text:
"We stood on the mountain looking down at the
headwaters of Little Thompson Creek, where the Park spread out before
us. No words can describe our surprise, wonder and joy at beholding such
an unexpected sight."
Milton Estes on the discovery of Estes Park, October 15, 1859 [1]
"We stood on the mountain looking down at the
headwaters of Little Thompson Creek, where the Park spread out before
us. No words can describe our surprise, wonder and joy at beholding such
an unexpected sight."
Milton Estes on the discovery of Estes Park, October 15, 1859 [1]
IT IS hard for historians who dwell on the heroic to
admit that almost none of the famous explorers of the West ever set foot
in the land that would become Rocky Mountain National Park. Other hidden
spots and easier routes caught their attention. In the past, attempts
have been made to link such famous individuals as Kit Carson and John
Charles Fremont to this stretch of mountains. Sadly, those claims are
quite unreliable. For even though explorers and travelers appeared in
the general region during some two hundred and fifty years, it was not
until 1859 that someone would approach these mountains close enough to
claim discovery. More isolated peaks, lakes, and valleys lingered in
obscurity even longer. The same mountains that draw visitors today acted
to deter people of an earlier era because of the rigorous barriers they
posed to travel.
The earliest European explorations into Colorado's
mountains and plains approached from the south. Between 1540 and 1600,
Spanish expeditions marched out of Mexico, probing the Great Plains and
examining much of today's American Southwest. Around 1600, the Spanish
began colonization efforts near Taos and Santa Fe. By mid-century, an
expedition under Juan de Archuleta penetrated Colorado, becoming the
first recorded adventurers to do so. Archuleta, with a troop of
soldiers, moved northward after some rebellious pueblo Indians. Fifty
years later, in 1706, Juan de Ulibarri marched into Colorado with forty
soldiers and one hundred Indian allies, once again hunting Indians who
had fled their benevolent dictatorship. Both of these Spanish units
probably confined their visits to a military purpose and to the Arkansas
River Valley.
While entering sections of today's Colorado, the
Spanish discovered that other Europeans had been visiting the Great
Plains. Indians told of French traders coming from the East, and they
produced firearms as evidence of growing commerce. In 1719, another
military force marched northward hoping to chastise the Utes and
Comanches for their New Mexican raids. In 1720, an expedition proceeded
all the way to the Platte River in today's Nebraska to determine the
extent of French influence. Under the leadership of Don Pedro
de Villasur, this force of one hundred men traveled along the South Platte
River, which they called the Rio Jesus Maria, and probably spotted
Colorado's famous Front Range. An attack by unfriendly Pawnees left
eighty-eight Spaniards dead and twelve remaining troopers dashing for
the safety of Santa Fe. Needless to say, Spanish interest in their
northern frontier dwindled.
Official Spanish expeditions seemed to center on
military necessity. How many private citizens ventured northward into
Colorado's mountains, searching for treasures of silver and gold, is
unknown. One intriguing hint about those adventurous souls came in 1859
from a prospector named Samuel Stone. Exploring a region "near the
headwaters of Big Thompson Creek, close to the base of Long's Peak,"
Stone reportedly came upon "what appeared to be the site of an old
mining camp." Aside from shafts, excavations, and cabins, Stone reported
finding that much of the timber in the area had been cut and even "a
portable outfit for distilling" including "a kettle-like copper vessel
and a small copper 'worm' of several coils." Denver's frontier editor
William N. Byers suggested that this was a "Spanish digging" and
inquired about mining activity among some old-timers in Santa Fe. There
he discovered a local tradition about some "Portugese adventurers" who
passed through that town on a mining expedition to the north. In Santa
Fe folklore, however, the Portuguese simply disappeared, presumably
meeting their doom among the Indians. [2]
If the record of Spaniards spotting these mountains
seems sketchy, it is probably because the major interests in their lives
centered closer to Santa Fe. They believed that Colorado's mountains
offered far less potential for wealth than the mines of Mexico or the
genteel encomiendas of New Mexico. Even their French competitors of the
eighteenth century failed to develop any serious interest in exploring
the heart of the Rockies. That failure is most surprising because the
French voyageurs penetrated so many other isolated regions. As
early as 1720, according to some reports, the French in Illinois "heard
rumors of Spanish mining in what would seem to have been the
mountain-parts of Colorado." [3] Apparently, French gold seekers
never investigated those rumors. But French traders, active even after
France lost its North American claims in 1763, did explore the river systems of the Great
Plains. Those unnamed fur seekers gave familiar sights some memorable
names. Longs Peak and its lofty companion Mount Meeker, for example,
became known as "Les deux Oreilles" (The Two Ears) among the early
French trappers who eyed those landmarks from out on the
plains. [4]
Obscure Frenchmen had far less to do with
national claims or domination than did European leaders. By 1801,
Napoleon Bonaparte had cleverly regained French ownership over the vast
Louisiana region. Spanish holdings once again faded southward. But
Napoleon quickly became disenchanted with his dream for a giant North
American empire and sold this stretch of ill-defined real estate to the
United States for $15 million. The miffed Spanish now looked northward
to face a restless new neighbor, an ambitious nation intending to
assert its claims clear to the crest of the Continental
Divideand beyond.
American ownership was advanced by both official
explorers and frontier traders. In 1806, Lieutenant Zebulon Pike made a
foray for the U.S. Army into southeastern Colorado and South Park, only
to be arrested and sent home by the Spanish. Americans were still
regarded as trespassers. But at the same time, free trappers such as
James Pursley began exploring Colorado, testing its potential in beaver.
His keen eyes also spotted flakes of gold as early as 1805. Groups of
Missouri traders, led by such men as A. P. Chouteau and Julius De Munn,
followed in hopes of commercial ventures. They found Indians willing to
parley, and plenty of valuable beaver. They worked along the Colorado
Front Range between 1811 and 1817, only to have the protective Spanish
authorities confiscate their wealth of collected pelts. Other trappers such
as Ezekial Williams would follow in their wake, sometimes able to elude
both the Spanish military patrols and hostile Indians while extracting a
few precious beaver pelts from the Rockies. Dangers aside, the growing
profits from the fur trade insured a continuing march toward the Rocky
Mountains over the next three decades.
But fur traders and trappers were not known for their
literary talents. Little about their explorations is known; accounts of
their journeys are typically vague. Although many of them probably
penetrated today's Rocky Mountain National Park, their tracks and tales
have long since vanished.
Official explorers, on the other hand, were expected
to provide long and detailed reports. It is through their eyes that we
catch early glimpses of the region. Following American victory in the
War of 1812, Congress decided to promote trade and commerce in the West.
A major thrust was intended toward the upper Missouri River. The
so-called Yellowstone Expedition of 1819 planned to establish forts,
make treaties with Indians, collect data on the area, and generally
assert American ownership, while also evicting British traders. One of
the leaders of this highly organized effort was Major Stephen Harriman
Long. He had joined the topographical engineers in 1817 and now was
designated as leader of the scientific phase of this highly touted
effort. But the Yellowstone Expedition proved to be a fiasco. It spent
far too much money and proceeded up river so slowly that it had made
its way only as far as Council Bluffs by the end of the 1819 season.
While members built a winter camp and leisurely studied the Omaha
Indians, Congress voted to withhold further financial support. Partly to
make a final stab at some accomplishment, two minor expeditions were
organized. One group headed toward Minnesota while Major Long took a
contingent westward toward the mountains.
He headed a party of twenty-two men as they followed
the course of the Platte River, a stream that Frenchmen earlier had
named for its flat appearance. Long's task was to make observations of
the animal life, the geological and biological features, and perhaps
study some Indians as well. By late June of 1820 they approached the
mouth of the South Fork of the Platte, moved up along that stream, and
entered the present state of Colorado.
On Friday, June 30th, the official expedition
journalist, Captain John R. Bell, noted that at eight in the morning "we
discovered a blue strip, close in with the horizon to the
westwhich was by some pronounced to be no more than a
cloudby others, to be the Rocky Mountains." Not since the Pike
expedition fourteen years earlier had anyone "official" laid eyes on
this range. Bell continued his euphoric description, stating that the day
was slightly hazy but that eventually their view sharpened, "and we had
a distant view of the summit of a range of mountainswhich to our
great satisfaction and heart felt joy, was declared by the commanding
officer to be the range of the Rocky Mountains. . . ." He added that "a
high Peake was plainly to be distinguished towering above all the others
as far as the sight extended." Later it would be that mountain to which
Major Long's name would be attached. Then, like so many travelers who
came after, Captain Bell noted the contrast of their tedious prairie
journey with the scene that now lay before them. "The whole range had a
beautiful and sublime appearance to us," he observed, "after having
been so long confined to the dull and uninteresting monotony of prairie
country. . . ." [5]
According to Dr. Edwin James, the expedition's
botanist and geologist, three French guides helped direct Long's party
toward the base of the Rockies. These men were listed as Bijeau, Le
Doux, and Julien. Joseph Bijeau was singled out by Dr.
James as being particularly helpful because "he had formerly been
resident in these regions, in capacity of hunter and trapper, during the
greater part of six years." It was from Bijeau that the Long Expedition
learned about the Rocky Mountain interior. "The mountains are usually
abrupt," Dr. James related, "often towering into inaccessible peaks,
covered with perpetual snows." Bijeau told of Colorado's large western
slope parks, allowing James to report that "the vallies within the Rocky
Mountains are many of them extensive, being from ten to twenty or thirty
miles in width, and are traversed by many large and beautiful streams."
Whether Bijeau or his fellow trappers ever visited Middle or Estes parks
remains unknown, but it appears likely. "His pursuits," Dr. James
concluded, "often led him within the Rocky Mountains, where the beaver
are particularly abundant." [6]
Major Long and his men traveled southward along the
foothills of the Front Range. They paused briefly to allow members to
climb "the Peake" later named for Zebulon Pike, and then they returned
eastward. Only the names of Major Long, Dr. James, and Joseph Bijeau
remained behind, staying attached to mountains and creeks as a memory of
their brief tour. Within a year or two, when their reports and
observations were published, their conclusions about the future of this
region were pessimistic. Traveling here was "extremely disagreeable;"
the Great Plains were too dry and desolate to ever support a population,
Major Long argued: "it is almost wholly unfit for cultivation;" it was a
fine place for "savage" Indians, who lived within "the shades of
barbarism." [7] Only a few itinerant hunters could be attracted
to this realm of wilderness.
