Fred Barr

Fred Barr (1882-1940) ran a burro train business to Pikes Peak, but was known for his work blazing trails. He developed Barr Trail, built Barr Camp, and created other trails in the Pikes Peak area.

Barr was born in June 1882 in Arkansas. He was the oldest child born to William and Mary Wade Barr. His five siblings were girls. His family moved to Colorado when he was eleven. They lived in Colorado City (now Old Colorado City) in 1900 and from 1904 to 1925 operated their business and lived at what is now 32nd Street and West Colorado Avenue. William Barr died in 1922.

At a young age, Barr rode along on stagecoaches that stopped at his grandfather, Joel H. Wade's stagecoach stop. They drove through the mountains from Cheyenne Mountain to Cripple Creek. Wade had moved into Cheyenne Canyon in 1885. Barr and his father ran a burro train and carriage business on West Colorado Avenue in Colorado City. They guided tourists through Garden of the Gods and Manitou by 1900. Barr had a stand at the Colorado Springs and Interurban Railway station at Garden of the Gods. He supervised "fine teams and excellent drivers" and led one of the teams. Tourists could visit Glen Eyrie, Garden of the Gods, Williams Canyon, Cave of the Winds, and High Drive. In 1913, William Barr was injured and his arm amputated at the shoulder after a railway car ran into his carriage. A woman passenger had a significant head injury when the carriage had overturned. Father and son operated the burro business at least through 1916. During that time, competition at the Railway station stand could result in altercations with competitors, resulting in judgments and fines.

There was a transitional period during Fred Barr worked at the livery business and from 1911 he had a contract for a burro concession station from the top of the Manitou Incline. Barr built a trail to the summit of Pikes Peak and after 1908 they took passengers on burro rides to the peak on his trail. He had a cabin above the Manitou Incline and later guided people on rides from there to the summit. Eric Swap postulates that Barr likely took his customers along the Fremont Trail, built in 1871 during a survey for the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, but was not completed above the timberline at that time.

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