The last long blockade was in February 1932 and lasted ninety days. The slides came down, blocking the highways and railroad almost to Needleton. Supplies and mail were brought up the track from Needleton by mule pack train and men with toboggans freighted supplies from Ouray.
The following was taken from a Denver Post clipping of April 7, 1932: “For the first time in history of the postoffice department, it is believed, a ton of hay has been shipped by parcel post. This was revealed Wednesday in a report to the State Utilities Commission. The hay was badly needed to feed dairy cattle in the snowbound town of Silverton and was ordered by the Mullin Lumber Company of Silverton from the Farmer’s Supply Company of Durango. The Durango firm was unable to ship the hay by freight because the railroad stops sixteen miles from Needleton Pass. It was decided to throw the responsibility on Uncle Sam for the delivery of the hay. The hay was pressed into bundles to conform with the maximum size and weight specified for parcel post and offered to the postmaster at Durango. The postage amounted to $14.00. When the hay had reached the end of the railroad it was transferred to Silverton by pack mule at a cost to the post office department of 5c a pound. Thus, the post office department lost $86.00 on the transaction but the cows in Silverton will munch hay for a few days at least, and the children of the isolated town will have fresh milk again.”
Silverton’s ore reserves have been only “scratched”. This area is the most highly mineralized area in the United States, for in very few mining districts of the world are to be found the extensive variety of ores that abound in this country. Until 1893 no gold in the ore was paid for except when it was plainly visible to the naked eye or made a good showing in the pan. In the Sunnyside extension several hundred thousand dollars were taken out in free gold. Kendall Mountain and Silver Lake Basin have been the center of free gold discoveries at intervals since 1872. The first free gold in the country was taken from the Little Giant lode, three sacks of which were reported to have been worth $4,000 to $5,000. This was in 1872. In 1905 and ’06 the Old Hundred Mine produced considerable free gold, taking from $30,000 to $40,000 off the plates each month in a forty stamp mill.
Many of the mines used aerial trams to transport the ore over the surface to the mills and railroads. Among some of the larger trams are: Gold Prince, 13,000 feet; Sunnyside, 15,600 feet; Kittemac, 10,000 feet; Iowa Tiger, 14,375 feet; Silver Lake, 13,730 feet; Mogul, 10,000 feet; and Shenandoah, 10,000 feet.
Divided into forty prominent gulches, each one a fair sized mining district in itself, the county displays a vast network of big veins of low grade ore in addition to the occasional rich strikes. San Juan is the center of a mineral empire, with ore, coal, timber, water and power. It needs business men, builders of enterprise, to make fortunes for themselves and to bring out the great wealth that still lies in the mountains. The decline in mining activity in the county has been due primarily to the decline in metal prices—not shortage of ore.
Since the earliest records were kept, the county, through 1957, has produced $138,218,339 in gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc. Gold has led the values in this county with a total of thirty-nine and a half million dollars; lead was a close second with over thirty-six million; silver third, with over thirty and a half million. Copper totaled $12,353,827, and zinc $19,406,616.
There are seven “Ghost Towns” in the immediate area; Howardsville, five miles northeast, is the location of the first court house. There were numerous buildings here including a post office and school, many of which still stand. Middleton, located in the 1890’s is two miles above Howardsville. It also had a postoffice and school and is the site of the Nugget and Kittemac Mines. Eureka, established in the 1870’s, became a ghost town in 1938. As I have previously mentioned, this was the site of the Sunnyside Mine and there were over six hundred inhabitants. One of the few remaining buildings you will see is the old town hall and fire house.
A few miles farther up the Animas River Canyon is Animas Forks, which was one of the busiest mining centers. The railroad served this place and the big activity was at the Gold Prince Mill. Animas Forks also supported a number of thriving businesses, including a fine newspaper, school and post office. The big attraction here today is the old jail, built entirely of 2 × 6’s and hand-forged window bars. The townsite was laid out in the late 1870’s and was deserted by 1923.
At the head of the Animas is Mineral Point. It was an important stage stop for the Silverton to Ouray stage coaches as this road was used while the present Million Dollar Highway was under construction. They boasted of having the highest post office in the United States. There is probably no area in the county where outcrops are so numerous and lodes and veins are so conspicuous, as in the area immediately surrounding Mineral Point. The summit of Mineral Point is formed of a heavy vein of nearly solid white quartz sixty feet wide.
