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A HISTORY OF AVALANCHE HAZARD IN

SAN JUAN AND OURAY COUNTIES, COLORADO

B.R. Armstrong

Introduction-In 1974, two adjoining counties in southwestern

~lorado, Ouray and San Juan, authorized (under ColoradoHouse Bill 1041) historical studies to compile and mapavalanche incidents involving life and property. This papers~arizes portions of these studies (Armstrong, 1976;~strong, 1977) which the interested reader may consult "forfurther details.

The method of study included a search through abouta century of winter issues (October through May) of weeklynewspapers from each county. Periodicals and books were alsoexamined. Residents and former residents, including miners,road maintenance personnel, and people generally familiarwi~ the area, were interviewed and extensive field checking "was carried out to ascertain the location of avalanche disastersites. Sites were mapped on U.S.G.S. 1:24,000 scale maps.~e following photographic collections were utilized: SanJuan County Historical Society, Denver Public Library WesternHistory Department, the Colorado State Historical Society,~d the collections of Jim Bell of Silverton and Ruth andMarvin Gregory of Ouray.

This study does not claim to have recorded allavalanche events, all people caught and property damaged,but only those incidents reported in the newspapers andobtained during interviews. Nearly continuous newspaperrecords start in San Juan County with the publication of the~ Plata Miner in 1875, and in Ouray County with the OurayTimes in 1877, and later the Solid Muldoon and Ouray Herald.Avalanche events were newsworthy and received considerableOOverage, as is shown in these headlines in the Solid Muldoonof 22 January, 1886:

DIRE DISASTERS!MOUNT SNEFFLES AND RED MOUNTAINTHE SCENES OF FEARFUL SNOW-SLIDESRuby Trust Mine, in the Former District,

Furnishes Four Victims,While the Genessee and Dutton add to the Horror

Five More.SITUATIONS AND INCIDENTS GRAPHICALLY DESCRIBED BY

MULDOON REPORTERS SENT TO THE VERY FRONT.

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Historical Overview of San Juan and Ouray Counties

Until prospectors and miners invaded the San JuanMountains in the 1860's, human activity was limited to summervisits by the Ute Indians (Fig. 1). In 1873, with the signingof the Brunot Treaty, the Utes ceded the San Juan Mountainsto the United States government for a cash paYment and miningand settlement officially began. .

By the mid-1880's, both counties were booming withan economy dependent primarily on the production of silver.In 1890, Ouray County reached its peak population with 6,510inhabitants (Cummins, 1951) and its peak in mineral productioaproducing $3,578,494 in gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc,the highest output from 1878 to 1924 (Henderson, 1926).San Juan County reached its peak population of 4,500 in 1900.1When the gold standard was adopted by the U.S. Government in1893, and the price of silver fell drastically, both miningareas, after an initial slump, poured their energy into theproduction of gold, with the Camp Bird Mine producingapproximately one-third to two-thirds of the total yearlymineral production in Ouray County from 1900 to 1916(Armstrong, 1977).

Both San Juan and Ouray counties' early developmentwas hampered by the same problems: lack of efficient trans­portation, and long winter seasons when many mines were unableto operate due to a lack of supplies. San Juan County respo~

to the problem with an extensive system of trails, roads,railroads, and aerial tramways. In July, 1882, the Denver andRio Grande Railroad reached Silverton from Durango and, thefollowing year, Otto Mears built a toll road from Silverton toOuray. By 1904, railroads from Silverton reached Animas Forks,Gladstone and Ironton. In 1910, 14 aerial tramways wereoperating in San Juan County, a total of 177,600 linear feet.With this increased activity, came an increase in avalanchehazard. Of the 14 tramways, eleven were damaged by avalanches~

Ouray County's transportation network consisted oftrails, roads, and at least six aerial tramways, two of whichwere damaged by avalanches. Two railroads entered the countybut neither traversed its entire distance. Railroad trafficwas frequently blocked by avalanche debris for periods of . ~a few hours to a maximum of three months. The Silverton Ra1l ,which ran from Silverton to Ironton, was blocked repeatedly.

lsee San Juan County in the 1890's published in 1969 by theSilverton Standard and San Juan County Book Co., Silverton,Colo. (no author listed).

