https://caspercollege.cvlcollections.org/files/original/a145cf8d79d35b74463e8d66b7a44c6f.pdf 9457c861dd1e189bdd089844f51d162c PDF Text Text PART V COLORADO /1o - �The rocky prominences of a dozen neaks rise to 14,000 more than ^heweaml feet. Gascadln<? streams fill the narrow floors of deen valleys. Trails into the area hany on steep mountainsides and cross unstable talus slopes. The passes a-ivlny access are more than two miles above sea level. Some remain snow:covered the year around. the snow melts, avalanches are common. Where It is a difficult land, to traverse. Prom Silverton^ the road heads northeast valley of the Animas aiver. up the As the valley narrows, the road, by necessity, imitates the river’s every bend and sweep. In four miles the valley opens^and the road crosses the now yently meanderinsr stream. A valley. old cabins sprinkled across the The remains of an old mill stand on the flat at the north edye of town. An aerial tramway still extends from the mill, reaching upward in broad dips toward a mine now G hidden by tall tre^s. Rusted ore buckets hans^ at random in/^ tervals. The cable extends through the mill, passes around, a weighted turnabout wheel^ back up the slope. then returns through the mill and The mill is guyed with an opposing �cable to balance the toppling pull of the tramway. The r equalizing effect of the anchor ^able is controlled by a»awo«.»< a series of pullevs mounted in blocks Increase sevenfold the force aoplled. an to X Captain Baker, prospector and exnprer, led the first party of gold seekers into the area. The sevenunan party set out in July of i860 determined to explore the San Juan (St. John) River. Finding little color in that drainage, the party moved to the northwest. Gold in sand was finally located in modest quantity at the confluence of Cascade Creek and the Animas River. Baker senty^exaygerated reportand that December, Kellogg, one of the financial backers of the original group, brought in a party of one hundred. I4any of the prospectors brought their families. Winter travel in the high mountains was chancy, and the party barely survived a severe blizzard encountered in San Luis Park. Members of the party found it necessary to burn their wagon boxes and furniture in order to keep warm. By the following May a camp was established at a site referred to as Zlnlmas Clty^, but poors paying sand and threatening Indians caused rampant dissatisfaction and �desertion. everyone blanied Baker for exaggerating the orisrinal strike, and at one poin^^reatened to hang him. i,«Zithin a few months serted. Animas City was nearly deT^ A gentleman named Pollack remained until fall, surviving the threats of the Utes by donating (under duress) precious goods to the Indians. held captive by Navajo children^^the Utes^hnd In return he was given four w?»ivM<F 3ventually war broke out^and the Indians warned all Xf^ites to clear out of this surrounding area. Baker returned with another party in 1868. Again he failed to live up to his claims of riches, and most of his party deserted. Baker and two faithful friends headed southwest, hastened on their way by hostile Indians. Cornered in a canyon, the trio had no choice but to build a raft driftwood and float down the stream. of The stream was the Colorado, and the point of launch was the head of the Grand Canyon. Baker was shot dead as the raft was pushed off. of the remaining two men was washed overboard and drowned. The last man survived by lashing himself to the raft. He was found days later and miles downstream, still bound to the raft — unconscious, but still alive. One �by the Bullion City Company in 1874 Streets were laid outy^at the Junction of CunnlncJ?' ham Creek and the Animas Hlver7^»t the oiito that would, later .Hni.TQyd.mr5n n fl - -h.r Bullion City The town was named dents chansred the name b.y the promoters. New reslA* tho town to Howardsvllle at the first town meetinc:, probably for a man named Howard who had built the first cabin in town. Silverton was sprinjjing up at the same time, but Howardsvllle, somewhat larger, was selected as county seat. Silverton's Within a year, however,y^promoters were claiming a population of 3,OOO.fnnn ^ilvniPtnu. Recorded figures indicated that 800 was a lot closer to the truth, but^whatever the population, Silverton outshown its neighboring city, and the seat was transferred bv majority vote of the citizenry of the two towns. Niegoldtown and Highland Mary, both smaller than Howardsvllle, grew up around large mine and mill complexes. Both towns were on Cunningham Creek within 0 miles of Howardsvllle. population. They did little to preserve Howardsvllle’s In 18?? Howardsvllle had 0 saloons, a brewery, a reputation, and a population that showed up mostly on weekT^ ends. In 1881 election day. down. Howardsvllle could muster a mere 150 on The town died slowly as mine after mine shut The post office finally closed in 1939. Presentlv, �two or three cabins are occupied, and one mine sends ore to a modern