A 26 year-old man from Yuma, Michael Himes, collapsed while working at the Belvidere, and died Monday night, despite the best efforts of Search and Rescue EMT’s, Fight for Life helicopter crew and St. Anthony’s emergency medical personnel. It was learned later that he had a heart condition and had not been taking his medications.

Verna Esau is the latest addition to the courthouse staff. She is the assistant to the administrative assistant for the county commissioners.

Andrew Goodman of Golden reported that trespassers on his property in Lake Gulch took a 2 ½ ton dump truck from his property this week. Value of the truck: $700.

An officer of the law was called to the Gold Dust this week, on a report of people with no clothes on at the west end of the motel. The officer reported they were very “involved” when he found them behind their car. He advised them of possible places to stay after they told him they couldn’t find a room for the night.

Search and Rescue transported five people to Denver area hospitals from July 10^th to July 14th.

Over 230 people enjoyed the crab leg dinner served at St. James Methodist Church last Saturday night.

Denverite Janice Hall stars in “Lucia Di Lammermoor” the opera that promises the most electrifying mad scene in all of opera, the most famous sextet ever written for the stage and some of the most familiar and best-loved music ever sung.

While many parts of the country suffered from a heat wave, local residents donned jackets and rain gear to weather frequent thunder showers and cool temperatures.

The latest entertainment being enjoyed in Central is the carousel playing the old familiar tunes in the window of the Intrigue Gift shop on Lawrence Street. You know it’s a carousel, and not a merry-go-round, because it runs counter clockwise. Store operator, Pennie Riess says it is one of fifty carousels built by her father Norb Bartlett of Estes Park.

William Dansby, who sings Raimondo in “Lucia Di Lammermoor” at the Opera House this summer, leads the singing every Sunday at St. Mary’s Catholic Church.

Norm Blake has officially retired after more than 25 years with the Colorado Division of Mines. His party at Bernard’s Restaurant in Arvada drew 96 of his colleagues and friends.

Two trade names have been registered at the county courthouse so far this month. To M.L. James Paglione, “Clear Creek Acres.” To Victor Braecher, “Chateau Realty.”

Central City is requesting $375,000 of Block Grant funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for water system revitalization including repair and replacement of the water system in the Spring/Roworth Street and the High Street neighborhoods.

Daily Specials at Crook’s Palace in Black Hawk, Oldest Bar in Colorado, now serving food from noon on.

The Central City Association Guild’s annual walking tour of historic homes and buildings will include the McFarlane House, Thomas Billings House, Johnson House, Center House, Benoit House, various rooms in the Chain O’Mines hotel, the Lillian Gish apartment in the Penrose Complex, Belvidere Theater, Methodist Church and Gilpin County Historical Museum.

60 Years Ago – July 14, 1950

Over fifty horsemen on beautiful horses caused quite a comment as they rode up Eureka Street, stopping at the Teller House for a buffet lunch on Tuesday. They were members of the Rodeo Riders of the Rockies and on their way to St. Mary’s glacier where they intended to spend the night. Then they are on to Tolland, via Mammoth gulch, and then to the Van Fleet ranch where they will end their ride. Our own Honorable Mayor, John C. Jenkins, Jr. was among the riders, astride that memorable horse owned by Martin Nelson, who had won the race from Idaho Springs last week.

At the eleventh hour, President Truman signed the mine assessment bill giving holders of mining locations an additional three months to complete this year’s work.

The improvements and remodeling of the building adjacent to the old First National Bank building, have been completed by the local Post of the American Legion.

Mr. and Mrs. Buck Gregory are the proud parents of a new baby girl, born Monday afternoon in Denver and named Judy Marie.

Fred M. Bowden, a former resident of Central City, died Sunday at his home in Denver after a long illness.

Miss Caroline Bancroft, writer of western historical non-fiction will conduct a special tour of Central City for persons attending the 10^th annual Western Folklore conference in Denver.

Joe McCarthy, 63, has resigned as manager of the Boston Red Sox and retired from baseball because of his health.

Past Repast: Mustard Pickles – 20 medium cucumbers sliced, 1 quart tiny onions, 2 small heads cauliflower cut in pieces, 2 quarts green tomatoes cut in pieces, 6 green peppers, diced, 1 cup salt, 8 cups sugar, ¼ pound (1 ¼ cups) dry mustard, 1 cup flour, ½ ounce turmeric, 1 quart vinegar, 1 quart water-Place vegetables in separate containers and sprinkle the salt over them. Let stand overnight. Mix sugar, mustard, flour and turmeric; add vinegar and water and heat to boiling. Add vegetables and cook until they are tender and sauce has thickened. Seal in clean hot jars.

Mrs. Frances Adkinson, recent winner in a $10,000 radio contest, was here visiting her mother, Mrs. Emma Wiggins. Good luck seems to run in the family as Mrs. Wiggins recently won an automobile at a Denver theater.

How to take a dollar for a long ride – drive the new Ford V-8!

The cold war, which has caused one crisis after another in recent months, has flamed into a hot war on one front. Soviet sponsored armies of North Korea invaded South Korea using ground forces totaling as many as 40,000 men plus 90 tanks. Americans are being evacuated from Seoul by sea with U.S. air protection.

Alden Megrew, Director of the Department of Art at the University of Colorado will give this week’s free program of the Gilpin County Arts Association. His topic is Contemporary Art.

Good citizenship, like charity, begins at home, with the children growing up in homes to which the Register-Call goes each week. Everyone who reads the “Good Citizen” series will come to an even deeper realization of the unutterable value of his citizenship.

When the lights of the Opera House are dim and the shadows come over the ceiling, you may see a patch there at the spot where “Peg” Flynn fell through. One year he and a pal had sneaked up to that vantage point in the attic to watch a show and ended up moving the climax of that play ahead by 2 acts!

High speed crack railroad connections to the Chicago gateway, air lines from eastern cities and great driving conditions have made Colorado a top competitor for tourists, stealing them away, even from Florida.

A two day search for the season’s first lost fisherman, a man from Edgewater, in the rough country northwest of Ward, ended Thursday when the man made his way safely to a group of persons searching for him. He had become separated from his companions while fishing along Coney creek.

90 Years Ago – July 16, 1920

Of the initiated measures to appear on the ballot, the most important is for a constitutional amendment providing for the construction of the three railroad tunnels by the state. These tunnels are to pierce the Continental divide under James peak, to connect Denver with Northwestern Colorado via the Moffat road, and under Monarch and Cumbres passes, for the benefit of the San Juan section, reached by the Denver and Rio Grande.

Central City’s new physician, Dr. Struple and wife, arrived from Denver Monday morning and have rented the Ashbaugh house, back of the Teller House, where he will reside and have his office.

