A color episode of Bill Burrud’s “Vagabond” series from the mid 1950’s, focusing on famous natural landmarks and tourist attractions in the state of Colorado.
Waves breaking on a sandy shore with title card overlay (0:30). Montage of Colorado’s natural wonders and local color (0:44). Our host introduces himself in a library setting (1:20). He moves to an angular map of Colorado (1:37). Views of a mining town in Central City and the ghost town of Nevadaville (2:05). Surveying the Patch mine aka the “Old Glory Hole” (2:29). Two older men in hats laugh, one baring imperfect teeth (2:55). Downtown Central City’s shops and patrons (3:22). A City Marshal shows his badge (3:55). The Central City Opera House (4:30). The Williams Stables and proprietor, intercut with the Mine’s Hotel (4:56). A cemetery along a hillside (5:35). The camera tilts down from Big Thompson Canyon to a stream below (5:55). Fishermen wading in a river, casting downstream, showing off a line of fish (6:19). Rushing rapids (6:37). Peaks of Rocky Mountain National Park with Lake Estes rippling in the foreground (7:08). A 1956 Pontiac Star Chief Convertible Coupe drives past a sign: “Town of Estes Park.” (7:28). Motels and restaurants on the main drag (7:34). A red gondola lift at Estes Park Aerial Tramway (7:47). Men and women look out from an observation platform. A woman uses Tower Optical coin-operated binoculars (8:25). A man in Native American dress beats a drum while others dance and twirl a lasso. They are from the Jewish National Home of Asthmatic Children in Denver (8:46). Our host returns (9:39). The car pulls into Harmony Guest Ranch (10:02), this motel was was established by Mr. and Mrs. Scott W. Hayes in 1953 or 1954 in Estes Park, Larimer County, Colorado. A little girl stares at a taxidermied leopard. It stares back with a stuffed monkey, lion, elephant, and antelope (10:28). A cafe watched over by a posed polar bear taxidermy (10:59). A waiter in a bow tie feeds a hummingbird nectar (11:15). An entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park (11:49). A U.S. flag flies over wide open spaces (12:13). Jay-scrub birds. A man winds a Bell & Howell Filmo 16mm movie film camera (12:50). Deer and a woodchuck (13:12). The Rockies in all their glory (13:36). A sign: “Be Careful With Fire” and burned trees (13:57). Feeding the wildlife. A chipmunk and a woodchuck eat peanuts (14:55). Sweeping vistas from a Rocky Mountain scenic lookout (15:30). Kids and adults have a snowball fight (16:20). Signs and views: “Longs Peak” and “Tundra Curves” (17:04). Glaciers at Iceberg Lake (17:54). Milner Pass and the Continental Divide with a park ranger (18:35). A motorboat explores Grand Lake (20:33). Horses are ridden in the streets (21:04). Mid-50’s cars park outside cafes and drugstores (21:12). A horseback rider in a sombrero swings a lasso (21:13). Children and rodeo clowns, cowboys. A calf is roped and wrestled (21:21). Young boys at the rodeo (23:00). Bathers sun themselves at a lakefront lodge, the Grand Lake Yacht Club (23:23). A modern yacht cruises the lake as onlookers wave (24:15). Our host concludes (24:42). End credits (25:22).
Bill Burrud described his films as “traventures” and was known both as an actor and for producing a series, “The Open Road,” for KTTV in Los Angeles. He founded Bill Burrud Productions in 1954 and created this film and others, which aired on television in syndication. The series of pioneering programs that he produced included True Adventure, Vagabond, Wanderlust, Animal World, Islands in the Sun, Wonderful World of Women, Safari to Adventure, Treasure, and Natural Wonders.
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