Durango exists because of a railroad that almost went somewhere else. In this documentary, Jeff Johnson traces the arrival of the Denver and Rio Grande in Southwest Colorado — from General William Jackson Palmer’s original 1870 push south out of Denver, to the mining boom that pulled the rails toward the San Juans, to the founding of Durango itself in 1881 as a town built by and for the railroad. Jeff follows the line through its boom years serving the Silverton mining district, its near-collapse after the Silver Purchase Act was repealed in 1893, and its unlikely second life as a beloved tourist attraction in the postwar decades. It’s a story about how a railroad meant to carry a young civilization toward the future became, in time, our clearest window into the past.
The Power of Place Magazine is a special initiative of the Colorado 150 Southwest organizing committee, featuring 20 articles by professional historians and local writers exploring Southwest Colorado’s rich and complex heritage.
This story is sponsored by Alpine Bank, Sky Ute Casino and Strater Hotel.
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Transcript
Those of us who live in southwest Colorado are blessed to have beautiful mountain scenery, wilderness folklore, and a fascinating history of Western expansion. For that history, we owe a debt of gratitude to our forebearers. It came at the expense of both the dreamers who took a risk by chasing the riches held in these mountains and the indigenous people who would, whose long established connection to this land and way of life was about to change in ways few could imagine. And near the 1880s, there was one thing that fast tracked these changes. The railroads, the San Juan Mountains, were not in the initial plan when former Union Army General William Jackson Palmer established the Denver and Rio Grande railway to head south from Denver in 1870. But by the latter part of that decade, the explosion of mining in the southwest region of Colorado had taken hold. It was obvious that this Ed Railroad was destined to branch into our region. Congressional Charter had already opened up the west for railroad expansion, and the mining industry begged for the support with all of the ancillary business and growth. It would bring agriculture, coal, mining, timber harvest, and a burgeoning population laid the foundation for our future. And in 1881, the rails reached the new town of Durango. Palmer’s developers had plotted Durango. The new town was literally built by and for the railroad and what it would bring to Southwestern Colorado. The core of the company’s intent in the area was to reach the or rich Silverton Mining District and Rails reached that burgeoning mining town in the summer of 1882. Durango quickly became a boom town and marshaling point for smelting and forwarding the valuable minerals from the region and would ultimately become a hub for additional railroad expansion into more of the San Juan Mountain range. In 1893, fors turned quickly for the mines in supporting the railroad branches. When the 1890 Silver Purchase Act, which required government purchase of silver and the issuance of paper currency to support it was repealed by President Grover Cleveland. The financial depression that ensued was felt nationwide was a significant decline in the value of silver and a contraction of mining activity in the San Juan. Some of the local railroad interests were held in court appointed receiverships. The NAR gauge lines were generally able to survive the economic downturn, but the early glory days were already fading. By the late 1940s, the Silverton branch of the Rio Grande Arage started to experience an unexpected boom from tourism. The war was over, roads were being improved. Summer travel was a new family trend, and Americans love the lore of the Old West. The now famous Silverton train grew in tourist ridership every year, and the Durango area started to become an icon of southwest Colorado. Today, our beloved Nige lines are considered historical gems and are well known worldwide. While our early railroads began as a vehicle to propel our civilization toward the future, today they are a means for us to explore our past as we celebrate the founding of our state and country. We’re also grateful that these historic railroads are still here for us to experience and share with future generations. To read this story, visit Colorado one 50 southwest.org. Alpine Bank, committed to Colorado and you.
