A Tale of Two Neighbors

A Tale of Two Neighbors. Homesteaders Forging Different Paths. The Adeline Hornbek Homestead in front of you was built in 1878. The finely crafted homestead is one of the outstanding cultural resources of Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. Missing from your view is the home of Charlotte Hill, which was located just south of here. These two resourceful neighbors shared the hardships of this landscape but their stories are remarkably different. , Adeline Hornbek was not a typical homesteader. In the 1870s, after the loss of two husbands and two homes, this single mother of four moved her family to the Florissant valley. At a time when women had few opportunities to own property, she successfully filed a claim to homestead 160 acres. , Within seven years, Adeline had built a sizable house, nine outbuildings, and had acquired $4,000 worth of livestock. On top of the daily work of homestead chores and raising children, she added a job at the general store in the town of Florissant. , Charlotte and Adam Hill settled just south of here in 1874, but the exact location of their home is unconfirmed. A recent archeological survey located the home's probable foundation where scattered artifacts show evidence of Charlotte's interest in geology. Her amateur fossil collection jumpstarted the field work of the first visiting scientists. When they examined her collection they recognized the importance these deposits would make in understanding the fossil record. Even after selling the property, Charlotte continued to visit and collect at the site during the 1920s. , Caption: The Hills outlived several of their children. This posed photograph shows the Hills along with portraits of their surviving children. The empty chairs in the mirror likely represent the children who had passed away.