"Father" Dyer | |
|---|---|
 "Father" Dyer | |
| Born | John Lewis Dyer March 16, 1812 |
| Died | June 16, 1901 (aged 89) |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | "Father" Dyer |
| Occupation | Minister |
| Years active | 1861—1890 |
Notable work | The Snow-Shoe Itinerant |
John Lewis Dyer (1812-1901), "The Snowshoe Itinerant," was a circuit rider, that is, a preacher who rode from one church to the next. He was a Methodist.
Dyer was born in Franklin County, Ohio, spending most his early years in Illinois. He had little formal education and in 1833, married Harriet Foster, moving his family to Wisconsin to work in the lead mines. Sadly, Harriet died when she was 35, and Dyer was left with their five children. After their mother-named infant daughter Harriet died soon after, Dyer chose to become a Methodist minister. He became a circuit rider, riding from town to town as he was needed for funerals, sermons, and weddings. [1]
Dyer's circuit in Wisconsin and Minnesota covered a large area, and required travel through winter storms and extensive snow. Norwegian immigrants in Minnesota taught Dyer how to make skis to traverse the snow more efficiently. [1]
Walking most of the way, he moved to Colorado in 1859, as he had a life-long desire to see Pikes Peak. In what are now Lake, Summit, and Park counties, he was appointed an itinerant preacher to the mining camps. [2]
"Father" Dyer hiked through blizzards and dealt with wild animals to reach remote mining towns, preaching in saloons, tents and on street corners. At times, miners put gold dust in the offering plate, as most were too poor to give actual cash. [3]
A new challenge faced Dyer in Colorado mining towns. The rough-and-tumble residents spent a much of their free time drinking and gambling in saloons. Thus Dyer felt his preaching was sorely needed. In many towns he set up churches, including one in Breckenridge that still holds services today: Father Dyer United Methodist Church. As he had once worked in mines, Dyer understood the hard lives of miners. [1] Dyer's life as a minister was far from easy, and he made little money on his circuit. To make more he started carrying mail between Alma and Leadville when traveling over Mosquito Pass. [4]
Wearing 10-foot "snowshoes" (really Norwegian skis), he would cross Mosquito Pass, which is 13,188 feet (4,020 m) high, leaving in the evening, so the snow was frozen and easier to cross. Atop Mosquito Pass are two memorials bearing his name. [5] Dyer became quite well-known and was affectionately nicknamed "Father Dyer" despite the fact that Methodist ministers were not called "Father". [1]
Dyer bought property in Breckenridge next to the county courthouse on French Street, and with his own money, began to build a chapel. This chapel was 50 feet (15 m) by 25 feet (7.6 m), with a ceiling that was 16 feet (4.9 m) high. On August 22, 1880, at 68, he conducted the first service to be held in a church on Colorado's Western Slope. [2]
Lucinda Rankin was a widow who lived near Castle Rock. In 1870, she and "Father" Dyer married. For fifteen years until Dyer could no longer travel on his circuit, Lucinda joined Dyer in Summit County. When "Father" Dyer was 73, he and Lucinda moved to Denver where he wrote and published his autobiography, The Snow-Shoe Itinerant. Father Dyer died in 1901 at the age of 89, but in Colorado, he left a rich legacy.
The City of Leadville is a statutory city that is the county seat, the most populous community, and the only incorporated municipality in Lake County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 2,602 at the 2010 census and an estimated 2,762 in 2018. Leadville is situated at an elevation of 10,152 feet (3,094 m).
Red Cliff is a statutory town in Eagle County, Colorado, United States. The population was 267 at the 2010 census. The town is a former mining camp situated in the canyon of the upper Eagle River just off U.S. Highway 24 north of Tennessee Pass. The town site is concealed below the highway and is accessible by a side road leading to Shrine Pass in the Sawatch Range. It was founded in 1879 during the Colorado Silver Boom by miners from Leadville who came over Tennessee Pass scouting for better prospects. The name derives from the red quartzite cliffs surrounding the town. As the first community in the Eagle Valley, it served temporarily as the first county seat of Eagle County until the relocation of the county seat to Eagle in 1921.
Vail is a home rule municipality in Eagle County, Colorado, United States. The population of the town was 4,835 in 2020. The town, home to Vail Ski Resort, the largest ski mountain in Colorado, is known for its hotels, dining, and for the numerous events the city hosts annually, such as the Vail Film Festival, Burton US Open, Vail Resorts Snow Days, and Bravo! Vail.
The historic Town of Fairplay is the Statutory Town that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Park County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 724 at the 2020 United States Census. Fairplay is located in South Park at an elevation of 9,953 feet (3,034 m). The town is the fifth-highest incorporated place in the State of Colorado. Fairplay is now a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Front Range Urban Corridor.