The census of 1920 shows the population of Central City at 552; Nevadaville, 51; Russell Gulch, 153; Black Hawk, 374; Rollinsville, 102; Apex, 49; and Tolland, 83. In 1900 there were 3,114 residents in Central; 1,200 in Black Hawk; and 823 in Nevadaville.

Even the lowly but useful angleworm has not escaped the high cost craze. Twenty-five cents per dozen is a modest price at some fishing resorts.

Central City’s marshal has notified owners of manure heaps to remove same.

Dorothy Gish in “Peppy Poll,” and a Ford weekly will be the picture program at the opera house on Saturday.

Central City’s council agreed and decided that the City of Black Hawk should be supplied with water until further notice at a rate of one dollar per day.

On Sunday afternoon the firemen of this city, called to Third High street by neighbors, broke in the back door of Mrs. John Segna’s residence, and soon had the flames under control. The cause of the fire remains a mystery as the home has been unoccupied since last month, but it was found the fire started between the kitchen and the bed-room, and burned out a large section of the floor and part of the partition between these rooms.

“Harding, Harmony and Prosperity,” is the watchword of the Republicans in the coming national election.

In Apex, the Evergreen Mines Co. are rebuilding the Wenger cottage on the Avenue, and when completed will be occupied by the Riggs family.

Gold coinage, which was stopped during the war, has been resumed and in the year 1920, 787,250 double eagles and 126,500 eagles were coined. Their total value was $16,990,000.

Don’t worry over the troubles of your neighbor. The modern way is to let him worry over yours.

Henry Peeck has signed a contract for the erection of a shaft building over the Clara Marie shaft, one of the claims in the Daisy group of mines. A gallows frame, 24 feet high, and a plant of machinery will soon be completed and installed.

Died: In Central City, July 13, Robert Davey, aged 62 years.

Monday evening a couple of men at the Lakeside resort between Golden and Denver, secured a bottle of home brew which was rather heavily surcharged with wood alcohol, the effects of which were undoubtedly much beyond their fondest hopes. A crowd of several thousand people gathered around for a glimpse of the pair as they frothed at the mouth, stood on their heads and climbed trees backward before attendants at the resort carried the pair out feet first to a waiting ambulance.

Colorado voters must give permission on the ballot to create Limon county out of portions of Lincoln and Elbert counties; and to create Flagler county out of portions of Lincoln and Kit Carson counties.

Life holds a barrel of Joy for you if you want it. But it expects you to pull the plug out of the bunghole.

120 Years Ago – July 18, 1890

Thank God there are only five states in which a schoolmaster can now legally flog a pupil. One of these is Massachusetts where teachers flog an average of two boys per day per capita.

The president has approved the designs for the new treasury notes provided for by the new silver bill. These notes will be in the denominations of $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, and $1,000. They will be printed in black on the face and green on the back with a new feature, the printing of their value in big black letters across the back, to dissuade raising or alteration of the notes.

AD: Ship your Ores and Tailings through Kellerup’s ore agency. Black Hawk’s office in P.O. Building.

It is seldom that the Register-Call makes a kick, but when the mining reporter of the Denver Republican copies mining items from the Register-Call and credits them to the Gilpin County Observer, it is high time for the manager at the Republican to purchase a pair of spectacles for Shannon, its reporter.

Five miners have been put to work continuing development of the Gold Dirt Mine in Independent District.

The stench arising from some of the waste pipes emptying onto Lawrence street is worst against property-holders residing in Denver, who draw their regular monthly rental from parties residing here. Those landlords are fully able to bear their proportionate expense in establishing a proper system of sewerage down that street to the main flumes in Gregory and Eureka gulches.

One party of tributers reported returns this week of $125 per ton for smelting ore of the Bates-Hunter property. That mine is running ten stamps continually on its own product and from five to ten stamps on tribute output.

Mr. Pressler who lives on North Clear Creek, opposite Nagle Hill on the ranch formerly owned by Mr. Clapp, informs us that a movement is on foot whereby a term of public school will be held in that district. A building has been secured, ample enough in its dimensions for the thirty children of school age who reside there.

Col. J.Q.A. Rollins has had a force of men at work in reopening that portion of the Rollinsville wagon road into Middle Park leading down Ranch Creek. Many of the large boulders washed in by heavy rains have been removed, as also the fallen timber. The road is now in splendid condition for travel for conveyances.

An extra train will leave Central on Saturday, carrying the St. James M.E. Sunday School children and others to the delightful mountain resort at Graymont. Round trip tickets at $1.50 each.

Silver has advanced to $1.06 ½ per ounce. Lead still remains firm at $4.42 ½ per 100 pounds. Copper is quoted at $16.50.

Hundreds of people in Minnesota perished on July 15 as cyclones tore through that state. Seventy-one bodies have been recovered at Lake City. The entire village of Vadnais, six miles north of St. Paul, is wrecked, not a building left standing, and eleven residents dead.

A few days ago there arrived in this city a woman who registered at one of the hotels as a married woman and two daughters. A man, claiming to be her husband, had arrived several days before. Securing rooms in one of the temples of illicit love, he moved the woman and girls there. One of the little girls, who has not yet reached the age of puberty, last evening, through the “father,” was to have met a man at this temple although she was most strenuous in her objections. Hearing of the affair, City Marshal Teague found the woman and girls quarters more congenial to a life of virtue and likely saved the little girl from being forced into a life of shame. The presumed husband skipped out sometime before dawn this morning.

A reporter of the Register-Call was shown rich specimens of float quartz from the vicinity of Pine creek, yesterday, picked up by wood-choppers. A piece weighing five ounces was pulverized in a mortar and panned. Six grains of free gold were extracted. Parties are now looking for the source.

The mosquitoes on the Jersey coast this year are reported so big that they have to get down on their knees to drink out of a tin cup. On a great many accounts Gilpin county is one of the most desirable and attractive points in the United States in summer.

Mr. C.F. Barker will erect a line of telephone poles from his place of business on Main street to his residence on Nevada street, said poles to be placed on Pine street so as not to obstruct that street nor infringe on the rights of property-holders, if city leaders permit him.

This forenoon the Gilpin Tramway train made a complete round trip of all of the principal mines along the line, the first round trip for some length of time.

Born: In Denver, July 10, 1890, to the wife of B. W. Sweet, a son.

Died: In Denver, July 11, 1890, Major Samuel Y. Smith, aged 60 years, a former resident of Black Hawk, Central City and Gilpin County.

Sunday evening Deputy Sheriff W.W. Williams took charge of a miner who lives in Packard gulch and is insane. It appears that he has a hallucination that someone is trying to murder him. He was found undressing himself for the purpose of jumping down a shaft near by. He is now at the county jail for safe-keeping until Sheriff Hopper can take him to the asylum in Pueblo.

