The story of Adeline Hornbek takes place in the 1800’s. Her story, like any other homesteader of her time, ranges from the happy moments to those of a most tragic nature. But unlike most homesteaders, her story is one of great success. As a single mother to 4 children, she tackled the west like none other with her extraordinary courage and hard work. Her story is truly to be admired by all.

Adeline Warfield (Hornbek) was born in 1833 - the Year of the Shooting Stars, in Massachusetts. At the age of 25 she fell in love with Simon A. Harker, a business associate of her brother Alexander, and they were married in Oklahoma in 1858. Adeline was 5’ 7” with thickset shoulders and fiery red hair. They had their first child, Frank, in November of 1859. Their daughter, Annie, was born just 10 months later. Shortly there after, Simon obtained a lingering illness and the couple decided to move the family to Cherry Creek, a settlement just east of Denver, and start a cattle ranch. A couple of years later in September of 1863, their third child, George, was born.

In 1864 the winter weather brought huge snowstorms to the mountains, bringing a devastating spring for the foothills. That spring, the heavy snows melted and flooded the Cherry Creek settlements. Like so many others in this community, the Harker ranch was destroyed. It wasn’t long afterwards, that Simon A. Harker passed away at the age of thirty-nine, leaving Adeline alone with her three children. Adeline Harker (Hornbek) continued to farm and raise cattle. She worked hard to maintain the ranch and still find time to care for her children. Her hard work paid off in 1866 when she was able to take advantage of a clause in the Homestead Act of 1862 and purchased her land for $100 cash.

Just a few months after her purchase, she married Elliot D. Hornbek in Denver. In 1870, four years later, they had a son and named him Elliot Jr. Unfortunately, life for this couple was short. In 1875, Elliot Hornbek mysteriously disappeared. She shortly left their Cherry Creek Homestead, yet her whereabouts for the next three years are unknown.

In 1878, at the age of 44, Adeline Hornbek once again used the Homestead Act of 1862 to her advantage. She applied for 160-acres of land one mile south of present day Florissant, to start her new life with her four children. The Hornbek Homestead was very unique for its time, decorated with Victorian style furniture. Adeline’s house was one and a half stories, which was larger than the average homestead. There were three bedrooms upstairs and one bedroom downstairs and had eleven windows. Her homestead consisted of several outbuildings such as; a barn and wagon shed, a milk house, chicken house, and a large corral for the livestock. The homestead itself is the only original building still standing on the Ranch. The other buildings surrounding the homestead today were homes found throughout the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. They were strategically placed around her home to give the appearance of what her ranch would have originally looked like. One of these outbuildings, previously a home to another family, is smaller than the downstairs bedroom in Adeline’s home.

Adeline Hornbek was an important member of the Florissant community. She was the secretary of the school board and held several social events in her home. She also ran the Florissant Mercantile (the local general store) in 1883 when Frank Castello, the owner, left for a year and a half trying to make his fortune in gold in the San Juan Mountains. Adeline Hornbek had become quite wealthy and made a great life for her and her children. When she went to file the last of her paperwork on her homestead in 1885 she had increased the value of her property to almost five times its original value. She had obtained 21 horses, over 100 cows, 3 swine, and 50 poultry. She had also farmed thirty-acres of hay and twenty-acres of Irish Potatoes.

At the age of 66, Adeline Hornbek married 45 year old Frederick Sticksel in 1899. She spent the rest of her life touring the United States and Europe with him before she died of “paralysis” on June 27, 1905. Her remains are buried in the local 4–mile cemetery.