Carrizo City, Colorado Ghost Town

Carrizo City flourished briefly in southeastern Colorado from 1888 to the early 1920s. You’ll find little remains of this once-vibrant settlement where Captain Levi English’s pioneers built a hub for cattle operations and copper mining. Four saloons anchored community life and frontier justice, including the infamous Harry Teal incident. Today, only crumbling foundations and scattered mine tailings mark where determined settlers carved out lives between economic booms and environmental challenges.

Table of Contents hide

1 Key Takeaways

2 The Birth and Brief Boom of a Frontier Town (1888-1890)

3 Saloons, Shootouts, and the Wild West Justice

4 Mining Dreams and Ranching Reality in the Colorado Borderlands

5 The Harry Teal Incident: A Town’s Defining Tragedy

6 What Remains: Exploring Carrizo Springs Today

7 Frequently Asked Questions

7.1 Were There Any Notable Women in Carrizo City’s History?

7.2 What Indigenous Tribes Originally Inhabited the Carrizo Springs Area?

7.3 Did Any Famous Outlaws Visit or Hide in Carrizo City?

7.4 What Happened to Residents After the Town Was Abandoned?

7.5 Are There Any Artifacts From Carrizo City in Museums Today?

8 References

Key Takeaways

Carrizo City flourished from 1888-1890 in Baca County, Colorado as a cattle and mining hub established by Captain Levi English.
The town’s economy relied on copper and silver mining at Bear Canyon and cattle ranching operations along the southeastern border.

Four saloons served as social centers where miners, ranchers, and drifters gathered, often leading to conflicts and vigilante justice.
Mining operations ceased around 1923 while ranching ended earlier in 1915, contributing to the town’s eventual abandonment.
Today, only faint traces remain with crumbled foundations, scattered mine shafts, and tailings piles marking the former settlement.

The Birth and Brief Boom of a Frontier Town (1888-1890)

While the vast Colorado frontier remained largely untamed in the late 1880s, Carrizo City emerged from the rugged landscape of Baca County as a symbol of frontier determination and economic necessity.

Led by Captain Levi English, settlers built simple jacale-style homes using local materials as they established this ranching hub around abundant springs despite ongoing Indian attack risks. The area gained notoriety when a local café became the site of Harry Teal’s shooting, a violent incident involving a JJ Ranch cowboy who threatened the proprietor’s family.

The settlement rapidly expanded between 1888-1890, becoming a vital gathering point for seasonal cattle operations across Colorado, New Mexico, and Oklahoma borderlands.

This diverse community of ranchers, cowboys, former slaves, and Mexican workers demonstrated remarkable community resilience while facing frontier challenges.

Their practical dwellings reflected the utilitarian priorities of people carving a life from harsh terrain where free-range cattle operations served as the economic backbone of this isolated yet vibrant settlement. The region suffered significant economic setbacks when a devastating drought in 1888 caused massive losses in grass and cattle, forcing residents to seek alternative income sources.

Saloons, Shootouts, and the Wild West Justice

Four saloons stood at the heart of Carrizo City’s social landscape during its brief heyday of 1888-1889, each establishment serving as more than just a place to drink.

These rough-hewn establishments along the main thoroughfare functioned as community centers where miners, ranchers, and drifters gathered, gambled, and often settled disputes.

You’d find little formal law enforcement in this frontier outpost.

When conflicts erupted—frequently over land, water rights, or card games—justice came swiftly through vigilante action.

Without proper jails or courthouses, miners’ courts and citizen tribunals delivered verdicts ranging from fines to execution.

Saloon culture defined Carrizo City’s character, with these establishments witnessing both community bonding and violent confrontations. Similar to Breckenridge’s Gold Pan Saloon, which opened in 1879 and was known for hosting multiple gunfights, these frontier drinking establishments often became the stage for Wild West showdowns.

The town’s proximity to the Texas border attracted a transient population that contributed to its lawless reputation.

The newspaper called Carrizo Current documented the town’s daily life while serving as the primary source of information for residents and visitors alike.

Mining Dreams and Ranching Reality in the Colorado Borderlands

Despite the flashy saloon culture that dominated Carrizo City’s social landscape, the town’s economic foundation rested firmly on mineral wealth and cattle ranching along Colorado’s southeastern borderlands.

