Salida Centennial Collection

The Salida Centennial Committee compiled this collection of old photographs as a celebration of the 100 year anniversary of the founding of Salida, Colorado.

Photos in this collection have been donated from the following collections:

John Ophus
• Frank Thomson
• Donna Nevens
• Salida Museum
• Alice Chinn
• Salida Fire Department
• Josephine Soukup (Kratky)
• Ernest Brownson
• Alta Proctor
• Janice Pennington
• Dick Dixon

The collection was gathered by members of the Salida Centennial Committee photo sub-committee. Members include:
• Dick Dixon
• John Ophus
• Carol Kellerman
• Barbara Snyder

Other Salida Centennial Committee members are:
• Charles Melien
• Charles Brown
• Marion Reynolds
• Richard Harris
• Arlene Shovald
• Gail Anderson
• Merle Baranczyk
• Pete Siemers
• Hoppy Randolph

John Ophus Collection

A narrow-gauge train had arrived from the west, a locomotive (possibly No. 218) was removing the loaded gondolas of ash from next to the ashpit, and No. 404 had moved out of the roundhouse onto the turntable. During the warm weather, locomotives under steam were spotted with their stacks outside of the roundhouse to improve ventilation in the building. (2) Walter Moore is pictured in the center of three men leaning against No. 404.

A Denver & Rio Grande engine on the turntable in the Salida railyards

All 27 roundhouse tracks and nearly half of the Salida roundhouse itself, are visible in this photograph, taken sometime between 1890 and 1892. Nearly half of the stalls carry four rails to handle both gauges. The 62-foot turntable was used until 1909, when it was replaced with an 80-foot model. Moving counter-clockwise from the roundhouse lead nearest the photographer, the following locomotives are visible: • narrow-gauge Engine 62, a Baldwin Class 56 2-8-0 (notice the irregular size of coal in its tender) • narrow-gauge Grant Class 60 (C-16) 2-8-0, No.213 • a narrow-gauge tender from a Class 60 locomotive • an unidentifiable narrow-gauge locomotive • two unidentifiable standard-gauge engines • an unidentifiable narrow-gauge 2-8-0 • narrow-gauge locomotive No. 404 • an 1881 Baldwin Class 70 (C-19) 2-8-0 • narrow-gauge No. 274, an 1882 Baldwin Class 60 (C-16) 2-8-0 • No. 401, another Class 70 (C-19) 2-8-0 • and two barely visible locomotives in the darkness of the roundhouse. Class 60 Grant 2-8-0 No. 218 rode on the turntable. Class 60 No. 267 and Class 70 No. 409, along with two unidentifiable standard-gauge engines, rested on the ashpit lead. Six gondolas full of ashes, along with one empty, were spotted next to the ashpit. Three drag flangers were next to the ashpit. Notice the water column next to engine No. 267. At left – looking into the distance – you can see the water tank, the Hotel Monte Christo, and the Salida depot. Notice the attractive arch doorways of each roundhouse stall. Tenderfoot Hill looms behind the roundhouse. (2)

D&RG Roundhouse and Shops in the Salida railyards

This lineup of three switch engines was photographed in Salida in 1890. No. 213 was a narrow-gauge 1881 Grant-built 2-8-0, No. 576 was a standard-gauge 1889 Baldwin 2-8-0, and N. 218 was another narrow-gauge Grant 2-8-0. Note the arrangement of coupler pockets on the locomotives, which enabled them to handle either standard- or narrow-gauge cars. The D&RG seldom purchased new switch engines (No. 106 in Salida being one early notable exception) until the diesel era. Instead, old, small, or surplus road locomotives were converted for switching duty by adding front and rear footboards, as well as rear headlights, as these three locomotives demonstrated. (2)

Switch engines #213, #576, and #218 in the Salida railyards

Late 19th century middle class living is evident in this Salida home, believed to be that of local photographer N. W. Meigs. The family plays cards amid busy decorations that include chair drapes, stacked pillows, heavy framed photographs and dark wood furnishings. (1)

Thought to be Newell Meigs and family

Rotary on Monarch Pass ca 1907.JohnOphusCollection.SalidaCenn101DN

Rotary snowplow on Monarch Pass ca. 1907

Rotary Monarch Pass ca 1907.JohnOphusCollection.SalidaCenn102DN

Rotary snowplow on Monarch Pass ca. 1907

Hundreds of men were employed in the D&RG machine shops in Salida. It was the largest, most complete repair shop between Denver and Salt Lake City and could repair or rebuild any kind of disaster that might befall a locomotive or piece of rolling stock. On several occasions the crew built locomotives using spare parts from others. Maintenance was a large part of the work here. (1)

Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Machine Shop

Merchant tailor W. S. Buchanan employed men and women in the manufacture of clothing. Peeling wallpaper attests to a leaky roof and holes in the window blinds speak of neglect and wear. It doesn’t appear to be a comfortable work place. (1)

