Historic sites and artifacts appear all across the landscape of the western frontier. When encountered, these sites often cause us to wonder who they belong to or where they came from. This paper indulges this shared human desire to understand our surroundings by investigating two historic cabin sites in the Manitou Experimental Forest, near Woodland Park, Colorado. Through the use of dendrochronology, artifact analysis, and historic documentary research, this paper uncovers who lived in these cabins, what they were doing, and why they were there. Previously, the dominant narrative history of this area featured primarily prominent wealthy figures who developed the land. This work contributes to the historic narrative of the region by providing evidence about the lives of the everyday people who were part of the settlement of the area in the late 1800s.