Hanging flume photos

Water flowing in the hanging flume, early summer 1891.

Walking bridge across the Dolores River made from salvaged materials from the hanging flume.

Wooden trestle flume on a side canyon with man pointing on top.

The many faces of Hesperus

In Colorado:

Title: Rio Grande Southern Railroad depot at Hesperus (Colo.)
Date/circa: 1949
Photographer: Chione, Alfred G. (Morton, Ill.)
Notes: Mile Post 145.51. "The coach on the left is the replacement depot as the Hesperus depot. The rest of the buildings are section house, bunk houses, tool sheds, and the water tower." [Source of quote: Robert Herrone, email 3/27/07.]
Photoprint#: P026161
Center of Southwest Studies, Fort Lewis College



In British U-Boats:

In English Locomotives:

In Simon Newcomb Science Fiction about 1900:

In 19th Century poetry:

The Wreck of the Hesperus

IT was the schooner Hesperus,
That sailed the wintry sea;
And the skipper had taken his little daughter,
To bear him company.
Blue were her eyes as the fairy-flax,	5
Her cheeks like the dawn of day,
And her bosom white as the hawthorn buds,
That ope in the month of May.
The skipper he stood beside the helm,
His pipe was in his mouth,	10
And he watched how the veering flaw did blow
The smoke now West, now South.
Then up and spake an old Sailòr,
Had sailed to the Spanish Main,
‘I pray thee, put into yonder port,	15
For I fear a hurricane.
‘Last night, the moon had a golden ring,
And to-night no moon we see!’
The skipper, he blew a whiff from his pipe,
And a scornful laugh laughed he.	20
Colder and louder blew the wind,
A gale from the Northeast,
The snow fell hissing in the brine,
And the billows frothed like yeast.
Down came the storm, and smote amain	25
The vessel in its strength;
She shuddered and paused, like a frighted steed,
Then leaped her cable’s length.
‘Come hither! come hither! my little daughtèr,
And do not tremble so;	30
For I can weather the roughest gale
That ever wind did blow.’
He wrapped her warm in his seaman’s coat
Against the stinging blast;
He cut a rope from a broken spar,	35
And bound her to the mast.
‘O father! I hear the church-bells ring,
Oh say, what may it be?’
‘’Tis a fog-bell on a rock-bound coast!’—
And he steered for the open sea.	40
‘O father! I hear the sound of guns,
Oh say, what may it be?’
‘Some ship in distress, that cannot live
In such an angry sea!’
‘O father. I see a gleaming light,	45
Oh say, what may it be?’
But the father answered never a word,
A frozen corpse was he.
Lashed to the helm, all stiff and stark,
With his face turned to the skies,	50
The lantern gleamed through the gleaming snow
On his fixed and glassy eyes.
Then the maiden clasped her hands and prayed
That savèd she might be;
And she thought of Christ, who stilled the wave,	55
On the Lake of Galilee.
And fast through the midnight dark and drear,
Through the whistling sleet and snow,
Like a sheeted ghost, the vessel swept
Tow’rds the reef of Norman’s Woe.	60
And ever the fitful gusts between
A sound came from the land;
It was the sound of the trampling surf
On the rocks and the hard sea-sand.
The breakers were right beneath her bows,	65
She drifted a dreary wreck,
And a whooping billow swept the crew
Like icicles from her deck.
She struck where the white and fleecy waves
Looked soft as carded wool,	70
But the cruel rocks, they gored her side
Like the horns of an angry bull.
Her rattling shrouds, all sheathed in ice,
With the masts went by the board;
Like a vessel of glass, she stove and sank,	75
Ho! ho! the breakers roared!
At daybreak, on the bleak sea-beach,
A fisherman stood aghast,
To see the form of a maiden fair,
Lashed close to a drifting mast.	80
The salt sea was frozen on her breast,
The salt tears in her eyes;
And he saw her hair, like the brown seaweed,
On the billows fall and rise.
Such was the wreck of the Hesperus,	85
In the midnight and the snow!
Christ save us all from a death like this,
On the reef of Norman’s Woe!
___ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882)

In Greek Mythology as imagined by an Italian artist:

McPhee and Colorado

Montezuma Lumber Co. narrow gauge locomotive, engine number 271, engine type 2-8-0
Creator(s) Perry, Otto, 1894-1970.
Summary: Three-quarter view of left side of engine, from front end. Photographed: McPhee, Colo., June 18, 1942.
Date 1942
Notes: Title from catalog prepared by Western History Department, Denver Public Library.; R7000132572
Physical Description 1 photonegative ; 9 x 14 cm.; 1 photoprint : silver gelatin, b&w ; 9 x 14 cm.
Is Part Of Otto C. Perry memorial collection of railroad photographs.
Western History/Genealogy Dept., Denver Public Library.

