 t the end of Colorado's gold rush, many mining towns were abandoned, leaving only picturesque ruins. The town of Ward re-invented itself and survived, thanks in part to the determination of Emma Fairhurst. Fairhurst founded the Ward Commercial Association (WCA) and promoted the town's finest asset-the surrounding wilderness. WCA advertisements touted nearby glaciers and trout ponds. Her successful business style was highly personal and relied on networking and responding to people with hand-written notes. In her Columbia Hotel, now a private home in Ward, she built a fireplace studded with pieces of ore. A conversation piece for years, it quite literally embodied Ward's shift from gold camp to tourist economy. |
