The San Juan Mountains is a high and rugged mountain range in the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Colorado and northwestern New Mexico . The area is highly mineralized (the Colorado Mineral Belt ) and figured in the gold and silver mining industry of early Colorado. Major towns, all old mining camps , include Creede , Lake City , Silverton , Ouray , and Telluride . Large scale mining has ended in the region, although independent prospectors still work claims throughout the range. The last large-scale mines were the Sunnyside Mine near Silverton, which operated until late in the 20th century, and the Idarado Mine on Red Mountain Pass , which closed in the 1970s. Famous old San Juan mines include the Camp Bird and Smuggler Union mines , both located between Telluride and Ouray.
36-512: The Summitville mine was the scene of a major environmental disaster in the 1990s when the liner of a cyanide -laced tailing pond began leaking heavily. Summitville is in the Summitville caldera , one of many extinct volcanoes making up the San Juan volcanic field . One, La Garita Caldera , is 35 miles (56 km) in diameter. Large beds of lava , some extending under the floor of
72-605: A British Columbia court, the US Government declared the site a superfund cleanup site and spent $ 155,000,000 of public funds cleaning up the site. In 1991 SCMCI was served with a cease-and-desist order by the state government, concerned with metal levels in nearby water due to the run-off of excess water from the heap leach pad and through the damaged pad liner. Possibly 85,000 US gallons (320 m ) of contaminated water had leaked into nearby creeks. In December 1992 Galactic Resources Ltd. declared itself bankrupt and declared that
108-426: A household in the county was $ 30,764, and the median income for a family was $ 40,000. Males had a median income of $ 30,588 versus $ 19,545 for females. The per capita income for the county was $ 17,584. About 13.50% of families and 20.90% of the population were below the poverty line, including 29.40% of those under age 18 and 7.10% of those age 65 or over. San Juan county is the only county outside Alaska where walking
144-771: Is in the San Juans. The San Juan Mountains are also distinctive for their high altitude plateaus and peaks. As a result, facilities in the towns and cities of the region are among the highest in the nation. Telluride Airport , at an elevation of 9,070 feet, is the highest in the United States with regularly scheduled commercial service. Human history at the eastern edge of the San Juan Mountains dates back thousands of years. Smithsonian archaeologists have identified paleo-Indian sites that are about 5,000 years old, located near Great Sand Dunes National Park and at
180-469: Is popular, as is wilderness trekking and mountain climbing . Many of the old mining camps are popular sites of summer homes . Though the San Juans are extremely steep and receive much snow, so far only Telluride has made the transition to a major ski resort . Purgatory Resort , once known as Durango Mountain Resort, is a small ski area 26 miles north of Durango. There is also skiing on Wolf Creek Pass at
216-514: Is the most common form of commute to work. As of 2013, 33% of residents walked to work, 18% drove alone, 19% carpooled, and 18% bicycled, though the small population size introduces considerable margins of error to these statistics. As of November 2006, the one and only local school had 53 students in grades K–12. In the era of William Jennings Bryan , San Juan County strongly favored the Democratic Party: no Republican managed to carry
252-402: Is used for crop irrigation. A United States Geological Survey investigation arrived at three major conclusions: Extreme acid-rock drainage is the dominant long-term environmental concern at the Summitville mine and could have been predicted given the geological characteristics of the deposit. Extensive remedial efforts are required to isolate both unweathered sulfides and soluble metal salts in
288-472: The 1929 stock market crash , but was acquired by Standard Metals Corp. in 1959, and reopened, finding gold in 1973 with the Little Mary vein. The county's economy was dealt a devastating blow in 1992 when the mine and the corresponding Shenandoah-Dives mill, the last operating in the region, permanently closed. The closure meant the end of jobs for over one third of the county's workforce. According to
324-531: The 2020 census , the population was 705, making it the least populous county in Colorado. The county seat and the only incorporated municipality in the county is Silverton . The county name is the Spanish language name for " Saint John ", the name Spanish explorers gave to a river and the mountain range in the area. With a mean elevation of 11,240 feet (3,430 meters), San Juan County is the highest county in
360-726: The Alamosa River in 1990. Although cyanide from the heap leach pads also leaked in the watershed, cyanide is believed to have quickly volatilized into the atmosphere without damaging downstream aquatic life. Rocks in the Summitville area were millions of years ago subjected to acid-sulfate alteration, which causes the streams that drain the area to be naturally acidic and naturally high in metals. The very names of nearby creeks are evidence of poor natural water quality: Iron Creek, Alum Creek, and Bitter Creek. Mining at Summitville, by exposing more rock surface to weathering, increased acidity and concentrations of dissolved metals in runoff from