McPhee-McGinnity employees
Summary: Employees of the McPhee-McGinnity Manufacturing Company pose on horse-drawn wagons near the company's warehouse at 23rd (Twenty-third) and Blake Streets in the Five Points neighborhood of Denver, Colorado. Lettering on the one-story corrugated metal building reads: "Paint Warehouse McPhee and McGinnity Company."
Date [between 1880 and 1900?]
Notes Formerly F14424.; Title supplied.; R7100244639
Physical Description 1 photoprint ; 13 x 18 cm. (5 x 7 in.)
Western History/Genealogy Dept., Denver Public Library.

McPhee Bldg., Denver
Other title: McPhee Building, Denver. L. C. McClure collection 1890-1935, album I, 128
Creator(s) McClure, Louis Charles, 1867-1957.
Summary: Exterior view of McPhee Building, 17th (Seventeenth) and Glenarm, Denver, Colorado; constructed in 1890 and demolished in 1975 for highrise building; J. George Leyner Engineering Company (1707 Glenarm Place) manufacturers of air compressors and rock drills located on first floor; horse-drawn carriages, bicycles and early automobile parked at curb.
Date [between 1906 and 1912]
Notes:Copy negative made from vintage photographic print.; Title and signature hand-lettered on glass plate.; R7000708276
Physical Description 1 copy photonegative ; 9 x 11 cm. (3 1/2 x 4 1/4 in.); 1 photonegative : glass ; 21 x 26 cm. (8 x 10 in.); 1 photoprint ; 19 x 24 cm. (7 1/2 x 9 1/2 in.)
Is Part Of L. C. McClure collection 1890-1935.
L. C. McClure collection 1890-1935, album I.
Western History/Genealogy Dept., Denver Public Library.

McPhee residence
Creator(s) Rocky Mountain Photo Company.
Summary: View of the McPhee home at 637 East 8th (Eighth) Avenue and Washington Street in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Denver, Colorado; features quoins, a portico, classical entablature, covered porches, and a detached garage.
Date [between 1910 and 1920?]
Notes Formerly F16075 and RMP4444.; Inked on negative sleeve: "Phipps, Lawrence Cowle" [sic].; Title penciled on back of photoprint.; R7100267865
Physical Description 1 photonegative : nitrate ; 20 x 25 cm. ( 8 x 10 in.); 1 photoprint ; 20 x 25 cm. (8 x 10 in.)
Western History/Genealogy Dept., Denver Public Library.

Rico railroad in railyard

Title: Rio Grande Southern Railroad yard at Rico (Colo.): looking south
Date/circa: 1952-05
Photographer: Chione, Alfred G. (Morton, Ill.)
Notes: Mile Post 066.24. A closer view than photoprint P026119 looking down the rails toward the water tank and (on the right) the engine house.
Photoprint#: P026120

Negative#: 947Title:Rio Grande Southern Railroad depot and tank at Rico (Colo.): looking north

Date/circa: 1952-05

Photographer: Chione, Alfred G. (Morton, Ill.)

Notes:Mile Post 066.24.
Photoprint#: P026123

Title: Rio Grande Southern Railroad buildings and structures at Rico (Colo.)
Date/circa: 1950/1965
Photographer: Chione, Alfred G. (Morton, Ill.)
Notes: Mile Post 066.24. A slightly more distant view than photoprint P026121.
Photoprint#: P026122
Negative#: 957

Title: Rio Grande Southern Railroad tank and depot at Rico (Colo.): front and south 3/4
Date/circa: 1952-05
Photographer: Chione, Alfred G. (Morton, Ill.)
Notes: Mile Post 066.24.
Photoprint#: P026124

Rio Grande Southern Railroad Collection

Center for Southwest Studies, Fort Lewis College

Stoner and the railroad

Title: Rio Grande Southern Railroad tank and buildings at Stoner (Colo.)
Date/circa: 1952
Photographer: Chione, Alfred G. (Morton, Ill.)
Notes: Mile Post 087.40.
Photoprint#:P026134
Negative#: 968
Center of Southwest Studies, Fort Lewis College