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ve Day, editor of the Solid Muldoon in Ouray, called ther-ne the "Silverton-Red Mountain-Rainbow Slide and Drift~unk line" (Solid Muldoon, 6 March, 1891). Packers andteamsters were ~onstan~ly expo~ed to avalanche hazard, aswere miners, mall carrlers, rallroad and road workers,telephone and power company employees and anyone else~avelling during the winter months or working in hazardouslocations.

Figures 2 and 3 show the numbers of avalanche deathsby year for San Juan and Ouray County, respectively.population statistics and mineral production studies show acorrelation between population-mining activity and reporteddestructive avalanche events. The climatic influence wasnot a factor as no significant changes in climatic conditionswere observed during this period (Bradley and Barry, 1973).Bow each county responded to the avalanche hazard is discussednext.

sanJuan County

San Juan County is predominantly mountainous withelevations ranging from 2600 to nearly 4300 m on some of themountain summits (average elevation, 2900 m). The countyseat, Silverton, lies in a park surrounded by peaks, and theentire county can lay claim to having not one acre of tillablesoil. Travelling from Silverton to nearly any destinationrequires travelling through avalanche terrain. Silvertonresidents can observe numerous active avalanche paths, threeof which have runout zones wi thin the town limits. Perhapsthese factors influenced the population's awareness of theavalanche hazard. Newspaper editors in Silverton publishedwarnings:

"There has been a number of narrow escapesfrom snow slides already this winter. Nearlyevery day we hear of them, miners who arecompelled to travel in the mountains shouldbe very careful." (Silverton Standard,22 December, 1894.)

Some of the warnings included a basic knowledge of snowproperties:

"The bottom layer of snow is granulated andthe top layer is soft and heavy. This willcause slides. Even the most expert snowshoershould be wary of climbing the mountains untilthe slides have run." (Silverton Standard,16 January, 1897.)

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The county depended on the mines for its prosperityand anything that interfered with production, such as excessiVesnowfall and avalanches, was viewed negatively. Only enoughsnow to keep the streets snowpacked in winter was thoughtnecessary. "The snow this week came as a blessing. The mainstreet was bare and it was impossible to get a sleigh uptown." (Silverton Standard, 20 December, 1890.)

Statistics of people caught by avalanches from 1875to the present in San Juan County are listed in Table 1. Atotal of 98 persons were killed and an additional 159 werecaught but survived. Of the 98 deaths, 68 occurred whenpeople were in fixed locations, either inside a building orworking at or near a mine. During this period, over onehundred properties were reported damaged by avalanches,including 15 sites where death or burial from avalancheoccurred. The remaining 30 avalanche deaths occurred whenthe victims were travelling.

Breaking these numbers down by time shows that, fr~

1875 through 1938, the majority of avalanche accidents occurredwhen people were in fixed locations; while during the modernperiod, 1939 to the present, almost all of the accidentsoccurred on highways. This reflects the decrease in miningactivity, and the increasing concentration of the hazard alon~

the traffic routes, U.S. Highway 550 and Colorado Highway 110.

San Juan County newspaper editors made severalstatements with regard to avalanche hazard zoning. The firststatement appeared in the La Plata Miner of 15 March, 1884,after the Sampson Mine buildings were totally demolished (twomen caught, one fatality):

liThe mine was equipped with the most costlyand complete plant of machinery ever placedon property in San Juan, and the destructionof life and property thro' careless location,should be obviated hereafter by the employ­ment of men familiar with the country, andwhose experience should point the way toproper location." (La Plata Miner, 15 March,1884. )

The second mention was in the January 1887 issue of the SanJuan newspaper after a thirteen-year old building at theHighland Mary property was destroyed: .

"Again, buildings should not be put up wherethere is the least danger of slides, and webelieve that the Colorado Legislature shouldpass a law making it a penal offense for

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mining superintendents who have buildings putup in dangerous places or where there is apossibility of a slide sweeping them away.until such a law is passed, there will be lotsof chances taken in the erection of buildings. II(San Juan, 27 January, 1887.)

~e last and most explicit call for legislation appeared in theSilverton Standard of 7 April, 1906, after the most destructivestorm in county records. Thirty-six people were caught, 18killed and six injured, and 22 sites damaged by avalanches.~e editorial asked for a state law whereby mining countieswould appoint a commission to gather avalanche statistics sowat an official record of avalanche location and frequencycould be started. The commission would have additional powersas well:

IIWere a commission given plenary powers in thelocation of (mining and milling) plants, bothcapital and lives would be guarded by the wisdomof experience .... Upon such a commission shouldthe power be bestowed to decide whether sites forsuch buildings are safe or unsafe, and theirlicenses issued accordingly. II (Silverton Standard,7 April, 1906.)

