Colorado State University Mountain Campus Museum Collection

The Mountain Campus Museum is housed in the original Koenig homestead cabin at the Mountain Campus, which was constructed in 1915. It opened following renovations made possible through the State Historical Fund in the mid-1990s. Until his retirement in 2020, Rex Kroemer was the curator of the museum and was responsible for collecting most of the artifacts. The museum remains in operation and houses many items donated by the Koenig family or purchased at a Koenig estate sale as well as artifacts from the Mountain Campus itself.

Since 1912, Colorado State University has used the Mountain Campus (formerly Pingree Park) for field research and training. The campus has primarily served CSU's Forestry students, though other university departments now use it.

On June 25, 1910, an Act of Congress granted the State of Colorado the right to purchase 1,600 acres of public land for $1.25 per acre for use by the Colorado Agricultural College (CAC) for "experimental, educational, and kindred uses in forestry, agriculture, horticulture, grazing, stock raising, and such other uses." In 1912, CAC President Charles A. Lory, N. M. Wheeler, B. O. Longyear, A. A. Edwards, and E. M. Ammons selected land in and around Pingree Valley in the Mummy Range for that purpose. The college set up camp in the valley, which was named for logger and Sand Creek Massacre participant, U.S. army scout George Pingree, and steadily added infrastructure to house Forestry Department students and staff over the course of several decades. The camp soon became known as Pingree Park Campus. During this time, the college found itself in conflict with the Koenig family, who also inhabited Pingree Park, over the boundaries of the Koenig's property. The boundary conflict was finally resolved in 1949, though other disputes with the Koenigs continuted through the 1980s. In the 1970s, CSU began a concerted, successful effort to make the Pingree Park Campus attractive to a wider audience. Buildings were remodeled and a conference center was built. While used by CSU, the campus endured several natural disasters, including the 1994 Hourglass Fire that destroyed thirteen buildings. In 2015, CSU renamed the campus CSU Mountain Campus, seeking to separate the university from the legacy of George Pingree who played a self-proclaimed role in the Sand Creek Massacre.