Dumb-struck awe at a glance

Thing of the past ... The far-famed Georgetown loop, William Henry Jackson, photographer. Detroit Publishing Co., Created c1899

Tourism in the West developed around railroad excursions

By Rob Carrigan, robcarrigan1@gmail.com

A friend of mine recently noted the way folks on one side of the Divide, (the side towards the sunset)  have a completely different way of looking at things in Colorado than those on the Front Range.  He put a name to the affliction or condition, calling it simply-enough, being "West Sloped." 

We, of course, have a wealth of steam-driven rail roads in the West. Even so, there are some things on the morning side of the mountains that can inspire a dumb-struck awe at glance, even from someone who has been "West Sloped."

I have always been impressed by Devil’s Gate High Bridge on the Georgetown Loop, as you drop down in the mountains near the upper end of the Clear Creek valley in the mountains west of Denver along Interstate 70. It warrants a closer look.

"Originally constructed in 1884, the Georgetown Loop runs between Georgetown and Silver Plume, two of Colorado’s silver mining boomtowns of the 1870s and 1880s. Built as a scenic railway and visitor attraction, the line was discontinued in the late 1930s during the Great Depression. The Colorado Historical Society acquired the site in 1973 and began reconstructing the rail line. Reconstruction of the spectacular Devil’s Gate High Bridge – the highlight of the train trip – was completed in 1984, exactly a century after the opening of the line. A year later, the original Silver Plume depot was restored, and interpretive markers, hiking trails, and other amenities were added. Tours of the historic Lebanon silver mine are also available to visitors," says information from GeorgetownLooprr.com.

"Tourism in the West developed around railroad excursions. With seven trains a day running out of Denver at the height of its popularity, the Georgetown Loop was Colorado’s scenic “must see” and a deal at only $3 round-trip. Guidebooks, pamphlets and postcards helped send the images of the steep canyons and mountain peaks accessible by train across the nation."

"The Georgetown Loop is owned by History Colorado (formerly the Colorado Historical Society), and over the years they have produced a number of publications and articles that tell the story of this historic site. Among those publications, A Fragment of Old France: Hotel de Paris, Louis DuPuy, Georgetown Colorado, In the Depths of the Rocky Mountains, (1954, By the State Historical Society of Colorado) tells the colorful history of a landmark hotel there.

Thing of the past ... Hotel De Paris. Georgetown, Colorado, Arthur Rothstein, Arthur, photographer, Created: 1939 in October.

"Men travelled distances to enjoy its luxuries, some men famous but most of course unknown. The square two-story building, stuccoed to resemble stone; the tall effigy of Justice with her scales swinging in the breeze; the big metal lion and stag which stood on the walls; the fountain in the cafe; the dozen living rooms massively and richly furnished and framed in walnut; the hundreds of books, engravings and prints of classic subjects which lined the walls; the masonry cellars that sheltered casks of wine and imported tidbits and above all the personality of 'French Louis' who talked freely of literature and philosophy but hid his own history behind the fragrance of his kitchen—these were widely known everywhere in the West," says A Fragment of Old France.

Hotel De Paris. Georgetown, Colorado, Arthur Rothstein, photographer, created, October, 1939

"It is a tavern from Normandy, tucked away in a pocket among some of the loftiest mountains in the United States, and surrounded by the relics which remain of a once rich and substantial little city. Around it are tumbling streams, some quaint Victorian homes, and churches, the white towers of old volunteer fire companies, the traces of stage-roads and of an abandoned narrow-gauge railway that somehow penetrated the canyons. Above them all rise the steep, wooded slopes of a glacial gorge, and a glimpse of snowy summits," the book reports.

"Louis DuPuy's Hotel de Paris was the most-celebrated hostelry west of the Mississippi during '70s and '80s. Born in Alencon, France, DuPuy was a hater of women, yet left all he had to one," wrote Lambert Florin in Ghost Towns of the West. "He was the despiser of his guest yet made them comfortable in opulence undreamed of in a wild mountain silver camp. Eccentric, unpredictable, he had squandered an inheritance in France, arriving in Georgetown to recoups fortunes in '69, and four years later, was injured in a mine explosion. Displaying heroism in the rescue work of the disaster, he was rewarded with a collection taken up by families. With this, he bought Delmonico Bakery on Alpine Street, remodeled into Hotel de Paris. Lavish in furnishings, exotic in cuisine hotel accepted as guests only people passing close scrutiny of DuPuy, many being turned away for no apparent reason. Only one woman gained his second look – a widow, Sophie Galet. She was taken in at husband's death, made comfortable and bequeathed the entire establishment at DuPuy's death in 1900."

Florin notes that not all establishments in boom-warped Georgetown had such a good reputation.

"One saloon proprietor hired a sign painter to embellish the front of his establishment with a sign calculated to stimulate sales. He wanted a good job done but refused to pay when the sign painter asked, and the resultant legend read, 'We sell worst Whiskey, Wine and Cigars.' Unable to read, but pleased with attention his new sign created, the proprietor painter the rest of his money, later discovering he was being laughed at. Nevertheless, the publicity so stimulated business, the sign was allowed to remain for many years."  

Thing of the past ... Georgetown, Colo., William Henry Jackson, photographer, Detroit Publishing Co., copyright claimant, Published: c1901