Enos mills biography

Enos never went to school, but he used libraries to teach himself different subjects. He was able to earn a promotion to engineer in the mine, even though many other engineers were college educated.

When Enos was twenty years old, there was a fire that destroyed the mine, and Enos lost his job. Enos decided to go traveling with the money he saved from his two jobs. 

Enos traveled throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. He even visited Alaska, which wasn't part of the United States yet.

Enos wanted to camp in the wilderness instead of visiting cities or tourist destinations. He liked to travel alone, and spent his time writing stories about his adventures in nature. 

Enos spent several weeks camping in California, and became friends with the famous conservationist John Muir. 

John Muir told Enos he could use his stories to teach people about the importance of nature. Enos decided to return to the Rocky Mountains and become a conservationist as well.  

"Definitive."
—The Bloomsbury Review

"[A] work both accessible and significant."
—Western Historical Quarterly

"[A] full, fair, and balanced account."
—Choice

"Drummond presents an indelible portrait of Mills, the man in love with the Rocky Mountains."
—Rocky Mountain News

Enos Mills (1870-1922) was the quintessential voice of the Rocky Mountains in the early decades of the twentieth century, and he achieved fame as a naturalist and nature writer, conservation pioneer, lecturer, and mountain adventurer. Enos Mills: Citizen of Nature is the first full-length examination of Mills and his work, an incisive account of a complex, controversial, and often difficult man who touched millions of lives in his time and whose legacy has great relevance today.

American naturalist and author (1870–1922)

Enos Abijah Mills (April 22, 1870 – September 21, 1922) was an American naturalist, author and homesteader. He was the main figure behind the creation of Rocky Mountain National Park.

He traveled throughout the Rocky Mountains for years, communing with animals rather than killing them for food or safety. He operated the Longs Peak House as a summer place of respite for writers, publicists, and other intelligentsia. It was considered the Roycroft of the Rocky Mountains. Mills was appointed government lecturer by President Theodore Roosevelt.

Enos Mills was inducted into the Colorado Business Hall of Fame by Junior Achievement and the Rocky Mountain and the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce in 2016.

Early life

Mills was born on a farm in Linn County, Kansas, about 20 miles (32 km) from Fort Scott, Kansas.^[a][b] Before his birth, his parents, Enos Mills Sr. and Ann Mills,^[3] left Indiana for the Gold Rush in Colorado. The Mills were unsuccessful gold miners, but they later s