Niwot Historical Society back to pre-COVID-19 lectures

The Niwot Historical Society (NHS) held its first public lecture with a live audience since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic on Sept. 18 in the Left Hand Grange No. 9. The lecturer was Larry Dorsey, well-known railroad historian, trustee of the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden and past chair of the Superior Historical Commission.

Dorsey gave one of the first lectures to the Society in 2011. In total, he has given six lectures about Colorado railroading. Two are presently viewable on the NHS YouTube channel. The Sept. 18 lecture will also be available on the channel in the future.

The lecture, "Black Diamonds on Silver Rails," looked at the relationship between coal mining and railroads. The topic evolved from a lecture he gave at a senior residence in Littleton, where the question was raised about why so many coal trains pass by that location daily. Where does coal come from and where does it go?

Twelve to fourteen coal trains pass through Denver every day. The coal is coming from open pit mines in the Powder River Basin coalfield in Wyoming, which is the largest coal-producing region in the United States, Dorsey explained. "You don't have very many going through Niwot," he said, "but you might have one a day." Most of the coal trains travel on lines well east of Niwot.

Dorsey connected mining and railroading by first talking about Colorado coalfields, mining and labor strikes. As an example, Crested Butte used to be a rough and tumble town with the third largest coal mine in Colorado. It was the only source of quality anthracite coal west of Pennsylvania. Dorsey noted that in those days, mules were more valuable than miners. Mules spent the entire mining season underground. It could cost hundreds of dollars to replace a mule, but there was no shortage of men waiting for work in the mines. Hundreds of miners a year died in the mines at the time.

The mining labor disputes are well known in the local history of the coalfields of Marshall, Superior and other nearby Front Range towns. The famous Long Strike started in Louisville and Superior and lasted from 1910 to 1914. In addition to the 10-hour workdays in the mines, Dorsey said, "There was something called 'dead work.' If you worked in the mine you had to spend an hour or two working on the beams and supports." However, dead work was unpaid because miners were only paid for the coal they mined.

After the Ludlow Massacre in southern Colorado, violence came to Louisville when shots were exchanged between miners and the mine owners' militias. Federal troops arrived and remained in Louisville for a year. In the end, seven men were killed and many were injured.

Railroading back then was very important for commerce. There were many small railroad companies before they consolidated into the companies we now know well. The Moffat Tunnel under the Continental Divide is an example of a big engineering project of national importance undertaken to make rail transport safer and easier. The rail it replaced ran over the Continental Divide where snow removal made the line too costly to operate for much of the year. The project cost around $245 million in today's dollars, Dorsey said.

The Town of Superior lost its museum, all of its artifacts and most of its historic homes (40 of 43) due to the December 2021 Marshall Fire. The museum included artifacts displaying its coal mining history. Insurance is covering most of the replacement of the museum, except for the basement, an essential part of the museum. A historic home in Grasso Park will be the museum's new home.

The museum is accepting donations of artifacts. Dorsey said, "In some cases help has been offered from museums as far away as Montana. Artifacts from Lafayette, Erie, and Louisville are relevant to Superior."

Turnout for the Sunday afternoon lecture was lighter than past evening lectures. The Niwot Historical Society looks forward to hosting future live lectures. The next lecture is scheduled for Oct. 2 at 1:30 p.m. in the Grange. It will cover the history of the Haystack Mountain golf course.