• Welcome, Guest! We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMW MOA forum provides. Some forum content will be hidden from you if you remain logged out. If you want to view all content, please click the 'Log in' button above and enter your BMW MOA username and password.

    If you are not an MOA member, why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the BMW Owners News magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMW MOA offers?

Then and Now Images

Exploring with Custer

I have slight interest in historic photography and the Black Hills of South Dakota. So my children gave me the book "Exploring With Custer, The 1874 Black Hills Expedition". I starts with a collection of Historic Photos take by W.H. Illingworth, A photographer that was imbeded in the cavalry with Custer. Then a modern day photographer Paul Horsted decided to find the exact spot that the historic photos were taken and retake them. A fantastic collection of then and now. The is more to the book than this. If you are interested goto www.custertrail.com
 
OK, some more.

Quite the scene in Idaho Springs at the turn of the last century as the ore teams prepared to head to the mines in the morning...
idahothen.jpg


Lunchtime is when the community nowadays oftens sees the most activity. If there was something to stand on other than a pick-up truck bumper, could have gotten higher...
idahonow.jpg


The Peck House in Empire (at the southern base of Berthoud Pass) is one of Colorado's oldest continuosly operating hotels...
peckthen1.jpg


Much of the interior furniture came with the Peck family in 1862. Not much of an audience this day...
pecknow1.jpg


Speaking of Berthoud Pass, almost 100 years ago, 1915...
berthoudthen.jpg


A gorgeous pass in more ways than one...
berthoudnow.jpg


Meeker's main street 90 years ago...
meekerthen1.jpg


Meeker, in NW Colorado is in the middle of fantastic riding, on and off road...
meekernow1.jpg


Explorer John C. Fremont discovered the pass containing his name in the 1840's...
fremontthen.jpg


That's 14,148 ft. Mt. Democrat in the distance guarding the SW corner of this broad and airy riding pass...
fremontnow.jpg
 
What a great idea!

Would make a great Tag-O-Rama too...
Take an old Postcard/image and find the location today.

I used to surf eBay just to look at old post cards...
Some good stuff comes up some times.

Thanks for posting these.
 
Steve, thanks for this thread. Very interesting. I'd like to try that. Guess I'll be rounding up some old photos to take on my next tour.
 
Kind thoughts everyone. As always. For a few more strolls through past...

A festive 1901 Labor Day in the thriving, mining community of Eldora...
eldorathen.jpg


Well, with the mines less thriving, so is the now sem-ghost town of Eldora. What a contrast...
eldoranow.jpg


Boy, when roads were created for autos around 1910-1920, there was a craze to go on group "drives". We can relate with our two wheeled things eh? This is Bear Creek Canyon west of Denver. How would you like to be going the opposite direction?
bearcreekautos.jpg


At the mouth of Bear Creek Canyon then...
bearcreekthen.jpg


Bear Creek Canyon now...
bearcreeknow.jpg


When fires swept through communities back then, seriously, little could be done. Many towns saw flames pass through more than once. The Cripple Creek fire of 1896. Dang...
cripplefire.jpg


Hey, let's start building more often with brick. Four years later in 1900...
cripplethen.jpg


And 110 years later. I should actually be a few feet forward...
cripplenow.jpg


About 60 years ago, the D&SP station house in Como was in a state of decay after the tracks over nearby Boreas Pass were pulled up.
comostationthen.jpg


Things are coming around a bit, but things are also still a little slow and sleepy in Como (named by Italian miners who thought the area reminded them of home)...
comostationnow.jpg


Nevadaville, about a mile SW above Central City, boasted in 1865 a population of 4,000... one of the most populous towns in the state at the time. The first big gold strike was nearby...
nevadavillethen.jpg


The population today now hovers between 5 and 10...
nevadavillenow.jpg
 
Ouray at the turn of the 20th century...
ouraythen.jpg


Today, from that well paused at overlook on the Million Dollar Highway...
ouraynow.jpg


Creede back then...
creedethen.jpg


BTW, the Silver Thread Scenic Byway (CO 149) passing by Creede is one of the pre-eminent riding roads in the country. 117 miles, no stoplights, two mountain passes, two historic mining towns, two river drainages, the headwaters of the Rio Grande, with entrancing riding the entire length...
creedenow.jpg


As fires swept through wooden frontier towns, few were as fortunate as the Victor fire department with a dedicated truck and crew, in a brick building no less...
victorfiretruckthen.jpg


The two wheeled truck paying homage...
victorfiretrucknow.jpg


Nevertheless, little could be done when roaring flames consumed the wooden fuel elsewhere. The great Victor fire of 1899...
victorfirethen.jpg


Those without a home to return to following the fire...
victorfirehomeless.jpg


I'm actually on the train bed, and looking the same direction as the fire pic above, but difficult to tell...
victorfirenow.jpg
 
Thanks all. Well, a few more.

