KGCnewbieseeker
Sr. Member
The San Juan Mountains of Colorado hold many secrets. Occasionally the mountains give up these secrets although their true nature usually remains shrouded in mystery. Sometimes it's an old mine shaft or hidden tunnel, occasionally it's an object like an old gun or a piece of rusted armor or a silver coin. Every now and then, a cache of mining tools is discovered in some nook or cranny. Sometimes crude arrastres are found carved into the bedrock. Occasionally, more macabre discoveries are made. Every once in a while, human skeletal remains are found scattered along a mountainside or in some meadow in the San Juans.
Sometimes the bones are able to talk to us. The discovery of five skeletons in the mountains near Lake City in 1875 led to the arrest of Alfred Packer, Colorado's most famous cannibal. Discovered near the west foot of Slumgullion Pass, the skeletal remains of Israel Swan, Shannon Wilson Bell, Frank Miller, George "California" Noon, and James Humphreys all showed signs of violence. One had been shot while the rest had had their skulls bashed in.
In the 1930's, human bones were found in Starvation Gulch, between Ute Ridge and Indian Ridge, in the heart of the San Juans. The bones turned out to be the remains of two members of Fremont's disastrous fourth expedition of 1848.
Sometimes the bones are more enigmatic and mysterious. They give us only hints and inklings of information. When the bones are associated with a lost mine or hidden treasure, they can awaken the gold-lust in anyone. In 1869, Captain Elisha P. Horn discovered the skeletal remains of a man in Spanish armor near the famous Caverna del Oro, in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Also known as Spanish Cave, the cavern system is said to be home to a fabulous ledge of gold ore. In 1932, a man named Peter Moser found a skeleton chained to the wall in one of the lower levels of the cave. Located near Marble Mountain and Milwaukee Peak, the inscrutable Spanish Cave still excites the imagination.
In 1880, an article appeared in a Leadville newspaper recounting the adventures of two local prospectors named William Ramsey and Charles Ackerman. The men claimed to have discovered a profusion of skeletons in a remote valley in the mountains of Las Animas County. Along with the human remains they found some primitive Spanish tools, some mining equipment, and the crumbling foundations of an old adobe structure.
And then there's the bones found scattered in a meadow, high up on the slopes of Mount Wilson in the San Miguel Mountains, during the early 1880's. At first, the local miners and prospectors were unable to identify the remains or connect them to anyone known to be missing. But then, an older prospector remembered an event 10 years before that suddenly explained the bleached skeletons found on Mount Wilson.
During the early 1870's, two veteran prospectors discovered a deposit of "rich ore" somewhere along the slopes of Mount Wilson. They worked the vein for one season, then made their way out of the mountains loaded down with ore. The two prospectors spent the winter reveling in their new-found wealth. The following spring, the prospectors packed up their gear and headed back to the San Miguel Mountains. It was the last time anyone saw them alive. It would be 10 years before their remains would be found scattered along the slopes of Mount Wilson. Their rich mine remains hidden to this day.
Sometimes the bones are able to talk to us. The discovery of five skeletons in the mountains near Lake City in 1875 led to the arrest of Alfred Packer, Colorado's most famous cannibal. Discovered near the west foot of Slumgullion Pass, the skeletal remains of Israel Swan, Shannon Wilson Bell, Frank Miller, George "California" Noon, and James Humphreys all showed signs of violence. One had been shot while the rest had had their skulls bashed in.
In the 1930's, human bones were found in Starvation Gulch, between Ute Ridge and Indian Ridge, in the heart of the San Juans. The bones turned out to be the remains of two members of Fremont's disastrous fourth expedition of 1848.
Sometimes the bones are more enigmatic and mysterious. They give us only hints and inklings of information. When the bones are associated with a lost mine or hidden treasure, they can awaken the gold-lust in anyone. In 1869, Captain Elisha P. Horn discovered the skeletal remains of a man in Spanish armor near the famous Caverna del Oro, in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Also known as Spanish Cave, the cavern system is said to be home to a fabulous ledge of gold ore. In 1932, a man named Peter Moser found a skeleton chained to the wall in one of the lower levels of the cave. Located near Marble Mountain and Milwaukee Peak, the inscrutable Spanish Cave still excites the imagination.
In 1880, an article appeared in a Leadville newspaper recounting the adventures of two local prospectors named William Ramsey and Charles Ackerman. The men claimed to have discovered a profusion of skeletons in a remote valley in the mountains of Las Animas County. Along with the human remains they found some primitive Spanish tools, some mining equipment, and the crumbling foundations of an old adobe structure.
And then there's the bones found scattered in a meadow, high up on the slopes of Mount Wilson in the San Miguel Mountains, during the early 1880's. At first, the local miners and prospectors were unable to identify the remains or connect them to anyone known to be missing. But then, an older prospector remembered an event 10 years before that suddenly explained the bleached skeletons found on Mount Wilson.
During the early 1870's, two veteran prospectors discovered a deposit of "rich ore" somewhere along the slopes of Mount Wilson. They worked the vein for one season, then made their way out of the mountains loaded down with ore. The two prospectors spent the winter reveling in their new-found wealth. The following spring, the prospectors packed up their gear and headed back to the San Miguel Mountains. It was the last time anyone saw them alive. It would be 10 years before their remains would be found scattered along the slopes of Mount Wilson. Their rich mine remains hidden to this day.
