MINEBK01046

• County: Routt
• Document: FROMSIC
• Suffix: A

pointed to the tremendous coal deposits of northwestern Colorado
as a possible source of income for those brave enough to enter the
wilderness.
The explorer's descriptions of the area's potential a~
rangeland were not speculation about future development as his
predictions on coal were, but rather a report on what he saw
already taking place in locales such as Brown's Park by the
mid-187os when the expeditions took place. Ranchers from Wyoming
first began using the area for winter range in 1871 and from that
point on into the twentieth century grazing of either cattle or
sheep has been the dominate form of economic activity in the
region. Out of this experience many legends have grown up in the
area and have been handed down as part of the region's history.
The efforts of men such as James S. Hoy, who recorded his
adventures in a manuscript, and others not only to profit from the
cattle trade, but also to settle and "civilize" the region make the
area's history both part of the general frontier "Wild West"
experience and unique.
The Brown's Hole area indeed became part of the Wild West,
complete with outlaws such as the Wild Bunch, that frequented the
region on their getaways after robbing Union Pacific express trains
in southern Wyoming or the murder of Isom Dart, possibly by that
notorious hired killer Tom Horn. The list of infamous badmen that
used Brown's Hole and other areas such as the rugged Uinta
Mountains goes on and on. The area's relative isolation and
numerous hidden valleys and canyons made it ideal for desperadoes
on the run from law officers or Pinkertons during the late
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, adding yet another
chapter in the colorful history of the area.
One force in particular led to the end of the frontier and
encouragement of coal mining in the region. The availability of
cheap and dependable transportation did more than any one factor to
bring an end to the outlaw's reign and civilization. During the
188os and 1890s talk centered on building a railroad through the
area. Many companies sent surveyors and engineers out to find
3