This place has seen plenty of changes since Charles Senter discovered a deposit of molybdenum on Bartlett Mountain in 1879.
In the early days, Climax was a sleepy depot at the top of a railroad grade. But by World War I there was a . . . — — Map (db m122841) HM
This memorial is the
Property of the State of Colorado
Fremont Pass
On Continental Divide between
Arkansas and Blue River drainages
Altitude 11,316 feet
Western boundary of the Louisiana
Purchase of 1803.
Named . . . — — Map (db m128033) HM
Colorado 91 is now a well-engineered modern highway, but driving over Fremont Pass wasn't always as safe or convenient as it is today.
The silver mining boom created a population of more than 30,000 people in Leadville by 1879, making it the . . . — — Map (db m122827) HM
The sound of a train whistle was music to the ears of a miner spending the winter on Fremont Pass. Up until just before World War II, Colorado 91 was a dirt track that was closed six months a year, and the railroad was the mine’s only link with the . . . — — Map (db m122839) HM
It's only a memory now, but the community of Climax was once called home by several generations of Colorado mining families.
In its early years, Climax struggled to keep quality employees. Cold and snow, isolation and high altitude sent many . . . — — Map (db m122837) HM
In the 1940's and 50's, Climax not only had the highest post office and standard-gauge railroad in the nation, but also one of the state's premier ski areas. The trails of the first area in Colorado to be lit for night skiing were located on the . . . — — Map (db m122836) HM
One of the most significant technological advances in Climax Mine history was the implementation of block-cave mining in 1927. It cut the production cost of molybdenum in half, keeping the mine open (and profitable) through the grim years of the . . . — — Map (db m122838) HM
Eighty years of mining operations on Fremont Pass disturbed more than five square miles of land and altered the course of a stream. As of 2009, Climax Molybdenum Company had spent nearly $50 million on land reclamation and water treatment. Not a . . . — — Map (db m122835) HM
During World War II, the Fremont Station of the Harvard College Observatory on Ceresco Ridge was strictly off-limits to mine employees.
No one knew what went on there.
But Mine Superintendent Jack Abrahms regularly left his office so . . . — — Map (db m122831) HM
By the time Charles Senter staked his claims on Bartlett Mountain in 1879, the trout were gone from Ten Mile Creek. It had been altered by smelting and mining that took place long before Climax began operations. Today, the trout are back.
. . . — — Map (db m122749) HM
A whole lot of Colorado history has happened right here on top of Fremont Pass. And it all happened because of a metal most people have trouble pronouncing.
Molybdenum (moll-ib-den-um) is used to harden steel.
More molybdenite ore (the . . . — — Map (db m122900) HM
“Some had never seen snow. Most had never skied. All served as though they knew nothing else.” Camp Hale, 16 miles North of Leadville, was a U.S. Army facility constructed in 1942. It was the training ground for what became the 10th . . . — — Map (db m289800) HM
Memorial
10th Mountain Division
World War II
In memory of our 990 comrades in arms who gave their lives on the WWII battlefields of Italy and the Aleutian Islands.
Campaigns
Northern Apennine Mountains, Po Valley, Kiska
Major . . . — — Map (db m97729) WM
Under Fr. Henry Robinson’s initiative, the building of this lovely church was begun in 1879. The first mass was celebrated on January 1, 1880, before construction was finished. — — Map (db m289860) HM
In 1902, Andrew Carnegie, national philanthropist, gave funds to construct Leadville’s first permanent library building. Formal opening was January 8, 1904. — — Map (db m282893) HM
The women who lived in and used buildings such as this during the mining years were hard working survivalists who used the opportunities available to them. This view into history is an intent to show the hard life found in mining communities and . . . — — Map (db m289998) HM
The nationwide
May Department Stores
mercantile empire was born
in September, 1877 when
David May
opened his first store in a tent
300 feet south of this tablet.