mill at the east end of town. The Highland Mary Mine and town, south of HowardSe­ ville, has its own unique history. of New York City, The two Ennis Brothers recipients of a large inheritance, decided they would like to invest their money in a gold mine. Devout believers in the occult, they logically consulted their favorite seer as to where that .void might be found. The seer, primed with a fat fee, pored over a map of the west. A map of Colorado His hand descended on Colorado. was quickly obtained. The seer strained to the utmost and^ after much concentration, plunked his finver on the map at the spot where vreat riches would be found. a high passmiles from Howardsville 11,200 feet. The spot was on at an elevation of The believing brothers staked out the claim and recorded it as the ’highland Mary. For an added fee, the spiritualist wandered over the area and "sensed" the lodes. Several years and a million dollars later, the disillusioned brothers sold out and returned east. The new dug along the thin veins of ore. owners The veins Joined, and rich deposits were located. The mine became a strong producer In a few but a short-lived one. years the town, mine^and mill collapsed. At present the mill foundations are about all one can find at the site. It’s a great place to picnic and a rewarding place to snoop �about. The hillsides between Hit^hland Mary and Howardsville are crowded with remnants of the mininsr boom. Numerous cables still scallop their way up the ^000: foot eastern scarp of the valley. Buildings of the Little Panney Mine perch mid#slope with little evidence of support. Nearby tramway buckets of the Buffalo Boy swing a hundred feet in the air — still loaded with ore. MAP NOTE: The Silverton, Colorad15, minute and the Howardsville, Colorado^ ?! minute United States Geological Survey topographic macs show Howardsville and most of the' old mines in the area. �SU33KA, COLORADO The Sunnyside Mine was Eureka's prime reason for The town, like the mine, sputtered reluctantly e. Into exlstj^nce, ran well for a time, then slowed and being. clattered to an apparent halt. Then, like an overheated enojlne, It banyed out a few more revolutions, gasped, and died, Three thousand claims were filed In Animas Valley during 1873. few payed off. Pew of the claims were proved up andyyOf those, The <3unnvslde , located three miles north/' west and a half mile above Eureka, was a notable exception. George Howard located the Sunnyside In I873, The tunnel followed the vein Into the mountain just above Lake Emma. The direction of the vein Indicated that It would outcrop again on the other side of the hill. Inspection led to the discovery of the Sunnvslde extension (later called ths Gold Prince), just three-quarters of a mile northeast and at the Identical elevation of the original strike. held ore of^^easonable quality. void, The vein The melt obtained was sliver, and John Terry provided much of the early finances, but his Input exceeded the yield and he was forced to sell. He got a srood price but was vlven only S75»OOO down, with payments to follow over a number of years. found the mine to be a loser The new owners and refused to make further �With the 175,000 and the help of Rasmus Hanson, payments. Terry again took over the mine Into a paying proposition. and turned the Gold Prince At one time It was acclaimed the richest mine In the state and was eventually to yield oveij’^50 million In gold and silver. Meanwhile, back down the hill at the flat spot below the confluence of Niagara Greek and the Animas River, a town was taking shape. The town was officially platted In 187^, or 1887, or 1881, depending on who wrote the town’s history. However^It Is certain that the town was platted and a land patent applied for. Some years later, after an unexplainable delay, the town patent was Issued. It was dated 1883 and signed "Chester A. Arthur, President." By this time the town had more than ©dozen homes and a business district to match. The San Juan Expositor was publishing the news, but competition from other sheets In the region kept the Expositor from turning out more than one Issue a month. Residents took care to build their homes In the center of the broad gravel flat, hoping that roclTTalls and snowslides would expend their energies at the fringes. The town was to remain free of damage, but surrounding mines and shacks were frequently covered, moved, or eliminated by avalanches. �The Silver Wing bunkhouse was swept away in I906, bTj burial when The body of one victim was being moved a storm hit the area. The body was left by the road while the relatives took cover. Later under another avalanche. Apparently the man's number was up. the corpse was found buried Deep drifts all but eliminated traffic during the winter. Postmen wearing snowshoes brought in the mall and With freight hauling as much meat as their backs could handle. curtailed due to deep drifts, the price of meat soared, and the moonlighting mailmen seized the opportunity. Sighty