Unfortunately, no legislation was enacted.

The written word was one response to the hazard;avalanche defense structures were another. Several aerialtramways were protected by wedges that were placed immediatelyupslope from the tram tower in order to divert the main forceof the avalanche to either side of the structure. The wedgeswere most often constructed of log cribbings filled withstone, but one example found was built entirely of stone. Thestructure was constructed in 1938 under the supervision of a~rolean stone mason and the tower it protects still standstoday.

Ouray County

Southern Ouray County, \'lhere the majority of theprincipal mines were located, is similar in geographicalfeatures to San Juan County:

IIWi th the exception of a small portion in thenorth end, the topography of the county isthat of rugged mountains, a number of whichreach an altitude of 13,000 to over 14,000feet above sea level. The various streamshead, generally, in large open basins, orglacial cirques, well up above timber line,

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and near the top of the culminating ridgesconnecting the most prominent mountain peaks.Below the basins, these streams occupy erodedvalleys or gulches, gradually deepening intosomewhat narrow canons, and finally unitingwith the Uncompahgre river, and making exitthrough the north county boundary line at analtitude of 6,500 feet ..•• " (Ouray Herald,20 March, 1903.)

The area north of the town of Ouray to the county line ispredominately grazing land with little mining development andlittle avalanche hazard. The town of Ouray is the northernentrance into the San Juan Mountains. It sits in an amphi­theatre at an elevation of 2530 m with surrounding mountainsrising 1,140 m higher. The citizens of Ouray County had mixedfeelings about winter precipitation. The agricultural portionof the county depended on a good winter snowpack for itssummer water supply, while the mining interests needed onlyenough snow for good sleighing to transport supplies and are:

"Hence, the farmer watches the winter'sstorm with joy, while the miner, fearingthe snowslide and the precipice, dreadsits approach." (Gibbons, 1972.)

Residents of Ouray can see avalanches on the steep slopessurrounding the town but no avalanche has been observed tocome into the town. Thus, only people directly involved inmining experienced the hazard. To the rest of the population rthe hazard was one they read about in the newspapers, heardstories about, but rarely experienced themselves.

To the workers and their families living andtravelling in the mining districts, the hazard was real andobvious. Of a total of 62 deaths from 1877 to the present,31 occurred when people were in fixed locations with thesame number of people killed by avalanches when travelling(Table 1). Of the 192 people caught in avalanches andsurviving, 69 were in fixed locations and 123 were travelling

Although newspaper articles in San Juan County wereconcerned with the placement of buildings in locations safefrom avalanches, no such specific mention was ever found inthe Ouray County newspapers, perhaps because Ouray Countyhad proportionately fewer incidents at fixed locations (33fixed sites in Ouray County compared to 100 fixed sites inSan Juan). On several occasions, when a building was damagedor destroyed in Ouray County, the newspaper editor reportedthe property owner's intention to rebuild immediately, andin the same location:

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"A slide came down Friday at the CommodoreFoote in the Horseshoe, destroying the orehouse. It will be replaced at once by thelessees." (Ouray Herald, 18 February, 1897.)

The u.s. slide, in l1arch 1906, released and destroyed~e Camp Bird ~ll and boarding house and a portion of theaerial tramway; ten men were caught, with one killed.Following this event, rather than relocate the mill, themine management ordered the construction of a dirt mound~ve the mill (Trujillo, 1976). Continuous growth ofconiferous trees followed the 1906 event and a mature foreststood, ~lhen, on January 9, 1974, the U.S. Slide released andwre out great quantities of trees. A number of mature treescontained in the moving avalanche were deposited on the up­slope side of the mound, indicating some reduction in theamount of debris reaching the run-out zone. The mill was~damaged, although the debris stopped only three feetupslope from the buildings and damaged the flume (Trujillo,1976) .

Although Ouray County never published any statementsproposing avalanche hazard zoning, several articles recognizedilie avalanche problem and proposed protection.

"It is during the latter part of February thatthe biggest avalanches usually run, carryingdeath and destruction to everything in theirpath. All should bear this in ~ind and notventure into hazardous portions of the mountainsuntil the danger period has passed." (OurayHerald, 30 January, 1972.)