So during the three decades following Major Long's
brief tour, only the mountain men and a few bands of Indians ruled the
Rockies. The era of the fur trade brought a handful of crusty characters,
hardened by life in the wilderness, searching mostly for beaver.
Rarely did these hunters build shelters; they tended to wander and they
usually wintered with the Indians. Their personal equipment consisted
mainly of those items essential for survival in the wilderness, called
their "possibles" or "fixens." Historian Hiram Chittenden noted that a
mountain man's baggage was spare, consisting of a rifle and its
accessories, his traps, some knives, hatchets, and a few culinary
utensils, some tobacco, coffee, sugar, and salt, some bedding made of a
buffalo robe, and a horse and pack stock to haul his furs.
These "lonely hermits of the mountains" fell into a
"habit of seclusion," preferring the company of wilderness and solitude
to that of civilization. Chittenden portrayed the mountain man as
"ordinarily gaunt and spare, browned with exposure, his hair long and
unkempt, while his general make up, with the queer dress
which he wore, made it often difficult to distinguish
him from an Indian." His personality was described as "taciturn and
gloomy" since he had become "accustomed to scenes of violence and death
and the problem of self-preservation." [8] His language was an
illiterate mixture of English, Spanish, French, and Indian words,
sprinkled with expressions only used on the frontier. George
Ruxton, a western traveler in the 1840s, reported
numerous campfire conversations. In one statement, a trapper responded
to a question about the presence of hostile Indians: "Enfant de Garce,
me see bout honderd, when I pass Squirrel Creek, one dam war-party,
parce-que, they no hosses, and have de lariats for steal des animaux.
May be de Yutes in Bayou Salade." [9] What he said was that
skulking Indians ready to steal horses put the trappers on guard,
regardless if those Arapaho were heading into South Park to attack the
In 1846, historian Francis Parkman toured the West
and sat at a campfire one evening with several "uncouth figures," among
whom were "two or three of the half savage men who spend their reckless
lives in trapping among the Rocky Mountains. . . ." Parkman found very
little in their demeanor or appearance worthy of praise. "They were all
of Canadian extraction," he wrote, "their hard, weather-beaten faces and
bushy moustaches looked out from beneath the hoods of their white
capotes with a bad and brutish expression, as if their owners might be
the willing agents of any villainy. And such in fact is the character of
many of these men." [10]
Exactly how many beaver pelts may have been extracted
from the streams of Rocky Mountain National Park during this fur trading
era is not known. Yet signs of a lucrative trade dotted the nearby
region, allowing us to assume that trappers worked every likely
drainage. By the 1830s, small trading posts began to appear along the
South Platte River just to the east of today's Park. About 1835, Fort
Vasquez was established near the mouth of Clear Creek and by 1838
reestablished near the present town of Platteville. In 1837 or 1838,
Ceran St. Vrain and his partners William and Charles Bent (well known as
prominent Santa Fe traders and founders of Bent's Fort on the southern
prairie) established Fort St. Vrain about a mile and a half below the
mouth of St. Vrain Creek. Also by 1836, Lieutenant Lancaster P. Lupton
built a trading post called Fort Lancaster, located about a mile north
of today's Fort Lupton. A year later competitors Peter Sarpy and Henry
Fraeb built Fort Jackson about ten miles south of Fort St. Vrain. All
these posts vied for trade with the Indians, sought buffalo hides as
well as beaver pelts, and served as depots for the trappers. But just as
these posts were built, men's fashions in hats changed. Beaver felt gave
way to silk, demands for beaver pelts declined, and within a decade all
four forts were deserted. Traveler Francis Parkman noted on his 1846
journey that Fort St. Vrain "was now abandoned and fast falling into
ruin. The walls of unbaked bricks were cracked from top to bottom." He
added that "our horses recoiled in terror from the neglected entrance
where the heavy gates were torn from their hinges and flung down." "The
area within," Parkman concluded, "was overgrown with weeds, and the long ranges of
apartments once occupied by the motley concourse of traders, Canadians,
and squaws, were now miserably dilapidated." [11]
One of the few individuals who visited this region
during its fur trading heydayand bothered to write about itwas
Rufus B. Sage. A native of Upper Middletown, Connecticut,
Sage traveled throughout the West between 1841 and 1844. He journeyed to
Fort Hall, Idaho via the famed immigrant trail; he met and hunted with
mountaineers; he helped transport furs down the Platte and Missouri
rivers; he spent weeks at Fort Lancaster observing life there. "The
business transacted at this post is chiefly with the Cheyennes," he
later recalled, "but the Arapahos, Mexicans, and Sioux also come in for
a share and contribute to render it one of the most profitable trading
establishments in the country." [12]
He joined a futile attack by a company of Texans upon
New Mexico in the spring of 1843 and returned to Fort Lancaster nearly
destitute. It was in September of 1843 that he acquired a horse and some
gear and proceeded westward into the mountains on a hunting excursion
"where, unattended by anyone, I had a further opportunity of testing
the varied sweets of solitude." [13]
His account for September 30th told of heading "for
ten or twelve miles, through a broad opening between two mountain
ridges, bearing a northwesterly direction, to a large valley skirting a
tributary of Thompson's creek, where, finding an abundance of deer, I
passed the interval till my return to the Fort." [14] Historian
Leroy Hafen credits Sage as having entered Estes Park. And if Sage's
account can be accepted, he became the first man to report about the
wonders of this region.
"The locality of my encampment presented numerous and
varied attractions," Sage wrote, sounding a bit like an advertising man.
"It seemed, indeed, like a concentration of beautiful lateral valleys,
intersected by meandering watercourses, ridged by lofty ledges of
precipitous rock, and hemmed in upon the west by vast piles of mountains
climbing beyond the clouds, and upon the north, south, and east, by
sharp lines of hills that skirted the prairie. . ." Few modern writers
have duplicated his vision of these "far-spreading domains of silence
and loneliness." Hunting brought Sage into the mountains and in Estes
Park he found wildlife abundant. "It also affords every variety of game,
while the lake is completely crowded with geese, brants, ducks, and
gulls, to an extent seldom witnessed." Thoughts of successful hunting
waned in his mind, however, as he waxed philosophic about the beauties
of nature. "What a charming retreat for someone of the world-hating
literati! He might here hold daily converse with himself, Nature,
and his God, far removed from the annoyance of man." [15]
Here he hunted for a month. "I was quite successful
with my rifle," he noted, "and, by degrees, became much attached to the
versatile life of lordly independence consociate with the loneliness of
my situation." [16] On October 29th he left Estes Park, traveled
down St. Vrain Creek (which he called Soublet's creek), and arrived at
Fort Lancaster on October 30th. Soon he returned to the East, married,
settled down, wrote and published a book about his travels, and spent
the rest of his life farming near his home town. His Rocky Mountain
Life; or, Startling Scenes and Perilous Adventures in the Far West
during an Expedition of Three Years appeared in August of 1846. In
some ways, his observations marked the end of the fur trading era. The
old trappers and traders were being replaced by a new breed of
But neither Sage's visit nor his book stimulated a
real rush to the Rockies. The 1840s and 1850s did see a number of men
like him, however, "exploring parties" crossing the Great Plains, heading
for California, investigating the unsettled wilderness. Between
1842 and 1848, for example, the "Pathfinder of the
West" John Charles Fremont made five government-sponsored expeditions
westward. Returning from California in June of 1844, his expedition
passed through Middle Park. There they met 200 Arapaho and Sioux
encamped and hunting. He and his men did not tarry, but moved rapidly
toward South Park and then to the plains. Fremont could have chosen a
more direct route toward the plains leading through Rocky Mountain
National Park, but he did not. However, he was aware that trails along
the Continental Divide were well known before his 1844 arrival. The
"mountain coves, called Parks" and the "heads of the rivers, the
practicability of the mountains passes, and the locality of the Three
Parks were all objects of interest," Fremont noted as he began finding
paths in Colorado, "and although well known to the hunters and trappers,
were unknown to science and history." [17]
Some writers have argued that one of Fremont's
guides, Kit Carson, fully explored and trapped all the territory around
Longs Peak and even built a cabin near its base. William F. Drannan,
only seventeen years old in 1849, claimed to have traveled
widely with Carson. He told of crossing the Rockies from the Plains to
North Park via the upper Cache la Poudre on one of those trips.
Recalling his visit, he remembered considerable Indian activity on the
trails. "It was the custom of the Utes," Drannan noted, "to cross over
the mountains in small squads every spring and kill all the trappers
they could find and take their traps and furs." [18] It is
possible that Kit Carson and his sidekicks did explore all the hidden
valleys of Rocky Mountain National Park, but those claims might also be
wishful thinking on the part of those who hoped to forge a link with a
The late 1840s saw people moving West in increasing
numbers. American victory in the Mexican War assured national expansion;
the gold rush to California attracted thousands. Persecuted Mormons
joined land-hungry immigrants on a western surge of settlement. And the
flotsam of those migratory movements began scattering into every nook of
vacant territory.
Even tourists began to roam the West. Francis Parkman
made his journey along the Oregon Trail in 1846 and George Ruxton took
his tour the following year. Many would follow, but few visitors ever
duplicated the famous hunting excursion of Sir St. George Gore, an Irish
Baronet. His hunting expedition, which lasted from 1854 to 1857,
centered in Wyoming but brought him briefly into Middle Park. Not one to
travel light, Gore's "grand hunting party" included forty men, two
valets and a dog handler, more than one hundred horses, twenty yoke of
oxen, fifty hunting hounds, twenty-eight vehicles, and famous mountain
men Jim Bridger and Henry Chatillon acting as guides. Lord Gore's stay
in Middle Park lasted only from July through September of 1854. Whether
he hunted around Grand Lake is unknown, but his party did find plenty of
buffalo, deer, and elk. By October Lord Gore and his hunters trouped
back to Fort Laramie. He would spend the remainder of his American
jaunt on escapades into the northern Great Plains. His impact upon
Middle Park was negligible. But he does represent a developing
awareness, even in Europe, that the American West could be considered a
place of adventure. Again, the area of Rocky Mountain National Park
could not boast of entertaining this eccentric nobleman, but in time it
would receive its share.
