Writing about a specific location

I was one of the lucky recipients for the Artist in Residence berths at Caribou Ranch last summer. The only obligation I had (besides leaving the place clean) was to write a piece formed by my time spent there. It's interesting, in a way, because I write Historical Fiction. There I am, surrounded by lovely mountains and terrain, trying to think what it would have meant to people 125 years ago. I doubt they would have seen it exactly the same way. Then I decided it would depend on the purpose/reason of the person's being in a specific spot.

Hint: Colorado had tourists in the 1890's :-)