Why A Mountain Town Became Known as One of the Most Renowned Fire Fighting Companies in Nineteenth-Century Colorado

By Donna Wichelman

When one asks people what comes to mind when they think about Colorado, they often mention four things--mountains, snow, thunderstorms, and blue skies. Associated with those qualities, they might include hiking, skiing, fishing, hunting, and Big Horn Sheep. All these elements make Colorado an attractive state in which to live or visit, because the outdoor activities are phenomenal, except when the thunderheads build overhead.

Less often do people who are not Colorado natives mention that we live in a climate that is also semi-arid and subject to high winds due to how the mountains funnel air, accelerating downdrafts on the eastern slopes, called Chinooks. These two climatic conditions have made us vulnerable, even before the advent of climate change, to thunderstrikes, wildfires, and heavy flooding, especially in the forested Colorado mountains. We have an average of twenty-two inches of rain compared to the country's average of thirty-eight inches.

Lightning Over the Rocky Mountains ID 42260194 © Taiga | Dreamstime.com

As the gold and silver mining industry grew in the latter half of the nineteenth century, and mining camps sprang up across the Rocky Mountains, such as  Georgetown, Central City, Leadville, Silverton, Victor, and others, one thing became clear. Colorado's susceptibility to wildfires needed to be addressed. Mining towns began establishing volunteer fire departments to combat the threat.

Even before Georgetown, Colorado was approved as an official town by legislative authority on February 28, 1868, the need for a fire department and the proper equipment was obvious. A raging forest fire tore down the Leavenworth Fork of Clear Creek, leaving the mountainside blackened. The threat was real. 

The fire threat is why, in the second book of my Singing Silver Mine Series Rhythms Of The Heart, when protagonist Cassie Munro asks her mother why more people don't plant foliage around their homes, Laurel responds that it's too hot and dry. "Our streets are so tightly packed with housing and businesses that a single spark might produce a tremendous fire. It could completely wipe out the entire town,” her father says.

Georgetown's fire department took the threat seriously. In the years following incorporation, Georgetown established guidelines for safe housing construction and funding for fire equipment. The first piece of equipment was a fire engine with 300 feet of hose and fifty fire buckets. The engine featured a "7 1/4 inch cylinder, operating with fourteen men on the brake. It was guaranteed to throw a stream of water 130 feet," according to The Rise of the Silver Queen author Christine Bradley. The town also tapped into the water supply from two creeks.

Fire Engine Pumper, Silver Plume Old School Museum: Donna's Gallery 2019

Fire Bucket, Old School Museum, Silver Plume: Donna's Gallery 2019

However, after the fire started at the town's most elegant hotel, the Barton House, caught fire in 1871, sending embers catching fire on neighboring properties, the townspeople demanded more and better equipment. A second big fire in January 1873 convinced the folks that they needed to create a formal fire department, and thus the Georgetown Water Company was formed.

By 1874, they had developed an extensive fire protection system. They dammed a reservoir they could tap into on the South Branch of Clear Creek, located above Georgetown. Waterlines ran throughout the town with seven fireplugs located at strategic places. Several companies of firefighters were formed, each with specialty firefighting equipment and firefighting skills.

Old Missouri Engine House, Georgetown, CO: Donna's Gallery 2018

Alpine Hose Company No. 2, Georgetown, Colorado, Compliments 
of graphix

ID 284014742 | Georgetown Colorado © Arinahabich08 | Dreamstime.com

In 1875, Georgetown added Alpine Hose Company No. 2 and "Old Missouri" Engine House, both houses located in the commercial district. Star Hook and Ladder stayed in Hope Hose Company, now the Town Hall at the east end of Sixth Street. 

Firehouse with a hand pump. Georgetown, Colorado

Hope Hose Company 1875

New York Public Library Digital Collections. Accessed September 1, 2025. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/010062b0-73bc-0139-6248-0242ac110003

Each year, they added waterlines and fire hydrants. By 1877, the Clear Creek Water Company laid 2,500 feet of main pipes and installed four new hydrants for a total of 8,900 feet of mains and sixteen hydrants.

