Unique Ghost Towns and Mountain Spots Copyright 1961 by Caroline Bancroft. Seventh edition, 1973. _All rights in this book are reserved. It may not be used for dramatic, radio, television, motion or talking picture purposes without written authorization._ Johnson Publishing Co., Boulder, Colorado. The Author [Illustration: D.K.P. 1960] Caroline Bancroft is a third generation Coloradan who began writing her first history for _The Denver Post_ in 1928. Her long-standing interest in western history was inherited. Her pioneer grandfather, Dr. F. J. Bancroft, was a founder of the Colorado Historical Society and its first president. His granddaughter has carried on the family tradition. She is the author of the interesting series of Bancroft Booklets, _Silver Queen: The Fabulous Story of Baby Doe Tabor_, _Famous Aspen_, _Denver’s Lively Past_, _Historic Central City_, _The Brown Palace in Denver_, _Tabor’s Matchless Mine and Lusty Leadville_, _Augusta Tabor: Her Side of the Scandal_, _Glenwood’s Early Glamor_, _Colorado’s Lost Gold Mines and Buried Treasure_, _The Unsinkable Mrs. Brown_ and _Colorful Colorado_. A Bachelor of Arts from Smith College, she later obtained a Master of Arts degree from the University of Denver, writing her thesis on Central City, Colorado. Her full-size _Gulch of Gold_ is the definitive history of that well-known area, which includes Nevadaville, the scene of the accompanying photo. She is shown with Daniel K. Peterson who drew the maps and took most of the contemporary pictures for the new booklet on ghost towns. STEPHEN L. R. McNICHOLS Governor of Colorado 1956-1962 The Cover The Dumont boarding house in North Empire, unique for its ground-level dormer windows, was built about 1872 for miners working on the Benton lode, owned by John M. Dumont. In 1897, with a date still on the wall, it was bought by a Mrs. Bishop who painted the building a purplish blue. She operated it as a boarding house until about 1906 when she took over the Peck House (Hotel Splendide) in Empire. Still later, in the 1930’s, Waldemar Nelson lived in the “Blue House” and used one section as a machine shop. A forge was still there in 1960. Photo by Dan Peterson. _UNIQUE_ GHOST TOWNS and MOUNTAIN SPOTS by CAROLINE BANCROFT _Assisted by_ DANIEL K. PETERSON (Cartographer and Photographer)