Left Hand Valley Courier - All Local, All The Time

In the 1950's, the area we now know as Gunbarrel Estates looked much like it did the century before. You'd see tractors instead of horse-drawn plows, of course, but the land was farmland, known locally as Carton Estate. The nearest neighbors were deer, prairie dogs and burrowing owls-all of which must have felt a world away from the growing city of Boulder.

Around this time, an Illinois native...