Crystal River Saga: Lore of the Colorado Rockies

PICTURE ON COVER—is part of one of the two remaining fire walls still left standing at the Old Marble Mill Site in Marble, Colo. Sheep Mountain can be seen through the door way and White House Mountain at right. Jeep tours can be taken to the tops of these peaks for very extensive sight-seeing trips. — Photo by Will L. Francis
by THERESA V. FRANCIS
Price $1.25
Come up a mile where the air is pure,
Where the skies are clear and blue;
Come up above the smoke and dust,
Where good health waits for you.
—Author Unknown
Western Slope of the Central COLORADO ROCKIES Showing in Particular the FISHING STREAMS and RECREATIONAL AREAS of Famous GUNNISON COUNTY Compiled by WILL L. FRANCIS
Probably no town in the world has experienced more dramatic changes in a lifetime, than has the quarry town of Marble, Colo. and one of the few living persons who knows the story of each phase of Marble’s history is Theresa Herman Francis. She and her husband, Bill, now spend only the summers (winters in Tucson, Ariz.) in the white and green house in Marble that was her year ’round home for 33 years.
One of the town’s active citizens during the 20’s and 30’s when the population of Marble numbered in the thousands, Theresa changed her life very little when Marble became a ghost town in 1945. Although living alone in town most of the time, she did not become a recluse, but remained the same cheerful, energetic, neighborly person she had always been. By hard work and ingenious use of materials familiar to her through the years of teaching arts and crafts in the Marble and other schools, she established an independent living for herself. By patiently and accurately answering dozens of questions thousands of times, and by friendly help to all of the people who stopped at her roadside stand every summer, Theresa has made many friends for herself and for Marble. By her enthusiasm for, and faith in the future of Marble, she has done more than any other person toward bringing her beloved town back to life.