The Crucial Link

Sargents

When traversing the high Colorado Rocky Mountains via Highway 50, it is not hard to see signs of the arduous work done in generations past to cut roads and railroads through such treacherous terrain. Along this route lies the diminished town of Sargents. A roadside gas station, store and café are the most immediate features. Behind these newer structures, however, lies what remains of the old town. A few dirt roads and cozy homes support a very small population, shared with an equal number of abandoned homes and railroad building ruins. An old water tower and a deserted schoolhouse are also present.

Though these remains do not suggest an impressive past, Sargents actually served as a crucial link for getting trains over the Rockies, which secured the Denver and Rio Grande Narrow Gage Railroad from Denver to Salt Lake City. Though the town owed its existence to the railroad, the railroad owed its survival to the town! Sargents is not the only town that was important to the railroad, but I have chosen to write about this town for three reasons: 1) Its strategic location in relation to Marshall Pass. 2) Sargents was home to the Helper Engines, which I will get into. 3) The fact I have some family history in Sargents, which I will also get into.

The town was born in 1880, when the course of the narrow gauge had been determined. It was first called Marshalltown, after nearby Marshall Pass, but the name was changed after a couple of years to complement its first postmaster, Joseph Sargent. This line was the first crossing of the continental divide by any railroad.

Photo courtesy of Southern Methodist University, Central university Libraries, Degoyler Library.

The town became the site of the D&RGW Helper Station. Helper engines (sometimes called Bank engines) were necessary in the mountain terrain and heavy snows. The size and power of these engines enabled heavy shipments of ore and lumber to be pushed up steep grades and to keep the passes open.

Sargents, Colorado in the mid 1900’s. Photo courtesy of Denver Public library.

They were not meant for long hauls. They were mostly used to push the train from behind, only long enough to get it over the mountain, or to a point in which the train could continue under its own power. At this time, the Helper would detach and return to Sargents. The most routine task was to help a train up over Marshall Pass at an elevation of 12,000 feet. Sargents also had a roundhouse and maintenance shops.

Coles

Sargents had been well established, when, just after the turn of the century, the Cole family came to town. William Smiley Cole and Mary V. Johnson Cole were my Great Grandparents. William had worked the railroad in both Minnesota and Kansas, but it was in Sargents where he would spend the rest of his life. In the preceding years he had done everything from dining hall attendant to Ticket seller. But, now as a station agent, he played a key role in getting the trains in and out on a timely manner and in sending Helpers to keep Marshall Pass open.

His mother had died giving birth to him and his twin brother, Elmer. Raised in Pennsylvania and Iowa, he and his siblings were engaged in farm work in their youth. He met Mary V. Johnson in Iowa and they got married in Hepler, Kansas in 1885.

William Smiley Cole

Mary was a tough daunting woman with fiery red hair and sometimes toted a shotgun. She had been in love with Jessie James as a schoolgirl. Although she probably never met the badman, he and his gang were known to be active in places where she lived. Her and William would have seven children.

Mary Viola Johnson Cole

Sargents, high in the Rockies, was a brutal climate to work and live in, with sub-freezing temperatures and heavy snow. One frigid morning in early December of 1918 the Cole children were sent out to gather kindling. At age 7, Willis Cole was the youngest. Whether he had pre-existing conditions or developed a bad case of hypothermia, or just plain froze his lungs is uncertain, but the family story is he came back in after collecting wood, laid down and died. I do not know if this means he died in minutes, hours, or days, but it serves as a testimony to hardships of living in The Rocky Mountains.

Besides lumber, ore and other freight, there was also, eventually, a daily passenger train, “The Shavano,” named after Mt. Shavano, which was nearby. It ran from Salida to Gunnison with a stop in Sargents, a distance of roughly 70 miles. Complete with coaches, baggage cars, a mail car, and a parlor car, it was known as one of the most comfortable rides of the narrow-gauge era.

Endings and Beginnings

However, passenger train usage decreased as improving roads led to more automobile traffic. “The Shavano” was discontinued in 1940. But not all was lost in Sargents, not yet. The railroad was still active with freight loads for another 15 years, at which time, the line was completely abandoned, and the tracks torn up. For 74 years the line served as the crucial link over the Rocky Mountains, connecting both sides of the country.

As a railroad town, Sargents was finished, and the population dropped dramatically. But as with many old west towns there would be a rebirth. Today, Sargents serves as a staging area for high mountain fun. From here, people venture out for skiing, snowmobiling, off road recreation, hunting, mountain climbing and exploring. The few businesses on Highway 50 see heavy traffic. I was there in early October and there were quite a few vehicles coming and going. The Tomichi Creek Trading Post is packed with supplies for both necessities and recreation. http://tomichicreektradingpost.com/ I ate breakfast in the café and the food is excellent. The people working here are polite and helpful. If Sargents has anything left, it is dignity!

My Great Grandfather passed in 1945, after 40 years living and working in Sargents. Mary lived until 1956, to the ripe age of 91. I have been told she had fiery red hair till the end. They are both buried in the Fairview cemetery in Salida, with little Willis between them.

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