Hardy individuals in search of gold,  and ambitious entrepreneurs established La Plata City in the mid-1870s to reap the mineral wealth located in the La Plata Mountains. It wasn’t until the boom of 1884 that La Plata City took on the semblance of a “full-service” town hosting stores and bars.

Houses and businesses stretched one-half mile on the west side of the La Plata river, starting at the schoolhouse and heading north.   Most residents were miners and mill workers while some worked in support industries and businesses.  Most bachelor miners stayed in commercial boarding homes in town or in barracks on the mine sites.

The city lays at an elevation of about 9200 feet and receives considerable snow during the winter, necessitating workers be close to the work site. They used homemade skis and snowshoes to make infrequent trips to the City to buy necessities.

We don’t know the exact year Gus and Charlie first laid eyes on the Canyon, speculating it was sometimes just before or just after the turn of the 19th century, ultimately taking up residence at the north end of town.  They too faced the same winter issues as the earlier miners; I heard numerous stories about homemade skis, snowshoes and multi-person sleds to make emergency exits from the canyon.

One particular winter,  after a series of overwhelming snowstorms and ensuing avalanches,  the Canyon became impassable.  Many of the miners’ family members and friends in Durango and Hesperus had heard about the massive avalanches and were worried about the miner’s safety.  Charlie Ekburg braved the weather and skied to Hesperus, then hitched a ride to Durango to let people know everyone was fine.  He was a hero for a day.

A few cabins remain to this day, many occupied as summer homes.  Many of these existing cabins are visible in older photography.

La Plata City lies in the midst of the San Juan National Forest.  Private ownership came about by these early miners patenting their mining and (mostly) placer claims. This is true for all the private grounds in the La Plata Canyon ranging from May Day at the entrance of the Canyon to the private grounds at the highest elevations.

A bit of irony stems from this fact. Several residents in the May Day area have posted signage protesting mining in the Canyon, but had it not been for mining there would be no private property for their summer cabins.

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