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SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS By Kathy Sullivan In 1881, silver was discovered near Barstow in an area known as Calico. Before the bottom dropped out of the silver market and the mines petering out , over 86 million dollars of silver was taken out of the 500 mines that dot the area. Calico was the largest silver discovery in California. In 1889, silver went from $1.39 an ounce to $.59 an ounce, which made mining unprofitable. Think what 86 million dollars would be worth today when silver is over $26.00 an ounce. Calico got its name from the quilt-like multi- colored rock cliffs that frame the town. In its heyday, Calico had 1,200 residents, three hotels, a market, 25 saloons and several brothels spread along the main street. When Walter Knott was a teenager, he visited his uncle who owned the Silver King Mine and lived in Calico. He loved the Calico area, and he built a ghost town on his berry farm that was a replica of the main street in Calico. In 1950, Walter Knott bought the whole town. He scoured the countryside looking for old buildings he could add to what was left of the original Calico and started refurbishing the town, and where necessary, building new buildings that were like the original. He spent over $750,000 returning Calico to its glory days. In 1965, he gave the town to the County of San Bernardino with the provision that buildings could only be built on their original sites. Today, Calico's main street lives again with restaurants, souvenir shops, gold panning, a narrow-gauge railroad, a museum, boot hill, and mine tours. There are events with gun fights and saloon girls walking the street. And now in modern times, the dirt mine roads that crisscross the desert mountains have become a fun destination for 4wd vehicles. Just so you know, I stayed in the Calico Ghost Town Campground for four nights, and even though I looked, I never saw one ghost. Calico is in the desert, so to visit it, care needs to be taken to make sure the weather is doable. Also, it is a steep climb up into the town from the parking lot, and due to the historic buildings, it's not very ADA accessible. There is handicapped parking at the beginning of the main street. Calico is really a must-see and it is only two hours away. Take the time to walk the streets, have lunch in one of the restaurants, visit the museum and miners cabins and think what it might have been like in the late 1800s to have lived and worked in this very inhospitable but beautiful desert area. Maybe you will be one of the lucky (or not so lucky) ones to see one of the wandering ghosts that haunt the Boot Hill Cemetery. 18 | THE COLONY NEWS | JUNE 2023 | One-room schoolhouse A miner's cabin

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