Scottie Buchanan’s Tailoring Shop

Construction rubble is heaped in the open space beyond the horses hitched to Salida’s new chemical and ladder truck about 1903. Unidentified firemen wear new dress uniforms, and harness on the team is complete with fancy decorations and feather plumes attached to the top of the bridles. When the town council outgrew its first offices, members bought Fraternity Hall at 140 E St. and moved the new fire equipment in downstairs and took the upstairs for city offices. By 1911, firemen were moved into the building at the right and city offices expanded onto both floors in Fraternity Hall. Both buildings are still used for city offices and fire department equipment. This truck is the only one that the fire department doesn’t still have. (1)

Salida Fire Department at 124 E Street

Using space left vacant by the 1888 fire, Charles Webster Crews and R. H. Beggs constructed this building in 1900 as a branch of their Pueblo store. The company, founded in 1882 in Leadville, went out of business in 2000 after closure of the Salida store – the last of three. (1)

Crews-Beggs Mercantile in Pueblo, Colorado

Steve Frazee Collection

Located at the west corner of G and Second streets, a lumber yard had been established by V. C. Davenport, with a railroad siding in the rear. A load of wood roof shingles was ready for delivery to a new home site. The fenced area (at left) was a livery stable that became the base of operations for E. G. Hellman’s Turret & Whitehorn Stage Line in 1903. (2)

Davenport’s Lumber Yard at 2nd & G Streets

The International Order of Odd Fellows – during a statewide convention – parade up F Street October 15, 1894, preceded by dignitaries in carriages and followed by one of Salida’s marching bands. Cantons of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows perform military-style drills for prizes in a parade up F Street Oct. 16, 1894. The group held its Grand Encampment in Salida Oct. 15-18, 1894, complete with military-style parades, lodge meetings and dances organized by its ladies’ division, the Daughters of Rebekah. Six years after the disastrous 1888 fire, there appears to be construction work in the lot on the corner of Second and F Streets where the Knights of Pythias building stands today. Alger’s Drug Store is in the J. M. Collins building (with the large awning) at the left. In 2001 this is the parking lot for Pueblo Bank and Trust. (1)

I.O.O.F. Parade on F Street, October 1894

This horseshoeing business had the financial backing to locate in a brick building – much preferred after the 1888 fire – which is said to have been located between First and Second streets on G Street (at the corner of the alley). Netting was draped over the body of a horse to ward off flies and mosquitoes, terrible pests for both horses and people in the days before sanitation and mosquito-control districts. Used buggies were in the lot beside the shop. (2)

Salida Shoeing Shop on G Street

Built after the 1888 fire, the J.M. Collins building at the corner of West Second and F Streets was one of the most impressive in the downtown district. The two segments at the right were razed in the 1980’s to make room for a parking lot. (1)

J.M. Collins Building at W. 2nd and F Streets

The Hotel Monte Christo was decorated with American flags and bunting in commemoration of the Fourth of July. The lunchroom occupied this wing of the hotel, and the main entrance was to the left, where some gentlemen were relaxed under the canopy. By 1890, standard-gauge rail had reached Salida, and dual-gauge track was clearly visible here. (2)

Monte Cristo Hotel in the Denver & Rio Grande Railyard

The rear of the Hotel Monte Christo is seen in this rare view, recorded on a glass negative before 1889, during the period before the standard-gauge reached Salida. Tents were put up for additional staff on either side of the bunkhouse. The D&RG pumphouse is to the right of the hotel. Beyond the pumphouse coal shed, the cabooses are visible. A protective rock wall was built to prevent erosion of the property by high water from the Arkansas River. Tenderfoot Hill, still speckled with pinon and cedar trees, was beyond the hotel and railroad yards. (2)

Rear view of the Monte Cristo Hotel

An unknown group. Tenderfoot Mountain is in the background, and 331 W. 2nd Street is the house on the right. It was built by William Van Every.

Two families and a dog at W. 2nd Street

Fire destroyed 17 locomotives in the roundhouse and shops December 11, 1892, including Nos. 404 and 285 which were in for major repairs and couldn’t be moved. The blaze gutted 14 of 17 roundhouse stalls before city and D&RG firemen and about 100 volunteers could bring it to a halt. Low water pressure, rotten hoses, and freezing weather made fire fighting a nightmare, but there were no major injuries. Volunteers managed to save 20 locomotives and all the others were repaired when shops were rebuilt. (1)

Engine destruction from December 1892 fire

Shortly after the disastrous 1892 fire, locomotive servicing and repairs had to be done out in the open, in front of the roundhouse ruins. From this angle, the machine shop was at the left, and the charred boiler-house roof was visible beside the stack. Prior to the fire, the arch in the roundhouse doors had been bricked up. The 62-foot turntable was still in use. A standard-gauge switch engine, an 1890 Class 113 (C-28) Baldwin 2-8-0 in the 600-series, stood over the ashpit. Spotted on the roundhouse leads, from left to right, were Engines 227, 283, 400 (?), 401, 44, 530 (standard-gauge), 407 and 403. Burned hulks of locomotives remained in the remnants of the roundhouse. (2)

