Colorado Ghost Town Books/Maps
Dunton Colorado Ghost Town
Dunton Colorado
Strange history for this one, - Dunton was established in 1885. Post Office opened in 1892. Population reached perhaps 300 in the early 1900s. Emma mine was the big producer. In 1918 it was basically a Ghost town. It was purchased and resold numerous times since then. It had a life as a mining town, a cattle ranch, a dude ranch, and a biker hang out. It is now private property with a very exclusive resort. Much of the town was reconstructed and you can even sit at the bar and have a drink. Supposedly at the same bar where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid drank a few.
At least two ways to get there. One easy and one not so easy. I choose the hard way. About a half mile up a narrow 4X4 shelf road I encountered some tourists from Texas driving a big old Buick. They were trying to turn around to get back out. I sat and watched with amazement. Enjoyed the view. I should have taken a picture to give to them to demonstrate how stupid they were.
A viewer writes - Rocky - I am enclosing an attachment of information on the Emma Mine which I got from another source. It is pasted on the reverse of the Photo. The photo is of the Emma mine mills and bunkhouse. There are four people standing front of the bunkhouse which I have not had a chance to study under magnification. I found the photo years ago. I donated a replicate to the Western History Department of the Denver Public Library. I hope you appreciate it more than they seemed to. I am quite willing to give you the right to post it on your website for your enjoyment and that of others, I have some concern if it can be downloaded from the website.
I ran into your website while searching for a great uncle who in 1880 was working in a silver mine in Hinsdale County. His name was Lyman Coplen (misspelled Leman Coplen) in the 1880 census. He was a colorful character who had his thigh broken while a prisoner of war in Tyler Texas after being captured by the Confederates. Shortly after his release he was caught in the revolving shaft of a steam powered sawmill and had numerous broken bones. At 43 he was engaged in hard rock mining at high altitudes. I pick him up again about 10 years later in Ouray. One tough cookie!
Daniel Wenger
A viewer writes - April 8, 2009 - My grandfather, Leonidas Holbrook Crapo ran the pack mule train between the Emma Mine and Rico when he was a young man. Richley Crapo
Rocky says - I thought this was a joke when I received the above note. Crapo just did not sound like a real name. Then I researched just and little and found this ---
Nina Grace Rhinehart and Leonidas Holbrook Crapo
Leonidas Holbrook Crapo, my grandfather, was born in Paradise, Utah, in 1876. As a young man, Leonidas worked for the Emma mine in Dunton, Colorado. His job was running the mule train which packed supplies into the small mining settlement located at over 9,000 feet elevation in southwestern Colorado and which carried the gold from the mine to the railroad town of Rico. He married Nina Grace Rhinehart in Norwood, Colorado in 1908. Together they had five children. He died at age 78 in California.
Rocky Mountain Profiles Colorado Ghost Towns and Colorado Photos – Niwot Colorado