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"We may not have gold, but we have silver by the ton!" exclaimed one early prospector...giving the town its name. Actually there was gold in the surrounding mountains, and nearly 1/2 of the future production would be in gold.
The Silverton Weekly Miner reported in 1897, "There is not a hill or a mountain in the whole but what is gridironed with fissure veins of gold, silver, copper, lead or iron".
By 1876 there was 350 people, 100 houses, 2 sawmills and 4 stores...and of course the usual assortment of saloons, gambling parlors and hotels in Silverton.
The infamous Blair Street had dozens of saloons and contained the red light district.
The Denver and Rio Grande Railroad arrived in 1882 to this almost inaccessible town. It would increase mining activity for the whole district and provide passenger service between Durango and Silverton.
At intervals during the winter and spring months rail traffic almost ceased due to snowslides that buried the tracks under tons of snow.
In February 1884 a severe snow storm blocked the railroad cutting off all supplies to Silverton for over 2 months.
An aerial tramway, a ski-tow device, brought ore and men from the mines to the lower elevation, providing a steady stream of customers and money during the winter months for Silverton.
In 1883 Wyatt Earp was hired to run the elegant Arlington saloon's gaming rooms. It's said that Bat Masterson was hired from Dodge City to police the town. Some say that this is not true, but that he was only in town visiting his friend Earp.
The silver crash of 1893 for Silverton was only a minor set back. The Silverton Standard newspaper reported in May 1896 that,
"Silverton has more new buildings in the course of erection than any other town in the San Juan. She has more gold and silver lying around in the sides of her mountains than the world could coin into money in 2 or 3 generations. There are no flies on Silverton".
The major mines in the area where the Silver Lake, Iowa, Gold King, Royal Tiger and Sunnyside.
The Silverton area would produce between 1882 - 1918 metals valued at more than 65 million dollars.
In October of 1918 the Spanish Flu hit Silverton. By mid-December 12% of the population had died. It had the highest per-capita death rate of any town in the nation.
During Prohibition in 1920 the only access to Silverton was by rail from Durango. When Federal agents left by train bound for Silverton someone would call and alert the bootleggers to hide the booze. The town became a mecca for bootlegging.
Silverton is the northern depot for tourist traveling the popular Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, as it way through Animas Canyon from Durango.
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