October 15, 2024,by Steve Plutt
James Darwin “Dar” Elder, Jr. was born in Hutchinson, Kansas on July
5, 1907. He grew up in Hutchinson and attended school there. His first year of college was at Manhattan, Kansas. From there he transferred to Midland College in Fremont, Nebraska where he majored in education and mathematics.
It was at Midland College that he met his future wife, Trulie Forbes. Trulie was born in Lincoln, Nebraska but raised in North Platte. At Midland College she majored in “public school music and voice”. Both her and boyfriend Dar would travel the country with the school “A Capella Choir”. They were married on October 20, 1928 while still in school, however they both dropped out and entered the work force. Trulie
became the assistant librarian in North Platte and Dar went into the advertising business, including decorating, display, theatre art work and
department store advertising. They both went back to college in 1932. Mr. Elder resumed studies for his degree while teaching engineering drawing, and Mrs. Elder, not a student, was the assistant librarian in the college library. Following graduation, Dar got a job back at Midland College where he taught math and was a athletic coach.
In the summertime, the Elder’s would come to Colorado so Dar could work on his Master’s Degree for education administration, this was at CU in Boulder. By the time he received his degree, the United States was involved in World War II and he went to work for the Remington Arms plant in Denver. In 1944 he enlisted in the U.S. Navy as a full lieutenant and served in Australia and the Philippines. While her husband was at war, Trulie went to work at the University of California library at Berkeley. After VJ Day and still on active duty, Dar was sent by the Navy to the Harvard graduate school of business for advanced study. From there, both he and Trulie went to Atlanta, Georgia where they were stationed until
his discharge.
After his Navy discharge, he started his first commercial venture, and that was in Estes Park where they were co-owners and operators of a laundry. After the laundry, he went into the furniture business and then finally, contracting. At one time Trulie also operated both a record, and a flower shop.They ended up leaving Estes Park and both went to work managing the Emerald Valley dude ranch located on the Old Stage Road, southwest of Colorado Springs for one year. Then on to the Lazy S dude ranch south of Gillett, managing it for a year. While working at these places, they had a dream of owning a ranch
of their own and were actively looking for one.2
Enter Woodland Park
In the fall of 1949 they found
the Eiswerth place north of Woodland. This 160 acre piece was
settled upon by Civil War Veteran Anthony Eiswerth and his wife
Sarah, in approximately 1877.3 Anthony died in 18794 and when
the homestead was proved up in 1882, it was issued in Sarah’s
name. Over time, the Eiswerth’s bought up the private acreage of
individuals that adjoined their ranch.
With its view of Pikes Peak and all the other magnificent scenery,
the Elders fell in love with the place and entered into an agreement
with Kate Eiswerth (Anthony Eiswerth’s daughter-in-law) receiving the deed on July 1, 1950
for approximately 560 acres.
After selling the north half of this acreage to Sunny English for her
Camp WaNaKa, they went to work right away cleaning up the
remaining land by removing all of the old delipidated outbuildings.
They built their house above the old ranch house, on the north side of the property, facing Pikes Peak. In January of 1951 they moved into their new home
and named their ranch “Paint Pony”.On August 15, 1951, Dar bought another adjoining 160
acre property from Mrs. J.W. Wheeler, which was at the
intersection of Kelley Road
and Highway 67. With that,
they planned on a dude ranch.
Elder developed six wells to
provide a half million gallons
of water a day for the homes
and golf course.
The map here shows the 560
acre Eiswerth property
outlined in red and the 160
acre Wheeler Addition
outlined in black.
Both of the Elder’s enjoyed golfing and hoped to develop a golf course on their property too. As new
residents of Woodland Park, they were active in community organizations such as the Saddle Club and the Woodland Park Commercial Club. Dar also was a member of the Manitou Park Chapter of the Isaac Walton League and the Rotary in Colorado Springs. Dar was the first President of the local Lions Club here in Woodland Park. Together, they were both very involved in community affairs.
Woodland Park Middle School
That same year of
1951 is when he
opened a real estate
office in Woodland Park. The building
was the former George
Pilcher Barber
Shop which was
tucked in between
Hollingsworth’s AG
and the local
hardware store. See
photo to the left.
