鶹ѰHiking Club Celebrates 100 Years

At Camp Pitts, near Eldora, 1920. Hiking Club Collection, Heritage Center.
One hundred years ago on what some believe to be the most appropriate of days, April Fools’ Day, 35 students got together and organized the University of Colorado Hiking Club. All of the charter members, 23 women and 12 men, had a desire to foster more interest in the natural beauty surrounding the university by promoting outdoor activities such as hiking, skiing and camping. Club members made their first official hike to Royal Arch on May 4.
Hiking was already a popular student activity, and as an offshoot of the Colorado Mountain Club, the new 鶹Ѱorganization had little trouble recruiting members. The following year on February 28, the Hiking Club initiated its first set of 36 eager new members into the cheerful and good-natured group.
In celebration of its centennial, the Heritage Center will highlight CU’s oldest student organization with various aspects of the Hiking Club’s history throughout the year.
The April edition will focus on the 35 charter members. Meet the young men and women who founded the club and maybe you will discover a family connection!

University of Colorado Hiking Club, Meeting Minutes, April 1, 1919. Heritage Center.
The Hiking Club’s first elected officers were:
Harry Hirsch Herman
 President
 MechEngr 1920
 Boulder, Colo.
Irma Lenore Reed
 Vice President
 LiberalArts 1919
 Also received a diploma in Education
 Jerome, Ida.
Charles Orville Rixford
 Treasurer
 MechEngr 1922
 Denver, Colo.
Edna Elizabeth Schiller
 Secretary
 LiberalArts 1919, cum laude
 Fort Morgan, Colo.
Anthony Stephen Lallie
 Hiking Manager
 ElEngr 1921
 Louisville, Colo.
Original Members:
Ruth Ahlberg
 LiberalArts ex1922
 Odebolt, Iowa
Florence Marion Anderson
 LiberalArts 1919
 Denver, Colo.
Josephine Rose Barrett
 LiberalArts 1921, cum laude
 Also received a diploma in Education
 Boulder, Colo.
Paul Anderson Blanchard
 MechEngr 1923
 Boulder, Colo.
Max Blom
 ElEngr 1921
 Colorado Springs, Colo.
Jean Sala Breitenstein
 LiberalArts 1922,cum laude
 Boulder, Colo.
Eva May Breyfogle
 HomeEcon 1921
 Boulder, Colo.
Lillian West Cobbey
 LiberalArts 1921, cum laude
 Denver, Colo.
Gladys Ida Crawford
 LiberalArts 1922, cum laude
 Grand Junction, Colo.
Frances Elizabeth Daily
 HomeEcon 1920
 Beloit, Kans.
Alice Endicott
 LiberalArts 1922, cum laude
 Cañon City, Colo
Elizabeth Foote
 HomeEcon ex1922
 Paonia, Colo
Oswald Lawrence Gedney
 LiberalArts 1924
 Also received a diploma in Commerce
 Denver, Colo.
Evangeline S. Hauck 
 LiberalArts 1920
 Rocky Ford, Colo.
Janet Lillian Holcomb
 LiberalArts 1920, cum laude
 Alsoreceived a diploma in Education
 Boulder, Colo.
Alan Hawley Johnson
 ElEngr 1921
 Denver, Colo.
Ruth Mary Johnston
 LiberalArts 1920
 Idaho Springs, Colo.
Laura Kornelya Kincaid
 LiberalArts ex1922
 La Veta, Colo.
Maude Louise Lindsey
 LiberalArts ex1922
 Iowa Park, Tex.
Hattie Jean McFarlane
 LiberalArts ex1920
 Denver, Colo.
Mildred McMillen
 LiberalArts 1919, magna cum laude
 Alsoreceived a diploma in Education
 Boulder, Colo.
Harold Joseph Morsch
 LiberalArts ex1924
 Denver, Colo.
Mabel Alice Reed
 LiberalArts 1922
 Wray, Colo.
David Rosner
 LiberalArts ex1921
 Boulder, Colo.
Margaret Shepardson
 LiberalArts ex1922
 Fort Collins, Colo.
George Gaylord Simpson
 LiberalArts ex1923
 Denver, Colo.
Irma Tarkoff
 LiberalArts 1920, magna cum laude
 Boulder, Colo.
Augusta “Gussie” Lee Wellman
 LiberalArts ex1922
 Mangum, Okla.
Jack Newton Withers
 CivEngr 1923, with honors
 Dolores, Colo.
Florence Helen Wittemyer
 LiberalArts 1919
 Boulder, Colo.
Sources:
“Catalog of Students 1916-1923.”University of Colorado Bulletins17-23, nos. 3 (1917-1923).
Coloradoan(yearbooks), 1918-1923. Boulder, CO: Associated Students of the University of Colorado, 1918-1923.
“Directory of Officers and Graduates, 1877-1921.”University of Colorado Bulletin21, no. 10 (1921).
Lyman, Louise. “Hobnails Boots and Jeans of Faded Blue.”ColoradoAlumnus,April 1943, 6-7.
University of Colorado Hiking Club 1919-1925 Scrapbook. Waddington Collection, Heritage Center.
University of Colorado Hiking Club,Meeting Minutes, 1919-1922. Van Valkenburg Collection, Heritage Center.
Do you have a questionabout this article? Is there apiece of campus history that has always intrigued you and want to know more? Send an email to the Heritage Center’sChief Curiosity Correspondent, and see if we can answer your question. It might just end up here!






































