Annual message to our beloved members - Ouray Countycollection of historic books, geology books, maps, documents and vintage photos. Moreover, the facility will serve as a research

he OCHS is looking forwardto a successful new year aswell as we prepare our-selves for the grand “unveil-

ing” of our new museum annex onMain Street in Ouray. Many of ourmembers have followed with greatinterest the acquisition of our newarchival space in thehistoric Story Blockbuilding in centralOuray. This structurewill house our entirecollection of historicbooks, geology books,maps, documents andvintage photos.Moreover, the facilitywill serve as aresearch facility for allthose interested inacquiring moreknowledge about thehistory of our region.The space wasacquired in December of 2012 but theremodeling did not start in earnestuntil early spring 2013. In addition tohousing our entire archival collection,the space was also designed to place amuseum store in the front, viewablefrom Main Street. We had a “soft”opening of the store on the 4th of Julywith limited hours thereafter. Ourgoal is to have a prosperous store in2014 that will aid in our continuedefforts to enlarge our endowment.Please tell your friends and neighbors

about the store and visit oftenwhen you find yourself inOuray.

This past year has beennotable in many other ways asthe OCHS continued with itstradition of sponsoring qualityevents and learning opportu-

nities for ourmembers andthe public atlarge.

Once againour Evening ofHistory lectureseries , organ-ized by DonPaulson, wasmet with rave reviewsby all who attended.In the early season themuseum had an OttoMears and a San JuanPhotography exhibiton display while the

mid-summer months had the annualwalking cemetery tours as well as theCorkscrew Railroad Bed andTurntable hikes. Later in the seasonwe had two events which surpassedour wildest expectations as fundrais-ers and education opportunities.Here I speak of the Geology FieldTour organized by George Moore andRobert Stoufer as well as the JohnFielder Photography Workshop inlate September. These two eventsearned acclaim and rank as possibly

the two highest fundraising eventswe have ever sponsored. None ofthese events could have beenaccomplished without the supportof our loyal members, such asyourself. On behalf of the entireboard of directors, I wish to thankyou for your continued patronageand invite you again to come andvisit our ever changing museum(always something new to see) aswell as our new museum annex onMain Street.

See you there!

Cordially, Kevin J. ChismirePresidentOuray County Historical Society

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The Ouray County HistoricalSociety (OCHS) thanks OurayCounty Plaindealer, for theirassistance in printing and distrib-uting our newsletter.

MISSION STATEMENT: TheOuray County Historical Society(OCHS) is dedicated to preserve,protect, procure, exhibit, andinterpret whatever relates to thenatural, social, and cultural histo-ry of Ouray County and the adja-cent San Juan Mountain Regionof Colorado.WINTER ~ SPRING 2014

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Annual message to our beloved members

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President’s MessageBy Kevin Chismire

The Ouray County HistoricalSociety (OCHS) has received a$15,000 grant from the HistoryColorado’s Colorado StateHistorical Fund. The grant willprovide an assessment of theOuray County Museum build-ing that was built in 1887 as theOuray Miners Hospital. Itserved as Ouray’s full servicehospital until closing in 1964.OCHS purchased the buildingin 1976 and it has housed themuseum ever since. The grantwill provide preservation plan-ning and documentation need-ed to begin undertaking a com-plete rehabilitation of the facili-ty.

This project will assess thecondition of the building’s manyhistoric features, create a priori-tized list of deficiencies andestablish a phased preservationand rehabilitation plan with

associated costs. Historic archi-tectural features such as exteriordecorative elements, windowsand doors, the character-definingroof eaves and decorative brack-ets, and porches, have been

impacted by moisture infiltra-tion, heavy use and old age.There are also potential issueswith settlement of the founda-tion and the decay of mortarjoints.

OCHS Receives Grant from HistoryColoradoÕs State Historical Fund

Rairdens donateworkshop scholarship

s The John Fielder Autumn Photography Workshop was held last September.

s The OCHS Geology Tour held lastAugust was coordinated by George Mooreand Linda Cracraft.

s Members Jack and Barbara Rairden donated a stu-dent scholarship for the John Fielder PhotographicWorkshop.

