The Giving Back Gang Holiday Party: Local Authors Supporting Local Nonprofits

Come join me at Maria's Bookshop in Durango for cookies, contests, and Holiday fun!

For Details, click here.

Join us for a fun holiday event celebrating some of our most talented and generous local writers! Maria’s Bookshop will host The Giving Back Gang Holiday Party, a showcase of 18 authors who have each selected a local nonprofit organization to support by donating a share of the proceeds from the sale of their books between December 1st and 7th.

Please join us for this festive event, which will provide an opportunity to meet the authors, talk with them about their work, and learn about the regional nonprofits they're supporting. Holiday cookies will be provided by the authors, and the range of titles includes great gift ideas for everyone on your holiday shopping list.

Support local writers as they support local groups working to make our communities stronger and better!


Start: 12/07/2012 6:00 pm


End: 12/07/2012 8:00 pm

If you are unable to attend, I will be donating a share of the proceeds from the sale of my book to my nonprofit, The Animas Museum, from my website through December 7th. I will include a little something about The Animas Museum in the package.

On The Edge

On the outskirts of Silverton, Colorado in Cunningham Gulch lies a historic wonder, the Old Hundred Mine Boarding House. This phenomenal structure is bolted with cables to the rocky crags of Galena Mountain 2,000 feet above the basin and main mine entrance below. Splintered wood, rusted corrugated metal, and a handful of memories in the form of a cook stove, a metal bedframe, and pairs of shoes are all that remain.

The pages of the Old Hundred’s story begin in 1872 with the Neigold brothers, who made their way from Germany to become prospectors. The three brothers were an odd and amusing bunch for those traveling on Stony Pass Trail leading into Silverton. Coming from an educated background, the brothers would often entertain guests with music, plays, and even opera. They were quite the contrast to the usual prospecting crowd.
Some color was found, the most likely profits at the level seven tunnel, 2,000 feet up the mountain.

Not having the funds to operate the mine, the brothers sold out. The company who bought the mine spent the next several years and over a million dollars building the boarding house, a mill at the base of the mountain, and a tram—much like a ski lift today—to haul the ore and men from the boarding house to the mill below. A legend exists of a mistress in the boarding house who loved to play piano, so a piano was hauled to the boarding house on the backs of mules.

Hundreds of miles of tunnels were dug searching for the rich veins of ore. Unfortunately, there was very little color found in the mine. In 1908 the mine closed down. A neighboring mine bought the Old Hundred for its mill.

In 2000, the Silverton Historical Society in conjunction with the Old Hundred Mining Tour preserved the Old Hundred Mine Boarding House on Galena’s peak. The task was completed with helicopters and brave construction workers operating on crumbling shell rock above Cunningham Gulch.

Today there is a trail to the old level seven tunnel, but to reach the boarding house, one must scramble 200 vertical feet over loose rock .Only experienced climbers should make the hike.

During the summer months, mining tours are given inside the mine, probably the most revenue it has had.