Stage coaches in the old west...here's a great link where I found most of the following photos.
Last week I shared this photo of a stage coach in Ouray CO in 1890, in front of the Beaumont Hotel. It's rather civilized looking isn't it?
Beaumont hotel and spa in more recent shot!
Here a toll was collected at Bear Creek Falls, on the way to Silverton from Ouray CO. Silverton was the site of silver mines and a gold rush in the late 1800s.
The highway in 2019 still follows the creek's canyons.
The Old Circle Route Stage in Ouray CO, 1923.
The road in the 1890s.
Hudley Stage line to Cripple Creek. Even when trains could move passengers about through the mountains, some places needed the stage coaches still. Cripple Creek was a gold rush town.
I'll share more stage coach photos and more about Cripple Creek next Saturday!
Hello,
ReplyDeleteLove the views of the mountains! The Beaumont looks like a beautiful hotel. The last sepia photo is my favorite.
Take care, enjoy your day and weekend!
Thanks Eileen. It sure does look classic!
Delete...it's great to see that the Beaumont hotel and spa looks much the same today!
ReplyDeleteI probably saw it when I was there 2 years ago.
DeleteGreat old photos. The wooden bridge looks a little scary to cross.
ReplyDeleteI hope those in the stagecoach didn't see the way the bridge was built!
DeleteWonderful old pictures--and not really so long ago.
ReplyDeleteYes, they were pulling coaches until quite recently.
DeleteThey were still long rides!
ReplyDeleteAnd not at all comfortable!
DeleteColorado has many delightful old mountain towns. Back in California, in the Northern Sierra range, my Great great grandparents ran a stage station (Cole's Station). Diary accounts depict a very hard life, with many trips away to Sacramento to get supplies. I love these photos you show, thank you.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing about your gg grandparents lives. It definitely was a hard life. But I have some grandparents times maybe 4 greats who left their families to join the gold rush to California.
DeleteYour mention of Cripple Creek stirred a memory of this song by Buffy Sainte Marie. Mind you, it took awhile. At first I thought it may have been Bobbie Gentry. Not the same Cripple Creek as yours, of course. https://youtu.be/NvyzbZttFBE
ReplyDeleteWOW, that was a great song which I'd never heard, and then the playing of a mouth harp while singing was amazing. I loved Buffy Sainte Marie.
DeleteThese are terrific photos to select. For me the Colorado mountains evoke much more about the wild nature of the early west, rather than the barren California/Arizona desert settings used in Hollywood westerns. It's difficult to imagine the effort it took just to build roads like that log bridge into the mountain terrain.
ReplyDeleteAnd there weren't many engineers around to help these guys know how to use the proper amount of struts in the right places...so you would just hope that guy knew enough about weights and forces to keep it upright!!
DeleteI enjoyed seeing your vintage photographs of stagecoaches, though I doubt if I would ever want to sit on one of those precarious roof seats or drive over this treacherous looking mountainous routes. I hope this message gets through to you as sometimes my comments do not appear and get a message that your gmail address blocks my btinternet address. Here’s hoping!
ReplyDeleteA fun collection of pictures of old stage coaches, but oh my lord, some of those creeks and gullies and whatnot they had to cross on rather flimsy (by today's standards) setups. Yikes! :)
ReplyDeleteWow for that wooden bridge construction in one of the middle photos... :o
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