RGS narrow gauge motor car number 4
Photographer: Richardson, Robert W.
Three-quarter view of right sid of motor car, from the front end, close view: Galloping Goos near water tank.
Photographed: Stoner, Colorado, May 23, 1951
Western History Department, Denver Public Library

Rio Grande Southern narrow gauge locomotive, Engine number 20, engine type 4-6-0
Photographer: Richardson, Robert W.
Right rear view of engine, close view, at water tank, brush at rear of tender
Photographed: Stoner, Colorado, May 23, 1951
Western History Department, Denver Public Library

Rio Grande Southern narrow gauge views
Photographer: Richardson, Robert W.
Water tank and section house (quarters for maintenance workers)
Photographed: Stoner, Colorado, 1953
Western History Department, Denver Public Library

Running the rails in downtown Dolores

Please click on photos to view slightly larger.

Title: Rio Grande Southern Railroad right of way and mills at Dolores (Colo.)
Date/circa: 1951-05
Photographer: Chione, Alfred G. (Morton, Ill.)
Notes: Mile Post 102.34.
Photoprint#: P026139
Rio Grande Southern Railroad photographs
Center for Southwest Studies, Fort Lewis College

Title: Rio Grande Southern Railroad three-way track and right of way at Dolores (Colo.)
Date/circa: 1951
Photographer: Chione, Alfred G. (Morton, Ill.)
Notes: Mile Post 102.34.
Photoprint#: P026138

Rio Grande Southern Railroad photographs
Center for Southwest Studies, Fort Lewis College

Title: Rio Grande Southern Railroad section houses at Dolores (Colo.)
Date/circa: 1951
Photographer: Chione, Alfred G. (Morton, Ill.)
Notes: Mile Post 102.34.
Photoprint#: P026140

Rio Grande Southern Railroad photographs
Center for Southwest Studies, Fort Lewis College

Colorado Springs Rail Depot over the years

Colorado Springs Rail Depot photographed yesterday.

D. & R. G. Depot, Colorado Springs
Summary: Transfer stagecoaches, carriages, surreys, and delivery wagons wait in the Denver and Rio Grande depot yard for passengers and freight from the train, Colorado Springs, El Paso County, Colorado. The stone depot has a side gable roof with dormers and cupola. Pikes Peak has been retouched in the background.
Date: 1896
Notes: Formerly F33542.; Title printed below reproduced halftone.; R7100146734
Physical Description: 1 photoprint ; 12 x 19 cm. (4 1/2 x 7 1/4 in.)
Western History/Genealogy Dept., Denver Public Library.

Denver & Rio Grande & Rock Island depots, Antler's Hotel yard in foreground

Creator(s): Poley, H. S. (Horace Swartley)

Summary: Denver and Rio Grande Railroad passenger trains are at the depot in Colorado Springs, El Paso County, Colorado. The stone depot has a side gable roof with dormers and cupola. Two women in long bustled dresses stand in foreground.

Date: [between 1892 and 1901]

Notes: Formerly F20226.; Title hand-written on back of cabinet card; photographer's stamp on back of cabinet card.; R7001718915

Physical Description 1 copy photonegative ; 13 x 20 cm. (5 x 8 in.); 1 photoprint on cabinet card ; 13 x 20 cm. (5 x 8 in.)

Western History/Genealogy Dept., Denver Public Library.

The long and eventful, historic life of D. & R. G. Engine No. 168

The Royal Gorge
Title-Alternative: W. H. Jackson sample album. Colorado Book VIII ; no. 12
Creator(s): Jackson, William Henry, 1843-1942.
Summary: A railroad conductor, crew, and passengers, women, men and children, stand and sit on rocks and on Denver and Rio Grande Railroad Engine no. 168 and excursion cars on the narrow gauge tracks near Hanging Bridge a suspension bridge over the Arkansas River, in Royal Gorge, Fremont County, Colorado. A stone wall and telegraph poles are near the tracks.
Date [between 1880 and 1890?]
Notes Attribution to Jackson based on inclusion in bound W. H. Jackson sample album.; Condition: Print is retouched, faded, corners frayed.; Formerly F5516; Hand-lettered title and: "1415" reproduced in print.; Hand-written on album page: "F5516."; Label on front of photoprint reads: "Extra."; Mounted on verso of album page: WHJ-1639.; R7003016408.
Physical Description 1 photoprint : albumen ; 53 x 41 cm. (21 x 16 in.) mounted on album page.
Is Part Of W. H. Jackson sample album. Colorado Book VIII.
Western History/Genealogy Dept., Denver Public Library.

