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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: Bear Creek Falls (near Ouray, Colo.); View of waterfall running down against cliffs a bridge is above the waterfall, a date is written on the front Aug. 22-09 [writing on back] addressed to Mrs. Gus Hesker with a postmark and a one cent stamp

: Bear Creek Falls (near Ouray, Colo.), height 227 ft.; Distant photo of a waterfall flowing into a small pool at the base of the falls. A walkway with a railing is situated above the waterfall

: Bear Creek Falls (near Ouray, Colo.), height 227 ft.; View of waterfall coming through the cliffs cement structure above the falls blue sky overhead bare tree in the lower right corner

: Bear Creek Falls 227 Ft. High - Million Dollar Highway, Colo.; Bear Creek Falls - 227 ft. high - on the Million Dollar Highway, Colorado.

: Bear Creek Falls above Ouray, Colo.; Bear Creek Falls above Ouray, Colorado.

: Bear Creek Falls on Million Dollar Highway (near Ouray, Colo.); Black and white photograph of Bear Creek Falls on the Million Dollar Highway, In Ouray, Colorado

: Bear Creek Falls on Million Dollar Highway (near Ouray, Colo.); Black and white photograph of the Bear Creek Falls on the Million Dollar Highway, in Ouray, Colorado.

: Bear Creek Falls on Million Dollar Highway, Colo. Height 227 ft.; Bear Creek Falls on Million Dollar Highway, Colorado. Height 227 feet.

: Bear Creek Falls on the Million Dollar Highway; Bear Creek Falls on the Million Dollar Highway. A major attraction between Silverton and Ouray in the San Juan Mountains.

: Bear Creek Falls, 227 ft. (Ouray, Colo.); Bear Creek Falls 227 feet; a real photo black and white postcard, produced during the White Border era.

: Bear Creek Falls, Chief Ouray Highway; Sepia toned photograph of Bear Creek Falls, on the Chief Ouray Highway.

: Bear Creek Falls, Ouray Toll Road, Colorado; View of waterfall running down in the middle of cliffs appears to be hand colored over a b/w photo.

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