Back in the day, before they put the highway in, the only way into Silverton was via the steam train through the Needle mountains - along the Animas river valley - full name Rio de Los Animas Perdidas "River of Lost Souls" - or the stagecoach road along the same route. Even today, there's only one road to Silverton - one car road that is. Hwy 550, the Million Dollar Highway comes in from the North over Red Mountain Pass from Ouray, and after passing through the west end of the Silverton valley, continues on over Molas and Coal Bank passes, past Purgatory ski area to Durango. There are 4X4 roads to the East. You can still ride the train today, it's the Durango-Silverton NGRR - perhaps the best known original steam line left on the continent. 45 miles one way - it's like stepping into a time machine. The line has been used for a number of western movies. The tracks would avalanche shut - and they still do today - and they would have to dig out 50 ft of hard packed avalanche snow to get the train through. Sometimes they even dug a tunnel for the train as it was easier than clearing the snow to the sky. The area has some of the best 4-wheeling trails on the continent. Years ago my teenage son & I spent a couple weeks camping, based on the old town plat of Eureka, and explored all the 4-by trails in the area. Including Black Bear pass into Telluride, the scariest barely passable steep off camber treacherous pass I've experienced with a standard Bronco II. Today you can take your 4X4 East out of Silverton along the old highway and rail grade to the gold mining ghost towns of Eureka and Animas Forks. Some fun old mining trails all around there, passable by any out-of-the-box 4-by. You don't need a rock crawler. One great road goes East all the way to Lake City - and joins Hwy 149 near the site of the famous Alferd Packer cannibalism incident. (BTW - Hwy 149 - along the headwaters of the Rio Grande - is one of the most beautiful in the Rocky Mountains. If I recall - I think they call it the Silver Elk Highway - not sure why.) The 4X4 road from Animas Forks, east over Cinnamon Pass, goes past the American Basin, a valley so full of wildflowers that in season the air smells sweet, and there's a riot of color everywhere. Beautiful country. I love visiting & vacationing there. Never mind the great hunting and trout fishing. The Flying Tomatoe's hidden valley with his private half pipe is hidden in these mountains near Silverton. It's remote - you need a helicopter or 4-by to reach it - and know where it is. I understand 4X4 access is private - Shawn didn't want the papparazzi spying on him. No I'm not saying where it is.
Here's a shot of Blaze's standard, August 2005, with engine no 482 of the DSNGRR 2 mi North of Durango returning from Silverton, headed South:
You can drink a toast to Alferd Packer at "Packer's" in Lake City. A fun saloon, full of black humor. In 1968 the students at U of C in Boulder named their new cafeteria grill the Alferd G. Packer Memorial Grill with the slogan "Have a friend for lunch!" Even today students can enjoy the meat-filled "El Canibal" underneath a giant wall map outlining his travels through Colorado. In 1982 the university dedicated a statue to Packer.
On Alferd Packer - from Wikipedia:
Packer was born as Alferd G. Packer in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania to James Packer and wife Esther Griner.[3] Packer served on the Union side in the American Civil War, enlisting in April 1862 in Company F, 16th U. S. Infantry Regiment. However, he was discharged for epilepsy the following December. He then enlisted in Company L, 8th Iowa Cavalry Regiment, but was discharged again for the same reason. He then decided to go west and try his luck at prospecting.
In November 1873, Packer was with a party of 21 who left Provo, Utah, bound for the Colorado gold country around Breckenridge. On January 21, 1874 he met with Chief Ouray, known as the White Man's Friend, near Montrose, Colorado. Chief Ouray recommended they postpone their expedition until spring, as they were likely to encounter dangerous winter weather in the mountains.
Ignoring Ouray's advice, Packer and five others left for Gunnison, Colorado on February 9. The other men were Shannon Wilson Bell, James Humphrey, Frank "Reddy" Miller, George "California" Noon and Israel Swan.
The party got hopelessly lost, ran out of provisions, and became snowbound in the Rocky Mountains. Packer allegedly went scouting and came back to discover Bell roasting human flesh. According to Packer, Bell rushed him with a hatchet. Packer shot and killed him. Packer insisted that Bell had gone mad and murdered the others.
On April 16, 1874, Packer arrived alone at Los Pinos Indian Agency near Gunnison. He spent some time in a Saguache, Colorado saloon, meeting several of his previous party. He initially claimed self-defense, but his story was not believed. During the trial, the presiding judge M.B. Gerry said:
“ Close your ears to the blandishments of hope. Listen not to its fluttering promises of life. But prepare to meet the spirits of thy murdered victims. Prepare for the dread certainty of death.[4] ”
Packer signed a confession on August 5, 1874. He was jailed in Saguache, but escaped soon after, vanishing for several years.
Memorial to Packer's victims, at the scene of the crime, southeast of Lake City, Colorado.
On March 11, 1883, Packer was discovered in Cheyenne, Wyoming living under the alias of "John Schwartze." On March 16, he signed another confession. On April 6, a trial began in Lake City, Colorado. On April 13, he was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to death. In October 1885, the sentence was reversed by the Colorado Supreme Court as being based on an ex post facto law. However, on June 8, 1886, Packer was sentenced to 40 years at another trial in Gunnison. At the time, this was the longest custodial sentence in U.S. history.[5]
On June 19, 1899, Packer's sentence was upheld by the Colorado Supreme Court. However, he was paroled on February 8, 1901 and went to work as a guard at the Denver Post. He died in Deer Creek, in Jefferson County, Colorado, reputedly of "Senility - trouble & worry" at the age of 65. Packer is widely rumored to have become a vegetarian before his death. He was buried in Littleton, Colorado. His grave is marked with a veteran's tombstone listing his original regiment.