The Denver & Rio Grande Roundhouse in ruins

Bird’s Eye View of Salida, ca. 1883

Leonard Perschbacher Collection

Salida Band, July 4th, 1912: • Basses – James Pearce, Leo Vail • Trombones – Frank Albright, Forman Garretts, Fred Coombs • Altos – John Bush, Mr. Guy (?) • Cornets – John Manful, Earnest Feichtinger, Ulrich Waggener, Frank Holman • Clarinets – Otis Camp, Paul James, Frank Peck • Piccolo – Frank Mason • Drums – Harry William(s), George Gorham

Salida Band, July 4, 1912

Colorado and Southern trains served Nathrop and the Western Slope via the Alpine Tunnel after the demise of the storied Denver, South Park and Pacific about 1899. The C & S struggled financially as did its predecessor, finally abandoning the run to Gunnison in 1910 with closure of the Tunnel. The line from Buena Vista to Hancock was abandoned in 1924. (1) Maud Perschbacher dates this picture as taken in July or August, 1910 at the Alma Station. She identified the people from left to right as: a blind man named Redman, depot agent John Geyer and his wife, fireman Bill Cantonwine, engineer Bill Gallagher and his wife, conductor Jack Harris and his wife, Maud (Matthews) Pershcbacher holding her son, William Earnest Perschbacher (aged 3 months), John Raymond Perschbacher (son of Joseph and Maud), brakeman Joseph T. Perschbacher and Leonard Perschbacher (son of Joseph and Maud). (4)

Colorado & Southern Engine #30

Sometimes the only way to keep trains running on the Colorado and Southern was for crews to laboriously hand shovel snow from the tracks. This crew attempts to free a train trapped by slides between Hancock and the Alpine Tunnel. (1)

Alpine Tunnel Crew

Denver and Rio Grande Train in the Royal Gorge.LeonardPerschbacherCollection.SalidaCenn120DN

Denver & Rio Grande Train in the Royal Gorge ca. 1920

Denver and Rio Grande Panoramic Special.LeonardPerschbacherCollection.SalidaCenn119DN

Denver & Rio Grande Western Panoramic Special ca. 1920

Haley-Bratton Collection

D&RG No. 168, photo taken between 1900 – 1902. Henry Harvard Haley is on the right.

Denver & Rio Grande Engine #168

Increased mining activity – and some small financial successes in the late 1890’s – prompted a spate of prospecting by Salida businessmen and even a few children. They swarmed up the gulches northeast of town with picks, shovels and a little dynamite seeking “color.” They weren’t disappointed – at first – because they found showings of gold, silver, copper and lead. For a time during the winter of 1895-96, many businesses closed early so proprietors could go “mining.” One of those efforts was the Colchester Mining and Milling Company, which dug two tunnels – No. 2 above – into the side of the mountain between Cleora and the mouth of today’s Longfellow Gulch. In the first photo, Thomas T Foster stands at left of the entrance to tunnel No. 2, arms folded across his chest. The boy with the shovel is his son, William Garnet Foster. The man in the vest is unidentified, as is the seated man; Richard Milton Bratton stands at the far right. The other men in the operation are unidentified. No. 1 tunnel is just above the level of the D&RG mainline and about 100 yards away on a “gentle slope, just right for men pushing loaded ore cars to the railroad,” according to a Salida Mail article. Tunnel No. 2 is a few hundred feet above and a little east of the discovery opening. Plans were to connect the two inside the mountain, but ore ran out before then. (1)

Colchester Mining & Milling Company

Tunnel No. 2, Colchester Gold & Copper Mining & Milling Co., Salida, Colo.

Tunnel #2 at Colchester Mining Co.

Colchester Mining & Milling Company

Francis Haley King, on the left side of the buggy seat, and her unidentified companion, won second place in the children’s float contest for their entry in the July 4 parade. The decorations seem to have held together remarkably well considering the parade route ran 12 blocks up F Street, turned right on Twelfth before returning to First Street on G. It was touted then as the longest parade in Salida history. (1)

July 4th parade float

Once large numbers of people began congregating into towns, commercial meat hunters provided – for a time – much of the food before regular supply lines could be established. Camp gear, big bore rifles, a few burros, some pack saddles or old Army McClellan saddles, and a keen eye were all that was necessary. This hunting outfit heads out of Buena Vista in about 1879. (1)

Buena Vista Hunting Outfit ca. 1879

West of St. Elmo, 12,154 foot Tincup Pass provided one of the early access routes to Western Slope mining areas. Burro trains such as this one loading in front of the St. Elmo Hardware provided quick, inexpensive and relatively sure transportation for most general supplies. After arrival of the Denver, South Park and Pacific Railroad, the town became a major shipping point for heavy freight as well and there were a dozen or more companies that were able to handle almost any kind of shipment. Busy winter stagecoach traffic forced drivers to replace wheels with sled runners for the hazardous trip over the Continental Divide between 13,555-foot Emma Burr Mountain to the north and 13,124-foot Fitzpatrick Peak to the south. (1)

Burro train at St. Elmo

Albert Hanks

Mary Hanks

Unknown man.HaleyBrattonCollection.SalidaCenn135DN

Unknown woman.HaleyBrattonCollection.SalidaCenn135DN

Mary E. Hanks

Mary, Helen, and Alberta Hanks

From left; Mary E., Alberta, Winona and Albert E. Hanks, other two on right unknown.

