Beginnings
The growth of student work in the thirteen-state area that comprised the Rocky Mountain region made it difficult to find camps to rent for conferences and retreats. Regional secretary Gene Thomas felt a regional camp owned by IVCF would ease this pinch in student training. Late in 1952 a dude ranch, nestled in a small valley in the mountains about eighteen miles southwest of Colorado Springs, came on the market. The Antlers Hotel had put the ranch on the market and made George Krause, president of the Colorado Springs Company, responsible to sell it. Gene went into his office to inquire about Bear Trap Ranch. Krause, slouched down in his chair, shot back, "What in hell do you want it for?" Gene replied, "Well, actually hell has quite a bit to do with it. We want to tell college studentsabout Jesus and He had this thing about hell. He wanted to keep people out of it." Krause was so disarmed that he became interested in helping keep college students out of hell. He offered to sell the ranch for $50,000. Gene knew that this was an incredibly good price, since the Antlers Hotel had just invested $75,000 in new plumbing and furnishings.
The Money Challenge
The board of Inter-Varsity refused to approve the purchase; other Fellowship causes needed funds. The board, however, agreed to give their approval if Gene Thomas raised the money himself without soliciting from already committed donors. When Gene went back to confirm his interest in the ranch, Krause told him that he had just been offered $150,000 cash for the ranch. Gene's heart sank. Then Krause continued, "I told him no, that I was gong to sell to those people who were keeping students out of hell." The Christian realtor who had referred Gene to Krause contributed his $3,000 commission to the cause. Gene raised enough to make a down payment of $5,000 and then made a commitment to pay the other $45,000 over a period of five years. Krause not only agreed to these unbelievable terms, but said that he would charge no interest.
Grass-roots Investors
Gene challenged the regional staff team with the $45,000 goal, dividing the amount among them. At that time, a single staff member was making about $150 a month (married staff made about $300). None of them had ever raised $45,000 before. The staff, in turn, went to the students. Gene felt that the students should be the investors because they were the ones who would benefit from the camp. Students and staff took up the challenge. They sold everything from radios and rings to fur coats and cars. In addition to the cash they raised, they made pledges to meet the rest of the goal. For the next five years each $9,000 payment was made on time, and each year the fund contained no more than a dollar extra when payment came due.
An Unexpected Gift
Early the next summer, when Gene was in Canada for staff training at Campus in the Woods, his wife Gerry borrowed a truck and, with some friends in Colorado Springs, drove to the Antlers Hotel because Krause said he had some things for the ranch. "God must have moved his heart," Gerry says, "because he gave us thousands of dollars in sheets, blankets, beautiful Navajo Indian rugs, plates, flatware. We didn't need to buy a thing to operate that summer."
The First Campers Arrive
The camp opened at the end of June and was filled to capacity throughout the summer. Bear Trap Ranch held a one-month camp, a three-week camp and several one-week training camps. The region also sponsored camps at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Students developed a great sense of loyalty for Bear Trap as they came to view it as a spiritual home. Staff families were assigned to small rooms, but enduring this hardship meant more students could be accommodated. Two hundred and thirty students were packed into any livable space, including attics. The camp made a significant contribution to building up the regional student work during the following years.
Taken from: The Expansion of Student Training: Decade of the 1950's For Christ and the University, Keith and Gladys Hunt, IVP, 1991.
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