Royal Gorge Regional Museum

Located in Cañon City, the Royal Gorge Regional Museum and History Center is a good place for those wanting to learn more about the history of the city and some of its most influential founders. It houses an impressive collection ranging from dinosaur bones to movie memorabilia. Admission is free and guided tours are offered of the collections as well as the Rudd Cabin located behind the museum.

The Deweese exhibit contains many of Dallas Deweese's most impressive trophies as one renowned for his big game hunting as well as his dinosaur fossil discoveries.  Painting and photographs by local artists are on display as well as an exhibit recalling the time many western movies were made in town. Behind the museum are two structures, one made of logs, the other stone -- both former residences of Anson and Harriet Rudd. The log cabin, built in 1860, served as their home until 1881 when they completed the stone house. At this time, visitors are given a tour of the cabin, but the stone house is in need of repair and restoration and is closed to the public.

The marker there reads, "Rudd Cabin. Built in 1860 by Anson and Harriet Rudd, the cabin is one of the few original log cabin homes still standing in Colorado. First local building with a wooden floor, this cabin was the birthplace of Anson Spencer Rudd (first white child born in Canon City to reach maturity.) During much of the Civil War, the Rudd family faced Indian hazards, and alone inhabited Canon City. At war's end Anson Rudd became one of the leading citizens of a revived city, being at various times prison warden, postmaster, sheriff and county commissioner. The adjacent stone building was the Rudd home in 1881."

The museum is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10 - 4. Admission is free, and donations are welcome. (Look for the dinosaur out front of the building on the south side of Royal Gorge Boulevard).