Pack burro racing The perfect day for a donkey dash. The racers were welcome to carry their burros, but the burros weren’t allowed to carry the racers. PHOTO BY DAVE GIBSON[/caption]

Born of mining tradition when gold and silver seekers combed the Colorado mountains in search of fortune, the Pack Burro Race, Sunday, September 19, on Magnolia Road near Nederland officially kicked off a day of living history.

Forty-four entrants from around the state paid $65 apiece for the privilege. Each burro was required to carry 30 lbs. of gear that included a pickax, shovel, and gold pan. Darcy Lohmann, racer husband Jack of Frisco, and their highly intelligent but at times belligerent burro Einstein participate in eight such events each year. As in thoroughbred racing, the sport even has its own Triple Crown. Marvin Sandoval from Leadville and his burro Buttercup conquered the 8-mile course in 1:01.15 to collect the $300 first place purse. Bob Sweeny and Yukon of Leadville took second and Brian Rawlings and Lucky from Colorado Springs third. Thus ended the first year of pack burro racing in the local region.

Next, at the Mining Museum in Nederland, various artifacts were on display including trams, ore carts, engines, helmets, bells, and rare mining claim maps. Historic photographs hung on the walls capture the era in indelible detail. Train cars and tracks had been set up for kids to play with. It was a celebration of Heritage Day.

Outside the museum building, rock art painting and corn husk dollmaking were offered. Miners in the 1800s and early 1900s often barely scratched out a living and struggled just to feed their families. Toys were a luxury and weren’t lavishly showered upon their offspring as they are today so the children sometimes had to make do with what they had, be it a rock, corn husk, or stick.

Gold panning was a popular attraction for young and old. The technique was to swirl water around the pan until the heavier gold separated from the other raw material. Not much color was realized and like the vast majority of early miners, no one got rich. At the Nederland Area Historical Society’s Gillaspie House up the street, handson candle-making was a fun activity.

Eight-time World Champion Emmit Hoyl and current World Champion Jesse Pattridge demonstrated the finer points of double-jacking where one person holds a chisel and the other drives it into rock with a tenpound sledgehammer. Rotating the chisel one quarter turn after each hit and inundating the hole with water, they drove it 12 inches deep in five minutes. Miners of yore used to fill the holes with explosive black powder to harvest the precious metal ore. Hoyl also conducted a blacksmithing demonstration in which he heated a piece of round stock steel in a 1,500-degree cokeburning forge. Repeatedly heating the steel and forming it with a hammer on an anvil, the end creation was a lovely aspen leaf keychain.

The crown jewel at the Nederland Mining Museum is the 130,000 lb. Bucyrus Model 50-B steam shovel. Used to move dirt and rock leftover from the building of the Panama Canal, it is the last one of its kind and the largest operational steam shovel in the United States. It was in use at the Lump Gulch Placer near Rollinsville until 1978. Languishing in a bog, Dan Martin rescued it and brought it to the museum in 2005. It is a sight to behold when fired up and spinning around with its arms in motion and shovel’s “jaw” opening and closing, looking like a rusty dinosaur. Its whistle could be heard for miles.

For more information about the Nederland Mining Museum and Gillaspie House, go to www.nederlandmuseums.org.