Milner and the Micheletti Family

By Ellen and Paul Bonnifield

Esther, Joseph, Catherine and Joseph Jr. Micheletti

Milner was the town with everything, yet it had nothing. It was a coal mining town, but it wasn’t a coal mining town. It survived because two immigrants from the old country, Joseph and Catherine Micheletti, chose to open a general mercantile store and direct their enterprising energy into Milner’s success.

In the pioneer days, back when the land was new, the area near the confluence of Trout Creek and the Yampa River served as a gateway to vast dreams and schemes. Going up Trout Creek is the opening to Twenty Mile Park with its deposits of coal and fertile farm land. A short distance down the river, oil mixed with water seeped from the mountain in oil springs. Along the south bank of the river a large coal vein rises from the water.

The birth of Milner, lost in the cloudy past, appears to have two separate beginnings. James Hitchens in 1884 located his homestead house near present day Milner. Needing irrigation water, he and fellow pioneers dug a ditch from Lake Windermere. To store water and regulate the flow onto the fields, James hooked a team to a slip, dug a large hole, and damned the lower end forming a pool. Being proud of his accomplishment, he named the area Pool. Within a short time, Hitchens’ ranch house became a stopping place for freighters. More settlers arrived and a school was organized at Pool followed by a post office in 1898. Unlike many in the area the Hitchens family were dirt farmers, primally raising grain. Hitchens was postmaster for thirty-five years before the post office was moved to Milner. Although nearby settlers soon followed Hitchens example and raised grain, it does not appear that they ever attempted to build elevators or flour mills.

Instead, a flour mill was built in Steamboat Springs (Rainbow Flour). Hayden also had a grain elevator and a flour mill.

While Sam Hitchens settled at Pool, another group made plans for the area near the junction of Trout Creek and the Yampa River. In the mid-1880s Sam and John Cary established their large ranch headquarters west of Hayden with the bulk of their range stretching across Twenty Mile Park. Although they raised cattle and horses, they were seriously interested in obtaining coal and oil land. Anticipating the construction of a railroad, the Carys became involved in fraudulent coal claims. (For one hundred dollars, a person filed on 160 acres. When the filing was complete, the “dummy” turned their claim over to companies fronting for the Carys, Dawsons, even Charles Leckenby and James Crawford.) At some point the Cary family became interested in developing a town in the Milner area. A high roller, E. E. Eddy, also became involved in promoting the town site of Eddy at the confluence of Fish Creek and Trout Creek. (Routt County has two Fish Creeks. The lesser known one runs through Twenty Mile Park.)

In the Milner area in 1900, Standard Oil announced its control of 10,000 acres of oil land. Following in short order were Wheeler’s Northwestern Oil Company, John and Si Dawson’s Routt County Improvement Company, and the Colorado and California Oil Company. Wells were drilled and oil discovered; however, lack of transportation delayed further development. Following the beginning of actual construction of the Denver Northwestern and Pacific Railroad, two large companies, Yampa Fuel and Iron and American Fuel and Iron, publicly announced their plans.

One of the original railroad surveys planned for the line to follow Oak Creek to the north end of the canyon, Junction City, then using a low saddle it crossed to Trout Creek. Following down Trout Creek to the Yampa River, the road then turned west. Milner is located here. The route saved eighteen miles of rail, but it put Steamboat Springs on a branch line.

David Moffat went broke and Sam Perry was one of the major investors who finished constructing the line to the coalfield. In 1906, Perry purchased James Crawford’s interest in Steamboat Springs and insisted on building the rail line to Steamboat Springs. Adding to the turmoil, the federal government began legal action against the illegal claims in Twenty Mile Park and the large fuel and iron companies and oil companies went belly up. Construction of the railroad west of Steamboat Springs was delayed. Thus, the promise of Milner becoming a leading community shattered.

About 1902, F. E. Milner purchased the land at the stream’s junction and platted the town of Milner. His motive is not entirely clear. He was a banker in Steamboat Springs and, like all bankers in the region, he was closely connected Moffat’s First National Bank of Denver. Milner may have intended to hold the site for future development of the main line or he may have simply intended to make a good investment. He was lackluster in developing the town, although a few buildings were constructed. The price of a lot ranged from $150 to $1200 per lot. Then the Denver Northwestern & Pacific did not come down Trout Creek; instead, it terminated at Steamboat Springs while legal matters of coal ownership were resolved in the courts. The court action completed in 1911, allowing the railroad quickly to extend through the Milner/Mt. Harris coal district.

Coal mining boomed accompanying extension of the railroad to Craig. Colorado-Utah (Mt. Harris) Mine was the largest of the diggings. Dawsons sold their interest in the Wadge Mine to Victor America in 1916 and the mine became a firmly established operation. P&K floundered with fits and starts. The Bear River Mine became a profitable mine for a few years, but it never reached its full potential. South of the river, the Curtis Mine struggled due to its steep railroad grade. The mine operated a shay engine to pull loaded cars from the mine to Bear River for transfer onto the railroad. A run-away resulting in a wreck destroyed the locomotive. The McNeil (also known as the McGregor Coal Company) Mine near Milner soon developed its own history. (According to Doc Utterback in the Three Wire Winter it had an 800-foot vertical shaft.)

The arrival of Joseph and Catherine Micheletti and their store marked the big change in Milner’s future. In the early 1900s, coal companies or their agents recruited thousands of Italians and Austrians to work in and around the mines. Joseph and Catherine were among the migration. They first operated a store at a Delta County coal mine. Keeping with the custom of the day, Joseph, being a businessman, dressed in black slacks and business shirt. In 1912, he opened the general mercantile store at the Curtis Mine (also known as Coalview). He operated the store until 1922 when the mine closed. Joseph purchased choice lots in Milner, dug a basement, and laid a foundation of concrete. (Using concrete was quite a thing

Joseph and Catherine Micheletti