Like fraternities, the firefighters enjoyed the camaraderie, improving their skills and boasting about their specialties. Every Fourth of July and on other occasions, they hosted competitions between themselves and other Clear Creek County communities to determine who had the fastest Hook and Ladder runners, the strongest, most durable pumpers, and the bravest souls to scale the heights of buildings.

Since the nineteenth century, when Georgetown strategically put into place policies to keep the town and community safe, Georgetown has never experienced a devastating fire. We can be grateful to the town's forefathers for the wisdom that has allowed citizens and tourists alike today to enjoy one of the most well-preserved Victorian communities intact in Colorado.  

Weaving history and faith into stories of intrigue and redemption grew out of Donna's love of travel, history, and literature as a young adult while attending the United World College of the Atlantic--an international college in Wales, U.K. She enjoys developing plots that show how God's love abounds even in the profoundly difficult circumstances of our lives. Her stories reflect the hunger in all of us for love, belonging, and forgiveness.

Donna was a communications professional before writing full-time. Her short stories and articles have appeared in inspirational publications. She has two indie-published romantic suspense novels, Light Out of Darkness and Undaunted Valor, in her Waldensian Series. Her Gilded Age historical romance, A Song of Deliverance, released in December 2024.

Donna and her husband of forty years participate in ministry at their local church in Colorado. They love spending time with their grandchildren and bike, kayak, and travel whenever possible.

How a Nineteenth-Century School House Became an Icon

By Donna Wichelman

Have you ever observed a house or building in the town where you live and instinctively could identify the period in which it was built? Historians and history aficionados know that they can place the era of a building by it's architecture. This principal of architecture applies to every era across the millennia, and it particularly pertains to school houses built in the United States during the nineteenth century. 

According to the Georgetown Trust for Conservation and Preservation, the brick building known as the Georgetown School built in 1874 and operated as a school until 1938—is considered “the iconic structure in the Georgetown Silver Plume National Historic Landmark District.” Reputed to be the oldest brick building in Colorado, its historical significance can’t be overstated, especially its contribution to the greater story of Colorado’s mining boom of the nineteenth century.

Georgetown School, Georgetown, Colorado: Donna's Gallery 2018

The school house’s architecture was both modern for its time and classic in its design. Similar school houses can be found across America with their Italianate elements. Features include low pitched or flat roofs, overhanging, double-bracketed eaves, emphasis on a vertical structure, tall narrow windows, a boxy symmetry, campaniles—an Italian bell tower--and decorative ornamentation. In every way, the Georgetown School fits the classic design that also includes carved keystones on both round and flattened arches and pilasters that marked the structure’s corners and flanks the central entry bay, which lies under a large gable dormer in the truncated hipped roof.

Italianate structures began to appear throughout the United States in the 1840s, reaching their zenith in the 1850s and began to disappear in the 1880s. Their architecture, especially in school design, mimicked Italian farmhouses and villas and were characterized by vertical and decorative detailing. They were normally two to three stories high, though more elaborate houses and government buildings could be four to five stories.

The hallmark of Italianate architecture can be identified by tall, narrow windows. Many have a crown that is typically in the shape of an inverted “U”. Other window crowns frame the entire window and often have some amount of ornamentation. At times, the crowns may be flat rather than round, but rectangular windows will normally be topped with ornamented pediments.

Cook-Rutledge Mansion in Chippawa Falls Wisconsin
ID 21935463 | Italianate Architecture © Joe Ferrer | Dreamstime.com

Albert Buildings on Queen Victoria Street in London EC4

ID 195238286 | Italianate Architecture © Nicoleta Raluca Tudor | Dreamstime.com

LaFox School, LaFox, Illinois in Kane County, 1871
C/O Dreamstime.com

During the Italianate period, the interior of the schools would have a series of cellular classrooms. Multi-story schools displayed symmetrical stairways or central open stairways with atriums. Another component was the assembly hall in which students would gather for morning announcements or special events.

Once again, the Georgetown School displayed iconic structure of this period. A student would enter through a set of double doors into a small vestibule, then ascend a short flight of stairs to the first floor central hallway. Tall four-paneled doors lined the corridor, each with a transom at the stop. Straight ahead she would view a symmetrical stairway of wood plank stairs leading to an an atrium and the second floor where she would find classrooms and a large assembly hall.

