Another was told by one who was working in the Colorado Trading & Development Co. store at the time. During the winter months the mail was brought up from Marble by a carrier on snowshoes, who as a rule could get through with very little trouble. But once when a very deep feathery snow had fallen he was unable to get through for over a week. The egg supply at the store was exhausted; so they decided to send a man down to try to get some. He made it down all right but had to wait several days for the snow to crust over before coming back. Then he carried the case of eggs strapped on his shoulders the six miles back to Crystal City. In the meantime the price of eggs soared.
In 1938 Emmet S. Gould of Aspen came to Crystal City looking for ore to run through a recently purchased mill. He became interested at once in the area not only for its potential mineral wealth, but also its wild beauty. He bought several mining claims and city lots with their cabins.
[Illustration: DEADHORSE MILL—just below Crystal City. One of the earliest mills built on the Crystal River. —_Photo courtesy_ John B. Schutte, Glenwood Springs, Colo.]
[Illustration: SNOW BRIDGE—across the Crystal River below the Devil’s Punch Bowls. It usually melts by September, but has been known to stay the year ’round. It is caused by slides on each side of the Canyon. —_Photo courtesy_ John B. Schutte, Glenwood Springs, Colo.]
He made an effort to open the Lucky Boy and the Lead King mines, but unfortunate circumstances once again kept the mines from paying.
His daughters, Mrs. Dorothy Tidwell and Mrs. Helen Collins, and granddaughters, Maxine Fowler and Carolyn Lodge, all of California, still come with their families and friends, and make up a part of Crystal City’s 20 or 30 summer residents.
The Welcome J. Neals who also own mining claims and a house in Crystal City, come every year from Mooresville, Ind., and bring their friends and relatives for a delightful summer’s vacation where the weather is just right, the scenery unsurpassable, and the elusive trout waiting to match his skill against that of the tourist.
Dick CarScadden of Aspen spends his summers in Crystal City conducting tourists on hiking trips: the food and camping equipment being carried by huskies.
