DYERSVILLE
Reverend John L. (Father) Dyer, the famous Methodist itinerant snowshoe preacher, discovered the Warrior's Mark Mine, and Dyersville grew up in the the early 1880's. Several cabins were built, and a mill was constructed in 1883. Ore was shipped out on the Denver, South Park and Pacific Railroad. Although the mine was worked until 1908, it never amounted to much, and Dyersville died.
Father Dyer was born in Ohio in 1812. He had no formal theological training, and was never ordained. He rode the circuit in Minnesota before moving westward during the Pike's Peak Gold Rush. Being with little money, Father Dyer would walk from Denver to South Park to save stage fare. He would also carry the mail to many remote towns and camps to bring in a few dollars. At times he located claims for people, and received money from these acts.
Dyer would preach wherever he found people who would listen -- in saloons, tents and homes, although he later built churches at both Fairplay and Breckenridge. By late 1879 Father Dyer was slowing down from his overworking, and he and his wife retired in Breckenridge. It was after his retirement, that he and two boarders which the Dyers had taken in named Candell and Thompson, began their prospecting.
The three men set out into the mountains in search of ore. Their first prospect hole yielded a few dollars, and they staked a claim. Thompson soon found a good claim nearby, but he became secretive about his location. Dyer suspected that it was one that he had previously staked. The two went to check on the location, and sure enough, they found a shovel which Dyer had left to mark the site. The claims, however, did not overlap, and there was sufficient ground beside Thompson's claim for Dyer to stake one claim to the south and four more to the north. Dyer took several chunks of ore with him to Breckenridge to be assayed. The assayer was excited, and a deal was worked out whereby the assayer would make tests at the location in exchange for an interest in the property.
The best mine was the Warrior's Mark. Dyer built a cabin and moved to the now growing settlement in 1881. He ended up with only $2000 for his interest in the mine. Father Dyer eventually died at the age of eighty-nine in 1901.
There are still several ruins at Dyersville, including the Dyer cabin. although it is close to the Boreas Pass Road, the trail down to the site is not for standard automobiles. Across the creek and up the road a short distance are the remains of the Warrior's Mark operations.