Ashcroft had two outlets; one over the passes, Taylor and
Cottonwood, to Buena Vista’s railhead, the other over Pearl Pass to
Crested Butte.
[Illustration: Franz Berko, 1958]
_From Leadville_
[Illustration]
Independence is the town of many names—and yet it never had an official
post office of “Independence!”
It happened this way: the camp was started in the spring of 1879 by a
group of prospectors from Leadville, headed by Billy Belden. They found
an excellent gold placer at the head of the Roaring Fork and settled
down to mine. They called the placer and their camp Belden. On the
Fourth of July they made another big strike a few yards away and in
their jubilation renamed their holdings, Independence, because of the
day.
Meanwhile their camp had attracted newcomers who were resented by the
first arrivals, and feuds began to flare. The placer claims led to lode
discoveries, and by 1880 the Farwell Company of Leadville had secured a
dozen of the best properties. They began construction of a mill. At the
same time a town promoter, William Kinkead, moved in and changed the
name to Chipeta in honor of Chief Ouray’s wife. In January, 1881, he
secured a postmaster’s job for himself with a post office called Sidney.
The Farwell Mining Company disliked Kinkead’s action, and six months
later they obtained a post office under the name of Farwell. A third
group, antagonistic to both the first petitioners, obtained a post
office in February, 1882, under the name of Sparkhill. That same year
the first two post offices were discontinued, and Sparkhill won. But
half the residents still called the settlement Independence.
The town flourished with some four hundred residents until 1887 as both
a mining camp and stage-stop on the road between Aspen and Leadville.
But when the D. & R. G. and the Colorado Midland railroads arrived in
Aspen, people started to move away. In 1888 Independence had a
population of one hundred. The remaining residents first changed the
name to Mammoth City, then Mount Hope, and then in 1897-’99, during a
revival of the mine and mill, back to Chipeta.
After 1900 there was only one resident—the caretaker of the mill, Jack
Williams, who called his home, Independence. In 1912 Williams departed,
and so died Belden-Independence-Chipeta-Sidney-Farwell-Sparkhill-Mammoth
City-Mount Hope-Chipeta-Independence—a town unique in nomenclature....
Before sightseeing around Leadville the visitor should read _The
Unsinkable Mrs. Brown_, _Silver Queen_, _Augusta Tabor_ and the
_Matchless Mine_ and _Lusty Leadville_. No mining camp in Colorado can
equal Leadville for the drama of its history, and it is impossible to
catch the region’s unique flavor without some preparation beforehand.
There are a number of ghost towns in the environs. The most historic is
Oro City in California Gulch, but we have chosen Stumptown because of
its association with “The Unsinkable Molly Brown,” a musical comedy. To
the south are Ball Mountain and fabulous Breece Hill where J. J. Brown
was an eighth owner of the Little Jonny.