The first Fourth of July celebration in Steamboat Springs took place in 1876, 100 years after America declared independence. Colorado was not yet a state and only a few permanent settlers lived in or near Steamboat Springs. The town’s first non-native settlers, the Crawford family, gathered their few neighbors and the nearby Ute Native Americans to observe the holiday with a simple celebration. 

As July approached, the Crawfords received a gift of an American flag with 37 stars arranged in two circles around a large central star with a star in each corner. The family thought the flag could create goodwill with their new neighbors and they decided to have a flag raising. 

James Crawford carried the flag at the head of a small parade. When the Crawfords unfolded the flag, the Utes began to withdraw; they had likely only seen the American flag before at army forts and Indian agencies, therefore associating it with unhappy memories. Despite the language barrier, the Crawfords reassured the Utes that, in this case, the flag was a symbol of celebration and they remained, even helping raise the flag. Everyone danced and cheered when the flag finally flew from the top of the flagpole. 

The Crawfords kept that first flag for years after the 1876 celebration: “The flag flew its welcome there for many a year till it wore out. It was the first thing a traveler from any direction could see, and many were the joyous shouts up and down the trails as roving prospectors, trappers or home seekers sighted it,” wrote J.H. Crawford’s granddaughter Lulita Crawford Pritchett in Crawford Pioneer Tales. 

The Tread of Pioneers Museum carries on the spirit of these early Fourth of July traditions by hosting the Pioneer Day Block Party at the museum right after the July 4th parade. 

By Emily Eldridge, Tread of Pioneers Museum, www.TreadofPioneers.org