396-465: The San Luis Valley , are characteristic of the eastern slope of the San Juans. Tourism is a major part of the regional economy, with the narrow gauge railway between Durango and Silverton being an attraction mostly in the summer and fall. Off-roading is popular on the old trails which linked the historic mining camps, including the notorious Black Bear Road . Visiting old ghost towns
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#1732766134128432-565: The Southern Ute Indian Reservation and $ 25,000 per year, several mining camps were constructed. These would later become the communities of Howardsville , Eureka , and Silverton . San Juan County was formed on January 31, 1876, from part of La Plata County . The region boomed after George Howard and R. J. McNutt discovered the Sunnyside silver vein along Hurricane Peak, outside the mining camp of Eureka. Gold
468-473: The Southern Ute Indian Reservation received $ 25,000 per year. Gold veins were found at 11,500 feet on South Mountain in 1873 and the town was founded when stamp and amalgamation mills were built. By 1885 there were more than 250 individual claims in operation. The site was soon mined out, with the weather of the 3,500 m high site adding to difficulties. The site was re-opened on a number of occasions for gold or other metals but with little success, and prior to
504-683: The U.S. Census Bureau , the county has a total area of 388 square miles (1,000 km ), of which 387 square miles (1,000 km ) is land and 0.8 square miles (2.1 km ) (0.2%) is water. It is the fifth-smallest county in Colorado by area. The county is located in the heart of the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. Though it has the highest mean elevation of any county in the United States, at 11,240 feet (3,430 m), none of Colorado's 53 fourteeners (mountains at least 14,000 feet in elevation) are in San Juan County. As of
540-550: The United States , located in Rio Grande County, Colorado 25 miles (40 km) south of Del Norte . It is remembered for the environmental damage caused in the 1980s by the leakage of mining by-products into local waterways and then the Alamosa River . Charles Baker's group of prospectors found traces of placer gold in the San Juan Mountains in 1860 at Eureka, Colorado . The group was forced out in 1861 by
576-513: The Wolf Creek ski area . Recently Silverton Mountain ski area has begun operation near Silverton. The range is also a popular destination for endurance sports like trail running and mountain biking; Silverton is home to the Hardrock 100 Endurance Run one of the most difficult and technical ultra-marathons in the world. The Rio Grande drains the east side of the range. The other side of
612-563: The San Juans, the western slope of the continental divide , is drained by tributaries of the San Juan , Dolores and Gunnison rivers, which all flow into the Colorado River . The San Juan and Uncompahgre National Forests cover a large portion of the San Juan Mountains. The Continental Divide Trail , a long-distance hiking trail follows the crest of the San Juan Mountains. The Weminuche Wilderness , Colorado's largest wilderness area, with an area of 499,771 acres (202,250 ha)
648-421: The Summitville site. Results of studies as of late 1993 indicate that mining at Summitville has had no discernible short-term adverse effects on barley or alfalfa crops irrigated with Alamosa River water. Remediation of the site will help to ensure that no adverse effects occur over the longer term. San Juan County, Colorado San Juan County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado . As of
684-553: The Telluride Mining Association for the eight-hour day , which had been approved in a referendum by 72 percent of Colorado voters . The new association consolidated the power of thirty-six mining properties in San Miguel , Ouray , and San Juan Counties. The SJDMA refused to consider any reduction in hours or increase in wages, helping to provoke a bitter strike. The Sunnyside mine was shut down after
720-567: The United States and also has the two highest elevation houses in the United States; the ‘Bonnie Belle’ above Animas Forks at 11,900’ – 11,950’ elevation and an unnamed house above Picayune Gulch at 12,000’ elevation. Long before European settlement, the area was regularly explored by the Anasazi , and later the Utes , who hunted and lived in the San Juans during the summer. There is also speculation that Spanish explorers and fur traders ventured into
756-667: The Ute Tribe, who had been awarded the area in a US treaty. Gold was discovered in Wightman Fork, on South Mountain, which is the same location of present-day Summitville. More prospectors returned in 1871, when lode gold was found in the Little Giant vein at Arrasta Gulch, near Silverton, Colorado . The miners were allowed to stay after the Brunot Treaty of 13 Sept. 1873. In exchange for giving up 4 million acres,
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#1732766134128792-628: The area in the 1600s and 1700s. Permanent settlement in the area surrounding present-day San Juan County began in 1860, near the end of the Colorado Gold Rush . These first settlers were a group of prospectors led by Charles Baker, who made their way into the San Juan Mountains searching for gold. After the Brunot Agreement with the Utes in 1873, which exchanged four million acres (6,200 sq mi; 16,000 km ) for
828-448: The census of 2000, there were 558 people, 269 households, and 157 families residing in the county. The population density was one person per square mile (0.39 person/km ). There were 632 housing units at an average density of 2 per square mile (0.77/km ). The racial makeup of the county was 97.13% White , 0.72% Native American , 0.18% Asian , 0.36% Pacific Islander , 0.72% from other races , and 0.90% from two or more races. 7.35% of
