Slumgullion history...

Items that do not fit the categories above.
Forum rules
  • This is a mountaineering forum, so please keep your posts on-topic. Posts do not all have to be related to the 14ers but should at least be mountaineering-related.
  • Personal attacks and confrontational behavior will result in removal from the forum at the discretion of the administrators.
  • Do not use this forum to advertise, sell photos or other products or promote a commercial website.
  • Posts will be removed at the discretion of the site administrator or moderator(s), including: Troll posts, posts pushing political views or religious beliefs, and posts with the purpose of instigating conflict within the forum.
For more details, please see the Terms of Use you agreed to when joining the forum.
User avatar
Kiefer
Posts: 1747
Joined: 5/10/2008
14ers: 58  39 
13ers: 317 24
Trip Reports (20)
 
Contact:

Slumgullion history...

Post by Kiefer »

So while doing some research for a Summitpost page I'm updating, I ran into this super, duper cool history tidbit I thought I share.

Lake San Cristobal down by Lake City (annexed by Texas every summer) is Colorado's second largest lake. About 800 years ago, a landslide
occurred that damned up the North Fork of the Gunnison creating the lake. In the 1850's, give or take, as early prospectors and miners were
exploring and drilling exploratory holes looking for gold and silver near the lake and up Henson Creek, the brown and orange dirt along with
large boulders and rock that made up the natural dam, reminded the miners of a thick stew they would eat. They called the concoction 'slumgullion stew.'
The pass takes it name from their dinner! :-D
User avatar
Wentzl
Posts: 1022
Joined: 7/29/2008
14ers: 58  20 
13ers: 55
Trip Reports (49)
 

Re: Slumgullion history...

Post by Wentzl »

Lake San Cristobal does have an interesting history.

https://www.vaildaily.com/news/slumgull ... -recently/

Let's hear some other fun historic Colorado facts. I will go first.

Parachute was the scene of a mass slaughter of 1000's of sheep during the range wars of the 1880's. I just heard about this recently and seemed like a nice adjunct to your history post.

https://www.postindependent.com/news/ma ... e-in-1894/

And, Colorado as a peacetime nuclear test site. Might be news to some of you:

https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/colorad ... t-site-co/
Shorter of Breath and One Day Closer . . .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZXKgl8turY

"Social Justice" = Injustice
DaveLanders
Posts: 532
Joined: 3/7/2009
Trip Reports (0)
 

Re: Slumgullion history...

Post by DaveLanders »

Wentzl's link to Project Rulison is interesting. It was basically an attempt at fracking using underground nuclear explosions. The article said that it released a lot of natural gas but it was unusable. The article didn't say why the gas was unusable - the reason is that the gas was radioactive! Oops
Every village has at least one idiot. Successful villages choose someone else to be their leader.
User avatar
Sbenfield
Posts: 179
Joined: 6/23/2014
14ers: 58  3 
13ers: 289 4 25
Trip Reports (5)
 

Re: Slumgullion history...

Post by Sbenfield »

That’s awesome. I was wondering where the name came from as I went up that way this past weekend. Thanks for sharing!
User avatar
Exiled Michigander
Posts: 278
Joined: 7/29/2010
14ers: 58  7 
Trip Reports (20)
 

Re: Slumgullion history...

Post by Exiled Michigander »

A few years ago an old miner sitting next to me at The Nugget bar near Purgatory Ski Resort told me the story of Emma Lake near Silverton:

https://www.dangerousroads.org/north-am ... -emma.html

He also explained to me why miners were willing to work for such a low hourly wage mining precious metals for a big mining outfit. The mining companies usually allowed miners to keep any gemstones they happened to find while mining. The miners usually made much more selling off the amethyst, aquamarine, and other gems they'd find than they ever made in wages.
User avatar
justiner
Posts: 4397
Joined: 8/28/2010
14ers: 58  8 
13ers: 138
Trip Reports (40)
 
Contact:

Re: Slumgullion history...

Post by justiner »

Speaking of aquamarine, I though the Youtube series about the main claim owner on Antero is worth a casual watch



One episode goes into the history of the road up Antero which was pretty interesting
User avatar
Hiking_TheRockies
Posts: 119
Joined: 11/11/2020
14ers: 22  1 
13ers: 19
Trip Reports (4)
 

Re: Slumgullion history...

