Long before the name Cuchara appeared on maps or postcards, a determined man in a Ford truck painted his dreams across its sides and set out to sell a mountain. People often say Cuchara Camps was the catalyst that put the valley on the map, but that gives too much credit to the place and not enough to the man behind it. It was George Mayes’s imagination and drive that transformed a lonely mountain ranch into a thriving community. His influence continues to shape Cuchara in at least five lasting ways.
From Ranch to Resort
George Mayes created an entire resort town from a remote ranch. Unlike developers who build within growing cities or existing resorts, he started from scratch. In 1908, he purchased an isolated ranch near La Veta, Colorado, and singlehandedly envisioned, built, and promoted a mountain resort called, Cuchara Camps in a spot with no prior tourist infrastructure. This act essentially founded the modern Cuchara community. Through his planning, marketing, and construction of cabins, a store, café, and recreational features, he laid the physical and social foundation for what would become Cuchara Village. Many current homes and landmarks trace back to the cabins he built or inspired. (1)
Everyman’s Escape
When it came time to give his dream a name, George Mayes chose one that reflected both place and purpose. He named it, Cuchara Camps. But not everyone agreed. Miss Blanche Unfug, who had long vacationed in the area and knew its history well, tried to dissuade him. The word camp, she reminded him, carried the wrong connotation of coal camps dotted southern Colorado, and the name might suggest soot and hardship rather than spruce and sunlight. But Mayes wouldn’t budge. To him, “Cuchara Camps” captured exactly what he envisioned: a place where ordinary people of moderate means could enjoy the extraordinary beauty of the Rockies. (2) Even today, Cuchara stands apart as one of Colorado’s rare mountain communities where owning a cabin is still within reach. Mayes’ stubbornness that day would become symbolic of his ability to see possibility where others saw limits.
Marketing on the Move
Mayes turned a Ford Model TT into an advertising billboard. In an era before billboards, radio ads, LED signs, or tourism websites, he constructed a mobile house-car built on a Ford truck chassis, plastered with hand-painted signs and slogans promoting Cuchara Camps. He personally drove it across the Great Plains, handing out brochures and promoting the Colorado resort to strangers. This creative marketing strategy drew out-of-state visitors to the Cuchara Valley at a time when few had heard of it. His personal roadshows attracted families from Texas, Kansas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma, many of whom returned summer after summer and became multi-generational residents. (3)
The Creation of Community
Mayes also fostered a true sense of community in what was a seasonal village. He didn’t just build cabins, he curated a culture. He organized dances, sing-alongs, outdoor trout fries, and group hikes, often leading or funding the efforts himself. He promoted Cuchara as “a place of rest and natural enjoyment,” deliberately avoiding pretentious resort airs. This ethos shaped Cuchara’s identity as a wholesome, family-friendly, community-oriented summer village. The events he established encouraged social mixing and created a tradition of shared outdoor recreation that defines the town to this day.(4) Even now, it’s easy to imagine laughter spilling from the old dance pavilion and neighbors gathering by lantern light.
A Destined Destination
Who would have ever thought that a small village in Cuchara would have its own U.S. Post Office? George Mayes that’s who! In 1916, he successfully lobbied for and established a U.S. Post Office at Cuchara Camps, with his wife Nona serving as postmaster. Few summer resorts of that time had their own post office, especially in a rural mountain valley. The post office legitimized Cuchara as a real community rather than just a seasonal campsite. It facilitated communications for visitors and property owners, laid groundwork for local governance, and remains a historical marker of the town’s early development. (5)
A Welcoming Wilderness
It was Mayes who had a vision to transform the surrounding wilderness into accessible public space. In cooperation with the Forest Service and the Cuchara Camps Outing Club, he helped develop trails, roads, and fishing access in the nearby San Isabel National Forest. It is important to note that his vision was long before modern conservation and recreation planning existed. It was George Mayes’ Outing Club that rolled up its sleeves and tackled the ambitious goal of building a road sturdy enough for the new “autos” of the day to rumble all the way up to the scenic Blue Lake. (6) His efforts opened up areas like Blue Lake and Bear Lake for recreation, laying the groundwork for today’s trail systems and campgrounds. This vision made the Cuchara region not only livable, but a lasting destination for nature tourism. (7)
Preserving the Promise
These aspects reflect George Mayes’s rare blend of visionary leadership and his legacy lives on in the cabins, roads, gatherings, and very identity of Cuchara today. (8) The cabins may weather and the river may shift, but the spirit of George Mayes still stirs in the mountain air. It whispers through the aspens and hums in the laughter of neighbors gathered on the deck. His gift was not only the place he built, but the way he saw it: a wilderness worth sharing, a beauty meant to be lived in, not merely looked at. He dreamed of a village where solitude and fellowship could coexist, where the forest stayed wild yet welcoming. A century later, that dream is ours to tend. Each time we protect a view, greet a neighbor, or walk softly through the pines, we keep his vision alive and Cuchara continutes to be the destination he imagined.(9)
← Return to Table of ContentsFootnotes
Parenthetical numbers in the text (e.g., 5) correspond to the sequentially numbered citations listed below.
1. Huerfano County Historical Society, “Cuchara Camps and the Early Development of the Cuchara Valley”, accessed October 2025.
2. Hazel E. Cross and Josephine C. Jochem, River of Friendship (Chicago: Adams Press, 1970), 17
3. La Veta Advertiser archives (1910–1920), advertisements and articles on Cuchara Camps expansion.
4. Promotional pamphlet, “Cuchara Camps: A Place of Rest and Natural Enjoyment”, compiled by George A. Mayes, circa 1922 (Private Collection).
5. U.S. Postal Service Archives, Record of Post Offices Established, 1916, Cuchara Camps, CO, Nona Mayes listed as Postmaster.
6. Nancy Christofferson, “Regional History — One Wild Playground,” The World Journal, accessed October 27, 2025, https://worldjournalnewspaper.com/regional-history-one-wild-playground/.
7. Colorado State Forest Service, “Historical Collaboration Records: San Isabel National Forest Project Files” (1920s).
8. Huerfano County Cemetery Records, entry for George Alfred Mayes (1876–1930), https://www.kmitch.com/Huerfano/lavetacem.htm.
9. Author’s note: In preparing this article, the author used AI-assisted tools for research support, proofreading, fact-checking, and stylistic refinement. The narrative, analysis, and historical interpretations are the author’s own, and responsibility for accuracy rests solely with the author.
The blog’s research methodology statement is available at:
https://cabininthepinescuchara.blogspot.com/2019/03/methodology-sources-and-use-of-research.html
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