In the 1870’s and early ’80’s Caribou grew to a population of nearly
five hundred residents. It established law and order, built a
Methodist church, opened a school, organized a Cornish band,
instituted regular stage service to Central City, and added props to
buildings in an effort to withstand the frequent gales. The above
ably depicts the wind problem. The lower photo shows Caribou as it
looked in 1960 from the same angle on Goat Hill. Arapaho Peak and
Baldy are in the background. In the lower photo only the dump (upper
left) remained of the famous Caribou mine. The stone foundation
(right) and another (too far north to show) were constructed later
in an effort to solve the wind problem without props. Whenever old
pictures were available, the layout of this booklet endeavors to
follow a “then” and “now” presentation.
[Illustration: D.K.P., 1960]
_From Estes Park_
[Illustration]
Ward, at an altitude of 9,253 feet, was named for Calvin W. Ward who
discovered gold in the vicinity in 1860 after prospecting up Left Hand
Creek. From 1865 to ’67 when the Ni-Wot and Columbian properties were
booming, it had a population of six hundred. (In both pictures on the
facing page they may be seen as the two big mines or dumps, high on the
mountainside to the left.)
The camp stayed in minor operation during the ’70’s and ’80’s and
thrived in the late 1890’s. It was then that the penniless Horace Tabor,
who had been one of the richest men in Colorado, tried to stage a
comeback. His fortune had been made in Leadville silver; now he tried
Ward gold. He owned a mine called the Eclipse. (The dump may still be
seen on the Lodge-of-Pines property.) With a borrowed $15,000 from W. S.
Stratton of Cripple Creek, he and Baby Doe set to work, living at the
mine. But they were unsuccessful, and it was with relief that during
January, 1898, the news reached him in Ward of his appointment as
postmaster of Denver.
Six months after Tabor left Ward, a narrow gauge railroad, the Colorado
& Northwestern (later D.B.&W.), arrived. It attracted many tourists. An
added inducement was that the train stopped long enough to take the
stageline to scenic Lake Brainard.
The trains also hauled ore for a while but this business fell off. When
the big blizzard of November, 1913, and a cloudburst in July, 1919,
damaged the track, abandonment soon followed.
Ward was deserted in the 1920’s. But the building of the Peak-to-Peak
highway in the late 1930’s saved it. The town has survived as a summer
resort although its year-around population is only fifteen.
It is unique for having been the scene of Tabor’s brave stand.
[Illustration: “Rocky Mountain Joe,” 1902; M. R. Parsons Collection]