Entrance Vestibule, Georgetown School

Tall Door with Transom

Atrium from the Second Floor

The building was sold to a machine shop but fell into disrepair in the latter part of the twentieth century. In 2007, Georgetown Trust applied for grants to restore the building to its original glory. Eight years later, Georgetown saw its dream come true through generous grants, individual donations, and the Colorado State Historical Fund.

Today, the building operates as the Georgetown Heritage Center, serving the community in many ways, including housing the local history archive. If you happen into the Heritage Center on any given day, you might find Ms. Christine Bradley, local historian and author of The Rise of the Silver Queen doing more research and adding her contribution to the museum. She’s always happy to answer any questions you have about Georgetown, Clear Creek County, and Colorado’s rich mining history. 

For more information, go to www.georgetowntrust.org/heritage-center.

Weaving history and faith into stories of intrigue and redemption grew out of Donna's love of travel, history, and literature as a young adult while attending the United World College of the Atlantic--an international college in Wales, U.K. She enjoys developing plots that show how God's love abounds even in the profoundly difficult circumstances of our lives. Her stories reflect the hunger in all of us for love, belonging, and forgiveness.

Donna was a communications professional before writing full-time. Her short stories and articles have appeared in inspirational publications. She has two indie-published romantic suspense novels, Light Out of Darkness and Undaunted Valor, in her Waldensian Series. Her Gilded Age historical romance, A Song of Deliverance, released in December 2024.

Donna and her husband of forty years participate in ministry at their local church in Colorado. They love spending time with their grandchildren and bike, kayak, and travel whenever possible.

How Tourism Contributed to Colorado's Western Expansion

By Donna Wichelman

The rise of the mining industry in the Colorado Rockies during the 1860s made way for western expansion and ushered in the Gilded Age for the Territory of Colorado. Georgetown’s unique and colorful setting enticed entrepreneurial enterprise and lured people from every walk of life. Many stayed to make their fortunes in the gold or silver industry. Others came to experience the spectacular beauty and fresh mountain air and then went home to tell about it.

The New York Public Library. "Georgetown, Colorado." The New York Public Library Digital Collections 1850 - 1930.

According to historian Christine Bradley in The Rise of the Silver Queen, “The town’s early rustic appearance gave way to fine homes, level sidewalks, a few trees, and elegant fences … The streets of Georgetown were packed with new arrivals from every point of the globe …” including Cornish, Welsh, and German miners, Italian retailers, Irish workmen, and the Frenchman Louis DePuy, who turned a small bakery into the elegant and now historic Hotel de Paris. It was also a town where formerly enslaved people could earn a living and invest in mines. 

All these elements coincided to create an international flair and intrigue as people descended upon Georgetown to make their mark in the mining community. It also brought people from near and far and across the world to marvel over the place where creativity and optimism had sprung to life in a setting of natural beauty. Thus, the tourist industry took off, bringing overwhelming numbers of people with their tourist dollars as early as 1872.

The famous Englishwoman Isabella Bird, whose travels took her across America, visited the region and described Georgetown as "the only town I have seen in America to which the epithet picturesque could be applied."

"The life of Isabella Bird (Mrs. Bishop) : snapshot taken of Mrs. Bishop at Swatow by Mr. Mackenzie." The New York Public Library Digital Collections.

 "Isabella Bird Bishop [three portraits]." The New York Public Library Digital Collections.

An article in The Colorado Miner on January 14, 1873 titled At Least One Million Dollars From Tourists in 1872 had this to say: "Visitors to Colorado last summer paid hotels bills to the amount of $200,000 in Denver alone. Add to these figures the amounts expended at the Hotels in the mountain and southern towns ... [it]will represent not far from one million dollars cash. And so it will be seen that the beautiful scenery and health-inspiring atmosphere of Colorado is the source ... all because the press of the Territory and ... the entire press of the U.S., have advertised our beauties and wonders ...." See the Colorado Miner, January 14, 1873

A second article in The Colorado Miner on January 9, 1873, spoke to the many visitors to the mountain towns in Clear Creek County. "There were 14,000 arrivals recorded in the register books of the six principal Hotels in Clear Creek County in the year 1872. These figures, which are decidedly respectable for a remote mining county ... do not include the regular guests of the hotels. The Hotels to which we refer, are the Barton, Girard, and Ennis Houses in Georgetown ... and it is appropriate to remark ... that these Hotels are kept in superior style and are pleasant and comfortable ... for tourists ...." See the Colorado Miner, January 9, 1873.

