Possibly his betrothal hit a snag, or the countess puffery may have been a set up for a pretextual return to Aspen in 1907, when he took back control of the Aspen Times, announced he was running for the state House of Representatives and trumpeted reopening the Little Annie and Famous Tunnel.
Author Archives: Tim Cooney
Tim Cooney is an Aspen freelance writer and former ski patroller. Among others, the Aspen Daily News, The Aspen Times, The Avalanche Review, Aspen Sojourner, Ski and Powder Magazine have published his work. His Aspen Journalism story “Taming the Snow Beast” won 2018 best story/picture combination from Colorado Press Association. He has a bachelor’s degree in government and philosophy from University of Denver.
Posted inHistory
Aspen mayor and defendant
Newspaper accounts reported claims against Wheeler, painting a pattern of manipulation and a life under pressure. But in the frontier era, when physical distance from problems created more insulation, Wheeler put off what he could by traveling and conducting state senate business, as he delayed and jockeyed assets.
Posted inHistory
B. Clark Wheeler, a nimble man in his time
The yarn is often spun of Wheeler’s Herculean mid-February 17-day roundtrip snowshoe odyssey from Leadville to Ute City over Independence Pass to inspect mining prospects and lay out a town.
Posted inAspen Ideas Fest
Better ideas wrestle a brave new world
Ruth Katz outlined this year’s six underlying themes: “decoding the brain, audacious science, investing in health, food for thought, uncommon allies, and pop health,” adding that “good ideas involve much more than biomedical breakthroughs and possessing a good insurance card.”
Posted inHistory
APSPA: From corporate burr to community asset
The role Aspen’s Ski Patrol has played in holding Ski Co. accountable through ownership and management changes for fair wages and working conditions, which benefitted employees across the board.
Posted inHistory
You fall, we haul
As the slow-boiling frog of unaffordability in Aspen approached lukewarm in the 1970s, the ski patrol again challenged Brown to increase wages and compensate seniority skills. Standing out in the recollections of a local few was the failed affiliation with the International Brotherhood of the Teamsters and the resulting strike between 1971-1972.
Posted inHistory
Masterminds mull in the mountains
Not in chronological order, and without necessarily chasing the headliners, the following looks at some interesting highlights of Ideas Fest with continuing relevance — particularly space exploration, social media, and AI.
Posted inHistory
Embedded with the eggheads
When viewed from outside today’s privileged event, with venture capitalists and CEOs populating the multi-faceted panels, skepticism can arise; yet, few other conference locales can match such a disarming Shangri-La for crosspollination.
Posted inHistory
From Bauhaus to birdhouse
While living in Aspen between 1946 and 1975, he was the carte blanche designer of modern town shaper Walter Paepcke during the transition from mining and ranching to skiing, but few realize how Bayer’s pivotal contributions to midcourse Aspen shaped what town is today.
Posted inHistory
Ute removal policy comes to a head in the 1887 ‘Colorow War’
. “It was not desirable to let these civilians encounter the Indians. We were holding the crowd back on the south side of the Gunnison, until the Indians had passed 13 miles distant. In three days, the rich land of the Uncompahgre was all occupied, towns were being laid out and lots being sold at high prices.”