Enos Mills

Initial years at Longs Peak

At age 15, Mills made his first ascent of Longs Peak. Over the course of his life, he made the trip 40 times by himself and nearly 300 additional times as a guide. He built his homestead near Longs Peak of the Rocky Mountains, from the town of Estes Park, Colorado completing it at 16. It was located near Lamb's Longs Peak House, a lodge. He studied the flowers, animals, weather, and geology of the area.

Mills left the home base of his cabin throughout the seasons to explore the Rocky Mountains, It became a place of respite during the summers for publicists and writers, the intelligentsia of the country. Considered the Roycroft of the Rocky Mountains, some of the visitors promoted the creation of a national park in the Rockies. His photo of the Estes valley from Mount Olympus, published in Wild Life on the Rockies, is an example of his advocacy. He wanted a park of about 1,000 square miles that would cover the area from Wyoming to Pikes Peak. President Woodrow Wilson signed into law the bill that made the Rocky Mountain National Park the tenth national park on January 26, 1915. It was 352.5 square miles. Their only child, Enda Mills, later Enda Mills Kiley, was born on April 27, 1919.

Death Mills died at age 52 in 1922. Some state that he died of a broken heart, discouraged by the plans for a monopoly to control the transportation of freight and passengers through the park. Mills Lake, and Mills Morraine on Longs Peak, within the Rocky Mountain National Park, were named in his honor.

Publications Enos A. Mills, Mount Copeland and Copeland Lake, Colorado, photograph published in The Adventures of a Nature Guide, 1920