The Storm, MTAB, and Fur Farms

*Golden Eye Candy – Robert Saieg – Yesterday’s Coming Storm – click to enlarge*

COVID Updates

20.2% — *% of Jeffco residents (16+) who have received the first shot – source*

Appointments to Get the COVID Vaccine (Eligibility)
State of Colorado’s Find Out Where You Can Get Vaccinated page
Safeway | King Soopers | Lutheran Medical Center | JCPH Clinic in Arvada (70+ only)

State Hotline to answer questions, including location of vaccine providers: 1-877-268-2926. It is staffed 24 hours a day.

Golden Testing Sites
Mines COVID Testing | Jeffco Fairgrounds COVID Testing

Dial-Level-Yellow — ***Jefferson County is at Level Yellow. Learn more….***

Jefferson County Case Summary:
Cases in Jeffco – Tues: 36,751 | Weds: 36,859 (+108)
Deaths in Jeffco – Tues: 749 | Weds: 751 (+2)
Currently Hospitalized in Jeffco – Tues: 39| Weds: 30 (-9)
Known Cases in Golden – Thurs: 1478 | Mon: 1488
Recovered – Tues: 35,169 | Weds: 35,270 (+101)

Virtual Events

Backcountry Film Festival Runs Feb 15-March 1

10AM Everything Dinosaur Talk – Theropods
10AM Mid-Morning Meditation
10-11:30AM Finding Health Information Online
10-11AM Great Decisions: Persian Gulf Security
10:15AM Preschool Time with the Library
3PM Hard Times Writing Workshop
6-7PM Qs and Brews Trivia
6PM Mobility & Transportation Advisory Board Meeting
MTAB will discuss their ’21-’22 work plan, DRCOG Regional Transportation Plan, 24^th Street, and their Traffic Calming Manual

Real World Golden

12-7PM Raise a Pint, Lend a Hand at Holidaily Brewing: Black Girls Do Bike

Golden History Moment

*Pansy Parshall Hook wearing a fur coat at her house on 12th Street – Golden History Museum collection – click to enlarge*

For much of the 20th Century, fur farming was a significant industry in this area. In 1915, the Transcript announced formation of a new company: the Rocky Mountain Fur Farm Company. They planned to set up small farms in several places in the area. They began with 250 skunks, which–as the Transcript pointed out–“multiply with startling rapidity.”

*Colorado Transcript – October 11, 1928*

That company did well, and over time they branched out into several other species, including silver fox, muskrat, mink, and chinchilla. Many other individuals and companies also entered the market.

Colorado Transcript – March 4, 1926

One reason the fur business did so well in this area was the climate. Fur grows best in temperate climates such as the Rocky Mountains. In warmer climates, the animals won’t grow thick coats. In climates colder than Colorado’s, the fur may be so thick it’s coarse.

*Fur brokers from eastern cities bought both trapped and farmed furs – click to enlarge*

The economics of the business were also desirable. As one “rancher” explained in 1926, “One beauty about the fox industry for Colorado…is that it is not necessary to utilize valuable land that is suitable for agriculture or other purposes. There are hundreds of ranches in Colorado that could well afford to appropriate a small portion of worthless land for the raising of silver foxes, and I know it to be a fact that from this land that ordinarily would never produce a penny, they would realize more of an acre than they do now from the most fertile portions, if they would raise silver foxes on it.”

Genesee Mountain was particularly crowded with fur farms, and Golden Gate, Mount Vernon, and Coal Creek Canyons all had several. According to a 1936 article, a silver fox pelt sold to brokers for anywhere from $185 to $400.

Many thanks to the Golden History Museum for providing the online cache of historic Transcripts and to the Golden Transcript for documenting our history since 1866!