 - 1922)

Enos Abijah Mills was born on a Kansas farm April 22nd, 1870. Before Enos was born, his mother and father tried to become miners in Colorado. They came back to Kansas because they could not make enough money mining.

His parents had many memories of their time in Colorado, and Enos grew up hearing stories about the mountains. 

Enos loved being outdoors, but he was very sick as a child. Doctors told Enos to stay inside as much as possible. 

No doctors were able to figure out why Enos was sick, or how to make him better. When Enos was thirteen, a doctor told his parents that since no one could diagnose Enos, he was not going to live very long.

Enos' parents decided he should move to Colorado. In the 1880s, Colorado was a place where many sick people went to recover from illnesses. They hoped being in the mountains would help Enos get better. 

The Mills family was very poor, so Enos hitchhiked from Kansas to Estes Park, Colorado. In Colorado, he worked cleaning for distant relatives who owned a lodge. 

Enos loved living in the mountains, and spent most of his time outside as he got better. He got to know the mountain trails very well, and began giving tours as a nature guide.

Enos wanted to earn enough money to buy land of his own. He was a nature guide in the summer, and lived in Montana during the winter to work as a runner in a mine. Runners were teenage boys who spent their days delivering tools and supplies to miners.

After working for a year, Enos had the money to buy a small piece of land by Longs Peak. Longs Peak was Enos' favorite mountain - he climbed it two hundred and ninety-seven times during his life! 

Enos built his own cabin on the land when he was only fifteen years old. 

Enos never went to school, but he used libraries to teach himself different subjects. He was able to earn a promotion to engineer in the mine, even though many other engineers were college educated.

When Enos was twenty years old, there was a fire that destroyed the mine, and Enos lost his job. Enos decided to go traveling with the money he saved from his two jobs. 

Enos traveled throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. He even visited Alaska, which wasn't part of the United States yet.

Enos wanted to camp in the wilderness instead of visiting cities or tourist destinations. He liked to travel alone, and spent his time writing stories about his adventures in nature. 

Enos spent several weeks camping in California, and became friends with the famous conservationist John Muir. 

John Muir told Enos he could use his stories to teach people about the importance of nature. Enos decided to return to the Rocky Mountains and become a conservationist as well.  

When Enos came back to Colorado, he was hired by the United States government to record how much snow fell in the Rocky Mountains. No one else wanted to spend months living alone in the mountains, but it was the perfect job for Enos.

Since Enos was all alone, he had plenty of time to write.

He sent some of his stories off to be published in magazines. They became very popular, especially with people in cities who did not have a chance to visit the mountains.

Enos wanted to give people the chance to experience nature themselves. He bought the lodge where he once worked and renamed it Longs Peak Inn, after his favorite mountain. 

Longs Peak Inn became a famous vacation spot. Enos led hikes in the mountains during the days, and gave talks about nature in the evenings.

His talks were so popular that Enos was invited to travel around the country to teach people about the Rocky Mountains.

Enos began to worry as more people started to visit the Rocky Mountains. Many people were not respecting the natural environment.

Tourists dug up flowers and plants. Loggers and miners cut down trees and dug huge holes in the earth. 

Enos knew that unless he did something, the plants and animals in the mountains could be destroyed forever. 

Enos' friend John Muir protected the giant sequoia trees in California by making Yosemite a national park. Enos and John Muir decided the best way to keep the Rocky Mountains safe would be to make the Rocky Mountains into a national park as well.

Enos spent years trying to convince the government and businesses that making a national park in the Rocky Mountains was a good idea.

John Muir died in 1914, but Enos continued working to protect the Rocky Mountains.

In January 1915, Enos was successful. Congress and President Woodrow Wilson created Rocky Mountain National Park.

From then on, Enos was known as the Father of Rocky Mountain National Park.

Enos showed people how important it was to enjoy nature, and how to be respectful of the mountains. Many people became conservationists because of Enos. 

In 1918, Enos married Esther Burnell. Esther was the first person to ever be named a professional nature guide by the National Park Service. They had one daughter, Enda. 

In 1922, Enos was visiting New York City to give a talk about the Rocky Mountain National Park. He was in a subway accident, and got badly hurt. Although he continued working for months afterward, he never really recovered. 

Enos passed away on September 22nd, 1922. 

Esther and Enda continued to share Enos' writing and message. Enda's descendants still run the Enos Mills Museum in Estes Park.

Because of Enos Mills, thousands of people enjoy Rocky Mountain National Park each year. 

diagnose – to identify what sickness someone has based on their symptoms

recover – when someone gets their health back after being sick or hurt

hitchhike – traveling by asking people for free rides

lodge – a house or cabin open to visitors and guests

nature guide – a person who leads groups for hikes and camping trips

engineer – someone who supervises a mine including workers, equipment, and location. An engineer decides which minerals are valuable and should be kept.

conservationist – a person who works to protect and preserve wildlife and the environment

national park – a part of the country protected by the government to preserve wildlife. National parks guarantee that the wilderness will be undisturbed so people can enjoy nature.

descendants – later generations of a family

Have you ever been to Rocky Mountain National Park?

• If yes, what do you remember about it?
• If not, what would you expect to see there?

Would the state of Colorado be different today if Enos Mills had not created Rocky Mountain National Park? Why or why not?

Enos Mills loved the Rocky Mountains so much that he spent his entire life teaching others about them. What are the things in your life you like to share with people around you?

Enos Mills Manuscript Collection  (Primary sources including photographs, articles, and speeches written by Enos Mills. The Enos Mills collection can be seen in person on the 5th floor of the DPL Central Branch)

Biography Clipping Files (Newspaper, magazine, and journal articles about Enos Mills that can be seen in person on the 5th floor of the DPL Central Branch)

Books about Enos Mills at the Denver Public Library: 

• Enos Mills: Rocky Mountain Conservationist (An excellent elementary school level book about Enos Mills) 
• Enos Mills: Rocky Mountain Naturalist (Another excellent elementary level book) 
• Enos Mills: Citizen of Nature (An in-depth account of Enos Mills' life. Geared toward an older audience but lots of good information.) 
• Enos Mills' Colorado (A collection of Enos' best stories. Enos writes at a level for all ages. This book can be viewed on the 5th floor of the DPL Central Branch.)

Enos Mills Cabin Museum

Enos Mills Biography and the story of the Founding of Rocky Mountain National Park from the National Park Service 

Large Enos Mills Photo Collection on the Enos Mills Cabin Museum Tumblr page

Enos Mills: Father of Rocky Mountain National Park from Colorado Virtual Library 

Biography of Enos Mills from the Sierra Club