The Town of Breckenridge is the home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Summit County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 5,078 at the 2020 United States Census. Breckenridge is the principal town of the Breckenridge, CO Micropolitan Statistical Area. The town also has many part-time residents, as many people have vacation homes in the area. The town is located at the base of the Tenmile Range.
South Park is a grassland flat within the basin formed by the Rocky Mountains' Mosquito and Park Mountain Ranges within central Colorado. This high valley ranges in elevation from approximately 9,000 to 10,000 ft. It encompasses approximately 1,000 square miles around the headwaters of the South Platte River in Park County approximately 60 mi (100 km) southwest of Denver. It is the largest and southernmost of three similarly named high altitude basins in the Front Range of Colorado, the others being North Park and Middle Park. The largest town in the basin is Fairplay, with a population of 724.
Skijoring is a winter sport in which a person on skis is pulled by a horse, a dog or a motor vehicle. It is derived from the Norwegian word skikjøring, meaning "ski driving". Although skijoring is said to have originated as a mode of winter travel, it is currently primarily a competitive sport.
Mosquito Pass, with an elevation of 13,185 ft (4,019 m), is a high mountain pass in the Mosquito Range of central Colorado in the United States. It lies on the boundary between Lake and Park counties between Leadville (west) and Fairplay (east). It also lies on the divide between the Arkansas and South Platte Rivers, which is the informal demarcation between the northern and southern parts of Colorado, east of the Continental Divide.
South Park City is an open-air museum located at the west end of Front Street in the town of Fairplay in Park County, Colorado. Open from May 15 through October 15, the museum is a historic reconstruction of a mining town from the days of the Colorado Gold Rush and the later Colorado Silver Boom in South Park in the late 1850s through the 1880s.
Boreas Pass is a high mountain pass in central Colorado, in the Rocky Mountains of the western United States. The pass is located on the continental divide, at the crest of the Front Range along the border between Park (south) and Summit counties.
Circuit rider clergy, in the earliest years of the United States, were clergy assigned to travel around specific geographic territories to minister to settlers and organize congregations. Circuit riders were clergy in the Methodist Episcopal Church and related denominations, although similar itinerant preachers could be found in other faiths as well, particularly among minority faith groups.
The Tenmile Range is a mountain range in U.S. state of Colorado. The range is an extension of the Mosquito Range which is part of the Rocky Mountains. The two ranges are effectively the same range. They are split only by the Continental Divide and name. The Tenmile Range is on the north side of the divide, and the Mosquito on the south. The range is often referred to as the Tenmile-Mosquito Range.
Ashcroft, originally known as Castle Forks City then Chloride until 1882, was a mining town located ten miles (16 km) south of Aspen, Colorado, United States. A few buildings remain standing as a testament to the town's past.
Granite is an unincorporated community with a U.S. Post Office in Chaffee County, Colorado, United States. The zip code of Granite is 81228. According to the 2010 census, the population is 116.
Dyersville was a mining town — now a ghost town — in Summit County, Colorado, United States. It was named after Methodist minister John Lewis Dyer. Nothing remains of the town except the roofless walls of a couple of log cabins.
The Mineral Belt National Recreation Trail is an 11.6 mile all-season biking/walking trail that loops around Leadville, Colorado and through its historic mining district. The trail's setting is quintessentially Colorado Rocky Mountain landscape. Groves of aspen, conifer forests, wildflower meadows, and open vista sage parks are interspersed with once-booming mine sites. Ever-present views of the Sawatch and Mosquito mountain ranges provide perspective and a sense of permanence to the area. Several signs along the way provide historical snippets about Leadville's colorful past. The trail is designed for bicycles, longboards, walkers, wheelchairs, strollers and in-line skaters. When the snow falls, snowcats groom the trail to provide access to Nordic skiers, snowshoers and winter-bikers.
Buckskin Joe, also called Laurette or Lauret, is a deserted ghost town in Colorado, United States. It was an early mining town, and county seat of Park County, Colorado.
An itinerant preacher is a Christian evangelist who preaches the basic Christian redemption message while traveling around to different groups of people within a relatively short period of time. The usage of these travelling ministers is known as itineracy or itinerancy.
Reverend Stephen George Roszel was a Methodist preacher and leading member of the Baltimore Conference.
The North London Mill is a gold mill in Park County, Colorado that commenced operations in 1883. In 1874, the first London mine was opened, named for the mountain it burrowed into. The London mines became some of the most productive mines of gold, silver and lead in the area. Between 1879 and 1889, some $82,000,000 of silver was processed in the Leadville area. Colorado_Silver_BoomDue to the rugged environment and high altitude, transportation of ore between the mines and mill was difficult and costly. Thus, the first rope cable-way in Colorado was built to carry ore down the thousand-vertical-foot hill from the mine to the mill.
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