Another Ghost Town

Thirteen miles south of Lake City, Co you will find the remains of a small mining town of Sherman. Founded in 1877  it was home at one time to over 300 miners of gold, silver, copper and lead. There were several *mines in this area, that was prone to flooding in the Spring. The town was built at the confluence of Cottonwood Creek and the lake Fork of the Gunnison River. Many of the miners left in the winter and returned in late Spring when the snow was melted and the streams fat with that snow melt, were down.

I like that this recently erected sign educates us all... that this place did exist

 

The largest remaining structure pictured above are the walls of what was the Black Wonder Mill ,where ore was crushed and processed.

Other than there are several miners cabins that are sadly decaying.

 

this interior shot shows you that the floors were just dirt.

At this point I am not sure what could be done to preserve the area.

For those interested in what was the demise of this little place. Well, in the early 1890's the U. S. government devalued silver...which abruptly slowed down it's mining. Also, in order to keep the waters from the creek and the river back, a crude dam was constructed...which shortly thereafter burst and flooded, almost the entire town. Sherman never recovered. One man who owned more than one cabin, settled a debt he owed to a man in Lake City by giving him several of these cabins, which are part of our town  (Lake City) today. Most of this area where the town stood, is private property now ( with no trespassing signs) so I couldn't;t investigate like I wanted. (hate that).

* Mines in the area of Sherman were:  New Hope, Smile of Fortune, Minnie Lee and the largest, The Black Wonder.

Portions of this information came from the Bureau of Land Management brochure