Mishawaka

Mishawaka means “Princess of Fast-Running Waters.” For three men, Mishawaka is a bewitching princess who changed their lives.

The Mishawaka Restaurant and Amphitheatre, located a scenic 14 miles from U.S. Highway 287 along the winding Poudre River, has long been an icon of Northern Colorado entertainment.

Walter S. Thompson, the first to fall head over heels for “The Mish,” made that drive with a friend on a sunny February day in 1916.

Thompson later wrote: “We came into the most beautiful spot which seemed to hypnotize me and I found myself with a longing to stay here.”

Thompson soon learned the property was open to homesteaders. The professional musician knew nothing of mountain life, yet within 48 hours was responsible for 160 acres of Poudre Park property.

U.S. Forest Service personnel made it clear they were none too happy about Thompson’s homesteading, beginning a rocky relationship that has continued over the years. Much of the property has returned to Forest Service control, leaving only 46 1/2 acres as private property.

Thompson single-handedly built roads, cabins for summer rentals and a general store named for a town on a river in Indiana. As it expanded, the store grew a rustic dance hall and was known as Thompson’s Resort. Soon his entire family was playing for dances held every summer night.

Eventually, an exhausted Thompson retired and the property went through several owners before landing in the capable hands of Jimmy Corr in the late 1960s. With wife and dynamite cook Melissa, the Long Island native turned the Mish into a natural-foods restaurant, and eventually started booking bands. Soon the place was packed every weekend, even in the winter. Over the years, Corr built up the property, beginning with a balcony over the river in 1975; a beer garden teeming with flowers and shrubs in 1981; and finally the outside stage in 1989.

With the stage came bigger bands. Hot Tuna, Elvin Bishop, John Mayall and other big names ratcheted ticket prices from $1 and $5 to $10 and $15.

Although Corr had tried selling the Mish several times, ownership kept rebounding when the buyers defaulted. Then one day, all the pieces fell into place.

Corr knew Robin Jones, his partner in the booking business Music Unlimited, loved Mishawaka. One day in 1992, Melissa once again raised the topic of selling Mishawaka.

Corr recalls, “Robin said, ‘I love it up there.’ And I said, ‘You can have it.’ I ran into my office, wrote it up. We signed it and that’s how we did it.”

Jones, a native New Yorker, built on the Mish’s reputation by bringing in national acts. Joan Baez was his first big name, an occasion so memorable Jones dubbed the nearby river feature Baez Island in her honor.

Today, acts such as Ziggy Marley, Keller Williams and David Grisman make regular stops.

Like Corr, Jones found owning the Mish was not exactly a profit-making venture.

“It’s music,” says Jones. “Music in general is a struggle.”

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