TELLURIDE
in tempo with the times

The world was a different place a 1,000 years ago and will undoubtedly be quite a different place a millennium from now. Evidence of Ancient Americans can be traced back approximately 11,000 to 12,000 years ago and the dawn of human beings as far back as four million years. So a mere millennium seems but a speck in the existence of earth's history. Yet, in the last 1,000 years, the planet, natural history and Western civilization has advanced and come to know things unfathomable to generations that preceded us.

What was happening in the Christian world calendar year of 1,000? It, as it is now, was a time of great exploration and achievements and a time of desperation and religious fervor in Europe , the Mid East, the Orient, India , South America and nearly everywhere else in the world. The sea exploring Vikings menaced Western Europe and were conquering Anglo-Saxons, the French and Germans to spread the word of Christ; the Mayan Civilization was in decline after centuries of ruling, the Islamic world started trading extensively with other empires, and the Holy Roman Empire laid the framework for economic stability in Europe. Though most everyone was a peasant, the explorers, conquerors, sea faring adventurers and visionaries who lived in the years 950 to 1150, set the ground work for a global economy. Often times warring, they set the tone for the makings of a prolific world market place. They traded ideas, raw materials, political strategies, scientific research, scholarly advice. Their adaptability and willingness to learn is why we can live with all the comforts and conveniences of today's world.

What was happening in Telluride and the San Juans around the year 1000? Traces of ancient Indian trails, tools and such display a rich tapestry of the Puebloan culture as early as the 7th Century A.D. (Though mostly in the lower lands out of Telluride.) They were a people that moved with the seasons. As winter embraced the mountains, they migrated to the warmer, lower climes. They followed rivers to the high country in the summer months, moving in sync and in the rhythm of wildlife's migration. In lower regions, such as Dolores and Mesa Verde, plots of land were cleared for farming, demonstrating their skill in agriculture and semi-permanent dwellings. In the 18th Century, when Spanish explorers made the San Juans part of their empire, bands of Ute Indians had claimed the territory. They hunted in around the lofty peaks of Telluride. Setting up their tepees temporarily. They were the keepers of this land and they left but a few traces and a huge and brilliant legacy of being in total harmony with nature.

And so, as one can easily imagine, Telluride was virtually uninhabited by humans during the last turn-of-the-millennium. Then, elk, deer, puma, wolves, bear and other creatures of the wild basked in its beauty and grandeur. Nameless waterfalls, creeks and rivers were pristine and glistening with shimmering, translucent clarity. Nature danced provocatively, wildly and serenely to sounds that painted mosaics in the air. Teeming with beasts, fowl and other critters, the untouched and untamed lands most assuredly boasted the delicacies and delights of a mountain oasis; conjuring up divine images paralleled with the tranquil, peacefulness of heaven.

Civilization
Not until the turn of the last two centuries has Telluride taken on a different character. It started to get "civilized" in a quite an "uncivilized" manner. Miners from the world over trekked to Telluride's high country in search of gold and silver. The sounds of hammers, drills, dynamite and mule trains began to permeate through the valley and mountain tops. The hustle and bustle of the camptown soon grew to a full fledged township, which eventually called itself Columbia , then later, Telluride. It was the epitome of the rough and tumbled West. Muddy streets garnered with mule trains, horses and ruddy, smoke-fumed air added to the rugged, lawlessness of the place. Tough, mean ol' boys like the McCarty brothers, Butch Cassidy, gamblers and the likes of prostitute Big Billie roamed the streets and mountainscapes, in hopes of makin' a friend and a quick buck.

In general and in sync with the occurrences of Anglos venturing into the New Frontier, they were a desperate bunch who had nothing but the shirts on their backs and gigantic hopes of making it big from the riches buried beneath.

Transportation
By 1875, the Telluride region began to be heavily developed by miners, and by the 1890s Otto Mears and Dave Wood painstakingly carved new transportation systems into the isolated valley. Otto Mears built the Rio Grande Southern Railroad and brought the famous Galloping Goose RR to town, while Dave Wood built roads of which his wagon trains supplied the area's mining camps. Both fellows are legendary to Telluride's history. They changed the speed of production, comfort levels of inhabitants and influences that built the very character of our Victorian mining town. Their ground breaking efforts have probably made more impact and influence on Telluride and the region than anything else in the last millennium. For without roads and railways, Telluride's then seemingly impassable terrain, people would surely have veered in the other directions and the life of this small town would have taken on an entirely different character. Their visions and fortitude changed the landscape of the valley, both in a figurative and literal sense.

Even back in the 1800s, Telluride thought "out of the square." Being "remote" seems to have promoted the generation of new ideas. Take for example, L.L. Nunn's invention and construction of an alternating current power plant. As manager of the productive Gold King Mine, Nunn's concern was of lowering the $2,500/month cost and time of hauling coal via mule trains up the mountain to the steam engines. He consequently devised and built the Ames Power Plant with the few men of academia, the "pin heads," and an A.C. electric plant which ultimately "fueled" their mining efforts and saved Gold King $2,000 monthly. Other mines quickly utilized his invention. Nunn's endeavor allowed him to construct a massive hydroelectric plant at Niagara Falls years later.

