Hanging Lake Resort History

THE HISTORY OF HANGING LAKE RESORT
from 1945
Glover Odale "Dub" Danford
5 Jan 1900 - 11 Oct 1971
Wanda Aiiene Burchett Danford
20 Oct 1912 - 4 Nov 1964
Glover "Dub' Danford, 71. a Glenwood Springs resident for 23 years. died at 3:50 p.m. Monday October 11, 1971, in Valley View Hospital following an illness of three weeks.
Wanda was also a resident of Glenwood Springs those same 23 years, She passed away November 4, 1964, at age 52
Glover and Wanda were owner and operator of the Hanging Lake Resort for many years.
He was born January 5, 1900, at Thomas, Oklahoma, to William Collins and Edna Eleanor Moat Danford. He had 6 siblings:
Ira Leroy "Roy" Danford 1892-1940
lona Pearl Stuckey 1894-1951
Cleo Earl Danford Maupin 1895-1964
Glenn Danford 1901-1929
Oral Doss Danford 1904-1946
Carl Carisle Danford 1913-1958
Glover was married 3 times, two were long marriages, then a third was for a short time near the end of his life.
His first wife was Lee Melvin Bailey Joy. They were married November 4, 1926, in Enid, Oklahoma.
Lee was a divorcee, had first been married to Bernard William Joy on August 22, 1920, in Putnam, Oklahoma,
Lee had one child from her first marriage, daughter Joanne, born December 24, 1921. Joanne became stepdaughter to Glover as a 4 year old.
Glover and Lee did not have children but did raise Joanne, and records show Joanne began to use the last name Danford rather than Joy.
Glover was a farmer in Thomas, Oklahoma, in his early days. Then in 1939 he bought a cafe in Oklahoma City. It was renamed as the Dub-Lee-Jo Cafe, so the marriage was strong at that time. But Joanne went off to college, then was married at age 18, and her parents split up.
Glover and Lee divorced in September of 1942, after being married almost 16 years. His draft registration in 1942 lists his father William instead of his wife and he was again a farmer.
Glover's second wife was Wanda Allene Burchett. She was born October 20, 1912, in Decatur, Iowa, to Orville and Olive Mary Alice Burchett.
Wanda was educated in Iowa graduating in 1930 from Grand River High School.
She was living in Denver and working for United Airlines when she met Glover. They were married April 1, 1946 in Roswell, New Mexico.
They moved to Glenwood Springs in 1946 to operate the Hanging Lake Resort which they had purchased.
Dub and Wanda Danford operated the
Hanging Lake Resort from 1946 to 1963 (an alternate source says till 1968).
"The resort consisted of nine cabins, a liquor store, and a restaurant that served one of the best trout dinners in the area. The restaurant had a small inside pond
created by diverted water from Dead Horse Creek. The pond contained several rainbow trout.
Corrals kept horses used by visitors to explore the wonders of Glenwood Canyon. (There was also an owners home, a garage, and a trailer and cabin for employees) It was a place that offered a brief rest for the weary traveler, or a haven for the vacationer."
Jack Roberts moved to the Hanging lake
Resort in 1951, built his studio there, and worked as a wrangler and painter. The resort cafe provided a good place to display his paintings and tourists began buying his art. He would live at the resort until 1969 when he was displaced by I-70
The inside photo of Jack's studio shows exposed framing with insulation batts tackled between. The studio was at the east side of the resort just uphill from the horse barn and corrals. There is a colorized photo attached that could be Jack in front of the studio.
Dub must have welcomed the talented Jack to stay at the resort. Both Dub and Jack were from Oklahoma, were fairly recent arrivals to Colorado, and were fairly recently divorced. Jack had attended the same university as Dub's stepdaughter and at the same time.
It must have been a perfect place for Jack to settle, he could stay in a resort cabin while working for Dub and while building his studio.
Jack had moved to Grand Junction in 1947 seeking work on a ranch. He found that as a summer ditch rider. In the winter, he had worked on a train bridge crew out of Glenwood.
In a terrible tragedy, Glover's father William drowned at Hanging Lake in 1952 while on a visit.
Then another tragedy. They had one child together, son Dub, born October 17, 1953, but he unfortunately passed away within a few days in October. News clips suggest Wanda was with her very ill father in Iowa when it happened.
They sold their resort on September 1, 1963, and moved to a farm near New Castle, Colorado. Then Wanda died November 4, 1964, at the Valley View Hospital in Glenwood following a short illness.
Wanda was a member and junior past matron of the Eastern Star in Glenwood
Springs.
Glover married Frances Smith at Las Vegas, Nevada, January 4, 1966.
Glover was a member of the Masonic Lodge in Thomas, Oklahoma, and Eagles lodge in Glenwood Springs
Wanda's survivors included her husband,
G. 0. Danford; her mother, Mrs. Mary Alice Burchett, Grand River, Iowa; two
brothers, Wade and Wayne Burchett, both of Iowa; and a sister, Mrs. Wilda Bowles, also of Iowa.
Glover's survivors included his stepdaughter Joanne. His parents William and Edna preceded him in death. All his siblings also preceded him in death: Roy 1940, Iona 1951, Cleo 1964, Glenn 1929, Oral 1946, and Carl 1958.
Services for Wanda were held at 2:30 p.m., Saturday November 7, 1964, in the Masonic Temple in Glenwood Springs. There is no specific record for Glover.
Wanda was buried in the Rosebud Cemetery with the Rev. W. O. Richards, of the Episcopal Church, officiating. Erica Chapter No. 69 of the Eastern Star also conducted services. Glover was also buried in Rosebud.

 

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