During remodeling, Dar
is the one who installed
the large plate glass
window at an angle in
the front façade that is
still semi recognizable
today. Besides the
barber shop, several different businesses occupied that spot over the years, including a pool hall, a short order café, and a plumbing shop to name a few off the top of my head.
With his real estate
business now in full
swing, Dar subdivided
and plotted 72 lots
around the golf course.
for homes in the new
Paint Pony Ranch
Homes Addition. Lot
1 in the new
subdivision was sold to
our family friends Bob
and Sue Dickson and their home was built in 1951. It still
stands today.
On April 6, 1951, Dar received permission from the Town Council of Woodland Park to build a water line off of the town’s main line for eleven future homes in his subdivision.10
In the mid-summer of 1951, Dar sold the land south of Kelley Road to Mr. Frank Klasnick of Chicago. Klasnick was a manufacturer of television parts and bought the property as an investment. Elder kept on as the builder in the subdivision and had the exclusive rights for construction.11
As mentioned, Dar and Trulie enjoyed being involved in the
Woodland Park community. Dar possessed his own sound projection equipment for 16.
mm film and started showing movies (with sound) to the residents of Woodland Park in the summer of 1951.
Every Thursday evening at the Woodland Park Town Hall,12 the community hall portion of the building was filled to
capacity with standing room only crowds.
Movie goers came from not only Woodland, but Ute Pass,
West Creek and Deckers to enjoy these movies in what was dubbed the “Elder Cinema”. Everyone was advised to bring
their own chairs as these movies were very popular with over 100 in attendance and at times up to 150.
The movies were presented at no charge but two
rules were enforced, no smoking was allowed
and “rowdyism” was prohibited. Dar was able
to enlist other Woodland Park businesses to
sponsor other films. The movie for September
27, 1951 starred Laurel and Hardy in “Way Out
West” and was sponsored by Bert Bergstrom.
Back at Paint Pony, lots were
being sold and houses were.
being built. But Dar also had
plans for a country club and a
nine hole golf course.
A few years elapsed before he
could realize his goal, but on
June 22, 1958 Dar and Trulie
held the Grand Opening of their
Paint Pony Country Club.
The club had excellent kitchen
facilities and a large dining
room, regulation tennis courts,
a heated swimming pool and a.
nine hole golf course was under
construction.
The Country Club was an
instant smash hit and
membership’s were
selling fast. Many local
and non-local
organizations held
meetings, banquets and
award ceremonies at this
Club throughout its early
history. In the 1960s I
vividly recall our local
teen club, “The Misfits”
holding many dances
there.
The swimming pool was
used by all sorts of organizations and was at times open to the public. Woodland Park High School used
Paint Pony for Senior Proms. Local dude ranches also utilized the Paint Pony swimming pool, paying some sort of group rate in order to bring their guests there. Sunny English and her Camp WaNaKa girls used the clubs swimming pool quite frequently until she built her own.
But for whatever
reason, in June of
1960 Dar sold the
Country Club to
his brother Larry.
I never knew
much about
Larry, but do know he lived somewhere on the sunny side of Cascade
then later moved to the Springs. Larry was a licensed real estate agent,
working through Pike Realty Company of Colorado Springs. He sold
property not only at the Paint Pony subdivision and Woodland Park, but
throughout the Pikes Peak Region. Be it for tax reasons or who knows
what, Larry was now the legal owner of the Club, at least on paper
anyway. Never the less, Dar was still regarded
by Woodland Park locals as the man
who owned Paint Pony. He continued.
construction of the golf course until at
long last, on July 4, 1961, his nine
hole course opened. Woodland Park
now had a country club with a
swimming pool and a golf course!
And FYI, as a teenager in 1964, my close
and long time friend, Steve Storrs, worked
for Dar as a golf course grounds keeper.
Steve kept the fairways and tee area’s
mowed all during the summer. His duties
included helping inside the clubhouse and
cleaning the swimming pool. Steve’s
wage: 45 cents an hour!
I also remember that there was an
aircraft landing strip at Paint Pony. It
was located about where Valley View
Drive is today, from Chippewa Trail
to Crestwood Park. The landing strip
was certainly convenient for our
friend Bob Dickson who would land
his Super Cub on that strip and taxi it
across the golf course to his home on
Kelley road.
