This collection is composed of various materials related to Anna Wolfrom's life and business the Wigwam Tea Room. It includes photographs of Wolfrom, her 1904-1905 diary, photographs of the Wigwam on Wind River Trail, the buildings' original signage, newspaper clippings, and two plays written by Wolfrom during the first half of the 20th century. Wolfrom opened the Wigwam Tea Room in the early 1900s, when Estes Park was fast becoming a popular mountain town in the United States, and continued to manage the establishment till her death in 1950.
Many single women sought independence in the American West. A Kansas City, Missouri school teacher, Wolfrom first filed 160 acres along Aspen Brook in 1907. She quickly erected a cabin, opened the Wigwam Tea Room, and seven years later received the patent for her land claim. The success of the Wigwam, eventually allowed Anna to acquire six other businesses in the area. The materials in this collection allow for greater illumination into the growth of Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park as a popular tourist destination, and places Wolfrom as a central figure in this narrative.
These artifacts document the life of Anna Wolfrom, Estes Park's first single female homesteader and a successful business woman. In 1914, Wolfrom opened the Wigwam Tea room along the popular Wind River Trail. Hikers who stopped at the Wigwam received refreshments, rested, and purchased Native American souvenirs. By the summer of 1920, the Wigwam received nearly 200 visitors a day and attracted the attention of several Western and Midwestern newspapers. These materials are invaluable because they capture the pioneering spirit of a female homesteader in the West, as well as Wolfrom’s entrepreneurial success in an era before women could vote.
Estes Park Museum
200 4th St
Estes Park, CO 80517
United States