Eagle County History - COGenWeb Archives: History of Webb Peak A Brief History of Webb Peak prepared by Kathy Heicher March, 1999 By Colorado standards, Webb Peak, which tops out at 9,145 feet in elevation, is more of a small mountain than a "peak". Part of a finger-like mountain terrain extending southwest from the sprawling Bellyache Ridge formation, Webb Peak never gained enough notoriety of its own to rank an official listing on the United States Geological Survey topographic maps. However, since the time Walter Webb took up a homestead in the area in 1916, the mountain that rises on the land where the Webb family cabin once stood has been known by locals as "Webb Peak". It wasn't the high, sage-brushed covered land that initially drew Walter Webb and his wife, Dolly, to the area. Rather, the lure was silver. Specifically, the Webb family was drawn to the Eagle Valley by the prospect of work at the Lady Belle mine, located on Horse Mountain, about eight miles south of Eagle, sandwiched between Salt Creek and Bruce Creek. Walter Webb was born in the mining town of Blackhawk, Colorado. He was one of eight children born to his parents, who immigrated to Colorado from England. Dolly Webb was born in Aspen in 1886. She grew up in Grand Junction and Glenwood Springs, and was teaching school in Marble, Colo. when she met Walter Webb. At that time, Walter was working in a hardware store, but he also hand a talent for handling animals. Dolly, a small woman whose petite stature belied the strength of character she exhibited throughout her life, met Walter when he was working for the summer running a burro string up to Marble. The couple married in 1907, and lived in various places on Colorado's Western Slope. Meanwhile, in November, 1912, a Brush Creek rancher named George Guenon was tending some stock on Horse Mountain, south of Eagle and above Bruce Creek, when a dark piece of sandstone caught his eye. Guenon collected a sample of the rock, and took it to an assay office. The rock assayed out at several ounces of silver to the ton, and 20 percent copper. Word was quietly put out to some local investors, who staked out what became the Lady Belle mine. News of the mine became public on February 12, 1913, and the Lady Belle excitement began. The silver strike gained attention in both the Denver newspapers and local newspapers. A plat for a mining camp named "Elk Horn", was located about a half mile from the mine. The Eagle Valley Enterprise produced a special supplemental edition heralding the new mine, and predicting erroneously that the mine would prompt the town of Eagle to expand from a farming town of 500 to a bustling city of 5,000 within 60 days. Walter Webb was skilled at driving a team. When he heard of the new silver mine at Eagle, he quickly signed on to drive a stage back and forth from Eagle to the Lady Belle. Walter, Dolly, and their two young sons, Robert and Alvin, moved to the Eagle Valley. For a short while, the Lady Belle thrived. Some samples from the mine ran approximately $1,000 per ton in silver. In May, 1913 Elk Horn boasted a population of about 100 people. However, the Lady Belle yielded only one rich pocket of ore. Although the Lady Belle continued to be mined by a few people until 1918, and reportedly realized a $450,000 profit in its operation, it was clear that the ore vein was being exhausted. That's when Walter Webb, along with many other men, turned his attention from mining to homesteading. When a man who had originally claimed a homestead on what was later to become known as Webb Peak was unable to complete the required improvements, Walter Webb stepped up in 1916 and claimed the property on the sagebrush-covered fringes of Bellyache Ridge. (Note: long-time locals say "Bellyache Ridge" got its name because of the alkaline nature of the water in that area. People who drank the water ended up with a bellyache.) Farming in the Bellyache area was a dry land venture, that was just about as risky as a silver mine. However, people were anxious to give it a try. At one time, 23 families made Bellyache their home. The Webb homestead could be accessed from either Squaw Creek or Brush Creek. Both routes involved long, rough trips. In fact, the difficulty in getting machines to the Webb homestead forced the Webbs to practice what was locally called "hand farming". Because the country lacked water, the land was less productive than the fertile meadows of the Brush Creek Valley. Bellyache farmers had to clear the hard, native brush from some large acreages in order to produce a respectable crop. Walter and Dolly Webb ran a few cattle on their land. Their primary crop was head lettuce, which thrived in the cool-night, warm day weather conditions of the Eagle Valley. Grain and Russet potatoes also fared well. In later years, the diminutive Dolly told her grandchildren of an incident in which she was pestered by an eagle while she and Walter were out working in a potato field. Apparently mistaking the less-than-100 lb. Dolly as a likely prey, the eagle persisted in swooping at her, talons ready to grab. Walter ended the situation by shooting the eagle. Bellyache farmers generally struggle to make a living. The Webbs were no exception. Life on the mountain was rather isolated, particularly for Dolly, who made it to town only once a year, and stayed just for the day. In her later years, she recalled feeling somewhat out of place because her appearance and clothing were different than the styles affected by the town women. The more gregarious Walter made more frequent trips to town. Given their lack of accessibility to town, the Bellyache farmers were nearly self sufficient. They raised and canned some vegetables; and stored root vegetables in cellars. Most raised some chickens and an occasional pig. Deer were plentiful, and thus were a diet staple. Marketable produce was taken by horse