Bøger af P. David Smith

The Million Dollar Highway runs north and south directly through the middle of the San Juan Mountains of Southwestern, Colorado - some of the most beautiful and rugged country in all of North America, if not the world. There would be no road today if it were not for the treasure chest of minerals that early-day prospectors found, for all the gold and silver in the world was worth nothing if it could not be economically transported out of the mountains. The San Juan communities needed a wagon road, and that is what Otto Mears and others gave them. However, the road was realized only after expenditures of what today would be millions of dollars and almost fifty years of labor. This book is not only the story of an amazing highway. It is also the history of the development of mining and transportation of all types throughout the rugged San Juans. The stunning beauty along the route is pointed out and the complex geology of the mountains and the mines of the San Juan Mountains is explained. This book also details the histories of Durango, Silverton, and Ouray - three quaint, Victorian towns along the road - and tells tales of dozens of small settlements that are now ghost towns.

Concentrating on unique events, people whose stories have never fully been told, and a few "new" facts, The San Juan Mountains of Southwestern Colorado - Calderas, Mastodons, Conquistadors, and Gold provides a wealth of information, starting with the true boundaries of Colorado's San Juans. Through extensive research, P. David Smith destroys many long standing theories about this mysterious range, showing that Paleo hunters lived in the San Juans year round and the Spanish prospected almost continuously in the area but had little luck smelting the gold and silver ores. Smith shows how the Utes went from one of the poorest Native American tribes to one of the richest and points out that the Pueblo Indians (Anasazi) were the first of the historic tribes in Colorado and the San Juans. He also notes that Coronado or his men may well have been in the San Juans, rightfully looking for "Cibolla" amidst what has proven to be extremely mineral-rich terrain. Detailing the beginnings of the historically rich San Juans of Colorado, this work is one that both historians and history-lovers have awaited. It is true history that may be stranger than fiction. But it may also be true history that will enlighten those who visit and live in this unique part of the world.