The Barton House, to which the last article refers, gained widespread notoriety. According to the History of Clear Creek and Boulder Valleys in Colorado, published in 1880, the Barton House was known for being one of the most well-known, beloved, and lavish hotels for its comfort, elegance, and modern accommodations. Its owner, Mr. William E. Barton, enjoyed a reputation for exceptional hospitality, and an ad in the July 29, 1873 Colorado Miner boasted its "elevation overlooking the entire town." From there, tourists could enjoy the romantic scenery in the mountains ... See The Colorado Miner June 27, 1873.

Barton House: As Seen in an Ad in the Colorado Miner in June 1873

Green Lake became one of the most visited tourist destinations in the mountains above Georgetown. It was an easy day's carriage drive up a narrow canyon and provided recreational opportunities, such as boating, fishing, and picnicking on the shores of a crystal clear mountain lake. 

"Green Lake, looking south. "The New York Public Library Digital Collections 1850 - 1930.

 

       

"Green Lake, 3 miles above Georgetown." New York Public Library Digital Collections 1850 -1930

Green Lake Georgetown, Colorado 2015 ID 57686598 Dreamstime 

In August 1877, the Colorado Central Railroad completed its track to Georgetown, and by the end of May 1878, Georgetown gained the title of the "handsomest city in the Rockies," as people flocked to the region by train and made their way up the canyon and over the Guanella Pass to Green Lake. A new luxury hotel under the ownership of French-born Louis Dupuy had opened, the Hotel de Paris, which replaced the Barton in first-class luxury. Today, the Hotel De Paris Musuem is considered one of the best preserved Gilded Age luxury hotels in the United States.

Hotel De Paris, Georgetown Colorado: Donna's Gallery, December 2019

Today, Georgetown thrives on tourism and still welcomes visitors from across the world. Recognizing Georgetown as a uniquely preserved nineteenth-century Victorian silver mining boom town in 1966, the National Park Service designated Georgetown, Silver Plume, the intervening Loop Valley, and the surrounding mountainsides the Georgetown Silver Plume National Historic Landmark District. Four years later, on May 7, 1970, members of the community formed the Georgetown Society, which eventually became Historic Georgetown, Inc., to begin a historic preservation effort that continues until now.

In addition to an ordinance specifying building design reviews, there are numerous museums and properties that have been under renovation. These include the Hamill House Museum 1867/79, the Kneisel House 1870, the Bowman-White House 1892, the Tucker-Rutherford Cottage 1870s, 1880s, 1890s (used as my cottage for Anna Sullivan in A Song of Deliverance), the Hotel De Paris, the Georgetown Firefighting Museum, Alpine Hose No. 2, and others.

The Tucker Rutherford Housem, aka known as Anna Sullivan's House in A Song of Deliverance

Donna's Gallery, August 2024

 

Hamill House Museum: Donna's Gallery, August 2024

Weaving history and faith into stories of intrigue and redemption grew out of Donna's love of travel, history, and literature as a young adult while attending the United World College of the Atlantic--an international college in Wales, U.K. She enjoys developing plots that show how God's love abounds even in the profoundly difficult circumstances of our lives. Her stories reflect the hunger in all of us for love, belonging, and forgiveness.

Donna was a communications professional before writing full-time. Her short stories and articles have appeared in inspirational publications. She has two indie-published romantic suspense novels, Light Out of Darkness and Undaunted Valor, in her Waldensian Series. Her Gilded Age historical romance, A Song of Deliverance, released on December 3, 2024.

Donna and her husband of forty years participate in ministry at their local church in Colorado. They love spending time with their grandchildren and bike, kayak, and travel whenever possible.

