History Of Aspen

This quintessential mountain town has had a long history of boom and bust, reflecting its wild roots as a silver mining town in the 1800s. Surrounded by the sublime Rocky Mountains, Aspen has evolved into one of the world’s premier ski towns and a celebrity hangout where movie stars rub elbows with holiday-makers.

The earliest known residents of the area were the Ute Indians, who referred to this region as the ‘Shining Mountains’. They considered it their homeland and used it as a summer hunting ground for nearly 8,000 years before the first Europeans wandered into the area.

The hunt for gold and silver

Towards the end of the 16th century, Spaniards migrating north from Mexico searched the Rockies for the Lost City of Gold. By the beginning of the 1800s, Spanish influence dominated most of the western half of Colorado. This began to change by the end of the century as American miners flooded into the western mountains in search of silver and gold.

Aspen was first discovered by silver miners from Leadville in the 1870s as they searched neighbouring valleys for untapped riches and, in 1880, renamed the city Aspen. When the town’s first mine produced the world’s largest silver nugget, weighing in at 1,840 pounds, miners began pouring into Aspen and soon this tiny town had a population of 12,000 citizens.

Prosperity followed, and in 1887 Aspen became the first town in Colorado to provide electricity to all of its residents. The fortunes made from the silver mines created two railroads, four schools, six newspapers, ten churches, several brothels and an opera house, which still stands today. By 1891, Aspen was the largest silver producer in the United States.

All that changed in 1893, when the price of silver crashed with the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act. Gold once again became the national currency standard and Aspen went bust. Most of the silver mines shut down, almost all of the population moved away and this once booming valley turned its attention to the less-glamorous occupations of farming and ranching.

Aspen re-invented

By the 1930s, the population of Aspen had dwindled to 700. Locals turned to its greatest natural resource, snow, in hope of an economic rebirth. During World War II, the army’s 10th Mountain Division of ski-soldiers began training on the slopes around Aspen and were amazed by the skiing potential. The first ski area, named Ajax, was formed during this time. The town soon received a much-needed financial injection from Walter Paepcke, a wealthy industrialist, who moved to the town in 1945 and built the world’s longest chairlift two years later on Aspen Mountain. But this tiny, remote town was truly put on the global skiing map in 1950, when it hosted the alpine world skiing championships. The opening of Buttermilk Mountain and Highlands followed in 1958, and in 1967 Snowmass, the valley’s fourth ski resort opened its doors.

Today, Aspen remains a glamorous destination for artists, jetsetters, celebrities and skiers alike. By tying its bounty of natural resources to its colourful history, Aspen has ensured its survival and status.