“Our fondest wish is to keep Redstone and the surrounding area always a place where people like to return year after year, and that God will grant us many more years to live in this lovely spot. “Yes, we love Redstone and to us the area in and near there is some of the most beautiful country we have ever seen. As we view the majestic, awe inspiring handiwork of God we feel very humble and grateful, and humbly say, ‘Thank you God, for the privilege of seeing and living in this lovely spot.’ “Most sincerely,” (_Signed_) Virginia Parker [Illustration: SWISS VILLAGE RESORT—Lodge one mile above Redstone. It was originally the Osgood gamekeeper’s house. —_Photo courtesy_ Mrs. Olyn Parker, Redstone, Colo.] [Illustration: OSGOOD MANOR—“Cleveholm” (across beautiful Crystal River from Swiss Village Resort) patterned after a castle in England. —_Photo courtesy_ John B. Schutte, Glenwood Spgs., Colo.] _REDSTONE, One Man’s Dream_ of an Ideal Village for Miners (_Elevation Approximately 6,500 feet_) John C. Osgood came to Colorado in the early 1880s to make a thorough investigation of all the coal deposits in the state. Those up Coal Creek, a branch of the Crystal River, seemed especially favorable for his plan, and he was able to buy them from their original owners for a few hundred dollars. The dream he had of building a model village for miners in this valley did not materialize for almost twenty years. He organized the Colorado Fuel Co. and later acquired the Colorado Coal & Iron Co. and merged them into one—Colorado Fuel & Iron Co. (CF&I)—and was its first president. Then he set out to carry through his dream and built Redstone, a model village of 40 workmen’s cottages (each styled and painted differently), a modern 40-roomed inn, a school house, a club house, and a library; all electrically lighted and as modern as they could be made at that time. Every workman was given the opportunity of joining the club and making use of the club rooms. Every member had his own locker and was urged to come there after work and bathe or shower, and change into clean clothes before appearing on the street. They elected their own officers and made their own rules; one of which was especially good—treating was not permissible. The mines were up Coal Creek about 12 miles. There the miners had their own little village in which they took great pride, vieing with Redstone as to neatness and gardening. All the buildings in this model village were constructed to last, nothing of the overnight box-car type. Yet all this came to an end in less than a decade. Rumor has it that Mr. Osgood became too ambitious: he tried to “buck” John D. Rockefeller and J. P. Morgan. He ran out of millions; they didn’t.