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Buena Vista History

The Commache Indians called Chaffee County home for hundreds of years before the Spanish ventured inland. Historians are unsure who, exactly, the first white men were to enter and settle the valley, though they suspect that the Spanish, led by Juan Bautista de Anza, were the first to call this valley home. They chased the Commache, led by Greenhorn, into what would become Poncha Springs in 1779.

Officially Buena Vista was settled in 1864, claiming a relatively calm time of it unlike their wild west neighbors. Boasting a quiet and hardworking people, little is told of Buena Vista until 1880, when the county seat was to be moved from nearby Granite, into the budding town of Buena Vista. When the people of Granite refused, a group of men "drove" a confiscated flat car on the railway to Granite in the dead of night. Breaking into the courthouse, they made off with all the documents in sight, forcing the employees the next morning to travel to Buena Vista to work. Not wild, indeed.

History does tell of Buena Vista being a quiet town, focused more on agriculture than the raging gold and silver rush that consumed the nearby towns of Salida and Leadville. The first church meeting was held in a harness shop in 1880. The fire department, known as the Buena Vista Bucket Brigade, was organized in 1880. The first bank opened its doors in 1891. Buena Vista's first newspaper, the Chaffee County Times, ran off its first copy in 1880 and still continues to serve the area today.

The Correctional Facility that still operates today as well, was built in 1889, and played an important role in the economy of the budding town, providing jobs and free labor to public lands. By 1894, the town had electricity, telephone service and street lights. Several parcels of land were donated for use as parks, school buildings and cemetaries.

When you come exploring Buena Vista in modern day, seek out the Heritage Museum, a building which was used as a courthouse from 1882 until 1932. While you’re there, take a trip up to the second floor to see the Buena Vista Model Railroad.

In nearby St. Elmo, a short trip out of town towards Salida, you can explore the abandoned mines dotting the hills, or the ghost town itself, testing your merit against seeing the ghost that allegedly still guards this barely inhabited town.

If fright is not on your menu, drop by the Turner Farm to see the homestead cabin, farmhouse, barn, chicken coops and the famous apple orchard. The Turner Farm is a “living museum”, and you can tour the historic site by appointment.

You can even venture into the hills nearby and take part of what’s affectionately called “Rock Hounding”, sifting through ancient river run offs and earth to find gems, crystals and minerals, just as the miners of old. Mines still sit vacant outside of town, some tourable, whispering of silver veins and coal digs. All one has to do, is listen.