big oil
Race Dog
Founded in an ancient caldera, Silverton, Colorado is called home by roughly 600 year-round inhabitants. The only township in San Juan County at an elevation of 9,318 feet, this town has roots in mining at the turn of the 20th century, when the mountains were renown for high mineral content and Blair Street was known for its shady ladies. Now the mines are summer tourist attractions, the brothels are hotels, and the mountains are famous for massive amounts of snow. Locals here still know how to make last call and still get first chair no matter how cold it is when they wake up. Be polite, tip well, and try to keep up with a local during unguided season to find a few stashes.
To reach the Red Mountain Mining District, the first road was built from Ouray across the steep “impassable” cliffs to Red Mountain Pass by the Ouray and San Juan Wagon Road Company in 1880. Though progress was made in the first two years, the company was running out of money by 1882. After several attempts to reorganize, and refinance, Otto Mears, known as the “Pathfinder of the San Juans” because he had built so many roads through the area, offered to purchase a 54% interest in the toll road company. After putting a larger and more experienced construction crew to work, much of the road was blasted from solid rock. His crews cleared 8.5 miles at a cost to Mears and his backers of $40,000 per mile. He also extended the road along Red Mountain Creek over Red Mountain Pass, down Mineral Creek, and into Silverton.
The road was completed in 1883 and the narrow track operated as a freight and stage line. Mears attempted to recoup his costs by charging a $5 toll for a team and wagon, $2.50 for a trail wagon, and $1 for saddle animals. Mears made sure the road narrowed at Bear Creek Falls, about three miles south of Ouray, so to prevent anyone from circumventing his toll bridge. Here, his gatehouse also doubled as a small store where he sold “whiskies and fine cigars.”
To reach the Red Mountain Mining District, the first road was built from Ouray across the steep “impassable” cliffs to Red Mountain Pass by the Ouray and San Juan Wagon Road Company in 1880. Though progress was made in the first two years, the company was running out of money by 1882. After several attempts to reorganize, and refinance, Otto Mears, known as the “Pathfinder of the San Juans” because he had built so many roads through the area, offered to purchase a 54% interest in the toll road company. After putting a larger and more experienced construction crew to work, much of the road was blasted from solid rock. His crews cleared 8.5 miles at a cost to Mears and his backers of $40,000 per mile. He also extended the road along Red Mountain Creek over Red Mountain Pass, down Mineral Creek, and into Silverton.
The road was completed in 1883 and the narrow track operated as a freight and stage line. Mears attempted to recoup his costs by charging a $5 toll for a team and wagon, $2.50 for a trail wagon, and $1 for saddle animals. Mears made sure the road narrowed at Bear Creek Falls, about three miles south of Ouray, so to prevent anyone from circumventing his toll bridge. Here, his gatehouse also doubled as a small store where he sold “whiskies and fine cigars.”
