Gateway to Canyon Country
The surrounding maze
of rim rock canyons
shelters this valley from
harsh weather, making it a perfect
winter range for cattle. In summer.
ranchers move their herds on
rough stock trails up to higher
elevations in the La Sal
Mountains, Piñon Mesa, and the
Uncompahgre Plateau. They've
been doing it this way since the
1880s, when homesteaders first
came here. Early ranch families,
isolated by primitive wagon roads,
relied on a mail service from
Whitewater to bring necessities
such as sugar, coffee, and
Sears & Roebuck boxes with
tools, clothing, or household
items. Otherwise, the ranches
were completely self-sufficient.
Surviving the hard years wasn’t
easy, but Gateway residents built
thriving ranches by helping one
another and always finding a way
to put food on the table.
Gateway Mining District
Early homesteaders in this region, curious about a canary-yellow
powder exposed in the surrounding canyons, thought perhaps
Indians had used it for skin and hide painting. Later discovered
to be carnotite, the powder contained radium, vanadium, and
uranium, three metals critical to 20th-century science. Mining near
Gateway began in 1914 chiefly for radium, prized in the medical
profession as a cancer inhibitor. During World War I and II the
mines produced vanadium, a steel hardener in great
demand. In 1947 Grand Junction’s Atomic Energy
Commission (AEC) began purchasing tremendous
quantities of uranium on the Coloradfo Plateau in the
quest for nuclear energy and weaponry. This kept the
Gateway District humming until 1970, when the AEC
had stockpiled enough uranium to quit purchasing
the ore. Mining continued near Gateway until 1990,
when it was no longer profitable.
[Picture Captions]
Early March in Unaweep Canyon.
Pack Train in Gateway Mining District.
The Gateway Alloys Company opened this mill in
Gateway in 1941 to process vanadium for the Metals
Reserve Company, which stockpiled the strategic
material for domestic use. By 1944 it closed, unable
to compete with larger mills at Naturita and Uravan.
As you drive west, look for the dilapidated mill
structure on teh south side of the road. Please
don’t trespass as the mill is on private land.
