Steamboat Pilot & Today

With his grandsons marking the sixth generation living in Steamboat Springs, Larry Belton's family witnessed much of the area's history.

As a member of a longtime family, Belton said, "I don't know if I would say it's my responsibility to tell about the past, but I enjoy doing it."

On Friday, Belton will share the story of his family as part of the Tread of Pioneers Museum's Brown Bag Lunch Lecture Series. He plans to talk about his family's homestead in the Elk River Valley in the late 1800s.

"I don't know why they came," he said, "but I know why they stayed. They stayed for the same reason we all do, because this is a beautiful valley."

Belton will share stories about his family and what it was like to grow up in Steamboat before the days of the ski resort on Mount Werner.

"There was just Howelsen Hill back then," he said.

But anyone who knows the Belton family will want to hear about Larry's father, Ralph Belton. Ralph was a notorious character in the Yampa Valley. He ranched his whole life, but after his children were out of the house, he started driving the school bus.

"He got along really well with the kids," Larry Belton said. "He had a lot of wit and liked to give people a hard time.

"He was very well thought of, so I'll tell some of his stories."

Belton said Friday's lecture will be "a pretty low-key talk," he said. "I'll talk about the growth that has happened in my generation and the generation before me. I'll talk about what it's like to see all those condos built on the pastures where you used to graze and where you used to put your hay up."

-- To reach Autumn Phillips call 871-4210

or e-mail aphillips@steamboatpilot.com