5

SOUTH FORK

In the 1870s, before the expansion of the railroads into the West, passengers, mail, and freight were primarily carried by stagecoaches. The Barlow and Sanderson Company of Missouri transported mail across the country to California, and its stages ran between Denver and Santa Fe. At its height, the company had five thousand mules and horses that were constantly in use, and the company’s stages traveled throughout Southern Colorado, linking mining camps. In 1874, South Fork was a welcome stop for stage travelers where they could get out, stretch their cramped muscles, and sniff the fragrant pines.

As the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad advanced across the San Luis Valley, the stage terminus shifted each time a new section of track was completed. In 1881, work was started to extend the D&RG across Cumbres Pass to Del Note, South Fork, Antonito, and Durango. One year later, its task accomplished, the train arrived at the small hamlet of South Fork.

Sheep men and cattle ranchers had claimed this wide, sweeping valley of the Rio Grande River for their herds. Two brothers, O.S. and Charles Galbreath, anticipating a need for lumber for building and fuel, formed the Galbreath Tie and Timber Company. The thick conifer forests around South Fork provided plenty of logs that were cut into planks at their new sawmill. They shipped the lumber throughout the San Luis Valley and eventually to other parts of the West. Galbreath timber was used to shore up tunnel walls in the silver mines of the San Juan Mountains and the gold mines of Summitville. Logs were converted into fuel for steam-operated mining equipment, boilers, and the steam engines of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. Countless numbers of trees were cut into railroad ties for the D&RG tracks as the line headed west toward Durango. South Fork grew slowly, with its economy supported by the mill and the railroad.

Spruce Lodge was built to provide lodging for merchants who came to do business with the Galbreath brothers. Courtesy of Wendy Williams.

The Galbreath brothers applied for a U.S. Post Office for South Fork, and when it was approved, they constructed a building to house it. They built a general store, which carried a wide variety of goods, supplies, and equipment and did a brisk business. It was the only store for miles around. Employees of the sawmill and the Galbreath Company were paid in scrip, which they used to purchase groceries and goods at Galbreath’s store. Deciding that the town needed a place where visitors could spend the night, the brothers built a small log hotel, which they named Spruce Lodge. When merchants and customers came to South Fork to conduct business with the Galbreaths, the lodge was a convenient overnight accommodation for them.

A rich silver strike was made in the mountains north of South Fork by Nicholas Creede, and by 1891, over $6 million in silver had been taken from its mines. As Creede boomed, the Denver& Rio Grande headed for the new camp, struggling to lay its tracks through a narrow, rocky canyon past Wagon Wheel Gap. Railroad planners complained that there was barely enough room between the cliffs for the North Fork of the Rio Grande River, a primitive wagon road, and the new railroad tracks.

South Fork grew very slowly, but by the early 1900s, the invention of the auto was bringing tourists, eager to explore the mountains and fish in the Gold Medal waters of the Rio Grande.

Through the years, fire was always a threat to South Fork’s six hundred year-round residents. In 1967, the Galbreath’s lumber mill, which was across the road from Spruce Lodge, was destroyed by a fire, along with an estimated $2 million worth of lumber. Only changing winds kept the huge fire from jumping the road and consuming the Spruce Lodge, the general store, and nearby buildings. Then in 2002, South Fork endured the “Millions Fire,” whose threatening flames burned very close to the town. Thirty fire engines were positioned around the community as more than six hundred firefighters battled the blaze; tourists and residents were evacuated for days.

In June 2013, lightning started three separate wildfires near Wolf Creek Pass. The flames were spread by fierce winds, and the three smaller fires merged into one huge fire, which was called the West Fork Complex fire. Once again, more than 1,500 residents and visitors to South Fork and Wagon Wheel Gap were evacuated. As the fire neared town, firefighters predicted South Fork would be lost, but after many difficult days, the flames were finally contained just a mile from the edge of town. Much of the San Juan and Rio Grande National Forests around South Fork were ravaged by this horrific fire, the largest to ever hit this area. It destroyed 110,000 acres, an area of over 114 square miles, and burned for weeks, finally slowed by heavy monsoon rains.

Five years after this disastrous fire, South Fork’s economy is slowly recovering. Tourists and summer visitors are returning to fish in the Rio Grande and hike the area’s numerous trails. The heavy winter snows attract snowmobilers, and nearby Wolf Creek Ski Area brags that it has “The Most Snow in Colorado,” about 430 inches of natural powder annually.

SPRUCE LODGE

In 1927, O.S. Galbreath and his brother, Charles, built Spruce Lodge in the Rustic architecture style, which developed in the early years of the twentieth century. This style began when the National Park Service started constructing its buildings to harmonize with their natural settings. Structures were built with rock, stone, and local timber that reflected the surrounding landscape. Peeled Engelmann spruce logs, cut in the forest around South Fork, were used in the construction of Spruce Lodge, which accommodated travelers and merchants, who came to conduct business with the lumbermen.

