Cannon Ball Creek, Coors, and Kayaks: A History of Water in Golden, CO

923 10th Street,Golden CO 80401

16 March, 2022

Description

This is an in-person event at the Golden History Museum. Even people from Tonapah, Nevada know that Golden, Colorado is home to Coors Brewery, and that Coors is so good because it is brewed with “Rocky Mountain water.” In the American popular mind Golden is linked to fresh, clean water. Our job, over the course of an evening together, will be to try and trace the history of water in Golden from the earliest days of native use to Euro-American trapping, irrigation farming, and eventually the creation of a kayak park and tubers’ paradise. The conversation will be set against the larger backdrop of the present drought in the American West that underscores the importance of Clear Creek and fresh water for the future of Golden. About the presenter: Matthew S. Makley Matthew S. Makley, PhD, is a Professor of History at Metropolitan State University of Denver. He is the author of two books. His most recent, The Small Shall be Strong: A History of Lake Tahoe’s Washoe Indians (2018), won an American Library Association’s award for “Outstanding Academic Title.” Born and raised at Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, Makley has lived in Golden since 2007. While his heart is in the canyons and valleys of the Sierra Nevada, he has come to call Colorado and the Rockies home. Golden History Museum & Park engages and inspires visitors through preserving and sharing Golden’s history. Founded in 1938 as the Jefferson County Historical Museum, today GHM&P is a cultural campus in downtown Golden.   The Golden History Museum is a dynamic, modern museum with changing exhibits, a research library, artifact lab, children’s hands-on gallery, and multi-use theater.   The Golden History Park is a three-acre outdoor learning lab with historic and reproduction buildings that replicate a 19th century mountain homestead.   The museum’s acclaimed educational programming includes the award-winning Building Colorado classroom outreach program for third- and fourth-graders, Hands-on History Summer Camp, and Golden City Trading Post field trip experience. A multitude of public programs for adults including lectures, tours, film screenings, and more are offered year-round. Additionally, the museum is steward of the City’s collection of historic objects, documents, books, maps, newspapers and photographs.   We encourage you to explore and enjoy. You’ll find that Golden History Museum & Park offers something for everyone in your family and is a place you can visit time and again. Come see something new every day.