How the 1872 National Mining Apex Law Divided Friend and Foe

By Donna Wichelman

In a recent interview for a guest blog, a friend asked which historical parameters were imposed on the writing of my historical romance, A Song of Deliverance, and where I had to fill in the gaps with my imagination. Sometimes, the truth is stranger than fiction, which, in the case of the Apex Law or what is also referred to as the "extralateral rights" law, one wonders how the national government could have passed such egregious legislation. To understand why the 1872 legislation was passed, we have to go back to the history of mining in nineteenth-century America.

The California Gold Rush did more to create western expansion across America than any other development. Once men heard about the discovery of gold, they literally "rushed" to the western territories, bringing on tens of thousands in mass migration and the demands for quicker and better transportation. People became crazed, lured by the possibility of making their fortunes. They came on steamships through Panama or around Cape Horn. Many joined wagon trains on the Overland Trail, while others built the Transcontinental Railway from New York to California.

Image by Denise Henze from Pixabay, AI Rendering of a Steam Engine on a Railroad

Image by Bishnu Sarangi from Pixabay

Some found their fortunes panning for gold along river banks. But soon, those resources dwindled, and hard rock mining, digging deep into the belly of the earth, began to take over the industry, giving rise to demands for technological advances such as the Burley Drill to better access the minerals underground, steam boilers to operate hoisting equipment down the shafts, and smelting furnaces to extract valuable metals from the ore and remove impurities. The Gilded Age was on in the West, as mine owners needed more laborers willing to work in difficult conditions.

Image by Erich Westendarp from Pixabay, AI Rendering of a Steam Boiler

Image by Vilius Kukanauskas from Pixabay Mine

As men migrated west, they soon discovered quantities of gold, silver, copper, and other metals could be found in Nevada, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, and the Black Hills. The atmosphere was ripe for mining towns to spring up everywhere across the West as the demand for services increased--banks, food, clothes, and various other supplies necessary to survive. 

By 1872, the United States government recognized the need for regulation. Until that time, practices for open mining and prospecting on public land tended to be universal and supported by state and territorial regulation, but illegal under federal law. After the Civil War, eastern congressmen, looking for a way to pay the war debt, viewed western miners as squatters on public land and proposed the seizure of western mines to be put up for public auction. One congressman, Fernando Wood, advocated for the government to take ownership to benefit the treasury.

Image of Gold Nugget by Csaba Nagy from Pixabay

Western representatives argued that miners and prospectors promoted commerce and the settlement of new territories. A series of legislation was passed, including the "Chaffee laws" of July 26, 1866, named after Colorado Territorial representative Jerome B. Chaffee, that legalized hard rock mining on public land. Similar law was passed July 9,1870 for placer mining.

Then, on May 10, 1872, the General Mining Act of 1872 (much of which is still intact) codified the informal system of acquiring and protecting claims on federal public lands. All citizens eighteen and older have the right to locate a lode (hard rock) or placer (gravel) mining on federal lands where such land is open, which consists of 350 million acres of federal public land still today.

Mine Tailings  from the Terrible Mine Seen From I70 near Georgetown, Colorado: Donna's Gallery, June 2019

One piece of that legislation, however, became and still is a general headache for mine owners. In A Song of Deliverance, I based the feud between my hero, Stefan Maier, and the villain, Georg Töpfer, on a real feud in 1873 that took place between the Pelican Mine--owners Eli Streeter and Thomas and John McCunniff--and the Dives claim owned by John McMurdy, having purchased part interest from Thomas Burr and a deed from William Hamill. Unfortunately, the Pelican and Dives claims overlapped, and litigation ensued.

 353335889 | Silver Nugget © Niel Ibragimov | Dreamstime.com

At the forefront of the Pelican-Dives case was the apex law or “extralateral rights” one part of the 1872 National Mining Law. According to Christine Bradley in The Rise of the Silver Queen, “The right allowed the owners of a claim the exclusive right to mine a vein if the apex, or highest point, occurred within their property. The owner could follow the vein’s downward course beyond the property’s sidelines but not beyond the end lines unless [they] purchased the neighboring claims … In reality, such veins seldom existed in the mining world. Veins and ore pockets went everywhere and often surfaced in other claims.” 

Fierce feuding between the Pelican-Dives owners continued into the 1880s, resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars in litigation fees and one murder. Ultimately, Pelican and Dives merged into one company under William Hamill’s direction.

