Prologue. January 1975. Good friend and partner Frank Bonsal told me he had confidential information that the tailings of an abandoned mine in Crested Butte, Colorado indicated a high concentration of the metal, molybdenum. Nelson Tree Service had the utility contract for most of the rural parts of Colorado. I knew the area well. He suggested I investigate. If I could confirm the story we would invest. (We found out later, had we invested $25,000, we would've made 1/2 million dollars, but ,but, but we did not!) Instead the result was a wonderful and unique summer. Crested Butte was just beginning as a tourist, ski resort. Almost nothing on Main Street. Other than balloonist ,no sports activities on the Butte. Few people, wonderfully unique small-town mountain experience.

Tales of the Butte.

A). First Trip. Undercover Disguise Leads to Summer Paradise. Did not take a Bath for week or shave or two weeks. Old's tattered cloths. Flew to Aspen. Picked up small commercial plane, five seats and flew to Crested Butte. Spent three days mostly at the Wooden Nickel Bar. This is where the Croatian miners drink;pretended to be one of the locals. Miners thought there was a good chance that there was molybdenum. Loved the town. Back to Bonsal. We decided to spend summer at Crested Butte, but most unfortunately did not invest. I rented a house for two months, and Frank for one month. As luck would have it, the airplane pilot who flew the commercial plane between Aspen and Crested Butte was my new next-door neighbor. Ron and Sharon Rouse were the perfect neighbors. Besides having the city lengthen the airport runway and creating a "commercial airline", they own he only taxi company in town, two vehicles. Sharon was the maître d' at the best restaurant. They had two ladies working in a house cleaning service. Most industrial couple. They knew everybody and everything about Crested Butte. With their help we experienced a most wonderful summer.
B). Tales of the Butte.

1). Mountain travels. I took Sam and Peter on a hike and camp-out halfway over the mountain to Aspen. Above the tree line. Had to hunker down during heavy hail storm. Saw the remains of downed airplane. Exhausting but great trip. Many other hiking and motor trips. One of the best was the long trip to Marble,Colorado This is where much of the stone was mine for the national capital and monuments in Washington. Rather dangerous driving but beautiful scenery. Many other mountain trips to isolated camps and a couple small resorts.

2).Main Street adventures. One evening, sitting in a bar's upstairs balcony , overlooking the Main Street, having a few drinks ,Frank saw a horse and buggy tied to the railing below. He announced to the kids unhitch the horse and a ride. He went down stairs and drove the buggy around the block. I told the kids in Colorado they hang rustlers. They panicked. Frank arrived back for another drink.

3 ). Oh Be Joyful. We were fishing the isolated mountain stream, Oh Be Joyful. (Wherever you go in the East Coast ,everybody knows Bonsal. He's notorious for that.) Out of nowhere, you could hear a four-wheel vehicle. As the people finally approached one yelled "hey Bonsal". Only Frank!

4). Potatoes Brumbaugh. One of the interesting characters in Michener's Centennial is Potatoes Brumbaugh. He was one of the first Colorado settlers, a mountain potato farmer. Our neighbors the Rouses' 12-year-old son asked me to take him ,Peter and Sam on a drive into the mountains. He had a surprise. We drove up dirt roads probably, 10 miles from the town and found an old abandoned village, only about four falling down buildings. Next to the town,a graveyard. There he showed us a tombstone. Brumbaugh 1894. (Probably the first Brumbaugh ever to be buried above 10,000 feet).

5). Tale of Taos. The Bonsal's and the Brumbaugh's, off to New Mexico. In Taos we stayed at a famous hotel. (It had been the residence of DH Lawrence.) It had an inner courtyard surrounded by second-story balconies. The old owner, ( DH Lawrence friend, and sole evening employee,) after 7 o'clock would go carousing and bar-hopping, not to return until daylight. We went to dinner leaving the children unattended. When we returned we found them under siege! They were on the balcony throwing water and ice on the teenage Mexican gang that was attacking from below. Screaming and yelling! Adaire, Cmdr., shouting orders at the boys. Open warfare! The Alamo revisited.

6). Black Canyon of the Gunnison. (This wouldn’t happen today!) I was driving Peter and Sam back from New Mexico to Crested Butte. We stopped at the beautiful park, the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. Almost 2/3 as deep as the Grand Canyon, beautiful. Almost dark, out of gas. Last car leaving Park, some Mexican hood types from Los Angeles. Could not have been nicer;drove us 20 miles into town we bought gasoline and they drove us back. Wouldn’t take a penny. How many Los Angeles kids are like this today?

7). One Mining Story leads to Another. Towards the end of the summer, after Frank and returned East, he called and suggested that I take another "investigate the mine" trip. He had information that a company owned by Malifi brothers in Albuquerque had great potential, a large uranium mine. After the family returned East, I drove to Albuquerque and then 80 miles west to the mine. The brothers public company owned 49% of the mine. Sohio,a major oil company,owned 51%. There was a large tailings concentration pond in operation above the mine. I took the elevator a thousand feet down the mineshaft. There we went from one large cavern to another through tunnels on our stomachs rolling on table like devices. Didn't even get claustrophobia, amazing. Back in Baltimore, I told Frank that this one looked really promising. We brought quite a bit of the stock him at $35 a share. It went to $50 a share. Then the price the uranium cratered, and almost simultaneously the mine collapsed. The price went from $50 to $3! No more mining adventures for me!