The Eagle River Valley

By Shirley Welch and Eagle County Historical Society

Starting as a trickle in the Rocky Mountains, the Eagle River emerges in a glacial valley, cuts through a spectacular gorge near Red Cliff, and then creates the broad flood plain of the Eagle River Valley. At Dotsero, the river joins the mighty Colorado River. As long as humans have settled along the river, they have depended on it for their livelihood, trapping beaver for hats, mining gold and silver, collecting water for locomotive engines and channeling it for crops and ranching, harvesting ice for food preservation, and, most recently, converting water into snow with modern machines. Today the Eagle River Valley is the backbone of two of the greatest ski areas in the world, Vail and Beaver Creek. Sparkling through the ancient riverbed, the Eagle River continues its course to this day, flowing through the same valley that drew pioneers here in the 19th century.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Release date: Jun 23, 2008
• ISBN: 9781439620144

Shirley Welch

Author Shirley Welch has collaborated with the Eagle County Historical Society to select some of the most notable images from its extensive photographic archives. These photographs date back to the 1800s and provide a colorful picture of the pioneer mountain community. A longtime resident of the valley, Welch also writes fiction and living histories for Mountain Hospice patients.

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Welch.

INTRODUCTION

As far back as 8,000 years, archaic humans—called hunter-gatherers—roamed the Eagle River Valley, but their remains are scarce. When they disappeared, new people took their place. They were called Ute Indians, and in turn, they called the mountains and valleys paba-qa-ka-vi, the Shining Mountains, and they named one watercourse the Eagle River for the great birds that nested in stately evergreen trees lining the riverbanks. In 1540, the first Spaniard who traveled through Colorado was Don Francisco Vasquez de Coronado. Searching for Cibola, the fabled seven cities of gold, he did not find it, but rumors abound that his group first entered the Eagle River Valley and saw the Mount of the Holy Cross. When Coronado returned empty handed, Spanish exploration of the area ended for a while. It began again in 1579, but no mention was made of the Eagle River Valley.

During the 1830s, fur trapping and trading began in western Colorado. Trappers such as Thomas L. Peg-Leg Smith, Mark Head, and Jim Bridger worked the Eagle River. The mountain men tramped the area, trapping beaver for fashionable top hats, which were in great demand on the Eastern Seaboard. Those early mountain men ventured west from the Mississippi River, following the streams that the beavers worked. As the hunters decimated the beaver in the streams along the plains, they ventured farther and farther west, moving into the mountains to find more beaver. Once in the mountains, they discovered many streams clogged with beaver ponds, and they also found the Ute Indians, a friendly tribe and happy to trade with skins for goods they could not provide for themselves. The 1830s saw the era of rendezvous, a series of central collection where the trappers would meet to exchange furs and supplies. It came to an end with the advent of the trading post.

Western Colorado remained largely unexplored until John C. Fremont led an expedition from Independence, Missouri, to Bent’s Fort and hired Kit Carson as a guide. The men ventured along the Arkansas Valley, over the Continental Divide at Tennessee Pass, and followed the Eagle River to the Grand (Colorado) River. These early explorers passed what were to become Gilman, Minturn, Avon, Edwards, Eagle, and Gypsum. In 1846, the Mexican war began and put a stop to exploration in the western United States. When the war ended in 1848, exploration began again and some private explorers entered the area. Sir St. George Gore arrived from Ireland with a host of servants and lavish goods. The Gore Range and Gore Creek were named after him. In the 1860s and 1870s, prospectors worked the Eagle River looking for gold, but the prospects were dim. Starting in 1873, Ferdinand Vandiveer Hayden began his survey of Colorado and brought with him William Jackson, who captured on film the Mount of the Holy Cross, a majestic peak that overlooks the Eagle River Valley.

In the early 19th century, the Ute occupied western Colorado and eastern Utah. They were fierce, nomadic warriors who mastered the art of horsemanship. After attacking Mexican settlements in the San Luis Valley of Colorado, the Ute were subdued and a treaty signed. In 1868, they were placed on a large reservation in Colorado, but some strayed from the reservation. New silver and gold discoveries along tributaries of the Eagle River brought increased tensions with the

Ute Indians. In 1878, Nathan Meeker was appointed agent for the White River Agency. Because Meeker did not understand the concept of a nomadic tribe, he proposed that the Ute become farmers. The Ute rebelled at this idea. Thus began a clash of cultures. In 1879, Meeker and 10 men were massacred by Chief Ouray’s brother-in-law and others. This act gave people the excuse to demand the removal of the Native Americans from the Rocky Mountain area. The government was successful with this directive, and in 1881, the Ute left Colorado, taking up residence in Utah. With the Native Americans removed, the Eagle River Valley was open to all.

With the Native American threat gone, mining activity increased and hunters traveled farther along the Eagle River Valley, where they discovered ample game, fish, and ground so fertile that anything would grow. Those who chose not to work in the mines ventured into ranching and farming. Still the Eagle River Valley was a difficult area to reach, with only stock trails in place. In the winter, hand sleds were used and toll roads installed.

In 1882, the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad reached Red Cliff and the future of the valley changed forever. More people settled in the valley, and towns were built: Gilman, Minturn, Avon, Edwards, Wolcott, Eagle, Gypsum, and Dotsero. As always, the river carried the spark of life for each generation of fortune seekers, whether it was mining or the railroad or farming. The miners needed the water for their stamp mills. The railroad needed water to feed the steam engines. The farmers needed to irrigate their lettuce fields. The ranchers had to water their stock. Toward the beginning of World War II, Pando was chosen as the place to build Camp Hale, a facility for training troops in skiing and winter warfare. Seemingly overnight, a vacant valley at close to 10,000 feet in elevation became the home to more than 16,000 soldiers. The infamous 10th Mountain Division took part in the war in Italy. Several of those men in the 10th Mountain Division returned to Colorado after the war and founded Vail and Beaver Creek ski areas. Soon skiers replaced the lettuce fields and mines. Those early developers of the ski resorts were equally as adventuresome and resilient as the Eagle River Valley’s first explorers. Today Vail and Beaver Creek mountains are host to over 2.5 million skiers a year.

Water that starts as a trickle up on Tennessee Pass still flows down through the canyons and valleys, ensuring that life along the Eagle River Valley will continue into the future.

One

PANDO AND CAMP HALE

Emerging from the west side of the Continental Divide on Tennessee Pass, the Eagle River begins where the East Fork and South Fork meet in a glacial valley. When the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad arrived in