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Bassick Mine-Section 106 Compliance, Historic Significance Assessment, and Loss Mitigation
In 2002, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Colorado Division of Minerals and Geology targeted the historic Bassick Mine, near Westcliffe, CO, for environmental cleanup of a tailings dump in a nearby creek-bed. As one of Colorado's richest, deepest, and most advanced gold mines for its time, the Bassick was so large that it directly supported the adjacent town of Querida from 1877-1885, and again from approximately 1901-1906. The Bassick Mining Company built a mill to treat the gold ore on-site and, as was common practice, flumed the tailings into an adjacent creek for disposal.
Because the site is a historic resource, the proposed cleanup initiated Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. Mountain States Historical's approach to assessing this complex site included:
- Defining the project area and assessing how the mine site would be impacted.
- Conducting extensive archival research and gathering key historic information.
- Documenting thoroughly the site's physical remains, which were archaeological in nature.
- Producing a report with value-added content, such as detailed site history and interpretations of today's archaeological remnants.
- Assessing eligibility for the National Register of Historic Places in compliance with Section 106.
Mountain States Historical determined the site eligible for the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), and the BLM concurred; however, because the tailings cleanup threatened the site, mitigation, or work-in-kind, was required to offset the loss. The mitigation plan included:
- Recording the historic site of Querida, assessing significance according to the NRHP, and producing an interpretive report. This process set a precedent as Querida was the first townsite in the region to be recorded and interpreted.
- Producing detailed historic context for understanding and evaluating historic sites in the old mining district. This became the first meaningful history of Silver Cliff, Rosita, and the surrounding mining district and also established guidelines for evaluating the significance of other regional mines and townsites.
Mountain States Historical's mitigation plan not only satisfied federal requirements but also resulted in important contributions to the history of Colorado