Wellsville

Aerial Adventures in a Canyon

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When Salidan Monty Holmes purchased nearly 30 acres of arid canyon land near Wellsville, Colorado in 2000, his original dream of building cabins on the property transformed into something much bigger and much bolder.

Lacking access to electricity for the properties, he decided on another strategy, to “make lemonade outta lemons,” and did what any savvy entrepreneur might do in the 21st century – he went to Google. Typing in “zip line in USA,” he was startled to find fewer than 200 results. Those sparse outcomes led to a research and development trip to Costa Rica where, since the 1970s, ziplining has been one of that country’s most popular recreational activities.

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Of Boomtimes Past: The Road to Wellsville

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By Ron Sering

Not much goes on these days in sparsely populated Wellsville, a few miles east of Salida, off U.S. Hwy 50. Home now to a couple of modest mining and milling operations and several private residences, the booms that had periodically rippled through the state have passed it by for many years. But that was not always the case.

There is some evidence that Native Americans once spent winters in the area, but Wellsville, the town, was founded in the late 1800s by namesake George Wells. Drawn by the area’s mineral wealth, miners worked the dry hills and canyons for gold, silver, copper, and quick lime, but most prominently for travertine, a sedimentary rock commonly formed from the action of hot springs. Prized as a building material since Roman times, travertine from Wellsville quarries was used in numerous public building projects, including the state Capitol in Denver and the Department of Commerce building in Washington D.C.

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The Box Canyon Mine

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By Ron Sering

The steep hill at the mouth of Box Canyon across from the Wellsville bridge, just off U.S. Hwy. 50 east of Salida is a hard landmark to miss. Just below the summit is a massive hole that when the light is right, appears to be barred shut by some sort of fence.

Exploring seemed like a good idea until about halfway up, when the scrub brush hillside gave way to fields of sharp and loose scree. They were tailings, it turned out, a product of the mining activity that took place off and on over a 70-year period.

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US Soil: Family finds Fertile Ground for Mining in Wellsville

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by Ron Sering
photos by Mike Rosso

When Emil Lionelle pulled the odd little rock out of a deposit of Rocky Mountain granite, he only knew it was interesting. But the Lionelles knew a thing or two about stone. The Lionelle family originally came to the area in 1868 as stonemasons for the railroad, and Emil had put two children through college during the Depression by ranching, farming, and mining.

The mysterious stone eventually found its way into a tomato pot. And that’s when the apparent magic happened. The plant flourished, and soon the Lionelles were out gathering as much of the mineral as they could find. Eventually, they found an entire deposit. And US Soil was born.

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