Gilliland’s research reflected an alternative view that she had known for a while, “However, I didn’t factor them in for years.”  A small detail caught my eye. A few miners had left Leavenworth, Kansas for Breckenridge real estate in the beginning of April.  With the study of manuscripts and other documents from the Denver Public Library, the author Mary Ellen Gilliland carried out further investigation.

“I started to uncover additional information, and it was surprising and interesting,” she said.  However her book, which is being released to coincide with Breck 150 anniversary celebrations, delves into more than the birth of local gold mining, covering progress through the World Wars, skiing history, and events up to and including the present.

Gilliland shared, “There are many stories that have gone untold,” reminding us that the Great Depression and World War II was especially difficult for the town.  The profiles of 10 pioneers are included too — prominent historical figures who have remained in the shadows throughout history.

In another of her books, “Colorado Rascals, Scoundrels and No Goods,” Gilliland profiled some less savory figures, but her most recent book concentrates on more reputable people like Christ Kaiser, a German grocer, and Robert Foote, the Denver Hotel proprietor.  There are some photos, some never before published, inside the 144 page book.

Call Breckenridge real estate expert, Jonna Beardsley if you are considering purchasing a house in the Rockies. She has served her real estate community for about thirty years!

Email jonna@breckenridgeassociates.com or call her at (970) 390-2533.

Prior to the Spring 2007 restoration project, town planner Jenn Cram reported the structure was falling apart.  The structure was disassembled into 12 different pieces before being reassembled again with an accuracy of within an inch of its historical configuration. The horses are long gone now, however the artifacts and stalls, such as old horseshoes for example, can be found at the site still.

This stable has been used since around August, plus it hosts many art events, such as: oil painting, textiles, and “life drawing” of nude models.

According to Cram, the stable, which is situated in the southwest corner of the arts district, is among a group of approximately 14 structures slated to be worked on as the budget permits over the next 5 to 25 years.

The idea is to give residents and visitors something close to the Anderson Ranch Arts Center located in Snowmass.

She indicated that the Fuqua stable exists as “one of the largest endeavors” and the “gem of the arts district.” It will become one of many attractions in the city this year as the Breck 150 celebration picks up steam, marking the sesquicentennial anniversary of the town’s founding.

This 1237 square foot stable was originally built in 1880 for $600, and was quickly rented to J.P. Fuqua, who used it for horses, according to Rebecca Waugh, town historian.  Over the next several years, the structure changed owners several times, and was also used to store mining equipment as well as other types of equipment.

The city purchased the property in 2002 and started using the Breckenridge Arts District Master Plan in 2004. The corner of Ridge Street and Washington Avenue contains several old structures.

The district is the home of Quandary Antiques, Robert H. Whyte House and Tim Shop, and several other historic buildings.  Cram stated that visitors will be attracted to the town’s art scene as the district grows to connect with the area by the Breckenridge Riverwalk Center across Main Street.

The Fuqua stable earned recognition from the Colorado Historical Society in Denver, CO in the early part of this year, as Colorado’s first lady Mrs. Ritter awarded Cram and the town one of eight Stephen H. Hart rewards.  Per the historical society, this resource is a treasure to see restored, both inside and out.

Call Jonna Beardsley if you are in Breckenridge, Colorado and would like a Historic Real Estate tour. Jonna has been supporting Colorado’s history for over three decades and has assisted buyers and sellers in finding their ideal mountain home. Cell 970-390-2533 or email – jonna@breckenridgeassociates.com

Celebrating in style, on April 4, 2009 the Town of Breckenridge kicks off her 150th birthday party.  Everyone is invited.  From dancing in downtown Breckenridge real estate to gold nugget hunts for children, the proud roar of this quaint resort town will echo throughout the Rocky Mountains during today’s festivities and throughout the year to come. 

Revolving around the Old Courthouse, now 100 years old, the Old Fashioned Street Party includes the removal of a time capsule from the courthouse cornerstone, a bucket brigade, live bluegrass music, and a grand fireworks display this evening.  The Six Million Dollar Band, an Anniversary Toast with local legends, and the Quantum Ski Club’s Retro Ski Bash are all on schedule.

