Crossroads Town

Crossroads Town. . , Not everyone who came to this junction of mountains and waterways kept moving. Prospectors and homesteaders put down roots here in about 1860. The first cabin, built by Nat Rich and Bob Hendricks, still stands in the town of Poncha Springs. , In 1873 the Hutchinson Homestead house was the first frame house of milled lumber in the valley. , The Hutchinson and McPherson families also homesteaded in the mid 1860s, raising cattle and providing the area with one of its earliest grocery stores. The Hutchinson family ranch, just east of Poncha Springs on Highway 50, is on the National Register of Historic Places and a State Historical Site, now open to the public as the Hutchinson Homestead Ranch and Learning Center. , The area's first Indian Agent, John Burnett, homesteaded in 1865. His wife, Minerva Maxwell Burnett, was an early school teacher. A log cabin on their ranch served as an Indian trading post. , By the mid 1870s the settlement was booming. A formal town was laid out by James True, and stagecoach travelers found respite from their arduous journeys at the newly-built Jackson and Poncha Springs Hotels. Otto Mears, a San Luis Valley wheat farmer, built a road over Poncha Pass to access the flour mill at Nathrop. His toll road was the precursor to the railroad and launched his career as the "Pathfinder of the San Juans.” , With the arrival of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad in 1880 the population of the town swelled to more than 2,000 people. Just seven years later most of the town's frame buildings were destroyed by fire, including the 17 flourishing saloons. But the schoolhouse survived the fire and still stands, now servingas the Town Hall. , , , , , . What's in a name? , This crossroads settlement was first called South Arkansas, named for the river that flows from Monarch Pass to the Arkansas River. , In 1877 the name of the town was changed to Poncho Springs. The "springs" part of the name is easy enough to reckon, since the 99 hot springs that dotted the area were frequented by native peoples and later flourished as tourist attractions. But "Poncho" and later in 1924 "Poncha"? , Several explanations have been offered. The most prevalent is that the Spanish word "poncho" translates as "cape" or "peaceable." It is also possible that the name was derived from the Ute word "pounchay" for "foot path." , [photo and illustration captions] , . Several generations of hotels pampered guests at Poncha Hot Springs. , . Today the waters are piped to the Salida Hot Springs Aquatic Center. , . The western frontier photographer William Henry Jackson shot this town view around 1890. , . The Hutchinson Homestead. This 1895 photo includes the matriarch, Annabelle McPherson Hutchinson and three of her sons. , . Otto Mears , . Jackson Hotel, accommodations for the famous, not so famous and infamous. , . The D&RG climbs Poncha Pass. , . Poncha Springs Cemetery , . Poncha Springs School