Sunday, September 23, 2012

FREELAND, COLORADO

It all started with this picture of my great grandparents, in front of their homestead in what is now the ghost town of Freeland, CO.  On a quest to see if we could find the location of the house in the photo, we took a detour on our way back from Georgetown.
To get to Freeland, you need to go through Idaho Springs - located in Clear Creek Canyon, approx. 30 miles west of Denver, and 13 miles to the north of Georgetown.  Founded in 1859 by prospectors during the early days of the Pike’s Peak Gold Rush, Idaho Springs was at the center of the region's mining district throughout the late nineteenth century. The town today is squeezed along the north side of  I-70, with a historical downtown (there's a great little museum of local history in the heart of town) on its western end and a strip of tourist-related shops on its eastern end.  Travel under the highway, and the road will take you past mine-dotted hills, covered in aspen and pine, to what was once Freeland, CO.
Freeland was established in 1880, with some rich gold strikes nearby. It soon grew to a population of more than four hundred with some eighty cabins and frame houses, two stores, a saloon and a public school. My grandmother Hazel (on the far left, in front of my great-great Grandma Margaret Lory), and her siblings, were born there to immigrants from England (Elizabeth and William Nicholls).  It was a peaceful, industrious community - the perfect place for this young, hard-working family but, as with most mining towns of the day, Freeland depended upon the mines for its survival. When the mines faded, so did Freeland.
My mother could remember family picnics in a meadow when she was a child, long after the house was gone.  On a mission to find the sight, we stopped at a local residence and asked permission to do a little exploring (a friendly reminder – people are always a little more willing to let you tromp around if you ask first).  The bottom photo was the one original building left at that site...the one visible on the left of the upper photo is a newer addition.
We found what my Mom seemed to remember as the location, and even managed to snap a photo of a hillside that looks very similar to the angles of the one behind the house, albeit a little closer than the original photo...perhaps it is.  In my mind, at least, we found the exact spot!  It's my story, and I'm stickin' to it.
On up the road, past Freeland (you will definitely want a 4-wheel, or off-road vehicle), sits the Lamartine Mine…we didn’t make the trek up that day – we knew our limitations and took the easy way out.  Originally prospected by 4 miners from Idaho Springs, a large fissure vein was discovered which produced several million dollars worth of gold, silver and lead, before closing in 1905.  My great-grandfather, and several other relatives worked the mine in it’s heyday.
As with any of these old mines, as tempting as it is, it is extremely dangerous to just walk into the openings.  Old, weak timbers, unseen deadly gases, HOLES, (not to mention jumping through a window of an opening and landing with your foot on a large rusty spike that emerged through the top of your shoe…not me, but someone with us in our younger/“should have known better” years).  DON'T DO IT!  Take the path we did this day, and seek out one of the mines with guided tours.  They are plentiful in the hills around Idaho Springs.  One of the best happens to be the one we took that day, on the road back down from Freeland – the PHOENIX GOLD MINE…stay tuned...it's up next.

6 comments:

Jackie said...

In the wagon picture you can see all the kids looking out the window! Colorado sure is pretty! maybe I will visit one day!

Tanya said...

Yep - the kids are in the window on the left, and my great-great grandmother is in the window on the right.

Jillayne said...

How cool to be able to work it out from old photographs! I love family history, of anyone's family and I think this is so fabulous.
It's interesting how in a hundred years it's all disappeared and the land has taken right back over...

Hopewell Creek Designs said...

That is so awsome! I love to do ancestry work and exploring for grave sites and homes. I too think you found the exact spot! Our ancestors had to be strong people to survive all the hardships that they went through. I'm looking forward to seeing more family history as well as your summer of globe trotting=)

Dorthe said...

Dear Tanya,
Wasn`t it exiting to try go back ,finding spots from your mom`s family , and from what she remembered from childhood family tours?
The area and what is left now, don`t show the life and activity there once was- how strange that all can so easily dissapear ,again, and get back to nature.
It must have been a fantastic tour, trying to re-see and re-live some memories for your mother, and also for you -trying to add new bits and pieces to the puzzle of your history.
Hugs,Dorthe

Vicki Boster said...

Wow -- you are truly on a mission to find family history -- this is beyond fabulous! In my heart -- I believe that you DID find the exact spot. That must have been an amazing feeling to be standing there!

Vicki

ps -- your stories are just wonderful!