Saguache County has
seen mining since the early days, including gold and iron mining in the Sangre
de Cristo mountains
near Crestone and silver and other metals in the hills
southwest of Saguache, but Bonanza in northern Saguache County,
was a true
Colorado boom town.
Rich silver ore was
discovered in the mountains north of Saguache and west of Villa Grove in 1880,
and the town of
Bonanza sprang up that fall. The name comes from the
optimistically named Bonanza mine; one of the prospectors told
his friends,
"It’s a Bonanza, boys!" and the name stuck. In 1880-81, 40,000
people passed through the area, including
former president and Civil War general
U. S. Grant in August of 1880, drawn by rumors that Bonanza was "the
new
Leadville".
Early strikes yielded
silver ore worth $200 a ton, and in the 1880's the town of Bonanza boomed, with
saloons, dance
halls, a school, a town hall, plank sidewalks, daily
stagecoaches, and even a town baseball team. An early town
newspaper, the
BONANZA BEE, featured the latest mine news and ads for livery stables, doctors,
attorneys, groceries,
hardware stores, clothing shops, drug stores, the two
hotels, a cigar store, a bakery, a furniture store, a candy shop, and
the bank.
Three other small communities briefly flourished within a couple of miles of
Bonanza, one boasting a brewery,
a bowling alley, and a sawmill.
Several mills were
built in the area to treat high-grade ores, and an estimated 1500 prospect holes
and mines were opened
before 1900. After the initial early discoveries, miners
discovered that the deeper ores contained less silver and more
lead, zinc, and
copper and were harder to mine. Most of the mines and mills failed. Between 1890
and 1899, the population
of the mining district fluctuated from 500 to as few as
100 people. In 1893, the Government stopped buying silver and
the price dropped
from well over $1.00 an ounce to about half that. Most of the surrounding
federal lands became a part
of the Rio Grande National Forest in 1908.
In 1911-1912, the
owners of the Rawley Mine, the biggest mine in the district, built the mile-long
Rawley 12 tunnel
underground from Squirrel Gulch to beneath the existing
mine workings to explore for additional ore and dewater the
existing mine
workings (which filled with water as fast as they could be pumped out). It cost
more than $100,000 and
took 17 months (this at a time when workers were paid $2
to $5 per day and a cord of wood cost $2).
Photos from 1917 show
a major development at the Rawley 12 mine, including numerous buildings and a
new method of
getting ore out of the mine - the mule was, out and the
electric locomotive was in!
In 1921-23, a mill
was built in Squirrel Gulch at the mouth of the Rawley 12 tunnel, and a 7 1/2
mile aerial tramway was
built to haul concentrated ore north from the mill to
the narrow gauge railroad line connecting with Salida. The route of the
aerial
tram over the hills is still visible today. When the mine went bankrupt, a new
company was formed and produced
about 320 tons of ore per day from 1925 to 1930
when the mine closed and the mill was scrapped.
Although the Bonanza
mines were small by Colorado standards, tens of thousands of tons of metals came
out of these hills
over the years, including more than 150 tons of silver worth
more than $20 million dollars today.
Most of the mines in
the Bonanza area closed by the 1930’s. The end of the town of Bonanza almost
came in the fire of
1937, when 30 buildings in the business section burned. The
town has never been rebuilt, and just a few old houses,
mine structures, and
piles of rock remain from the boom days. Today, Bonanza is the smallest
incorporated town in
Colorado (pop. 10-15).
Since before the
mines closed, environmental problems existed in the area. In the early 1990’s,
the problems included
dissolved metals in the creek water, mill waste too toxic
to support plant life, and the creek through Bonanza was dead
for several miles
downstream. Today, the Forest Service, the State of Colorado, and others are
working successfully to
clean up contaminated sites and restore water quality in
this historic area.
Other points of
interest in the Bonanza area include a former toll road built by Otto Mears
(famous Colorado railroad
builder and Saguache County pioneer), various
cemeteries, and spectacular views of the aspen-covered hills where the
prospectors once hoped to strike it rich. The Forest Service is establishing an
interpretive loop for off-highway
(high-clearance) vehicles around Bonanza, and
this project will bring to life the rich history which is waiting to be
discovered in the area.
