Beginning of the Rio Grande, Pagosa & Northern Railroad- The first 8 miles as the local saw it.
Oct 29, 1897 Pagosa Spring Sun:
There are some rumors afloat that A. T. Sullenberger will construct a railroad into Archuleta county in the near future and again enter the lumber business.
May 13, 1898 Pagosa Spring Sun:
Walker Bros. moved the sawmill, recently purchased by them, to the Dyke ranch this week where they have the contract for sawing 75000 feet of lumber. They will begin operations as soon as the mill can be set up.
June 10, 1898 Pagosa Spring Sun:
The Walker Bros. now have their mill in running order and are manufacturing lumber as fast as possible at the Dyke ranch.
Oct 7 , 1898 Pagosa Spring Sun:
A. T. Sullenberger of Denver was here this week looking over the country.
Dec 23, 1898 Pagosa Spring Sun:
Blaie Burwell returned last night from Archuleta county, where he had been engaged the past ten days making a survey for A. T. Sullenberger from Gato station to Pagosa Springs. Mr. Burwell says the surveying party was only able to get as far as Dyke’s place owing to the deep snow. The line runs up Cat creek and the distance run being about 18 miles, the grade being a very easy one. – Durango Herald.
Aug 11, 1899 Pagosa Spring Sun:
CONTRACT LET – FOR GRADING THE RIO GRANDE, PAGOSA & NORTHERN RAILROAD:
The Denver News of the 3d instant contained the following relating to the construction of the railroad from Pagosa Junction to Pagosa Springs.
The contract for the construction of the branch line from Pagosa Junction to Pagosa Springs on the Rio Grande system was let yesterday to W. C. Bradbury & Co. Work will commence as soon as the papers can be signed up and it is expected that the road will be completed by November. This road has heretofore been know as the Sullenberger line, inasmuch as A. T. Sullenberger, the Denver lumberman, had been superintending the work. The chief directors, however, are those of the Rio Grande. The incorporated title of the line is the Rio Grande, Pagosa and Northern railroad. It will be about thirty miles in length although the word “Northern” in the title is generally taken to indicate that the Rio Grande contemplates eventually continuing the track across the divide to a point higher up into the San Juan line for the purpose of saving the climb to Chama. The present purpose is that of tapping the lumber territory in the vicinity of Pagosa Springs, where mills are to be erected. The line from Arboles, which is backed by a lumber firm, is being run with the same idea in view. Construction work is said to be going on at present.
From the Republican of the same date we clip the following: [Same as above]
The lettering of this contract is generally considered another straw to show that the financial wind is blowing strong toward this state. The new road is to start at Pagosa Junction on the D&RG, and extend to P.S. It traversed a country rich in find bodies of timber where several Denver men now have large mills.
After the construction of the road by the Rio Grande it is said that many improvements will be made in Pagosa Springs. The new line passes through the Indian reservation.
The letting of the contract of this road is one of a number already let or soon to be let by Colorado roads. If the railroads, new and extensions projected are built in Colorado, the state will soon become a network of rails. Never in the history of the state has there been such general activity in railroad work in Colorado. Many extensions of roads already built are to be made into this state.
Mr. Whitney Newton of Pueblo, president of the Newton Lumber company, was here the fore part of this week looking over the new railroad line. He left Tuesday morning for Pagosa Junction.
From Trinidad Chronicle News:
Whitney Newton, president of the Newton Lumber Company, one of the largest of the kind in the state, departed for Denver this morning. His company has been operating a large sawmill on Red River, twelve miles below Catskill for several years. Since the Newton branch of the C&S road was washed out two weeks ago, and in view of the fact that most of the timber is already cut out, Mr. Newton decided to move the mill outfit to Pagosa Springs. The company has leased vast bodies of timber over there and is now building a narrow gauge road from Pagosa Junction to the Springs, a distance of thirty miles. The horses and wagons arrived in Trinidad, coming overland, and a carload of machinery went over the Maxwell Branch. The whole outfit, requiring four cars, left over the Rio Grande for Pagosa Junction
Aug 18, 1899; Pagosa Spring Sun:
Pagosa is coming to the front. The grading on the new railroad line has commenced, and the contractors are pushing along at a lively gait.
A. T. Sullenberger has been appointed postmaster at Pagosa Junction, a new post-office recently established by the department. The place was formerly known as Gato water tank.
Seventy teams are now at work on the railroad grade between Pagosa Junction and the Durango road. It will be only a few weeks until the steel will be laid between those points.
They are paying $3.50 per day for team work on the new railroad. All parties that want work and have good teams are requested to report at Pagosa Junction and they will be put to work at once.
Aug 25, 1899: Pagosa Spring Sun:
The work on the new railroad is progressing at a very rapid gait. About 80 teams are now at work grading the road.
Denver Post 8/22/1899: THE PAGOSA SPRINGS RAILROAD:
“Track laying of the Rio Grande Pagosa & Northern railroad. “ said President Jeffery of the D&RG, “will be begun the last of this month or the first of September”.
The president returned this morning from a trip over the Rio Grande system, which included an inspection of the new branch from Pagosa Junction or Gato watertank to Pagosa Springs in Archuleta county. From Gato watertank on the Rio Grande the road runs in a northeast direction to the Springs, and from there will be extended to Alamosa through the rich San Luis valley. The Rio Grande is behind the project, President Jeffery and other officials being directors in the scheme, a long-brooding and constantly pushed idea of A. J. Sullenberger, a Denver capitalist.
