Aspen History
Pitkin’s boastful gulch
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The first prospectors up Lincoln Creek in the early 1880s faced avalanches, unstable explosives, cave-ins, and odyssey-like distances to marginal medical care.
The rich life of Aspen Mountain miner Billy Zaugg
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The last miner to live on Aspen Mountain, his life bridged the eras of mining and skiing
Aspen History
Aspen’s first international ski race in 1950: true grit versus miners’ mess
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Tough terrain scarred by mining era tests ski racing elite at the 1950 FIS Alpine World Championships on Aspen Mountain
Aspen’s skiing history: an evolving timeline
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In February 1880, B. Clark Wheeler ‘skis’ into town from Leadville on Norwegian snowshoes to complete the first survey of Ute City. He renames the town Aspen.
Aspen History
Finding the Silver Queen: the abundant manifestations of Aspen’s Victorian nickname
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The original Silver Queen appellation was first coined in the 1880s by town pioneers who saw her reclining across West Aspen Mountain, now more commonly known as Shadow Mountain. Then came the silver statue, and the ski run.
Aspen History
Boys of summer: baseball stoked the passions of early Aspen
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During the 1880s the high number of hardy young men in town took to the new game, mirroring the rising popularity of the sport
Aspen History
Portal into time: Mine owner wants to preserve Aspen Mountain history
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The Compromise Mine on Aspen Mountain is the site of a historic reckoning between populists and Gilded Age capitalists
Aspen History
The Aspen Public Tramway: the first “bucket” on Aspen Mountain
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The Aspen Public Tramway, rising from the bottom of Aspen Mountain to Tourtelotte Park, was a precursor to today’s Silver Queen Gondola, known by many locals as “the bucket.” The tramway, little known to local history buffs, was built to haul silver ore, but it also carried a few adventurous passengers.