As you’re making your summer plans, don’t forget Creede. Located on Colorado’s Silver Thread, Highway 149, it’s a place where you can still see into the past. The Utes knew this land well. They had hunted the forests and valleys in the region for centuries. They frequented “Little Medicine,” the hot mineral springs on Goose Creek near Wagon Wheel Gap, as well as “Big Medicine” springs near present-day Pagosa Springs.
Silver was discovered at the Alpha Mine in 1869. Prospectors, homesteaders, and ranchers soon followed. Stagecoaches and teamsters made daily trips along the toll roads connecting Creede to Lake City, Del Norte and Silverton. The Denver & Rio Grande railroad arrived. Still, living and mining were tough in this region, and many gave up.
Creede’s next boom began when very rich veins of silver were found in 1889 by Nicholas Creede at the Holy Moses Mine. The newspapers reported this as the “largest silver strike in the West.” Many fortune-seekers descended on “Creede Camp,” growing the population to 600.
At the same time, Colorado’s capital city, Denver, was experiencing a “reform” movement banning gambling clubs and saloons, and many of the business owners decided Creede was the place to reopen. Famous and infamous people were coming to town. One of the newcomers was Soapy Smith, who became the “king” of Creede’s criminal underworld. Robert Ford, the man who shot Jesse James, opened a saloon, and was soon killed by a customer.
Lawman Bat Masterson, Calamity Jane and gambler Poker Alice came to Creede, too.
By 1891 the population was 10,000 in Creede. Town lots could be purchased for $310. Houses and businesses were hastily constructed. One hundred new buildings were being constructed when a fire started, and the entire downtown burned in 1892. The Silver Panic in 1893 caused silver prices to plummet. Mines closed, and Creede’s first boom was over.
Creede’s next boom came in 1914 with World War I. Silver was again in demand.
Mines reopened and thrived until many miners left and became “tunnel men” dig- ging the trenches in France. When the soldiers returned home, most of the mines had shut down.
Saloons around the country were closed in 1920 when the 18th Amendment outlawed liquor sales. The land between the steep cliffs east of town became a prime location to make booze, and the Prohibition agents couldn’t locate all the stills hidden in the mines. Bootlegging became very lucrative at “Moonshine Mesa,” with deliveries all over the region.
Most of the mines closed by 1960, and the community needed a new source of income. In 1966 members of the Junior Chamber of Commerce met with local pastor Jim Livingston to brainstorm ways to bring tourists to Creede in the summertime. They had an old opera house, so maybe they could put on a few plays.
The group sent letters to universities all over the country. The letter was posted on a bulletin board at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. A theater student, 19-year-old Steve Grossman, sent back the only response. It was on! He and 12 students drove to Creede to put on a few plays. The students built the scenery, made the costumes, found the props, lit the stage and acted in the productions. Their first play was Mr. Roberts and admission as $1. Within four more weeks they had performed four more plays: The Bat, Our Town, The Rainmaker, and Born Yesterday. Creede Repertory Theater was born.
Today thousands of visitors come every year to Creede to hike, fish on the Rio Grande, attend theater productions and experience historic Creede. Yes, it’s another boom for Creede.
There Is No Night in Creede By Cy Warman Here’s a land where all are equal Of high or lowly birth . . .
It’s day all day in the daytime and there is no night in Creede.
Sources include westernmininghistory.com, creede.com, coloradoencyclopedia.org, and creederep.org.
Carolyn Snowbarger is a retired educator. After teaching middle schoolers in Olathe, Kansas, for 28 years, she and her husband Vince moved to Washington, D.C. She directed the Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative at the U.S. Department of Education and then managed continuing education programs for the American Institute of Architects. The Snowbargers moved to Ridgway in 2013 after decades of San Juan family vacations.