President Jeffery was surprised at the extent of the work. He relates that the first three miles to Wild Cat canon and up that rift in the mountains, beside the famous disappearing stream, have been graded and the contractors are rapidly pushing on to the first goal. The road will be a narrow gauge through a precipitous country, but one rich in forest, mineral and agricultural land.
“There is a large camp of graders and the ties are placed as rapidly as the grading progresses”, said Mr. Jeffery. ‘The rails are being shipped now and after the mountains are pierced and the level park-like lands reached the worst part of the job will be over. It is too early to surmise when Pagosa Springs will be reached.’
The building of the line through the eastern part of the old Ute Indian reservation has opened up another small sized rush. Two large lumber mills have been started and the news has reached Denver that the Biggs interest have retired and will allow the Rio Grande to enter Pagosa Springs without a competitor.
Sept 1, 1899 Pagosa Spring Sun:
The new railroad will employ all the teams they can get for grade work at #3.50 per day.
The survey on the railroad between Dyke’s ranch and Pagosa Junction is completed.
The Sullenberger railroad will be completed to E. E. Hatcher’s ranch, within 5 miles of town before the snow flies.
A bunch of boys belonging to the surveyor’s gang of the new railroad arrived in PS and proceeded to paint the “burg” a beautiful carmine. They are excusable for their rash act because they hadn’t been in civilization for over a month. That’s all right fellows, just push along that railroad, and you are welcome to a large chunk of the town.
Hatcher Bros. have the contract for furnishing ties for the new railroad from E. E. Hatcher’s ranch to Dyke’s. Hatcher’s ranch is only about 5 miles west of town.
Grant Shields is going over to Pagosa next week with his outfit of teams to work on the railroad which is being built from the D&RG line to the Springs. San Luis Valley Courier. [ A station was named Shields}
On Wednesday noon a messenger arrived here from Pagosa Junction with the sad news that W. H. Harpst was fearfully mangled at the Pagosa Lumber Mill and wasn’t expected to live. Dr. Mary Winter was the first to arrive on the scene from here. Later L.C. Patrick and Mrs. Harpst went down and in the evening Mr. Durnavant , Mr. and Mrs. J.C. Dowell followed. Everyone here thought Mr. Harpst couldn’t possibly live. The accident occurred while at work in the mill. The valve wouldn’t work, when all of a sudden the carriage came back with such force and struck Mr. Harpst throwing him about ten feet in the air, with the result of breaking his left arm in two, and the doctor says possibly three different places the arm was swollen so that the doctor couldn’t tell. Mr. Patrick brought Mr. Harpst back with him and arrived here last night about 5 o’clock.
Sept 8, 1899 Pagosa Spring Sun:
Mr. Wm. Dyke has the contract for furnishing beef to the Sullenberger railroad. If you have any fat beevies that you want to dispose of you can find a ready market here.
Mr. Harpst, who had his arm broken in two different places on Wednesday of last week at Sullenberger’s mill, is improving but will not be able to do anything for several months.
Sept 15, 1899
The Pagosa and Rio Grande Northern railroad will have 8 miles of grading completed by October 1. The contractors are still short of men and teams. They pay per day being the follows: Teams $3.50, men $1.75. Board is $4,5o per week and oats, $1.75 per hundred. The pasture along the line of the railroad is first class and owners of teams will not have the extra expense of buying hay. The contractor intends to push the road through to Pagosa this fall if they can get the men and teams. Parties desiring work will not have any trouble getting it; all they have to do is apply at Pagosa Junction.
Author’s notes;
A photograph of the large saw mill at Gato is obtainable at number X-10488 of the Denver Public Library, improperly located at Pagosa Springs instead of Pagosa Junction. With the search words of Pagosa Sawmill, there is a view of the later large mill at South Pagosa, CO.
The beginning of this railroad was intended to serve as a logging railroad and within 3.3 miles of main line toward Pagosa Springs, they diverted and built 2.24 miles of logging spur up Round Meadow Creek to the west which turned up Garcia Canyon at a fork. At that junction, some records indicate another 1.75 miles went straight west for a short adventure for logs.
The main line continued north from the junction of Round Meadow Creek and in a half mile crossed to the east side of the Cat Creek and continued through the Cat Creek Gap east of the road the whole distance. At USGS bench mark 6701 at mile post 396 (5.6 miles from Pagosa Jct) the railroad crossed the road twice before the railroad went back along the creek bed. The right of way was entirely along the creek bed up to the new station of Kearn about 8 miles out of the mill. Several logging spurs forked here with one going northwest 0.57 miles and, about January, 1900, a long branch was built into the Ute Indian Reservation which snaked to the east. This spur location needs investigation but maps indicate it curved around the ridge to the east and then circled the southern half of the next mountain ridge to the east ending after 3 ¼ miles of trackage to obtain logs.
All this took place while the main line was being graded further north to Dyke where it met the main highway between Durango and Pagosa Springs. This logging all fed the large A. T. Sullenberger saw mill at Gato, and the caption on the photo is lacking the data that the mill burned on Aug 20, 1903, which will be detailed later.
To be continued.
