Crystal River Saga: Lore of the Colorado RockiesFrancis, Theresa V.
History
Crystal River Saga: Lore of the Colorado Rockies
Francis, Theresa V.
Crystal River (Colo.); Gunnison County (Colo.) -- History; Marble industry and trade -- Colorado -- Gunnison County
It has always been easier to enter Schofield from Crested Butte than
from Crystal, but now with the opening of a jeep road between Schofield
and Crystal City all that has been changed and today a new Schofield is
in the making. This time it is to be a 40-acre tract of modern buildings
containing a 24-housing unit, a motel, and a store. None of the
over-night constructed mining shacks this time, but modern log cabins
built to withstand the elements at this nearly 10,000 foot elevation.
Leaving Schofield, the Crystal River goes through some of the most
spectacular scenery in the world. It runs down a ravine 50 feet below
the road, over boulders, through crevices, always in a hurry, it plunges
over a ledge into the Little Devils Punch Bowl, then it cascades over
another ledge making an impressive waterfall as it drops into the Big
Devils Punch Bowl many feet below, where it seethes and swirls trying to
find a way out to go on down the canyon.
The trail above the river was used as a wagon road from the early 1880s
to about 1917. John A. Williams drove a team of mules over it in 1911
hauling supplies for the Williams General Store in Crystal. Anton Danni
drove a supply wagon over it in 1916. The following item was taken from
the _Marble Booster_ newspaper, Aug. 12, 1916:
“Tom Boughton, John J. Walsh, D. E. Dever, and Chas. Sisteg, elected
at a caucus to represent Marble as delegates to the Democratic County
Convention which convened at Gunnison Monday, left here early last
Sunday morning, via Crystal (Schofield Pass) driving (horses) most of
the distance and enjoying a motor ride the rest of the way.”
These are the last authentic accounts of this wagon road being used I
can find; so presume it was closed by rock slides shortly after this
date. Over 40 years passed before this scenic part of Colorado was again
made available to travel, mainly through the efforts of Gunnison County
Commissioner Anton Danni and his road overseer who made several trips
from Schofield to Crystal City, on foot, to see if it were possible, and
feasible, to open a jeep road. They decided it was and on Aug. 5, 1958,
after many months of hard work, the first jeeps came through from
Crested Butte to Marble. In 1959 they hope to improve the road enough to
permit passenger cars to come down; but no vehicle without a 4-wheel
drive could make the trip up the canyon.
The first group to make the trip over the new road was composed of the
following people:
Mr. and Mrs. W. P. Cain Almont, Colo.
Mr. and Mrs. Bart Cox Almont, Colo.
Mr. and Mrs. John Ramsey Almont, Colo.
Mr. and Mrs. R. A. Gauby Santa Monica, Calif.
Mrs. Jane Schmidt Almont, Colo.
Mrs. C. Haase Almont, Colo.
Mr. and Mrs. I. Fifer Lake Forest, Ill.
Mr. and Mrs. O. W. Shumate Milwaukee, Wis.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account