Slumgullion is a type of stew known to mountain men and made by throwing whatever was on hand into a pot. It is also the name of the mountain pass at the bottom of which lies Lake City, CO – which is where I played a solo gig last night, at the Black Crooke Theatre. Like many Colorado towns, it started as a mining town in the late 1800s. It withstood many booms and busts, but never grew to be very big. It did, however, see its fair share of legendary outlaws. Jesse James, Billy the Kid, Poker Face Alice, Bat Masterson, and Soapy Smith all road through and occasionally shot up the town. Another shady character from Lake City’s history was Alfred Packer, hired to guide five prospectors over the mountains from Ouray. Packer had no clue of the severe winter weather with giant snowdrifts and sub-zero temperatures. Game was nowhere to be found and the supplies soon ran out. So, legend says, Packer killed and ate the prospectors. (That’s taking Slumgullion Stew a little too far, don’t you think?!) He eventually arrived in town with lots of money to spend at the saloon, and several wallets in his pockets. I love the history behind many of these rugged mountain towns that I get to play. And I love to meet the colorful folks that live in these communities today.

Tags: Alfred Packer, Billy the Kid, Black Crooke Theatre, Jesse James, Kort McCumber, mountain music, Slumgullion

This entry was posted by Kort on Saturday, October 25th, 2008 at 12:57 pm and is filed under Lickskillet Road - Tours. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.