pounds was an ordinary load. On one occasion a postman disappeared with a bundle of mail containing pay vouchers and other valuables. He was never feuw*? og heard from again. When a second pos^ man turned up missing, it was assumed he had also absconded. Two years later the second postman’s body was found, quite well preserved, in .a snowbank, where he had been swept off the trail and «mb buried by an avalanche. The broad flats of 3ureka show little ^idence of the two thousand people once lived A few log shacks, extensive mill foundations, and a nearly intact tramway are the most obvious. In the center of the town'llte a small but tall building seems to defy definition. like a hose tower, but it’s not tall enough. It looks The stout timbers at the corners and in the center would imply a water - * �tower, but the area under the roof is not large enough. It could have been an overhead loader, but there is no evidence of a ramp. Perhaps it was originally a water tower and was later decapped and used for storage. Half a mile north of town, in a deep narrow valley, is a large dormitory of relatively recent vintage. it was last used by Sunnyside miners. It is poorly located and could be wiped out any winter by avalanche spring by flood, but while it lasts Probably or any it is spectacular. Southeast of town, half way up thf of Grown Mountain, a ramshackle old mine structure Clings, defying all of Isaac Hewton’s postulations. The topographic map of the area fails to show a name for the mine. The cartoj* graphers probably figured the structure would be gone by the time the maps were published. The Sunnyside Mine died hard. At one time it was the largest mine in the state, and ores from its tunnels fed four different mills, all running continuously. there never* was a vein that didn’t end. But The Sunnyside closed down in 1931. A few folk stayed on in hopes 4jha»- the mine might be reopened. Their hopes were realized in 1937, when fifty men were hired to refit the mill. The population climbed from nearly none to almost a hundred, and Sureka laid claim to being the second largest town in the county. Hopes faded �when work on ^reconditioning slowed. office in 1939 The town lost its post and prosnects for survival looked "bleak again But in 19^0 the machinery at the mill was finally put in motion, running "smooth as glass." Ore stockpiled on dumps was processed, and reserves In the mines were blocked out. However, Law 208 forced the mine out of production in 19^2, when all gold mining was declared no:^^trateglc. was needed for the war effort. Manpower In 19^8 the mill was sold for salvage^and the huge coranlex was quickly dj aTnq.ntl.ed.. The town of Eureka is deserted. The Animas River wanders through town, changing course at will, occasionally undermining and toppling another of the.■remaining structures. Debris lines the banks. A plank here, a gallows wheel there and^half burled in the gravel, the front axle of an old freight wagon. Only the bare bones of Eureka remain, and these will not long withstand the double-edged threat of avalanche and flood. MAP NOTE: The Handies Peak, Colorado^minute United States Geological Survey topographic map shows Eureka and the various mines mentioned in the text. �2'^^ fjhks, /fM***^**^ goLJHiiDJ L d/dar In spite of the offer of free lots, there was no ffreat rush to build homes in Animas Porks. The 11,200c foot elevation and heavy winter snows made life difficult the necessities of that life expensive. and Summers were pleat^^ sant but winters were lonely, and one could be locked in by snow for months at a time. The operators of the San Juan Smelting Company Mill at the Junction of the two forks of the Animas Hlver wanted to maintain continuous operations but were plagued dwindling work forces each fall. The free lots helped attract a few, but it was the opening of more mines and the building of a number of additional mills that brought Animas Forks into full four-season existence. That was in 1877, and it wasn't long before the forested hillsides had been cut bare for winter firewood. The mayor of the budding town warned the residents that^ without trees, avalanches would be free to roll into town. He was right, but his forecast was a bit early. Major avalanches did not occur at the town proper until the turn of the century. However, the threat of the surrounding mountains was ever present, and mines located on their slopes were frequently endangered. Houghton Mountain to the northwest, California Peak to the southwest, and Cinnamon Mountain to the east, all more than 13,000|feet high, collected massive amounts of snow 2.