Native peoples traveled through the Upper Arkansas Valley for centuries before European and American explorers.
Ute, Comanche and other tribes traveled on foot until the arrival of the Spanish and the introduction of the horse in the 1600’s. . . . — — Map (db m107827) HM
With the discovery of gold in California Gulch in 1860, getting to Oro City (now Leadville) meant an opportunity for fame and fortune.
It would, however, be twenty years before railroad service traversed the Upper Arkansas . . . — — Map (db m107833) HM
In the late 1800’s, transportation of goods and people could be an arduous undertaking.
Gold and silver fever led many to endure travel up the Arkansas River from Canon City to Leadville.
Although arguably the largest and most notorious, . . . — — Map (db m107835) HM
Dominating the view to the west, the peaks of the Sawatch Range define the Continental Divide. Fifteen of the peaks in the Upper Arkansas River Valley are "fourteeners," boasting summits exceeding 14,000 feet.
Between the peaks, creeks flow . . . — — Map (db m158531) HM
Agriculture in the Upper Arkansas Valley was initially developed to meet the demand of area mining camps. The flood of fortune-seekers created a market for meat, flour, vegetables, and other foods.
French immigrant Frank Mayol, credited . . . — — Map (db m158536) HM
As trappers, miners, and settlers migrated west they encountered an arid environment. Early explorers referred to the West as the Great American Desert and many believed it could not be settled. Unlike the wetter eastern United States, . . . — — Map (db m158541) HM
The Jackson Hotel was built in 1878 by Henry A. Jackson who left his home in Kentucky looking for a place where his family could escape the turmoil of post-Civil War reconstruction. A former Memphis steamboat captain, Jackson found himself high and . . . — — Map (db m117048) HM
[Roll of Honored Dead]
Frank J. Coscarelli • Jack Rundell • Joe A. Barnhill
Frank Holman • Roy J. Barnhill • John T. Fowler
Raymond Thorpe • John N. Maestas • Cyril J. Coster
Theodore D. Benjovsky • Laverne F. Knipp • Philip F. Scholl . . . — — Map (db m158549) WM
Frustrated in their attempt to climb Pike’s Peak on November 27, 1806, Zebulon Pike and his party of 15 trudged on through South Park looking for the Red River, southern boundary of the Louisiana Purchase. After crossing Trout Creek Pass, the . . . — — Map (db m127876) HM
Marker A:Finding Our Roots Following ancient paths The history of Chaffee County as part of the United States began in 1803, with the purchase of the Louisiana Territory from France. But human history was established here centuries . . . — — Map (db m116085) HM
Electricity was introduced in Salida in 1887 when a group of local townsfolk created The Electric Illuminating Company. In 1892 the then-named Salida Light and Power Company built a 1000-kilowatt steam generating plant at this location on the banks . . . — — Map (db m52403) HM