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The OCHS 2013 raffle quilt nowresides in the Deep South.Cynthia Thornbury, holder of thewinning raffle ticket, lives inPonchatoula, Louisiana, a smalltown about 55 miles northwest ofNew Orleans.

The quilt arrived at Thornbury’shome soon after her winning tick-et was announced at the annualQuilter’s Tea last September. “Iwas completely surprised anddelighted to receive the call fromOuray that I had won theCathedral Window quilt,” she saidin a phone interview. “I plan todisplay it prominent-ly as a reminder of myvisits to Colorado, aplace I’ve alwaysloved.”

Thornbury pur-chased six raffle tick-ets this past summerduring a visit toOuray. She wasattracted to theCathedral Windowdesign partly becauseshe had once attempt-ed the challengingpattern herself.

“I only completedfour little squares ofthe lovely designbecause it was sotime-consuming,” shesaid. “I was veryproud of those foursquares! I neverdreamed that I wouldone day own an entireCathedral Windowquilt.”

The raffle drawingtook place at theOCHS Quilter’s Tea,held September 27 atSt. John’s EpiscopalChurch. The popularannual event offers quilters andquilt-lovers the chance to social-ize, partake of fancy tea-partyfare, and learn about the history ofquilting. Author Jo Ann Glim,who wrote a memoir of her child-hood in western Colorado, shared

quilting memories and drew thewinning ticket. Sue Hillhouse,OCHS Quilt Committee chair,called the winner to break thegood news.

The rainbow-hued CathedralWindow quilt was displayed atthe Ouray County Museum Storeat the Research Center throughoutthe summer and made appear-ances at special events includingthe recent Sneffels Fiber Festival.The OCHS sold over 3,000 raffletickets from May throughSeptember. All proceeds from theraffle benefit the nonprofit OCHS.

Each year Hillhouse coordinatesa team of local quilters to designand stitch a unique raffle quilt.She also organizes the museum’sannual quilt show and serves asMaster of Ceremonies for theQuilter’s Tea.

2 sss HISTORIAN • Ouray County Historical Society’s Newsletter WINTER ~SPRING 2014

s Cynthia Thornbury proudly displays the quilt shewon as the holder of the winning raffle ticket.

?youDo

recognize this building

The building was constructed around:

a. 1880b. 1890c. 1900d. 1910

The first owner of the building was a man named:

a. Albert Jeffersb. Judge Storyc. Thomas Walshd. George Wright

What type of business firstoccupied the retail space?

a. Saloonb. Groceriesc. Dry goodsd. Hardware

Today, this building is occupied by the:

a. Ouray County Plaindealer office

b. North Moon Galleryc. Columbine Mineral Shop

& Lindsey & Co. Realtyd. Cimarron Books

and Coffee House

Answers on page 3.OCHS Photo GregoryCollection.

2013 Raffle Quilt Winner

CURATOR’S REPORT 2013Much of our work in 2013

involved moving the paper archives,photo archives and Ross MooreLibrary over to the new Research

Center at 712Main Street.With the publici-ty of the open-ing of theResearch Center,we are receivingnew collectionsof mining andgeology books.In early January

we organized the 1500 volumeCharles Neill geology collection thatwas donated in early November of2013.

2013 was also a banner year fordonations of historic Ouray Countyitems (over 2000 separate items weredonated). The biggestsingle donor was DonOrcutt who gave us 337historic Ouray itemsincluding legal docu-ments, letters, photosincluding a Frank Ricefamily photo album, postcards, stock certificates,maps, etc. Orcutt, whowas raised in Ouray, alsogave us his 1955 OurayHigh School lettersweater that is on displayin the school hallway (seephoto). Other importantdonations include aWestern Electric minetelephone used in theIdarado mine, high reso-lution copies of historicEmil Fischer miningmaps from the late 19thcentury, an 1876 CentennialWinchester Rifle, wooden Ouray gro-cery boxes from the early 20th centu-ry, a collection of 40 antique electri-cal insulators, a 100-year old OurayCounty ballot box, two crank tele-phones used in Ouray in the early20th century, a 100-year old industri-al pedal sewing machine used byGus Mechler for over 40 years in hisOuray Men’s Furnishings store, a1910 Ridgway International Order ofOdd Fellows (Lodge 158) ornatemembers ribbon and badge, ElksClub tokens, commemorative miningbadges, and many other unique

items. During 2013 we put up over 50

new informational signs in the muse-um. Our museum is very unique inthat 100% of our historic artifact col-lection is on display for visitors tosee. We try to put signs up for allnew items and we are working onsignage for items already in the col-lection without informational signs.The history only comes alive whenthe artifacts are described. A simplesurvey tool might be somewhatinteresting but when you know thatRichard Whinnerah, for many yearsthe Ouray County Surveyor in thelate 19th and early 20th centuries,actually used it on a daily basis, itreally becomes much interesting.