The Hanks family at dinner

Helen Hanks

Charles Hanks

Albert Edmund Hanks Tombstone.HaleyBratton Collection.SalidaCenn144

Albert Hanks headstone at Fairview Cemetery

324 E. 2nd Street.HaleyBrattonCollection.SalidaCenn141DN

The Hanks home at 324 E. 2nd St.

The building above is believed to be one of the first churches in Salida. It was built during July of 1883, at the corner of 4th and D Streets, and was called the Salida Methodist-Episcopal Church. In 1888 it was replaced by another building. (2)

Methodist Episcopal Church at 4th and D

Children in Wagon led by Burro.HaleyBrattonCollection.SalidaCenn146

Helen and Charles Hanks, taken at 324 E. 2nd. St., Salida, Colorado.

Helen & Charles Hanks

Winona Hanks.HaleyBrattonCollection.SalidaCenn

Winona Hanks at 324 E. 2nd

Winona and Alberta Hanks.HaleyBrattonCollection.SalidaCenn151

Winona & Alberta Hanks

Alberta Hanks.HaleyBrattonCollection.SalidaCenn152

Alberta Hanks at 324 E. 2nd

Donna Nevens Collection

D&RG Scenic Line Band members march in curb-hugging lines as they bring up the rear of one of Salida’s many parades. Horse-drawn floats and fire equipment obviously preceded the band. The parade route is eastbound on First Street, almost at its intersection with F Street. To the right of the Union Hotel is an assayer and chemist; Henry’s Place, a saloon, is in the frame building and the sign on the wall advertises Dr. Kilmer’s Swamp Root Kidney Remedy. Manful’s Barber Shop is at the right. The photo was taken before 1900 and all of the buildings except the frame one remain today. (1)

Denver & Rio Grande Scenic Line Band

The Tramps!

Knights of Pythias Band – taken during the Grand Lodge Session, September 3, 1890: • Comstock – Solo B flat • Logan – first B flat • Kirkbride – first B flat • Bogue – first tenor • Johnston – 2nd tenor • Gilliam – 2nd alto • Porchard – 1st alto • Smith – baritone • Motz – tuba • Williams – snare drum • Gillet – bass drum • Warner – drum major

Knights of Pythias band on E. 1st Street

Nellie Ellis Collection

Janelle House

Lela Benton

Edna Eckland.NellieEllisCollection.SalidaCenn156

Edna (Eklund) Kalyniak

Harry Conley possibly.NellieEllisCollection.SalidaCenn157

Believed to be Harry Conley

Ed Kreswell on the left.NellieEllisCollection.SalidaCenn158

Ed Creswell at left

Colburn Jay Mrs. Dunmire and Fred Watson at Garfield.NellieEllisCollection.SalidaCenn159

Colburn Jay, Mrs. Dunmire, and Fred Watson in Garfield

408 F Street Dr. Cochems House.NellieEllisCollection.SalidaCenn160

Dr. Cochems house at 408 F Street

Snowstorm at Monarch.NellieEllisCollection.SalidaCenn161

Postcard to Bob Ellis

Picture Postcard addressed to: Mr. R G Ellis 921 Kalamath St. Denver Colo Feb 27-18 Hello, Bob, letter received this morning this is the way Monarch looks only it is worse snowing and blowing fierce and a good place to stay away from. What hospital is Myrtle at and why don’t you go to Morrison and see who is left up there also run out and see Arthor at Louises. Will write later–tell Babe Hello.  M.T.  Don’t think it is ever going to stop snowing

This train wreck occurred January 23, 1918 near Pando, Colorado. The engineer, Fred C. Graham, and the brakeman, Roy Foster Leininger, were killed. Leininger’s body was buried under tons of wreckage and crushed beyond recognition. (3)

Pando Train Wreck Jan. 1918 – ‘These cars stay on the back’

Pando Train Wreck Jan. 1918 – ‘Looking for him’

Pando Train Wreck Jan. 1918 – ‘This is where Roy was’

F.C. Watson’s store in Garfield.NellieEllisCollection.SalidaCenn170CN

F.C. Watson’s store in Garfield -burned ca. 1929

Family and children in baby wagon.NellieEllisCollection.SalidaCenn177CN

Tug of War.NellieEllisCollection.SalidaCenn178DN

Group of Ladies and Gentlemen.NellieEllisCollection.SalidaCenn179DN

Valarie Berman Collection

From left – unknown, Roy Knickerbocker, Henry Franklin Knickerbocker, unknown, Tom Knickerbocker