Today Telluride's visionary is Ron Allred, partner in Telluride Ski and Golf Company. Keeping in mind Telluride's limited space, Allred developed Mountain Village which is one of the most contemporary and swank resort towns in all of America . To marry Telluride and Mountain Village , Allred drafted, employed and instilled America 's first gondola transportation system. This system, much like Nunn's, saves "fuel," transportation time, and is in unison with Telluride's low environmental impact mission. His vision of creating a top-notch European-fashioned town accessed by a gondola has promoted and enhanced the rich, savory flavors of our mountain settings. Allred's high standards, focus on quality and the promotion of little nuances like hand-hewed trim, spectacular landscaping, statues and more, have made Mountain Village one of the most romantic pedestrian-oriented villas anywhere.

Lifestyle
Aside from the petroglyphs left by Ancient Americans, the first real documentation of man in the region came from the Spaniards who traded many things with the Mountain People or Ute Indians. The Franciscan explorers named many of the landmarks in the Telluride region. The San Miguel, the San Juans, San Sophia and El Diente are but a few names that expel the influences of the Spaniards in the area. Next came the trappers, fur traders and miners. All ventured into the rugged beauty of the San Juans making their ways by the gifts of the earth. No one really lived their lives in the valley until the miners came in the end of the 19th Century.

Although life in the Wild West has been romanized, it was a time of meagerness and grit. The men sweated, pushed, pulled and toiled all day long. They worked deep in the bowels of the earth with hardly any light for 12 to 14 hours a day. Their homes were mostly shanty tent-towns plucked on the edge of a mountain. One wrong step and they'd plunge thousands of feet below. If the mountain didn't get them, it was likely dynamite, an avalanche, pneumonia, fatal gas or something else would. In truth, the miners lived at the brink of death everyday and made little to show for it. There were only a few that made it rich. It is said those who made it rich, made an enormous killing. Being in tempo with the rest of world, only a few wielded power and bore the fruits of all the intensive laboring. So unions were formed to limit work hours, guarantee wages and spread the wealth a bit. The Western Federation of Miners was chartered to defend miners. It, however, took years of striking, many gun fights and even an assassination before things settled in Telluride.

Obviously, lifestyles of Telluride's first permanent residents was tumultuous, rough and grueling. On weekends, when the miners came down from the hills and into town, they let loose. They drank, gambled, engaged in games and did their once-a-week bathe. The crib houses of the so called "soiled doves" near Pacific and Pines Streets were dubbed Pop Corn Alley because the doors banged open and shut at the cadence of popcorn popping. Women were few then, so much so, the men swarmed to them like a bees to a honey stick. In fact, women shied away from its "To- Hell-U-Ride" nature. And not until a bit of law and order and "civilization" had made its way did unsoiled woman make their ways into the valley.

Lifestyle
Today, Telluride's lifestyle is different. Not until a decade or two ago, were there a near equal proportion of sexes. It was said a mere 15 years ago, males out numbered females four to one. Before the ski resort really took off, Telluride had a reputation of being the toughest mountain in the world to ski as well as an "off-the-beaten-track" town with a weird personality. Its locals have long been known for their rugged individuality and nonconformist attitudes.

Edward Abbey humorously blames the development on Telluride on the sexual revolution. He claims with women getting more liberated and giving sex away more, the cowboy's pent up energy was able to get released. Therein they stopped beating the heck out of any long-haired hippy-types or anyone who wanted to invade their lands. Most likely, however, Telluride's demeanor changed simply because of her natural beauty. People gravitated to her and loved her jewel-like qualities. This time, the songs of the hammer and drills were building more refined establishments, not digging into the ground. Snow, the miners' bane, became Telluride's contemporary society's "white gold." Within 25 years of the ski resort opening, Telluride has established itself as a four season power house getaway.

Future
In October of '99, the earth officially became populated by six billion people. In this next millennium, billions and billions will be vying for natural resources, jobs and land. Ironically, however, globalization is killing off languages as well as promoting the vanishment of cultures. National Geographic says, "The world's people speak about 6,000 languages, a good measure of diversity; by the year 2100 the number of languages could drop to 3,000." At this rate, by 2500 the human race could virtually have only a hundred or less languages; all of us could be dressing alike; driving the same cars; getting the same information from one singular conglomerate over the worldwide web.

Futuristically speaking, traveling afar could be mundane and routine if the riches of all cultures melted into a singular global society. And the only thing we'll celebrate is the beauty and bounty of the natural wonders that surround us....as long as we hit and maintain an harmonious chord with Mother Earth. So, embrace the multitude of our multi-faceted, multi-cultured society. Help set a tone for the next millennium. Celebrate diversity and be a caretaker of the land. Telluride and Mountain Village are poised to bring in the millennium in a responsible, earthy, uptown/ down-town kind of style. It's the way we're wired. In sync with the rhythms of nature, proud to keep our heritage in the forefront and progressive enough to embrace the constant and ever-changing aspects of today's information-driven world. Charismatic, classical Telluride. A charmer-of-a-resort destination composed with heart-palpitating beauty and a huge personality that is in tempo with global trends. Come feel it sweet melodious sights and sounds. The Telluride beat, an overture in undebatable style.