DEADHORSE MILL—just below Crystal City. One of the earliest mills built on the Crystal River. —Photo courtesy John B. Schutte, Glenwood Springs, Colo.
SNOW BRIDGE—across the Crystal River below the Devil’s Punch Bowls. It usually melts by September, but has been known to stay the year ’round. It is caused by slides on each side of the Canyon. —Photo courtesy John B. Schutte, Glenwood Springs, Colo.
He made an effort to open the Lucky Boy and the Lead King mines, but unfortunate circumstances once again kept the mines from paying.
His daughters, Mrs. Dorothy Tidwell and Mrs. Helen Collins, and granddaughters, Maxine Fowler and Carolyn Lodge, all of California, still come with their families and friends, and make up a part of Crystal City’s 20 or 30 summer residents.
The Welcome J. Neals who also own mining claims and a house in Crystal City, come every year from Mooresville, Ind., and bring their friends and relatives for a delightful summer’s vacation where the weather is just right, the scenery unsurpassable, and the elusive trout waiting to match his skill against that of the tourist.
Dick CarScadden of Aspen spends his summers in Crystal City conducting tourists on hiking trips: the food and camping equipment being carried by huskies.
Just what the future holds for Crystal City, none can say. The people who own it prefer to keep it as it is, a cool, peaceful relaxing haven. But with the road over Schofield Pass connecting Crested Butte with Marble and Carbondale open, and with the known mineral deposits there, it may again become a thriving mining center.
The Crystal River continues on its way through its narrow canyon, sometimes on a level with the highway, sometimes hundreds of feet below it.