I am working on another out-standing Evenings of History for thissummer. Already lined up are talks

on The Uncompahgre Valley UteArcheological Project; the MountainTop and Grandview Mines; MesaVerde National Park; and HistoricGrocery Stores of Ouray County.

Our museum only grows better aspeople make donations of historicitems to the museum. If you haveany historic Ouray photos or docu-ments in your family collection wewould be happy to scan them andreturn the originals to you alongwith copies of the scanned files. Ifyou haven’t been to the OurayMuseum in a few years you will besurprised at the many new exhibits.

By Don Paulson

s Don Orcutt donated his 1955 Ouray High Schoolletter sweater along with over 300 other items to theOuray County Historial Society.

Ouray County HistorialSociety curator, Don Paulson,offers his familiar smile inshowing off his new desk.

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The bronze miner that towersover the Miner’s Memorial Wall inOuray embodies the brawny vigorof the area’s mining heritage. Theman who sculpted the monumentis as inspiring as his creations.

Sculptor and multi-media artistMichael McCullough, a fourth-gen-eration Coloradoan, has lived inRidgway since 1972. His sculpturesenhance natural spaces and urbanthoroughfares, from Telluride’s ter-rain parks, to Grand Junction’sMain Street. McCullough’s handi-work even adorns the front fendersof tricked-out Harley Davidsonsthroughout the country.

Locally, he is known for his

bronze renderings of muscularminers, athletes, and amazinglylife-like animals. One of his red foxsculpture won the People’s ChoiceAward as part of Montrose’s PublicArt eXperience (PAX). His flyingeagle in front of Ridgway’s historicfirehouse on Lena Street is com-prised of 120 welded pieces.

“I was born an artist and willalways be an artist,” he said, sur-veying the creative chaos inside thefirehouse, his home and studio. Heshares the space with partner andmuse Lucy Boody, a fiber artist andpainter. The two artists welcomevisitors and offer tours of the oldfirehouse, grounds and jail.

Water color paintings, wood

sculpture, clay sculp-ture models andBoody’s vibrant felt-ed scarves fill the for-mer fire-truck garage.Silver flames shooting from an alu-minum skull catch the morningsun. The fiery skull is one ofMcCullough’s signature motorcy-cle accessories sold under thebrand, “King’s Armor.”

Outside, his abstract, metal fig-ures and Boody’s miniature fairyenvironments draw curious visitorsto the firehouse garden.

“Nothing is sacred to us,” he saidof his and Boody’s creations.“Nearly all media can become art.

Picasso used tosculpt with bonesfrom the fish hejust ate.”

Primarily self-taught (he tookone semester ofsculpture instruc-tion at FloridaState University)McCullough wasa builder for 40years. “It paid formy art habit,” heexplained. Hebuilt portions ofthe Cascade andPortland Creekflumes andpoured the con-

crete vault that houses OurayCounty records in the courthouse.

His artwork has steadily grownin demand over the years. He hassculpted ten commissioned repre-sentational monumental bronzestatues for the people of Ouray,Telluride, Ridgway, Montrose, andGrand Junction. His bronze like-ness of Walter Walker, with sonPreston on his shoulders, standsprominently on Main Street indowntown Grand Junction.Walker, for whom Walker FieldAirport was named, was publisherof the Grand Junction Sentinel from1911 to 1956. Children delight inspinning the kinetic statue by turn-ing a disc near the base.

McCullough’s abil-ity to capture athleticgrace in motionappears in his kineticstatue of the late free-

rider, Hoot Brown, at the top ofTelluride’s terrain park. Threemore of his monumental bronzestatues---a woman skier, snow-boarder and a hand-steel miner---reside in Mountain Village Plaza.

