High Points: Past times

It seems the new Aspen uniform requires the wearing of a cowboy-styled hat. Preferably one with a broad, flat brim, a stylish headband, and few feathers, or maybe a wooden match for lighting a cigar. They are ubiquitous in this modern mountain town of ours.

And without going to the easy joke about “all hat and no cattle” I think the reason for this trend has much to do with our desire to touch upon the nostalgia of “the old days.” Though the hats are new-fangled, they represent a desire to connect to simpler times in the Roaring Fork Valley when riders and ranchers ruled the land rather than brokers and builders.

There are many ways to make connections with times past around here and one of the best takes place Friday afternoon from 4-7 p.m. at the annual Holden/Marolt Hoedown. A great local tradition, the Hoedown is a way for the Aspen Historical Society to get people out to the historic Holden/Marolt Mining & Ranching Museum which sits high above Castle Creek in the Marolt Open Space, not far from the Highway 82 Bridge by the west entrance to Aspen.

If you’ve not been to the grounds of the Museum you may have a lot to learn about the history of this ever-evolving town which was founded on the dreams of silver miners and sustained by ranchers and farmers through the “Quiet years.” According to The Historical Society, “The Holden/Marolt Mining & Ranching Museum explores the industrial and agricultural history of the area. From mining to railways to ranching, the past comes alive on the site of the largest industrial complex in the history of Pitkin County, the Holden Lixiviation Works.”

Know what a Lixiviation Works is? Neither did I. It is a factory or plant, designed to separate a liquid from a solid and is used in the refining of low grade-ore. This fellow Holden built the massive “works” in the late 1880s and the local papers enthused that, with the factory, “the sweet daydreams of those who have longed to see Aspen a great city are about to be realized.” And that was a century before Prada and Brunello Cucinelli ever signed their first leases.

The Hoedown is a casual family affair, and the best part is it is free to attend. There will be music (there’s always music at a Hoedown) provided by Twisted Traditions, fresh off their performance last month at Dandelion Day in ‘Bonedale. BBQ picnic dinners and ice cream will be available for purchase thanks to the good folks at Slow Groovin’ BBQ. The Smiling Goat Ranch will bring their pet-able farm animals and there will be face painting and balloons for kids along with demonstrations of the steam engines and other ancient-to-us machines. You know, it’s a Hoedown.

If you like this sort of thing then you are in the right place as the Aspen Historical Society offers any number of ways to get in touch with past times. My personal favorite is a visit to the historic towns of Independence up Independence Pass and Ashcroft in the shadow of the Maroon Bells. Both are stunningly gorgeous and offer a new perspective on just how difficult it must have been to survive here before Clark’s and Catch Steak opened in Ute City.

Yes, it’s summer. Time to get your Cowboy hats on and learn a little Aspen history.

Happy Hoedown Day.