Poudre River Web Guide

The books, government documents, and theses and dissertations listed here focus on the history of the Cache la Poudre River, rather than science, policy, or recreation aspects. Find more print sources by searching your favorite library catalog, Google Scholar, or WorldCat.org.

Alexander, Benjamin. The Fort Collins Water Story: From Bucket to Basin: A Historical Perspective. Fort Collins: Dept. of Civil Engineering, Colorado State University, 1999.

Boyd, David. Greeley and the Union Colony of Colorado. Greeley: The Greeley Tribune Press, 1890.

This is the overarching history of Greeley and the Union Colony, but also contains informative pages on the Poudre River around Greeley.

Budge, David R., Richard F. Carrillo, and Kimberly D. Dugan. The Historical Archaeology of the 1882.3 Fort Collins Water Works (5lr749): The First Fort Collins Water Utility, Larimer County, Colorado. 2 vols. Fort Collins, Colo.: Poudre Landmarks Foundation, 2005.

Burris, Lucy. People of the Poudre: An Ethnohistory of the Cache la Poudre River National Heritage Area, AD 1500-1880. Colorado: Xplore Interpretive Design, Inc., 2006.

Case, Stanley R. The Poudre: A Photo History. Bellevue, CO, 1995.

Charlie, Wayne A. History of Flooding at Colorado State University (1902, 1938, 1951, 1992 and 1997). Fort Collins: Dept. of Civil Engineering, Colorado State University, 1998.

Clark, Francis. Early Settlers Along the Little South Fork of the Cache la Poudre. Fort Collins, CO: Clark Associates, 2001.

D'Audney, Laurie and Christy Dickinson. From Snowcap to Water Tap: A History of Fort Collins Water Utilities. Fort Collins, CO: City of Fort Collins Utilities, 2017.

Duncan, C.A. and Columbine Club of Timnath. Memories of Early Days in the Cache la Poudre Valley. Timnath, CO: Columbine Club of Timnath, 1925.

Evans, Howard Ensign and Mary Alice Evans. Cache la Poudre: The Natural History of a Rocky Mountain River. Niwot, CO: University Press of Colorado, 1991.

Fleming, Barbara Allbrandt and Malcolm McNeill. Poudre Canyon. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing, 2015.

Freeman, David M., David Hittle, and Edwin Shinn. Water and Public Policy Conflict in the Cache la River Basin. Fort Collins: Colorado State University, 1983.

Fry, Norman Walter. Cache la Poudre: The River as Seen from 1889. Colorado, 1955.

Gray, John S. The Poudre River. Denver: Gro-Pub Group, 1976.

Greeley-Poudre Irrigation District. Board of Directors. The Greeley-Poudre Irrigation District: The New Addition to the Cache La Poudre Valley : Irrigation Is King. Greeley, Colo.: Board of Directors of the Greeley-Poudre Irrigation District, 1910?

Hansen, James E. The Water Supply & Storage Company: A Century of Colorado Reclamation, 1891-1991. Fort Collins, Colo.: The Company, 1991.

Hobbs, Gregory J. Jr. and Michael Welsh. Confluence: The Story of Greeley Water. Greeley, Colo.: City of Greeley, 2020.

Kelly, William R. A Compilation and Comment on Fifty Years, 1870-1920: I. Engineers and Ditch Men Developed on the Cache la Poudre, 1870-1920. II. "Ditch Men", Water Hunters of That Fifty Years, Not Engineers. N.p., 1967.

Kelly, William R. The Laramie-Poudre Irrigation Company: The Poudre Valley Canal. The Greeley-Poudre Irrigation District. Greeley, Colo., 1964.

Kelly, William R. The New Cache la Poudre Irrigating Company: The Cache la Poudre Reservoir Company, Some History for the Past 88 Years. Greeley, Colo., 1958.

Laflin, Rose. Irrigation, Settlement, and Change on the Cache la Poudre River. Fort Collins, CO: Colorado Water Resources Research Institute, Colorado State University, 2005.