The Knickerbockers in the brick pit

Martin Epp Collection

Portrait of unknown family

Harry Williams Collection

Oxford’s Market on Hwy 50

Oxford’s Drive In Market on Highway 50.HarryWilliamsCollection.SalidaCenn168CN

Oxford’s Market on Hwy 50

The 20-stall standard-gauge roundhouse was constructed in 1900, east of the narrow-gauge roundhouse. By the date of this photograph, August 1, 1923, a new eight-stall roundhouse addition was being constructed as a separate building; however it shared the 100-foot turntable with the original standard-gauge roundhouse. The 100-foot turntable replaced the original 80-foot turntable in 1917. Forms were set up to pour concrete for locomotive service pits, and brick was used to construct the building walls. A steam-powered shovel was used to cut back the hillside next to Cottonwood Gulch (sometimes referred to as “Rattlesnake Gulch”). (2)

Foundations for the roundhouse, built August 1923

Foundations for the roundhouse, Aug. 1923

In this photograph, taken August 28, 1923, a large locomotive backshop was under construction behind the new roundhouse addition. The backshop, currently part of a lime products plant, is virtually the only railroad-built structure of significance remaining in Salida, other than the original portion of the hospital. A standard-gauge rotary snowplow sat behind the 1900 roundhouse, where a glimpse of the roof of the D&RG hospital is also visible. (2)

Backshop under construction, Aug. 1923

Brick was used for walls of the roundhouse, Aug. 1923

Denver and Rio Grande Railyards Holding Pens for Sheep.HarryWilliamsCollection.SalidaCenn169CN

Sheep in D&RG railyard holding pens

Denver and Rio Grande Railyards Construction of the Backshop Aug 1923.HarryWilliamsCollection.SalidaCenn175DN

Construction of the backshop and roundhouse, Aug. 1923

Denver and Rio Grande Railyards Construction of Backshop and Roundhouse Aug 1923.HarryWilliamsCollections.SalidaCenn176DN

Construction of the Denver & Rio Grande backshop and roundhouse in the Salida railyards, Aug. 28, 1923

Maxine McClure Collection

Family and Pet Dog in Front of House.MaxineMcClureCollection.SalidaCenn180DN

Picnics in the mountains offered time for a little relaxation and a chance to get out of town. The falls of the North Fork of the South Arkansas River northwest of Maysville were easily accessible by buggy or via the railroad and an easy hike. (1)

Falls at the North Fork of the South Arkansas

Young men took to bicycles in the early 1890’s like they do to cars and pickup trucks today. As with bicyclists today, the clothing had to fit the sport, and it was suits, ties, hats and vests – Sunday finery. Most were equally comfortable on these “safety” bikes or on the high-wheel “ordinaries.” They formed riding clubs, held a variety of endurance and short distance contests, and sometimes managed to rub parents and law officers the wrong way with their speed and crazy antics. This photo was taken in front of the I.O.O.F. Hall, Phil Bogler is third from the left. (1)

Young Men and Bicycles

Salida High School Collection

Salida High School Spartan Football Team 1933.SHSCollection.SalidaCenn185CN

1933 Salida High School State Football Champions

Salida High School Spartan Football Team 1934.SHSCollection.SalidaCenn186CN

1934 Salida High School State Football Champions

Salida High School Spartan Football Team 1935.SHSCollection.SalidaCenn187CN

1935 Salida High School State Football Champions

Frank Thomson Collection

Haight and Churcher Furniture and Undertaking. Frank Churcher is driving.

Frank Churcher outside Haight & Churcher’s

Haight and Churcher specialized in home furnishing sales and had a woodworking shop in which they produced a small amount of furniture. As a natural spin-off, they were the only coffin makers in Salida – so they became morticians as well. If people didn’t like what was in stock, the store would order fancy furniture and coffins for people who were willing to wait. Isaac Haight is shown here. (1)

Isaac Haight inside Haight & Churcher’s

Dressed in Sunday finery, Nina Churcher, held by Frank Churcher, presents a bouquet of flowers to Commodore W. S. Schley who doffs his hat in thanks on May 27, 1899. Schley, and Admiral William T. Sampson, became naval heroes when they bottled Spanish Admiral Topete y Cervera and his fleet in Santiago Bay, Cuba, on May 19, 1898, then destroyed the Spanish fleet as it attempted to escape July 3. Celebrities, dignitaries and politicians frequently made themselves visible – or spoke – from their railroad cars as yard crews swapped locomotives. When residents learned someone special was coming, it was a good excuse for a parade – winter or summer. (1)

Commodore W. S. Schley greeting Salidans from a D&RG train

Despite a schedule that included overseeing construction of the big Ohio and Colorado smokestack in 1917, getting married, and being promoted to superintendent at the smelter, Arthur Theodore Thomson (in the chair at the right) took time for a shave and a haircut at Manful’s Barbershop at 109 F Street in Salida. (1)

Arthur Thomson at Manful’s Barbershop, 109 F St.