The extralateral rights law still exists today and continues to be a source of disputes among mine owners. Regulations under this law are complicated, and the courts have to sift through the various parts of the legislation to determine whose rights are being violated. Many miners contend the law is outdated and needs to be revisited. But will the federal government move on this question? Well, it is the federal government. So, anything can happen ... or not.

Weaving history and faith into stories of intrigue and redemption grew out of Donna's love of travel, history, and literature as a young adult while attending the United World College of the Atlantic--an international college in Wales, U.K. She enjoys developing plots that show how God's love abounds even in the profoundly difficult circumstances of our lives. Her stories reflect the hunger in all of us for love, belonging, and forgiveness.

Donna was a communications professional before writing full-time. Her short stories and articles have appeared in inspirational publications. She has two indie-published romantic suspense novels, Light Out of Darkness and Undaunted Valor, in her Waldensian Series. Her Gilded Age historical romance, A Song of Deliverance, released on December 3, 2024.

Donna and her husband of forty years participate in ministry at their local church in Colorado. They love spending time with their grandchildren and bike, kayak, and travel whenever possible.

When A Summer Vacation on a Steam Engine Turns Into a Historical Romance Series

By Donna Wichelman

Long before my Singing Silver Mine historical romance series came to pass, our family became fans of the Georgetown Loop Railroad living museum attraction in Georgetown, Colorado. The three-foot, narrow-gauge railroad through the Rocky Mountains provided a delightful summer excursion with our then four-year-old daughter only forty-five minutes west from Denver. Little did I know its importance in the history of Colorado would take a prominent place in a series I would write many years later.

Georgetown Loop Railroad Summer 1995: Donna's Gallery

Summer Fun on the Georgetown Railroad
Summer 1995: Donna's Gallery

The find of gold by Lewis Ralston at the confluence of the Clear Creek and South Platte River in Arvada and his return to the same site in present-day Arvada eight years later touched off the gold rush to the Rockies in 1858. The discovery set off a chain of events that eventually sent Kentuckians George F. Griffith and his brother David T. Griffith up the Clear Creek Canyon to the South Fork of the Clear Creek in June 1859.

The Griffith Brothers set up a camp on June 15th and found gold two days later. Not long afterward, they built a cabin at what is now Seventeenth and Main Streets in today’s Georgetown. By June 1860, they’d created their own mining district called the Griffith Mining District, and in the spring of 1861, David Griffith surveyed and platted the town of Georgetown with approximately forty residents and two mills.

Talk of a railroad in the Territory of Colorado was already underway by the mid-1860s with the influx of immigrants and a new ore on the scene—silver! The Colorado and Clear Creek RR incorporated in 1865 and reorganized as the Colorado Central and Pacific RR in 1866.

In 1867, John Evans and David Moffat incorporate Denver Pacific Railroad to build a railroad between Denver and Cheyenne to connect with the Transcontinental between New York and San Francisco. The railroad was completed in June 1869 and more people descended on the territory.

As the mining districts of Central City-Black Hawk and Griffith Mining continued to grow, so did the desire to establish railroads to transport ore down the mountain. The Colorado Central and Pacific became the Colorado Central RR and laid 11 miles up the Clear Creek from Golden. By 1870, the Colorado Central had connected with the Denver Pacific and Kansas Pacific at Jersey Junction two miles north of Denver.

However, with the dawn of a new decade came Eastern interests and political wrangling among corporate entities, and the Union Pacific, Colorado Central, and Denver Pacific/Kansas Pacific jockeyed for control. Still, miles of track continued to be laid along the Clear Creek and into Central City and Black Hawk, and locomotives were delivered to Golden until the end of 1872.

Then the financial crisis of 1873 struck. The nation had already been hard hit, but now Colorado and the railroads were feeling the crunch. Though grading continued and routes were still laid, the Colorado Central found itself unable to pay its bills. Between financial woes, weather-related blockages, and corporate squabbling, the people of Georgetown had to wait another four years for the Colorado Central Railroad to reach them.

Despite the delay of a railroad, Georgetown continued to prosper and burst at the seams with people from all parts of the globe who’d made their fortunes in silver. There was every reason for the town to be optimistic as the train finally rode into town in August 1877. Georgetown had become the Silver Queen of Colorado.

