Reference Inquiry on Avalanches at Pandora Mill

Here is some information that I collected in response to a request from a Ridgeway geologist. She is assessing rockfall and avalanche risk in the area of the old Pandora Mill site. Perhaps it will come in handy to someone else. There is a link to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center that is pretty interesting.
This kind of research does make this Ophir resident a little bit paranoid:)

I also found a really neat database of digital images of southwestern Colorado at the website for Fort Lewis' Center for Southwest Studies.

http://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/images/SWImagesHome.htm

Research on Avalanches, Slides, Flooding in Pandora Mill Area

From Lone Tree Cemetery Survey http://www.town.telluride.co.us/cemeterySurvey/index.html

Snowslides:
As a general rule of thumb hard rock miners believed that the best lode deposits were at the higher elevations. The numerous basins above Telluride proved this belief accurate. The Tomboy, the Smuggler, Alta, Liberty Bell, the Nellie, and many other mines were all located above 11,000 feet. Also, any slope of more than 30 degrees is a potential avalanche site. Traveling to and from the mines was risky business. Snowslide areas were prevalent, and many a miner died on his way to work. Certain slide areas were particularly notorious and their names and locations well known; Big and Little Elephant, Ajax, Bob-Tail, Ophir, Alta, Cimmaron, and Black Bear were local slide areas that evoked fear amongst those who traveled the area in winter.

T.A. Rickard, a mining engineer who visited the area in September of 1902, wrote the following; "The stretch of country covered by Marshall and Savage basins, and thence to the valley at Pandora, has seen many a snow slide. A long tale of woeful fatalities and romantic heroism could be told concerning these three or four miles of mountain land. In the cemetery at Telluride there are many large graves enclosing the remains of groups of unfortunate miners who were swept into eternity by 'the awful avalanche.' Their resting places are unadorned by showy tombstone or grandiose epitaph (Rickard;1980,41)." This suggests that there are unmarked mass graves in the cemetery dedicated to snowslide victims.

Telluride was an isolated town; when word of an accident occurred, it affected the entire populace. The Liberty Bell Mine snowslide on February 28, 1902 was one of the worst disasters in the town's history. The first slide ran in the early morning with such force that it carried off the boarding house, some bunkhouses, the tramway station, and the ore-loading house. A rescue team was formed to dig out survivors. While working the slope, a second slide came down, killing a number of the rescue workers. While retreating, a third slide took three more lives. In all, nineteen men perished and ten were hurt in this single event.

Dennison (1993;103) records the following:
"A corrected list of the casualties (Daily Journal; March 1, 1902) is as follows:
George Rohwer (#1134), William Gregory (#1131), Louis Lundberk, Olaf Swanson, Andrew Aho, J.H. Cederberg, H.S. Summerland, Gus Kraul, F.C. Clemmer, Gus Swanson (#938), Wade Crow, E. Bishop, L.D. Stanley, Harry A. Chase, Gus VonFitel, John R. Powell, Paul Dalprez, Harry Trowbridge, and Reddin Bugher(#1327)."

Note: Survey numbers indicate graves that are part of the data base (4 of 19)

That winter three additional men perished from snowslides, making the winter of 1902 the most dangerous winter in the region's history.

Snowslides are a regular event in the San Juan Mountains. Winter begins in the mountains as early as September and continues until late June, offering ample opportunity for avalanche conditions. One of the earliest recorded slides occurred during Christmas of 1883 in the vicinity of the Mendota Mine. A slide swept away the shaft house just as men were leaving their bunks in the early morning, killing thirteen of the sixteen men employed there (Daily Journal, Nov. 23, 1901). Decades later, on April 2, 1926, a husband and wife were killed when an avalanche struck the boarding house of the Black Bear Mine (#493). In 1928, the Ajax slide claimed two more lives (Fetter;1977,135).

The Lone Tree Cemetery has several epitaphs referring to natural disasters such as these. Charles Weller (#858) died in a snowslide on his birthday on October 18, 1888. Fourteen years later, on November 19, 1902, his brother, Harry Weller (#859), also died in a snowslide. One mass grave with "All Killed by Snowslide, Jan. 26, 1886" etched into the cement coping contains the following names (#1731): Joseph Preest, D. Overstreet, M.J. Mitchell, Wm. Harford (Appendix I, No. 5).



From Telluride Mining- The Mineralogy, Geology, and Mining History of the Telluride District, San Miguel County, http://www.telluridemining.com/
Avalanche
In addition to the isolation that early-day mining operations faced during the winter months, each spring the avalanche season played havoc with mining operations in the district. The 1902 destruction of the Liberty Bell mine and mill buildings as well as their aerial tramway, and the 1924 destruction of the Black Bear aerial tramway, are often pointed to as the worst of these disasters. The Liberty Bell rebuilt and continued operations for more than twenty years, but the less-well-off Black Bear Company slowed to a crawl, reverted to leasing operations, and finally shut down in 1934 (Rickard 1907; Hillebrand 1957).
In truth, it was not uncommon for an avalanche to knock down a tram tower or two every year (Livermore 1928). The trams were usually out of commission for a week to a month, depending upon the extent of the damage and the cooperation of the weather with the repair parties. Some mining companies built V-shaped stone and cribbing structures in the slide pathways in an attempt to divide slides and divert them away from structures (Rickard 1907).


I also found the following local experts referenced in an article about an event sponsored by the International Snow Science Workshop in October 2006.

http://www.telluridegateway.com/articles/2006/10/02/news/news02.txt

“local legends Senior Mahoney and Johnnie Stevens on mining and avalanches”

Another website that you may have already discovered belongs to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center. They keep stats on avalanches occurring within the last decade or so available on their website. Their staff may be able to link you with historical information.
http://avalanche.state.co.us/