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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: Box Canon (Ouray, Colo.); Box Canon, Ouray, Colorado.

: Box Canon (Ouray, Colo.); Hand colored photograph of the Box Canon near Ouray, Colorado.

: Box Canon Bridge, Ouray in background; Photograph of the Box Canon Bridge with Ouray in the background. Sepia tone.

: Box Canon and Bridge (Ouray, Colo.); Black and white photograph of Box Canon near Ouray, Colorado.

: Box Canon and bridge (Ouray Colo.); View inside canyon looking up at a bridge crossing above the canyon a walkway with railing visible against cliffs.

: Box Canon and bridge from below (Ouray, Colo.); View inside canyon with a walkway and railing visible a bridge above the canyon also written on the front side on the bottom "One of the Outstanding Scenic Wonders of the State photo appears to be hand colored over a b/w photo

: Box Canon and high bridge (Ouray Colo.); View inside canyon looking up at a bridge crossing above the canyon a walkway with railing visible against cliffs, there is writing on the front of the card, on the back addressed to Mrs. A. B. Johnson Creston Iowa postmark and one cent stamp

: Box Canon at Ouray, Colorado, on U.S. 550 (Million Dollar Highway); Box Canon at Ouray, Colorado on U.S. 550 (Million Dollar Highway). Photograph of the entrance to Box Canyon on the lower level. The bridge across the river is near the center at the top of the photograph.

: Box Canon looking southwest from High Bridge near Ouray, Colo.; Box Canon looking southwest from High Bridge near Ouray, Colorado.

: Box Canon, Red Rocks (Ouray Colo.); View from inside the canyon walkway with rail leads to a bridge a ladder rises in the background photo appears to be hand colored over a b/w photo

: Box Canyon; View of a tourist looking over the high metal railing of the pedestrian bridge in the Box Canyon near Ouray, Colorado. Not mailed.

: Box Canyon (Ouray Colo.); Photo of interior of canyon group of people are on the walkway on which is against cliffs a bridge hangs high above the canyon waterfall is visible on the bottom right side of photo

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