~e editor of the Ouray Herald was correct in the abovestatement. Figure 4 shows Ouray County avalanche deaths byronth with February taking the highest toll. (For comparison,Fig. 5 shows the distribution of avalanche deaths by month forSan Juan County, with the highes t number in March.)

It appears from the newspapers that Ouray County'schief concern was with safe travel on the roads and trails.In November 1908, the Ouray Herald published an articleendorsing the use of what is now known as an avalanche cord:

'" Snm'1slide ribbons' are long, narrow colouredribbons used by the Alpine climbers wheneverthere is any danger of snowslides. Thoughthe climber may be covered up by an avalancheof snow, part of the ribbons will shmv on thesurface of L~e snow indicating where the victimmay be dug for. It has been suggested that

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miners of the San Juan might adopt this simplesafeguard against the loss of life in travellingover the hills to and from the mines in winter."(Ouray Herald, 13 November, 1908.)

The following winter, the same newspaper reported that aHr. Halker had introduced House Bill 500 to the State GeneralAssembly. The bill was:

1I ••• for the purpose of improving and protectingfrom snowslides a state wagon road, from apoint above seven miles south of Ouray, nearwhat is known as the Riverside, on theUncompahgre River and running south from therealong the river. The bill carries a $10,000appropriation clause. II (Ouray Herald, 26 Harch,1909.)

Unfortunately for travellers on U.S. Highway 550, and the fopersons who have been killed underneath the Riverside Slidesince 1909, this unspecified protection· structure, mostprobably a tunnel, was never built.

In 1909, the Ouray Herald published a report entitIIShooting of Snow Slides ll

• The article described a plan toII ..• arrange a series of bombs connected with wires so thatthey might be set off after a heavy fall of snow and made torun when there was no danger to human life ll (Ouray Herald,26 February, 1909). Another avalanche control plan wassuggested:

II the shooting of shells from a canon intothe combs which overhang the precipices at thetop of the run where the slides come down. Forinstance, the U.S. slide near the Camp Bird isprecipitated by the breaking of the heavy combof snow formed at the top of the range. Toshoot into this with an explosive shell from acannon would break off this comb and start theslide, as it is the theory that the breaking ofthis comb is what starts it any way. II (OurayHerald, 26 February, 1909.)

Present Trends in San Juan and Ouray Counties

By the 1920's, both San Juan and Ouray Countiessuffered a demise in mining activity and population andconcurrently a reduction in avalanche hazard. The hazardbecame concentrated along the main traffic routes and theremaining active mines. In San Juan County, from 1939 tothe present, only one avalanche death has been reported.During the New Year's storm in 1952, the watchman and sole

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upant at the Highland !.fary Mill in Cunningham Gulch waso~~led when an avalanche totally buried the mill. During the~~e storm, another watchman at the Pride of the West Mine,5150 in Cunningham Gulch, was caught when his cabin was buried~ t he was rescued several hours later. During the Chris tmas1~71 storm, the Standard Metals Mine, located at the terminusof colorado 110, evacuated one of its buildings located inwe runout zone of a small avalanche path. The avalanche randuring the storm but, ...vi th the exception of the structurei~e1f, no property was damaged. During the summer of 1975,~ avalanche protection structure was constructed in this pathwhich so far has proven effective. The Standard Metals Millis adjacent to a large avalanche path which, during the same1971 storm, released and tore out the flume which providedwe mill with its water supply. This mill was forced to close~til the flume could be repaired.

All other reported avalanche encounters'have occurredon the roads, with predominately highway maintenance personnel~ing involved, up to the winter of 1975-76. During a February9ili storm, the bus from the Idarado Mine, located on the northside of Red Mountain Pass, was carrying the day shift home toSilverton; close by was the Continental-Trailways bus and sixprivate cars, all travelling underneath the Brooklyns avalanchepailis. vfuen an avalanche ran in front of one of the buses,traffic stopped and, a few moments later, another avalanchereleased, pushing both buses and the vehicles off the highway(Fig. 6). FortUnately, no one was injured, although, if theavalanche had run a few moments earlier when many of theIdarado passengers were outside the bus, the consequenceswuld certainly have been more severe. A total of 32 peoplewere involved, ,;,lith only one person injured.