864-529: The county between 1892 and 1916, and it was even one of the few northern or western counties to vote for Alton B. Parker in 1904. It remained a Democratic-leaning county until the 1960s but then turned towards the Republican Party in subsequent decades. No Democratic presidential nominee won San Juan County between 1968 and 2000, although it was one of fifteen rural or remote counties to give a plurality to Ross Perot in 1992. Since John Kerry carried
900-413: The eight-hour day , which had been approved in a referendum by 72 percent of Colorado voters . The new association consolidated the power of thirty-six mining properties in San Miguel , Ouray , and San Juan counties. The SJDMA refused to consider any reduction in hours or increase in wages, helping to provoke a bitter strike. Summitville mine The Summitville mine was a gold mining site in
936-448: The leaching continuing until March 1992, when Galactic Resources filed for bankruptcy. A total of 294,365 troy ounces (9,155.8 kg) of gold and 319,814 troy ounces (9,947.3 kg) of silver were recovered. SCMCI then closed the site and converted on-site equipment for the detoxification process, with around 160 million U.S. gallons (610,000 m ) of stored water needing treatment. After the company insolvency proceedings were completed in
972-462: The mine area. The degradation in Summitville runoff water quality has its origin in both decades-old mining structures, such as the Reynold's adit, and the open-pit mining of 1985–1992. Water runoff from the Summitville mine flows down Wightman Fork, mixes with naturally acidic runoff from unmined areas, flows into the Alamosa River and flows out of the mountains into the San Luis Valley , where it
1008-630: The northern edge of the San Luis Valley, close to Poncha Pass. This suggests that early human presence in the region dates back to ancient times, long before the establishment of modern landmarks. Mining operators in the San Juan mountain area formed the San Juan District Mining Association (SJDMA) in 1903, as a direct result of a Western Federation of Miners proposal to the Telluride Mining Association for
1044-488: The open-pit area and mine-waste piles from weathering and dissolution. It is likely that natural contamination adversely affected water quality and fish habitat in the Alamosa River long before and will continue to have adverse effects even when acid drainage from Summitville is remediated. Thus, reasonable natural conditions for the Alamosa River must be established in order to set realistic remediation conditions for
1080-436: The population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 269 households, out of which 23.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.90% were married couples living together, 8.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.30% were non-families. 36.80% of all households were made up of individuals, and 4.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size
1116-527: The site clean-up operations would halt immediately. The site clean-up was undertaken by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), from 1994 under Superfund Emergency Response . The main problem was the contaminated water held in an inadequate pond system. Another source of contamination was water leaking from older underground workings. The EPA estimated that 3,000 US gallons (11 m ) were leaking from
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1152-438: The site every minute. However, despite the water having a pH of around 3 ( acidic ), a USGS study stated that the run-off was no serious threat. $ 155 million was spent on the site for detoxification and to reduce leakage. Robert Friedland , the chairman of Galactic Resources Ltd. paid around $ 30 million in settlement. Heavy metals and acid from the mine are suspected to have killed stocked fish in downstream reservoirs on
1188-650: The site's acquisition in 1984 the last survey was in the early 1970s for copper . The total amount of gold extracted from the site from 1873 until 1959 was around 257,600 troy ounces (8,010 kg). In 1984 an area of 1,230 acres (5.0 km ) was acquired by the Canadian-based Galactic Resources Ltd. subsidiary Summitville Consolidated Mining Company, Inc. (SCMCI). They began a new large-scale open pit operation covering 550 acres (2.2 km ). New techniques were used to extract gold from otherwise uneconomic ore . The mining involved
1224-462: The treatment of pyritic ore with a sodium cyanide solution to leach the gold out of the ore—heap leaching (see also cyanide process ). The solution ( leachate ) was then removed from the ore and the valuable metals extracted using activated carbon . SCMCI leached around 10 million tons of ore on a 73-acre (0.3 km ) heap leach pad. The mining operations were finished in October 1991 with
1260-402: Was 2.06 and the average family size was 2.63. In the county, the population was spread out, with 20.10% under the age of 18, 4.30% from 18 to 24, 28.10% from 25 to 44, 40.50% from 45 to 64, and 7.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females, there were 110.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 112.40 males. The median income for
1296-494: Was then discovered in 1882, which helped the county weather the Panic of 1893 far better than other mining communities, such as Aspen or Creede . The Sunnyside Mine would become one of Colorado's longest running and most productive mines. Mining operators in the San Juan mountain area of Colorado formed the San Juan District Mining Association (SJDMA) in 1903, as a direct result of a Western Federation of Miners proposal to
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