The first 10 include sculptures of Bill Cozens, the sheriff of Central City and later Fraser. His family owned a homestead that doubled as a stage stop and post office. The story goes that when the railroad planned to lay tracks through his meadow, Cozens sat on his front porch and shot out the surveyor’s stakes. Sure enough, the tracks were moved west, giving the ranch a wide berth on their way to Salt Lake City.
Another sculpture is of Dr. Susan Anderson, better known as Doc Susie. This tiny gutsy woman was one of the country’s earliest female physicians. She cared for the sick and injured of the Colorado mountain town in the early 1900’s. She often traveled by snowshoe through blinding snowstorms to treat lumberjacks, railroad men and women who needed emergency medical care. Her home still stands in Fraser.
A surprise sculpture was of Jeremiah Johnson. He was called “Liver Eater” by his peers. He waged a one man vendetta against the Crow for killing his wife and unborn child. His exploits are legendary. And here I thought he was just a figment of Robert Redford’s imagination. There are several other figures –all worth stopping and reading about.
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