Person Record

Metadata

Name

Morrison, George Sr.

Places of residence

Denver, CO

Education

University of Colorado Boulder

Notes

Just a bit of a heads up in case the subject ever comes up, I've known for some time of account of the fine jazz musician George Morrison having been owner of Rock Rest and that he was chased out by the Klan, but this is history I have never found any evidence to corroborate, though there is definitely history that ties him here locally. According to the Jefferson County property records neither he nor any known family member or associate ever owned Rock Rest; it did occur to me he could've owned it as the business and not the property but I have found no evidence to corroborate that either. The George Morrison who purchases land nearby is not him; that's Pete Morrison, who had a Pleasant View ranch for a long time. During the 1920s when the Klan was meeting upon Castle Rock Morrison was regularly performing in Jefferson County, as a house band at Lakeside, where we have a number of accounts from 1926. He and his band also performed in Golden that year, for the firefighters' dances at the Golden Opera House (he appears to be a favorite of the firefighters, returning to perform there multiple times in 1933; Morrison and his band also performed at the Armory for an Episcopalian group fundraiser). From the news accounts when the Klan was around here there's no sign of Morrison having been around Rock Rest. Its owner from circa 1923-1925 was Maj. Bert Lake, who built it in the early 1920s (I believe this is told by the Transcript account of 6/25/1925). During his ownership William Ott was the business proprietor. Upon Bert's death it passed to his wife Daisie Lake (this is the accurate spelling of her first name; you also see is spelled "Daisy") who continued as owner to 1928. Patrick Hourihan was a proprietor of the business in 1925 but I believe Daisie also took hold of the enterprise. For any publicized events I can find throughout the Klan's time here I don't have Morrison or his band performing at Rock Rest; its events have several different bands performing.

However, George Morrison and his band do become prominently connected to Rock Rest in 1945, when after Malcolm Day and Fred M. Erwin take over as owners Morrison and his swing band become the house band of Rock Rest, as advertised in the Transcript on 4/26/1945. This is where it looks like Rock Rest's connection to Morrison comes from! This is well after the Klan was gone so it seems that history is not substantiated, nor any connection in the 1920s (given how his performances are regularly noticed elsewhere a performance at Rock Rest should've been noticed too). He is definitely connected to Jefferson County at that time, but as a house band at Lakeside, and it would be difficult to be a house band at two places at once. Morrison does seem to be fairly popular in Golden and Jefferson County, particularly with high schoolers, and he and his band usually perform for dances and dancing fundraisers. There are three venues I can confirm he's performed at in the Golden area: the Golden Opera House (4 times), Armory Hall (1 time), and Rock Rest (house band). And I'd sure like to know who the Golden Fire Department's booking agent was because to secure George Morrison and his band for multiple fundraisers is pretty good work!

- Rick Gardner