A concise History of the Naming of Georgianatown
and Ostrich Plume (now Silver Plume), Colorado
© 2009 by Russo de los Locos Verdes, aka El Curmudgeono Viejo y Verde
Gold was discovered near the present location of Georgianatown in 1859, and by 1872 a railroad into the mountains was under construction. The tracks arrived in August, 1877, the railroad's many 'gandy dancers' accompanied by a proportionate number of gamblers, 'entertainers' and 'physical therapists'. By winter the growing village had been named 'Lanterntown', due to the ruddy glow cast by the several dozens of red train lanterns which festooned the doorways of the many tents and small shanties where the men sought solace from the wind-whipped snow during the long, cold nights. In 1882 the first three-story brick-walled 'Recreation and Physical Therapy Center for Senior Curmudgeons' had been constructed near the local hot springs by a Mr. Barnard Google, and when the town was formally incorporated a few months later it was named for his wife, the manager of this popular establishment - Georgiana Condi-Google. (She was popularly known as Madam Condi-Google-Eyes, due to her suffering from a mild case of hyper-thyroidism.)
For several winters, when placer mining in the frozen creek was impossible, the more ambitious of the residents whiled away their time by producing tomahawks, wooden drums, and Indian headdresses for sale in nearby Denver's many hotels and emporiums catering to 'flatland touristers'. For many years the headdresses were decorated with feathers obtained from the small but hardy Rocky Mountain Ostriches which lived in a small valley above the narrow canyon upstream from Georgianatown. Though their silvery-white plumage made them hard to spot in winter months, they were nearly immobile in cold weather and easily captured once located.
The Rocky Mountain Ostrich, believed by many to be extinct, is/was a close relative of the New Mexican or Lowland Ostrich
*, aka 'El Frijolote' - in turn a North American cousin of the Argentinian Rea and distantly related to the Australian Ostrich. The Colorado variety is smaller and less noisy than its lowland brethren, but has much longer and fluffier silvery-white feathers which evolved for survival in the harsh winters of its native high-mountain habitat. The discovery of gold in their prime feeding area threatened the Ostriches, but it was the brief and intense fad in the late 1880's - during which nearly every woman in the United States possessed, or at least desired, an Ostrich Plume hat - which doomed these peaceful creatures to near-extinction by 1888. The small mining community in the steep, narrow valley west of Georgianatown was first named 'Ostrich Plume' in memory of the beautifully feathered birds which once wintered there, but few today can recall seeing - or even hearing** - one of the unique creatures which bore such extravagant displays. The town was renamed 'Silver Plume' when a rich vug or plume of this precious metal was discovered nearby in 1893, and as the Ostriches' feathers were silvery white as well, there was only a small - but quite vocal - group of seven Democrats which opposed this change. The matter was settled quickly after five members of the group were swallowed up by an especially harsh winter storm while on a prospecting expedition with a Mr. A. Packer in what is now the Lake San Cristobal area southwest of Gunnison. (See [
ngdiscussion.net].)
* The now threatened Lowland Ostrich of northern Mexico and southern New Mexico is known locally as both 'El Frijolote' and also 'El Chilelote', due to its diet of native beans and chile peppers. Given the scientific name 'Ovis Meilius O'Moorius' by the first ornithologists to determine its taxonomy - Johannes Meile and Seamus O'Moore - it is known to most Gringos as the "Meile-O'Moore Bird"; among many Hispanic residents of the area it also carries the nickname 'Dos Kilometres'. Like their distant Australian cousins, at sunset these birds bury their heads in the cool sand; they then raise their legs and tail feathers into the air and, as a result of their southwestern diet, they can subsequently often be heard a mile or more. (On a still night they are sometimes heard, and scented, as far as 1.6 miles away - dos kilometres - hence their Spanish nickname.)
** Because of the scarcity of native beans and chiles in the higher mountains, the Rocky Mountain Ostrich had a different diet than its lowland cousins - mostly native brown and rainbow trout, supplemented with wild onions, wild mushrooms and sugar-pine seeds*** - and hence was so much quieter that it was hard to locate - especially during the winter when its silvery-white coat was easily lost against the snow.
*** This combination, when sautéd in garlic butter and preceded by an appetizer of Rocky Mountain Oysters, is still quite popular at Madam Condi-Google-Eyes IV's once-thriving establishment in Georgianatown,
**** which has been hit hard by the recent economic downturn.
**** Sales in the gift shop have been especially affected, as the Mayor of Creede recently cornered the market in Acme
® brand rubber-headed genuine Bangladeshi Indian tomahawks as well as Fleer's
Double Bubble bubble gum. These were once the sales leaders among souvenir items for flatland touristers in Georgianatown, but are now shipped exclusively into Creede where they arrive by the container load on the D&RG twelve-gauge railroad.
Edited 11 time(s). Last edit at 11/12/2013 07:39PM by Russo Loco.
< - is "Two Thumbs Up" ...
