Niwot Historical Society hosts lecture on ghost towns of the west

The Niwot Historical Society will present the second lecture of the 2018 series - Ghost Towns of the American West - on Wednesday, April 25, at the Left Hand Grange Hall. Award-winning writer-director, and self-proclaimed ghost town junkie, Ethan Knightchilde will regale on a topic which has enamored him since he was nine years old.

Even as a youngster, Knightchilde carried his camera everywhere. But it wasn’t until he was an adult that he combined his fascination with ghost towns and his photography skills. His first ghost town photo was taken in the Colorado town of Ashcroft, in 2002. What initially started as simply vacation footage, ultimately snowballed into a documentary titled Ghosts of the West, the End of the Bonanza Trail. The film, released in 2012, was shown to sold out audiences from the start.

In the mid 1800s through the early 1900s, when prospecting fever overtook many foolish and some very fortunate folks, thousands of towns sprung up in the new frontier of the west to support those risking everything to strike it rich. The glory days and the tough times that ensued still echo through what remains of many towns.

“Learning about these places, you can’t help but feel history,” Knightchilde said. “These people came, they had hopes, they had fears, they had dreams, they lived there and they died there. All of that is distilled into what remains.”

Knightchilde’s tens of thousands of miles of traveling to capture images and his extensive research on each town’s boom to bust history makes his telling of the tales riveting “edu-tainment.”

“I’m continually amazed at how some accounts of history do not fact check,” he said. “I love uncovering things in my research. The stories that I uncover are so fascinating.”

Knightchilde’s presentation will include clips from his popular movie, along with footage from his forthcoming film, Ghosts of the West, Stampede on the Bonanza Trail. Attendees will hear impressive true stories and remarkable tall tales from those fabled days, and they’ll learn about searches for legendary lost mines like the Lost Dutchman Gold Mine.

“I am so drawn to these places,” Knightchilde said, “It’s humbling to stand in the presence of that kind of history. I don’t do dramatizations in my films. I don’t jazz them up because the stories of these towns stand on their own.”

Doors for the lecture open at 6:30 p.m., for pre-lecture coffee, snacks, and conversation. The presentation begins at 7 p.m. Admission is free to Niwot Historical Society members and $5 for non-members. The hall is handicap accessible.

The Niwot Historical Society’s mission is to preserve, collect, and protect the history of Niwot and the surrounding area. Their most current project is raising funds to restore the historic Niwot Fire House Museum on 2nd Avenue. To join the Niwot Historical Society, which is a 501 (c)3 non- profit organization, an individual membership is $15 and families are $25. All donations are tax deductible. For additional information, please visit http://www.NiwotHistoricalSociety.org.