The Silverton Story
9781465635365
108 pages
Library of Alexandria
Overview
Silverton, with all its scenic splendor, nestles in a valley 9,302 feet in altitude. It is surrounded by four mountain peaks, all of which rise above timberline, and are usually snow covered the year around; Kendall Mountain to the East, Anvil Mountain to the West, Boulder Mountain to the North, and Sultan Mountain to the South. The highest of these peaks is Sultan, which rises to a dizzy height of 13,336 feet. Opposite this is Kendall that juts skyward 4,000 feet above the floor of the valley. Silverton is centered in the rugged, majestic San Juan Mountains, and nowhere in the nation is there another 100,000 square miles of such spectacularly scenic grandeur. One evening, a group of men were in a saloon discussing the possibilities of the San Juan. One fellow remarked, “We have silver by the ton”, and thus Silverton got its name. It is the only incorporated town in the county, and boasts not an acre of farm land. Silverton was, at one time, named Baker’s Park after Charles Baker who led a group of prospectors to this country in 1860 or 1861. There is no record of any permanent locations made, or of any quantity of mineral taken out, though there were indications of prospecting being done. As you can imagine, Baker and his party endured many hardships. Relics, broken wagon parts, and some discarded camp equipment lead to the belief the party came by way of Durango, thence to Cascade Creek along the route of our present highway. From there they went to the West of Spud Mountain and kept fairly high, crossing Coal Bank Hill and following around the head of Lime Creek. After passing Lime Creek, they crossed the hills East of there and came down into the park by way of Bear Creek. There is a place on Bear Creek which shows they let their wagons down the hillside by means of a rope, as the stock was evidently unable to hold the wagons under control. Charles Baker had a narrow escape in 1862 near Eureka. One of the men organized a mutiny, crying out to hang Baker, claiming he had deceived them. Baker heard of it and escaped, otherwise he would have met his fate at the hands of his own men. In 1868, Baker again set out from Denver for Silverton, as he still believed gold was here, and arrived in the San Juan in 1871. He was killed in this vicinity by the Indians shortly thereafter. Dempsey Reese, Miles T. Johnson, Adam French and Thomas Blair outfitted in Santa Fe and arrived in the San Juans in 1870. They were the first lode prospectors, as Baker and his party had been searching for placer gold.