^ �At Its peak, Animas Porks had two assay offices, one hotel, a stout jail, and a few fancy houses built by mine owners. Host of the miners lived in large boardinsT^ houses at the mine sites another 1,000 feet above town. The town had enough saloons to occupy miners on week^ds. English sparrows arrived in the valley during the summer of I896. They had been noticed in Denver in 1892. Their migration rate westward was calculated at (5^ miles per vear. The mines and mills, and hence the town, began to fade in the early nineties. As was often the case, efforts were made to get a railroad in to lower the cost of transportation, thus making possible the processing of As a consequence, Otto Mears extended the lower:grade ore. railroad from Eureka. To do so, he had to lay the tracks on the wagon road in several narrow spots. One fouramile stretch contained seven areas badly prone to blockage by snowslides. The unsinkable Otto, who had built roads and railroads across terrain others termed impossible, proceeded to build ’’avalanche proof" deflectors. of the design. Great claims were made about the strength The first avalanche wiped them out. The railroad was completed in I906, minus the avalanche guards. That winter brought some of the worst storms in the town’s history. It snowed steadily for a week. killed (20) people in outlying communities Snowslides alone in the �Shenandoah Boarding e that was swept downhill, reduced to rubble, and permanently burled In the debris. One avalanche filled a miner’s shack with snow, removed It from Its original site, then covered It with death.” feet of the ’’white The miner managed to dig his way out, cutting steps as he followed the fissures In the snow. Many slides rode down the mountains southeast of town, crossed the stream and the road, then climbed the opposite hill. I^ltnesses claimed the top of the slide would curve back on Itself like a tidal wave, then fall back down toward the riven In 1917 the huge Gold Prince 14111 was dismantled and moved to Bureka. By I926 the town of Animas Porks was deserted. Now only one mill and a dozen residences are standing at the tow^Tlte. In a small building at the base of the remaining mill, hundreds of sacks of cement, all hard as rock, stand In evidence of great hopes unfulfilled. Up^ streamfon the west fori^a half mllej are the extensive bullffl^ Ings of the Bagley Mine complex. I visited the site In midiJune. It had snowed eight Inches the day before, but now It was warm and the snow was melting, Numerous small rook"^ldes cracked down the slopes. Rock >Zfiucks scrambled about, escaping their water-logged r^ treats to enjoy the sun. Water ouzels, commonly called dippers^ were present In unusual numbers — some walking the river bottoms �competely submerged^others standing: on rocks convulsively bouncing up and down, busily living up to their nickname. ----------------------- -------------------------- NOTSj y Animas Forks and adjacent towns are shown on the Handies Peak, Colorado^7i minute United States Geological Survey topographic map. 3ND COLORADO ARSA 1 — S.O �_ jgOLQRAPQ A35A 2 The Mt, Axtell and the Oh—Be—Joyful topoi^raphlc maps need to be joined toojether to give a complete picture of the Irwin town ^Ite« A rectangle, three-quarters by three-eighths of a mile adjacent to Irwin Lake (once called Brennan Lake) Is labeled on the maps as *Irwln Cor­ porate Body. •^Along this stretch of land and extending to the south a bit Into an area once called •**^uby,was the mile5 long main street of the short-lived silver boomtown of Irwin, I could find little sign of buildings as I walked up the boulder-strewn road. There was nothing left of the (Vojbuslness houses that once lined,main street Twenty'—A, three of those business places had been saloons. There wasn’t a sign of their existence -- no bottles^-J^’^no smashed kegs, not even a lonely rusted barrel hcjp. As I walked the area, faint signs of old foundations became evident, and down by the stream shacks. I spotted several Across the creek and up the hill were the extensive and nearly Intact remains of the old Forest Queen Mine, once the biggest producer In the area. The owner of the mine was once offered a million dollars for It — and he refused to sell. In 1932 It sold for In back taxes. ^33 �The mine showed sicns of occupation, 'An old steam tractor was blocked in position to provide power for some of the mine machinery. It was rusted and in Next to the tractor, a vintage car was tilted disrepair. at an odd angle, its rear end jacked up and pointed toward the shaft house like a skunk ready to do business, A belt led from a rear tire to a pulley wheel on a dewatering pump. Another car was "reared up" and connected by belt to an ore crusher. On the other side of the structure an old army weasel was mounted by the cableshoisting drum, A number of short iron rods connected the trackless left rear sprocket of the‘weasel' to the fly wheel of the defunct steam engine once used to raise the skip. The fly***^eel was connected to the cable drum. The door of the adjacent cabin stood open, and a sign on the table read^ "please sign the register. Ing on a ditch up by the lake." I’m work?