A busy sawmill has saved the town from death in full prophecy of the
unknown man who gave it a Spanish name (pronounced Len-yah-do).
When the need for strategic metals waned, Lenado folded again. In 1935
Jack Flogaus opened up the sawmill to run continuously thereafter. In
the summer of 1960 he employed thirty-three men, five of whose families
stayed the year round and ten of whose families were summer residents.
The cutting of lumber was done on U. S. Forest Service land on Larkspur
Mountain and was limited to spruce only.
Lenado is unique because of its sawmill—the only mining camp that was
revived from a ghost town by woodcutting....
The story of Ashcroft can almost be told by the Colorado Business
Directory which listed its population thus: 1881, 200; 1883, 1,000 in
summer, winter, uncertain; 1884, 500; 1885, 100; 1890, 50; 1910, 60.
The first prospectors arrived in the summer of 1879 over Pearl Pass,
staked some claims and decided to winter at the site of Ashcroft. The
town’s boom followed in 1882 when Jacob Sands and partners found rich
ore in the Montezuma-Tam O’Shanter mines and obtained their financing
from Horace Tabor. The town’s favorite story is of the big day in the
spring of 1883 when the Silver King arrived on an inspection trip with
his bride, Baby Doe. A twenty-four hour celebration was held, including
a banquet, ball and free drinks at the thirteen saloons.
Ashcroft’s fortunes followed the pattern of other small silver camps
with minor variations. Its uniqueness today stems from later
developments. The Stuart Maces established the most unusual lodge in
Colorado there after World War II. They specialized in Toklat Husky
dogs, conducting dogsled rides in winter and kennel tours in summer.
Toklat Lodge has become internationally famous.
Although the Mace’s own building is new, they have tried to foster
preservation of the old buildings. In 1960 fifteen of these were still
standing, despite the fact that the heavy snows were felling them fast.
The Forest Service had established six camp sites nearby with tables and
garbage cans but were ignoring everything historical.
Ashcroft is also unique because some of its old buildings were used in
filming of the Sergeant Preston TV series, popular about 1956-’57.
(_History of the Roaring Fork Valley can be more easily understood if
the visitor reads_ Famous Aspen _and_ Glenwood’s Early Glamor.)