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FEATURE COVERAGE

Fri
10
Aug

THE MINE NEXT DOOR: Part 2

Submitted by Ouray County Pl... on Fri, 08/10/2018 - 12:54pm

 

 

 

 

 

Miles of Tunnels

by Samantha Tisdel Wright

A Brief History of the Idarado Mine

The history of the Idarado Mine is as long the tunnels and as rich as the ore veins that riddle its guts. Its stories are stoked by volcanic tantrums, and sculpted by the winds of history that blew Americans across the West.

How far back do you want to go – World War II? Manifest Destiny of the 1800s? Dominguez and Escalante in 1776? The Tertiary period 35 million years ago, with its great belching supervolcanoes and collapsed calderas that spawned the fabled ore bodies of the San Juan Mountains?

All had a role to play in the rise of the largest mining operation that ever existed in the San Juans.

The Big Bonanza

Fri
10
Aug

.THE MINE NEXT DOOR: Part 1

Submitted by Ouray County Pl... on Fri, 08/10/2018 - 12:34pm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

by Samantha Tisdel Wright

Getting to know the Idarado Mine is a little bit like that poem about the blind men and the elephant. Depending on which part of the elephant each man encounters, he declares it to be a wall, a tree trunk, a spear, a fan, a snake – never grasping the whole animal for its bewildering array of parts.

Likewise, it’s hard to imagine that the scattered remnants of the Idarado Mine could possibly all belong to the same being:

Thu
31
May

BIRDS OF OURAY COUNTY: The erratic wandering bird

Submitted by Ouray County Pl... on Thu, 05/31/2018 - 2:37pm
Red Crossbills

Red Crossbills photo taken in Elk Meadows.

Courtesy photo by Rebecca Kindred

By Sue Hirshman
with Kent Nelson

A bird that is called a nomad
 with beaks of each type
  adapted to fit the cones
  of specific conifers
          —anonymous—

Thu
16
Nov
atodd's picture

A lofty goal for an iconic Ouray sign

Submitted by atodd on Thu, 11/16/2017 - 5:19pm

by Alan Todd
atodd@ouraynews.com

Thu
26
Oct

Grad student monitors Portland Creek as part of master’s project

Submitted by Ouray County Pl... on Thu, 10/26/2017 - 2:30pm

John Hammond and Abby Eurich install stream monitoring equipment in the bed of Portland Creek. Eurich is studying the combined effects of snow and land cover change in mountain watersheds for her master’s degree in watershed science.

Courtesy photo

by Mary Menz
news@ouraynews.com

Water from Colorado serves 19 states, and Colorado’s population alone is expected to nearly double from 4.3 million (2000) to 7.2 million in 2030. With 80 percent of the water supply coming from snowfall, it makes sense that today’s watershed scientists are looking to better manage and estimate water supplies that drain from the mountains.
That’s what native Coloradan Abby Eurich is doing. Eurich is a graduate student at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, but the work she’s doing for her master’s degree in...

Thu
07
Sep

Potter Ranch celebrates 80th anniversary

Submitted by Ouray County Pl... on Thu, 09/07/2017 - 4:33pm

Christine Potter Witherspoon poses with her display at the Ouray County Fair last week. The exhibit depicts memories associated with the 80-year history of the Potter Ranch. Included was an antique washing machine used by the family for years, her father’s old hat and spurs, and her mother’s boots, among other memorabilia, some of which has been donated to the Ouray County Ranch History Museum in Ridgway.

Plaindealer photo by Mary Menz

by Mary Menz
news@ouraynews.com

Nestled in the lush valley between Ridgway and Ouray is the Potter Ranch, which is celebrating its 80th anniversary. Christine Potter Witherspoon, granddaughter of John and Jennie Potter, who purchased the original property in 1937, commemorated the event with an elaborate and memory-filled exhibit depicting the ranch’s history at the Ouray County Fair last weekend.
“I just love this ranch,” said Witherspoon. “It’s been my life and the life of my family, including my siblings and children.” All told, the ranch has supported four generations of Potters since 1937, when her grandparents leased the property to others from their home ranch in Gunnison.
“But when my father John turned 15, they gave him this ranch and the brand 43 bar, which represents the year he took ownership of it,” explained Witherspoon.
Shortly thereafter, John Potter...

Mon
24
Jul

OURAY COUNTY: Historic safes of the 1880s: A legacy that comes with the property

Submitted by Ouray County Pl... on Mon, 07/24/2017 - 7:00am

According to Guy Zani, Jr., an antique safe collector in Florida, distributors of safes and vaults in the late 19th century offered to have the purchaser’s name hand-lettered on the safe as an incentive to buy from them. Occasionally a safe also features the name of the distributor or selling agent on the front of the safe. This one was owned by Cascade Grocery.

Plaindealer photo by Mary Menz

by Mary Menz
news@ouraynews.com

More than 1,000 people lived in Ouray in 1876 when the town was incorporated. Not only was Ouray a bustling mining center, but it served as a distribution center for goods across the San Juan Mountain region—especially when the railroad arrived in 1887. To protect valuables and foil potential robbers, high traffic banks, businesses and brothels had large floor safes and vaults delivered to town by wagon or train.
Today, people can see many of these safes around the county, but they serve more as...

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Thu
15
Sep

Long distance runners endure mountain pass

Submitted by Ouray County Pl... on Thu, 09/15/2016 - 9:45am

by Tori Sheets

tori@ouraynews.com

 

Runners in the Imogene Pass Run headed out of Ouray early Saturday morning and traveled 17.1 miles over the mountain pass into Telluride. This year marks the 42nd time runners have participated in the grueling run over Imogene Pass. 

This year the weather was fairly mild compared to previous runs. In past years runners have had to trudge through rain, wind, fog and even snow along the course. Saturday the pass remained sunny and only a little chilly.

Volunteers at six aid stations along the route offered water, sports drinks and support to the runners. The Ouray cross country team bolstered the spirit of the runners by running up the pass before the race began and handing out drinks at the Harris Bridge Aid Station. 

Wed
17
Aug

Ouray historic cabin history questioned

Submitted by Ouray County Pl... on Wed, 08/17/2016 - 7:27pm

by Tori Sheets

tori@ouraynews.com

 

One Ouray native is on a quest to correct historical information about a cabin at the Ouray County Historical Museum that he believes is inaccurate.  

Bill Crawford contacted Ouray County Historical Society to let them know he thinks the history on a cabin known as the Raab/Sly cabin is incorrect. According to the historical society, the cabin was built in 1905 and donated to the museum in 1971. The plaque on the cabin says it originally stood off Main Street between 9th Avenue and the Hot Springs Pool. The museum's website also says it may have been part of Ouray's "Red Light" district. 

Sat
30
Jul

Buried history close to home

Submitted by Ouray County Pl... on Sat, 07/30/2016 - 3:24pm

by Tori Sheets

tori@ouraynews.com

 

Most people's front yards house gardens, pets or lawn furniture, but one Ouray resident enjoys the company of her deceased relatives close by. 

Coleen McElroy inherited the family cemetery from her father, who got the land from her great aunt. 

McElroy said her graveyard gives some people the creeps, but for her it’s just a part of life. She plans on being buried there along with all of her family who wish to spend the afterlife nestled along the banks of Dexter Creek.

"We'll all be out here, my mother and my sister, it's just not an option to go anywhere else," she said. 

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