Don't Miss The Free Mountain Man Festival
in Rollinsville -- Beginning at Noon Each Day
July 11 and July 12
in Celebration of Gilpin County's 150 th Anniversary

Mark your calendar and plan to visit Rollinsville for a f ree Mountain Man Festival that takes place from noon until 6 p.m. on Saturday, July 11 and noon until 4 p.m. on Sunday, July 12 in Rollinsville at Highway 119 and Tolland Road.

Hosted by the communities of Rollinsville and Lincoln Hills Resort, this event showcases the skills needed to survive in the rough mountain terrain during the early gold rush. Take part in the fun and watch mountain man re-enactors, black powder competitions, tomahawk throwing and blacksmithing demonstrations. The weekend also includes special ghost town jeep tours and historic tours of Lincoln Hills Resort.

"In celebration of our 150 th anniversary, we are excited to announce that Rollinsville will host a free Mountain Man weekend," Linda Jones, President of the Gilpin County Historical Society said. "This is a great time to come up and enjoy the fun!"

Local mountain men, The Buckhorn Skinners, will be demonstrating blacksmithing, archery, tomahawk and knife throwing. Contests between the men will be held along with opportunities for guests to try their hand. Men in period costumes will be walking around talking about the early days of fur trapping and the rough lives in the mountains. A historic encampment with tepees and lean-to tents, cooking demonstrations including flint and steel making and fire starting along with leather making and other crafts will be demonstrated. Entertainment includes authentic blue-grass style music including jaw harps, fiddles, mandolins and guitar.

Visitors to the Gilpin County Mountain Man Festival can also take part in jeep tours of ghost towns in the region that include a rare insider's tour of the historic town of Baltimore with local legend Ben Slinger. Free guided tours of Winks Lodge at Lincoln Hills resort-the first and only African-American resort west of the Mississippi-are also included in the festivities.

While 2009 will find many communities celebrating the 150 th year of their first gold strike, GilpinCounty's history is distinctive to Colorado in many ways. Within days of John H. Gregory's discovery of the first and most productive lode gold strike in the country, thousands of miners made the dangerous trek into the Colorado wilderness. Gregory's strike signaled an opportunity for instant wealth and had a profound effect on Colorado's national appeal, causing thousands to migrate west.

During its boom, the region saw population surges of close to 1,000 people per day. Soon the area rivaled Denver in population size and surpassed it in wealth and culture. Nicknamed the Richest Square Mile on Earth this rugged mountain region was home to Colorado's first grand opera house, the first use of a steam engine in mining and advances in smelting, which were pioneered only in the City of Black Hawk. Due to its opportunity GilpinCounty drew some of the best and brightest minds and was home to many of Colorado's important historical figures including Henry Teller, Clara Brown, George Pullman and Dr. Florence Sabin.

Free family events are scheduled in Gilpin County all summer in celebration of the150th Anniversary. For more Information and a complete event schedule, visit www.gilpin150.com or call the Gilpin County Historical Society at 303.582.5283.

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