  Map On the way over Red Mountain Pass two unusual ghost towns may be seen by slight northerly detours from the Million Dollar Highway. Originally known as the Rainbow Route, this highway was Otto Mears’ toll road from Silverton to Ouray, and later the grade of his Silverton Railroad which ran as far as Ironton. Red Mountain began first as a mining district in 1831 and then blossomed into two settlements, Red Mountain City and Red Mountain Town. There are also three separate Red Mountains to add to the confusion. But Red Mountain City, on the Silverton side of the pass, died an early death, and Red Mountain Town dropped the “town” a few years later. This left three mountains and a town with the identical name. It was in the summer of 1881 that John Robinson and two companions found the Guston mine, according to Ernest Ingersoll in the 1885 edition of Crest of the Continent. The Guston’s ore was low grade, but did have an excess of lead which was wanted by the Pueblo smelter. So the three continued working it. In August of the next year Robinson was hunting deer and carelessly picked up a small boulder. He was astonished at the weight, broke it open, and found solid galena. This led to the discovery of the Yankee Girl only a dozen feet below the surface. A month later they sold their prospect hole for $125,000. The new owners had to pack the ore on burros all the way to Silverton, and still the ore yielded a profit of $50 a ton. The Yankee Girl’s final production figures were around $5,000,000. But long before that, the mine caused a rush, and the town of Red Mountain was platted in June of 1883. By 1800 it had a population of six hundred, a water works, school house, weekly newspaper, saloons, business houses and shops—and dozens of stories of fluke discoveries. The most sensational of these discoveries was that of the National Belle whose popularity and allure soon outshone that of the Yankee Girl. In 1883 some miners were working in an underground tunnel and accidentally broke through the foot wall into a cavity. One man took a candle and climbed down into an immense natural cavern. The flickering flame showed up effulgent pockets of gold and silver galenas, chlorides and carbonates—a veritable treasure cave. The National Belle became one of the most celebrated mines of the San Juans with a long, preciously-guarded life and production figures of close to $9,000,000. Red Mountain was plagued by fires and was completely destroyed in June, 1895. It also changed its location once in 1886 to be close to the toll road, later the railroad. When trains began to reach Red Mountain in September, 1888, the depot had to be placed inside the wye because of the narrowness of the site. In 1960 only the dump and shaft house of the National Belle gave any idea of the lively Red Mountain that once was—nonetheless a unique town because of its National Belle.... Ironton was three miles below Red Mountain and was as far as the Silverton Railroad could go because of the impossibility of laying rail in the precipitous confines of Uncompahgre Canyon on its way to Ouray. Ironton was founded in 1883 and platted in 1884 over a long oblong running beside Red Mountain Creek. Its main business was freighting and transportation for the many mines such as the Saratoga and Silver Belle, dotting the mountainsides above it. This was especially true after the Silverton Railroad began full operation in 1889. In 1890 its population was three hundred and twenty-two, around half that of its neighbor, Red Mountain. As time went on, Ironton’s more salubrious location won out. Ten years later Red Mountain had only thirty residents, and Ironton, seventy-one. Gradually they both melted away, although Ironton did not completely die until 1926 when the railroad track was removed. In 1960 only ten or twelve houses remained. Two of them had been renovated by employees of the wealthy Idarado Mining Company which has consolidated all the mining activities of the Red Mountain district into one big operation. In addition the company has driven a long tunnel under the mountains to Pandora, close to Telluride. On the Red Mountain side Idarado’s surface buildings are impressive enough to give hope that Colorado will make a comeback as a mining state. Ironton won a place in our collection because when the Silverton Railroad was completed to this point, Otto Mears decided in celebration upon a new and unique railroad pass for his friends—a silver engraved watch fob. Unknown, circa 1887; D.P.L.
D.K.P., 1960 T. M. McKee, 1886; D.P.L.
D.K.P., 1960 |
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