The discovery of gold changed everything. Decades of
hunting, trapping, and trading in Colorado seemed almost lackadaisical
when compared to the onslaught of prospectors who thundered onto the
scene after 1858. Traces of gold had been discovered
earlier, in 1805, 1835, 1843, 1849, and in 1854, but
none of those "strikes" produced a "rush." In June of 1858, a company of
one hundred Georgians, Missourians, and Cherokee Indians led by William
Green Russell traveled up the Arkansas Valley to prospect in the
drainage of the South Platte River. All but thirteen of this party
deserted after a month due to poor panning and constant Indian scares.
But by the end of July, Russell and his diehards managed to extract
small amounts of gold dust amounting to $800 from the gravels of the
South Platte and its adjacent streams. News traveled fast. Newspapers in
Kansas and Missouri started publishing wildly optimistic reports about
these finds, probably hoping to stimulate local economies by outfitting
men rushing west. On July 24th, the Weekly Kansas Herald stated:
"On the headwaters of the South Fork of the Platte, near Longs Peak,
gold mines have been discovered and 500 persons are now working
there." [19] Hyperbole helped to produce excitement. By October 29th, the
Lawrence (Kansas) Republican announced that parties were
forming and departing from Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, Iowa, Ohio, and
even from as far away as Michigan.
But many who rushed to Colorado soon believed they
had been conned. Some gold could be panned from the creeks all right,
but amounts remained very small. A. A. Brookfield, writing from St.
Vrain's Creek on January 26, 1859, attempted to set the record straight:
"We have found the best quantity of gold that has been discovered, and
cannot make one dollar per day." "My impression of the mines,"
Brookfield concluded, "is that they are a d--d humbug." [20]
Others agreed that Colorado's gold rush was a hoax
and began returning to the East. Yet, in May of 1859, George A. Jackson
made a strike on Chicago Creek at Idaho Springs and John H. Gregory
found a deposit on the North Fork of Clear Creek between today's Black
Hawk and Central City. Newspaperman William N. Byers reached Gregory's
diggings on May 20th, 1859, and found twenty men working with two
favorable quartz leads discovered. Two weeks later he estimated that
three thousand men were combing the area; thirty leads had been
prospected and several hundred claims had been made. Colorado's future
was assured. Thousands trekked across the plains with golden visions
filling their heads. Reviewing this excitement in 1867, Ovando Hollister
noted: "As they came within sight of Long's Peak, lying like a smoky
thunderhead in the far and indefinite horizon, a hundred miles distant,
we can imagine their exaltation of feeling." [21]
Most of the details of Colorado's boom-time growth
and development need not detain us here. It is enough to say that a
dozen or more Front Range towns such as Denver, Boulder, and
Golden, mushroomed overnight. Mixed with the prospectors came land
speculators, town builders, merchants, ranchers, various elements of low
life, and as wide an assortment of people as America could produce. Some
estimate that a hundred thousand people flooded into Colorado as
One fellow bitten by the "gold fever" bug was Joel
Estes. A type of foot-loose man common to our westering, the
Kentucky-born Estes started his life as a frontier farmer in Andrew
County, Missouri. There he and his wife Patsy raised thirteen children
while depending upon Black slaves for labor in carving out an estate.
Along with thousands of others in 1849, Estes and his eldest son Hardin
hit the trail to California. There they staked a valuable claim,
eventually selling it for $30,000. During the next decade, wanderlust
took Estes into other corners of the West. In 1854 or 1855, for example,
he went to Oregon and back to California searching for a new spot to
homestead. When news of Rocky Mountain gold reached his ears, Estes,
then 53 years old, packed up his wife, six of his children, five Black
slaves, a few friends, and a herd of cattle, and joined the stampede to
the gold fields.
Arriving in Denver on June 15th, 1859, Estes scouted
the region for a likely place to stake a claim or settle. He saw plenty
of panning and placer mining activity, but he decided that the
California Mother Lode had been much richer. He and his group camped for
a few months near today's Golden, Colorado, helping to create that new
settlement. In late September he decided to move, locating twenty-two
miles north of Denver at a spot then known as Fort Lupton Bottom, near
the South Platte River. He felt this new ranch site would insure
adequate forage for his herd of cattle. There they built crude cabins,
harvested some wild grass for hay, and prepared to spend the winter.
In mid-October, Estes, along with his twelve-year-old
son Milton and perhaps some other friends, embarked upon a hunting or
prospecting trip into the mountains. Traveling north and west across the
ridges and along the creeks, Estes finally stood looking into a valley
he assumed to be North Park. In fact, his eyes gazed upon today's Estes
Park. "No words can describe our surprise, wonder and joy at beholding
such an unexpected sight," Milton Estes would write some forty years
later. "It was a grand sight and a great surprise." [22]
After exploring this valley for a few days, Estes
concluded that it was not North Park after all. They found "no signs
that white men had ever been there before us." Even the Indians had left
very little evidence of their visits. "There were signs that Indians had
been there at some time," Milton Estes recalled, "for we found lodge
poles in two different places. How long before, we could not determine." [23]
Many details about the Estes family claiming this
valley for their ranch have been lost or are clouded by time and
conflicting memories. Nevertheless, it is clear that Joel Estes decided
that this newly found park would be ideally suited for a cattle range.
So, sometime in 1860, Estes and his sons returned, built two log cabins
at the eastern end of the park, and took possession using the frontier
custom of merely squatting upon vacant land. "We were monarchs of all we
surveyed," Milton Estes remembered, "mountains, valleys and streams.
There was absolutely nothing to dispute our sway. We had a little world
all to ourselves." [24] Later that year they drove a herd of
about sixty cattle from their ranch near the Platte River up through the
foothills into their newly found mountain pasture.
Estes apparently hired several men to assist in
herding and in guarding his cattle during the following winter and
during the winter of 1861-1862 as well. Years later, one of those
helpers, Dunham Wright, referred to that experience as "two of the
happiest winters of my long life . . . feasting and
fattening on mountain sheep and elk." [25]
Joel Estes, like other frontiersmen, was a
resourceful man. He knew how to exploit the wealth of nature to insure
both survival and personal profit. And Estes Park provided an abundance
of wildlife that attracted his attention. Cattle took time to graze and
fatten; elk and deer could be harvested immediately and easily sold in
Denver. Prospectors with gold on their minds were too busy digging or
panning to take time to hunt for their supper. So Joel Estes took
advantage of easy hunting and that nearby demand for meat. His son
Milton noted: "One fall and winter the Writer killed one hundred head of
elk, besides other game, such as mountain sheep, deer and antelope." [26]
They butchered the animals, using some of the meat themselves, and
"dressed many skins for clothing which we made and wore." Not
surprisingly, the Estes family used this region much like the Indians
and the trappers who preceded them. But a bit more exploitively, they
also marketed the game animals. Milton Estes reported: "By this time
(1863) we had made a trail to Denver, where we sold many dressed skins
and many hindquarters of deer, elk and sheep. Much of the gold was not
made into coins, so they sometimes weighed out gold dust to us in
exchange." [27]
The Civil War interfered with Joel Estes's plans for
his newly found park. In 1861 Estes made one of several trips back to
Missouri, where, as a slave owner, he encountered hostility. So, seeking
a favorable political climate, he decided to move to Texas. A brief
attempt at cattle ranching did not prove successful there and he soon
returned to Missouri, freed his slaves, and in 1863 decided that
Colorado offered the brightest future. Between 1863 and 1866, Joel Estes
and his family attempted to make their new homestead in the mountains
into a profitable venture. But life there was not easy.
They discovered that the winters could be "very hard
and cold." They found it was necessary to store up hay for their cattle
and that meant cutting native grasses by hand using a scythe. When their
hay supply became exhausted, it was necessary to drive the cattle down
toward the foothills or to dig through snow drifts, enabling the herd to
forage. Hunting continued to earn the family its extra income, and they
took a four-day trip to Denver once every two months in order to market their quarry. In the
city they picked up their mail and other news from the outside world.
Life for the Estes women was equally lonely and harsh. Milton Estes
recalled how primitive conditions were confronted by these pioneer
women: "The women of our families, my mother, sister and wife,
cheerfully shared with us the rugged life of the
pioneer. With dutch ovens, iron kettles hanging over open fire places,
they cooked food that could not be surpassed. No modern methods could
equal the splendid meals of wild game, hot biscuits, berries, cream,
etc., that they prepared." [28]
It is difficult to tell to what extent the Estes
family roamed across today's Rocky Mountain National Park. It seems
certain that hunting ventures took them almost everywhere, from the
slopes of Longs Peak itself into every major drainage nearby. Tales of
fabulous hunting filled Milton Estes's memory. He told of killing "a
whole band of thirteen deer, at one time, with a muzzle loading rifle;"
he recalled the excitement of shooting an intruding bear "as big as an
ox" one thrilling night; he remembered how easy it was to bag bighorn
sheep on a particular rocky outcrop where the Estes hunters used "a
trained dog that we set on them, and they would strike straight for the
Sheep Rock, and then we would get the whole flock." [29] Hunting
filled their time and their stomachs and insured their survival.
Although credited as the region's discoverers, Joel
Estes and his family were not totally alone. Across the range, near
Grand Lake, for example, another Missourian named Philip Crawshaw built
a log cabin sometime around 1857 or 1858. He ran a trap line along the
North Fork of the Colorado and other trappers occasionally joined him in
his enterprise. He stayed in the region until 1861, when he felt he had
his fortune made after trading furs for gold dust in Denver. While
returning home to Missouri, the unfortunate Mr. Crawshaw was attacked
by William Quantrill's infamous Confederate raiders and robbed of all
his earnings. Another resident in these mountains, Alonzo Allen, was an
adventurous prospector searching for gold throughout much of the Rocky
Mountain Front Range. In 1864 he built a cabin southeast of Longs Peak,
about two miles east of today's Allenspark. Details about men like
Crawshaw or Allen are slim. And other trappers or prospectors, remaining
nameless upon the pages of history, certainly haunted these mountains
during the early 1860s.