A heart break for Ute Pass area
residents happened on June 20, 1964.
That was when Colorado Springs
architect Ed Tillman of Crystola
Canyon died when his plane crashed.
Dar Elder said Ed made one pass
over, circled around and was coming
in to land when suddenly the plane
banked into the trees.
Ed is the father of my friend Candy Shoemaker (née Tillman), who told me that the Coroners report
indicated he had a heart attack, which caused him to lean forward, pushing the yoke down and crashed.
A footnote to this: Candy (WPHS’67), also told me that she loved flying with her dad and was supposed
to go up with him that very day. However, before he left the family home, headed to the Springs airport,
Candy rode her bike down to her stables behind the Crystola Inn to feed her horses. It so happens that Shetan, her gelding, had gotten out with her mare Lady, along with Red Quinn’s horse. They all ran up the mountain side with Candy in pursuit on foot. From way up the hill, she saw her dad pull up to the stables in his car for her, but he didn’t wait and left without her.
In just a few short years since the addition of the golf
course, Paint Pony had attained a reputation as one of
the most outstanding places in the Pikes Peak Region
for social events. It now was complete with beautiful
dinning rooms, a lounge, a heated swimming pool and
many special parties and dances for its members. It
also had limited services for non-members.
The dinning room was open to the public on Sunday’s
with a buffet. People came Sunday after Sunday from
all over to enjoy this Club.
It was always the opinion of myself and many others,
that some of the regulars at the Country Club, but
certainly not all, were quite toffee-nosed. And very contrary to, say, Bert Bergstrom’s strictly blue-collar (and somewhat rowdy), Ute Inn crowd.
Then in the spring of 1965, Jerry and Mary Linda Mills and Bob and Carol Beach purchased the Country Club. But all news reports stated it was bought from Dar Elder, not Larry. Beach later claimed that the club was nothing but one problem after another. What happened to Larry in regard to
the Club, I don’t know and we’ll probably never know.
FYI, Bob Beach was a native Woodland Park
resident, born there in 1905. Mary Linda
(Clapham) Mills was the 1957 Miss Colorado and went on to represent our state at the 1957 Miss Universe pageant. Jerry established a private law practice and at that time, was the only attorney in
Teller County.
Jerry and Mary Linda were also part owners with Howard and Joan Stull in the inaugural year of the Cowhand, 1965.
In addition to now owning the Club, the Mills’ also owned and
operated since the early 1960s, the Paint Pony Riding Stables,
just up the valley from the club (I worked there one summer
leading trail rides). Every Wednesday evening they would have
a ride that included a big steak fry out on the trail.
Just a short distance north of Paint Pony, Mills’ also owned.
the 350 acre Heart Bar Ranch where they raised both world champion quarter horses and cutting horses. Outside of
Woodland Park over in Park County, they owned a 22,000 acre ranch near Guffey and raised Hereford cattle.
Declining Days Are Here
It seems like the whole Country Club slowly started a decline in the late 1960s although we still enjoyed
many dances there and the pool was still popular with
us area kids. The place also provided employment for
lots of Woodland Park teens during the summer
months. In the spring of.
1971 the club shut
its doors and was
put up for sale.
With that, right
away a committee
of eight existing club members was formed with a goal to raise $50,000 in
pledges forstock purchase in order to buy the club and form a corporation.
That drive was successful with all the money raised and on July 30, the
purchase was made. It was in August of 1971 when the club was officially
owned by the new Paint Pony Country Club Corporation.
Its nine member Board of Directors consisted of Ric Hermann,
Joan Stull, Russ Williams, Ray Giersch, David Hessong, J.
Claude Johnson, Ruby Jones, Van Mikkelson and Fred Mills.
