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                              STEP INTO THE PAST

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  This is one of 12 books about the first gold mine town in Colorado and the people who have lived there. Gold was discovered in 1859 by a group of prospectors. It was first found in a creek in Denver. A group of men followed the creek up to the town of Boulder where they camped. Then it was on up the creeks to the Gold Hill area.                                       History

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Mamie: I was two months old when they put a mattress in the bottom of the old stage coach and bundled me up and bundled Earl up and put us in there with my dad.
Marge: Two months old...
Russell: What happened?
Marge: Hmm boy! In the middle of winter! Umm can you imagine? Wonder how long Mamie: Well, half a day on a train.
Russell: Went on the train. Yeah, probably went on the train.
Mamie: And Mama said that the men on there, the conductors and all, they were so nice, they'd take Earl and
Russell: Yeah
Marge: Well, you had to go to Denver on the stage and then?
Mamie: You'd have to go from there to Aspen.
Russell: Boy, that was a long trip.
Marge: Well, that's on the right train.
Russell: Yeah, there was a train into Aspen.
Marge: Well, was it was it did they go up over that train up by Bueno Vista?
Russell: Probably and that little south park flyin
Marge: And then, they would go to where'd they come out, at Nederland?
Russell: Yeah probably went through Nederland.
Mamie: Maybe they'd go up Aspen the other way?
Russell: I don't know.
Mamie: I should have asked mama that ----there’s some questions about things like that Bud and Dorothy and I were just talking about wish we'd have asked some things.
Russell: Yeah.
Marge: Now, Jack, Jack's beginning now.
Mamie: Oh, is he?
Marge: Oh he wants to get them, the whole thing I said, well, I can't remember, Jack.
Mamie: Maybe we could find out?
Russell: May be on record, where the train pulled in at.
Mamie: At least we would know.
Marge: That’s right cause Mama said that.
Mamie: Conductor would take and fix the bed on the seat and put Earl in it. Cause they must have had to travel in the night.
Russell: Oh yeah, had to be quite a ways from Denver.
Mamie: Likely train went to Leadville.
Russell: Yeah
Mamie: And maybe it went over Independence?
Russell: I think it came in the other way it had to go out at Glenwood and then come back in some way
Marge: Yeah, by then going down Independence to Glenwood.
Russell: Was there railroad over Independence?
Marge: I don't know. We gotta look that up.
Russell: Yeah, it'd be in there, in my book. That was a long trip for that time of the year.
Marge: Umm
Mamie: My pie is cold.
Among the the men up there was Mike Dawson; I know that he was up in there earlier.
Marge: Well, did he go with her or was he already up there?
Mamie: He was up there.
Marge: Uh huh and she went with him with two kids.
Mamie: She took the baby and and Earl.
Marge: Umm That was quite a trip. And how old was she?
Mamie: Mama wasn't too old, she was ah I don’t know Marge. I loved my mother, she was twenty one and had three little babies and the oldest one was Earl, he was two years older than me and I was the just a little older than the baby and she was six months and she lived just a little while after my father died. She was only six months old when she died. My father died with pneumonia and then she Mama went to Aspen living at grandmoms to help take care of the boarders. She didn't have any money but what people had given her but she had that and a few things like that and the baby was six months old and she died. She had something the matter with her neck.
Marge: Well, she was younger than you.
Mamie: Oh yeah.
Marge: Uh huh and then when did the father die?
Mamie: He died before the baby no, he died right ah no, he died before the babe.
Marge: Umm
Mamie: My mother was left with three small children: the oldest was four years old, that was Earl, and then she ah went to grandma, my grandmother, to help work to raise the children. And while she was working there she met this man. Like she said I didn't want to get married but she said what could I do? She said he was a good man and she said there was three children and then the baby died six months old and she was married in Aspen.
Russell: Well, then ah, let's see Grandma got married in Aspen then, hmm, I didn't know that.
Mamie: Uh huh and this here was William McCloud? or McAlister, he wanted to marry Mama.
Russell: Who's that?
Mamie: William McBride, I think? He was a fella that was boarding at Grandma's. And I think Mama would have married him but he said that, your mother can take the pick of the two children.
Russell & Marge: Laughter
Russell: Ahhhh
Mamie: So, she married Joe Douglas.
Russell: Oh Well, she had a choice huh? Ha Ha
Marge: Well, how old was Joe?