One professional wanderer, editor William N. Byers of
the Rocky Mountain News, made a visit to this portion of the
Rockies in August of 1864. His excursion shows that people interested in
"adventure and amusement" were also attracted to the mountains soon
after the Colorado gold rush began. Starting from Denver with three
companions, a wagon, horses, and camping gear, Byers proceeded toward
Longs Peak following the rugged cattle trail etched by the Estes family.
Their route (which roughly followed today's Highway 36 from Lyons to
Estes Park) was primitive, "so difficult was it to get along that we left the wagon in
disgust; packed a few necessary articles on our horses, cached the
balance, and pushed ahead with more rapidity." Soon they spotted Estes
Park, "a very gem of beauty." Byers was impressed: "The landscape struck
us at first sight as one of the most lovely we ever
beheld, and three or four days familiarity with it only increased that
admiration." [30]
There they visited the "home of Mr. Estes, the
pioneer and sole occupant of this sylvan paradise." Earlier they met
Joel Estes and one of his sons along the trail, heading for Denver. At
the homestead Byers met Patsy Estes, "a pleasant old lady of forty-five
or fifty years," as well as Milton Estes and his sister. Byers found
that "we were the first visitors they had seen this year and they seemed
overjoyed to look upon a human face more than their own." He added that
"they are getting tired of the solitude and we suspect would like a
change." Editorially he noted, "The picturesque will do for a time but
like everything else it grows monotonous." [31]
Byers and his three companions came not to "discover"
but to climb Longs Peak. Apparently others had preceded them in that
attempt. Byers referred to "all who had started up it had gone from this
point . . . and they had invariably returned unsuccessful, pronouncing
the highest summit impossible." On August 19th, Byers's party set out to
scale Longs Peak regardless of past failures. Yet that same day they
were disappointingly unable to locate a useable route to the summit.
However, on the morning of August 20th, they stood atop Mount Meeker,
"as high as anyone has ever gone" and "added our names to the five
registered before. . . ." Just then, a climb of Longs Peak seemed impossible. "We are
quite sure that no living creature, unless it had wings to fly, was ever
upon its summit," Byers wistfully noted, "and we believe we run no risk
in predicting that no man ever will be, though it is barely possible
that the ascent can be made." [32]
So they descended to the Estes ranch and then
journeyed homeward. Although a conquest of Longs Peak eluded them,
Byers wrote glowingly about the region. "Eventually this park will
become a favorite pleasure resort," he prophesied. [33]
Encouraging others to visit the area, he added that "The trip to
Longs Peak and back can be made in five days, but it is better to take
six, seven, or eight days for it. Our's occupied six and a half
altogether." [34] The promotion of tourism had begun.
The winter of 1864-65 proved to be particularly
severe in Estes Park. Soon after, the Estes family decided to move. "We
needed a milder climate and a wider range for the cattle," Milton Estes
explained, "for we wanted to engage in stockraising on a larger
scale." [35] So Joel Estes sold the mountain valley he had tried
to homestead, now named for him by William Byers. Two men were ready to
purchase Estes's rights to the land, a Michael Hollenbeck and a fellow
named "Buck." Supposedly, the valley exchanged ownership for a yoke of
oxen. On April 15, 1866, Joel Estes and his family left their mountain
homestead, moving to southern Colorado to start another ranch. In 1875,
Joel Estes died at the age of sixty-nine in Farmington, New Mexico. As
happened among other pioneer families, the Estes children scattered
across several states, from New Mexico to Iowa. But none remained in
Estes Park. Like some who came later, Joel Estes had found it difficult
to wring success out of the "sylvan paradise." Scenery and good hunting
were no match for rough winters and loneliness.
Within a few short years, between 1859 and 1866,
Estes Park and Longs Peak started to gain wide recognition. Men seeking
gold used Longs Peak as a landmark; many maps included its name; the
growing population of Denver gazed upon its slopes as they went about
their chores; the range of Rockies between Estes Park and Grand Lake
drew hunters, prospectors, and subsistence ranchers such as Joel Estes;
and, among others, William Byers simply came to take a closer look.
From as far away as France, the famous novelist Jules Verne granted
Longs Peak its discovery in the world of literature. In 1865, Verne
wrote a science fiction tale entitled From the Earth to the Moon.
The popular writer told a tale of sending a projectile with three men
and two dogs to the moon. A huge astronomical observatory on earth was
necessary for this great fictional enterprise, so Verne chose the isolated
Longs Peak "in the territory of Missouri" upon which to place his
280-foot-long telescope, with a "magnifying power of 48,000 times."
[A HREF="notes.htm#36">36] From its position as merely one of a thousand
peaks in the Rocky Mountains only a few decades earlier, Long Peak emerged
as the fictional center of world astronomy. From those few, nameless
French trappers calling Longs Peak and Mount Meeker Les deux Oreilles
to a French novelist predicting the heart of the Rockies as a future
scientific center, these mountains began to match men's minds.
Through the efforts of Spaniards, Frenchmen, and Americans, who acted as
government officials, trappers, and traders, prospectors, hunters, and
writers, Longs Peak and its mountainous surroundings were gradually


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Offering cricket tours in South Africa and Barbados, Pavilion's well established agents will expertly match players' ages and abilities. This ensures that all students benefit from valuable training sessions, all in-line with National Curriculum key concepts and processes.
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
- Olivier Coquillo
- Fremont, CA
- United States
This conversation is closed.
Why can't we all get together and find a cure to all terminal diseases?
I have not done enough research on collaboration between research centers but I promise to read all of your comments, since I am mostly asking this question to learn from you.
One of my dreams is to be able to witness an international collaboration and a public commitment from top research centers to find a cure to terminal diseases and to distribute the cure for free to people in need.
Do you think that there is a competition between research centers and scientists? Do you think that some groups are more focused on finding a cure to make money rather than finding a cure to save lives? I would love to know what you think.
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Itay GalileeMay 7 2013: There's a quote that I can't remember exactly, but it says something like "It's not that it's not there (anything we research/try to find), we are simply aren't looking with the appropriate tools" (If it rings a bell, please comment here what it is precisely). One of the concepts that the Age of Enlightment gave us is that everything is possible- we only need to use our wits.
So, with regards to that I presume that someday cancer would be less of a deal, and researchers would be occupied in figuring out something else, at least to some extent.
Back to your question- You can ask the same question regarding many other aspects of life- Why aren't people working together to famish famine? To decontaminate earth's oceans, soil and such? If only 5% of the world population would've done that, we would all be better now.
I presume that it's a part of human nature, some sort of drawback that we all carry that holds up back. most of the people aren't bothered by these iniquities until it hits them.
And then it's too late.
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Are We Genetically Predisposed to Believe in God?
This entry was originally posted on February 13, 2010. While the question of evolutionary predisposition toward religious belief may be challenging, Christians need not see it as threatening. In fact, this is actually a Pauline notion that is explored in Romans 1, where Paul claims that it is in mankind's nature to "know God".
God's Extravagant Love in Creation
Critics of Christianity look to evolution to show how the emergence of human life on earth demanded enormous ruin and ravage, billions of years of apparent waste and futility, species extermination and organism road kill. Not only was the massive dying off rampant, it's mandatory too.
Stochastic Grace
I was raised in a household of atheists. My parents were card-carrying members of the American Communist Party, and therefore the atheism in my household was quite close to the militant anti-theism of the so-called "new atheists".
Hydrology of the Bow River
There's a word beneath the water, and the Bow River belongs to God. Have you been listening?
Evolution, the Enlightenment, and Worldviews
In this video conversation, N.T. Wright discusses how the Enlightenment worldview -- which clearly separates God from the world -- has impacted our view of Scripture, and why cleaning the "spectacles" through which we view the world can help us see both Scripture and the world more clearly.
Series: Science and the Bible (22 entries)
This ongoing series written by historian Ted Davis begins with a brief synopsis of his personal background, and then goes on to reveal his passion for debunking "the now-common view that the history of science and Christianity is one of ongoing, inevitable conflict."
Made in the Image of God: Human Values and Genomics
Genes and physiology are seen as something different from "us" and "our mind," and they seem to be controlling us, so we can't even change our mind. Humans are presented as pawns of their biology, puppets dancing to the tune of their genetic masters.
Does Evolution Compromise Human Morality?
Once we have a scientific hypothesis for how something exists, it is tempting to make the philosophical inference that this is also why it exists.
Why Strict Atheism Is Unscientific
Do you believe in God? If a cadre of outspoken, strong atheists wrote a litmus test for scientists, that might very well be question #1.
Series: Surprised by Jack: C.S. Lewis on Mere Christianity, the Bible, and Evolutionary Science (4 entries)
In this five-part series, David Williams responds to the book The Magician's Twin: C.S. Lewis on Science, Scientism, and Society by John West and the Discovery Institute, showing that C.S. Lewis was a very complicated thinker whose views are hard to line up exactly with any camp in the current debates over the compatibility of Christian faith and evolutionary science.
Surveying George Murphy's Theology of the Cross
If God himself is willing to die, particularly in such a gruesome way, then perhaps we should at least consider the possibility of God allowing the death of other creatures, too. But would this really be compatible with what we know of God through Scripture?
Series: Behe, Lenski and the "Edge" of Evolution (5 entries)
In this series, we reexamine the claim made by Intelligent Design proponent Michael Behe to have found a limit to "Darwinian" evolution in light of recent results from the laboratory of Richard Lenski.
Can Science Ever Know Enough?
To say something is poetic is not to declare it ultimately untrue, futile and meaningless—it is to say it is more profound and meaningful and true than many other modes of expression.
Willing to be Wrong
The debate is often not about evidence, but about making sure that others do not transgress our interpretive boundaries and insist that we're wrong. We've bitten from the tree of knowledge and we love its taste.