A rich heritage began in 1859 when a group of prospectors decided to incorporate to bring some order to a rabble-rousing camp for miners and the accompanying settlement.  Some found gold and others discovered the pristine beauty of the Ten Mile Range and the Continental Divide.

This is the year for families, history buffs, and anyone looking for excitement to explore again the old trails and stories of the area.  Replete with brothels and saloons, gold booms and busts, adventure and hope, the history of Breckenridge will come to life during Kingdom Days June 20 and 21.  Events and activities include tours of the historic mines, museum exhibits, gunfights, live music, old time arts and crafts, storytelling, historic hikes, activities for children, and the Annual Outhouse Races.

On August 15 and 16, the Mining and Railroad Weekend adds a critical piece to the puzzle.  It highlights the railroad relics and the historic railroad route.

One special venue this year is the Edwin Carter Museum with exhibit themes tracing the evolution of Carter’s life as a miner, taxidermist, and scientist as well as a new theater room and interactive learning center for children.  Naturalist Carter paved the way for today’s environmental awareness.  There will also be the unveiling of new additions to the Arts District, a cutting-edge campus with ceramics studio, performance arts venue, artist-in-residence studios, workshop space.  French Gulch and Iowa Hill boast new signage explaining the Town’s history along the trails.

They say that the characters may have changed but the outcast, the visionary, and a slew of other characters remain in our beautiful mountain community.  Come appreciate the white gold still falling from the sky and appreciate what it took to bring us to this point.

Jonna Beardsley of Breckenridge Associates offers a wealth of information about real estate in the Rocky Mountains.  Call Jonna at (970) 453-2200 for friendly, professional assistance.

Not only does Breckenridge come to life in Gilliland’s books, but so does historic Summit County in the neighboring communities of Frisco, Dillon, Silverthorne, Keystone, Montezuma, and Copper Mountain.   

Scheduled for publication Spring 2009, the new book revisits the first gold strike in Breckenridge in 1859.  In the meantime, future residents of Breckenridge CO homes can pick up Gilliland’s other books detailing the Colorado high country, history, and hiking and skiing trails.  Walk through the passages in the New Summit Hiker (2006) where Gilliland guides hikers to wilderness trails, waterfalls, alpine lakes, wildflower meadows, and incredible sites with panoramic mountain views.  Readers enter the gateway to the Colorado peak experience.

Pick up a copy of SUMMIT, A Gold Rush History of Summit County Colorado (2006) to learn about alpine mine camps, highline stagecoach and narrow gauge railway routes, Ute Indian sites, and the Rocky Mountain frontier.  SUMMIT offers colorful accounts of Colorado’s flourishing gold and silver rush 1859-1910.

Gilliland’s secret writing skill comes from her sense of humor.  As she explained to Andrew Tolve in the Colorado Summit Magazine, “It’s hilarious what goes on.  People are plain funny.  They just are.  What angling people will do and the shenanigans they will pull against each other….Some of the personalities today are as humorous as the ones yesterday.  I’m always richly enjoying people.”

So she could pen Rascals, Scoundrels, and No Goods (2005) about the “escapades of charlatans, swindlers, seducers, rogues, and imposters…scamps and hooligans.”  Gilliland writes, “A Victorian lady would rush for her smelling salts at the first whiff of scandal—and so may you.”

Don’t let the squirmy accounts keep you from investigating the great values available today in our gorgeous mountain ski hamlet.  Who knows?  You, too, may strike it rich after you purchase your own mountain retreat.

Jonna Beardsley of Breckenridge Associates offers a wealth of information about real estate in the Rocky Mountains.  Call Jonna at (970) 453-2200 for friendly, professional assistance.

The Golden Stories of Breckenridge is a growing series of video documentaries about Breckenridge history.  The videos include interviews with historical experts, residents and visitors who have been a part of the last century, as well as direct descendents of the families who lived in early Breckenridge Colorado homes. 

Sponsored by the Town of Breckenridge and produced by local videographer Wendy Wolfe, three videos are available at this time:  The Depression Years, The High Line, and Rest in Peace.

