History
In 1879 prospectors discovered silver on Mount Shipler, starting a small mining rush. A mining town was platted and given the name Lulu City 40°26′44″N 105°50′53″W / 40.44556°N 105.84806°W / 40.44556; -105.84806. Other small settlements were founded in the area, including Dutchtown, located high in Hitchens Gulch. The population swelled as high as 5,000 miners and business owners catering to those miners. However, low grade ore, combined with difficult transportation and lack of a local smelter to process the ore conspired against the boom. By late 1883 the mining rush ended and the miners moved on. The last miners in Dutchtown left by 1884. Today remnants of the towns and mines are accessible by hiking trails.
In 1890 a project called the Grand Ditch began. The ditch is a 16.2 mi (26.1 km) water diversion project. Streams and creeks that flow from the highest peaks are diverted into the ditch, which flows over La Poudre pass, delivering the water into the Atlantic Basin for the use of eastern plains farmers. The ditch wasn't completed until 1936. The ditch diverts between 20 to 40% of the runoff from the Never Summer Mountains and significantly impacts the ecology in the valley below. In May 2003 a 100-foot (30 m) section of the ditch breached causing the water to cascade down the slopes and into the Colorado River. The flood left a visible scar on the mountainside.
In 1914, members of the Arapaho tribe were brought to the region in a trip sponsored by the Colorado Mountain Club. The tribe members spent their youth in the area and were asked to offer the Native American names for the various peaks, lakes and other geographic features in the area. They called the range Ni-chebe-chii, which translates to Never No Summer. Locals eventually settled on Never Summer Mountains for the range.
Many of the peaks in the range are named after cloud types, such as Mount Cirrus and Mount Cumulus.
Read more about this topic: Never Summer Mountains
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—Ruth Benedict (1887–1948)
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—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)