Hiking Through History - Red Cliff

Our hike started near Highway 24, where we learned about the geological history. This is important, as the miners started the town after following the silver veins out of Leadville. Our hike led us to the Red Cliff Cemetery. The first resident of the cemetery was Sylvester Lindley, a young boy who was attacked by a Grizzly bear around 1880. We then met Nancy Nottingham, who had many stories about the Old West, and was one of the early pioneers of Eagle County. Next, we met Oscar Meyer (yes, his real name), who was the undersheriff in Red Cliff. He was tragically killed by the famous Jim Sherbondy, also from Red Cliff. Click here to read the full account, which was made into a Hollywood movie. Prior to 1915, Red Cliff was the County Seat of Eagle County. Judge, Lydia Tague made Colorado history in 1911 when she became the first woman in the state to be appointed as a county court judge. She was possibly the first in the country too, but that has never been confirmed. She was an extremely tough judge, especially when it came to breaking prohibition laws.

The old Red Cliff School is now a museum, which contains many relics of years gone by. We were met by two Red Cliff residents whose families have lived in Red Cliff for several generations. They had many stories about the different relics and who they belonged to before arriving at the museum. This school has served as the town meeting hall for many years, where the gymnasium is also the theater, lunchroom, and the bingo hall.

We made a stop a Mangos for lunch, then walked out of town to the big green bridge. Prior to the building of the bridge, traffic used to come down on the low road, through Red Cliff, and then out on the high road. This created a lot of traffic through town creating the need for a gas station and several shops. After the bridge was built, all traffic by-passed town causing much of the commerce to come to an end. The bridge construction began in November of 1940, which made construction very difficult. Workers were hanging over a 200 foot drop while working in temperatures that sometimes dipped below 0 °F. "In the morning, each gang was lifted to its scaffold on a platform hung from the high line. They took their lunches with them and spent the entire day in the air with the winter wind continually blowing up the canyon” said bridge designer King Burghardt. There have been several crashes and jumps off the bridge, with memorials below to commemorate those who have passed. These gave everyone an eerie feeling, especially when seeing the crashed cars still below.

We have a greater appreciation for the town of Red Cliff and its significance to Eagle County.

Posted: 9/20/2017 1:38:53 PM by Babette Ponder | with 0 comments

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