• The Depression Years features stories from three early residents including their colorful and touching memories of the railroad, the dredge boats, the early schools, and recreation in the area.  The stories are woven together with clips of film and photos that help paint a vivid picture of the experiences.
• The High Line features the local narrow-gauge railroad from 1882 to 1937.  Impressive stories of the building of the track over Boreas Pass underscore one of the most daunting accomplishments in railroad history.  Known as the High Line, those who worked it endured long and difficult days, cruel winters, and runaway trains.
• Rest in Peace elaborates on the beautiful Valley Brook Cemetery that was established in 1882.  It is the final resting place for many of the Town’s earliest pioneers whose ornate monuments tell the stories of the Victorian times.  Today the natural sanctuary thrives with wildflowers and wildlife.

The Golden Stories of Breckenridge may be viewed on local television and at the Edwin Carter Museum. The VHS-formatted videos are also available for purchase at the Breckenridge Activity Centers and at Town Hall for $20.

Jonna Beardsley of Breckenridge Associates is a long-time resident and Realtor.  Call Jonna at (970) 453-2200 for friendly professional real-estate assistance in the Rocky Mountain area.

A tribute to the mythical Norse God of Snow, the legendary Main Street Parade is part of the weeklong Ullr events being held January 4-10 near homes in Breckenridge.  Son of Sif and stepson of Thor, the God of Thunder, Ullr is the winter god.  He loves the cold and could be seen traveling over the country on his skis and skates.  It is said that he covered the earth with snow each winter to protect it from harm.

As he skied through the Northern Forests, Ullr was so skilled with the bow that he could beat anyone out for a hunt.  Ullr also glided throughout the land on his great skis for pleasure.  One of his travels brought him to Breckenridge, high in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, where he decided to settle down.  Taken by the beautiful mountain village, Ullr blessed his new home with some of the finest snow in the world.

And so it is that the people of Breckenridge began in 1963 to hold a Festival every year to repay and honor Ullr, the God of Winter, for his gift of snow.  When Ullr came to town that year, locals went to the Town Council and lobbied to hold “Ullr Dag”, which can be interpreted as Ullr Day.  During the first few years, locals honored Ullr with gold coins, parties, skiing, and more parties. 

As the years passed, they embellished the festivities with the Ullr Ball, the Ullr Bonfire, Snow Sculpting, a Ullr King and Queen, the Ullympics, dating games, and the Ullr Parade.  At times old skis are burned in the bonfire while the parties emblazon the town.  Plan to make it to Comedy Night and/or the Mountain Rotary Club Chilly Chili Cook Off, too.

Jonna Beardsley of Breckenridge Associates is a long-time resident in Breck.  She offers a wealth of information and affordable local options.  Call Jonna at (970) 453-2200 for friendly, professional real-estate assistance in the Rocky Mountain area.

Nine total dredge boats worked near existing Breckenridge real estate but only five were in operation at once.  The historical dredging boats, Number Six and Number Seven, were built by a Dredge Boat King Ben Stanley Revett and Bucyrus Company of Milwaukee in a pond near what is now the southeast corner of Tiger Run Resort.  Operations were halted in 1942 by government mandates. 

According to a fascinating book by historian Mary Ellen Gilliland entitled, Summit: A Gold Rush History in Summit County, Colorado, the monstrous electrically driven boats used 42 buckets to cut through the landscape dig 200 feet under the riverbeds.  The boats were anchored to the shore by cables and large poles that were loosened every eight hours.  Then onshore winches thrust the boats forward.  They were capable of moving through 2,500 cubic yards of gravel and dirt every 24 hours.  Visitors to Breckenridge ask about the massive rock piles that are still visible piled alongside the pond.

Although we do not know how much of the Au element has been left behind after the Breckenridge Gold Rush, the 100-year-old dredge boats remind us of the serious mining operations here.  These operations dug 40 feet into the bedrock in the Swan River and 50 feet below the surface of the Blue River.  Number Six worked the Sawn and Blue rivers in 1908-09 and retired until it was purchased.  Number Seven worked the Swan.  The Breckenridge Associates Newsletter reports that in a 12-day period Number Seven produced $33,000 in gold from an area above Galena Gulch in 1911.   Gilliland reports that the dredges brought in as much as $32 million when gold sold for less than $20 an ounce—a fortune.

