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History

Sagebrush rattles in the wind coming off the snow-capped mountain. The cold wind whips through the abandoned mine, whistling a melody of times gone by, a melody the old miner used to whistle when he was half a mile beneath the mountain’s crust, searching for fortune in the mud and the dark. Yes, there was in fact gold in them thar hills. If you look carefully, there still is. Legends lived here. Billy the Kid, Doc Holiday, the Unsinkable Molly Brown & Kit Carson. Fourteener Country was the Wild West and its song echoes in the hills today, if you stand still and listen to the wind. Discover the secret history of some of the most famous places in Colorado. Come recapture the Wild West and take memories home that will inspire tales to children for decades to come.

Gold in rock speciman

Gold and Silver!

Thar's gold in them thar hills! Ten years after the 49'ers started heading to California, gold was discovered in central Colorado, starting the Pike's Peak Gold Rush. The initial findings ...  Details

Fourteenernet Logo

History of Alma

Alma was born out of the fires of a smelter.  Local mines dug up high quality ore, but the best silver processing plants were in England.  By building mills and smelters in Park County, mini...  Details

Town Hall on Main St., Buena Vista, CO

History of Buena Vista

Buena Vista was originally named Mahonville after James and Martha Mahon who left many descendants, some of whom still live in the area. In 1879 the citizens voted to rename the town Buena Vista (Span...  Details

View of Mt. Princeton

History of Chaffee County

Chaffee County was carved out of Lake County in 1879 and named for Colorado’s first senator, Jerome Chaffee.  Granite was the original county seat.  In 1880, Buena Vista won an electio...  Details

Historic building in Como, Colorado

History of Como

Como was first a hamlet founded by prospectors seeking gold in the 1859 Colorado gold rush.  As ranchers homesteaded South Park, Como grew to include a post office, store, saloons and cemetery&nb...  Details

On highway 24 entering Granite, CO

History of Granite

Granite was predated by the Cache Creek mining camp, started in 1860.  The miners of Cache Creek built a flume system to bring more water for the hydraulic mining operations. The town sprawled on...  Details

Historic red school house in Leadville, CO

History of Lake County

Lake County was formed in the Colorado Territory in 1861.  It stretched west to the Utah boarder and encompassed nearly 1/8 of Colorado.  By 1879, a dozen separate counties were sliced out, ...  Details

Historic Church, Leadville, CO

History of Leadville

Leadville grew out of Oro City, a tent camp from the 1860s gold rush.  In five years, prospectors claimed over $4,000,000 of placer gold then moved on.  In the mid-1870s, assayers took a clo...  Details

View of Mt Princeton from Nathrop

History of Nathrop

Charles Nachtrieb I, was the founder of the town of Nathrop, Colorado. Early settlers could not pronounce the German name of Nachtrieb easily, so the name of the hamlet was Americanized to Nathrop. Th...  Details

Historic building in Ponch Springs, Colorado

History of Poncha Springs

Poncha Springs, originally Poncho Springs, is the small town just west of Salida, right on Highway 285.  South from town, the highway crosses from the Arkansas River drainage into the San Luis Va...  Details

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