Although damaged and vandalized, pillars supporting the roof over the grave of Duke remained in place in the early 1920s when this trio of young Salida women (Nina Churcher (Thomson) on right) visited the monument on their way to a picnic at the Crater, a popular Sunday hiking destination. (3)

Duke’s memorial

O.D.O.Club..FrankThomsonCollection.SalidaCenn205DN

The O.D.O. Club

SalidaElks808..FrankThomsonCollection.SalidaCenn201DN

Salida Elks Lodge #808 at 148 E. 2nd

Unidentified workers who built the 365-foot smokestack grin happily as they pose with their boss, assistant superintendent Arthur Thomson, atop the stack November 14, 1917, during a simple topping out ceremony held that day. Thomson placed a silver dollar in the wet mortar of the last few bricks. Town clerk Bertie Roney, the first woman to the top of the stack, was hoisted in the materials bucket. Because she isn’t in any of the photos taken that day and the shadow of a woman’s hat is, Miss Roney was likely the photographer who recorded the event. She exposed four or five negatives that were later given to Arthur Thomson, who passed them to his son, Frank, of Poncha Springs. (1)

Arthur Thomson and crew atop the newly built Smeltertown smokestack

Wet mortar, a trowel and unfinished brick-work in the foreground show the last stage of construction November 14, 1917. Southwest of the new stack is the old stack continuing to spew smoke over the valley. It was torn down a short time after the new smokestack was completed. The view from 365 feet up gives a good idea of the layout of D&RG and company rails. (1)

Bird’s eye view from the Smeltertown smokestack

Arthur Thomson, smelter assistant superintendent, and Emil Bruderlin, structural engineer, perch on the lip of the new smokestack during the topping-out ceremony. The large material bucket and one leg of the hoisting windlass show how materials reached the top. The wooden construction floor is a plug inserted inside the 17 foot diameter of the smokestack mouth. Bruderlin sits on a stack of bricks used for the last course of masonry. (1)

Arthur Thomson and Emil Bruderlin on top of the smokestack

For about 29 months, the 365-foot smokestack did the job for which it was intended, but financial hard times forced the company to close in 1920. The short 85-foot stack beside the tall one was razed in the late 1920’s to provide brick for at least a couple of homes in Salida. (1)

The smokestack at Smeltertown

Nina Churcher Omer Divers.FrankThomsonCollection.SalidaCenn206DN

Nina Churcher and Omer Divers at the Crater

Salida High School hiking trip to the Crater. Nina Churcher is on the left, Omer Divers is standing on the left in the back row.

SHS hiking trip to the Crater

Members of Salida Hose Co. No. 1 display their new rubber coats and recently purchased hose cart February 27, 1883. The fire house was on East First St. and included a tower for drying hose – which always seemed to be in short supply. The bell is believed to be the one purchased by women of Ascension Church. Although firemen couldn’t know it yet, they would be faced with using this equipment to fight four major conflagrations in the future. The December 31, 1886 blaze took out two blocks in the area bounded by F and G streets and from First Street to the Arkansas River. In 1888, a larger fire destroyed about two blocks on either side of F Street, north of First Street. Fire destroyed the D&RG Hospital in 1899. All were rebuilt. Firemen who turned out for the photo are Thomas Dansbury, Samuel King, Charlie Shirk, William Haight, Harley North, Frank Churcher (foreman), Call Smith, Fred Bateman, Samuel Mogan, Harry Whitehead, Charles Hawkins, Richard Griffith, Thomas Doubbie, Morgan Smith, M. W. Hicks, J. P. Smith and George McLain. The roster read like a “Who’s Who” of Salida businessmen. (1)

Salida Hose Company No. 1

Pearl Lunnon Collection

Marvin Ice Houses and pond, ca. 1910

Major fires, two years apart spurred Salidans into a spate of brick construction that eventually saved the town from more devastating damage. A couple of brick yards were in operation before the 1886 fire, but within a year after the 1888 conflagration, there were at least four in production. Clay, sand and water are stirred into a stiff mud before it is packed into molds. It was repetitive, back-wrenching work, but it was lucrative for many years. George and Charles Lunnon are back near the kiln, Ben Lunnon is at the right, and Charles Schuth is seated next to the mixer. (1)

Brickmaking yards on C.R. 107

The mixing pit at the brickworks. Ben Lunnon is kneeling at the right.

The mixing pit at the brickyards

Salida Museum Collection

Photo marked “to Jesse Hanks” August 15, 1898 Date corresponds with the death of Albert Edmond Hanks. This scene is inside the Methodist – Episcopal Church, the second building of three at the present location. The present building was erected in 1899, the first being demolished in 1888.