Series: Decoding ENCODE (8 entries)
The BioLogos Foundation explains to the findings of the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) project and responds to the claims that its discoveries challenge the theory of evolution, especially regarding so-called "junk DNA".
Series: Divine Action in the World (5 entries)
In this talk, Professor Plantinga addresses the fact that many contemporary thinkers—including many theologians—believe that God cannot perform miracles, providentially guide history, or interact in the lives of people, as these activities would be contrary to science. Plantinga, on the other hand, makes the case that this popular view is mistaken; excluding divine action in the world is not a central feature of natural science itself, but a philosophical or theological preference that has been added on to science (and can just as readily be removed). Plantinga concludes that it is completely logical to accept the miracles of the Bible and support contemporary science.
Freedom and Grace in Tennessee
Towards the end of the last school year, the Tennessee legislature passed the Teacher Protection Academic Freedom Act, a law that became more popularly known as the "Monkey Bill." I was doing research in a Tennessee high school biology classroom the morning that I learned that the bill had passed.
Series: Asa Gray and Charles Darwin Discuss Evolution and Design (5 entries)
Many Christians believe that they face a painful choice-- either life was designed by God or it is an evolutionary product of natural selection. Charles Darwin himself believed in this dichotomy, and people ever since have felt the need to "choose sides". However, looking back at history, we find that one of Darwin's chief scientific colleagues, Asa Gray, did not share this perspective. In this three-part essay, part 1 charts the relationship of Asa Gray and Charles Darwin. Part 2 describes Darwin's struggle with the problem of natural evil and design in nature, and part 3 explores how Asa Gray was able to embrace evolution without rejecting the idea of design.
Gracious Dialogue
Our desire to engage in gracious dialogue with fellow believers who reject biological evolution has been receiving increased attention in both the Christian and secular press. More importantly, we are being joined in this reconciling project by our brothers and sisters in Christ who have often been defined primarily as our "opponents".


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this photo makes me happy.
this photo makes me happy.
The one in the hat is Dan O' Brien and I worship him.
i love the other photos dan posted.
So far, every time we've done a live event, we manage to get a post-performance picture that I really love. This is Part...


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- Jen Na
- Bon Aqua, TN
- United States
This conversation is closed.
the Dumbing down of America
Why is the media so full of garbage these days? I can't seem to find ANY decent movies to relax and watch without being bombarded with trash. T.V. is no better and don't get me started on music! It's all garbage! What's going on?! Has mainstream American values really decreased this much? It makes me so angry to know that this is what the future generation is being brought up with.
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Jan 5 2014: Very interesting topic. I have a video that shows the current state of consciousness in American news. If these are the people that tell you what's up, you better starting looking down.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ff79iUBe9TY Skip to 3:16
Jan 5 2014: Interesting about Youtube, When you share a link you can choose to make that link start at any mark in a video.
Like I did with he one you shared at 3:16 here: http://youtu.be/Ff79iUBe9TY?t=3m16s
If you go to the "Share" tab in Youtube and scroll down just a little bit, you'll see "Start at" followed by time, choose the time and copy the link address that shows up and you're good to go.
Just thought that you might find that helpful.
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Practice & Solve Challenging Math and Physics Problems, Compete Olympiad Style, While Earning Points That Can be Exchanged for Academic Opportunities
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Math Mutation is a short podcast for people of all ages, where we explore fun, interesting, or just plain wierd corners of mathematics that you probably didn't hear in school.
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Announcing the finalists for V-mag Model of the Year
Posted by Dave on Oct 24, 2013 in Behind the Scenes, Contest, Deep Inside Scoreland, Digital Magazines, eBoobStore.com, The Life of an Editor, Tits in Tight Tops, XLGirls
Did you know that Model of the Year is the oldest of the V-mag Awards? It's true. From 1998 to 2001, Model of the Year was the only V-mag Award (can you name the first winner?). Then, sometime in late 2002, Voluptuous chief John Fox and I were discussing the upcoming SCORE and V-mag awards issues. Neither of us could figure out why SCORE had Newcomer of the Year but not Model of the Year while V-mag had Model of the Year but not Newcomer of the Year. So, we decided to add the missing awards to both mags, and since then, each has had both. Can you name the first V-mag Newcomer of the Year?
Hitomi won 2012 V-mag Model of the Year, and she's one of 13 finalists for 2013 Model of the Year. Now, if you ask me, Hitomi is more of a SCORE Girl than a V-Girl, but I only get one vote.
The other 12 finalists are…
Arianna Sinn, the first runner-up for 2012 Plumper of the Year.
Gya Roberts, who should have her own award: Self-Sucker of the Year (although I'm sure Sarah Rae would have something to say about that).
Jenna Valentine, whose popularity seems to never wane.
Joana, who had a very happy return in 2013.
Leanne Crow, 2011′s Newcomer of the Year.
Melissa Manning, whose boob growth spurt makes her a major contender.
Micky Bells, the Queen of Cleavage and early favorite for Plumper of the Year.
Natalie Fiore, who deserves to win a V-mag award one of these days. I mean, those tits…
Renee Ross, a two-time Model of the Year trying to become the first three-time winner.
Siri, the 2012 Newcomer of the Year and one helluva fuck.
Terri Jane, another girl who deserves a major accolade.
And Shyla Shy, who fucked pre- and post-pregnancy and squirted milk all over the place for our viewing pleasure.
Obviously, there are a lot of deserving winners, and when you look at the list of great girls who haven't won, winning is even more impressive.
Grab a print or digital copy of the Holiday '13 issue (available now at eBoobStore.com) and place your vote. Or wait for the online voting to begin at SCORELAND. Your choice. One man, one vote. Either way, it'll be counted.
SCORE wife's confession about Jenna Valentine
Posted by Elliot James on Apr 15, 2013 in Behind the Scenes, Confessions, Letters and comments
SCORE wife G.D. recently wrote the "Scorecard" letter forum (firstname.lastname@example.com): "I am a big fan of Jenna Valentine's and I follow her on Twitter. I think she is amazing. She has a great retro look and I am in love with her pale skin. Her breasts are so full and I would do anything to spend a night with her. (My husband can watch.) My husband prefers Micky Bells. He thinks she is very sexually arousing and says that his fantasy is to have her titty-fuck him while I watch. He is a big fan of deep cleavage, so I understand his preference."
We don't get many emails or letters from women, so right off the snap, I found this very interesting. After reading it, I wondered how many women fantasize about SCORE and Voluptuous Girls. There are probably a lot more femme fans than I ever realized. The adult conventions seem to attract more women attendees than ever.
G.D. would "do anything" to spend the night with Jenna.
How many women who are not models themselves or want to be models follow models on Twitter or Facebook? Do they live vicariously through models?
Does anyone have a wife or girlfriend who is a fan of any girls to the extent that G.D. is?
V-Girls Next Door
Posted by Elliot James on Oct 18, 2012 in New DVD Releases, newcomers
I was never fortunate enough to actually live next door to a girl-next-door who could have been a V-Girl-next-door. Now that I think about it, I was never fortunate enough to live next door to an exotic dancer or a porn star, either. I was a deprived youth, one of the 47-percenters who thought he was entitled to live next door to a girl-next-door. Someone has to live next door to these mythical beings called girls-next-door, but it was never me. But let's not talk about me. Let's talk about them.
Because it's all about them.
The girl-next-door, or GND as I call them. What are her qualities? It depends on what your definition is, and that's different for every guy.
She's good-natured. Wholesome-looking. Pretty. Has a down-to-earth personality. Goes easy on the make-up. Friendly. Smiles a lot. Straightfoward and honest. Great physical sex appeal. Doesn't look blinged out and bleary eyed from clubbing all night. Doesn't use dirty words when she speaks except (maybe) when she's fucking. Dresses casually, often in tank tops and shorts. Not impressed by status or money. Doesn't have two-dozen tattoos on her back and limbs. She might have a tongue or navel piercing or both since this ain't 1965 anymore. And–do I need to mention this?–she has big, usually natural, tits.
Which leads me to the girls in our latest DVD V-Girls Next Door. My fellow peeps who worked on this DVD picked the right covergirl in the right photo. Michelle Bond is the prototype for New Millenium British girls-next-door.
Including Michelle, there are a dozen V-Girls in this two-disc set that runs over three hours.
And no hinky guys in sight.
Play the trailer in eBoobStore and see what I mean.
Working at the Car Wash!
Posted by Maria on Oct 9, 2012 in swimsuits, Tit Tricks
Today I got my car washed at lunch and I was sadly disappointed by the two frumpy, older gents who scrubbed my car to a shine and then vacuumed it to a tidy state.
Not because they didn't do a great job because they did. They did a perfect job.
I was just sad because they weren't topless, busty babes with their tits glistening in the sun.
I was disappointed because they weren't SCORELAND sex kittens who wanted to do dirty things while cleaning my car.
Ah, the busty car wash scenario…it never gets old.
I tell you, I have seen many a fundraiser car wash before and always said, "If these cheerleaders had big tits, they would be making so much more money!"
I mean think about it…who wouldn't want to see a bunch of stacked babes, dripping wet in clingy white T-shirts or teeny, tiny bikinis, just scrubbing and swaying and jiggling to get cars clean. Just imagine their wet, sudsy tits pressing against the glass, mashed and succulent. If that existed in every town in America, well, things would be better.
Cars would be cleaner.
Tits would be wetter.
It almost brings a tear to my eye, that's how fucking glorious ginormous tatas at a car wash would be.
And while there are no chesty car washes all over the place right now, here at SCORELAND, we have seen our fair share of hotties working at the car wash and that is enough to tide us over.
So please, enjoy these sexy, wet women at work and at play because ANYTIME a girl can be wet and half naked, it's a good time.
50 shades of big boobs
Posted by Elliot James on Sep 23, 2012 in Boob Watch, Contest, Deep Inside Scoreland
At The SCORE Group, we know no discrimination. Breast fanatics and boob addicts are like that.
All big tits are welcome regardless of skin color, flesh tone, race, nationality and ethnic background. An unlimited rainbow of colors and hues.
