Daniels Park Bison | Rockmount Ranch Wear Building

Daniels Park is located 20 miles south of Denver and 5 miles east of the majestic Rocky Mountains. The high plains park is comprised of 1,000 acres and the high point is 6,500 above sea level. Tall Bull Memorial Grounds were created in 1976 for 17 Indian organizations for ceremonial rights and compose 80 acres within Daniels Park.

Established in 1920, land was donated by Florence Martin to the City of Denver for it's Mountain Parks system that consist of 23 parks. The park was named after Major William Daniels of the Daniels and Fishers Department Store in Denver.

On a brilliant January warm winter morning, the famous National Western Stock show was in full glory in Denver. I was 20 miles to the south and walking up to Buck Webster's home located on a ridge surrounded by Scrub oak and small Pine trees.

Buck invited me to accompany him while he fed his bison herd and I would photograph him and the bison. We had a cup of coffee and Buck had a non filter cigarette ever present is his mouth; we chatted a little. We would literally be inside the fence with the bison 20 ft. away, nothing between us except the crisp Colorado air. The plan was for me to always stay behind and close to him, be still, shut up, and not do anything stupid. Buck took his revolver off the table and put it in his right front pocket, handle hanging out... I assumed the revolver was for the bison, this was getting exciting.

Through one fence, the old truck now loaded with hay, we entered through the last fence and into and onto the ridge that the bison commanded. Buck slowly drove the truck up to the herd, they got bigger as we got closer, real big. We stopped, Buck pushed bales of hay from the back of the truck onto the ground. Relaxed, Buck now rested against his truck and had another cigarette, he was proud of his herd. I had walked around from behind; we looked out over the Rocky Mountains from Pikes Peak to Mt. Evans to Longs Peak. The huge Bison were spectacular, one bison was so close, the shadow of the truck covered him.

Spectacular, spiritual, awe inspiring - this gift given to me that morning, I was the most fortunate person on earth.

Rockmount Ranch Wear Building

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Rockmount Ranch Wear Building and 1600 Wazee St. block. 1988

The Rockmount Ranch Wear Building is located at 1626 Wazee Street. The building was completed in 1909, the five storied "Prairie Design" by architects Fisher and Fisher. Originally the Wolf Manufacturing Company occupied the building until the late 1920's. Rockmount Ranch Wear founded by Jack Weil Sr.
began operations in 1946 and has been a leader in western wear clothing and originally created the "snap button" shirts that enabled cowboy's shirts to not get tangled or caught. Jack Weil Jr. and now the third generation, Steve Weil is the president. The store since 2002 has been open to retail and some of the well known people wearing Rockmount shirts are Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Nicholas Cage and Dwight Yoakam.

The scene you are viewing is from the intersection of 16th Street looking north down Wazee Street. Wazee Street was still a one way north, the 16th Street Mall ended a block to the east at Market Street. The 1600 block of Wazee Street was virtually deserted, the Oxford Hotel and the Rockmount were holding down the neighborhood. The Terminal Bar and Cafe at 17th Street had changed some, renamed the Billibong. The art galleries on Wazee Street had not arrived, soon however - Hassel/Hassler, 1/1 (Havu) and Robischon galleries opened. Most of the buildings were vacant, Stuart Buchanan fine antiques would soon occupy the large building on the left, the next block of 1700 Wazee Street would also see a large warehouse become the Bradford Publishing Company. Franklin Furniture at 18th Street and the Rocky Mountain Warehouse building at 19th Street would also become lofts in the next 5 years.

Alley behind Barney Gross Building and Rockmount Building. 1984

Wazee Street was unique in that it ended at 19th Street, a block to the north was the 20th Street Viaduct and beyond it
the Firemen's Grain Elevator building. You could see the Firemen's Grain building prominently from any location on Wazee Street; it was an icon of days past. It was imploded in 1992 to make way for Coor's field.

The Barney Gross Supply building seen on the top photo, far right, was largely vacant and now is the Jet Hotel. The
bottom photo is the back of the Gross building and used for carriage horses, the Rockmount building on the right of photo.

Kim Allen copyright 1986
We have a photograph in our home "Roundup Riders of the Rockies 1952". Sixty riders mounted on their horses in their glory. The photo was given to us by Wes Segelke of Denver. Wes, we gratefully thank you. Riders and fans please have a safe and wonderful time in Denver and enjoy our western hospitality at the Western Stock Show.

My Thoughts On Denver

The intention of the Denver Photo Archives blog is to share my photos and experiences, and write about my thoughts on Denver.

These images and articles will hopefully create some thoughts and some healthy dialogue on the content.

I welcome correspondence and encourage your communication. I will respectfully reply to all comments.

Most images on this blog are for sale. Please refer to the Pricing Page.

Kim Allen

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