Gunnison Area Heritage Driving Tour

Gunnison- It is believed the Ute Indians summered in the Gunnison area in the 1500s. The first few non-Native American individuals arrived in the early 1840s in search of good trapping and mining, though none set up permanent settlements. In 1853, the U.S. Army Topographical Engineers led by Captain John Gunnison arrived looking for a suitable path for the transcontinental railroad route. The settlers came in the 1870s drawn by the promise of success through mining gold, silver and other metals. While the ore deposits for precious metals did not pan out, the nearby land proved good for ranching and on May 22, 1877, the City of Gunnison became the official seat of the county and the center for local commerce. The railroad arrived in Gunnison in 1880 allowing for further growth of the region.

To learn more about the history of Gunnison and its historic buildings, please pick up a copy of the “Walking Tour of Historic Gunnison” brochure provided by the City Of Gunnison at the Gunnison Visitor Center located at 500 E. Tomichi Avenue.

 

Gunnison Pioneer Museum In the 1930s the Pioneer Society formalized and incorporated as a non-profit organization, and in 1964 they opened the doors to the Gunnison Pioneer Museum. On display at the 5-acre museum is an extensive collection of memorabilia and artifacts from throughout Gunnison County, the No. 268 Denver and Rio Grande Railroad Engine and a collection of 14 historic buildings including Gunnison’s first post office from 1876, a school house built in 1905 and a depot from the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. It also includes the Mallett Antique Car Collection, one of the largest historic vehicle collections in Colorado with 72 vehicles.

 

Blue Mesa Reservoir This reservoir is the largest body of water in the state of Colorado at more than 20 miles long and with approximately 91 miles of shoreline. The reservoir formed when the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation finished the Blue Mesa Dam in 1965. The reservoir provides water for irrigation, municipal and industrial uses. The dam is one of three, including the Morrow Point Dam and the Crystal Dam that make up the Wayne N. Aspinall Unit in the Colorado River Storage Project approved by Congress in 1956. The water from the project feeds into the Gunnison Tunnel completed in 1909; today it is recognized as a National Civil Engineering Landmark.

Prior to the construction of the dams, the land under the reservoir was used first by Native Americans as far back as 10,000 years ago. In the 1880s, new settlers used the land for agricultural purposes. The reservoir covered the area where the towns of Iola and Sapinero once stood and where the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad operated its trains regularly through the area from 1882 until 1949, with the last train coming through in 1954. When the water in the reservoir is very low, a few of the foundations from Iola can still be seen and the water covers over 79 man-made structures.

The National Park Service offers tours by boat through Morrow Point, the eastern end of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. The Visitor Center is open from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., its winter hours are Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Black Canyon of Gunnison  The Spanish were the first Europeans to canvas western Colorado with two expeditions, one led by Juan Rivera in 1765, and the other by Fathers Dominguez and Escalante in 1776. Today, you can walk in the footsteps of some of these hardy and inquisitive forbearers. The canyon continues to offer a rugged and demanding experience as it did more than a hundred years ago.

“W” on Tenderfoot Mountain Western State College’s “W” is the largest collegiate symbol in the world at 320 feet by 420 feet. In 1923, students and faculty carried hundreds of heavy flat rocks from the side of Tenderfoot Mountain. The rocks are whitewashed annually and each year at Homecoming, the “W” is set aflame (the “Lighting of the W”,) creating an incredible sight from the Gunnison Valley floor.

Parlin- Named for John T. Parlin who started a dairy farm and stage stop there in 1877, becoming a busy spot as prospectors and settlers streamed into the area. In 1881, the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad (D&RG) arrived at the town, making an agreement that Mr. Parlin would trade them land for right of way; in exchange, D&RG would build a depot and make a five-minute stop each time the train came through. In 1882, the Denver South Park and Pacific Railroad also reached Parlin from the Quartz Creek Valley. With the D&RG pulling the station in 1891 and the Silver Crash of 1893, most of the business in town dried up. The general store and post office remained in business for the local ranchers.