Last week a local favorite canine pet, “Jip,” followed Mr. B.J. Smith as he was going over to the Williams Mine in Lake District. Reaching the summit of Bobtail mountain, Jip spied a chipmunk, which he pursued, and came to grief by stepping into a prospect hole about 20 feet in depth. Several hours afterward, surveyor E.E. Chase happened along, heard Jip barking, secured a ladder and released him. Jip returned to Central wagging his tail at being found and raised to the surface.

Company D, Fourth Battalion, Colorado National Guards, recently organized, held their first drill last evening at their headquarters at Armory hall. This company will soon receive their uniforms and muskets.

A Jefferson county farmer had a gang of tramps in his yard a few days ago who refused his order to “move on.” He showed remarkable presence of mind when he overturned a hive of bees. The suffering tramps disappeared.

There must be plenty of people in the lunatic asylum who were driven there because they were neighbors of those learning to play the piano.

ATV and dirt bike access discouraged

Located front and center among the five cemeteries above Central City, the smallest plot of sacred ground, the Red Men Cemetery, was recently the scene of special preservation efforts by a group of local volunteers. Coordinated by Ray Rears of Gilpin County’s Historic Preservation Advisory Commission (HAC), about thirty people turned out Saturday morning for a day-long “Cemetery Clean-Up.” The group was divided into several teams, delegated to general clean-up or fencing duties. The Red Men Cemetery received both.

In past years, the cemeteries were peaceful, visited mainly by families of the deceased. Occasionally, tourists wandered the paths between grave markers, gleaning the human history of our area through epitaphs and longevity calculations. Today’s use of the cemetery area is a contradiction, sometimes a conflict. With access to national forest lands just up the adjacent Columbine Campground Road, the area around (and sometimes in) the cemeteries fills every weekend, outside of wintertime, with dirt-bike and ATV riders. Parked pick-up trucks and trailers occupy the open areas outside the cemetery fences. The off-road off-load disburses fifty or more motorized bikes and four-wheelers, whose riders have turned paths circumventing the cemeteries into rutted lane-wide trails. With a “road bisecting it and no fence to protect it, the Red Men was fair game.

On Saturday morning, the clean-up crews watched as truck after truck, bearing trailers loaded with multiple ATV’s (one with a half dozen dirt bikes) arrived every hour – 23 trucks in all. With locals parked in the space by the Red Men Cemetery, the off-roaders vied for the remaining parking spaces and soon lined the roadsides. Ramps were lowered from the tailgates, vehicles wheeled to the ground; engines sputtered to a start and the riders took off, generally headed up the road, though a few made their rounds of the cemeteries. If not seen, they were heard. Clearly visible, however, was the trash and debris that’s been left behind.

In fluorescent vests of orange and yellow, the cleanup crews were easy to spot between tombstones and trees as they plucked beer cans, bottles and food wrappers, all too numerous to count, from the grounds of the five cemeteries. Rusted metal pieces discovered dumped in one area, when assembled, were found to be the remains of a large propane barbecue grill. That, plus an old real estate sign, pieces of pipe and strips of aluminum siding, were the largest pieces of debris. These were piled into or onto the clean-up crew’s truck and trailer. Big black garbage bags accumulated as the crews exchange their full bags for empty ones. While they moved through the International Order of Odd Fellows, Catholic, City of Central, Forresters, and Knights of Pythias Cemeteries, others were cleaning up and fencing the Red Men Cemetery.

There are 17 different families represented by the 26 known graves in the Red Men. This burial ground served the patriotic fraternal organization descended from the Sons of Liberty, organized in 1765, that worked clandestinely for the Colonies’ independence. They modeled their structure on the democratic governing body of the Iroquois Confederacy. In 1812, they changed their name to the Society of Red Men, later amending that to the Improved Order of Red Men which has been the official name since 1834. The oldest grave in the Red Men Cemetery is that of Thomas Liddecoat who died in 1884; the last burial at the Red Men occurred in 1913. There are now only two members of the Red Men’s Colorado order living. Neither of the elderly men are local residents and both have communicated with Rears that they would be willing to let another entity take on the cemetery’s ownership. (County Commissioners are considering.) They had gladly granted permission for the work done Saturday. In addition to trash pick-up and fencing, crews trimmed the vegetation growing up around the gravesites, revealing the sometimes deteriorated condition of the tombstones. The 1891 marker for 19 year-old “Jennie, Wife of Peter Sonne,” was found toppled from its base. The marks of the chain someone had wrapped around it, probably connected to a vehicle to pull it down, were clearly visible. At that point, if the vandals had intended to steal the marker, they likely discovered it was too heavy to manage. It took the strength and guiding hands of six men to reposition Jennie’s headstone to its rightful place and only after they had raised and leveled the base and applied epoxy to secure the cement base and two-part granite marker. On a nearby grave, only the base remains. Volunteers hope the four-strand fence they erected will help preserve the remaining stones and prevent further damage to the cemetery.

Seventeen different groups and individuals contributed materials, equipment and manpower to the Red Men preservation effort. That included the County and the municipalities of Central City and Black Hawk. They contributed equipment and labor to set the corner posts, as well as some of the food for the volunteers. Other donations of materials, food and cash came in from Hutchison Western, Prospectors Run, Air O Pure Portables, Broken Handle Mining Company, St. James Methodist Church, Central City Elks, Gilpin Historical Society, Lady Luck Casino, B&F Market, Clear Creek/Gilpin Abstract & Title Company, Wyoming Chili Company, the Newman family, Connie McLain, and Zane Laubhan. The volunteers brought shovels, trimmers, wire stretchers and other tools. Most of the metal fence posts were pounded in by hand until Joe and Cynthia Phillips showed up with their tractor and mechanized driver. For the most part, gloves, sunscreen, plenty of water and old-fashioned muscle were the order of the day.

The invasion of off-roaders that turn the cemetery area into a weekend parking lot and tail-gating party has been a topic at Central City Council and County Commissioner meetings several times. Jurisdiction of the area is unclear. The boundaries of City, County and Forest Service lands aren’t clear and an expensive survey will be needed to determine them. If the expense can be shared, perhaps a survey will be ordered. If that happens and jurisdiction is clarified, the entities can govern their own areas, perhaps limiting or even prohibiting motorized use. Currently, there is no overnight camping allowed in the area. The Sheriff’s Office had provided a deputy on Saturday, in case of confrontation from the off-road users. He also warned several of the riders they couldn’t be on county roads unless their vehicles were licensed for that purpose. The off-road vehicles are allowed to ride the trails on forest land, but volunteers suggested a different location could be created for their staging area or access limited to fewer vehicles. The local governments and residents would all like to see less traffic, noise, trash and impact at the cemeteries. The new fencing should now discourage, if not prevent, riding through the Red Men.

