Telluride

History

Gold was first discovered in Colorado near present-day Denver, setting off the Pike's Peak gold rush of 1858. The Smuggler gold vein above Telluride, and placer gold in the San Miguel River, were discovered in 1875. John Fallon made the first claim in Marshal Basin above Telluride in 1875 and settlement followed. The town of Columbia was founded in 1878. The Telluride, Colorado, post office opened at Columbia on July 26, 1880, since the United States Post Office Department would not approve the name Columbia. Columbia (Telluride since 1887) has been the seat of San Miguel County, Colorado, since the county was created on March 2, 1883. The Town of Columbia was incorporated on February 10, 1887, but the town changed its name to the Town of Telluride a few months later. The town was named after valuable ore compounds of the chemical element tellurium, a metalloid element which forms natural tellurides, the most notable of which are telluride ores of gold and silver. Although gold telluride minerals were never actually found in the mountains near Telluride, the area's mines were rich in zinc, lead, copper, silver, and ores which contained gold in other forms. Telluride began slowly because of its isolated location. In 1881, a toll road was opened by Otto Mears, which allowed wagons to go where only pack mules could go before. This increased the number of people in Telluride, but it was still expensive to get gold-rich ore out of the valley. In June 1889, Butch Cassidy, before becoming associated with his gang, the "Wild Bunch", robbed the San Miguel Valley Bank in Telluride. This was his first major recorded crime. He exited the bank with $24,580 (equal to $ today) and later became famous as a bank robber. In 1891, the Rio Grande Southern Railroad, also begun by…

Geography

Telluride has an elevation of in an isolated spot in Southwest Colorado. From the west, Colorado Route 145 is the most common way into Telluride; two other passes enter the town, Imogene Pass and Black Bear Pass. On the eastern side of town, there are two waterfalls: Ingram Falls, which is visible from town, and Bridal Veil Falls and the Bridal Veil Hydroelectric plant, which are just out of sight from town to the right of Ingram. The power plant house was leased for some time by Eric Jacobson, who restored the house and the generator inside. The hydroelectric plant was built in 1895 to power the Smuggler-Union Mine. The town is served by air transportation via Telluride Regional Airport (TEX), once the highest elevation commercial airport in the United States at . The airport is considered challenging by pilots because of frequent adverse weather conditions, high elevation, and the extremely rugged mountain terrain surrounding the airport on nearly all sides. Major airline service is provided seasonally into Montrose (MTJ), approximately north by road. Telluride has a humid continental climate (Dfb). The coldest month is January, averaging , and the hottest July, which averages . Precipitation peaks as snow in winter and as thunderstorms in summer with a dry period in late spring. Telluride gets moderate precipitation all year due to its altitude, averaging of water equivalent precipitation, including inches of snow, each year.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Mountain Chickadee

  Poecile gambeli (Ridgway, 1886) · Aves
  2,219
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  2,210
• Black-billed Magpie

  Pica hudsonia (Sabine, 1823) · Aves
  2,073
• Pine Siskin

  Spinus pinus (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  2,068
• Steller's Jay

  Cyanocitta stelleri (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  1,989
• Broad-tailed Hummingbird

  Selasphorus platycercus (Swainson, 1827) · Aves
  1,970
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  1,831
• Dark-eyed Junco

  Junco hyemalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,381