Post by Hiking_TheRockies »

justiner wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 10:37 pm Speaking of aquamarine, I though the Youtube series about the main claim owner on Antero is worth a casual watch



One episode goes into the history of the road up Antero which was pretty interesting
thats a super cool video! though i will say that they sure rolled plenty of rocks while doing their aquamarine search
Hiking when possible
User avatar
highpilgrim
Posts: 3186
Joined: 3/14/2008
14ers: 58 
13ers: 84 1
Trip Reports (1)
 

Re: Slumgullion history...

Post by highpilgrim »

Alferd Packer, "The Colorado Cannibal" overstated his backcountry skills and signed on to guide a group to the San Juans and then to the Breckenridge gold fields. It was winter, dark and deep, and things did not go well. Being cold and hungry, Alferd ate a number of them and survived.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alferd_Packer
Kiefer wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 8:19 pm
The pass takes it name from their dinner! :-D
Incidentally, Alferd ate his fellow hikers very near to Lake City and perhaps some of them wound up in the stew Kiefer mentioned. :lol:
Call on God, but row away from the rocks.
Hunter S Thompson

Walk away from the droning and leave the hive behind.
Dick Derkase
User avatar
Rollie Free
Posts: 456
Joined: 6/8/2012
14ers: 45 
Trip Reports (0)
 

Re: Slumgullion history...

Post by Rollie Free »

highpilgrim wrote: Tue Apr 27, 2021 7:53 am Alferd Packer, "The Colorado Cannibal" overstated his backcountry skills and signed on to guide a group to the San Juans and then to the Breckenridge gold fields. It was winter, dark and deep, and things did not go well. Being cold and hungry, Alferd ate a number of them and survived.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alferd_Packer
Kiefer wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 8:19 pm
The pass takes it name from their dinner! :-D
Incidentally, Alferd ate his fellow hikers very near to Lake City and perhaps some of them wound up in the stew Kiefer mentioned. :lol:

He was a misunderstood man. Wikipedia describes him in this way:

"Packer is today widely rumored to have become a vegetarian before his death and was reported by those who knew him as a man rich with stories and well-liked by children. He lived modestly and was reported to be a charitable man."

Now does that sound like the monster some make him out to be?
"Quicker than I can tell it, my hands failed to hold, my feet slipped, and down I went with almost an arrow’s rapidity. An eternity of thought, of life, of death, wife, and home concentrated on my mind in those two seconds. Fortunately for me, I threw my right arm around a projecting boulder which stood above the icy plain some two or three feet." Rev. Elijah Lamb
User avatar
highpilgrim
Posts: 3186
Joined: 3/14/2008
14ers: 58 
13ers: 84 1
Trip Reports (1)
 

Re: Slumgullion history...

Post by highpilgrim »

Rollie Free wrote: Tue Apr 27, 2021 8:16 am Now does that sound like the monster some make him out to be?
Just another old guy reevaluating the poor judgement of his past youth. And old folk's digestion is fussier so he just adjusted his diet some not to mention that old slow guys would have a harder time catching and subduing a meal.

Just the facts, Man.
Call on God, but row away from the rocks.
Hunter S Thompson

Walk away from the droning and leave the hive behind.
Dick Derkase
DaveLanders
Posts: 532
Joined: 3/7/2009
Trip Reports (0)
 

Re: Slumgullion history...

Post by DaveLanders »

There is a Cannibal Plateau a few miles north of Slumgullion Slide.

If you like South Park, the same guys made a hilarious movie "Alferd Packer: The Musical" (not a cartoon)

Edit - Thanks Jon for finding the correct title
Last edited by DaveLanders on Tue Apr 27, 2021 11:19 am, edited 1 time in total.
Every village has at least one idiot. Successful villages choose someone else to be their leader.
User avatar
Jon Frohlich
Posts: 2606
Joined: 10/14/2005
14ers: 58 
13ers: 162 3
Trip Reports (29)
 

Re: Slumgullion history...

Post by Jon Frohlich »

DaveLanders wrote: Tue Apr 27, 2021 10:40 am There is a Cannibal Plateau a few miles north of Slumgullion Slide.

If you like South Park, the same guys made a hilarious movie "Alferd Packer: The Musical" (not a cartoon)
Available for free on Youtube.

Post Reply