James Nugent (Estes Park)

James Nugent, known as "Rocky Mountain Jim" (died 1874) was prominent in the early history of Estes Park, in the Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, USA. A guide for visitors, his character was described in the writings of an English explorer, Isabella Bird.

Life

James Nugent came to Estes Park about 1868; it is not known where he came from. He built a cabin in Muggins Gulch, an entrance to Estes Park, and was one of the first guides in the area. He lost his eye, and sustained other injuries, when attacked by a grizzly bear in July 1869.[1][2]

Meeting with Isabella Bird

The English explorer Isabella Bird was exploring Colorado in 1873; her uncle George Kingsley recommended Estes Park.[3] Much of what is known about Nugent comes from her writings, in A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains.

She described Nugent: "…a broad, thickset man, about the middle height, with an old cap on his head, and wearing a grey hunting-suit much the worse for wear… a revolver, sticking out of the breast-pocket of his coat… Tawny hair, in thin uncared-for curls, fell from under his hunter’s cap and over his collar. One eye was entirely gone, and the loss made one side of the face repulsive, while the other might have been modeled in marble… Of his genius and chivalry to women there does not appear to be any doubt; but he is a desperate character, and subject to 'ugly fits', when people think it best to avoid him."[4]

With Nugent as guide, and two others, she climbed Longs Peak; Bird wrote, "Had I known that the ascent was a real mountaineering feat I should not have felt the slightest ambition to perform it." During the expedition, Nugent confided to her; she wrote in a letter that he "told stories of his early youth, and of a great sorrow which had led him to embark on a lawless and desperate life."[3] She continued to correspond with him after she left Estes Park.[1]

Griffith Evans, and death of Nugent

Griffith Evans, who ran the old Estes ranch in the valley, was a rival of Nugent. He was a guide, like him.[2] Nugent was opposed to Lord Dunraven's plan to make Estes Park a hunting preserve, but Evans was in favor of it.[1] It was also thought that Nugent was interested in Evans's seventeen-year-old daughter, which gave rise to enmity. Her interest in a young Englishman named Haigh, who was looking after Lord Dunraven's interests in the Park, angered Nugent.[5] Isabella Bird, aware during her visit of the bad feeling between them, wrote in a letter, "Jim's 'I'll shoot you' has more than once been heard in Griff's cabin."[3]

On June 19, 1874, Nugent was shot outside Evans's ranch-house; he died from the injury in September, in Fort Collins. It was supposed that he was shot by Evans, who was later acquitted;[3] but it was also alleged that he was shot by Haigh.[5]

References
  1. "Historical Background for the Rocky Mountain National Park" National Park Service. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
  2. "Nine colorful characters who made history in Estes Park, Colorado" Estes Park. Retrieved May 3, 2019.
  3. "Love in the Park" American Heritage. Volume 18 no. 2, February 1967.
  4. Bird, Isabella L. A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains. John Murray, 1879–1880. Pages 90–93 archive.org
  5. Ansel Watrous, "An Early Day Tragedy in Estes Park". Estes Park Trail, June 2, 1922. Page 5.
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