Miller, Del and Elsie Fisher. Timnath. Timnath, CO: The Columbine Club of Timnath, 1996.

Includes interesting sections discussing Poudre River floods and other ways the Poudre influenced the town of Timnath.

“Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Bliss: oral interview.” Fort Collins, CO: Fort Collins Public Library, 1975.

Norris, Jane E. Written in Water: The Life of Benjamin Harrison Eaton. Athens: Swallow Press/Ohio University Press, 1990.

Nortier, Molly and Michael Smith. "From Bucket to Basin," 100 Years of Water Service, Fort Collins Water Utilities 1882-1992. Fort Collins, CO: Utilities, 1982.

Poudre Heritage Alliance. Cache la Poudre River National Heritage Area Guidebook 2011. 2011.

Ray, Roy. Highlights in the History of Windsor Colorado. Colorado: Press of the Poudre Valley, 1940.

Discusses the importance of the Poudre River as it ran through the town of Windsor

Resource Assessment: Proposed Cache la Poudre River National Heritage Corridor. National Park Service, Rocky Mountain Regional Office, 1990.

Swanson, Evadene Burris. Fort Collins Yesterdays. Fort Collins, CO: George and Hildegarde Morgan, 1993.

Sundberg, Wayne C. Fort Collins' First Water Works Again a Work in Progress. Edited by Susan Hoskinson. Fort Collins, Colo.: Poudre Landmarks Foundation, 2004.

Trask, Jay. Irrigation and Water-related Structures in the Cache la Poudre Corridor. 2003.

Tyler, Daniel. Silver Fox of the Rockies: Delphus E. Carpenter and Western Water Compacts. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2003.

Tyler, Daniel. Last Water Hole in the West: the Colorado-Big Thompson Project and the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District. Niwot: University of Colorado Press, 1992.

Includes information on the Colorado-Big Thompson's connection with the Poudre River.

Walker, Phil. Modern Visions along the Poudre Valley. Fort Collins, CO: Walker Communications, 2000.

Walker, Phil. Visions Along the Poudre. Fort Collins, CO: Philip Walker Communications, 1995.

Watrous, Ansel. History of Larimer County Colorado. Johnstown, CO: The Old Army Press, 1972.

Includes sections on the naming of the Cache la Poudre River and flooding of the river.

Wockner, Gary and Laura Pritchett, eds. Pulse of the River: Colorado Writers Speak for the Endangered Cache la Poudre. Boulder, CO: Johnson Books, 2007.

Wohl, Ellen E. Virtual Rivers: Lessons from the Mountain Rivers of the Colorado Front Range. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2001.

Wylie, William. Riverwalk: Explorations along the Cache la Poudre River. Boulder, University of Colorado Press, 2000.

Nettleton, E.S. The Reservoir System of the Cache la Poudre Valley. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Experiment Stations, Bulletin no. 92. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1901.

Tait, C.E. Storage of Water on Cache la Poudre and Big Thompson Rivers. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Experiment Stations, Bulletin no. 134. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1903.

Adams, Henry R. "A History of the Greeley Water Works." M.A. thesis, Colorado State College of Education, 1936.

Andrews, James Warren. "James Henderson Andrews, 1882-1970: A Biography." M.A. thesis, University of Colorado, Denver, 2011.

Andrews engineered parts of the North Poudre Irrigation Company's system in the early 20th century.

Clemon, Evan. "River of Reconciliation: A History of the Cache la Poudre." M.A. thesis, University of Colorado at Denver, 2001.

Friedenberg, Joyce. "Irrigation and Water Conservation in the Poudre Basin." M.S. thesis, Colorado State University, 1993.

Kennedy, John A. "Cache la Poudre, Colorado's Natural Scenic River." Professional paper, Colorado State University, 1967.

Plimpton, Kathryn D. "Northern Colorado's Grand Ditch: An Archeo-Historic Study." B.A. thesis, University of Northern Colorado, 2000.

Sexton, Julie M. "Historical Changes in the Cache la Poudre River, Fort Collins, Colorado." M.S. thesis, Colorado State University, 1998.