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Show CHAPTER LI. GUNNISON. The city of Gunnison was founded in the fall of 1879, by Prof. S. Richardson, and now it has massive brick and stone blocks, that seem to have sprung up with the swift and easy architecture of Aladdin's Palace. The La Veta hotel, a superb building, with accommodations equal to any in Eastern cities, is entirely a native structure. The foundation rock and ornamental stone were all quarried at the edge of Gunnison; the brick were made there, likewise the woodwork. The iron castings are the product of th^ir foundries; the lime for mortar and plaster of native manufacture. Adding to these products the gold and silver in the surrounding mountains, and we have the resources which are to maintain a constant growth. How the Gunnison bank was established is a characteristic story of frontier life. In '79 Sam. G. Gill, then living in Denver, conceived the idea that a bank would pay in Gunnison. Not until the spring of '80, however, was he able to organize it, then succeeded through the help of Governor Tabor and the late Col. Jacobson. At this time the Rio Grande road was completed to Alamosa in Conejos county, Gunnison being distant one hundred and fifty miles. All freighting had to be done by mule and ox teams across Cochetopa Pass, a long, tedious haul. When Gill left Denver he locked up the greater part of his bank capital ($30,000) in his safe, and shipped it to Alamosa. When he reached that place he found such a vast quantity of freight en route to Gunnison that 252 |