If you hopped off the train in St. Elmo in 1878, this is how you might have been greeted...
stelmofrontthen.jpg


If you rode in today...
stelmofrontnow.jpg


And after walking through town and looking back in 1880...
stelmobackthen.jpg


And doing the same today...
stelmobacknow.jpg


Looking NE as a few buildings looked after 30 years of abandonment...
stelmobuildingsthen.jpg


And after another 60 more years, with a touch of modest care...
stelmobuildingsnow.jpg


From a recent ride, pausing in the town of Morrison. The school in the late 1800's...
morrisonschoolthen.jpg


I think it is a residence now...
morrisonschoolnow.jpg


Bear Creek would rampage through Morrison periodically after heavy rains would soak the canyons above town. The dam at Evergreen ten miles to the west put a halt to the unruliness of the water, but not before this flood 80 years ago, with mud the photographed aftermath...
morrisonthen.jpg


The tamed stream is behind me in this "now" pic...
morrisonnow.jpg
 
...heavy rains would soak the canyons above town...sfarson

It doesn't look like there's much vegetation up there, to slow the water down. They must have been like flash floods in the desert.
 
wow!

What fun. We've been to several of those spots and love seeing them here from a new POV...or should I say "old?"
 
OK, a few more finding the location of old ghost town structures that had been swept up and away by man and nature. West Creek flared to life in 1896 with claims of gold in the area. Fortune seekers swept in, erected a scattered town along the namesake creek, and within six months 2,000 people were there. By late 1897 it was recognized there wasn't "gold in them thar hills", and the fade began.

Here's an excellent eight minute video from Douglas County on the history of what is now known as Westcreek (single word)... Landmark Series - All That Glitters, West Creek Colorado on Vimeo

West Creek around 1896-1897...
westcreekthen1.jpg


In two months (June 2002) will be the ten year anniversary of the massive Hayman wildfire, which consumed 138,000 acres and numerous scattered homes in the Westcreek area. Today, it is a quiet place, but what a diff versus 1896-1897...
westcreeknow1.jpg


1896-1897...
westcreekthen2.jpg


Today, with a delightful power pole. There was a home behind me preventing a more elevated and precise "where the photographer stood then"...
westcreeknow2.jpg


So, a short ride south along West Creek, about a mile from the above, where a few structures of West Creek "suburbia" were placed...
westcreekthen3.jpg


Guess it is fitting to have horses of the day stand in tribute to the past. Could have hopped the fence and joined them for a slightly better "now" perspective...
westcreeknow3.jpg
 
Amazing photos. Thanks. The "now" photos where the original buildings still exist in very much the same appearance as they did in the "then" photos are particularly haunting and yet somehow satisfying to see. They seem to allow you to be transported to those bygone years and to enjoy a special connection with those courageous and pioneering people who are now long gone. The photos are also an excellent commentary on our own mortality. (a certain song by Kansas would fit in nicely here. :) )
 
Your postings are very cool and enjoyable to look at. Interesting how in most of your pictures the man-made of the past has been gobbled-up and returned back to it's natural state. Out here where I live (about 20 miles North of NYC) it would be the opposite where Industrial buildings have been replaced by residential housing and office space.
May take a stab at a northeast version if I find the time.
Again, thanks.
mike wex
 
Good thoughts chester and mike. From a recent ride... The Colorado Midland Railroad had a line running from Colorado Springs up to the high alpine meadows of South Park. A popular stop about 100 years ago was Hartsel, where tourists would disembark for fishing in the South Platte, soaking the bones in the hot springs, and picking wildflowers in massive fields of wildflowers. The train's wheels would sing on standard gauge track so heavier loads could be hauled. This was also known as the "Stockmen's Railroad", for among the cars in the train were those dedicated to hauling cattle and hay back to Colorado Springs.

Anyway, a large photo for reflection. Before there were nurseries, gathering huge bouquets of wildflowers was quite the pastime, and so was dressing up for the
occasion...
hartselflowers.jpg


Autos came on to the stage of life, roads were placed down, and tracks were pulled up. About 70 years ago...
hartseldepotthen.jpg


Guess I could have tilted the cam a bit, and brought the bike and background closer. Dang it can be hard framing/standing where someone did long ago. That
faint snowcap peak in the distance to the right is Pikes Peak. Just to the right of the bike is the old train grade. The tracks would have been coming towards
us...
hartseldepotnow.jpg
 
Found this 100 year old picture of a man paning for gold.
 

Attachments

  • west60_sJPG_950_2000_0_75_0_50_50.JPG
    west60_sJPG_950_2000_0_75_0_50_50.JPG
    11.9 KB · Views: 185
Back
Top