This ca. 1930 photograph looking northwest shows the two-story Spruce Lodge at
the east end of South Fork across the railroad tracks from the Galbreath Tie and
Timber Company sawmill. Source: Western History/Genealogy Department,
Denver Public Library, call number X-13611.
Lodge History
Water Tank
Rail History
Town History
Logging History
Mining History
Unlike its rough and tumble neighbors to the north, Creede and Lake City, which owe their overnight
success to the discovery of rich mineral deposits. South Fork is located at the extreme southern end of
the Silver Thread Scenic Byway where Highway 149 & 160 meet gradually developed over the course
of the past century in a much more tranquil fashion.
Prior to the arrival of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad in 1882, South Fork was primarily known as a
stopping point on the stage line. Where passengers could rest, shake the dust from their weary bones &
if time permitted, enjoy a meal prior to continuing on to Wagon Wheel Gap or Lake City.
The arrival of the railroad, however, brought profound changes with cheap and reliable transportation,
allowing residents to exploit the vast timber reserves. Saw mills were established to process the rough
logs brought down from the surrounding mountains; the refined timber product was then shipped out on
the railroad to markets in more populated areas.
Cattle and sheep were also introduced to the area-not always amicably-at an early date. Early conflicts
between the two interests are recalled in the name Poison Gulch, near the Elk Ranch, where intense
rivalries resulted in a number of sheep dying after drinking water which had been intentionally
poisoned.
Agriculture, which started on a modest scale with small farms and ranches in the 1870s, also expanded
as a result of the railroad and outside markets which it provided. The early decades of the 20th Century
witnessed a dramatic increase in vegetable production-particularly cauliflower, lettuce and peas-which
were commercially grown on the rich agricultural lands between South Fork and Del Norte.
Also important to South Fork's continued development in the 20th Century was tourism, an industry
that remains an important factor to the area's economy today. Well to do sportsmen of the 1870s were
well acquainted with South Fork and the Rio Grande, which were and still are celebrated for apparently
boundless wildlife.
An eastern hunter in the 1870s recorded that he set out from South Fork in search of big game. "Three
days travel over a rough trail," he wrote, "brought us to the hunting grounds at sunset, and we went into
camp beside a mountain spring, about whose soft and yielding banks the footprints of various animals
were plainly visible." Continuing, he wrote, "That night I heard though I did not see, a mountain lion,
and one roar truly sufficed me. Further curiosity I had not. As my flesh turned cold with a second roar
from a lion, apparently nearer our tent, broke out upon the air...it was answered by another and another
roar, until fairly appalled, I started to my feet, ready to fly at the next intonation of the frightful volume
of sound." George Crofutt visited South Fork in 1885 and noted "game and trout are abundant in the
mountains and streams, while cattle and sheep roam over the hills."
The abundance of wildlife made its way onto the dinner plates of stage passengers who rested at Shaw's
Ranch, known as Bunker Hill, near present day South Fork. J. G. Pangborn, writing in 1878, advised
potential tourists that the 75-cent meals were well worth the cost. "Their meals," he wrote, "are generally
of a very appetizing character, especially to those east of the Mississippi, where game is a luxury rather
than the mainstay as it is hereabouts." For overnight guests, however Pangborn referred to the
inconvenience and discomfort caused by the fact the Stage Company refused to furnish warm blankets
to its passengers. " Do not neglect to include an ample supply of wraps and robes when preparing for a
night in the mountains," he admonished," you cannot tell when you may need them." In addition to the
Shaw Ranch, other well known stops as South Fork in the 1870s were successively operated by a Mr.
Hobbs and E.W. Edwards, both of whom routinely received high marks from stage passengers for the
"favors which they so liberally dispense."
The demand for good quality timber --for railroad ties in the states ever-expanding railroad network and
for mine timbers used in the nearby Summitville Mining District-- brought South Fork fame in the years
following the turn of the century. The region's best known timber industry entrepreneurs were two
Brothers, O. S. Galbreath Tie & Timber Co., was a major economic force and employer in South Fork
between the years 1905 and 1948. The Galbreaths controlled lumber interests in various areas of the
state including South Fork, Del Norte, Pagosa Springs and Juanita Colorado, and at South Fork
developed the beginning of a true "company town," complete with hotel, post office, and company
store. Workers in the Galbreath companies were paid with script, which could be redeemed only at the
company store. Timber production in Rio Grande County, of which South Fork is a part, reached six
million board feet in 1936; in 1940, with modernize equipment, the Galbreath saw mills at South Fork
employed a work force of 50 which produced rough and dressed lumber valued at $40,000. In her book,
"SOUTH FORK: A Journey into the past," author Rosalind L. Weaver notes that Charles Galbreath "was
a man who had a dream for South Fork...a man who realized his dream."
Other Galbreath holdings in the early years of the 20th Century included a hotel-its walls so thin a
conversation could by carried on between rooms without missing a word, according to Weaver-and
vegetable production facilities. The processing buildings-or "sheds" as they were known locally-dated
back to the early 1920s when it was discovered that certain vegetables could be grown commercially on
the upper Rio Grande. Cauliflower, in particular, proved productive, as did lettuce and peas. Lettuce, as
one of the area's distinctive cash crops, was grown on acreage large and small-even along the railroad
right of way between South Fork and Creede, even at the "Y" which is the site of the visitor center,
which was completed in 1996. Vegetable processing sheds were operated in South Fork at different
times by the A. S. Gerrard Co., of Cincinnati, Ohio, the American Fruit Growers Assoc., the Arthur Mann
Co., and Burton Lettuce.
Subsidiary local businesses which grew out of the vegetable production included assembly of wooden
crates-some made from local lumber-used to ship the produce, as well as cutting, hauling & storing large
amounts of ice which was required to preserve the vegetables for shipping. South Fork's vegetable
industry remained strong until the 1940s when it diminished due to competition from California &
Arizona.
From tranquil beginnings, South Fork continued to expand as it witnessed the changing fortunes of
agriculture and the timber industry. South Fork remains vibrant today-a regional hub for agriculture,
and tourism, and one of Colorado's newest incorporated towns-a fitting southern gateway to the Silver
Thread Scenic and Historic Byway.
For further information about the Town of South Fork contact the Silver Thread Interpretive
Center at 28 Silver Thread Lane, in South Fork, Colorado. You can also receive information by
calling (719) 873-5512 or 1-800-571-0081.
Suggested further reading: "SOUTH FORK: A Journey into the Past," a 129-page softbound book
privately printed by Rosalind L. Weaver. This book offers an intriguing glimpse into turn-of-the
century life in South Fork, and the Galbreath timber industry, as seen through the eyes of several
generations of the Weaver family.
MORE INFO AT http://www.southforkcolorado.org/history.php