Free tours, rides, food, fun

In the archives of this newspaper the July 1, 1904 issue reports values of an ore shipment from the Hidee Mine in Lake Gulch district as 6 ounces gold, 9 ounces silver and 11% copper for a total valuation of $130 per ton. The mine had been in operation for eight years by then. The Hidee is still operating today. For the past 15 years it’s been under the ownership of Ed Lewandowski, President of the Hidee Gold Mining Company, producing gold now sold as nuggets or in vials for the tourist trade and collectors. Last Friday, Lewandowski and his crew hosted their sixth annual End-of-Spring Celebration, a community appreciation event with mine tours, surrey rides, music and food. “It’s all free,” Lewandowski repeated as he visited municipal and county meetings prior to the event, inviting all who were there to attend. Close to 300 people did just that, keeping Lewandowski’s crew busy from 4:00 to past 7:00 p.m.

Lewandowski’s sons, Ed and Gary, introduced folks to the Hidee (named for a dance hall girl, but misspelled) as they gathered at the portal. Inside, the temperature stays about 45 degrees Fahrenheit (year round) so jackets were advised. Many also donned hard hats, provided by the gold mining company.(The Hidee’s “back,” the ceiling, is generally high enough for easy walking, but the hard hats were greatly appreciated by those who encountered the occasional “brow,” a low spot that, even though warned of by the guides, still knocked a few unwary noggins.)

Inside the Hidee, tour guides Mark Greaves and John Northern led groups of 10-15 people through the tunnel, pointing out geologic features along the way, like the Dory Fault Line, and explaining mining processes. There were so many mines operating in Gilpin County at one time, that miners sometimes connected the different claims underground by tunneling from one seam to another. Just up hill from the Hidee, the remains of the Pittsburgh’s surface operations can still be seen. 135 feet underground, the workings are seen, inside the Hidee, as the Pittsburgh cross-cut. The tour culminates 700 feet in, where the Hidee claim intersects with the Fay. At that point, a vertical vein of gold traverses the wall and visitors are handed a single-jack (hammer) and drill (chisel) so they can chip out their own sample to take home. In addition to gold, ore from the Hidee may contain silver, gold-pyrite, pyrite, chalcopyrite, covalite and other trace minerals. Because the gold at the Hidee is pyritic, Lewandowski said not to disregard the “fool’s gold” there. It bears the real stuff, too. Hidee ore bears 3-7 ounces of gold, 6-12 ounces of silver and 10-16% copper per ton. The vein accessed on the tour is a particularly rich one, bearing up to 14 ounces gold per ton.

After touring the mine, visitors compared their ore samples, tracing thin yellow threads through golf-ball sized chunks of rock. Some tried their hand at panning in the Hidee Village sluice or took a surrey ride up to the Pittsburgh on the Clydesdale-powered Hidee Village Stage Line. A trio of musicians, known for the day as the “Hidee Miners,” played on the porch of Ma’s Eatery as folks strolled Main Street, watched the Legendary Ladies do-si-do or sat in the picnic area munching gourmet hotdogs, chips and cookies.

Those who missed this event don’t have to wait another year to see the Hidee. Individual and group tours have been offered since 1981 (720-548-0343 or www.HIDEEGOLDMINE.com). A generator powers electric lights and air circulation (supported by ventilation shafts) throughout the mine and the walking is easy. There’s never been a cave-in at the Hidee and the state inspects it for safety annually. The Hidee, located in an extremely rich gold-bearing region (locals dubbed it the “Richest Square Mile on Earth”) has been featured on television and the tour is recommended by the Colorado State Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety as a safe way to learn about 19^th century mining. Guides know their history, geology and mining and are enthusiastic information-sharers. Elevation for the Hidee Gold Mine is 8,600 feet. To reach it, take the Hidee Mine Road, located at mile marker 6.3 on the Central City Parkway.

Don’t bother getting out of bed on Saturday, June 19. The 36th annual Madame Lou Bunch Day and Brass Bed Race will host a few bed heads who will “hit the sack” and race, by bed, through the streets of Historic Central City.

- Music and Entertainment starts at 12 Noon

- Team Check-in at 1:15 p.m.

- Race Begins at 3 p.m.

-  Bed Race and Costume Winners announced at 5 pm

- “Money Off the Ceiling” party at the Gold Coin Saloon from 5-8 pm

- Madams and Miners Ball at 8 pm at the Central City Elk’s Lodge, 113 Main Street

Come up in your best “Dandy Dan,” “Madame” or “Sporting House Girl” costume, and you’ll be eligible to win $50 for your category.

Need a primer on the cast of characters? Grab your bowler hat, pocket watch and three-piece suit for dapper Dandy Dan. Don’t forget your feathers, peek-a-boo bustier and full skirt for the Sporting House Girl. And, let loose with the lace, satin and your best bustle for the Madame look.

Go to www.centralcity.com to find out more about registering your Brass Bed Race team.

The grindstone sitting in the corner of the Coeur d’Alene shaft house doesn’t look dangerous, but the pedal operated sandstone wheel, or one like it, could be the implement of explosive destruction in 1940. A miner, sharpening a shovel, must have thought he was far enough away from the box of blasting caps being trimmed by mine superintendent (and Central City mayor) Charles Richards. He wasn’t. A spark alighted amidst the caps and Charles Richards was no more.

The Couer d’Alene mine, Central City’s “sentinel on the hill,” is once more open for tours. The structure, owned by the Gilpin Historical Society, has been used for storage for years. Around five months ago, Ed Lewandowski and his crew from the Hidee mine, began clearing, cleaning, repairing, reinforcing and finally, arranging mining artifacts and equipment so that folks can see for themselves the size, layout and inner workings of the structure atop the mine shaft..

