2023 CANYONLANDS ADVENTURE - TRUE GRIT & RIDING THE DURANGO SILVERTON RAILROAD

 

DAY #7 – SATURDAY – JULY 8, 2023

 MONTROSE, CO. – DURANGO, CA

106 – MILES / 2,163 – TOTAL MILES

This marks the 7^th Day of my great Canyonlands Adventure, and it begins here in Montrose, Colorado. This is one of the days that I have looked forward to since I started planning this trip. It was here in the high mountains of Colorado that My all-time favorite movie was filmed. In 1969, John Wayne, Kim Darby and Glen Campbell filmed the Academy Award Winning Movie, “True Grit,” here in this area.

The Hampton Inn here in Montrose was a very nice Hotel. My room was clean and well attended and we enjoyed a very good breakfast. Once again, our habitually late people surprised us by being on the bus a few minutes early.  This allowed us to leave the Hampton Inn right on time at 8 a.m.

The drive from Montrose down to Ridgeway was very scenic although I was told the best was yet to come.  I had hoped that we would stop in Ridgeway because several scenes from True Grit were filmed here.

The exterior courthouse scene was filmed here along with the Hanging Scene and the scene where Marshall Rooster Cogburn (John Wayne) arrived with a paddy wagon full of prisoners. That original Paddy Wagon Is still on display in the Ridgeway Town Park.

The Railroad Depot where Mattie and her companion Yarnell Poindexter first arrived is also in Ridgeway. Just about 20-miles or so out of Ridgeway is Last Dollar Road. It was there that the opening and Closing scenes of the movie was filmed at the Ross Ranch.

About 20-miles east of Ridgeway in a very remote area is Deb’s Meadow. It was there that Rooster faced off with Lucky Ned Pepper. It was here that one of the all-time great movie scenes took place.

With Lucky Ned and his men on one side of the meadow and Rooster on the other side, Rooster tells Ned that he intends to kill him or “see him hanged in Fort Smith at Judge Parker’s convenience, what’ll it be?”

Ned Replies, “I call that mighty bold talk for a one-eyed fat man.”

Rooster’s reply was classic, “Fill your hands you son of a bitch.”

And with that they went Charging across the meadow, guns a blazin’.

But we didn’t stop in Ridgeway. I hope to return to this area on my own in the not too distant future to visit as many of the True Grit Sites as I can.

The drive across the mountains between Ridgeway and Ouray is known as the Million Dollar Highway. Most people think it is because of the “Million Dollar Views.” But it’s not, it is called the Million Dollar Highway because it costs more than a million dollars a mile to build. Not the less it was the most spectacular of the trip so far.

We did stop for our morning break in Ouray which allowed some of our group to get in a little shopping. For me is allowed me the opportunity to walk up to the Ouray Courthouse.  This was the courthouse where the Interior scenes of Judge Parker’s court Took place. It is in this courthouse that Rooster testified about killing the Whorton's and it is where he first meet Mattie Ross.

It being Saturday the Courthouse, which is still in use, was closed and I couldn’t see the True Grit Courtroom. But again, I hope to return in the Not-too-distant future.

I spent the rest of my time in Ouray, walking around town taking photos of the old building and buying a few souvenirs. After about an hour it was time to get back on the bus and continue our journey toward our next stop in Silverton.

It is only about 35-40 miles from Ouray to Silverton, but the drive took us through more spectacular scenery. Up and down the mountains filled with switchbacks, the drive took us about an hour and a half to complete.

Arriving here in Silverton, we say goodbye to our bus and our driver John for the rest of the afternoon.  Once he lets us off in the center of the historic town, he is off to Durango where we will meet him later this evening.

After we spend a couple of hours shopping and having lunch, our group will board the Durango-Silverton Narrow gauge Railroad for the three-and-a-half-hour trip to Durango. It will take John a little over an hour to make the 50-mile drive.

It’s a little after 11 a.m. when John, drops us off and we have a little better than 3-hours to kill before we board the train. Everybody scatters and pretty much goes their separate way. I decided to walk around this old and historic silver town that I set in a high valley between the snowcapped peaks of the Rocky’s.

