Editing Telluride, Colorado (section)

== History ==
===Mining days===
Gold was first discovered in Colorado near present-day Denver, setting off the [[Pike's Peak Gold Rush|Pike's Peak gold rush of 1858]]. The Smuggler gold vein above Telluride, and placer gold in the [[San Miguel River (Colorado)|San Miguel River]], were discovered in 1875.<ref name=Voynick>Voynick, S.M., 1992, Colorado Gold, Missoula: Mountain Press Publishing Company, {{ISBN|0878424555}}</ref>{{rp|51,54}}  John Fallon made the first claim in Marshal Basin above Telluride in 1875 and settlement followed. The town of [[Columbia, Colorado|Columbia]] was founded in 1878. The Telluride, Colorado, post office opened at Columbia on July 26, 1880, since the [[United States Post Office Department]] would not approve the name Columbia. Columbia (Telluride since 1887) has been the seat of [[San Miguel County, Colorado]], since the county was created on March 2, 1883. The Town of Columbia was incorporated on February 10, 1887, but the town changed its name to the Town of Telluride a few months later. The town was named after valuable [[ore]] compounds of the [[chemical element]] [[tellurium]], a [[metalloid]] element which forms natural [[telluride (chemistry)|tellurides]], the most notable of which are telluride ores of gold and silver. Although [[Gold chalcogenides|gold telluride]] minerals were never actually found in the mountains near Telluride, the area's [[Mining|mines]] were rich in [[zinc]], [[lead]], [[copper]], silver, and ores which contained gold in other forms.

Telluride began slowly because of its isolated location. In 1881, a [[toll road]] was opened by [[Otto Mears]], which allowed wagons to go where only pack [[mule]]s could go before. This increased the number of people in Telluride, but it was still expensive to get gold-rich ore out of the valley.

In June 1889, [[Butch Cassidy]], before becoming associated with his gang, the "[[Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch|Wild Bunch]]", robbed the San Miguel Valley Bank in Telluride. This was his first major recorded crime. He exited the bank with [[United States dollar|$]]24,580 (equal to ${{Inflation|US|24850|1889|fmt=c}} today) and later became famous as a bank robber.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.yahoo.com/old-text-wrinkles-did-butch-cassidy-survive-083206159.html|access-date=August 15, 2011|title=Old text, new wrinkles: Did Butch Cassidy survive?|agency=Associated Press|first=Mead|last=Gruver|date=August 15, 2011}}</ref>

In 1891, the [[Rio Grande Southern Railroad]], also begun by Mears, arrived in Telluride, eventually building a two-stall engine house, water facilities, a section house and a bunkhouse, sidings, and a depot. It continued further up the valley to end its Telluride branch at Pandora, serving the mines and the town until 1952. The cheaper and consistent transportation for passengers and freight allowed miners and goods to flow into the San Miguel town and ore to flow out to the mills and foundries elsewhere. This brought a brief but unprecedented boom to Telluride before the [[Panic of 1893]].<ref name=NGC_Telluride>{{cite web|last=Clark|first=Jerry|title=Telluride, Colorado – Mile Post 45.1 – Elev. 8,756ft|url=http://www.narrowgauge.org/ngc/html/excursion1/excursion1-telluride.html|work=The Narrow Gauge Circle|publisher=Mark L. Evans|access-date=May 19, 2013}}</ref>

Around the turn of the 20th century, there were serious [[trade union|labor disputes]] in the mines near Telluride. The [[Colorado National Guard]] was called out and there were deaths on both sides. [[trade union|Unions]] were formed as miners joined the [[Western Federation of Miners]] in 1896. 1899 brought big changes as union [[strike action]] led most mines to grant miners $3 a day for an 8-hour day's work plus a boarding pay of $1 a day (equal to ${{Inflation|US|1|1899}} today). At this time, workers were putting in 10- to 12-hour days and the mines ran 24 hours a day. [[Occupational safety and health|Work conditions]] were treacherous, with mines above {{cvt|12000|ft|-2}}, a lack of safety measures, and bitter weather in winter months. Even the [[boarding house]]s were precariously placed on the mountainsides.

Telluride's labor unrest occurred against the backdrop of a statewide struggle between miners and mine owners. [[Bulkeley Wells]] was one mine operator considerably hostile to the union. The Telluride Miners' Union was led by [[Vincent Saint John|Vincent St. John]]. The disappearance of mine guard [[William J. Barney]], which Wells declared a "murder", created much intrigue and national interest. The accusations, animosity, [[gun]]play, and expulsions that followed were part of an ongoing struggle throughout Colorado's mining communities which came to be called the [[Colorado Labor Wars]].

