A Settlement Takes Hold

Abstract

As the 1880s began Silverton and with it the mining region of the San Juans had been firmly established. As Allen Nossaman put it, town and area had been transformed “from a reticent wallflower to the belle of the ball…. Timbered portals, crudely mechanized shafts, sizable dumps and reasonable ore stockpiles” covered many of the surrounding mountains, gulches, and drainages. Add to this that by 1882 a railroad had reached Silverton from the south and that north of the town the discovery of huge ore deposits at Red Mountain had further boosted expectations of mining’s success, Nossaman could write that “with its seniority among area communities and its development of religious, educational and civic facilities, it was as if Silverton had a pat hand, a straight flush, with the Denver & Rio Grande and Red Mountain as high cards.”²

Lord, how I loved the mining.

There’s nothing else I’ve ever done in

my life I’d trade it for. To be called

a miner, why it made me feel proud. For

a miner could do it all. And he

learned from the guys he worked with.

They showed him the skills he needed.

I’m proud I’m a miner.

—Billy Rhoades¹