Notes:
Data source is the 1990 book, "Moomaw-Mumma-Mumaw-Mumaugh Genealogy" compiled by Robert Austin Moomaw (deceased).
The following was extracted from Robert A. Moomaw's book.
"JACK" MOOMAW (22134132) 1892-1961
Jacob Clifford "Jack" Moomaw was one of Estes Park, Colorado's most colorful characters. He was best known for his activities as a ranger in Rocky Mountain National Park where he served for 26 years.
Many visitors and locals remember Jack as a prankster, teller of jokes and spinner of tall tales. He was also known for his salty language that could clear a room of gentile ladies. Aside from his better known attributes, Jack was a man of varied interests and talents.
After marrying Lila Weese in 1915, the young couple homesteaded on Rabbit Mountain outside Lyons, CO. He later became a guide in the newly established Rocky Mountain National Park. He became interested in archeology and Native American art, and began expressing his love for the mountains on paper and canvas. He became a Ranger in 1922. The job was very demanding since only two rangers were employed to oversee the entire Rocky Mountain National Park during the winter months. He seemed to especially enjoy the long cold winters filled with hours of grueling patrol on skis.
Jack's creativity reached a peak during the 1920s. He continued to write and published his first books of poetry. Painting, composing, and needlepoint whiled away the long winter nights. He also studied photography, geology, entomology and natural history.
His career was cut short by a heart attack, which forced his retirement in 1948. Jack did not retire to an armchair however. He continued his old interests and acquired new ones. He took up lapidary, making objects of art out of native jade and turquoise like those he had seen in China while in the Navy in 1910.
In 1963, his writing was culminated with the printing of "Recollections of a Rocky Mountain Ranger." This book was a collection of the best stories, tales, and anecdotes accumulated during his lifetime. His niece, Billie F. Griske (221341341), recently described him as a "cowboy from Wyoming to Texas in his teens."
Jack Melton, presently curator of the Lula Dorsey Museum at the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park, CO, provided most of the information herein.