The fourteener nearest Denver, Blue Sky used to be called Mount Evans after the governor responsible for the Sand Creek Massacre. But on this portion of the Front Range lived another name change … and a love story. Mount Bierstadt honors the leading landscape artist of the nineteenth century, Albert Bierstadt. On one trip to the Rockies he traveled with author Fitz Hugh Ludlow – no connection to the Ludlow mine. Another time, without Ludlow, Bierstadt summited the fourteener above Chicago Lake. He named it for Ludlow’s wife, Rosalie. Maybe the tipoff to a brewing romance? Rosalie divorced Ludlow soon after, and married Bierstadt. Her name on the mountain, the embodiment of Albert’s devotion. It was called Mount Rosalie until a Greeley pastor suggested renaming it for the governor. And it became Mount Evans until 2023. But Rosalie Osborne Ludlow Bierstadt was not forgotten. A nearby thirteener still bears the name Rosalie Peak.
About Colorado Postcards
Colorado Postcards are snapshots of our colorful state in sound. They give brief insights into our people and places, our flora and fauna, and our past and present, from every corner of Colorado.
