Volume 5: Telluride/ Ouray/ Ophir
These mountain towns are gems in Southwest Colorado. Telluride and tiny Ophir are in San Miguel County, and Ouray, not far away if unimproved roads aren’t a barrier, is located in Ouray County. Telluride is the most populous (about two thousand residents) and best known of the three, home to a famous ski resort, many well-known music festivals, and exclusive luxury homes. Telluride’s colorful history as a hard-rock mining town where gold, silver, and tellurium were extracted beginning in 1878 changed dramatically in the 1970s when the Telluride Ski Resort opened. Telluride’s elevation is 8,750 feet above sea level, a bit higher than Ouray’s 7,792. (source) Fewer than 1,000 people call Ouray home, but each year many thousands of tourists visit the charming village, nicknamed the “Switzerland of America.” Like most mountain towns in the region, Ouray was founded on mining (gold, in this case), made accessible by the railroad, and popular with visitors. (source) Ophir, Colorado, is the highest in elevation of these three towns at 9,695 feet. Gold was discovered in 1875, and the town was founded in 1881, but the mines decreased until there was only one resident in 1970! Telluride’s popularity in recent has allowed a few hundred residents to call Ophir home. (source)
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- Marshall Pass and Mount Ouray, Colorado
- View of Marshall Pass and Mount Ouray.
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- Marshall Pass and Mt. Ouray, Colo.
- Marshall Pass and Mt. Ouray, Colorado.
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- Marshall Pass and Mt. Ouray, Colo. (Horizontal)
- View of a snow covered mountain peak overlooking a green valley also a road beneath the peak photo appears to be hand colored over a b/w photo
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- Marshall Pass and Mt. Ouray, Colo. (vertical)
- View of a snow covered mountain peak overlooking a green valley also a road beneath the peak a lone pine tree is in the foreground photo appears to be hand colored over a b/w photo
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- Marshall Pass and Mt. Ouray, an extinct volcano, altitude 14,043 feet.
- Marshall Pass and Mt. Ouray, an extinct volcano. Elevation 14,043 feet.
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- Matterhorn, Colorado Saloon
- The text reads, "Near Telluride, between Ophir and Rico, was Matterhorn, a minute community at the base of Yellow Mountain. Here is the old saloon."
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- Mill Telluride Mines Inc., Telluride. Colo.
- Mill Telluride Mines Inc. (Telluride, Colo.)
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- Mill and Tunnel, Camp Bird, Ltd. (Ouray, Colo.)
- View of mill in a valley below two mountain peaks small waterfalls behind the mill [writing on back] addressed to Mrs. Fabueystack Laudo, Ohio postmarked Ouray, Colorado. Sept. 17, 1923 one cent stamp photo appears to be colored over a b/w photo
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- Million Dollar Highway
- Million Dollar Highway. This route between Ouray and Durango traverses steep cliffs and rugged granite mountains cresting heights of nearly 11,000 feet. The town of Silverton and the Purgatory Ski Resort are located along this route.
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- Million Dollar Highway
- Million Dollar Highway, 12 miles south of Ouray, color postcard.
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- Million Dollar Highway (Colo.)
- Scene on the Million Dollar Highway (U.S. 550) as it traverses Uncompahgre Gorge between Silverton and Ouray in the San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado
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- Million Dollar Highway - Ouray - Silverton, Colo.
- Million Dollar Highway - Ouray - Silverton, Colorado.