Journeying to Pagosa Springs

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Photo courtesy John M. Motter This photo shows the first bathhouse erected at the Pagosa Hot Springs. It was built before the government sold the springs to a private party, so the builders were certainly squatting, as did many of Pagosa Country’s first settlers. Photo courtesy John M. Motter
This photo shows the first bathhouse erected at the Pagosa Hot Springs. It was built before the government sold the springs to a private party, so the builders were certainly squatting, as did many of Pagosa Country’s first settlers.[/caption]

Following the conclusion of the Civil War, prospectors packed into the San Juan Mountains, searching for their personal El Dorado. Many of those early prospectors came by way of Baker’s Road starting at Abiquiu and following the Chama River Valley northward through New Mexico Territory to the San Juan River at Pagosa Springs, then west to the Animas River and upstream to the vicinity of today’s Silverton where they fanned out in every direction.

News of their success traveled eastward and the number of gold hunters increased rapidly. Friction between miners and the native Ute Indians mounted and the Army began thinking of building a fort in the San Juans to discourage any threatened carnage.

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