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San Juan Skyway
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Wayside Excursion: Otto Mears
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| Otto
Mears was born in Kurland, Russia in May 1840. Orphaned at an early
age, Mears immigrated with his family to the United States in 1850
and ended up in California. He spent some time in the military and
then became a successful storekeeper in Colorado. |
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A good businessman and visionary,
Mears understood the need for transportation links between the
numerous mining camps and towns in the San Juan mining district.
Between 1867 and 1886, Mears constructed a series of toll roads
throughout the region. His most famous road, built along the steep
sides of the Uncompaghre Gorge, took three years to build and
is said to have cost $10,000 per mile.
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| Mears, known by many as the “Pathfinder
of the San Juans” was also responsible for building railroads
in the region. Mears built the “Rainbow Route,” one of
three railroads that carried ore from the mining camps to the smelters
in Silverton. |
| Mears left Colorado in the late
1890s and lived on the East Coast where he helped form the Mack
Motor Company, the company famous for the producing the sturdy Mack
truck. Mears later returned to Colorado to manage his railroad lines
and then moved to Pasadena, California where he died in 1931. |
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