D&RG 168, NG 4-6-0, and special train with coach and business cars P, B and N, ready to move President William Howard Taft and party to dedication of Gunnison Water Diversion Tunnel, at Montrose, Colorado
Creator(s): Beam, George L. (George Lytle), 1868-1935.
Summary: Denver and Rio Grande Railroad narrow gauge locomotive 168 is draped in United States flags and bunting at the depot in Montrose, Colorado. Men pose in the area; business sign reads: "Vandenburg Hotel."
Date Thursday, Sept. 23, 1909
Notes: Title hand-written on negative sleeve, with: "neg file #1913/1" "3-15 sec" "class 47 - T-12 BLW #6670 (4/1883), retired 7/1938, placed on permanent display at Colorado Springs 8/1/1938" and "print J. A. Blouch 10/23/79, and M. B. Davis 1/6/1980."; R7001382609
Source Source: Jackson Thode.
Western History/Genealogy Dept., Denver Public Library.

Title Montrose - Pres. William Howard Taft on steps of special car at Montrose, Colo. arriving for official dedication of U. S. Reclamation Bureau's water diversion project Gunnison Tunnel
Creator(s): Beam, George L. (George Lytle), 1868-1935.
Summary: United States President William Howard Taft is on the steps of a Denver and Rio Grande Railroad passenger coach in Montrose, Colorado, surrounded by men and police. A man has a tripod box camera.
Date: Sept, 23, 1909
Notes: Condition: emulsion and glass chipped.; Title hand-written on negative sleeve, with: "file #1913/3" "about 3:00 pm Thursday" "(3-8 sec), argon - 3 - 1/2 sec top to left. 4-5-7-8-9-11-12-13-14-17-19-20 off, then 2 1/2 sec all off except 1-2" "reproduced Railroad Red Book, October, 1909, page 7" and "print - Montrose Historical Society 4/15/1974, West. Hist. Coll. DPL 11/9/1979, Jim Wright 7/17/1982."; R7001382625
Physical Description: 1 photonegative : glass ; 20 x 25 cm. (8 x 10 in.); 1 photoprint ; 20 x 25 cm. (8 x 10 in.)
Source: Jackson Thode.
Western History/Genealogy Dept., Denver Public Library.

Denver and  Rio Grande Railroad Engine No. 168 today, in Antlers Park in Colorado Springs

Rico movie shoot, some of 1950s last trains

Friday, November 30, 1951
dispatch from Hart Lee to Dolores Star (best of Hart's Stuff from Rico, 1968)

Monday morning we went down to the depot to see the last train pull out for Ridgway. Old 461 hooked to the drag flanger and a couple of cabooses made up the train. The crew was J.C. Phillips, H. Walford, Jimmie Cooper and Alvin Talbert. The last train south will be sometime this week to pick up what empties that are in the yard, then after that — well the old girl died a natural death, so far as we know. The first transportation we had back 1869 was foot and horseback, then the bull teams and stage coaches. Then in 1881 we had old Puffen Jennie, not it's cars and trucks. Be a heck of a note if we finally get back to bull teams again, but it could happen.

Friday, December 7, 1951

dispatch from Hart Lee to Dolores Star (best of Hart's Stuff from Rico, 1968)

We've been talking about the last train going to leave the old burg for the last three weeks, well it happened last Thursday when old No. 20, coupled to thirty-three empties pulled out of the the yards at 12:10 p.m. for Dolores. The crew was Geo. McLean, Lee Lynton, Mike Smith, and Go. Thomas.

Click on photos to view slightly larger

Rio Grande Southern narrow gauge caboose number 0409
Creator(s) : Richardson, Robert W.
Summary: Three-quarter, close view; relettered for movie "Ticket to Tomahawk." Photographed: Rico, Colorado, November 17, 1951.
Notes: Title from inventory prepared by Western History Department, Denver Public Library.; R7004007818
Physical Description 1 photonegative ; 7 x 11 cm. (2 3/4 x 4 1/2 in.)
Western History/Genealogy Dept., Denver Public Library.

Rio Grande Southern narrow gauge locomotive, engine number 20, engine type 4-6-0
Creator(s): Richardson, Robert W.
Summary Distant head on view, at station. Photographed: Rico, Colorado, May 23, 1951.
Notes: Title from inventory prepared by Western History Department, Denver Public Library.; R7004000109
Physical Description: 1 photonegative ; 7 x 11 cm. (2 3/4 x 4 1/2 in.)
Western History/Genealogy Dept., Denver Public Library.

