If you haven’t heard of the colorful and influential character Albert “Al” George Birch of 20th-century Estes Park history, don’t miss this storytelling event featuring reenactor Kurtis Kelly today at 2 p.m. at the Estes Park Museum.
Kelly will portray The Denver Post reporter, photographer, city editor, and publicity manager who made Estes Park his part-time home away from home. The event is free for members of the Estes Park Museum Friends and Foundation. Memberships begin at $35 and can be purchased online or at the museum.
After the performance, a staff-guided tour of the ruins of Birch’s former log and stone home will take place at the Knoll-Willows Open Space, just above downtown Estes Park.
Built in 1905, the cabin was dubbed Jacob’s Ladder because of a steep stone stairway that led up the hill to the property. On Dec. 21, 1907, a fire believed to have started in the fireplace decimated the structure.
Birch was known for publicity stunts like the “Eve of Estes,” in which he sent a barefooted, leopard print-clad woman into Rocky Mountain National Park in 1917 to live for a week, ostensibly as a cavewoman.
After waving goodbye to a crowd of nearly 2,000 and walking into the forest, “Eve” – who was really Hazel Eighmy, a receptionist at a Denver photo studio – spent her time at the Fern Lake Lodge before a staged return 36 hours later, where she claimed she was starving and freezing. The headline on a story in the Denver Post read, “Naked, Unarmed and Alone, ‘Eve’ Goes Forth into Forest.”
The elaborate hoax kept Colorado readers engaged for more than a month, and newspapers across the country carried it, giving the town and Rocky Mountain National Park, which had been established just two years earlier, national attention.
A colorful character and one-hit sci-fi writer
Birch was born in 1883 in Washington, D.C. He came west after graduating high school in 1901 and first visited Estes Park in 1902. At 89, he retired from a 59-year career at the Denver Post in 1972.
In addition to his journalism career, Birch also wrote a two-part serialized science fiction horror story, “The Moon Terror,” which was predicated on racist anxiety about China, referred to as the Yellow Peril.
The story first appeared in the May and June 1923 editions of Weird Tales, a pulp magazine, and was later republished in 1927 in a hardcover anthology with three other stories. Birch’s tale can be read online at The Internet Archive.
The H.G. Wells and Fu Manchu-type story is set in the future of what was then the 1930s. Radio stations began to pick up messages about an impending “stupendous cataclysm.” Daily earthquakes began to occur, and during a meeting of world leaders, a message was received from Kwo-Sung-Tao, the “dictator of human destiny,” who wanted to “abolish all present governments and make myself emperor of the Earth.”
When Birch’s story ends, the world is saved from destruction.
“It’s really fun to pair that history with a tour of the actual site itself, so folks should enjoy that,” said Mikaela Fundaun, curator of interpretations at the Estes Park Museum.
“Kurtis does such a wonderful job researching and diving into the character. He brings the story to life, so it’s a second-hand account that makes the character feel closer.”
“People are surprised to discover what a fascinating cast of characters emerged from our small-town history,” said Kelly.
“Estes Park attracted big dreamers and big doers. There are mountaineers and innkeepers and women homesteaders. Living-history reenactments are a great way to bring those stories alive, along with reading local history books or a stroll through the Estes Park Museum gallery. For me, there’s been a treasure trove of stories to mine into narratives.”
Over the course of 20 years, Kelly has portrayed historical figures from Abraham Lincoln to F.O. Stanley.
Following the storytelling event at the museum, a guided tour of the ruins will start at 3:30 p.m. near the Enos Mills statue in Bond Park. Guests can explore the ruins during the staff-led tour, which will describe the fire that destroyed the bungalow and the development of Estes Park.
Museum staff recommend visitors wear good walking shoes and sun protection, and bring along a water bottle.
Click here for information regarding paid parking. Free parking is also available along MacGregor Avenue and at the parking structure near the Estes Park Visitor Center.
Museum fundraising
The Estes Park Museum is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization recognized by the IRS. This week, the museum announced that its Friends and Foundation raised $14,555 from 39 donors in its 2025 Match Campaign. One private donor contributed $7,000 to support the museum through this general fund campaign match.
Member benefits for the Estes Park Museum Friends and Foundation include:
- Invitation to the Annual Membership Appreciation Party
- Invitation for a staff-led tour to the permanent exhibit, Destination: Estes Park
- Access to member-only events, tours, exhibit openings, and programs
- Plus-one invitation for all member-only events
- Triannual Museum Pieces newsletter connecting members to the museum
- 20 percent off all merchandise and pre-order access to select items in the museum shop
- Early sign-up for ticketed public events
- Discounts or free admission to paid public tours and programs
- Access to pre-order select Museum Friends Press publications