Georgetown Narrow Gauge Railroad
iStock-471011565

As it turned out, the title was short-lived when Leadville overtook Georgetown with its rich silver veins and people began to migrate once again at the end of the decade. But the Georgetown Loop was an engineering marvel for its day, having devised “a system of curves and bridges reducing the average grade to three percent … including three hairpin turns, four bridges, and a thirty-degree horseshoe curve from Georgetown to Silver Plume,” says the Georgetown Loop RR website. The $3 train ride became one of Colorado’s “must see” attractions.

Today, the Georgetown Loop RR still amazes and attracts people from all over the world who want an “old time” experience on a narrow-gauge train through the astounding terrain of the Colorado Rockies. Along the route, the visitor can also disembark for a tour of the Lebanon Silver Mine—a once prolific source of silver in the district. They also offer a gold-panning experience. An Autumn Fest runs through the month of October when actors make the experience fun and engaging by dressing up as characters from the 1870s.  Then, beginning in November/December, they run a Santa North Pole adventure and Santa’s Lighted Forest trains.

Actors Portraying 1870s Characters, Georgetown Loop Railroad
October 2018: Donna's Gallery

Lebanon Silver Mine Tunnel, Georgetown Loop Railway
October 2018: Donna's Gallery

For more information about the Georgetown Loop Railroad and its holiday events visit https://www.georgetownlooprr.com/

And if you are a train aficionado and interested in a historically immersive experience about train travel in Colorado, visit the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden, Colorado https://coloradorailroadmuseum.org/. 

Weaving history and faith into stories of intrigue and redemption grew out of Donna's love of travel, history, and literature as a young adult while attending the United World College of the Atlantic--an international college in Wales, U.K. She enjoys developing plots that show how God's love abounds even in the profoundly difficult circumstances of our lives. Her stories reflect the hunger in all of us for love, belonging, and forgiveness.

Donna was a communications professional before writing full-time. Her short stories and articles have appeared in inspirational publications. She has two indie-published romantic suspense novels, Light Out of Darkness and Undaunted Valor, in her Waldensian Series. Her Gilded Age historical romance, A Song of Deliverance, will be released by Scrivenings Press in December 2024.

Donna and her husband of forty years participate in ministry at their local church in Colorado. They love spending time with their grandchildren and bike, kayak, and travel whenever possible.

Why Formerly Enslaved African American Clara Brown is an Example for Our Time

 

By Donna Wichelman

As an author of historical romance, occasionally I'm inspired by a real-life historical figure and create a character with similar traits. Formerly enslaved, African American Clara Brown's true life story compelled me to bring to life the fictional character, Cecelia Richards, in my Gilded Age romance coming out in December.

Clara Brown rode into Colorado in the mid-nineteenth century and stole the hearts of many who called her “Aunt Clara” for her generosity and philanthropy. Though technically not a Georgetown resident, Clara first settled in Denver, then moved to the mining town of Central City twenty miles northeast of Georgetown. In time, she invested in real estate and mining properties in Gilpin and Clear Creek counties.

C Stephen H. Hart Research Center at History Colorado, Scan #10027902lara Brown, (aka “Aunt Clara”) invested in mining property in Georgetown in the 1860s and 1870s.
Used by Permission of the Stephen H. Hart Research Center at History Colorado, Scan #10027902

Born into slavery in 1800, Clara spent her early years in Virginia and was sold several times to the highest bidder. A Virginian tobacco farmer, Ambrose Smith, bought her, and she continued to work for him after he moved to Kentucky. At age eighteen, she married Richard, and they had four children. But when Smith died, her husband and four children were tragically sold off to different people across the country. Devastated, Clara vowed she would find them someday despite the odds of getting her freedom.

Clara’s last owner, hat maker George Brown sympathized with Clara's plight. In 1856, after working for him as a domestic for twenty years, he died and stipulated in his will that she must be freed and given money to begin a new life. Touched by his generosity, Clara began a search for her family. However, three years later, heartbroken and running out of cash, she gave up.