The pattern is basically the same in Ouray Countywhere only one incident has affected a fixed location since1940. During a March 1944 storm, an avalanche at the Revenue~ne removed the new snowshed connecting the portal to the~ll, followed soon by a second avalanche which swept awaythe old snowsheds. All other incidents reported from 1940 tothe present in the county have occurred on the Camp Bird Mineroad and U.S. Highway 550. Both these roads provide the accessto the only working mines in the county, the Camp Bird and~venue (sporadically until the 1950's), and the Idarado,~s~ectively. Eight deaths have been recorded during this~r~od, four on each road, and 11 additional people have been~aught by avalanches and survived. All of the people caught~re travelling on the two roads, either in cars or on foot.~a tragic example, on Valentine's Day, 1958, two Camp Bird~ ~oyees, Harry Peck and Ted Mason, unable to drive their~eh~cle to the mine because of heavy snow, were walking tor. \'fuen they were under the West Waterhole Slide, it

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released, killing Mason and partially burying Peck. Fourrescuers en route to the' site were caught and three werekilled when the East Schoolhouse Slide released.

Thus, since about 1940, the avalanche hazard in bothSan Juan and Ouray Counties has appeared mainly on the high­ways and not at specific sites, with the exception of thetown of Silverton and the Camp Bird and Standard Metals minesand mills. However, this situation is changing with thebeginning of recreational and mineral development. A newinterest in ski-touring and winter mountaineering is bringingmore people into the mountains during the winter months.People are considering the San Juan Mountains as a site fortheir vacation homes. During the past few summers, considerablemineral exploration has been undertaken and the potential forincreased mining activity continues to exist.

History and the Future

San Juan and Ouray Counties, in authorizing thesehistorical studies, began a data bank to use in future land­use planning. The studies have been expanded in conjunctionwith further University of Colorado Institute of Arctic andAlpine Research (INSTAAR) research, including the identificationand mapping of avalanche and geologic hazards in the fouradjoining counties in the San Juan Mountains: San Juan, Ouray,San Miguel and Hinsdale (Bovis, 1976a, 1976b, and 1976c).

The recommendation of those who lived in the SanJuan Mountains at the turn of the century has been fulfilled:

"There are certain defined places where snow­slides run. Statistics, old and new, shouldbe gathered in order that the danger pointsmay be known and avoided as far as possible.It is said conditibns change and that slidescame down last month where never before. Themore reason that an official record should bekept of them, for memory is treacherous."(Silverton Standard, 7 April, 1906.)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The support for this research has been provided bySan Juan County, Colorado; Ouray County, Colorado; theOffice of University Affairs, NASA; and the Division ofAtmospheric Water Resources Management, U.S. Bureau ofReclamation.

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References

Armstrong, B.R. 1976. Century of struggle against snow: ahistory of avalanche hazard in San Juan County,Colorado. University of Colorado INSTAAR OccasionalPaper No. 18, Boulder, Colorado.

Armstrong, B.R. 1977. A history of avalanche hazard in OurayCounty, Colorado. Univ. Colo. INSTAAR Occ. PaperNo. 24, Boulder, Colo. 125 p.

Bradley, R.S. and Barry, R.G. 1973. Climatic fluctuations insouthwestern Colorado since the mid-nineteenthcentury. Monthly Weather Review, 101, No.3,pp. 264-270.

Bavis, M. 1976. Natural hazards identification and evaluationin San Juan County, Colorado. University of ColoradoINSTAAR Report to the San Juan County PlanningCommission, NASA Grant No. NGL-06-003-200.

Bavis, M. 1976. Natural hazards identification and evaluationin Ouray County, Colorado. University of ColoradoINSTAAR Report to the Ouray County Planning Commission,NASA Grant No. NGL-06-003-200.

Bavis, M. 1976. Natural hazards identification and evaluationin San Miguel County, Colorado. University ofColorado INSTAAR Report to the San Miguel CountyPlanning Commission, NASA Grant No. NGL-06-003-200.

Bavis, M. 1976. Natural hazards identification and evaluationin Hinsdale County, Colorado. University of ColoradoINSTAAR Report to the Hinsdale County PlanningCommission, NASA Grant No. NGL-06-003-200. .

Cummins, D.H. 1951. Social and economic history of south­western Colorado. Unpublished dissertation,University of Texas. Copy located at Fort LewisCollege Library, Durango, Colorado.

Gibbons, R.J. 1972. In the San Juan. St. Patrick's Parish,Telluride, Colorado.

Henderson, C.W. 1926. Mining in Colorado. U.S. GeologicalSurvey Professional Paper No. 138, Washington, D.C.

