Omayra Acevedo, Colorado Rocky Mountains. I get it. We are all struggling one way or another. Still, it doesn’t make it any easier. Talking about it does no good and turning to unhealthy vices makes things feel worse. As I sit at the computer with a cup of lavender tea, staring out the window, I begin to fantasize about a different life. Don’t get me wrong. I’m grateful for the small, beautiful things I still have. It’s just that I’m merely human and sometimes all I want to do is escape. Perhaps, experience a life that’s not my own. Even if just for a few days or hours. And so, the fantasies begin…

It’s the 1870’s, the Union Pacific Railroad has been completed, the Civil War is over, and the economic depression has hit. Miners, settlers, covered wagons, horses, rumors of mineral wealth and trails of gold in the Colorado Rockies, have encouraged civilized growth in our mountains. I’m dressed in a maroon-colored dress with a looped overskirt, trimmed in black lace and gold accents, a large bow on the small of my back, a gold chain around my neck, and a hat to compliment my eyes and makeup. Yes, I’m dreaming big here. Stay with me. It gets better.

The winter is long and times are hard, but I’ve discovered plentiful amounts of ore, while the local paper has run out of regular paper and is forced to print several issues on wallpaper. The townsfolk stick it out and before we know it, there are five hotels, a post office, a school, a cemetery, a few saloons and shops, and we are known for our opera and brass band. By 1940, one of the most photographed steel bridges in Colorado is built. It spans over 471 feet and rests 200 feet above the Eagle River. It’s also one of only two steel arch bridges in our state and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 

Yes, all of this actually happened. I just wasn’t really there. Nonetheless, I find it peaceful to daydream. If you’re up for the two hour drive and want to visit a town with a treasured history, with only about 289 residents, Quartzite cliffs, hidden from the world, not too far from I-70, in a canyon beneath a bridge; then, welcome to the town beneath the canyon, Red Cliff, Colorado. 

(Originally published in the December 3, 2020, edition of The Mountain-Ear.)