“Heavy” describes just about everything at the Couer d/Alene. Outside are numerous massive pieces of iron equipment. The building itself is constructed of strong thick beams and timbers. Inside – more heavy massive pieces of equipment. The Couer d’Alene was designed for efficiency with the engine room, smith’s shop, furnace room and shaft all under one roof. Originally there was a high collar around the shaft, which drops into the dark belly of Academy Hill a full 700 feet. The gallows style head frame towers above it, the reason for the high roof. Volunteers shinnied to its top to run the cable over the wheel for the bailing bucket now on display, hanging above the grated shaft. The guide stands on the grate, directing the beam of his flashlight past his toes where it illuminates 75 feet of “new” timbers descending the shaft. Below that, it’s bedrock. The Couer d’Alene’s shaft was a double-wide – one side was the bucket-way and the other, the ladder-way. Imagine climbing the wooden rungs up from the Couer d’Alene’s six levels (tunnels were at 200, 400, 450, 550,600 and 700 feet). Guides explain the rhythm of the mine, with the huge Fairbnaks (someone goofed the mold) coal-fired steam engine that converted water, pumped from the mine, to the steam that ran the hoist. That was the elevator that lowered and raised the bailing and ore buckets-three men to an ore bucket or 1,000 pounds of ore. Near the engine, guides Jon Northern and Tom Haus pointed out the depth guide. A man stationed there would watch it as the bucket traversed the shaft. When the bucket needed to stop or resume moving, he rang the bell, signaling the bucket’s movement. A wrong or missed signal could cause the death of a miner below. The bell signals were so important that the same signals were used in every mine.

There were hazards above ground, too. If the steam engine exploded, and that was always a real risk, the hoist operator, engine man, and likely everyone in the shaft house, would be killed.  In later years, as mine operations became larger, the engine works were located in a separate building. Explosives were always kept outside the shaft house. The Couer d’ Alene’s magazine was an iron-doored dug-out one hundred feet from the shaft house. Miners at the Couer d’Alene reaped gold, silver, copper and lead. A tunnel at the 600 level accessed a body of ore ten feet wide. Production averaged two ounces gold per ton. The mine stopped ore production the same year Charles Richards was killed, 1940. Ownership passed to the Central City Opera House Association and then to the Gilpin Historical Society. Gaming impact funds restored the roof, which had caved in during a 1986 snow storm, and preserved the shaft house for today’s visitor. The rust red structure is a prominent sight as visitors drive into Central City. From the Couer d’ Alene, the sight of Central City and Gregory Gulch spread out below is a picturesque panorama that’s worth a visit all by itself.

On Saturday, that view looked down on a courtyard full of folks at the old Central City High School, located on East First High Street. It now houses the Gilpin Historical Museum, and numerous displays about the mining and commerce of days gone by. This year, the museum’s director, Dave Forsyth has added a special exhibit to include some of that commerce not discussed in high society; drinking, gambling and prostitution. He calls the exhibit, “The Sins of Gilpin County.” Forsyth has also added new items and displays throughout the museum-for example, a dress shop has “opened” this year in the Main Street exhibit. 2010 marks the 40^th anniversary of the Gilpin Historical Society. They hosted a well-attended full-blown barbecue on the lawn and dropped the museum entrance fee to 40 cents. The “panning” exhibit just outside the front entrance was especially popular, indicated by the excited whoops from children discovering shiny “nuggets.” Chuck Roberts, dressed in period costume, including a long-gun, rounded up the tourists from the streets below. They were greeted by more members dressed in period costume and the aroma of hamburgers and hot dogs hot off Chris Rogers’ grill.

All five of the Society’s Central City venues are now open for the season. In addition to the museum and Couer d”Alene, visitors can tour the Teller House, Opera House and Thomas House.

Gilpin County Historical Society free BBQ

The community is invited to help the Gilpin County Historical Society celebrate its 40^th anniversary. On Saturday, May 29, the Society will host a free barbeque on the lawn of the Gilpin History Museum, 228 E. First High Street, from 11 am – 2 pm. On that day only, admission to the Museum will be only forty cents! Hamburgers, hot dogs, beverages and cake will be served, as long as they last. Century Casino is generously providing the celebratory cake – but we’ll skip the 40 candles.

The Special Exhibit at the Gilpin History Museum this summer is Drinking, Gambling and Prostitution in Central City, 1859 – 2000. The new logo of the Museum is “Not Just a Face” and features the famed dangling legs that once made the Glory Hole bar famous.

When the Society was officially incorporated in 1970 as a 501 c3 non-profit organization, the work was largely done by Lee John Droege. The impetus for the formation of an official organization was the status of the Central City Post Office records. These priceless records of the “Cradle of Colorado” were threatened by a national post office resolution demanding records previous to a certain year must either be destroyed or donated to a recognized non-profit organization.

May 29 is the opening day for all five museum tours in Central City. The Thomas House, on Eureka Street three houses past the courthouse, will also open at 11 a.m. on that Saturday, as will the Coeur d’Alene Mine, also from 11 am – 4 pm. Tours of the Teller House and Central City Opera House begin that day, with three tours scheduled each day; at 11 am, 1 pm, and 3 pm. All museum tours are closed on Mondays only, and the Coeur d’Alene tour is available only on Saturday and Sunday.

The society hosts several popular events in the county to bring visitors to this special area. The summer calendar is:

- June 12 – High Tea at the Stroehle House in Black Hawk. Call 303-582-5283 to reserve a place.

- July 31 – 2^nd annual Central City Film Festival in historic venues beginning at 11 am and ending with a VIP Reception on the lawn of the Thomas House.

- August 1 – a celebration at the Stroehle House to honor Colorado Day and the state’s first delegation to Washington D.C., all of whom came from Gilpin County.

- August 28 – the 22^nd annual Cemetery Crawl at 2 p.m. in the Masonic Cemetery in Central City.

- September 11 – High Tea at the Stroehle House in Black Hawk.

The tragic events of a missing American played out five years ago on the tiny Caribbean island of Aruba brought the island paradise to international attention. But few people anywhere – even here in Colorado – know of Aruba’s rich gold mining heritage, much less how a Colorado miner had a role to play in that saga.

Aruba is one of three small islands off the coast of Venezuela, along with Bonaire and Curacao, which were originally peopled by the Arawaks. The islanders were displaced by Spanish explorers around 1500, but the Dutch seized the colonies in 1636 after a long war with Spain.

Aruba slumbered for nearly 200 years, with Dutch settlers building homes and small cities (Orangestad is the capital) and raising sheep in the benign climate. But in 1824 a young boy, tending his father’s sheep near Rooi Fluit, found some gold nuggets! A gold rush was on, and immigration soared.

At first, the Dutch government allowed anyone to prospect for gold, but the finds had to be sold to the government at a fixed price. That method worked well until the discovery of deeper gold veins in 1854, just five years before John Gregory’s discovery of lode gold in Colorado. Two Dutch companies struggled to extract the gold for years, before the government granted a lease to an English company, Aruba Island Gold Mining Company, Ltd., in 1872.

The Arubans used similar methods, but very different construction techniques, to those being employed in Gilpin County about the same time. A grinding mill was built of the native rock, to be powered by the prevailing winds. The English company built the first pier and port in Aruba, and a road to transport machinery – including steam engines – to the mill at Bushiribana. Three rail lines were built to the mines, not unlike the Gilpin Tramway.