Funeral of Albert Hanks

Bird’sEyeView.SalidaMuseCollection.SalidaCenn209CN

Bird’s Eye View of Salida, ca. 1883

Alice Chinn Collection

D Street Suspension Bridge

This is the H Street School, which was built in the western part of town between Seventh and Eighth streets. Completed in 1892, the $20,000 structure housed the Salida Public High School on the second floor until 1910. Elementary classrooms were located in the partial basement and on the first floor. In 1920, the school was renamed “Longfellow,” after the American poet. After the present elementary school was constructed in 1957, the historic Longfellow School was razed in 1966. (2)

Salida High School aka H Street School

Four stories capped with a corner tower made the St. Clair Hotel the tallest building in Salida when it opened for business June 6, 1890, and there are still none that equal or exceed it. The building, located on the northeast corner of First and E Streets, was 75-by-90 feet, included 68 sleeping rooms (many with their own bathrooms) and had a balcony on two sides. There was a fine dining room. Construction cost $45,000, in addition to $8,000 in oak furnishings. A grand ball with music by the Salida Concert Band was held to open what was then Salida’s finest hotel. As an aid to patrons who wanted rides to various points in town, there was 24-hour omnibus (hack) service. The St. Clair was too far from the railroad depot to be successful and by 1908 succeeding owners renamed it the Hotel Denton. It was torn down February 1938, when it was known as the Rainbow. (1)

St. Clair Hotel on E. 1st & E Streets

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Tenderfoot Mountain behind the D&RG Roundhouse

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Denver & Rio Grande Hospital at 448 E. 1st Street

Looking North on F St, before the S was installed on Tenderfoot Mountain in 1932 by the senior Salida High School Class. 'S' is for Spartans.

F Street and Tenderfoot Mountain

The depot and railyard, viewed from across the Arkansas River, near where Riverside Park is located today.

A winter view of Tenderfoot Mountain

February 25, 1954 – J. Ford White, C. H. Kelleher (President, Salida Building and Loan Association), Theo. M. Jacobs, Alice Chinn (Secretary/Treasurer, Salida Building and Loan Association). A patron of the Building and Loan had paid off a mortgage with this wheelbarrow load of silver dollars. Building and Loan officers are shown on the way to deposit the silver dollars at First National Bank.

First National Bank of Salida

C. H. Kelleher – Salida Building and Loan President, Alice Chinn – secretary/treasurer, and Theo Jacobs, Director, counting the 3,000 silver dollars a patron had used to pay off a mortgage.

Alice Chinn and First Bank officials with silver dollars

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The Denver & Rio Grande Roundhouse

Denver & Rio Grande locomotive No. 83 was in use here as a switch engine, and was posed on the mainline, with the rebuilt machine shop behind. Notice the front and rear arc headlamps in use on this Baldwin engine, the last Class 56 narrow-gauge 2-8-0 to be built, having entered service in 1881. The engine’s pilot truck had been removed, which converted No. 83 into an 0-8-0. (2)

D&RG engine #83

Trees on Tenderfoot Mountain are alive and well when this photograph was taken March 20, 1895. They began dying shortly after the smelter opened – upwind – in 1902, and by 1917 there were almost none left. Two foot paths up the mountain were used by hundreds of visitors who wanted to get a view of the city while they waited to change trains. The mountain was a favorite picnic spot for locals as well. (1)

Trees on Tenderfoot Mountain in 1895

Salida Fire Department Collection

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Horse-drawn fire wagon

Josephine Soukup Collection

Images taken by John Kratky. John was an auto mechanic at Colorado Auto Company, 242 W. 3rd. He later owned his own garage at 148 E. 1st Street.

Denver & Rio Grande Depot and Hotel Monte Cristo

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Colorado Auto Company at 242 W. 3rd Street

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4th of July parade at 3rd and F Streets

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Union Pacific Engine #1440

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Minstrel band on horse-drawn wagon

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4th of July parade on F Street

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Engine #1063 in the shops

Union Pacific Engine #1473

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Possibly inside the Colorado Auto Company - Signs read “Good Year Tires,” “Ajax Tires,” “Acme Rapid Fire Battery,” “KEEP MUFFLERS CLOSED WITHIN CITY LIMITS”

Possibly inside the Colorado Auto Company at 242 W. 3rd

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Wellsville Hot Springs, ca. 1910

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Motoring along the Arkansas River, where US Highway 50 is today

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Near the Hutchinson Ranch, where US Highway 50 is today

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Overlooking Garfield, Colorado

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Motoring alongside the Arkansas River

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4th of July on F Street

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Alpine Park Lions carved by Abran Marchi

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Near the top of Monarch Pass with Mt. Taylor in background

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Ernest Brownson Collection

Salida before 1890

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Salida after 1890

Although preparations began a year earlier, the third rail was laid through Salida during 1890. Addition of the outside rail allowed standard gauge as well as narrow gauge trains to operate over the entire Rio Grande system. Switches, frogs and rerailers – especially in the crowded Salida yards – were an engineering marvel. As late as 1890, the tender of this switcher is fitted with a kerosene work light. (1)

