Greg Morrill
Earl Eaton was born Dec. 10, 1922, in Eagle, Colo. Like most families in the Eagle River Valley, the Eatons scratched out a living through farming, ranching and logging. In the early 1900s, the valley was actually one of the largest growers of lettuce in the United States.
Earl began skiing as a child after his father made him skis. By 7 years old, Earl was already skiing what now is Beaver Creek. He grew up hunting, hiking and skiing the nearby mountains.
In 1940, Earl went to work for the Civilian Conservation Corps on some of the nearby projects they tackled. Shortly after he was drafted into the U.S. Army, where he served in the Army engineers. Despite being a skier he was not part of the 10th Mountain Division. Between the CCC and the Army, Earl learned a lot about heavy construction.
Opening ceremonies for Beaver Creek were held on Dec. 15, 1980. From left to right: Brain Rapp, president of Beaver Creek Resort Company; Harry Bass, chairman of Vail Associates; unidentified Forest Service representative; Jack Marshall, president of Vail Associates; then-governor Dick Lamm; former U.S. president Gerald Ford. (Vail Resorts
Special to the Daily)
Editor’s Note: The Vail Daily’s Tricia Swenson has compiled this information from talks with longtime locals, her own experience as a Beaver Creek Children’s Ski and Snowboard School instructor and from books from the Avon Public Library.
The first known inhabitants of the Beaver Creek Valley were primarily the Utes as well as hunting parties from the Cheyenne and Arapahoe tribes. The Utes were called “Blue Sky People” by other tribes. They called the peaks that surrounded them “The Shining Mountains.”