Mamie: You mean Joe Douglas?
Marge: Uh huh. When they married.
Mamie: He was seven years older than Mama.
Marge: And he'd never been married.
Mamie: Uh uh.
Marge: That's unusual, isn't it?
Mamie: Never been married and owed nineteen debts when he married.
Russell: Oh is that right?
Mamie: And Mama didn't like that when she found it out.
Russell: Oh, she didn't know, huh?
Mamie: Uh uh.
Russell McLellan in front of the McLellan store McLellan Collection
Russell: Boy!
Mamie: She didn't know that and then every month some had to be taken out...
Marge: Then Ruby was their first child?
Mamie: No, Willy.
Marge: Uh, yes.
Mamie: Willy and then they had five after that and they died right after birth with spinal meningitis they wouldn't live to be very old doctors didn't know what they was doing then.
Russell: My, she had quite a few children then.
Mamie: Mama had eight.
Marge: Well, did the ones that had spinal meningitis, did they have it at the same time?
Mamie: Oh, no, they got it at a few months old.
Marge: Mmm.
Mamie: They're ahead of us now. With the Lord's help. They all died in Gold Hill.
Russell: Oh, is that right? Let's see she got married in Aspen and then ah, back to Gold Hill.
Mamie: Willie was born in Aspen. Ruby was born in Gold Hill.
Russell: Mmmm, Ruby was up there.
Mamie: Huh?
Russell: Ruby was born in Gold Hill?
Mamie: Uh huh.
Russell: They moved a lot around didn't they.
Mamie: Uh huh.
Russell: Camp to camp, huh?
Marge: Yeah, and we think we have it bad now, these young people have it made.
Russell: Yeah. Let's see, was Grandma up in Leadville at all?
Mamie: Oh yeah. She went up to Leadville when Earl was a baby.
Marge: Oh, yeah.
Mamie: And they rented, my father rented an apartment, ah, a room in Denver Hotel, a couple of rooms, and she lived there and water was kinda scarce and they had to buy it you know and she went out and was shoveling up some snow and she looked up and this man was there and she looked scared and he said don't be scared he said I was just looking at your baby. I'd like to steal him. And she was scared then. So my father got a little pistol and I wonder what ever become of that little pistol, it was a little white one and he said if ever he bothers you, you just shoot him. She'd have shot herself. (Laughter from other two.)
Marge: When was that, Mamie?
Mamie: 1890?
Russell: That must have been in right before you were born?
Mamie: Yes. She just had the one child then, Earl.
Russell: That musta been, that was in ah that was in the early '80's then probably. Gosh old Tabor was up there then.
Marge: Yeah.
Russell: And Baby Doe and
Mamie: You was with us when she ah father and I went up to and saw Baby Doe?
Russell: Yeah, yeah, she wouldn't open the door.
Marge: Don't you have a picture?
Russell: Hm huh.
Mamie: And she told your father if he'd come up and prove that he was a mining man she'd take him all through but he never got up there. I think he got
Russell: And he wrote to her? Is that why we went up there that time or what? I know he took a sack of groceries but she wouldn't open the door.
Mamie: Yeah, they ah told this fella that they was going up and he didn't I don't know if he was a relative of Baby Doe's or a friend he took a bunch of groceries and stepped up and she wouldn't open the door and then she found out why he was at the door and she said if he'd come up she'd open the door and he said he'd go up.
Russell: Did she write to him or did he call her?
Mamie: I don't know.
Russell: Huh.
Mamie: I don't remember the letter, or whether someone told him for her.
Russell: I often wondered why we went up there that time.
Marge: And how old were you then?
Russell: Oh gosh, I was, well, I was ah, well I guess I was just an early teenager then.
Mamie: You weren't very big.
Russell: Not very old. I don't know, guess I was just
Mamie: Ten years old?
Russell: Eleven or twelve, maybe. Cause she died in, ah, let's see, she died
Mamie: Russell didn't care so much for the scenery as long as he had plenty to eat in the buggy. Jim would say they always called him the old man have you got enough for the old man to eat and Ira said, Ira Thornberg, you remember him?
Russell: Oh yeah.
Mamie: Ira said, no wonder Russell had a sore throat and don't feel good. Give him something to eat besides potato chips and something else, what was it? I know potato chips was one and I said you feed your dog and I'll feed my kid.