The highly valued metal is sometimes found free in nature.  The Jefferson Lab Science Education reports that every ton of seawater contains about a milligram.  Gold is the most malleable and ductile of all known metals and can be beaten into sheets that are 400 times thinner than a human hair.  Because it is soft, it is usually alloyed with other stronger metals.  It is a good conductor of heat and electricity, doesn’t tarnish, and reflects infrared radiation, making it ideal for electrical conductors, printed circuit boards, and is used as a sun shield for spacecraft, skyscrapers, and telescopes. 

Contact Jonna Beardsley at (970) 453-2200 or (800) 774-7970 for friendly professional real-estate assistance.

Also coming up is the End of Summer Concert & Celebration that will be held at the Dillon Amphitheater on Saturday, August 30.  The Lake Dillon Foundation for the Performing Arts presents its Sunset at the Summit concerts all summer featuring a variety of music from jazz to rock.  The final 2008 performance will be held on August 30 at 7:00 p.m. at the Dillon Amphitheater.

This year in July the vibrant Town celebrated its 125th Happy Birthday with a spectacular extravaganza.  The Town of Dillon incorporated in 1883 at the site of a trading post, mirrored today by the Friday Farmers’ Markets that offer a beautiful venue for mingling with the Town’s 3,000 residents (5,200 during peak season).  These are social gatherings for residents of Summit County homes and feature the freshest produce, handmade pastas, breads, pastries, preserves, and more.  The Dillon Farmers’ Market is one of the best anywhere in the high country.  Held on Buffalo Street in the parking lot at the Dillon Amphitheater on Fridays since June 13, the last two opportunities for 2008 are August 29 and September 5 from 9:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.

The flexible Town moved three times from its original location at a stage stop.  First, it moved closer to the railroad.  Then, it moved to a location between the Blue River, the Ten Mile River, and the Snake River.  And, finally, when the Denver Water Board determined to create a reservoir at this second location to service the growing metropolitan area with water, residents once again picked up and moved to the shoreline of the new reservoir.

And it has only looked back to celebrate.  Now a full-service community, the community offers splendid views, an abundance of water and recreational activities, and proximity to several world-class ski resorts and resort activities.  For friendly and professional real-estate assistance in the resort areas of the Rocky Mountains, contact Jonna Beardsley of Breckenridge Associates at (970) 453-2200 or (800) 774-7970.

Just south of the Hoosier Pass, from every nook and cranny of the folds of outlying acreage in Park County CO, there are magnificent views of beautiful meadows, splendid mountain peaks, and bubbling creeks.  In 20 minutes, you can be walking the streets of the ski resort and at time s within 30 minutes you’ll be getting out of the gondola with your mountain bike or on your skis. 

Off-road explorations, mountain-bike expeditions, fishers, hikers, and campers may investigate Kite Lake at 12,400 feet and the ghost town of Buckskin Joe.  Some say that that town is named from the day that Mexican sheep herders drove a flock of sheep into nearby Buckskin Joe and one of them contracted a fatal case of smallpox, spreading it throughout the area.  If you visit and check out the properties here, you’ll hear tales of a saintly dancer named Silverheels who nursed the sick and fell to its ravages.  Mt. Silverheels in named in her honor.

Before an epidemic swept through the area, the town’s silver mines produced over $1.5M a year.  Who knows what wild minerals remain underground the pristine rocky cliffs and sparkling streams today?  Possibly the 190 residents own metal detectors, hoping for a nugget to beat the 13.5-pound Tom’s Baby found several miles to the north over a hundred years ago.  The active Sweet Home Mine produces the pink-rose colored rhodochrosite mineral, only one of the rich elements that may come with your property.

Most, however, buy these ranches as getaways for family and corporate retreats.  The town is the second highest incorporated municipality in the United States at 10,578 feet.   It is named after a merchant’s wife, Alma James.  The median income for a household in the year 2000 was $41,563 and the median income for a family was $59,688, with many employed by the resort towns to the north. 

The rural area boasts a year-round small-town lifestyle where neighbors know one another.  Families and the community enjoy exciting 4-H and outdoor activities.  For more information about real estate in the resort communities and these outlying areas, contact Jonna Beardsley at (970) 390-2533 or toll free at (800) 774-7970.