But the Aruba miners faced the same difficulties in processing the ore the Gilpin County miners did, though the scale was much smaller in Aruba. Between 1878 and 1880, for example, the company processed nearly 3,000 tons of ore, which resulted in just over 200 ounces of gold.

The Dutch and English imported experienced miners from around the world. One of them was Captain William M. Rule, a Cornishman who had been in Gilpin County since at least the mid-1860’s (when in his role as “underground foreman” of the Consolidated Gregory works he gave a tour to newspaperman Bayard Taylor). He wrote a series of letters describing his new surroundings to his hometown newspaper, the Central City Daily Register, which explained at the printing of the first letter, in May, 1871, that Rule was “conducting mining operations for a New York company…”

The letters say little about Rule’s work on the island, and in fact over the next five years make his sojourn sound like an extended holiday! A typical dispatch of 1873 must have made his readers in snowy Gilpin County jealous indeed:

On a bright April morning, when the mountains looked like vapory mist peeping above the horizon, and farther away in the background a faint light might be seen tingeing the clouds with rose and purple, with a few gray patches floating away westward, we stepped on board of a beautiful craft and were soon gliding away in search of recreation. The deep green of the Caribbean Sea scarcely ruffled by the wind and the long swells, whose caps caught the reflection of the colors above, were particularly beautiful.

Aruba looks really a charming little spot from the sea – the houses facing south are snowy white with red and black tiles, giving it the appearance of cleanliness and comfort…

Rule was clearly a member of the island’s upper class. His letters describe dinners and balls, with bands playing French quadrilles. Only occasionally does he let his work intrude on his reveries:

The arroyo has been turned over a hundred times since the year 1830, when worked by the Government, but the good old times are passed. Gulches will not continue to yield gold, forever, particularly when men can work for two cents per day. Every stone, shovelful of gravel and clay, that originally made up the gulch, has been turned over and washed at least fifty times, except perhaps, at the mouth and close to the sea, for a distance of about 8,000 feet, where many pits were dug through to the bedrock, but no gold having been found in them, were abandoned. It is truly wonderful to see for a distance of two miles, the amount of work done here. (It makes one think of the good old times in Colorado.) The gulch, and on each side of the mountain, has all been turned over. There are very few, indeed, of the arroyos but have been filled by the sound of voices, the crowbar and shovel, digging for gold, and few were sufficiently rich to pay for the amount of labor bestowed on them. I have so far digressed from our picnic party, that one would think we spent weeks, even months, searching for gold, instead of enjoying the good things in the lettered baskets.

The same letter recounts the legend of a Spaniard who came north from Venezuela in the initial gold excitement, and found in “Flute Arroyo” (probably Rooi Fluit where the young shepherd made the original strike) a gold nugget weighing 46 pounds!

But if there’s not much information on gold mining, the missives paint a wonderful and vivid portrait of a tropical world almost unimaginable to Rule’s Colorado readers. The lengthy letters must have been popular: the newspaper ran at least 16 of them, usually on the front page, directly below the paper’s masthead.

The letters continued through May of 1876, by which time Rule had apparently returned to Colorado; in fact, he directed a cantata, “The Haymakers” that April. Musical and athletic (he was the captain of the Gilpin County Cricketers), he was also a bit excitable: he was involved in a shooting at the Teller House in November (judgment in his favor) and in an assault on Alex Stephenson of Black Hawk in June, 1892 (Rule was fined $12.55). The last reference to him is of a visit to the Register-Call is in June 1894, where he is described as “an old experienced mining man, having lived for the last 25 years in Gilpin and Boulder counties.”

Aruban gold mining struggled along until World War I when it, like the Gilpin industry, ceased to function. The stone remnants of the mills and smelters still dot the northeastern coast, silent testament to an earlier era.

Today, both Gilpin County and Aruba are dependent on tourism, and both sport lavish casinos. Otherwise, the Rocky Mountain mining camps and sun-drenched island would seem to have little in common – except for a tale of long-ago gold mining, and an intrepid adventurer named William Rule.

A version of this article first appeared in the Colorado Gambler.

Arizona is trying hard to keep immigrants from Mexico out. They’ve passed laws, one sheriff has set up camps, and so on. It’s all getting a lot of national attention. The history of the west (west of the 100^th meridian that is) should warn Arizona that attempts to keep out immigrants have all failed. Consider the last big wave of immigration. From the point of view of Mexico or the Mormons in the 1840s and 50s, all of those immigrants moving from east of the Mississippi were illegals. The Mexicans and the Mormons all tried to stop the tide, but to no avail.

The Mormon empire called “Deseret” had initial success in keeping out the “gentiles.” Mexico had halted the U. S. immigrants at the Red River and the Arkansas River for a time. But, the Texans just kept coming into Mexican territory. It was only a matter of time until Texas would be lost. Once the gold rush hit there was no keeping the miners out of Colorado either. “Gentiles” (non-Mormons) kept filtering into Deseret too. We’ve had a mixing pot of peoples here in the west for at least a couple of centuries. That western mixing pot is as American as green chili. All the attempts at keeping the “others” out have failed. I’d be surprised if Arizona had any better luck stopping the immigrants than did Mexico or Mormon leader Brigham Young, who was for a time the unchallenged ruler of much of the west.

Mexico Tried Hard To Stop The Immigrant Tide

When the famously controversial General Wilkinson sent Zebulon Pike out our way in 1806, the U. S. had very little idea of what was here. President Thomas Jefferson knew he’d bought quite a bit of real estate from France in 1802, but not exactly where it was. He knew his Louisiana Purchase butted up against the traditional lands of the Spanish Crown. Most of all, Thomas Jefferson knew a lot about the restless nature of the Americans. Once word got out about the West, the immigration was bound to begin. Pike’s reports spurred that emigrant tide, and so did those of Lewis and Clark.

Jefferson was somewhat threatened by the prospect of western movement, perhaps not as much as the Mexicans were, but still worried. He knew that there was a plot afoot to develop a separate nation out here with Aaron Burr as king. President Jefferson had some idea that General Wilkinson was more than just the biggest of the U. S. Army generals. Jefferson surely knew that Wilkinson was in league with Aaron Burr and shared Burr’s idea of setting up an independent country in the west. Jefferson also must have known that Burr wanted to grab some of that Mexican land as part of his new empire. Mexican land was so temptingly sitting here just on the other side of the Arkansas River and in Texas, and who knew where else. But Jefferson had many big fish to fry. He did eventually get Burr tried for sedition, but trying to stop the western expansion was never front and center for him.

