This blog was written by Pamela Williams, a board member and co-founder of Hartman Castle Preservation Corporation.
My last performance was a 5th-grade 4-H talent show, which, admittedly, didn’t go all that well. Now I was asked to participate in a production titled Crackpots, Crackshots & A Cannibal, a reader’s theater play written and directed by Mike Callihan. This production is based on real-life individuals from early Gunnison, focusing on Doc Shore’s time as Gunnison’s third sheriff.
Like Alonzo Hartman, Doc Shores wrote extensive memoirs. Thanks to family members, including a Hartman, the writings were preserved. Author Wilson Rockwell was selected to organize and edit Doc’s autobiography. Only a limited period of Doc’s life was turned into a book titled ‘Memories of a Lawman.’ Alonzo Hartman is one of the first individuals mentioned in that book.
Despite my unimpressive performance resume, I was chosen to portray Agnes Shores, Doc Shores’ wife. Even though I knew of Agnes, I didn’t know much about her. What a fantastic woman–another one. Agnes was a poet and loved to take her friends fishing. She, like her friend Annie Hartman, was an artist, fundraiser, charity-minded and a writer. Both women suffered from debilitating arthritis yet were powerhouses in the community. These two, as part of a group of civic-minded women, accomplished remarkable work in the early town and county. The Shores and Hartmans were part of the early foundation of the city of Gunnison, with their activities and stories tightly interwoven. They, along with others, helped to form a collaborative group of citizens who worked to promote Gunnison’s successes.
Hartman History meets the Art Center
The play and practice sessions were held in the newly renovated Gunnison Art Center. This building started as the Denver and Rio Grande freight offices on the main floor with the European Hotel on the second floor. When we began working on the Hartman Castle project, I became familiar with the story of the Art Center, its builders, and its history.
Stone masons, the Zugelders, were skilled stone cutters and masons in early Gunnison. Their work includes the Art Center, numerous houses, including the Hartman ‘town’ home on Wisconsin Street and the Hartman Castle. One of their iconic commercial buildings was Gunnison Gas and Water. Sadly, this building has recently been demolished. The Denver and Rio Grande passenger depot, located at the La Veta Hotel and attributed to Zugelders, is also gone.
Unlike Hartman Castle, the Art Center has undergone many transformations. Little of its original interior remains, and nothing indicates its origins. However, whenever I park on the north side of the Art Center, I see Alonzo’s post office and visualize the early community’s comings and goings to the train offices. Alonzo built his post office in the same year as the depot. Having read so much of Gunnison’s history, I knew how pivotal this building has been to the community. One can feel the presence of generations past and present in this space.
Standing backstage, I noticed similarities to the Castle’s foundation on the exposed back wall of the Art Center. The masons’ craftsmanship had improved over the ten years between the construction of these two buildings. The Castle’s foundation is much tidier, with a more organized stacking of stones. Was this Annie’s artistic eye at work? Seeing the Art Center’s basement, where more of the stonework will be exposed, will be a delight. No doubt, there are even more similarities.
Preserving Gunnison History
In both the book and the play, Doc witnesses a random shooting in which a man walking down his street is shot and seriously injured. Although he wasn’t a lawman then, Doc chased after the criminals. The current sheriff and a posse soon joined him. Even though Doc had a smaller and slower horse than the other men, the sheriff’s posse did not take the lead. Instead, they let Doc continue to take the front position. Doc became sheriff because he felt someone had to provide law and order to the newly formed town. It was a job that needed to be done, and he did it. Doc went on to be one of the best lawmen in the West.
Like Doc, we at Hartman Castle Preservation Corporation are stepping up to tackle an important task. Like Annie and Agnes, we are collaborating for our community. Similar to the Gunnison Council for the Arts, an all-volunteer organization that began with a small group of individuals meeting in the back room of a local restaurant, we share a vision and passion for this project. They initiated their efforts to acquire this building in 1988 by leasing it from the First National Bank, ironically the bank that Alonzo Hartman helped to establish. The Gunnison Arts Center, with the support of community members, local government collaboration, foundations, and donors, purchased the historic building in 1992.
We also understand that preserving the Castle will enhance our community, just like preserving the Art Center. That building could have ended up like the La Veta Hotel and the Gunnison Gas and Water Works—existing only in our memories. Instead, it has provided countless hours of engagement, community, and personal enrichment. What a loss—another loss—we would have had if this building had not been saved.
Like Doc Shores, we may not have the fastest pony, but we have the heart.
If you too, have the heart for Hartman Castle and the history it holds for the Gunnison community, will you consider making a donation to support our preservation efforts?
Yes, I’ll donate today!