George Yule, a prospector who came into Gunnison County in 1874, is supposed to have been the first white man to discover and assume the value of the white marble up Yule Creek which still bears his name. He was the first elected sheriff of Gunnison County, served two terms, 1878-’82. However he did not prove up on his claims, and they were taken over by Wm. Wood and W. D. Parry in 1882. The first prospectors to attempt a permanent settlement in the valley were John Mobley and W. F. Mason who located their settlement east of Carbonate Creek and called it Clarence; and William Wood and W. D. Parry who made their camp near the mouth of Yule Creek and named it Marble. When the settlements reached a population large enough to warrant a post office, it was located west of Carbonate Creek, and Marble was the name chosen for it. Sizable amounts of lead and zinc had been discovered in this treasure vault of the Rockies and the ore was being packed out on burros to Crested Butte. This being a very slow means of transportation as well as very expensive, attempts were made to locate a smelter nearer. Finally in 1897 the Hoffman Smelting & Reduction Co. built one just across the Crystal River south of Marble. It ran until 1900. But the town of Marble did not boom until the value of marble was fully realized. The first quarry was opened on the east side of Yule Canyon in 1892 by J. C. Osgood and one block of marble was taken out at a cost of $1,700 to be sent to the World’s Columbian Exposition (1893) in Chicago. In 1895-97 some blocks were hauled to Carbondale to be shipped east by freight. But it was not until the beginning of the 1900s that the Yule Quarry was opened on the west side of the canyon. Besides the pure white marble there is a great amount of Colorado cloud marble (a smoky mottled grain), serpentine (mottled green), pink, blue, and black (mottled with white and green), found up this canyon. About this same time two more quarries were opened on the east side of Yule Canyon: the Strauss, by a company of eastern stockholders who built the broad gauge Strauss railroad from Marble to the foot of their quarry on Treasure Mountain; and the White Marble Co. owned by the Mormon Church. While all the development work was completed, no commercial work was ever done by either company and the railroad was never used. In 1905 a road was cut out on the west side of the canyon and Yule Quarry was started. At first they hauled the marble out on burro pack trains which unloaded their burden in Marble and proceeded seven miles to the Placita mines where they were loaded with coal to be delivered and used at the quarry. There were two of these trains, each composed of 40 burros; one was in the charge of Walter Webb, the other was handled by John Davisson.