Clara convinced a group of gold prospectors, going west on a wagon train, to take her along as their cook. After a long arduous journey, she came to Colorado in 1859 and lived in Denver, working as a baker. She also helped two Methodist missionaries set up a non-denominational Sunday School. With the goal of finding her family ever-present, she followed the stream of people, heading to the mountains to make their fortunes in gold and silver. She didn’t care about the money, only the ability to reunite with her family.

Tailings from a Silver Mine Near Georgetown, Colorado: Donna's Gallery 2019

She settled in Central City where she set up a laundry, offered her services as a cook and midwife, and began saving money. By the time the Civil War ended and other blacks had been given their freedom, her income had grown enough so that she could support herself, give to local charities, take in sick and injured miners, as well as invest in mining properties and real estate. She also set up a nondenominational Sunday School and gave money and time to four churches, including St. James Methodist Church, where Clara was known to hold services in her home before the church was built and host missionary circuit riders.

Central City, Colorado Street Scene: ID 253110770 © Littleny | Dreamstime.com

Governor Pitkin sent Clara to Kansas in 1879 as an official representative to invite black Exodusters (former enslaved homesteaders) to move to Colorado. With a mining strike at hand and jobs needing to be filled, they had plenty of work. Clara donated her own money to help relocate them.

Clara finally heard credible news in 1882 that her daughter Eliza lived in Council Bluffs, Iowa. By then, her funds had been spent down or extorted by unethical men in real estate, and friends had to help her get to Iowa. Once there, she discovered that Eliza had been living there for some time, and mother and daughter finally reunited after more than half a century. Newspapers all over the country carried the story.

Clara brought her daughter back to Colorado where they lived until Clara’s death in 1885. To honor this extraordinary woman, the Central City Opera House debuted an opera in 2003 called Gabrielle’s Daughter. Her story of courage and passion continues to be played out on the stage today.

Central City, Colorado Opera House: ID 56740743 © Marek Uliasz | Dreamstime.com

None of us would want to live Clara Brown’s real-life story. As a Caucasian woman, I can’t begin to understand the dynamics of all that she experienced. Yet, something about her story inspires us, moves us to admire her, and makes us hope. Christian author Jerry Sittser calls this the “redemptive spirit” of her story.

Many people extoll Clara for having been the first successful African American business woman in Colorado. Others pay tribute to her angel-like qualities—her good works, caring for the sick, the poor, and the underserved. Most praise her for coming out of slavery to establish a life full of “passion and purpose” (see Clara Brown: Angel of the Rockies, August 26, 2016, Colorado Virtual Library). All of this is true.

Yet Clara Brown’s story is much more than what people say of her. It calls us to view our lives in the light of hers and discover what enabled her to move from enslavement to being truly free—not only free from slavery but free from the bonds of the petty and the shallow.

Imbued with faith in God and strength of character, she didn’t allow her circumstances to diminish her. She could have become bitter, blaming the world—even God—for allowing her husband and children to be cruelly removed from her. Indeed, she had every reason to hate her enslavers. Instead, she gained wisdom and strength and overcame her circumstances, transforming her into a woman of grace, humility, and generosity—loving people, giving of her time, and persevering in the face of a hopeless cause to find her children.

Clara Brown transcended the ways of her day and made a difference in the communities where she lived. Perhaps we’d never want to live her life, but I believe most of us—maybe even secretly deep down—want to emulate her spirit in a way that brings profound meaning to our own lives. Her example provides a roadmap for us to follow in our current-day trifling and chaotic world.

Weaving history and faith into stories of intrigue and redemption grew out of Donna's love of travel, history, and literature as a young adult while attending the United World College of the Atlantic--an international college in Wales, U.K. She enjoys developing plots that show how God's love abounds even in the profoundly difficult circumstances of our lives. Her stories reflect the hunger in all of us for love, belonging, and forgiveness.

Donna was a communications professional before writing full-time. Her short stories and articles have appeared in inspirational publications. She has two indie-published romantic suspense novels, Light Out of Darkness and Undaunted Valor, in her Waldensian Series. Her Gilded Age historical romance, A Song of Deliverance, will be released by Scrivenings Press in December 2024.

Donna and her husband of forty years participate in ministry at their local church in Colorado. They love spending time with their grandchildren and bike, kayak, and travel whenever possible.