why so cheap in San Luis Valley SLV (Denver, Craig: mineral rights, buying)

[Raddo]

Originally Posted by McGowdog

Wonder where in the valley you live. By Ft. Garland or Monte Vista or Antonio or Center or Alamosa or Sargent or Del Snorte? South Fork or Creede?

Anywho, you should tell us where all the good Mexican restaurants are in the area. I've had good food in Fort Garland and Monte Vista recently.

Let me guess. The good Mexican food in Monte was that little place next to the laundry mat, right?

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by Raddo

Let me guess. The good Mexican food in Monte was that little place next to the laundry mat, right?

One of these days ... when McGowdog retires .... he'll make a fat living running bus tours of good Mexican food for all the newcomers to the Front Range.... throw in a side trip to a few brewpubs and before you know it 'dog will be living high on the hog.

[McGowdog]

Thank you. That's a pretty good idea.

Raddo, it may be. My wife, MrsGowdog, got a margarita there that made her see double. Of course, there's a bit of altitude there, maybe 7000+? Oh, it's almost 7700.

[buckaroo17]

Originally Posted by McGowdog

Wonder where in the valley you live. By Ft. Garland or Monte Vista or Antonio or Center or Alamosa or Sargent or Del Snorte? South Fork or Creede?

Honest question here: Is Creede considered part of the San Luis Valley? I lived up on the Front Range far too long ago and loved driving through and camping in southern Colo., but I never really thought of Creede as in the SLV, more off in its own little corner of paradise.

[ColoGuy]

More in the Blanca area. All Gone in Ft Garland is popular. There is also a pretty good $teakhou$e there.

People meet at Lou's in Blanca. I pretty much stick to myself and worry about the customers of the pot dealer across the street.

Originally Posted by McGowdog

Wonder where in the valley you live. By Ft. Garland or Monte Vista or Antonio or Center or Alamosa or Sargent or Del Snorte? South Fork or Creede?

Anywho, you should tell us where all the good Mexican restaurants are in the area. I've had good food in Fort Garland and Monte Vista recently.

[ColoGuy]

Creede is maybe 40-50 miles west of the valley. Old silver mining town I think?

Originally Posted by buckaroo17

Honest question here: Is Creede considered part of the San Luis Valley? I lived up on the Front Range far too long ago and loved driving through and camping in southern Colo., but I never really thought of Creede as in the SLV, more off in its own little corner of paradise.

[DOUBLE H]

Originally Posted by ColoGuy

Creede is maybe 40-50 miles west of the valley. Old silver mining town I think?

Yes. There is a famous saying by author Cy Warman who refers to Creede--"It's day all day in the daytime, and there is no night in Creede."

Yes, Creede can be named, along with places like Tombstone,Arizona as "Queen of the boom towns." And it boomed all right. They mined a lot of silver out of that town in it's heyday which IMO was just after the Civil War ended. By 1890 they peaked at about 9500 in population, bars and casinos did well there. Silver took a whipping in the Panic of 1893 and several mines shut down. The town didn't go to ghost town status but it experienced hard times and a half. Up toward the late 60's they at least were able to mine lead and zinc. And yes, there were a few noted people spent time in Creede, notably Bat Masterson and Robert Ford.

A better guess regarding the west end of the San Luis Valley and traveling heading into the San Juans would be Del Norte. Nice little town, as is South Fork, which is 15 miles west of Del Norte. Creede is another 20 miles or so NW of South Fork. Years ago I spent a couple days camping out near Creede, there is some tourism going on there. Year round residents? I'm guessing 375 to 400-ballpark guess. Remote, like most mining towns, but a beautiful place.

[TCHP]

Originally Posted by DOUBLE H

Yes. There is a famous saying by author Cy Warman who refers to Creede--"It's day all day in the daytime, and there is no night in Creede."

Since Creede was somewhat later in the boom cycle than a lot of towns and had very rich ore deposits, the 1893 crash didn't hurt it as badly as other towns and it continued to march forward with mining and was one of the first towns to have an extensive electric light system installed. This is the origin of the saying above as once night fell, the lights came on and the rowdiness continued on. During the 1890-1990s, Creede was as profitable a mining town to be in as Leadville or Cripple Creek.

[ColoGuy]

Some of us know our share of Colorado mining history. So far we are largely overlooking the multitudes of mining towns in the Colorado southwest, notably in the San Juan mountains to the west of Creede. Perhaps one major destination mining town failed to rise out of the masses of more minor mining towns? I seem to recall Durango and Telluride as possible leaders?

I've read several books about the heyday of Colorado mining. Leadville was the absolute rockstar with Cripple Creek easily coming in second. Contenders for 3rd place to 10th place? I have no idea. Would sure be interesting to see such a chart.

Does anyone know how the newly re-opened Climax molybdenum mine is doing?

[DougStark]

No offense to the locals there, but I'd never want to live in Alamosa. Unbelievably cold, isolated, and economically depressed. I hear the valley is good for growing some crops, though.