The Colorado Folklife Project was sponsored by the American Folklife Center, Library of Congress, working with John D. Farr, representative of the Rocky Mountain Continental Divide Foundation, Frisco, Colorado, to assist in developing plans for an outdoor museum and educational center. The project was led by Howard W. Marshall for the American Folklife Center from August 18-30, 1980. Intended in part to demonstrate folklife field methods, the project team included interns Elke Dettmer and Barbara Orbach. Ron Emrich served as a historic preservation researcher and consultant.

The collection consists of field recordings, photographs, drawings, and field notes that document aspects of local history, traditional ranch life, vernacular architecture and other forms of material culture in the lower Blue River Valley in Summit and Grand Counties, Colorado. Ranches operated by the Knorr, McKee, and Lund families are featured. Additional documentation was created in Breckenridge, Dillon, Kremmling, Hot Sulphur Springs, Colorado, and at the Holzwarth homestead in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado.

This online presentation includes the majority of the sound recordings and photographs in this collection. Selected manuscripts include those materials created by the fieldworkers, such as audio and photo logs, field notes, and final reports. The remainder of the collection is available in the Folklife Reading Room at the Library of Congress.

The mission of the Library of Congress is to make its resources available and useful to the Congress and the American people. Through its website, the Library offers broad public access to a wide range of information, including historical materials that may contain offensive language or negative stereotypes. Such materials must be viewed in the context of the relevant time period. The Library of Congress does not endorse the views expressed in such materials. The events documented here are the personal recollections and perspectives of participating individuals; they are recordings of people's own stories and not necessarily the truth.