drawn wagon to a freight station at Wilmore, near the mouth of Squaw Creek. In 1920, Dolly was once again pregnant. When she realized the birth was imminent, she told her husband, who promptly sent word to Eagle summoning the doctor ("Doc Rucker") up to the Webb homestead to attend the birth. Dolly's mother-in-law was also on hand to help. However, the doctor wasn't sure where the Webb home was, or how to get his horse and wagon there. Eagle resident Billy Tucker climbed on his horse, and volunteered to lead the doctor to the house. However, when the men arrived, they learned that not one, but two babies, had already been born. The boy and girl twins, named Donald and Dolly, weighed but two and a half pounds each. Concerned about keeping the tiny babies warm, parents Dolly and Walter had bundled the babies in blankets, placed them in cotton-packed shoe boxes, then placed the boxes on the open door of the warming oven. Decades later, in writing a birthday greeting card to her son Don, Dolly recalled that she was completely surprised that her pregnancy produced twins. She wrote than when her labor pains started, she put a chicken on for supper, and prepared to deliver a baby. She also credited her mother-in-law with reviving the babies several times as they struggled to breath. The doctor, after seeing how tiny the babies were, assumed they would not survive, and did not go to the trouble of filling out birth certificates. That created some problems for the twins in later years. The Webbs continued to live on their ranch, and scratching out a meager living where profits sometimes amounted to only about $200 per year. When the twins were old enough to attend school, the Webbs moved to Eagle during the school year, then went back up to the mountain during the summer to tend the crops. By the mid-1920s, improvements in transportation made it possible for California farmers to ship their lettuce out of state, without spoiling. That kind of competition eventually became too much for the Bellyache farmers. Gradually, the farmers left their homesteads. Some were sold to Brush Creek cattle ranchers for use as summer range. Others simply abandoned their property. At some point, Dolly and Walter became estranged. According to her granddaughter, Esther Raymond, Walter moved into town, but Dolly stayed on the ranch with the children. Walter paid periodic visits to his family. Eventually, Dolly moved into town for good. When an old injury from a long-ago horse kicking incident began to disable Walter, Dolly became the financial supporter of the family. Dolly became a fiercely independent woman, who didn't carry a lot of regard for most men. She was a devout Democrat. In 1927, Dolly and the kids moved to town for good. Long-time residents of Eagle remember that Dolly took on many types of work. She scrubbed houses, offices, and churches. She baby-sat. She earned some money by washing dishes in a restaurant; and also worked for a time at the local telephone office. Dolly sold produce from her garden to townspeople. Eventually, the county hired Dolly as field representative (a sort of caseworker) for the welfare office. The salary of $90 per month was considered a great amount of money by the family. Still, Dolly struggled to earn enough money to pay the taxes on the Bellyache homestead. Eventually, she sold the property to the bank. A man named Demon Taylor then acquired the homestead. He later sold to the Norman brothers, who were raising cattle on Brush Creek. They grazed cows on the Webb homestead for years, then sold it to a corporation in 1972. There were some sad times ahead for the Webb family. Robert, the second-born son, died unexpectedly at the age of 20 while working at a Civilian Conservation Corp camp in Gardner, Colo. in 1935. After several years of poor health, Walter Webb died in Denver in 1936. Dolly was at his side at the time of his death. The younger Dolly (one of the twins), died at the age of 42 of a brain tumor. Son Donald grew up and eventually worked for many years in the mines at Gilman. He and his wife, Byrnece, retired to Grand Junction in the 1980s. Dolly Webb died at the age of 95 at a nursing home in Glenwood Springs. With her passed a notable era of Eagle Valley history. Miscellaneous memories of Webb Peak Several local senior citizens have some clear memories of times spent on the Webb homestead. Eagle resident Rolland Randall, 92, and Denny Eaton, 84, both worked at times riding cattle for ranchers who were grazing herds in the area. Both men clearly remember a fabulous field of strawberries on the neighboring homestead, owned by a man named George Guenon. Rolland recalls packing a pint of cream and a cup of sugar to the strawberry field one summer, then picking and eating the berries right there. Denny Eaton remembers that driving cattle from Brush Creek, over Bellyache to Squaw Creek was sometimes a difficult task. The cows did not want to walk that route. Eventually, the cowhands struck upon the technique of putting the recently born calves in a truck, then starting to drive away. The cows willingly followed their bawling calves. (Note: Sources for this brief history included the Eagle County Historical Society archives, and interviews with Don Webb, Esther Raymond, Rolland Randall, Denny Eaton, Pat Norman, and several other long-time Eagle area residents.) =================================================== Contributed for use by the USGenWeb Archive Project (http://www.usgenweb.org) and by the COGenWeb Archive Project USGenWeb Project NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the internet, this data may be used by non-commercial researchers, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may not be reproduced in any format for profit, nor for presentation in any form by any other organization or individual. 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