Meeker, the town with the story

Next morning we woke up early in Vernal, had a light breakfast and returned back on the road. We planned to be home by night. But sure we decided on taking not the shortest, but the nicest way and it didn't matter how much time we needed for it...

 

So first we returned to Dinosaur and took Highway 64 to Meeker. Sure we could take Highway 40 to Craig, but 64th promised us better views and more solitary driving. And I can say, this road was beautiful! It was very nice and picturesque, but we didn't stop for the pictures (now I think I was wrong going nonstop there)... The views changed with every road turn and we enjoyed everything - hills and mountains, river and lakes, green meadows and woods along the highway. These two hours flew by so fast and we were surprised when we found we had already reached Meeker.

We were a little bit tired and a bit hungry, so we stopped the car on Main street and went to explore the town. Meeker in May was very nice, quiet and peopleless. We walked a couple of blocks and stopped near three log buildings, that looked really old. This was a White River Museum and we thought we could just take a peek... It wouldn't be too long we thought... We were wrong! The seven rooms in the first building were full of old stuff... The Meeker Historical Society started to collect old things many years ago and people donated more and more goods telling about past times. Later the Historical Society bought two houses and turned them into an amazing museum. We spent some time there, but only glanced through this treasure. So we have to return back one day and enjoy this museum again.

The second museum building was connected to Meeker history. It restored the time when Nathan Meeker was there and tried to help Ute to switch from horse racing and hunting to plowing and growing, from active free life to boring farming... He was a United States Indian Agent and arrived in the White River area in 1879. Unfortunately he didn't find a common language with the tribe and ordered horse racing tracks to be converted into the pasturage. The Ute didn't want to abandon their nomadic lifestyle and "after having the track plowed, Meeker had a tense conversation with an irate Ute chief. Meeker wired for military assistance for help, but on September 29, 1879, before troops arrived, the Ute attacked the Indian agency, killing Meeker and his 10 male employees. They took some women and children as hostages to secure their own safety as they fled and held them for 23 days. Two of the women taken captive were of Meeker's family: his wife Arvilla and daughter Josephine, just graduated from college and working as a teacher and physician". That's what Wikipedia tells us about this story. The troops fought with the Ute and in 1880 the Ute were moved to Southern Colorado and Utah to the territory of the current Ute Indian Reservation.

You can find the plow which Meeker used, his wife's sewing machine and model of the farm Meeker built for the Ute in this second building. You also can see some more artifacts the troops left in the area and these buildings were built this time for the garrison.

 

We left the museum and returned back to the Main street to see the Meeker Hotel. The Meeker Hotel dates from 1896 is one of the oldest operating hotels in Colorado. The hotel was built in 1896, at a time when Meeker was a prominent stagecoach stop and visitors were drawn to the beauty of the White River Valley. At this time there were many hotels in Meeker, but none compared with the brick structure built by Rueben Sanford Ball. An east and west wing were added to the hotel in 1904, greatly expanding its square footage and boosting the number of rooms to forty. Construction on the hotel took place between June 9, 1896 and July 15, 1896. Materials were being shipped by freight wagon from Rifle.

We walked into the lobby and relaxed in the armchair admiring the trophies, mounted on the walls. Next we moved next door to have something to eat before hitting the road again.

The stone building, which currently houses the Meeker Café, was originally called the Vorges Bldg. It opened for business on May 9, 1891 as Meeker's new Post Office building. In 1904, it became the 1st National Bank Building and in 1918, Rueben S. Ball moved the café out of the hotel to its present location.  Phil Jensen, longtime resident of Meeker, related a story of how back in the early 1930s he sat in the café's antique booths when they were located in the Midwest Café in Craig. Sometime in the mid 1930s the art deco style booths, countertop and bar back were moved to the Meeker Café.

We were really glad we made this stop and spent time in this nice charming town. We promised to come here again and... we actually did ;)

To look at out next stop on out way home, click here - Steamboat Springs between rains

Pictures were taken on May 25, 2015.