Lula, a true woman of the west, lived for more than six decades in Frisco, Dillon, Montezuma and Keystone, Colorado.
One of eight children who grew up on a homestead ranch close to the town of Elizabeth, Colorado, she came to Summit County in 1902. She arrived via stagecoach over Argentine Pass. Lula came as a 21-year-old school teacher, making $50 per month. Lula’s schoolhouse, originally a saloon, still stands on Frisco’s Main Street. As a teacher, she displayed her talent and knowledge to teach all subjects to children of all ages.
Lula fell in love. Then, in June 1903, she married Jame H. “Dimp” Myers, the son of an early Keystone settler and Civil War Colonel, J.H. Myer. He also moved to Colorado to promote mining investment capital to Summit County.
In 1924, Dimp and Lula purchased the Delker Ranch, a 160-acre homestead, for $1,200. In addition, their land stretched from what is today the entrance to Keystone all the way to the formal west entrance on US Highway 6.
You can locate the 1885-build ranch home on the Snake River, near the present-day Keystone Resort gondola. It would become a place of family warmth, festive social gatherings, excellent food and decades of loving married life.
Lula was known for her gentle, helpful nature. She often took newcomers under her protective wing. Some of these newcomers included Edna and Max Dercum. They founded the Ski Tip Lodge and developed the Arapahoe Basin Ski Area and Keystone Ski Resort.
Dimp, Lula and their daughter Lucy (named after Lula’s younger sister) lead a happy family life. They made serious contributions to the mining in Summit County. This includes engineering, operating and owning mining companies and a dray line. Dimp named one of the mines, the Schoolmarm Mine, after his beloved wife. After their retirement, they continued to oversee mining operations and developed mines in the Montezuma mining district.
After Dimp’s death in 1954, Lula remained in the ranch home until around 1966. She later moved to Aurora where she lived until she was 91 years old.
The Lula Myers 1884 log ranch house was sold in the early ’70s to Arapahoe Basin Ski Area. After that, in 1974, the Summit Historical Society was given the home as a gift. It was eventually moved to its current location in the museum park in Dillon.
Over the years, there has been an ongoing historic restoration to the building. The renovation not only preserves the cabin but the memory of a unique Summit County woman, Lula Myers.