Zeb Pike, Lewis and Clark, and Other Travel Writers

Mexico was afraid that soon there would be hordes of Gringo illegal immigrants moving west. It was happening in Texas after all. In fact they sent out an armed force to stop Lewis and Clark from exploring. That little armed column of Mexicans never got anywhere near Lewis and Clark, but the attempt was made. What would have happened if those two famous travel writers hadn’t made their journey and popularized the West?

Harpers Magazine sold out when the accounts of the western explorers were first printed. Very soon after, settlers and adventurers were on their way west. Once Zebulon Pike reported on the gold finds in Bayou Salado (today’s South Park) the gold miners were bound to come here too. Of course all of this immigration took time and the immigrant story is complex. Nevertheless, the urge to move into the new land was not different for those settlers than for the Mexicans moving to Arizona today. Many people want a new chance in a new land. The sitting government can try to keep people from moving, but here in the west it hasn’t worked so far. Heck, governments haven’t even been able to keep people from marrying each other.

Colorado Miscegenation

Mexico lost half of its land to the U.S. under the great annexation called the Mexican War. But, Mexico did manage to bargain in the peace Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo for some rights and customs. One of those customs was inter-marriage across racial and cultural lines. Few Mexicans did not carry some “Indian blood” and vice versa. So, Mexico never had a miscegenation law. Miscegenation laws were in place in most U.S. States and “whites” marrying “blacks” or “other races” could be fined and their marriages annulled. Therein lies a story.

I once heard some senior lawyers discuss that odd fact in our court house. Since former Mexican territory included everything west of the Arkansas River, the Colorado miscegenation law didn’t apply to about four fifths of the state. Only once was the Colorado miscegenation law invoked. Shortly after World War II, a mixed race couple was kicked out of their Denver apartment and the landlord invoked the miscegenation law. They fought in court and the judge ruled that since they had been legally married in Pueblo, Colorado (former Mexican territory and on the Mexican side of the Arkansas River) the law did not apply. Fortunately that miscegenation law was repealed shortly thereafter in one of those general legal house cleanings we have from time to time. Not only has it been hard to hold off  immigration in the west, it has been hard to hold off people marrying “immigrants” too.

The Mormons Put Up A Tougher Fight

Once Brigham Young had set out his bold plan for the land of Deseret here in the west, he fought hard to keep control of the fiefdom. He colonized Las Vegas and southern Idaho right from the start. He saw the iron mines and the coal and the shipping possibilities from Los Angeles. He was an excellent planner with a big design for a new nation of the saints. Deseret was going to be a rich country, but absolutely only for the elect. While he allowed a few “gentiles” to live there, mostly he forbade immigration.

Those who defied his rule were dealt with much more directly than anything Arizona has tried yet. Although there are rumors that the “minutemen” who patrol the Arizona border have shot at Mexicans, so far such incidents must be rare. Not so in Deseret. Young simply sent out his “avenging angels” to kill those who wouldn’t swear allegiance. The “avenging angels” hunted down the “illegals” on the list mercilessly. I’ve been reading a biography of one of those “angels,” Port Rockwell. (“Orin Porter Rockwell, Man of God/Son of Thunder” by Harold Schindler) Rockwell, along with Effie Hanks and Dan Hickman, killed quite a few who defied the prophet. That system worked well for a time, and no one entered Deseret or tried to set up there without permission.

By 1857 or so, the tight rule of Brigham Young was all but over. Brigham Young was indicted for ordering murders and later for treason. He resigned as governor of Utah in 1858 with President Buchannan’s federal troops literally at the door. The Mormon kingdom of Deseret was opened for immigration from then on.

Will Western History Repeat Itself?

Will Arizona have success in kicking Mexicans out of the cactus state? Even a quick reading of western history shows that many a government has tried to keep out those people thought to be “outsiders.” It hasn’t worked so far in the west, but for all of us armchair historians, it will be fascinating to watch.

Members and guests of the Gilpin Historical Society met for their annual dinner meeting and fund raiser at Crook’s Palace Saturday night and there was scarcely an empty seat in the entire dining room. The Society is celebrating its 40^th birthday this year. For twenty of those years, Linda Jones was the Society’s president. This year she declined the job, turning over the position to Martie Fast. But Jones didn’t get off that easy. As the dessert dishes were being cleared away, Jones was called to the front of the room by Neal Standard, long time Society member and one of the Trustees. He presented Jones with a framed, finely lettered certificate acclaiming the many attributes Jones brought to the job and the Society’s gratitude for her service. By the time Standard finished reading through the lengthy proclamation, Jones was blushing, but smiling. “We changed the Volunteer of the Year award to the Volunteer of Twenty Years award,” Standard announced, “It was a pretty narrow field.” Jones was the only qualifier. In her honor, the Society proclaimed Jones “President Emeritus” and will plant a tree at the Thomas House in Central City in her name. Standard showed a photo of that property, now owned by the Society, showing the large tree that once stood in the front yard.

The Thomas House is just one of the Society’s properties. Now a museum, it is a time capsule of everyday life in the late 1800’s and is such a complete exhibit that historical societies from California and Canada have made the trip just to see it. Fast introduced David Forsythe who is the director for the Gilpin Historical Museum, housed in Central City’s old high school. He is preparing new exhibits, including a brothel presentation ala Madam Lou Bunch. A couple of years ago, the Society acquired the Stroehle family home on Chase Street in Black Hawk. It provides rental income and a place to have the Society’s “High Tea” programs. Society member Chuck Roberts is “the man of the hour,” Standard announced, for all of his work in repairs and maintenance at the Stroehle House. The museum and Thomas House will open for the season on May 29^th. The Society will also open the Coeur d’Alene Mine Shaft House for May 29^th. Thanks to Ed Lewandowski and Mark Greaves of the Hidee gold mine, the structure will be ready as a mining display for summer tourists. It has an additional draw of being perched in one of the best scenic overlook locations for Central City. Lewandowski told the Society the Hidee folks appreciated the opportunity to work on the Couer d’Alene and hope, now, to be able to spell it. In the works this year, is a new logo for the Society portraying the fanny and legs of the dance hall girl that once appeared to be falling through the ceiling of the Glory Hole, along with the slogan “Gilpin Historical Society-More Than Just A Face”- the Society’s play on the Face on the Barroom Floor. Standard provided a computer slide presentation showcasing the properties and logo.

After the recognitions and annual business were done, those attending enjoyed a presentation by Dick Kreck, author of “Smaldone: The Untold Story of an American Crime Family.” The Smaldones lived in North Denver and ran an illegal boot-legging business during Prohibition. They extended that business to Central City via a casino called the Monte Carlo. Their illegal activities in Gilpin were generally ignored by authorities. The Smaldones contributed to the community by helping fund the children’s school lunch program and the Central City water system. “They made and gave a lot of money,” said Kreck, but folks who got sideways to the Smaldones were apt to be blown up in car and house explosions.

