American Southwest (#11): Leadville, Colorado

Leadville ... legendary for its triumphs and tragedies. In 1860, a group of prospectors discovered placer gold in what they optimistically named California Gulch. The camp they founded was also named in hopeful expectation: Oro City. The gulch gave up a few million dollars in gold before its placers played out and people drifted away. In the late 1860s, a quartz lode was developed at the Printer Boy Mine, but again the excitement was short lived.

In the summer of 1877, however, a real bonanza was discovered around the corner from Oro City. The strike was not gold, but silver. Leadville, named for the lead carbonate in which the ore was found, came to life two miles northwest of Oro City. The first huge returns came from the Little Pittsburg Mine early in 1878. Its riches began the storied rise and eventual fall - of one of Colorado's most famous citizens: Horace Austin Warner Tabor.

Leadville, Colorado & Southern (LC&S) ... Welcome aboard Colorado's newest passenger railroad, the Leadville, Colorado & Southern (LC&S).Enjoy a leisurely ride on the grade of the former Denver, South Park & Pacific Railroad (DSP&P). The fabled "South Park," also called the "Seldom Punctual," was chartered in 1873. Construction started from Denver in 1874 and track finally reached Leadville in 1884. The route selected by the DSP&P meandered back and forth, crossing the Continental Divide twice before reaching Leadville, the highest incorporated city in Colorado. One hundred and four years later, the LC&S began carrying passengers on the remaining South Park track between Leadville and Climax.

The LC&S leaves the Leadville depot, elevation 10,200 feet, and gradually climbs a little over 900 feet along the southern side of the upper Arkansas River Valley almost to the summit of Fremont Pass. The route winds through beautiful aspen, lodgepole pine, spruce and fir forests. Travel is slow enough that wildflowers growing along the track may be thoroughly enjoyed, especially during July and August. Other delights of the trip are chances to see deer, elk, coyotes, marmots, rabbits, ground squirrels, pikas, and chipmunks.

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Travel & Events

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• American Southwest
• Colorado
• Leadville
• Colorado Southern Railway
• Mining
• Oro City
• Tabor Opera House
• Baby Doe