Transportation was critical to settlement and development of Lake City and the mining districts in northern Hinsdale County.  From 1874 through 1889, freight and passenger service consisted solely of animal-powered vehicles.  In 1889, the Denver & Rio Grande railroad built a branch south to Lake City from Sapinero on the Gunnison River, which boosted the mining industry and created a small development boom within the town.

Photo Caption 

A stage coach in the San Juan Mountains in the late 1800s would have looked similar to this.  Detail of a stereoview titled The Daily Trip Between Ouray and Red Mountain, Colorado.  Photo by R.Y. Young, 1901.  Robert N. Dennis Collection of Stereoscopic Views, New York Public Library.