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by Anne Quinby Dyni (Author)
By the time the Colorado Central Railroad extended its tracks into Boulder County in 1873, much of the land along the foothills was already under cultivation. As rails were laid between Boulder City and Longmont to the northeast, they crossed land belonging to settlers who had first come to the region as prospectors with the Pikes Peak Gold Rush of 1858. At that time, the area was still the hunting and fishing grounds of Southern Arapaho Indians and their tribal leader, Chief Niwot, translated as "left hand" in the Arapaho language. Two ranchers, Porter Hinman and Ambrose Murray, whose land was traversed by the new railroad, platted the town of Niwot in 1875 as a shipping point for transporting local farm goods and livestock to distant markets. Thus the only authentic railroad town in Boulder County was founded.