Ohio City-  The area surrounding Ohio City had been explored by prospectors as early as the 1850s. In 1880 miners set up the town of Eagle City; however, they soon changed the name to Ohio City, after Ohio Creek, which was soon changed to Gold Creek. The town grew quickly to boast a population of 300 people where numerous gold and silver mines and four mills up the Gold Creek Valley kept the town in business for many years. Many of their remnants still stand. After the Silver Panic of 1893, production switched to primarily gold. By 1910, many of the mines closed and production had completely ended by the early 1940s. Today the school house, jail, town hall, general store, and a few cabins still stand.

Pitkin-  The oldest incorporated city on the Western Slope of Colorado is Pitkin. Prospectors first came to the area in 1878 and named their camp Quartzville. The town incorporated on August 11, 1879, and changed its name to Pitkin to honor Colorado Governor Fredrick Pitkin. Settlers chose the area for its mineral deposits of gold, silver, copper, lead and iron, and numerous mines boosted the economy. In 1882, over 300 houses stood in the town and 60 businesses were open with more than 1,000 people living in the hills surrounding town. However by 1883, the promise of the mines had already played out and the population dwindled to half that of 1882. Silver mining brought spikes to the population in the early 1890s and again in the early 1900s. The fish hatchery and the timber industry helped keep Pitkin populated in the 1920s and 30s. Today the town has around 80 full-time residents, and the population swells to 300 in the summer months.

Tincup- The mining boom had already played out by 1882, but enough mineral wealth remained for individuals to make a living mining there through the early 1900s. Tincup once had a bustling downtown, about a block-and-a-half long, with storefronts, hotels and restaurants on either side of Washington Avenue. However a fire in 1906 destroyed the south side of the street, and a fire in 1913 flattened the north side. Only a few buildings on either end of Main Street survived. The 1930s brought new part-time residents to the area and many buildings from the mining area were razed with new cabins built in their place. Frenchy’s Restaurant is named after the saloon that operated in Tincup from 1879 to 1913 by A.N. “Frenchy” Perrault. The General Store Building was probably moved to its current site from Hillerton in 1904, where it served as a land office and the current business as a general store began in 1976.

Taylor Park- Named for James Taylor who came into the area while prospecting for gold in 1859. Purportedly, a member of his party dipped his tin drinking cup into a stream and found gold in 1860. The party named the area Tincup, and the river and the park were given Taylor’s name. The lack of huge promise for gold and the Civil War kept many early prospectors at bay. The first great strike in the area was made at the Gold Cup Mine in 1878, and the area became flooded with prospectors in 1879. The people who came renamed the Tincup Camp, Virginia City. For the first few years, this renaming led to a great deal of confusion until in 1882, when the local citizens voted to keep the name Tincup.

Taylor Dam- In 1933, the Bureau of Reclamation approved the plan presented by Western Slope Congressman Ed Taylor to install a dam at the site. Between 1935 and 1937, more than 300 men worked to construct the dam, which has a structural height of 206 feet. The dam is part of the Uncompahgre Project and keeps the water on the Western Slope for irrigation. Taylor Reservoir covers 2,030 acres of land.

Almont- This small town sits at the junction where the Taylor River and the East River meet, forming the Gunnison River. Originally the settlement was known as Fishers after Sam Fisher who began operating a toll bridge and toll road to Jack’s Cabin at the spot in 1879. The bridge provided access to prospectors and freight haulers traveling back and forth from the northern mines to Gunnison. The Denver and Rio Grande Railroad arrived in 1881, putting an end to the toll road. Fisher began breeding horses. In 1881 he renamed the town Almont after a famous horse, known as the leading Hambletonian stallion of the time. In 1893, the property was sold to Vernon Davis, the man responsible for transforming the ranch and way stop into a resort. Davis built cabins and a hotel named the Marston. In 1912, the Almont Sportsman Association purchased the resort and then sold it in 1918 to Mr. and Mrs. John Brittian, who operated it until 1945. The Brittians began hosting fish fries in 1927, an annual event that people came to in the thousands. The largest one was the last; it was held in 1940, and the Republican candidate for president, Wendell Wilkie, spoke in front of more than 10,000 guests.

For more information visit: www.gunnisoncrestedbutte.com