In 1886, James W. Price homesteaded here and in 1889 built the Grandview Hotel. In 1900 he and the Colorado and Southern Railway developed Shawnee and built Shawnee Lodge, which burned in 1929. In 1900 Price built the Shawnee Mercantile Co. Store and moved Slaght's Post Office to Shawnee. W.H. "Harry" Price, J.W. Price's son, became Shawnee postmaster in 1900 and served until 1940. Shawnee became a popular summer resort because the slow meandering river was great for fishing. The local economy was based on tourism, ranching, farming, logging, and winter jobs at the Maddox Ice Co., which vanished with the railroad in 1937. The Shawnee Water Consumers' Association was formed in 1929 by C.O. Cook, W.W. Garwood, and Roger D. Knight. The Shawnee Cemetery is 350 feet to the east, and since 1895 settler families of Tyler, Bonnifield, and Price have been interred there, along with Civil War Union veteran Private W.A. Bonnifield. Earlier valley history included Ute hunting ground, a route to South Park's 1859-60s gold rush, and the route of the 1878 Denver, South Park and Pacific narrow-gauge railroad. Homesteaders Azel and Alice Slaght arrived in 1859-61. Long known as "Slaght's Valley," Slaght's Ranch, located one-half mile to the southeast, was also called Granite Vale Post Office from 1861 to 1870, Slaght's Stagestop from 1862 to 1878, Fairville Post Office and Townsite from 1878 to 1882, and Slaght's P.O. from 1882 to 1900.