In July, 1873, while the Brunot Treaty was pending between the Ute Indians and the United States Government for the lands of the reservation, when the great excitement over the rich and extensive mining broke out, Mr. Tower made arrangements with Jackson Foundry and the George Trick Hardware Company of Denver for the materials to erect a sawmill. This was shipped by the D. & R. G. Railroad to Colorado Springs. There a contract was made with the freighters to deliver this to Silverton. The charges were sixteen cents per pound. The journey to Del Norte was a pleasant one, but then the trouble began. From the South Fork of the Rio Grande River, sixteen miles above Del Norte to the head waters of the stream, they forded the river fifty-seven times. The outfit consisted of three teams, ten persons and 6,000 pounds of freight. Only the old pioneers of the area can fully understand the trouble, dangers and hardships encountered in working freight over the mountains in those days. Two weeks after leaving Del Norte, they arrived at the present site of Howardsville. Aided by a number of miners they were able, after a week of hard work, to get the wagons to Silverton. A location was made for the mill on Mineral Creek at the foot of Sultan Mountain, and here Mr. Tower erected the first sawmill. Mrs. Tower, a bride of nineteen from Chicago, accompanied the party and returned in the fall to Del Norte. Thus, Mrs. Tower was the first white woman in Silverton. [Illustration: Chief Ouray and Otto Mears] The first mercantile establishment in the county was a combined saloon and general merchandise store located at Howardsville. This was in 1874, and the post office at Howardsville was opened that same fall with W. H. Nichols as postmaster. Mrs. Nichols, Mrs. W. E. Earl, Mrs. John F. Cotton, and Mrs. H. F. Tower were among the first women in the county. Mrs. Merril Doud came a few weeks later. When the population of southern Colorado had grown to such an extent that a Courthouse was necessary, Howardsville was the center of population and therefore the logical site for the county seat of La Plata County. A small log building was erected and served the entire western slope from the northern to the southern boundary and from the San Luis Valley to the western line of the state. In the summer of this year the county seat was moved from Howardsville to Silverton. The first store in town was called Greene and Company, and Francis M. Snowden built the first cabin. It was located where the hospital now stands on the avenue that bears his name, and was the social gathering place of the town. All the noted personages who visited in the early days stopped here, and if the “Colonel,” as he was known, had kept a register it would be an interesting document today. Dances were held there, with John and Armanda Cotton furnishing the music. [Illustration: The County’s First Courthouse, Located at Howardsville, Now Destroyed by Fire]