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Len Shoemaker
Leonard Calvin (Len) Shoemaker was born in Rosita, Colorado in 1881, and moved to the Glenwood Springs area with his parents in 1886. He worked at numerous jobs—ranch hand, mule skinner, stage driv...view moreLeonard Calvin (Len) Shoemaker was born in Rosita, Colorado in 1881, and moved to the Glenwood Springs area with his parents in 1886. He worked at numerous jobs—ranch hand, mule skinner, stage driver, carpenter, coal miner, timberman, and many others. His connection with the Forest Service began in 1913 and continued until 1943, during most of which time he was a ranger of the White River and Roosevelt National Forests. He also spent much of this time writing, turnout out articles, stories, poems, radio scripts, and—as assistant in the Denver Branch of Information and Education—publicity releases. Mr. Shoemaker was thus uniquely fitted to write the story of the first United States Forest Ranger, his friend colleague, the late William R. Kreutzer.
Having served posts in Boulder, Carbondale, along the Frying Pan and in Denver, Len Shoemaker retired in 1943 and returned to Glenwood Springs in 1968. He authored several history books both during and after his long career with the Forest Service, including Roaring Fork Valley: An Account of Its Settlement and Development (1958) and Pioneers of the Roaring Fork (1965). He also published History of the Holy Cross National Forest (1928; revised 1943) and a book of verses titled Welcome to Colorful Colorado; Breezy Descriptive Colorado Verse (1965). He died in Denver on July 15, 1973 at the age of 92.view less
Books by Len Shoemaker
Saga of a Forest Ranger: A Biography of William R. Kreutzer, Forest Ranger No. 1, and A Historical Account of the U.S. Forest Service in Colorado