Summit Settlers: Mary (Cluskey) Ruth

Mary Cluskey is a true Summit County settler. Born in Breckenridge on 24 Nov 1902, she lived in the area her entire life. You can find a summary of her life, written by Alphild Wilkinson, in the book Women As Tall As Our Mountains, originally published in 1976 (most of the information in this post will come from this source, please contact me for further information). At that time, Mary was still an active widow, going back and forth between Frisco, Colorado and her son's home in Texas.

What struck me most about her story was her involvement in the mining camps during the 1920's and 1930's. You hear so much of the men that lived and worked these mountains, but very little of the women. I will offer only a quick summary here.

Born to Christopher and Mary Cluesky, both natives of Ireland. Christopher spent his early year's in the county as a dairy farmer on French Street in Breckenridge. As Mary progressed through her school years, she and her siblings went back and forth between ranch land and town. In 1913, the family went back to Ireland, but due to the quickly approaching War, they returned only a year later. Her father returned first, in May, as a potential soldier he was given preference on passage. Mary, her mother, sister's and brother's finally returned via London in August, but upon reaching New York, the ship sank and they lost all of their possessions.

The family was finally able to gather together again in Colorado on ranch property acquired by Christopher at Slate Creek. Once again, they moved back and forth to accommodate the children's need to attend school. At the age of 15, Mary went with her father to work at the Tiger mine. She was employed in the commissary, waiting tables; additionally, she sorted ore. The rest of the family moved to Tiger in 1918, during the flu epidemic. One member of the family was responsible for driving victims back to Breckenridge, and at times would have to carry four bodies a day.

Two years later, Mary, her mother and sisters, and one son were back at the ranch at Slate Creek, but her father and one brother, Tom, stayed on at Tiger. Tom worked at the sawmill. Just three years older, Mary was back at a mining site, this time the Pennsylvania for the summer, cooking three meals a day for 20-80 men. 1922 Again found Mary cooking, but this time at the Summit House in Montezuma, a hotel, and stayed there through September. At that time, she and her mother went to the top of Boreas Pass cooking for the men putting in the bucket tram for the 730 mine - that was living at 11,492 feet!  The men lived in one boxcar, the cafeteria was in a second, and Mary and Mary lived together in a third.

Eventually, our subject married Wilbur "Bill" Ruth, a veteran of World War I, who worked for the Bureau of Land Reclamation building the highway from Dillon to the summit of Fremont Pass (now on the way to Leadville, where Climax Mine sits). During the '40's they moved to Uneva Lake, in Ten Mile Canyon, to be caretakers for another family, and by 1935 had purchased a home in Frisco. During WWII, she was given a special assignment as Postmistress of Frisco, which meant that she travelled to town every day from Uneva Lake and ran the Post Office from her home.

She finally retired in 1974, having worked since 1955 for the town and the sanitation district. Bill passed in 1953, and Mary in 1990, having lived a long, hard life. They are both now resting in the Dillon Cemetery. She is remembered as a lady with a great sense of humor, courage, faith and "a lot of gumption."

I believe that to be absolutely true. To have lived as she did would have required the strength of more than a few ox.

Photo Credit for both photos:
www.findagrave.com, Kelly G, Sep 2008

Wilbur: Memorial #29576085
Mary: Memorial #29576096

Summit Settler's: Windhaus Family

During the summer of 2007, a co-worker of mine had the pleasure of speaking to Eugene Windhaus, who recounted his memories of his early life in Breckenridge, Colorado, in the late 1930's. This co-worker is a smart man, and he made notes. Those were shared with me earlier this summer.

Wellington Mill, 1910-1930. This would have been fairly
close to where the Windhaus family lived in the 1930's.
Photo courtesy of Western History/Genealogy Dept., Denver Public Library. 

The youngest of at least six children, Eugene, or "Gene", was born in Kansas in 1934. His parents, August "Gus", and Katherina, both natives of Germany, were married sometime around 1915, based on the ages of both Katherina and their first child, Johanna. By 1939, they were in Breckenridge, and Gus was the foreman at the Jumbo Mine. This was a prominent area of mining activity, and some of the best producers were found nearby, in the French Gulch area of Breckenridge.

During that time, the family lived about 200 yards from the entrance to the mine in a small shack. During the winter's, they lived in a rented house behind what is now the Hearthstone Restaurant. When living at the mine, water was over 200 yards away. Electric power was unavailable, and they used a Coleman stove and candles. For heat, a coal stove that could also burn wood was used.

In 1940, stockholders arrived at the Jumbo to build a new stamp mill. Gene remembers men being hired to clear trees near the mine, and he witnessed a 65 year old man chop down an 8" diameter tree in four swings of the ax on either side. The mill never actually opened, due to needs of the military at the start of World War II.

After the close of the mine, Gus went to work at the Country Boy Mine as the timber foreman. He "soon lost two of his fingers and split a third during the winter when his frozen glove got caught in the saw's blade and drug his hand in."

Gene remembers fishing from the remains of Blue #1 dredge boat after it sank , and smoking freshly made cigarettes from the broken windows in the cabin that is now the Welcome Center on Main Street. He was able to identify Lady Mae, well known Madame of the Blue Goose Bordello, Bertha Biggins - sister of Theda Dodge who lived on High Street and ran the local grocery - and Nina Felch, the common law wife of the town drunk, Dob Mitchell.

The family can be found in the 1940 US Federal Census, residing in Breckenridge. After that, they're trail goes cold, partly due to the fact that recent records are not available to the general public. It appears likely that at least one of them, Hubert, ended up in Oregon, and is buried there.

Tonopah Dredge, 28 Jul 1918, Breckenridge.
Photo courtesy of Western History/Genealogy Dept., Denver Public Library.

Citations can be made available by contacting the author.