Of those directors, Giersch was elected its President, Mills as
Vice- President, Ric Hermann as Secretary and Johnson as
Treasurer. With that, the club and even the swimming pool
was re-opened. But....things just didn’t work out well for the new corporation
and stockholders. The Club no longer operated year round either. When it opened on May 4, 1973, its name had been
changed to the “Woodland Park Country Club”, according to then Club president Fred Mills. The formal grand opening that
year happened on May 26. The condition of the Country Club that summer was fading
and needed lots of work. A complete remodel was in order for the kitchen and dining room, the exterior badly needed a paint job and the tennis courts needed resurfacing. The initial $150 memb
ership fee was the cost, with annual dues at $100. That however was increased on July 1, 1971 to $250 for both membership and annual dues. At that time, the membership stood at 138 families.
The Club hobbled along for a handful
of years. When it closed for the winter
in 1975, they advertised a re-opening
on May 1, 1976. It never happened
though, as the place remained
shuttered.
However, in the mid-summer of 1976,
the political leaders of Woodland Park
as well as the entire Chamber of
Commerce,
14 thought that they had a
good chance to purchase the entire 56
acre club including the golf course and
swimming pool.
This idea went over like a lead balloon
with most of the citizens of Woodland.
They felt the City didn’t need to “bale
out” an “exclusive” club with
“average accommodations”.
Some folks felt the “former highbrows” wanted to stick their failed
enterprise with the people of Woodland Park so they could get their
invested money back.15 Never the less, the City Council had a pipe
dream that they would successfully obtain an El Pomar grant in the
amount of $250,000 towards the purchase price of $350,000.
The remaining $100,000, according to the City leaders, could
possibly be gotten from Teller County because City leaders felt their
ownership would “improve the quality of life for all Teller County
residents.” Well the residents of Cripple Creek, Victor, Divide and
Florissant didn’t think that was such a great idea, so that never
happened.
Anyway, in the end, El Pomar denied the outlandish
request and the whole scheme of a city owned country
club went down in flames.
With the failed grant request, the ownership of the
Woodland Park Country Club was right away turned
over to Mar-Mid, Inc.16, a Texas corporation directed by
long time Paint Pony summer resident Retha Martin of
Lubbock, Texas.
So the once exclusive Woodland Park Country Club
was shut down and it stayed closed from the winter of 1975 until it was sold again on November 15, 1977 to a newly formed corporation.
Officers of this organization lived mostly in
Woodland Park with the one exception of its
President, Charles Ridley, who lived elsewhere in Colorado. Although major restoration was needed,
they had hopes to reopen in the spring of 1978 as a semi private club under the new name of
“The Woodlanders – A Country Club.”
The new club did open that spring of 1978, but under
the name of the “Woodshire Inne” and was
advertised as owned by Charles and Ada Ridley. The
new club boosted a 100 seat banquet room and
additional dining areas that accommodated up to 165 people. The décor of the Inne was lush English.
The kitchen specialty was steak, lobster and fowl. The weekends always offered entertainment with vocal groups or a piano. The clubhouse had a new look altogether but there were no plans to improve the swimming pool or golf course which both needed lots of TLC.
The Ridley’s wanted to instead concentrate on the restaurant business. And instead of a private country club environment, they wanted it open to the general public. By the way, I’ve never mentioned, but no
matter who the owner was, the view of Pikes Peak from the dining room was specular.
Well, with all of their high hopes and good intentions, the Woodshire Inne just did not make it. It closed and was sold well within the same year Ridley bought it.
In the final years of what was once a pristine country club, the golf course
was shut down and replaced with
houses, the swimming pool closed
and all that remained was the
restaurant on just over 5 acres.
The next owner and attempt at
success was Billy Mahaffey with the
Grand Opening of Williams
Restaurant on September 21, 1978.
The Woodland Park Williams was a
spinoff of the Williams Restaurant
on 21 S. Wahsatch Avenue in
Colorado Springs, which was
immensely popular and very
successful.
You always got a huge bowl of shrimp on ice before your meal. By the time you were done stuffing your face with all that, you were really too full for your main course. I also remember my sister Meg Plutt had her wedding reception dinner there in 1980. Williams was indeed “fine dining” and most residents of the
northern Pikes Peak region were sad when it shut down. That
closing happened at the end of 1984 when the Colorado
National Bank Exchange ended up as the owner.