I don't have the space for 50 shades of boobs, so let's settle for 20.
Looks at the colors, the shades, the variations, the tints and the hues.
All of them beautiful.
How good is your Boob Q?
Can you ID the owners of these topshelf tatas?
The answers will be added to this posting on Monday.
The answers from left to right:
Top row: Angel Gee, Arianna Sinn, Ashley Sage Ellison, Camille Morgan, Chaka T.
Second row: Jade Feng, Janet Jade, Jasmine Shiraz, Jenna Valentine, Kristina Milan
Third row: Minka, Natalie Fiore, Natasha Dulce, Nancy Navarro, Renee Ross
Fourth (bottom) row: Romina Lopez, Terri Jane, Valory Irene, Eva Notty, Hitomi
Boob Bloopers 7: Bloop and bloop again
Posted by Elliot James on Sep 1, 2012 in Boob Bloopers, Deep Inside Scoreland
BEHOLD! Some pale riders!
Posted by Maria on Aug 25, 2012 in Boob Watch, Life With Big Tits, Tit Tricks
Maybe it's because I am naturally tan, or maybe it's because I live in Miami, the home of the bronzed, but I have a soft spot for busty pale girls. There is something very hot about ladies with milky white skin. I find them extra-attractive because their tits practically glow.
Whenever I do a photo edit on a set featuring a busty pale rider, I am drawn to their tits like a moth to a flame. Is it my penchant for pink nipples? Perhaps. Or maybe it's that pale tits really put a lady's veins on display?
The first time I saw Jenna Valentine's boobs in these photos from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, I was mesmerized at how creamy her skin looked. While all the other ladies on this trip were tan and sun-kissed, Jenna was extra-pale and I found that exciting. Her skin looks pristine. She has a smattering of freckles that make her look very cute.
What about Nadia, one of our busty babes from Ireland? She might not get a lot of sun in her hometown, but her white tits are sure to get a lot of offers for suckling.
And Ashley Sage, like Jenna above, showed up in the Bahamas with pearly tatas, too. However, after a week of shooting in the sun, her tits went pink and then went bronze. If you ask me, they look better when they're pale. Just take a look at her veins in this photo. Delicious!
My newest favorite pale rider is none other than Siri. She had such wonderful skin and it accentuated her shy nipples. When they popped out of their inverted state, they looked even pinker against her white flesh.
Who are your favorite busty babes with creamy skin? Or do you prefer tan tatas?
Let me know!
xoxox Maria
This kind of big-boob DVD happens once, say, every 16 years
Posted by Dave on Aug 18, 2012 in Boobs in the News, DVD, New DVD Releases, Other SCORE Group websites
The first two volumes of The Greatest Big-Bust Video Ever were huge sellers. Gigantic sellers. Among our best-selling DVDs and videos ever. Movies that passed the test of time.
So, when something is so popular, what do you do? You rush out a third volume, right? Well, in this case, wrong. Vol. 2 was released in 1996. That's right, 1996. And, in all honesty, I never thought we'd see Vol. 3. But, now, finally, it's here.
The Greatest Big-Bust DVD Ever, Vol. 3, truly reflects how much things have changed since 1996. For one, notice the name: "DVD" not "Video." Second, the first two editions were packed with mega-slim 'n' stacked babes from the 1990s. This one is all-natural. That's right. Not a drop of silicone to be found.
Of course, the lineup is spectacular. Take a deep breath: Hitomi, Karina Hart, Siri, Leanne Crow, Valory Irene, Elaina Gregory, Sophie Mae, Kali West, Jenna Valentine, Gya Roberts, Maggie Green, Michelle Bond, Eden Mor, Cherry Brady, Melissa Manning…okay, I'm going to stop listing them all. I'm just going to give you the numbers:
48 girls. Four discs. 14 hours.
$49.95 at eBoobStore.com. Don't wait for Vol. 4. At this rate, it won't be released until 2026.
Fruit…it's good for you!
Posted by Maria on Jul 22, 2012 in Deep Inside Scoreland
Lately all anyone can talk about is how every one needs to eat organic and healthier. And according to the USDA, the average man and woman should get at least two cups of fruit a day.
Of course when I hear the term, "two cups" I automatically think of bras, but you know that's just me because I am a perv and I love tits. Go figure.
So, I figured I would help you guys get a kick start on being healthy by suggesting some good servings of fruit that you would enjoy on a daily basis.
So check out the servings below and get your fruit on…because they are good for you.
You're welcome!
A Siri doubleheader now at your favorite store or newsstand
Posted by Elliot James on Jul 1, 2012 in Digital Magazines, Men's Products, newcomers, print magazines
Siri makes her Voluptuous magazine debut in the September '12 issue, now at your favorite jack shack, mag rack, all-around adult emporium or from eBoobStore.
Our store has both a print and a digital version (if you're a tablet reader).
This marks a double magazine cover debut for the meteoric Siri.
The nubile, huge Harry Potter fan (for once I'd like to be Daniel Radcliffe) is also the covergirl of the September '12 SCORE.
Pretty sweet, I say.
Double cover debuts like this are still fairly rare.
I remember Nicole Peters (April '03), Ines Cudna (March '03) and Via Paxton (September '99) having spectacular double debuts, too.
Lemme see…who else? There was Sharday's famous double cover debut for the November '01 issues. In her V-mag debut, Sharday wore her actual high school prom dress.
Most models who debut in both SCORE and V-mag tend to have different debut dates, with or without being on the cover.
Along with Siri, the big, bad line-up for September '12 is:
Anna Carlene
Not near a store? No problem. We come to you.
Actually, a mail carrier will come to you. However, we can't guarantee it will be a busty, female postal employee.
Sounds like a good idea for a layout.


text:
"The End of Love"
U.S. Dramatic
*** ½ (three and a half stars)
Writer-director-actor Mark Webber's family tour de force is hard to get a handle on at first, but it's worth tuning in on its odd wavelength. Webber plays a character named Mark, who's an actor raising a 2 ½ year-old son, Isaac (played by Webber's own son, Isaac Love), struggling to make some money, and dealing with the pain of his wife's premature death. "Mark" tries a furtive romance with a play-center operator (Shannyn Sossamon), and finds himself partying with his more-successful acting friends (in a scene that includes Michael Cera, Michael Angarano, Aubrey Plaza and others playing variations of themselves). With natural performances (what other kind can you get from a toddler?) and intimate camerawork, Webber creates a tender character study of a dad desperately trying to do right by his kid.
-- Sean P. Means
"The End of Love" screens again:


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SIUE Institute for Urban Research
Strategic Plan, FY10
The IUR maintains two different agendas that serve as the center's strategic plan: a research agenda that prioritizes the research projects of the IUR, and an operational agenda that guides the research and organizational goals and compliance.
A. Alignment with the University Strategic Plan
SIUE's strategic plan has seven long-term goals that are supported by multiple short-term goals. Many of these are tied to the teaching and service functions of the University and, therefore, are only tangentially associated with the IUR's work.
B. IUR Goals and Achievement Measures for FY10
1. Research Goals and Actions
a. Understand Critical Issues in the Natural and Built Environment
Topic: Regional Infrastructure
Action: Engage the IUR in a working relationship with the Illinois Department of Transportation
Outcome: The IUR has been working with IDOT on measuring the statewide performance of the Job Access Reverse Commute project; a proposal was submitted, has been approved, and is awaiting funding by the State
Status: Complete
Topic: Brownfields and Land Re-use
Action: Engage the IUR in at least one research and funding opportunity related to the reuse of contaminated property; this can be done via Urban Scholars program
Outcome: The IUR has worked through the Applied Research Collaborative to secure a US Environmental Protection Agency grant for the City of East St. Louis for brownfield reuse and green jobs
Status: Complete
b. Understand Key Matters Facing Local Government
Topic: Taxation
Action: Complete the Land Value Taxation study with the 2009 data, and publicize appropriately
Outcome: IUR staff updated the LVT database with 2009 data, and the new document was presented to the American Statistical Association St. Louis Chapter; the presentation will become a web feature in the redesigned IUR website
Status: Complete
c. Build Databases and Literature on Issues Important to Urban Research
Topic: Property Values and Taxation
Action: Investigate the construction of a regional database on property assessments in the Metro East portion of the region
Outcome: IUR staff did a feasibility study of assembling a regional property assessment database and defined the scope of work needed to do this project; it was deemed feasible and is being pursued (see also next action)
Status: Complete
Action: Find RAPID dollars or another external grant for this project by making at least one application for funding
Outcome: The IUR pursued RAPID dollars to fund this project, but it was determined by the program officer to not qualify for funding; therefore, the IUR has prepared a grant for the Sloan Foundation to fund this project
Status: Complete
Topic: Publication and Presentation on Urban Issues
Action: Have at least one publication and/or one conference presentation on urban research; can be done as an urban scholar project
Outcome: The IUR held an Urban Scholars brownbag to discuss urban issues on campus, published St. Louis Currents on various urban issues, and then presented the St. Louis Regional Neighborhoods Conference (which had breakout sessions on various urban topics)
Status: Complete
Topic: GIS mapping as an urban research tool
Action: Identify a way to work with the Geography Department and/or the new Geospatial center to incorporate GIS into the IUR's capacity and work
Outcome: The directors of both units met and familiarized each other with the work of the respective units; it was agreed that it would be very beneficial for the units to work together. A formal understanding will be worked out once the GIS function is fully transitioned into the Geospatial Center.
Status: Complete as possible and continuing
2. Operational Goals and Actions
a. Support the research efforts of the faculty and academic units of SIUE, as well as the governing documents of SIUE and the Graduate School.
Topic: Engage the faculty in research
Action: Maintain at least eight urban scholars at all times in FY10
Outcome: The Urban Scholars program had a total of 12 faculty members involved over the course of the fiscal year, with at least eight being active at all times
Status: Complete
Action: Appropriately publicize support activity
Outcome: Application procedures and forms have been posted on the IUR website and availability of funding has been announced in Research Highlights. The IUR is working with the Marketing and Communications division to further increase the visibility of the Urban Scholars program
Status: Complete and continuing
b. Pursue entrepreneurial activity by being a resource for local government and community institutions.