Ouray’s San Juan Miner statue isperhaps the mosticonic local land-mark shaped byhuman rather thangeological forces.The sculpture is thefocal point of theOuray Miners’Memorial at theentrance of the HotSprings Pool. “Life-and-a-half size,” in McCullough’swords, the statue is nine feet tall,not including the rock pedestal anddrill steel. (The miner is posedchanging the bit on his drill.) Thesemi-circular wall behind himbears plaques honoring San Juanminers, both living and deceased.

About 14 years ago, com-munity members proposed theinstallation of a memorial to keepOuray County’s mining heritagealive. Teri Blackford, Sandy Zanett,and Barb Muntyan, all from min-ing families, commissionedMcCullough to sculpt a bronze like-ness of a 20th Century hard-rockminer.

Local men who had worked atthe Idarado, Camp Bird, andStandard Mines served asMcCullough’s models for the mon-ument. He posed each as a stopedriller, the miner who drills over astope or “hot hole” above an orevein. His rough early sketch of themonument is still visible on thekitchen wall in the firehouse.

Dedicated in 2003, the command-ing figure and miner’s wall honorthe labor and sacrifice of many gen-erations. Hundreds of communitymembers recently came together atthe memorial to grieve for the two

miners who lost their lives lastNovember in the tragic RevenueMine accident.

A lifelong supporter of thearts, McCullough was instrumentalin helping Ridgway achieveCreative District designation fromthe state of Colorado in 2013.Along with other local artists, com-munity leaders, and volunteers, hebelieved art to be an integral part ofa county-wide economic develop-

ment plan.“We saw

Ridgway as a littlediamond in themiddle ofnowhere,” he said.“We knew we hadenough going onhere to competewith the bigger

towns. The CreativeDistrict designation enhances ourcommunity of artists, artisans andcraftspersons of all types and ages.“

McCullough and Boody helpedlaunch the Ridgway SculptureContest, Public Art in Ridgway,Alley Poems, Alley Art, and thepopular Hotties Calendar, whichshowcases artistic processes thatinvolve heat. The couple remainsactive in events such as monthly“Moonwalks,” self-guided toursthrough Ridgway’s creative enter-prises. Weehawken Creative Artspartners with the Creative Districtto present these evening outings forthe public.

Diagnosed with lung cancer lastyear, McCullough continues to livelife fully and enthusiastically.Following a recent Moonwalk, thefirehouse nearly overflowed withMcCullough’s and Boody’s friends:artists and art-lovers whoexpressed their support apprecia-tion for McCullough’s many contri-butions to Ouray County’s artisticrenaissance.

“I don’t know how much longer Ihave here,” he said. “I’m respond-ing well to my treatments.However long it is, I intend to makethe most of each day.”

WINTER ~ SPRING 2014 Ouray County Historical Society’s Newsletter • HISTORIAN sss 3

By Kate Kellogg

Michael McCullough Weaves Historyinto Legendary Art

?Answers to Quiz:The Jeffers building, vintage 1890, islocated at 633-5 Main Street in Ouray.The Jeffers family operated a dry goodsstore in this location for about 10 years.The building has also housed the selec-tive service office and a sporting goodsstore as well as restaurants and shoeand millinery shops. Mr. and Mrs.Jeffers lived in an upstairs apartment.Today the building is occupied byLindsey and Co. Real Estate Inc. andthe Columbine Mineral Shop.

Kevin Chismire, PresidentTom Hillhouse, Vice-PresidentJoey Huddleston, Secretary

Bud Zanett, TreasurerTeri BlackfordGail Jossi

George MooreDon Paulson, CuratorWalt Rule

Gail SaundersRobert StouferTed Zeggers

OURAY COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Please consider being a member of the OCHS!Help preserve the history of Ouray County

Your membership is vital so that the Society can maintain not only our historicMuseum building but our new Research Center and Archive. All member-

ship levels include Free admission to the Museum, a 10% discount on items for salein the gift shop and Museum bookstore, free admission to the OCHS Evenings ofHistory series, and receive newsletters and special announcements.

