Frances Staunton’s donation of her family’s 1,720 acre ranch to the State of Colorado for the purpose of developing a state park was the seminal event that eventually led to the opening of Staunton State Park on May 18, 2013. The family’s cabin still stands in the park, and we all try to comprehend what it was like for their family during the days they enjoyed this area with their friends and visitors.
It is important to understand that music was one of the central themes of Frances’s life. After attending Emerson school in Denver, she graduated from Denver East High School in 1919. Thereafter, she received her B.A. and then her M.A. in music from the University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music. She studied piano and singing, along with French, Italian and German. She also studied under several prominent local voice instructors, and performed in numerous concerts, recitals, and radio music shows. There are many fan letters from listeners in the region who raved about her extraordinary vocal skills. She also received a scholarship from the Julliard School of Music in New York, and spent a year in residence there.
As a result of her talent and the intensive training she received, she was able to capture lead roles in several opera productions by the Denver Grand Opera Company at Denver’s Auditorium Theatre in the 1940’s. The roles that she fondly remembered later in life were the gypsy woman Azucena in Il Trovatore (The Troubadour), and as Maddalena in Rigoletto. Both of these very popular operas were composed by Guiseppi Verdi about 1850, and remain among the most memorable works in the history of opera. Recent statistics show that these two works are ranked the 9th and 20th in number of opera performances staged today. Imagine Frances practicing her singing roles on warm evenings around the cabins.
One of Frances’s close friends was a well- known opera singer named Jeanne Brola. She was married to John Harrison, who was one of the greatest voice instructors in Europe in the early 20th century, and together they formed the Brola-Harrison Voice Studio, where Frances studied. Jean Brola spent time at the Staunton Ranch, and see if you can locate evidence of her presence as you look for this cache.
This cache is located within Staunton State Park, which has one public entrance along S. Elk Creek Road, six miles west of Conifer, about 1.5 miles off U.S. Highway 285. Parking along either side of S. Elk Creek Road and Upper Ranch Road adjacent to the park boundary is prohibited. All vehicles entering the park must have a daily park pass ($10) or a CO state park annual or special pass.
The Park is open year-round, and day use hours at 6:00 am to 10:00 pm. A walk-in campground (up to ¼ mile from parking) is open for public use, and overnight parking is currently permitted only for those staying in the campground. During summer and autumn weekends, the park may reach capacity, and cars are allowed to enter only if a parking space is available. Horse trailers are admitted if space is available for parking trailers in a new, dedicated, unpaved parking area. All Park trails are natural surface, some trails are hiker-only, but other trails are multiuse for bicycles and horses also. Information about the park can be found at Staunton State Park website
All visitors must follow park rules and regulations. These include dogs on leash at all times, clean up after pets, travel on developed trails to the extent feasible, leave no trace, respect areas closed for resource management, and be careful around wildlife (especially mountain lions, coyotes, and black bears). Fires are strictly prohibited, except for camp stoves with an on/off switch in the designated campsites and grilles found in the picnic areas. No motorized vehicles are allowed on trails within the Park. An exception is the special tracked chairs that the Park offers to visitors who cannot access selected trails on their own mobility. Pack your own trash out of the back country, and trash receptacles are located near the parking areas. Also, be prepared for changing weather, bring adequate water and footwear, and trails may be snow-covered or icy in winter.