April 22, 1870 Enos Mills was born in Linn County, Kansas. As a child he was thin and weak. He was allergic to wheat so he couldn't do farm work. A doctor in their town did not think he would live long. He was not well enough to go to school. He was taught by his mother and father at his home. His mother told stories about Colorado to him.

When he was 12 he left home and went to Greeley, Colorado on the train to stay with his sister, Belle. At age 14 he moved to Estes Park and started building a log cabin. He hiked all through the Rocky Mountains and his love for the land grew larger and larger. He didn't carry a gun and he didn't hunt or trap. He was never attacked by any wild animals.

For a while during the winters Enos worked at the Anaconda copper mine in Montana. He was also a nature guide, homesteader, and an innkeeper. He was an environmentalist and he wanted to protect the mountains.

In 1909 Enos began to work on building a national park that would go from Longs Peak to Pike's Peak. He said, "This land should be kept natural. No one should build houses, cities, or factories here." He took people up to the mountains to show them the beautiful nature. He also wrote stories for the newspaper  and he gave speeches to tell why we should have a national park. Finally in 1915 land near Ester Park became a national park called Rocky Mountain National Park. It wasn't as big as Enos Mills wanted but it was a start.

Enos Mills is called the Father of Rocky Mountain National Park.

We got our information from:
The Colorado Chronicles Volume 1: Famous Colorado Men
and from this web site.