You’d have found miners extracting copper and silver from the Dakota Group’s Purgatoire Formation using primitive mining techniques that yielded impressive results—over 33,500 pounds of copper and 407 ounces of silver from the Independence Mine alone.

While mining companies like Bear Canyon employed 60-70 workers, ranching simultaneously shaped the region’s identity.

The Carrizo Creek area served as a vital corridor for cattle drives facing ranching challenges of water scarcity and harsh terrain. The district is situated approximately 45 miles southwest of Springfield in southeastern Baca County.

This dual economy created a boom-and-bust cycle that defined Carrizo City’s existence—operations ceased around 1915, though mining persisted until 1923, leaving behind abandoned dreams and a return to the land’s ranching roots. The Independence Mine, sitting at 4,610 feet elevation, was considered the most extensively developed mine in the district.

The Harry Teal Incident: A Town’s Defining Tragedy

Beyond the economic fabric of Carrizo City lay a darker thread that’s woven into the settlement’s history—the Harry Teal incident of 1888-1889.

This JJ Ranch cowboy, known for his peculiar habit of borrowing without asking but generous in sharing, met his end during a drunken confrontation at Carrizo Springs.

The tragedy remains embedded in community memory through:

Local historians’ accounts in works like “A Place Called Baca”

The unmarked grave at Carrizo Springs Cemetery
Oral traditions passed through generations of ranching families

Teal’s story exemplifies the complexities of cowboy culture—the camaraderie that tolerated eccentric behavior, the volatility introduced by alcohol, and the sometimes violent resolution of conflicts in a frontier setting where law remained distant and personal codes prevailed. While different from George Brenton’s accidental drowning in 1891, both incidents occurred during times when round ups brought cowboys from multiple ranches together.

The fatal altercation began when Teal, displaying his belligerent behavior, attempted to force his way into Miss Robertson’s cafe while brandishing his pistol.

What Remains: Exploring Carrizo Springs Today

While once a bustling copper mining settlement that employed dozens of men and supported a small commercial district, Carrizo City today exists as little more than whispers across the landscape of southwest Baca County, Colorado.

You’ll find only faint traces of its former glory—rows of crumbled foundations slowly succumbing to environmental impact as nature reclaims what humans abandoned.

The Bear Canyon Copper Company‘s legacy persists in scattered mine shafts, tailings piles, and eroded remnants of infrastructure that once supported 60-70 miners until operations ceased around 1930. Like many other Colorado ghost towns, Carrizo City fell victim to the exhausted minerals that had initially drawn settlers to the area.

Similar to Adena and other farming towns, the surrounding area saw rural depopulation contribute to its ultimate abandonment.

Remnants exploration proves challenging, as the ghost town sits on private property with no formal preservation efforts.

Time and weather continue their steady erosion, leaving these historical fragments vulnerable to complete disappearance as they fade into Colorado’s rugged terrain.

Frequently Asked Questions

Were There Any Notable Women in Carrizo City’s History?

Historical records haven’t preserved stories of notable women pioneers or local legends in Carrizo City’s history. You’ll find women’s contributions remain largely undocumented in this frontier town’s male-dominated historical narrative.

What Indigenous Tribes Originally Inhabited the Carrizo Springs Area?

You’ve focused on Carrizo City, Colorado, yet you’re asking about Texas. In the Carrizo Springs area, the Coahuiltecan tribes, particularly the Comecrudo people, dominated indigenous history, with later Lipan Apache and Comanche tribal influence reshaping the region.

Did Any Famous Outlaws Visit or Hide in Carrizo City?

No verified evidence exists that famous outlaws used Carrizo City as one of their hideouts. Historical legends suggest nearby areas hosted fugitives, but specific outlaw visits remain unconfirmed in surviving records.

What Happened to Residents After the Town Was Abandoned?

You’d find most residents relocated to other mining towns after Carrizo’s collapse, seeking fresh opportunities in Colorado or neighboring states. Some preserved ghost town legends while shifting to agricultural work or railroad jobs.

Are There Any Artifacts From Carrizo City in Museums Today?

Like miners sifting gold from sand, you’ll find artifacts from the area preserved at the Ghost Town Museum in Colorado Springs, where museum exhibitions showcase authentic mining-era relics from Colorado’s abandoned settlements.