lass="MsoNormal">Like most towns in the Colorado mountains,
Ouray was originally a mining town. However the evidence does not dominate the
town. The largest and most famous mine is the Camp Bird Mine, the second
largest gold mine in Colorado, established by Thomas Walsh in 1896. Even though
there was an operation permit filed in 2007, the mine still remains inactive.
During its lifespan, the mine produced about 1.5 million troy ounces of gold,
and 4 million troy ounces of silver, from 1896 to 1990. In 1995 the old milling
equipment "The Crusher" was disassembled and sold to a smaller mine
located in Mongolia where it operated for about two years. The vacant mine can
be seen on the steep 2WD road leading to the 4WD roads to Yankee Boy Basin and
Imogene Pass
