Ouray Town History

Ouray, name after the Ute chief, was granted a post office in 1875, among the earliest in the San Juan Mountains. The community grew slowly as silver mines opened in the canyons leading into town. Growth quickened with the coming of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad from the north in late 1887. Ouray County built a segment of road south up the Uncompahgre Canyon which was incorporated by Otto Mears into his most famous toll road, from Silverton to Ouray, completed in 1883. That toll road ultimately connected a Denver & Rio Grande Railroad terminus in Ouray to a terminus of the same railroad in Silverton, thus lowering the cost of transporting ores from mining camps in the mountainous terrain between the two towns.
Ouray, like all of the mining towns of the San Juan Country, suffered from repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchasing Act in 1893. But, as elsewhere, mining investors quickly turned their attention to gold. In 1896, Thomas Walsh, an Irish immigrant, acquired and expanded what is perhaps one of the most famous gold mines in Colorado, the Camp Bird Mine located on Canyon Creek above Ouray. After the Camp Bird had produced more than $2,500,000 in gold, Walsh sold it to a British syndicate in 1902 for $5,200,000. The Camp Bird produced another $22,000,000 in gold over the next fifteen years and continued producing on a lesser scale for many years thereafter.

Unlike many San Juan mining towns, Ouray was a tourist destination from the time of its founding. The spectacular location, the relatively low elevation, and the hot springs combined to make it a mecca for city dwellers eager for rest and recreation. Today it is a starting point for four wheel drive roads that follow historic pack and wa gon roads.

-Text and Photos, Courtesy of A Historical Touring Guide to the San Juan Skyway