Book focuses on Gould history

By Linda Bell
Correspondent

For Earlene Bradley, writing a book on Gould seemed the most natural way to increase knowledge about an otherwise little known area of North Park. The result is the recently published "Timber Times and Tales: An Early History of Gould, Colorado."

Bradley grew up in Gould from the age of 5 during the 1940s, and she realized as she got older that many of the old timers weren't going to stick around much longer to answer her questions.

When she was young, she said, she couldn't wait to leave Gould and move to a larger city. But recent events, including the death of her second husband - whose mother, Hazel Gresham, wrote a book on the history of North Park--made her want to explore those early roots, Bradley said.

Maybe destined to write this book, Bradley earned a degree in English with a minor in history. She is retired from Colorado State University's Morgan Library. Her book is a well-researched and well-indexed sweep of the years 1936 to 1953. She breathes life into the day-to-day dramas and relationships in a small high-altitude community based on logging, hard work and considerable hardship.

Bradley introduces each chapter with an original poem. The one she wrote for the chapter on the founding family reads: "One man left a trail of history; the other's life was deemed a mystery. One gave Gould his name, b'gosh! The other's name was Karl Enosh."

Edward Bradley Gould was born in Boston and left home at 14 to join the Navy, before arriving in Laramie as a railroad hand. He homesteaded 640 acres in North Park in 1887. Gould went back east to marry a sweetheart who lived in Chicago. As they were returning to North Park from the train station in Laramie, his team and wagon floundered in a Michigan River flood and most of their personal belongings were lost. What a way to begin a marriage and found a town! Their son, Eddy, stayed on to ranch and become Gould's first mail carrier.

As for homesteader Karl Enosh mentioned in the poem, he was said to be a cousin of Ernest Hemingway, but mostly he was a hermit and an upsetting mystery until his death in 1947, when they found a very definitive will that left all his money to an orphanage.

The many photos throughout the book are a window to historical names and places as well as the life Bradley and her contemporaries experienced growing up in Gould. She dedicated the book to her brother-in-law, Ovie "Jiggs" Johnson, who worked for the Michigan River Timber Co. from 1936 until its closure in 1953. He then moved his family to LaPorte, where he eventually managed the Broderick Wood Country Store until his retirement in 1988.

One section of the book documents the creation of a Civilian Conservation Corps camp near Gould in 1933 that accommodated about 80 young men logging in Routt National Forest. In 1944, the Michigan River Timber Co. contracted with the U.S. Army to use German prisoners of war to log timber. About 200 POWs came from Greeley Camp and used the old CCC camp as their base. When three POWs escaped in November 1944, the community was on high alert until they were found in E.B. Shawver's comfortable summer cabin, having raided the wine cabinet and fallen asleep. The camp later served as a 4-H camp, and the Gould Community Center is presently located on the site.

A section on personal "memories and musings" features a collection of stories by many of the community's aging residents. Another section features selected items from The Jackson County Star's Gould News columns from 1936 to 1953. They document the personal details of the community - not only celebrations, business news, school functions and travels, but everyday events like the arrival of Pearl Gosnell's new Maytag washing machine and Alonzo Lees's new Philco radio.

"Timber Times and Tales" is available for $19.95 by calling Bradley at 226-0667.