Sisters of Courage

Rocky Mountain National Park at 100: Sisters of Courage with Dave Lively

Tuesday, June 23, 2015 - 7:00pm to 8:30pm
  • Library Hall

A special interpretive talk celebrating the 100th anniversary of Rocky Mountain National Park.

Dave Lively's talk, “Sisters of Courage,” follows one family through the turmoil of the last half of the 19th century into the creation of Rocky Mountain National Park. The Civil War, Westward expansion and the Panic of 1893 are well-known historical events that take on new meaning in this story as they impact on a single family. Buffeted by the winds of national events, this is the story of a family who started life over yet again when two sisters, Annie and Kittie Harbison, homesteaded a peaceful mountain valley inside the west entrance of what would become one of America's premier National Parks. Walk with the sisters from Denver as they choose to operate a dairy ranch to supply fresh milk to the expanding Grand Lake population, then follow their story into to the development (and underdevelopment) of Rocky Mountain National Park.

Dave Lively

About the speaker
Dave Lively is a Certified Interpretive Guide and well-known Grand County historian who has been leading his weekly “Sisters of Courage” walk in Rocky Mountain National Park for over eight years. A dynamic speaker who specializes in shining light on absent narratives, Lively creates programs about local history for groups large and small. His stories of remarkable characters from the past engage audiences and bring deeper understanding and appreciation for where we are today. In 2015 he will appear in “The Living Dream”, a PBS documentary, and is a speaker for the Rocky Mountain National Park Centennial Speakers Series. Lively conducts historic seminars and tours for Rocky Mountain National Park, Rocky Mountain Conservancy, and Trail River Ranch education center. He is President of Historic Fraser, Vice Chair and West Slope Representative of Colorado Preservation, Inc., Past President of Grand Lake Area Historical Society and Past Chairman of the Grand County Historic Preservation Board.