Cattle Graze Where the town once stood, and thick stands of Gambel oak have replaced the hastily constructed buildings that once occupied the site. Occasional deer browse where the eating house stood, and the town site is part of a ranch, privately owned. The town began as did many western towns, with planks laid across the tops of two barrels of whiskey in the shade of some trees. By all accounts, business was good from the moment they opened the first barrel. When Clubfoot found his mine somewhere high on Madden Peak or in the vicinity, it was the Dutchman who melted down the gold and kept Clubfoot's secret until after his death. Many have searched for his mine but it remains undiscovered, although other claims have been located that might be outcroppings of the same vein. The La Platas are a lovely range of mountains, their highest peaks rising to over thirteen thousand feet, and several of the others topping twelve thousand, their flanks cloaked with a heavy growth of spruce, ponderosa pine, and aspen.