^ The cabin was neat^and its shelves were lined with canned goods. I signed and went looking for the mechanical wizard tj^t was responsible for all the Hube Goldbera: innovations. I drove down to the junction and took the main road to the lake. There I crossed a ford and headed up a slippery mud road, looking for the ditch and hence the mine owner. My pickup was in ^wheel drive, superT^w, when it failed to make the last muddy hill. After a short sideways slide I �sot the vehicle headed back down, reallz,ft» -feha^ I had made the only recent tracks and that no one was up that hill anyway. Back at the mine two John Hahn and Barry Davis, the I had sousrht in vain, were finished with their ditch work and were relaxing over a cup of coffee. I was invited to help empty the pot. a> John Hahn, served, in the artillery HCy^alwavs had a desire to own his own mine. Forest Queen He and his brother bought the a number of years back. for thirty years. While John finished his thirty years, his brother worked the mine,—"Pound some good ore," said John. "Up to ounces a ton, down on the third level."]/It was the two brothers *hat rigged up the cars, belts^and weasel. ) the old steam tractor. ’^6." I asked about "Got the old steam engine back in John isn't much for words. You ask a question and you get a grin, and he hands you a map or a book to look it up “ only occasionally resorting to (words. I asked if he had done any mining before, "No — always wanted to — sort of a hobby," "You don't go down these old shafts alone, do you?" "Sure." "Isn't that pretty dangerous?" "Not smart enough to be scared," John replied. Barry Davis, John's young friend, nodded agreement. 2-37 �"Barry, I suppose you stay up topside to help <9 out if John gets In trouble;" "No, we go down together*^- we both get a kick out of It." "You guys are nuts I" "Yes." Some of the old literature John pushed at me be^ tween cups of coffee contained glowing reports of a much younger Forest Queen Mine. ground on each shaft. At one time men were undef?^ Pockets of wire silver were common. Five thousand dollars worth of silver was knocked down in a single blast. The Chloride shaft Mountain at the foot of nearby Ruby was the object of some fancy promotion. In I9OO, at the end of the silver boom, the English owner was awakened by the shaft boss and told of a rich pocket just uncovered. As the story goehuge gobs of wire silver hung from the tunnel roof — and ^00 pounds of nearly pure silver pulled out. Later the straw|boss bought the raine^ then sold it at a profit by retellinB: the old story — slightly improved. The new owner failed to find any sign of silver, let alone "wire silver hanging in gobs." A number of mines were promotional in nature, rather than productive. The Davy Crocket, Boomerang, Priceless, �Last Chance, and. I'4ountain Gera ran into isolated pockets but none really paid off. of ore Bill Fisher found silver at the Forest Queen in 1879. The camp that grew up on the flats was originally called '^uby.'^ The rush occurred in midwinter, and cabins had to be built quickly. Trees were cut down while deep snow lay on the yround. In the spring, numerous (^^:foot stumps appeared. Later, when the town grew, it was renamed after one of its founders, Dick Irwin, A promoter sold lots just five- and called Ruby, promising 5" south of town at a second site six-story 6 t^ory buildings. He skipped town, and the second Ruby was swallowed up by Irwin. At its peak in 1881, the population was close to 3,000. It seemed to be a permanent town. Perhaps not a "helldorado ” butyy accord Ing to the newspaper, at least an "eldorado." The editor of the town's paper, JUfhe 31k Mountain Pilot, was a strange character. He laid out the town cemetery, then became its first resident a few days later after he was killed dynamiting fish. The town had mill. churches, © sawmills, and a stamp Lots sold for up to S5.000 each. to frequent sale. Mines were subject When it became evident that only a few �shafts led to paying deposits, sales slacked, and the promoters left town. An elite social group called the Irwin Club, famous for entertaining two presidents, fell from a carefully selected membership of 100 in 1881 meager in 1884. to a . 3y 1909 the town was deserted. John Hahn spends his winters in Boulder, Colora^ do. Otherwise^he is busy preoaring to drill a tunnel into the mine from below. that manner. He figures to dewater the mine in Some of the bestspaying ore is now under several hundred feet of water. I inquired a a—' how he could tunnel into such a highs.pressure spot without being drowned in the resulting deluge "OhyLthat's not too difficult." "I suppose going to get help to drive the tunnel?" "No," he replied. "That's pretty dangerous, isn’t it?" "Yes." "Why do you keep doing it?" "Well -- it’s a hobby — I like it." He paused, then added, "Don’t you have any hobbies?" "Yeahjw^I'm building a bi£^ane in my garage." John didn’t say a damned thing — just sat there drinking coffee and grinning. 