TrUjillo, R. August, 1976. Personal communication.

Newspapers:

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San Juan County: San JuanLa Plata MinerSilverton Standard.

Discussion

Ouray County: Solid MuldoonOuray Herald.

TESCHE: How would you characterize the attitude of thepresent residents of San Juan County toward avalanches?

ARMSTRONG: The old-timers are very interested. The newmountain settlers - mostly young people - are also veryinterested. However, there is a certain faction ofminers that have been around the area for a few yearswho resent any form of law or ordinance including theAvalanche ordinance for San Juan County. So far, theOrdinance has not been tested.

GEISLER: Does the community of Silverton make any provisionfor educating the school children in avalanche loreand snow safety?

ARMSTRONG: Members of the San Juan Avalanche Project havevisited the school, and made presentations to the studen~.

We have also taken the students on field trips to oursnow and avalanche study areas. Ithas been very rewardingto see their wholehearted participation in theseprogrammes.

GALLAGHER: You mentioned that there were historical attemptsto pass 'avalanche zoning laws - did any pass?

ARMSTRONG: No. After the major avalanche disasters at theturn of the century, mining started to falloff, andthere was a loss of interest in passing zoning aspopulation moved out of the area. .

LACHAPELLE: What was the earliest skiing fatality in the areadue to avalanches?

ARMSTRONG: The earliest fatality on skis was in 1905 when twominers skied across the starting zone of the "IreneAvalanche".

LACHAPELLE: In your historical studies, did you find anysuggestion to control avalanches with explosives?

ARMSTRONG: Yes, the use of "dynamite" and "cannons" wassuggested in a 1908 article in the Ouray newspaper. In

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1879, during an avalanche rescue, "giant powder" \'las

used to control an avalanche slope before the rescuerscrossed.

MCMEEKIN: Apparently some of the early miners understoodavalanche lore. ~ihat were their backgrounds? Did theycome from the Alps?

ARMSTRONG: It was a mixed population. People from GreatBritain, Cornishmen, people from the Southern Alps. Theidea of using "snow ribbons", or, as we would saytoday, "avalanche cords", was mentioned in an earlynewspaper article, and could have been an outgrowth ofexperience from the Alps. Another article quoted anavalanche forecast based on the fact that the snowpackwas weak and granular.

BECK: Are you planning to expand your study to include mappingof hazards? .

ARMSTRONG: We have completed an Avalanche Atlas for San JuanCounty, and we are working on an Avalanche Atlas forOuray County. In cooperation \vi th other groups atINSTAAR, we are working on mapping avalanches and othergeophysical hazards in adjacent counties.

LANG: I would like to comment that, in our studies of runoutdistances of avalanches, we found the historical recordscollected by Betsy Armstrong to be very useful.

TABLE 1

Circumstances of Avalanche Encounters Ouray and San Juan Counties, Colorado

Fixed Location Travelling Category Totals Total EncountersCounty Deaths Survivors Deaths Survivors Deaths Survivors By County

Ouray

1877-1940 31 69 23 III 54 180 234

1941-1976 0 0 8 12 8 12 20- - - -- - -- --

TOTAL 31 69 31 123 62 192 254

San Juan

1875-1938

1939-1976

TOTAL

67

1

68

72

1

73

30

o

30

37

49

86

97

1

98

109

50

159

206

51

257

N.....N

213

IiII

II

HandiesPeak•

COLO.

• Durango.:../

4I

3I

Miles2I

o,

Mt. Sneffela•

I)

r-......... f1'/ '----.J

.-J'I ti~~ Q ~\

<. <tl,,~ '"

\ ~ ou~j~~4-.s-\_~ ('""61'--:-/ <J''-> <:)

~ ) I ~v'\ l .!. -&'-:-....<~.,.! ,I "'c.-----

\ I ~. i ~4' 'I~ \ ~\ .\ ( ~ ~. oi. ~·l.\ qC)~I \ a.; Animo' • \9

) .J. Forks t,.:'0/ ,

~~ /,) . \,fci ) r~./ Hurricane \

t j-""""", ~ RED ,.../_-../ ! Peak ",>~""""\ - rMTNf I )

e,~J '-'-. PASS Gladsto~~/ )) .-.... r~ (

/ ChattanOogo; ......... \,...... .\ ! Storm \I I ·Peak \

EPhir Pall . J\ .-._......-.~ C, -Jr

r-Mid~o/fO(k ~.! \/-' ~\ ..Howardsville! ~\ _..... 0\ <v I.