Rio Grande Southern narrow gauge locomotive, engine number 20, engine type 4-6-0
Creator(s): Richardson, Robert W.
Summary Left side view of engine; 2-car freight train. Photographed: between Rico and Montelores, Colorado, May 23, 1951.
Notes: Title from inventory prepared by Western History Department, Denver Public Library.; R7004001692
Physical Description 1 photonegative ; 7 x 11 cm. (2 3/4 x 4 1/2 in.)
Western History/Genealogy Dept., Denver Public Library.

RGS Depot, Engine House, and Tool House in Dolores

Click on photos to view slightly larger.

Rio Grande Southern Railroad depot at Dolores (Colo.): 3/4 front from north
Date/circa: 1951-05
Photographer: Chione, Alfred G. (Morton, Ill.)
Notes: Mile Post 102.34.
Photoprint#: P026143

Rio Grande Southern Railroad depot and engine house at Dolores (Colo.)
Date/circa: 1951
Photographer: Chione, Alfred G. (Morton, Ill.)
Notes: Mile Post 102.34.
Photoprint#: P026142

Rio Grande Southern Railroad tool houses at Dolores (Colo.)
Date/circa:1951
Photographer: Chione, Alfred G. (Morton, Ill.)
Notes: Mile Post 102.34.
Photoprint#: P026141

Center of Southwest Studies,Fort Lewis College.

Anaconda photos by Poley before 1900

Title: Anaconda
Creator(s): Poley, H. S. (Horace Swartley)
Summary: View the Ananconda schoolhouse, Teller County, Colorado, features the one-story wood frame structure with a hipped roof, rectangular front gable louver belltower, wrap around deck, and pediment drip molds. Scene also includes a small boy and a girl, a horse-drawn carriage, a side gable, board and batten residence and small wood frame residences. An eroded creek bed is cut in front of the school building.
Date: [between 1890 and 1900?]
Notes: Photoprint has red staining on front of it.; Title hand-written on back of print.; R7001708685
Physical Description 1 copy photonegative ; 10 x 13 cm. (4 x 5 in.); 1 photoprint ; 13 x 18 cm. (5 x 7 in.)
Is Part Of C Photo Collection 37. H. S. Poley collection.
Western History/Genealogy Dept., Denver Public Library.

Deerhorn Boarding House
Creator(s): Poley, H. S. (Horace Swartley)
Summary: Deerhorn House in Ananconda, Teller County, Colorado, features a one-story long side gable structure with plank board roof and two-story square add-on at end of building. Two men wearing aprons and another a suit and hat stand in front of building. A woman in a long dark dress holds a broom in a doorway with wood steps and barrels outside door. A horse-drawn carriage parks in foreground; light snow covers ground.
Date: [between 1890 and 1900?]
Notes: Photoprint is a copy of a 1890s original.; Title hand-lettered on front of original; also "72" in lower right corner.; R7001708716
Physical Description 1 photoprint ; 13 x 18 cm. (5 x 7 in.)
Is Part Of C Photo Collection 37. H. S. Poley collection.
Western History/Genealogy Dept., Denver Public Library.

Anaconda, Colorado
Creator(s): Poley, H. S. (Horace Swartley)
Summary: View along a curve in the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad tracks northeast across Ananconda to the treeless rounded Gold Hill, Teller County, Colorado. shows town composed of several camps including Squaw Gulch, Mound City, and Barry nestled in valley below Gold Hill. Wood frame gabled houses, tents, log cabins, log houses, false fronts, one small stone structure and a smoking smelter fill the valley. Laundry hangs on clotheslines in backyards of some residences; business sign reads: "Anaconda House;" railroad crossing sign and telegraph poles along side the tracks. Mine prospect holes and tailing dumps are scattered on background slope.
Date: [1895]
Notes: Formerly F23913.; Photographer's information embossed in lower right corner of photoprint.; Title hand-written on back of photoprint mat board.; Vintage photograph mounted on mat board with decorative line border.; R7001718648
Physical Description 1 copy photonegative ; 10 x 13 cm. (4 x 5 in.); 1 photoprint ; 20 x 25 cm. (7 3/4 x 9 3/4 in.)
Is Part Of C Photo Collection 37. H. S. Poley collection.
Western History/Genealogy Dept., Denver Public Library.

Things before spring