A Town Is Born
This page has two brief
articles on the history of the founding of the Colorado Frontier,
the area's boom towns and the "birth" of South Park
City Museum. Scroll down to read the articles or click on any
of the links above to jump to the beginning of the article you
desire.
South
Park - A Brief History
In the center of Colorado,
at an elevation of 8,500 feet, lies a beautiful valley, surrounded
on all sides by majestic mountain ranges. The valley, lush
with vegetation and supplied by water from the North, Middle
and South Forks of the South Platte River, supported huge herds
of game and colonies of smaller animals, such as beaver, muskrat,
otter and bobcat. In the midst of this bounty, the Ute Indian
made his summer camp. He successfully battled Cheyenne, Arapahoe,
and Comanche for exclusive possession of his domain.
Colorado was explored
in the late 16th and early 17th centuries by the French and
Spanish, who established outposts for the purpose of trade
with the Indians. The Americanized name of South Park was derived
from "parc", the French word for game preserve.
In 1803, the United
States acquired the vast wilderness of Colorado as a part of
the Louisiana Purchase. Zebulon Pike was dispatched by President
Thomas Jefferson in 1806 to explore the new territory. In an
attempt to map the are, Pike's party penetrated South Park,
but only marginally. Finding evidence, in the form of fresh
campsites, that Spanish troops were still in the area, they
elected to track the offenders and drifted farther and further
south, only to be captured in the San Luis Valley and taken
to Santa Fe.
Following Pike's release
and return to the United States, reports of his explorations
and the abundance of game drew the attention of hunters and
trappers. Fur-trading became the first economic endeavor of
the period, and was followed in the mid-19th century by the
development of cattle and sheep ranching. The first ditch rights
for agricultural purposes were recorded in 1861. By 1876, South
Park was known as one of the principal hay producing regions
of the state.
In 1859, gold was
discovered in Tarryall Creek, and the rush was on. Hoards of
gold-seekers spilled into the Park. Mining camps sprang up
in every gulch and gulley. Soon, the hills were dotted with
towns bearing such colorful names as Tarryall, Buckskin Joe,
Eureka, Horseshoe, and Mudsill.
Latecomers to the
Taryall diggings found themselves locked out. Disgruntled,
they referred to the places as "Graball" and moved
to the junction of Beaver Creek and the South Platte. They
called their camp Fair Play and vowed to offer the same in
good measure to all comers. The camp prospered, but soon the
lone prospectors' stakes gave way to larger and more stable
placer and hard-rock mining operations, which flourished for
the next thirty years. During this time, the trades and professions
moved in to provide goods and services to the denizens of South
Park.
When the era ended,
most of the camps were abandoned to the ravages of time and
weather. Only a few, such as Fairplay, Alma and Como, with
their more diversified economies, survived. Later, hydraulic
and dredge mining, along with improved milling methods, were
introduced and these communities prospered again. Down through
the years, other minerals such as silver, lead, zinc and the
concentrates were discovered and provided the impetus for subsequent
mining "booms". Today, only a few working mines are
in existence, but the importance of mining to South Park is
evident all along the South Platte, from the tailings left
by the dredges to the weekend prospector with his gold pan.
South
Park City - Genesis
During the early part
of the twentieth century, a member of a rare breed of humanity
slipped, unobtrusively, into the South Park scene. He was one
of those people who had the foresight to see value in the relics
of the past -- the things that the less astute discarded as "junk".
the man was Leon H. Snyder, attorney from Colorado Springs,
and he would leave an indelible mark on the area. His reason
for coming was recreation. For some forty years, he found respite
from his work schedule fishing the Park's many streams. During
that time, he became keenly aware that time, neglect and vandalism
were taking their toll on the remains of the mining era.
After discussing the
dilemma with Everett Bair, the unofficial historian of the
Park, he decided that the best way to preserve that history
was to move representative period buildings to a single site
where they'd have benefit of police and fire protection. He
contacted other individuals who were of like mind, and in 1957,
the South Park Historical Foundation was organized. The site
selected was on the outskirts of Fairplay. The area was steeped
in history and was in close proximity to many of the abandoned
camps. Land and buildings still standing there were purchased,
and an inventory of other available buildings was made. Rights
to the most appropriate of these were secured by donation or
purchase.
In the summer of 1957,
the move was on! A professional mover was hired, and a volunteer
labor force was charged with laying foundations. By the end
of that summer, six buildings had been moved to Fairplay. Together
with the seven already on the site, they formed the beginnings
of Colorado's newest mining town.
The summer of 1958
was a busy one. Additional buildings were moved in, and restoration
work was in full swing. Various civic groups took on the responsibility
of collecting artifacts and furnishing the buildings. The families
of Park County embraced the project and scoured their attics,
basements and barns for appropriate artifacts. Roughly 40,000
items were donated.
In 1959, exactly 100
years from the first gold find, South Park City was opened
to the public as an endorsed project of the Colorado "Rush
to the Rockies" celebration. For thousands of visitors,
the reconstructed mining town turned back the clock to a lustier
time.
Today 35 original
buildings stand in tribute to that time and to the men and
women who lived it. Fairplay's "ghost-town" recalls
for the visitor, the romance of a by-gone era.
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