Topic: Respond to RFPs and RFQs.
Action: Initiate at least five meetings in FY10 with potential clients and make sure they know about the contractual services of the IUR.
Outcome: The IUR met with multiple prospective clients in the current fiscal year, including the City of East St. Louis (resulted in contract), the St. Louis-Jefferson Solid Waste Management District (resulted in proposal, contract anticipated), the Illinois Balanced and Restorative Justice initiative (interviewed), the Lewis and Clark Library System (resulted in pro-bono demonstration project), the Edwardsville YMCA (resulted in proposal), among many others.
Status: Complete
c. Pursue external funding for research at SIUE and the community in ways that it supports the IUR financially while advancing the IUR research agenda.
Topic: Increase the amount of grant applications coming out of the IUR.
Action: IUR affiliates will apply for $1 million in grants and contracts in FY10.
Outcome: The IUR pursued 16 projects valued at just over $1 million in FY10.
Status: Complete
d. Increase the visibility of the IUR on campus and in the bi-state region.
Topic: Appropriately prepare for and celebrate the IUR's 10th anniversary on July 1, 2010.
Action: Engage the Marketing and Communication unit, the Chancellor's Office, and the media to give the IUR exposure.
Outcome: A marketing plan has been developed by the Marketing and Communications unit, with a new logo having been designed, a new web URL secured, and the inclusion of the IUR in the upcoming "Thought Leaders" campaign; the Graduate Dean and Director met with the Provost to discuss the role the IUR can play, and the Provost was supportive of approaching the Chancellor to help in the marketing of the IUR
Status: Complete and continuing
Topic: Make SIUE (via the IUR) the leading authority on East St. Louis.
Action: Appropriately prepare for and celebrate East St. Louis' 150th anniversary in 2011.
Outcome: The IUR continues to plan for a significant celebration of ESL's 150th anniversary in 2011. Budget allocations have been made, contracts for publications are in place, event planning has begun; the key event sponsored by the IUR will be a conference at the Higher Education Center involving all living authors who have written about East St. Louis.
Status: Complete and continuing
Action: Engage in at least one publicly visible project involving East St. Louis.
Outcome: The IUR is a primary component of what's being called the "University Collaborative"-an informal gathering of all the higher education institutions doing business in East St. Louis; the collaborative has been meeting regularly and was "introduced" publicly to the City Council to show this new level of cooperation in the city; the various universities are going to collaborate on the celebration of ESL's 150th anniversary in 2011.
Status: Complete and continuing
Action: Publish work (using the Currents model) on East St. Louis.
Outcome: Three works are underway: a print volume of essays (edited by Mark Abbott, Harris-Stowe), an electronic history encyclopedia (edited by Charles Lumpkins, Penn State), and an electronic archival volume (edited by Steve Kerber, SIUE). All of these have been in work for FY10 and will have deliverables in FY11. Virginia Publishing has been formally engaged.
Status: Complete as possible and continuing
e. Fulfill all fiscal, professional, and personnel obligations as a unit of the Graduate School.
Topic: Maintain all necessary reports and standards.
Action: Establish IRB procedure for the IUR.
Outcome: The IUR internally has reviewed its IRB procedures and found that, internally, we are compliant with University requirements. The work done by the IUR (primarily anonymous survey work) is exempt, though there are possible projects that may come to the IUR through the Urban Scholars program that might need IRB review and approval. We have worked this into our Urban Scholars documents. A larger concern was raised that our clients may not be in compliance. In cases where this is suspected, IUR staff will make an inquiry, request that the other institution pursue appropriate IRB review, and if this is not available, run the IUR's portion of the project through the SIUE IRB. Please note that there have not been any instances of unethical research, and that this consideration is proactive rather than reactive.
Status: Complete
Action: Maintain ethics certification for all IUR employees.
Outcome: All employees of the IUR are compliant.
Status: Complete
C. External Grants and Contracts Received
D. Outreach Activities (major events only)


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Facing a steady decline in readership and increased competition from the Internet, more paid newspapers are launching free dailies in an effort to grab a segment of the population that doesn't regularly read papers -- professionals in their 20s and 30s. JournalismJobs.com spoke with editors of two of the most popular free dailies: Jane Hirt of RedEye, a Monday-Friday tabloid edition of The Chicago Tribune started in October 2002, and Dan Caccavaro of Express, a commuter daily in D.C. launched in August 2003 by The Washington Post.
Jane Hirt, editor, RedEye
JournalismJobs.com: As the overall newspaper industry continues to lose readers every year, why are more large newspaper companies launching free daily papers?
Jane Hirt: I don't know about other newspaper companies, but the Tribune is interested in diversifying its portfolio of news offerings. We live in a multi-channel world with endless choices, so it makes sense to offer different options to different people who have different needs. We also live now in a highly-customizable, on-demand world: As a consumer you can watch your favorite TV show whenever you want, program your iPod to play your favorite music in the order you wish to hear it, order a Mini Cooper with only the features you want ... that kind of choice changes the media game as well. Niche papers like RedEye can focus on super-serving a specific group of readers without trying to please everyone.
JournalismJobs.com: Since its launch in 2002, has RedEye run the risk of stealing potential readers from the Chicago Tribune?
Jane Hirt: We haven't detected a problem with cannibalization of Tribune readers. That's probably because the Tribune and RedEye are very different newspapers, with different missions and different target audiences. Each is a distinctive read; RedEye complements but doesn't aim to supplant the Tribune. One of our goals is to get people in the habit of reading a daily newspaper. Whether they feel like reading RedEye or the Tribune on a particular day, the point is that the Tribune has captured that reader.
JournalismJobs.com: RedEye was started in a free/paid model. Why did you switch last October to an entirely free model? Was it because no one was buying the paper?
Jane Hirt: We switched to better serve our audience and to boost our growth. During the years of the free/paid hybrid model, we were about 80% free- 20% paid. Circulation revenue was never a large part of the picture, and we found that we could support our paper AND be profitable with ad revenue alone. Going 100% free also allowed RedEye to grow faster (which we did) and allowed us to cut the infrastructure costs associated with collecting money. Free is also more convenient for our readers, many of whom are rushing to work in the morning and don't have time to dig for a quarter. We were basically free all-along, now we're just more free.
JournalismJobs.com: The circulation numbers are not looking good for subscription-based daily newspapers. Will free papers eventually replace paid ones?
Jane Hirt: I wish I had a crystal ball to answer this, but I don't. A free newspaper is one way to diversify a flagship paper's offerings, but I don't know if subscription-based papers will go away totally. We do, however, find ourselves in a world where news is available to everybody online for free. The newspaper industry's challenge is to find a way in this environment to keep making the money that supports our journalism. News online might be free, but news-gathering is far from free.
JournalismJobs.com: To avoid overlap, how much coordination goes on between editors at the Chicago Tribune and RedEye? Do you attend the Tribune's morning and afternoon story conferences?
Jane Hirt: RedEye editors have a great relationship with Tribune editors--we work on the same floor and communicate regularly, though not by attending each other's meetings. We find one-on-one conversations to be more efficient and we share story schedules. We try to help out each other in our respective areas of expertise and RedEye stories occasionally appear in the Chicago Tribune. At RedEye, we're not too concerned with overlap because RedEye is circulated separately from the Tribune. It's a free-standing newspaper.
Hirt joined the Chicago Tribune in 1990 after graduating from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and has held several positions in the newsroom, including national/foreign copy desk chief and national/foreign news editor. In 2002 she joined the team that created RedEye. During her career, she has won various awards, including the Tribune Co. Readership Innovation Award in 2004. RedEye connects each week with more than 700,000 Chicagoans.
Copyright © 2006 JournalismJobs.com LLC. All rights reserved.
Dan Caccavaro, editor, Express
JournalismJobs.com: Why did your parent company, The Washington Post, agree to fund a free daily paper in an already crowded newspaper market?
Dan Caccavaro: D.C. is an ideal market for a commuter daily like Express. It has a great subway system (even if riders like to complain about it) and it has a high concentration of well-educated, young, active people. They're precisely the kind of readers who respond well to a paper like Express – and a very desirable demographic for advertisers. It was pretty clear that if the Post didn't start its own commuter daily here, someone else eventually would swoop in and capture this prime audience. But Express wasn't just a defensive move. Our goal from the start was to produce a top-quality free paper that would not just fend of competition but would grow into a successful and profitable addition to the Post brand. It was also seen as an opportunity to reach non-Post readers and potentially turn some of them on to reading the Post daily.
JournalismJobs.com: Shortly after the Express was started, another free tabloid called the Examiner was launched. Is there enough room for both of you? How are you different?
Dan Caccavaro: Other than being free, the Examiner is nothing like Express, and its entry into the market has had no effect at all on our operations. The Examiner distributes most of its papers through free home delivery, while most of ours are distributed in boxes and through hawkers along the Metro system, so we're not really competing for the same kind of readers. The Examiner isn't striving to be a quick-read paper for young-ish, active commuters. It's trying to be a comprehensive paper of record, more in competition with the Post and Washington Times than with Express. Also, everything about the paper -- its editorial focus, its design and its general tone -- seems to aim for an older, more suburban audience, while Express' sensibility, especially in our entertainment and features writing, resonates with a younger, more pop-culturally attuned audience.
JournalismJobs.com: Has Express reduced readership of The Post?
Dan Caccavaro: There was some concern about cannibalization when we launched the paper, and the Post's circulation has indeed dropped somewhat since we launched. But it's unclear how much, if any, of that drop is attributable to Express. Newspapers everywhere are losing circulation for a variety of reasons, and the Post certainly hasn't been immune to those forces. But we've been operating for three years now (our anniversary is Aug. 4). I think at this point readers' habits are pretty well established. Anyone who was going to stop reading the Post because of Express probably did so a long time ago. So at this point, I think Express actually stands a greater chance of boosting or preserving Post readership than hurting it.
JournalismJobs.com: Is Express really a marketing tool to get more people to read The Post?