Please fill in below: (Please Print)

Name(s):

Organization (If Business Member)

Mailing Address

City, State, Zip Code

Phone Number

Email

Amount Paid ___________by (check one) Cash____Check____Credit Card____

Date: _____________________________

Silver King

Guston

Revenue

Grizzly Bear

National Belle

Yankee Girl

Camp Bird

Business Member

$30 (Individual)

$40 (Family)

$50 - $99

$100 - $249

$250 - $499

$500 - $999

$1,000 – Up

$50 - Up

Membership Levels

Please return to: OCHS , P.O. Box 151, Ouray, CO 81427 Or Phone with Credit Card info to: 970-325-4576

Informationon the build-ing from thebook Ouray’sHistoric MainStreet: EarlyVisions WildTimes by AnnC. HoffmanandCommittee.

I was born an artistand will always

be an artist.

he Miner’s Memorial Wall is a moving trib-ute to those miners whose hard and oftendangerous work sustained both the histori-cal and modern Ouray area. Last fall, the

wall underwent some major renovations. Theimpressive results reflect the work of talented com-munity members and memorial founders.

Located at the entrance of the Hot Springs Poolnear the Ouray Visitors’ Center, the memorial is asmall park featuring Michael McCullough’s larger-than-life bronze statue, known as the San JuanMiner. The statue is surrounded by a semi-circularwall of plaques honoring more than 350 individualswho worked in the mines of the San Juan

Mountains. They were employed as miners, millworkers, assayers, geologists and in various othermining capacities.

The idea for a miner’s memorial grew out of theOuray Highgraders, a nonprofit organization thatpresents the annual Highgraders Holidays in Ouray.Since 1996, the popular two-day festival has heldfriendly competitions in traditional mining skills atMining Heritage Park. Some of the organization’score members---including Teri Blackford, SandyZanett, and Barb Muntyan---envisioned a perma-nent, year-round memorial to commemorate the

a r e a ’ sm i n i n gheritage.

Thanksto grants

from the Zanett andSkelding Foundations, thegroup commissionedMcCullough’s work onthe statue, while SpeedyScott and Clark Williamsinstalled the wall. Thememorial was dedicatedin 2003. Families andfriends of San Juan minerspurchased plaques tohonor those individuals,both living and deceased,at $50 per plaque.Together with the grantmoney, the plaque salescomprised a fund to payoff the statue and main-tain the memorial.

Since the dedication, thememorial wall has under-gone several iterations ofupgrade, due to moistureproblems and issues withthe materials. After theOuray County HistoricalSociety took over owner-ship in 2009, Blackford, amember of the OCHSBoard, and Sandy Zanett contin-ued to monitor and maintain thememorial. Last summer they dis-covered scratches on a number ofplaques (vandalism) as well asweather damage.

The OCHS decided a completeoverhaul was necessary.Ridgway metal artist LisaIssenberg installed metal frame-work and new powder-coated,weather-resistant metal plaques.The statue reserve fund paid forthe improvements.

Blackford is very pleased withthe results. “I feel that the wall isa really fitting commemoration ofthe area’s miners,” she said.

The refurbished Miner’sMemorial is truly a communityproject, as it was from the beginning. The mural onthe back of the wall, a panorama of the San Juans, isthe work of local artist Denise Lindsey. OurayCounty residents collected mineral specimens fromarea mines and donated their findings to the memo-rial. The ore samples are affixed to the top of thewall.

Blackford is now brainstorming ideas for a springfundraiser that will replenish the statue fund.Appropriately, the event will likely be a traditionalminer’s dinner that celebrates the region’s miningheritage.

4 sss HISTORIAN • Ouray County Historical Society’s Newsletter WINTER ~ SPRING 2014

sThe San Juan Miner statute is located at the entrance to the Hot SpringsPool in Ouray.

s Ridgway metal artist Lisa Issenberginstalled metal framework and new powder-coated, weather-resistant metal plaques.

s Michael McCullough’s statue of WalterWalker adons downtown Grand Junction.

sOCHS has completely overhauled the Miner’s Memorial Wall.

s The Telluride Miner, a work by Michael McCullogh.

s Michael McCullough’s kinetic sculpture of thelate free- rider, Hoot Brown, located at the top ofTelluride’s Terrain Park.

MinerÕs Memorial Wall HonorsAreaÕs Proud Mining HeritageT