Telluride Museum: Closing Events+

20 Oct Telluride Museum: Closing Events+

This year, 2016, the Telluride Historical Museum celebrates 50 years in operation. Scroll down to find out what is going on at the Museum before its close. Tickets for remaining events can be purchased by phone, 970-728-3344, online here or at the Museum, top of Fir Street. Museum reopens December 6.

Lone Tree Cemetery Tours:

Last three Fridays in October: 14th, 21st, 28th, 6 p.m. $15; $10 Museum members.

Here the stories and legends of Telluride’s historic graveyard in the ambiance of lantern light.  Meet at the Lone Tree Cemetery. Dress warmly and bring a flashlight. Tickets can be purchased at the Museum prior to the tour, by phone or online.

Monday, October 31, 7 – 9:30 p.m., Haunted Hospital. 

Volunteers needed as actors for Haunted Hospital night.

The Museum is looking for Halloween lovers to volunteer as actors for the Haunted Hospital event Halloween night. The success of the Haunted Hospital relies heavily on the excitement created by the actors. Even if you don’t consider yourself a thespian, a wide array of roles are available. Find a friend or two and join the staff for an evening of scary fun.

Volunteers need to attend a brief evening meeting prior to the event to discuss ideas and roles for the evening. They are also responsible for their costumes, but the museum does have several masks and pre-made get-ups available to some.

Volunteers should arrive at the Museum at 5:30 p.m. Halloween evening; they are off-duty around 9:15 p.m., in time to head out to their own Halloween parties.

The Museum will provide food prior to the event.

To volunteer, email volunteer@telluridemuseum.org or call 970-728-3344

Gather your courage for a haunted journey through Telluride’s former hospital. Bring your friends and prepare to be spooked. $10;$5 students.

The Telluride Historical Museum in Telluride, Colo., Thursday, Oct. 18, 2012. Photo by Barton Glasser

50 Artifacts for 50 Years (continued):

Week 40:

When life gives you grapes…you make wine.

A wine press, like this one, which was produced by “Brecht B.S. Co. St. Louis.” a butcher supply company founded in 1853, was an historic Telluride staple. Wine was also pressed from local chokeberries.

During prohibition, Telluride residents recall memories of bootlegging, watching inebriated chickens in the alleys as they fed on mash, and the breaking up of stills in 1936. Although enforcement of laws during prohibition was haphazard, according to research by Paul O’Rourke, “Mrs. Angelo Rattini, whose husband operated the Brunswick Saloon, was charged on March 22, 1916, with selling two bottles of wine to Gio Deromedi, who ran an establishment called the ‘Leisure Parlor’ on East Colorado Avenue.” And an early proprietor of the Roma Bar was busted for having 800 gallons of wine on his premises.

Wine press was donated by Larry Dike and is on loan to the Museum of the Mountain West in Montrose, CO.

Week 41:

Mule drivers, known as muleskinners, led long trains of pack mules to mining communities, providing essential supplies and building materials. Because of their sure-footedness and spunk on steep and treacherous mountain paths, mules proved more reliable than horses. Leo Williams of Newcastle, CO, former Camp Bird employee, recalls when a Telluride muleskinner threw a sizeable rock down onto a lower Black Bear switchback to “discipline” a mule known to sit down when she had had enough.

Telluride’s muleskinners also had fun, forming a committee to host their own ball. This 1911 invitation is from Grace and Otto Mullman, who met in Telluride while he was working for the mines including Tomboy and she worked in the telegraph office. They married in Denver and lived out their lives in Oklahoma City. Their daughter, Mrs. Norman Anderson, of Gunnison, donated this uncommon canvas piece, saying that their hearts were always in Colorado.

Mule Skinners Ball Committee, March 10, 1911