Author: (OURAY, COLORADO)
Title: Des Ouray 1903
Description: Ouray, CO, The Des Ouray Consolidated Mining and Milling Co, 1903. Paperback. Wide 24mo. Yellow pictorial wrappers. (12pp). 5 full-page illustrations, map. Very good. Faintest of wear to outer wrappers (only), else internally tight and fine. Probable sole edition of this emigrant's guide to the "Switzerland of America," a small town in southwest Colorado and county seat of Ouray County. Originally a mining town for gold and silver prospectors founded in the 1870s, by the turn-of-the-century Ouray had achieved adulthood and this sales pitch presents its attractions to potential investors and settlers. It calls itself "Gem of the Rockies" and boasts "Population 3,000 (which by the 2020 census had dropped to 898), with brief text sections discuss "Our Values," "Prospects" and "Profits." The publisher's full-page ad fills the inside front wrapper and the last two pages address "Advantages" and "Restrictions" of the San Juan Mining District. Today the mines have long since played out and Ouray's economy is tourism based, with ice climbing and hot springs among its draws. Printed at The Kenyon Press in Des Moines, Iowa. Scarce and in superb, bright condition with a small portrait of its namesake, Chief Ouray of the Ute Tribe (1933-90) featured on the front wrapper. .

Keywords: Western Americana


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