Big Bend and McPhee

In 1776, the year of American independence, a family led by two Catholic priests, father Dominguez and Escalante, camped in a meadow on the Dolores River that became the town of Big Bend 105 years later. Big Bend had several saloons, a saw mill, a hotel, two general merchants, a meat company, and the Office of Land. It was abandoned in 1891 when the narrow gauge railroad reached the area. In 1926, the logging town of McPhee was established eleven miles south of Dolores, where the present McPhee Dam is located. McPhee was abandoned in 1948 when a major fire destroyed the entire mill. Of the three settlements, Dolores is the only one left.

Colorado · United States