It is Day 2 of my reprised 1999 MHA trip to Ouray and Silverton. So far, all the emergency changes to my original plans have panned out well.  Before I head off for Gunnison and the 2025 MHA conference, I wanted to photograph the model of the Camp Bird Mill complex at the Ouray Visitor Center and pay a visit to the Ouray County Historical Society Museum to see any additions to the mining exhibits made since the 1999 conference visit.

The Ouray Visitor Center is adjacent to the city’s public Hot Springs Pool complex. When we stopped at the Center a few years ago, the mill model was located near the entrance.  On this trip it was missing.  When I asked the friendly representative, she said that the model had been moved to the historical museum.  Problem solved.  It was my next stop. I then asked her where I could get a photo of the town with a view of the geologic amphitheater in which it is located. She recommended a trail across the highway from the Center it but has a very steep access point. When I told her that I had just come from sea level two days ago and had not fully acclimated to the higher elevation, she proposed an easier trail access point at Cascade Falls.  That was a winner and just a short distance to the historical museum.

I was greeted at the Ouray County Historical Society Museum by Maria Jones.  She pointed out several additions to the museum’s mining displays since the 1999 MHA visit.

(Above) The view to the south from the Ouray Visitor Center and Hot Springs Pool.

The hike from the Cascade Falls parking lot to the loop trail only required two breath-catching stops. 

The Ouray County Historical Society Museum building was the town hospital at one time.

The turn-of-the-twentieth-century Raab/Sly log cabin has donated to the historical society and moved to the museum grounds.

(Above) This mine bicycle was used at the Idarado Mine in the 1950s.

The HO gage (1:87) scale model of the Camp Bird Mill complex was constructed by John Uhles.  It took 3 years to build and was dedicated in 2013.

The model is based on the 1908 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map.

This model by Thomas Canavan shows how a stamp mill operates.  Above the model is a peg board used to tally the number of cars of ore produced by the Camp Bird miners.

This model also by Thomas Canavan incorporates an ore tramway system.

Mortgage loan certificates from the Atlas Mining and Milling Company.  The Atlas mine is located on the Camp Bird Road near the Revenue Mine at Sneffels.  Mike was part of a Forest Service volunteer team that evaluated the mine site in 2002.

Photos of the Atlas Mine (top) and the ruins of the Atlas Mill.  (2016 photos, Mike Kaas)

(Above) A collection of items used by miners in the San Juan Mountains.

Several ore specimens are from the historic Camp Bird Mine that made a fortune for Irish immigrant miner, Tom Walsh. 

Walsh purchased the famous Hope Diamond for his daughter. It is now in the Smithsonian Natural History Museum in Washington, DC.

Ore specimens from the Atlas Mine are seldom seen in museums.

A particularly nice specimen from the Sunnyside Mine in Silverton.

The fluorescent mineral display should delight all tourists and rockhounds.

Mineral lovers will recognize that the specimens in the lower case are from the historic zinc mines in Franklin and Sterling Hill (Ogdensburg), New Jersey, the fluorescent mineral mecca for mineralogists. The 2005 MHA conference toured this location.