Rico Town History

The Dolores River Valley deepens as it climbs nearly 1,800 feet in elevation to Rico. Not far below Rico the peaks begin closing in and the valley becomes a canyon, widening briefly to allow room for a town before narrowing into a shadowy gorge above which the land levels into rolling meadows atop Lizard Head Pass. Today much of the valley floor between Dolores and Rico is occupied by historic cattle ranches. Until the ratification of the Brunot Agreement in 1874, it was a pristine wilderness deep in Ute territory.

In 1869, three prospectors trespassing on the Ute Reservation began removing small amounts of ore from the slopes above Rico. In 1872, more ore was illegally removed from the mountain sides overlooking the Dolores River. As it did everywhere, the discovery of gold and silver changed history. The wilderness would soon be transformed.

The slopes surrounding Rico were soon covered with a patchwork of claims and small mining operations. In 1881 work began on a shaft at the Enterprise Mine high above the town to the south. The mine's owner, David Swickheimer, hoped the shaft would intercept the rich Swansea vein that surfaced not far away. In 1883 he ran out of money before reaching the vein. He tried again in 1887 but quickly ran out of money. His wife spent a dollar on a lottery ticket and won $4,000. She invested it in her husband's hopes. He went back to work on the Enterprise shaft and in October, 1887, struck the rich Swansea vein 262 feet below the top of the shaft. The Enterprise would take its place in Colorado history as one of the richer mines in the state.

The Rio Grande Southern Railroad would soon scale a dizzying, vertical landscape to reach the rich new mines of Rico. The first train rolled into Telluride on Thanksgiving Day, 1890, on a branch line from the Rio Grande Southern's main route. Ten months later the first train rolled into Rico on September 30, 1891.

The cost of hauling ore out of Rico, Telluride, and surrounding mines dropped as much as ninety percent. Rio Grande Southern trains ran around the clock hauling silver bearing ore down out of the mountains and supplies up into the mountains. Two passenger trains a day made round trips between Rico and Ridgway and Rico and Durango. Rico boomed.

The mines, mills, and railroad operated twenty four hours a day. Rico never slept. Mining and railroad fortunes grew with each passing hour. Surely there were no limits to Rico's growth and prosperity, to the economic boom touched off by the coming of the railroad.

Fifty years later Rico was home to the woman, State Representative Elizabeth Pellet, who would lead the battle to keep the by then beleaguered Rio Grande Southern Railroad alive.

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