2-, I — MAP NOTE: “hie townsite and nearby mines are at the jnndatan juncture of the Mt# Axtell, ^dorado, and the 0h-Be-Joyful,C<4orado 7’2 minute mpps# �J GOTHIC CITY, COLORADqEL Truman Blacett found silver at the foot of Gothic Mountain in the fall of I878. He crubbed out several hundred dollars worth of wire silver before vac^ ting the high country for the winter. Somehow his secret got out, and the next sprincr a hundred tents were pitched on the flats of Sast River near Blacett's claim. The area was 9,500 feet above sea level and still snow-covered. Tents pitched temporarily on snow had to be reset when the sun dried the ground. Within four months, I70 "permanent” structures were up, and. as one wag put ita » > to the naked eye.” "the camo became visible By the time Samuel Wail (Weil) marked out boun^ darles and auplied for a town natent, the population had soared to 1,000. Within months the settlement had grown to a si^^ble town with a butcher shop, hotel, two sawmills, and several stores. Indeed, the residents claimed it was not merely a town ~ it was GOTHIC CITY, the fastest growing piece of real estate in the world. Within two years the town reached 8,000 popula/^ tion (according to the promoters) and may even have hit the 3,000 mark by accurate count. It now had two hotels, a tovAin hall, two newspapers, and yet another newspaper editor was �movinia; in a third press. There were two schools and a preacher in residence, busily attempting to neutralize the effects of two dance halls and half a dozen saloons. Gothic City was one of the wildest towns in Colorado. Its red-light district was unequalled. Strangely enough, only one murder and one lynching were recorded during the or years that the city boomed. In 1884 the veins thinned and the ore wouldn't pay expenses. Gothic City died almost as fast as it The last election for mayor was between two newspaper editors. The winner, G. H. Judd, found himself mayor of a chost town. He liked it and assumed jurisdiction over all the ghost towns in the area. When he died, ashes of his cremated body were spread across the nearly barren flats of Gothic City. The old town is called *^othic*^now — there is little excuse to add "city^ The town hall and an old pay shack stand on main street, braced with proos and steel tie rods. Scattered about are a few of the original cabins. The Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratories have taken over the town as a summer teaching camp and research center. This science camp, like many of its kind, serves best as a vacation retreat for weary nrofessors. Some of them are quite well known. The summer climate in the area is delightful. The winters bring heavy snows the tyu!? ideal for skiinv. �A ski resort is presently undergoing rapid expansion at a point between Gothic and Crested Butte, It is booming much like Gothic City did 100 years ago. MAP NOTE* The Mount Axtell and the 0-3e-Joyful, Colorado^ topographic maps are both required to study the area properly 2^0 �J COLORADO AaSA 3 3 ST. ELMO, CQLOaADQC Like most mines, the Mary Murphy was on an Impossible site. You had to crawl to It^and if you weren’t careful you could fall out of it. A miles long tramway was built from the road on Chalk Greek, 1,700 feet up the Slone*to the mine at a lofty elevation of 12,100 / feet. The small town of Romley sprouted at the lower end of the tramway. Three miles down^tream^at a more liveable altitude, the town of Forest City was hacked out of the heavy timber. Most of the mine employees chose to live in the lower town. In 1880 the townspeople of Forest City voted to incorporate. The postal department refused to accept the town’s name, due to jste duplicate use in several other states in the mid^nst and on the Pacific coast. townfolk settled on Elmo,’’^after the title and hero The of a bests selling novel by A. S. Wilson. The town had ^00 residents at the time destined to grow rapidly. nearly two thousand. but was By 1881 the population reached There was no shortage of wood, for the timber cleared from a hornedite provided the saw logs for the house. 6<<e/er �The Denver and Rio Grande had cooperated with the Union Pacific to run a rail line up Chalk Greek to St. Bimo, and work was in pros:ress on an extension up the continental creek to Homley. The Intent was to cross tbe./nvide via A an j^OO:foot tunnel, then drop down to the town of Gunnison. The tunnel was completed in 1882. The new line was hailed as a great achievement — until the first snow fell. Avalanches were so bad that the windows on the passenger coaches had to be boarded up. Snow and rocks frequently banned the sides of the cars. Some passengers appreciated the fact that they couldn't see out. On the downhill^eastern run through the tunnel, the train would pick up speed in order to blast through the waual heavy usually drift^found just above Romley. Often the train would run under the drift and bog down. Trainmen would climb atop the observation car and run forward "shovel in hand" to open a smoke^hole before the engineer and fireman suffocated. One summer day Mark Twain rode a fla^^ar down the grade, with one of the road bosses acting as brakeman. A bit of brake