The Society is fund raising to acquire items from the Russell (William C.) Collection and for repairs needed at the Thomas House and other properties. To that end they had set up a silent auction with some items and services unique to their event. A ride on the Black Hawk fire engine and dinner at the station with the firefighters was a popular item. There were tickets to the Central City Opera, Denver Film Festival, “Mama Hated Diesels” play, historical tours of downtown Denver, Central City and the Hidee Mine. Several of the Society’s artists had contributed painted trays and containers, collectible dolls, hand-tied fishing flies, jewelry, photographs and a pair of custom boots, made to order. Folks could bid on the serious (having an attorney do a will/living will) or the festive (having Ardetta bake and decorate a cake). Item values ranged from $10 to $500. Bidders happily acquired them for much less and the Society happily acquired needed funding.

In addition to the museums and tours, the Society plans to hold their Second Annual Gilpin County Film Festival at the end of July, a Colorado Day Celebration on August 1^st and they’ll continue their High Tea programs, Cemetery Crawl, Creepy Crawl October ghost tours and annual Halloween-time event, Ghouls of Gilpin County.

(A Head’s Up for those with a specific interest in mining history: The Clear Creek-Gilpin County Metal Mining Association’s 69^th Annual George A. Jackson “Sowbelly” Dinner will be May 15^th at the Idaho Springs Elks Club. Tickets available by mail at CCGCMMA, P.O. Box 403, Idaho Springs, CO 80452, at the Idaho Springs Visitor Center and at the door.)

I met up with three legendary ladies in Central City last week. Actually, make that “Legendary Ladies” with capital “L’s”- Barbara Thielemann, Robbie Zmuda and Katharine Linstrom, to name names. Shirley Voorhies is another local Legendary Lady I’d planned to see that day, but Destiny had other plans for her (called “work”). I’d seen these Ladies at various local events, dressed to the nines in Victorian or western style, but usually didn’t have time for more than a hello. This time, I was getting the skinny at Thielemann’s H Street home where the talk flowed easily between the lives of these modern-day women and the lives of the unconventional characters from the past that they portray. Zmuda and Linstrom are re-enactors, as are most of the 20 women that make up the Legendary Ladies organization. They bring to life the unconventional women of American history, some famous, some not, with enlightening performances imbued with originality and the personality traits of their characters, gleaned from hours, days and sometimes months of research. Thielemann, once the manager who handled the scheduling, advertising, cast calls, etc., is now an announcer and “Walk-About.”

The Legendary Ladies began in 1992 and existed for their first decade as the Shady Ladies of the Motherlode, sponsored by Central City to be local ambassadors. In 2002, they realized “Shady” Ladies had a different connotation than what they were after so they split off from that group to focus on promoting the history of women in the West. Their group is now an educational non-profit women’s performance organization. They perform 30 and 60 minute shows, suitable for all ages, and they’ll perform before small intimate groups or crowds of thousands. Currently there are about twenty shows per year, mainly on weekends. Some shows have themes like “Victorian Undies and Madams,” “Old West Saloon Girls” and “Flashy Flappers.” “Velvet Secrets” explains how and why women became prostitutes and the different “levels” of that occupation, from parlor house at the top, to crib at the bottom. Don’t expect to see costuming ala the “girls” of Lou Bunch Days, however. Even the lowest level prostitutes were more fully clothed than that, said Thielemann. Juxtaposed with “Working Women,” “Proper Victorian Ladies,” and now “Unconventional Women” (featuring characters from the early 20^th century), the shows share authenticity- the real history.

When the cast call goes out, the first portrayers who respond are those who will present their characters via monologues that run around five minutes. The audience may find themselves “meeting” a hellion (Belle Starr), a psychic (Helen Gilman), a gambler (“Poker” Alice Tubbs), a cowgirl (“Prairie” Rose Henderson), a trailblazer (Susan Shelby Magoffin), an entrepreneur (Mattie Silks,) a domestic (Mary York) or maybe a reporter, professor, pioneer, physician, businesswoman, entertainer, activist, prohibitionist-the list of characters is nearing three dozen. The Legendary Ladies group is always looking for more characters to portray-and more women to portray them.

What does it take to be a Legendary Lady? Well, there’s an age requirement-between 21 and 101. A love of history is essential. “Women’s history is our passion,” said Thielemann. Portrayers choose who they want to portray, researching their character’s history, family and personality as much as possible. Some portray several characters. Linstrom, who portrays Helga Estby, an immigrant of the late 1800’s who walked across America, said she looks for a personal connection with her characters. With Estby, that was a shared Scandinavian background. Zmuda portrays a domestic named Mary York and also Annie Oakley. The sharpshooter was a favorite of Zmuda’s as a child, and a well-known figure, said Zmuda, but she doubts people know about Oakley’s childhood. After they’ve researched their characters, the women write their own monologues so they can present that character in first-person format. Somewhere along the way, they also create their own costumes. “I never personally outgrew dress-up,” said Zmuda, smiling. Linstrom also enjoys the costuming and theatricality of being a Legendary Lady. She even adds a song when she portrays Augusta Tabor.

Today’s Legendary Ladies, like those in history, come from all walks of life. They live as far south as Salida and north to Longmont. They perform at events all along the Front Range at museums, libraries, senior centers, schools and colleges, for fairs and municipal events, society events, book signings, merchants’ fairs, women’s clubs, writers’ groups and conventions. They’ve appeared in parades and competitions, usually bringing home a trophy. They’re popular for Christmas and garden parties and other special occasions. Each performance begins with a get-acquainted presentation followed by introductions of the featured characters and entertaining segues between each performance. As a costumed “Walk-About,” Thielemann helps with the announcing and visits with people at events, answering questions and distributing literature. Some organizations engage the group to add an extra touch to fundraising events. Just having the costumed ladies at events adds color and interest. “We sold yellow roses one year,” said Thielemann, recalling a Central City Opera House Association event.

The re-enactors are not paid but do accept donations (tax deductible for the donator). All funding received goes to pay for literature and other operational expenses so the Legendary Ladies can keep doing what they love. They enjoy the camaraderie of the group, they said, but really do it because it’s fun and they love it. “We’re storytellers,” said Linstrom, and with so many stories to tell, it’s no wonder this once home-town little group has expanded beyond the borders of Central. Locals, however, still have close-to-home Legendary Ladies performing at close-to-home events. Watch for them in May and June at the Kingdom of Gilpin Ball, the Sowbelly Dinner, and the seasonal openings of the Gilpin History Museum and Gilpin County Art Gallery.  (www.legendaryladies.org)