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    Around Monarch Pass
    Around Monarch Pass
    Around Monarch Pass
    Ebook154 pages46 minutes

    Around Monarch Pass

    By Duane Vandenbusche

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    About this ebook

    Monarch Country is an incredibly beautiful mountain region spanning both sides of the Continental Divide in the southern portions of Chaffee and Gunnison Counties in the Rocky Mountains of south-central Colorado. Monarch Pass, at 11,312 feet above sea level, divides the Gunnison Country in the west from the Arkansas River watershed in the east. This scenic, wild, and rugged region surrounding the crossroads of U.S. Routes 50 and 285 is rich in mining, railroad, and skiing history and once included booming mining camps such as Maysville, Garfield, Monarch, and White Pine. The crown jewel of this spectacular high-country landscape is the Monarch Ski Area, which enjoys 350 to 500 inches of snowfall every year.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateSep 18, 2012
    ISBN9781439625064
    Around Monarch Pass
    Author

    Duane Vandenbusche

    Author Duane Vandenbusche has been a professor of history at Western State Colorado University in Gunnison since 1962 and is the author of 10 books on the Gunnison country and Western Colorado. He also served as cross country coach at the university from 1971 to 2007, and his men's and women's teams won 12 national championships and produced 4 Olympic runners. In this volume, photographs from the Aspen Historical Society, Lake City Museum, Denver Public Library, private collections, and the author's own collection bring the history of the Gunnison country and beyond alive.

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      Book preview

      Around Monarch Pass - Duane Vandenbusche

      inspiration.

      INTRODUCTION

      Straddling Colorado’s Continental Divide in the south central section of the state is majestic and rugged Monarch Pass, towering 11,312 feet into the sky. The pass divides the headwaters of the South Arkansas River, which flows east, and the headwaters of Agate and Tomichi Creeks, which flow to the west. The pass and nearby Monarch Mountain Ski Area are annually blanketed with an average of 350 inches of snow. Monarch Pass and nearby Marshall Pass were the two major entries into the much-publicized and booming Gunnison Country mining region in the late 1870s and early 1880s. From Poncha Springs, five miles from where the South Arkansas meets the mighty Arkansas River, to the top of Monarch Pass is 22 miles. From Sargents on Tomichi Creek on the western side of the Continental Divide it is 10 miles to the pass.

      Early travel over Monarch Pass was slow, difficult, and dangerous. Long lines of burros or jack trains were the first to make their way across the divide carrying supplies or mineral wealth. The burros were followed by stage lines that brought in passengers and express, but only during summer and fall because of the heavy snow and mud. In the early 1880s, the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad ran up the South Arkansas River to within five miles of Monarch Pass to tap rich silver deposits, and later to gather great quantities of limestone. In 1881, the narrow-gauge Rio Grande became the first railroad to cross the Continental Divide in Colorado when it breached nearby Marshall Pass and entered the rich Gunnison Country.

      Rich mining towns sprang up on both the Eastern and Western Slopes of Monarch Pass in the late 1870s and early 1880s. Poncha Springs, Maysville, and Arbourville on the eastern side of Monarch Pass became important railroad, stage, and supply centers. Garfield and Monarch, also on the eastern side of the pass, became booming mining camps. On the western side of Monarch Pass in the upper Tomichi Valley, the rich silver camps of White Pine, North Star, and Tomichi drew in thousands of prospectors. Sargents, at the base of both Monarch and Marshall Passes, served as a Denver and Rio Grande Railroad hub as well as a supply and ranching center.

      The great silver panic of 1893, which greatly reduced the price of sliver, marked the end of the mining camps around Monarch Pass and greatly reduced traffic on the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. However, the railroad over Marshall Pass survived until 1955 by carrying coal from the mines of Crested Butte. The Monarch branch of the Rio Grande lasted until 1981 by carrying limestone from the great quarry at Monarch to the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company’s steel mills in Pueblo.

      Three separate Monarch passes have existed since 1879. Old, Old Monarch Pass was built during the start of the mining boom and lasted until 1921. The pass was used by miners heading for the Gunnison Country and by the Barlow and Sanderson Stageline. Old, Old Monarch Pass crossed the divide at 11,523 feet and was never more than a rough wagon road.

      Because of the coming of the automobile and the ensuing demand for a better road, Old, Old Monarch Pass was replaced by Old Monarch Pass in 1921. The new pass was lower at 11,375 feet, and the road over it cost $204,000. The road ran through today’s Monarch Mountain Ski Area and dropped into the upper Tomichi Valley. In 1939, despite a clamor by locals from the South Arkansas and Gunnison Countries to build a road over nearby and lower (10,846 feet) Marshall Pass, a third road was built over Monarch Pass. The New Monarch Pass crossed the divide at 11,312 feet and was built for $1,459,000. Today Highway 50, also referred to as the Rainbow Route, crosses Monarch Pass and runs coast to coast across the country.

      When new Highway 50 was built over Monarch Pass, the crossing became the logical place to develop a ski area. Although local people from Salida and Gunnison had been skiing on Monarch Pass for a number of years, there were no facilities, and skiers could only access the mountain slopes by hiking or by shuttling via automobiles. During the summer of 1939, the Salida Winter Sports Club, U.S. Forest Service, and the New Deal’s Works Progress Administration cut ski runs and constructed a rope tow and small warming house—and the Monarch Ski Area was born. The ski area was located two miles from the top of the pass on the Eastern Slope. From this spartan beginning, the Monarch Ski Area became a major ski destination in Colorado, with 183,000 skier visits annually by 2010.

      Today over 800,000 cars and trucks cross Monarch Pass every year,

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