From 1881 to 1888 the May Store
occupied this site, at 318 . . . — — Map (db m51809) HM
This stamp mill was flown to Leadville in October of 1987 from Lackawanna Gulch north of Independence Pass by a U.S. Army helicopter and with the help of many local volunteers. The stamp mill is one of the oldest devices for fine crushing ore . . . — — Map (db m289986) HM
This structure was used to hoist ore from the “Doris” shaft (400 feet) in Iowa Gulch, east of Leadville, producing gold, silver, and lead during the years 1890-1894. — — Map (db m289989) HM
Erected 1878, by August R. Meyer, builder of Leadville’s first reduction works. Given to Leadville Association, 1936, by Nellie Healy, agent for the heirs of Daniel Healy.
Presented to the State of Colorado by said association, 1947, and . . . — — Map (db m51812) HM
The Hebrew Cemetery
The Hebrew Benevolent Association established the Hebrew Cemetery in January,1880, in the Southwest corner of Leadville’s Evergreen Cemetery with the transfer of 101,000 square feet from the Union Veteran’s Association. . . . — — Map (db m239342) HM
The year was 1859. Prospectors returning from the California Rush found new gold fields in a gulch they named California, southeast of present-day Leadville. Colorado became a state in 1876 because of her gold and silver. Those precious minerals . . . — — Map (db m289896) HM
Born in Virginia, Texas Jack came west after the Civil War at age 16 to become a cowboy. He later made a name for himself as a plainsman and U.S. government scout who led the Pawnee Indians on their summer hunts and was guide for such notables as . . . — — Map (db m121768) HM
[English] Leadville City Hall was built in 1905 as a federal building, it was used as the US Post Office until 1973. As the story goes, the postmaster used the small attic windows to spy on his employees as they . . . — — Map (db m289799) HM
World War II
United States Army
Ski Troopers
99th Infantry Battalion
(Separate)
The Viking Battalion
Office of Strategic Services
O.S.S. NORSO
(Rype Group)
Special Forces
The 99th Infantry Battalion (SEP) was:
Activated 10 . . . — — Map (db m112932) HM WM
The 99th Infantry Battalion (SEP) was:
Activated 10 July 1942 at Camp Ripley Minnesota
Deactivated 11 November 1945 at Camp Miles Standish, Boston Massachusetts
Camp Hale Colorado was the main ski trooper training area located 5 miles north . . . — — Map (db m95044) WM
This device was used in the late 1800s for the separation of mineral particles after the ore had been crushed. The surface of this table was shaken rapidly and it was inclined laterally a few degrees. Water flowed across the surface at right . . . — — Map (db m289984) HM
Cars like this were used to remove ore from the mines. Coupled together, they make up a train which is usually pulled by an electrically powered locomotive. This car came from the Black Cloud Mine located east of Leadville. — — Map (db m289899) HM
“Ring out wild bell to the wind sky, the flying cloud, the frosty light.” —Alfred Lord Tennyson Fires of terrifying magnitude threatened Leadville and the surrounding hills throughout the summer of 1879. Fire broke out within Leadville as . . . — — Map (db m289852) HM
Has been designated a National Historic Landmark This building possesses national significance in commemorating the history of the State of Colorado. In the early 1880’s when the Leadville Hotel Company came up short-funded for . . . — — Map (db m289883) HM
Horace Tabor’s Opera House was considered to be one of the finest west of the Mississippi. It opened to the public on November 20, 1879. — — Map (db m282899) HM
The Jewish Settlement
The group of Jews in Leadville traced their roots to Germany. They tended to be assimilationists and practiced Reform Judaism, including worship services largely in English, women as members of the congregation, and the . . . — — Map (db m135817) HM
The Saga of the Viking Battalion In the two years following the German invasion of Norway in 1940, Norwegians around the world struggled to find ways to help their homeland. The Viking Battalion was born in August 1942. Composed of Norwegians . . . — — Map (db m289997) HM
[English] A Continental Divide National Scenic Trail Gateway Community Native Lands Acknowledgement: These are the unceded ancestral lands of the Nuche (Ute) and others who have called the landscape . . . — — Map (db m289885) HM
[English] It started back in 1860, when gold was discovered in California Gulch. Thousand's of prospectors soon arrived, and within five years, more than $4 million in gold. By 1880, Leadville had more than 30,000 . . . — — Map (db m289792) HM
