Caribou, Colorado
Encyclopedia
Caribou is a former silver-mining town, now a ghost town
near Nederland
in Boulder County
, Colorado
, United States
. It was named after the Caribou silver mine nearby. The Caribou Ranch
recording studio is several miles away, on the road from Nederland up to Caribou.
gold downstream from Caribou in 1861. He eventually followed the gold up Coon Trail Creek, and discovered the first silver vein in what later became the Caribou district.
Caribou was established about 1870 to house miners from the Caribou silver mine. The town had one church, three saloons, a brewery, and its own newspaper, the Caribou Post. The Caribou mine was sold for $3 million in 1871 to Dutch investors, but the new owners found that the best ore had already been removed. The mine struggled until 1876, when controversial Colorado entrepreneurs Jerome B. Chaffee
and David Moffat
bought the mine, incorporated it, and sold shares in New York. A fire burned down the town in 1879. By the 1920s, Caribou was home to fewer than 50 people. At its peak in 1875, Caribou's population was estimated to be about 3,000 people.
Caribou and its silver mines were completely deserted by the time 19-year old geology student Tom Hendricks saw it in 1970. But Hendricks became convinced that the silver mines at Caribou could make a profit, and has made the mines his life work. After he got his geology degree, he acquired the old Cross mine in 1973, and began shipping silver concentrate in 1977. He acquired the famous Caribou mine in 1980. He has struggled to keep the Cross and Caribou mines operating through low silver prices in recent years.
William Henry Jackson
took a picture of the town in 1877, and well-known Colorado photographer John Fielder
took another photograph of the same view in 1998. Only two stone ruins, and one collapsed wooden cabin remain of the town.
Ghost town
A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...
near Nederland
Nederland, Colorado
The Town of Nederland is a Statutory Town established in 1885 located near the Continental Divide and Barker Meadow Reservoir in the mountains of southwest Boulder County, Colorado....
in Boulder County
Boulder County, Colorado
Boulder County is the sixth most populous of the 64 counties of the state of Colorado of the United States. The county seat is Boulder. The most populous municipality in the county and the county seat is the City of Boulder...
, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It was named after the Caribou silver mine nearby. The Caribou Ranch
Caribou Ranch
Caribou Ranch was a recording studio built by producer James William Guercio in 1972 in a converted barn on ranch property in the Rocky Mountains near Nederland, Colorado, on the road that leads to the ghost town of Caribou...
recording studio is several miles away, on the road from Nederland up to Caribou.
History
A prospector named Conger discovered placerPlacer deposit
In geology, a placer deposit or placer is an accumulation of valuable minerals formed by gravity separation during sedimentary processes. The name is from the Spanish word placer, meaning "alluvial sand". Placer mining is an important source of gold, and was the main technique used in the early...
gold downstream from Caribou in 1861. He eventually followed the gold up Coon Trail Creek, and discovered the first silver vein in what later became the Caribou district.
Caribou was established about 1870 to house miners from the Caribou silver mine. The town had one church, three saloons, a brewery, and its own newspaper, the Caribou Post. The Caribou mine was sold for $3 million in 1871 to Dutch investors, but the new owners found that the best ore had already been removed. The mine struggled until 1876, when controversial Colorado entrepreneurs Jerome B. Chaffee
Jerome B. Chaffee
Jerome Bonaparte Chaffee was an entrepreneur and United States Senator from Colorado. Chaffee County, Colorado is named after him.-Biography:...
and David Moffat
David Moffat
David Halliday Moffat was an American financier and industrialist.Moffat was one of Denver's most important financiers and industrialists in late 19th and early 20th century Colorado, and he was responsible for the development of the Middle Park area. He served as president, treasurer and as a...
bought the mine, incorporated it, and sold shares in New York. A fire burned down the town in 1879. By the 1920s, Caribou was home to fewer than 50 people. At its peak in 1875, Caribou's population was estimated to be about 3,000 people.
Caribou and its silver mines were completely deserted by the time 19-year old geology student Tom Hendricks saw it in 1970. But Hendricks became convinced that the silver mines at Caribou could make a profit, and has made the mines his life work. After he got his geology degree, he acquired the old Cross mine in 1973, and began shipping silver concentrate in 1977. He acquired the famous Caribou mine in 1980. He has struggled to keep the Cross and Caribou mines operating through low silver prices in recent years.
William Henry Jackson
William Henry Jackson
William Henry Jackson was an American painter, Civil War, geological survey photographer and an explorer famous for his images of the American West...
took a picture of the town in 1877, and well-known Colorado photographer John Fielder
John Fielder
John Fielder is an American landscape photographer and nature writer. He specializes in photography and writings of the US state of Colorado...
took another photograph of the same view in 1998. Only two stone ruins, and one collapsed wooden cabin remain of the town.