Denver & Rio Grande’s Salida Depot

As many as 100 trains a day passed through Salida – and sometimes there were 15 or more passenger trains. That was apparently the case on this day in 1884. The coaches on the far track are awaiting wash jobs before returning to service. (1)

Bird’s Eye View of the Denver & Rio Grande Depot

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Unknown Church in Salida

With riches inches ahead in mine shafts or tunnels, men were impatient and work often continued in deep winter snow and sub-zero temperatures near timberline. There was an insatiable demand for mine and construction timbers. Although work was brutal, the rewards were good enough that men such as this fellow at Garfield were willing to risk snow slides and frostbite to snake timber up dangerously narrow trails even in the dead of winter. Miners working underground usually didn’t feel the cold as much, but were faced with a difficult trip to and from work. There was also the chance that while they were underground, the entrance to their workplace might be buried by a snow slide. (1)

Garfield, Colorado miners

A burro train hauls timber on Old Monarch Pass.

Burro train hauling lumber

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Alta Proctor Collection

Enterprize Club, Washington’s Birthday Party, February 22, 1905 – 06: • Mrs. Lairy, minister’s wife • Av va (sic) Alford • Carrie Darby • Bertha Tomlin • Miss Ashwell • Bessie Granger • Nona Black • Mrs. Black • Minnie Darby • unknown • Nettie Tomlin • Maude Meeker • Mrs. Collier • Cleo Ashford • Galen Gorham • Annie Elofson • Mrs. Dr. Brown • Lena Stokes • Edna Graham Meeker

The Enterprize Club

Class photo, September 23, 1896. Front Row: • Neil Ramsey • Oliver Jones • Frank Fox • William Woodside • George Asher • John Kilgore • Murray Gallagher • Clyde Spain • Ed Owen • George Phillips • Gel Hathaway Second Row: • George Burgess • Irene Hallock • Trix Brown • Leona Hunter • Mannie Auberson • Stella Carmine • Bessie Bell • unknown Third Row (seated): • Thomas McCracken • Mary Thomas • Winnie Wenz • Mary Hindman • Chester Dooley • Grace Tracy • Kate Welch Fourth Row: • Lena Rout • Miss Baer • Maud Smith • Gertie Jones • Maggie Linton • Bess Hodgman • Etta Wilson Two boys standing: • Joe Fein • George Disman

Class photo – Sept. 1896

Dick Dixon Collection

Although most of the mess from the January 1888 fire is cleaned up in this summer photo, evidence can still be seen. Despite a massive rebuilding effort – mostly in brick this time – there are still many open lots along F Street above First Street. Rubble from the fire is visible where it was dumped along the bank of the Arkansas River near the F Street Bridge. After two major fires, it is interesting to note how much larger the area that is today Riverside Park has become. (1)

Bird’s Eye View of Salida, ca. 1888

Janice Pennington Collection

Brickmaking family in Salida

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Bricks drying in the sun. Clay was packed into three-brick molds which were then dumped on the ground in long rows to sun dry. This unidentified boy may have been responsible for the thousands of bricks drying around him. Most of Salida’s buildings are made of this soft, red local brick. (1)

Brick making was often a family business that included children, parents, and maybe a hired hand or two. Sun-dried bricks were stacked, 20,000-50,000 at a time, creating their own kiln. Plastered with mud to limit air, a fire was kindled and carefully monitored to harden bricks. (1)

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Brickmaker Family House with Squirrel on Porch.JanicePenningtonCollection.SalidaCenn263

R.M. Stein Collection

The smelter, on the slag dump looking East at the power house and the smokestack, note the center plant in front of the smokestack. The overhead cables supplied electricity. The slag engines were evidently motorized, not steam mules as in other smelters.

The smelter at Smeltertown

ca. 1909 – A. B. Stein went to work at the Salida smelter as a boiler maker’s helper. Over his left shoulder can be seen two chimneys of the blast furnaces. The camera view was looking to the west.

A.B. Stein at Smeltertown

Standing on the slag dump looking Northeast at the blast furnaces, a corner of the power house is visible at the right.

Smeltertown

A.B. Stein and his family

Robert Martin Stein

ca. 1918 – The Steins (France, Walter, Alfred, and Martin) in front of their house looking north. The warehouse and assay office in background.

The Stein kids

A bibliography of the text used is from:

(1) Salida: The Early Years  by Eleanor Fry , contributing editor Dick Dixon,  Arkansas Valley Publishing Co.,  125 E Second St.,  Salida CO 81201  (719)539-6691
(2) Trails Among the Columbine : A Colorado High Country Anthology;  Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Town , Salida, Colorado 1991/1992 , Sundance Publications Limited
(3) The Mountain Mail , Arkansas Valley Publishing Co ., 125 E Second St. , Salida CO 81201  (719)539-6691
(4) Ray Perschbacher