Dave Wood’s Magnolia Line was the most important of the early San Juan freighting businesses. He followed the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad’s railhead and provided freight service from there to towns further west. In 1884 Wood built his own road, still known today as the Dave Wood Road, from Montrose to Telluride. He served towns until the railroad arrived: Ouray in 1886 and Telluride in 1892. At one point he had over 500 head of horses, mules and oxen at work. When a newcomer to Colorado asked him how long he had lived in these mountains, Wood replied, ”Madam, I hauled these mountains in here.” In spite of his great success he went bankrupt during the Silver Panic of 1893.
Even after the railroad arrived in Ouray in 1886, freighting was still needed to get materials to the mines. The largest freighting company to serve Ouray’s mines was owned by John Ashenfelter. His company served Ouray from 1882 until his death in 1910 and was the exclusive freighter for the Camp Bird and Revenue Mines. Ashenfelter’s business occupied both sides of 8th Avenue in the block west of Main Street. He had two large barns, wagon and grain warehouses, three livery stables and corrals, as well as blacksmith and carpentry shops. At the height of his business he had 24 six-horse teams, many dozen pack mules and a herd of 80 burros. Ashenfelter also ran a daily four-horse stage up the Camp Bird Road. In 1899 his stage was the scene of the only reported stagecoach robbery in Ouray County.
Ouray was also served by many smaller livery stables. They did a brisk business in renting buggies, wagons and horses. It was common practice for miners at the Camp Bird and Revenue Mines to walk into Ouray on a Saturday and then hire a horse on Sunday to ride back to the mine. The horse would then return riderless to the livery stable.
John Donald came to Ouray in 1886 and started a packing business with a string of burros. He did most of the ore packing for the mines on Gold Hill north of Ouray. He eventually bought what remained of the Ashenfelter stables in 1920. The Fellin brothers established a freighting business in 1911. They did most of the hauling for the Atlas and Mountain Top Mines. The Fellin brothers purchased John Donald’s business after his death in 1933. Fellin trucks continued to haul the Camp Bird ore to the railroad until the 1960s.
Other livery stables included Union Livery Company, which was located on Main Street and had wagons and carriages on the first floor and stables in the basement with large corrals in the back. A.A. Moore established the Free Coinage livery in 1898 at the corner of 9th Avenue and Main Street. Today’s Ouray Livery Barn traces its history back to 1883 when the O.K. Stables were established. In 1893 Charles Rowley, who had married John Ashenfelter’s sister, purchased the O.K. Stables and operated it until his death in 1930.