\..: <:-?\ o~ --...../"..:>.- %\-~

.-..... Cre·~·" ~~). ~I/.-" "" '" -.. "/,,, Fo('+;'" ...... '?, ~ Q-.,._._.,. ;" ~

~oi c: /-

"t" Kendall ~ I. • Peak • ..J"Sulton Mtn. ,

~I~(~~~

~\<.>\

(\

EldaradolLake~

-""")

RO nge Storm King Peak \. \)'\

FIGURE SAN JUAN AND OURAY COUNTIES,COLORADO

POPULATIoo OF S#l JU#l COU'ITY

•1,301*

•2,153*

3,0·63*•

1,572* 2,342 *4,500*

POPULATI 00 OF S#l JU#l COONTY SEATJ SI LVERToo•• • •

5380

1,195+ 2,500* 3,2000

. .

1,087*

25

20 * population figures from U.S. Censuses, listedin: The Social and Economic History of SouthWest Colorado: 1869-1948

ff3o~ 5~

~a:~~IO~

o population figures from newspapers:1880, LaPlata Miner, 25 December 18801903, Silverton Standard, 3 Jan 1903

1r population figures from 1885 Colorado Statecensus listed in Smith, 1975

i= population figures from brochure, San JuanCounty in the 1890's

.....,

.......~

1934- 1937­.1935 1938

1929­1930

1924­1925

1919­1920

1914­1915

1~­

19101~­

19)51899­In!

Iffi4­1895

18aJ­18<ll

1884­1885

1879­1800

01 ¥ •• +i 4 i • ¥ .¥ I • I Ii'" (i i "i I ¥ i i '¥ I I ," i I I ,+ i· I I t-f i ~ • , , • , • r I" " , • , , , , ,

1875­1876

5

a:::wf::JZ

FIGURE 2 NUMBER OF AVALANCHE DEATHS BY YEAR, 1875-1938, OURAYCOUNTY, COLORADO, AND COUNTY AND COUNTY SEATPOPULATlON FlGURES. SINCE 1938, ONLY ONE AVALANCHEDEATH HAS BEEN RECORDED, JANUARY 1951.. IN THE COUNTY

POPULATION OF OURAY COUNTY

o J~9 ! 6,~10 4,~31 3,~14 2,620 1,7~4 2,989 2,'.03 1,~01 1,5.46

J:t-<t 7WCW 6J:o 5Z<t..J 4

~ I II I I I I n 1\ II '"<t 3-1 I II I I I /I . II . II . U1IJ..0a::: 2Wm·~::>z

01877- 1879- 1884- 188.9- 1894- 1899- 1904- 1909- 1914- 1919- 1924- 1929- 1934- 1939- 1944- 1949- 1954- 1959- 1964- 1969- 1974-1878 1880 1885 1890 1895 1900 1905 1910 1915 1920 1925 1930 1935 1940 1945 1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975

FIGURE 3 NUMBER OF AVALANCHE DEATHS PER YEAR, 1877-1976, OURAYCOUNTY, COLORADO, AND 10 YEAR COUNTY POPULATIONFIGURES (CUMMINS, 1951)

22

17

"10

2 I

C/)

:I:....~ 20oUJ:I:()

z 15et-Jet'- .>et 10LL.oIt:UJ 5CD~:::>z

oNOV DEC JAN

216

FEB MAR APR MAY

FIGURE 4 AVALANCHE DEATHS BY MONTH,1877-1976, OURAY COUNTY,COLORADO

217

3

298

MAYAPRMARFEBJANDECNOV

5 36

)0- 32 NOT DATED,

"SPRING",

TOTAL'

5

:0-

5 17

0

5 6

I I

0

3

3

~2~

etI.IJ

°2I.IJ:x:ozetl....Iet>etu..1oQ:

I.IJal:I:::::>z

FIGURE 5 AVALANCHE DEATHS BY MONTH,1875-1976, SAN JUAN COUNTY,COLORADO

218

FIGURE 6 THE BUS FROM THE IDARADO MINE, RED MOUNTAIN PASS,AFTER ONE OF THE BROOKLYNS AVALANCHE PATHS RELEASED,

PUSHING THE BUS AND ITS OCCUPANTS OFF U.S. HIGHWAY550, FEBRUARY 9, 1976. (INSTAAR PHOTO)