The two-story hotel had a basement with a pool room and barbershop, which was eventually remodeled into a three-bedroom apartment for the owner. Today, there is a lobby, kitchen, restaurant–dining room, and a bathroom on the main floor. There were eight guest rooms on the second floor and two bathrooms. The lodge was one of South Fork’s first buildings to get electric lights, and most of the guest rooms have the original push-button light switches and antique fixtures. The chandeliers that once hung in the hotel lobby have been moved to the lodge’s small restaurant.

In 1933, when O.S. Galbreath died after a massive heart attack, his brother, Charles, assumed management of the hotel and all the Galbreath enterprises. Around 1936, he had a number of small cabins built near the lodge to accommodate the increasing number of tourists and travelers. In 1946, Charles sold the entire lodge complex to Walt Pickard, who began remodeling the buildings. One night after finishing his work, the plumber left a gas heater running, which started a fire. Two cabins were burned to the ground, and the third was so badly damaged that it could not be repaired.

In 1950, Rickard built the Chalet, which added ten more guest rooms. A small bunkhouse was completed, and the Cook’s Cabin, which survived the fire, was improved and became a home for the lodge’s cook, who lived there more than thirty years. In 1962, Rickard sold the Spruce Lodge, and it went through several more ownership changes. Jennifer (Dee) and Rob Plucinski purchased Spruce Lodge in 2006, and after completion of the necessary work, it was included in the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.

GHOSTS

When the Plucinskis bought the lodge, they heard many stories about its paranormal activity, including the story of a young girl who’s often seen peering from an upstairs window. Although the new owners were skeptical, plenty of strange happenings were reported by guests, employees, friends, and construction workers. Upstairs, the guest room doors slammed shut for no reason, and the lights flickered on and off at random. In the kitchen, pots and pans were moved about, and pets often alerted to a presence that humans could not see. Footsteps were heard throughout the building when no one was around, and sometimes when the couple was in a room, the disembodied sounds were with them. When they started remodeling the basement into their living quarters, the paranormal activity increased with many thumps, bumps, and loud footsteps on the stairs.

Once when Rob left the laundry room, he was startled by the shadowy figure of a man standing in the kitchen doorway. While looking through old photographs, he found one of a previous owner, who had died years before. The picture held an eerie resemblance to the apparition he’d seen in the kitchen. On another evening, Rob came face to face with a young blond woman sitting on a pool table in the basement. He said the spirit seemed quite lifelike, just looked at him and then slowly faded away, leaving him quite shaken.

Once Rob distinctly heard a woman’s voice whispering in his ear, “Look at me!” Then she said, “Hello.” A plumber, who was working alone in the basement, was startled by a voice behind him that asked quietly, “What are you doing?” Prepared to answer and explain the task, he turned around to see—no one. He was alone. The terrified plumber rushed out of the basement, up the stairs, and out of the lodge.

Their skepticism about ghosts gone, Rob and Dee were convinced that their lodge was really haunted. Even after the remodeling was completed, the paranormal activity and mysterious sounds continued. Their young son often talked about his “other mommy,” who sat on the side of his bed and talked to him. He described this visitor as an older woman with white hair and glasses. When he was just three years old, the youngster pointed to an upstairs window and asked, “Who dat girl?” His parents saw no one. Other people have reported seeing the image of a little girl at this same window.

Lodge guests have seen shadowy figures in the halls or passing by their door when it’s left open. The light bulbs in lamps throughout the hotel are often mysteriously unscrewed, and a large, decorative pile of deer antlers that sits on a table in the lobby is regularly moved from place to place. One couple reported hearing rhythmic drumming sounds in the upstairs hall outside their room, but no one was there. Whenever any painting or routine maintenance jobs are started, the strange activities increase.

Colorado Springs Ghost Hunters investigated the lodge’s paranormal activity on two different occasions. Recently, another team of investigators visited the lodge and spent time in several guest rooms. They obtained high EMF (electromagnetic field) readings in the Baxterville Room. When they used a spirit box to try to communicate with any unseen entities, they detected several responses and recorded them. The investigators captured a woman’s voice and another one that sounded like a man. When the male entity was asked a series of questions, he responded by muttering short phrases. During this investigation, the team used the spirit box to record several different women’s voices in various areas of the lodge.

These antlers have been mysteriously moved from place to place by something unseen in Spruce Lodge. Courtesy of Wendy Williams.

Some guests may have a peaceful night’s sleep at the Spruce Lodge, or they might have a few unusual experiences. They might hear some unexplained whispers or footsteps on the old, creaky stairs. Their room door may open quietly, and they might feel a light touch, and they will certainly be aggravated when the batteries in their camera are mysteriously drained.