Bachelor Loop Historic Tour

One day, we decided to explore the backroads around Creede, CO.  To our surprise, the backroad had a name – Bachelor Loop, and it was part of a historic tour of the old mining area, which was the instigation of the formation of Creede.

The Bachelor Loop Trail is in the mountains above Creede, and if you look down from the road, you can see the small town of Creede, nestled in the valley.

#2 – The largest mine along this road is the Commodore Mine.  It is one of 3 mines in the nearby area – The Commodore Mine, The Amethyst Mine and The Last Chance Mine.  Silver was mined from the Commodore Mine up the mountain to the Park Regent Mine.  The first image shows the immediate buildings around the Commodore mine, with the center image giving you a perspective of the mines in the area – Commodore, Amethyst and Last Chance, in the order from bottom of the image to the top.

There was no way to get a good shot of the old Amethyst Mine, but I did get some images of some of the support structures and the old cabins down below the old mine site.

Just up the road from the Commodore and Amethyst Mines is a section of road call Black Pitch.  The road may not seem steep for today’s cars, but the old wagons led by horses or mules, would sometimes suffer broken wheel locks and wagons loaded with ore would then push the horses or mules down the road to their deaths.  There is a creek that runs down the mountain next to the road that is so pretty it’s hard to imagine this stretch of road ever being dangerous.

The next stop on the tour is the Weaver Town Site.  In the image, the building next to the road (middle image) was the old livery, where several of the animals that worked in the mine, would have been housed.  The images on the sides of the main livery building are what appears to be the opening of a small mine (left) and a small cabin (right).  During the “boom” days of mining in the mountain, several hundred families lived here.  It is thought that the name of the town, Weaver, was due to the large number of families with that name who were among the first residents.

The Midwest Mine was around from 1911 until the 1970s.  In 1929, this mine put about 5,000 pounds of contaminated ore into Nelson Creek.  Despite a tremendous amount of work, this mine never recorded any real production of usable ore.  In the early 2000s, work was done to remove the contaminated ore and treat the surrounding area.  The photos of the creek (image below) is of the Nelson Creek, now free from any contaminates.

There is a sort of spur road off the main Bachelor Loop Trail that leads to another mine.  Along this spur road are some lovely sights, crystal mountain waters and some wildlife to boot!!

The Equity Mine is off on the little spur road from the formal Bachelor Loop Road.  It’s an up and back drive.  The Equity Mine was first recorded in 1902 and between 1903 – 1912 work on the mine was undertaken.  In 1912, production began and continued off and on until almost 1970.  It closed then and was reopened in 2012 by the Hecla Mining Company.  I’m not certain if both of these buildings are being used.  The one on the left looks like its windows are boarded up.

In between old mine sites, there was such beautiful scenery to be had.  The scenery was so grand, it sort of made our Jeep look small!  And, I really loved the old fence.  I’m not certain what the name of the style of fence is, but it certainly fits up here in the mountains!

This is all that is left of the Park Regent Mine Site.  Prospectors first staked a claim on this site in 1891.  They hoped to connect to the very prosperous Amethyst Mine, They weren’t all that successful getting ore from the mine, but it did produce some ore, and was busy during World War I, when there was an increase demand for ore.  However, mining at the site ceased soon after.  The lack of tailings on the site indicates that not much ore was produced by the mine.

#12 – When gold and silver were discovered in nearby mountains, this meadow at 10,500 feet in elevation became the town of Bachelor City.  It was in its heyday between 1890 – 1896.  In January of 1892, it was surveyed, and by March of that year, nearly 100 homes had been built.  However, I won’t comment on the quality of the build!!  At its most occupied, the town had 12 saloons, 4 hotels, 5 grocery stores, a meat market, 2 barber shops, 2 bakeries, some restaurants, a school, jail, city hall and Catholic Church!  A bustling town!!

Just after we finished the “formal” Bachelor Loop Trail, we came across this lovely little church, just about a block from the Creede Cemetery.  What is interesting about the cemetery is how the graves are laid out.  You can’t tell it from the overall image I took, but some graves face north to south, and others east to west.  It was said that murders, faced north to south, whereas the God-fearing citizens, including little babies, faced east to west, so that they would face the sun come Resurrection Day.  Those that were considered “not-so-God-fearing”, like prostitutes, gamblers, robbers, etc., were placed crosswise in the cemetery, as it was felt that matched how they lived their lives!!

 

Our last stop related to the Bachelor Loop Trail, is Bob Ford’s Grave Site.  Bob’s history in Creede was quite legendary, and perhaps for that reason, he wasn’t laid to rest in the cemetery.  His claim to fame was killing Jesse James on April 3, 1882, in St. Joseph, Missouri, by shooting him in the back.  To escape revenge by the James gang, Bob Ford fled to several different locations, landing in Creede, when the mining boom started.  He ran a gambling and dance hall in Creede, called the “Exchange”.  He bullied the town so much so that a vigilante group was formed to get the power away from Ford.  He did turn over some power to “Soapy Smith” when he arrived in town.  Smith didn’t kill Ford, but on June 3, 1882, Ed O’Kelley, a friend of Jesse James family, came to town and shot Bob Ford with a double barrel shotgun, at point blank range.  It truly was the wild west back then! 

Enjoy!