The Road that Silver Built

The Road That Silver Built is a history and travel companion for U.S. Highway 550 between Durango and Ouray, the route known as the Million Dollar Highway. P. David Smith follows the road through the stories that made it: the toll roads, the railroads, the mining camps and the legends of gold that was never found.

The description names four narrow gauge railroads that ran along the route, and it features early San Juan toll roads, many of which are now four-wheel drive roads you can still drive. It also promises tales of lost gold mines, treasure caves, ghost towns and what was meant to be "mountains of silver." The idea is that every mile of pavement comes with a reason it exists.

This is a book to read before the trip and again on the way. Telluride News wrote that perhaps no one knows the Colorado section of U.S. 550 better than historian Smith, and noted that this book appeared in 2009. Our catalogue record agrees on 2009, and it lists the book under Description and Travel and History. If you drive the highway even once, the book changes what you see out the window.

This book is written for people who travel the Million Dollar Highway and want the history that comes with the scenery. Road trippers, motorcycle riders, four-wheel drive enthusiasts and railroad fans will each find a thread to follow. Residents of Durango, Silverton and Ouray may pick up stories about the road they use every day. Because it is organized by route rather than by date, you can open it anywhere along the highway and start reading.

P. David Smith wrote this book and is credited by Telluride News as the co-author of an earlier book titled The Million Dollar Highway, written with Marvin Gregory in 1986. Beyond that credit we found no verified details of his life. See his author page for his other books with us.

More about P. David Smith →

U.S. 550 is about 305 miles long, running from Bernalillo, New Mexico, to Montrose, Colorado. North of Durango it follows the Animas River, climbs Coal Bank Pass and Molas Pass, passes through Silverton, and then climbs Red Mountain Pass. Telluride News describes the Colorado stretch between Ouray and Durango as a 70-mile ribbon of asphalt.

Wikipedia says the name Million Dollar Highway strictly refers to about 12 miles south of Ouray, through the Uncompahgre Gorge to the summit of Red Mountain Pass at 11,018 feet. The origin of the name is disputed, and Telluride News agrees that nobody can say for sure how it came about.

The road has mining roots. Otto Mears built the original toll road between Ouray and Ironton in 1883, and another toll road crossed Red Mountain Pass from Ironton to Silverton. Mears later built the Silverton Railroad north over the pass. The present highway grew from the rebuilt toll road in the early 1920s, and the Million Dollar Highway was completed in 1924.

Source: Wikipedia, Million Dollar Highway