05/26/2026
Tuesday Tidbits - Your tidbit of Hayden and West Routt County history on Tuesday morning.
Is it Dunkley or Dunckley?
Everyone knows that there were several “towns” outside of the town of Hayden in West Routt County. These would be places like Mount Harris and Bear River. But there is another aspect of the history of West Routt County that we need to mention. How many of the communities can you name? These would be places that might have had their own school, or even a post office, but with the exception of a few, they did not have stores or saloons, or anything of that nature. These communities were close knit families that stuck together through good and bad. They built schools, held church services, all night dances, and took note of what their neighbors might need before making the long trip to town – which sometimes took 2 or 3 days. Elkhead, might come to mind – how about Williams Fork, Twin Mesa or Dunkley.
Today, we will visit the small ranching community of Dunckley – or is it Dunkley? The community was about 15 miles south of Hayden in Dunckley Park and the surrounding areas. The entire community encompassed about 12-15 square miles. It is roughly outlined by County Roads 37, (A,B,D), County Road 29 (the oldest in the county), Fish Creek on the West and Willow Creek on the South. However this is a very rough outline because there were homesteads and families on the outside of these boundaries that were very much a part of the Dunckley community. When locating it on the map, Dunckley is most often shown where the post office was located the longest – at the home of Marion Yoast – at the “top” of Dunckley Park
But let’s go back to the beginning…. brothers, John and Richard Dunckley (of Kansas) came to the area on a hunting trip in July 1887. John loved the area so much he filed on a homestead that would eventually become the Robert Dunckley ranch. The brothers were working in the Breckenridge area with a contract to cut and haul railroad ties for the Colorado Midland Railroad which was building a line from Colorado Springs to Glenwood Springs through South Park. Their brothers, Robert, George, Walt and Tom were also working timber in the Breckenridge/Dillon area. Although originally known as William’s Park, the area quickly became known more widely as Dunckley Park as the Dunckleys established ranches in the area.
The DUNKLEY Post office was open from 1892 to 1942. The filing for the post office was originally made under the name “Argo” after John Argo, one of the early settlers in the area and the first postmaster, but since there was already an Argo post office in Colorado, the name was rejected. At this time, the mail came from Steamboat to Eddy (near current day “Creek Ranch”) three times a week, and residents would go there for their mail. Since the Dunckleys were the predominant family in the area the post office filing was resubmitted using the Dunckley name and accepted, although the name was misspelled (dropping the ‘c’) and thus the beginning of the spelling issues. Residents of the area didn’t even know which way to spell it! Prior to 1914, there were 3 postmasters, John Argo, Jacob Rider and George Dunckley.
William and Mary Yoast arrived in 1889 and settled in the park. Starting in 1914 the post office found it’s permanent home at the William Yoast homestead. Postmasters were members of William Yoast’s families (sons or daughters-in-laws) until the post office was disbanded in 1942 – sons John and James Marion, along with daughters-in-law, Sylvia (Fred) and Maggie (John) were all postmasters at one time or another. The mail still came from Steamboat until around 1923 when George Dunckley and other ranchers pushed for a rural route out of Hayden that would reach 110 families. This route came from Hayden, through Dunckley, down the Willow Creek Canyon out Williams Fork and clear to Pyramid!
The Dunckley school District #14 was established in 1889 with the first school being built near the George Dunckley homestead (currently Coyote Creek Ranch) – near the intersection of CR 37 & 37D. As with all rural schoolhouses, the building was the center of the community and used for meetings, dances and even church gatherings. By 1913, the center of the community had changed, and a new school was built on land donated by Marion Yoast in what is known as “Yoast Gulch”. A third school was built in 1941 near the Kagie ranch but was closed in 1944. Dwindling populations and better roads and transportation saw the district being dissolved and annexed into the Hayden District #2 in 1955. All three school buildings were sold and moved to nearby ranches for use as shops, chicken houses and storage. All three buildings are still standing. It should also be noted that for a very brief time, (approx. 1926 & 1927), a school was held near the Weber Mine on Fish creek to accommodate two families with young children.
While many of the homesteads are still standing, what was once a large community of many families, only has three families that are permanent, year-round, residents of Dunckley/Dunkley park area. One other family are summer residents, and there are two places that have “occasional” residents.
We will visit other West Routt communities in future Tuesday Tidbits.
Stay tuned for our next Tuesday Tidbit.
Visit the Hayden Heritage Museum at 300 W. Pearl Street in the Old Depot
P.O. Box 543, Hayden Co 81639
(970)276-4380
[email protected]
https://www.haydenheritagecenter.org/
We’d love to hear your memories and Feedback on our Tuesday Tidbits! Have an idea for a Tuesday Tidbit… or want to hear more about something… don’t hesitate to let us know by commenting below or emailing us!
