
Like many old mountain mining communities, Crested Butte began life in the feverous excitement of a Colorado gold and silver mining camp, only to see the rich discoveries quickly disappear. However, unlike so many communities that became ghost towns, Crested Butte switched to mining the huge local deposits of top-quality coal. Through both good times and bad, the coal mining was carried on until t...
Paperback: 216 pages
Publisher: Western Reflections Publishing Co. (November 4, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1932738061
ISBN-13: 978-1932738063
Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.5 x 8.5 inches
Amazon Rank: 1573347
Format: PDF ePub fb2 djvu ebook
- Duane A. Smith pdf
- Duane A. Smith books
- 1932738061 epub
- pdf ebooks
- 978-1932738063 pdf
As always, Duane Smith creates an excellent look into a segment of Colorado history. This is a very thorough view of Crested Butte and the part the railroad and the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company played in the development of the area. I have neve...
hen Crested Butte slid quickly into "ghost town" status, only to be revived by the ski industry in the 1960s and 1970s. Certainly the coal mining industry is an unusual partner for a Colorado ski town, but for Crested Butte, coal and skiing are inseparably intertwined. Crested Butte is the story of poor immigrants, labor strife, dirty and extremely dangerous coal mining, the D&RG Railroad, and two rich and greedy companies called the Durango Trust and Colorado Fuel and Iron. Duane Smith illustrates how such a mixture can make for an amazing tale of intrigue, joy, and sorrow. As Smith puts it: "Americans tend to make legends out of things they want to believe. We have tended to glorify gold and silver camps, while ignoring the immigrant and company-dominated coal community."Unlike many coal towns, Crested Butte is a true Cinderella story. She was not left to die unrecognized in her squalor. She has become a premier ski town the queen of the ball.