Garwood Judd, variously known as “The Man Who Stayed” and “Mayor of
Gothic,” lived off and on in the Town Hall until his death in 1930.
_From Lake City_
[Illustration]
Capitol City is unique for two reasons—the odd spelling of its name and
the sad ruin of one man’s dream to have his town the capital of
Colorado. He was George S. Lee, a mill and smelter operator.
Frank Fossett wrote in 1880 in his _Colorado_ that Capitol City was
located at the junction of the two forks of Henson Creek, nine miles
west of Lake City, in a park most of which was embraced by the Lee
townsite patent. The park was surrounded by rugged, towering San Juan
peaks, rich in silver, lead and iron ores. Two smelters were in
operation at each end of town. Fossett added:
“Right here ... where one would least expect to find it is the most
elegantly furnished house in Southern Colorado. The handsome brick
residence of George S. Lee and lady, distinguished for their
hospitality, is a landmark of this locality.”
George Lee suffered from the same disease that characterized so many of
the pioneers—a compound of boundless optimism and grandiose ambition. He
pictured his remote town as the capital of the state and his home as the
governor’s mansion. Perhaps it was an idea spoken in jest; perhaps it
was his sincere dream. Folklore leans to the latter version—but he never
campaigned for his idea nor introduced any bill into the legislature.
The name of his town is equally confusing. After Lake City was started
in 1874 and platted in 1875, prospectors streamed up Henson Creek, and a
town was built at its forks. The newspapers of 1876 and ’77 referred to
the town as Capital City, and the Colorado Business Directory for the
late 1870’s used interchangeably the two spellings of _Capital_ and
_Capitol_. Yet in 1961 the Postmaster General’s office in Washington
wrote that “a search of the records for 1876 and ’77 reveals that the
spelling of the town referred to was Capitol City.” To confuse matters
still further the Colorado State Archives office has recorded a
communication, dated May 2, 1887, from the county commissioners of
Hinsdale County in which they petition for permission to change the name
of Galena City to Capitol City.
Why is this petition eleven years late? Poor Capitol City—the whole
situation seems as confused as George Lee’s dream! And who was it did
not know that “capitol” is a building, not a town?
According to the historians, Jean and Don Griswold, Capitol City had two
prosperous periods when mining and smelting were booming—a silver boom
in the mid-1880’s and a gold boom around the turn of the century. Two
factors prevented Capitol City from attaining any major growth. Early
litigation discouraged and slowed up the first business activity of the
late 1870’s and early 1880’s, and later the gold deposits of the 1900’s
were not very large. The population of around three hundred in 1880
became discouraged and drifted away. In 1885 there were but one hundred
people residing there, and in 1900 there was the same number again.
In 1960 there were not many remaining signs of human habitation in
Capitol City. Above the junction of North Henson Creek with Henson Creek
there were some log cabins in what used to be the upper end of town. On
the townsite proper there was only the derelict mansion which was being
destroyed from every angle. Henson Creek had altered its course and was
eating away the embankment on which the Lee house stood while at the
same time human hands were carting away souvenirs. At the lower end of
town only the foundations could be seen of the smelter on which George
Lee had based his great dream.....
Continuing up Henson Creek in the direction that the stagecoach used to
travel from Lake City to Ouray, the visitor will come to the ruins of
Rose’s Cabin. Henson Creek was named for Henry Henson who prospected the
valley in 1871 prior to the Brunot Treaty of 1873 which took the land
away from the Utes. Rose’s Cabin was named for Corydon Rose who built it
in 1874. It was a hotel and bar with outlying stables and shed and
served as a welcome stage stop on the hard ride over Engineer Pass, the
most spectacular pass in Colorado, the road now altered to another ridge
to make a popular jeep ride....
Returning to Lake City the visitor will pass the Ute and Ulay mine. At
one time this was such a large operation that a town grew up around its
workings. The mill is disused and defunct, and the dam which supplied
its water power is broken. But the superintendent’s house is occupied by
a caretaker who guards the property summer and winter.
[Illustration: From “Colorado” by Frank Fossett, 1880; D.P.L.]