In 1891, Telluride's [[L. L. Nunn]] joined forces with [[George Westinghouse]] to build the [[Ames Hydroelectric Generating Plant]], an [[alternating current]] [[power station]], near Telluride. The plant supplied power to the [[2015 Gold King Mine waste water spill|Gold King Mine]] {{convert|3.5|mi}} away. This was the first successful demonstration of long-distance transmission of industrial-grade alternating current power and used two {{cvt|100|hp}} Westinghouse alternators, one working as a generator producing 3,000 volts, 133 Hertz, single-phase AC, and the other used as an AC motor.<ref name="books.google.com">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=31O4upzTHQwC&q=In+1891+Telluride+westinghouse+induction+motor&pg=PA39|title=The Foundations of Vacuum Coating Technology|first=D. M.|last=Mattox|date=January 15, 2013|publisher=Elsevier Science|isbn=9780080947051|access-date=March 26, 2018|via=Google Books}}</ref> This hydroelectric AC power plant predated the Westinghouse plant at [[Niagara Falls]] by four years.<ref name="books.google.com"/> Nunn and his brother Paul built power plants in Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Mexico, and the Ontario Power plant at Niagara Falls on the Canadian side. Nunn developed a keen interest in education as part of his electrical power companies, and in conjunction with Cornell University built the [[Telluride House]] at Cornell in 1909 to educate promising students in [[electrical engineering]]. Later, Nunn along with [[Charles Doolittle Walcott|Charles Walcott]], started the non-profit [[Telluride Association]]. Nunn founded [[Deep Springs College]] in 1917.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Our History |url=https://www.deepsprings.edu/history/ |access-date=November 14, 2023 |website=Deep Springs College |language=en-US}}</ref> 

Telluride's most famous historic mines are the Tomboy, Pandora, Smuggler-Union, Nellie, and Sheridan mines. Beginning in 1939, the hard-rock mining operations in the Red Mountain and Telluride mining districts began a lengthy [[Consolidation (business)|consolidation]] under the [[Idarado Mine|Idarado Mining Company]] (Idarado), now a division of [[Newmont|Newmont Mining]]. The consolidation ended in 1953 with Idarado's acquisition of the Telluride Mines. Idarado kept the underground workings and mill operations open at Telluride's Pandora hard-rock mine until 1978. When the mine officially closed, the [[snow]] which tormented Telluride's miners became the town's new source of income, in the form of [[skiing]] and tourism. The documentary video "the YX factor" chronicles the transition from mining to skiing and the influx of "[[hippie]]s" in the late 1960s and early 1970s in the words of local residents and commentators such as [[Peter Yarrow]] and [[Tom Hayden]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.7560/755239 |title=Tell Me a Story, Sing Me a Song |date=1983 |publisher=University of Texas Press |doi=10.7560/755239 |isbn=978-0-292-74801-9 |last1=Owens |first1=William A. }}</ref>

[[File:AERIAL VIEW OF TELLURIDE SHOWING NEWLY-CUT SKI TRAILS (IN RIGHT FOREGROUND - NARA - 543746.jpg|thumb|upright|Aerial view of newly cut Boomerang Road (May 1972).]]

===Skiing era===
Mining was Telluride's only industry until 1972 when the first [[Chairlift|ski lift]] was installed by [[Telluride Ski Resort]] founder [[Joseph T. Zoline]] and his Telluride Ski Corporation (Telco). Zoline bought the land for the future resort in 1969 and began to craft the slopes. Along with his mountain manager, Telluride native Bill "Sr." Mahoney, they slowly and thoughtfully put together a plan for the sustained development of Telluride and the region. As mining phased out and a new service industry phased in, the local population changed sharply. Mining families fled Telluride to settle in places like [[Moab, Utah]], where uranium mining offered hope of continued employment. Mining families were replaced by what locals referred to as "[[hippie]]s", young people with a 1960s worldview that often clashed with the values of Telluride's old-timers. These newcomers were characterized as idle "trust funders" drawn to the town for a casual lifestyle and outdoor excitements such as [[hang gliding]], [[Mountaineering|mountain climbing]], and [[kayaking]].

The new population opposed town growth and economic expansion, including growth due to tourism and skiing. At one point, a serious effort was made to ban cars from the city limits and force visitors to use horse-drawn carts. The 1970s had fluctuating snowfalls and economic recession, but the town's music and [[Telluride Film Festival|film festivals]] flourished. They exposed hundreds of thousands to the grandeur of the valley for the first time and created iconic associations with elite entertainers. Meanwhile, ski area founder Joe Zoline worked to develop one of the best mountains in North America for expert skiers,{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} and created the infrastructure for tourism that respected Telluride's need to stay small.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}

As the final ore carts were rolling out of the Pandora mine, tourists began to discover Telluride's views, skiing, and autumn color changes. After the brutal snow drought of 1976 nearly wiped out the embryonic ski and lodging industry, the town started to rebound economically. In 1978, Ron Allred and his partner Jim Wells bought a stake in the ski area to form the Telluride Company. They expanded the infrastructure by adding a gondola connecting Telluride with the Mountain Village.

During the 1980s, Telluride developed a reputation as "Colorado's best-kept secret", which paradoxically made it one of the better-known resort communities. Wealthy skiers flocked to the mountain all winter, and sightseers kept hotel rooms full all summer. Telluride also became notorious in the drug counterculture as a drop point for Mexican smugglers and a favorite place for wealthy importers to enjoy downtime. The town was even featured in the hit song by [[Glenn Frey]] from ''[[Miami Vice]]'', "Smugglers Blues". Telluride was living up to its Wild West history. This type of attention helped differentiate it from [[Aspen, Colorado|Aspen]]. The festivals and Telluride's bad-boy image attracted celebrities like [[Tom Cruise]], [[Oprah Winfrey]], and [[Oliver Stone]]. By the mid-1990s, Telluride had shed both its mining personality and drug image to establish itself as a premier resort town balancing modern culture with fascinating western history. In 2003, Prospect Bowl, an extension to the ski area opened, providing the resort with many new trails and runs. Most lifts in the area are high-speed quad chairs capable of holding four passengers. The highest lift on the mountain reaches {{convert|12570|ft}}.