Silverton is the county seat of San Juan County, that is named for the San Juan Mountains that surround the Town. Most of the peaks surrounding the town at mor than 13,000 feet above sea level. There are 53 Rocky Mountain Peak in Colorado that exceed 14,000 feet and 7 of those peaks are less than 15 miles from Silverton.

Silverton got its start in 1874 as Baker Park, when gold and silver was discovered in the mountains and along the Animas River. The tent’s that form the community housed everything from Saloons and Brothels to Essay Office and private residences.

The remoteness of the community made it difficult to get the ore that was being mined here out of the Valley. So, the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad set about laying tracks along the Animas River from Durango to Silverton. By 1885 more than a Million dollars a year was being mined around Silverton. From 1882 until 1918 the Silverton Mining area produced more than $65 million dollars.

As the years passed, the mines began to play out and in 1991 the Sunnyside Mine, the last operating mine in the area, closed. By then Silverton had already begun the transition from Boom town to a Tourist destination.

Today the main tourist attraction is the Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. The entire town has been designated a National Historic Landmark. Brothels and Saloons have been replaced by shops, cafes, and restaurants. The Local Historic Society, the Mining Heritage Center and the Old County Jail as a Museum.

Having a few hours to kill, I walked around town and decided to visit the old Jail Museum. As I entered the museum, I was greeted by a wonderful gentleman who wasted no time in giving me a brief history lesson of not the Old Jail but the mining Museum that is included in my admission. He seemed to sincerely enjoy sharing the history of the area.

I began my tour in the old jail which was built about 1902 and while not as harsh and primitive as some of the old west jails that I have visited, I wouldn’t want to be a guest here.

After I completed the tour of the jail, I walked down a couple of flights of stairs into an under-ground basement that had been made to look like an early Silverton Mine.

The Mining Museum was outstanding. It took you on a trip from the early days of mining all the way through 1991 when the last mine closed.  I love these little (this one is not so little) local museums, but this one was way more than I expected. I ended up spending over an hour here, it was worth every minute.

By taking longer at the museum than I had planned I set about finding a place to have lunch. As I was walking back down historic Blair Street, I ran into Jenny, Mary Ann, and a couple of other ladies from my group. They told me that they had lunch at Natalia, and it was good and quick.

So away I went. There were a couple of other folks from my tour group having lunch at Natalia’s, but their table was full, so I ate by myself.  I had a half pound burger and fries. Mary Ann and Jenny were right. The food was good and served quickly. 

After lunch, I still had a few minutes left before it was time to board my train for the ride to Durango.  The train and locomotive had arrived and had pulled up to the head of Blair Street where I joined a crowd of tourists taking photos and selfies.

Despite the elevation it was a rather warm day and I decided to stop by a little ice cream parlor and have a double scoop of peach ice cream.  On the way back to the train I stopped at the Shady Lady Saloon and took a selfie with one of the Shady Ladies.

At a little before 2 p.m. the conductors began boarding the train. All our group were seated in the same car and right at 2 p.m. we pulled out and began our 3-and-a-half-hour ride to Durango.

The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad has been in continuous operation since 1882. During the 45-mile trip the train is only able to reach a top speed of 22 mph and travels along the Animas River and through some of Colorado’s most scenic back country.

While the scenery was spectacular, it was a long and slow journey and some of our group began to complain about being trip taking too long. But I enjoyed the trip but must admit that I was ready for supper when we arrived in Durango.

Upon arrival in Durango, Michelle, our tour guide, told us that we had an hour to grab supper before boarding the bus for the short trip to our hotel. Being Saturday Night, Durango was crowded with locals and tourists so most of the sit-down restaurants either had a waiting list or were so crowded that it would take more than an hour to get our food and eat.

So, a few of us walked to a nearby McDonalds. We ordered from the Kiosk and got out food quicker than those opting to order from the counter. After our quick supper we walked around town, exploring some of the shops and picking up a few souvenirs.

Finally, it was time to board the bus and make the short drive to the Hampton Inn. One thing that John did when He arrived in Durango was deliver our Luggage to the rooms and pick up our room keys. So, on the ride to the hotel, Michelle passed out our keys.

Once at the Hotel the only thing we had to do was head to our room. Bringing another great day to an end. Tomorrow, we leave the cool Colorado Mountains for a few days and head down toward the 4 Corners and into the heat of Arizona.