North America has been home to Indigenous peoples since time immemorial. Numerous different people have called this land home over thousands of years. The Arapaho (or Hinono’ei), Cheyenne (or Tsistsistas), and Ute (or Nuche) peoples are some of the most recent traditional residents of the land now called Denver, Colorado.

The Cherokee Trail route was established by a wagon train of some Cherokee and some white travellers, all headed out of Oklahoma toward California, following an older trail created by Indigenous peoples. Cherokee peoples have their ancestral homelands in what is now the southeastern United States, but had been forcibly removed to Oklahoma through the Indian Removal Act of 1830.

Brothers Samuel and Jonas Brantner built the two-story log cabin that would become the Four Mile House, offering services to travelers along the Cherokee Trail. The house was built in direct violation of the Horse Creek Treaty, which said white colonizers could pass through the region but should not stop to build.

Businesswoman Mary Cawker purchased the Four Mile House from the Brantner Brothers and opened an inn for travelers along the Cherokee Trail. In the 1800s, it was rare for a single woman to own and operate her own business. As a trading post with hot meals served twice a day and dances on the second floor, it becomes a hub for local activity.

The Butterfield Stage Company began scheduled service along Cherry Creek, and Cawker’s house became the last “mile stop” along the route to Denver. There were originally six different mile houses along Cherry Creek! Only the Four Mile House and the Seventeen Mile House still stand. The Seventeen Mile House Farm Park is open to the public in Centennial, CO.

Four days of floods in May inundated farmland around Denver and left the Four Mile House stranded – an island in the floodplains. When the floodwaters receded, Mary Cawker sold the house and the surrounding 100+ acres to Millie and Levi Booth for $800.

Levi Booth built the Bee House as a dwelling for the family and farmhands. The house was later converted into the center of operations for Millie’s beekeeping enterprise. Today, the Bee House is used as a one-room prairie schoolhouse for children on field trips.

The Booths continued to operate a successful stagecoach stop and prosperous farm. Levi Booth created an irrigation system by digging what he called the First Attempt Ditch from the Cherry Creek.

The completion of the first railroad between Denver and Cheyenne, Wyoming, abruptly ended regular stagecoach service along the Cherry Creek route. The Booths were forced to pivot and turn their efforts toward farming.

Levi Booth expanded his irrigation system with the Success Ditch, which became the farm’s main water supply and provided enough irrigation to plant an apple orchard.

The Booths built a fashionable brick addition to the original clapboard-sided log cabin that had served as the core of their home. Over time, they acquired more than 600 acres.

In 1912, Levi Booth (1829-1912) passed away at the Four Mile House. Millie Booth assumed ownership of the house. In 1926, Millie Booth (c. 1837-1926) passed away, leaving her considerable estate of 400 acres, water rights, and cultivated farmland to her daughter and son-in-law, Grace and Daniel Working.

The Four Mile House and other significant structures on the site, including the Bee House, were recorded in the Historic American Buildings Survey.

The original structure of the Bee House, a testament to the strength and persistence of female entrepreneurs, was destroyed in a fire.

Four Mile House received Historical Monument Designation from The Daughters of the American Revolution Peace Pipe Chapter, now named the Ellis Meredith Chapter.

Two years after Grace Booth Working’s husband, Daniel, passed away, Grace sold the Four Mile House and some surrounding land to Glen and Pearl Boulton, who lived in the house until 1963. During these two decades, the property, which had been on the outskirts of Denver, “was surrounded by development as Denver spread southeast and Glendale became an enclave of businesses and bars.”

Four Mile House was designated as a Denver Landmark on December 27th.

The Four Mile House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 3rd, among the first five properties chosen in the Denver area.

The City and County of Denver acquired the Four Mile House and the surrounding property. Preservation efforts began.

Archaeological investigations began and revealed the foundations of several lost buildings, including the Bee House, which burned down nearly 40 years prior.

The nonprofit Four Mile Historic Park Inc. was formed to care for the property and develop the museum.

Four Mile Historic Park was dedicated to the citizens of Denver as a public park, and the museum opened.

Architect Edward D. White Jr. reconstructed the Bee House based on family photos and archaeological evidence collected from the site.

Denver’s Mayor Federico Peña signed a citation recognizing the Founding Members of Denver’s Four Mile Historic Park for “their vision and foresight that preserved this unique place in the history and development of Denver.”

The Colorado Historical Society awarded Four Mile Historic Park the Josephine H Miles History Award for the advancement of Colorado history. The same year, Four Mile received an award for merit for outstanding community contributions from the El Pomar Foundation.

Four Mile Historic Park received the Fred A Rosenstock Award for outstanding achievements in and contributions to Rocky Mountain history from the Denver Posse of Westerners.

Mayor John Hickenlooper declared Four Mile Historic Park one of 12 partners in the Five By Five Program, providing Denver Head Start and Early Head Start children and their families with year-round access and educational opportunities at no cost.

Four Mile Historic Park became a Denver Story Trek partner in collaboration with Historic Denver’s Molly Brown House Museum, Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art, Black American West Museum & Heritage Center, and Byers-Evans House Museum – bringing unity to Denver art and culture organizations through history.

The Park received the Greater Glendale Chamber of Commerce Nonprofit of the Year Award for 2015.

The Four Mile House celebrated 160 years. Four Mile Historic Park honored the first Executive Director and Education Director, Charlie & Karin Woolley, at the annual Rendezvous Gala.