trouble added a new dimension to the outing. It was a wild ride, but the view throuvh the "one big window" was unsurpassed. St, Slmo quickly turned into a Saturday night hell-raising town. It had (^hotels, a newspaper, numerous saloons, and no church. Sventually a school was built. �Ohuroh services were occasionally held there on Sundays. The Gunnison, Aspen, and Tin Gup Sta^^e Lines ran dailv trips from St. Elmo, up over Tin Gup Pass,^on down to the sister boomTown of Tin Gup. Just below St. Elmo, less than a mile the creek, was the smeltins: town of Iron Gity. and across Never much for size, it became hard up for business when the railroad arrived. It lasted only two years. furnished the coup de grace. A flood on Chalk Greek Now it's a pretty nice spot to fish. Only two of the fifty mines in the area were opera^ ting in I897. The railroad ceased operation in 1911^^and the tracks were torn up in 1926. The town died that year, but the post office hung on until 1952. It’s a beautiful ghost town now. Most of the build? ings are left, and there is no misplaced commercialism. country store operates much in the old style. One It comes to life somewhat each winter when the snc)^mobilers gather on week^nc^s to run the slopes above town. Occasionally a snow^ cat races down the old railroad grade in pale imitation of Mark Twain's thrilling ride. MAP NOTE* St. Elmo is shown on the Garfield, Colorado^ 15 minute United States Geological Survey topographic map — A/7 �TURR 5T, □LJaADoC. I’m lost without a map. a map I Sometimes I’m lost.with A trip into the upside:d:own country above Salida, Colorado, was not in my plans, and my map file did not in-/ elude the Came ron Mountain topographic map. And in this case even with the map I would have been lost. At least the towns of Calumet and Wolf, both near Turret, would always have been lost to me, since neither is shown.on the Cameron map All three of the towns would have remained unknown to me if I hadn't run across a gent named Dave Smith, Dave operates a Jeep tour service out of Salida, Colorado. We were discussinjr items of mutual interest ghost towns — when Dave asked if I had ever heard of Turret. I hadn’t, so he twisted the barb a little by adding, "How about Calumet?" "Nope." "And Wolf? There’s not a writer in the country ever even heard of that townI" We left the next morning with a regular tour party. Lacking a map, I busily sketched the way in. In the process of sketching a map on @different pages of a notebook, I managed to botch the Job properly. I didn’t know where I was\ but Dave did, and he was enjoying every mile of it. Wolf and Calumet are to the right of the quarry and probably in Sections 21 and 2i|-y^respectively, on the •3^1 �aforementioned map. Turret Is to the left of the quarry and on up a wellsused road. The road enters Turret at right angles to and in the middle of the town's deserted main street. To the left are the old post office and the former Turner residence^with T mine behind, A number of other bulldln<?s are nearby., some of which were saloons, others houses of ill fame, and still others combinations of the two. Some distance to the right are the courthouse and main business district of town. On the hill above and to the south are the rock foundations of Turret’s most popular speakeasy, noted for its expansive underground moonshine storage facilities. The tin:covered hip roof of the coutthouse gave protection to the mayor's office, sheriff's office, and jail. Just down the slope the two-story log hotel, '^e Gregory, sported walls papered with 1902 issues of the town's news­ caper, the "^old Belt."^ Cat Gulch runs west through town, parallel to the street. In places the stores was above the gulch the boardwalk fronting and served as a bridge as well as a walkway. In 1892 along the gulch. the town was actually camps strung out At the high end was Adams Gamp, then Minneapolis, then South Turret or Klondike. One historian states that the town was platted in 189? under the name of �Gamp Austin. The place was officially named Turret in 1899» the year the town boomed. Population always varied with the seasons, with more than a thousand citizens in town during the summers of 1899 and I9OO. In 1900 the mines revealed the shallow nature of their veins, and the town’s future dimmed. Some gold and copper mining continued at the Independence Mine until 1916, but the best producers ^he Golden Wonder, Mie Gold Bug, and ^e Monongahela'^ were worked out. The post office miracui^^ lously survived until 19^1. MAP NOTE* Turret is on the Cameron Mountain, Colorado^15 minute United States Geological Survey topograph map. �1CALUMST, COLORADO i4uoh of the road from Salida to Calumet Is coincident with the grade of one of the most unusual rail lines ever built In Colorado. The Denver and Hio Grande built the spur to serve the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company. The grade was set at seven per cent, more than double the normal slope. On the way up to the