Dan Caccavaro: Express is not used as an advertising vehicle for the Post. From the start our mandate at Express was to make Express the best paper it could be in its own right. We felt very strongly that our readers are far too savvy to accept a paper that could be seen as a thinly disguised ploy to get them to read the Post. That said, Express does offer natural, editorially valid opportunities to steer readers to the Post for a kind and quality of journalism that we can't provide ourselves.
For example, if we're running a breaking news story on the day's developments in Iraq and the Post has a related enterprise story that could not be boiled down to fit in our format, we'll embed a key to the Post within our story, giving readers a taste of the Post's piece and directing them to the Post for the full version. Similarly, in our Friday editions we're now running an abbreviated version of a story that will appear in the upcoming Sunday paper along with a series of keys to additional stories we think will be of interest to our readers. It's a natural … I hate this word … synergy, and because we do it only when there is a good editorial reason to do it, I think readers have come to see these keys as a valuable service and not simply as a ploy to boost Post readership — though we do hope it has that effect.
JournalismJobs.com: There's been some criticism that free papers are thin on sources and context. Is there any truth to this? How many staffers are used to put out the Express?
Dan Caccavaro: I think this criticism comes from people who don't quite understand the purpose of a free commuter daily. They measure us by the same standards they'd use to judge a paper of record, and by that measure, of course we don't stack up. It's a bit like criticizing a convenience store for not carrying 12 types of brie.
Our goal is to present a concise encapsulation of the day's top news developments in a package that can be digested in about 20 minutes. We don't intend – or pretend – to offer the kind of context or comprehensive analysis that readers expect from a paper of record like the Post. That said, we strive to pack as much information as possible into each news story we run, so we do manage to provide a surprising amount of news in a very small space. And we regularly direct readers from our pages to the Post for analysis or additional reporting on important news stories.
This is what makes our partnership with The Washington Post so powerful. We provide one service (getting our readers up to speed very quickly) and the Post provides another (providing context, commentary and enterprise reporting). I think readers in our market have come to understand and appreciate how the two papers complement each other. We have an editorial staff of 21.
JournalismJobs.com: You're no stranger to the free daily newspaper market, having successfully edited Boston Metro before you joined Express. Will free papers eventually replace paid ones?
Dan Caccavaro: No, I don't think it's going to be that simple. But I do think papers will learn from the success of free dailies like Express and find ways to make themselves more appealing to the kinds of readers they're losing – whether by changing their formats or their content choices or by changing the way they distribute their content.
In markets where it makes sense, I think some papers will roll out free sister publications like Express to complement the broadsheet and capture infrequent or non-readers. Others are likely to convert from broadsheets to a more reader-friendly tabloid format with no story jumps. And, yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if, eventually, some papers stop charging altogether.
But overall, what I think we're going to see is the traditional daily gradually becoming just one of many options readers have for getting their news as newspaper companies develop more and more new methods – including some electronic formats that probably haven't even been dreamed up yet – to deliver the news to readers in ways that suit their lifestyles.
Dan Caccavaro got his start in newspapers in 1989 as a local beat reporter and then news editor for a chain of weekly community newspapers in the Boston area. In 1995 he became editor in chief of The Valley Advocate, an alternative weekly covering Western Massachusetts' Pioneer Valley. In 2001 he was hired by Metro International as founding editor of Boston Metro, the country's second free commuter daily, behind Philadelphia Metro. Caccavaro was hired by the Post in 2003 to lead the launch of Express, which debuted on Aug. 4, 2003, with a Mon.-Fri. circulation of 125,000. The paper has since more than doubled in daily page count and now has a circulation of about 195,000.
Copyright © 2006 JournalismJobs.com LLC. All rights reserved.
Other JournalismJobs.com interviews:


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Walt realised that a studio would be a boring place, and rather than create the studio tour the letters he received from fans suggested, he created disneyland instead.
I'm fairly sure at Warner Bros Movie World Australia they don't bother with the Studio tour or special effects demo anymore.
Fortunately, I learned from another website that this park doesn't do the traditional rope drop, so we arrived 45 minutes early to be sure we'd get on Crush's Coaster with a short wait (hopefully under a half-hour). It ended up taking 50 minutes, and the ride was posting around 90 for the rest of the time we were in the park. It's worth a 50 minute wait, but it's not worth over an hour wait.
That is a very well written analysis of why studio parks don't work as wel as they want them to.
As for the WDS park, I actually do like this park a lot,
besides the horendous queu; Crush's Coaster is actually one of the best rides at the entire resort! It's just so sad the capacity is as low as it is. Cinemaque gives me teary eyes every time I see it. The Stitch encounter is much funnier then the Crush encounter in the U.S. parks (they run french and english sessions), I much prefer the WDS version of the Rock'n roller coaster over Florida's, Animagique is one of the better Disney character shows!
What is really not working in this park for me is; Armageddon, what could have been a great experience is fun for a one time visit.. the placing of the TOT ride, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the ride and the theming.. but the placement is just completely affull.. who thought that putting such a huge building smack in the middle of the park would be a good thing? The should have extended a boulevard, even if it would have been with facades only and put it at the end, like Walt's much talked about Weenie system.
I guess they did put it right in the middle to make sure people could see it when arriving at the parks and become a weenie to lure people in the park.. but once inside it just doesn't fit into the area.
Still you can have a fun day at the WDS park, and to point out a little gem there: Cafe des cascadeurs is a original roadside diner right behind the TOT, they serve the best burgers in the entire resort and feels ike you ust walked into an episode of happy days.. but since it is a tiny little venue the queu can get pretty long.
We want we a then 2yr old and a 4 yr old
Overall the park was good we had the best character meets and parade experiance here and the rides we went on we're good (other than Crush) it is however a mish mash of areas and themes.
You didn't,t really miss anything not riding Crush our 4yr old rode it twice and thought is was ok first time and came off crying second time for me the first 30 secs or so are great but once you leave the launch hill it's a dark jolting mess. The majority of the ride is just to dark pitch black in fact with a few missable video scenes.
Toy story land went down really well and by all accounts it's improved with parachute videos and better flooring. We didn't make RC due to size but the kids would have loved it.
The Cars ride is great, wonderfully themed and fun little ride.
The shows we saw were good playhouse Disney and the blacklight show (as a time killer on the last day)
We ate in the restaurant and saw a little Remi (AA figure on a table) the food was good and the kids loved Remi.
I never got to ride the rock&roll coster but my wife did on a previous trip and said it was great.
Ultamitly it depends on what you want from the trip with two kids it keeps the time fun and different, for me a lot about going to Disney is character meets and the park was the best for that including a whole host of princesses.
If we were to go again I would certainly budget the same about of time for the studios park as the kids may be tall enough to go on a few more rides but I does need some big rides or experiance to make it a huge destination and I don,t think ratatouille will be that ride.
DLP is however the poor poor relative of the other Disney parks the financials are poor meaning lack of investment and the prices are sky high meaning people go but not often return it's certainly not a year on year destination.
Overall the park served as a taster of the great Disney parks experiance and just made me want to go to Florida although now I'm obsessed with going to Disneyland (yes I have the right name)
The studios at DLP is doomed to stay cheap. Europeans don't buy enough food and souveniers in the parks to earn enough money. The resort is in deep depths and trowing more money at the parks is to big a risk.
1) Tokyo Disney Resort
2) Disneyland Resort
3) Walt Disney World Resort
4) Disneyland Paris Resort
I remember me and my partner going way back in 2002 when it had first opened and being hugely disappointed, they had little there beyond the RnR Coaster, the Studio Tour, the awful Armageddon attraction (Disney's version of Twister IMO)and a few other smaller attractions.
We went back earlier this year with our two year old and were surprised at how much its been expanded, the Toy Story land and the Cars area is a great addition as is Crush's Coaster (we were lucky to avoid the queues as my partner is registered disabled so she was able to have a special pass) The Tower of Terror is a great addition too but I agree its in completely the wrong place, it should be in one of the corners of the park, not slap bang in the middle of it.
Yes it may be the least popular of the Disney parks but its still worth a visit.
At Universal Studios Florida, they removed their most classic movie references. Jaws and King Kong are gone. I'm disappointed, but they do have Harry Potter X2 (times two).
For those who have visited both American Disney Resorts, it's really not worth your time. it has the somewhat watered down version of the Tower of Terror, a Rock n Roller Coaster which is less visually appealing from the outside and Crush Coaster which, whilst fun, is far too short.
For me, having done both U.S resorts, the only saving grace is the fantastic cast members who work the Tower of Terror at Walt Disney Studios. Questions have often been raised about the French staff at DLP, but the "bellhops" at WDS are by far the best of all the Towers.
It's only flaw was the close proximity to one of the best theme parks in the world.
Several months ago, I wrote a post on my on blog explaining the major reasons why the WDS park was such a failure. Of course no reason is good enough to excuse the total lack of taste and things to do in this park but it can help you understand how they came to this complete mess.
Guillaume - Parcorama
And as for Walt Disney Studios Paris, I will say that the backlot concept there actually works better than the one in Orlando or Anaheim. But that's not saying much.
J. Jeff Kober, Disney at Work


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Carole Glenn East Lyme
Publication: The Day
Recently, the staff and children from Christ Lutheran Preschool walked to East Lyme Middle School for a "Book Buddies" program with members of the Leaders' Club. Ms. Lisa Kriger, advisor for the Leaders' Club, had prepared the middle schoolers exceptionally well.
They had made books about the visit for each preschooler to take home (and one for us to have in the classroom as well), and very gently invited each preschooler to a space in the library/media center to read and visit. It was very touching to watch the older students engage the preschoolers in such comfortable ways. Their ability to instinctively tune in to each preschooler's needs and comfort level was inspiring. Gradually, the preschoolers began to share their own interests with their new friends, and were reluctant to end the visit when it was time.
We would like to extend our most heartfelt gratitude to Ms. Judy DeLeeuw, principal, and to Ms. Lisa Kriger, advisor to the Leaders' Club, for working with us to make this happen. The benefits for both groups of students are numerous, and we are deeply grateful to East Lyme Middle School for this opportunity.
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