“Kate,” the author of this postcard postmarked August 21, 1930, describes the Paramount as “the nicest tourist camp imaginable.” It appears she put an “X” on the cabin in which she and her son stayed. This camp, which occupied four large lots, was built in 1930 by R.D. Layton at a cost of approximately $30,000. Layton had already operated a cottage camp in Fort Collins.
The camp was located at 2333 8th Avenue on the west side of the street. If you enter that address into Google Maps at https://www.google.com/maps, you’ll see that a Wendy’s restaurant and drive-through now occupy that spot.
The 1920’s and ‘30’s saw America’s romance with the automobile heating up, and cottage camps were a popular destination for people who wanted to camp with greater comfort than tents could provide. These camps played up to the automobile owner by providing a car port right next to each cottage.
The Paramount camp comprised 16 cottages, a Conoco gas station and a store with a five-room apartment overhead for the proprietor. The cottages came with a living room, kitchen and bath, “completely equipped,” and, if desired, could be rented with bedding furnished.
Not all things were hunky dory in the good old days. At 5:00 a.m. on Monday, November 14, 1938, a gas explosion and fire in Cottage #13 (!) of the camp seriously burned the two occupants, a man and woman registered as “Mr. and Mrs. John James” of Midwest, Wyoming. The woman was the more seriously injured of the two. (Though it was initially thought that her burns could prove fatal, she did survive.) They escaped through a blown-out window and made their way north on foot to the Greeley hospital, which they reached at about 6:00 a.m. Following their arrival at the hospital, it was reported that their names were “Bill Jones” and “Mary Lewis” of Casper or Sunrise, Wyoming. The police regarded these names and place of residence as fictitious. The man reported that a third person, ostensibly “John James,” had stolen his car and valuables.
The assertion that a third man was involved collapsed when the man confessed to the following: His real name was Louis K. Pool, a resident of Greeley, married with six children, and residing on 11th Avenue in Greeley. Pool, about 55, a resident of Greeley for several years, told police he had worked as a representative for a machinery company. A few months earlier he had started his own oil supply company in Casper, Wyoming, and had intended to move his family there. He told police that on Saturday, November 12th, he was driving to Greeley from Casper when he picked up a female hitchhiker. She reportedly told Pool she recognized him as a man she had known in Montana about eight years earlier. They decided to buy lunch and rum in Cheyenne and arrived in Greeley Saturday night or in the wee hours of Sunday morning. They drove to the Paramount Cottage Camp. Fearing he would be recognized, Pool said he left it to the woman to register for the cottage and make a trip to buy groceries. At about 7:30 p.m. the following night (Sunday), Pool drove his car and parked it in front of his home. He left his money, about $45, his watch, a pen and pencil and a note to his wife on the front seat of his car. He then walked to the Paramount camp, and he and the woman visited late into the night. Pool said that the woman then turned off the gas for the heater and the range, and they laid on the two beds, fully dressed and with their overcoats on to stay warm. At about 5:00 a.m. the next morning, the woman reportedly turned on a lamp to see what time it was, and the place exploded.
Pool refused to name the woman, saying he would “rather have his tongue cut out than identify her.” He based his refusal on his high regard for her, adding that she had loaned him money in the past and had helped him out of a tight fix.
Left out of Pool’s story was the fact that the vents for the heater and the range had been stuffed with newspaper. Because Pool and the woman had each been alone at the cottage at some time during their stay, it’s possible one of them had stuffed the vents. When questioned, however, each said their respect for the other would preclude an attempt at murder. Pool’s wife, after reading the note Pool left her in his car, believed he was going to commit suicide. Perhaps it was a suicide pact or a murder-suicide gone haywire.
REFERENCES:
- Fort Collins Coloradan dated May 24, 2011 (www.newspapers.com )
- Greeley Daily Tribune dated May 13, 1930, June 26, 1930, June 2, 1931, June 29, 1937, November 14, 15 and 16, 1938 (www.newspapers.com )
