The Tree Apes (1905 - 1912)
Colorado Agricultural College (C.A.C.)
Colors: Blood Red & Funeral Black
Motto: "Wa-ah!"
In 1904 when J. Ernest Leiper arrived at CAC to become an Engineer, he joined the San Juan club to take his meals. During meals he would converse with his fellow club members, sharing ideas and aspirations. Bonds began to form between Ernest and his fellow San Juan members M. R. Kulp, Doc Stover, Ben Counter and G. F. Kreutzer, some of who were members of the Mystic Circle.
Somehow in 1905 Ernest convinced the Mystic Circle members to drop the sub rosa routine and formally organize as a fraternity. They chose the name “Tree Apes” as it is best describes their mischievous behavior much like a shrewdness of wild apes. This band of young would learn from the experienced, knowledgeable older men. The result would be that by the time the young graduate, they are proficient in dealing with their fellow man and the environment in which they will live.
To help them in their quest to go legit the CAC facility would require them to have an alumni supervisor and role model to watch over this group of wild Tree Apes. They chose none other than local alumnus Walter Patrick “Pat” Hurley, the now reformed prankster, founder and past leader of the Mystic Circle. Pat would remain faithful to the CAC and his group of new fraternity men. He would serve as the men’s advisor for over 20 years and would be remembered as the “God Father” of Colorado Gamma.
Over the next year the Tree Apes garnered a good deal of interest and great founder of the Apes was suddenly seized by a wonderful idea and this was expanded into the Royal and Infernal Order of Independent Tree-Apes." and began formally recruiting fellow student to join their ranks.
To distinguish themselves from their fellow San Juan members Tree Apes table would clang a cowbell to summon the waiters at the start of each meal. Over time they become well known for their ringing of the cowbell, as it was heard all the large events across campus.
By 1910 the popularity of Greek Letter societies was growing on college campuses all across the nation, well beyond the east coast, “ivy league” colleges where they we founded in the United States. As their popular grew the local Greek letter societies were faced with the reality of competing against them locally or growing beyond their campuses to become national societies in order to survive.
Tree Apes understood they were in danger of extinction so in 1911 they to chose evolve into a Greek Letter fraternity and dissolve as a strictly social fraternity.
Brother George Person Woodbury, class of 1913, has the unique distintcion of being the only known member of all 4 organisations which make up our history on the CSU Campus. In 1911 he was a member of the Tree Apes which all belonged to the San Juan Club at which they dined. In 1912 he became a founding member of Tau Alpha when the Tree Apes re-organized as a Greek Letter fraternity, (also, played varsity basketball), and in 1915 he was a professor of English literature at Stout Academy at Stout, Colo when he returned to the CAC campus to become an honorary SigEp (Pin Number 050-0025).
Tree Apes First President
J. ERNEST LEIPER
Is a Scotsman and hails from Estes Park, Colorado. He is one of the most social and well known of the class of 08. Ernest matriculated in 1904, A bout with typhoid took him for part the first quarter of ’06. He has been Vice President of the Engineering Society, Captain of the sophomore basketball team, Business Manager of the Basketball Department; Secretary of the San Juan club; and the Tree Apes first ”high Limb.”