mines at Calumet cou lings on the train had a tendency to yield, resulting in wildly careening rides down the hill. accidents, empty cars were pushed upj were "held back" by the engine. To prevent such when filled, they Passengers were permitted to ride only after signing a release. Prom Calumet passel^* gers could continue via the Turret, ’,/hitehorn^and Salida Stage Line, The stage station for that line is one of the best remnants left in town. More than feet long, it had. 2-5/ a forsre at one end and was built into and around a huge rock at the opposite northeast end. It is the longest log structure this observer has had the opportunity to photograph. A second log building and an outhouse make up the balance of Calumet today. At one time it was a busy company town, fur«* nishing much of the iron ore for the smelters at Pueblo,. Colorado. The Calumet Mine, for which the town was named, was one of the deepest in the world prior to 19OO. The �shaft was started In 1889 and In 1898 reached the end of the rich raas-netlc iron ore deposits at a depth of 4,900 feet. Marble found in the vicinity kept the town and the railroad in business for a time, but for all practical purposes the life blood of Calumet flowed downhill with the last load of magnetite. MAP NOTSi Calmet is not shown on the Cameron Mountain, ColoradOy^l5 minute United States Geological Survey topographic map. A building or two that might repre­ sent the town aire shown in Section 24. �COLORADO r J N'o one seems to know the history of the town of whether Wolf, or^indeed, that is the correct name for the community Dave Smith of Salida, Colorado, happened upon it some years ago while jeepzexploring in the area. He prowled about and found evidence of a main street and a dozen buildings, four or five of which still stand. The largest structure, a smelter, contains an old boiler, a forge, and work tables. On the wall is written: ^^Faint signs of Inteyecting streets can be made out. nearly six inches in diameter grow in old ruts. Trees Half a dozen cabins stand in varvlnor states of decay. An outhouse tilts on its foundation, threatening to fall into its own opening and self-destruct. M substitute neatly carpeted — a eampr^migod fur lining. Its seat is On one visit to the old town, Dave met a miner working on a claim.4n- tho arua. He was freshly returned from Alaska and was carrying out the required work to legally maintain his mine. He had scant information to offer con^_ cerning the town. He had heard that it boomed about I898 and had a population of 200 at that time. eased When the boom mining and smelting the gold taken whether The miner did not know the town was (^^folk remained, from shafts nearby. called Azolf**^or *^wolf'^ " he’d heard it both wavs. �Recently a rancher put cattle in the area. He provided water for the stock by digging in a number of old bath tjibs. 3xcept for the cattle tracks nearby, the sunken bathTubs would seem to add one more puzzle to the already mysterious town. MAP WOTS* , Colorado, Wolf is not shown on the Cameron Mountaln^^lS minute United States Geological Survey topographic mapj however, it is probably within the bounds of Section 21. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Norman Weis Manuscripts Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/</a> Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1971-1987 Description An account of the resource A collection of manuscripts by Casper College professor Norman Weis. <br /><br />This collection includes manuscripts of:<br /><em>Ghost Towns of the Northwest: Known and Unknown<br />The Starduster<br />Two-Story Outhouse<br />Helldorados<br /></em><br />Each manuscript contains written in edits by Norman Weis Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Norman Weis Language A language of the resource ENG Is Part Of A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included. Norm Weiss Manuscripts and Photographs, CCA 10.2003.01 WyCaC US. Casper College Archives and Special Collections. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Searchable PDF Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CCA 10.2003.01_Weis_Manuscripts Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Manuscript Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource <em>Helldorados</em> Part V: Colorado Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <div class="element-text five columns omega"> <p><a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/</a></p> </div> Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1975 Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Norman Weis Language A language of the resource ENG Is Part Of A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included. Norm Weiss Manuscripts and Photographs, CCA 10.2003.01 WyCaC US. Casper College Archives and Special Collections. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CCA 10.2003.01_Weis_Helldorados_Colo Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Searchable PDF