For the several years the buildings and property bounced around
from investment groups to investment groups with all facilities
deteriorating more and more as the months went by. The
swimming pool was now in very poor condition and had a chain
link fence with barb wire surrounding it. All exterior windows
of the clubhouse were boarded up. The roof leaked and the
eaves were rotting.
The owner in 1990 was a Mr. Dean C. Rawson. Rawson struck a deal with the Woodland Park Community Church and traded the old Country Club plus its 5.4 acres for the church’s 1.1 acres and the church buildings at Henrietta and Park street in Woodland Park. This happened on May 18, 1993.
THE END
The final chapter of the
Paint Pony Country Club
took place on Saturday
morning, March 12, 1994.
That was when the
Northeast Teller County
Fire Protection District
conducted an exercise
there and burned the
building to the ground.
In October of 1994, the
now cleaned up and vacant
church grounds allowed a
full blown circus to set up
and conduct business. That
coming spring, March 18
and 19 of 1995, the
construction of their new
church had been
completed and the
dedication took place.
The Woodland Park
Community Church is now
standing on what was Dar
Elder’s dream.
I only spoke to Dar Elder
one time. That was when I
was 15 years old and he
caught myself and fellow
Kelley Road resident Ann
Konik galloping our
horses across the golf
course. He wasn’t pleased
with us at all and after the
butt chewing we received,
we never did it again.
Although well respected by some, but not so much by others,
most everyone in Woodland Park knew of or had an opinion of
Dar.
James Darwin Elder, Paint Pony Country Club and Subdivision
founder, died on June 6, 1991 in Weslaco, Texas, at the age of
83.
Trulie Vivian Elder died on March 24, 2003, also in Weslaco,
Texas, at the age of 94.
Dar Elder’s visions had a huge impact on Woodland Park.
Today, the golf course and country club show no signs of ever
existing. The church is located where the country club was
situated and the entire golf course is now filled with homes and
apartments.
Bibliography
• Bureau of Land Management, Land Records.
• Colorado Springs Gazette.
• Colorado Springs Gazette-Telegraph.
• Cripple Creek Gold Rush.
• Cripple Creek Times-Record.
• Google Maps.
• Penrose Library
• Shoemaker, Candy; personal interview with Steve Plutt, October 14, 2024.
• Teller County Courthouse, Assessors Office.
• Teller County Courthouse, Clerk & Recorders Office.
• The Monitor, McAllen, Texas.
• Ute Pass Courier.
• Ute Pass Echo.
• Woodland Park Community Church, “Our First 100 years”, 2021.
• Woodland Park View.
1 First written in 2020, revision 1 on July 23, 2022, revision 2 completed on October 15, 2024.
2 Woodland Park View, April 20, 1951, 1:1.
3 As per the Original June 20, 1877 Surveyor General’s office survey map.
4 The Internment Register of Evergreen Cemetery (p57) notes that Anthony died as a result of a wound received while serving
with the 6th Regiment, Michigan Cavalry.
5 By this time Kate Eiswerth owned the ranch. Kate was the widowed wife of Edwin Eiswerth. Edwin was the youngest of
Anthony and Sarah’s two sons.
6 Camp WaNaKa was a girls camp just 2 1⁄2 miles north of downtown Woodland Park on the Deckers Highway. Its 250 acres
were situated immediately adjacent to the Paint Pony Ranch development. Camp WaNaKa was built and operated by Mr. &
Mrs. Bernard English of Ft. Worth, Texas although Mr. English did not participate in any part of the camp what so ever.
7 Cripple Creek Gold Rush, July 15, 1955 1:3.
8 Woodland Park View, April 20, 1951, 1:1.
9 Cripple Creek Times-Record, April 20, 1951, 1:3.
10 Woodland Park Town Council Minutes, April 3, 1951, page 240, first paragraph.
11 Cripple Creek Times-Record, July 20, 1951, 4:1.
12 Then located in the former IOOF building two doors west of West Street on Midland Ave., Woodland Park purchased the
building in 1939.
13 Colorado Springs Gazette-Telegraph, June 18, 1960, 9:2.
14 Ute Pass Courier, August 19, 1976, 1:1.
15 Ute Pass Courier, August 5, 1976, 10:1.
16 Ute Pass Courier, September 2, 1976, 1:2.
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