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Aspen
KNOWLEDGE OF Aspen
Aspen was not always a quirky town peppered with posh eateries and hotels, multi-million dollar homes, and fur-clad celebrities on skis. What is now the winter hub for the rich and famous, and a world-class destination for extreme recreation, was once the summer hunting home of the Ute Indian tribe. Archeologists have even found evidence deep in the dirt of an ancient people that wandered about the Roaring Fork Valley some 8,000 years ago. But the only thing the Utes have in common with today's residents is a preference for animal fur.
By time Colorado achieved statehood in 1876, the rush for gold and silver was in full swing. Mining settlements littered the high country, as prospectors pried their fortunes from the rock with an undying urgency. At the time, Leadville (still the highest town in North America at 10,430 feet above sea level) was the state’s second largest city next to Denver. The settlement, tucked away on the east side of the Continental Divide, had some of the deepest veins of silver ever found. But it was not until 1879, when a few silver seekers surmounted the divide at what is now Independence Pass and ventured into the Ute’s hunting ground, that a pick struck the mother lode.
The prospectors discovered so many ores in the area that the ground was literally spitting silver. They quickly set up camp and named it Ute City, which was ironic considering they ultimately pushed the tribe out of the valley. In 1881 the city changed its name to Aspen.
Mining camps popped up everywhere west of the divide and took names like Ashcroft and Independence. But Aspen benefited from more than just mining. Two railroads utilized the town as a hub. Plus, outside investments from the likes of Macy’s president Jerome Wheeler and lawyer David Hyman helped build a solid industrial infrastructure and urban framework.
By the late 1880s, Aspen’s population topped 12,000. The town now had an opera house, six newspapers, a red light district, three banks, a host of churches and a hospital. At that point, close to a million dollars worth of silver and one of the biggest nuggets ever (weighing in at 2,200 pounds) had been extracted from the area mines.
Once the Sherman Silver Act was history and silver was demonetized in 1893, the fortune seekers vanished, and the area settlements soon stood empty and dilapidated. Most of them ultimately crumbled and disappeared. The remnants of Independence and Ashcroft are now ghost towns and remain popular tourist stops. Aspen survived, but the population dwindled, bottoming out to around 700 people in the 1930s, and consisted mostly of farmers and ranchers.
In 1935, a group of international investors came to the Roaring Fork Valley looking for an ideal location to build a ski area on par with the European resorts. Andre Roch, a renowned Swiss outdoorsman, had the task of creating the ski area. But after constructing a lodge, boat tow, and initial slope, World War II ended any hope of completion.
By time Colorado achieved statehood in 1876, the rush for gold and silver was in full swing. Mining settlements littered the high country, as prospectors pried their fortunes from the rock with an undying urgency. At the time, Leadville (still the highest town in North America at 10,430 feet above sea level) was the state’s second largest city next to Denver. The settlement, tucked away on the east side of the Continental Divide, had some of the deepest veins of silver ever found. But it was not until 1879, when a few silver seekers surmounted the divide at what is now Independence Pass and ventured into the Ute’s hunting ground, that a pick struck the mother lode.
The prospectors discovered so many ores in the area that the ground was literally spitting silver. They quickly set up camp and named it Ute City, which was ironic considering they ultimately pushed the tribe out of the valley. In 1881 the city changed its name to Aspen.
Mining camps popped up everywhere west of the divide and took names like Ashcroft and Independence. But Aspen benefited from more than just mining. Two railroads utilized the town as a hub. Plus, outside investments from the likes of Macy’s president Jerome Wheeler and lawyer David Hyman helped build a solid industrial infrastructure and urban framework.
By the late 1880s, Aspen’s population topped 12,000. The town now had an opera house, six newspapers, a red light district, three banks, a host of churches and a hospital. At that point, close to a million dollars worth of silver and one of the biggest nuggets ever (weighing in at 2,200 pounds) had been extracted from the area mines.
Once the Sherman Silver Act was history and silver was demonetized in 1893, the fortune seekers vanished, and the area settlements soon stood empty and dilapidated. Most of them ultimately crumbled and disappeared. The remnants of Independence and Ashcroft are now ghost towns and remain popular tourist stops. Aspen survived, but the population dwindled, bottoming out to around 700 people in the 1930s, and consisted mostly of farmers and ranchers.
In 1935, a group of international investors came to the Roaring Fork Valley looking for an ideal location to build a ski area on par with the European resorts. Andre Roch, a renowned Swiss outdoorsman, had the task of creating the ski area. But after constructing a lodge, boat tow, and initial slope, World War II ended any hope of completion.
Chapi